Outside Lands Festival. August 10, 11, 12

This party at Golden Gate Park has been going since 2008. San Francisco. Pay attention to the DJ Dome. Tickets are about to go on sale (4/19)

Alabama Shakes | Allen Stone | Amadou & Mariam (French) | Andrew Bird | Animal Kingdom | Beck | Big Boi | Big Gigantic | Bloc Party | Bomba Estereo | Caveman++ | City and Colour | Die Antwoord | Dirty Dozen Brass Band | Dispatch | Dr. Dog | Electric Guest (new album, April 24) | Explosions In The Sky | Father John Misty (see their 3-hour non-music film) | Fitz and the Tantrums | Foo Fighters | Franz Ferdinand | Fun. | Geographer | Grandaddy | Honey Island Swamp Band | Jack White | Jovanotti | Justice | Metallica | Michael Kiwanuka | Mimosa | MSTRKRFT | Neil Young & Crazy Horse (together again, new album, June 5) | Norah Jones | Of Monsters and Men** | Papa | Passion Pit** | Portugal. The Man. | Rebelution (look at them with their triple album!) | Reggie Watts | Regina Spektor | Santigold | Sean Hayes | Sharon Van Etten | Sigur Ros | Skrillex | Stevie Wonder | Tame Impala | Tanlines++ | Tennis | The Be Good Tanyas | The Kills | The M Machine | The Oh Sees | The Walkmen | Trampled by Turtles | Two Gallants | Wallpaper | Washed Out** | White Denim | Wolfgang Gartner | Yacht | Yellow Ostrich** | Zola Jesus++.

** also playing at Lollapalooza
@@@ also playing Bonnaroo
++ also played Rhapsody Rocks Austin

All that in relatively tiny Golden Gate Park. Serious foods and wine, too.

I’m starting to understand why Axl Rose may have included that Charles Manson song on the Spaghetti Incident? release. They’re both fucking crazy. Manson directed his destruction outward, Rose’s destruction is all directed inward.

Have some fucking fun man. Fuck. Go attend Saturday’s Rock N Roll Hall of Fame induction. Yeah, you have to visit Cleveland, but still….

I haven’t been following all the ins and outs and travails of Guns ‘n’ Roses past or present in recent years. Guilty. But, fuck Axl, you had some accomplishments and GnR once ruled the world – acknowledged with talent AND respect. Not you by yourself but with a tight unit of talented people – especially in the early years – who loved you and yes, you created beautiful music together.

Don’t cry about not wanting to get on stage with people who may have said some nasty wasty things about your behavior – or the ultimately disappointing Chinese Democracy. And don’t refuse to be inducted because you’ve somehow got it stuck in your mind that you’re achieving anything by doing so. If you don’t like the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, that’s different, because it’s pretty fucking useless and the standard bearer for oxymoron. But you’re not saying that.

Do two things for self-respect. Lose some fucking weight, because you might be losing your mental edge but you don’t have to lose everything. And two, show up to the fucking ceremony you big baby. Whose music I love. I couldn’t give a shit if anyone’s inducted to the fucking place – whatever. But if you do something, and you may respect this, do it for a good fucking reason otherwise you’re just wasting everyone’s time. Like the 10 minutes it’s taken to write this for a start.

Axl Rose wrote the following letter to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame saying, “na-ah” and “I donwanna.”

To: The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, Guns N’ Roses Fans and Whom It May Concern,

When the nominations for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame were first announced I had mixed emotions but, in an effort to be positive, wanting to make the most of things for the fans and with their enthusiasm, I was honored, excited and hoped that somehow this would be a good thing. Of course I realized as things stood, if Guns N’ Roses were to be inducted it’d be somewhat of a complicated or awkward situation.

Since then we’ve listened to fans, talked with members of the board of the Hall Of Fame, communicated with and read various public comments and jabs from former members of Guns N’ Roses, had discussions with the president of the Hall Of Fame, read various press (some legit, some contrived) and read other artists’ comments weighing in publicly on Guns and the Hall with their thoughts.

