A reissue of a vintage Frank Sinatra live recording.

My earliest awareness of the iconic Frank Sinatra came from watching classic Looney Tunes cartoons from the early 40's. In those cartoons Sinatra was depicted as skinny and sickly, often attached to various medical apparatuses as women swoon in increasingly ridiculous fashion as a result of hearing the buttery tones of his hypnotic croon. I always found the juxtaposition of this figure on the brink of death provoking such rapturous responses somewhat disturbing yet very compelling. The indelible croon of 17-year-old Archy Marshall won't soon be mistaken for that of Old Blue Eyes, but the bleak jazz inflected sound that [...]

Lana del Rey - Born To Die Lana Del Rey - "Off To The Races" Keith, I must admit that your critiques are valid: I certainly short-changed LDR's vocal capabilities (unfairly so), and I am most certainly a cynic! Allow me, then, an opportunity to re-evaluate and rephrase. I suppose I was trying to say that, although Lizzie Grant is certainly a capable vocalist, her presence on the album didn't dramatically affect my impression of the record. Yes, I enjoyed [...]

Queens of Vinyl is a series where we explore the sounds, styles, and impact of some of the most incredible and influential female artists ever pressed to vinyl. This week: Julie London She is seductive and sultry. She's smoky and mysterious. She's gorgeous and talented. These are only a few of the phrases that describe the amazing Julie London. An accomplished actress and legendary torch singer, London toured all over the world during her 35-year career, and solidified her place in our Queens of Vinyl series. Born [...]

Ricordate il motto delle Spice Girls ? " Girl Power " era la battuta che le cinque ragazze si divertivano ad urlare a mezzo mondo per ricordare a tutti l'emancipazione femminile, il riscatto rispetto al sesso forte e rispetto alla famiglia di stampo patriarcale che ha incominciato a prendere piede nel secolo scorso e che ha trovato il punto di massimo splendore durante l'ultimo decennio, quello che ha visto come protagonista proprio la girlband prima citata. E le cose nel nuovo millennio non sembrano essere cambiate. Noi ovviamente portiamo questo discorso nell'ambito musicale e tralasciamo tutte le [...]

Senza troppi giri di parole, ecco il primo capolavoro (definirlo italiano sarebbe riduttivo) del 2012 e lo firmano i Ronin , giunti al quarto diamante di una carriera in continua crescita. Nati nel 1999 dall'insaziabile voglia di musica di Bruno Dorella (batteria dei Wolfango prima, di Bachi Da Pietra e OvO poi) e dal tentativo di unire il western morriconiano ad un certo folk mediterraneo e balcanico, cucendo il tutto con chitarre affilate, oggi i Ronin sono una realtà ben assodato seppure cangiante all'interno della scena indipendente europea. La [...]

What is the Wrecking Crew? The Wrecking Crew were a group of Studio Musicians in Los Angeles in the 60s who played on hits for the "Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Sinatra, Sonny and Cher, Jan & Dean, The Monkees, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Mamas and Papas, Tijuana Brass, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Rivers and were Phil Spector's Wall of Sound. The amount of work that they were involved in was tremendous. They were also involved in groups that I like to call, The Milli Vanilli's of the day. A producer would get the guys [...]

I got fat bitches. I got small bitches. I got tall bitches. I got all bitches. Catching up with all the bass bombs that have been dropped in recent weeks. Finally found the time to share some of our favorites with you! High Rankin made a minimix for Brith radio BBC1. Lovin' that Kriss Kross remix in it! High Rankin - 1Xtra Dubstep Download Mix Download: High Rankin - 1Xtra Dubstep Download Mix (6) [...]

I grew up under tall Douglas-fir trees near the coast of Oregon, about as far west as you can get in the United States. When I was young I wanted to be a detective. I tend to talk with my hands, and I am very often solving a math problem in my head. I only dance to two-step music. I own an orange canoe that I don't use often enough. I want to start a memorization club and I am haunted by a desire to travel to South America and write poetry. If you switch around the letters in my [...]

