Filed under: Editor Picks, Industry News, Uncategorized | Tags: Devendra Banhart
Devendra Banhart's new video features a few good acts
While everyone has been going insane over the new Gaga video, the real artists have been putting out some work we can actually enjoy. The very awesome and much beloved Devendra Banhart has finally collaborated with MGMT‘s Andrew VanWyngarden and the Strokes‘Fabrizio Moretti to grace the public with a very trippy and very fun piece. Animated aliens, cigarette shaped spaceship, a butt-hole planet, a baby and a few visuals you have to see to believe, simply scratch the surface of the genius Banhart personifies.
Check out the video here
–Irina Dvalidze
Filed under: Genre Columns, Indie Rock, Industry News | Tags: Arctic Monkeys, Bono, Coldplay, Glastonbury, Halo, Joshua Tree, Kings of Leon, Michael Eavis, Monterey, No Line on the Horizon, Radiohead, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, U2, V, Woodstock, Worthy Farm
U2 are looking more and more like aging Irish Porn Stars
PREVIEW: LISTEN to U2’s “No Line on the Horizon”
Just when you thought aging, self-absorbed rock stars couldn’t be more agonizingly full of themselves as displayed in the upcoming TV special of the 25th Annual Rock Hall of Fame Awards/concerts — U2 strikes again in destroying everything that’s halfway decent about popular Rock music by headlining England’s Glastonbury 2010 Music Festival.
Despite the poor sales of this once-great band’s most recent album No Line on the Horizon, U2 still don’t know when to quit. Since playing on top of buildings in London and causing a carefully orchestrated and televised stir earlier this year didn’t work, perhaps Bono figures that their spanking new songs will resonate with an audience whose only relation to the band is that their parents had Joshua Tree playing in the background during their conception. Continue reading
Filed under: Industry News | Tags: Amber Tamblyn, Ben Gibbard, Big Sur, Death Cab for Cutie, Jack Kerouac, Jay Farrar, News of Note, Patti Smith, Robert Hunter Son Volt, Sam Shepard, the Postal Service, Tom Waits
Ben Gibbard and Jay Farrar Soundtrack Documentary One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur.
PREVIEW: Download Death Cab for Cutie’s “Summer Skin” MP3
WATCH: Video below the jump
We all know that Ben Gibbard has incomparable musical talent. Be it his work with Death Cab for Cutie, or side projects like Postal Service that get us permanently addicted, it appears he can do no wrong. Gibbard has cited Jack Kerouac as a major influence on his work before and has now found a perfect outlet to pay his dues.
What started out as a small collaboration with Jay Farrar of Son Volt — in 2007 for upcoming Jack Kerouac documentary One Fast Move or I’m Gone: Kerouac’s Big Sur — has escalated into a full-length soundtrack of the same title. The album will accompany the DVD release in a special edition, aside from individual release.
With this project, Farrar and Gibbard directly tap into the heart of Kerouac’s work — taking the eerie, lingering lyrics straight off the pages of Big Sur (1962) — and merging them with folky acoustic melodies. Aside from creating the music, the duo also appear in the film. The film includes quite an assortment of artists (film and music), who have been influenced by Kerouac. Tom Waits, Sam Shepard, Robert Hunter of the Grateful Dead, Patti Smith and even Amber Tamblyn (yes, even the girl from the Traveling Pants movie), just to name a few. Continue reading
Filed under: Industry News | Tags: Air, Astralwerks, Jean-Benoît Dunckel, Love 2, News of Note, Nicolas Godin
AIR releases new live studio recording of "Do the Joy"
PREVIEW: Download AIR “Do the Joy”MP3
WATCH: Video below the jump
So all you AIR fans have been patiently waiting for the band’s new album Love 2 set for release October 6 on Astralwerks. Thankfully, out of the generosity of their hearts, Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel have been releasing small glimpses of what to expect from it.
