Carrie Brownstein Angling For A Job At Maxim

After citing Maxim's no-listen review of the new Black Crowes LP, blogger-Kinney launches into a couple of her own. Carrie goes deep on Kaki King's Dreaming Of Revenge: "'Life Being What It Is' is King at his best, while 'Open Mouth' is King even better than he usually is. 'Air and Kilometers' is a beautiful song about traveling in a plane in a country that uses the metric system and 'Montreal' is about a city in Canada." Also she notes that Wye Oak's If Children is "Whitney Houston's 'The Greatest Love Of All' except angrier and totally against mid-wives."

We'd hire her! But both Maxim and Carrie need to remember that when it comes to phony reviews David Cross is not afraid of you and will beat your ass.

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Posted at 5:22 PM

Comments (2) latest by Nichole

Heath Ledger's Nick Drake Video

As we had mentioned when the sad news broke, Heath Ledger had directed a relatively unseen video for Nick Drake's "Black Eyed Dog," a song titled after Winston Churchill's term for depression. Ledger created the video for an exhibition paying tribute to Drake's work (and his life, which was cut short by an antidepressant overdose). In the time since, Heath's self-described "obsession" and unfortunate similarities with the singer-songwriter have been drawn out and explored, as has most every other detail speculative or otherwise of Ledger's life. Bits of the video are now available, bundled into this newscast circulating on YouTube. In it, Ledger directs himself spinning in a field and drowning in a tub. Naturally, it makes for emotional and powerful viewing.

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Posted at 12:09 PM in VIDEO

Comments (7) latest by stephen

New B-52's - "Hot Corner"

When we wrote about B-52's "Funplex," from the album of the same name, we bemoaned the lack of Fred Schneider in the iTunes sample. Well, fans of catchy non sequiturs need wait no longer because the totally fun "Hot Corner" is Schneider rich: "He's a mess, but he's really pretty," "hey y'all last call, last chance to dance ... whoooo!," "tragically hot, show what you got," etc. Tin roof, not rusty! This might be their first album since 1992, but damn if they haven't lost a dance step. There's also a brief interview with Kate, where she talks about meeting Peaches and digging Björk and Joe Strummer's solo material. Also: "I like Amy Winehouse, Beck, Miss Dynamite and this Canadian band called StinkMitt." (Introducing, StinkMitt and their "Push It" modification.)

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Posted at 10:01 AM in MP3

Comments (1) latest by Austin

New Hayden - "More Than Alive"

The last time we spoke about Hayden, there was an outpouring of love like we hadn't anticipated. Again, not because we don't like the Canadian alt folkster, but because ... well, we just didn't realize he'd nudged so many people toward their first taste of indie rock. This new Field & Town tune's a lovely piano-accented downer that swells dramatically somewhere in the middle before coming back down to understated glock-lined lullaby level, though by the time Hayden's gotten there, he's located a renewed sense of lyrical resolve ("We're more than all right"), gently shifting the song's entire mood. In Field & Town's out in Canada, but there's still no U.S. release date. What the hell, U.S.? Dude's wearing an Atlantic City shirt.

UPDATE: Sorry U.S., we spoke out of turn. Hayden's record is out 4/29 on Fat Possum and he'll be touring with Feist from 4/10-4/30. That's more like it.

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Posted at 1:54 PM

Comments (9) latest by karl

Bowie On ScarJo's Waits Covers

We've been talking a bit about Scarlett Johansson's Waits covers recently, but now Ziggy Stardust has spoken. As we mentioned, David Bowie sings on Anywhere I Lay My Head, more specifically on "Falling Down' and "Fannin' Street." Seems like he dug the experience. As he posted on his official site, "The songs are great, really good Tom Waits stuff, and Scarlett's performances are mystical and twice cool." Yeah, we often think Scarlett's twice cool, too. He adds, "She creates a mood that could have been summoned by someone like Margery Latimer or Jeanette Winterson." Nice way to drop in a reference to the author of Sexing The Cherry, you dog.

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Posted at 6:27 PM

Comments (1) latest by frankie

New Old Velvet Underground - "I'm Not A Young Man Anymore"

It might be a bitch to have a song you performed in 1967 called "I'm Not A Young Man Anymore" come out over forty years later when, yeah, you're pretty damn old, but it the song shreds like this one does, it oughta soften the blow. Besides the new old one, the just unearthed Gymnasium live bootleg includes a 19-minute "Sister Ray," "Guess I'm Falling In Love," "I'm Waiting For The Man," and "Run Run Run."

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Posted at 6:03 PM in MP3

Comments (3) latest by Amighty

Stephin Merritt On The Strokes, "Horrible Bitch" Scary Spice

Mr. Magnetic Fields is always good for a snarky quote or two (or yeah, oh yeah, three), especially when he's talking about folks other than himself. And we say this as huge fans of the man and his music (and the Fields' show at Town Hall this weekend -- post TK). He's actually fairly mellow in this Time Out New York interview, commenting on the Strokes' "Ask Me Anything" and the Boss's "Girls In Their Summer Clothes" and their Fields-y sounds: "I think they're lovely. I completely agree in the case of the Strokes. I think it sounds like a parody of me, done beautifully -- it's a great melody. [Springsteen's] 'Girls in Their Summer Clothes' is just a Phil Spector pastiche done in a style that resembles my Phil Spector pastiche." He's pissier about Scary Spice -- with good reason -- recounting a tale from when he himself was a writer for TONY and had problems with his cassette recorder while interviewing the Spice Girl: "Melanie B, Scary Spice, was an unbelievably horrible bitch about it. [In loud, obnoxious voice] Have you ever interviewed anybody before? Do I really have to sit and listen to you fiddle with your tape deck?"

