“There was nothing exciting about playing the violin or the recorder.”
– John Digweed
It’s hard to believe that it has been ten years since the seminal dance album, Renaissance: The Mix Collection, was released. Now Sasha and John Digweed have teamed up to digitally remix and remaster the album for the modern age. I got a chance to talk with Digweed about the long influence of his work.
“There must be four thousand songs better than that.”
– Chris Edwards
Our members from across the pond have already had a chance to form their opinions on Kasabian. The Leicester indie dance-rock quartet’s self-titled debut, released in the UK in September of 2004, won the band a top 10 album there and a handful of equally well-received singles with LSF, Processed Beats, Club Foot, and Cutt Off. Now the band, named after Manson-family getaway driver Linda Kasabian, are attempting to repeat that success in the States. Bassist Chris Edwards and I spoke on the morning of the first date of their American tour.
“It’s pretty rebellious to even try and do rock and roll at this age.”
– Billy Idol
Billy Idol isn’t unlike the Incredible Hulk in that he refers to himself in the third person. Of course when youre a cultural icon you can do that sort of thing. Idol helped millions of girls and boys bridge the gap between pre-puberty and puberty with his sexually charged concerts, music and music videos. Now he hopes to do that with a whole new generation of people with his latest album, Devil’s Playground.
“You have people pressed right up to the stage, and thats nice.”
– Gordon Moakes
London’s Bloc Party play danceable indie-rock with an unusual sense of urgency, like the band is striking up a merry tune on the deck of a sinking ship. They’ve been lumped in with others of the new so-called post-punk revival: Franz Ferdinand and all that, but Bloc Party have perhaps a bit too much fire to fit in comfortably with their chilly, artsy, deadpan brethren — so it’s perhaps no coincidence that bassist Gordon Moakes led off our recent conversation with a complaint about NYCs low temperatures…
[Above: “White Noise” from the album Good Morning, Magpie]
I was lucky enough to stumble across the music of Bloomington, Indiana’s Murder By Death almost 10 years ago and since then they’ve grown to be my absolute favorite band of all time. I’ve logged countless hours falling into their heavily visual and moody music. With every album comes new concepts and sounds. Spanning genres from post rock to alternative Americana with strong elements of story, Murder By Death possesses the ability to attract listeners from all ends of the musical spectrum.
After five full length albums, many EPs and splits, and even a soundtrack to sci-fi novel Finch by Jeff Vandermeer, Murder By Death has announced the release of Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon on September 25th via Bloodshot Records. Recorded and mixed by Grammy-nominated producer John Congleton (Explosions In The Sky, Modest Mouse, Amanda Palmer), this album is much-anticipated, and follows their 2010 release, Good Morning, Magpie.
The band are also one of the hardest working bands I’ve ever known. Logging over 1,200 shows in their touring career worldwide, and countless hours traveling, it’s never short of enthralling to see them play live. This summer, they are back on the road, playing not only songs from the new album, but celebrating the 10 year anniversary of their very first album, Like The Exorcist But More Breakdancing, which was released in the summer of 2002.
During their summer tour last year, I spoke with bassist Matt Armstrong about iabout doing an nterview for the site once they announce the new album. Matt has been a member of Suicide Girls since 2007, so he was excited to speak with me.
You would think that when someone has enough money (or a stinkin pile of cash) to make Joe Perry’s Rock Your World Boneyard Brew Hot Sauce they might not be able to pull off a solo album, but all that money has been put to good use. I got sent a promo copy of Joe Perrys latest self titled solo album and boy was I surprised when I popped it in and heard the Aerosmith guitarist’s voice. An even bigger surprise was when I realized that the vocals were just as good as the guitar riffs.
Sometimes when a one of the main creative forces behind a very successful rock band, like an Aerosmith, does a solo album they try their best to make it sound like garage rock. Usually they think that pushing the slider marked ”Make it sound like it was recorded in a room with a tin roof” will do it for them. But Perry has pulled it off and created a gritty, balls out rock and roll album that is obviously very intimate.
“I like to try to find out what is unique about that band and why that band means something good or bad and nail that rather than design a perfume.”
– Julien Temple
Without ever being in a band Julien Temple has made a career out of music. He first came to attention in the late 1970s when he filmed hours of the Sex Pistols. Much of that footage later went into his 2000 documentary The Filth and The Fury. In the 1980s and ’90s Temple directed dozens of music videos such as Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin,” Van Halen’s “Jump,” Culture Club’s “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?,” Accept’s “Balls to the Wall,” and many more. But before that Temple directed The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle, which was about the Sex Pistols breakup told from the point of view of Malcolm McLaren.