“Do the Joy,” the first single was released as a complimentary download to existing AIR newsletter subscribers. Earlier this week the band published the live studio recording of “Do the Joy” at aircheology.com. Love 2 is the first album created at their own recording facility, Atlas Studio. If you are interested in where these guys make the music, make sure to check out the video at aircheology.com. Continue reading
Filed under: (500) Days of Summer, Industry News | Tags: (500) Days of Summer, Hall & Oates'., John Belushi, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marc Webb, News of Note, She and Him, Zooey Deschanel
Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel dance to She & Him in the new video
PREVIEW: Download She & Him’s “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?” MP3
RELATED COVERAGE: 20 Watts Reviews (500) Days of Summer OST
WATCH: Video below the jump
A bank heist, 1960s hoop skirts and a pair of John Belushi glasses is a perfect recipe for yet another treat from the instant classic, (500) Days of Summer. Just two weeks ago, 20 Watts raved about the film’s soundtrack, but it seems that album was just a taste of what this project had to offer.
The film has undeniably succeeded with audiences since its limited release two weeks ago. To mark the nationwide release, the filmmakers put together a music video starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel. Impeccably choreographed, the video is set to Deschanel’s She & Him song “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?”
Now, we all know that Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel not only have perfect chemistry on screen but can also rock some stylish vintage wear. It’s not exactly shocking that they make intense choreography seem like a stroll in the park.
(500) Days of Summer was director Marc Webb’s transition to film. A veteran music video director, it is only natural that he shot this video. However, Deschanel is credited as the original mastermind, inspired by Gordon-Levitt’s Hall & Oates’ dance sequence in the film. Continue reading
Filed under: Industry News | Tags: Beck The Velvet Underground & Nico Covers, Devendra Banhart, MGMT
Beck's Record Club Project is uninspiring thus far
Last month, Beck announced on his Web site that he would be starting a new Internet project. The collaborative project, entitled The Record Club, planned to pair artists such as MGMT and Devendra Banhart to re-record classic albums in one day without practicing beforehand. Once the Web site was ready, The Record Club would release one track a week beginning with The Velvet Underground & Nico album. Cool plan, right?
Not so much. The idea is interesting in theory, but it doesn’t really work in practice. The Record Club is already four tracks into the Underground album — you can see some cuts on Vimeo — and so far, it’s just uninspiring.
To quote Juno MacGuff: “It’s just noise.”
The point of re-recording a song is to add something, or make it better than the original. That’s not happening and on top of that, the production quality is very low. The music sounds choppy and it’s hard to understand what’s going on.
Then again Beck is known for his revolutionary approach to music. Perhaps his intent in covering these albums will become apparent with more listening — and Beck does know how to cover a song. It will be interesting to see which album he chooses next.
—Ashley Collman
Filed under: Editor Picks, Industry News, Scene Around Town | Tags: concert coverage, Dirty Projectors, Japandroids, M83, Magnolia Electric Co., Micachu and The Shapes, Real Estate, the Raveonettes, Tiny Masters of Today, Wavves, White Denim
The Village Voice's Siren Festival is this Saturday at Coney Island
Every Monday, we’re going to keep you guys updated with 20 Watts’ weekly concert picks in New York this summer and Syracuse during the school year. There are always awesome shows in the city, and most of this week’s are the best kind — the free ones.
1) Dirty Projectors, Williamsburg Waterfront at 2 p.m. on July 19th [FREE!]
The Dirty Projectors are one of the hottest indie rock bands this summer and this concert is especially interesting, considering it’s one of their first since suffering a car crash in Michigan last months. The opening acts will be Magnolia Electric Co. and White Denim.
2) M83‘s Anthony Gonzalez, World Financial Center Winter Garden at 9 p.m. on July 14th [FREE!]
No it’s not the whole band, but one member of M83 is better than none. Anthony Gonzalez will accompany a production by video artist Janet Biggs — the shoegazing at this concert should be well worth the trip downtown.
3) Village Voice’s Siren Music Festival, Coney Island from 12 to 9 p.m. on July 18th [FREE!]
We’re most excited for Japandroids, Micachu and the Shapes, The Raveonettes and the Tiny Masters of Today. There also a bunch of other under-the-radar groups if you check out the websitel.
4) Wavves and Real Estate, Bowery Ballroom at 7 p.m. on July 15th [$13 in advance and $15 at the door]
This is the riskiest show of them all. Wavves is coming off a meltdown in Barcelona, Spain — so the show could suck, or you could witness Wavves’ reawakening. Real Estate, however, is worth checking out.
****UPDATE: According to Brooklyn Vegan, Wavves frontman Nathan Williams broke his wrist skateboarding recently but is still scheduled to play the Bowery Ballroom show. That’s bad ass.****
— Jett Wells, Editor-in-Chief
20 Watts 