Indie Music Chatter

One of my favorite bands in the world is set to announce their reunion — and nope, it’s not Superdrag.

Led Zeppelin, one of the most seminal rock bands of all time is set to announce that they will reunite in a press conference to be held on Wednesday, September 12. For those kids who think that Led Zeppelin are dinosaurs who should just stay in their wheelchairs, let me just remind them that a whole slew of bands owe their music to the legendary British rock group. Everyone from Soundgarden to Wolfmother can trace their sound to LedZep.

I love Led Zeppelin but I have to say that this is going to be halfbaked reunion without John Bonham. Having said that it would interesting to see John Paul Jones on stage again. More than Page and Plant, I am a Jones and Bonham fan.

A couple of months back, I blogged about my collection of The Cure Deluxe Edition CDs. I consider the Deluxe Edition releases a great bargain and a must-have addition to any music collection.

I still lack the Faith Deluxe Edition to complete my Cure Deluxe Edition catalogue (Well, there’s still that Deluxe Edition of the self titled album but that’s not really a priority), but it looks like I’ll have to save up for two more albums. Robert Smith announced that next year, Wish and Disintegration will get Deluxe Edition treatments. I am so excited about this because these are two of my most favorite Cure albums of all time. I can’t wait till ‘08!

The Cure, Wish, Disintegration, Deluxe Edition

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Now playing: Lee “Scratch” Perry - Curly Locks
via FoxyTunes

Chan Marshall’s Cat Power alter ego is one of my favorites. Her folkie low-fi music is a perfect partner to those slow languid nights nursing a bottle of beer, or even better, a nice glass of cognac.

One of her best releases was 2000’s Covers Record. Marshall covered some well known songs from other artist but put a very distinctive and personal spin to each. Some people may see doing covers as a cop out but, singing a cover is a work of art in and of itself. How do you interpret songs that are so firmly attached to the original artists? How do you put yourself into a song without totally removing the elements that made that song memorable in the first place? I think the Covers Record managed to do all of these with effortless grace.

I think Marshall did realize that what she did with the Covers Record was special enough to demand a repeat. The “seque” (for lack of a better word) to the Covers Record is, according to Marshall herself, slated to be released January of next year. Although she did not mention any specific songs that will be included in the album, she did say that she is choosing from among 24 songs.

I’m taking out my Cat Power CDs as I wait for this potentially brilliant album to be released.

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Now playing: Ride - Leave Them All Behind
via FoxyTunes

Cat Power, Chan Marshall, Covers Record

It looks like Ian Curtis is not the only tragic rock icon to get the big screen treatment. The late great Kurt Cobain (who still remains as one of my greatest music heroes) is the subject of a documentary that will be released this year. In fact, the release date has been bumped up so that it can possibly be considered for an Oscar nomination (what would the anti-establishment Cobain think about being used to get an Oscar nom?).

According to a message that director A.J. Schnack posted online, the documentary entitled Kurt Cobain: About A Son is slated to open in Los Angeles, New York and Seattle this coming October.

The documentary will feature the audio of a series of interviews Cobain granted to Michael Azerrad as material for his book Come As You Are.

To add some more indie cred to the documentary, the film score will be co-written by Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard.
I am so gonna watch this.

Kurt Cobain, Death Cab for Cutie, Come As You Are

One of my current music related obsessions is music history. I have been voraciously reading artist biographies and interesting music related books. I also love watching the various rock documentaries that have come out over the last couple of decades. I loved UK/DK as well as the Ramones’ documentary, End of the Century.

One docu-film that I am excited about is Beautiful Noise, which is about Shoegaze — probably one of my most favorite music genre.  This new documentary attempts to trace the development of shoegaze and how the works of such pioneers as My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus and Mary Chain influenced artists that came much later like Trent Reznor and Wayne Coyne (who both appear in the film). I am so stoked to see this movie! I hope filmmaker Eric Green, who is currently editing the film, will finish post production soon.

documentary, Beautiful Noise, Shoegaze

Joanna Newsom, one of the brightest stars of the pyschedelic folk movement, recently announced that she will be going on tour in Europe. The elfin faced artist has already announced ten dates in her European tour that will bring her to such countries as Germany, Austria, England and even the Czech Republic (who knew!). So if you’re living in Europe, reserve your tickets, polish your harps and prepare for the awesome Joanna Newsom.

Joanna Newsom, Germany, England

I recently blogged about my love for Girl Talk. I think he is one trippy DJ. Today though I have another reason to anticipate anothe Girl Talk release because of the announcement that he will be remixing Of Montreal’s song Gronlandic Edit, a cut from their new album Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?

The best thing about it though is that it will be free download. The guys at Pitchforkmedia scored this exclusive. There are no definite dates on when it will be released at the site so just check back on the site from time to time.

