FREE MUSIC DOWNLOAD

Direction VIDEO by VM PROJECT

2011-10-12T22:31:00.000-07:00

Direction Documentary Full VIDEO | Runing Time 11:06

2010 November - 2011 February

-Direction
This film is about the people of S.F.G.(Seoul Fixed Gear) and Seoul city. This story shows the people who are trying to blaze a trail for fixed gear in Seoul, a city in which bicycle culture has not yet been defined. The people in the film range from graffiti artists, to film directors, to T-shirt designers, to B-boys, swimmers and bicycle mechanics.

It shows their individual passion for riding fixed.

Why do we ride in a city which cannot fully protect us by law? In a city in which cars rule the road so unrelentingly?...

The answer is simple.

Film Directed by
VM Project Directors Group
vmproject.org

(with Lowangleworks)

Foundation
SFG (seoul fixed gear)
seoulfixedgear.com

Starring
SungWook Yoon : WK
Wondo Song : Woody
Minseok Jo : MS
KwangHyun Kim : GWANG
YongSeok Shin : Shinkoon
HanSeok Kang : HS
Hacheon Park : HC
Yongjin Kim : YJ
Minguk choi : MG

info

Sound Editor VM Project

Outro Music : DJ Soulscape(360Sounds)

Special Thanks

Yongmin Kim : Lowangleworks
Haelan Kim : Fixedgeargirls Korea (FG2)
Support film : Joachim Germain

Translation Woody : Amy Goalen | Soomi La

Main Support by

Adidas | facebook.com/?adidasoriginals
T-LEVEL | tlevelbags.com/?

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Funkware – Mash up happenin’ 25 8.10.2011

2011-10-12T17:58:00.000-07:00

nCamargo - Lucid dreams
Funkware - Citizen F
Kasper - Every sunrise
REDS - Roll it gal
Funkware - Wonderland cat
BMK - Jazz tone (Qumulus roll a phat one Remix)
Funkware - Crypt keeper
Baron Simms - Nothin' 2 say
Pottah - Martin Luthor King
Makoto - Keep me down
London elektricity - Strangest secret
Tali vs Shimon - Into the deep
Tim Reaper - Working title
In-deed - Come alive
Marc Renton feat. Stefan Durning - Don't hasitate
Wave - Together
Sting - Englishman in New York (Kator Bootleg)

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Gramatik vs. Gossip – Dimestore Diamond (Remix)

2011-10-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

Gramatik is at it again, blending tracks and genres like it’s nobody’s business. Is this funk? Is it dubstep? Is it hip hop? We may never figure out the answer, but that’s okay, because genre doesn’t really matter when you’re Gramatik. If you’re curious about Gramatik’s background, check out my interview with him from about a month ago.

Download: Gramatik Vs. Gossip - Dimestore Diamond (Remix)

Gramatik is also setting off soon on a Pretty Lights Music label tour, co-headlining with Michael Menert and supported by Paul Basic and Supervision. If his set at Electric Zoo was any indication, it’s going to pretty awesome. Dates after the jump…

10/30/11 JAX TSI Discotheque (GRAMATIK DATE ONLY)
10/31/11 Tallahassee, FL, Engine Room (GRAMATIK DATE ONLY)
11/2/11 Boston, MA, Paradise
11/3/11 New York, NY, Le Poisson Rouge
11/4/11 Northampton, MA, Pearl Street
11/5/11 Philadelphia, PA, Milkboy
11/6/11 Baltimore, MD, Sound Stage
11/8/11 Charleston, SC, Pour House
11/9/11 Atlanta, GA, Masquerade
11/11/11 Nashville, TN, 12th and Porter
11/12/11 Live Oak, FL, Bear Creek Music Festival
11/15/11 St. Louis, MO, 2720
11/16/11 Lawrence, KS, Granada Theater
11/17/11 Boulder, CO, Fox Theater
11/18/11 Colorado Springs, CO, Black Sheep
11/19/11 Ft. Collins, CO, Aggie Theater
11/23/11 Denver, CO, Cervante’s
11/25/11 Aspen, CO, Belly Up
11/26/11 Vail, CO, Agave Agave
11/27/11 Breckenridge, CO, Three20South

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Riders way | Mountain in the mist by VM PROJECT

2011-10-12T10:47:00.000-07:00

Riders way | Mountain in the mist from VM PROJECT on Vimeo.

Riders way | Mountain in the mist

Foundation
Riders way (hansei INT)
ridersway.co.kr/?

Film Directed by
VM Project Directors Group
vmproject.org

Starring
Shinkoon ( yong seok, Shin )
Fosty ( taegyun, Kim )
- Seoulfixedgear TRACKTEAM
seoulfixedgear.com

Support by Cinelli | Leaderbike | DICE
cinelli.it/?
leaderbikeusa.com/?
pista.co.kr/?

_ 10(Saturday) September 2011
for the day, Mountain Down hill 1,573m
in the mist. and Rain poured down but we Ride.

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Zoltan Solomon – Garagara [Unreleased]

2011-10-12T06:37:00.000-07:00

Video featuring the classic Harold Lloyd film Safety Last! (Hal Roach 1923)
Zoltan Solomon - Garagara

Thanks to Z-Man for the track ;-)
Free download, link below.

| Z | - | D U B S |

Zoltan Solomon is from Budapest, Hungary.

Links:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/yvenso.s.z
http://soundcloud.com/sol-2010
http://soundcloud.com/zoltansolomon2006-2009
http://soundcloud.com/spaceritual
http://soundcloud.com/zoltan-s

Video made using trakAxPC software.
Website: http://www.trakax.com/software
YT Channel with excellent tutorials:http://www.youtube.com/user/trakAxPC#g/u

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good morning! Pissed Pat’s Stoned 4 U Sessions – 004 – Recorded from show on UKBassRadio.com 13 Sep

2011-10-12T02:33:00.000-07:00

Yabby You & Mad Professor - Dub Trap
Mad Professor & Bob Andy - Rasta Victory Dub
African Princess - Jah Children cry (12 inch)
The Tamlins - Baltimore
(12 inch) Abyssinians - Tenayistillin
(12 inch) Earl Sixteen - Trial & Crosses
Aggrovators - Ites Gold Green Dub
arrington Levy - Good Loving
niney and the soul syndicate - coutchi dub
big youth - half ounce
Black Uhuru - WEEPING_WILLOW
The Legendary Skatalites In Dub Sealing Dub [Rhythm Recorded At Black Ark
Ruts DC vs. Mad Professor - Militant (12 Vocal Mix)
Samondi - warmongers
Dr Alimantado - Just Because A Bit Of Dub
Negus Roots Meets The Mad Pro - Wolf Skank
Massive Attack V Mad Professor - Bumper Ball Dub (Karmacoma)
Mad Professor - melt down dub
Mad Professor & Bob Andy - Chain Free Dub
Horace Andy meets the Mad Professor - Rasta Business
Tommy McCook - Hornsman Chant
Dillinger - At King Tubbys - babylon leggo jah children

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Rocket From the Tombs Releasing Debut LP Nearly 40 Years After Breaking Up

2011-10-11T22:08:00.000-07:00

Nearly 40 years ago, the world blinked and missed Rocket From the Tombs. The band formed in Cleveland in the summer of 1974, and less than a year later -- having released no music and played only a handful of shows -- the quintet splintered, forming two new bands: Punk pioneers the Dead Boys and the abrasive art-rock outfit Pere Ubu. While these offshoots shared little in common, Rocket had somehow contained elements of both, fusing Stooges guitar aggression with singer David Thomas' darkly cerebral lyrics.

Over time, the band's legend grew, and after reuniting in the 2000s for a series of tours, the Tombs crew got together in Cleveland in August 2010 to record their first proper album, 'Barfly,' due out Oct. 11. Despite lineup changes -- most notably the addition of Television guitar god Richard Lloyd, who subs for the late Peter Laughner -- Rocket still explode much as they did in their proto-punk heyday.

In an interview with Spinner, guitarist Cheetah Chrome -- a member of the Dead Boys post-Rocket faction -- discussed recording the album, making peace with his band mates and coming to terms with what might have been.

After 36 years, what prompted you guys to make a proper album?

We kind of convened in Cleveland. We're scattered all over the place; we always meet up in Cleveland. We just decided to sit down and see if we can write. We got in a friend of ours' house that he was fixing up. It was a place he bought and wasn't moved into yet. It might have just been an investment property. There was nothing in the house. We just had tiny amps and sat down in a circle and stared at each other and said, "What do you got?" Everyone brought in riffs, and Dave called it "the butcher house," because if you brought in this riff, it would end up sounding nothing like it.

In two or three days, we wrote like 10 songs. One of the best ones was when we had nothing. Everyone was like, "I have nothing left, no more ideas." And we started playing, and next thing you know we have another song.

Was that how it was back in the '70s?

