Nick Cave's darker and heavier outfit Grinderman returns with their latest Grinderman 2, out September 13 in the UK and Europe and the following day in North America. Take a look at the cover and track listing below.
1) Mickey Mouse and the Goodbye Man 2) Worm Tamer 3) Heathen Child 4) When My Baby Comes 5) What I Know 6) Evil 7) Kitchenette 8) Palaces Of Montezuma 9) Bellringer Blues
In one of the highest accolades for a young writer, Officially A Yuppie owner and Editor-in-Chief, Salvatore Bono has been chosen to be a corresponding music blogger for the prestigious Huffington Post. Bono will be covering New York events and you will catch many of the fine articles you see here on the HuffPo. Sal is very excited and very thrilled to be apart of this.
Incubus are going to work on their latest record at the end of the summer according to Sony Music. Sony just released Brandon Boyd's solo debut, The Wild Trapeze on Tuesday and in their newsletter said the SoCal rockers will regroup at the end of the summer. Those that are avid readers to this site already knew that, since during my interview with bassist Ben Kenney he spilled the beans - take a look again HERE to see what I am talking about.
Spiritualized main man Jason Pierce says he has been "living in the studio," recording his new record. He tells NME.com that the follow up to 2008's Songs in A&E have been inspired by his recent concerts where he has been playing Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating into Space in it's entirety. He also mentions that the record will have a new pop direction. No word on when Pierce will be done with album number three.
Cryptic Horrors front man Faris Badwan will feature a collection of his art in London in August. The singer's exhibit entitled "Drawing a Straight Number Nine," will be held at the city's Book Club and runs from August 11 - 29.
Amy Winehouse has come out of seclusion and joined close friend and producer Mark Ronson on stage this weekend in London at the 100 Club. This was Winehouse's first stage appearance in 2010, she is a guest on Ronson's forthcoming LP Record Collection.
File under: FUCK YES! Conor Oberst is set to reunite his short lived (but fantastic) band Desaparecidos in their native Nebraska for a benifit concert to protest Nebraska's Imigration Reform. Called "Concert for Equality," take place July 31st at Downtown Benson with proceeds going to the ACLU Nebraska’s effort to “repeal Fremont’s anti-immigrant law.” Also on the bill are Cursive and Bright Eyes (Oberst himself - I thought he dropped that moniker?). For more info go HERE.
I cant believe I missed this when it originally aired! However, the rerun ran last night and it was worth the wait. Canadian band Stars hit up Fallon in May to premiere "Fixed," off their latest. Take a look and I promise you will love it!
Jonah Matranga is having a busy year. After recording and touring with the reunited Far, he is also back to work on his beloved solo material. However, there is a bit of a twist to this - Matranga is looking for us to help him make the record. Singers, percussionists, string players, beat makers, people who can speak (which means all of us) to be apart of his latest creation. He is hoping to have it done by his Birthday on August 11 and if you are interested CLICK HERE for more info!
If anyone knows Jonah, you know he is all about love and community, this is an opportunity you do not want to miss!
In this era of music and technology anyone can literally do anything and if it is diverse and catchy enough, it will catch on. For Ireland's Two Door Cinema Club, an unconventional electronic rock act, being diverse and catchy is what they are all about. A young act that has gained much attention through not just their music, but their enthusiastic live sets. While opening for acts like Phoenix and Delphic, Two Door Cinema Club has achieved a global buzz and show they will be around for a while. They are band that makes serious music without taking themselves seriously, which in the end may prove to be their greatest asset in surviving in the dog eat dog world of music. I had the opportunity to speak with singer and main beat maker Alex Trimble. Take a look at my interview with Alex as we discussed living up to an Irish legacy, the band's unique sound and structure and hitting the road with the France's favorite new wave rockers, Phoenix.
You hail from Ireland, the land of U2, The Pogues, Oscar winning songwriter Glen Hansard of The Swell Season and The Frames. Do you feel any pressure arriving in America being an Irish band and having to live up to those before you?
We tend not to take note of any pressure. Those acts are very different from us too. I think we fit into a different area. The Pogues fit into the very Irish influenced category, Glenn Hansard fits into a more folky category and U2 fall into the boring and predictable category.
Where does the name Two Door Cinema come from? Are you all fans of films and going to the theater?
Its named after a cinema near where we live called the Tudor Cinema. It came about after Sam mispronounced the name of the place. It seemed to stick so we changed the spelling to suit it! We're all pretty big film fans and going to the cinema is always a good activity for a day off on tour!
The sound and style of the band is really unique, who are some of your influences?
This is a really hard question for us. I always say anything and everything which sounds like a bit of a cop out answer but its genuinely true. Everything we do, see and hear has an effect on our music.
Electro driven rock has become super popular in the last 10 years, how does Two Door Cinema Club contribute to the movement and stand out on your own?
We've never consciously tried to be part of anything or avoid anything. We just want to write good music that makes us happy.
What I find great about the band is that there is no drummer! You have taken the conventional idea of a band and thrown it out the window, do you think you will ever get a live drummer?
Thanks for the compliment but we already have a live drummer...
Who programs all the beats into the Mac?
Thats me!
Do you believe now because you do not have a real person hammering away at the beats during your sets and studio time, technology will replace real musicians in the coming years?
Ha. No. At the minute, technology cant match up to the feel and the flare of a real musician and I doubt it ever will. Unless we get some genuine Artificial Intelligence happening in which case I think we'll end up running into a Terminator type situation.
You are hitting the road with Phoenix this year, that band blew up (finally) around the world last year. Do you feel any pressure opening for them?
No. Like I said, we don't let pressure get the better of us. We see playing with bands that we love and respect, like Phoenix, as a chance to learn and to get better ourselves.
After your tour with Phoenix you will be doing a small headlining tour in the US. Is it odd to go from openers to headliners in just a few weeks?
They're very different types of shows and we take different things away from each. It used to be strange jumping from one to the other but we're more used to it now and we know what to expect. Although I think the US will be a different thing all together!
You have been doing your fair share of remixes for acts like Phoenix and Chew Lips. Who would you like to remix your music?
I love remixes so I have a few people I'd love to have a go at our stuff!! Daft Punk, Xinobi, Chromeo, St. Pauli to name just a few!
Portishead will begin working on the follow-up to their 2008's Third. Portishead member Geoff Barrow told BBC 6 radio that "I just want to bang on and get another record done." No word on when the album will be finished or released, but this comes a sigh of relief for fans as they do not have to wait another decade in between records as they did with the band's self titled release and Third.
Airborne Toxic Event are currently in LA with producer Dave Sardy (Oasis, Jet) to work on the follow up to their 2008 debut. The band is hoping to have the album out in early 2011.
Bruce Springsteen is set to re-release a special anniversary edition of his epic Darkness on the Edge of Town. Guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt tells Rolling Stone that the record will include at least 10 outtakes. The re-issue should be out by Christmas.
Trent Reznor is a busy man, always has been and always will be. Aside from recording his new band How to Destroy Angel's latest, new Nine Inch Nails material, he is also scoring David Fincher's latest film The Social Network. The film is based around the minds that created Facebook. Reznor writes on NIN.com:
"I've always loved David's work but quite honestly I wondered what would draw him to tell that story. When I actually read the script and realized what he was up to, I said goodbye to that free time I had planned. Atticus Ross and I have been on a creative roll so I asked him if he wanted to work on this with me and we signed on. Months later, I'm happy to tell you we're nearing the completion of this and I couldn't be happier with how it's turned out. The level of excellence that David operates on is inspiring and the entire process has been challenging and truly enjoyable."
If you were watching the World Cup this summer or are just an avid soccer fan, you will notice a tattoo on England / Manchester United Striker Wayne Rooney's forearm. It is the cover of the 2001 release from his favorite band, the Welsh rock trio Stereophonics. Stereophonics bursted onto the scene in the late 90's as a grunge rock act, but then refined their music when the New Millennium struck and were a swaggering Rock and Roll outfit. A band that was received a huge embrace around the world, Stereophonics never really caught on in America. A few radio hits here and there, but their appeal was just not enough for the US. However, what turned heads, at least in college radio was Just Enough Education to Perform. A blistering rock record that pins the listener to the wall and gives it to them straight. For many this was their first time with the band and became fans, as the 'Phonics come to the States just a few times each decade, fans from all over the world will try and get a glimpse of this massive band in tiny clubs and pray they hear cuts off this record. Just Enough Education to Perform is an album that needs to be listened to again and again for any fan of rock and roll, for the first time or 100th.