Under the circumstances I feel we’ve been polite, courteous, and open to an amicable solution in our efforts to work something out. Taking into consideration the history of Guns N’ Roses, those who plan to attend along with those the Hall for reasons of their own, have chosen to include in “our” induction (that for the record are decisions I don’t agree with, support or feel the Hall has any right to make), and how (albeit no easy task) those involved with the Hall have handled things… no offense meant to anyone but the Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony doesn’t appear to be somewhere I’m actually wanted or respected.

For the record, I would not begrudge anyone from Guns their accomplishments or recognition for such. Neither I or anyone in my camp has made any requests or demands of the Hall Of Fame. It’s their show not mine.

That said, I won’t be attending The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction 2012 Ceremony and I respectfully decline my induction as a member of Guns N’ Roses to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

I strongly request that I not be inducted in absentia and please know that no one is authorized nor may anyone be permitted to accept any induction for me or speak on my behalf. Neither former members, label representatives nor the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame should imply whether directly, indirectly or by omission that I am included in any purported induction of “Guns N’ Roses”.

This decision is personal. This letter is to help clarify things from my and my camp’s perspective. Neither is meant to offend, attack or condemn. Though unfortunately I’m sure there will be those who take offense (God knows how long I’ll have to contend with the fallout), I certainly don’t intend to disappoint anyone, especially the fans, with this decision. Since the announcement of the nomination we’ve actively sought out a solution to what, with all things considered, appears to be a no win, at least for me, “damned if I do, damned if I don’t” scenario all the way around.

In regard to a reunion of any kind of either the Appetite or Illusion lineups, I’ve publicly made myself more than clear. Nothing’s changed.

The only reason, at this point, under the circumstances, in my opinion whether under the guise of “for the fans” or whatever justification of the moment, for anyone to continue to ask, suggest or demand a reunion are misguided attempts to distract from our efforts with our current lineup of myself, Dizzy Reed, Tommy Stinson, Frank Ferrer, Richard Fortus, Chris Pitman, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal and DJ Ashba.

Izzy came out with us a few times back in ’06 and I invited him to join us at our LA Forum show last year. Steven was at our show at the Hard Rock, later in ’06 in Las Vegas, where I invited him to our after-party and was rewarded with his subsequent interviews filled with reunion lies. Lesson learned. Duff joined us in 2010 and again in ’11 along with his band, Loaded, opening in Seattle and Vancouver. For me, with the exception of Izzy or Duff joining us on stage if they were so inclined somewhere in the future for a song or two, that’s enough.

There’s a seemingly endless amount of revisionism and fantasies out there for the sake of self-promotion and business opportunities masking the actual realities. Until every single one of those generating from or originating with the earlier lineups has been brought out in the light, there isn’t room to consider a conversation let alone a reunion.

Maybe if it were you it’d be different. Maybe you’d do it for this reason or that. Peace, whatever. I love our band now. We’re there for each other when the going get’s rough. We love our fans and work to give them every ounce of energy and heart we can.

So let sleeping dogs lie or lying dogs sleep or whatever. Time to move on. People get divorced. Life doesn’t owe you your own personal happy ending especially at another’s, or in this case several others’, expense.

But hey if ya gotta then maybe we can get the “no show, grandstanding, publicity stunt, disrespectful, he doesn’t care about the fans” crap out of the way as quickly as we can and let’s move on. No one’s taking the ball and going home. Don’t get it twisted. For more than a decade and a half we’ve endured the double standards, the greed of this industry and the ever present seemingly limitless supply of wannabes and unscrupulous, irresponsible media types. Not to imply anything in this particular circumstance, but from my perspective in regard to both the Hall and a reunion, the ball’s never been in our court.

In closing, regardless of this decision and as hard to believe or as ironic as it may seem, I’d like to sincerely thank the board for their nomination and their votes for Guns’ induction. More importantly I’d like to thank the fans for being there over the years, making any success we’ve had possible and for enjoying and supporting Guns N’ Roses music.

I wish the Hall a great show, congratulations to all the other artists being inducted and to our fans we look forward to seeing you on tour!!

