Thursday, September 2, 2010
The Spin She & Him at The Ryman, 9/1/10
Posted by The Spin on Thu, Sep 2, 2010 at 2:24 PM
- Photo: Steve Cross
There's only one thing worse than the dreaded singer-to-actor crossover, and that's the actor-to-singer crossover. Lindsay Lohan, anyone? Jared Leto? How about J.Lo? Or the Kevins — Bacon and Costner?
Of course, Zooey Deschanel has already proved herself the exception to the rule, with two well-received albums by She & Him, her collaboration with M. Ward, under her belt. And to be sure, the plainly titled Volume One and Volume Two rest on their own slightly twee merits. Still, there was that lingering question: “If she wasn't Zooey Deschanel, would anyone give a damn?” The Spin was determined to find out, and what better way than to send one of its more clueless correspondents — who was familiar with neither She nor Him — to test the waters.
The Spin The Greenhornes at The Basement, 9/1/2010
Posted by The Spin on Thu, Sep 2, 2010 at 12:04 PM
Liner Notes Crystal Castles, American Bang, Cream Party, Riley & More: Inside This Week's Music Section
Posted by Steve Haruch on Thu, Sep 2, 2010 at 8:37 AM
Bang Galore: After years of doing the development-deal tango, American Bang finally get their major-label debut (Playing Thursday, 2nd at Mercy Lounge)
Hybrid Moment: After 39 years, Grandma's Roadhouse, Riley's long-lost country-rock gem, recorded in Mt. Juliet, gets a re-issue
Four Square: Nashville Cream turns 4, won't shut up about it (Nashville Cream Fourth Anniversary Party, Friday, 3rd at Exit/In feat. My So-Called Band, Tristen & Shaky Voices)
In The Spin: Chromeo at The Cannery, Bell Biv DeVoe at Limelight, Magic Kids at Grimey's
Plus Critics' Picks on Trina, Dylan LeBlanc, Strictly Social, the Musicians' Reunion Show and more
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
National Skyline R.I.P. Paste Magazine
Posted by Steve Haruch on Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 3:26 PM
Paste has thrown plenty of love Nashville's way during their eight-year stint, doting on the aforementioned Darlins, bestowing band-of-the-week honors on The Features, noting Grimey's among the nation's best record shops, recording JEFF the Brotherhood and naming Tristen among their "best of what's next."
Here's hoping for the best of whatever's next for the staff and contributors. Godspeed.
Creamtastic United Record Pressing Offers Free Test Pressings to Kickstarter Donators
Posted by D Patrick Rodgers on Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 1:44 PM
As it turns out, Nashville-based vinyl producers United Record Pressing have teamed up with Kickstarter to sweeten the pot for local music-supporting pledgers. They’ve agreed to give a free test pressing of the given band’s record to everyone who pledges at least $50 toward the cause. From their website:
If you're funding your vinyl pressing project through kickstarter.com just list "a free test pressing courtesy of United Record Pressing" among your offerings for people who donate $50 or more. Once you've done that, email the link to your page to united [at] urpressing [dot] com. This way we too will be able to see how many people have donated to your vinyl cause.
There you go. Donate 50 bones to the band you dig, and automatically get a test pressing of the record. Along with their announcement, United also makes mention of some artists — including locals Heartbeater, The Zut Alors, The Armed Forces, The One and Only Bill Davis and Thornton — currently working with URP to get their albums made.
