Thursday, February 7, 2013

Tom Morello to Play the Grammy's on Sunday

We had already heard that Jack White would be performing at the Grammy's this Sunday:

http://newmusictoday.blogspot.com/2013/02/spin-jack-white-to-soak-grammys-stage.html

Now comes news (courtesy of MTV) that super-guitar hero Tom Morello (Kenyan father, Midwestern white mom... just like Obama! Harvard too...) will also be performing, as part of this very super-grouping:


MTV - Feb 7 2013 1:25 PM EST 304

Exclusive: Grammy Performance To Feature Travis Barker, LL Cool J, DJ Z-Trip

Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello and Public Enemy's Chuck D will also be part of the supergroup.

By Gil Kaufman

Sunday night's 55th Grammy Awards is already jam-packed with a huge roster of talent that includes Justin Timberlake,
 Fun., Taylor Swift, Jack White, the Black Keys, Lumineers, Mumford & Sons, Carrie Underwood. Rihanna performing with Sting and Bruno Mars and Miranda Lambert jamming with Dierks Bentley.
But the show has just added a musical mashup that is sure to blow minds. In an explosive melding of rock, rap and EDM, a supergroup composed of Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, Grammy host LL Cool J, Public Enemy leader Chuck D, Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello and DJ Z-Trip will get together for a special performance during the broadcast.

2013 Grammy Awards: And The Nominees Are...

At press time it was unknown what the theme of the performance would be.
Among the other acts recently added to the list of artist playing the show: Miguel with Wiz Khalifa, Hunter Hayes, Kelly Clarkson, the Grammy debut of Frank Ocean, the first-ever televised duet between nominee Ed Sheeran and Elton John, Maroon 5 and Alicia Keys.
John will also hook up with Zac Brown, the Alabama Shakes' Brittany Howard, Mumford, Mavis Staples and T-Bone Burnett to pay tribute to late Band drummer Levon Helm, who passed away in April.
Among the presenters at the show are: Ne-Yo, Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl, Ryan Seacrest, Beyoncé, Hunter Hayes, Carly Rae Jepsen, Katy Perry, Kaley Cuoco, Neil Patrick Harris, Faith Hill, Jennifer Lopez, Tim McGraw, Pauley Perrette, Prince and Keith Urban.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1701540/travis-barker-ll-cool-j-grammy-performance.jhtml



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ValNtino Record Release Party February 13 Sushi Lounge

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Wednesday, February 6, 2013

On Songwriting Today

So apparently one verse, a pre-chorus, and a chorus repeated a few times with a guitar solo in the middle counts as a "song" now??? 

 I always figured you needed at least 2 or 3 verses to count as a "real song".

 (Doesn't Dylan have like 17 verses in some songs??? ... And I read recently that Leonard Cohen had about 80 verses for "Hallelujah" originally..)

 I wrote tons of things that had a verse or two, a riff, a chorus... I never considered them complete songs (I used to call them "song fragments"), mostly which I never added to, mostly because I didn't have a band to play with...

 But now...

 Shouldn't I just take all those half-songs - add, rinse, repeat, repeat a couple more times... and voila! You got you a song, boy....
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Spin: Jack White to Soak the Grammys Stage in Blues After Nine-Year Hiatus


