Support some local rock photogs and hear jamz from Le Switch and more tonight at Exposure, a new photo show opening tonight and running till March 20. All the details at YYYIKYS; come out and say hi. I’ll be the dude in the beard and Converse (descriptive, I know).
Update, 2/28: My shots from the event, including performances by Le Switch and Manhattan Murder Mystery, are on Flickr.
Related: Concert Photos
All photos by David Greenwald
I’ve been a fan of L.A. locals the Broken West since 2005 but hadn’t had the chance to see them live — until Tuesday. The power-pop act stuck mostly with tracks from last year’s slick Now Or Heaven; the songs were energetic live, but the band could’ve done with some of the sweat from their earlier work, gracing us with only one I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On standout and an earlier tune from their debut EP. Still, Ross Flournoy has golden rock ‘n’ roll vocal chords, the kind Jeff Tweedy once sang about — the kind never heard enough. More photos after the jump. As always, click any photo to open a hi-res gallery. Read the rest of this entry »
America’s best band (yes) will release their latest opus in June, according to Rolling Stone. The magazine also praises the seven tracks they recently heard, though given Wilco‘s increasingly Dad-rockin’ sounds and Rolling Stone‘s usual biases, I can’t help thinking this means another one-way ticket to Boomerville. (Fine by me, the ol’ yacht needs a new soundtrack.) Peep You Ain’t No Picasso for live versions of some of Wilco’s LP7 tracks. Before the new album, they’re putting out a third but equally essential documentary/concert film, Ashes of American Flags, on April 28 (April 18 at indie retailers and their Web site) and you can find the trailer up top.
All photos by David Greenwald
For better or wose, I’ve always considered the French Kicks indie rock also-rans, yet another early-aughts New York guitar act as identifiable as Dr. Phil at a mustache convention. Apparently I’ve been in the minority: the band played to a packed house at the Troubadour on Tuesday, even with a Modest Mouse show happening across town. I liked the dampened Walkmen vibe of last year’s Swimming well enough, but live, the band’s sound turned rich and cavernous, walking on a dream without falling asleep. It appears I have a discography to dig through. Tons more photos after the jump and as usual, click any one of them to open a hi-res gallery. Read the rest of this entry »
Mr. Samuel L. Jackson has signed on to reprise his role as awesomest dude ever Nick Fury in Marvel’s Iron Man 2, with the option for eight other potentional films. Brohugs abound! IM2 is due in May 2010. Filming starts in April and we’re still waiting on final casting for Black Widow and Crimson Dynamo thanks to reported scheduling conflicts and financial, ahem, constraints, respectively. Open yr wallet, Mighty Marvel! [Variety]
Phoenix grew up a lot on 2006′s It’s Never Been Like That, pushing aside the vaguely Maroon 5-y pop of Everything Is Everything for an album of sleek guitar jams that wouldn’t be caught dead in an Ed Hardy t-shirt. From the sound of things, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix will be another set destined for summer blasting. First single “1901″ picks up where the last album left off, adding synthesizers (the influence of frontman Thomas Mars’ babymama Sofia Coppola, no doubt) chunkier than peanut butter. In 2001, the Strokes threw down the gauntlet and asked if this was it — eight years later, Phoenix seem to be answering with a resounding “hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!” Maybe that’s French for “no.”
Phoenix – “1901″: mp3
(Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is due May 25, likely a Euro date – so probably May 26 stateside, A.K.A. Grizzly Bear Day)
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Looking for new music? Click below for more 2009 albums or visit the MP3-filled Album Release Calendar.
This will be the third and hopefully final time I’ve posted my 51-track compilation of Elliott Smith’s complete live cover recordings. It is, in large part, the reason I moved from the old blogspot page to this shiny new space — its unexpected Google deletion. But we’re here for Elliott. The below tracks have been culled from years of research and dozens of live shows. Not every song has the greatest recording fidelity, but as much as possible, I chose the tapes with the best combination of performance and sound for this collection. If you can point me toward better versions or copies of any of these tracks, please feel free to post them in the comments and we’ll update accordingly. It should be noted that Elliott was really a fan of the bands he covered — most of these were not one-offs, but songs he performed regularly. His Texas heritage is on display when he sings Willie Nelson; his pop influences hang on his sleeve as he strums tracks by the Kinks, Big Star and his beloved Beatles. He took his covers very seriously, too: at many a live show, he wouldn’t play a request because he didn’t feel he could do it justice that night. Hear the ones he did play, lovingly, all after the jump.