Sincerely,
Axl Rose

P.S. RIP Armand, Long Live ABC III

GOOD GIRL: The opening spoken words of “Girl Gone Wild” obviously are reminiscent of “Like A Prayer.” It also makes me think a Madonna audiobook would be worthy. BAD GIRL: The cited 808 drums are flat, the lyrics are uninspired and the “I’m like, hey, heyeyeyeh.” I don’t want to listen to it again.

GOOD GIRL: I giggled when Madge said, “Bang. Bang. Shut your dick.” That humor only slightly receded when I realized she was actually saying. “Gang. Bang. Shot you dead,” … in the head. The bass line from “Gang Bang.” started with close echoes of Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s “Relax.” This song maintains it’s malignancy and malevolence throughout and the Bass Nectar electro-throat-clearing sound is one I love and never gets old. One of the best lyrics of the night: “I’m going straight to hell .. and I’ve got a lot of friends there.”

GOOD GIRL: I wish. BAD GIRL: You know that feeling when everything’s going right and you’re sailing through the day, the pictures you see before you are dreams come true, the world is in your hand, nothing could ever stop you and if you saw anything that would even try, your smile devastates the attempt crushingly, but still somehow does it peacefully?

“I”m Addicted” fails at this. You know you’re in trouble as a musical innovator when Ke$ha (“Your Love Is My Drug”) sounds a thousand times more refreshing. No compulsion remains. “I’m Addicted” is forgettable.

BAD GIRL: “Turn Up the Radio.” Ditto all the way and for brevity’s sake let’s throw in “Love Spent” and “Beautiful Killer” (such potential in the title though) and “Best Friend.” I would never willingly listen to this or these songs again. I like to think, boom boxes playing on the steps around Madonna’s neighborhood inspired her fondness for radio. I’m being dismissive of some of the songs here, and I don’t necessarily mean to be. There’s just songs that are antithetic to instantaneous inspiration for anyone else with an urge to get up and dance.

GOOD GIRL: Madonna’s spoken voice seems to slow down motion and notch up emotion. Which is a good thing. “Some Girls” is simply constructed with a healthy amount of spoken-singing” and when she sings “Some girls are not like me” it rings strong and true. Madonna has always been a force and this song, highlights every reason why.

GOOD GIRL: Twenty-something years ago, there was an English band called Transvision Vamp. They had a smoking hot lead singer, blonde, pity lips, husky voice. Wendy James was amazing. Somehow she even got Elton John to collaborate with her when she finally released a solo album. Her song overflowed with pop culture references; Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, the usual bland-by-repetition suspects. Now, even though Madonna did it first with Vogue, I think of Transvision Vamp when I hear something like this CD’s “Superstar.” (and am eternally grateful for the non-namedropping Sonic Youth song of the same name via The Carpenters). It seemed a little desperate when Wendy did it. and even though this song is an ironic take on celebrity, it just seems pointless for Madonna to hit the same cultural touchstones decades later. You think there’d be some progress, as if Madonna herself had actually made a difference. Surely she could have named off many others who, since “Vogue,” were heroes and her personal superstars along the way.

Or maybe I’m over-thinking it? Fuck it. The song’s actually OK.

GOOD GIRL: “I tried to be a good girl. I tried to be your wife. Diminish myself and swallowed my life. I tried to become all that you expect of me. And if it was a failure, I don’t give a ….” Hands down the best insight into what and where Madonna’s at personally and professionally. BAD GIRL: Nicki Minaj. When I just listen to Nicki I like her. Betty Boo, Monie Love, Pepsi & Shirley (yeah, OK a stretch), Wee Papa Girl Rappers; Lady Sovereign. One thing that brings all these British female rappers together is a sense of humor. But even trying to take that into account, it’s just ugly that Nicky Manaj tried – in a similar guest spot – to put a spin on and steal one of Jaz-Z’s best lines – I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man!.” She said substituting “businesswoman, business, woman.” And I’m known for giving bitches the business, woman.” Ten years (months?) from now Minaj is going to look back at her career and its this this moment she’ll want to take back above all others.