[Back then], Dave was starting to write lyrics. He really was just starting. I was just starting to write music for songs. Pete was writing things. We just happened to be all of us coming into a wealth of ideas all at once. All three of us had material. [Dave's] lyrics fit my songs. My music would fit a set of his lyrics. We were able to finish each other's songs. It was much different. We didn't sit down and try to write. It just came together. It was very organic. It was how a band should be.

With this record, did you worry at all about tarnishing your legend?

Nah, if we felt that way about it, we wouldn't have done it. We were very much in the now, and having [drummer] Steve [Mehlman] and Richard as members now -- both of those guys now have been in Rocket longer than anyone but me and Dave and [bassist] Craig [Bell]. To have that lineup and work together, it was a different inspiration. Luckily, it still sounds like the same band.

As far as we were concerned, it was much more about this band than the old band. Maybe the first week of touring, back in 2003, we might have been trying to live up to a legacy, to the reputation or whatever, but I think we've proved ourselves pretty well on those last couple of tours. We were more into the creative process than the legacy process, or any of that.

Listen to Rocket From the Tombs' 'Never Gonna Kill Myself Again'

There have been a lot of stories about you guys not getting along. Is that still the case?

That part is pretty well behind us, I think. I can still flare up at a moment's notice. We're all volatile people with tempers, but as far as deep-seated grudges, that s--- is out of the way. We get along. That 2006 tour -- that week of gigs -- we kind of gelled on that one. There was no unpleasantness, band-wise, that week at all. There have been a couple of blow-ups, but it's not a big part of us.

It seems like a few blow-ups would be helpful to the band's chemistry.

Oh yeah, it has an edge to it. We're very honest with each other. Sometimes we're not the most polite people. You put that along with being egotistical musicians ...

Back in the day, Dave's lyrics were pretty dark and nihilistic. How do you think his point of view has changed since then?

It's the same. I'm surprised how much it's the same. It's, like, very little Pere Ubu influence in there. It sounds like Rocket From the Tombs lyrics. He sang gibberish at the rehearsals, and then we worked up all the stuff, and we recorded the album in shifts, where literally the bass and drums went in first, and then Dave did the vocals, and then Richard and I added the guitars.

People have described Rocket as a combination of the bands it spawned: The Dead Boys and Pere Ubu. Can you hear both in there?

Oh yeah. I always could. It was pretty obvious that me and [drummer Johnny] Blitz had the rock 'n' roll side to us. We didn't care. We wanted to be Aerosmith, but we were at a Stooges level. Peter was kind of in the middle. He was kind of the guy that held it together. Dave had the more artistic thing. He liked rock 'n' roll but kind of thought it was pedestrian. So when we would rehearse, Peter was the guy in the middle that made it all fit together.

If this group of people we have now were to all come from different directions and meet up in a room back in the '70s, I'm not sure if it would have come out sounding like Rocket From the Tombs or not. Because of the first band, we sound the way we do. We tried to recreate that sound, and after that we learned to play together, that's how this album came about. But I don't see two bands coming out of this band. It's like almost a reverse process. You have all these people from different bands coming together.

After Rocket split up and you were in the Dead Boys, did you listen to Pere Ubu? They were so different from the Dead Boys.

Rocket had such an acrimonious blow-up and break-up that, no, I didn't listen to Pere Ubu for years. Probably about 10 years. Then I'd hear a couple things [and think], "That's pretty good." Then I'd realize, "Oh, s---." Then I heard Dave sing. "F---. I know who that is." I'm sure he didn't listen to the Dead Boys.

Do you figure you guys will record additional albums?

I don't know. We never think that far ahead. It took us from 2006 until now to get this one done. We might be having to bring mobile units into the nursing home.

Do you ever wonder what might have happened if Rocket didn't break up the first time around?

My main thing is, I think, "What if we went in a van and played New York in 1975." If we'd played CBGB, things could have been very much different. What broke us up originally was frustration, being in Cleveland and not getting anywhere. We couldn't even get any place in Cleveland whereas in New York, we would have been accepted, like the Dead Boys were and Pere Ubu was. So there's always the "what if," but it didn't happen, so there's not much point now wasting too much thought on it.

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Men at Work Ordered to Pay Up Over 'Down Under' Copyright Infringement

2011-10-11T17:12:00.000-07:00

One of the problems with writing music -- or any creative pursuit, really -- is that you can't really explain or prove how you came up with an idea. Men at Work just found that out the hard way.

According to AP, the band will have to fork over 5 percent of the royalties from its hit 'Down Under' after Australia's High Court ruled the songwriters copied the flute riff from the nursery rhyme 'Kookaburra.'

Written by teacher Marion Sinclair in 1934, 'Kookaburra' -- alternately known by its first line, "Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree" -- has become a favorite of children around the world. Though Sinclair died in 1988, publisher Larrikin Music currently owns the rights to the song and sued Men at Work in 2009.

After several appeals, the High Court upheld an earlier ruling saying that Men at Work's Colin Hay and Ron Strykert will have to pay 5 percent of any earnings on the song from 2002 on. The song was originally released in 1981 and became a No. 1 hit in Australia, the U.S. and England, but because of a statute of limitations, Larrikin couldn't recoup any money from before 2002.

Below, we have a video of schoolchildren singing 'Kookaburra' followed by Men at Work's 'Down Under.' Did the courts make the right call?

'Kookaburra'

'Down Under'

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Peter Hook Vows to 'F--- Over' New Order After 'Disgusting' Reunion

2011-10-11T13:27:00.000-07:00

Though he's played some of the greatest basslines in pop music with New Order, Peter Hook didn't exactly endear himself to fans when he announced in 2007 that the band had broken up for a second time. His colleagues in New Order as well as its predecessor Joy Division -- singer-guitarist Bernard Sumner and drummer Stephen Morris -- claimed to have been blindsided and said they'd continue regardless. Lately, Hook has been playing Joy Division songs with his own band, the Light, and thus, in the eyes of his former bandmates and some fans, dishonoring Ian Curtis' legacy. Meanwhile, New Order is reuniting without him for a pair of upcoming October charity gigs.

Before the Light's recent show in Toronto -- during which they played Joy Division's album 'Unknown Pleasures' convincingly, with intensity and power -- the burly bassist stood up at the back of his dressing room, ushered his bandmates out, and made a spirited case for his defense. His craggy features often lighting up with a mischievous gleam, Hooky spoke to Spinner about how Joy Division's legacy is his legacy, too, and offered some choice words about the New Order reunion, his corrosive relationship with his ex-bandmates, and his feelings about a makeup after the break-up.

I understand you started playing Joy Division albums live because Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie never thought that his band's album 'Screamadelica' got the recognition it deserved?

He was saying there were songs on 'Screamadelica' that they didn't play a lot, and he felt now that that was a mistake. That struck a chord with me: there were songs on 'Unknown Pleasures' which we hardly ever played. Once I got out of New Order and was able to look in, I thought, "Why did we never play those songs that three-quarters of us had written?"

I think the main problem was that Bernard didn't like Joy Division -- he preferred New Order, which is fair enough, 'cause it has a completely different sensibility. But for me, who was happy to play both, it just felt quite odd. So at my own club in Manchester [The Factory], I got a group together and played Joy Division's music.

You said at the time there were a lot of "keyboard terrorists" on the web who weren't happy with the idea of that performance. Do you spend time reading what people say about you on message boards and forums?

You do it to gauge reaction, and it's like picking a sore, isn't it? You always want to do it. I have a different attitude towards it now, because it actually scared off a lot of the people I wanted to work with, which made me all the more determined. It's the same thing with New Order deciding to tour without me -- [it] makes me all the more determined to f--- New Order over in any possible way I can. If they think I'm just going to scuttle off to a cabin in the woods, they've got another thing coming. They're dickheads. People go and hide, but I don't. I'm a fighter. I'm going to come out fighting.

Watch Peter Hook and the Light's Video for 'Pictures in My Mind'
You were the one who announced the break-up -- was that because you'd decided you were the one who wouldn't hide from the issues facing the band?

What happened was that I didn't enjoy working with Bernard anymore. I felt that our ambitions for the group and for the music were too far apart to ever come together again. It was a pain in the arse doing the last album [2005's 'Waiting for the Siren's Call'], and the fact that it took three years was f---ing ridiculous. I'll never get that time back again. Everybody towed the line: "Don't upset Bernard." F---ing stupid. Everyone gets hypnotized into doing it.

That said, you managed to accommodate each other for years before...

You have to bear in mind that when we came back, we only did two records. Bernard and I were very, very together when we did [the 2001 reunion album] 'Get Ready.' Steve and Gillian hardly did anything on 'Get Ready'; Gillian left anyway. When we started doing 'Waiting for the Siren's Call,' he started acting the same way as he did on [1993's] 'Republic.'

An album which didn't have very much of you in it.

