Lou Reed and Metallica Album Stream and Review

Loutallica released a streaming preview of their entire collaborative effort Lulu.  The album’s scheduled release is October 31 worldwide and November 1 in North America.  The ten track Lulu was inspired by German expressionist writer Frank Wedekind’s plays Earth Spiritand Pandora’s Box.

Despite the project clearly not being in the safety zone of either piece of the collaboration, most songs manage to work.  The brooding, atmospheric acoustic guitars of “Little Dog” serve as a perfect accompaniment for Reed’s dramatic poetic style.  Another nice moment like that occurs in the middle of “Pumping Blood.”  Unfortunately, however, Metallica singer James Hetfield didn’t take over the vocals on much of the rest of the song.

“Cheat On Me” features Metallica using eerie keyboards, strings and dramatically restrained performances to create a very nice effect.  The song builds instrumentally for nearly four minutes before any vocals appear, and when the metal fury does come in for the final third of this ten-minute track, it is entirely seamless, despite Reed’s grating vocals.

“Iced Honey,” which probably should have been the first single, is very reminiscent of “Sweet Jane” from Reed’s tenure with Velvet Underground.  It serves as the most easily accessible point for the typical listener.  The band slows down to rock speed and features Reed in his most comfortable vocal performance.  Hetfield also gets quite a bit of mic time as well.

Click here to hear the preview.

Click here for more information about Loutallica.

Sonic Youth to Split?

Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore, of Sonic Youth, announced that their 27-year marriage has come to an end.  The band formed three decades ago and have fall tour dates planned, yet  the split makes fans wonder about the future of the pioneering alternative rock band.  A statement from their rep at Matador Records states, “Sonic Youth, with both Kim and Thurston involved, will proceed with its South American tour dates in November.  Plans beyond that tour are uncertain.”  When previously asked who the coolest person Moore had ever met was he answered, “It would have to be Kim G!  For sure.  Believe me, she was unbelievable when I first met her.  She wore this sort of hip prison-stripe outfit and flip-up shades on her glasses.  She had a ponytail, a little ponytail that was sort of center at the back of her head and I thought, ‘That’s the coolest fucking person I’ve ever met.'”  Gordon, 58, and Moore, 53, have a 17-year-old daughter Coco.

 

 

“Senator” Jack Black

Jack Black plays a coke-sniffing, crooked cowboy senator who likes to use a cattle prod on his genitals and girls behinds in the just-released video for Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks’ “Senator.”  In the video for the single from Malkmus’ new album, Mirror Traffic, Black also fulfills the usual running for office duties like holding babies and convincing America of his moral supremacy.

Scott Jacobson, who directed the video states that “Jack Black showed up and put in a 12-hour day that encompassed everything from genital-shocking to a real (unplanned) dog bite to full-on nudity.”  Malkumus explains that “The senator could be me or any singer in a band, anyone that’s trying to hang in there.”  The song and video are a sad commentary about how “Anyone that’s trying to stay in office [will] do whatever they can do to get votes.  They’ll say whatever they can.  Democrat or Republican, they want to stay in office more than anything.”  Here’s hoping Black actually runs for office as it would be an very entertaining campaign.

Click here to watch the video.

Tom Morello Occupies Wall Street

Nightwatchman, Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello’s folk alter-ego,  recently stopped by Liberty Park and played a four song set for hundreds of Occupy Wall Street crowd.    Morello, who was born in Harlem, opened up the show with “The Fabled City,” the title track from Nightwatchman’s second album.  Morello then played “Save the Hammer for the Man.”  After that, he treated the crowd to Woody Guthrie’s iconic “This Land Is Your Land.”  The protesters bounced up and down while chanting “this land is made for you and me” during the tune.  Morello closed out the set by teaching the crowd his song “World Wide Rebel Songs” and then singing it with the crowd while fists were pumped and American flags were waived.  Morello stated that he doesn’t know why this protest is different, but it is.  He added that it might have something to do with the 99 percent slogan as it is great and accurate.

Click here to see “The Fabled City.”

Click here to see “This Land Is Your Land.”

