Rufus Wainwright, All Days Are Nights: Songs For Lulu

By Alex Arnott

Listeners unfamiliar with Rufus Wainwright would probably be surprised to hear that this obliquely named, classically influenced, piano-driven album is in fact, one of his more understated works. This masterful musician, who has a penchant for impressively orchestrated pop songs, has a great deal of unusual achievements under his designer lederhosen. In the past three years, Rufus has accomplished two incredibly ambitious projects that your run-of-the-mill pop star would never dare to undertake.

First, he challenged himself to reproduce the legendary Judy Garland Concert at Carnegie Hall song for song, even recreating some of Judy’s banter. Many of the songs in Judy’s repertoire are quite dissimilar to Rufus’ usual style, yet he pulled it off with aplomb.
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Apples in stereo, Travellers In Space And Time

By Chelsea Spear

It’s a typical Sunday morning in New England. The skies are overcast, precipitation is spitting, and a slight breeze has started to pick up and become a full-blown wind. To my Eustachian tubes, however, the weather is 85 degrees and sunny without a cloud in the sky. The music of the Apples in stereo can have that effect on listeners.

While Robert Schneider and his band of merry musicians lack the cathartic heft of their Elephant 6 buddies Neutral Milk Hotel, and were never as experimental as the Olivia Tremor Control, he’s always been adept at serving up a kind of musical comfort food to fans of 1960s bubblegum and power pop. He sets his stick-in-the-head melodies in lush, layered production, creating a satisfying sound for fans of a bygone era.
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Arranged Marriage, Dearly Beloved

By Christian Lipski

As a rule, kids never like the music their parents listen to. Likewise, there’s an unwritten law that parents must hate their children’s music. It’s important for young people to develop their own identities as people, and for parents to get a taste of what they put their own parents through. That’s what makes the band Arranged Marriage such a unique treat: father Brad Allen has teamed up with his son Scott to write, perform and produce the album Dearly Beloved.
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We Are Going To Eat You, Too

By Less Lee Moore

Click the image for
a larger version.

If you live in the Atlanta, GA area, do not miss “We Are Going To Eat You, Too,” a sequel to the 2009 show at MINT Gallery, which opens on Saturday, April 17. (Hell, even if you don’t live in the Atlanta area, it will be worth the trip.) And unlike many horror movie sequels, this one promises to be just as amazing (if not more so) than the original.

Eric Weber is once again curating this artistic tribute to underground and cult movies. Eric writes for Popshifter, and is also an artist, photographer, and sometimes-draftsman of floor plans for the layout of the Golden Girls house. (For serious.)

Check out the MINT Gallery site for details and read more about Eric’s motivation for putting these shows together in the preview feature about the exhibit on Creative Loafing.

You can also read a great interview with Eric about his art from Popshifter‘s September/October 2009 issue. Don’t forget to check out his other Popshifter articles while you’re at it!

“We Are Going To Eat You, Too” runs from April 17 through April 25 at the MINT Gallery, a non-profit community oriented art gallery located at 684 B John Wesley Dobbs Avenue in Atlanta, GA.

What Are YOU Doing On Record Store Day 2010?

April 17, 2010 marks the third year of Record Store Day (they grow up so fast). According to the event’s website, it was founded as:

“. . . a celebration of the unique culture surrounding over 700 independently owned record stores in the USA, and hundreds of similar stores internationally. . . [t]his the one day that all of the independently owned record stores come together with artists to celebrate the art of music.”
—Record Store Day.com/About Us

The first official Record Store Day was held at Rasputin Music in San Francisco on April 19, 2008, christened by none other than Metallica. It is now celebrated on the third Saturday of every April. This year it will be held on Saturday, April 17.

This year, Sonic Boom in Toronto, ON will be hosting various in-store performances by Sloan, Adam Green, The Meligrove Band, Metz, Buck 65, and Valery Gore, beginning at 3:00 p.m. Admission is free, but they encourage everyone to bring non-perishable food donations for the Daily Bread Food Bank, which is running low on inventory at this time.

Here are some shout-outs to favorite record stores from Popshifter readers and writers. Next time you’re in that town, be sure to check them out!
—Less Lee Moore

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WhedonFest 2010: A “Can’t Stop The Serenity” Weekend Event

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact information:

Cynthia O’Malley, Chair
Cindy@whedonitesunited.com

Joe Jordan, Vice-chair
Joe@whedonitesunited.com

WHEDONFEST 2010: A “CAN’T STOP THE SERENITY” WEEKEND EVENT

Joss Whedon fans reunite in Kentucky to raise money for Can’t Stop the Serenity Charity.

Whedonites United present their second annual Whedonfest, a weekend-long convention, to be held August 6-8 at Barefoot Republic in Scottsville, KY. All proceeds will be donated to charities designated by the Can’t the Stop the Serenity Global organization or Whedonites United.

Joss Whedon fans have repeatedly done the unlikely: turning a failed movie into a long-running and much-loved TV series (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), turning a canceled series into a movie destined to become a cult classic (Serenity), and then turning repeat screenings of that movie into a series of worldwide popular fund-raising events to keep the fandom alive while promoting gender equality (Can’t Stop the Serenity).
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Crudbump, NA$TYJAM$

By Adam McIntyre

The latest effort/persona from Drew (of Toothpaste For Dinner, Married To The Sea, and others): Crudbump.

Bathe in its magnificence. . . wait, did you hook up a subwoofer? I told you to hook up your subwoofer. Pretty sure I did tell you. You’re going to need it.
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Quantizing Your Pulse: The Heart Is A Drum Machine

By Adam McIntyre

“Why music?”

The Heart Is A Drum Machine attempts to answer that question in several ways with testimonials from musicians, actors, scientists, and doctors. Bookending the film are two little pieces with Ann Druyan, producer of the Cosmos television series (starring her husband, the late astrophysicist Carl Sagan) and the human responsible for choosing the music on the Golden Record included during the deep space probe of Voyager. Even if you don’t believe in life on other planets, including this record on Voyager is a gesture of poignant optimism; it’s entirely likely that the record would be damaged or misunderstood in purpose when discovered.
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Eight Bits To Hold You: Oxvylu’s Chiptunes

By Less Lee Moore

If you haven’t yet heard Oxvylu, here is the latest press release which should explain exactly WHY you SHOULD hear Oxvylu!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Oxvylu Recess EP – Free Music Download – April 9, 2010
Oxvylu invites you out to play with an all new RECESS EP release. Remember when RECESS was your favorite time of day, relive that bliss for 16 minutes while listening to “8-bit chiptunes” goodness. Every tune is short, bursting with playful melodies and retro videogaming nostalgia that will keep you listening every day. RECESS can also stand for ‘RECESSION’, but never fear! Download the entire RECESS album in mp3 format at absolutely no charge. Don’t keep this a secret and invite your friends out to play too. Take a break and enjoy your RECESS.

To download the free music, please visit http://www.oxvylu.com/recess
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DEVO Song Study: Press The Red Button If You Feel We Must Repeat

By Matt Keeley

DEVO’s been proven right about everything, and now they’ve joined with Mother LA to focus group the future.

DEVO has long been one of my favorite bands. In fact, my original art collective, TODCRA, was almost killed in the womb when the co-founder and I discovered that DEVO’d been basically saying everything we were saying, but in a much better way and for longer. (But given the Devolutionary Oath, we kept on keeping’ on.) And, luckily, DEVO have also kept on keeping’ on, whereas TODCRA eventually sacrificed itself so Kittysneezes may live.

Finally, after initial studies about color and whether or not people would hold the new song, “Fresh” with their feet, we’ve come to the meat of it: the Song Study!
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