In early 2003, in the time between Maladroit and Make Believe, Rivers Cuomo was struck by lightning while hiking part of the Appalachian Trail in Connecticut, his home state. Not wanting the public to know, and therefore be forced to destroy the band, the remaining members of Weezer decided to hire a look-a-like to replace Rivers and assume his identity. Although the new writing process of the band is not clear, what is clear is that post Maladroit Weezer has been exceptionally worse than the pre-Maladroit era. But if this simple fact is not enough proof to convince you that Rivers Cuomo is actually dead, here is some cold hard proof! Continue reading…
So, as I am sure you have heard, Julian Casablancas (the lead singer of The Strokes) is releasing a solo album on Novermber 3rd. But in case you are skeptical that the album is worth purchasing, (I know I am! The Strokes and Strokes related material hasn’t been all that great for years) you can listen to the whole album free of charge on his Myspace.
For your additional pleasure (not really though), here’s a video of a less than stellar performance Julian had on The Tonight Show last night.
So Beach House, who I recently saw perform at the NorVa, and in my opinion are the most underrated band on the planet right now (on the whole planet, I assure you!), just announced they are planning to release a follow-up to Devotion which they will call Teen Dream.
The record is planned to be released on January 26, 201o and will feature, obviously, some of the amazing songs they have been performing on their recent tour with Grizzly Bear. The “problem” with Beach House songs has always been their lack of ability to go anywhere great past their beautiful “first gear” melodies. Their new songs, however, seemed to explode right off the stage when I saw them live, going into “second gear” and even “third gear” sometimes (so many stick shift references for someone who knows little of cars and clearly nothing of how to write metaphors past an elementary level).
So I am excited! Best album of the year, maybe. January will certainly be a huge month with Vampire Weekend’s Contra coming out on January 12th. Exciting indeed.
Anyways, here is the track listing for Teen Dream…
01 Zebra
02 Silver Soul
03 Norway
04 Walk in the Park
05 Used to Be
06 Lover of Mine
07 Better Times
08 10 Mile Stereo
09 Real Love
10 Take Care
And here is an mp3 from Beach House’s last album Devotion…
Yep. I bought it. Just four dollars, ninety-nine cents, and the dignity points I’d been saving for a rainy day. But the thing is, of course I had to buy it. A Grizzly Bear/Victoria Legrand collaboration and Thom Yorke songs I wouldn’t be able to get elsewhere? Sure this album may destroy Grizzly Bear and Bon Iver much like the Garden State soundtrack almost destroyed The Shins, but I mean, still. Still. You know, and what not.
Anyways, here are some people who knew better than me and know what’s up in general about this soundtrack.
So first off, Bill Cosby just released a hip-hop album. He doesn’t actually rap, but he put the project together, and it’s his name on the album masthead. This appears to have come out of nowhere, as I am sure there would have been quite a bit of hype all over the internet if anybody knew about this. Anyways, it is a hip-hop album about the ills of the current state of rap culture.
