Rock
Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters Is a Perfect Artifact of Post-World War II History
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Radio Public Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters, Hawkwind singer Robert Calvert’s 1974 solo debut, has two stories to tell. One of them is about what became of the German air force after World War II. The other is about a young boy who wanted to be a pilot, but ended up a poet instead. In the sixth episode of Ghost Echoes, we receive two postcards from mid-century Europe. For more episodes of Ghost Echoes, subscribe now! Follow on Facebook | Twitter | Podchaser Music and Sound Notes: — The Hawkwind tracks heard here are “Seeing it as You Really Are” from their self-titled debut, “Silver Machine” from In Search of Space, and Calvert’s recitation “10 Seconds of Forever” from the Space Ritual live album. — Songs and sketches excerpted from C...
Girl Friday Announce Debut Album Androgynous Mary, Share “Amber’s Knees”: Stream
Girl Friday have announced their debut album Androgynous Mary. In anticipation of the August 21st release, the genre-fluid rockers have shared the music video for their lead single “Amber’s Knees: A Matter of Concern”. The LA quartet first gained national attention when they were named finalists in the 2018 Vans Share the Stage competition. Girl Friday followed that accomplishment with the 2019 Fashion Conman EP, a marvelous project that sounded like Robert Smith went surfing with Iggy Pop. “Amber’s Knees: A Matter of Concern” continues the exploration of sunny, guitard-driven post-punk. It’s melodically simple but structurally dense, with an intro, a couple of verses, a big shout-a-long chorus, a bridge, and an outro, all crammed into a tight three minutes. In a statement, Girl Frida...
Pearl Jam’s “Present Tense” Was Always the Perfect Swan Song for Michael Jordan’s Last Dance
Pearl Jam is no stranger to Chicago sports. They’ve performed at Wrigley Field multiple times. They’ve brought out a rolodex of athletes on stage. Hell, they’ve even written a song for the Cubs. In a sense, they’re as much a Chicago band as they are a Seattle export, and all of this has to do with the Midwestern blood that pumps through frontman Eddie Vedder. So, it’s not just poetic, but rather fitting that Vedder and co. would close down shop on ESPN’s The Last Dance, the fantastic 10-episode docuseries on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls that have kept us sane these past five weeks. “Time to go,” a now-grey Phil Jackson says of his Chicago Bulls. Soon after, the soft strings of Pearl Jam’s “Present Tense” begin — and with it the emotions. Slowly, we float around Chicago’s United Cen...
Bluesman Lucky Peterson Dies at 55
American bluesman Lucky Peterson, a master of the six string and the Hammond B3, died Sunday (May 17) at his home in Dallas. He was 55. Peterson was at home when he “became ill and was rushed to the hospital in critical condition, but unfortunately did not recover,” reads a statement posted on his social pages. The cause of death is not immediately known. Born Judge Peterson in Buffalo, New York in 1964, Peterson had blues in his veins. His father James Peterson was a notable blues guitarist and owner of The Governor’s Inn, a roadhouse club where many of the genre’s greats would stop by. [embedded content] A prodigious talent, “Little” Lucky Peterson gave his first concert when most of us were still learning to use cutlery and his talents were spotted early on by blues legend Willie Dixon....
Elvis Presley’s Graceland Set to Reopen After Shutdown Due to Pandemic
Elvis Presley’s Graceland says it will reopen Thursday (May 21) after it shut down tours and exhibits due to the new coronavirus outbreak. The tourist attraction in Memphis, Tennessee, said Sunday (May 17) that it has adjusted its tours, and restaurant and retail operations, since it closed in March. The Memphis tourist attraction is centered on the life and career of the late rock n’ roll icon. It annually attracts about 500,000 visitors, including international travelers. Graceland said in a news release that it is reducing tours of Presley’s former home-turned-museum to 25% capacity, requiring employees and encouraging visitors to wear face masks, and limiting restaurant capacities to 50%. Temperature checks for guests and employees will be implemented and hand sanitizing stations are b...
Little Richard to Be Buried at Historically Black College in Alabama
Rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Little Richard will be buried at Oakwood University, a historically black university in Huntsville, Alabama. Gerald Kibble, director of Oakwood Memorial Gardens, said the private funeral will be held Wednesday (May 20) and will not be open to the public. Little Richard’s close friend Pastor Bill Minson said the singer was an alumnus of the university. Little Richard died May 9 at the age of 87 in Tennessee due to bone cancer. The cemetery is owned by the Seventh-day Adventist university.
