Music News: 5/10/10

Just a couple of tidbits that I thought I would pass on this morning:

The Strokes are recording. Check you tube for a video of them in the studio. Exciting news.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have announced that they will begin recording a new album sometime in July and that they have..."like 20 songs ready to go." Please refer to my earlier post regarding the Chili's recent history.

Interpol has announced on their website that they have finished their new record but that unfortunately their bassist Carlos D has decided to leave the band. Unfortunate news but I sure am glad a new record is coming out soon.

How To Destroy Angels: Trent Reznor's New Band

Last year Trent Reznor announced that Nine Inch Nails would be going on tour for the last time and speculation began about whether or not NIN was done for good. For fans, like me, it was unhappy news because there is still a demand for more music from their talented front man. Luckily Trent has started a new band called How To Destroy Angels and their first new track is available for download on iTunes. The single is called A Drowning and certainly sounds a bit like NIN but with Mariqueen Maandig, Trent's wife, singing lead adding an interestingly soft touch. You be the judge. Trent has also recently come out and said that NIN is not dead, but that he needed some time away to go in a different direction. I am excited to see where this goes.

Let It Be: 40 Years Since The Last Beatles Album

This was the end. Probably not the greatest anniversary in the history of music, but this week marked the 40th year since the release of Let It Be, the Beatles last album. Of course no one outside of the band knew it at the time, especially me since I wasn't born yet. I guess you could say it was a bittersweet moment as the Fab Four would never again unite as one, only to continue their careers as solo artists, albeit successful ones. The Beatles originally intended for this album to be a live-in-studio recording that would be filmed for a coinciding movie in 1969, but due to discord between the band they abandoned the project and recorded Abbey Road. It really was the beginning of the end. Disputes over songwriting, disagreements over management and the crumbling of their own Apple Record label caused this once fluid band to fall apart at the seams. John disliked the attention Paul garnered and felt that since he had started the band it was his to lead with George and Ringo standing by his side. Paul to his credit just wanted the band to continue and to succeed even with the creative differences erupting all around.  A final dispute over who would manage the band was their undoing and they parted ways. Let It Be, for what it's worth, was one of their most successful albums with some of the Beatles most iconic hits like: The Long and Winding Road, Get Back, Across the Universe and of course Let It Be. However the band was unhappy with the production work on the album by none other than Phil Spector, but because of the break-up nothing was ever done about it. Then in 2003 Paul McCartney spearheaded the re-release called Let It Be...Naked, a stripped down version of the original release much as the Beatles initially intended. Also of note, to me, is it's classic album cover and the still warm feelings that the Beatles can garner after all these years.

Q & A: Should They Stay Or Should They Go Now?

Things that make you go hmmm...that's what I'm asking myself. For instance do certain bands need to retire? Should they go their separate ways? In this entry I will discuss, with myself of course, several burning issues in the music industry and give my take on why they should or shouldn't be. So I will start out with the emotional topic of when a band should call it quits.

1. U2: I had an affair with the self proclaimed greatest band in the world from the early 90's until just a few years ago right before their last record, No Line On The Horizon. Prior to that album I had already decided it was time for them to go, not in a bad way but they seemed to have done everything they could possibly do musically. When is enough enough?

2. The Rolling Stones: Wait let me check outside to see if anyone is waiting to beat me up for saying this. Sorry peoples this is long overdue, I mean are we gonna wait for these guys to roll out in their wheelchairs? A shout out to the Baby Boomers for continuing to ride this train. P.S. longevity doesn't change the fact that the Beatles were still better.

3. The Eagles: These guys really annoy me, in fact they really annoy each other so why still play? This is the reunion syndrome. They broke up at the height of their career, went on to several successful solo records then decided to play some shows together for old times sake. Then whammo! They are back together with a stupid album called Hell Freezes Over, I guess not. I'm sorry but if your comeback album is a live greatest hits then it's not a comeback.

These next three bands should also start considering their options since their product of late has been less than stellar.

1. The Red Hot Chili Peppers: Going clean never sounded so ordinary. And what kind of album name is Stadium Arcadium? I love the Chili's but it's time for them to either take a permanent vacation or go back to the basics of what made them so great in the first place and I'm not talking Under The Bridge either!

2. Weezer: Riches to Rags, back to Riches and now what. They've already had their highly successful comeback with the Green Album and since then 4 subpar albums getting weaker each time. Harsh, maybe but this running joke can only go so far.

3. Foo Fighters: Now this one was a tough choice because I respect Dave Grohl a ton for making a name for himself after arguably being in one of the greatest bands of all time. However after a fast rise to the top the Foo's are starting to feel a bit stale and need to put out a significant record to remain relevant.

A band we would like to see come back real soon? The Strokes. We hope these guys can mend their differences and put out another badass record.

Here are a couple of music trends that I'd like to see go away:

1. Bands with all-star line-ups. Just because you guys were great with another band doesn't mean you won't suck in the new one. See Audioslave, Chickenfoot, Oysterhead for example.

2. Lil Wayne guesting in every song on the radio. Thankfully Lil Wayne had to go off to jail on a little weapons charge otherwise he'd have been on the new Broken Social Scene record as well.

3. Rappers who announce they are retiring. Jay-Z, Puffy, Eminem. Come on. It's just a ploy to make these guys relevant again, oops that hasn't worked out too well for Em.

4. Broadway shows inspired by rock albums. Tommy, ok that was pretty much a given, but American Idiot?

5. Reunion concerts. No explanation necessary.

6. Bands or musicians who play Vegas. See Elvis.

7. British vocalists who sing the chorus in Rap songs. At some point this might have been an original idea but it's time to put it out to pasture.

