It's Party Time As Jack White and Karen Elson Announce They Are Divorcing
Posted on Jun 10, 2011 @ 02:38PM - 1 comment
While most people commiserate when they split, Jack White and wife Karen Elson are turning the sad occasion into a celebration.
The couple announced in a joint statement on Friday that they are commemorating their sixth wedding anniversary in a very unconventional manner - by getting divorced.
Death Weather’s Sea Of Cowards Perfectly Flawed
Posted on Jun 13, 2010 @ 02:52PM - Add a comment
There is a violent interplay between Jack White and Alison Mosshart that forms the backbone of Sea of Cowards, the latest from The Dead Weather. Mosshart’s powerful vocals and White’s living-legend guitar playing seem locked in combat at times while simultaneously meshing into riotous anarchy.
WARNING: Fans of The White Stripes and Raconteurs may skip this paragraph and proceed deeper into the review. Now that they’re gone here’s the harsh truth. This band is too good to be a side project. Yes, that’s testimony to the underappreciated White’s skills, but if forced to choose one band to record with permanently, White should pick the Dead Weather. Sea of Cowards is often sloppy and disjointed and seems rushed. But at their best White and Mosshart create a Joplin-meets-Hendrix dynamic that is simply too good to be relegated to recording infrequently.
Welcome back White Stripes and Raconteurs fans; as we were saying White is arguably the engine of modern rock and roll and Sea of Cowards features plenty of his driving, outrageous guitar. Mosshart’s vocals are more than a foil; they propel this album to its greatest moments.
Dean Fertita from Queens of the Stone Age and Raconetuers’ bass player Jack Lawrence fill out the all-star lineup and add layers of sound richer than Dead Weather’s first album Horehound.
And Mosshart is clearly more comfortable here. “I’m not the way that you found me/I’m neither here nor there/One day I’m happy and healthy/Next I ain’t doing so well,” she sings with gritty realism on “The Difference Between Us”, the album’s best track. White’s psychedelic riffs push Mosshart to a level she’s never achieved with The Kills. The implied female-dominant sexual violence of the song explodes on all levels. Mosshart is scarily perfect singing, “You can cry like a baby/just let me do what I need to” and White adds a little U2-New Years Day-inspired drumming to accompany his acid guitar.
The closest Mosshart and White come to a vocal duet is on the single “Die By The Drop.” But it’s not so much a duet as it is alternating verses. Still, when Mosshart sings “Some people die just a little/some people die by the drop” and White echoes her every sentence while his guitar runs wild, you’ll be challenged to find a better rock and roll track of the past few years.
Too bad not every song achieves this level. Sea of Cowards is a deeply flawed album with some tracks that should have been left in the studio (particularly the closer Old Mary, and yeah, we get it) plus other songs that deserved more attention.
Sure it’s White’s party and he can dominate the opening with “Blue Blood Blues” but his vocals don’t do much to establish this as a must-listen. But then there’s that guitar. Every time you think you don’t appreciate a track, listen to it again and you’ll hear guitar playing that is ingenious for inventiveness as well as its tributary acknowledgments to rock and blues legends.
(There’s more than one Jimmy Page lick to be found and don’t think you’re having a flashback if you hear Houses of the Holy.)
In the movie “It Might Get Loud,” before White meets U2’s Edge and Led Zep’s Page he jokes he’s going to lure them into showing him their tricks so he can steal them. White clearly doesn’t need to steal anyone’s style but on Sea of Cowards he bends the music that influenced him and makes it his own. At times, the CD is a musical Rorschach test; prime example: the high-hat drumming on “Hustle and Cuss” triggers memories of Stevie Wonder’s Too High from Innervisions..
“Hustle and Cuss” is one of many cuts with nonsensical or below par lyrics, a fact somewhat mitigated by the overall feel that vocals are often simply used as another weapon to keep the musical riot going.
Yet, in many years of rock and roll who has found the right pharmaceutical combination that allows them to understand or impart any meaning to the lyrics “and we hustle and cuss, lick on the dust. Must you muscle and fuss?” (And, hey kids, don’t try to solve the riddle either.) But with Mosshart’s power vocals perfectly on top of and then yielding to White’s guitar, it’s not the words that provide the feel.
“I’m Mad” is a vocally self indulgent track for White but a Led Zeppelin guitar lead comes out of nowhere in the middle of the song and a few chords later White channels early Hendrix with a style of playing that few even attempt anymore. And far from imitation it’s raucous and original, so powerful that you forgive his vocal egotism.
