The A.V. Club - Music

Great Job, Internet!: Listen to a bunch of rappers reference former NBA center Alonzo Mourning

Kevin McFarland — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:00:00 -0500

Sports and hip-hop are a match made in heaven, but sometimes an unusual reference gets used so many times over the years that it stands out. Courtesy of an endorsement from Bethlehem Shoals (of dearly departed but never forgotten NBA blog Free Darko), now there’s a roundup by Vancouver-based Young Braised of many different rappers referencing former NBA star Alonzo Mourning in songs ranging from 1993-2012. Unfortunately, unlike other sports references, where a name gets used because of how great, say, Michael Jordan is at basketball, Mourning is such an ever-present name-drop because he goes well in any line using the word “morning.” You know, instead of highlighting the fact that the guy got a kidney transplant, then returned to the NBA and won a title. The tracks range from the standard name-drop in Fu-Schnickens’ “What’s Up Doc? (Can We Rock)” which featured Shaquille O’Neal, to Wale ...

Newswire: Queen guitarist Brian May says he hates The Voice, surprises no one

Marah Eakin — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:00:00 -0500

Today in “water is wet” news: Brian May hates The Voice. The Queen guitarist says the show—he’s talking about the U.K. version, but his feelings would probably carry over to the U.S. version as well—“is absolutely the dullest, dumbest, most depressing programme on TV,” and is “the ultimate insult to music and performers.” In a post on his blog, May writes that he hopes the show “dies a natural death very soon” and that seeing “young singers busting their guts trying to win somebody’s attention, who is rudely sitting with their back to the singer” makes him feel sick.

May goes on to say that competition is not what music about and that, in fact, it hurts art. He writes:

“When we sing, or play, for real, we are NOT screaming at the top of our lungs trying to persuade someone to notice us ...

Great Job, Internet!: There's a new Beyoncé song and it's great, of course

Marah Eakin — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:20:00 -0500

An unofficial (probably) version of a cut of the new Beyoncé record has hit the net and—surprise, surprise—it’s pretty damn good. “Grown Woman,” the song that she first teased in a Pepsi commercial this spring, finds Mrs. Carter blending afro-pop and R&B as she extols the virtues of being able to do whatever the hell she wants and stuff. It’s a little cheesy on the first listen, but give it a few go-arounds and it’ll be stuck in your head all damn summer.

Hear This: An early Walkmen song gets anti-nostalgic

Josh Modell — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:00:00 -0500

In Hear This, A.V. Club writers sing the praises of songs they know well—some inspired by a weekly theme and some not, but always songs worth hearing. This week, we’re asking our writers to talk about a song that always reminds them of their own arrested development.

I’ve never pined much for my younger days: College wasn’t a non-stop drinking party for me or anything, but I feel happily smarter now than I did then. So I think I can relate to “We’ve Been Had” from the first Walkmen record, Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone. It seems like a song that doesn’t embrace the past at all, but rather looks back on it with some regret—the ol’ “if I only knew then what I know now.” The key lyric basically makes fun of younger Hamilton Leithauser (or whoever this ...

Great Job, Internet!: Listen to two tracks from Into It. Over It.'s Life Is Suffering 7-inch

David Anthony — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:45:00 -0500

What started as a songwriting project for Chicago's Evan Weiss under the moniker Into It. Over It. quickly blossomed into a band more ambitious than the endeavor that bore it. After a year of writing and releasing songs—all compiled on No Sleep Record's 52 Weeks—Weiss released six split 7-inches chronicling his experiences in various cities across the U.S. before releasing his first full-length album, the aptly titled Proper, in 2011.

Although Weiss had been touring for years on his own, offering up stripped-down versions of full-band numbers and plaintive acoustic tracks, last fall Weiss assembled a band featuring members of Noumenon, Cut Teeth, and CSTVT and took Into It. Over It. on the road as a full band for the first time. Along for the ride was Hilary Corts who documented the tour, and this June Topshelf Records will be releasing a 7-inch of two ...

