NEW MUSIC: JACK WHITE “Love Interruption”
Almost a year after the formal professional split of The White Stripes, Jack White is finally getting ready to unleash his first solo album Blunderbuss on April 24th, jointly released by Third Man and Columbia (the day before in the UK and EU – lucky bastards).
For now, Third Man are already taking pre-orders for the first single, “Love Interruption”, which will contain a non-LP B-side, and be released on vinyl on February 7th and through iTunes tonight at midnight. Tide yourself over in the meantime with this stream:
And since Record Store Day is happening before the album’s release, I’m sure Third Man are going to have something special coming out that day as well. After all, it was on RSD in 2009 when the first Third Man single, The Dead Weather’s “Hang You From The Heavens”, was released…
NEW MUSIC: INSANE CLOWN POSSE/JACK WHITE/JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD “Leck Mich Im Arsch”
The look on Jack White
From the You Couldn’t Make This Shit Up If You Smoked Enough Weed To Make Cypress Hill Look Straight-Edge Department:
This just in: Jack White and The Insane Clown Posse have something else in common besides being from Detroit and running unpredictable independent record labels.
Both Third Man Records (White’s label) and Psychopathic Records (ICP’s label) just released news of this otherwise unlikely collaboration that gets even more unlikely given the musical content of the A-side. Thus sayeth the press release:
In the grand tradition of peanut butter meeting Iggy’s chest or Bing Crosby getting down with David Bowie, Third Man Records is ecstatic to present the latest in a long-line of unexpected musical pairings…Insane Clown Posse and Mozart.
Back in ’82, ahem, 1782, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote a piece that’s been left out of the spotlight ever since. The title of the piece is “Leck Mich Im Arsch” or literally translated to English as “Lick me in the arse.” Understandably this piece has figuratively been swept under the rug. So who better to give this piece it’s due respect than the wildly successful, much misunderstood, and divisive Southwest Detroit rappers Insane Clown Posse?
With fellow Southwest Detroit-born Jack White at the production helm and musical backing by Nashville’s very own Jeff the Brotherhood, this 2011 version of “Leck Mich Im Arsch” marries Mozart’s melody (and lyrics sung in operatic German) with ICP’s poignant lyrical addition in English and Jeff the B’s monster-riffs, letting the whole thing tie together in the most beautiful of ways.
(The full press release can be read at either label’s websites.)
I’m a big fan of whatever Jack White does to begin with, and while I would never use the title of “Juggalo” or “ninja” (endearments more suited to more devoted fans of the self-proclaimed Wicked Clowns) I am an ICP fan as well. Even if I could have seen such a collaboration coming, I wouldn’t have thought that they’d base said collaboration on something from one of the most revered classical composers in history. And I’ve loved classical music since my grandfather introduced it to me as a young boy, which makes this even more appealing to me – and also adds another notch to the “Things I Thought Only The Contents Of My Record and CD Collection Had In Common” column in my book. Leave it to Jack White to dig up one of the bawdy party songs that Mozart was known to have written for his own and his friends’s amusement and give it such a hilarious and eminently listenable interpretation. The question here is not, “What the fuck is Jack White thinking?” (as said almost ad infinitum in indie rock circles mere minutes removed from the announcement) but “How the fuck did he come up with such a hilariously crazy idea?”. Trust me, it’s not meant to be taken seriously, but that’s most likely the idea here:
Insane Clown Posse – Leck Mich Im Arsch by Third Man Records
Even the trailer Third Man released in advance of the single is fucking hilarious:
The single – part of Third Man’s ongoing “Blue Series” of one-off singles – comes out in limited edition vinyl through Third Man’s website on September 13th, with iTunes being the hook-up for the turntable-challenged. No advance orders being taken yet as of this writing, but keep checking both places.
NEW MUSIC: WILCO “I Might”
Jeff Tweedy's got a capo and he's not afraid to play in F-sharp!
Wilco have just put up a stream for the first single for their first post-Nonesuch album The Whole Love (out in September. You never know what Jeff Tweedy and his badn of merry men are going to pull off, and this time it appears that Jeff’s been spinning the Nuggets box set and the Pebbles CD series lately. I can dig it. Folks that attended the band’s second annual Solid Smoke festival last week already took home 7″ singles that had this song on the A-side and a cover of Nick Lowe’s “I Love My Label” on the B-Side (an appropriate choice given that the band is operating their own label now); the general public will be able to buy the entire single in a couple of weeks – July 19th to be exact. Definitely looking forward to this!
