22 posts tagged “the smiths”
RAKES BREAKS
www.therakes.co.uk
I got a note from the Astralwerks band Free Energy saying that some of their shows were canceled due to the fact that the Rakes broke up. That was a bit of a shocker, considering that I thought the Rakes, along with Bloc Party, were a really successful band with top 40 singles.
Here is an excerpt from the statement from the band, dated October 22nd:
The Rakes have always been very adamant and proud of the fact that we give 100% to every gig we’ve ever played. If we can’t give it everything then we won’t do it. That was the rule we set ourselves from day one. After much deliberation we have come to the shared conclusion that we can’t give it 100% anymore and regret to announce that The Rakes are calling it a day.
A total of 10 dates were canceled by Free Energy, but here is the new dates (note: Minneapolis is canceled):- FREE ENERGY TOUR DATES:
10/24: London, UK @ Cargo (DFA Night)
10/26: London, UK @ Barfly
10/27: London, UK @ Rough Trade Records (Hoxton) In-Store
(Early Show)/Waterats (Late Show)
10/28: London, UK @ Windmill
11/11: Boston, MA @ Great Scott
11/19: Dallas, TX @ The Cavern
11/20: Austin, TX @ The Mohawk
11/21: Baton Rouge, LA @ Spanish Moon
11/22: Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
11/23: Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
11/24: Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
11/25: Washington, DC @ DC9, set TBA
11/27: Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
11/28: New York, NY @ Santos Party House
lilyallenmusic.com
Speaking of splitting, Lily Allen will be splitting from her record label, EMI. Allen, who recently had that insert-mouth-in-foot moment when she had nothing but disdain her fans for sharing her music, is to set up her own record label. She's currently has no plans on touring or promoting her latest album, It's Not Me, It's You and have pretty much abandoned being on the internet.
Quote:
Ironic since her career started because of her fame on myspace.I've thrown away my laptop and I haven't got a Blackberry. I've cut myself off and it's been brilliant so far.
jarviscocker.net
Not breaking up, Jarvis Cocker was recently quoted by People Magazine as having said:
That sparked a slew of rumors that Pulp were reforming for Glasto 2010.Glastonbury means an awful lot to me, I would love to play there again. We've talked about it, there we go, there'll be a band reunion.
Unfortunately, as quick as the rumor started, it was also swiftly put to an end when Jarvis came out to say that "Pulp have no plans to get back together".
Someone asked me if I fancied playing at the 40th anniversary of Glastonbury, I said yes, they twisted that into a 'Pulp reform' story. It's not true.
www.itsmorrisseyworld.com
Speaking of further complications: It's widely reported that Morrissey collapse on the floor on the opening song, "This Charming Man" at Oasis Leisure Centre, due to breathing difficulties.
Although, NME said Morrissey to resume tour in London following onstage collapse, I suspect there will be even more cancellations in the future. Morrissey's has always been notorious for cancelling shows, due to illness and/or unexplained circumstances. I have seen Morrissey live before, but my original ticket to see him in somewhen 1994 was dashed when he canceled that show in Los Angeles. I believe we ponied up $75 per ticket (that was like a billion dollars back then).
Of course, none of this compare to the fan outage of Denny offering free burgers to fans who bought tickets to see Morrissey. Morrissey, as you know, is famous for being an advocator of vegetarianism.
10/27/2009 14:51:08 ♥ vu (
) ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
ATLAS SHRUGGED
myspace.com/bradfordcox
Unfortunately, they're not coming near Minneapolis (I've visited Northfield before - it's a bit isolated!), otherwise I would love to do some coverage on them.
The tour information:
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10/15 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
10/16 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
10/17 Washington, DC @ Black Cat
10/18 Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church
10/20 New York, NY @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
10/21 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
10/22 Boston, MA @ The Paradise
10/23 Montreal, QC @ Le National
10/24 Toronto, ON @ Lees Palace
10/25 Columbus, OH @ Wexner Center
10/26 Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
10/27 Northfield, MN @ The Cave
10/30 Vancouver, BC @ Richards On Richards
10/31 Seattle, WA @ Neumos
11/01 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
11/03 San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
11/04 Los Angeles, CA @ The Troubadour
11/05 Phoenix, AZ @ Rhythm Room
11/07 Denton, TX @ Hailey's
kylie.com
Chicagoans, please note that tomorrow's Kyle Minogue's sold-out show at the Congress Theatre has been upgraded to the UIC Pavilion (University of Illinois at Chicago: 525 S Racine Ave., Chicago, IL 60607-3303). According to the announcement, this is being done because of "the sheer scale of the production".
