I had pretty much given up on the Strokes some time ago. The band's early, early promise just wasn't bearing fruit anymore. But here we have Comedown Machine, and waddayaknow, things would seem to be looking up.
I had pretty much given up on the Strokes some time ago. The band’s early, early promise just wasn’t bearing fruit anymore. But here we have Comedown Machine, and waddayaknow, things would seem to be looking up.
Slim is Bob “Slim” Dunlap, lead guitarist for the latter-day Replacements. A year ago, he suffered a severe stroke that has left him ailing and in need of financial help. To that end, two original ’Mats — guitarist/vocalist Paul Westerberg and bassist Tommy Stinson — reunited to record most of this benefit EP (joined by guitarist Kevin Bowe and drummer Peter Anderson).
New release (XL; tour dates) Photo by Alex John Beck
“Much of the overall sound and approach to the album was [the outcome of] being able to record the drums to tape on an old Ampex machine at Vox Recording Studios. That put us in a different world. There’s a quality that happens with tape; it lets you really crunch and compress the drums, and they don’t get harsh or painful. It has to do with the transients hitting the tape; something changes. Once the drums have been passed through tape to Pro Tools, you can really mangle them and go crazy with them.”
New release (Daft Life/Columbia) Photo by David Black
In this era of electronic dance music, you might think the pioneering French duo Daft Punk would be eager to trump the upstarts. But you’d be thinking wrong.
As Thomas Bangalter told Rolling Stone, “We wanted to do what we used to do with machines and samplers but with people.” And as Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo said, “It’s not that we can’t make crazy, futuristic-sounding stuff, but we wanted to play with the past.”
Dusting off old songs, a veteran rocker teams up with (mostly) younger musicians for duets: Often, this can be a recipe for tedium, if not disaster. So it’s a joy to report that John Fogerty’s Wrote a Song for Everyone is among the best of such tributes.
"Lots of albums by lead singers might just as well have been made by the band, but I think this is very different from anything the Dixie Chicks could make." So says Natalie Maines about her debut solo album. It's "a new direction," her press release underscores. Most common translation I've seen to date: It's "a rock album."
“Lots of albums by lead singers might just as well have been made by the band, but I think this is very different from anything the Dixie Chicks could make.” So says Natalie Maines about her debut solo album. It’s “a new direction,” her press release underscores. Most common translation I’ve seen to date: It’s “a rock album.”
Also: Van Morrison’s Moondance in 5.1 on Blu-ray, Santana’s third album on audiophile vinyl, and ’80s tunes revamped by The Big Bright. Plus, let’s see…oh, yeah, Katy Perry.
Whatever you think of Miley Cyrus these days, she does have you thinking. In other words, she got your attention. Which, in the current era of Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and elder shockwoman Britney Spears, is the first order of business, and I do mean “business.”
The thing is, what if she’d gotten our attention another way?