Stone Temple Pilots (Finally) Fire Scott Weiland
Yesterday, 90s Alt Rock giants, Stone Temple Pilots fired troubled singer Scott Weiland (via MTV). Their publicist apparently is short on words, and merely emailed around “Stone Temple Pilots have announced they have officially terminated Scott Weiland.”
Weiland responded to the comment with RAGE his own comment, noting “I learned of my supposed ‘termination’ from Stone Temple Pilots this morning by reading about it in the press. Not sure how I can be ‘terminated’ from a band that I founded, fronted and co-wrote many of its biggest hits, but that’s something for the lawyers to figure out. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to seeing all of my fans on my solo tour which starts this Friday.”
Weiland does raise a good point – who owns the band? I’m pretty sure the only way to solve this mystery is to battle it out on a reality show. I’m available to host, too.
The National’s Aaron Dessner Curates New Boston Calling Festival
If London can having a London Calling festival, then surely Boston can have a Boston Calling festival, right? Um, sure. On May 25 and 26 at Boston’s City Hall Plaza, we will get just that, complete with awesome “dog in a suit and hat” logo. Does the dog come with the ticket purchase?
The festival is curated partly by Aaron Dessner of the National. For acts, he obviously picked his band, as well as the Shins, Dirty Projectors, Cults, Youth Lagoon, Andrew Bird, the Walkmen, MS MR, Of Monsters and Men, Ra Ra Riot, Marina and the Diamonds, Matt and Kim, plus more, more, more. Early bird tickets go on sale on Friday.
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Tag Archives: The National
Morning Music Notes – In the Year 3000
The headline refers to a description of where Kanye West’s music apparently sounds like it’s from, not the year it is expected that the Toronto Maple Leafs will finally win the Stanley Cup. Although after last night’s horrific collapse, I’m not sure which one is the more accurate Year 3000 description.
Travi$ Scott Says New Kanye West Album is ‘Already in the Year 3000′
G.O.O.D. Music’s Travi$ “the $ is actually part of my name” Scott has heard the new Kanye West album. Apparently it’s recorded on some kind of micro chip that gets inserted into your brain. If not, then maybe it just sounds futuristic, as Scott has said “We’re already in the year 3000 fucking with that shit and that’s why I love hanging out with those guys over there. You get caught on to that new shit extra fast” (via MTV). Translation: It sounds fresh.
West tweeted June 18, which is likely when they mysterious new album will drop. Hudson Mohawke played a couple new tracks during a DJ set, so you’ll have to deal with those poor audio clips until we know more.
Justin Bieber’s Tour Hit By Gang of Thieves
Could the life, and specifically this tour, get any weirder for Canadian pop star Justin Bieber? I only blog about Biebs when something bad happens, and he’s been having a lot of bad things go his way. The latest mishap – while playing in South Africa, a gang targeted Bieber’s concert in Johannesburg and made off with about $100,000 from the FNB Stadium (via Billboard).
It is believed that thieves might have chiselled through a thick wall at the venue and then used a rope to lower themselves into the room used to store cash. Are you sure someone didn’t just leave the back door unlocked? Stadium officials didn’t realize the money was missing until the day after the concert.
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Watch! The National – Sea Of Love
Yippy – our third taste of the new record by The National. First we had Demons, then we had Don’t Swallow the Cap, and now we have Sea of Love (which is the nickname of the Dead Sea, right?). The track is off of upcoming new album, Trouble Will Find Me, which is a lyric from this song. The album is out May 20/21.
The band just did an AMA with Reddit this morning. On the topic of playing Sorrow for six hours, “the experience was pretty exhilirating. i managed to get through it without taking a pee break! after a couple hours it was like being in some kind of suspended trance state. i came up with a lot of new ideas for the song. too bad its only a 3:25 second song…we felt great that night, but the next day we were all completely wasted.”
On Rains of Castamere from the Game of Thrones, “The creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff approached us about doing a song. They are fans of the band and super nice guys. We love the show so we agreed to do it. We worked with the show’s composer Ramin Djawadi on the music — the melody and words were already written. So we were essentially covering the song. I did the harmonium and trombone drone in my garage in Brooklyn. The rest was done in Ramin’s studio in LA.”
Check out the band play in a tiny room (a “Guest Room”? Um, no points for that stretch of a reference) in the video for Sea of Love.