All the tickets that fans have purchased for the Congress Theater will be good at the UIC Pavilion. However, because of the upgraded venue, more seats/tickets are available for purchase (it went on sale October 4th, so I'm assuming it's probably already sold out). Good luck anyway, check with ticketbastard if you still have hope to attend.
MEAT IS MURDER
transformers.com
Since Christopher can't get enough of Morrissey and the Smiths, I thought I'd offer this: did you know the Smiths is in Transformers 2: Rise of the Fallen? I know this may sound trivial, but I think it's cool.
Shia LaBeouf's character evolved from loving The Strokes & Green Day, to The Smiths, apparently.
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TRANSFORMERS: Megan Fox hiding |
TRANSFORMERS 2: Meat is Murder poster |
PHONING IT IN
nuclearoreilly.com
The world's first iPhone album, Phoning It In, by Nuclear O'Reilly is available on their website for free. I think it's a good promotion for both Apple and its software, by Intua Software (which costs $19.99). Both platform and music software is powerful enough to produce this electronic album.A music duo disguised as male escorts for librarians
I did quickly listen to the album, it sounds a bit like a video game. If you think there are no vocals, you're wrong, you can hear some mumbling on "Creamatorium", which I'm assuming they used the iPhone's mic to record it. It's kind of a gimmick, but since it's free, why not check it out? Maybe they can be the next Guitar Zeros, or even worst, iBand.
THE PEN IS MIGHTIER
olympusamerica.com
For years now, I've been using my pocket Sony T7 Camera, which I've been quite happy with - for daytime shooting. If you are interested in a credit card-sized camera, T7 is a great camera for you. Image quality is great, but sensor is slow (as with all compact camera), but you can get around this by taking small 640x480 shots. The bigger the size, the worst it looks. Plus for night shots, see example, you tend to lose details. And you can forget about "fast-action" shots, the sensor is not fast enough to capture frame-by-frame.
The $400, I originally paid for the T7 in 2005, have been totally worth every penny. But in the day of technology growing in leaps and bounds, especially in the digital camera market, my T7 is a dinosaur!
I've placed an order for the Olympus PEN E-P1 Camera.
Based on reviews I've read, comparing image quality with other standard
SLR camera in its class, I am impressed with the Pen Camera. It particularly did really well with low-light situations, which is what I
was looking for. It also shoots 1080 HD movie files, which I think will
become more useful in the future. The only complaint people have said
is that is a bit expensive (base camera starts at $800), and I've also
read that it's slow on the SLR class - but slow they indicate as much
as three seconds to startup the camera. Three seconds is not slow! I can live with three seconds!
The tracking number said I'm receiving the camera on Thursday, just in time for Friday's show: Asobi Seksu, Lonely Dear, and Anna Ternheim.
If it all works out, we should have some fantastic pictures from the show. Sadly, I'll still have a perfectly working Sony T7. Should I sell it? Any offers? It's probably most likely going in the bin of other retired electronics, like my all my old iPods, Palm PDA, and MiniDisc players!
PS, Hooray, we're listed as a neighbor on team.vox.com.
10/06/2009 18:40:06 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
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(500) Days of Summer is a movie about love, sure, but it's also a movie about music. These songs build bridges between Tom and Summer and they tear them down. They can make you dance and they can make you cry. They describe how we feel and express emotions that just couldn't get out any other way. Music is the soul of this movie.
- director Marc Webb
Of course, I'm familiar with all bands on the soundtrack, most of these songs I already have on various albums. Particularly, I'm keen on the old stuff. I mean who can say no to Hall & Oates' "You Make My Dreams" as you picture Daryl Hall's legs flapping. Or just give into Morrissey as he whines "Please, Please, Please, Please, Please, Pease, Please, Please, No Really Please Let Me Get What I Want". Or reflecting on a time of innocence with Simon & Garfunkel's sweet and harmless "Bookends".
If there is a theme on this soundtrack, it's that these are all love songs. While as usual, the more established alternative acts (Regina Spektor, Feist, Wolfmother) does a great job with their love songs, the unknown artists (at least to me) on this compilation actually does a great job introducing themselves to me. I was particularly impressed with "She's Got You High" by Mumm-Ra (are they named after the Thundercats' arch-nemesis? If so: AWESOME).
