Hitting stores this week is the soundtrack to Tim Burton's er... new? film Frankenweenie. The original Frankenweenie short directed by Tim Burton came out in 1984, I guess Tim needs to remake things nowadays, even his own works. The soundtrack seems pretty interesting (the score of course is done by Danny Elfman). The soundtrack includes contributions from Plain White T's covering the Ramones classic Pet Semetary, Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs does a song and Flaming Lips have a track on here. The standout though is Robert Smith of The Cure. In a previous entry, I talked about Peter Murphy and Stan Lee covering the Frank Sinatra song That Old Black Magic. Well, another goth pioneer Robert Smith is now covering another Frank Sinatra song, Witchcraft. Check it out!
This is the 3nd set of upcoming singles which was scrapped from the I'm With You album released in 2011. The Red Hot Chili Peppers previously have released the song Magpie's On Fire and Victorian Machinery in late August. There are so many good songs that didn't make the I'm With You album and I wonder why. The first song, Never Is A Long Time is more of a ballad, which seems to be a theme in many of the recent singles they have released with some fine work especially with Josh Klinghoffer, which has really impressed me as a guitarist and a fine replacement for John Frusciante. The second song is Love Of Your Life. This one has an intro guitar line reminscent of their previous hit, Snow, but a much slower, more ballad-like song. I really like these new songs and please pick up the vinyls at http://bit.ly/NdU69b
The fourth, fifth, and sixth singles, the titles of which have yet to be
announced, will follow on November 6, December 4, and December 18. More
will then be released in early 2013.
The Replacements which was led by Paul Westerburg, was one of the most celebrated bands from Minneapolis, which has a great music scene which also included Soul Asylum, Husker Du, Prince, and The Jayhawks. The Replacements had a reputation for live shows which could be either magical or disastrous. This upcoming documentary, titled Color Me Obsessed, directed by Gorman Bechard, comes out on DVD on November 20th. It will feature interviews with Colin Meloy of The Decemberists, Craig Finn of The Hold Steady, Tommy Ramone, Grant Hart and Greg Norton of Husker Du, all three members of Goo Goo Dolls, actors George Wendt, Tom Arnold, Dave Foley and various journalists including Legs McNeil. Telling the band’s story was a project close to the heart for Bechard. Like many who were weaned on punk music he latched onto this brash young Minneapolis band with fervor. Dubbed “the last best band” by Spin Magazine, their live shows could be miraculous or downright disasters. Their fans, unwaveringly faithful. As critic’s darlings, their albums were wrought with angry guitars and passionate well-written lyrics that hinted at potential commercial success. Yet, somehow, the band managed to continually shoot themselves in the foot. Their relative obscurity was a motivating factor in presenting their story on film. “The Replacements should have been the next Rolling Stones,” says Bechard, who also edited, co-produced, and co-shot the film , “And to the people who loved them, I think they were." Here are some iconic songs from The Replacements.
Can't Hardly Wait:
REM sadly broke up last year after a career in highs and lows, they remain one of the most legendary, influential bands ever. Peter Buck was the guitarist during that time but never sang lead on any of REM's songs, that was handled by Michael Stipe and occasionally Mike Mills. Peter Buck's new record will be self-titled and Peter Buck will be doing vocals. He has also enlisted guest vocalists including Corin Tucker (from Sleater-Kinney), Scott McCaughey and former REM bandmate Mike Mills. The album will not be available for download, instead it will be a vinyl-only offering to be released on Mississippi Records based out of Portland, Oregon. No release date is set yet. Take a look at the first song released from this upcoming album entitled 10 Million BC.
This past Friday, Peter Murphy (Bauhaus, Dalis Car, solo) played a set at Los Angeles' Club Nokia to kick off comic legend Stan Lee's (creator of Spider-Man, Iron Man, X-Men, The Avengers, Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, and various other Marvel comics characters) Comikaze comic, sci-fi and fantasy fest. The highlight of the evening was Peter Murphy dueting with Stan Lee himself on the old Frank Sinatra hit, That Old Black Magic. Catch the video here.
Peter Murphy later played a set full of Bauhaus and solo stuff with a few surprises thrown in. Peter Murphy is a legend and this marks his 5th appearance in Los Angeles in the past 3 years with performances at the Mayan Theater, which I happily attended, a free show at Ameoba, which I attended as well, a performance at Club Nokia last December, and last month's appearance at the Sunset Strip Music Festival with Matt Skiba, Marilyn Manson, Bad Religion, The Offspring and many more. Here are some highlights from the show at Club Nokia from this past Friday.
Soundgarden is finally releasing new studio material after a 16 year hiatus which saw Chris Cornell joining the guys from Rage Against The Machine to form the band Audioslave, Matt Cameron drum for Pearl Jam, and Chris Cornell release an embarrasing album with Timbaland. It's good to finally hear new music from Chris, Kim and company. Their last studio album was 1996's multiplatinum Down On The Upside which had the hit singles, Dirty Noose, Blow Up the Outside World, Burden in My Hand, and Ty Cobb. Soundgarden did a few shows together in 2010 and have released two compilation albums since then (one is live, the other not). Buzz has been growing around a new Soundgarden album ever since they debuted their song Live To Rise from the Avengers soundtrack which was downloaded over 350,000 times in it's first week.
Their new album, entitled King Animal is set to be released on November 13th and it's newest single, appropriately titled Been Away Too Long hits digital retailers on September 27th. Chris Cornell tells Billboard that the album's sound would be diverse.
"I
don't really know how to describe it musically," he said, "because
typically with Soundgarden... every time we write a song we always
take it for what it is and try to make it the most it can be. It's
very diverse, I can tell you that."
