That Lucky Old Brian Wilson to Release Ambitious New Capitol Album; That Poor Old Paul McCartney Presumably to Release More Garbage
By Nobodaddy on May 20 2008
Like many of the elder statesmen of pop/rock history, famed Beach Boys mastermind Brian Wilson is looking pretty horrendous these days as an unfortunate byproduct of completely losing a large portion of his rational mind a long, long time ago. Unlike his over-the-hill brethren, however, Wilson's brain being slowly cooked over easy could not have worked out better for his late-period career as an absurdly colorful and cloyingly naive composer of pop symphonies.
And after 2004 finally saw the release of the legendarily controversial SMiLE, a pointillistic and abstractly pastoral musical tale of American history, Brian Wilson has decided to (or should I say "has been moved magically colored spirit-forces to") extend his repertoire of ambitious, orchestral pop, concept albums.
This year's transcendental topic? Why, the sunshine, of course! More specifically, Wilson's new opus, titled That Lucky Old Sun after a Louis Armstrong version of a 1949 classic song of the same name, will reportedly chronicle and explore themes of Southern California culture (which, in case you haven't noticed, was largely defined by Wilson and The Beach Boys themselves in the first place!).
Wilson describes That Lucky Old Sun (for better or for worse) as an "interwoven series of ‘rounds’ with interspersed spoken word" and “autobiographical travelogue” of sorts. The album is narrated in transitional interludes, apparently spoken by Brian Wilson, as, naturally, "That Lucky Old Sun," the storyteller. The narratives, which Wilson refers to as “cameos on life and the heartbeat of Los Angeles,” propel the album's musical story. It’s hard to believe that no one’s thought of that before, right?
Anyway, the sun-soaked album not only finds Wilson manning the production duties and reuniting and collaborating with his old sidekick Van Dyke Parks, bandmate Scott Bennett, and the his legendary all-star band, but it also finds Wilson reuniting with his former group's longtime label, Capitol Records, for whom he first recorded way back in 1962 ("Surfin' Sufari"/"409," natch) when he was just a nerdy teen who was mad at his dad.
"Brian Wilson is an iconic talent with enormous musical influence all over the world and we are very proud to be representing him," said executive chairman of EMI (Capitol’s parent company) Guy Hands in the most generic statement of the year. "We all remember the feeling we got when we first heard The Beach Boys' music. My particular favorite classic is ‘Surfer Girl.’ It always reminds me of driving an open-top car down the Pacific Coast Highway from Santa Barbara to Malibu.” Really? I always thought of polar bears and World War II footage.
That Lucky Old Sun is slated for CD, CD/DVD, limited-edition vinyl, and digital release September 2 in the United States and September 1 everywhere else, after which Wilson will honor send some good vibrations out to his homeland by performing the song cycle during a three-day stint at L.A.’s Hollywood Bowl. Anyone know what McCartney is up to?
That Lucky Old Tracklist:
Rocky Votolato Tours, Demands Free Hugs and Alcohol To Make Himself Feel Better About His Unfortunate Name
By Annapocalypse on May 20 2008
You have to feel sorry for singer/songwriter, Rocky Votolato. Not only does 90% of his discography consist of himself, an acoustic guitar, and sorrowful lyrics that reference love and whiskey, but his real name is actually ROCKY VOTOLATO. Then again, it must take a real bad-ass to avoid playground beatings and continue through to adulthood with such an unfortunate name. So, maybe Rocky isn’t such a poor sap after all? The only way to find out for sure is to catch him on one of the dates listed below. Make sure you give the dude a hug and buy him a drink when you see him, because there are some things that require a double-shot of Jameson instead of therapy.
