https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy3jC5OdSSrrkbe_496i6gQ This guy is awesome. I love alternative style covers. I love Taylor Swift and pop punk.
Eddie Van Halen's son. The song is a tribute to his dad. Wolfgang plays all the instruments and sings.
You know, Wolfgang is a pretty serious musician... I just don't think that he's good enough to be in Van Halen based on that ability. But who the fuck am I to tell Eddie and Alex that he shouldn't be there? The really interesting part is that apparently there are a ton of tapes in a vault somewhere that Eddie recorded that nobody ever heard before... Wolf was on Stern talking about it. I'm leaning towards them being interesting, but not really releasable, which is why we haven't heard them before... but still, I can only imagine what it would be like to have EVH as your dad and then go through his musical diaries like that... R&R royalty, for sure.
Terrific article in Rolling Stone on the anniversary of Neil Peart's death. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/neil-peart-rush-dead-cover-story-1110496/
Eddie has given tours of his shithole studio where all those classic albums were recorded. He had a wall of reel-to-reel tapes of songs he made which he gestures to. “Can’t transfer ‘em, don’t know WHAT to do with ‘em!” Eddie was such a humble guy he thought nobody would be interested in the side-recordings of a musical genius. He didn’t want to go “outside” his band. No wonder he had zero haters.
I've gone down a rabbit hole lately of Kings of Leon live performances. They do not disappoint. Arguably this band is better live than they are on record, and that's saying something in this day and age. Caleb hits all the notes on stage that he does in studio. I saw them live in 2013 (I think) and if the provincial overloards ever let us, I would go again.
Just saw this Mad libs inspired video. Dave Chappelle singing with the Foo fighters playing a cover of Radiohead's Creep at MSG last night
It’s actually not bad. Smart of him to know when to drop off and let the audience sing. Those high notes are a Thom Yorke special. Best not humiliate yourself trying. A man needs to know his limits.
I thought we had mentioned this in the past, but either I dreamed it or I'm bad at finding stuff. Probably both. Anyway Primus was scheduled to go on tour in 2020 to do a tribute to Rush's A Farewell To Kings, playing that entire album. Then . . . The Covid. Well, now they're finally on tour doing it. This video is pretty good. If you're expecting Les Claypool to sing like Geddy, you'll be disappointed. But, if you want to hear the music and see some double-neck goodness, scroll ahead to the 5:30 mark. Alex and Geddy have been supportive of this and are friends with the band (Primus opened for Rush one tour several years ago), and Alex even loaned one of his guitars for this. I'm not sure if it's the white 355 or the double-neck. Either way, Primus sucks and this is awesome.
Yeah, it's funny, part 2 (below) starts with Closer To The Heart, and it's funny to hear the crowd singing along in Geddy's range while Claypool sings an octave lower. It's still pretty cool, though.
Has anyone listened to The Big Push or their base player, Ren? Holy godamned shit. It’s been a looong time since I heard an unknown band or song and immediately thought, “They have it.” These guys are awesome. Virtually everything they touch rocks. Their covers, their original stuff, collabs. Just aces.
Anyone else watching the new Beatles documentary Peter Jackson put together? I am only part way through the second part but have been really enjoying it. Particularly watching them actually come up with some of their big hits on the spot. This clip below shows McCartney sitting down and strumming and humming and you can hear as get back starts to come together.
Is anybody else enjoying the Hanukkah Sessions with Dave Grohl and Greg Kurstin? Some pretty freaking killer covers. Some are straight up, some interpreted in new ways. Good stuff. If you don't know Kurstin, he's mostly known for being a Producer and song writer. (Grammy winner for writing "Hello" for Adele, and producing that album, and wrote her latest single "Easy On Me.")
Never even knew it was a thing. This seems to be done in the same way that a couple of girls get together and play with dolls, they just got together to fuck around making music that millions of people will watch. It's a great dynamic.
It's fascinating. It has a lot of incredibly mundane moments. But it's worth sifting though them just to see when the magic emerges. Like, in Ep 2 when Billy Preston sits in is a revelation. To hear how the demo versions suddenly get life, and simultaneously see Paul and John especially, noticeably change out of their dour funk to genuine joy is very cool. As a side note, what a fucking interloper Yoko was. I don't mean she broke up the Beatles or anything, and cheers to Lennon for finding love. I just mean specifically for these sessions. Like, sit off to the side, woman. It didn't seem to bother Paul, George and Ringo, but the moments where it was clearly just the four of them in what should have been their intimate friendship/ professional relationship, with her just inserted, is weird.
Finally finished this. The payoff for the final live performance by the Beatles ever is pretty sweet. The whole film captures a lot of the dynamic and mood of what they'd become. The crushing fame and overwhelming popularity in such a short time just did them in. Hearing George talk about not being able to go to a shoe store was very telling. One of may favorite moments was when George hears Ringo playing Octopus's Garden, like "hey, you wrote a song!" and helps him out, then John Walks in with a big smile, like "hey, you wrote a song!" Ringo is very childlike and quiet in the whole movie, and the other three clearly have a genuine affection for him. It's remarkable that so many of the ones they worked on - Octopus, Bathroom Window, I Want You, Carry That Weight, Maxwell's Silver Hammer - were on Abbey Road, instead, which ended up being released first. They gave up on Let It Be, gave the tapes to Phil Spector, and it was released a year and a half after they actually recorded it. Crazy. When they were arguing about whether or not they had 4 or 5 songs ready for the next day's show, and then somebody pulls out a list and they actually had 12-14 songs, that was pretty funny. I wonder if the cops hadn't come to shut them down, if they'd have played a few more, or just kept doing takes of Get Back.