Music

Nearly 30 years after the original Germs lead singer died of a drug overdose at the age of 21, the Los Angeles snot-punks have a new lead-singer: actor Shane West. That's right, the former E.R. star is the new Darby Crash—he of the infamous appetite for peanut butter (spread on his chest) and heroin (injected squarely into his veins). Apparently, bassist Lorna Doom and guitarist Pat Smear (the remaining original members) were so impressed with West's recent turn as Crash in the biopic, What We Do Is Secret, that they invited him along on their reunion tour. Dr. Barnett—er, West and company will infect the Blender Theater on Aug.  read more »

Biggie is coming to the big screen, according to Reuters. Jamal Woolard, a Brooklyn-based rapper, will play the late rap icon Biggie Smalls, a.k.a. the Notorious B.I.G., in the upcoming biopic Notorious. He passed the open casting call last fall. Like Biggie, Mr. Woolard was a drug dealer before he became a rapper. Also known as Gravy, he has released a number of albums, though he's perhaps best known for being shot before a radio appearance outside the New York hip-hop station Hot 97 two years ago, after which he proceeded with the interview and became a part of hip-hop lore. Biggie's mom, Voletta Wallace, cited "Jamal's charming personality, warm spirit, wonderful sense of humor and beautiful smile" as reasons for the casting. "He is a talented and charismatic actor, and I am excited that he will bring Christopher's character to life." Derek Luke will play P. Diddy and Anthony Mackie will play Tupac Shakur. Angela Basset is set to play Biggie's mom. The movie is set for release next January.

>> The National, Feb. 22-23, Brooklyn Academy of Music (sold out)

"No way! A 2,500 seat theater!" said The National’s Bryce Dessner, sounding more like one his band’s teenage fans than a well-traveled 34-year-old guitarist. He was calling from Ditmas Park—a few neighborhoods south of the Brooklyn Academy of Music where his brooding hometown band will take the stage for two sold-out nights tonight and tomorrow night. "It's just not something we would have considered."  read more »

On a sweltering night this past summer, at a crammed two-story house party deep in the outskirts of Williamsburg, Cole Gerard dropped his remix of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire” on a pair of turntables. You could hear the pounding “slow mo disco” beat (as Mr. Gerard describes it) from the rooftop, where revelers escaped for a smoke and a view of the industrial skyline. In the kitchen, Springsteen’s original plinking guitar line was the lullaby for partiers passed out on the tile floor.  read more »

Oscar Peterson, whose dazzling keyboard skills made him one of the world's most popular jazz pianists, died at age 82 last weekend. The Canadian muscian made his American debut at a 1949 Carnegie Hall concert and went on to work with some of the American greats including Stan Getz, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, Ben Webster, Lester Young and Louis Armstrong.  read more »

Gearing up for the release of In Rainbows actually being in stores on Jan. 1, Radiohead has released this video advertisement for their do-it-yourself-like packaging. How handy!

An American Idol loser and the woman who made one of the worst televised performances of the year topped Billboard's charts in 2007. Daughtry, a rock band lead by American Idol finalist Chris Daughtry, is the most successful artist and Fergie is the No.  read more »

Raise your (freak) flag! Bjork demands it in her new single "Declare Independence," possibly the most controversial track that buzzsaws through her relatively new album, Volta. Michael Gondry, director of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and seven of Bjork's previous videos, creates a visually stunning piece of performance art to complement the track's screeching vocals, severe guitar and heavy beats. It was shot in a Long Island City studio and features Bjork getting rowdy behind a megaphone and "connecting" with some stoic-looking soldiers.

"Björk and I's work together is based on trust and friendship," said Mr. Gondry in an interview for AOL's Spinner site. He explains more about his inspiration for the video's elaborate contraption in this behind-the-scenes interview.

Ghostface, fresh from releasing his new album The Big Doe Rehab (infused with his "dark, lonesome dissatisfaction," according to the Observer's J. Gabriel Boylan) drops his video for "Toney Sigel A.K.A. Barrel Brothers" featuring Philly rapper Beanie Sigel and Yonkers native Styles P.  read more »

Howard Robot, a k a My Robot Friend, the Devo-inspired, one-man beats band that emerged from New York's electro-clash underground in 2001, has released a video for the title track of his new album, Robot High School due out next year.  read more »

The Raveonettes, the Danish duo who made it big in New York a couple of years ago, are getting all Suicid(e)al on us with their fourth album Lust Lust Lust (out since Nov. 20). Here they get extra fuzzy/melodic/Lush-like to mourn for a lost friend in their video for "Dead Sound." Pour out a 40 while you listen.

Check out Arcade Fire's interactive video for "Neon Bible." You can control Win Butler's hands (looking very Thing-like) while his detached head sings along (!!!).

