Mike Seidelman: "There Shall Be a Village (the Thing Within)" Video
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Kate Cassidy: "Please Be Gentle"
Kate Cassidy recorded live in Frankfurt, Germany with Mike Burn and friends.
YES!!! People unite for the Wolfies have returned from the canyons of L.A with a fusion of freaked out jamming, delicate melodies and gallant rock riffage that shall be known collectively as ?Wolfmother?. Myles Heskett, Chris Ross and Andrew Stockdale are the key holders to the future of all things Wolf ? together they write all their songs while contributing drums, bass/keyboards and guitar/vocals respectively. In their lives before Wolfmother, Myles worked in graphics, Chris in things digital and Andrew was a photographer so they all shared a passion for creative expression. After years of jamming in anonymity they finally stepped out in public during early 2004, playing shows and signing to Modular Recordings. Later that year the trio released an independent EP that caused ink to be spilled and fans to be won. Then after 6 months of nonstop Australian and overseas touring it was time to start creating a vast album with a deceptively simple title. Their partner in this conception was producer D. Sardy; catalyst for the likes of Dandy Warhols, Oasis, Autolux, Jet and Helmet. Chris, Andrew and Myles decamped to L.A. in May, 2005 and rented an abandoned Hollywood recording studio called Cherokee for their rehearsal space. In its heyday Cherokee hosted sessions like Pink Floyd?s ?The Wall? but most of its equipment has since been sold or stolen. Even so, from this barren place came lush things as freeform jams evolved into fully formed songs. The themes of the album also took shape in the City Of Angels; a city that thrives on chaos presenting many lyrical possibilities to Andrew Stockdale. The complexities of living in the metropolis also helped shape the escapist imagery of ?Wolfmother? ... simple philosophies for complex times.
Les Claypool & The Frog Brigade "Buzzards Of Green Hill"
Recorded at the world famous Rancho Relaxo, featuring an assortment of new material of various shades and colors. 12 original songs with performances by Eenor, Skerik, Jay Lane, Mike Dillon, Warren Haynes, and many other men of power.
Here's what little we do know about Milemarker: They consider themselves a collective as opposed to a band. To boot, they are alternately known as the Milemarker Collective, the Milemarker People's Liberation Army, or the Milemarker Entertainment and Reprogramming Consulate. All of the band's members and ex-members bear identical tattoos of a multi-headed Hydra branded with the inscription "Cut off one head and another three shall grow in its place." And, umm, apparently their live show has inspired more than one case of self-immolation. Okay. Whatever the case, Milemarker have executed three albums for the cause; the last of which - an angular and future-rhythmic venture called Frigid Forms Sell for the D.C.-based Lovitt Records - was as inspiring a rock record as any of the classic revolution songs. And let's face it: records carrying a forward-thinking musical intuition and an atypical approach to political lyricism just don't come along like this every day. Milemarker's first release full length for Jade Tree, Anaesthetic, ignites further speculation on their high profile ambiguity before lending credence to anarchist author Emma Goldman and the subversive mantra she coined several years ago: "It's not my revolution if you can't dance to it."
A video slice-of-life that illustrates Ani's sense of community in her musical world, including cameo appearances by her new baby, partner Mike Napolitano, bassist Todd Sickafoose and Allison Miller on drums.
Morrissey: "You Have Killed Me"
Ringleader of the Tormentors is a savagely alive record. Recorded at Forum Music Village in Rome with long-term hero Tony Visconti (who produced favorite records for T-Rex and David Bowie, during their most creative periods of the 60s and 70s), the album positively crackles with fire. It is, for instance, a far more direct and rocking record than Quarry, which aside from Irish Blood, English Heart, was a self-consciously beautiful, and largely symphonic, record.
The record, the second long player by Swedish octet The Concretes, is very aptly entitled "In Colour." Although previously and persistently described as making some kind of European glacial pop, "In Colour" sees the band painting their musical canvass with a full rainbow palette. Whereas the eponymously titled debut album was "The Ronettes" lit only by the Northern Lights, "In Colour" makes the leap into glorious widescreen. Recorded in Stockholm and Omaha with Nebraskan producer Mike Mogis, "In Colour" is classic Americana and Southern Soul rerouted via Northern Europe. Evocative of a line of records that veers between Dusty in Memphis and Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" through to Cat Power's "The Greatest" and Bright Eyes' "I'm Wide Awake It's Morning," The Concretes have effortlessly become one of the most unique and beautiful pop groups in the world, a Swedish national treasure.
The 404 remembers the King of Pop, Michael Jackson
In a very special, and very serious, episode of The 404, we sit down to reflect on the many ways Michael Jackson changed the world. From his music to his dance and music videos, MJ's ubiquity is undeniable. Heroes come and go, but legends never die! Rest in peace, Mike!
Get your Santa Claus cartoon fix: The Return of the Fredmas, Episode 111
Super Santa in "Naughty" by Mike Bell and ?Christmas Night? by Jim Tyer, Sumo wrestlers in Santa suits, mechanized reindeer, and gigantic radioactive snowmen. None of those things appear in this episode, but we still think they will make you merry! Super Santa in "Naughty" by Mike Bell parodies "Star Trek" and the old 1960s "Batman" TV series in a Santa Claus cartoon that was made for geeks. In ?Christmas Night? by Jim Tyer, the king parties (and bathes) with the common folk on Christmas Eve.
For more cartoon fun
In the summer of 1998 ? brought together by a slew of disparate-yet-alluring musical reference points ? high school friends Eddie Baranek (vocals/guitar), Mike Trombley (drums), and Mark Leahey (bass/vocals) formed The Sights. The trio began playing around their hometown of Detroit shortly thereafter, around which time Trombley, founding drummer, headed to California for what would come to be a three-year respite from the band and also the impetus for a revolving door of drummers, bassist and keyboard players. Undaunted , The Sights took to the studio and began recording their debut album, Are You Green?, at Jim Diamond?s Ghetto Recorders in Detroit . Originally released in June of 1999, Are You Green? was picked up by L.A.-based Fall of Rome Records and re-released the following year. Never big on rest, The Sights went to work on their sophomore album, Got What We Want (released in 2002). With this, the band?s freakishly precocious ability to blend frenetic garage rock, Motown and 60?s pop into something equal parts classic and catchy got them noticed. Got What We Want was released in the U.K. a year later, garnering them some very nice words from both the British press ("Got What We Want is a revelation - a treasure trove of sparky and wildly immediate songwriting." --NME) and the not-so British press ("At last - a new Detroit-garage band that comes in colors." --Rolling Stone). The Sights hit the road for a year of touring both countries, including a 10-week stint sleeping inside the group?s 1991 Ford Econoline van and stealing bagels for sustenance. In the spring of 2004, The Sights - now including relative newbie Bobby Emmett as organist/bassist and Keith Fox as drummer- caught the ear of ex-Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha, who signed them to his own Scratchie Records ( an imprint of New Line Records). And with that, the band headed back to Ghetto Recorders to record their self-titled third LP, The Sights, due out in April 2005. No small feat, the album combines the unobtrusive honesty of The Band with slivers of influence from The Sights? own personal record collections: Ike & Tina, Solomon Burke, Everly Brothers , Bob Seger, Tim Hardin and all manner of raucous songwriting. The end result is an album that?s classic, not derivative?filled with swagger and deference?and ridiculously catchy. Really.