The National – Sea Of Love
Morning Music Notes – At Least We Got a Song Out of Her Before Jail
Austin City Limits Announces 2013 Line Up
The other Austin, Texas festival – Austin City Limits – has announced the line up for their Coachella-inspired double festival weekend, kicking off October 4-6 and October 11-13 at Zilker Park. The headliners include Depeche Mode, The Cure, Muse, Kings of Leon, Atoms for Peace, um, Lionel Richie (??), Phoenix, Wilco, Grimes, Vampire Weekend, The National, Passion Pit, Arctic Monkeys, Queens of the Stone Age, Kendrick Lamar, Franz Ferdinand, D’Angelo (not Frank D’Angelo thankfully), Tame Impala, Local Natives, and more. This might be one of the best festival line ups in North America this year. Check out the full line up here. Tickets go on sale at 10am Central time today.
Blur Likely to Record Again
Can Blur just get on with it already? We’ve had reunion shows and festival dates and the odd, random new track and endless rumours. The band have gone a step closer to ending these bullshit stories and have said “We have a week in Hong Kong, and we thought it would be a good time to try and record another record” (via Billboard). If not, kindly go away and reform Gorillaz.
The band’s last album was in 2003 and called Think Tank. Since then, singer Damon Albarn has been involved in 85% of all music released in the past decade, including time in bands Gorillaz, The Good The Bad and the Queen, DRC Music, Rocket Juice & the Moon, and his various operas (yes, operas).
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Listen! The National – Don’t Swallow the Cap
We have another taste of the National’s upcoming record, Trouble Will Find Me. We already heard Demons, and are a little more excited after hearing Don’t Swallow the Cap.
Without being any worse a
journalistblogger than possible, I would say it ‘sounds like the National.’ Stunning, I know. But from the sprinkles of piano, the build and progression of the song, and the basic structure, it sounds like it could slot anywhere on their last 2 or 3 albums. Trouble Will Find Me is out May 20/21.The National – Don’t Swallow the Cap
Watch! The National – Demons
You know it’s going to be a good Monday when it starts off with a new song by the National. They are releasing their follow up to the excellent High Violet this May 20/21, with an album called Trouble Will Find Me. Our first listen and viewing of it belongs to the track Demons, which you can check out below.
If religious people aren’t put off by the combination of “Trouble Will Find Me” and “Demons”, then they are in for a treat. Demons fits the mold of what songs by The National have come to sound like in recent albums, and that’s a good thing. Deep baritone from Matt Berninger? Check. Somewhat depressing lyrics? Check. Great instrumentation? Check. Watch Demons check off all the right boxes in the mural-drawing time lapse video below.
The National – Demons
Morning Music Notes – Has Someone Ordered a Muzzle for Morrissey?
Jack White Contemplates Third Man Records Festival
Jack White has said that he and his Third Man Records crew would love to have some kind of festival in Nashville or perhaps even a travelling road show (via NME). Based on White’s insane record release methods, admission to the festival could be fairly interesting.
White told Rolling Stone, “We would love to. We would love to do a traveling show sometime soon. It would be nice if everybody has some affiliation with us in some way, and see if we can all put it on the road together. It would be very nice.”
It would be nice – so make it so! And if so, can you say “White Stripes reunion show”, too?
Morrissey Wants Everyone to Act Like Him
In another round of “Will You Please Shut Up!”, Morrissey has another opinion! The former Smiths singer has spoken out against Paul McCartney’s comments on the Staples Centre in Los Angeles, and even says that he should give up his British knighthood. Pretty sure that won’t be happening any time soon.
McCartney said that he was disappointed Staples Centre wouldn’t go meat-free for him, but will for Morrissey. Speaking to Hollywood Reporter, Morrissey said “Really, he should be happy for any victory on behalf of the animals. I know he works tirelessly for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals [PETA], but he also loves the British royals, whose treatment of animals is abysmal. The Queen herself wears enough fur to blanket most of Russia…If he cared passionately about animals, he’d return his knighthood. He doesn’t need the Queen’s approval. He’s given more pleasure to people worldwide than she could ever dream of” (via Rolling Stone).
I guess Morrissey wouldn’t like my fur coat either.
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Morning Music Notes – Shazam Yells SHAZAM After Every Purchase
Stone Temple Pilots (Finally) Fire Scott Weiland
Yesterday, 90s Alt Rock giants, Stone Temple Pilots fired troubled singer Scott Weiland (via MTV). Their publicist apparently is short on words, and merely emailed around “Stone Temple Pilots have announced they have officially terminated Scott Weiland.”