As a cover lover, I noticed there are two on the album. As I previously mentioned, "Please...." by She & Him does an excellent job with the cover, although it sounds pretty much like the original. Singer Zooey Deschanel does not bother changing the lyrics from a male's perspective (and there's no hint of desperation in her vocals) and M Ward does his best Johnny Marr jangly guitar. No problem here, it's just that I've heard this before.
The really weird wild-card in this bunch is current-spouse of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian model-turned-singer, Carla Bruni. To be fair, she's been releasing music since 2002, and her acoustic-folk French song, "Quelqu'un m'a dit" does a nice job as a break between all the English-based songs.
It should be interesting to see where the soundtrack play in the movie, so let me know if you see (500) Days of Summer. The romantic comedy movie is currently playing at selected theaters near you, while the soundtrack is available now via the great Sire Records. There's always Amazon and iTunes (iTunes version includes the actors singing "Sugar Town", "Here Comes Your Man" and "At Last").
Trivia: The movie will be released in Australia on October 1st, where the soundtrack actually have two Aussie bands: The Temper Trap and Wolfmother.
08/01/2009 22:16:06 ♥ vu ()
♥ foxsearchlight.com/500daysofsummer
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05/21/09
Hot Topic Westminster Mall, CA
Discography
06/19/09 The Paisley Violin Phoenix, AZ 06/20/09 Black Market Albuquerque, NM 06/23/09 Circa 76 Little Rock, AR 06/24/09 Blackthorn Pub Joplin, MO 06/26/09 Elysium Austin, TX 06/27/09 Hi Ho Lounge New Orleans, LA 07/25/09 Club Vicious Glendale, CA
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Broken Dolls
Versailles hailing from Albuquerque, NM is (Dianna Marie St.Hilaire) singer songwriter and piano player.
Versailles is a self taught musician and songwriter and after several years mastering her craft, studying music, playing piano and singing, she relocated to Los Angeles, California where she recorded her first album.
Released in 2003, "Live Your Life" was produced by Mike White and Versailles and featured the songs Live Your Life, Segmented, Little Dead Kitten and Fallen Angel.
You can hear all of her influences in her work: The Smiths, The Cure, Tori Amos, Depeche Mode, Smashing Pumpkins and even Madonna. Her writing delves into what I would consider very universal themes; loss, pain, heartbreak and abandonment and her first album helped her gain a considerable amount of attention for an artist that was unsigned.
In 2005, Versailles was asked to do a cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Something I Can Never Have" which was released on the Cleopatra CD release "A Gothic Acoustic Tribute to NIN".
Now back "Broken Dolls" this is the second release from Versailles and her first with her current line up of drummer Rod Arias and guitarist Andy Bettis.
If you are interested in rocking out "Broken Dolls" is not that kind of album, I've read several reviews of this artist and I can see where there is a comparison to Evanescence and their very talented front woman Amy Lee and there are obvious influences in look and subject matter. Where Evanescence is considered a full on rock band, Versailles is in my opinion more in line Tori Amos and "Broken Dolls" is in my view a concept record and it follows a very dark story line. It's very much the kind of record that you put on at night, light some candles and basically clear your mind and just listen. "Legion", "Once", "Fade" and "Speak To Me" are stand out tracks in this 14 song release.
The lyrics are very descriptive and Versailles opens up and really gives you a glimpse into her thoughts and dreams. Reading the lyrics to the songs, I was thinking I may be depressed if I listen to this, but I put it in to listen and my 17 year old daughter comes and asks "Who Is That?" so we sat and listened to this album together and really enjoyed it.
As fan of several different musical genres "Broken Dolls" incorporates what is most enjoyable about new wave, Goth, alternative, and ambiance music and Versailles is a very unique artist that should be heard.