One last thing that needs to go...American Idol. Ok I'll admit it, I was a fan for the first four years but that was too long. Time to shut it down, sorry Ryan.

Honorable mentions: Axl Rose, Kenny Rogers, Whitney Houston, Britney Spears, New Kids On The Block, Green Day, Aerosmith....did I mention Weezer?

Essentials: The Pixies, Grunge Before Grunge

Way back in 1988 (I was a junior in high school) a band by the name of The Pixies released their first full length album called Surfer Rosa. At the time I had no idea who they were since I was fully entrenched in Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix, I'd yet to discover any underground or alternative music. That would come later in college. Those who did were lucky enough to experience (no reference to Jimi H.) the beginning of Grunge which would later be coined with the Seattle hard rock movement. Well Seattle should give thanks to Boston because that's where it originated. The Pixies had a raw, unfinished, jam-like sound that was captured so beautifully on this first record. Bands like Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and later Weezer certainly owe a debt of gratitude for pioneering the sound that they made famous. If you ask the generic music fan of today who The Pixies are you will mostly get....'Who?' That's ok, music knowledge is often handed down and not learned. For me I was introduced to The Pixies during the early Grunge years after I was already a fan of the more popular bands and quickly tossed it aside as nothing special. But as the years rolled on more and more I found myself realizing just how influential their sound actually was and now hold Surfer Rosa as one of my favorite albums. That is the great thing about music, there is no rule that says you have to discover an artist or a band when it drops it's first album or before anyone else hears about it. That may be considered cool but it's not realistic. For most of us we need to lean on others to find out what's happening, who's the hot new band in Williamsburg or L.A. or who the next new 'IT' band is gonna be. That's why music will always be a community environment to be shared with others, not a sitting-in-your-pj's-10-minutes-before-bedtime-experience.

What Do You Do When They Are One And Done?

What happens when a really cool band puts out a great first album that you fall in love with and then they break up? Go into a deep depression? Smoke some weed? Well whatever you choose be glad that you have one good album to obsess over. Sometimes we are lucky enough that the members split and form new bands and while they never sound like the original pairing at least it's something. In the case of one particular band, Death From Above 1979, band members Jesse Keeler and Sabastien Grainger decided to call it quits because they could no longer get along after the surprising success of their first full album, Your a Woman, I'm a Machine. A great mix of hard rock infused with a dance vibe, DFA1979 was one of a kind, literally. Fortunately both members have gone on to make more music and I have been lucky enough to buy some of it. Jesse Keeler went on to form the electronic band MSTRKRFT and Sebastien Grainger started the band called Sebastien Grainger and the Mountains. Check them out . There's also The Harlem Shakes who  disbanded after one semi-successful album. A rock band from Brooklyn with a unique sound that is a little like Vampire Weekend before Vampire Weekend was even around. A friend just recently introduced me to them and it's a shame that they won't be making anymore music together because I certainly would have liked some more. Anyway the guitarist from HS, Todd Goldstein, has formed a new band called ARMS and I have just listened to a few tracks on their Myspace page and it's pretty good. I foresee an album purchase in the near future!

First Album Vs. Second Album Debate

So far this year we have seen sophomore releases from MGMT and Vampire Weekend and it reminded me of an old debate about the first album vs. the second.  Often times when a new band debuts and people start to like them a certain sound is created that the fans identify with. For me when I like a new band I get excited and really enjoy when I can connect with the music in the hopes that more music will follow. I never put to high an expectation on a second effort because I realize that it would be impossible to repeat the feeling of the original release. You don't get a second chance at a first impression. So when the new album comes out I try to look at it as a separate entity and I believe allows me to enjoy it that much better. There are some fans out there, and I do read their comments, that hold onto those first albums like it's their baby and it must be protected. They refuse to move on and can't accept a slight change to the sound or the songwriting. I can't understand this. Overall both MGMT and Vampire Weekend's new albums have gotten lukewarm receptions from people I know that loved their first albums. Mostly I hear....I like it but the first one is better.....There's not one really great song....I'm still listening to their first album. Honestly it gets me pissed. Why can't you just like both? I mean they already made a great album you love so why don't you give the second one a chance first before you toss it to the side?

In my opinion I really think it is part of our current musical culture with the 30 second snippets on iTunes being our first taste of a record. We are no longer invested in a band the way we used to be, when we would go out to the record store to pick up the new cd and be super excited to put it on in our car. I always think of the smell when I would open up the jewel case, pull out the album booklet all while the new record blasted from my speakers. Don't get me wrong, I think iTunes has aided in a lot of my new band discoveries but I just can't simply rely on one outlet. Also I think it's important for bands or artists to challenge themselves to constantly improve their music whatever that may mean to them. I am always interested when a band tries something new as long as it's not Weezer's Ratitude. In their careers, bands usually spend the most time with their first record and what I mean by that is up until their second one comes out that's the only music they have ever really played. So sometimes when they get down to writing a new record they feel like changing directions. Who wants a band that sounds exactly the same on their second record (311, The Strokes, Everclear, Smithereens), I don't (even though I like all those bands). I want something fresh and new. I want to spend a lot of time with it and really let it sink in, then after that compare the two as a complete body of work.

Here are some other bands with interesting first vs. second record debates:

Radiohead: Pablo Honey Vs. The Bends
The Stills: Logic Will Break Your Heart Vs. Without Feathers
Weezer: The Blue Album Vs. Pinkerton (back when they were great)