Search Results for: the voice

They’ve been called weirdoes, freaks and Satanists. Animal Collective’s otherworldly song structures, deconstructed harmonies and tribal rhythms aren’t always met with receptive ears, but there might not be a more progressive band in indie music. With two of the best-reviewed albums of the year – the band’s new “Strawberry Jam” and the solo disc by keyboardist Panda Bear, “Person Pitch” – Animal Collective has established itself as an act wildly separate from the many retro-oriented bands that populate today’s scene. The sound of the future, the psychedelic band acknowledges, is something they seek. “That’s kind of always been a goal,… Read more »

If there were any doubts that the White Stripes — consisting solely of guitarist Jack White and his “big sister” drummer Meg — could rock out the cavernous Madison Square Garden, the duo erased them with their debut there Tuesday night. “I don’t believe we’ve played this barn before,” joked the guitarist toward the end of their blistering set. Touring to promote their critically acclaimed new release, the explosive “Icky Thump,” the White Stripes made no concessions to the size of the venue. They played sans special effects for much of the set, save for a giant disco ball hanging… Read more »

The Kurt Cobain documentary which features voiceover from the Nirvana frontman himself is due to be released in the U.S. in October. AJ Schnack’s documentary film Kurt Cobain: About A Son is set to come to cinemas in New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle in early October. According to Schnack’s blog: “The film will open in New York at the IFC Centre on Wednesday, October 3 at Landmark’s Nuart in Los Angeles on Friday, October 5 and in Seattle at Landmark’s Varsity on October 12. Additional cities and dates will be announced soon.” The film sets impressionistic images of Washington… Read more »

Less than a month removed from her sojourn in a Los Angeles lockup, Paris Hilton is itching to make the transition from jailbird to songbird. “I’m already working on my new record,” Hilton tells E! Online. “I’ve been in meetings with Scott [Storch] and we’ve been working on it.” Storch is the the überproducer who helped guide Hilton through her eponymous first album. He’s also known for his chart-busting work with Beyoncé Knowles, Christina Aguilera, R. Kelly, 50 Cent and Dr. Dre. “I’ve been working on it with Scott for a few weeks,” adds Hilton, whose most recent musical endeavor… Read more »

Last month, when the Dillinger Escape Plan revealed that founding drummer Chris Pennie had left the highly technical mathcore outfit to join progressive rockers Coheed and Cambria, no one wanted to believe it. The surprise move baffled the band’s allegiant fans almost as much as it confused the Dillinger dudes, who started to wonder if Pennie had been fostering some strange, secret obsession with unicorns and minotaurs.”We found out about him playing with Coheed on the Internet,” explained guitarist Ben Weinman. “[Frontman] Greg [Puciato] forwarded me a link to an announcement, and I’m like, ‘What?!?’ At that point, though, he… Read more »

Silverchair has postponed four shows on their current U.S. Tour to allow singer, Daniel Johns to recover fully from a case of laryngitis.  Daniel caught the common viral infection of the throat earlier this week after flying Sydney/Los Angeles/Toronto/New York/Los Angeles over just four days. It severely impeded his vocal performance on the “Tonight Show With Jay Leno” on Tuesday. While his Doctor had initially been hopeful that Daniel’s laryngitis would clear up “in a day or two”, he has since advised that the Silverchair frontman should “avoid singing for 4 to 6 days” in order to be guaranteed of… Read more »

If the Click Five had sold more copies of its debut album, the Boston pop band might be in an even trickier position than it is now. Modest sales, an executive at the group’s Atlantic Records label says, are precisely what enabled the Click Five to survive the departure of original lead singer Eric Dill, who quit last year during preproduction for the follow-up to 2005’s “Greetings From Imrie House.” “The band had achieved a good deal of success,” says Andy Karp, head of A&R at Atlantic, pointing to “Imrie House” sales of 333,000 copies. “But they hadn’t really become… Read more »

Recently, Maureen Callahan wrote a piece for the New York Post about Crush Management, the NYC cadre that shepherds the careers of Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, the Academy Is … , Boys Like Girls and Armor for Sleep (or, as Callahan puts it, “basically any band that a 13-year-old girl with a blog and a Hot Topic habit obsesses over”). Aside from providing readers with some genuinely bananas quotes from songwriter/ rock-and-roll vampire Butch Walker about credibility (especially considering this is on his résumé), the article is excellent primarily because it floats the hypothesis that the artists… Read more »

On Wednesday night, as dark clouds hovered over the city, Avril Lavigne was all wet. High above Times Square, the Canadian singer was playing a secret outdoor show for soaked fans gathered more than 50 feet below. Dressed in a black hoodie that didn’t quite shield her from the raindrops, Lavigne performed a three-song set that featured “Girlfriend,” “When You’re Gone” and “Sk8r Boi.” Lavigne has certainly come a long way since her innocent days as punk princess of the mall. In recent months, she’s been known to spit on and flip off paparazzi. She’s also bragged about booze-soaked nights… Read more »

For nearly a decade now, Tom Gabel has made a career of pissing people off. He played shows in Laundromats as a one-man acoustic act known as Against Me! before forming a full band (adding electric guitars = selling out!). He leapt from indie No Idea Records to equally indie Fat Wreck Chords (changing labels = selling out!), tinkered with Against Me!’s sound on 2003’s As the Eternal Cowboy (production = selling out!) and finally decided to sign with a major label in late 2005 (major label = selling out!). Whatever the situation, it seems he’s always derived some sort… Read more »