Archive: 2004

Rock act Mercury Rev will return next year with a new V2 album, “The Secret Migration.” In an unusual move, the 13-track set will be available Jan. 25 in digital form exclusively via Apple’s iTunes Music Store, but won’t hit traditional retail outlets in North America until late April. In Europe and England, it will be released Jan. 24.

The piano-and-string laden first single “Secret for a Song” is available for paid download via the band’s official Web site, which is also offering ringtones of that track and the new songs “Across Your Ocean” and “Diamonds.”

Produced by longtime collaborator Dave Fridmann, “The Secret Migration” is sure to delight fans of Mercury Rev’s wide screen, psychedelia-tinged rock, offering more of a hopeful outlook than some of the darker material on 2001’s “All Is Dream.” Highlights include the propulsive, shimmering “Vermillion” and the exhilarating “Arise,” dashed with Fridmann’s flair for sonic detail.

Mercury Rev is in the midst of a European tour that includes support slots with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and a handful of headlining dates. As previously reported, the group will also perform at the Shellac-curated All Tomorrow’s Parties in the U.K. on Dec. 4. A seven-date U.K. tour will begin March 5 in Newcastle.

Source billboard.com[url].

Ben Kweller, the Flaming Lips, the Raveonettes, Death Cab for Cutie, Cake and the Dandy Warhols lead the list of bands covering oldies for Stubbs the Zombie: The Soundtrack. Due out March 15th, the compilation provides the audio backdrop for a video game set in 1959 in fictional Punchbowl, Pennsylvania. The game pits wealthy industrialist Andrew Monday against Stubbs the Zombie, after Monday builds his tech-happy “City of the Future” on a burial ground. War between humans and corpses ensues.

The Lips do the Wizard of Oz classic “If I Only Had a Brain”; the Raveonettes cover “My Boyfriend’s Back,” co-written by their producer Richard Gottehrer for Sixties girl group the Angels; and Kweller does “Lollipop,” a Number Two hit for another girl group, the Chordettes, in 1958.

“I thought it would be such a good juxtaposition to be in this happy town in Pennsylvania singing ‘Lollipop’ while you’re a zombie killing people,” Kweller says. “‘Lollipop, lollipop,’ and everything’s good and happy except you’re all going to die.”

Beyond the basic changing of pronouns in the song from he to she, Kweller’s version stayed faithful to the original, with band members competing to sing the song’s more distinctive vocal accents. “We went around the room to see who had the lowest vocal and John [drummer Kent] won, so he did the [bass] ‘doo do do do’ part,” Kweller says. “We went around the room to see who had the best lollipop [popping] sound, and it happened to be the owner of the studio. It’s one of those songs that has such stigma to it that you can’t really remove any of those parts and try to make it your own. It was really fun though . . . I’m really excited to play the game.”

Stubbs the Zombie track listing:

“Lollipop,” Ben Kweller
“My Boyfriend’s Back,” the Raveonettes
“Earth Angel” Death Cab for Cutie
“Everyday,” Rogue Wave
“Strangers in the Night,” Cake
“There Goes My Baby,” the Walkmen
“All I Have To Do Is Dream The Dandy Warhols
“Mr. Sandman,” Oranger
“If I Only Had a Brain,” the Flaming Lips
“Tears on My Pillow,” Clem Snide
“Shakin’ All Over,” Rose Hill Drive
“Lonesome Town,” Milton Mapes
“The Living Dead,” Phantom Planet

Source rollingstone.com.

You would never guess that the late Elliot Smith was battling his most inner demons during the recording of his now posthumous album, From A Basement On The Hill. But than again, Smith has always been profound at disguising his depression and cryptic visions through his catchy Beatlesque melodies.

The Museum of Modern Art reopened its doors Monday after a 2 1/2-year, $425 million renovation, showing reporters a spacious, glassed-in home nearly double its old size.

With a 110-foot atrium, higher ceilings and more natural light, the new design has thousands of square feet of additional exhibition space and a larger sculpture garden.

“We are able to see the collection in a new light,” MoMA chairman Ronald Lauder said. “Art was not meant to be seen jam-packed in a room. When you see the collection now, it glows.”

Claude Monet’s 1920 impressionist masterpiece “Water Lilies” is presented on an entire wall. Most artworks are arranged in chronological order; pop artist Andy Warhol shares one space with American photorealist painter Chuck Close.

Hundreds of reporters and photographers from around the world crowded into MoMA for the press preview. The museum opens to the public Saturday, with a day of free admission.

