The Byrds Pictures

Readers’ Rock List: Animal Bands

Rock Daily is amped to be hitting the SXSW festival later this week, where we’ll surely be encountering dozens of bands named after animals. So we dedicated the Weekend Rock List to all the Animal Bands that looked to wildlife for inspiration. To avoid a landslide, bugs — and thus the Beatles — were banned. With the Fab Four out, our readers voted Animal Collective as the king of the rock jungle, thanks to their new Merriweather Post Pavilion. The Collective edged out Eagles, Animals and many more furry and feathered bands. To see if your favorite Animal Band made it, check the Readers’ List below: 1. Animal Collective 2. Eagles 3. The Animals 4. Fleet Foxes 5. Grizzly Bear 6. Modest Mouse 7. Super Furry Animals 8. Cat Power 9. Panda Bear 10. Wolfmother 11. The Monkees 12. Def Leppard 13. Steppenwolf 14. Wolf Parade 15. Phish 16. The Byrds 17. Gorillaz 18. The Turtles 19. The Yardbirds 20. Dr. Dog

Published: 2009-03-16 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock Lists

Amy Winehouse Attacks Herself, Led Zeppelin Roller Coaster Is Completed, Cyndi Lauper Plans Compilation

After failing to show up for a string of gigs due to “exhaustion,” Amy Winehouse defied the odds and graced the stage at the Eden Project this week only reportedly to forget the lyrics, hit herself with her microphone and spit at the crowd. One thing remained poised — Winehouse’s trademark beehive, which you can watch her assemble in a British train station. The Led Zeppelin roller coaster is the first ride completed at the Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach, SC, slated to open in spring 2008. Former Byrds member Roger McGuinn says the band should remain a “great memory” despite reunion attempts by other members, including David Crosby. Cyndi Lauper will assemble a True Colors compilation disc featuring performances by the acts on last month’s tour of the same name to raise money for the Human Rights Campaign. The European Court ruled telephone and ISP companies don’t have to hand over subscriber information to record labels seeking illegal downloaders. Meanwhile on U.S. shores, the RIAA sent out its sixth wave of pre-litigation settlement letters to 23 colleges.

Published: 2007-07-20 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Morning News Roundup

New Music Report: The Decade’s Best Under-the-Radar Albums

Rolling Stone announced our 100 Best Albums of the decade this month, and our readers picked their own list. Now it’s Christian Hoard’s turn: the RS editor and host of our New Music Report’s “Christian Rock” looks back at the 2000s and selects three albums from his personal decade list you won’t find on any of our other countdowns. First up, 2001’s Satellite Rides by the Old 97’s, a Dallas band who turn out crafty pop-rock songs rooted in the Byrds and old AM radio hits. Frontman Rhett Miller si

Published: 2009-12-23 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: New Music Report, Podcasts, Videos

Fricke’s Picks: The Byrds

The Byrds were still a year and change from their messy end when they played the newly unearthed London show on Live at Royal Albert Hall 1971 (Sundazed). This is the (Untitled)-era Byrds — singer-guitarist Roger McGuinn, drummer Gene Parsons, bassist Skip Battin and lead guitarist Clarence White — in sparkling last-hurrah mettle, mixing space flight and prairie dust in jangle and repertoire, and singing, at the very end, a short, wonderful “Amazing Grace” in backwoods-chapel a cappella harmonies.

Published: 2008-06-06 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Fricke's Picks

Fricke’s Picks: A Better Bang

The first American full-length album by the Norwegian trio BigBang, From Acid to Zen (Oglio/Grand Sport), is a mixed bag of then and now: seven tracks pulled from the group’s most recent Norwegian releases, 2005’s Poetic Terrorism and 2007’s Too Much Yang, both Number One albums there, plus recut versions of two older numbers and two new songs. It’s a shotgun buffet, like those early U.S. LPs by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones that combined album tracks and singles from unrelated sessions, and it succeeds the same way: like an instant greatest-hits record. Singer-guitarist-songwriter Øystein Greni has the right history in his genes — his dad sang in a Norwegian band that opened for Led Zeppelin in 1968 — and he grounds songs like “Early December,” “Hurricane Boy” and the brilliantly titled “From Acid to Zen” in the eternal power-chord charge and fish-hook riffs of the Stones and the Who. But Greni also has a knack for wringing fresh excitement from the familiar: the country-angel harmonies and ice-Byrds guitar in the new version of “Wild Bird,” the improbable dream of Badfinger and Hüsker Dü in “The One.” For Greni, who co-produced the new tracks with Phil Nicolo, From Acid to Zen is a big step in a bigger gamble. After more than a decade of Pearl Jam-like success in Norway, Greni recently moved to Los Angeles, determined to break America the hard way. He, original drummer Olaf Olsen and new bassist Øyvind Storli Hoel now play clubs here with a set list that still rules Scandinavian festivals and is basically this album in your face: proven hits with forward thrust. Related Stories: • Fricke’s Picks: A Family Affair • Fricke’s Picks: Rebel Yellers • Fricke’s Picks: Mercury Rev

