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(photo by Caleb Beyers)
“Arrow,” by New Pornographers’ Kathryn Calder, from her debut solo record Are You My Mother.
Dean and Britta
13 Most Beautiful: Songs For Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests
Double Feature Records
By David Chiu
It seems appropriate that Andy Warhol’s famous black-and-white screen tests from the ‘60s—which featured Factory regulars such as Lou Reed, Nico, Billy Name and Mary Woronov—is given a musical score by Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips, who were commissioned by the Andy Warhol Museum for this project. Both artists were formerly in the indie band Luna, whose hazy and dreamy music certainly reflected the influence of the Velvet Underground, the house band for Warhol’s Factory. Each song on this musically-eclectic collection is devoted to a particular participant filmed for his or her screen test. For Lou Reed, the duo a cover a rare VU song, “Not a Young Man Anymore,” which surprisingly incorporates electronic beats. “I’ll Keep It With Mine,” a Dylan tune sung with beautiful elegance by Phillips as it befits the mysterious chanteuse Nico. Equally given a poignant performance is “It Don’t Rain in Beverly Hills,” voiced by Dean Wareham, for the iconic Edie Sedgwick. Between straightforward VU-influenced rock (“Herringbone Tweed”) and electronic influences (“Richard Rheem Theme,” “I Found It Not So”), the music captures the spirit of that era. Wareham and Phillips’ music adds further dimension and voice to Warhol’s cutting-edge works.
(Photo by David Chiu)
Metric
Prospect Park, Brooklyn
Aug. 5, 2010
Review by David Chiu
During their rocking show last night in Brooklyn, Canadian rock band Metric performed a song called “Stadium Love.” Although the setting was a park, the band members played like arena rockers delivering a taut performance one after the other. A good portion of the set drew from Metric’s most recent and terrific album, Fantasies, and the live renditions of its songs did not disappoint: “Help I’m Alive,” “Gimme Sympathy,” the aforementioned “Stadium Love” and “Sick Muse.” The other songs from the show drew from the band’s previous records that included “Combat Baby,” “Monster Hospital” and “Empty.” Singer Emily Haines was definitely the focal point as she pranced around the stage and fiddled with the keyboards; the other band members didn’t exactly slack off as they too delivered with bombast. Metric’s dazzling performance reverberated throughout the park-it might have well been at a stadium.
(photo by David Chiu)
(photo by Wattie Cheung)
“Sex with an X” the title song of the Vaselines’ new album, coming out Sept. 14.
(photo courtesy of Big Hassle)
“Split Minute,” from Darker My Love’s new album “Alive As You Are,” due out Aug. 17.
Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Seven and the Ragged Tiger
Capitol/EMI
By David Chiu
Two of Duran Duran’s best early albums have been recently reissued as expanded editions with a bonus disc of music and a DVD of performances and videos. It’s certainly to whet the appetites of fans as they wait for the upcoming new Mark Ronson-produced studio album.
The self-titled debut album from 1981 wasn’t a breakthrough hit in America—that would come on the next record Rio—but it contained two of the band’s popular songs: “Girls on Film” and “Planet Earth.” Duran Duran the album was a distillation of the music at the time, especially their influences Roxy Music, David Bowie, Chic and electropop. Merging disco, punk (i.e. “Careless Memories”) and stylish fashion, the band ushered in the “new romantic” era (and even coined the term on “Planet Earth”). Duran Duran set the tone for the mania to come. Additional tracks on the special edition include a cover of Bowie’s Fame and “night versions” of Duran Duran’s songs, plus music videos—among them the infamous sexy “Girls on Film.”
By 1983, Duran Duran were the biggest band on the planet and Seven and the Ragged Tiger solidified their popularity. It yielded a trio of Duran’s biggest hits: “The Reflex,” “Union of the Snake” and “New Moon on Monday”; still, there’s more to Seven than just those songs—tracks like “Shadows Are On Your Side” and “I Take the Dice” could have been potential hits. The accompanying second disc to this reissue rightfully tacks on the brilliant single “Is There Something I Should Know” while the DVD contains the videos of the album’s three released singles, including the “New Moon on Monday” film.
R.E.M.
Fables of the Reconstruction
IRS/Capitol
By David Chiu
Following the recent expanded editions of Murmur and Reckoning, R.E.M.’s third album, 1985’s Fables of the Reconstruction, is given the deluxe treatment as a lavishly, packaged two-disc set. While it may not be a stylistic departure from the band’s first two albums, Fables (produced by Joe Boyd) maintains the early R.E.M. sound of jangly pop that echoes Big Star and the Byrds. The album is best known for the classic pair “Driver 8” and the funky “Can’t Get There From Here,” but the rest of the album’s songs should not be overlooked, especially “Feeling Gravity’s Pull” (with its ominous yet irresistible opening guitar line) “Old Man Kensey,” the elegant ballad “Wendell Gee,” and “Kohoutek.” The second disc contains demos of the album’s songs and a previously unreleased track, “Throw Those Trolls Away.”
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
Couldn’t Stand the Weather: Legacy Edition
Epic/Legacy
By David Chiu
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble’s 1984 masterpiece, Couldn’t Stand the Weather, is blistering blues rock at its finest. It balances between some groovy funk (the title track, “Honey Bee”) and gut-wrenching soulful ballads (“The Things That I Used to Do,”” showcasing the guitarist’s fluid lines, Tin Pan Alley); Vaughan’s version of Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” absolutely smokes –it’s untouchable. This new deluxe version of an already great album is augmented by an excellent previously unreleased 1984 show in Montreal, and bonus studio tracks including a different version of “The Sky Is Crying,” the classic standard “Hide Away,” and an alternate take of “Stan’s Swang.”
My friend Paula from the cool blog Ad hoc MOM is sponsoring a “Date Night Give Away!”, in which you can win two tickets to see singer Eli “Paperboy” Reed at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City on Aug. 11. The package also includes a CD and a $50.00 AMEX gift card.
Click HERE for complete details from Ad hoc MOM:
