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The past decade has really changed the once-rugged road to celebrity. Thanks to reality television, American Idol, and the Internet, anyone can blow up overnight. YouTube has played a particularly significant role in creating overnight celebrities, lowering the bar for what qualifies as quality entertainment. Just search David After Dentist or Panda Sneeze and you’ll begin to wonder why your latest home video isn’t getting 3,000 hits a week. Once in a while, though, you get the talented hard-working musicians make good type of story, and that’s just what happened with Chicago locals The Fold.
After posting a music video parody of Miley Cyrus’s “Party In the USA”, The Fold started getting a little more attention than usual. The parody, called “Every Band In the USA,” picks on today’s over-saturated pop-punk scene and its leading ladies and gents, including clothing company Glamour Kills and young rockers All Time Low. Read more…
Once there were four kids / they were walking in the park one day / when an old man came up to them and asked / I have three cats called Agatha, Agnus and Albert / I live all alone with my cats, and every day I wonder… / do any of you kids like to play around? / And the kids all said “FUCK YEAH!” / and went back to the old man’s house to party.
And that’s how Bang Bang Eche was started.
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Well, the big holiday is upon us; yes, Christmas Day has come and (almost) gone. I hope all you Christmas celebrators had yummy food, enjoyed your family’s company, and had a wonderful morning. I know at least one person who didn’t get what he wanted from Santa this year but I’m sure he’d wish you all a Merry Swiftmas regardless.
Evan Taubenfeld hit the music scene early this decade as the guitarist in Avril Lavigne’s multi-platinum selling band. He also co-wrote some of her hits and has produced for such artists as Tyga and The Pack. Recently, however, Taubenfeld has decided to break off and pursue a solo career. After a year of touring – most recently this Fall with Secondhand Serenade – Taubenfeld enjoyed a boost in exposure this holiday season when his lighthearted “Merry Swiftmas (Even Though I Celebrate Hanukkah)” made it to #59 on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs (even though I’m pretty sure it falls neatly into the pop genre) and – more importantly – made the rounds on the Internet, being heavily re-tweeted and posted on walls throughout Facebookland.
His single, “Boy Meets Girl,” starts off with a magical, airy sound before delivering a powerful, guitar-driven chorus that claims meeting this girl is “like Motorhead and the Grateful Dead in a game of Twister“. Meanwhile, my personal favorite, “Cheater of the Year,” is a catchy exposè of an unfaithful girlfriend. Evan’s debut album, Welcome to the Blacklist Club, is on its way. Of the album, Taubenfeld says, “For the first time in my career, I’m not hiding behind anyone else, whether it be as a guitarist or drummer in someone else’s band, or being the writer and producer. I’ve been sitting on the sidelines waiting for this for so long. I’m like that kid on the basketball team who is pretty good but rides the bench the entire season for three years until finally, the coach is like, ‘You’re in. Don’t screw this up.’ So Welcome to the Blacklist Club is about me from the first bar to the final note. It’s Chapter One of the story of my life.”*
Check out the “Merry Swiftmas” video below, have a laugh, and enjoy the holiday weekend! Read more…
For those of you who, like me, shed a small but significant tear when you heard The Hush Sound was no longer making music, I have some good news. That angelic voice, those bouncy blond curls, the endearing stage presence… they’re back! Gretta Morgan is starting from scratch.
Photo: © Kevin Hayes
I could characterize Gold Motel‘s sound myself but Lauren Henry really put it best: “Gold Motel represents the evolution of a musical identity that hearkens back to pop’s crowning achievements: the dreamy energy of The Kinks, the quickwitted lyrical dexterity of Elvis Costello, the unassuming sophistication of a Beach Boys melody, light as air and deep as the Pacific. The youthful energy and sheer joy of Greta’s work is captured on the Gold Motel EP…”
Some of the songs exhibit a hint of the Hush Sound’s sound (hah) but overall this really is a departure. Not the she-shaved-her-head-and-bought-a-Harley kind of departure, but significant enough to make this a project entirely separate from the Hush Sound. To those looking for a female singer-songwriter ala Cat Power and Mirah (but with a more uplifting tone), I turn your heads towards Gold Motel.