Brooklyn-based, brother-sister duo The Fiery Furnaces released their video for "Navy Nurse," off their new album Widow City. They're currently on tour and will return to New York for a show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Dec. 8.
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New York City's Secret Machines are bunkered in the Magic Shop Studio studio recording their third full-length album, which will be released in 2008, according to Reprise Records' press release. Work will continue through the holidays.

Secret Machines have joined forces with producer/engineer Brandon Mason (David Bowie and VHS OR BETA) at The Magic Shop studio, and will be mixing the record with him at Electric Lady studios in New York. Secret Machines fans will recall Mason's work from the band's previous album, "Ten Silver Drops." The trio -- Brandon Curtis (bass, keyboards, vocals), Josh Garza (drums), and new member Phil Karnats (guitar) -- will bring back what USA Today describes as the "brutal beauty" that permeates their sound. Karnats joins the band after the amicable exit of founder, brother, and guitarist, Benjamin Curtis, who is continuing to create music with his longtime girlfriend for the band School of Seven Bells. Both parties remain extremely close and share a mutual appreciation of each other's work.

Pitchfork tells us that ATO Records Group will handle the North American (physical) release of Radiohead's latest album, In Rainbows. "(Yes, this means Radiohead are officially on Dave Matthews' record label, now.)" It's due out January 1 in the states, one day after the UK release on XL.

Nerd-rockers Weezer will also put out an album on January 1. The band that—let's admit it—peaked (at least in our hearts, if not on the Billboard charts) in the 90's with their Blue Album and Pinkerton, will release Album 6, according to thier Web Site.

Weezer's bassist Scott Shriner wrote:

Album 6 is getting ready for mixing and I have never been so excited about a project in my life. Weezer fans truly have something to look forward to. The entire band has accomplished some of its most challenging goals as a group and as individuals. It's all coming together on this album.

To sum it up, at the beginning of the recording each member asked himself "what do you want out of this session?" The answer lies ahead.

Whatever bassist dude, we still miss Matt Sharp. Just sayin'.

NYC-based dance punkers Liars have released their 4-song EP online for free download. Nab it at Brooklyn Vegan.

The Liars played with Interpol at Madison Square Garden last month. In an interview with Jessica Hopper for the Chicago Tribune, lead singer Angus Andrew said:

"I think in the past [our audience] just thought we were weirdos," explains Liars front man Angus Andrew. "That's not cool. In one sense that makes you feeling like you're failing. We've always wanted a stronger connection with our audience in hopes that they can really understand what we're doing."

...

"One of the great things for us is that we can be a band playing Madison Square Garden, and we can mess up—it's good for those kids to see someone up on stage who's not perfect."

Aging punk poet Patti Smith nearly tumbled off London's Shepherd's Bush Empire stage recently, injuring her elbow. She eventually found "balance" and laughed it off, according to NME.

Smith, 60, was in the capital performing one of her Rock N Rimbaud gigs, dedicated to the poet Arthur Rimbaud, when, during a fiery encore of 'Rock N Roll Nigger', she tripped on a speaker and fell flat on her face, cutting her elbow.

Despite not getting up for a few agonising seconds, the singer finally rose to loud cheers, humorously following the fall with a speech about "not losing your balance" in life.

She then gave the speaker a kick in retaliation.

"I'm not even fucking embarrassed because I've done far worse," Smith laughed. "May [guitars] be the only weapons we use, may tripping up be the only humiliations we suffer, and may these [pointing to her scuffed elbow] be the only battle scars."

Idolator ponders the hype surrounding CMJ darlings Black Kids and how blogs and The New York Times threaten burgeoning young bands:

What kind of madness is this? Blog-era indie fans are among the most promiscuous music listeners around, and it's precisely this insatiable need for new bands among both fans and blogs desperate for more content that's forced Black Kids into this position. For every major band that fits Pareles' description like the Arcade Fire, where fans tape their photos to their lockers like they were Soulja Boy, there is an endless progression of "important" next big things to be forgotten about with the next iPod cull. The genre maybe have always been crowded with nonentities, but now it feels overpopulated with "bands to watch" to the point of polluting its own ecosystem, with listeners acting like game wardens mercilessly thinning the herd once they become bored. Most of these bands, even the ones more technically accomplished or even "interesting" than Black Kids, are obviously less than deserving of the attention. And yet it's almost hard not to feel bad for them, considering that if they get written about in July, they'll be forgotten by Christmas. (This is not exactly restricted to new, unsigned, or unknown bands either. Just ask Bjork, who apparently released an album this year.) It's a "one chance to blow" kinda deal, with the idea of a band refining or improving or changing a distant memory from an era with, you know, albums and junk.

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The dance duo Justice played an elating, sweaty show Saturday night at the new midtown club Terminal 5.