Well it did, actually, 'cause [producer] Stephen Hague went out of his way to put me in it, but it didn't sound like me. It just doesn't sound like New Order. Also there are songs on 'Republic,' which to my eternal annoyance, I found out later they used my bass for the vocal line, and wiped the bass. The last New Order song was 'Regret.' The rest of them, to me, were electronic songs with bass on them. They had a different feel. And unfortunately I felt we were getting that feel again, and getting into that rut on 'Waiting for the Siren's Call.' It was divisive. [Bernard] was going one way, and I was going the other.

Was it after 'Siren's Call,' then, that things really came to a head?

Once I got sober, I realized what a crock of s--- he was. [laughs] I couldn't live with it.

That was why I split the band... I was suffering really badly from alcoholism at the time, and the unhappiness was making me drink more. When your life's out of control, it's a terrible feeling, and I didn't get my life back in control until I stopped drinking. Once I [did], I thought, "Ooh. It's like a bad relationship." All of a sudden, you go, "Oh my God!" And your mates have been telling it you for years! "She's a cow -- get rid of her!" Being in a group is the same. And when it goes, it's like a death. Well, this one's still f---ing dying!

Watch New Order Perform 'Waiting for the Siren's Call'
But at the same time the band produced some great music.

Musicians are renowned for focusing on stupid, petty arguments. The things that Bernard and I are arguing about are absolutely f---ing pathetic, and I'm hoping that some grownup will come into the schoolyard and stop it.

Would there be a chance for all of you to get over it, to say the music you've made together is more important than these disagreements?

I'm not too sure because of the fact that they've decided to do New Order without me. It would have been the same if [The Light] were called "Joy Division." That's not New Order -- they're just f---ing trying it on. It would be like me going out with Stephen and Gillian and saying it's New Order: "Where's Barney?!" They're going to be haunted by it, aren't they? [In] every interview they'll be dying to ask you what it's like without Hooky. It's going to be a hard thing for them to pull off, but they're doing it for financial reasons mainly.

They're supposed to be charity gigs...

Yeah. It's all bollocks. They're already hawking for an American tour; me mate told me yesterday. They're hiding behind the charity gig.

Who owns the trademark "New Order"?

I used to, but they pulled a cunning limited company hostile takeover and managed to take over the trademark from me.

Did you try and fight this?

I'm fighting it now at the moment.

Do you want to stop them from touring as New Order?

No, no. What they've done to me, to tour as New Order, is frankly disgusting. I don't mind them touring as New Order, if they'd come to me and said that -- but there's more of them than there is of me, so I get outvoted, don't I? A judge would go, "Well, there's more of them, Hooky, than you. How can you stop them?"

But at the same time, you're an integral part of the band.

Yeah, but I'm not that bothered -- I'm not against it. I think that people are intelligent enough to know that it's not [the same]. New Order Mark 1 was with Gillian; New Order Mark 2 was without Gillian, and now you've got New Order Mark 3, which is without me. They're different New Orders.

If the others were to call you up tomorrow and say, "We're sorry, we should have included you," would you...

[Hook laughs loudly, and smiles.] Yeah.

You'd be on board?

Oh, 100 percent yeah. I'd get a picnic and go around their house as well, so we could spend the day together.

Watch New Order Perform 'Ceremony,' 1981
You say they're doing it for money reasons, but wouldn't they do better financially with you in the band?

Yeah, but supposedly they've been annoyed by the fact that I've played Joy Division and the fact that I'm going to play New Order next year, starting with [debut album] 'Movement,' so I think that they thought, "F---, we'd better grab it back before he gets it!" [laughs]

Are you going to be playing New Order songs, then, partially to be adversarial?

No. Once I'd played 'Unknown Pleasures,' I thought it would be fantastic to play every song I'd ever written before I retired, or before I died. So I've actually got the bit between me teeth now. I've played 'Unknown Pleasures'; I've played 'Closer'; I've played all the tracks in-between, and it's fantastic to get them back.

I play music, and it's my life, and it's how I earn my living. What am I supposed to do? Sit at home in the garden, pruning the roses? I can't work with them, so I have to work with people that I get on with and have the same ambitions and ideals -- but what do you play? I went through [the group] Freebass [with Mani from Primal Scream and Andy Rourke from the Smiths], did a new LP; we toured; that didn't work, so I got the opportunity to play Joy Division, which I'd ignored wholeheartedly for 31 years.

I'm a musician. As corny as it sounds, you are a wandering minstrel, aren't you? So why shouldn't I be able to play me own f---ing songs? Bernard and Stephen did it before me: they played Joy Division and New Order in Bad Lieutenant, and they never asked me. And yet now because I'm doing Joy Division, I'm a c--- because I'd never asked them. It doesn't run right, does it, really? But I'm not pretending to be Joy Division. I'm afraid to say that they're going to pretend to be New Order. And the happiest moment in Bernard's life, as I recall, musically, was when Gillian left. So he must actually hate me more than he f---ing hates Gillian, because there's the biggest contradiction in terms I've ever seen in me f---ing life!

Did Bernard and Gillian differ about musical direction?

She's not a very good musician, I'm afraid, and she didn't add that much to the band. It was a problem with both of us. We were very happy when she left. And personally I thought New Order Mark 2 were far superior to New Order Mark 1, but that's life, isn't it? Everyone's entitled to their opinion, aren't they?

Your band is called Peter Hook and the Light, though people have the idea that Joy Division is all darkness and brooding.

Yeah, the cliché was that it was very gloomy music, but it never felt gloomy to me -- always felt f---ing great. It used to make me very, very happy.

The band is called the Light because I'd seen the light. I knew what I was going to do. I don't like the "Peter Hook" bit, personally -- I'd rather be a group, but the promoters always put, "Peter Hook and the Light," and you can't stop them doing it.

Do people have a specific impression of Joy Division that you're trying to counteract?

What makes me really happy about playing Joy Division's music is that people seem to enjoy the fact of you playing it. They love it on record, and then they come and see you play live and like that as well. And I'm like, "Wow, what a compliment!" It's a great compliment to Bernard, Stephen, and Ian, 'cause it's their songs that people are enjoying. I'm sure it's just as much a compliment to Bernard and Stephen when they play it in Bad Order, or New Lieutenant, or whatever they're f---ing called.

Watch Joy Division Perform 'She's Lost Control'

Are the seven unreleased New Order songs from the 'Waiting for the Siren's Call' sessions going to surface?

Well, supposedly they're doing this [tour] to coincide with the release of those songs. They're not stupid. It's not by chance, is it?

And it's nothing you have a say in?

I don't have any say in it whatsoever, and they've actually pulled some really dirty business shenanigans to get their own way, which they're not going to get away with. They can play together as much as they want. Good luck to them. I spent most of my life trying to get New Order to play, and I'm not going to stop them now. It was like banging your head against a brick wall. Unbelievable. I'm actually happy that they're going to play.

You'll be watching?

No, I'll be washing me hair that night. And the other night.

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Mutemath Brave Discomfort, Drum-Stick Pelting for 'Blood Pressure' Video

2011-10-11T08:52:00.000-07:00

New Orleans rockers Mutemath aren't quitting anytime soon. After the departure of guitarist Greg Hill, the band soldiered on and soon developed an aggressive sound with 'Odd Soul,' a fierce combination of power pop and indie grit.

Mutemath's newest video 'Blood Pressure' is a spazoid, stop-motion trip directed by the band's own Darren King. Spinner caught up with the drummer to talk about the video and how the put together such a complex project.

Where did the idea for this video come from?

I had done a couple of videos already that were very heavily edited and had little ideas from each of those. We didn't plan out the video until the hour prior to shooting. We were in L.A. doing a show and then press at Warner Brothers and realized we wouldn't have another chance to be all together until the tour so we just decided to throw caution to the wind. A lot of the ideas were improvised with the hope that they would work once edited together.

How long did you shoot for? Were there any injuries?

We filmed it in one night. Initially we were bummed when the sun started coming up but that turned out to be one of the cool things about the video. It was the editing that took a lot of time.

Can Paul Meany actually walk on his hands or was that just another stunt?

No. Paul had to do about 13 consecutive handstands to achieve that effect. I felt guilty for making him do that but we all had to do something equally discomforting.

Watch 'Blood Pressure'

So you got to direct the video for 'Blood Pressure.' How did the rest of the band respond to you throwing drumsticks at them?

My bandmates were OK with me throwing sticks at them but with each take I got a little more confident and threw the sticks harder. They politely asked me to cool it a little.

Do you direct anything outside of the band?

No, we direct our own videos out of necessity. I should also point out that the whole band collaborated on the project and our friend Claire Vogel co-directed. There aren't too many people I could call and ask "Hey, could you put together a nice video shoot for us in ... oh ... a couple hours?" Editing everything was quite a task -- I worked on it a little every day for about two weeks.