Girl Talk, Pitchforkmedia, Of Montreal

Matt Sharp’s post-Weezer band The Rentals was one of those bands who really made moog synthesizers cool enough for the more mainstream listeners (in other words, those who barely know Stereolab or Yo La Tengo). Their last album, Seven More Minutes, was released way back in 1999 and since then nary a peep has been heard from the group.

Well, eight years after their last album The Rentals are back with a new EP entitled Last Little Life. The trademark Rentals sound is still there — the electronic flourishes that punctuate the songs, the groovy moogs have even returned although they don’t sound as cool now what with bands like Ladytron coopting the intrinsic soul of electronic moog-based music.

The new Rentals EP is supposed to be a warmup for a full length album that the band will release next year. A number of shows are already confirmed as they will either headline or support other bands. This is a good thing because they really need to go on the road to reacquaint themselves with a new generation of music listeners who may have forgotten about them already.

The Rentals, Seven More Minutes, Ladytron, Yo La Tengo, Stereolab

Jose Gonzalez‘ Veneer was arguably one of the best albums to come out last year. The Swedish-born singer-songwriter released one of the most powerful debuts in recent years. His sparse, almost brutally bare songs evoke the melancholy sadness of Nick Drake coupled with Elliott Smith’s knack for killer melodies.

The recent announcement of the imminent release of Jose Gonzalez’ sophomore effort Our Nature is definitely great news for his growing legion of fans. What’s even better though is that Gonzalez is going to tour this fall in support of the album’s release. The US tour will begin on September 27, two days after the release of Our Nature. James Blackshaw and Savath & Savalas have been announced as the opening acts in some of the tour dates.

I am looking forward to this tour. Jose Gonzalez is a powerful presence on stage and I am hoping that he’d get to play his cover of Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart — one of the best covers I’ve heard of that song.

Jose Gonzalez, Veneer, Our Nature, Joy Division, James Blackshaw, Savath & Savalas

I recently wrote about Beth Ditto and The Gossip. There were people who read about my blog entry and were really intrigued about the band so much so that they were contemplating about buying the band’s debut album Standing In The Way of Control.

If you want to to take a crack at The Gossip but not yet really ready to commit to an actual purchase then just head off to freeindie.com for access to some free songs from The Gossip.

The Gossip, Beth Ditto, debut album

Pinback, to my mind, is one of the best kept secrets in the indie music scene. The duo of Rob Crow and Armistead Burwell Smith IV have, for over the course of three albums, made the kind of intense layered pop that are staggering works of ethereal beauty. Their first album This is a Pinback CD (also known simply as Pinback) is on my list of highly recommended albums for anyone who wants to get into indie music.

The great news is that Pinback is about to release a new album on September this year entitled Autumn of The Seraphs. This is their first album of original works since 2004’s critically acclaimed Summer in Abbadon (note to self, imperative to get a copy of this album ASAP before the new one drops into stores).

I am waiting with bated breath for the new album. Summer in Abbadon saw the duo approach their trademark sound from a new direction. I’d love to see if the progression to change their sound will carry on with the new one. Whatever they decide to do though I’ll be there to support the band. They are one of the few artists that have proven to have a very strong consistent body of work in terms of excellence. Any music fan should really check this band out because they are really missing out on a lot.

Former Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell is one cool cat. The artist extraordinaire has always loved to shake things up and his entire body of work as well as the many causes that he supports can attest to this.

Back in 2005, Farrell formed his new band Satellite Party. I’ve always been intrigued with how the album will sound especially with all of the rumors and small tidbits of news that I was hearing about his new project.

Well, the wait is now over. Satellite Party’s album [b]Ultra Payloaded[/b] will drop on to record stores on May 29. But for those who can’t wait, the whole album is being streamed at Satellite Party’s MySpace page. Go check it out!

Perry Farrell, Satellite Party, MySpace

Elliott Smith was one of the best singer-songwriters of our generation. It was such heartbreaking news when it was reported that the troubled artist committed suicide back in 2003.

Fortunately for fans of his astounding work, Smith was a prolific artist despite his battles with alcohol and drug abuse. The year 2004 saw the release of [i]From A Basement on a Hill[/i], the album he was working on at the time of his death.

Now in 2007, a number of important Elliott Smith – related materials are being released to the public. First up is the double album [i]New Moon[/i]. This is a collection of rareties that Smith recorded between 1994 through 1997. The album is enjoying much acclaim from both critics and fans alike.

Recently it was also announced that a photo book Smith, simply entitled [i]Elliott Smith[/i], is scheduled for release in November. The book compiles almost 200 photos taken by Autumn de Wilde on Smith. De Wilde took the picture of Smith that was used as the cover for 2000’s [i]Figure 8[/i]. The book will also come with a CD that contains five previously unreleased acoustic songs that Smith recorded at the Largo Club in Los Angeles.

For fans who miss Smith and his powerfully poignant songs, this is a godsend and a wonderful addition to Smith’s artistic legacy.

[tags]Elliott Smith, Figure 8, New Moon, From a Basement on a Hill[/]