My sex is still on fire! The new video for the Kings of Leon’s first single, “Sex On Fire”, off of their soon to be released fourth album, Only By The Night, is pretty much what you would expect. Lead singer, Caleb giving the camera “fuck me” eyes, with the rest of the band doing it’s best to do the same. Who’s going to the Halloween show in Chicago?
Radiohead is human! Sometime I doubt this, but last week at White River Amphitheatre stage in Auburn, WA, Thom and Johnny managed to flub “Faust Arp”, followed by a flubbed attempt of Neil Young’s “Tell Me Why”, the opening track of After The Gold Rush. Low and behold they have managed to redeem themselves at L.A.’s legendary Hollywood Bowl last night with a pure rendition of “Tell Me Why” that even Neil might be proud of.
Wilco will be supporting Neil Young for a string of shows this winter. Unfortunately this will not include Neil Young’s stop in Chicago December 9 at Allstate Arena. Bummer! In other Wilco new, their seventh LP, the follow-up to Sky Blue Sky, is already in the works and will be out by spring. Jeff Tweedy broke the news during a stop by Albany radio station WAMC. Check out this excerpt from Billboard:
Tweedy says he expects Wilco will “allow ourselves a little bit more leeway in terms of sculpting the sound in the studio and doing overdubs and using the studio as another instrument. Last time around, it was more of a document.”
Tweedy told WAMC he’s going through a phase where he “kinda hate[s]” all of Wilco’s six prior albums, because “none of them are a statement that I would be comfortable making right now at this point in my life. They all served their purpose, and in that respect I’m proud of all of them.
“But as something that feels artistically in keeping with who I am today, I think that they are inevitably going to fall short of that as time goes on. I mean, they just don’t continue to mean the same things to me, and a new record is kind of where it’s at.”
Wilco debuted a new tune, “One Wing”, during their Lollapalooza set. Not too sure what I think of it. Take a listen for yourself.
Wilco - “One Wing” (Live at Lollapalooza 2008)
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Neil Young w/ Wilco, Everest:
11/29 Halifax, Nova Scotia - Metro Centre
12/01 Montreal, Quebec - Bell Centre
12/02 Ottawa, Ontario - Scotia Bank Place
12/04 Toronto, Ontario - Air Canada Centre
12/07 Detroit, MI - Palace of Auburn Hills
12/12 Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Spectrum
12/15 New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
I’ve always been a sucker for melodies with a little “southern” tinge to them. Bands like The Whigs, Kings of Leon and Ha Ha Tonka are some of the sweetest “southern” melody makers currently out there. My Morning Jacket ranks among the best of them and puts on one hell of a live show. I was lucky enough to catch them post-Kings of Leon at Lollapalooza last year and was sold. They make their long awaited return to Chicago with a two night stand at the exquisite Chicago Theater, October 9 & 10. Their tour, in support of their new album, Evil Urges, started yesterday in Kansas City. This album has taken quite some time to grow on me and is still in the process of doing so, but songs like “Aluminum Park” and “Touch Me I’m Gonna Scream” Pt. 1 & Pt. 2, keep me coming back for more. With inspiration taken from Spike Jonze’s adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s classic Where The Wild Things Are, directors Chris Smith, Jesse Casey, and Michelle Higa of Mixtape Club rendezvous with Pt. 2 to produce a video of a bug-eyed thing on a wild adventure. Take one jive tune, possibly the best on the album, add some impressive animation and you’ve got yourself a very cool video.
Have you ever cried at a concert? I have. Once. At the Chicago Theater. The deep hearted, emotional performance of sigur rós was the catalyst of my tears. I was turned on to the Icelandic band a few years prior by one of my guitar students at the time (thanks Maggie!). She told me check out ágætis byrjun and i wouldn’t be sorry. The only sorrow i felt was for others that had not heard of this band. The album was immediately infectious and didn’t leave my CD player for several months. They have released several albums since, none of which I have dove to deep into, until their latest effort með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly).
It seems that most foreign bands that break into the international spotlight take on English to reach a broader audience. Au contraire, sigor rós sticks with their native tongue of Icelandic and have occasionaly dabled with their own language appropriately titled Hopelandic. Sigur rós summons the arctic spirit in an epic fashion.
Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust is sigur rós’ fifth studio album. The album open’s with few tracks off their beaten track of atmospheric heavenly tearful melodrama. “Gobbledigook” jumps into giddy percussion, reminiscent of a tribal hunting theme. “”Inní mér syngur vitleysingur” continues on the same percussion path, going about as “pop” as sigur rós is capable of going. The second half of the album finds them settling into their expansive orchestration and lush melodies. Jonsi Birgisson’s voice is therapeutic and meditative for the open soul, healing whatever wounds that might be exposed. The nine and half minute epic, “Festival”, is a perfect example of this. The first four or so minutes consist of Birgisson’s gentle voice accompanied by a light organ arrangement, culminating into a heavenly crescendo of conviction.
Though, overall, I think a descent amount of this album is typical in the vein of sigur rós, there is really nothing wrong with that. An evolution is obvious and refreshing, and is what holds this album together. Their music translates into a stunning live show, one so spirited that you may find yourself face to face with “god”. They make a stop at the Chicago Theater, September 24.
sigur rós - “Gobbledigook”
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While I try to wean off my addiction to Death Cab for Cutie, they have managed to put together a fall tour. They are currently overseas for a string of shows and will begin the U.S. leg of the tour October 10 in Boston, MA. The closest Chicago show is a few hours south in Champaign, IL at Assembly Hall (U of IL). I didn’t catch their set at Millenium Park Pritzker Pavilion, so I just might make the trip to get my Death Cab fix.
08/15 Seoul, South Korea - ETP Festival
08/17 Melbourne, Australia - The Palace
08/18 Newtown, Australia - The Enmore
08/20 Fremantle, Australia - Metropolis
08/22 Fortitude Valley, Australia - The Tivoli
09/01 Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot
10/03 Boston, MA - Agganis Arena
10/04 Wallingford, CT - Chevrolet Theater
10/05 Atlantic City, NJ - Showboat Casino Hotel
10/06 New York, NY - Radio City Music Hall
10/08 Columbus, OH - LC Outdoor Amphitheater
10/12 Champaign, IL - Assembly (University of Illinois)
10/13 St. Louis, MO - Fox Theatre
10/26 New Orleans, LA - Voodoo Music Experience
Death Cab for Cutie - “Cath…”
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