NEW MUSIC: ANTHRAX “Fight’em ’til You Can’t”
Damn! Talk about picking up where you left off – Anthrax just released the first single from their long-delayed new album Worship Music (out September 13th) this afternoon through their website. (Check the artwork for the single there, too!) From the sounds of things, they seem to have gotten back their sense of humor that was pretty much lost since Attack of the Killer B’s without losing the heaviness of Persistence of Time. Hopes for this album should be nice and high at this point. Stream or download below:
NEW MUSIC: MARSHALL CRENSHAW “Maryanne (Live at First Avenue, 1987)”
Veteran singer/songwriter Marshall Crenshaw (best known for his hit “Someday Someway” and his portrayal of Buddy Holly in the Ritchie Valens biopic La Bamba) is commemorating his 30th year in the music business (his first single “Something’s Gonna Happen” [live performance from a very recent NYC show with his current band here] was released by the venerable Bomp! label back in 1981) with a 30th anniversary tour (where he’ll be playing both classic cuts as well as songs from his current album Jaggedland) – and a free download of a newly discovered live recording of another classic M.C. tune, done at the landmark First Avenue nightclub in Minneapolis in 1987. Marshall isn’t identifying exactly when this track was recorded or who comprised his backing band, but he’s offering a bonus download of another unreleased recording to the first ten fans who can answer both questions! (Details at his website.)
NEW MUSIC: MORNING MUSUME “Only You”
A full HQ copy of Morning Musume’s forthcoming single “Only You” (out 6/15) has already surfaced. The band is back to the mature sound of “Nanchatte Renai”, “Naichao Kamo” and “Onna ga Medatte Naze Ikenai” after kicking off 2011 and their 9th-generation period with this past spring’s much needed dose of sunshine known as “Maji Desu Ka Ska”. And Takitty and Reina, the two best vocalists in the band, are right up front as they very well should be. Loving it already… how could I not? How could you not? Summer’s already starting to sound good and it’s not even Memorial Day yet…
ETA 5.20.11: Sorry – I wasn’t aware that the original stream had been removed – here’s a replacement.
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NEW MUSIC: R. STEVIE MOORE “Carmen Is Coming”
Dubbed “The Godfather of DIY Recording”, uber-prolific songwriter/multi-instrumentalist (how does 400 albums recorded and self-released since 1968 sound?) R. Stevie Moore has been making a bit of a career renaissance since relocating from New Jersey to his native Nashville late last year. RSM has been taking quite the advantage of both Kickstarter and Bandcamp of late, successfully crowdfunding both his forthcoming album Advanced and his forthcoming American tour through the former website(*), and starting to upload his massive discography to the latter site. Through the latter site, he’s released the first single from Advanced – and RSM seems to be quite revitalized since he relocated. (Bandcamp itself should be commended for making the widget below – allowing folks to both stream and buy the single – possible!)
* CAVEAT EMPTOR: The author of this post participated in both crowdfunding efforts.
NEW MUSIC: JANE’S ADDICTION “End to the Lies”
Their new album The Great Escape Artist isn’t going to be out until August (no exact release date has been stated yet), but Jane’s Addiction are already starting to stoke the fires in preparation by issuing the first single, “End of the Lies”, through their website. Apparently, a leak of the rough mix came out last week, so Perry, Dave and company decided, “Fuck it, let’s release the final mix for free ourselves.” All one has to do is sign up for the band’s mailing list through the website – or stream it below:
Stream: Jane’s Addiction “End of the Lies”
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NEW MUSIC: Beastie Boys “Make Some Noise”
Finally… the long overdue, long delayed Beastie Boys album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two (Part One is still being held up for whatever reason) is going to be a reality, and here’s the first single from it. Classic Beasties… I haven’t heard them sound this fucking good in years.
Stream: Beastie Boys “Make Some Noise”
NEW MUSIC: ANVIL “Juggernaut of Justice”
Veteran headbangers Anvil – whose widely acclaimed documentary Anvil: The Story of Anvil documented the career-long struggle of Steve “Lips” Kudlow and Robb Reiner (imagine Charlie Brown and Linus Van Pelt as two middle-aged Jewish-Canadian metal musicians) and their influential yet criminally underrated and mismanaged band broke them out of obscurity one and for all – are gearing up for the mid-May release of their 14th album Juggernaut of Justice (an album that Lips and Robb had been planning since their documentary was starting to wrap) through their new label home The End Records. The title track was just released as part of a spring sampler by The End; you can download just the Anvil track or the entire compilation through The End’s Bandcamp page for free from the links below, or stream the song here.
Download: Anvil “Juggernaut of Justice”
Stream: Anvil “Juggernaut of Justice”
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