Greta will be playing her first show as Gold Motel this Sunday (12/20) at Beat Kitchen, followed by 4 sold out shows at Schuba’s opening for Butch Walker.
Do you ever sit on your couch contemplating your next three and a half minutes? What music should I listen to? you wonder. I want to feel the power of hard rock and the smoothness of rap, you say. I want to experience the rhythm of disco and the nostalgia of 60′s rock n roll. I want to sing along to a ballad and dance in my underwear to an 80′s pop song. Before you know it your three and a half minutes are up and you’ve been sitting on the couch talking to yourself.
Artwork: © Jason Katzenstein
Fear not, my friend, I have the answer.
Like most mashup artists, Super Mash Bros create mixes that primarily showcase modern rap vocals over recent rock and pop hits. They also use pop-punk (Jimmy Eat World, Panic! at the Disco, Good Charlotte), techno (DHT), classics (Jackson 5, The Beatles), hair metal (Def Leppard), 90s pop-rock (Train, No Doubt, Third Eye Blind)… the list goes on. Read more…
Two years ago I read an interview in Nylon (the only fashion magazine I read because of their great music section and their witty and intelligent way of writing) with singer Florence Welch of Florence & the Machine. The article prompted me to check out the band’s MySpace and I was immediately hooked. Welch’s powerful, captivating voice is what first caught my attention and I proceeded to play those few songs that were available online over and over for days.
© Ed Fielding
Fast forward: This summer while traveling in New Zealand, I came across Florence & the Machine’s first and only album Lungs in a small record store, sitting alongside Lily Allen and Cat Power. I asked the clerk what he thought of the new album, which was released in July and debuted at #2 on the UK album charts. ”That’s a great one,” he told me, “One of the best I’ve heard this year.” Read more…
I’ve been a fan Âof All Time Low’s since their 2006 tour opening for Amber Pacific. It was my first time hearing of the boys from Baltimore and they caught my attention with their high energy and catchy tunes. Since then, I’ve been to many more All Time Low concerts and enjoyed their Put Up or Shut Up EP and first full-length release, So Wrong It’s Right, on many occasions.
Photo: Alex Gaskarth of All Time Low © 2009 Gali Firstenberg
This summer the band promoted the release of their second full-length, Nothing Personal, by playing three cities across the country in one day. That was the first taste I got of their new songs live (or nibble, rather, as the set was only 45 minutes), but when the Glamour Kills tour passed through Chicago this past Monday and Tuesday I was able to get a better feel for how these new songs manifest themselves in a live setting, as well as a chance to see some bands I’d never seen before. Read more…
The Jane Carrey Band‘s sound cannot be described in one word. Their song “Carnival” makes me think of a sad mime while “Cry Cry Cry” reminds me of Sheryl Crow. “City Lights” has blues and funk influences and ”Wishing and Waiting” sounds like a lullaby that might kill you.
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It may be turning cold outside but now you can bask in the warmth of summeresque music with Sleepless Entertainment‘s Sounds of Summer Mixtape volume 3, avaliable for a FREE download at thesoundsofsummer.com.
I had the opportunity to interview Sleepless Entertainment manager Nick Pampenella about his company, their artists, and musical collaborations.
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Black Whales, who hail from Seattle, claim their music sounds like “flowers on drugs.” By this they must mean whatever drugs make one feel happy and mellow. Their music evokes The Beatles in their Rubber Soul era, which I know doesn’t narrow it down much – because what rock band these days doesn’t draw some influences from The Beatles – but hey, that was my instant reaction to the Whales’ sound and frankly it’s impossible to ignore.
Under Seattle-based indie label Mt. Fuji Records, Black Whales have recently released a 7-song EP Read more…