Newswire: The Pogues' Shane MacGowan seeking dental help so that he can star in "Hollywood film"

Marah Eakin — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:35:00 -0500

The Pogues’ Shane MacGowan has long been famous for his teeth or, rather, for the lack thereof. A lifetime of drinking, drugging, and smoking has resulted in the loss of literally all the frontman’s teeth, but he’s taken to Twitter to find a dentist to give him a new smile.

MacGowan has worn dentures since the removal of his last two teeth in 2009, but he’s recently gave up wearing them. Instead, according to his girlfriend, Victoria Mary Clarke, he’s now seeking someone to build him a new smile, one that can help him “star in Hollywood film,” which is apparently a thing that could happen. Clarke says she’s had offers from a number of well-meaning dentists who also happen to be Pogues fans, but that the duo are still evaluating who they want to work with. Of course, she says, “Shane promises to do ...

Newswire: The Clash announce Sound System, the only box set that matters

David Anthony — Tue, 21 May 2013 11:40:00 -0500

The Clash is no stranger to having its albums reissued, repackaged, and repurposed, so it's inevitable that the band is finally getting the box set treatment. Housed inside a boombox-shaped box, Sound System will compile the band's seminal albums on CD with three discs of B-sides and outtakes, a DVD, and various pieces of Clash regalia such as a poster and dog tags. The albums are remastered for the ump-teenth time, but this go-round sees band member Mick Jones taking on the job.

In tandem with the Sound System box the group will also be releasing The Clash - Hits Back, a 2-CD/3-LP affair that strips down the box to its bare essentials as well as The Clash Five Studio-Album Set which will be available on both CD and LP, all of which will be available on September 10. Not surprisingly the band's final album—the one ...

Great Job, Internet!: Watch Zooey Deschanel sing, dance, be adorable a new She & Him video

Marah Eakin — Tue, 21 May 2013 11:25:00 -0500

Zooey Deschanel is a lot of things—gamine, adorkable, intensely annoying, depending on who you ask—but she’s also undeniably talented. Fresh off a great season of New Girl, the singer has once again teamed up with M. Ward to release a new She & Him record. Volume 3 came out earlier this spring, but the first video from the record just dropped today.

Deschanel stepped behind the camera for the first time ever for the clip, “I Could’ve Been Your Girl.” The singer says it’s inspired by some of her favorite ‘60s musicals, meaning it’s both insanely tame and a little sweet. In it, a cute Deschanel and her cute friends cutely dance and goof around, adorably trying to woo Ward, who’s billed as “the star” and just sits grumpily reading a newspaper, immune to cute things like some sort of asshole. (Seriously, his behavior ...

Great Job, Internet!: This previously unreleased version of The Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer" features Arthur Russell on cello, and it's great

Marah Eakin — Tue, 21 May 2013 11:00:00 -0500

The Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” is already a near perfect song, but a newly unearthed version featuring cello master Arthur Russell has taken the track to a whole new level. The track comes courtesy of Dazed And Confused, which has a little more information about Russell on its site, including some details about an upcoming celebration of the late avant garde musician’s life and work.

Permanent Records: The Breeders’ Last Splash is a rallying cry for the weirdos and stereotype-flouters

Annie Zaleski — Tue, 21 May 2013 11:00:00 -0500

Permanent Records is an ongoing closer look at the records that matter most.

When The Breeders announced the reissue of a deluxe edition of 1993’s Last Splash (dubbed LSXX) and the reformation of that album’s lineup (vocalists/guitarists Kim and Kelley Deal, bassist Josephine Wiggs, and drummer Jim MacPherson), it felt like the band was giving itself a second chance. For as ubiquitous as Last Splash was during 1993 and 1994—singles “Cannonball,” “Saints,” and “Divine Hammer” were modern-rock radio staples, helping the album go platinum—The Breeders never seemed to live up to their potential.

Not that this was intentional underachievement. Shortly after playing Lollapalooza’s main stage in 1994, the band disintegrated due to Kelley Deal’s arrest and subsequent trip to rehab to treat her heroin addiction. The individual members continued playing music with other bands (The Amps, The Kelley Deal 6000, Dusty Trails) for ...