Rocky <3’s Whiskey and Touring:
^ Owen
% Mark Rogers
& Michael Dean Damron
Guy Hands Needs £180 Million By September to Save EMI Says Citigroup, But Won’t Change His Wonderful Name For All the Money In the World
By Joe B. on May 20 2008
British financial gadabout Guy Hands might have to reconsider some of the pies he’s got his fingers in this week, after it was revealed that Terra Firma, the “private equity vehicle” he runs, has had to renegotiate its agreement with Citigroup regarding the £2.5 billion (106,996,937,463,139.50 Drachma) Hands had to borrow in order to buyout EMI.
Under the new agreement, Terra Firma/EMI “must generate underlying earnings of £180m by September.” I don’t know. Honestly, there’s a bunch of predictions and figures regarding equity and publishing assets, but the fact of the matter is that Guy Hands needs you to buy the new Coldplay record, Viva la Vida, due June 16 on EMI. If you don’t, he may have to sell or refinance his beloved record company, a purchase that was probably an enormous mistake to begin with. At worst, Mr. Hands, it looks like you’ll be back in the lucrative world's waste management and outsourcing, where people treat each other right.
In related news, Mike Allen has left EMI.
By David Nadelle on May 19 2008
With a knowing wink and a sapient grin, the rock gods (Lemmy, Thor, Keef, and their receptionist, Ãävé Ñâvårrò), have provided us a rare glimpse into the very near future, and the thing is simply dominated by new music ensemble Au. The much-discussed and even-more-loved (especially on this site) collective, centered around Portland's adopted prodigal son Luke Wyland, will be meandering around and playing live shows which will hopefully feature songs from its self-titled album and their forthcoming release Verbs. Verbs is out June 26 on Aagoo Records and is preceded May 20 by the claptastic carnival-like single “RR vs. D.”
Who gives a fuck about an “Oxford Comma”? Not us, we want Verbs instead!
1. All My Friends
2. Are Animals
3. Summerheat
4. RR vs. D
5. All Myself
6. Two Seasons
7. Prelude
8. The Waltz
9. Sleep
Wyland is hellbent on converting conventional music listeners one by one through his albums or by the dozens and hundreds and thousands and kazillions when playing live. Dissenters have no choice, so don’t rally against Au: you can’t win, and if you try, then you hate freedom and have no taste. We hope to announce widespread dates after Verbs takes a firm hold, but for now Wyland and cohorts will tour this beaten path on the West Coast of the U.S. of A. All dates are with like-minded manglers Parenthetical Girls and PWRFL Power.
Conjugate this:
05.23.08 - Seattle, WA - Happy Times Fun Club #
05.24.08 - Portland, OR - Backspace #
05.25.08 - Davis, CA - The Firehouse #
05.26.08 - Irvine, CA - UC Irvine #
05.27.08 - San Diego, CA - The Che #
05.28.08 - Los Angeles, CA - The Smell $
05.29.08 - San Luis Obispo, CA - Retrospect #
05.30.08 - San Francisco, CA - The Cushionworks #
# Parenthetical Girls & PWRFL Power
$ Parenthetical Girls, PWRFL Power & Abe Vigoda
By Mango Starr on May 19 2008
Fact: The Don't Look Back concert series is influencing the music community outside of the ATP world. How do I know this? Well, word just got in that Liz Phair will perform Exile In Guyville in its entirety June 25 in New York!
The performance will take place at the Hiro Ballroom and is expected to be Phair alone on acoustic guitar, à la MTV Unplugged, the show that may very well have invented the acoustic guitar. Coincidentally, the event is just a day after the release of the Exile In Guyville reissue, which contains three unreleased B-sides ("Ant in Alaska," "Say You," and an untitled instrumental), as well as a DVD titled Guyville Redux. The ultra, mega, super deluxe reissue will be released digitally, physically, and vinyl-ly through ATO Records.
Tickets for the NY performance go on sale Wednesday, with Chicago and San Francisco events planned for the very near future. Pretty cool stuff, but it'd be much cooler to me if it were "Liz Phair to Perform Exile In Guyville In Wisconsin!"
