September 01, 2010 ,
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Maxine Shen
You've already watched the lyrics video for Cee-Lo Green's freakin' fantastic single, "F--- You" (it has been watched more than 4 million times), but it's nothing compared to the official music video... Read on
August 31, 2010 ,
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Kyle Ellis
The Eli Young Band makes country music, but don’t be fooled - the band that got its start in Denton, Texas knows how to rock. Just ask New York rock native Eddie Money.“We had Eddie Money... Read on
The
Eli Young Band makes country music, but don’t be fooled - the band that got its start in Denton, Texas knows how to rock. Just ask New York rock native Eddie Money.
“We had Eddie Money come up to us one time, tell us he really liked our music and then he just kept walking. I like to think he meant it,” says lead singer Mike Eli, 29.
Eli and his bandmates - James Young (lead guitar, background vocals), Jon Jones (bass guitar, background vocals) and Chris Thompson (drums) - spent the summer on the Country Throwdown tour, a day-long music festival with headliners Montgomery Gentry, Jamey Johnson, Jack Ingram and Little Big Town.
The band heads to
Bowery Ballroom tomorrow (Sept. 1) to headline its first concert in the Big Apple. But, before that, Eli called the Post to chat from Missouri.
New York Post:Your sound's been described as “left of center for country music.” How do you describe Eli Young Band music?
Mike Eli:We really just try to be ourselves. I grew up on country music, but the influences are all over the place for the four of us. It’s kind of cliché to say, but we really came from four different musical backgrounds and when we started making music we just started meshing it all together. There’s a huge rock influence in what we do. The way that we write our songs is where the country comes in, but we have a lot of rock influence.
NYP:What's the first Eli Young Band song you would want a potential fan to hear?
Eli:“
When it Rains.” That song is such a pivotal song for us. In our opinion, there was a reason that song really led to us being popular in Texas and it also lead to us breaking out and being able to tour nationally. If there was any one song, I think that’d definitely be the one.
NYP:You're relative newcomers to a national stage. How has your music evolved since you first started playing small bars in Texas a decade ago?
Eli:I think the music has changed as we’ve changed personally. We can’t sing about college anymore because we haven’t been in college for 10 years. Times change, your life changes and your music changes right there with you. As far as it changing because of success, I don’t think that’s been a factor. With us, we’ve always believed our music needs to be honest and truthful. If it’s changed, it’s because we’ve wanted it to change and evolve.
NYP:You've opened for acts like Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp and Sheryl Crow. How did their fans received you?
Eli:I think that’s what’s been really cool on this road. We’ve been really lucky when it comes to our music, it appeals to a lot of different kinds of people. It doesn’t really appeal to just one demographic. Our fans are different ages and they come from a lot of different backgrounds.
NYP:What’s the strangest thing fans have done for you?
Eli:Man, people have gotten tattoos of our signatures or our logo. That’s pretty strange to me, I guess, just getting to that point where people put something permanent on their body… A couple years ago, I had someone throw a piñata on the stage for my birthday and I broke it right there in the middle of a song, and it was filled with unmentionables. That probably tops it.
NYP:Tell us about the album you've got coming out next year.
Eli:It’s gonna be awesome! It’s gonna be our best record yet! I think as songwriters, picking songs for this record was really tough because we’ve been writing for it for a couple years. The songs are different; they’re not the same old, same old. The toughest part for an artist is to say something that hasn’t been said before, or to say something that has been said, but in a different way. I really want to be different and stand out and I think this record is gonna be a record that hopefully will move people.
NYP:Will you play any of the new stuff tomorrow night?
Eli:I think we’re gonna play 1 or 2 songs, but we want to save most of them until the record comes out. When we cut the last record, we played a lot of songs before it came out and this time we’re really trying to fight that. "Crazy Girl," a song we played last time we were there, is a contender for the first single.
NYP:Final thoughts?
Eli:We’re really proud of the shows we put on. We feel as if we get up there and really have fun and we want the crowd to have fun. Don’t underestimate us because we play country music, we’re gonna be loud and we know how to rock!
August 17, 2010 ,
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Maxine Shen
How on earth did I miss this? A collaboration between the best Finnish cello-metal band on Earth, Apocalyptica, and Bush's Gavin Rossdale? It's a match made in a mortuary! Anyway, check... Read on
How on earth did I miss this? A collaboration between the best Finnish cello-metal band on Earth, Apocalyptica, and Bush's Gavin Rossdale? It's a match made in a mortuary!
Anyway, check out the video for the band's new single, "End of Me," below. Yes, those really are cellos making that awesome sound. If you like what you hear, pick up the band's new album, "
7th Symphony," on Aug. 23 and go see them live at the Nokia Theatre in Times Square on Aug. 24.
You haven't seen anything until you've seen long-haired dudes headbanging while playing classical cellos. Last time they were in town, Apocalyptica brought Three Days Grace's Adam Gontier onstage. This time, you could (maybe) luck out with one of this album's guest vocalists: Shinedown's Brent Smith, Slayer's Dave Lombardo, Flyleaf's Lacey Sturm, Gojira's Joe Deplatier or Rossdale.
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August 13, 2010 ,
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Maxine Shen
Papa Roach is back with a new album, "Time for Annihilation," due out on Aug. 31. The video for the album's big single, "Kick in the Teeth," is a thing of beauty for two reasons: 1) fans... Read on
Papa Roach is back with a new album, "
Time for Annihilation," due out on Aug. 31. The video for the album's big single, "Kick in the Teeth," is a thing of beauty for two reasons: 1) fans will think it's pretty cool because it fits in perfectly with the song's rockin' lyrics and 2) haters will love watching lead singer Jacoby Shaddix repeatedly getting the s--- kicked out of him throughout the vid. So really, it's the best of both worlds.