Behind a massive DJ booth on stage, the two producers who make up Justice, Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay, looked every bit the Frenchmen they are clad in leather jackets and puffing away on cigarettes, while tweaking knobs that sent the songs veering from chunky and grungy to tinseled and glossy. (Have two grown men ever had a bigger crush on late-70s Michael Jackson? On the popular track "D.A.N.C.E.", a London’s children choir sings M.J. references over a seriously coked-up bass line and sleazy synthesized hook.)

It’s hard to say how many of the 3,000 neon-wearing concertgoers were chemically altered, but at least one petite, 26-year-old blonde girl was snorting blow from the recessed filter of her Parliament cigarette. Justice’s man-sized, crucifix-shaped light at the center of the stage blinked to the beat, as she jumped up and down.

“Do you like Parliaments?” she said, winking at a young man next to her. He said no.

The concert hit its peak when they performed a remix of "We Are Your Friends." “We! Are! Your Friends!” the 3,000 neon-wearing Francophiles sang on queue. “You’ll! Never! Be! Alone! Again!” The 26-year-old girl, now in the VIP section, chanted really loudly.

Justice plays again tonight at Terminal 5.

Mark Ronson's Authentic Shit:

So we’ve labeled Mark Ronson a trust fund DJ before but he’s actually good at what he does. He comes from a silver-spoon family (his mom is socialite/writer Ann Dexter-Jones, he’s the stepson of Foreigner’s guitarist Mick Jones and brother to Lindsay Lohan’s party partner, Samantha Ronson, (they're suing Perez Hilton btw) and Charlotte Ronson, his designer sis). He honed his skills at dingy Vassar and NYU kid haunts and became a renowned DJ in the ’90s for drawing socialites and rap stars to his downtown party at the now-shuttered club Life.

He keeps the party alive on East Village Radio every Friday from 8 to 10 p.m. with his Authentic Shit show (subscribe to the podcast here). In the tiny, closet-sized EVR booth on 1st Avenue, he plays classic hip-hop and R&B with new remixes of the acts he produces including Robbie Williams, Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse. As head honcho at Allido Records, he also pimps out tracks for his acts like Rhymefest and D.C. rapper Wale, whose summer jam “Ice Cream Girl” was recently featured in this scene of HBO’s Entourage.

Sometimes Mr. Ronson is out of town, touring as a DJ, but even his fill-ins, like Nick Catchdubs from Fool’s Gold Records and DJ Ayres and Cosmo Baker of The Rub, have been making great playlists for pre-Friday night festivities.

Listen to a recent show here. Playlist is here.  read more »

We’re heading into the homestretch of CMJ (or at least, you know, the weekend) starting tomorrow. Make sure to black out your windows for maximum sleep-in pleasure on Saturday morning (ahem afternoon).  read more »

It’s incredibly hard to get excited about a band during a marathon of hip live music, especially if the band has already made four albums (which means they’re too old to be “discovered”), and especially if their last two albums were relatively weak, and especially if they’re playing for just 40 minutes in a half-empty frat-boy venue.  read more »

We’re tired just looking at tomorrow’s CMJ schedule, but here are the most festive of the festivities.  read more »

CMJ news reports:

CBGB and MVD Entertainment are pairing up to immortalize the legacy of CBGB on CD. MVD, a company itself that benefited from the publicity that CBGB and its founder, the late Hilly Kristal, afforded visionary artists, is putting out a series of albums that will feature a full live performance at the famed club. Mooney Suzuki, the Queers, and H20 will be the first set of bands to have their performances released, and MVD expects to have another set of performances out by the end of the year. As part of the partnership, MVD is honoring Kristal's legacy and vision, and donating a portion of the sales to the Hilly Kristal Foundation For Musicians And Artists.

Guys, we’re so pumped for tonight’s CMJ festivities, we can barely contain our inner-teenage selves from knocking over some newsstands. Horray for high school nostalgia courtesy of Jersey!

We’ll be shlepping around town to check out these events. You should too.  read more »

• The Art of Love and War by Angie Stone
• AC/DC: Plug Me In (3 disc Limited Edition) by AC and DC
• R.E.M. Live 2CD/1DVD by R.E.M
• Rare & Unreleased Recordings from the Golden Reign of the Queen of Soul by Aretha Franklin
• The Alchemy Index, Vols. 1-2 by Thrice
• Heresy & the Hotel Choir by Maritime

A Whole Lotta Love is about to drop on the web on Nov. 13, when Led Zeppelin is set to (finally) release their catalog to online retailers. Fire up the iTunes store!

The digital release will coincide with the release of the 24-track, two-CD compilation "Mothership," which will include tracks spanning the band's 12-year career.  read more »

• Billboard
• Variety

The most popular artists today on Amazon’s new mp3 download service are, in order:  read more »