popwreckoning updates |  |
- Under Cover – Bob Marley
- MP3 Minute: Living Things “Oxygen”
- Win Tickets to Spinnerette and Band of Skulls in NYC
- Bonnaroo Update Day 2: Friday, June 12
- The Cribs Announce New Album Details
- A Camp – Colonia
| Posted: 17 Jun 2009 02:50 PM PDT
.Bob Marley – “I Shot The Sheriff” (original 1973) .Eric Clapton cover (1974) – .Bob Marley – “Waiting In Vain” (original 1977) .Annie Lennox cover (1995) Related Posts |
| MP3 Minute: Living Things “Oxygen” Posted: 17 Jun 2009 12:48 PM PDT Continuing to support their latest album Habeas Corpus, Living Things will hit the road for the Nylon Summer Music Tour 2009. The 18-city trek kicked off earlier this month and brings the guys, who are co-headlining the tour with Patrick Wolf, through the States ending in Austin on July 1st. Plasticines and Jaguar Love support. Habeas Corpus was released earlier this year and has garnered substantial critical acclaim in the media. Produced by Michael Ilbert and Living Things, Habeas Corpus was recorded in Berlin, Germany at Hansa Studios where the band was in residence for nine months, overlooking the remnants of the Berlin Wall. The new single from the album, "Oxygen", is currently impacting at Alternative radio and we’ve got it for you here. Living Things will continue touring throughout 2009 and will play a high-profile slot at Lollapalooza 2009 in Chicago's Grant Park on August 8th. Look for them in a city near you and if you’re in DC, join Popwrecker Mary Chang when Living Things play the Rock & Roll Hotel as part of the Nylon Summer Music Tour 2009 on June 24th!
Tour Dates: Living Things: website | myspace  Related PostsThis posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Win Tickets to Spinnerette and Band of Skulls in NYC Posted: 17 Jun 2009 12:09 PM PDT Brody Dalle’s Spinnerette is playing a show at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC on Monday, June 22. Spinnerette’s self-titled hits stores the next morning, so this is a great chance to get an early taste of the tracks. Opening the show are Since the show is soon and we need time to get you on the list, just comment using a valid email address and say why we should pick you. Friday at 9 am EST, we’ll pick a winner for a pair of tickets. Please make sure you are available to go to the show in NYC on Monday, June 22 at 8 pm before commenting. Check out Spinnerette here: Baptized by Fire Check out Band of Skulls here: Blood Bands Info: Related PostsThis posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Bonnaroo Update Day 2: Friday, June 12 Posted: 17 Jun 2009 10:47 AM PDT Lessons learned from Day 1’s crash course in surviving Bonnaroo, but not so well-rested (it is hard sleeping in a muggy tent in the Tennessee weather), we awoke early to check out the first real day of Bonnaroo. Thursday was like practice Bonnaroo, which turned out to be much needed for Friday’s and the rest of the weekend’s adventures. One nice thing about the artists at Bonnaroo is that they are very accessible. So instead of running off to see bands perform on stages first thing Friday morning, I took some time to sit in on a press conference that Big Hassle Media organized with Janeane Garofalo, Matthew Vasquez of the Delta Spirit, Grace Potter, Ani DiFranco, and Galactic Band. The artists spoke about their Bonnaroo experiences and struggles to get there. Things got a little heated between Garofalo and DiFranco. At the start of the conference, Garofalo and DiFranco joked how they looked alike with Garofalo reminding DiFranco to be at her set in the comedy tent at 2 pm. However, when things got a little political, the differences between the two came out: “It’s so heartbreakingly disappointing how Obama has acquiesced in the name of bipartisanship,” Garofalo said. “I can’t find humor in that.”
DiFranco later said, “I don’t think one person can do everything. It takes all of us to make something radical happen.” She said Obama shows us how to be like “family and forgive.” The two had their different opinions, but at the end of the conference, they hugged. Leaving the press conference, a large crowd had gathered for Gomez’s pop rock and audience members got extra excited when they realized that, “OMG! That song was on Grey’s Anatomy” as the band played “Moon and Sun.” Over at This Tent, Kaki King impressed the crowd in her own way as her fingers flew across her guitar in blend of pressing and tapping on the strings. Her backing band complimented her well with the typical drums and bass, but also some wind instruments on the occasional tune.
