The music produced by the Arcade Fire-ettes Richard Parry and Sarah Neufield in the guise of their original and intriguing conglomeration of echoing, windy and comforting music; Bell Orchestre produce instrumental, horn fuelled offerings for you to sail away to. Their personalities work concurrently with their music, as I discovered in a Liverpudlian house of food and candles. One minute Richard was chipping away at my walls of ignorance regarding the raison detre for their Montereaux’s quintet; Bell Orchestre; “I find it musically therapeutic; it is different (From Arcade Fire) the way we work together.� Then I found myself caught up in the earnest musos enthusiasm for what he does so early in the interview, I found...
Calling in from his SoHo Grand Hotel room in lower Manhattan – after what was admittedly a night of total inebriation at the hands of record company executives paying the tab (“…with a free bar problems are sure to arise, especially when in Manhattan…�) -- Robin Jones reveals he is no stranger to the ways of this “seductive� city (“I’ve been here many times, in many guises�). And though he chooses not to elaborate, the spacey Scottish popster (raised in a hillside community just 10 miles or so outside of Edinburgh) lets it be known that he and everyone in the Beta Band (John Maclean, Steve Mason, Richard Greentree) is anticipating positive things for 2004, with a full-fledged Eur...
The line where art and industry connect is a delicate tightrope. Teetering between bass lines and business sense, deadlines and dedication, capitalism and credibility, artists often get swallowed up in the swirling semantics of one-hit-wonderhood versus what art truly means to them. The fast deal often appears to be the glamorous choice for the stereotypical starving artist, however more up-and-comers are choosing to maintain control of their craft, their business, and their destiny. Chief Xcel and The Gift of Gab, better known to the masses as Blackalicious, understand what it takes to keep a logical stronghold on their artistic vision. After meeting at Sacramento’s John F. Kennedy High School in 1987, Xcel and Gab joined up wit...
Play the Guitar Like a Percussion Instrument Until Your Fingers Slowly Start To Bleed "What does an amplifier at full volume sound like when it and the jackass playing it gets steamrolled? Hopefully there'd be someone recording." Blackfire Revelation guitarist and singer JR Fields says this in response to my asking which historical riot they would play in if given the opportunity. I asked this with the MC5 in mind. Their performance during the Chicago riots in 1968, while all other scheduled bands save for the Fugs took off running, was one of rock's greatest moments. Somewhere along the line rock became unable or unwilling to be that brave, and I'm not just talking about the pre-punk days when we had Journey and the ill...
MusicEmissions: On tour with Snapcase again. Are you guys good friends and is it fun touring with them? Boy Sets Fire (Rob Avery): It's fun as hell, they are cool as hell to hang out with and are great to see every night, they always have so much energy and put forth 110 percent every night. ME: What was your most memorable tour? BSF: Our european tour, mainly because it was my first visit to europe, and it was so exciting every day to be in a new country and enveloped in a new culture almost everyday! Besides the fact that the shows were amazing! ME: Can you collectively come up with the band top 10 albums of all time? BSF: It's constantly changing but i'll give a top ten of what we're all listening to right now... samiam -...
Mike: How would you define the Brundlefly sound to a newcomer to your music? Ian: Brundlefly has the ability to effect many different people in many different ways, I think of us as a dark, alt pop guitar band that happens to use some creative instrumentation. I had honestly never listened to Flaming Lips or Mercury Rev until after we did our latest record but I have since heard both those bands and see why we get compared to them in that sense. I do think we're a bit of a pop band because I write with a strong focus on melody and cohesive arrangement. The addition of cello's, trumpets, mellotron or whatever we happen to use in a song is not usually part of the writing stage, it's just added afterwards to help bring the songs to life. I ...
