Foo Fighters

Over the Weekend (Nov. 30 Edition)

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New music, new videos, and other fun stuff as you recover from the holiday weekend…

The music world continued to respond to the tragic events in Paris earlier this month, including a touching message from Eagles of Death Metal themselves.  Other bands have shown their support by playing EoDM songs at their own concerts, including this Pearl Jam cover of “I Want You So Hard”.  EoDM has responded to these efforts by asking others to play “I Love You All The Time”, with the band then donating the royalties.  My Morning Jacket fulfilled the request at a recent show in New York, and Consequence of Sound has the footage.

Eagles of Death Metal also sat down for an emotional interview with Noisey, though it may be too soon for some fans to watch.

David Bowie recently released a bonkers new video for the title track off his upcoming album Blackstar, and though Mos Def & Talib Kweli do not make a cameo appearance, the bizarre sci-fi vignettes are worth watching regardless.

M.I.A. also released a controversial new video for her song “Borders” from the upcoming Matahdatah, featuring a cast of dozens of refugees.  You can view the video in the link above, since this YouTube copy will probably be taken down in the near-future.

Walter Martin is continuing his solo career during the hiatus of his former group The Walkmen, releasing the easy-going folk song “Jobs I Had Before I Got Rich & Famous” from next year’s Arts & Leisure.  In a fitting gesture, he first released the song through his LinkedIn profile.

Coldplay has probably the last big release of this year, with A Head Full Of Dreams coming out on Friday.  The first single is the soaring “Adventures of a Lifetime”, accompanied by a video featuring computer-animated gorillas, because why not.

Finally, The Verge alerts you to a new Sony website that allows you to mix Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone”, which should be a great way to waste some time this week.

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Catching Up On The Week (Oct. 23 Edition)

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Some #longreads for your weekend…

This week marks the twentieth anniversary of the release of the landmark album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness from the Smashing Pumpkins, and it is no surprise that several outlets are publishing tributes for the occasion.  Stereogum looks at the album through a modern context, arguing that it is unlikely that we will see such an epic release like Mellon Collie ever again, regardless of genre, and the AV Club covers the making of the album as well as examining some of the musical highlights from the record.  The most comprehensive piece comes from Alternative Nation, who in a gesture that befits such a sprawling and mammoth album, have published an extensive essay that covers just about anything you would ever want to know about the record.

Gizmodo has a lengthy guide to the science behind the synthesizer, covering the process of creating the sounds and the development of the instrument over the years.

Consequence of Sound published an essay that ponders what is the appropriate amount of a time that an artist should wait between album releases, though it covers many of the exact arguments that one should expect.  The conclusion tilts a bit toward longer gaps, though I have two words that can be offered as a counter: “Chinese Democracy.”

Loudwire takes a look at the behind-the-scenes drama of the making of One By One, which in my eyes is a criminally underrated Foo Fighters album.

Finally, Pitchfork has an excerpt from Shea Serrano’s new book, The Rap Year Book, which provides an entertaining look at the significance of Tupac’s classic hit “California Love”.

Over the Weekend (Aug. 17 Edition)

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News, new videos, and other fun stuff to help you begin your week…

There had been rumblings for a while now, but now it can be confirmed that Flight of the Conchords are reuniting.  Fans of the hilarious HBO show featuring Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie should be delighted to hear that not only are they making plans to head out on tour next year, but that they are in the initial stages of writing a full-length movie.

The best song of 2014 finally has a video, as Death From Above 1979 shared the music video for “White Is Red” today.  Instead of following along with the riveting narrative described in the song, it mainly consists of footage from the documentary on the band, Life After Death From Above 1979, serving as a very effective advertisement for the film.

Switching the focus to more recent releases, Tame Imapala released a video today for a condensed version of Currents standout “Let It Happen”, focusing on the travails of one of the weariest travelers you will ever see.

Deerhunter released the first single of their upcoming album Fading Frontier this weekend, with frontman Bradford Cox first teasing fans by playing “Snakeskin” on his radio show.  The song is livelier than you might expect considering Deerhunter’s recent material, and you can check it out for yourself as the band has released a video for the song as well.

