| HeraldNet - Snohomish County's online news source |
 MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2008 5:19 am |
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 Weekend reading: Metallica, Beck, AC/DC AC/DC is releasing a new album — score! — and it’s supposed to be more rock 'n' roll than their recent albums — sweet! — so the group's releasing it directly through Wal-Mart. Aweso — Umm. Wait, huh? Well, OK. I mean, that’s cool. That’s the way the Eagles released its last album, so we all know it’s a good business decision, which is, uh, rock 'n' roll. Anyway, we get an excerpt from a Rolling Stone piece about the new album this week, along with plenty of other good articles. Read on, readers. E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
Videos: Metallica, Hot Chip, Wilco Is there a YouTube backlash yet? Probably not. Can we start one? I'm really tired of seeing awful videos shot on horrible digital cameras with mediocre sound broadcast in poor resolution. Please, concertgoers of the world: Stop posting every song by every band in every concert ever. Those complaints aside, occassionally, a good clip does slip through, as is the case with this duet by Wilco and the Fleet Foxes. Solid sound and decent camerawork (all things considered) make the Spokane, Wash., performance watchable. See that and more below. Wilco with Fleet Foxes - "I Shall Be Released" - Live Dylan cover The Seattle band of the moment continues its string of blog-friendly successes by guesting with Wilco on stage for a cover of Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released." It's a formidable pairing of folk-country-rock and, together, the two do undeniable justice to the tune. And hey! The video isn't nauseatingly jittery ! Nice work, guy in the crowd with a digital camera, whoever you are! Metallica - "The Day That Never Comes" - Video The first half of this 8-minute-plus video is pretty much as dull and bloated as the first half of the song. During the song's second half, as Metalica starts shredding, the guitar licks draw you into a grim and suspenseful frame of mind as - spoiler alert! - nothing much happens. Oddly, that ends up being a relief. Hot Chip - "Wrestlers" - Video This light clip for the song "Wrestlers" finds the Brits in Hot Chip talking smack as best they can, which is not very. My favorite line: "I learned all I know from watching wrestling. I think you think I'm about to throw the towel in." The one about a "half nelson, full nelson, Willie Nelson" is also fun, though. These guys are great. ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
Concert presales: Metallica, Scars on Broadway, Conor Oberst After virtually no shows went on sale last week, we’ve got a glut of metal acts with presales this week, led by none other than Metallica. The group intends to release its latest, "Death Magnetic", on Sept. 12. The album is being billed as a return to 1980s-styled shredding, not the mainstream modern rock that characterized its past couple efforts. Fans can get tickets to that show RIGHT NOW through a presale, or take advantage of presales to Scars on Broadway, Down and Dragonforce — a British metal act — by following the links below. Keep in mind, no prices include service fees, etc. Also going on sale without presales: E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
Weekend reading: The Beatles, Death Cab, Randy Newman Bumbershoot fast approaches, and so we get an interview with Ben Gibbard in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The singer says his band may never have as big a hit as "Plans," the group's major label debut, and also extols the virtue of Australia, where the group recently toured. It's a solid Q&A, as are all these other articles. Dig in: E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
Videos: Kanye, Kings of Leon and the Walkmen OK, I’m back from vacation, so I’ll be posting religiously again. My apologies to any regular readers who have felt shunned these past weeks. For this video round-up, we’ve got some good, some bad and some ugly. We start with the ugly from a band that I really genuinely like. Sigh. The Walkmen — “In the New Year” — Video You know how sometimes a video looks great, but the song is just awful, and the whole thing works better with the sound off? Well, the Walkmen’s lead video from “You & Me” is sort of the opposite of that. It works better if you can’t see it. It’s so very bad. So very, very bad. But hey, good song guys! Kanye West — “Good Morning” — Video OK — let’s see how long this video stays posted. My guess: A couple of hours. It’s getting pulled down elsewhere, so if this link ends up dead, I apologize. Whatever the case, the video finds Japenese artist Takashi Murakami collaborating again with West (Murakami also did the album cover for “Graduation.”) The clip finds West’s alter ego, that cute little bear, hustling through a psychedelic city on his way to graduation. It’s not a great clip, but its good. Kings of Leon — “Sex on Fire” — Video Kings of Leon write some good songs, but wordsmiths they are not. Here we get a chorus that actually includes the line, “This sex is on fire.” Seriously, guys? That’s the best you can do? What does that even mean? It's just bad. Anyway, here’s the video for the song, which, in and of itself, really isn't that bad. ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
Videos: Death Cab, John Legend/Andre 3000 I read Steve Martin's memoir a little bit ago, and in it, he talks a lot about finding new comedy, which, yes, I know, sounds a bit pompous - but apparently makes a decent amount of sense to comics, based on Jerry Seinfeld's blurb about the book. Anyway, I say all this because, watching Death Cab's "No Sunlight" video, I have a feeling we're staring at the new comedy. The humor of movies like "Rushmore" has finally trickled down into music videos like this one, to the point where it doesn't come off as original, but simply commonplace. That's not to say it isn't funny. Good old Stretch gets some laughs. Anyway, see the video for yourself, along with ones by Sigur Ros and John Legend, below. Death Cab for Cutie - "No Sunlight" - Video I'm a bit late on posting this Death Cab video, starring Ben "Stretch" Gibbard. The clip finds the local faves squaring off in a WhirlyBall tournament. A solid clip, it milks the Wes Anderson/"The Office" aesthetic for laughs. John Legend with Andre 3000 - "Green Light" - Video Ah, Andre 3000. Along with helping Legend out on the chorus to this song, the Outkast rapper tosses in an extended verse around the 3:30 mark, saying he's got his girl "giggling like a piglet." Which means … I don't know what. But does it really matter? My favorite part: The end of the video, when 3000 leaves the party the following morning on a bicycle. Sigur Ros - "Inní mér syngur vitleysingur" - Video The Icelandic art rockers put out this live performance as their video for “Inni Mer Syngur Vitleysingur," which translates to “Within Me a Lunatic Sings." This is probably the best song off the group's latest, more accessible album, “Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaus." ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
Updated concerts: Presales for Duffy, Fleet Foxes, Hold Steady Fleet Foxes are quickly graduating from smaller venues to larger halls. The Seattle group has already jumped from playing clubs like Neumos in April to headlining an upcoming show at the Moore Theatre. It’s at least the group’s third concert in the area since spring, when the harmony-loving quintet released its debut on Sub Pop Records. Tickets for the Moore Theatre gig, along with concerts from Weezer and Duffy, go on sale in the coming days. Here’s the info, keeping in mind prices don’t include service fees, etc. E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
On vacation Hello, readers. I'll be out of the office on vacation until next Monday. Sadly, you'll have to look elsewhere for video clips, free music info and concert presale passwords in the coming days. While I'll be back on Aug. 18, until then, I leave you with this clip. Study it. Contemplate it. Consider its metaphorical implications. I think there's a graduate thesis hidden in there somewhere: ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW! |
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