MusicEmissions: How and when did Burning Heads form as a band? Pierre (Singer & Guitarist of Burning Heads): In 1992, it's the actual line up MusicEmissions: Do you feel that you have been accepted in the punk / hardcore world which is mostly made up of North American acts? If not what do you feel is missing? Pierre: I think Punkrock came from ENGLAND first... Then the north American made it grow in different styles and with a better sound.. But you should not forget the bands of 76 in england... Now what is missing is a real INTERNATIONAL way of spreading the message. For me PUNK and HC have no frontieres, no flags, I'm just a bit sorry that people from USA or CANADA only look at themselves all the time.. Cause we didn't. Singi...
Over four years after the album "Gran Turismo", The Cardigans are back with a new studio album entitled "Long Gone Before Daylight", which was released end March 2003. The first single from the album was "For What It's Worth", released mid February 2003. The 2nd single is "You're The Storm", release early June 2003. Still in their twenties, Sweden's most popular woollies have already released four albums to date and won themselves global fame. Previously, and somewhat naively, described as "space-age bachelor pad music" their songs appear to be catchy and simple. The true underbelly is, however, astonishingly complex and sincere. If "Gran Turismo" flaunted a seductive maturity not fully developed on their previous recordings, "Long Gone ...
Remember that Gap commercial with Brian Setzer's version of Jive and Wail on it? Remember the big-band craze that came after it? Remember that Volkswagen commercial that had Mr. Roboto by Styx in it? Remember the kitsch revival of Styx? Remember No Doubt? Remember the ska craze? All these three are linked in that they were embraced as a pop-culture phenomenon that was quickly abandoned by an ever-fickle music populace in light of the next pretty package. These three are also alive and well. Big band still has zoot suits selling off the racks in respectable clothing stores. Styx just completed a cross-country tour (no joke!) and ska still has plenty of bands still churning out great, catchy records, despite a sense of indifferen...
It’s got me going insane/ I think it’s happening again I think there’s gonna be some action Cuz it’s got me goin’ insane…….. That it’s still difficult to put a definable label on The Cooper Temple Clause after two major releases (2002’s SEE THROUGH THIS AND LEAVE, and 2004’s KICK UP THE FIRE AND LET THE FLAMES BREAK LOOSE) may end up being both the band’s strength and its undoing. A cursory listen to the searingly edgy and tumultuous rock orchestrations emanating from this Reading, UK band might lead one to easily dismiss the music of The Cooper Temple Clause as simplistic macho rage against everything in general and nothing in particular. Conversely, ...
The cosmopolitan London based and Arhus, Denmark born songstress Tina Dico, relatively recently loaned her services to the multi-faceted Zero 7 to feature on their 2nd album 'When It Falls'. The amiable Dane already looks at home in the welcoming Night & Day Café, as she is relaxing on a stool at the bar, patiently passing the time prior to her first headline gig in Manchester. The predominant reason for Tina's presence here, is to promote her enchanting, coming to terms with change debut album of 'In The Red'; "This was written partly when I was working with Zero 7 and partly since I moved to London, in order to set up as a song write...
There is something delicate and special about Ryan Manon as a person that flows directly into his music, record label and publishing company, all of which are threaded with a trust in human connection and sincerity. Ryan is the guitarist and vocalist in Dreamend, a Chicago based band that streams brilliant ambient music that internally coats its listeners. Dreamend has released two albums, As If by Ghosts in 2004, and Maybe We’re Making God Sad and Lonely in 2005. Their most recent release, Maybe We’re Making God Sad and Lonely, is what Ryan says is “the best thing I have ever been a part of.� Maybe We’re Making God Sad and Lonely sustains the intimate feel As If by Ghosts rolls in, but it also pu...
Mike: How would you define the Dredg sound to a newcomer to your music? Dino: That’s always hard to answer. I usually ask an outsider to describe it. I don’t like to mention bands that it’s similar to, because we strive not to be similar to other bands. I would tell them that it’s a rock band, a four-piece rock outfit, with unordinary and unpredictable surprises. I would tell them that it’s loud, but not ear-piercing, rather it’s loud and ear warming. Mike: What types of music and which musicians/groups influenced you growing up? Dino: My mother was a professional accordian player, so she was my first influence. I studied hardcore classical piano as a child for about 8 or 9 years. So, cl...
