New White Williams Video - “New Violence”

Videogum might have better luck at naming all the borrowed, gun-centric film clips that make up BTW and early ‘Gum Dropper White Williams’s TV Carnage-assembled video for “New Violence,” but we’re certainly familiar with quite a few (see the assault-rifle bikini ladies and the cop strip dancing in the bedroom … oh, how we kid). Seems a little late for a song people couldn’t stop listening to last summer, but hey, to piece this together so that it nail the song’s rhythms (and implied chase scenes) must’ve taken some time. Keep your eyes peeled for Burt Reynolds.

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New Radiohead Video - “All I Need”

The first night the entire internet took a group listen to In Rainbows, “All I Need” pulled ahead as an early favorite for its Boards Of Canada-inspired “Roy G. Biv“ing and its apparently lovelorn lyrics: “i am a moth / who just wants to share your light / i’m just an insect / trying to get out of the night.” That’s romance and desperation Thom Yorke style, or at least so it seemed in context of the most human Radiohead album yet, and when backed by that babymaking drum/keyboard vamp.
Turns out “All I Need” may be speaking to a lot more than babymaking, though, at least in Radiohead’s eyes, and now also in ours.

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Peter Morén with Tobias Fröberg @ Schubas 4/26/08 [Radio Free Chicago]

Of course, everyone knows of the world famous Peter Morén of Sweden’s Peter, Bjorn, and John but what they don’t know is that he may just be the main man behind all those glorious pop songs and, if isolated from his other two bandmates, he has the capability to put on a swell show full of not only his own songs but songs from PB&J and fun covers to boot.  He’s clearly not going to disappoint anyone who sees him on this tour.
Download: Peter Bjorn & John - "Objects of my Affection"
The night began with Tobias Fröberg, a fellow musician friend of Peter’s who is also from Sweden.  Tobias is a songwriter and, like Jens Lekman, can be a little melancholy at times but the songs are a little less meandering than some of my favorites of Lekman’s and they have a certain sensibility to them that may be [...]

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Clemens Curve?

Dear lord, no! Roger Clemens and Mindy McCready? This has to be grossest athlete/musician hookup since that greasy hack Rick Fox married Vanessa Williams. That Clemens, an alleged steroid fiend and confirmed uber-dick and a blonde country singer with a taste for Oxycotin and a hit song called “Guys Do it All the Time” broke the commandments is not surprising. The wonder is that we didn’t hear about this earlier since the affair reportedly lasted ten years, starting when Clemens was in his late twenties and McCready was fifteen. Fifteen, dude, fifteen. Anyway, as I recoil with horror, here is a short list of couples who should never have been allowed in a sporting arena holding hands:

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The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of The Understatement

Artist:
The Last Shadow Puppets
Review:
As the leader of Britain’s Arctic Monkeys, Alex Turner creates
spiky neo-post-punk that avoids any revivalist fuddy-duddyism. But
Turner’s new side project, a collaboration with Miles Kane of
Merseyside indie-poppers the Rascals, is a shameless nostalgia trip
— and it’s still compelling. Their debut pays homage to the
moody symphonic sound of early David Bowie, Lee Hazlewood and other
stars of the late Sixties and early Seventies. While reverb-swathed
acoustic guitars churn in minor…

Rating:
3 Stars

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Phantom Planet - Raise The Dead

Artist:
Phantom Planet
Review:
Phantom Planet claim their fourth full-length was inspired by the
music of Charles Manson and David Koresh — not quite the
album you’d expect from the California boys who sang The
O.C.’s theme song. Still, like those cult leaders, Raise
the Dead gives its macabre subjects (and its lighter ones) an
oddly upbeat spin. Jumping from Bowie glam to disco punk, the band
tosses in synths, arch backing coos and riffing saxes for songs
that are both expansive and strange. “Leader,” which is…

Rating:
3.5 Stars

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T Bone Burnett - Tooth Of Crime

Artist:
T Bone Burnett
Review:
The best song on T Bone’s relentlessly noir new album is “Kill
Zone,” a lyrical, Roy Orbison-style ballad — which Orbison
himself co-wrote right before his death in 1988. That fact only
hints at the oddity of this collection: Burnett, best known as
producer to the stars (Robert Plant/Alison Krauss, John Mellencamp)
and curator of soundtracks (The Big Lebowski, O
Brother, Where Art Thou?), started writing these songs years
ago for a revamped production of Sam Shepard’s 1972 play…

Rating:
3 Stars

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Lil’ Wayne

One of Southern rap’s most enduring and talented emcees, New Orleans’ Lil’ Wayne began rapping at the tender age of 11. By the time he was 15, he’d linked up with Juvenile, Turk and B.G. and formed the immensely popular Hot Boys group on Cash Money Records. Though the emcees showed promise, many listeners focused on the post-Bounce production of Mannie Fresh, and regarded Wayne as a fresh-faced vehicle for the producer. But Wayne went solo in 1999 with Tha Block is Hot. His raps focus on youthful rebellion, New Orleans style — crack, girls and turf supremacy are paramount. He would go on to release two additional solo CDs 2000’s Lights Out and 2002’s 500 Degreez. Those albums were commercially successful and established Wayne true force. With 2004’s Tha Carter and its 2005 follow-up, Tha Carter II, he made a case for himself as the South’s preeminent rapper, with [...]

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Are They For Real?

Are They For Real?

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Photos: Behind the scenes at the cover shoot
It’s a chilly spring night in Los
Angeles when I arrive at Don Antonio’s Mexican restaurant to join
the End of Western Civilization for nachos and chicken enchiladas.
The EOWC, of course, is Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt, a.k.a.
Speidi, the fabulously toxic power couple of The Hills
— the real-ish MTV reality drama about L.A. twentysomethings
praised as “the most influential show we’ve ever had” by MTV
president of…

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HIP HOP PRODUCER PETE ROCK RELEASES MUCH ANTICIPATED INSTRUMENTALS “NY’s Finest” INSTRUMENTAL LP drops May 13th [Hip Hop Press: Releases]

“Pete Rock is one of the most legendary producers of all time” - Kanye West “Pete Rock, he was the man; to me he still is the man” – Timbaland “Among the most in-demand producers in hip-hop” – XXL Magazine New York, NY - The name Pete Rock is synonymous with hip-hop history. He has earned platinum plaques from working with hip-hop’s elite, and is credited as being the driving force behind the explosion of soul influenced hip-hop production. Recently, his critically acclaimed album “NY’s Finest”, which boasted a line-up of all star MCs, has taken the hip-hop world by storm. Now, as a special bonus, Pete is set to unleash the instrumental versions of his newly crowned classic album. Stripped of the MC’s, Pete Rock purists will get the chance…

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