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Friendly Fires Frontman Discusses His Bandmate's Death + His Own 'Breakdown'

2011-10-11T04:08:00.000-07:00

There are bad days, bad weeks and even bad months. But Brit electro-pop band Friendly Fires had one hell of the latter this past August. Not even three months into their tour to support their sophomore record, 'Pala,' the three-man core of the group got the news that their live backing trumpet player, Richard Turner, 27, had passed away suddenly as the result of a freak heart attack that struck while he was swimming. A week later the band was getting ready to perform at Belgium's Pukkelpop festival when stormy winds knocked over the stage they were about to set up on and ended up killing five concertgoers. Calling it a bad month puts it lightly.

"We were all really deeply shocked," lead singer Ed Macfarlane tells Spinner as they begin a one-month North American tour.

We'd just been playing with Richard in Istanbul. And ironically enough, the last time I saw him was when he was swimming in the hotel pool. He was a really athletic guy. We were all just deeply shocked because we'd travelled around the world with him for years. And then Pukkelpop was another totally surreal moment. It wasn't a very pleasant place to be."

Despite the devastating setbacks, the shows must go on, and the Mercury Prize-nominated band continued to play around Europe through August and September, motivated not only by the allure of keeping busy but also by the inspiration from their latest record, 'Pala,' named after the island in Aldous Huxley's novel 'Island.'

"We don't really have time to sit and think about what happened," Macfarlane reflects. "We're just constantly on the go and that's the way we want to do it. The whole theme of this new record is about making the most of what you have while it lasts, so it just makes sense for us to do everything that we can while we still have the opportunity."

While they've already toured almost non-stop since 'Pala' dropped in May, they're continuing straight through 'til Christmas. This month they're in North America, then they head back to the Europe, on to Japan and back to Europe again before the year is out. The live show is meant to complement the record, which is intended to be a more samba-inspired affair -- something the band felt lent itself to a wilder live show (and if Macfarlane's famed dance moves are any indication, the live show is pretty damn wild).

Friendly Fires' 'Skeleton Boy' Video

Rolling out this complex new material didn't happen seamlessly, however, and the band was forced to cancel their Toronto show early on in the tour in May, due to exhaustion. It was reported that drummer Jack Savidge was hospitalized as a result, but Macfarlane says he was affected, too.

"I just had a semi-nervous breakdown on the road after Montreal on the way to Toronto," he explains. "I suppose it was the pressure of having a whole new set. It's way longer and a lot of the songs are really challenging for my voice and we were touring in a bus -- it was the s----iest bus ever -- and I was just not sleeping at all. I was in that frame of mind, like, 'I have to sleep. If I don't sleep then I'm not going to be able to sing the songs tomorrow.' When you start thinking like that, you never get to sleep. It all came to a head in Toronto."

They're making that show up on October 23, and while the original cancellation upset the guys in the band as much as their fans, perhaps the do-over is a blessing in disguise now that the kinks and the challenges of the live show have since been worked out.

"Now it feels like we don't even need to think about playing the songs. We just go on stage and lose ourselves. To me, my best shows are when I can't actually remember them, because I've been in some sort of trance. It feels like every show we do now, we're at that level."

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Future Islands, 'Balance' -- Video of the Day

2011-10-11T00:18:00.000-07:00

Artist: Future Islands
Video: 'Balance'
Highlight: "Jay [Buim, director] has been a friend of ours for a few years now," vocalist Samuel T. Herring tells Spinner. "He has an eye for beauty that shows in his work, and we completely trust his vision. There are so many different paths you can take when realizing music for film, and it's a difficult task to elevate or bring something more than what is already there. Telling his own story, Jay has given a new life to the song, creating his own timeline and producing a wonderful work of art. We are proud to be a part of that."

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Blondie -- A Day in the Life

2011-10-10T21:13:00.000-07:00

It's a gorgeous Tuesday afternoon in New York City's West Village, and even if Fashion Week weren't in full swing, there'd be no shortage of pretty people browsing the Bleecker St. boutiques. At around 4:45 PM, after an hour of strolling around, we figure we're numb to the beauty of our surroundings -- the luxurious townhouses, the leggy model-types -- but then a black SUV pulls up in front of the Marc Jacobs store, and out step the members of Blondie.

Well, we assume all six are there. Our eyes shoot straight to frontwoman Deborah Harry, whose platinum locks are so bright they make us squint. She's rocking gray slacks, a matching tank top, a pink over-shirt and enormous black sunglasses, and even at 66 years old, she looks like a character out of an old movie, or maybe Andy Warhol's Factory. Blondie have agreed to let Spinner tag along for the afternoon and evening, and we're trying to keep cool. This is Fashion Week -- can't let 'em see you sweat.

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Listen to Blondie's Full 'Panic of Girls' Album Free

The pioneering New Wave group is back home in New York, where it formed in 1974, to play two sold-out shows at the Highline Ballroom and mark the release of 'Panic of Girls,' its ninth studio album and first since 2003. To celebrate the occasion, as well as to raise a few bucks for the environmental charity Riverkeeper, the Marc Jacobs store on the corner of Bleecker and Perry has been transformed into a Blondie pop-up shop. The racks are filled with colorful T-shirts emblazoned with Harry's face, and the walls are covered with photos of the group in its late-'70s heyday. When Harry and the gang roll up, poised to sign some autographs, diehard fans have already been staking out the shop for hours, jockeying for position.

Obviously used to such attention, Harry poses for a few photos and heads inside, where she joins guitarist Chris Stein and drummer Clem Burke -- Blondie's other two original members -- on a couch visible through the shop's front window. Behind them sit newcomers Leigh Foxx (bass), Matt Katz-Bohen (keyboard) and Tommy Kessler (guitar). The atmosphere quickly becomes hot and noisy, as 'Panic of Girls' blasts on the sound system and fans queue up for signatures.

Watch A Day in the Life With Blondie
Videography by Elizabeth Bruneau and Reid Rolls / Production by Elizabeth Bruneau

As befits Blondie -- a band that started out playing punk at CBGBs but has since dabbled in everything from hip-hop and disco to reggae and French cabaret -- the line holds a motley assortment of individuals. There are gushing 20-something girls, punk dudes in CBGBs T-shirts and one guy with blue eyeliner, red Chuck Taylors and a pitchfork tattooed on his neck. When two women -- seemingly friends of Katz-Bohen -- show up with a Chihuahua, Harry doesn't miss a beat.

"Am I going to sign your dog?" she asks.

Why not? Some other guy brought a red stiletto shoe, and plenty of folks come clutching old LPs and other Blondie memorabilia. A 30-year-old fan from Australia has brought along one of Harry's post-Blondie solo singles, and when his turn comes, he chats up Burke, who he's met before. It turns out the Aussie doesn't have a ticket for tonight's show -- the second of the Highline gigs -- and Burke tells him to come by the club around showtime. He'll take care of it. Later, when a French friend of Harry's comes through the line, the singer listens to make sure 'Le Blue,' from the new album, isn't playing.

"I'm so glad you weren't here for the French song," Harry says, dissing her own French pronunciation.

Fortunately, Harry is pleased with the album on the whole, and later on, during a quiet 10-minute chat in the back of the shop, she dishes about keeps her legendary band going.

"We love our fans, and we want to respect them," she says. "We want to have a continuity with our past albums and our past identity. But mostly, when we start out, I think the germ of inspiration has to really be that: You have to be satisfied with what you're doing. We're really fortunate. We've created a sound that's identifiable. We've kind of stuck to our guns. We haven't had a complete meltdown. Only partial meltdowns."

Reid Rolls for AOL

Some of the meltdowns she alludes to presumably contributed to Blondie's breakup in 1982. They reformed in 1997 and have since released three albums. 'Panic' is the first in the band's history not to feature founding keyboardist Jimmy Destri, and despite the presence of new members, some of whom contributed songs for the latest collection, Harry says today's group functions like the old one did.

"Blondie has always been sort of an ensemble situation, and that's how we consider it," she says. "If something good comes along, something we like, that seems appropriate, it feels like a lucky break."

Other interesting tidbits that come out of our conversation: Harry has been "hopping around" to LMFAO's 'Party Rockers Anthem,' one of her favorite songs of the year, and she thinks the only hope for humanity might be a kind of forced unity brought about by the total depletion of Earth's natural resources.

The conversation is less heady 20 minutes later, as we ride with Burke and Stein back to their hotel, the Millennium Broadway Hotel. The drive takes us uptown, through once-seedy, now-Disney Times Square -- a prime example of how New York City has changed since the mid-'70s, when Blondie were making their name on the Bowery.

"The energy is still here," Stein assures us. "Even the darkness is still here, a little bit -- a lot of the stuff I loved about it."

As talk turns to Blondie's eclectic sound -- their greatest hits include the disco tune 'Heart of Glass,' early hip-hop crossover 'Rapture' and bouncy reggae cut 'The Tide Is High' -- Burke says the band is a product of its surroundings.

