With all due respect to the Limp Bizkit fans in the world (and for that matter the Michael Jackson fans in the world) sometimes a well intended act of respect just doesn’t come across that way to the rest of us. You’ve seen the clip of Michael’s father changing subjects in an interview from his son’s death to some new Blu-Ray’s he’s promoting? Well, file this in the same category of regret:
Morning. Just stopping in to let you know the new Alice in Chains single is out and you can grab a free mp3 by visitng the band’s website and giving them your email address. The song is called “A Looking in View” and if this track is any indication of how the rest of the album is then I’m going to go ahead and say that this puppy could be a major hit. It’s a heavy, heavy track that wouldn’t be entirely out of place on either Facelift or the self-titled record. Do I miss Layne Staley’s voice on the song? Sure, but smartly this first single is heavy on the harmony, with new singer William DuVall and guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell basically singing in unison throughout. As such, there’s really nothing about this song that doesn’t feel exactly like Alice in Chains. I am as surprised by this as I am aware now of just how much I have missed this sound. Cantrell’s guitar sounds like it must weigh nine hundred pounds on this track. Here’s the teaser for the video, which should also be out sometime today I think:
So welcome back Alice in Chains! Hopefully, if nothing else, by the end of the day this song will be all over the radio and those bands that have been blatantly ripping you off while you’ve been gone (let’s just call them “Godsmack”) will realize the gig is at last up and will then do us all a favor by running far, far away where they will never be heard from again. Ever. Please.
The album Black Gives Way To Blue won’t be out until September 29th, so that’s almost three more months to get over the fact that Layne is gone and this new music might – just might – actually be really good. Let’s hope so. I’m at least very, very optimistic now.
Well, you know the news that’s taking up the space of just about everything today and I do feel somewhat obliged to comment on it since this is (occasionally) a music blog and also because I’ve written about Michael Jackson before. But I don’t really have a clue what I could possibly add to the discourse. Not only that, let’s be honest: the dude was polarizing. On the one hand, Michael gave us a great song like “Smooth Criminal.” On the other, that same very song is the reason why most of us have heard of Alien Ant Farm. See what I mean? But the fact of the matter is – and this is true for all artists I believe – that time ultimately cares more about the art than the artist. Meaning that in a hundred years Michael’s scandals, skin color, and eccentricities will largely be the kind of things only those who read books about him will know (assuming there are still books 100 years from now). So, really, the only smart thing to say about Michael Jackson is that his legacy will be his music.
Here’s where normally I would just post a video and call it a day, but I think of all that I’ve heard or read about Michael since the news of his death it’s this quote from musician Saul Williams that is probably the most profound: I received a MJ scholarship frm the 25 mill he gave UNCF for performing arts students. Thank u MJ 4 inspiring & funding my dreams& education.
I didn’t know about that, did you? Does knowing that change how we should feel about Michael based upon the various accusations that circled his personal life? No, I can’t say that it should change anything. But it’s further evidence of just how broad his influence has had and may continue to have upon modern music, even in ways that we may not be able to detect in the music itself. I don’t think Saul sounds anything like Michael Jackson, and yet here he is saying that there might not be Saul Williams music without him. So, really, maybe the only truly smart thing to say is that his legacy will be the music of others.
Talk of another Sunny Day Real Estate reunion (this time featuring original bassist Nate Mendel) has been confirmed apparently. You can read the scoop over at Idolator.com, where they provide October dates for the two shows scheduled thus far. And then look through the comments, where someone has noticed that oddly one of those dates isn’t listed on Ticketmaster’s page and is instead replaced by a date in Atlanta. So, in other words….yeah, expect this all to possibly change. But good news nonetheless for fans. Now let’s get Texas is the Reason, Mineral, and Sense Field on the opening bill and we’ll have us a gay old time…
Just don’t invite Paramore:
UPDATE: Billboard has some quotes from Enigk on the reunion along with the full list of dates. Click here to have a read.
It’s Friday, you’re in love. Good. But have you heard the new Mars Volta album Octahedron? Well, it was streaming over at the band’s MySpace page but now all you get are tracks “Since We’ve Been Wrong” and “Cotopaxi.” That’s too bad because listening to it I got the sense that Octahedron might be the most relaxed album the Mars Volta have ever recorded and that this isn’t really a bad thing at all. Because if any band is in danger of becoming boring by actually doing toomuch it’s the Mars Volta. At any rate, the album drops next Tuesday so we can all listen to it (again) then. Yep yep.
What else is going on this week? Well, Rolling Stone has Fred Durst talking about the misunderstanding of Limp Bizkit and word that Courtney Love is making another Hole record. And if that weren’t enough garbage for your DeLorean they’ve also got the scoop on the new record by none other than Living Colour. I always thought Time’s Up was a pretty good album that seem to unfairly fade into oblivion because it didn’t have a “Cult of Personality” sized single. Is that crazy? Let’s ask Arsenio:
How much does that sound like a Jane’s Addiction tune??? I’ve never been crazy about that song, but take the vocals up an octave and wow – total Jane’s. But then would Little Richard come do Arsenio with Jane’s? Probably not. So eat it, Navarro.
Moving on, I think the big news out of the indie world this week is this project this “Record Club” project that Beck has launched. Pitchfork can tell you all about it or you can hit up Beck’s site for the unfiltered details, but the long and short of it is that he’s enlisting friends to record a cover of an entire album just in one day and then release the results on a weekly basis. The first album selected is the great The Velvet Underground & Nico and here’s how opener “Sunday Morning” turned out:
Not bad, right? And, yes, that is Giovanni Ribisi on xylophone or whatever. But my initial excitement for this has now turned to guilt and minor disappointment. Because when I stopped to think about I realized this: isn’t it sad that the most exciting music news of the week has nothing whatsoever to do with actual new music? Isn’t this no different from those who get excited about seeing Phish cover Purple Rain or Dark Side of the Moon backwardsor whatever it is they do instead of playing actual Phish music? (For the record, I’ve never seen or listened to Phish so I don’t really know what I’m talking about but what I always seem to hear from people who do go to Phish concerts is how awesome their cover of _______ was, so that’s where I’m coming from.) I mean, I’m not immune from getting excited about hearing a good cover and I realize that at the end of the day it’s all extremely harmless. It’s not like Beck is charging me to watch that video. But still…it’s worth questioning right? Somebody had to ask it. I mean, wouldn’t it be great if instead of being excited about a cover of “Sunday Morning” we could get that excited about a new song that was every bit as good, simple, and lovely as the one from 1967? That’s forty-two years folks…
Food for thought. Enjoy the weekend. More next week…
