Alanis Morissette in 2008 is ... Alanis Morissette in 2008. Surprisingly, though, this video for "Underneath" is different than the nightswimming clip she did for the Flavors Of Entanglement tune in '07. This new piece, in anticipation of studio album seven, goes a long way to let us know that the revolution starts at home. We see Alanis switching between a slinky red slip and grunge-era environmental activist gear as she tries reconciling her anger with global politics and the strained relationship with her boyfriend Jack Johnson.
As you may have heard, Rivers Cuomo is asking for your help in writing a new song. RC started out telling us it should be "fun" as well as "poppy" and "tough," then folks suggested titles. "'80s Radio" won. If you're new to the game, we're currently on "Step 10" or "Bridge Lyrics." Before you dive in, a couple things. First, please note that his speaking voice is much different than his singing voice. Also, as Rivers warns us, "Don't try to be a William Shakspeare," just let the good times roll.
We're not exaggerating. Journey's still going strong with Arnel Pineda, the guy they found on YouTube to play the part of Steve Perry. We saw the live footage and Pineda sounded like Perry, though he smiles more. We still can't believe the guy's almost 41 years old, but that, among other things, are confirmed in "He Didn't Stop Believin'," a feature on Journey and Journey's new crooner in the new GQ. Something we learned right off the bat: In addition to Journey, Pineda's old band Zoo also covered songs by Styx, REO Speedwagon, Men At Work, Toto, the Beatles, RHCP, the Goo Goo Dolls, Simple Minds, and Stryper, among others. Things would be a bit different if Stryper had contacted him first. But Michael Sweet's going strong, and they didn't. So, as he tells GQ, "My life is a fairy tale ... but I'm awake, and I'm dreaming it." Judging by the length of the GQ article, his life is a Proustian fairy tale with YouTube playing the role of the madeleine. Unless you're a fan, though, you won't be awake when you finish reading it.
Cut Copy's In Ghost Colours, and its supporting tour, continues to blow minds wherever it travels. But for all the strains of New Order, Pet Shop Boys, and even Fleetwood Mac that run through the album's banging house, we did not realize "Hearts On Fire" is the post-millennial answer to "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?" until director Nagi Noda got involved.
Speaking of Fleetwood Mac and Cut Copy, you definitely have to hear the Cut Copy Lifelike remix of the Mac's "Never Forget." Check it at Hype.
Apparently and allegedly this premiered during the David vs. David American Idol showdown that we know about thanks to media coverage of how American Idol's ratings are in the crapper. (We'll watch tonight though! Maybe.) Apple enthusiast Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay and man who named his daughter after an iPod, gathered his band of merry Coldplants for a spot in support of Steve Jobs's digital music store (and so, partially and vicariously, in support of the flagging EMI warship). They're doing "Viva La Vida" Or The New Song We Are Liking and it is very colorful. Check it:
So gang, the bad news for you is Death Cab have returned to their day jobs -- but thanks to the band for giving us the day off, and to everyone who wrote in with questions and comments. Walla, you may just have a future in this. Anyway, the worse news for you is that you are back to being stuck with us. We used our time off as any normal people would, checking out the sites of our favorite directors, when we stumbled upon this gem of a spread from the site of Ace Norton, who's been tapped to helm the very first vid for Z and M.'s She & Him project. Looks like Zooey's getting hitched while accompanied by banjo-plucking ghosts and some fairly hot boots.
Today your regular bloggers have been replaced by Ben, Chris, Nick, and Jason of Death Cab For Cutie. The band's new album Narrow Stairs is out now. DCFC are not professional bloggers, so please send them tips.
By Chris Walla
I keep hearing about this Gossip Girl. There's this one picture of her with her and her hot friends, spread out like margarine all over a Lincoln Town Car. Are they going to dinner? What's on the stereo while they drive? Is it our band? What world could I possibly be living in?
That guy sitting in the back seat of the town car -- he's the one I don't trust. I think he should go.
Every week, we dig in the archives for videos that we find noteworthy, memorable, or just unbelievably stupid. And then, Jon McMillan breaks 'em down for you. This week, Death Cab For Cutie are filling in.
By Ben Gibbard
"Regulate"
Warren G (Feat. Nate Dogg), 1994
My girlfriend and I were running errands around Seattle a couple weeks ago when this came on the radio during KUBE 93's "old school lunch hour" (it's kinda weird to think of 1994 as being "old school" but I guess it was almost 15 years ago). It quickly became brutally apparent that "Regulate" has fallen into that unfortunate category of hip hop songs that have not aged well at all. Here are some conversation snippets from the three and half minutes that followed:
Today your regular bloggers have been replaced by Ben, Chris, Nick, and Jason of Death Cab For Cutie. The band's new album Narrow Stairs is out now. DCFC are not professional bloggers, so please send them tips. By Chris Walla...
Unless you were born with one of those silver spoons, you likely work a day job, sneaking time for your own business when not taking care of someone else's. You're not alone. Brandon Stosuy finds out how our favorite indie...
Three years ago Apologies To The Queen Mary established Wolf Parade as major indie players. Since then, though, the core members' various other projects and collaborations, including Handsome Furs, Frog Eyes, Swan Lake, and Sunset Rubdown (especially), became the main...
Every week, we dig in the archives for videos that we find noteworthy, memorable, or just unbelievably stupid. And then, Jon McMillan breaks 'em down for you. This week, Death Cab For Cutie are filling in. By Ben Gibbard "Regulate"...
Take our ink-stained hands and join us at the OldStand, where Jon McMillan goes to remind everyone what an honest-to-goodness music magazine is supposed to look like. A while back we excavated SPIN's 8th Anniversary Dando-fest; now, through the magic...
Not all of Stereogum's favorite sounds conform to what folks expect us to cover. In this space, resident Bananafish fetishist Brandon Stosuy focuses on bands, albums, singles, and villages in Sweden that may otherwise pass by unnoticed. This installment's virtual...
Bell is Russian-born, Alaska-raised, New York-based BTW Olga Bell. She has a band, yes, but she writes the songs and is clearly the central focus with the central voice. We loved what she did with Björk's "It's Oh So Quiet,"...