"As so-called artists, we're really lucky to be placed in this city," he says. "The genesis of this band was in this city, and we emerged from this city, and all the stimulus this city allows really makes us sound the way we sound."

In recent years, Blondie have covered songs by former CBGBs pals the Ramones, and on this latest tour, they've been doing 'You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory,' by the late New York Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders. They're also blending 'Rapture' with the Beastie Boys' '(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (to Party!).'

"We're able to do a disco song; we're able to do a hip-hop song," Burke says. "It's all in this big stew -- that's really what we are."

Reid Rolls for AOL

Other interesting tidbits that come out of our car ride: Blondie already have much of its 10th album recorded, and Stein thinks Katy Perry's 'Teenage Dream' is an "awesome piece of work." He doesn't care that people know all about Blondie's personal travails or his previous love affair with Harry (they broke up in the '90s), since everyone's information is out in the open these days, and in the future, they'll be no more politicians, "because everyone is going to have a picture [online] of them with their c---s hanging out or something."

"What's wrong with that?" Burke asks.

A little more than two hours later, Burke and Stein pull up in front of the Highline. Harry is either already inside or en route, and the band is due on stage in just over an hour. Burke looks around, spies the Australian fellow he spoke to earlier, and pulls him into the group of people that shuffles past the bouncer guarding the club's side entrance. That's one way to save money on concert tickets.

When Blondie hit the stage at 10 PM, Harry is wearing different clothes than she was in the West Village. Gone are the pants and loose shirt, replaced with a tight black Oriental-style dress. The group opens with a trio of old favorites -- 'Union City Blues, 'Dreaming' and 'Atomic' -- and as Harry readies for a new one, 'D-Day,' a bright, buzzy synth-pop they could have recorded in 1981, she looks out at a crowd that comprises young and old, gay and straight, chic and schlubby, punk and square. Maybe there's even a Chihuahua running around somewhere.

"It's good to be home," she says.

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PAPA's Darren Weiss Battles Exhaustion While Pulling Double Duty With Girls

2011-10-10T16:48:00.000-07:00

Three quarters of PAPA sit around a table at Veselka, a Ukrainian restaurant in New York City's East Village, each of them enjoying their own healthy helpings of borscht. "I'm not going to come to Veselka and not get the borscht," bassist Danny Presant says in between mouthfuls.

His voice has a hint of nostalgia; though Los Angeles natives, the band formed in New York. They are happy to be back although two of the members, Darren and Evan Weiss, are run ragged from doing double duty with their tourmates Girls.

"Look at me. I look like s--," singer and drummer Darren says. "I feel like s--. But I'm doing what I love."

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Listen to PAPA's Full 'A Good Woman Is Hard to Find' for Free

On this tour, Darren must reprise his singing and drumming role for Girls' headlining set. "Girls is fortunate enough to have these three beautiful backup singers," he explains to Spinner through strained vocal chords. "They're just spectacular but they're only with us in some of the major cities across the United States. So most nights after singing through full sound checks and a full PAPA set, I have to sing backups through an hour-and-a-half Girls set. The combination of that and not sleeping very much at all has just been wearing on me."

The various aspects of Darren's touring schedule have conspired to wipe out his voice for the bands' two Bowery Ballroom shows, arguably the biggest shows of their North American tour. Despite his vocal exhaustion, PAPA are on the upswing. "I've had a lot of years in my life to just be selfish and have personal time and have fun," he states calmly, no complaints. "Now is the time to work -- that's just the bottom line. And I love the work I'm doing. I'm just f---ing tired."

Between their tour with the indie darlings of the moment and a recent mention on Pitchfork, the band is settling into a sure-footed groove, one that is reflected in performances of songs like 'I Am the Lion King.' There's a lothario balladry that runs through the length of PAPA's debut EP 'A Good Woman Is Hard to Find,' that lends the release a rolling swagger: The stuff of boozy nights on dirty streets.

PAPA's tour hasn't been all nose to the grindstone, though. Presant's levity contrasts well with the Weiss brothers' lighthearted weariness: "Our rides consist of me asking Fischel, 'Yo, so are you ready yet?" he quips about riding with absent fourth member Alex Fischel in the keyboardist's Honda Element and separately from Girls' touring van. "I've asked him probably seven times on this trip. I say, 'At the end of the tour lets just put a hose in there and sit in there' -- literally have a real carpool."

PAPA Perform 'I Am the Lion King'

PAPA is Darren's brainchild. He formed an early manifestation of the band upon settling in New York on the heels of several years of on and off touring with Wires on Fire and Simon Dawes (now Dawes). After having been through multiple incarnations over the course of the last several years and on both coasts of the United States, PAPA seem to have coalesced. Though every member of PAPA is actively involved in other projects, none of them see that activity as impinging in any way on their commitment to the band.

"In all other genres it's less of a big deal: Country, hip hop, jazz, everyone f---s with everyone," guitarist Evan Weiss explains. "For some reason in rock music there's this weird exclusivity. I understand that gang mentality and I always wanted that sort of a band where it's us versus the world, but it's never really worked out for me."

PAPA's brand of rock takes the lighter pop numbers that brought Girls into the spotlight and lays it at the crossroads of punk and post-punk circumscribed by the Clash and the Talking Heads. There's a keen sense of Americana that weaves itself into the fabric PAPA's songs, a Springsteen or Petty-esque of travel-tested wisdom, which at the Bowery shows are underlined by Weiss' scratchy delivery -- his voice sounds like it has trawled the great American expanse.

"Danny and I have really different styles of writing," Darren tells Spinner. "I still write with an acoustic guitar and my demos usually sound like some kind of weird f---ed-up folk thing with lead lines and writing harmonies. I demo it all myself. Danny's style of writing is that he makes just really awesome beats that sound like hip hop smash singles and then we f--- it up enough to make it sound like Papa."

PAPA plans to record a full-length in December, but until then you can sate yourself with their EP 'A Good Woman Is Hard to Find,' which is available now via Psychedelic Judaism/Hit City U.S.A.

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Mekons Crack Jokes, Kick Roots-Punk Jams in Brooklyn

2011-10-10T12:10:00.000-07:00

After more than 30 years as a band, the Mekons still have plenty say. This is true both on record -- their latest, the just-released 'Ancient & Modern,' compares our troubled present to Britain's whacked Edwardian era -- and onstage, where the post-punk lifers haven't lost the gift of gab.

Performing Friday (Oct. 7) at the Bell House in Brooklyn, N.Y., the Mekons were at full strength: eight pieces, including accordion, violin, two guitars and electric saz, a long-neck lute played by bearded eccentric Lu Edmonds. The Leeds-born band is midway through a short U.S. tour, its first as an octet in some time.

"It will be as rubbish as always, but there will be more of us," singer Sally Timms said early on, dropping the first banter bomb in what would be a heavy campaign. She and founding frontman John Langdon spent the night chatting about everything from the Occupy Wall Street protests to their favorite bathroom graffiti, and the frequent jokes and asides proved nearly as entertaining as the group's walloping folk-punk ragers.

The Mekons opened with 'Space in Your Face,' their latest record's most raucous tune. Live, the 'Ancient & Modern' material is sturdier and and more driving than it is on the album, and in a set that included many old favorites, Langford seemed especially keen on kicking new jams. The cabaret-style standout 'Geeshie' was a breezy delight, even as Timms sang of "the splendor and the crimes" of early-20th century England, foreshadowing some hellish event -- World War I, perhaps -- with a vow to drink her red wine "while there's still time."

Timms remained mindful of time toward the end of the evening, as she tried to curtail Langdon's pre-encore chatter and help fans -- "who have lives," she insisted -- get home at a reasonable hour.

"I'm sorry some of you have lives more important than this beautiful communion of humanity you're witnessing," Langford quipped.

Having already done one round of tequila shots and ordered another from the bar, the Mekons were feeling sufficiently loose for a visit to 'Memphis, Egypt,' the night's finale.

"I'm born inside the belly of rock 'n' roll," Langford sang, bashing on his Strat, reveling in the raw power of that which cannot be expressed in words, however clever they may be.

Watch the Mekons' Video for 'Memphis, Egypt'
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Ryan Adams Debuts Intimate Video for 'Invisible Riverside'

2011-10-10T07:38:00.000-07:00

Ryan Adams is back with his new album, 'Ashes & Fire,' which features the handiwork of producer Glyn Johns (who's worked with heavy-hitters like the Beatles and Bob Dylan) and the musical contributions of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench as well as Norah Jones and wife Mandy Moore. So, clearly, this is no minor affair. Adams has pulled out all the stops for the followup to last year's 'III/IV,' which sees him break away from his Cardinals band to conquer solo territory.

In this brand new video for the track 'Invisible Riverside,' the beloved Jacksonville, NC, musician forgoes fancy backdrops and flashy fixings for an intimate snapshot of what he does best. Check it out below and listen to 'Ashes & Fire' in full.

