Video of the Day: Japandroids

It’s warming up out there, and Japandroids are ready to help you rock out this summer with a new single, released yesterday by Polyvinyl Record Company. The band performed the track “The House That Heaven Built” at SXSW this year, and it is clearly a barn-burning summer anthem that will do well with audiences as they rock out in Europe this month (primarily the U.K.) and then in clubs throughout the States in June.

Their second full-length album, Celebration Rock, is set to be released Stateside on June 5th, 2012 and a week earlier (May 29th) in Canada. Listening to this track, you’re more likely to hear the influences of New Jersey (Bruce Springsteen, Titus Andronicus) than their Canadian bretheren…but hey, hasn’t that been said about Arcade Fire, too?

Tags: Arcade Fire, Behrnsie, Canada, Celebration Rock, Japandroids, Polyvinyl Record Company, Titus Andronicus, Video of the Day

EPIC Fail: SPIN’s 100 Greatest Guitarists

Let’s start with the possible answers: 1) SPIN is trolling for page views on its website. 2) The collaborative effort to create this list included contributors that have their ears in niche musical styles with no regard for popular music history. 3) They are trying to out “indie” Pitchfork. 4) Someone meant to use the words “Most Interesting,” “Most Unique” or perhaps “Most Underappreciated” instead of the word “Greatest.”  5) It was a really bad joke.

The Question: How could SPIN magazine (even with the article’s introductory paragraphs) as a respected music publication present such a travesty entitled SPIN’S 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time and seemingly, on purpose, ignore most of the greatest names in the history of the instrument?

I’m a fan of SPIN Magazine, have a subscription, follow its Twitter feed and read it online quite often. I usually find myself in reasonable agreement with their points of view on artists and reviews of  their recordings and live shows. I will further say that I am aware that I am quite probably being goaded into my ire and that answer No. 1 above is probably correct. Gues what? It’s working. It takes 11 page views to see the whole list and on each page there are hundreds of comments from readers and replies to comments (99% fiercely negative). This means readers (including myself) continue to read the list, comment about it, tell others to read it and they tell 2 friends and so on and–voila!–SPIN‘s metrics magically increase and Zoosk.com decides to advertise on SPIN.com

Sometimes, however, you can realize that you are being manipulated into certain positions but cannot help responding— much like you cannot keep yourself from projectile vomiting after eating something contaminated with salmonella. This is now where I find myself—knowing SPIN is trying to get me to do exactly what I am doing and keep the debate alive by my ranting and writing this article. But this transgression is just too great.

While I have never been a guitar player, I have been a student of great players for some 30 years now— being fascinated and enthralled by the great axe men of blues, rock, jazz and country. I certainly accept the notion that opinion and subjectivity play into the idea of creating a “Greatest” list, however, there are certain givens and human “axe-i-oms” that can’t be ignored. Read the full post…

Tags: Clapton, Gary Clark Jr, greatest guitarists, Hendrix, SPIN, SPIN's 100 Greatest Guitarists List, Tony Iommi, Van Halen

Renaissance Man Rich Morel From Electro-Pop To His New Band with Brendan Canty

Rich Morel is one busy guy. He’s a songwriter, producer, performer, DJ and remixer known for his solo work and remixes for New Order, The Pet Shop Boys and Depeche Mode, to name a few. Morel is also half of the duo Blowoff, along with Bob Mould.  Their famed dance parties and tag-teamed sets have earned them a large, loyal and ever-growing following in the gay community. We spoke with the talented and affable musician from his studio in Washington, DC, about all things Morel, including Deathfix, his new band with Brendan Canty of Fugazi.

Weeping Elvis: Many people know you from your remixes but also as being half of Blowoff and your live sets. It’s been about a decade for Blowoff and it seems to keep growing. How did it get started?

Rich Morel: Ten years ago I met Bob after Queen of the Highway was released, which was a solo record I put out on Deep Dish’s record label. I met him in New York and we struck up a friendship and then he moved to Washington, DC, and we started working on a record together, which was the Blowoff record. In the middle of all that we started doing a DJ night together at a small club in DC called the Velvet Lounge. That’s basically how it started and it’s just expanded from there. Bob wanted to meet people in town and I was living in town. It was kind of the combination of that and just something to do. We didn’t really have an agenda with it. It just sort of grew from there.

WE: As Blowoff has grown, how has it changed, even within the gay community?

RM: We definitely have a consistent core, which I guess you could say are the bears or that sort of age demographic, but it’s different from city to city.  It tends to be a pretty broad demographic. There’s guys showing up in their 20s and 40s.

WE: When you DJ solo as Hot Sauce how do you work out your sets?

RM: Hot Sauce is different because I do long sets. Sometimes it’s a three- or four-hour set. I have a lot of music with me. I definitely have an idea of how I think the night is going to go. I have chunks of music that for me are going to designate different parts of the night, if that make sense, and depending on the vibe of the room that’ll dictate where I’m going to go with it.