Weiland responded to the comment with
RAGEhis own comment, noting “I learned of my supposed ‘termination’ from Stone Temple Pilots this morning by reading about it in the press. Not sure how I can be ‘terminated’ from a band that I founded, fronted and co-wrote many of its biggest hits, but that’s something for the lawyers to figure out. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to seeing all of my fans on my solo tour which starts this Friday.”Weiland does raise a good point – who owns the band? I’m pretty sure the only way to solve this mystery is to battle it out on a reality show. I’m available to host, too.
The National’s Aaron Dessner Curates New Boston Calling Festival
If London can having a London Calling festival, then surely Boston can have a Boston Calling festival, right? Um, sure. On May 25 and 26 at Boston’s City Hall Plaza, we will get just that, complete with awesome “dog in a suit and hat” logo. Does the dog come with the ticket purchase?
The festival is curated partly by Aaron Dessner of the National. For acts, he obviously picked his band, as well as the Shins, Dirty Projectors, Cults, Youth Lagoon, Andrew Bird, the Walkmen, MS MR, Of Monsters and Men, Ra Ra Riot, Marina and the Diamonds, Matt and Kim, plus more, more, more. Early bird tickets go on sale on Friday.
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Morning Music Notes – I Thought Morrissey Loved Meat, Though?
The National Are Playing a Free Show in Toronto As part of NXNE
As I tweeted yesterday, The National have announced a new album due for release in May. This is great news, since their last album (High Violet) was my favourite album in 2010. The icing on the cake? The National will play a free show at Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto as part of North By Northeast (via Spinner). The show is Friday, June 14 and will probably be awesome. Last year’s free show at Yonge-Dundas Square featured The Flaming Lips.
Morrissey Cancels Show Not Because of Health Conditions, But Because of His Crazy Anti-Meat Agenda
I’m all for believing in a cause. But when you are always shoving it in someone’s face, it gets a bit tiresome. Morrissey won’t play in Canada because of seal clubbing. He walked off the stage at Coachella because he could smell the burning meat. Now, festivals and venues are luring him there with the promises of meat-free gigs. The latest anti-meat / pro-animal discussion for Morrissey involves his return from his health problems to play Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show. However, the former Smiths man has cancelled his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, as the scheduled guest on the show is the cast of A&E’s reality TV show Duck Dynasty, a show about the Robertson family and their duck hunting-related product business (via Consequence of Sound). Oops.
Morrissey’s official statement (presumably issued from his publicist, unless he talks in the third person): “Morrissey is thankful for being invited to perform on Jimmy Kimmel Live tomorrow, February 26. However, he cannot morally be on a television program where the cast members of Duck Dynasty will also be guests. Morrissey would be honored to play the show, if Duck Dynasty were removed.”
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Morning Music Notes – Collaborations Everywhere!
Jay-Z’s Made in America Festival Pulls Out All the Stops
The inaugural Made In America festival, curated and topped by Jay-Z, certainly had a lot of surprises. Sadly, free beer was not upon the surprises. To some it all up in one run on sentence: Kanye West and G.O.O.D. Music made a surprise appearance (as if Kanye showing up is a surprise), President Barack Obama had a pre-recorded announcement play, and Jay-Z and Pearl Jam collaborated on 99 Problems (via Pitchfork and Consequence of Sound).
We have video proof of this stuff, too, courtesy of Mr. World Premiere. Check out sets by the G.O.O.D. Music crew (Kanye West, Common, 2 Chainz, Big Sean, and Pusha T), Jay-Z’s set (with President Obama talking around the 5:00 mark), and the somewhat shaky filmed collaboration between Pearl Jam and Jay-Z. Yes, the President of the biggest super power in the world is talking about people working hard like Jay-Z. I bet Jay never thought that would EVER happen when he was pushing drugs in the street 20 years ago!
G.O.O.D. Music set at Made in America Festival
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Listen! The National – The Rains of Castamere
Matt Beringer’s baritone is a major strength of the National and one that makes some of their good songs great. But on this new track, Matt starts off in a sort of spoken word slow chant, immediately drawing in the listen with that deep voice. The song I’m talking about is The Rains of Castamere. If it sounds like a fantasy-esque title for a song by The National, that’s because it is – the song is taken from the Game of Thrones Season 2 soundtrack. The song is short, simple, yet epic and moving at the same time. Take a listen below (before it gets taken down by – nerdy Game of Thrones reference alert – that twerpy King Joffrey).
The National – The Rains of Castamere