Free Friday: Deerhunter, Ariel Pink, Iron and Wine, and More on 4AD Sessions Compilation

4AD recently released 4AD Sessions:  2008-2011.  It is available as a free download for a limited time or you can purchase a $20 limited edition (one-time 1000 pressing) clear vinyl compilation which includes one track from each of the London label’s first ten live session series.  By downloading the compilation, you automatically enter into a contest to win a free copy of the vinyl.  The 4AD sessions are an ongoing series of video recordings (the first session with Deerhunter in 2008 was audio only) with various acts from the label’s roster.  The recordings showcase 4AD artists performing back-catalogue covers and alternative versions of their own material.

4AD Sessions: 2008-2011

01 Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti –  Menopause Man
02 Blonde Redhead – Here Sometimes
03 Twin Shadow – Forget
04 Gang Gang Dance – Chinese High
05 Deerhunter – Never Stops
06 tUnE-yArDs – Powa
07 Efterklang –  I Was Playing Drums
08 Broken Records – Home
09 Stornoway – Here Comes the Blackout
10 Iron and Wine – Big Burned Hand

You can purchase the LP here or click here and enter your email on the left towards the middle of the page to download the compilation for free and enter the contest.

Free Download: Smashing Pumpkins – “Rhinoceros”

The Smashing Pumpkins Record Club (“SPRC”) has released another excellent unreleased track from their expansive archives.  SPRC emailed an alternative version of “Rhinoceros” to members via email earlier this morning.  As frontman Billy Corgan explained, the track was recorded in 1989 at Reel Time Studios.  The Pumpkins recorded a couple versions of “Rhinoceros,” one of which ended up on Gish.  The Gish version of the tune has a standard rhythm guitar solo.  This newly released “Rhinoceros Version Two,” which the band feels is superior, has a keyboard solo instead.  The solo is played by the studio’s recording engineer and as no real keyboard was available, a “crappy” keyboard was used to make the track.  This alternate version of “Rhinoceros” is the fourth release by SPRC and like all the others, it’s free.

Click here and enter your email to join the club for free and get “Rhinoceros Version Two.”

Click on the “SPRC” tag below to find out how to get the first  three SPRC releases.

Axl or Elvis?

Guns N’ Roses recently played the Rock in Rio Festival.  Unfortunately, one of rock’s former greatest frontmen has decided Elvis was at his best when he was bloated and wearing sequins.  The nearly unrecognizable Axl Rose honored The King by wearing a weird fluorescent trenchcoat thing, a gigantic cowboy hat, and a whole lotta extra pounds.  Them days of rocking skin tight spandex pants are long gone.  The weight wouldn’t matter if it wasn’t for the jacket, hat, glasses, and Michael Jacksonesque glove.  Two Kings are not better than one.  This look makes us miss the good ol’ days of the dreads and hockey-jersey.

 

Click here to see the Elvis impersonation.

Free Friday: Moby – “The Poison Tree”

Moby recently announced that he’s releasing a deluxe version of Destroyed.  The deluxe version will be available October 31 and will include three discs.  The first disc is the standard release; the second disc features eight new tracks and three alternate versions of songs on the standard issue (and therefore the first disc); and the last disc is a DVD which contains some music videos, live concert footage, an interview, and some other stuff as well.  The deluxe version also contains a 24 page booklet of photos taken by Moby.

It’s really a shame that Moby didn’t release the deluxe version at the same time as the standard version, but instead waited months after the original version’s release.  Now interested fans who probably already bought the first release must now buy the deluxe version as well in order to get the extra stuff.  Unfortunately, it is reminiscent of how the original release of Play did not include the Gwen Stefani version of “South Side.”

You can download the first track off the second disc, ” The Poison Tree,” for free.  It is a great track that has the feel of the bluesy songs from Play or Be The One, but a little livelier.

Click here and enter your email halfway down the left side of the page.