Ryan Adams' 'Invisible Riverside' VideoListen to 'Ashes & Fire'http://twitter.com/spinner | Like Us on Facebook | Sign Up for Our Newsletter

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11 of the Very Best Adele Covers

2011-10-10T04:37:00.000-07:00

Every generation has its Adele -- an artist that receives constant praise as the voice of a generation, and whose songs are covered by anyone and everyone. To celebrate this 23-year-old's enigmatic voice we put together a list of the 11 best Adele covers we could find on the net. We will also follow-up this list with a readers' choice, so don't forget to let us know your favorites!Greg Delson and John Russell make up this relatively unknown synth-rock outfit from Los Angeles, Calif. but it's Father Tiger's cover of 'Set Fire to the Rain' that might just make them a "thing." Armed with weird dance moves, a Christmas-light draped set and an incredibly relevant electro-melody, the band takes the best of indie chill-wave and smacks it against a pop wall.James Vincent McMorrow's impassioned cover of 'Someone Like You,' from Adele's '21' is as simple as it is beautiful. Like a higher-pitched Ray LaMontagne, the Irish singer-songwriter does this cover an absolute justice.City and Colour frontman, the very tattooed and Canadian Dallas Green, put on a suit and tie and took up an acoustic guitar for this intimate cover of 'Hometown Glory' recorded live at Royal Albert Hall in London. Copying Adele's strong cadences to a tee, Green adds a bit of sadness and solemnity to this already classic cut.You've finally made it in music when a punk legend starts to cover your songs. Patty Smith's version of 'Rolling in the Deep' isn't the best cover we've ever heard, but it is an important one. In the middle of the performance, Patty forgets the lyrics and starts to sing about the greatness of Adele. Certainly an honor, we'd like to think.Rustic rockers Kassidy bring a Glasgow, Scotland rootsiness to Adele's most famous song. The video begins with frontman Barrie-James O'Neill lighting up a cigarette right before he and his band go into four-part harmony excellence while implementing a lazy rock recourse to the line "played it to the beat."John Legend's cover of 'Rolling in the Deep' takes the song's original concept to the next level. Mixing bits of gospel and a'cappela, Legend's sultry, subversive and layered vocals back up the beautifully cracking notes on the chorus.Staten Island, N.Y.'s PS22 Chorus have covered everyone from Ariel Pink to Katy Perry, even performing on the 2011 Academy Awards. But it's the grade schoolers' cover of Adele's 'Rolling in the Deep' that really shows off their vocal prowess. This video, taken at the Newport Folk Festival shows the kid crooners in full form. Did you just get chills too?Chicago soul man and 'Birthday Sex' singer Jeremih's cover of 'Rumour Has It' shows off the crooner's drum and piano chops (which are really spectacular). Full of throw-back incantations, anger and a momentary detour through David Bowie and Queen's 'Under Pressure,' this cover is simply one of a kind.Little Connie Talbot is only 10 years old, which makes her cover of 'Someone Like You,' some kind of anomaly. After finding fame on 'Britain's Got Talent,' the tiny singer has garnered millions of views on YouTube for her out-of-this world vocal performances. She also has the ability to make grown men cry.Santogold's cover of 'Hometown Glory' features a steady tom-tom chug, while the singer dances about the top of the beat, falling in and out of tune. While slowly building a lovely dissonance, Santogold's cover sounds like the soundtrack to a political thriller that's about to win every award at every film festival from Cannes to Sundance.1. Jamie XX and Childish GambinoOK ... this isn't exactly a cover, but it is a complete reinterpretation of 'Rolling in the Deep,' and it has earned the top spot on list for a very good reason. Jamie XX's dark-toned beats and total manipulation of Adele's voice will send chills down your spine, which Childish Gambino (Donald Glover of 'Community') delivers a hip-hop verse that'll destroy you.

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Those Darlins Still 'Get Loose' Despite Leaving Wild Ways Behind

2011-10-10T00:04:00.000-07:00

It's true Those Darlins have established a reputation for out-of-control live shows, but Jessi Darlin tells Spinner the Tennessee trio (now a quartet, actually) has reined in its wilder side.

"You can't get f---ed up every night and really hit it that hard every night for the rest of the your life," the singer and guitarist says. "You still have get up the next day and go to the next town and do the next show."

After releasing their second LP, 'Screws Get Loose,' in March, the band is currently touring around the U.S., playing some dates with Drive-By Truckers and Lucero, and has just released the video for the album's title track. Jessi Darlin tells us about a performer who inspires her, keeping a musical edge on the road and interacting with fans.

So Those Darlins are no longer as crazy as your song 'Wild One' would have us believe?

We've definitely gotten more serious about what we're doing and more serious about being musicians. Sometimes it's kind of funny, because we've done a lot of crazy stuff in the past. We still have some wild nights, but as a group, on the whole, I feel like we've calmed down a lot in terms of seeing this as our profession.

Why do you think that is?

We were just learning how to perform and when you're young and in your first real band with a bunch of rowdy girls going, "Let's have fun," all the excitement, all the anxiety and anticipation and adrenaline would lead to just going crazy. After a while, you get used to it and it's more like a job, but it's an awesome job. Also, once you start doing crazy stuff, people just start expecting you to do crazy stuff all the time, and you start to wonder, "Am I just doing this to outdo what I did last time?"

Watch Those Darlins' 'Screws Get Loose' Video

Does the hard-charging image affect the way male fans interact with you?

There's a lot of people who are definitely intimidated, and then a lot of people who are really weird and think that because we're girls, we're just immediately going to be into them. It's like, you know, we meet a million people every day. I don't know why you think you're going to be more special than anyone else. You're drunk at the merch table right now, and no one is into that.

Do you describe yourselves as feminists?

We all consider ourselves feminists, but none of us would say we make feminist music. That's not why we write music. We just write music about our everyday lives, and if certain things come across as feminist, that's just because that's how we live our lives.

The band spends a lot of time on the road. How do you maintain your musical edge?

You have to love it. I don't ever get nervous before I play, I never think about who's watching, I don't get jittery anymore. I haven't for a long time. But every time I step out, it doesn't matter what kind of mood I'm in, I could have had the worst day, as soon as I start playing, I feel 100 times better.

With the second album out, what are the band's goals now?

You're always trying to get better and tighter, and personally, I'm always studying other people. Outside of trying to become a really awesome songwriter, I always think in terms of live performance. I want to be the best I can be. It's not like there's a book written about it, there's no college course you can go take about how to be a great performer. It's something you have to pick up and learn on your own.

Who inspires you in that way?

I really like Tina Turner, especially when she and Ike were the Ike and Tina Turner Revue. She's just one of those people who can get on stage and just command attention. Watching her dance and move, it's just insane to me that one person could get up there and basically make everyone in the room's jaws drop.

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Portishead Reflect on Their Past, Odd Future and the Dreaded Term Trip-Hop

2011-10-09T20:28:00.000-07:00

It's been quite sometime since Portishead crossed over to this side of the pond. The trio of Geoff Barrow, Beth Gibbons and Adrian Utley made a quick headlining stint at Coachella in 2008 to celebrate the long-awaited release of their third studio album, appropriately dubbed 'Third,' but despite the excitement and acclaim surrounding the performance -- and their first U.S. Top 10 album -- Portishead headed back home. Fans are used to a long wait, though. After Portishead's '94 debut 'Dummy' made them one of the biggest, and least likely, success stories of the '90s, they pretty much disappeared after their second self-titled studio album in 1997 and a live record paired with a tour the following year.

Yet the Bristol band never really went away. Portishead's early albums are considered classics, their band name continues to adorn hipster t-shirts and dorm-room posters and their dark, moody beatscapes still reverberate today in the sounds of our most cutting-edge artists (see: Weeknd, the). In a wide-ranging, hour-long phone call from the UK before the tour kickoff, Geoff Barrows talked to Spinner about Portishead's legacy, why you shouldn't book him on the same festival bill as Bruno Mars, his thoughts on Odd Future's rape raps and why he hated the term trip-hop so damn much.

Why has it been so long since you toured North America?

Adrian has always liked playing live. I don't think Beth has ever been incredibly comfortable with it, and I never have either. So with two out of the three mainstay members, it's just not particularly an option. And we didn't make a record for such a long time. We never broke up but we went our separate ways to rediscover different things in our lives. That would be the other main reason we didn't tour.

What do you all do on your lengthy downtime?

We write music and when we don't, we don't do anything.

Do you garden? Like, what's up?

Beth went and did her record. I could've really fell out of love with music and so I set up the label in the UK called Invader and one earlier one in Australia also called Invader. Adrian did some soundtrack work and played with some people. Portishead is our main thing, it's our life. At the same time, we want it to be meaningful and not just doing it for the sake of it.

Now that it's been a project for so long, what do you think of the legacy you guys have created?

