The Cure Singer Prepares Anniversary Documentary

THE CURE frontman ROBERT SMITH is already working on a DVD documentary to celebrate the band's 30th anniversary - even though the landmark doesn't tak

Published: 2007-07-21 Provider: Contact Music

Rock List: Readers’ Best Eighties New Wave Bands

Inspired by last week’s announcement of the Regeneration Tour, we asked the Rock Dailyists to tell us their favorite New Wave acts of the 1980s. After rewatching the entire Savage Steve Holland filmography and tallying the votes, the readers have selected Echo & the Bunnymen as their favorite keyboard-stabbing, oddly hair-cutted New Wavers. Check out the entire top ten list after the jump. 1. Echo & the Bunnymen 2. New Order 3. Talking Heads 4. Psychedelic Furs 5. Elvis Costello 6. The Police 7. Depeche Mode 8. Duran Duran 9. The Cure 10. XTC [Photo: Musto/Redferns/Retna]

Published: 2008-04-14 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock Lists

The Cure Shoot Documentary, Thom Yorke Worries About the Climate, McDonalds Enters the Record Biz

The Cure are starting work on a career-spanning documentary to celebrate the band’s 30th anniversary in 2009. It’s shaping up to be a busy next two years for Robert Smith, as his band releases a new, double-disc album in October, as well as double-disc reissues of classic albums Wish and Disintegration in 2008. In this video, Thom Yorke says new British Prime Minister Gordon Brown better cut carbon dioxide emissions or risk being pummeled by “a ton of bricks,” as opposed to the equally heavy but less-intimidating ton of feathers. Check out the new video for Mastodon’s “Sleeping Giant.” McDonald’s is pulling a Starbucks and entering the music industry with a 10-city tour that features Ne-Yo, Kenna and maybe the guys in this commercial. What better way to say “Happy Birthday” than with a card that plays Tim McGraw or the Barenaked Ladies out of a magical, battery-operated speaker? Eager to not have a similar fate as Paris Hilton, rapper Eve showed up to court four days early as per the terms of her DUI probation. Photo: Hale/Getty

Published: 2007-07-21 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Afternoon News Roundup

"Buckle in the Bible Belt" by Ha Ha Tonka

Ha Ha Tonka aren't shy about flaunting their Southern influences on their debut album, Buckle in the Bible Belt. Based out of Missouri, the band blends rockabilly and folk with an indie-rock mentality, even throwing in some elements of gospel on the album's first single, "St. Nick on the Fourth in a Fervor." While Ha Ha Tonka are musically fairly traditional, living in the South has had a much darker effect on their lyrics. As the band chugs away, lead singer Brian Roberts sneaks in amidst all of the foot-stomping to sing about methamphetamines ("Gusto"), the death grip of religion ("Bully in the Pulpit") and the failures of American healthcare ("Cure for the Common Cold"), all of which directly impact the group's home region. Yet, even when Ha Ha Tonka are delving into serious subject matter, the energetic swagger of the music lifts the mood away from melancholy—and the band even manages to slip in a love song here and there ("Falling In", "You Lit Up the Night").

