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You guys love lists, and we love to start our holiday weekend early, so thanks VH1 for putting together this 100 Greatest Artists Of All Time countdown. (Spoiler Alert: No Wavves…) You should compare it to VH1’s 100 Greatest Artists Of Rock & Roll from 1998 (back when VH1 was VH-1) to see some of the overlaps/differences. For starters: The Top 5 “Rock” vs “Of All Time” is the same group, except for Jimi Hendrix who’s been pushed to No. 6. It’ll also give you an idea of how VH1 defines rock & roll. And how much it sucks to be the Eagles. Trivia: Which artist has drunkenly crashed his car the most times? Highest ranked artist to be pelted with plastic bottles? Did Biggie beat Tupac? Which version of Journey made it? But it’s not all about long-suffering has-beens: I, for one, am happy for Def Leppard. It’s worth noting the top 5 are in alphabetical order (reverse alphabetical order for our purposes); you’ll have to tune in next week for the full reveal. The rest are ranked.
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Pavement are no strangers to cool contests, but this latest one definitely beats roaming around IKEA with Bob Nastanovich (no offense Bob/Sweden). Pavement will perform on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 9/23 and one lucky fan will be joining the band on guitar. To enter, upload a video of yourself covering one of the songs listed below by Wednesday 9/8 at 4:35 AM ET. You also have to live in the continental United States, since the winner will be flown out to NY for the occasion. A “panel of qualified judges” will pick five finalists; then we (the Internet) will vote on the winner.
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Earlier this week we posted about Vampire Weekend covering Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m Going’ Down” at Malkin Bowl in Vancouver. The guys just sat down for Seattle’s 107.7 The End’s 200th “Endsession” and did a clearer, stripped-down acoustic take. (Still no sax solo.)
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Black Mountain brought “Old Fangs” — and most importantly, “Old Fangs”’s sweet organ riff — to Late Night last night. But the best part may be watching the girls in baby doll tops gently nodding their heads behind the band:
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Longstanding Thin Lizzy/Judas Priest-loving, Fenriz-approved, ’70s/’80s-metal torch carrying San Francisco underground metal heroes (and Hammers Of Misfortune/Ludicra pals) Slough Feg have signed with Profound Lore to release their eight album, The Animal Spirits, the followup to last year’s similary hairy Ape Uprising!. Ape made my 2009 Honorable Mention list, but I didn’t love it as much as I do the rest of the band’s unparalleled output (see, especially, Traveller, Twilight of The Idols, Down Among The Deadmen, and my dark horse favorite Hardworlder). Great news: The Animal Spirits is a true return to the band’s anthemic, brainy classic metal/rock form. Per usual, main man Mike Scalzi writes some of the best riffs you’ll ever hear, and the man’s lyrics are always ambitious and smart. This time out, though, as with all the best of his material, the songs are old familiar favorites after one listen. See for yourself via “The 95 Thesis” and “Free Market Barbarian.”
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Jimmy Fallon’s done some impressive musical impressions on Late Night, so he brought out a few more for the Emmy Awards last night. He used Elton John, Boyz II Men, and Green Day to eulogize some of the big shows that ended this year (and recycled the 40oz pour out he used when saying goodbye to Conan O’Brien). He also opened the show with a Glee-themed rendition of Springsteen’s “Born To Run.” Watch:
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Vampire Weekend’s cover of “I’m Goin’ Down” lacks Clarence Clemens and a little E Street oomph. The guys gave the Born In The U.S.A. track a go in Canada (Malkin Bowl, Vancouver) over the weekend (8/28). There’s something enjoyable about the restraint. A few folks sang along.
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Last week Ted Leo posted a lengthy text on his website titled “MAJORLY MASSIVE CAREER TRAJECTORY NEWS! YOU MIGHT SAY, “PARADIGM SHIFT,” EVEN!!,” which discusses just that over the course of 3,000 or so words. In the screed, he mentions wanting to go into musical theater — “another love of mine” — because these days it’s rough making money doing straight-up punk rock:
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The ladies of Warpaint give good press shot, look great on video; facts some listeners hold against musical projects, or at least facts that make some listeners hold their bars higher. So far the Los Angeles quartet, who have confirmed the technically terrific drummer Stella Mozgawa as a fixture on the drum throne, have offered the Exquisite Corpse EP, produced by Red Hot Chili Pepper/solo artist/studio magician John Frusciante, though his main contribution was likely his affiliation with the project and its attendant fanfare. Which brings us here, two months before Warpaint release their full-length debut on Rough Trade, with the band in the middle of another endless tour which stopped in Chicago for Lollapalooza and an aftershow at the Cubby Lounge. I went, to see if what I remembered of their live show from SXSW was accurate; turns out it was not, as I remembered them being “quite good” when in fact the set they turned in was practically sublime, certainly breathtaking, and most impressive not just for the quick chemistry the quartet has solidified but the quality of the writing, on songs set for this full-length that’s out in October. So hold the bar wherever you please, I guess is the point. I YouTubed a bit to find “that one song on which they keep saying ‘Undertow,” which it would seem is called “Undertow.” Fair enough. Here it is at a recent tour stop at the AS220 Fest at Providence, Rhode Island. Where previously posted tracks like “Elephants” and “Stars” traded in darkened, gauzy, sporadically dynamic hypnotica, this one is less about groove meditation and more about memorable melody, evocative phrasing, song-structural development. It’s promising for this new record, though you’ll have to excuse the “fan-clip” nature of this video to buy in:
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The HARD summer tour stopped in Chicago last week. Photographer Tyler Trykowski was there to document the show, which began with five DJs, all there to warm the audience for Crystal Castles and Rusko. According to Tyler, much of Crystal Castles’s show was bathed in blinding strobe lights, perfect for enhancing their 14-song (including three encore songs) set, and for obscuring Ethan Kath and Alice Glass. Afterwards Rusko played until 2 a.m., for anyone that wasn’t, as Tyler says, “knocked out by Crystal Castles’s performance.” Here’s Crystal Castles’s setlist.
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