MusicalWork Review: The National: Trouble Will Find Me

Josh Modell — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:01:00 -0500

The past three National albums—a.k.a. the ones that launched the band from semi-obscurity to festival headliner—have been released in late spring, but they couldn’t be wintrier. And yes, the new Trouble Will Find Me burbles in the same gloomy stewpot as the uniformly excellent Alligator, Boxer, and High Violet, collections whose differences from each other are subtle enough to elude all but the most fanatical listeners. Luckily, The National is exactly the type of band to inspire that sort of fanaticism: Careful, patient listening always offers copious rewards (and perhaps a mild case of depression).

Trouble’s main difference might actually be that it’s slightly less immediate than High Violet, though almost nothing the band has ever done—save maybe “Terrible Love” and “Abel”—could be described as immediate. Like the rest of the National catalog, Trouble Will Find Me is subtly insinuating; at ...

MusicalWork Review: French Montana: Excuse My French

Chris DeVille — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500

French Montana is a poor man’s rap star, but that hasn’t stopped him from getting rich. He shares Future’s knack for sing-songy choruses, lending memorable hooks to hits by Rick Ross (“Stay Schemin’”), P.A.P.I. (“Tadow”), and Chinx Drugs (“I’m A Coke Boy”), yet he isn’t half as innovative or imposing as the Auto-Tuned ATLien. He’s a gleeful lout like 2 Chainz, minus the color and charisma. He’s even more of a cipher than A$AP Rocky but lacks Rocky’s carefully refined audio-visual fashion sense. Speaking of cyphers, French won’t be winning one any time soon. On the Moroccan immigrant’s biggest hit, “Pop That,” he’s swallowed up by the mammoth, club-crushing beat and overshadowed by his A-List guests—even latter-day Lil Wayne, whose rabid goblin giggling overshadows no one these days. French is best known for accidentally ...

For Our Consideration: What do we mean when we call music pretentious?

Jason Heller — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500

In 2009, Brooklyn-based musician Hunter Hunt-Hendrix—leader of the band Liturgy (and now also Survival, whose debut album was released last week)—participated in a symposium called Hideous Gnosis. The topic was black metal, the shadow-shrouded subgenre of extreme metal that’s slowly seeped into mainstream consciousness over the past decade. The popular caricature of black metal is a vivid one: demonic-looking dudes in black-and-white face paint who burn down churches and play cruelly crude music that makes Slayer sound like Van Halen.

Hunt-Hendrix doesn’t resemble that caricature, and Liturgy’s music is a far cry from the traditional black metal of Venom and Mayhem. The band’s name alone conjures images of ritual devotion—just not to Satan. Blond-haired and baby-faced, Hunt-Hendrix looks downright angelic. Accordingly, the manifesto he delivered at Hideous Gnosis—titled “Transcendental Black Metal”—is filled with uplifting notions, up to and including “a new ...

MusicalWork Review: Daft Punk: Random Access Memories

Chris Mincher — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500

After pioneering the electronic dance-music movement in the ’90s, Daft Punk has spent more than a decade watching as devoted followers have slowly pushed it closer to the mainstream. Though a few notable innovators made an original mark and moved on (like LCD Soundsystem), the genre has been increasingly usurped by tablet-touting, pop-obsessed college kids whose songwriting and performance abilities are fully dependent on an ample supply of USB cords. Disguised as space-age cyborgs and emerging with their first studio album in eight years, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo seemed poised for an Odyssean return to electronic dance; however, with Random Access Memories, the French duo is not attempting to reclaim its kingdom—rather, it’s trying to destroy it.

The record is a bold expedition through the evolution of dance music, amassing sonic curios from each era and incorporating them all into the disco-jazz fusion of the ’70s ...

Crosstalk: How does Chris Brown get away with it?

Evan Rytlewski, Annie Zaleski — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Evan: If you bet in your office pool that Chris Brown’s rekindled relationship with Rihanna would end ugly, congratulations, you can now split the pot evenly with every other person in your workplace. About a week and a half ago, the mercurial R&B singer took a not-so-veiled swipe at his once-again ex, tweeting “She’s not mine if she’s everybody else’s.” (It has since been deleted.) As nasty as that brief tweet was, it was actually understated compared to Brown’s previous attempts to slut-shame his former flame. Last May on a remake of Kanye West’s “Theraflu,” some months before reuniting with her, he cautioned, “Don’t fuck with my old bitch, it’s like a bad fur / Every industry nigga done had her.”