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Posted at 5:03 PM

Comments (5) latest by Beans

Alice In Chains Biopic Casts Layne Staley Lookalike

30-year-old Hollywood newbie Lathan McKay is going to play the lead in Get Born Again, the upcoming Alice In Chains film based on the book of the same name by Adriana Rubio. Not only does Lathan McKay looks like Layne Staley, his name is ... well, they both start with "La." McKay has reportedly met with Rubio and "has also been training with U.S. rockers Motherweiser to familiarize himself with the 1990s grunge rock band's music." He didn't know about grunge? You can see a few more images of the alien at the film's MySpace.

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Posted at 4:16 PM

Comments (4) latest by pete

New Feist - "I Feel It All (Britt From Spoon Remix)"

Feist's "I Feel It All" single comes stacked with a few instances of the ultimate promotional tool: the remix. Fair enough, some of you were getting a little restless at the remix glut after we took a listen to Grizzly Bear's stabs and flourishes at the track, but it's worth noting that Chilly Gonzales and Britt sort of kill it. Gonzales's version is a total track transformation (think sexy, dusky, dancefloor). And as mentioned, Britt adds to the track by cutting stuff away, reforming Leslie's rollicking roots rock tune by sculpting it in his own band's image. The result is as spare and lean as a Spoon track with no guitars necessary: just a taut thwumping bass line, a tambourine, and a rising and ebbing and echoing Feist vocal. Nice job, Britt From Spoon.

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Posted at 4:58 PM

Comments (11) latest by Sir Terrence Tuppins

New Roots - "75 Bars (Black's Reconstruction)"

The Roots' 8th studio LP Rising Down is out out April 29th, and Okayplayer hosts the first "blog banger," which runs through a "one verse/no chorus, lyrical assault from Black Thought over a sharp ?uestlove drum break and analog bass." Backpackers might wanna unload and dig in; what he "spit is like a psychology exam." Works for us, just hope Def Jam does a better job with it than last time -- our hearts can take no more depressed Ahmir webcam confessionals.

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Posted at 2:57 PM

Comments (2) latest by Music Web Navigator

My Bloody Valentine, Aphex Twin Do Bestival

So many festivals, but only one can be Bestival. The UK event was curated by BBC Radio 1's Rob da Bank and takes place on the Isle of Wight from September 5-7. So far the lineup includes the above-mentioned MBV and Aphex Twin, along with the Breeders, George Clinton, Gary Numan, the Human League, Lee Scratch Perry, the Wedding Present, 808 State ... wow, this is getting very nostalgic, Rob da Bank. As far as the youngsters, BTW Fuck Buttons, Foals, the Count & Sinden, These New Purtians, and St. Vincent, among others, will be there. May not be the best lineup across the board, but it's a good one, and they definitely have the trippiest website.

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Posted at 2:08 PM in TOUR DATES

Comments (1) latest by ty

Radiohead, Jack Johnson, Tom Petty To Play SF's Outside Lands, Another New Summer Festival

In what's surely the summer of Jack Johnson's life, another new festival's been announced and, yes, the peaceful surfing Curious George scribe's at the top of the schedule. Who knew so many people were on Jack's johnson? For Western commenters jealous over Radiohead's spot at Jersey's APW, you'll get another look at Thom & Co., too. (That makes like six.) It'll take place August 22-24 in Golden Gate Park. More details to come.

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Posted at 11:37 AM in TOUR DATES

Comments (3) latest by Elliot

Janet Jackson Samples Daft Punk

"Daftendirekt," to be exact. The result of her daring innovation? Well, Discipline's "So Much Betta" basically sounds like the Chipmunks covering "Milkshake" ... which is to say it sounds awesome. But really, how much more Daft sampling can we take? Even will.i.am sampled them, though if you remember, the Robots put the kibosh on that rhymery, so he was forced to "leak" the tune. No worries, will, you'd be be better off "sampling" a rhyming dictionary.

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Posted at 11:37 AM

Comments (7) latest by JB

New Old Peter Morén Demos

Peter sounds a little sad on the three spare, folky demos he's posted at MySpace. They're early guitar/vocal sketches for the new album ... let's call it young folk. He says he added 'em because, "it felt a bit empty here without any music." Guessing it also feels a bit empty without Bjorn, John, and Kanye. Judging from the photo to the right, he's also missing his neck. (via P4K)

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Posted at 11:04 AM

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Two Nights Of Radiohead At All Points West

That according to URB, and why would URB lie to you? The inaugural APW Music & Arts Fest (brought to you by AEG Live and Goldenvoice) takes place 8/8-8/10 at Liberty State Park. That's where we saw Radiohead in August 2001 ... though this time instead of Beta Band as openers, we'll probably get Jack Johnson. All signs point to APW fitting nicely into that second leg of Thom & Co's North American tour. Get psyched, Jersey City.

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Posted at 10:28 PM in TOUR DATES

Comments (6) latest by cachinnate