The very talented David Baker, ex-of Mercury Rev , unleashed his new project Variety Lights last year via the eclectic album Central Flow . UK audiences will finally get a chance to enjoy the live show this spring as the band are travelling here supporting Pere Ubu . The dates are 13 April: The Haunt, Brighton, UK 14 April: Arts Centre, Colchester, UK 15 April: The Sage, Gateshead, UK 16 April: Fibbers, York, UK 17 April: Mono, Glasgow, UK 18 April: Band On The Wall, Manchester, UK [...]
by Bill Pearis Former Mercury Rev frontman David Baker is bringing his musical project Variety Lights on the road for a few dates this month, including two in NYC: August 22 at Mercury Lounge with The Eastern Sea and Your 33 Black Angels ( tickets ) and August 24 at Public Assembly with Dinowalrus and August Wells . Variety Lights have a new video for [...]
Eighteen years is a long stretch in the perceived wilderness. David Baker emerged with psychedelic heroes Mercury Rev as the voice of the band when they were, simply put, at their wildest, most interesting and yes, best on Yerself Is Steam and Boces. He was dropped from the scene after leaving/being fired from the band in ’94 and aside from a brief, indie celebrity strewn solo sojourn soon after and some random production gigs, has kept his borderline insane acid-beat poet personality to himself while Mercury Rev went on to become briefly inspiring but mostly bloated and [...]
When former Mercury Rev member David Baker starts from scratch, he really starts from scratch. "You've been silent too long / Oh, we long to hear some truth." David Baker was a founding member of Buffalo rock band Mercury Rev. His departure, whether amicable or acrimonious, was a textbook example of someone taking a sound with them. For Mercury Rev's first two albums, Yerself Is Steam and Boces, they dove headfirst into a spazzed-out brand of pop music for the dawn of the '90s; part navel-gazing mystique, part deafening guitar...
Earlier this week we posted Volume One of the Best New Releases for the Week of June 12th, featuring songs from Jaill, The Tallest Man on Earth, Guided By Voices, and many others. This, Volume Two, features singles from new LP and EP drops by Hot Chip, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Sea of Bees, Phoebe [...] Read more, get songs or stream the entire mix on Indie Rock Cafe
Following an 18-year hiatus, soul singer Bobby Womack returns to top this week's list of new releases with The Bravest Man In The Universe , which easily ranks among the legendary singer's best albums to date. Following the approach he took with the late Gil Scott-Heron’s excellent final record, producer and XL Recordings head Richard Russell, along with co-producer and Blur/Gorillaz-leader Damon Albarn, adds moody electronics and trip-hop beats to create, what our Music Director, Don Yates, calls "masterful set of electro-soul" whose "spacious, modern production makes a surprisingly effective showcase for Womack’s grainy, deeply soulful vocals [...]
ARTIST: The SWAG Report 105 with freebie mp3 downloads for songs by artists including The Intelligence, Mission Of Burma, Matisyahu, Patrick Watson, Plants and Animals, Shout Out Out Out Out and more! So much more! DATE: 05-11-12 WRITER: Bill Adams Hang ten Junky! I see a great big wave o' totally kick-ass SWAG comin' yer way, ya reprobates, an' there's some right righteous stuff loaded in it. No bullshit, yer gonna wanna check di week's Report out, cuz I sure did right by [...]
Exclusive 10" featuring Silver Apples Remix of "Silent Too Long" out now. More than 18 years since he left the public spotlight, mysterious mad-genius David Baker, legendary frontman of the original incarnation of Mercury Rev, is back with new band Variety Lights. The masterful new album 'Central Flow', due for release in June, is a collaboration between Baker and fellow vintage synth addict Will MacLean and demonstrates that Baker has lost none of his flair for the extraordinary, the experimental and the exceptional. Much of Variety Lights’ debut [...]
Variety Lights marks original Mercury Rev singer David Baker's return to full-length releases after 18 years of behind the scenes production work and various other creative meddlings. In case none of that sounds familiar, you're luckily already on the Internet , so be sure to take a look on Google after you give a listen to Silver Apples' remix of the upcoming single, "Silent Too Long." What you'll find is a tale of struggle between mainstream fame and pop experimentalism as could only happen in the "alternative" explosion of the early 1990s. Now, onward boldly into the future/present. [...]
Podcast # 7 is available for streaming online or downloading and listening at your leisure! Live broadcast radio shows are 9pm Thursdays (EST) on PMCRadio.org . Track List: 1) Parenthetical Girls Privilege Pt IV: Sympathy for Spastics A Note to Self 2) Tanlines Mixed Emotions All of Me 3) Simian Ghost Wolf Girl SWEDEN 4) Honheehonhee Shouts A Is For Aniaml CANADA 5) Variety [...]
Legendary Mercury Rev frontman David Baker is back with a great new band -Variety Lights. After leaving the public spotlight more than 18 years ago, Baker returns with his collaborator, Will MacLean, to debut the remarkable psychedelic-synth album Central Flow . The lead track is, appropriately, Silent Too Long , which will be released as an exclusive single for Record Store Day. The debut album is due out in June on Fire Records . They were kind enough to share Silent Too Long as a free MP3. Please download and take a listen! It puts [...]
I'll admit, I never got into Mercury Rev when David Baker was fronting the band. It was only after he left, and the band started sounding more like The Flaming Lips , that I found them listenable. Baker went on to form Shady after his Mercury Rev departure (I think I picked up Shady's 1994 release, World , out of a dollar bin making it a very good candidate for a Plucked from the $1 bin feature). Baker also produced one of [...]
Kid Vinyl
BrooklynVegan
The Line Of Best Fit
PopMatters
Indie Rock Podcast Stream
KEXP Blog
Ground Control
Altsounds.com
International Tapes
VIVA INDIE ROCK
Atomic Ned
Fred Armisen, Bill Hader & Jason Sudekis bid SNL farewell w/ help from J. Mascis, Carrie Brownstein, Amy Poehler + more
Kanye West Announces Album Title & Release Date
Kanye West: Capa do novo álbum / Performance de “New Slaves” e “Black Skinhead” no SNL
Todd Edwards remezcla a Daft Punk, David Bowie, Prince, en la BBC Radio 1