The Who’s Live at Leeds Remains a Peerless Document of Rock and Roll Power
Today, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of arguably the greatest live rock and roll album of all time. June 1969. Back from the brink, The Who are bigger than they ever imagined possible. With Tommy selling 200,000 copies in the first two weeks in the US alone, it was a remarkable turnaround for a band who, only a few months earlier, neared bankruptcy and calling it a day. In what must have seemed like the blink of an eye, the rock opera was born, and, with it, Pete Townshend ascended to his throne, the last high king of 1960s counterculture. With FM-friendly Tommy A-sides “Pinball Wizard” and “I’m Free” refining their “maximum R&B” down to proto prog-inflected rock, The Who found themselves zig-zagging across the world, topping major festival bills and — full testament to their expan...
Foo Fighters Streaming 2008 Live at Wembley Stadium Concert for Free: Watch
For the latest edition of Foo Fridays, Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters have unlocked the concert film Live at Wembley Stadium. The footage was compiled over two sold-out shows in London on June 6th and 7th of 2008. The set drew heavily from the Foos 2007 album Echoes, Silence. Patience & Grace, and included special guest appearances by Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin. With Grohl on the drums and Taylor Hawkins on the mic, they played the Zeppelin favorite “Rock and Roll”, before Grohl and Hawkins switched places for “Ramble On”. In introducing Page and Jones, Grohl said that the country of England “made us the band we are today,” and so he felt compelled to plan something special. “Just so you know, tonight, playing here at fucking Wembley Stadium, i...
Blackpink’s Playlist With Lady Gaga, Troye Sivan & More Will Brighten Up Your Quarantine: Exclusive
It’s been a while since the world has heard new music from BLACKPINK, but even amid the global coronavirus pandemic, the K-pop quartet are keeping busy. Not only are they going to be in Lady Gaga’s area later this month with a feature on her Chromatica album, but the members have also been seen back in the studio working on their own new music. The group also released the live album from the Tokyo Dome performance of their 2019-2020 In Your Area world tour on Thursday (May 14), for those looking to relive that experience ahead of the upcoming releases. Though South Korea isn’t shut down with stay-at-home orders, life is still in all sorts of tumultuous states for the music industry in Seoul, with stars unable to interact directly with audiences. Like many around the world, BLACKPINK’s...
Neil Young’s Unheard ‘70s Album ‘Homegrown’ Will Finally be Released
Neil Young’s Homegrown, one of the great “Holy Grails” of his unreleased catalogue, will finally see the light of day some 46 years after its recording. The twelve-track studio set will be released June 19 on all formats, via Reprise Records, the Warner Music Group label and Young announced Friday. In a letter posted to the Neil Young Archives, the legendary Canadian rocker admits Homegrown was the one that got away for far too long. “I apologize,” he writes. “This album Homegrown should have been there for you a couple of years after Harvest. It’s the sad side of a love affair. The damage done. The heartache. I just couldn’t listen to it. I wanted to move on. So I kept it to myself, hidden away in the vault, on the shelf, in the back of my mind….but I should have sha...
Prince and the Revolution 1985 Live Album Finally Released: Stream
The companion album to the 1985 concert film Prince and the Revolution: Live has finally been unlocked from the vault. Stream it below via Apple Music or Spotify. The recording was made on March 30th, 1985 at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York, as Prince and his famed backup band The Revolution toured in support of 1984’s Purple Rain. The set included all nine tracks off of Purple Rain, as well as a smattering of hits and B-sides from 1999, the Controversy cut “Do Me, Baby”, and even a “Yankee Doodle Dandy” interlude. Sheila E., who opened for Prince, joined him on “Baby I’m a Star”, and the concert ended with an 18-minute rendition of “Purple Rain”. To capture the performance in all its luscious glory, the tapes have been remastered by The Purple On...
Liner ‘Notes’: The 1975’s Matty Healy Talks Releasing an Opus Under Quarantine
The 1975 frontman talks about the band’s sprawling fourth LP ‘Notes on a Conditional Form,’ as well as his own quarantine living, and his band’s new status as critics’ darlings entering their second decade as The 1975. When you’re a four-piece rock band in the year 2020, it’s a hard thing to keep scaling up. But that’s what The 1975 and frontman Matty Healy have done over the course of seven years and three albums — soon to be four, with the release next Friday (May 22) of their much-anticipated new album, Notes on a Conditional Form. While the band’s 2013 self-titled debut brought them fame (and infamy) in their home country of the U.K., and earned them a pop cult following in the U.S., 2016 sophomore set I Like It When...
