The Butler and the Boss – new issue of Spin
I think I’m going to have to – get this! – go to a record store and buy a music magazine. The new issue of Spin is out, with a Bruce Springsteen / Win Butler (of Arcade Fire) cover story. Spin interviewed the two of them together back in September before an E Street show at Continental Airlines Arena. Not long after, Win and his wife Règine hit the stage with Bruce in Ottawa for a couple of songs.
Check out an excerpt from the interview here.
One of the first things Bruce related to Win was his appreciation for a fan made video of Arcade Fire’s “My Body is a Cage”. It’s set cleverly and powerfully to scenes from Once Upon a Time in the West, a 1968 spaghetti western directed by Sergio Leone. Check it out…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pyp34v6Lmcc 336 278]
The Nighwatchman – Alone Without You (Video)
Here’s The Nightwatchman (AKA Tom Morello) singing “Alone Without You”.
sick of the strength that it takes to keep goin’
sick ’cause I’m losing this fight and it’s showin’Nice tune. Something familiar about it…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVyNM5mknnc 336 278]
Springsteen U.S. Tour Dates, 2008
I won’t quite crap myself yet – but no Phoenix date on the new tour itinerary??
I’m praying that the gap between April 8th in Anaheim and April 13th in Dallas is soon filled in with a Phoenix stop. Otherwise, Hello Disneyland!
Where’s my Tums…
Newly announced Springsteen tour dates:
Feb. 28: Hartford, Conn. (HCC Arena)
March 2: Montreal (Bell Centre)
March 3: Hamilton, Ont. (Copps Coliseum)
March 6: Rochester, N.Y. (HSBC Arena)
March 7: Buffalo, N.Y. (HSBC Arena)
March 10: Hempstead, N.Y. (Nassau Coliseum)
March 14: Omaha, Neb. (Qwest Center)
March 16: St. Paul, Minn. (Xcel Center)
March 17: Milwaukee (Bradley Center)
March 20: Indianapolis (Conseco Center)
March 22: Cincinnati (U.S. Bank Arena)
March 24: Columbus, Ohio. (Schottenstein Center)
March 28: Portland, Ore. (Rose Garden)
March 29: Seattle (Key Arena)
March 31: Vancouver (GM Place)
April 4: Sacramento, Calif. (Arco Arena)
April 5: San Jose, Calif. (HP Pavilion)
April 7-8: Anaheim, Calif. (Honda Center)
April 13: Dallas (TBA)
April 14: Houston (TBA)
April 18: Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (Bank Atlantic Center)
April 19: Orlando, Fla. (Amway Arena)
April 21: Tampa, Fla. (St. Pete Times Forum)
April 25: Atlanta (Philips Arena)
April 27: Charlotte, N.C. (Bobcat Arena)
April 28: Greensboro, N.C. (Greensboro Coliseum)
April 30: Charlottesville, Va. (John Paul Jones Arena)British Sea Power
Battle of Trafalgar, by J.M.W. Turner (1824) LinkAs far as cool band names go, I think British Sea Power ranks right up there as one of my favorites. British $&@ Sea Power!! Maybe it’s the imagery it evokes: 18th century-era Royal Navy 100-gun ships, cannon blasts… in fact, I was just inspired to add Mutiny on the Bounty
and Master and Commander
to my Netflix queue. What other movies would you guys recommend for all out sea action? Oh, The Blue Lagoon
! Consider it added.
This song came on randomly during a 10k I ran a week ago. It gave me a good kick in the arse to lift me up a pesky hill, and prompted an instant replay. I had picked this EP up on a whim while cruising around eMusic – one of my necessities for discovering new music. {Shameless Plug: Click here to get a bunch of free downloads}. They’re from Brighton, England, and apparently put on quite the live show. I look forward to seeing them if they ever make their way from Brighton to Phoenix. Right now, there are only UK dates on their itinerary.
British Sea Power – Atom (mp3) – from their recently released Krankenhaus?