jack white, grammys
Jack White / Photo by Getty Images

by Kyle McGovern for SPIN

 Three-times nominated this year, White last performed at the Grammys in 2004 (with Meg!)
Whether or not Jack White wins a Grammy for Blunderbuss — his SPIN-approved, very-popular-on-vinyl solo debut — the Third Man head honcho is guaranteed some stage time. According to a tweet from the Grammys' official Twitter account, White will bring his blues-drenched live show to the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, joining previously announced performers Rihanna, fun., Mumford & Sons, the Black Keys, and Taylor Swift.
White, a nine-time Grammy winner, is up for three awards: Album of the Year (Blunderbuss), against Mumford's Babel, fun.'s Some Nights, the Black Keys' El Camino, and SPIN's Album of the Year, Frank Ocean's channel ORANGE; Best Rock Album (Blunderbuss, again), squaring off with El Camino, Bruce Springsteen's Wrecking Ball, Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto, and Muse's The 2nd Law; and Best Rock Song ("Freedom at 21"), which could also be claimed by Mumford & Sons' "I Will Wait," the Black Keys' "Lonely Boy," Muse's "Madness," or Springsteen's "We Take Care of Our Own." Here's hoping the Recording Academy surprises with a last-minute Frank Ocean booking.
Other recently announced performers include the Lumineers (nominated for Best New Artist and Best Americana Album for their self-titled debut), Carrie Underwood (whose "Blown Away" is eligible for Best Country Solo Performance), Miranda Lambert (2011's Four The Recordearned a nod for Best Country Album), Dierks Bentley (his "Home" also has a shot at Best Country Solo Performance), Ed Sheeran (landed a spot in the Song of the Year category with "The A Team"), and six-time Grammy winner Elton John.
The 55th Annual Grammy Awards, hosted again by LL Cool J, will broadcast live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on CBS on February 10, 2013 at 8 p.m. EST. Scroll down to watch White's last Grammy performance, back when he was one-half of the White Stripes in 2004.
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Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Johnny Marr Playing Portland April 16!!!

He's got a new album coming out and will be doing a show here in Portland during the tour.

Johnny Marr

TUESDAY, APRIL 16TH, 2013

Johnny Marr

On Sale
Thu 2/07
10:00 am PST

Doors: 7:00 pm / Show: 8:00 pm

Aladdin Theater

Portland, OR

$25.00 adv/$30.00 dos

Minors -21 permitted w/parent or legal guardian

Sync event to iCal
Sync event to Google Calendar
Johnny Marr
Johnny Marr
The supple, ringing guitars of Johnny Marr helped establish the Smiths among the most acclaimed and enduring bands of the 1980s. Born John Maher in Manchester, England, on October 31, 1963, he played in such little-known groups as Sister Ray and Freaky Party before forming the Smiths with singer Morrissey in 1982. In the years to follow they emerged among Britain's most successful acts, but in 1987, following sessions for the LP Strangeways, Here We Come, Marr dissolved the group, claiming their musical approach had gone stale.

In the wake of the Smiths' demise, he made cameo appearances on records by the likes of Talking Heads and Kirsty MacColl before joining Matt Johnson's The The for 1989's Mind Bomb. Marr also teamed with New Order's Bernard Sumner and Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant in the alternative supergroup Electronic, scoring a hit with the single "Getting Away With It." Apart from a handful of guest appearances, he kept a relatively low profile during the 1990s, most notably lending his talents to The The's 1993 effort Dusk and Electronic's long-awaited sophomore record, 1996's Raise the Pressure.

Marr returned to music three years later on Electronic's third album, Twisted Tenderness, which wasn't released in the U.S. until fall 2000. He also spent time working with his new band, the Healers, playing dates across England. The next few years saw a time of redefinition and reflection for Marr. He finally assembled his Healers with ex-Kula Shaker bass man Alonza Bevan and Ringo Starr's drumming son, Zak Starkey, in 2002; a deal with ARTISTdirect's iMusic followed before the end of the year. Fans of this legendary guitarist were treated to Marr's proper singing debut in early 2003 with the release of Boomslang. In 2007 Marr appeared on the Washington band Modest Mouse's album, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, and toured with them as a member.

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Palma Violets "Best of Friends" Live on Jools Holland

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Jim James & The Roots "A New Life" Live on Jimmy Fallon



Jim James kills it!!!

And so do The Roots, who have become not just one of the best bands on television, but one of the best bands anywhere. And the Jimmy Fallon Show has become a show to watch just to see what interesting things The Roots are going to do with musical guests.

P.S. Super-great performance, and hats off to the choreographers, cameramen, sound & lights, and others who pulled it off flawlessly.


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Richard Thompson New Album "Electric"

Richard Thompson's new album "Electric" is incredible.
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Arctic Monkeys Touring US Soon...