Gene Ween will be releasing a new album on April 10 entitled Marvelous Clouds , which will be a 13-song tribute to poet and songwriter Rod McKuen (who has penned songs for the likes of Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra and Madonna just to name a few). All this will be done under his own name Aaron Freeman. Below is a teaser of the album cut "Jean." (Photo by Ed Murray)

Hemmingbirds are a Chicago-based quartet who make straight-up indie-rock with bucket loads of passion and energy that has led to them being compared to the likes of Arcade Fire and Death Cab For Cutie. They released their debut LP Death Waves in May 2010 but slow and steady word-of-mouth praise means that the bands profile and reputation continues to grow 18 months on from it's release. We caught up with the band who all pitched in with their Favourite Five choices ... [...]

Sesame Street : ABC-DEF-GHI [ purchase studio version ] A month before I began primary school in West Germany in 1972, the TV authorities broadcast a pilot run of the revolutionary (and therefore controversial) US educational kids' programme Sesame Street , in English, to measure parents' reaction to it. I remember my mother, my younger brother and I watching it, and being enthused (I also think watching Sesame Street in a language I couldn't understand planted in me the first [...]

For the past 25+ years, Gene Ween has been one of the "brothers" making up experimental eccentrics Ween . Now, for the first time, he's dropping the pseudonym and going solo. Though his new album is being released under his given name, Aaron Freeman, the music's not actually his. Instead, the 13-track Marvelous Clouds features Freeman paying tribute to the songs of poet/songwriter Rod McKuen . McKuen was a part of the 1950's beat poet scene in San Francisco. From there, he rose to become an accomplished singer, poet, and songwriter, crafting songs [...]

Aaron Freeman will step out from behind the Gene Ween moniker to release Marvelous Clouds , a 13-song tribute to the poet and songwriter Rod McKuen, under his own name later this spring. A prolific writer, McKuen wrote songs for the likes of Perry Como and Frank Sinatra while compiling volumes of poetry, some of which earned a good deal of success in the late '60s. Hear a teaser of album cut "Jane" down below. Read More...
Wes Montgomery : What's New? [ purchase ] The popular torch standard What's New? was written in 1939 and like all great standards has been recorded by many terrific jazz musicians over the years, including Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, and Larry Coryell. The version I'm highlighting is much more understated and seductive. It features one of the finest guitar performances of Wes Montgomery (I can't believe we've never showcased him before!), here with the Wynton Kelly Trio—Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on [...]
And now for not long awaited/demanded second half of my Frank Sinatra covers album post. You can find part one here. Mind Over Matter - New York, New York Mind Over Matter was an NYC hardcore punk band that, if their Last.FM bio is anything to be believed, played a major factor in the development of screamo. If I was Mind Over Matter, that's not something I would be bragging about. I like this cover a lot, especially how it injects NYC crime statistics into [...]
Los Angeles Times (MCT) -- LOS ANGELES - Grauman's Chinese Theatre is hallowed Hollywood tourist ground, the famed site where silver-screen stars such as Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra literally cemented their legends by making hand- and footprints in concrete. On a recent November morning, those movie icons were joined by three gigantic rodents: Alvin and the Chipmunks. Or, more precisely, as Alvin, Simon and Theodore are cartoon characters, by three anonymous guys in chipmunk suits who stuck...

The random mid-90s alt-rock compilation; is there any better source for oddball rarities and bizarro obscurities? It's thanks to this trend of "let's package as many bands who we think the kids who like Nirvana might like together and see what happens" we have albums like No Alternative , with Soul Aslyum's awesome take on "Sexual Healing" and that crazy Carpenters tribute record with Sonic Youth's cover of "Superstar." Chairman of the Board , a collection of alt-rock groups taking on standards made famous by Frank Sinatra, doesn't have any classic cuts like those records [...]

A volte avere la fedina penale sporca sembra essere una moda da seguire, per alcune star. Se sei davvero rock non puoi non avere almeno una foto segnaletica come si deve. Ecco alcuni cantanti che hanno avuto, nel corso della loro carriera, piccoli problemi di legge. Potete vedere Johnny Cash, Billie Holiday, Jim Morrison e Jimi Hendrix. Gli altri, dopo il salto: Cantanti che sono stati arrestati - Gallery [...]