In another surprise, Talib Kweli has released a free album called Fuck the Money that is available through the website Kweliclub.com.  All of this is of course for free, in case the name of the title was not clear enough for you.

Rage Against The Machine will be releasing a concert film this fall from their recent reunion, as fans from around the world will now be able to see their free concert from London in 2010.

Foo Fighters = content.  Ultimate Classic Rock has the story of how Dave Grohl ended up singing “My Hero” to a crying fan at a recent concert.

Finally, we have a couple of useless lists for your enjoyment.  First, Rolling Stone has compiled one of those extensive, vague lists that only exist to get people arguing, this time ranking the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time and attempting to show off some fancy web tools at the same time.  A more interesting list is the AV Club Inventory that takes a look at “20 Great Songs Orphaned By Their Namesake Albums”, a concept that took me a few minutes to understand but is nonetheless a pretty cool idea.

Over the Weekend (Aug. 3 Edition)

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News, new music, and other fun stuff to help you through the unbearable heat…

The biggest news of the weekend is the announcement that Dr. Dre will be releasing a new album in the very near future, though it is not quite the album many fans expected.  Instead of releasing the much-delayed Detox, which for years was teased as the expected followup to 2001, Dre is releasing Compton, inspired by his work on the upcoming N.W.A biopic.

Speaking of long-awaited followups, it has been nearly a decade since the release of Tool’s last album, and while for years fans have been teased with tidbits detailing the slow process of following up 10,000 Days, that does not mean the band members have been remaining idle.  Maynard James Keenan announced that his other, other group Puscifer will be releasing a new album on October 30, and has shared “Grand Canyon” from Money Shot this week.

Puscifer first https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dM3yqRp5Yy0, but that is not the only time the show skewered the music industry.  Pitchfork talked to co-creator David Cross about some of the classic sketches that revolved around music, including a fun story about a meeting with The Strokes.

With the upcoming release of the rarities collection The Secret History, Vol. 1 (which is now available for streaming via NPR), Pavement is back in the news.  Vulture asked guitarist Scott Kannberg (aka “Spiral Stairs”) about his favorite tracks that the band recorded, and Scott responded with quite the diverse set of songs.  However, we have to admit that we are disappointed by the lack of inclusion of “Unfair” from his personal list.

Remember what we said about Foo Fighters and viral content last week?  Here is another example, as a thousand Italians cover “Learn to Fly” to try to convince the Foos to visit their town.

Alternative Nation linked to a bunch of previously unreleased Nirvana tracks this weekend, but since they have probably already been taken down by the time you read this, you should probably use the site as a guide to try to track down the individual tracks on your own.

Finally, SPIN decided that this was the appropriate moment to rank every single Metallica song that was ever released, and that is probably as good a way as any to waste your time this week.

Over the Weekend (July 27 Edition)

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News and other fun stuff to help you make it through the week…

If you have a half hour to spare this week, we recommend you check out this brief documentary on the history of Krautrock, courtesy of Noisey.  In half an hour, you will learn the origins of this distinctive style and gain a new appreciation for its influence on modern music.  And when you finish, be sure to check out this list from FACT magazine for a list of Krautrock records that go beyond the basics.

The Foo Fighters have been making it pretty easy for music content aggregators these days, and this story is no exception.  After making headlines for performing with a broken leg, Dave Grohl invited his surgeon to join the band on stage to sing on a cover of The White Stripes’s “Seven Nation Army”.

A tribute album to singer/songwriter Donovan has attracted a lineup of indie rock heavy-hitters, including contributions from The Flaming Lips, Sharon Van Etten, and Hamilton Leithauser.  The charity album will be out on October 16.

Who doesn’t love a good rap beef?  Quickly get caught up on the Ghostface Killah/Action Bronson beef here.  Then you will be prepared to be the talk of the party this weekend.

Catching Up On The Week (Apr. 10 Edition)

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Some #longreads for your weekend as you avoid the clusterfuck in the desert and watch the Coachella livestream…

On Wednesday, Rust Is Just Right will publish its long-awaited list of the Best Albums of 2014.  Our newer readers may wonder why we are releasing our picks so late relative to the rest of the music world, but rest assured, we will provide our very good explication along with our list next week (or you can go back into the archives and see last year’s list to see our reasons).