I don't know. We have got a very severe quality control thing, but we've never purposely used being away as some kinda tool to cause intrigue. This has just been the way it happened in our lives ... I mean, I still like to go and see Radiohead play, and if Nirvana was still about I'd want to go see them. You just want to see good bands. But you do get bands that just tour all the time, what happens is that their quality just goes down. They just want to be crowd-pleasers. You just lose the edge. And we haven't really played enough to become crowd-pleasers.

Perhaps, but at the same time I feel like some artists feel that they need to be in the news all the time.

People have not really been interested in us as people, and we are not really interested in being people in the industry, more just musicians.

And I think that has probably a lot to do with the first two albums, the third is more recent, which sound kind of timeless. They don't sound dated like, say, a Fatboy Slim song.

Maybe because we always wanted to concentrate on the songwriting element of it and we were influenced by timeless music, even though it was conceived as incredibly stylized. But it's great that you say it's maintained, it's always nice to hear that.

Watch Portishead's 'Magic Doors' Video
You take the beats away and all of a sudden you could be in a film noir where Beth is singing in a black and white night club.

I think a lot of people had that kind of image of us, this noir thing. I think it's just distinctly European.

Given your sound's apocalyptic undertones, do you think in these modern times, which are darker and heavier than when you guys first came out, do you think that it perhaps hits people harder now?

No, I think there's always been fairly apocalyptic music, whether it be from electronic to Gothic to classical to hip-hop. I actually find that there is less music like that now. I think that music is really bubble gum, in the strangest way. I very, very rarely hear anything that is really kinda minor cords, that reaches any height of any playlist unless it's specialist radio. Melodies of R&B is the same melodies as pop, is the same melody of rock, y'know, it's homogenized. It's like the guy in the emo band sounds like he's singing the same melodies as Will.I.Am. They just change the instruments and push the rock button instead.

I did read that angry quote about you playing the same festival as Bruno Mars.

Well, the thing is we were on the wrong festival. The other thing that is was completely taken out of context by f--ing N.M.E magazine. We've played two festivals with Bruno Mars and Coldplay, and we were at the wrong festival. They were at the right festival and we were at the wrong one. But they reported it like I was really f---ing pissed off. But I wasn't. I was just like, "We were at the wrong festival."

You don't think it's good that people of all tastes get to hang out together and maybe Bruno Mars fans can be turned onto you guys?

It's a nice way of thinking it, but the way that the modern musical society is, it's just like, no. There isn't that cross-fertilization. They'll listen to an R&B guy who sounds like the singer from that emo band -- that's as far as the cross-fertilization goes, I don't think it goes any deeper than that.

But it's not just the hip, cool people who are into Portishead. At this point, it's permeated pop culture. I had a similar conversation when I interviewed the Pixies -- yeah, they were cool at the time, but now they're almost a rite of passage for young people.

But you didn't get the same response from the Pixies?

No, I did.

Well, that's great. Basically, no one talks about us until we do something. And they go out and buy it or they go out and see us and they go on and carry on with their lives. If you look at online stuff, nobody really writes about us. We've just got this army of fans which is amazing. They get on with their lives, go to the show, pick up a record and disappear again.

But there's a new group of classic albums -- like 'Doolittle' and 'Nevermind' and your first two records -- creating a new cannon now that we've gotten past the '60s and '70s stuff. The kids that are coming up, that were not around when these records were released, are still discovering them in high-school and it's opening up their taste.

If that's the case, that's really good. 'Nevermind' and 'Dummy' were pop records. They were not experimental records, they were on the outside of alternative culture. Maybe they are sightly more valuable now because that was the last time you could actually do that.

What do you think about the resurgence in electronic music? It's not rave culture anymore but dance culture has come back in North America after being gone for almost a decade.

You got to look at the drugs, really. When I think of electronic music, I just think of what drugs have been released or what people are doing, 'cause that usually has a lot to do with it. Electronic music has never gone away, it has just kind of changed in the UK, it's always been such a mainstay of alternative culture. I don't know anybody that doesn't make electronic music, it's so easy to do on your laptop. I don't know anything about dubstep, really, but when it comes to electronic it always just evolves.

You were roped into the electronic music culture at the time. Did you feel like you were part of it?

No, we were so oddly different than most people. I don't mean that we're special compared to the electronic stuff that was going on the same time as us. I was never really into dance music, and most of it was dance music. I liked really early jungle, like really hard jungle, because it was almost like Public Enemy sped-up triple time, so that was kind of good.

Watch Portishead's Video for 'Machine Gun'
There was always the talk about you guys and your hip-hop influences, do you still hear those in hindsight?

Yeah, absolutely, because the way it was produced, the way it was written and produced musically. It was very hip-hop based, put together on sequencers as chunks of music, which is pretty much what was happening to hip-hop then, so it was very much based on that, scratch tech and stuff, so there is that element of it. And, because of the response we got from the hip-hop community, in America, it was mental, it was, like, wow.

What do you think about the current era of hip-hop?

I think it's difficult to say. I don't know what people are calling hip-hop now. You got the stars, like Kanye or whoever, and then you got everybody doing like this mad struggling thing underneath. I think there is still some really good hip-hop out there. I'm still a massive fan of Madlib; MF Doom played ATP, he was immense. I don't know much about new guys. What's your take on Tyler, the Creator?

I think Odd Future are a fascinating phenomenon, and really talented, and I wish they didn't go for the shock factor so often because it distracts from the progressive stuff they're doing. I wish they wouldn't make rape jokes, y'know?

Obviously, that's rubbish. I agree with you entirely there is no need for it but then if they feel it's an important part of their art, then people will turn off from it. Or turn on to it. I was following him on Twitter and then I stopped following him, it was like someone was shouting at me.

I respect people like him and I respect the punks. You wanna f--- stuff up. There's always s--- you don't like about punks, because they're always made to not make you like them.

I guess they're trying to shock people, so it's equivalent of a swastika armband worn by a '70s punk.

Yeah, maybe they are. They're obviously really bright. It's easy just being a kid talking about rape -- or is there a reason that he's doing it? Is it just to shock or is it for something else? He's obviously a bright kid so you hope it was for another reason.

Do you think those kind of lyrics can discount everything else they are trying to do? Or do you think that you should be able to take all the different aspects of the whole when you are judging them?

Shocking artists aren't going to please you, or they wouldn't be shocking artists, would they? There's always going to be an element of what they do that is completely outrageous.

And they certainly add a level of danger to hip-hop that has been missing for a long time.
They do, but I can't get with the music. I like their voices, their intelligence, but the beats are too normal for me. When I saw Tyler on the Jimmy Fallon show, it really excited me 'cause I thought, "Aw, f--- yes, someone's kicking some ass again and they don't give a f---" -- which is great. But then after hearing some more of it, I just thought the beats were a bit boring. But then I'm from another generation of hip-hop. I've never really been a lyrical person, I've always been more the beats side of it and they are incredibly lyrical.

Not everybody is Dr. Dre at age 18.

But there's lots of kids who are. There's lots of people doing interesting s---, and I just think their tools are not allowing great creativity. I think it's just me. Lots of people get off on that stuff, but I just kind of find a lot of modern programming is stock sounds because MCs have become more prominent over the beats.

Well, that might be from growing up in a cipher culture, where they just put any beat on and just rap at each other.

That's not always been the most important thing. That's cool, but it was the opposite for me. I can't rap so I was gonna spend months thinking about a snare drum.

Trip-hop became such a hated genre tag for a lot of people. What's your take?

We were the first vocal people to hate it. I don't think anybody hated it or was as vocal about it was we were. When Massive Attack released 'Blue Lines' in '91, that was just British urban music, like electronic soul. We were doing our record in '92/'93, released it in '94 -- and trip-hop didn't exist. A London journalist along with maybe James LaValle for the Mo' Wax label decided it was going to be called trip-hop. We said, "It's s---, we don't want anything to do with it." And we continued with that all the way through. Now we don't even think about it because it's thankfully dead and buried. And we can just carry on making music like we always have.

So I guess it became such a dirty word mostly because of you guys.

I don't think we were the innovators like Smith and Mighty, or with instrumental beats stuff coming out of the west coast. We were from Bristol and it was just a lazy term, really, and we kind of resented it. It's basically like a scene that's quite pure coming up in, say, Toronto and New York names it one stupid name. And you go, "Well, that's a stupid name, and your from f---ing New York, what the f--- do you know?" And then it takes on across the world because they're New York. It's like grunge in Seattle.

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Will Lady Gaga Become the New Voice of Queen?

2011-10-09T16:53:00.000-07:00

Kevin Mazur, WireImage

Iconic rock band Queen is in search of a new frontman, and they may just get one in the form of a frontWOMAN, Lady Gaga!

Gaga, whose stage name was inspired by Queen's 1984 hit 'Radio Ga Ga,' has been in talks with Queen guitarist Brian May about the collaboration, as May told Britain's Daily Express. "We talk about going out on the road all the time but there's a bit of a singer problem to put it mildly. We get a lot of offers to work with other people. I worked with Lady Gaga and she's very creative and is someone we've talked about singing, fronting the band with."