Good news for Arctic Monkeys fans.

The boys will be playing the giant, wonderful Sasquatch Festival in Washington state this May... and while they're at it, they're also playing a few other US dates:

24th May Sasquatch Festival, George, WA

25th May Wilma Theatre, Missoula, MT

26th May Knitting Factory, Boise, ID

28th May Ogden Theater, Denver, CO

29th May Sunshine Theater, Albuquerque, NM

31st May House of Blues, Dallas, TX
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McLovin is So Good at being in trouble... so bad at being in love...

New video by Unknown Mortal Orchestra, feat. McLovin (aka Christopher Mintz-Plasse) of their new smash hit "So Good at Being in Trouble"




Unknown Mortal Orchestra's second album is out today. It's great.

Here's a review from CMJ:


Unknown Mortal Orchestra – II

II

(Jagjaguwar, 2013)
By , February 5, 2013
Tracklist:
01. From The Sun
02. Swim And Sleep (Like A Shark)
03. So Good At Being In Trouble
04. One At A Time
05. The Opposite Of Afternoon
06. No Need For A Leader
07. Monki
08. Dawn
09. Faded In The Morning
10. Secret Xtians

The cover art for Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s self-titled debut LP in 2011 featured a photo of a multi-tiered silver structure that looked like a spaceship. As band founder Ruban Nielson explained at the time, it was an image of a Spomenik, one in a handful of Yugoslavian monuments constructed in the 1960s and 1970s in honor of World War II. The band’s sophomore album, II, again reaches for an image from the past, this one of Janet Farrar, a practicing British Wiccan who has written books on witchcraft and the occult. In the photo, Farrar brandishes a sword, her eyes are downcast, and she’s naked except for a sheer tunic. It’s a more human cover, both in the literal sense of featuring a person and because that person appears vulnerable. The nakedness has something to do with this, but it’s more evidenced by the idea of a lone figure leading a sad-looking solitary charge.



Nielson has two companions on this album—bassist Jacob Portrait and drummer Greg Rogove—but he spends the majority of II singing about his loneliness; his first observation on the album is “Isolation can put a gun in your hand.” The words are bleak, but the percussion gives an upbeat shake and electric guitars happily splash around in psychedelic waves. On “Swim And Sleep (Like A Shark),” he longs for an empty head and a hiding place on the ocean floor: “I’d fall to the bottom/And I’d hide till the end of time/In that sweet, cold darkness.” While he says this, a drum bounces along, guitars alternate between power chords and arpeggios and a surprisingly spry bassline wiggles underneath. Add to that Nielson’s gentle, wistful voice, and he sounds like a pretty happy sad guy.

Nielson produced both of Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s albums, and his ’60s and ’70s psych-rock reference points remain the same here as on the debut—a little Pink Floyd, a little Beatles. Those sounds shine through in the instrumental winddowns, Nielson’s shy vocals hiding beneath layered echoes of his own voice and the dry-mouthed pah of the drums. But there’s also a bit of Thee Oh Sees-style garage rock in the guitar crunches on “No Need For A Leader.” And standout track “So Good At Being In Trouble” starts with a deep guitar riff that oddly brings to mind the opening of 1990s R&B jam “Too Close” before filling in the blanks between the lolling guitar lines with a repeated, quick-footed drum part. If any hipster rappers out there are taking requests, please sample this.



Nielson’s greatest strength is his ability to build songs from subtle foundations. The album leans psychedelic rock, but instead of dissolving into a murky haze on every song, he pays attention to his layers. He’ll work a strong melodic line while playing around it with texture, whether it’s the grimy bass part that closes out “Faded In The Morning,” his falsetto closeup on “The Opposite Of Afternoon” or the pretty, finger-picked acoustic guitar start of “From The Sun.” Concentrating on one layer doesn’t always yield interesting results, as seen on the all-synthesizer alien landing of “Dawn.” But more often on the album’s 10 tracks than not, Nielson keeps the balance, giving each part equal time in the foreground and using understatement to his advantage.

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