All forms of creation have a previous precedent. To say music is no exception to this rule is a massive understatement. To go one step further, though a shallow (30 years) history, Hip Hop also has a previous precedent. Now, Hip Hop theorists and historians can argue till they're blue in the face about the commercialization of Hip Hop. Cases can be made for 80's acts such as Run DMC, Eric B & Rakim or LL Cool J. Sheer numbers point more towards the early 90's when acts such as Naughty by Nature and Dr. Dre became almost household names. It seems a rejuvenation of those times may be headed our way for 2005. Peaking through the 2005 bullet train window of indie Hip Hop is Edo.G. Most notably remembered for his #1 (Hot Raps) single "I...
Charles M. Young: I heard you were into meditation. E: Okay, that stuff about meditation is so "last album." And anything about psychotherapy is so "several albums ago." And any other statements at any time with the barest whiff of New Age stink on them are now totally inoperative. I’ve learned that whatever is in this biography is what I will have to talk about for the next year. This album, it’s promiscuity and drugs. This will make the interviews interesting for me. If I have to talk about something 10 times a day for the next year, it might as well be that, right" I’m sorry, but I don’t have a good "press angle" for this album. It’s not a concept album. There’s no big story about the recor...
ELLIOTT The Knitting Factory June 7, 2003 REVIEW "I got my first guitar when I was eight," Chris Higdon tells me, "but my parents didn't show me how to tune it. I tried to play but it made no sense. It was absolutely impossible,so I smashed it." In the backroom at New York's Knitting Factory, Chris shows that he has learned how to tune his guitar. Chris, frontman and the last one standing from the original Elliott, has stuck through turnover in every other position (especially bass, they go through bass players like there is no tomorrow. In fact, their soon-to-be bass player is there while the current one prepares to depart). As the guiding force of the band, Chris clearly is the one ready to talk to the interviewers while sitting o...
Fairport Convention are an English institution. Formed in 1967, they revolutionized folk music with their album Liege And Lief and almost singlehandedly created the genre of folk-rock. Their ever-evolving line-up has included such folk-rock luminaries as Ashley Hutchings, Richard Thompson, Dave Swarbrick and Sandy Denny. In 2002, Fairport Convention will have been entertaining audiences around the world for thirty five years. The musicians involved have always been unique in their revolutionary embrace of traditional British elements, richly evocative songwriting and uncanny interplay of the band’s many vocalists. In conjuntion with the release of "XXXV" (Compass Music), the band is embarking on a North American tour, that is par...
Mike: How would you define your sound to a newcomer to your music? Sue: GUTBUCKET....LOWDOWN...BLUES...ROCK N ROLL....OLD MEETS NEW....SUE FOLEY..... Mike: What types of music and which musicians/groups influenced you growing up? Sue: THE ROLLING STONES....I AM A CHILD OF THE SEVENTIES, SO THE ROCK AND HARD ROCK OF THAT ERA...LED ZEP, DEEP PURPLE...ALL THE STUFF MY BROTHERS PLAYED...I WAS ALSO RAISED ON TRADITIONAL CELTIC MUSIC THROUGH MY DAD.........THEN AT FIFTEEN I GOT INTO BLUES...FIRST CHESS RECORDS...MUDDY WATERS, HOWLIN WOLF, THEN MEMPHIS MINNIE.....THIRTIES BLUES....COUNTRY BLUES...ALSO, I LOVED PUNK Mike: Did you have any female blues musicians whom you looked upon as role models? Sue: ALWAYS MEMPHIS MINNIE...AN...