Gaga and May took to the stage together at the MTV VMAs in August, where Gaga opened as her male alter ego Jo Calderone while May jammed beside her as she chugged beer and chain-smoked on stage.

Original frontman Freddie Mercury died in 1991 and Paul Rodgers took on lead singer duties from 2004 to 2009 in a new incarnation of the band called Queen + Paul Rodgers. Since Q+PR split, Queen have been searching for a new vocalist to tour with, and May reveals Gaga may have already accepted the offer. "Lady Gaga has said she would like to do something with us," he shares.

For May, the collab would be a match made in heaven. "She's not just a singer," says May. "She writes her own material." But Mother Monster could be just the beginning. "We have talked about doing duets with other people and in a strange way I almost pressed the yes button. We were debating the idea of a TV show where we have all these guest stars. We didn't press it today but we are still looking at it," the rocker revealed.

How do you think Gaga would do as the new leading lady of the legendary rock band?

Watch 'You're My Best Friend'

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Noel Gallagher and Russell Brand Get Weird for 'AKA...What a Life' Video

2011-10-09T12:43:00.000-07:00

Noel Gallagher's new video for 'AKA...What a Life!' is a real head-trip, to say the least. If you've ever wondered what 'Alice in Wonderland' meets 'Twin Peaks' with a little bit of 'The Odyssey' thrown in would look like if it was set in the wild American West, then this video will be something of a godsend. Yes, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds get pretty out there.

The video starts with a young diner waitress who wanders into the weirdest stagecoach in the world, where she is met by Russell Brand as a sort of Mad Hatter and two beautiful women who are his hit-men-like "nieces." After delivering a quite verbose and patently Russell Brand monologue, he makes his nieces "massage her gently" (not gently at all) before he pours an LSD-like potion down the fair waitress' throat.

Immediately thereafter, Mr. Brand is scared of by a vision of Gallagher, who uses his mind to push the heroine into a pool and pull her out again. This, if you're still able to follow, apparently rescues her from the stagecoach. Finally, the song actually begins and more psychedelic mania ensues. Phew. Check it out below.

Watch and Read Spinner's Interview With Noel Gallagher

Watch Noel Gallagher's 'AKA...What a Life' Video

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Armin van Buuren Sticks to Substance and His Own Musical Style

2011-10-09T08:39:00.000-07:00

Being number one in the world is a pretty good feeling. Just ask Armin van Buuren, who has taken the top spot of DJ Mag's Top 100 list a record-breaking four times.

As much of the EDM community moves towards dubstep and reinvents itself to please a new crop of fans, the Dutch DJ, producer and father has stood fast to his trance and progressive roots, guiding his audiences and listeners (many of whom refers to as "chair-ravers," those listening to his music while at work) through clean, almost soothing buildups and bass drops. He hosts "A State of Trance," a weekly radio program that boasts a reported 15 million listeners in countries around the world, is now well past its 500th installment and releases an untold number of compilations in addition to his four studio albums.

Spinner caught up with van Buuren as he released the fifth installment of his 'Universal Religion' compilation series (out now on Armada). We asked the veteran producer about how he sees his music shifting to stay fresh and what he's most proud of as an artist.

You seem to stay away from big pop hits or remixes. Is this a conscious effort, or are you just more interested in a more pure trance/house sound?

I just follow my heart and do what works best for me and my sets. I don't try to seek pop hits or try to stay away from them. I just do what feels right and what excites me and what works for my crowds. My motto is and has always been "don't be a prisoner of your own style" yet I do have a style and fans and I want to give them a little bit what they want but surprise them as well.

Seeing you perform at New York's Electric Zoo Festival after Afrojack demonstrated the strong difference between your two sounds: Yours feels cleaner, more measured when juxtaposed with his -- as he describes it -- "freaky" sound. As house and EDM continues to explode in America and elsewhere, how important is it to you to maintain a very distinct Armin van Buuren sound?

For me it's essential. This is who I am. I thought about this a lot recently. I have a huge respect for all the new house guys and admire and enjoy their work but it's just not me! I try to look at it, and understand what works and what doesn't for me. I see it as a big compliment that after such a massive set by Afrojack, people really enjoyed my set too. It means I've showed people who I am as an artist.

Armin Van Buuren Performs 'In and Out of Love' at Electric Zoo

Are you at all interested in genres gaining popularity such as dubstep?

Yes. Music is always evolving and moving. It's never "stale," even though names as "trance," "house," "techno" may sound like "peanut butter" or "hamburger" or "sushi." Food still tastes the same, but genres constantly change. Soon there will be big trance records with dubstep breaks. Just to name an example, part of the reason why the Beatles got bigger was because they experimented with sounds from other genres (the moog synthesizer on 'Sgt. Pepper'!). You always have to stay open-minded to new genres and new artists and sounds.

You're a big fan of dramatic poses and engaging the crowd through your mannerisms (as opposed to grabbing the microphone). How does it feel to have tens of thousands of people getting energy off of not just the music, but your presence?

Amazing. But again, as with the sound I play, the person behind the turntables is a guy that can't pretend like he likes trance. I am who I am. Sometimes that annoys me but I can't change that overnight. I feel I want to share this music on stage and entertain the people. The trance pose is because it just feels amazing to play this record for that many people.

What new producers and DJs inspire you to keep pushing yourself?

Every producer from every genre. I listen to all kinds of music. Recently I've been inspired hugely by guys like Orjan Nilsen, Protoculture, DNS Project, Ashley Wallbridge and Arty.

How did you hook up with Joseph Klibansky for the 'Universal Religion Chapter 5' cover?

I met him through my manager Maykel who was a big fan of him. I already saw something of his works in his office and was really impressed. The word "art" sometimes gives me the feeling it's all about "old" and dead artists like Van Gogh or Rembrandt, but art indeed is something that can appeal to the younger generation as well.

How do you choose other artists to collaborate with?

I pick the tracks because they work on a dance floor and fit the 'Universal Religion' feeling. 'Universal Religion' is a much deeper concept than, for example, 'A State of Trance.' So, the artists pick me in a way [laughs].

What's different about Chapter 5?

It's mixed live in Space Ibiza in front of a live audience and this time it's a double disc. Also, I never before did so much of my own productions for one CD!

When you look at your career -- the live shows, huge gigs, radio show, the year mixes -- what are you most proud of as a producer?

I think my Armin Only shows and 'ASOT' 500. That's where everything comes together. Everything.

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Former Weezer Bassist Mikey Welsh Dead At Age 40

2011-10-09T04:14:00.001-07:00

Mikey Welsh, a former Weezer bassist who later became an acclaimed painter and visual artist, died suddenly on Saturday (Oct. 8) in Chicago. He was 40.
"We are deeply saddened to announce that Mikey Welsh passed away unexpectedly today," a post on Welsh's Facebook page said late Saturday evening. "He will forever be remembered as an amazing father, artist and friend. May he rest in peace."
"We are shocked and deeply saddened to hear the awful news, our friend and fellow weez rocker @mikeywelsh71 has passed away," Weezer tweeted after hearing the news. "We love u Mikey."
"Rest in peace Mikey Welsh, you deserve it," drummer Patrick Wilson tweeted shortly thereafter.
In what is perhaps an eerie coincidence, Welsh's death came nearly two weeks after a Sept. 26 tweet in which he described premonition he'd had.
"Dreamt I died in Chicago next weekend (heart attack in my sleep)," he wrote. "Need to write my will today." There was no official word as to the cause of death.
Born in Syracuse, N.Y., Welsh got his start playing in several Boston-area groups prior to joining a side project of Weezer lead singer Rivers Cuomo in 1997. Welsh joined Weezer officially after original bassist Matt Sharp left the group the following year.
Welsh appeared on Weezer's self-titled third album, commonly referred to as the 'Green Album,' before leaving the group in 2001 due to the rigors of touring and a nervous breakdown. He would be replaced by current bassist Scott Shiner. However, Welsh returned to the group for a special one-off performance on July 29 of this year, performing 'Undone' with Weezer at a New York show. He had also performed with Wilson's side project, the Special Goodness.
Welsh had also become an accomplished artist, posting a string of drawings for sale last week, including one drawing titled 'Mama's little pills spilled all over the floor.' Earlier this month, Welsh tweeted about how he was looking forward to taking his first vacation in a long time, first heading to Nashville and then to Chicago.
"Just to clarify...nothing horrible happened to me in Nashville...besides the fact that my hotel was right next to c.mt (Country Music Television) headquarters," Welsh wrote on Oct. 4 on his Facebook page. "It looked kind of like the 9th circle of hell..."
He also said he was happy to be in Chicago and "of course Sat. being the day the ol' weez will rock...lots o' fun to be had." The band is scheduled to play the Chicago RiotFest on Sunday.
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