WE: Speaking of vibe, you DJ a lot of cities, where can you count on a great reaction?

RM: New York. It’s incredible. They’ve been so great to us. It’s a really fun city and everything about it just sort of works.

WE: Your remix resume is amazing. When you work with an artist, do you typically get guidance from them on what they want?

Read the full post…

Tags: Blowoff, Bob Mould, Brendan Canty, Cyndi Lauper, Deathfix, Deep Dish, Depeche Mode, Devin Ocampo, Fugazi, Hot Sauce, Kinky Boots, Mark Cisneros, New Order, Pet Shop Boys, Rich Morel, Rock N Roll Hotel, Yoko Ono

Roundup: Riot Festival Line-Up, Green Day Voo Doo, Glen Campbell Plays Library of Congress

A posthumous album from Joey Ramone, will be released on May 22nd.  …ya know? consists of tracks tracks left incomplete when he died in 2001 of lymphoma. More at the LA Times.

Glen Campbell is in Washington today for a special performance a the Library of Congress. It’s part of an event to raise awareness of the Alzheimer’s Association.

Green Day has been added to the Voo Doo Festival in New Orleans, which takes place the weekend of October 26-28.

The Riot Festival in Chicago has unveiled this year’s line-up which includes: Rise Against, Iggy and the Stooges, The Offspring, Elvis Costello, NOFX and more.

Former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic turns 47 today.

Tags: Elvis Costello, Glen Campbell, Green Day, Iggy and the Stooges, Joey Ramone, Library of Congress, Nirvana, NOFX, Riot Festival, Rise Against, The Offspring, The Ramones, Voo Doo Festival

Beach House Blooms Beautifully

Beach House’s fantastic fourth album Bloom, released today, washes wave after wave of stress relieving mid-tempo mayhem over your aural pleasure centers.  It shapes up clearly and consistently from the opening note of “Myth,” even though it is most certainly not a simplistically smooth ride.  Instead, it’s like a Magyar massage — there are moments of pain and disconcertion inherent in having a no-neck version of Mr. Clean working out your anxieties — but ultimately it’s a process that redirects and removes your tension until you reach a zen-like state of relaxation.

During “Lazuli,” for example, keyboards traipse up and down and all around the register like rhythmic fingers kneading knots in your back, a meme that repeats itself (without becoming tedious) on multiple tracks.  “Other People” ends with sounds of the shore.  You know, the sounds that you might hear….at a beach house.  It’s a verdant beach scene, like one of those barrier islands in the Carolinas with seagrasses swaying gently in the ocean breeze. Your core warms with content as those wispy summer breezes wash warmth over your entire being.

Read the full post…

Tags: album review, Alex Scally, Baltimore music, Beach House, Beach House Bloom, Behrnsie, Bloom, cd review, David Bowie, Heroin, Lazuli, Lower Dens, My Bloody Valentine, Myth, New Year, Nico, Other People, Phantogram, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Smiths, The Velvet Underground, The XX, Victoria Legrand, Wild

Roundup: Coachella 2013 Dates, Killers Cover Raspberries, New Best Coast

The Killers have covered The Raspberries’ “Go all The Way” for Dark Shadows, the new Tim Burton film.

Dropkick Murphys is miffed that  Wisconsin State Rep Jeff Fitzgerald used their song “I’m Shipping to Boston” as his walk-on song over the weekend at the GOP state convention.  They posted a note on their Facebook page saying Fitzgerald’s use of the song was like “a white supremacist coming out to gangsta rap!”

Best Coast are back. Their second album, The Only Place, is out today. You can hear the full release here.

The dates for the 2013 Coachella Music Festival have been announced. It will take place over two weekends, April 12-14 and April 19-21. Advance tickets go on sale this Thursday.

The Roots play the Great Googa Mooga Festival in Brooklyn this Saturday with a ton of bands plus celebrity chefs Anthony Bourdain, and Tom Colicchio.

Happy birthday to ambient songwriter and legendary producer Brian Eno. He turns 64 today. Feeling like you need to leave the planet? Check out some of his most recent atmospheric trippiness.

Tags: Anthony Bourdain, Best Coast, brian eno, Coachella, Coachella Music Festival 2013, Dark Shadows, Dropkick Murphys, The Killers, The Raspberries, The Roots, Tim Burton, Tom Colicchio

Video of the Day: Glen Hansard (+ Some Guy Who Just Had a Birthday)

You may recognize this Paul Hewson guy (a.k.a. Bono) even if you don’t recognize the Irish folk song the soon-to-be-birthday-boy was crooning alongside The Swell Season’s Glen Hansard.

Glen Hansard w/ Bono “The Auld Triangle” from Patrick Glennon on Vimeo.

Tags: Behrnsie, Bono, Glen Hansard, The Auld Triangle, The Swell Season, U2, Video of the Day