Here is a trailer for the new album, and the tracklisting:
King Animal tracklist
1. Been Away Too Long
2. Non-State Actor
3. By Crooked Steps
4. A Thousand Days Before
5. Blood On The Valley Floor
6. Bones of Birds
7. Taree
8. Attrition
9. Black Saturday
10. Halfway There
11. Worse Dreams
12. Eyelid's Mouth
13. Rowing
To really hear an artist's work, you must look past the hit singles. The
entire album is worth hearing to truly get a glimpse of it all in one
body of work. Here are some of the albums I am listening to this week.
Blaqk Audio - Bright Black Heaven (2012)
On this, Blaqk Audio's 2nd studio album, following 2007's Cexcells, Davey Havok and Jade Puget (both of veteran Bay area band AFI), really have evolved. On their previous album, while being a strong, solid debut, the songs kinda bled into each other at times and it seemed awkward. This album is a huge step forward, incorporating more 80s influences, such as Depeche Mode, Erasure and even Cabaret Voltaire. Even though it has a strong 80s electronic vibe, it manages to stand out on it's own. Also, as a plus, no dubstep! Here are my favorite songs off this album:
Cold War:
Faith Healer:
Bliss:
Pet Shop Boys - Elysium (2012)
One of the most anticipated albums of 2012, Elysium was finally released to the public on September 11, (along with Blaqk Audio's Bright Black Heaven and NOFX's Selfentitled). I have already previewed a few of their tracks on previous blog entries, so I already had a feel of a few of their songs. If you have ever heard any of their previous albums, you know what you are getting. It's a formula but it works. The Pet Shop Boys will always be known for their sarcastic sense of humor and it is evident on the track Ego Music, where they seem to attack current pop stars. This album was recorded right here in Los Angeles, making it their first album where they did not record in England. An ambitious move and it shows. Many songs here deal with mortality (the title is of Greek origin) and it shows a growth in their style and music. Let's hope for more great things from Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe. Here are my favorites.
Invisible:
Your Early Stuff:
Leaving:
NOFX - Selfentitled (2012)
A band that needs no introduction, Los Angeles' NOFX has been creating biting, catchy punk rock for almost 30 years, have released 12 studio albums, a ton of EPs, 7" and singles and remain one of the most legendary punk rock bands today. This album clocks in at a whopping 29 minutes long and features 12 songs. A short record but there is no shortage of great music. Earlier this year, NOFX released a few singles previewing songs such as She Didn't Lose Her Baby and Ronnie and Mags. Ronnie and Mags is a great commentary on the 80s political landscape and a hint of things to come in reference to conservatism. This album does tackle more personal matters such as the song I Got One Jealous Again, Again which is a depressing sequel to 2003's I Got Two Jealous Agains about splitting his record collection with his exwife. In the song Down With The Ship, it seems like Fat Mike blames himself for the divorce, even going as far as calling himself cowardly, selfloathing and selfcentered. This is a solid album and NOFX is a band which shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Here are my favorite songs.
I Got One Jealous Again, Again:
Miles Copeland (yes, brother of Stewart Copeland of the Police) will bring IRS Records presents the Cutting Edge to DVD on October 16th. The Cutting Edge was a precursor to the famed 120 Minutes show which MTV would feature years later. The show featured up-and-coming alternative rock acts such as Robyn Hitchcock, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Squeeze and REM. I'm not sure if this is an entirely new collection or a compilation of the two Cutting Edge VHS tapes which were released in the 90s. The show was sponsored by IRS Records, (founded by Miles Copeland and featuring bands such as REM, Camper Van Beethoven, Oingo Boingo, The Fleshtones, The Go-Gos, The Cramps, and Concrete Blonde) and ran from 1983 until 1987. Peter Zarembra of the Fleshtones was the main host of the show, and it featured many bands on the IRS Records label.
According to a sheet provided to record stores, the DVD will feature the following artists:
REM
Tom Waits
Husker Du
The Blasters
X
Stan Ridgway
The Smithereens
Henry Rollins
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Squeeze
Hoodoo Gurus
Let's Active
The db's
Jonathan Richman
The Alarm
Robyn Hitchcock
The Fleshtones
As a video treat, here is The Best of The Cutting Edge Vol. 2 in it's entirety
Recently the band The Vaselines finished their tour, ending in Seattle. On this tour date, the Vaselines invited former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic on stage on the song Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam. As you might remember, Nirvana had previously covered songs from the Vaselines such as Molly's Lips, Son Of A Gun and of course the famed Unplugged performance where they covered Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam but they called it Jesus Doesn't Want Me For A Sunbeam. Here is the performance.
Former Talking Heads lead singer David Byrne has just released his new album, Love The Giant with singer St. Vincent, out today. They both appeared on the Jimmy Fallon show to showcase some new songs, Who and The Forest Awakes. Enjoy the songs here:
1990 was a great year in music, and Ministry was a prime example of that. Their first few records (With Sympathy and Twitch) showed a strong synthpop vibe, which sadly they would never explore again. In 1990. Coming off their 1989 album, The Mind Is A Terrible Thing to Taste, Ministry was leading the genre in industrial rock, along with Nine Inch Nails,and KMFDM. Ministry was touring with KMFDM at the time this concert took place. Ministry would have people like Nivek Ogre of Skinny Puppy, Chris Connely and Jello Biafra appear with them. This was filmed on February 22, 1990 at the Holiday Star Theater in Merriville, Indiana. This is from an out of print VHS. This is a great concert and a real showcase of how great Ministry was.
Setlist:
1. “Breathe”
2. “The Missing”
3. “Deity”
4. “So What”
5. “Burning Inside”
6. “Thieves”
7. “Stigmata”
8. “The Pledge of Allegiance” w/Jello Biafra
9. “The Land Of Rape And Honey”