05/15/2009 11:08:20 ♥ carl (
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♥ versailles.ro
♥ myspace.com/versailles
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03/06/09 House Of Blues Myrtle Beach, SC
Discography 03/07/09 Variety Playhouse Atlanta, GA 03/09/09 Orange Peel Asheville, NC 03/11/09 DPAC Durham, NC 03/13/09 The National Richmond, VA 03/14/09 Warner Theater Washington, DC 03/16/09 Wellmont Theater Montclair, NJ 03/17/09 Carnegie Music Hall Pittsburgh, PA 03/19/09 University of Buffalo Center for the Arts Buffalo, NY 03/21/09 Bowery Ballroom New York, NY 03/22/09 Academy of Music Philadelphia, PA 03/25/09 Webster Hall New York, NY 03/26/09 Carnegie Hall New York, NY 03/28/09 Foxwoods Mashantucket, CT 03/29/09 House of Blues Boston, MA 03/31/09 Michigan Theater Ann Arbor, MI 04/01/09 Palace Theater Columbus, OH 04/03/09 Eagles Ballroom Milwaukee, WI 04/04/09 Aragon Ballroom Chicago, IL 04/06/09 State Theater Minneapolis, MN 04/07/09 Midland Theater Kansas City, MO 04/08/09 Pageant Theatre St. Louis, MO 04/10/09 Dallas Palladium Dallas, TX 04/11/09 Jesse Jones Hall Houston, TX 04/12/09 Bass Concert Hall Austin, TX 04/14/09 Chavez Theater El Paso, TX 04/15/09 Sunshine Theater Albuquerque, NM 04/17/09 Coachella Indio, California 04/28/09 INEC Killarney 04/29/09 Leisureland Galway 05/01/09 Leisure Centre Omagh 05/02/09 Waterfront Belfast 05/04/09 Albert Halls Stirling 05/05/09 Caird Hall Dundee 05/07/09 Barrowland Glasgow 05/08/09 Barrowland Glasgow 05/10/09 Empire Liverpool 05/11/09 Royal Albert Hall London 05/13/09 Symphony Hall Birmingham 05/15/09 Britannia Pier Great Yarmouth 05/16/09 Corn Exchange Cambridge 05/19/09 Arena Hull 05/20/09 Borough Hall Hartlepool 05/22/09 Apollo Manchester 05/23/09 Apollo Manchester 05/25/09 City Hall Salisbury 05/26/09 Mile End Troxy Ballroom London 05/28/09 Brixton 02 Academy London 05/29/09 Brixton O2 Academy London 05/30/09 Brixton O2 Academy London 06/02/09 Grand Rex Paris 06/03/09 Aeronef Lille 06/05/09 Rockhal Club Luxembourg 06/06/09 Watt Rotterdam 06/08/09 Elizabeth Hall Antwerp 06/09/09 Capitol Offenbach 06/11/09 Palladium Cologne 06/12/09 Columbiahalle Berlin 06/14/09 Poer 2 Bremen 06/15/09 Rytmeposten Odense 06/17/09 KB Hallen Copenhagen 06/18/09 Ahaga Boras 06/20/09 Senstrumscene Oslo 06/22/09 Lisebergshallen Gothenberg 06/24/09 Hovet Stockholm 06/26/09 Tampere Arena Tampere 06/27/09 Cable Factory Helsinki 06/29/09 Maneshe St Petersburg 07/01/09 B1 Club Moscow
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I bought everything I could from BMG music club. I still think it's a great deal, you get 4 CDs for the cost of "shipping" - which usually works out to be about $4 a CD. BMG had a back catalog of only some Smiths albums (they were missing albums like Meat is Murder and Rank to name a few) and only two Morrissey albums, Viva Hate and Bona Drag (the latter is more or less a compilation).
When those few albums wasn't enough for me, I sought out singles, collecting cover artwork, fanzines, and bootlegs. I suppose it shouldn't surprise anyone that I can get a bit obsessive.
Just to let you know, for the sake of being faithful and for collecting, I still buy his singles. I no longer try and get all different version of a 'greatest hits' album or anything. For instance, I think there's a new Smiths greatest hits out, which I'll be ignoring... although there's always this nagging voice in the back of my mind to 'complete' the collection, you know?
Okay, for those still awake, Morrissey's latest album is called Years of Refusal. If you are only familiar with the 'mopey'/depressing Morrissey of those Smiths days, I have to warn you that this album is very muscular and aggressive. There is, of course, the odd sad song ("You Were Good In Your Time"), but they are quite outnumbered on this album.
I really enjoyed the opening and closing songs ("Something Is Squeezing My Skull" and "I'm Ok By Myself"), they seem like fitting bookends to a great novel. The first song is just a fast song with an amusing Morrissey lyric of "don't give me anymore". The last song was co-written by Jesse Tobias, who is a semi-new collaborator. The rest of the album are written by old band rockabillish members, Alain Whyte and Boz Boorer, they've been with Morrissey since 1991.