Totally randomly: I've got a certain co-worker from Vacaville who still holds a bit of a grudge because Shaddix's cronies ripped off a certain medicinal herb from my co-worker and his friends back when they were still in high school together. Every time the band's name pops up, I think about that. And laugh a little.
Anyway, here's "Kick in the Teeth":
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July 30, 2010 ,
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Maxine Shen
EPA/JOSE SENA GOULAO EPA/JOSE SENA GOULAO Performance art/singer Peaches is bringing her "Peaches Christ Superstar" show to American shores - specifically New York - on Dec. 11. It's the same... Read on
EPA/JOSE SENA GOULAO
Performance art/singer Peaches is bringing her "Peaches Christ Superstar" show to American shores - specifically New York - on Dec. 11. It's the same show that she debuted in Berlin and Hamburg back in March.
She'll perform every role in the famed Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical ("Jesus Christ Superstar"), including that of Jesus, Mary and the disciples. She'll be accompanied on piano by rapper Chilly Gonzales.
As Peaches has said, “To perform Jesus Christ Superstar as a one-woman-song is a crazy enterprise. It is very demanding and very difficult. When I was sixteen I often sang the whole musical to myself all alone in my room. It tells an entire story without spoken text, only with vocals, in the style of a rock opera. I’m a performer, my concerts are extravagant and play with exaggerations. This project allows me to do without all this. I wanted to confront this task totally exposed, because it is a possibility. It’s a question of stamina.”
Tickets to the Dec. 11 show at The Concert Hall at The New York Society for Ethical Culture are on sale today. They'll run you $37.50 a pop and you can get 'em at Ticketmaster.com.
July 23, 2010 ,
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Maxine Shen
This band gets a mention purely because I am a NASCAR fan and (perhaps predictably) have a soft spot for Junebug, what with his seemingly endless battle against a Sprint Cup non-winning... Read on
This band gets a mention purely because I am a NASCAR fan and (perhaps predictably) have a soft spot for Junebug, what with his seemingly endless battle against a Sprint Cup non-winning streak and all.
Surprisingly, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. (the band) plays the kind of stuff that would never, in a million years, ever be heard at the racetrack. They are not a NASCAR band. (Unlike, say, rockers Saving Abel or 3 Doors Down.) DE Jr. Jr. is more like a...paddle boating band. They do trippy, electro-folk-rock. If that floats your boat, you can download the track "Nothing But Our Love" free
here
. It's off their recently released EP, "Horse Power."
July 22, 2010 ,
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Maxine Shen
Check it out - a free MP3 download of singer-songwriter Amy Correia's bluesy, country-esque tune "Powder Blue Trans Am." Get it while it's hot here. She's currently wrapping up her July... Read on
Check it out - a free MP3 download of singer-songwriter Amy Correia's bluesy, country-esque tune "Powder Blue Trans Am." Get it while it's hot
here.
She's currently wrapping up her July residency at Bowery Electric, playing tonight (joined by members of Ani DiFranco's touring band) and July 29. Tickets are $10...hard to beat that!
Some background on Correia: She bummed around town, penning tunes alongside greats like Jeff Buckley, Paula Cole, Jesse Harris and Rebecca Martin - unsurprisingly, she got a major label deal and toured around the country with John Hiatt, Richard Thompson and Keb Mo. Two albums later, she went the indie route and self-released her third album, "You Go Your Way," which she paid for using $37,000 that her fans raised. Hit up her residency dates and that's what you'll be hearing.
July 19, 2010 ,
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Maxine Shen
Emo kings Jimmy Eat World have announced that their new album, "Invented," will hit stores on Sept. 28th. For those keeping score, the album was produced by Mark Trombino, who did their... Read on
Emo kings Jimmy Eat World have announced that their new album, "Invented," will hit stores on Sept. 28th. For those keeping score, the album was produced by Mark Trombino, who did their amazing 2001 album, "Bleed American," as well as earlier works "Static Prevails" and "Clarity."
The first single, "My Best Theory," will start spinning on radio next month.
"Invented" marks the first new release since 2007's "Chase This Light," which gave them their highest chart position of their lifetimes - No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart. The guys took a breather while recording "Invented" to celebrate the 10th anniversary of "Clarity" with a special all-"Clarity," all the time tour.
July 19, 2010 ,
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Maxine Shen
Avenged Sevenfold debuted the music video for their latest single, "Nightmare," over the weekend. At five minutes long, you'd think they pretty much covered everything they needed to..... Read on
Avenged Sevenfold debuted the music video for their latest single, "Nightmare," over the weekend. At five minutes long, you'd think they pretty much covered everything they needed to...but no. There's more! A full minute extra!
So here's the full-length, un-edited video. Good news folks: The creepy, hallucino-fisheyes from "Bat Country" are back!
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On an unrelated note: It's strange seeing A7X as a foursome, isn't it? They must think so too...they look pretty darned unhappy about it in this press photo.
July 14, 2010 ,
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Maxine Shen
Finally, a release date for American Bang's self-titled debut album - Aug. 31! And, to celebrate, the band (and Reprise Records) have released a new music video for "Wild and Young," an... Read on
Finally, a release date for American Bang's self-titled debut album - Aug. 31! And, to celebrate, the band (and Reprise Records) have released a new music video for "Wild and Young," an excellent Southern rocking ode to stopping and smelling the roses.
Watch the flower power-inspired, throwback to the 60s videos here:
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