mama don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys
Look, we all know some actors want it all. And by all I mean a clothing and/or jewellery line, a gross floral perfume, a multi-million dollar ad campaign and yes, even a coveted record contract. Look at Hilary Duff, Lindsay Lohan and J-Lo, just to name a few actresses/singers/media whores who seem to have it all without actually mastering any one of their “crafts”. Despite this, they’ve managed to make millions off of us all, haven’t they?
Ok, so why am I writing about this? Because as it turns out, one of my favourite actors (no, not Keanu, but he’s already got this shit covered) is making a serious transition from film to music. That’s right, Half Nelson actor Ryan Gosling is collaborating with a friend to record an EP under the name Dead Man’s Bones. You can check out their myspace, but there isn’t any music up because they're currently locked up somewhere in Tel Aviv, Israel working away on it.
Now, you’re probably surprised by this, but don’t be. After all, Gosling was a back-up singer on a soulDecision record, without credit, of course. Scary, hilarious and really random all at the same time, but thankfully I’m not getting that vibe this time around. I am hopeful that their music will mean something more than Paris Hilton’s last album meant to her or any of us. This isn’t Scarlet Sings Tom Waits; this is apparently going to be original material from a guy who wouldn't fck up his career by releasing pure rubbish.
I’m looking forward to what I think will be a record with the most heart and soul ever released from an actor in recent years. Oh, other than Jason Schwartzman I suppose, although I always saw him as a musician first.
Anyway, check out his band's myspace later next month if you're itching to hear the tunes. Of course there's the posibility of the music making us laugh/cringe, but knowing the roles that Ryan usually plays something tells me that it's more likely to make us go hmmm.
Posted by anto+nella at 10:15 AM | Comments (0)
June 25, 2007Easy, Girl
OMFG I met Ryan fckn Adams! (Insert jumping jacks, cartwheels and other fun things you can do with your body that show extreme enthusiasm).
Ryan came into 299 Queen Street last Thursday to speak with us about his new record, Easy, Tiger (hitting record stores tomorrow!). But he was running late. He really needed a cold coffee and probably a smoke. OK, fair enough but because of this minor setback, our 30 minute interview turned into a 10 minute interview comprised of three questions. Have you ever heard Ryan speak? He doesn’t just answer a question, and why the hell should he, right? He’s Ryan fckn Adams, and he’s thoughtful, well-spoken and really fckn hilarious. Oh, and he swears a lot. He also runs around an idea in an attempt to clarify the wacky thoughts floating through his head. This could take minutes.
Anyway, it wasn’t truly his fault that we were rushed from the get-go. I mean he’s supposed to have “people” keep him in line and on time, right? It was short and sweet and unfortunately we never got the scoop on his box set (a rumoured 90+ CDs!), his collabo with Sheryl Crow or even his wrist injury. We did, however, get him to talk about his addiction, where he straight up states he was a "fckn junkie through and through”. I thought that it was admirable that he was so open about his battle with drugs. Dude was doing speedballs like every day at one point. He said to Matt Wells, our trusty VJ at MuchMoreMusic, that all those drugs from 2006 went to him, because he ate them. All. He said this with a smirk but I didn’t doubt it for a second. Afterall, I witnessed his tragic performance in mid-05 that had extreme boozing and drug-use written all over it. He was a disaster on stage, so much so it made me second guess my true love for his music. How could I respect a musician who has such little respect for his own craft? I was pretty much over it by the time he released Jacksonville City Nights a couple of months later.
Once Friday rolled around I could barely contain myself. Sure, I met him the day before but would it really compare to catching a sober performance with The Cardinals in a small threatre?
Anyway, I knew that his sobriety would mean an epic, seamless show this time. The Enwave Theatre was the perfect venue for Ryan & The Cardinals to prove their chemistry and showcase the new material. The sound was a tad shaky off the top, but a few hand motions from Ryan set the audio guy straight. When he started off with "Please Do Not Let Me Go" off Love Is Hell I knew it would be an evening of more recent material, and I was completely ok with that. Ryan’s known for playing two hour + sets because, well, he has so much damn material to choose from, but by the end of hour one he was losing his voice. I should make note that he only struggled with certain high notes, and otherwise sounded strong and clear.