Morrissey is definitely a more modern and mature musician since The Smiths... and easily his most poppiest album to date. New fans will be delighted, old fans may not really like. But you know they are going to buy it anyway, so it doesn't really matter what I say.... although I will have to say this album is much, much, better than his last one, Ringleader of the Tormentors .
You can find Years of Refusal at any record store. If you can't find it, then you are shopping at the wrong record store. Fans should be sure to only get the deluxe edition with bonus DVD.
Look for Julia Riley if you're going to attend a show. I will at the Minneapolis show, so come say hi.
As a special bonus, here are some Morrissey songs I've previously mentioned:
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UPDATE 3/6/09: I got this amusing note:
"I have survived the interrogation of Atlanta's Immigration officials and Myrtle Beach shall have me tonite (Friday), and the world from then onwards ... if the world can take it. One of the many penalties of being human is that tours often take a military push to start, well, all of our answers will be in our songs tomorrow night. The bloodbath starts at 7.30. Life is testing you out. Be ready for anything."
03/05/2009 23:18:16 ♥ vu ()
♥ itsmorrisseysworld.com ♥ morrissey-solo.com ♥ true-to-you.net
| Inspirational Place wrote: Fri, Dec 5, 2008 at 11:07 PM |
Inspirational Place's comment above, er, inspired me to write about "There is a Light that Never Goes Out" covers. I realized that there's already been several website doing coverage on this song (and its covers), but their articles are ugly! Ok! As a long time Morrissey/Smiths collector, I have also extended my collection to tribute CDs and bootlegs, so most of these songs are already in my little Moz shrine.[this is good] Sounds a little bit like Morrisey...which is good, real good ;o)
A little introduction on Morrissey's obsession on super long song titles. Here's some examples:
- "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me"
- "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want"
- "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before"
- "Please Help the Cause Against Lonliness" (written by Morrissey, recorded by Sandie Shaw)
- "Such a Little Thing Makes Such a Big Difference"
- "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful"
- "The Last of the Famous International Playboys"
- "There is a Place for Me and My Friends in Hell"
- "The More you Ignore me, the Closer I Get"
Obviously the song's been a major influence on a lot of bands (we'll get to that later), but I was surprise to see it in Irvine Welsh's book Trainspotting the first time I read it after seeing the movie (incidentally, one of my favorite top 10 movies of all time):
So below are some covers of "There is a Light". This is by no means a definitive list, but it's a pretty good list by diverse artist. Plus many of these covers were released in one format or another with the exception of the Death Cab's version as that was a live radio broadcast. I have several videos also (notably Noel Gallagher's rendition of "There is a Light" that's worth looking up on youtube if you get a chance), but I'm mainly sticking with CD releases.
Spud wanted to never get to that party, wishing that they could just go on walking and talking. They went down into the underpass and Spud thought that he should try to put his arm around Nicola. Then a passage from a Smiths' song, one he'd always liked called: 'There Is A Light That Never Goes Out', came into his head:
and in the darkened underpass
I thought Oh God my chance has come at last
but then a strange fear gripped me
and I just couldn't ask
Morrissey's sad voice summed up his feelings.He didn't put his arm around Nicola, and his attempts to chat her up were half–arsed after that.
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ANBERLIN
schneidertm.net ♥ myspace.com They're currently on tour in support of their major-label album, New Surrender:
12/12 - The Great Salt Air - Magna, UT 12/15 - Toad's Place - Richmond, VA 01/07 - Nashville, TN @ Rocketown 01/08 - Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel 01/09 - Harrisonburg, VA @ The Alethia 01/10 - Lancaster, PA @ Chameleon Club 01/11 - Providence, RI @ Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel 01/13 - Montreal, QC @ Studio JPR 01/14 - Ottawa, ON @ Babylon 01/15 - London, ON @ Cowboy's Ranch 01/16 - Grand Rapids, MI @ Calvin College Fine Arts Center 01/17 - Milwaukee, WI @ The Eagles Club 01/18 - Des Moines, IO @ People's Court 01/19 - Omaha, NE @ Slowdown 01/21 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue 01/22 - Fargo, ND @ The Venue 01/23 - Winnipeg, MB @ Garrick Centre **VENUE CHANGE** 01/24 - Regina, SK @ The Exchange 01/25 - Edmonton, AB @ The Starlite Room 01/26 - Calgary, AB @ The Warehouse 01/28 - Vancouver, BC @ Richard's on Richards Cabaret 01/30 - Billings, MT @ Shrine Auditorium 01/31 - Pocatello, ID @ Icon |
DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE
deathcabforcutie.com ♥ myspace.com This is an acoustic version, pretty faithful with Ben Gibbard only messing up slightly (but not noticable) for Philadelphia's Radio 104.5. I've seen the band live before, and I sure wish they'd play this song as I would've gone nuts for it. The band's recently been in the news because their "classic" 1998's debut album Something About Airplanes was re-issued as a limited edition deluxe 10-year anniversary 2-disc set. The bonus disc contains "recently-unearthed recording of the band’s first-ever Seattle show, a February 1998 set at the legendary venue The Crocodile Café". Apparently on this live recording also includes Sean Nelson on vocals for Death Cab's version of yet-another The Smiths' song, "Sweet and Tender Hooligan"! Since I actually own their first album and didn't get a review copy for this release, I probably won't pick up the album (sorry Death Cab!).... Although it's very tempting at such a reasonable price of $12. Oh, hey, they're on tour.