[audio:bsp-atom.mp3]EP
Links: Official Site | MySpace
========================
A Day in the Life of British Sea Power: The Battle of Trafalgar took place on October 21st, 1805. Admiral Horatio Nelson commanded the British fleet from the First-Rate ship of the line HMS Victory – the flagship (I just learned all of these cool terms). The Royal Navy fleet of 27 ships took on a combined French and Spanish fleet of 33 ships. Nelson was outmanned and outgunned: on the French/Spanish side, nearly 30,000 men (!) and 2,568 guns. On the British side, 17,000 men and 2,148 guns. I never imagined that so many people were involved in one naval battle. 47,000 men? Incredible….
At 11:45am, Nelson sent out the infamous flag signal to his fleet: “England expects that every man will do his duty.” The fight was on. In the 1:00 hour, the 104-gun Victory engaged the 74 gun Redoutable. During the fight, a musket bullet fired from the Redoutable hit Admiral Nelson in the left shoulder, lodging in his spine. He died later that afternoon.
By 4:30pm, the battle was over. The British took 22 of the 33 ships facing them (many of which burned, sank, or wrecked in a storm after the battle). Casualties, though, were heavy on both sides: British casualties were 450 killed and 1,240 wounded. On the French & Spanish side, there were 3,650 killed and wounded. Read more about the battle here. Amazing stuff…
British $&# Sea Power!!
Boss Video: Sandy in Albany
Bruce broke out some tasty ones Thursday night in Albany. The crowd was treated to a one-two punch of “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” and “The E Street Shuffle”.
Dates have started to be announced for the second leg of the U.S. tour in March and April 2008. No Phoenix announcement yet, but I’m still confident they’ll hit my town. Check out Ticketmaster for the announced dates. Meanwhile, the final two shows of this leg take place Sunday and Monday in Boston. My brother Dave will be in the house, the lucky $^#.
“Sandy, the fireworks are hailin’ over Little Eden tonight…”:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy6ggRLH6m4 336 278]
Thanks to Springsteenesque (great Boss coverage, check it out).
Ickmusic Live: Dire Straits, 1979
It’s time to bow to Sir Knopfler, as we travel back in time to Holland in the year of our Lord 1979. Apparently, these are the only four surviving recordings from the Dire Straits performance at the Pinkpop Festival in Geleen, Holland. This was the original incarnation of Dire Straits: Mark Knopfler (lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar, keyboards), John Illsley (bass), and Pick Withers (drums). This show is from June 1979, the same month they released their second album, Communiqué. Their self-titled debut a year earlier raced up the charts thanks to “Sultans of Swing”, which remains that ubiquitous classic rock radio staple to this day (and a song I will never turn off – I still can’t fathom how Knopfler’s fingers can fly so fast).
With these four songs, they take a couple from their first album, and a couple from Communiqué. Click on these nice ol’ album covers to check ’em out on Amazon. By the way, has anyone picked up Knopfler’s latest album? I’ll have to put that near the top of the list…
Dire Straits, Live at Pinkpop Festival
Geleen, Holland
June 4, 1979
FM Broadcast – April 27, 2007 on the KRO Radio 2 program “Legendarisch Live”Deejay Intro (mp3)
Follow Me Home (mp3)
Lady Writer (mp3)
Wild West End (mp3)
In the Gallery (mp3)
Besides Dire Straits, the 1979 Pinkpop lineup included Massada, Average White Band, The Police, Elvis Costello, Rush, and Peter Tosh.
John Prine – You Got Gold
I’m in the John Prine state of mind.
I guess it was a year ago about this time when I professed my love for The Missing Years album. Another track popped up tonight while I was holding my youngest daughter, getting ready to give her a bath. I immediately stopped in my tracks, and we spent the next four and a half minutes dancing and spinning. What a look of joy on her face. Goosebump moments.
Non-parents have already moved on to the next web site, but you parents know how it is – those spontaneous moments out of nowhere where your child can somehow convince you – just with an expression or a gleam in her eye – that all is right with this world. Escapism in its purest, most innocent (not to mention healthiest) form.