Published: 2007-09-18 Provider: Artist Direct

Be Your Own Pet “Get Awkward,” Channel “Robocop” On Sophomore LP: Album Preview

Nashville punks Be Your Own Pet refused to wilt under the added pressure of having released a hot debut as they began recording their second LP, Get Awkward. “I was trying not to think about, ‘ohh second album, better not suck,’ ” fiery lead singer Jemina Pearl tells Rolling Stone. “All of us just tried to concentrate on writing better songs.” After spending months recording in Nashville with producer Steve McDonald (and listening to a surplus of Iggy & the Stooges), the young band churned out an album that roars louder than their self-titled debut, as Pearl and Co. turn their explosive energy on surf-rock, the classic girl-group sound and more. The band blisters through fifteen songs in a little more than a half-hour, and although the new tracks are more nuanced and developed, they’re still charmingly raw. While the threat of a sophomore slump didn’t affect Pearl (”I don’t read blogs or do any of that Internet stuff”), she did have a more business-like approach to this album. “We went into the studio more ready and willing to work really hard and try different things,” she says — an approach that stood in stark contrast to the careless aesthetics that accompanied their debut. While the new seriousness led to a few fits of writer’s block, Pearl had a cure for the dreaded creative affliction: “I’ll just write a song about a movie,” she admits. One of these songs, “Bitches Leave,” was inspired by Robocop, specifically the scene when Kurtwood Smith disrupts Miguel Ferrer’s cocaine party with gun in hand, bluntly instructing the naked women, “Bitches, leave.” The song’s rallying cry of “Things aren’t pretty in New Detroit, so go ahead and get to the point” is obviously an homage to Robocop’s unique outlook on the Michigan city. Another cinema-inspired song, “Zombie Graveyard Party,” finds Pea

Published: 2007-11-28 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Korn Won’t Cover Up Admiration For Prince, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam Any Longer

When Korn taped their MTV Unplugged earlier this year, the band stocked their set with unlikely covers like Radiohead’s “Creep” and a mashup of their own “Make Me Bad” with The Cure’s “In Between Days.” Apparently, this was a sign of things to come, as the band has started working on a full-on covers album. Though they’re releasing a new album of original material July 31, Korn have already banked a bunch of covers. “We’ve already done, like, ‘Love My Way’ from Psychedelic Furs,” said frontman Jonathan Davis. “We’ve done ‘We Care a Lot’ from Faith No More [and Nine Inch Nails’] ‘Head Like a Hole.’ Those are already recorded. We just gotta get in and do some more.” Up next: Prince’s “Erotic City,” Ozzy Osbourne’s “Diary of a Madman” and Debbie Deb’s “Lookout Weekend” as done by Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam. Photo: Winter/Getty

Published: 2007-07-21 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Fricke’s Picks: Black Angels

Even by the nonstop-rock standards of 2008’s SXSW festival, it was weird to see a band that seems to live on ultraviolet light, out in broad daylight, making rippling-tremolo drone on the lawn of a downtown Austin restaurant. But local tripsters the Black Angels bring the aura of mid-1966 — the drilling guitars of early Velvet Underground shows, the raga inflections of late-show Fillmore jams, the acid-prayer stomp of Austin avatars the 13th Floor Elevators — everywhere they go, including the levitations on their second album, Directions to See a Ghost (Light in the Attic). Mid-Eighties echoes of Spacemen 3 and the Jesus and Mary Chain also roll through the scoured-guitar sustain and Alex Maas’ rocker-monk incantations. But he knows what time it is. “You say the Beatles stopped the war,” Maas sings in “Never/Ever.” “They might’ve helped to find a cure/But it’s still not over.” Even so, this medicine works wonders.

Published: 2008-04-23 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Fricke's Picks

Black Kids: Artist to Watch 2008

As we approach the end of our Artists to Watch days here at Rock Daily, we’re tossing a spotlight on Black Kids, the Jacksonville, Florida buzz band who write freewheeling indie-rock tunes that’ve earned them comparisons to Arcade Fire and the Cure. Click here to listen to their “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You” and to find out more about the quintet. To check out the rest of our Artists to Watch coverage, complete with videos and key tracks, click here.

Published: 2007-11-28 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Artist to Watch, Breaking

"Our Ill Wills" by Shout Out Louds

Indie-pop seems to have become the unofficial national genre of Sweden. Anchored by the freewheeling, childlike approach of I'm From Barcelona and the breakout popularity of Peter Bjorn and John, twee-pop is becoming just as common as Ikea. Following in line with their Scandinavian peers—and the trajectory of their excellent 2005 debut Howl Howl Gaff Gaff—Shout Out Louds' second offering, Our Ill Wills, is a scrapbook 12 songs deep of insecurities, lost nights and lost loves. 1980s British mope-pop is an undeniable influence, as the band cribs The Smiths' juxtaposition of bouncy, jilting guitars with sardonic and self-deprecating lyrics and the vocal stylings of The Cure's Robert Smith. But Shout Out Louds aren't short on creativity of their own. "Tonight I Have To Leave It" kicks off the record (and sets the bar high) with a Johnny Marr-style chord progression fused with staccato percussion and bursts of waltzing strings that undulate