The album is cut with instrumental and vocal violence and when Mosshart says: “I don’t want a sweetheart/I want a machine,” on Gasoline you believe her. And Jack’s guitar makes you believe her. It’s that rare violent and paradoxical partnership between Mosshart and White that defines Sea Of Cowards’ best moments.
“No Horse”, “Looking At The Invisible Man” and “Jawbreaker” stay true to this electric-fueled uprising and are worth several listens. In some ways they represent the strengths and weaknesses of the overall effort, tracks that are deeply flawed overall but feature sublime bursts of vocal and guitar inventiveness.
With Sea of Cowards there are two things you must do to fully appreciate the music. The first is listen to it several times. And the second is get a good set of headphones and turn it up, way, way up. You’ll find that Mosshart and White are a rock combination worthy of a little tinnitus.
New Music Releases: Smashing Pumpkins
Posted on May 25, 2010 @ 05:58PM - Add a comment
Billy Corgan is back with another Smashing Pumpkins album, Teargarden by Kaleidyscope 1: Songs for a Sailor, and says the album “harkens back to the original psychedelic roots of The Smashing Pumpkins; atmospheric, melodic, heavy, and pretty,” although he does have a new lineup for the band that includes guitarist Jeff Schroeder, drummer Mike Byrne and bassist Nicole Fiorentino. “Each song we've recorded is like its own movie,” says Corgan, who has offered up the album up for free song-by-song on the band’s website. “Hopefully when you put all 44 songs together they'll create a bigger journey that can only be seen when you have all the pieces to the map.” Of course, die-hard fans can purchase the limited edition box set, which is packaged in a silk-screened wooden box….
True Blood: Music from the HBO Original Series, Volume 2 includes new tracks from Beck, Lucinda Williams with Elvis Costello and Robbie Robertson….
Stone Temple Pilots are back with their first album since 2001. The album is self-titled and Don Was produced some tracks…
Jack White’s wife, model Karen Elson, releases her debut album, entitled The Ghost Who Walks and produced by White….
The latest offering from Hank Williams III is called Rebel Within…..
John Prine’s new album, In Person & On Stage, features guest appearances from Emmylou Harris and Josh Ritter…
Be Yourself: A Tribute to Graham Nash’s ‘Songs For Beginners’ features contributions from Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold, Brendan Benson, and Nash’s daughter Nile Nash….
The SNL skit-turned-film MacGruber offers up a soundtrack that features tracks by Michael Bolton, Toto, The Black Keys and The Hives…
The soundtrack for Sex and the City 2 features new tracks by Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys and Leona Lewis....
Widespread Panic’s latest offering, Dirty Side Down, includes a cover of Vic Chestnutt’s “This Cruel Thing”….
Dead Weather: Lightning!
Posted on May 11, 2010 @ 03:22PM - 2 comments
Jack White’s other, other band—the pecking order goes The White Stripes, The Raconteurs and then Dead Weather—are back with their sophomore release, Sea Of Cowards. After their critically-acclaimed debut album, the gothic blues romp known as Horehound, and an electrifying live show the band didn’t waste any time on their return, just 10 months later.
Fronted by the Kills’ Alison Mosshart and featuring White on drums (and occasionally vocals) the band is a veritable supergroup of sorts that also includes bassist Jack Lawrence of The Raconteurs and guitarist Jack Fertita of Queens of the Stone Age.
This time around you can count on more down and dirty rock and roll, bluesy undertones, menacing guitar solos, dark organs, psychedelic synthesizers and lots of aggression in the form of Alison’s sultry howls and growls, but with the in-your-face intensity turned up even more.
Influenced by old blues records and Zeppelin, the album, like most of White’s work, features some great moments and some throwaways. And a lot of the songs kind of blur together. Yet, like everything White creates there’s an inexplicable force that just draws you in. Dead Weather is more about creating an explosive vibe than memorable songs, which really translates best live.
Sea Of Cowards is out today. Check them out the tour dates on their site, Dead Weather
Tour With The White Stripes
Posted on Mar 16, 2010 @ 04:06PM - Add a comment
This week, The White Stripes offer up Under Great White Northern Lights, a CD/DVD combo that features both a documentary of the band’s 2007 Canadian tour and their “first-ever official live album” comprised of 16 tracks from the cross-country trek. The documentary, directed by Emmett Malloy, documents the band’s first Canadian tour, where they achieved their goal of playing all 10 provinces and every territory across the vast nation.
