Seriously, if you don’t have any mayjah plans this weekend, there is something fundamentally wrong with you. The irony is that I will not be attending any of these-work travels take me elsewhere. Shall we begin?
You might remember this first band from my balls-to-the-wall interview with them on their tour bus back in January. Well, motherfucking Semi
Precious Weapons are back in town, this time without Mother Gaga as headliners at 4 US show dates in L.A., Chicago, New York and Boston during a brief break on the Monster Ball tour.
They have their full-length album (You Love You) debuting in June on Geffen. These show are
not to be missed. I’ll only repeat myself once. Two times. NOT TO BE MISSED. For serious. Breaks my little black heart that I won’t be there tonight. You think that their dates on the Monster Ball were some bullshit debauchery, you just wait till they’re on their own. This show is going to be bananas and I for one am slightly pissed I won’t be able to witness them in all their glory.
Catch them TONIGHT at Subterranean-doors at 7, but do yourself a favor and get there in time to catch Nico Vega. If you’re not convinced, take a gander at their video for their single, ‘Semi Precious Weapons’ and scream that shit or you might get hurt.
Did you know that redheads require 30% more anesthetic to be sedated?
Tonight at The Viper Room in West Hollywood, Melissa Auf Der Maur (Hole, Smashing Pumpkins) releases her 2nd solo record Out Of Our Minds (out April 6th) and you can join me there for FREE thanks to BMI and Filter Magazine. She will also be screening the accompanying short film for OOOM at the Silent Movie Theatre tomorrow. For both events just RSVP HERE and enjoy the show!
Tuesday, March 30th
BMI & FILTER Magazine present MAdM Out of Our Minds Album Release Party
w/ Juliette Commagere and Night Horse 8 PM @ The Viper Room
8852 West Sunset Blvd.
Thursday, April 1st
BMI, Cinefamily & FILTER Magazine present MAdM Out of Our Minds Short Film Screening
7PM @ Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theatre
611 N. Fairfax Ave.
For Your Consideration: Midlake Sounds Like: CSNY & The Moody Blues goes to college. For Fans Of: Nuggets. Led Zeppelin, Sea Wolf Album:The Courage Of Others (Released 2/2 – Bella Union) Free Live Set MP3: The Denton Session (Guardian UK) Streaming:NPR Music First Listen Websites:Midlake.net
It took me a bit to get into this Denton, TX band Midlake. Their music reminds me of everything Led Zeppelin did that required a flute. I would be remiss in forgetting to tell you that in addition to the CD and digital album release, the band will release a deluxe edition of The Courage Of Others, featuring a copy of the band’s short film directed by Jason Lee, a double LP, 45 rpm version of the record and a 32-page book and a live CD. This theme of bands releasing short films with their records has been HUGE lately (see Melissa Auf der Maur post). Is this a big demand to the fans? Does it influence whether or not you’d buy the record? Leave us a comment and let us know!
I’ve categorized this as “You Should Know:” but really, if you haven’t heard of Montreal fireball Melissa Auf der Maur then you need a serious lesson in Alt Rock history. After Kristen Pfaff’s overdose, Melissa became her replacement as bassist of Hole and in 2000 MAdM would replace D’Arcy Wretzky in Smashing Pumpkins until it’s initial dissolution. Her 2004 solo album titled simply Auf der Maur would go on to sell over 180,000 copies worldwide.
Now that you know who she is you should know that her latest SELF-RELEASED solo album Out Of Our Minds is a vibrant, layered work with touches of Kate Bush with newer hints of artists like A Perfect Circle, Azure Ray and Blonde Redhead. Her electro-rock orchestrations have a very epic swing and play into the delicate blasts of her voice. And it could be my stubbornly approaching 30 yrs-old ears but in songs like “Meet Me On The Dark Side” I still hear a bit of that 20th century “alternative rock” sound remaining in the songs structure which might actually be a welcome appeal to people of my generation and the Gen X’ers just before us. Of the 5 tracks I have been given to preview the standout is still the title track but a close 2nd is “The Key” which almost has a Queens of the Stone Age vibe, not so coincidentally. MAdM has also worked with them in the past. Album guests include Jordon Zadorozny (Sam Roberts), Chris Goss (QOTSA, UNKLE), Alan Molder (Depeche Mode, Smashing Pumpkins), Mike Frazer (Franz Ferdinand, ACDC) with a special duet with Glenn Danzig.
Out Of Our Minds is following the modern trend to remonitize music by appealing to hardcore fans by offering the solo record along with various other media in cost escalating tiers. Along with the solo record there is also an accompanying Graphic Novel by Brooklyn artist Jack Forbes as well as a 28-minute HD film, directed by Tony Stone which premiered at The Sundance Film Festival in 2009 and a vinyl picture disc (among other standard merch). All of this is set for release this March 23rd.
A free MP3 of the title track is available at xmadmx.com when you sign up for updates. Warning for sensitive listeners: In title track Out Of Our Minds, “Fire” and “Desire” lyrically interchange. But because she is a redhead, I think we can make an exception.