12/11/08 Oracle Arena Oakland, California 12/13/08 Tucson Convention Center Tucson, Arizona 12/14/08 Gibson Amphitheatre Los Angeles, California 12/12/09 Club Quattro Naka-nu Nagoya 12/14/09 Shinkiba Studio Coast Koto-ku, Tokyo 12/16/09 Big Cat Chuo-ku, Osaka |
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THE LUCKSMITHS
thelucksmiths.com.au ♥ myspace.com The song recently made its way back on The Luckies' two-disc compilation CD, Spring a Leak released last year. What makes this an invaluable item in your collection will be that it contains songs from their debut 7" single The Macintyre 7 inch which has a very surprisingly country-esque song "Are You Having A Good Time!!". This is rock n roll so everything rhymes! I love it. |
THE DIVINE COMEDY
thedivinecomedy.com ♥ myspace.com Although I can't agree with some of the direction of the songs, overall it was a decent effort. Some of the highlight of this album for me is Placebo's fast-paced, yet whiny, version of "Bigmouth Strikes Again" and Supergrass' dope version of "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" Neil Hannon's approach to "There is a Light" is very orchestral - which is basically what The Divine Comedy is known for. Hannon's operatic vocals lends itself to feel more epic. |
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YO-YO MUNDI
yoyomundi.it What I love about this release is that the cover artwork is the full print of "The Enchanted Desna" (unknown actors). The picture previously was cropped only showing the baby for "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore".... and in addition, unseen photographs of The Smiths were used. The price is kind of steep if you're on a budget at $20, but hey, if you're a Smiths fan (and generally like covers), this is a great package - if not for the limited run. |
WALLEYE
myspace.com/walleyemusic I can't bring myself to listening to, but it was a nice try, at least a very different take on Smiths songs - which are known for their sensitive side. I don't know any of the bands that made it on The World Still Won't Listen, so there's not much to write here, sorry :/ PS, one thing I liked was that the cover artwork, mimicking The Smiths' compilation album, The World Won't Listen, only with mohawked kids on the cover. |
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SCHNEIDER TM
schneidertm.net ♥ myspace.com I couldn't find proof of this on wire.com (Wire: please have better search features, please?), but according to wikipedia, the song was voted as "best cover versions ever recorded" by Wire Magazine. |
THE OCEAN BLUE
theoceanblue.com So, that was early 90s, so I was really surprise to see that they're still around - on Sally's review of Blue Skies Daisy Days. |
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BRAID
polyvinylrecords.com The band broke up before I had discovered them, but you can find their greatest hits/compilation Movie Music volume 1 and 2 in used bins at most record store. |
NEIL FINN
finnbros.com ♥ myspace.com/neilfinn For Marr's appearance, they covered The Smiths' "There is a Light that Never Goes Out" - which sounded fantastic live! |
Links:
www.weheartmusic.com
podcast.weheartmusic.com
news.weheartmusic.com
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So... I had a theory, back in the early 90s, based on the music for "Here Comes Your Man" song, that it was somehow a nod to The Smiths' "This Charming Man".
Now, I know these two songs are unrelated, but let's amuse my teenage obsession:
- Both songs features very, very catch guitar playing
- Both music videos features band playing
- Flowers
- Very "soft" video filming
- Morrissey is overally bad at lip syncing, while the Pixies doesn't even bother with lip syncing...
- er, both songs features "Man" in the title?
Well, at the time, I thought those things was viable.
Watch the videos if you don't believe me.