They finished at around the one hour mark with the predictable "Goodnight, Hollywood Blvd". Apparently he only cut the set short by a half hour but we figured that because of the half-hour delay off the top, he cheated us out of a full hour. I still walked away completely satisfied with what I witnessed. Hey, he wasn’t a drunken mess, so what else could I have asked for? Perhaps to not be seated beside the hecklers, I guess?
Oh yeah and don’t listen to all those b.s. reviews of Easy, Tiger. Yes, it’s like a collection of all of his work, but no, he’s not recreating anything he’s already written and he’s clearly not running out of material. He’s Ryan Adams, the same man who released three amazing albums in 05, one of which was a double album. Get over it Pitchfork, he’s not going away, he’s not losing his touch, and he’s certainly not going to lose any fans over this record. In fact he may gain a few in some 30-something-year-old moms but so what? Have you been to any of his shows? Buy the album if you like anything he’s ever done. It won’t disappoint. Track five is my jam and last week really fckn ruled. I wouldn’t have traded it for anything.
Posted by anto+nella at 06:07 PM | Comments (1)
June 01, 2007Uncut make hell of a video for Darkhorse
Marionettes! Marionettes! Marionettes! Who doesn't love puppets?!? Especially when you've got renegade Care Bears dressed in riot gear and Ronald McDonald wearing a gas mask. What is this world coming to, you ask? Uncut has the answer with this mind-blowing video for the track Darkhorse, off their fiercely under-appreciated record Modern Currencies (which you can stream here, btw).
Director Kris Lefcoe et co. went all out for what might be the most ambitious video of the year. chchchcheck it out!!!
Posted by Geoff M at 04:59 PM | Comments (0)
May 30, 2007Nighttiming!!!
Max Fischer is back! well, at least Schwartzman is back... you know Jason Schwartzman, actor, drummer, Coppola relative. finally liberated from behind the kit of Phantom Planet, Schwartzman has gone out on his own and made a really charming record under the name Coconut Records. there's a few solid party jams, but it's mostly breezy summer pop. totally sunny + goes down easy (think corona on a hot day).
looks like Schwartzman's self-releasing this one too on his new imprint Young Baby Records. according to the site, there's no plans to distribute the album in stores, but you can buy a ltd edition copy off the Young Baby website complete with "bonus content and a one of a kind item from Jason." whatever that means. its also available for download from the usual suspects.
check out a few tracks over at the Coconut Records myspace (definitely hit up Nighttiming). and have a look at this rather interesting video clip for West Coast...
and for you Coconut Records nerds, you'll never guess who produced the record... Mike Einziger from Incubus! i actually remember last fall producing an interview with those dudes and he totally spilled the beans about the Schwartzman record... i never would have expected it to be this good though. who produces the Incubus records anyway?
Posted by Geoff M at 03:05 PM | Comments (0)
May 29, 2007lasting impression...
It’s been almost 17 months now since the Strokes dropped their latest record, the fantastic First Impression of Earth - and the band is officially on hiatus. There’s rumblings of songwriting and working on new stuff, but the word out of the Strokes camp is: don't expect any new stuff anytime soon. cool. take your time boys... rest up... ahj, keep workin' the killer solo record --- and come back when you're ready.
But in the meantime and perhaps to tide us over, the Strokes dropped a brand new music video today. An alternate clip for the first track off First Impressions, You Only Live Once --- and it is jawdroppingly good. Its funny, with all this talk around the office about the MMVAs - here's the video of the year, no fkn doubt about it (though I’m pretty sure it's ineligible b/c it just came out).
Directed by LucasFilm (yes, LucasFilm) art director Warren Fu, the video encapsulates the theme of the record and the track so perfectly. Apparently, he pitched it to the band the first time around and it wasn't chosen (whoops!). Total buzz-worthy clip for a totally tight track.
head over to imeem to see the video nice + big RIGHT NOW!
extra bonus for Strokes fans, the band just relaunched a stellar new website today... pretty cool sht.
Posted by Geoff M at 12:52 PM | Comments (0)
