// Category Archive for: Music

Pink Martini For A Blue Girl

By Chelsea Spear

Opera House, Boston MA
June 13, 2009

“Eclectic” doesn’t begin to describe the music of Pink Martini. For the better part of a decade, this twelve-piece “little big band” has beguiled indie hipsters, polyglots, blue-haired grannies, and NPR junkies alike with their interpretations of standards from America and around the world. Likewise, the original songs that appear on their albums draw inspiration from French poetry, transcendental literature, songs from beloved 1970s movies, and bad dates.
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On Memories And Michael Jackson

It would be absurd to have a magazine devoted to pop culture and fandom and not have something to say about Michael Jackson. The man contributed so much to our culture that we were often unaware of references to him. Upon his death, these references we had seen before somehow became more poignant: a zombie character in a video game wearing a red jacket and walking backwards used to be a funny homage, worthy of a chuckle. Today that same image evokes emotions on top of that, as we realize it as a caricature of a man we never fully understood, even if we did love his work.
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Peter Holsapple & Chris Stamey, Here and Now

By Less Lee Moore

It’s been 17 years since Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey recorded an album together. The first time it was the Mavericks album in 1992 and as Holsapple notes, “[It] was recorded and mixed in one fell swoop; this one took a couple years and a hurricane to complete.”
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One Sweaty Show: Yeah Yeah Yeahs with Grand Ole Party

By J Howell

Beaumont Club, Kansas City MO
June 3, 2009

Ah, summer. Some things go hand in hand with the onset of summer: sunny days, lemonade, box-office blockbusters, and rock shows. OK, maybe summer isn’t really all that much more conducive to rock shows than any other particular season, but in any event, summer is conducive to being out and about and enjoying live music.

Grand Ole Party and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were a bit like a typical summer movie—a thrilling, if not quite profound, way to spend a couple of hours on a gorgeous evening.
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Flying Lizards, Fourth Wall

By Matt Keeley

The title of the most important (only?) Flying Lizards fan page is “They Were a Very Different Band,” which sounds about right. They’re most famous for their deconstructed cover of “Money,” featuring a disaffected, posh-sounding English woman demanding money while speaking the lyrics over prepared piano and the sound of a bass guitar being hit with a stick. The single was recorded for a grand total of 26 pounds. Basically, the band wasn’t ever meant to be a band.
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One Crazy Summer With Garbo’s Daughter

By Kristin Messina, Mandy Mullins, and Jaime Sparrowhawk

It’s been a few months since we’ve been graced with a Popcast from Garbo’s Daughter, and it just wasn’t the same around here without them. Their in-depth knowledge and genuine love of music is always a treat to witness.

But they’ve been super busy! Since last time we heard from them, they’ve played lots of shows and recorded a brand new song called “Summer’s Gone,” which we are proud to feature first right here at Popshifter. They will also have a 4-song cassette released on Burger Records later this year, so keep checking the band’s MySpace page for details.

They also haven’t lost their magic touch in picking the best songs you’ve never heard. In this issue’s summerfull Popcast, the three ladies from Garbo’s Daughter discuss their favorite summer songs and why they love them so much. Be sure to stay tuned until the end to hear their fab new tune, “Summer’s Gone.” (And see if you can identify all the movie quotes!)
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A Woofer In Tweeter’s Clothing: Mismatched Album Art

Idea by Matt Keeley
With contributions by. . .

What is an album with artwork so amazing that despite knowing you’d dislike the music, you’ve almost bought (or perhaps actually did buy)?
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What is an album with artwork so ugly or hideous that, despite having a good feeling that you’d like the music on there, you could never bring yourself to own?
Read more…
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Tinted Windows, S/T

By Less Lee Moore and Noreen Sobczyk

A band with Bun E. Carlos and Taylor Hanson probably sounds strange (and horrifying) to those who think Cheap Trick has nothing in common with Hanson. As a fan of both bands, we were excited about hearing this album. Having James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins) and Adam Schlesinger (Fountains Of Wayne) as part of the mix could have rendered the whole affair nothing more than a poorly executed publicity stunt, but it really works.

So here is a track-by-track review…
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NYC Foetus DVD

By Less Lee Moore

For a discussion of the music on Limb, please read my review here.

For a discussion of the design elements of the 48-page Limb booklet, please read Ann Clarke’s review here.

JG Thirlwell has been making music since 1978. . .
He is a singer, a producer, a musician, a composer and a graphic artist.
From the intro to NYC Foetus, directed by Clément Tuffreau
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Record Stores Died For Somebody’s Sins (But Not MySpace’s)

Pretty In Pink, 1986
Screencap from Striped Wall

The new millennium has become the Battle of the Social Networking Websites. Which one you prefer depends upon how you utilize each one. As much as Facebook fans may bitch that MySpace is ugly and user-unfriendly, when people want to hear what a band sounds like, they usually go to MySpace.
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