Much of the coverage of Brown and Rihanna’s damned relationship has understandably focused on why a singer of Rihanna’s ...

Newswire: R.I.P. Ray Manzarek of The Doors

Sean O'Neal — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:00:00 -0500

According to a statement first posted on The Doors’ official Facebook fan page, founding member Ray Manzarek has died after a lengthy battle with bile duct cancer. Manzarek was 74.

Manzarek co-founded The Doors with Jim Morrison after a chance encounter on Venice Beach, not long after the two had parted ways at UCLA* film school. Manzarek, a classically trained keyboardist who’d been kicking around in local bands, and Morrison, already a nascent form of the preening poet he'd become, conceptualized the band on the spot, based on Morrison’s grand assertions that he’d already been writing a concert in his head, and Manzarek’s genuine interest in hearing it. That iconic, oft-imagined moment—in which Morrison sang a few bars of “Moonlight Drive” to Manzarek, blowing his mind—marked the beginning of what would become decades of Morrison mythmaking, much of it propagated by Manzarek himself ...

Newswire: Stone Temple Pilots replace the ousted Scott Weiland with Linkin Park's Chester Bennington

Marah Eakin — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:30:00 -0500

After kicking Scott Weiland to the Vaseline-covered curb earlier this year, Stone Temple Pilots have enlisted Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington as a replacement. Bennington joined STP on stage at KROQ’s Weenie Roast this weekend to perform an eight-song set—including one new tune, “Out Of Time,” you can listen to below.

While it’s not explicitly clear whether Bennington will be using his yarling talents with STP full-time, it certainly seems like he’s in the group for the long haul. He told KROQ’s Kevin And Bean that it was a “no-brainer” joining the group, and that they’re “going to go out and make more money and go play more shows and have some fun.” So take that, Scott Weiland.

Weiland and his own group, the Wildabouts, are currently in the middle of their “Purple At The Core” tour, with some West Coast dates starting next ...

Hear This: With “Deceptacon,” Le Tigre captured the sound of youth in a song

Marah Eakin — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:00:00 -0500

I liked a lot of music growing up, but nothing really takes me back to a place and time more than Le Tigre’s “Deceptacon.” A lot of kids were punks in high school and drove around smoking cigarettes in their gross cars, but I was a good girl. I was the president of every club, never broke rules, always got As, and I never mouthed off, lest my parents yell at me. (They wouldn’t have, but I didn’t know that at the time.) Thus my real period of rebellion came when I was in college, when I ...

Newswire: Justin Bieber reminds booing crowd that Chevrolet has deemed him a serious artist

Sean O'Neal — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:02:00 -0500

After months in which the press struggled to find something interesting in Justin Bieber wearing a gas mask, abandoning his monkey to German prison, and inducting the ghost of Anne Frank into his fan club, last night’s Billboard Music Awards finally spawned a far more compelling Justin Bieber story—that of the artist being rewarded for his craft. Bieber was on hand to receive the Milestone Award, an inaugural trophy sponsored by Chevrolet that celebrates “the ingenuity of this year’s hitmakers” and the fact that “ingenuity” is a word Chevrolet is really into right now. At long last, here was the recognition that Bieber’s music is every bit as exciting as the Chevy Impala, his career as unshakeable as the American auto industry. But despite its more than a century of producing reliable cars, not everyone had faith in Chevrolet’s ability to pick today’s most ...

Newswire: Kanye West's new record, Yeezus, is, in fact, out June 18

Marah Eakin — Mon, 20 May 2013 10:20:00 -0500

It’s been suspected for a little while now that Kanye West’s new record would come out June 18, but the rapper finally confirmed that speculation this weekend in the wake of his performance on Saturday Night Live. Yeezus (Get it?) is available for iTunes pre-order now, boasting the above album art of what appears to be a melted gold statue or icon.

