A one stop shop for all things arts related, this blog will profile music, film, artwork, books, etc., that either you should know about, or just completely ignore.
Who: Blues band from Austin, Texas. The Album: Tell 'Em What Your Name Is!
Why: I like the whole album. Every song. Seriously, every song. Rare, I know. This band gained notoriety by playing the South By Southwest Festival, Lollapalooza and the Austin City Limits Festival. Very James Brown, soulful blues, with a garage band sound. Spoon drummer, Jim Eno, produced their first full length album. The band has even opened up for Spoon and Joe Lewis has opened for Little Richard.
I saw a preview screening of this documentary with a question and answer session with the director a few months back in NYC. This film blew my mind. It started off slow and I worried it was going to be boring. Then, everything completely changed. This is the story of 3 different musicians sharing a mutual love and respect for the guitar. Simple concept but the director takes it to a deeper, more personal level with the musicians. From the director of an “Inconvenient Truth”, Davis Guggenheim, “It Might Get Loud” follows the stories of Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), The Edge (U2) and Jack White (White Stripes). The film documents each artist’s individual journey that leads him to an obsession with the guitar. The director said in his Q & A session that he purposely chose these three musicians because they were from different eras and they had completely different sounds.
The documentary follows Jimmy Page from his beginnings as a studio session guitarist, to the English countryside house where Led Zeppelin IV was partially recorded. There, Page takes the viewer inside what it was like when the album was created. The Edge goes back to where U2 began, back in an Irish school where he answered an ad on a bulletin board looking for a guitar player. Jack White takes the viewers back to Detroit where, as an upholsterer and drummer, he discovers the guitar and his love for the blues. After each musician describes his background and what leads him to the guitar, they come together to share their stories and to teach each other their signature cords. The result was an inevitable jam session.
Highlight Scenes (for me): Jimmy Page describing “the thunder” of John Bonham recording the beginning of “When the Levee Breaks.” And, be sure to pay attention to the faces of both The Edge and Jack White when Jimmy Page plays the beginning of “Whole Lot of Love” for them. It gave me goosebumps.
Who: Santi White from Brooklyn, NY. Why: I am fascinated by her. She unlike any artist I have heard or even seen. Not all of her music sounds the same. Her genre "label" on MySpace says New Wave/Dub/Psychobilly. Interesting. She has been compared to The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and M.I.A., but she is different from either of them. Very unique. There are elements of Indie Rock, Pop, Hip-Hop and definitely 80s New Wave in her music, but I could not classify her into any one of these. And, well, just look at her photos on her MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/santigold. She's got style. Her and her friends definitely remind me of Willaimsburg, BK. Ah Williamsburg. I miss you so.
Other reasons why you should listen, although she has been labeled Hip-Hop, Rap and R & B, she has said she doesn't like R & B. Check out this interview of her calling these comparisons racist: http://www.nme.com/news/santogold/36709
P.S. She also has been noted as saying that Devo is her "ultimate favorite band." Wow. I think I am in love.
Highlight song (for me): "Lights Out" From the album:Santogold Why: Her voice. Delicate, hypnotic. Plus, emerged within an Indie Rock background, oh my. I'm obsessed. Kinda reminds me of something ... oh, Blondie.
Why I like it: It's fast pace, hyper, puts me in a good mood, oddly enough. The lyrics read like poetry. Not beautiful poetry but descriptive like poetry. Mainly it's the catchy-ness of the song that I like. That and the mood the song puts me in. Downside: I saw them perform on what I think was The Tonight Show recently. They didn't perform this song very well. At least the live performance didn't do the song's justice. I'll just have to see them live to really tell for sure if they are a good live act.
Who: Blues band from Austin, Texas.