The six-story building, designed by Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi, covers approximately 630,000 square feet and stretches over an entire block, with entrances on 53rd and 54th streets connected by a 12,400-square-foot lobby.

The renovation project is part of an $858 million capital campaign that also transformed the museum’s storage space in Queens into its temporary home during renovations. MoMA QNS closed in September.

After Saturday’s debut, general admission will be $20, with discounts for students, seniors and children under 16, as well as free admission on Friday afternoons.

Source yahoo.com.

As predicted by Glide Magazine in last month’s Shortlist Prize preview story, TV On The Radio won this year’s award honoring the year’s top non commercial release.

As reported on billboard.com –
TV On The Radio won the 2004 Shortlist Music Prize last night (Nov. 15) in Los Angeles. The New York-based act was honored for its Touch & Go album “Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes” at the fourth annual concert/ceremony at the Avalon Theater, which featured performances by three of the 10 finalists.

“We are not the next Damien Rice,” TV On The Radio’s Kyp Malone told Billboard.com, referring to the singer/songwriter who won the award in 2003. “Seriously, this was a great honor. We didn’t even expect to be nominated, let alone win. None of us expected this to happen, and we’re really happy to be here.”

A soulful mix of rock, blues and dance, “Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes” peaked in March at No. 15 on Billboard’s Top Heatseakers chart.

In a 30-minute set to close the concert, TV On The Radio played a number of cuts from the album, including “Dreams” and “Staring at the Sun.” The latter best exemplified the act’s tuneful experimentation, with gospel-worthy call and response vocals and a wall of guitars that reached rave-like hysterics.

TV On The Radio received a $10,000 cash prize presented by XM Satellite Radio. The show was broadcast live on XM and will be televised Nov. 20 on MTV2. Other performing Shortlist finalists included Josh Homme’s Eagles Of Death Metal, hip-hopper Dizzee Rascal and lighthearted pianist Nelly McKay.

Styled as a U.S. equivalent to Britain’s Mercury Music Prize, the Shortlist honors cutting-edge performers whose latest albums, released between July 1, 2003, and June 30, 2004, had sold fewer than 500,000 copies at the time of their nomination. The nominees and winner are selected by a panel of “listmakers,” which this year included Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson, Chris Carrabba, the Dixie Chicks, Jim Jarmusch, John Mayer, Norah Jones and System Of A Down’s Serj Tankian.

This year’s affair featured half as many performers as the 2003 event, which producers said was directly related to the fact that last year’s show ran almost five hours. In contrast, the 2004 edition was professional and sterile, with even the tension-filled songs of U.K. rapper Dizzee Rascal failing to energize the rather sparse crowd.

There were a number of notable no-shows, including finalists Wilco, Franz Ferdinand, Loretta Lynn and Air. Other than a star performer, this year’s show lacked the spontaneity of past Shortlist events. In 2002, Iggy Pop and the Hives treated concertgoers to a performance, while last year was marked by a rant against Clear Channel by Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst.

In addition to Rice, past winners of the Shortlist prize are N.E.R.D. (2002) and Sigur Ros (2001).

Chaos erupts at awards show taping, one man stabbed Fighting broke out at last night’s taping of the second annual Vibe Awards when an unidentified man approached Dr. Dre’s table and punched him.
The bodyguards of the rap impresario — who was being summoned to the stage by Snoop Dogg and Quincy Jones to receive a lifetime achievement award — pursued the attacker. Dozens of attendees near the stage then began brawling, taking swings and throwing chairs, and one twenty-six-year-old man was stabbed (he is currently in the hospital in stable condition).

T he taping, which took place at a Santa Monica, California, airport hangar, was interrupted for five minutes, but was allowed to continue. No arrests were made.

Vibe nominees for best artist include Alicia Keys, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Twista and Usher. Keys and Usher are also tapped for best R&B artist, along with Brandy, Jill Scott and R. Kelly. And for best newcomer, it’s a battle between Ciara, Young Buck, Anthony Hamilton, Nina Sky and Christina Milian.

The show, hosted by LL Cool J and Tyra Banks, will air tonight on the UPN network, featuring performances by Nelly, Ashanti, Alicia Keys and Snoop Dogg with Pharrell.

Source rollingstone.com.

Photos by Scott Meivogel of The String Cheese Incident at The UIC Pavilion, Chicago, IL – October 30, 2004

Just like their namesake, a fictitious plant that’s hard to describe,
so is labeling Punsapaya

Fresh tracks and powder dreams, the 2004-2005 snow season is here!