Next Saturday is Record Store Day, which is perfect timing for our readers, since in addition to visiting your local record shop to peruse all the special goodies on sale that day, you can pick up some of our recommendations from our Best Albums list.  Dave Grohl is serving as the Record Store Day ambassador, and Rolling Stone talks to him about the holiday and the special release that the Foo Fighters cooked up for the celebration, featuring some very, very early home recordings from Dave.

Independent labels are a significant part of Record Store Day, and one of our favorite labels that was one of the scene’s earliest successes was Seattle’s Sub Pop.  VNYL talks to Sub Pop co-founder Bruce Pavitt about the early history of the label as well as some of his favorite records.  On a related note, while not directly affiliated with Sub Pop,* the supergroup Temple of the Dog came from the same Seattle scene,  and fans may be interested to note the legal battle over the master tapes of their only album.

As much as I love Pavement, I never embraced Wowee Zowee as much as some other fans (though it has grown on me a bit over the years).  So it is for the benefit of those fans that we are linking to not one but two appreciations for the album’s twentieth anniversary, one from Stereogum and the other from Consequence of Sound.  The retrospective that got my attention was for another album–last week was the twentieth anniversary of a wildly different classic, 2Pac’s Me Against the World.

For those of you who enjoyed our review of the fantastic new Godspeed You! Black Emperor album, Asunder, Sweet and other Distress, I recommend checking out this old interview from last year from Self-Titled with guitarist and “leader” Efrim Menuck, which provides some welcome insight into the workings and motivations of the group.

We have talked several times before about the much-anticipated release of My Morning Jacket’s new album, and Steven Hyden of Grantland helps add to the hype with this piece.

Jello Biafra always provides a great interview, so it is probably worth your time to read what he has to say to Janky Smooth.

And finally, if you’re looking to kill some time this weekend, check out this list from the AV Club of bands that broke up as soon as they hit it big.  You have enough time to listen to their entire discographies in a single weekend!

*Chris Cornell and Matt Cameron were however at one point signed with Sub Pop with their main gig in Soundgarden, so an indirect connection does exist.

Catching Up On The Week (Mar. 27 Edition)

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Some #longreads for those still in the throes of March Madness…

After a relative paucity of reading material in recent weeks, this week saw the publication of numerous worthwhile interviews and discussions.  For those who want insight into older music, there’s the Rhino interview with Big Star drummer Jody Stephens and The Guardian behind the scenes look with The Strokes on the making of Is This It.  As for those who are looking ahead, there is Nate Mendel of the Foo Fighters talking with Consequence of Sound about his upcoming solo album as “Lieutenant” and Death Cab For Cutie revealing to Radio.com the background behind the making of their new album.

For those who are looking for more weightier fare, there is a roundtable discussion about the social context of works like the recent albums from D’Angelo and Kendrick Lamar and a Vox op-ed about the prejudicial treatment of rappers and the double standard that is given to rap lyrics by legal authorities, co-authored by Killer Mike.

Finally, GQ has an extended profile of Adam Horovitz, providing a personal in-depth look at the man you probably know as Ad-Rock, as he transitions into his post-Beastie Boys life and looks back on his career.

 

Over the Weekend (Jan. 19 Edition)

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Videos, news, and other fun music-related articles as you celebrate today’s holiday…

In honor of today’s holiday, I hope you take some time to read Killer Mike’s excellent op-ed on how we should pay tribute to Dr. King’s true legacy.  Mike emphasizes the revolutionary ideals of Dr. King, and pushes us to do more than talk vaguely about his virtue but to take action.

Flying Lotus continues to deliver thought-provoking videos for his recent album, You’re Dead!,  with the latest being the dark and disturbing “Coronus, The Terminator”.  He writes in the comments, “For me, Coronus is one of the most important moments on You’re Dead! and holds ideas I’m planning to explore in my future work. I’m happy that the visual encapsulates the meaning of the record and this ambition[.]”

Modest Mouse also released their latest video this morning, with the fan site Interstate-8 providing the video for the track “Coyotes”.  The band had given a tease for the video this past weekend by posting a tweet of the video’s star, so at least those of us who were befuddled by the message now at least understand the meaning.