Published: 2007-09-13 Provider: Artist Direct

Starbucks Announces James Taylor CD/DVD Release, Tom Waits Judges Songwriting Contest, The Shins Add Tour Dates

Starbucks’ Hear Music label continues its trend of signing music royalty with plans to release James Taylor’s live CD/DVD One Man Band this holiday season. The set will feature Taylor’s recent greatest-hits-filled concerts from the Colonial Theatre in the Berkshires, as well as the stories that inspired the songs. Phil Collins (evidently not the Phil Collins) spent the last three years compiling footage of Smiths fans from Colombia, Indonesia and Turkey singing karaoke to cuts from Morrissey and gang’s 1987 album The World Won’t Listen. The fruits of the flmmakers’ labors will debut this fall at the Dallas Museum of Art’s tribute to the Smiths. Also on display: Letters a teenage Morrissey wrote to music magazines. Tom Waits, Frank Black, the Cure’s Robert Smith and the Strokes’ Julian Casablancas are among the talented wordsmiths that will judge this year’s International Songwriting Competition. Universal’s DRM-free MP3s are more like DRM-lite MP3s: The songs will still be watermarked to see who’s sharing the files on peer-to-peer networks. The Shins have announced additional autumn U.S. tour dates that’ll keep them on the road through the end of October. Full dates after the jump. 10/5 - Berkeley, CA (Greek Theatre) 10/6 - Santa Barbara, CA (Santa Barbara Bowl) 10/7 - Los Angeles, CA (Greek Theatre) 10/9 - Mesa, AZ (Mesa Amphitheater) 10/10 - Albuquerque, NM (University of New Mexico’s Popejoy Hall) 10/17 - Atlanta, GA (Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center) 10/18 - Charleston, SC (The Plex) 10/19 - Raleigh, NC (Progress Energy Center) 10/20 - Norfolk, VA (The NorVa) 10/22 - Columbia, MD (Merriweather Post Pavilion) 10/23 - New York, NY (Terminal Five) 10/24 - New York, NY (Terminal Five) 10/27 - Las Vegas, NV (Vegoose Festival) 10/28 - Las Vegas, NV (The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel) Photo: Cardy/Gett

Published: 2007-08-14 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Afternoon News Roundup

Powderfinger MAX and Concert for the Cure

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 31: Australian rock band Powderfinger performs live in front of Sydney's Opera House during the Max Session, Powderfinger Concert for the Cure on October 31, 2007 in Sydney, Australia. Powderfinger, Australia's biggest band joined with Missy Higgins to perform on the steps of the Sydney's iconic Opera House to close Breast Cancer Awareness Month. (Photo by Sergio Dionisio/Getty Images)

Published: 2007-10-31 Provider: ViewImages Keywords: Performance, Australia, Sydney, Band, Rock, Cure, Australian Culture, Arts Culture and Entertainment, Celebrities, Opera House

Powderfinger MAX and Concert for the Cure

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 31: Australian rock band Powderfinger performs live in front of Sydney's Opera House during the Max Session, Powderfinger Concert for the Cure on October 31, 2007 in Sydney, Australia. Powderfinger, Australia's biggest band joined with Missy Higgins to perform on the steps of the Sydney's iconic Opera House to close Breast Cancer Awareness Month. (Photo by Sergio Dionisio/Getty Images)

Published: 2007-10-31 Provider: ViewImages Keywords: Performance, Australia, Sydney, Band, Rock, Cure, Australian Culture, Arts Culture and Entertainment, Celebrities, Opera House