GOOD GIRL: I appreciate the sentiment is “I’m A Sinner” and a trend here seems to be the songs that seem most autobiographical are the best; as if Madonna tried and pushed others harder when she knew she had something important / meaningful to say. Madonna has religiosity in her DNA. The beat doesn’t quite carry it for me, though it’s close to it and grows with repeated listens. The saint name dropping got me looking at who they were and why they were chosen for the song. A remix would be heavenly and what I’m calling the bounce-bounce drums throughout – and especially about 4 minutes in – need to be repeated often in this flight of fancy remix or anywhere. BAD GIRL: Could be about two minutes shorter. Can anyone think of a quality song that has “Woo-a-woo. Woo-a-woo” in it?

GOOD GIRL: Like a bad painting, “Masterpiece” strives for meaning and only succeeds in straining a metaphor. It is the album’s first and best ballad, and I wanted to like it, wanted to love it like I loved “La Isla Bonita” but the wave of adoration died before it got to the beach.

GOOD GIRL: “Falling Free” throws back to the thoughtful, soft and slow sounds of “Love Tried To Welcome Me” “Something to Remember” or “Inside of Me.” Gentle approaches to life all. Each can hit the perfect note to settle moments of discord. This one – for me at least – is just a little too slow. Strings always do well matched with Madonna’s voice and this is almost .. almost .. an instrumental. A lot of layers, where her voice floats among the cells.

GOOD GIRL: “I Fucked Up.” On balance this should have just been a poem. As a song overall it’s slow, it comes across as trite and stillborn with meaning. Most of the second half of the song speeds up and teases with a pulse, but falls back into, shrug.

GOOD GIRL: Finally, someone is having fun up in this shit. I wasn’t sure if it was going to happen. “B-Day” finds the child-like delight of discovery, of easy amusement and the unforced ignorance of a toddler’s naivety. “Nana nana na” beats “woo-a-woo” any day of the week.

So, I watched the Super Bowl halftime show, and thought she did great, really put on a show, and had fun. And, tottering around, Madonna looked old. Even if you can blame high heels, the end look was the same.

MDNA seems largely Bad Girl, and not in the good way. Producer Martin Solveig produced 6 of the CDs 17 tracks: “Turn Up The Radio” “Give Me all Your Luvin’” “I Don’t Give A…” “Beautiful Killer” “I Fucked Up” and “B-Day.” He clearly loves her and thinks she’s a musical goddess. Many do. I think she used to have a more focused direction, and even though Madonna undoubtedly likes all these songs and the sound he injects, the high BPM no longer pitches right coming from her.

There is enough here to hold onto, and there’s enough here – as always – to make a person wonder what she’s going to do next.

Who’s licking their Goldfingers?

Face To Face and Goldfinger headline The Great American Barbecue & Beer Festival this Saturday in Chandler, AZ., noon to 8pm.

A total of 12 acts will sweat their chops on two stages. Together with 200 kegs and 20,000 pounds of meat in a BBQ off, it’s going to be a tasty party. Thrown in a custom bike show (win a Casa Grande, AZ Saxon Warlord motorcycle) and a kidzone for youngster play.

Billed as a family-friendly event, that doesn’t mean the tunes are lame. Face to Face punks it out. Goldfinger, who’ve been around almost 20 years, rips out ska punk for the masses. Riverside’s Voodoo Glow Skulls and Buck-O-Nine round out the main stage.

It’s the local stage that promises even more revelation and reverberation with tastes of: Versions of You, Howard ‘Til Midnight, Milhouse, Ethan 103, CC Beats, The Frogstranglers, The Andys, Rainafire, Pride Through Strife, Inept Hero, and Bird City.

Strumming along in between are Johnny Lee, Walky Talky and The Collective

$10 gets you in to the event @ Dr. AJ Chandler Park (map, S. Arizona Ave & E. Chandler Blvd.) with kids 12 and under get in free. Go to ChandlerBBQ for more details.

Van Halen – Long Version Trailer from Van Halen on Vimeo.

Can the best Van Halen frontman bring it like he did in the early 1980s? Just reading that sentence over, the likelihood seems very low. Tickets are expected to be $60+. David Lee Roth left the band in 1985 and Sammy Hagar became the face and voice of the band, with Eddie and Alex. Eddie’s son Wolfgang, 20, will play on bass.