We live in some interesting times, there is no doubt about that. However, one of the most interesting of the 20th Century had to have been during the Cold War and the Witch hunt that went on in America to find communists living among us. Those that challenged or questioned the government and Senator Joseph McCarthy were jailed and suspended from society. Much of Hollywood and liberal elites were placed on lists and Big Brother government kept an eye out. One of those that challenged McCarthy was CBS news anchor Edward R. Murrow, along with his colleague Fred Friendly, they took a stand against McCarthy-ism. IN 2005, Hollywood's liberal elite came under the direction of George Clooney to create Good Night and Good Luck. The Oscar nominated films stars David Strathairn as Murrow, Clooney as Fred Friendly and a fantastic ensemble cast including Patricia Clarkson, Jeff Daniels, Robert Downey Jr and Frank Langella, that, lets face it, had to have sparked the idea for Mad Men. This 90 minute tour de force, takes place in CBS's newsroom and makes you as if you are apart of the action. This was a film for the ages and one to certainly check out or re-watch as our interesting current times prove, everyone seems to be out for someone.
In one of the highest accolades for a young writer, Officially A Yuppie owner and Editor-in-Chief, Salvatore Bono has been chosen to be a corresponding music blogger for the prestigious Huffington Post. Bono will be covering New York events and you will catch many of the fine articles you see here on the HuffPo. Sal is very excited and very thrilled to be apart of this.
In this era of music and technology anyone can literally do anything and if it is diverse and catchy enough, it will catch on. For Ireland's Two Door Cinema Club, an unconventional electronic rock act, being diverse and catchy is what they are all about. A young act that has gained much attention through not just their music, but their enthusiastic live sets. While opening for acts like Phoenix and Delphic, Two Door Cinema Club has achieved a global buzz and show they will be around for a while. They are band that makes serious music without taking themselves seriously, which in the end may prove to be their greatest asset in surviving in the dog eat dog world of music. I had the opportunity to speak with singer and main beat maker Alex Trimble. Take a look at my interview with Alex as we discussed living up to an Irish legacy, the band's unique sound and structure and hitting the road with the France's favorite new wave rockers, Phoenix. 
If you were watching the World Cup this summer or are just an avid soccer fan, you will notice a tattoo on England / Manchester United Striker Wayne Rooney's forearm. It is the cover of the 2001 release from his favorite band, the Welsh rock trio Stereophonics. Stereophonics bursted onto the scene in the late 90's as a grunge rock act, but then refined their music when the New Millennium struck and were a swaggering Rock and Roll outfit. A band that was received a huge embrace around the world, Stereophonics never really caught on in America. A few radio hits here and there, but their appeal was just not enough for the US. However, what turned heads, at least in college radio was Just Enough Education to Perform. A blistering rock record that pins the listener to the wall and gives it to them straight. For many this was their first time with the band and became fans, as the 'Phonics come to the States just a few times each decade, fans from all over the world will try and get a glimpse of this massive band in tiny clubs and pray they hear cuts off this record. Just Enough Education to Perform is an album that needs to be listened to again and again for any fan of rock and roll, for the first time or 100th.
We live in some interesting times, there is no doubt about that. However, one of the most interesting of the 20th Century had to have been during the Cold War and the Witch hunt that went on in America to find communists living among us. Those that challenged or questioned the government and Senator Joseph McCarthy were jailed and suspended from society. Much of Hollywood and liberal elites were placed on lists and Big Brother government kept an eye out. One of those that challenged McCarthy was CBS news anchor Edward R. Murrow, along with his colleague Fred Friendly, they took a stand against McCarthy-ism. IN 2005, Hollywood's liberal elite came under the direction of George Clooney to create Good Night and Good Luck. The Oscar nominated films stars David Strathairn as Murrow, Clooney as Fred Friendly and a fantastic ensemble cast including Patricia Clarkson, Jeff Daniels, Robert Downey Jr and Frank Langella, that, lets face it, had to have sparked the idea for Mad Men. This 90 minute tour de force, takes place in CBS's newsroom and makes you as if you are apart of the action. This was a film for the ages and one to certainly check out or re-watch as our interesting current times prove, everyone seems to be out for someone.