There’s no tracklist or anything yet, but it’s probably safe to go ahead and assume that the two incredibly intense songs West performed on Saturday Night Live, “New Slaves” and “Black Skinhead,” made the cut. West also debuted the “New Slaves” video Friday night by projecting it on different buildings around the world, like Wrigley Field here in Chicago.

Great Job, Internet!: Watch "Diaper Money," The Lonely Island's new ode to adulthood

Marah Eakin — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:30:00 -0500

Every Wednesday for a couple of weeks now, The Lonely Island has been premiering videos for cuts off its forthcoming record, The Wack Album. While it’s not Wednesday, it is YouTube’s Comedy Week, and so the group has just dropped a new clip a couple of days early.

This time around, Jorma, Akiva, and Andy take on heavy adult issues with “Diaper Money.” While “I Fucked My Aunt” and “Spring Break Anthem” extolled the virtues of incest and gay marriage, “Diaper Money” reps hard for solid family life, “wife pussy,” and purchasing cemetery plots in advance.

The Wack Album is out June 11.

Great Job, Internet!: Watch a new, Aisha Tyler-directed video about Silversun Pickups

Marah Eakin — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:00:00 -0500

Archer star Aisha Tyler may have starred in a boatload of movies and TV shows, but she’s only directed one thing to date: a 2010 short called Committed. That’s changed now, as she’s just filmed, directed, and edited another short, Simmer, about the Silversun Pickups tour.

Set to the track of the same name from the band’s latest record, Neck Of The Woods, Tyler’s clip is all arty black and white, and features a bunch of shots of pedals and guitar cords. It’s not the most original thing in the world, but hey, Aisha Tyler! Silversun Pickups!

For Our Consideration: The crowd-funding conundrum: The line between bringing fans closer and taking advantage

Jonah Bayer — Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500

“Help Eisley tour our new record and spend our lives with YOU,” goes the headline on the Kickstarter page launched by the Texas indie-rock band in April. While established bands use the site practically every week to enlist fan support and bypass traditional record labels, Eisley raised the bar: It wanted $100,000 to support a new album, money traditionally provided by a record label. And it wanted those six figures for a tour that was set to begin six weeks after the Kickstarter launched.

The band justified it by noting that four of Eisley’s five members had kids in 2012, which means it has “four beautiful new mouths to feed, safely transport, and care for” (italics theirs) on the road. To reach its goal, Eisley has assembled rewards that range from an online acoustic show ($1) to a custom guitar with hand-drawn artwork by the band ($5,000 ...

Newswire: We bid farewell to The Office and met HIMYM's mother this week on The A.V. Club

David Anthony — Fri, 17 May 2013 17:40:00 -0500

What’s new this week?

Our coverage of the Cannes Film Festival began on Thursday and will be running regularly for the next week. Enjoy reading about movies you won’t be able to see for another six to 12 months.

Don’t Miss

In Inventory, we looked at the various series that HBO Go is currently omitting from its service and celebrities we couldn’t believe wrote novels. Each one is perplexing but for very different, yet equally frustrating reasons.
Our New Girl walkthrough with the series' showrunners came to an end, offering insights on the past season’s “big kiss” and how Taylor Swift’s bit part was not the worst thing ever.
A.V. Undercover continued with Blessed Feathers’ stripped-down version of Paul Simon’s classic “Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard.”
On the heels of metal oral history Louder Than Hell’s release, we examined ...

Great Job, Internet!: Watch a hot Soul Train line groove to Daft Punk's "Get Lucky"

Marah Eakin — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:05:00 -0500

It seems like a pretty foregone conclusion that, barring any impending Kanye West bangers, 2013’s summer jam will be Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky.” With that honor comes both great responsibility and a great number of YouTube parodies of or tributes to the song.

Today’s most popular “Get Lucky” clip, for example, comes from a YouTube user who set the song to an edit of the funkiest Soul Train dancers. It absolutely works, and it makes a pretty convincing case for the resurgence of both hot pants for women and polyester jumpsuits for men.