After Kaki King, Animal Collective got the crowd dancing at Which Stage. The audience danced as if they really were a collection of wild animals (the many masks probably helped, too). Arms flailing in dance, while singing along, some in masks, Animal Collective had some solid fan representation at the fest. The guys bounced around vocal and instrumental duties between each other and never had a dull moment in their set. Playing against Animal Collective was the amazingly talented St. Vincent and she was probably one of the best secrets of the festival. There was a good crowd there, but if she hadn’t been up against Animal Collective, I think more would have discovered her greatness. She is like a feistier Feist. The indie darling’s powerful voice carried out far beyond the reaches of That Tent and instrumental solos from her violinist colored me impressed.
Another press conference was next on the agenda. This time, Julia Nunes, John Gourley from Portugal the Man, Kaki King, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, Lucinda Williams, Justin Townes Earle and Ben Knox Miller from Low Anthem were the ones to join the press. Justin Vernon turned out to be quite the comedian. After Kaki King said the most challenging part of an outdoor festival were the “strings and sweatiness on the guitar,” Vernon said, “Sweatiness is what I’m going for. I’m trying to look as wet as possible.” Several members of this conference were new to the festival and talked of their nervousness and experience, the legendary Lucinda Williams spoke of playing this festival since its second run and even gave her advice about the music industry. “Can you imagine Neil Young trying to get a record deal right now? Or even Bob Dylan?” Williams said. “You have to believe in yourself. I was doing this without a label for 15 years. It took an English punk label to sign me because I fell in the cracks between rock and country.”
As the conference let out, Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs was starting her signature vocals on the Which Stage in front of a backdrop of blue swirl and the eye from “Zero.” We could hear her vocals the entire walk to Brooklyn very own Grizzly Bear on This Tent. The boys were running a bit late, but their indie rock soon filled the tent and they were quite tight, but we had passes to the comedy tent and had to get over there in time for Triumph the Insult Dog and other comedians. After a jam from the house band and a video introduction, Triumph was soon slinging the insults at everyone from the audience to the artists.
“You hippies can make anything out of hemp,” Triumph said. “Except deodorant.” With a paw over his face he explained, “You see? It is because you smell. Haha.” He attacked Trent Reznor for ending his career and Flava Flav for setting back the civil rights movement with his clock. Even bands not at the festival weren’t safe from his insults. “Not everybody could be here. Fall Out Boy couldn’t be here today,” said Triumph. “Because they all got their periods at the exact same time.” After breaking ourselves away from the funny (and she swears unracist) comedian, Amy Schumer, we dashed back to the Which Stage (there is a lot of running at Bonnaroo) and watched TV on the Radio blast through “Wolf Like Me” and other hits. As always, the element of brass gave these guys an extra special element that made them worth watching.
Taking a breather before rocking out (err….rapping out with Beastie Boys), I had my first taste of true fest food and ventured to try an “arepa.” For those who were in the dark like I was, an arepa is a fried patty of corn with melted mozzarella in between the patties. Ridiculously greasy and ridiculously delicious. Stomach full at last, I somehow managed to work my way up nice and close to see the Beastie Boys who brought out all the hits and some guests. In the first big Bonnaroo surprise Nas joined the guys for a few numbers.
The Beastie Boys were a blast to “Jump, jump, jump around” with, but I couldn’t miss the chance to catch a Talking Head perform. Across the park, David Byrne was rocking out with his own tunes after a busy day of curating some of the other tents.
Phish jammed out at the What Stage after the Beasties finished, but knowing they had a second performance, I snagged a spot up close for the much buzzed about French band Phoenix. “Lisztomania” started things off and I was surprised with how energetic and bold the band was after seeing them acting rather shy back in the press area. It wasn’t long before other hits off their American debut had the crowd dancing and the singer joined them out in the audience.