Published: 2008-10-27 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Fricke's Picks

Hugh Masekela: How a 68-Year-Old Horn Player Makes the Ladies Scream

                                                                     At age 68, South Africa’s Hugh Masekela is still one of the most thrilling live performers around. The flugelhorn master and bandleader has been a world-music hero since the ‘60s, when he came to L.A., recorded with The Byrds and Paul Simon, played Monterey Pop, and, in 1968, had a number-one hit with “Grazing in the Grass” — one of the only instrumental tracks to reach such heights. Rooted in African rhythms and American jazz, Masekela has maintained a cultish following through his years and his new album, Live at the Market Theater, explains why: The clarion, confident call of his horn explodes on track after track, from celebratory songs like “Grazing” to political tracks like “Mandela.” The two-disc live set from San Francisco is an excellent introduction to Masekela’s music, lacking only the joy of seeing the spry, smiling musician create it. To celebrate the album’s release, Masekela played a show aboard a cruise ship circling Manhattan Friday night. He wowed the ecstatic crowd on extended versions of “The Boy’s Doin’ It” and “Stimela” — a hypnotic tune about African coal miners dedicated to “working people over the world.” The South African ex-pats in the crowd in particular exploded upon seeing the aging jazzman work his considerable backside to the music, making Masekela perhaps the only 68-year-old who can inspire a dozen young South African women to scream in excitement at his every move. Listen to “Grazing in the Grass” now:

Published: 2007-07-18 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Live Shows

In the Studio: Franz Ferdinand Returns to the Dance Floor

Photo: Josh Rothstein Earlier this year, Franz Ferdinand offered an online preview of a new song called “Lucid Dreams” — its danceable beat and crunchy guitars suggested that the Scottish foursome’s third album wouldn’t wander far from their established sound. But that was a fake-out: Tonight: Franz Ferdinand is an aggressive left turn for the band, full of synths, drum machines and psychedelic production. And the eight-minute-long final version of “Lucid Dreams” is radically different from that preview, with buzzy analog keyboards, spooky background vocals and an electro-tribal groove that’s half electronic, half live drums. “We took a little bit of time to evolve,” says frontman Alex Kapranos, fresh from mixing the disc. The band recorded it at a leisurely pace over 18 months, mostly in a studio constructed in a rundown Glasgow building. “We’d record one song five different ways, which is where the luxury of time comes in.” Kapranos had previously declared Tonight, recorded with Lily Allen producer Dan Carey, to be a “dance album,” but he’d like to retract that. “It’s not so much a dance record or a rock record — to me it’s a nighttime record,” he says. “It captures every element of the night, from charging yourself up before you go out on the most hedonistic night of your life, to being on the dance floor, to sitting in your bed rocking yourself to sleep.” The album kicks off with the multisectioned “Ulysses,” which combines a shuffling digital beat with a nod to James Joyce (like the album, the novel Ulysses chronicles a day in its protagonist’s life) and the line “I’m bored/Come on, let’s get high.” Other tracks include the full-on disco of “Live Alone,” the Byrds-play-Afro-pop of “Send Him Away” and the blazing guitar rock of “What She Came For.” Another sign of the band’s ambition: two songs that mirror each other, “No You Girls Never Know” and “Katherine Kiss Me.” One is brash and electric, the other wistful and acoustic, but the melodies and lyrics are near

Published: 2008-11-03 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, In the Studio

Sting, Brian Wilson Rock a Family Affair at Carnegie Hall for Rainforest Benefit

Over the last 15 years, Sting and his wife Trudie Styler have hosted a bi-annual charity concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall to celebrate the Rainforest Foundation Fund, which the two founded in 1989 to preserve rainforests and its inhabitants around the world. Last night’s show featured many familiar faces, including James Taylor and Billy Joel, who’ve performed at the concert many times. But this year’s spectacular gala also featured some welcome surprise guests, including Joel’s daughter (Alexa Ray), Taylor’s kids (Ben and Sally), Sting’s daughter (Coco Sumner), Clarence Clemons, singer-songwriter Feist and Brian Wilson. • Photos from the Rainforest Foundation Fund benefit The first portion of the evening was surprisingly relaxed given the elegant environment of Carnegie Hall. Sting, Taylor, Joel and all their children — including a barefoot Ben Taylor — joined together for a faithful cover of the Byrds’ “Turn! Turn! Turn!” The evening featured many casual family duets: Joel and Alexa turned out a cabaret-influenced version of “Baby Grand” while the Taylors teamed up for the meditative ballad “You Can Close Your Eyes.” Coco Sumner, however, showed off her immense, smoky voice with a sultry performance of her own tune called “Bohemian Love.” Other highlights of the first set included Feist — backed by a 34-piece orchestra — nailing a perfect version of her hit song “1234” as well as a set-closing Mardi Gras-style performance of ‘When the Saints Go Marching In,” which concluded with all the participants parading through the aisles. Things heated up for the second portion of the concert. While the crew set up the stage for Brian Wilson, Sting and Dustin Hoffman filled in by performing a Hoffman-penned ballad called “Shoot the Breeze.” The show really took off for the Beach Boys mastermind’s excellent performance: Wilson — dressed casually in a cool blue-and-white-striped rugby shirt and jeans — performed seroton

