(not really) New Band, Halftime, OSTs.

-  There’s downtime between girlfriends for Liam Gallagher apparently; and by girlfriends I mean bands.  It was only months ago when Oasis came out publicly to call it quits.  I remember, cause I was in Hawaii at the time (one of those little tidbits you’ll remember from a vacation, even though it had nothing to do with the vacation).  Liam spoke to an Italian radio station late last week.  Needless to say, he dropped some bombs:

1. The epitome of the “break-up” was when Noel grabbed one of Liam’s guitars, a gift from his wife, and smashed it in front of him.  So Liam went and did the same to one of Noel’s babies.
2. Liam has already started a band with all the ex-Oasis members, he made it clear this wasn’t another “Oasis”.
3. He and this band will start gigging “in the next few months”.

No word yet on the band itself.  What it’s called, how Oasis-esque it is, etc.

-  The physical copy of The Road Original Soundtrack — Nick Cave & Warren Ellis — will be available weeks after the film’s release on January 12th.  MP3s will be available on sites like iTunes on November 23rd however.  I’d advise looking into it.

-  I’m not sure how I feel about The Who doing the Super Bowl Half-Time Show.  I like the fact of going after the “legends”, especially after the Timberlake/Janet and Aerosmith/Spears/Nsync debacles.  But I don’t think American football fans really give a shit about The Who.  They’d probably get WAY better ratings with someone like Carrie Underwood/Taylor Swift.  People who like 60′s music are aging.  Does the committee who selects these bands realize they’re alienating a decent chunk of the under-50 crowd, a moderate chunk of the under-40 crowd, and a massive chunk of the under-24 crowd.  I love The Who, they just don’t belong at an NFL event.  Who will they select next year, Neil Young?  Just kiddin’, he’d NEVER do it.

-Sonny

Them Crooked Vultures.

And here we all thought the “supergroup” thing was finished.  I guess it isn’t.  First Monsters of Folk in 2009 and now this: the rather likely, if not predicable, trio of Homme/Grohl/John Paul Jones.  Predictability is as standard to Rock and Roll as first person shooters are to PC gaming.  When AC/DC finishes a song in a gigantic arena with a giant bell or inflatable chick in the vicinity, you know Angus Young is about run across that stage, jump up into the air with his SG, and land on the last A or E to end it, that’s just the way it is.  For AC/DC fans, that doesn’t make it any less cool.  So it goes with THEM CROOKED VULTURES.  If you know anything about 1) Grohl and Homme’s pasts, specifically that Grohl drummed 2004′s awesome Songs For the Deaf, or 2) the musical stylings of latter-day QotSA, then you must have some idea of how this album will sound.  Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  More on that in a bit.

Homme, Grohl, and JPJ are about to peck your eyes out... with RAWK!

That’s not to take anything away from John Paul Jones, who does his best to put a different spin onto the off kilter Queens (notice the “s”) type tracks with a knack for disrupting rhythms and layered guitars.  Although, it’s a little deflating that it seems John, as the senior member of the band, didn’t take a more aggressive lead in the sound and just opted to ride it out with what Grohl and Homme would be creating with any other bassist.  Maybe JPJ came up with some of the riffs, I don’t know; but even if he did, he tweaked those riffs to fit the two younger members of the band, not the other way round.  It’s kinda too bad, because John Paul Jones was the bridge to the land of Not-Another-QotSA-Type-Band land.

When you’re mates are Homme and Grohl though, just going with the flow isn’t so bad of a thing.  Fans of Rock and Roll, the few who are left, KNOW what Grohl and Homme bring to the table, just as they themselves do as well.  It’s kinda like going to a director you love — pick your poison here; Guy Ritchie‘s a good example (minus Revolver; and no, I don’t love him) — and knowing exactly what you’re gonna get.  First to last, that’s the thing with Them Crooked Vultures, predictability is their essence.  In a good way.  When I threw on my headphones and walked a mile or two to listen to this album straight through this morning, it was almost exactly like I thought it would be.  I pictured it in my head, the tones, the riffs, the production, the instrument chemistry, even the levels, and it all came out about like I’d imagined.  Combine this with the fact that what I imagined was a pretty damn cool Rock and Roll record, and the band’s got absolutely nothing to apologize for.  For these three guys innovation is a train that left them early in their careers: Grohl w/ early Nirvana, Homme w/ Kyuss, and Jones w/ experimental Zeppelin.  Now they’re in the business of straight Rock.  And straight Rock hasn’t been innovative since 1953.

But I was never interested in this album for innovation’s sake.  I was interested in it to hear a Songs For the Deaf-era QotSA-esque album with John Paul Jones on bass instead of Nick Oliveri.  And that’s what I got.

-Sonny

No Bird Sing.

More music news.  Well, not really “news” per say… news to me!  A band – “group”, what ever you wanna call it – debuted their debut album at a couple CD release shows this past weekend.  So what’s the big deal right?  Well, first of all they’re from my neck of the woods (specifically Minneapolis), and they’re also one of the most unique sounds to emerge out of any Hip-Hop scene possibly in the past few years, certainly THIS year at least.  Is it truly “hip-hop”, though?  I’ll let you decide.  Generally Hip-Hop features turntables, sampling, more than a repeat/coda type lyrical scheme, and normally lacks the type of guitar you’ll hear here.  OH – the name?  Yes, yes.  They’re called:  NO BIRD SING.  Get this, the singer/MC is studying creative writing at Hamline.  His rapper name is “Eric Blair”, I know, I know, because it was the birth name of (I’m guessing) his favorite writer George Orwell.  A guy named Robert Mulrennen is weilding the guitars in this band.  And, to me, he really shines as the guy who’s differentiating the overall sound of the group, by adding a significant amount of color (even if those colors are grey, black, or any variation of the two), while drummer Graham O’Brian lends his simple but effective drums to the tracks.  This is DARK music.  MC/VL , for those of you living in Minne/Paul, No Bird Sing is not.  But something tells me they’ll be playing First Ave. in the next year or two.  Just watch.

Here’s their one and only single called “Ars Poetica” (which, according to Blair, “is dead”):

-Here’s a Direct LINK to the MP3.

-MySpace Page

-Article on No Bird Sing from CityPages

-Sonny

Wicked Hemlocks.

Another band based out of Brooklyn, New York; you’d think I were from there.

“Melding 60’s psych-pop and even a dash of the Silver Apples’ experimental drum-meets-synth barrage, NYC’s Wicked Hemlocks have found a nice niche between the psych-rock of the past and modern freak-folk and indie pop. While drugs are recommended, they’re certainly not a pre-requisite for a listen to Quill of the Mad; amidst all the psychedelic freak-outs and experimental noise touches, there is also a melodic backbone of soothing vocal harmonies and even some funk and folk to keep the sober folk at bay. For example, the tribalistic percussion and animal samples that creep through the opening of “Western Front” are complimented by a chorus of “oohs” that hold the song together, and the entertaining cover of the Pointer Sisters’ “Number Count” pits a fuzzed-out bass-line against a spastic update of the original numerical melody (“one, two, three, FOUR, five!”). We also find songs like “Jakowah,” a triumphant folk-rock gem laced with sugary vocals, and the inspiring choral breakdown of “Braided.” This is not to say the album doesn’t have its share of more challenging songs; the aural nuances of “Telepathy De Nature” will make listeners feel like they’re in some Dali-esque world where solid objects melt into liquid sonic textures, and the last minute of “Beneath Their Feet” is certainly not for everyone – if there were a theme song to being buried alive, it might sound like this. For a debut effort, Wicked Hemlocks have tapped into the mad scientist that hides inside them, mixing a maniacal concoction of tripped-out sonic elements and broken pop melodies into a glowing vial of potent freak-out juice that your ex-hippy dad could never have wrapped his mind around back in the day. But maybe you can…-Bill Dvorak Good For: Breaking through to the other side, counting your hairs, showing your pops what the new drugs are like, bus drivers, Topanga Days. Bad For: Wicca meetings, ballet enthusiasts, Disneyland rides, breakdancing on the Promenade.”

Official.

MySpace.

Last.fm.

-Sonny