They were just the start of a crazy night at That Tent. Alice Glass from Crystal Castles had the crowd rapt with her blend of electronica goth. In a zombie like manner she wrapped a strobe around her neck and jumped on the crowd multiple times. Glow sticks began to appear during this set and That Tent was quickly transformed into a rave. They didn’t disappear until well after Girl Talk’s performance. Instead of jumping on the crowd like their predecessors in That Tent, Girl Talk brought the crowd up on stage to join in the dance party. The DJs were joined by costumed characters and blow up seats. It was an oraganized chaos that was fun for everyone (except maybe security). Girl Talk’s set lasted well into the night, but even they couldn’t keep up with Paul Oakenfold’s set, which didn’t stop until after 6 am in the morning. People staggered back to camps or just passed out in the main grounds before they were ready to embrace an even bigger Day 3 of Bonnaroo.
Stay tuned… Bonnaroo: website | Day 1 | Quick News Photos by: Joshua Hammond Related Posts |
| The Cribs Announce New Album Details Posted: 17 Jun 2009 08:47 AM PDT Wakefield, England indie rockers the Cribs have made public on their website the title and tracklisting to their forthcoming album. Ignore the Ignorant, the band’s fourth album length offering, is the first of theirs to feature ex-Smiths guitar legend Johnny Marr, who officially joined the band in 2008.
Tracklisting is planned as follows: “Cheat on Me”, the first single from this album, will be released on August 31 in the UK. Ignore the Ignorant is scheduled for release the following Monday, on September 7. The Cribs: website | myspace | Interview with : The Cribs – North Star Bar, Philadelphia  Photo: Jessica McGinley Related Posts |
| Posted: 17 Jun 2009 08:32 AM PDT Ever since ABBA, the Swedes have been remarkably reliable at producing melodically-gifted acts, known to often coat their songs in the most sugary of musical arrangements. The last couple years have been especially fruitful for the European nation's music community, with Peter Bjorn and John, Jens Lekman, Robyn, and a wealth of other bands and artists achieving respectable levels of international indie stardom. A Camp, the awkwardly named solo side-project of Cardigans singer Nina Persson, unsurprisingly offers no great deviation from the irresistible melodic pop of the aforementioned artists. On Colonia, Perrson pays tribute to the girl groups of the 60s like The Crystals and The Ronettes musically – "Here Are Wild Animals" goes so far as to start off with a round of harmonic "ooooh weeee ooooh ooooh"s accompanied by the classic "Be My Baby" drum beat – though lyrically it's a different matter. Though Persson sounds just as starry-eyed and adorable as her predecessors, she delivers her sentiment from the perspective of one who's been there, done there, been hurt, and learned her lessons the hard way. "Darling, darling/The moon went out to the night/And I'm caught like a doe in your headlights," Persson sings in "My America," which essentially spells out the thesis of the album: this "love" thing is gonna be the death of me. "Don't you know love can kill anyone?…You know love can do you like a shotgun," she sings in "Stronger Than Jesus"/ If the old-school girl groups made their money off songs about the hope and promise of young love and romance, Persson is out to make hers by destroying all those old fashioned illusions. From a casual listen, the album sounds sunny and cheerful with its array of lush orchestration, harmonies and tinkling pianos, when really, it couldn't be more cynical and bitter. For starters, you won't hear a line like, "Let us raise our glasses to murderous asses like you/may you sleep soundly," from the song "The Crowning", delivered in a more elegant manner anywhere else this year. Then in the heartbreaking "I Signed the Line", a song about getting divorced, Persson sings, "Don't send me letters in bottles anymore/And don't come a knockin' or darken my door/We've got a contract, devotion nevermore…I signed the line that was dotted/I like to end what I started/I signed the line and I realized a lot of lies." Titles like, "Love Has Left The Room" don't require much explanation. And so on it goes. While Persson's cynicism and smart-ass approach to romance is endearing to some extent, a whole twelve songs of it soon becomes grating, with Persson offering no hope or respite from her bitterness, but simply continuous proclaiming that love is a tantalizing, torturous presence on Earth that makes life intolerably miserable. Though every track sounds really, really pretty, Colonia's lack of musical and lyrical diversity make it a difficult album to sit through. Tracklisting: A Camp: website | myspace | @ the record bar  Related Posts |
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