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The Decemberists Premiere Perfectly Over-the-Top “The Hazards of Love” at SXSW

Three weeks before the Decemberists premiered their new album, The Hazards of Love, at SXSW, the band’s singer-songwriter Colin Meloy told me that they had not rehearsed the record in its entirety yet. In that interview, Meloy also marveled on how the Who used to perform all of their rock opera, Tommy, with just guitar, bass, vocals and drums. At Stubb’s last night, the Decemberists came armed to the teeth for their album’s live premiere, broadcast nationwide by NPR. Guitarist Chris Funk had a full armory of strings, including pedal steel guitar and bouzouki. There were helpmates: singer-instrumentalists Becky Stark of Lavender Diamond and Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond. And there were five drum kits ready for banging in the percussion-and-chant orgy “The Bake Song” — a number which sounded especially big and right in the open-air venue. (See live shots of the Decemberists and more in our SXSW gallery.) Originally conceived by Meloy as a Broadway musical, The Hazards of Love is the consummation of his recent obsession with the antique melodies, arcane language and rock energy of the British folk revival of the 1960s and ’70s. Stark channeled Steeleye Span’s Maddy Prior in the Yorkshire-country waltz “Isn’t It a Lovely Night,” a duet with Meloy. But Meloy has also discovered and let loose his inner progressive-metal head. The medley of “The Waiting Comes in Waves” and “Repaid” was an extended bomb of Jenny Conlee’s foreboding Renaissance harpsichord, the fourth Led Zeppelin album and, in Worden’s lusty vocal, psychedelic-R&B vengeance. Actually, in playing the whole album like a flesh-and-blood jukebox — with none of the charming budget theatricals of their Picaresque shows — the Decemberists sold the commercial savvy in Meloy’s songs like a classic rock band. In the ’70s, the Deep Purple-style muscle of “The Queen’s Rebuke/The Crossing” and the arena-climax vocal chorus in “The Waiting Comes in Waves” would have been FM-radio gold. Instead, 30 years later, th

Published: 2009-03-19 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Festivals, Videos, SXSW

Chester Bennington Talks New Band Dead by Sunrise, Next Linkin Park Album

Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington debuted his new band, Dead by Sunrise, during an anniversary party for his tattoo parlor chain, Club Tattoo, at the Marquee Theatre in Tempe, Arizona, on Saturday. “I wouldn’t call it a side project,” Bennington said before the show. “We’re a full, ready-to-go band and so this is something we take very seriously.” The band, which includes Bennington and members of the group Julien-K (which contains several members of Orgy), is a traditional rock outfit that is more straight-ahead and melodic than Linkin Park. Speaking of his other band, Bennington revealed that Linkin Park has already begun writing the follow-up to Minutes to Midnight. He explained the band had “the itch” to start writing again and headed toward the studio. “We’re way ahead of the game,” Bennington said. “We’re not planning on releasing a record this year. We don’t know when it’s going to come out. But we just started working on stuff in the studio. I never want to get in the way of what Linkin Park is. That’s my baby. That’s my band. Those are my best friends. The last thing I want to do is compromise what we’re doing.” Bennington also said he hopes to have a Dead by Sunrise album out by 2009, barring other commitments to other bands. “I want to make sure the record gets the chance to do what it can do.” [Photo: Getty]

Published: 2008-05-12 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

"Asleep at Heaven's Gate" by Rogue Wave

Before getting into Rogue Wave's third record, Asleep at Heaven's Gate, let's get one thing out of the way: the band recently left Sub Pop and signed to Brushfire, a small label founded by laid-back singer-songwriter Jack Johnson. This is not necessarily an indication of the band's decline—My Morning Jacket signed to Dave Matthews' ATO imprint without missing a beat—but it does happen to coincide with what is sure to be Rogue Wave's most controversial release. Departing from the band's previous lo-fi intimacy, Asleep at Heaven's Gate is a glossy, grand pop record—its orgy of detail smoothed over by a thick lacquer-coat of production. Zach Rogue's winsome tenor is doused in echo, the drums land with room-filling thuds, pianos pound from every corner, and strange sounds appear and then disappear. While the nonstop bombast can be a bit exhausting, Asleep is a gorgeous sounding record by any measure. Yet, the compositions on

