Hey ya funky junky monkey,Sorry, I ben listenin' to a lotta da Beastie Boys over da last couple o' days. So how's tricks, ya reprobates! How's things in yer life? Things're goin' great fer me, an' I think this week's SWAG Report proves it – I got some primo gear fo' ya inn'ere. Like, dis week, I nabbed'at new tune from from Jack White – "Love Interruption." I know whatcher thinkin' junkie, "So what? That's not a 'win it before...
It's easy enough to get a bit cynical at the thought of a rock band inciting hysteria at a concert in the twenty-first century. It's not uncommon to assume that, for some bands, the joy of music-making and the thrill of presenting that work on stage is a bit overstated; there have been more than a few bands who have likened the act of stepping on stage to punching a time card at the beginning of a shift in a...
Bill Adams vs Mark Sasso of Elliott BROOD BA: …I don't know if I remembered to say congratulations on the show the other night, but it was pretty great and remarkable that you pulled it out like you did.MS: Thanks! Yeah – it was pretty good. BA: I thought it was great. MS: Well, that's kind of our show, really. We view ourselves as entertainers and, the way we look at it, we've invited these people over so we want...
Let it never be said that hard work doesn't eventually get rewarded. For the last eighteen years, Israeli punks Useless ID have released albums and toured at a tireless rate and built a devoted fanbase (among which Jello Biafra numbers himself) which each successive move they've made. There's no doubt it must have been a hard road for the band (UI is often referred to as Israel's most successful punk band – but doesn't mean the amount of exposure they've...
While it's true that rock history sports no shortage of great but widely overlooked or underrated bands (the 1980s proved to be full of them), sometimes it's just impossible to decide how it could have happened – what averted the public's attention so completely – that a fantastic record passed through completely unnoticed. Like, in 2002, what was going on that The Blank Fight's only album got overlooked? That particular year – while mainstream audiences were justifiably diverted from the...
After so many years of Van Halen actively holding the possibility of a reunion with David Lee Roth in front of fans like a carrot only to pull it away when it looked like they might get excited, can anyone blame those spurned supporters for not wanting to play along anymore? In the last sixteen years, Roth has passed through the “frontman” position with a facility akin to both entering and exiting a revolving door, but hasn't actually accomplished much...
Awright Junky, Yeahyeahyeah, I know whatcher thinkin'. My bag o' SWAG is a little lighta dis week right? Yeah, I heardja, but ya know what? What I missed out in quantity, I made up for in quality – le's get inta da SWAG Report. Once agin dis week, I nabbed a tune dat both ol' fi' dollar Billy an' me c'n agree on, annit's da las' one onn'is list, so le's start d'ere. I nabbed da secon' song onna new...
Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, has entered into a historic new record deal with American legend and innovator Willie Nelson. The deal marks a label homecoming for Nelson, who, from 1975-1993, cut a phenomenal string of top-selling singles and albums for Columbia Records, beginning with 1975's seminal smash Red Headed Stranger. Forthcoming Willie Nelson titles under the Legacy imprint will include newly recorded songs and performances as well as archival releases, personally curated by the artist,...
It’s difficult to judge Lana Del Rey’s record without addressing the media hype that has surrounded her for the past six months. If you haven't heard, just type her name into Google; you’ll find blogger backlash about her image change, a highly criticized performance on Saturday Night Live and, in popular opinion, a general lack of talent – but the truth is that Del Rey is not untalented. Her singing is good (not great), she’s attractive and has style; the...
If there’s a canon of musicians who craft music driven by experimentations in sound – Dirty Projectors, Animal Collective, Tune-Yards – it would only make sense to add Gotye to that list. Gotye (pronounced “gore-ti-yeah,” or “Gaultier,” as in the fashion designer Jean Paul) is the moniker of Wally De Backer, the Belgian-born Australian musician who also plays in the Melbourne-based band The Basics. While Gotye has released two albums in Australia, including 2006’s Like Drawing Blood, he’s...