Whatevs Downloading, Ben Folds, Pomplamoose, Crabs, Buckets and September [Newsy Bits]
Posted by Steve Haruch on Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 1:26 PM
* Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, who was governor of the great state of Washington when I lived there, was in town Monday to talk about music and downloading. Among the crowd of songwriters and industry types, there was apparently a lot of this mindset: "Maybe if we rebrand it as 'stealing' we can change the way people now fundamentally think about music in order to fit an old model that was more profitable for us, even though that has failed a billion times over." [WPLN & American Songwriter]
* "Crabs in tha Bucket" might be the best Nashville rap song from 1999 that you've never heard before. Rob Dee can spit. [YouTube]
* Yesterday I said to Gold, "Hey Gold, did you see Ben Folds did a video with Pomplamoose?" And he was like, "I don't know who Pump the Moose is." And I was like, "Don't you remember my post about the flat-affect effect?" And he was like, "Do you know what my favorite third song from the second encore of a Springsteen show in a year ending with an odd number is?" Anyway, Pomplamoose and their new BFF (get it?) did a vid for the song "Things You Think," from Foldy-pooh's collab with British writer and notedly begrudging feminist Nick Hornby. If you hate Pomplamoose, be sure to watch them giggle at the end! [The Daily Wh.at]
Cream Calendar The Greenhornes Tonight at The Basement
Posted by Steve Haruch on Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 8:58 AM
Garage bands were hard to tell apart in the actual garage-band era of the mid '60s, and it's no different today. What separates The Greenhornes from the pack isn't their competent-plus songs or the deadpan singing of frontman Craig Fox. What makes the group special is the playing of Fox and the rhythm section — drummer Patrick Keeler keeps everything on the edge and in the pocket, while bassist Jack Lawrence defines nearly every performance with his melodic lines. After moving to Nashville from the band's Cincinnati home, Lawrence and Keeler played with Jack White in The Raconteurs (and Lawrence with The Dead Weather, as well) before getting back together with Fox to revive The Greenhornes — expect a new full-length, Four Stars, in October. When they nail it, as on the 2005 track “I'm Going Away," these guys sound as songful as The Flamin' Groovies, and that's beyond the reach of the average garage rocker.
9 p.m. at The Basement. Carl Broemel (of My Morning Jacket) opens.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Hot Goss Memphis' House of Blues Recording Studio Is Moving to Nashville ... Literally. Seriously, Literally
Posted by D Patrick Rodgers on Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 4:32 PM
My Fox Memphis reports that House of Blues' famed Studio D will soon be moving to Nashville. And by "moving," I don't mean, "OK, let's gather up all this stuff and put it in a new building." Oh no, I quite literally mean "moving." The building is being transported up I-40 via wide-load truck. The report makes no mention of where the building will end up, but deductive reasoning leads me to believe it will be transplanted alongside House of Blues Nashville's other buildings — HOB Nashville's website calls the Berry Hill complex a "three, soon to be four-building facility."
HOB's Mike Paragone notes that artists as diverse as The Bar-Kays (!), Collective Soul and Matchbox Twenty have recorded at the Memphis location. Hey ... remember when The Spin spotted half of Matchbox Twenty at Patterson House? Yeah, that almost certainly has absolutely nothing to do with this move. Anyhow, "sour note" for Memphis' music scene, but a welcome addition to Music City.
The Spin Magic Kids at Grimey's, 8/30/10
Posted by The Spin on Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 4:28 PM
- Photo: Diana Lee Zadlo
It's easy to take Grimey's in-stores for granted. As many times as we've seen a band like Surfer Blood shut the place down because it's so jammed with fans, we've also seen a handful of people awkwardly milling about while Tyler Ramsey attempted to sway us from the pre-loved CD rack with a Jackson Browne cover. We have no clue what will draw folks out of their holes sometimes, but we had a good feeling about Magic Kids.
Moving Pictures Kyle Andrews' Kangaroo EP out Today; Fresh Vid for 'You Always Make Me Smile' and Release Show Sept. 3
Posted by D Patrick Rodgers on Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 3:21 PM
Are you ready for the Kyle Andrews multimedia onslaught?! His brand-new EP, Kangaroo, is out today on Elephant Lady Records, and he's playing a release show at Mercy Lounge on Sept. 3. Look for my Critic's Pick in this week's forthcoming glossy. (Sneak preview: I call Andrews "sweetly doleful but uplifting.")
You might recall that "You Always Make Me Smile" was selected as the soundtrack for Holiday Inn's national "Stay You" ad campaign. Well, now Kyle's got the above video to accompany the song, which allegedly is a "world record-breaking" one, featuring "120,000 balloons and 4,000 people." Filter Magazine is also featuring a free download of the tune "Lov3r" from Kangaroo.