I met Julio, one of Ms. Sariñana’s concert promoters, Sunday at a friends house and my ears perk up whenever I hear a name I haven’t heard before. Then I heard her husky voice dominating a playful pop beat and wanted others to know more.

Sariñana is already a success in her home country, Mexico. She doesn’t look manufactured (even though she was a child actress); you’re catching someone who’s just here and there to enjoy the music. Sariñana, lives in Mexico, sings in both English and Spanish and seems comfortable in her bilingualdom. She’s been around for about 3 years, since her debut Spanish-language album Mediocre in 2008.

Website: XimenaMusic.com
Twitter: @XimenaMusic

Their fifth studio release, Re:(disc)overed is a celebration of sorts for the polyglot band’s 10 years in music, and if someone’s gonna let them do it, well heck they’ll do it. They’re auspicious beginnings demand nothing less.

“We chose some that may be unexpected to some just so we could push the Puddle envelope a bit,” said PoM’s lead guitarist Paul Phillips.

He said the new versions of the songs were more tribute than reinvention. “Our goal in interpreting these songs was to pay more tribute rather than reinvent,” Phillips said. “These are all classics that are perfect in every sense, so who are we to mess with that? We just wanted to represent them in their true form and add a little of our sound to them. We cut everything with very few takes and tried to keep it very live like those old seventies records.”

The new album includes: AC/DC’s “TNT,” Steve Miller’s “The Joker,” Elton John’s “Rocket Man,” Billy Squier’s “Everybody Wants You,” Stevie Nicks/Tom Petty’s duet “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” (which Puddle Of Mudd recorded with BC Jean), Steve Miller’s “The Joker,” Free’s “All Right Now,” Bad Company’s “Shooting Star,” James Gang’s “Funk,” Led Zeppelin’s “D’yer Maker,” Neil Young’s “Old Man,” and the first single, The Rolling Stones soulful classic, “Gimme Shelter.”

Wes Scantlin said winnowing down the songs to the final cut brought out the wrinkles, in a way.

“As I’ve become an adult, I’ve realized that I have become my old man,” Scantlin said. “I seem to have inherited the same traits as him, whether they are good or bad. I’ve been listening to that one forever and now I’m living it.”

Puddle Of Mudd have scheduled five shows where the first half of the show they will perform songs from re:(disc)overed followed by the favorites:

July 23 – Webster Theater, Hartford, Connecticut
July 24 – Northern Lights, Clifton Park, New York
July 26 – Hampton Beach Casino, Hampton Beach, New Hampshire
July 28 – Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, New Jersey
July 30 – House of Blues, Cleveland, Ohio

Some information provided from a news release

On top of the unsettling feeling of not being sure for a little while whether the singer was male or female or something in between the overall sound is too light and too inconsistent.

Released May 23, Torches has all the signs of drool-worthy goodness; fun cover art, unafraid to use weird instruments and even more strange rhythm breaks. But I couldn’t shake the feeling they were trying too hard to achieve something that, as of now, is beyond them. The importance of being earnest is not to come across as too earnest.

Someone in this band (Mark Foster) likes to tell stories and’s good at it. It’s easy to gain more respect for the band just reading the lyrics. (Perhaps only reading the lyrics?)

“Pumped Up Kicks” is, by increment, the best tune on the CD. It may be coincidence that this song seems to have had the simplest recording history – recorded, mixed, produced and performed by Mark Foster. Just has a nice lazy beat throughout telling the tale of a modern day teenage cowboy with revenge on his mind. Tells those with the pumped up kicks “you better run, better run, faster than my bullet.” It’s the most pure sound. There’s whistling.

There’s whistling?

That’s followed by the mess of “Call It What You Want.” Too many styles trying to do too little. Seems like it might be a dance tune, a nice little keyboard riff, some annoying beeps in the background which begin to take on too much earspace. Then it opens in a chorus of voices and the crack in the wall of sound causes the whole thing to crumble. I DID still find myself bobbing my head a little, as I did on several others – but I had long since tuned out of caring about the song.