Free Download: R.E.M. “Cassette Set” Demo & Retrospective Tracklist

After the recent news of R.E.M.’s breakup and Michael Stipe’s penis publications (Click here for more on Michael Stipe’s Dick Pic), it’s nice to have some good news from the Athens, GA group.  First, the band’s rare 1981 Cassette Set demo tape has started to circulate online.  The demo contains three songs, “Sitting Still,” “Radio Free Europe,” and “White Tornado” in various forms for a total of six tracks.  This demo has been remastered and is from one of only 400 cassettes which was distributed to labels, venues, and journalists.  As we wait for the career retrospective collection to come out, it’s nice to hear where these indie rock pioneers came from.

Cassette Set

April 15/16/23, 1981 (recording/mixing)

April/May 1981 (assemblage/packaging)

1. Sitting Still (fast “Polka” version, snippet)

2. Sitting Still

3. Radio Free Europe

4. White Tornado

5. White Tornado (take 2, aborted)

6. Radio Free Europe (Radio Dub)

Click here for the download.

Cassette Jacket – Front

Cassette Jacket – Back

Cassette – Front

Cassette – Back

Second, the band has released the tracklist for their above-mentioned career-spanning greatest hits album due out November 15.  The album, entitled Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage, 1982-2011, will feature three new tracks which the band recorded this past summer and “Radio Free Europe” from the above download.

Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage, 1982-2011

Disc 1

1. Gardening At Night
2. Radio Free Europe
3. Talk About The Passion
4. Sitting Still
5. So. Central Rain
6. (Don’t Go Back To) Rockville
7. Driver 8
8. Life And How To Live It
9. Begin The Begin
10. Fall On Me
11. Finest Worksong
12. It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
13. The One I Love
14. Stand
15. Pop Song 89
16. Get Up
17. Orange Crush
18. Losing My Religion
19. Country Feedback
20. Shiny Happy People

Disc 2
1. The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite
2. Everybody Hurts
3. Man On The Moon
4. Nightswimming
5. What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?
6.New Test Leper
7. Electrolite
8. At My Most Beautiful
9. The Great Beyond
10. Imitation Of Life
11. Bad Day
12. Leaving New York
13. Living Well Is The Best Revenge
14. Supernatural Superserious
15. UeBerlin
16. Oh My Heart
17. Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter
18. A Month of Saturdays
19. We All Go Back to Where We Belong
20. Hallelujah

Bob Dylan Borrows Again

Bob Dylan is rightfully known as one of the greatest songwriters of all time (if not the greatest) .  Dylan also has a reputation for protecting his copyrighted work and enforcing his property rights against those who have built on his works.  Additionally, it is well known that some of his best known works are very heavily influenced by others’ works such as Dylan’s “Song to Woody,” which uses a Woody Guthrie melody.  So, it should come as no surprise to learn that Bob Dylan is once again being very heavily influenced by others’ works in his most recent artistic endevour, if not outright copying others.  Dylan has his first ever painting exhibition currently showing at the Gagosian Gallery in New York City.  Dylan describes the exhibit as “a visual reflection on [my] travels in Japan, China, Vietnam, and Korea, people, street scenes, architecture, and landscapes.”  People have started noticing, however, that Dylan is once again expounding on someone else’s art as some of the paintings are clearly copied from other people’s photographs, some of which are still copyright protected.

Take these comparisons from the NY Times:

The image on the left is from Dylan’s exhibit (photograph taken by the NY Times’ Marcus Yam).  The photo on the right is by Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Once again, the image on the left is from Dylan’s exhibit (photograph again taken by Yam) and the photograph on the right is by Leon Busy.

Dylan’s paintings were clearly based on these pictures.  Dylan claims that the paintings were all based on scenes he had seen in his travels.  Yet, on the other hand he claims that he procured all releases that he needed (a claim which is in dispute).  Maybe he saw those photographs during his travels.  But even if he did, besides the fact that he is misleading everyone, it looks as though he his getting his inspiration, once again, from other works of art and expanding upon them.

Whether Dylan did anything wrong by making paintings in this way is a separate issue (Just ask Shepard Fairey about his legal troubles in regards to the famous “Hope” Obama picture).  The real issue is that people should remember it is alright to be inspired by and build off another artists work and should be encouraged to do so.  For that practice of building on other art; whether it is music, painting, or photography; is the only reason we have the art that we have today.