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As for the other band members, Kim Deal is probably best known for being in The Breeders for their breakthrough hit song, "Cannonball".
Links:
blackfrancis.net myspace.com/officialblackfrancis
4ad.com/breeders
myspace.com/thebreeders
Here's a quicky, just because there are some news & notes. Since, you may have noticed, I like doing these theme posts, this theme are one-song submissions.
They are very easy to write about (hey, it's just three minutes of your life!) but because they're based on one song, there's really not much I can write about.
First up, if you have a need to get all the latest music news, check out our announcement page. It's updated nearly every few hours, so news junkies will love this.
Some interesting news to note: watch DIG for free, Skybombers Announces new US Tour Dates, download Jeff Hanson music, and if you're in New York - you guys are so lucky. You could be attending Spiegelworld Festival!
That's just a few items from the nearly 100 post I've made since its birth a few days ago!
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LOQUAT
loquatmusic.com ♥ myspace.com
I actually really love San Francisco's Loquat, so imagine my surprise to find that I have an advance copy of their brand new album, Secrets of the Sea - which is not out until the third quarter of this year. I'm probably not even supposed to talk about it until October, but what I can tell you is that it's very, very good. Just keep your eyes here, or site.w♥m for the latest news. Since I can't unveil any music from the new album, I will tell you that I first discovered her a few years ago when Loquat covered The Smiths' classic "There is a Light That Never Goes Out". Since I was already a huge Morrissey/Smiths fan, it's easy to fall in love with her version... which is a safe and very faithful cover. You can download the song from their flash official website.
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THERESA ANDERSSON
theresaandersson.com ♥ myspace.com
Since I am in love with all-things Swedish, here's a handsome girl called Theresa Andersson. Looking over her press release about her tour dates and the dazzling 700k youtube views. The weird thing is that the press release doesn't indicate any link to the actual video, but if you were curious, it is her playing in her kitchen (in New Orleans?). I was given one of her song, "Birds Fly Away", from her upcoming album Hummingbird, Go! (is that a nod to Thunderbirds Are Go!?) on September 2nd, and I thought it was very 60s pop girl-sounding, but with weird percussion instruments. I was happy to see that Mr Tobias Fröberg is producing her album.
Trust me, this is a girl worth keeping an eye on. |
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THE DARES
thedares.com ♥ myspace.com
Speaking of keeping an eye... Here's The Dares, an up-and-coming power pop trio from California, by the way of Vermont. Maybe I'm just old, but usually this kind of high-energy, on the verge of punk, type of music really isn't my cup of tea. However, I would have to admit this "Love Me When I Leave" is pretty catchy. It's very short, I had to re-play it a few more time to hear how well produced it is. They're currently signed to Zomba Recordings, which is a division of Sony/BMG, so expect a push from them on popular radio this Summer. Even if they don't do much this year, youth is on their side, I'm sure you'll hear from them next year. |
THE SPACE BETWEEN THINGS
myspace.com/thespacebetweenthings
After three version of his "Towels" song, Chris Hobson, aka The Space Between Things finally settled for his perfect version of "Towels". The irony would be if I f-ed up and uploaded the wrong version :/ I'm not given a whole lot to work with here, just one song and no biography. Instead, he directs me to an interview he did at Daydream Generation, which showcase the awesomely snowy Toronto (which means, shock, he's Canadian). Daydream must really like him, as he's also on their Daydream Generation 5 free compilation (over 300mb of music!) So happy downloading and let me know what you think of his song? |
Links:
weheartmusic.com
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07/04/08 London - O2 Wireless Festival
Read More
07/29/08 Tel Aviv - Heatwave Festival |
I rented ITV's See No Evil: The Story of The Moors Murders a few nights ago. Like most Morrissey apostles, I came across this horror from The Smiths song "Suffer Little Children", off their self-titled debut album.
See No Evil: The Story of The Moors Murders is about the infamous Moors Murders case in Manchester. The case involves serial killer couples, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, who killed a total of five children between 1963-1965. The ITV movie version is in two parts and largely centers around the Brady & Hindley's relationships with brother-in-law, David Smith, and his wife, Maureen Hindley.
The movie tastefully does not show any actual murder, and most references were made after-the-fact through investigations and their eventual capture and trial in the second part of the movie.
I will have admit, the movie should have long ended with the imprisonment of the couple, instead it dragged on with Maureen's story.
Anyway, the song, "Suffer Little Children" (originally titled "Over the Moor"), is the first song to be written by Morrissey and guitarist, Johnny Marr.
The title in referenced to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 19, verse 14:
Suffer little children, and forbid them not to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.
The song captures the mood of Moors Murders, from the shallow graves ("Dig a shallow grave and I'll lay me down") to some of the children ("Lesley-Anne [Downey], with your pretty white beads/Oh John [Kilbride], you'll never be a man" and "Edward [Evans], see those alluring lights")
Johnny Rogan, writer of Morrissey & Marr: The Severed Alliance and The Smiths: The Visual Documentary, suggested that this song was "too personal for regular public exposure" pointing to the fact that "Suffer Little Children" was only performed live once.
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As for recorded version of this song, the one that most people are familiar with is John Porter's version from The Smiths' debut album. What most people don't know was that the original album was to be titled The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, by producer Troy Tate.
The original Troy Tate sessions found its way, in parts or in whole, on many Smiths bootlegs, including The Cradle Snatchers, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (LP), A Nice Bit of Meat, and the horribly named, The Troy Hands that Rocks the Cradle.
Apparently there is another version of the Troy Tate sessions, often called "rare remixes" that's found its way on the internet.
Stephane from passionsjustlikemine.com wrote a very good summary of the difference between the two Tate version:
This one is rather obvious. At the end of the TATE2 mix, the outro guitar is accompanied by cymbal, but at the end of the TATE1 version, there is no cymbal. Instead the song segues into the piano part that was later used by the band in "Asleep". The woman giggling or crying at the 4:00 mark is present in the TATE1 mix, and absent in the other one. Also, the "you might sleep but you will never dream" line differs.
Another slight but noticeable difference is the presence of an echoey 'tock' sound at the very beginning of the TATE2 mix. The same sound can be heard at the very beginning of the TATE2 mix of "Wonderful Woman", but in a lower pitch.
That's it for now. Read more about Morrissey on W♥M.
05/02/2008 03:26:34
vu
my♥posts
morrissey-solo.com
passionsjustlikemine.com
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I originally was going to compile my favorite seven posts I've made (out of 380+ posts) and it proved too, too much! Anyway, since I previously compiled something similar to this (see W♥M Award Nomination), this post will be an easy breeze.
I present to you: the Top 7: Favorites! Yes, these were voted by you guys. If you don't like any of these songs, it's all your fault.
Coming in at 16 Favorites is Stars. Stars, Stars, Stars! It's always about Stars.
France Gall's "Laisse Tomber Les Filles" song got 13 Favorites. If you don't understand French, check out April March's "Chick Magnet".
Dolly Parton's "Jolene", the one, and only, original classic song is marked with 12 Favorites. To hear eight "Jolene" cover songs, head over to my abandoned Cover Lover.
"Sway" by Dean Martin got 10 Favorites. It's such a great song, I'm sad to see it so low if you ask me.
And seriously, Stars once against shows up unexpected with "Heart" with 10 Favorites. I suspect the reason why this song got marked up recently is because it was mentioned in the Top 7: Concerts.
Jonathan Coulton probably would charted higher if we'd use his "Code Monkey" song (which is a favorite among nerds), but instead "Baby Got Back" is just as awesome with 9 Favorites. You can download "Baby Got Back" from jonathancoulton.com.
Incidentally, since Alanis Morissette did a similar cover of My Humps, Coulton loves it and covered Morissette's You Oughta Know.
Speaking of similar, OrangeAppled said that The Parcels's "Jessica Pancakes" is "to the tune of the Associations' "Windy"...." I've since checked out the said-song and you know what? Wow it's practically stolen! Still 8 Favorites from you guys managed to keep it on the top 7.
After researching Sunshine Pop, I might check out more stuff in this genre because I've already am a big fan of The Beach Boys and The Mammas and the Pappas... so look for this article next year.
So what's up and coming? These are hot: Kerry Politzer's Always with (5), This Morning Call's Clockworks (5), The Chemical Brothers's The Salmon Dance (5) Colin Meloy's Jack the Ripper (5), The Legendary K.O.'s George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People (5), Hans Zimmer's Spider Pig (5), and Asha Bhosle's Mohabbat Hoon Haqiqat Hoon (5).
So this is the 7th and final installment of the Top 7. I have to say that it was really fun to look back at 2007! I'm so excited for Top 8, aren't you?
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12/31/2007 21:07:25
vu
my♥posts
www.weheartmusic.com