Still, it ends with wise words:

If I don’t conform to what you were born into then you run the other way. / You say, ‘Now what’s your style and who do you listen to?’ Who cares? / Well that rat race ladder-climbing fake-face smile’s got nothing on me.”

“Don’t Stop” starts promising but then buries itself under layers – and those incessant beeps, as if their robot overlord was in the studio having a fit. I honestly had trouble getting past it and chipmunk giggling in the background just, obviously (should’ve been obvious) is unnecessary for the muse in music.

But I kept on listening and it came back to the voice. Being able to sing means letting those pipes rattle and not clog them with 401 different effects to remind us that it’s not just auto-tune that can kill a buzz with buzz.

“Waste” is Muzak lounge music. “I Would Do Anything For You” is the hackiest slackjaw love song going. “Miss You ” is another highlight, where one sound sticks around long enough to make a pleasant, lasting impact. And the rest of the CD comes to a lazy, shrugging end.

It seems as if we’ve been caught in a Ross changing room. Each song tries on a new jacket, looking for a style it can’t find. And you can smell the desperate hope for a worthy destination without a plan for how to get there.

Foster The People out on tour now. They tackled Coachella (without having released an album) and will hit Lollapalooza in August. I missed my chance when they were in Tempe, Arizona. I’d be curious how they sound live. Tell me.

Official website: FosterThePeople.com – Main members: Mark Foster, Vocals, Guitar and Synth. Mark Pontius, Drums. Cubbie Fink (?), Bass.

Tracks
Helena Beat
Pumped Up Kicks
Call it What You Want
Don’t Stop (Color On The Wall)
Waste
I Would Do Anything For You
Houdini
Life On The Nickel
Miss You
Warrant
Broken Jaw

If it wasn’t for one thing, I would think this band represents the second coming of Jesus. Well, his support band.

“It’s A Good Thing” has an insanely catchy opening riff, that instantly sends your mind spinning into “Who is this?” territory. Not so much that Choo Choo sound like anyone, but that they sound like they’ve been around long enough to produce milkshake-smooth-n-tasty music.

They sound like you should have heard of them. Bonus, no one you know will have ever fucking heard of them.

Lush, layered, with an accomplished steady crunchy pop sound, I refreshed as I listened. When I breathed, their positivity stood right over me, stiletto heels stomping holes through my skin to let the music enter more quickly. Less surreally, this foursome from Switzerland catches your ears and won’t let go – expanding your listening habits like a double-zero earlobe gauge.

It’s the vocals that seemed to let down the side.

While everything from the guitars to Lili’s keyboards is infused with energy, Dan Joerg’s vocals don’t fit perfectly into the fun. (They don’t seem do last names by the way) His voice actually do work much better in the more relaxed-tempo, “The Sun” but generally, in place of the expected supersonic and technotronic his voice has ironic and laconic. It’s slow where your body wants to dance.

Again, I’m new to this band. I’ve heard four songs, total. (“It’s A Good Thing”, “The Sun”, “We Go” and “Bits+Pieces.”) The found Soundlust.com via Like.fm and saw that I reviewed Cage The Elephant and thought we might dig them, too. I really do. I wanna hear more. And so do you because if you don’t you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.

Look out for an upcoming review of the rest of Choo Choo’s second album, Cannes, (Chop Records nope, it’s not in English) released earlier this year.

Win a song download:

Other acts include Lynn Anderson, Don Edwards, Dave Stamey, Waddie Mitchell, Johnny Rodriguez, Michael Martin Murphey, and Josh Gracin, Belinda Gail, The New Pioneers, Clint Walker, Rollie Stevens (also now the festival organizer), Robert Fuller, Rocin’ M Wranglers, Waddie Mitchell, Jon Messenger, Johnny Western, and Rusty Richards.

Tons of kids and teen fun too, as well as chuckwagons, log home show, poet and songwriters, a cowboy race, mountain man rendezvous and the tradition of 9th Cavalry Buffalo soldiers and TV and movie performers.

FestivalOfTheWest.com – presented by Real Country, 96.3. Tickets are $25 each (separate from festival entry cost)