Hear This: Destroy This Place shows how press releases can get it right

Kyle Ryan — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:00:00 -0500

In Hear This, A.V. Club writers sing the praises of songs they know well—some inspired by a weekly theme and some not, but always songs worth hearing.

As a professional journalist who writes a fair amount about music, I receive a ton of press releases for bands every day. Nine out of 10 of them do nothing for me, but then a band comes along one that’s described as “Think Fugazi meets Japandroids, with a double shot of indie-rock,” and it might as well say KYLE RYAN, THIS IS FOR YOU. Fugazi is one of my favorite bands of all time, and Japandroids’ Celebration Rock was my 2012 album of the year. The press release was quoting Popstache’s review of a track by Destroy This Place, and it’s pretty apt. The Detroit band specializes in the kind of “no-nonsense guitar rock” Josh Modell used to ...

Newswire: Superchunk's Laura Ballance has hearing issues, won't be touring with the band anytime soon

Marah Eakin — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:00:00 -0500

Superchunk bassist Laura Ballance won’t be touring with the group in support of its new record, I Hate Music. In an open letter, Ballance said it’s not because she hates music or because she’s too old, but rather because she’s developed hyperacusis. The condition—the same one preventing Stephin Merritt from touring—makes Ballance overly sensitive to certain sounds, and leads to hearing loss and ringing in the ears.

Ballance says she hopes to play shows in the future, provided she can figure out a way to protect her hearing. She says she even hopes to be able to pop up on a few shows on the I Hate Music tour, but that fans shouldn’t really buy tickets for the tour based on that possibility. “Chances are I won’t be there,” she says. “If I will, I will let you know in advance.”

Jason ...

Great Job, Internet!: The end is really nigh in the new Queens Of The Stone Age animated music videos

Kevin McFarland — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:50:00 -0500

In anticipation of their new album …Like Clockwork, Queens Of The Stone Age have been releasing animated music videos for some of the songs. Credit for the dark world to go with the gritty atmosphere of the music goes to director/UK artist Boneface, who also did all the artwork for Clockwork. The animated clips are spooky and grotesque, matching Boneface’s typically detailed depravity with unusually understated music from Josh Homme and company. The videos released this week for “Kalopsia” and "Keep Your Eyes Peeled" feature masked vandals and violent bar fights in a dark, surreal fantasy. And today’s video for “If I Had A Tail” shows a suicidal pyromaniac driver throwing makeshift bombs at a motorcycle gang in a post-apocalyptic landscape. It really takes the lyrics to heart, especially, “Buy flash cars / Diamond rings / Expensive holes to bury things.” The end is fucking nigh, indeed.

Great Job, Internet!: Check out drawings of Morrissey as Superman, Robert Smith as Plasticman, and Ian Curtis as Batman

Marah Eakin — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:45:00 -0500

A Brazilian artist has produced a line of comic book art for those who might think Morrissey is super human. Butcher Billy’s work is based on the idea that, growing up, he was equally influenced by both “the incorruptible ideas of perfect superheroes” and the “human flaws and desires” conveyed in song lyrics. Hence, a picture of Ian Curtis as Batman.

All snark aside, Butcher Billy’s work is pretty amazing and, conveniently, totally commercially available. T-shirts, art prints, iPad and iPhone cases, cards, and all sorts of other goods are available on Society6, so go buy a Robert-Smith-as-Plasticman shirt and support mope rock, comic books, and creativity.

Great Job, Internet!: Watch (or maybe don't watch) Wayne Coyne cover Bowie while wearing a laser thong

Marah Eakin — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:00:00 -0500

Wayne Coyne has maybe been doing a lot of drugs lately—not that that’s a bad thing. The Flaming Lips frontman helmed the Oklahoma darlings’ performance on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon last night wearing nothing but a sort of laser loincloth, or as Pitchfork put it, “an array of flowing tentacular wires.” The band performed two songs—“Try To Explain” and a cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes”—before Coyne threw on some clothes and joined Fallon, Modern Family’s Julie Bowen, and Demi Lovato for some Pictionary, because that’s normal.

All the clips are below, though the performances might be a little NSFW, depending on how large and hi-res your monitor is.