Lady Gaga might do a duet with the famous rockers from Kiss, wrote digitalspy.co.uk. Asked by LAWeekly.com reporters if he wants to work with Gaga, Paul Stanley, guitarist of the group, said: 'All that is possible. She's wonderful. " It's not excluded that in future we'll be listening to a Kiss-Lady Gaga duet, especially as the American artist admitted that she's a fan of the worldwide famous group for their eccentric shows and makeup of its members. Kiss is currently in Los Angeles working on a new album. The disc, the band's 20th [...]
Minmal. Because the second "i" would just be too much. Life has a funny way of working itself out. After much mutual Twitter respect between Still Blue Still Turning and I (our political views and musical tastes are strikingly similar), I actually got to hang out with these guys at the Signal Hill/CALLS/Twincities show. Having listened to both of their albums thoroughly prior to meeting them, I can tell where they were coming from: we were all twenty-somethings from sub/urban New York living in a time of social unrest and economic turmoil. All that aside, we [...]
I don't know why, but it seems like all other Swedish artists are veeeery slow on catching on to new things like micro blogging and other web related stuff ( probably because they're signed to major labels that consists of old dull men who are afraid of internet )... I mean seems like American artists and actors catch on, for instance I'm following David Hewlett (Stargate Atlantis) and Greg Grunberg (Heroes) on twitter. I've recently started an micro blog in Swedish on http://sofiatalvik.bloggy.se and the site internetredaktörerna has just published an [...]
I don't know why, but it seems like all other Swedish artists are veeeery slow on catching on to new things like micro blogging and other web related stuff ( probably because they're signed to major labels that consists of old dull men who are afraid of internet )... I mean seems like American artists and actors catch on, for instance I'm following David Hewlett (Stargate Atlantis) and Greg Grunberg (Heroes) on twitter. I've recently started an micro blog in Swedish on http://sofiatalvik.bloggy.se and the site internetredaktörerna has just published an [...]
I'm coming to realize this week that holidays (vacations) as I knew them are over. In the past, holidays with Dr. O'C have been leisurely affairs - sleeping late, consuming novels like candy, leisurely walks on the beach, wandering through the ancient cities of Europe, luxurious dinners. Well, with the introduction of a toddler terrorist into the equation things have changed. There is certainly no sleeping in together. We did take a walk on the beach yesterday, but there's a difference between leisurely and zigging and zagging in a generally backward direction after a toddler who's recently learned to run. [...]
Just a reminder of where we've been thus far: 10. The Hold Steady - "Stay Positive" 9. The Black Angels - "Directions To See A Ghost" I was really struggling to come up with a way to write about the latest LP from Mark Kozelek (aka Sun Kil Moon ). I knew I loved it. I knew it was one of my favorite records of the year, but the words to describe "April" ( Caldo Verde ) were eluding me. Then the other day I [...]
It was Boy Z and Papa Party Day today which means that I am, as usual, brain dead. Lucky for me I already wrote a pretty thorough review of my choice for the ninth best album by an unsigned artist or an artist signed to a truly independent label. So, I'm going to take the easy way out and refer back to my review from earlier this year. "Directions to See a Ghost" ( Light In The Attic ) is the sophomore LP from Austin's The Black Angels . As you can probably guess from the name [...]
Craig Finn is an Everyman's rock hero. He's living proof that you don't have to look like Jon Bon Jovi or Michael Hutchence to be a rock star. Finn, who leads Brooklyn's The Hold Steady , could pass as an engineering graduate student anywhere in the world but he leads one of the most blistering rock bands on the scene right now. They released their fourth LP, "Stay Positive" ( Vagrant ) in July of this year to a fair amount of critical acclaim and a surprising amount of commercial success. They are shamelessly derivative but in [...]
No, not Christmas. Christmas can bite me. I'm talking about the time for end-of-year Top 10 lists. I love a good top 10 list and have always wanted a venue on which to present one. When I was thinking of starting a blog, and this is true, one of the things that motivated me to get it together was that I would finally be able to put together a list of my 10 favorite albums of the year . Just like the magazines. Except nobody cares about mine. Bit of a twist this year. Because of my [...]
Well, there have been a lot of strong words and emotions thrown around in these Deep South Smack Talk posts this year. We've had Alex call the Dawgs " Pop Warner wanna-be's " and The Vol Abroad question my parenting skills . This is to be expected when debating the merits of SEC football teams. I don't think anything has aroused so much passion from Southerners since Sherman torched Atlanta. But, in character for a Gator fan, no one has struck so ruthlessly as Jamie did this week. Taking a cue [...]
Teaching kids that were born the year I graduated from high school is sometimes a slightly demoralizing experience. I like to consider myself a relatively "cool" guy - down with the kids, so to speak. But nearly every day my students come up with some bit of slang that just mystifies it entirely. Clearly they aren't as awed in my presence as they should be or they would be speaking in proper English. After all, I am a university lecturer. I guess the sad fact is, that I'm just getting old. Verging on that stereotypical aging hipster that you generally [...]
Starting off with an old favorite. Okkervil River , who featured on A Free Man's Top 10 last year is back next week with their fifth full length record, "The Stand Ins". I've heard a bit of it and it sounds as good or better than last year's gem "The Stage Names". If you've not heard these Texas troubadours, the time is now. Preorder "The Stand Ins" from Jagjaguwar for an early download and cover art poster. MP3: Okkervil River - "Lost Coastlines" Mash-ups and remixes are [...]
Father's little helper and I are grateful that the weekend's upon us. It means a brief reprieve from ten plus hour days. Here's hoping that this weekend's also free from flat pack furniture. Damn Swedes. Wanted to take the chance to point you all at a band that's been burning up my iPod this week. The Mates of State ( MySpace ) are a husband and wife team that came out of Kansas in the late 1990's. They got my attention a year or so ago as the traveling band for the This American Life [...]
Let's kick things off this week with the sultry, smoky voice of Melody Gardot . Her debut LP, "Worrisome Heart" is out and what I've heard of it so far is just stunning. Gardot was seriously injured after being hit by a car whilst riding her bicycle in 2004. One of the treatments suggested for her was music therapy and she has truly blossomed. The title track is a guantlet thrown down for aspiring jazz singers. Sublime. MP3: Melody Gardot - "Worrisome Heart" . Word of mouth is still [...]
There's a fine line between being influenced by an artist and being derivative of an artitst and Picture Atlantic is staggering along that tightrope. The Oakland, California based quintet seems to be managing pretty well so far. They recently got the chance to open for Brit-pop brontosaurus Coldplay in California, but while Picture Atlantic's influences clearly lie in the British Isles, they avoid the trap of sounding like a Coldplay (or Keane, or Travis) cover act. Their self-recorded and produced debut Kleos ( buy ) broke through the drone of backlogged music this weekend, initially because of it's Anglophile tendencies. But the [...]
As you very likely know, Dr. O'C has taken on a chunk of the writing duties here at A Free Man while your underwhelming correspondent is burning the employment candle at both ends. What you may not know is that she's largely taken over the photography duties as well. Pretty much any photo of Baby Z in the last month or so that doesn't also have Dr. O'C in it, was taken by Dr. O'C. And I must say she's getting pretty good at it. This photo of Z is one of my favorites to date. Now, I [...]
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