As a fan of Seattle bands (and the city in general) but not of their football team, it’s been a pretty difficult month.  First, I have to deal with Pearl Jam selling special “12th Man” t-shirts as well as Mike McCready raising a special 12th Man flag at the Space Needle, and then I have to see that Alice in Chains performed at halftime at the game on Sunday.  That said, it’s terrible for Fox not to have broadcast it, but kudos for the various fans who have been sharing footage from the show. (Update: The Seahawks are now sharing official footage of the performance.)

Most people know that bands often make ridiculous demands in their Tour Rider, but few make an actual game of it.  Enter the Foo Fighters, who included an activity book to help hammer home the important points and make sure that the various venues actually paid attention.

And finally, proof once again of the importance of music, with a recent study that shows that music training provides significant benefits to development in children’s brains.

Catching Up On The Week (Dec. 5 Edition)

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Some #longreads as you once again ignore the Grammys…

While lately most of their interviews have been rather serious, this week Run The Jewels have some fun talking to the AV Club about their love of Steven Seagal movies.  If you prefer analysis of their music instead, Stereogum has a piece discussing the significance of male friendship to their latest album.

There’s a reason that when watching the OutKast reunion this year that Andre 3000 didn’t feel like being there, and that was confirmed in his interview with FADER where discusses the specifics of his “selling out.”

If you’re looking for a gift for a music-loving friend, you might want to check out the book Check the Technique, which does us all a service by diving behind the scenes to provide us with information behind some of hip-hop’s classic albums.  The Atlantic interviews author Brian Coleman about both volumes.

Proving that just about every album gets the 20-year treatment, Stereogum has a piece on Bush’s debut Sixteen Stone.  While admittedly it was one of my first albums, it’s not exactly a landmark record, but the evolution of its reception makes the essay worth reading.

And finally, most of our Foo Fighters coverage has revolved around Dave Grohl, but this time it’s Pat Smear getting the spotlight.  Pat talks to Diffuser about the making of Sonic Highways and how he ended up becoming a part of Nirvana, as well as his unique take on guitars.  Though the introduction mentions only two of the legendary bands of which he was a member, rest assured, Pat does talk about his time in the Germs for a bit.

Over the Weekend (Nov. 24 Edition)

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Some videos and other fun as you prepare for the big holiday this week…

This weekend marked the twentieth anniversary of Pearl Jam’s Vitalogy album, and there were retrospectives from both Billboard and Stereogum.  Both do a great job of talking about how the album was a turning point for the band, and how though it’s a respected effort, it’s still underrated.  I was inspired by these pieces to listen to the remastered version of the album that was released a couple of years ago, and it adds a whole new level to the record.

Our favorite new music video comes courtesy of hometown heroes Red Fang, which should be no surprise, considering their track record of great videos.  This time for “Crows In Swine” they prove that their brilliance extends even into the realm of animation.

We previously shared the lyric video for the new song from The Decemberists, and now we can link to the official music video for “Make You Better”.  It features Nick Offerman guest-starring as the host of a lost television show from the 70’s, with The Decemberists providing a goofy performance.

Rolling Stone has been publishing a ton of Foo Fighters-related material, and one of the coolest pieces they’ve done is a list of various cameos that Dave Grohl has done for various albums and performances.

Last week Sebadoh stopped by the AV Club for their Undercover series, and they performed Rush’s “Limelight”.  Personally, I feel that the band balances between taking it seriously and having fun with it, but half of my enjoyment may have been due to the various Rush fans in the comments getting offended by Lou Barlow’s ridiculous vocals.

TV on the Radio hit the Late Show with David Letterman last week to perform “Happy Idiot”, and it’s obvious that as the band hits the road in support of Seeds this is going to be a definite highlight of their set.

Speaking of late night performances, Cold War Kids went on Conan to play “All This Could Be Yours” and delivered a passionate performance of their latest single.

Before there was The Shins there was Flake Music, and Sub Pop is reissuing the only record of the predecessor band.  NPR has it up for streaming for your pleasure.  Elsewhere on their site, be sure to check out this video talking about the special way in which musicians’ brains work.