MusicEmissions: Let's let everyone in on how Greyarea started and the influences involved in the sound Greyarea was to take on. Vinny: Dec. 1997, Ernie & I got together just to jam. We wanted to be melodic with a Quicksandish twist. It didn't feel right, so we just wrote what came natural, and they cameeffortlessly. It is easy to work with someone who has played for a while. We really like Face to Face, Saves the Day, etc. We wanted to be somewhere in between. I sent a 5 song demo tape to Tony@Victory, he liked it very much. We had enough material for a full length so that's what we did. ME: What is your stand on mp3's and digital downloads? V: I don't really mess with it. I hate waiting for that crap to download. I guess it's good...
“A new vocabulary needs to be built …� If you’ve ever navigated the funky downtown music haunts of lower Manhattan, NYC, you would no doubt have seen their posters. At one point, this band’s celluloid visages and prominent logo was splayed over so many walls, doors and street light poles, they took on an almost legendary life of their own. It’s not uncommon to hear someone say, upon meeting any band member in person: “I’ve seen your posters everywhere – but I never believed you actually existed.� Oh yeah. The Hypertonics exist all right! “Originally, we were out there, on the street, in your face and our music was in your head. Now, with the rise of the Inter...
Jane's Addiction, the band who lit the fuse that started the rock n' roll revolution of the 90s is back - just when they're needed most. "STRAYS," the first all-new Jane's Addiction collection in more than a decade, is set for release in mid-2003, and it stands as perhaps the band's most extraordinary expression to date. Rocket-fuelled, as ever, by Perry Farrell's flamboyant lyricism and guitarist Dave Navarro's flash virtuosity, and driven by the muscular and ingenious engine room of drummer Stephen Perkins and new kung fu bassist Chris Chaney, "STRAYS" is Jane's Addiction at the peak of their artistic potency. "It's a logical progression from where we left off," Navarro says. "but at the same time, I think that's because our music is t...
In the summer of 2003 you might have easily found Ben Jelen performing solo on New York City’s Lower East Side --- perhaps even for free -- tickling the ivories of his Yamaha and singing original, heartfelt compositions for an audience of three or four (this would include the bartender!). But by spring 2004, this talented voyager/singer/multi-instrumentalist/biologist (degreed from Rutgers University) was already signed to Madonna’s Maverick Recording Company, appearing on MTV, selling out venues, gracing the pages of YM, Teen People, and Cosmo Girl, releasing a much-talked about debut (GIVE IT ALL AWAY, touting contributors Jack Joseph Puig (No Doubt, Black Crowes, etc), and The Matrix (Liz Phair, Christina Aguilera, etc)....
Okay, for all those uninformed souls out there who were sleeping off the ‘90s like some bad hangover and missed the boat when Knacker first hit the indie rock scene (as well as for those who missed this reviewer’s stellar Knacker critiques and Ontario ‘zine interview), Pete Marino and Dean Marino (yeah, they’re brothers) will now bring you up to date on this hook-heavy, noise-infused, melodic and compellingly enjoyable pop-rock Canadian band. They’ll even discuss the brand-spanking new release, picture | show - a release with a sound so modern, it’s retro; with a sound so retro, it’s positively ahead of its time. But first, some brief history on the rise of Knacker. And if you already know...
Mike: How would you define your sound to a newcomer to your music? Julie: I write pop songs, but still my music touches a variety of other styles, including rock, blues, r&b, and even country. Mike: What types of music and which musicians/groups influenced you growing up? Julie: My favorites were always U2, The Beatles, Elton John, Billy Joel and Sarah McLachlan - great musicians and performers writing GREAT music! Mike: How did growing up in Windsor, Ontario, Canada influence your music? Julie: Being a border city of Detroit, Windsor always got great exposure to large touring acts. I would always go see my favorite concert in town, and those shows inspired me to pursue my dream as a singer/songwriter. The Windsor community is als...