"Having never done a tour of Canada, Meg and I thought it was high time to go whole hog,” Jack White said of their lofty ambitions. “To the far reaches of the Canadian landscape, from the ocean to the permafrost.”
The band played regular venues and some unexpected places too, like a bowling alley in Saskatoon, a YMCA in downtown Toronto, and even an impromptu gig on a Winnipeg Transit bus. They ended at the historic Savoy Theatre in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia on July 14th—in honor of their 10-year anniversary as a band.
The film gives fans a behind-the-scenes look at candid off-stage moments, like Jack and Meg hanging with the locals, as well as memorable live footage from the tour, including hits like 2001’s “Fell In Love With a Girl” and fan favorites, like the band’s moving rendition of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.”
Track listing for the live album:
1. Let’s Shake Hands
2. Black Math
3. Little Ghost
4. Blue Orchid
5. The Union Forever
6. Ball and Biscuit
7. Icky Thump
8. I’m Slowly Turning Into You
9. Jolene
10. 300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues
11. We Are Going to Be Friends
12. I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself
13. Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn
14. Fell In Love With a Girl
15. When I Hear My Name
16. Seven Nation Army
Tuesday New Music Releases
Posted on Dec 15, 2009 @ 08:33PM - 3 comments
Thanks to Jay-Z’s “Empire State Of Mind” we’ve all been reminded of Alicia Keys’ acrobatic vocal abilities, so anticipation is high for the release of her fourth studio album, The Element Of Freedom today…Grammy Award-winning songwriter and producer extraordinaire (and Oprah favorite) Robin Thicke is back with a new solo album, Sex Therapy: The Session…
VIDEO: Jack White Pulls A Kanye and Storms Onstage
In a very Jack White-esque move, New York sons Vampire Weekend release “Cousins,” the first single off their upcoming album Contra, on vinyl…Anglophiles in the holiday spirit should pick up Pet Shop Boys Christmas EP, a five-track holiday import CD that also includes the gorgeous medley featuring Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” that the duo performed on their world tour this year…George Michael’s new EP, December Song (I Dreamed Of Christmas), is his first Christmas release since the beloved 1984 classic “Last Christmas”…Brand-new specially packaged releases that will make perfect Christmas gifts include The Beatles’ With Love Pack, a four-CD box set of digitally remastered editions of the band’s most popular four albums: Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road…
PHOTOS: Rihanna Snapped at LAX
Rihanna fans can splash out on a limited edition 3 CD Collector’s Set of her first three albums that comes with an “exclusive” sexy poster of the star…Hot on the heels of his Dancing With the Stars win, Donny Osmond releases his Definitive Collection, a career-spanning retrospective that includes Donny & Marie’s famed duet “A Little Bit Country – A Little Bit Rock ‘N Roll”…It was a big year for Animal Collective and they’re capping it off with a new studio EP entitled Fall Be Kind…Academy Award-winning composer James Horner is best known for scoring films like Titanic and Braveheart and his latest offering is the music for James Cameron’s Avatar, which he both composed and conducted…It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Julian Lennon and now he’s back with a four-song EP, Lucy, a collaboration with James Scott Cook that includes both studio and acoustic versions of the title track…
VIDEO: Jack White Pulls A Kanye and Storms Onstage
Posted on Sep 22, 2009 @ 01:47PM - 1 comment
Spoofs of Kanye West's interruption of Taylor Swift's MTV VMA's acceptance speech was bound to happen. The White Stripes front man did his version at the Toronto Film Festival when he interrupted the director of his band's documentary Under Great White Northern Lights.
Watch the video above for the hilarious moment
Click here to see Kanye's live faux pas
Emmett Malloy, who helmed the flick which follows the band during its 2007 tour of Canada, was answering a question after a screening of the film when White appeared onstage and grabbed the microphone.
See what Taylor did when Kanye apologized
"I'm gonna let you finish, I'm gonna let you finish," White said mimicking West before replacing Beyonce with a more movie-appropriate reference. "But Orson Welles made one of the greatest films of all time!"
The Dead Weather
Posted on Apr 15, 2009 @ 01:18PM - Add a comment
Pretty much anything Jack White touches turns to musical gold. And he proved just that when he took to the stage with his new band, The Dead Weather, last night at the Bowery Ballroom in New York in front of an over-capacity crowd anxious to hear his latest offering.
Of course, we know him best as the brains behind the White Stripes, and then there’s his “other band” the Raconteurs, and now his “other, other band,” where he resumes drumming after a long hiatus, and gives Alison Mosshart of the Kills frontgal status.