Published: 2007-09-18 Provider: Artist Direct

Peaches Geldof’s Drummy Up Publicity

PEACHES Geldof has got married in Las Vegas. The Sun says this is “just like Bob and Paula”, that’s precious, precocious Peaches’ mum and dad. They married each other in Las Vegas in 1986. Poor Peaches, she so wants to be rebellious, edgy and different but mum and dad have got to the sex and the drugs and the rock ‘n’ roll first. Being Peaches must be like turning up at an orgy and being handed a used towel by your mum. Sun readers see Peaches wearing a headscarf and flashing the “Pace sign”. Seen it. Done it. The Sun says “Peaches first met Max, 23, a Harvard graduate in anthropology, two years ago. “The Mirror says Peaches has been dating singer Faris Badwan, 21, and “seemed set to announce their engagement”. Says the Sun: “The couple — who first met two years ago — hooked up days after Peaches dumped her singer boyfriend FARIS BADWAN.” A “pal” of Faris tells the Mirror: “I spoke to him at the weekend and, as far as he was concerned, they were still together. Now, he doesn’t know what’s going on.” He and the tabloids all. Says the Mail: “Critics have already branded the nuptials a publicity stunt, as Drummey’s band, Chester French, is launching its first album next month.” You can read about the alleged publicity stunt on the cover of all today’s tabloids…

Published: 2008-08-13 Provider: Anorak

a smalltown monday solution - mashup!

good morning! thankfully i'm feeling a lot better than yesterday - and this latest mashup selection from DJ paul v. has helped kick my ass into high gear this morning - it's a lovely blend of some nifty musical ingredients - please enjoy the track below - and let's all keep in mind tomorrow is friday - almost time for the weekend! popbytes over & out for now...xxoo! † FROM DJ PAUL V.This past Friday March 7th marked the 25th anniversary of the release of the biggest selling 12" single of all time: Blue Monday by New Order. Did you know it was inspired by both Sylvester and Donna Summer? It's been covered by Orgy & Nouvelle Vague, and M.I.A. & Rihanna both sample it on their latest records. It has inspired countless electronic bands and artists, and I bet you've probably danced to it 1000x or heard it as many - and I bet you still love all 7+ minutes of it. It's also been mashed countless times - most famously by Kylie Minogue - but this latest mix by DJ Copycat is truly extra special. It features Bronski Beat and a band called Superbass, all coalesced in a sublime and gorgeous blend. † Listen to DJ Copycat - A Smalltown Monday Solution [.mp3 9.4mb] † Enjoy! - DJ Paul V. PS Here's New Order performing 'Blue Monday' live at the BBC studios in 1984 (Caution: white short-shorts alert...and a few mistakes!) The Smash Mix | Indie 103.1FM | Bootie LA | Dragstrip 66

Published: 2008-03-13 Provider: Popbytes

Nicolas Cage Is A National Treasure [Monday Morning Box Office]

On these final few hours before the sugarplum-gorging orgy that begins at dawn, we dutifully tabulate for you, like a trembling Bob Cratchit scratching figures with a quill pen into the margins of the Scrooge & Marley ledger, the weekend's box office numbers: 1. National Treasure: Book of Secrets - $45.5 million Frankly, we don't know what took infallible superproducer Jerry Bruckheimer and supermuse Nicolas Cage this long to bring us another Treasure chapter: With Secrets conquering this weekend's box office (and bringing in $10 mil more than the original), the American-history-corrupting adventure serial has now graduated to official franchise&trade status. We're eagerly anticipating all future installments, including National Treasure: Three Dollar Bill, in which Cage and his ragtag band of bookish fortune-hunters discover that the Lincoln Memorial's head spins to the left when a Sacagawea and Susan B. Anthony dollar are placed in its orbital sockets, revealing a secret tunnel to J. Edgar Hoover's fabled lingerie closet. 2. I Am Legend - $34.2 million A 56% drop-off in receipts for the last-Will-on-Earth sci-fi thriller still brings Legend's take to an impressive $137.5 mil, though it might also indicate that the premise needed a little refining. Luckily, producers have already began making the proper adjustments for the sequel, replacing that German Shepherd (talented, but kind of one-note) with a grizzled straight-man for Smith to bounce his trademark one-liners off of, and those cheesy CGI zombies with a vast array of adorable aliens from Rick Baker's creature shop. 3. Alvin and the Chipmunks - $29 million "It's great to be in the singing chipmunk business," Chris Aronson, Fox's senior VP of distribution, told Variety; that's a 180° change of tune from what execs were saying about the Jason Lee family film when the forecast looked less sunny, dismissively referring to it as "the untitled Richard Gere project" and "Ratatouille for retards." 4. Charlie

Published: 2007-12-24 Provider: Defamer Keywords: Box Office, i am legend, monday morning box office, national treasure, Walk Hard