hard to believe I have an almost 2 year old back-up and was able to restore this database!!! Time for me to fucking go to sleep now. Fuck.

Here is another band I knew very little about prior to them being announced to be playing at Lollapalooza.

From Wikipedia:

The Heartless Bastards, formed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2003, is a garage rock band. They are often compared to fellow Ohioans and Fat Possum labelmates The Black Keys, but they are also known for the powerful vocals of frontwoman Erika Wennerstrom.

 

At age 22, Erika Wennerstrom moved to Cincinnati and met Mike Lamping. They hooked up and began playing gigs as the Heartless Bastards, which was originally formed as a four piece band with members Dave Colvin on drums and Michael Weinel. They played their first live show at The Comet, a bar in the Cincinnati community of Northside, in August 2003. After parting ways with Colvin and Weinel, the group reformed as a three piece with Kevin Vaughn on drums. The band was signed to Fat Possum Records in 2004 after Patrick Carney from The Black Keys passed on a demo he received from Erika.

 

Rolling Stone reviewed their debut album Stairs and Elevators and opined, “the Heartless Bastards are a small-town band who are ready to show the big city no mercy”. The Village Voice proclaimed: “deadeye accurate in pitch and message… what we’ve got is a hard, gnarled voice singing simple-seeming melodies that feel archetypal rather than ordinary, which is no easier to explain than it is to do”. Stylus gave the group high praise, stating, “(Erika Wennerstrom) and her two band mates have created an album with more rocking songs and fat hooks than most bands can dream of. It’s not just that they rock, it’s that you believe what you hear, that they love the sound they make, that Wennerstrom lays her soul bare in her lyrics without sounding like Sarah McLachlan, that the women of rock who labored to make it OK for a girl to dream of playing guitar deserve far better than Avril Lavigne or Kelly Osbourne as their descendants.”

Heartless Bastards on Wikipedia

Official Site

Heartless Bastards on MySpace

From Amazon:
Food writer Kara Zuaro knows a lot of musicians, and she’s found they all share one obsession (besides music, of course): eating. Whether they’re on the tour bus reminiscing about meals past or at home in their own kitchens, they’ve all got favorite recipes — and they’re willing to share. This uniquely irresistible cookbook collects contributions from more than 100 artists, including indie icons like the Violent Femmes, Belle & Sebastian, and They Might Be Giants; current favorites like Franz Ferdinand and My Morning Jacket; and up-and-coming acts like Catfish Haven and Voxtrot.

Some recipes are inspired by a particular song in the band’s repertoire, others are taken from real-life experience. Each one bears the often quirky stamp of its source — while these are thoroughly tested, cook-from-me recipes, Zuaro has left the musicians’ wording and instructions intact, which makes for a collection that’s as much fun to read as it is to use.

I Like Food, Food Tastes Good: In the Kitchen with Your Favorite Bands by Kara Zuaro

Testing the Recipes!

So with Lollapalooza coming up in just 3 short months, I have a lot of bands I’ve never heard of to familiarize myself with. I’ve decided to showcase some of those bands as Lollapalooza gets nearer. I’ll try to add a new band every week or so but we’ll see how it goes.

The first band I’m currently digging is The Black Angels. I hadn’t heard of them before, but they have a really unique sound.

From Wikipedia:

The Black Angels is a psychedelic rock band from Austin, Texas,formed in May 2004. Their name derives from the Velvet Underground song “The Black Angel’s Death Song”.

 

Among other venues, they have played at SXSW 2006 and some festivals in the Midwest in summer 2006. They will be touring the West Coast in October 2006 and the East Coast in November. A major tour partner is the blues rock band The Black Keys.

 

Hannah Levin’s review of the Black Angels album Passover described them as “Walking in the shadows cast by Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized mastermind Jason Pierce” and compared them to The Warlocks and Black Mountain, also invoking “dirges” reminiscent of both The Velvet Underground and the 13th Floor Elevators.The band’s icon is a stylized image of Nico.

Wikipedia: The Black Angels

Official Site

The Lollapalooza lineup has been announced, well actually it will be announced tomorrow..but it was leaked today! I’ve already ordered my tickets and paid the ‘Early Bird’ price of just $165 for the 3-Day Pass. Of course it will be during the annual deadly fucking Heat-Wave for Chicago Aug. 3-5 in Grant Park, but it is money well spent by just taking a quick glance at the lineup! Off the top of my head..bands that I’m super fucking thrilled to see.. My Morning Jacket, Regina Spektor, Modest Mouse, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Kings of Leon, Spoon, The Hold Steady, Satellite Party, and..oh yeah..a little band called Pearl Jam! There are way more bands I just can’t think of everything..so fuck it…here is the full list that’s confirmed so far:

• Pearl Jam
• Daft Punk
• Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
• Muse
• Iggy & the Stooges
• Modest Mouse
• Interpol
• My Morning Jacket
• Satellite Party
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• Snow Patrol
• the Roots
• Patti Smith
• Kings of Leon
• the Black Keys
• Regina Spektor
• Spoon
• Lupe Fiasco
• TV on the Radio

Read the rest of this entry »

I got an email asking me about my favorite subject. Music!

flugger

so i read about this band in Rolling Stone called “The Academy Is” and they were described as being emo which i like. i was thinking about buying their cd, but thought i’d ask for your opinion because i know you know about stuff like this. is the band really emo? i suppose i could download the cd, but i don’t do that. so let me know, cuz. btw i just bought the jack’s mannequin cd and i think it’s fabulous. see you sunday, i hope!

courtney

So Courtney wanted to hear some The Academy Is…Click below to hear to hear ‘Attention’ from their album Almost Here!

Jame “Buffalo Bill” Gumb: It rubs the lotion on its skin. It does this whenever it is told.
Catherine Martin: Mister… my family will pay cash. Whatever ransom you’re askin’ for, they pay it.
Jame “Buffalo Bill” Gumb: It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.
[to his dog, Precious]
Jame “Buffalo Bill” Gumb: Yes, it will, Precious, won’t it? It will get the hose!
Catherine Martin: Okay… okay… okay. Mister, if you let me go, I won’t - I won’t press charges I promise. See, my mom is a real important woman… I guess you already know that.
Jame “Buffalo Bill” Gumb: Now it places the lotion in the basket.
Catherine Martin: Please! Please I wanna go home! I wanna go home please!
Jame “Buffalo Bill” Gumb: It places the lotion in the basket.
Catherine Martin: I wanna see my mommy! Please I wanna see my…
Jame “Buffalo Bill” Gumb: Put the fucking lotion in the basket!