So it’s this song that I’ve absolutely loved since the record came out back in 1991. It’s the joyful, reeling melody, combined with Prine’s witty and beautiful lyrics. I mean look at this verse:
Life is a blessing, it’s a delicatessen
Of all the little favors you do.
All wrapped up together no matter the weather,
Baby you always come through.
It’s a measure of treasure that gives me the pleasure
Of loving you the way I do
And you know I would gladly say I need your love badly
And bring these little things to you.Who else but John Prine could craft that?
So listen up, and if you have a spare few moments with your kid, give him or her a whirl with this one…
John Prine – You Got Gold (mp3) – from The Missing Years
(Boss fans – Bruce and Prine duet on “Take a Look at My Heart”, reason enough to pick up the album – and so do Tom Petty and Bonnie Raitt)
John’s most recent album is a collection of old school country & western standards with bluegrass legend Mac Wiseman. It’s a great ride, and definitely puts me in a great place each time I hear it. Here’s a taste of what you’re in store for….
John Prine & Mac Wiseman – Don’t Be Ashamed of Your Age (mp3) – from Standard Songs for Average People
Pistols do Leno, Lose Cred?
This is a couple of weeks old, but worth a look for those who haven’t seen it. This is the Sex Pistols on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno singing “Anarchy in the UK” (Ron Paul was the guest that night). It’s a good version, mind you, but isn’t this not supposed to happen?
Could appearing on the most homogenized, lowest common denominator late night show be considered any less punk? Yeah yeah, the Pistols are reunited, they need to sell some tickets – but still – at the very least, shun Leno for Letterman!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTF4cO7gUOg 336 278]Of Lothars and Theremins
And now for something completely different. I first found out about the Lothars when I listened to The Sandinista Project: A Tribute to the Clash. Their version of “The Call Up” was up there among the strangest of the bunch (a good strange, of course).
The Lothars are a theremin-based band. They’re made up three theremins, and accompanying instruments like “homemade electronics”, a hammered dulcimer, a violin, a guitar, and a log drum. They’re from the Boston area, and have been mystifying their friends and fans since 1996.
We’ve all heard of theremins, but do we really know what they are? Quick lesson… the instrument was invented in 1919 by Russian inventor Léon Theremin (that’s ol’ Léon down there). A theremin consists of two pitch and one volume radio frequency oscillators and two metal antennas. To play it, the hands are moved around the two metal antennas, which control the instrument’s pitch and volume.
The resulting sound has an other-worldly quality to it. I snuck in a listen of Meet the Lothars (their first album) at work last week. By the time it was finished, I thought my co-workers were going to peel their faces off, the lights were going to dim, a UFO would descend outside the window behind me. and we would all levitate slowly into the craft. Eh, maybe it was the mushrooms. *
*kidding, co-workers.
And I was just getting into it again now, but my cat Jéfe is getting a little freaked – wondering what all these strange noises are – so I have to switch to something else.
The Lothars –
Charo UK(mp3) from Meet the Lothars.- Visit the Lothars merch page and buy directly from them.
- The Lothars: Official Site | MySpace
- Check out their jukebox, where you can listen to a whole bunch of full songs.
Now, watch the Lothars in action…..
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnLkPkrElvE 336 278]
Prince’s Response Song: PFUnk
Prince’s response to Prince Fans United? Why, Prince Fams United, of course. Which features a “response” song, I guess, called “PFUnk”. And it just happens to be one of the funkiest songs we’ve heard from him in years.
This is what we’ve been aching for…
My natural instinct is to post the mp3. But I’ll resist temptation *slap* and point you toward the tune. Click on either of the links to hear it.
Prince Fans United (Fan Site)
Prince Fams United (Prince/NPG Site)
Fans vs. Fams: for some quick background, Prince doesn’t refer to his admirers as “fans” , because he says it’s short for fanatic. He prefers “fam” because we’re like – um – family.This is going to get interesting….