THE QUALITY OF TALIB Talib Kweli, taking Hip Hop to another level Talib Kweli has had many acclaimed recordings and achievements, no album exemplifies Kweli's tremendous ability better than his new album "Quality". The disc is a compelling sign of his artistic and personal maturation. The difference in Talib's sound isn't a change in style but rather an emcee evolving. Quality will definitely be a notable album. Some people are questioning the production when they compare it to "Train of Thought", but Talib's lyrics are always on point and tend to outshine any and every beat he will spit on. One Sunday I was just flipping through the millions of cable channels and I happened to catch a glimpse of the video for "W...
FM Radio station owner, family man, and new world guitar hero. These are some terms to describe Ari Lahdekorpi. Lahdekorpi is a former session guitarist from Winnipeg Manitoba who is now located in Thunder Bay, Ontario. He has worked as a sideman with legendary blues artists Pinetop Perkins and A.C. Reed; he has also worked with pop artists like Melanie Doane, Paul Shaffer ( of the letterman show ) , Bobby Vinton, Frankie Laine. Lahdekorpi has opened for such acts as Bob Dylan, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and the Allman Brothers, among others. Lahdekorpi's guitar style is diverse, ranging from acoustic to Blues to Jazz-Fusion. Lahdekorpi has recorded 8 albums of original material from 1985 to the present, the latest project is called "Eurojazz C...
Living Things is a powerful political rock movement by brothers Lillian, Eve and Bosh Berlin. They have ideas and strong opinions that they’re trickling into popular culture though music. Speedily gaining recognition in the music industry, they yell and pound in an accessible manner to be heard. ME: How did you start creating political music? LB: My inspiration for it was my mother, she sort of preached politics in our house day in and day out…I started to see as I grew older that ‘oh wow, these ideas that we have are significant because that’s what’s going on everyday in the world.’ I felt like this was my mission, to sing about social awareness topics. ME: Do you agree with your motherâ€...
Mike: What does the name "Mando Diao" mean? Samuel: It doesn't mean anything really. Björn(guitarist, singer) woke up from a dream and had the name in his head. Told us about it and we thought it sounded good. Mando Diao is just us four guys and the music we make. Mike: How would you describe the Mando Diao sound to a newcomer to your music? Samuel: It's raw, pure, groovy, lots of energy, and most important strong melodies. Someone once wrote "Mando Diao's music sounds like Sex Pistols are jamming with The Beatles" I guess that's a short and good way to describe it. Mike: What types of music and which musicians/groups influenced you growing up? Samuel: I guess for all of us it started with The Beatles. I know Gustaf saw A Hard...
Mike: You and the rest of The Maroons also play in other bands? Why did you feel the need to form The Maroons? John: The Maroons have been together in one form or another since '93. Other bands come and go, but the Maroons are eternal. Mike: What/who were you biggest musical influences? This question goes to the other band members too! John: Our drummer (Eric) pipes-up with; Roxy Music, The Only Ones and Thelonius Monk. I couldn't agree more, however, I would throw in a little Thin White Rope and a little Judas Priest. Mike: What about the term "Speed Sinatra"? Does that aptly fit your sound? OR How would you describe your sound? John: I think the term "Speed Sinatra" is about 89% bullshit. You have to put something on the press r...
MusicEmissions: On 'Have A Ball', you managed to take easy listening hits of AM Radio and turn them into youth anthems of the 90's (One Tin Soldier sticks out especially). 'Are A Drag saw you move to Broadway. Why did you think show tunes would have the same appeal? Me First: We didn't. We never really consider things like "appeal" when we do these records. MusicEmissions: Punk has gone way outside the mainstream in the last half of the decade. So far as to adapt it's own sub-genres (ie; 'mall' punk). What do you attribute punk's versatilty to? Me First: It's just pop music. I don't think you need to analize it much. MusicEmissions: Doesn't Canada kick ass? (keep in mind our fragile egos) Me First: I used to have a t-shi...