Published: 2008-05-09 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Smoking Section: Jack Johnson on the Beach, Midlake in the Studio and Jimmie Dale Gilmore on Stage

In December, the Smoking Section winged it out to Santa Barbara to hang out with Jack Johnson. Sitting on the rocky coastline with a fat spliff in our mitts watching Johnson shred massive swells was the perfect opportunity to reflect on the wild ride that was 2007. We witnessed amazing performances — Lucinda Williams‘ five-night stand in Manhattan, Stevie Wonder at the Garden, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in the Hamptons, Pearl Jam in Chicago, Wilco at Bonnaroo, The Killers in London and the Foo Fighters in a Vegas hotel room (sadly, we missed Dave Grohl’s “New Year’s Eve Disco Party” in L.A.). We moved into Kid Rock’s Malibu bachelor pad for a few days, tore up Paris with Ben Harper, guzzled absinthe at Marilyn Manson’s house and embraced our inner player, cocktailing with Snoop, strip-clubbing with Kanye and l’chaim-ing Jay-Z. It all poured sweet and clear — it was a very good year. * * * * If the SS had one regret from ‘07, it was that we were never in the same city as Midlake. The Denton, Texas, fivesome awed us with the mellow explorations of The Trials of Van Occupanther, and we’re happy to report that they’re home, taking their sweet-ass time on the follow-up. “It will be called The Courage of Others,” reports singer Tim Smith. “I think it will sound darker — not dark like Sabbath, but a little more minor-key.” Whereas Van Occupanther was recorded in their living room (”That was tough, because of roommates”), Midlake now occupy their own studio in Denton, with families and dogs waiting at home. “We’ve been going in at 8 a.m. and we’re done by 5,” says Smith, whose songwriting has been influenced, most recently, by No Other, the mysterioso 1974 solo gem from Gene Clark of the The Byrds. “We were jammin’ pretty hard this morning,” Smith says. “We said to ourselves, ‘No other rock band does this at 9:30 i

Published: 2008-01-18 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Smoking Section, Jack Johnson

Fricke’s Picks: Wooden Shjips, Tulsa and Your 33 Black Angels

Day-Glo Drone Rock Guitarist-singer Ripley Johnson of San Francisco’s Wooden Shjips told me, after a show in March, that his original idea was a group of “nonmusicians” that would “take music back to the primitive trance of the Velvet Underground with [early drummer] Angus MacLise.” That concept fell apart, and it was a good thing. Wooden Shjips — Johnson, organist Nash Whalen, bassist Dusty Jermier and drummer Omar Ahsanuddin — now play a sleek, Day-Glo drone rock, with magnum liftoff. That Velvets pulse is the root motion on Wooden Shjips (Holy Mountain). But there is a bracing, open-air-worship quality in Whalen’s long-breath chords and the ecstatic seizure of Johnson’s heavily distorted guitar breaks. Brevity suits this band too. The Shjips’ first records were a ten-inch EP and a seven-inch 45; they have two new singles on Sub Pop and the band’s own label. Wooden Shjips itself is barely vintage-LP length: five tracks, thirty-three minutes. The first song on the album is “We Ask You to Ride.” It is foolish to decline. Love, Reverb and Twang Tulsa are slightly more earthbound, in that the seven songs on I Was Submerged (Park the Van), the Boston quartet’s new record, have actual choruses and bridges. Singer-songwriter Carter Tanton also examines loss and reunion with refreshing bounce. “I’m in love for the first time,” Tanton crows in “I Feel Great,” with no apparent irony. “It feels great/Thanks for asking.” But his indie-seraphim voice is not of this world — set in the same alpine reverb where Jim James of My Morning Jacket lives — while the iridescent bloom of the guitars is a quality flashback to the clean-twang and country-fuzz blend of the 1968-69 Byrds. Limited-Edition Pleasure This spring, the New York band Your 33 Black Angels quietly released one of this year’s treasures: Lonely Street (no label), in a numbered

Published: 2007-09-26 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Fricke's Picks

Violens Drop New Tunes, MBV/Byrds Mashup On New Mix

Published: 2009-12-10 Provider: StereoGum

Happy Birthday, Woody Guthrie!

Without Woody Guthrie, there would be no Pete Seeger and no Dylan, Donovan or Byrds. The trajectory of American folk music would be forever thrown off its established vector. The poor, oppressed and otherwise dispossessed would be without an acoustic champion.

Published: 2008-07-14 Provider: Wired