Tampa Calling

“Lots to report from the world according to RZA,” the rapper/actor’s publicist notes. “New album, Wu-Tang tour, and a role in the new Judd Apatow film [Funny People]. Caught some of the filming and it was hilarious! [RZA] appears alongside Seth Rogen and Adam Sandler in one of the scenes - great look!”

Here’s the press release:

WU MUSIC GROUP ISSUES SECOND RELEASE / FOLLOW UP TO WU-TANG CLAN’S “8 DIAGRAMS”:

THE RZA TO PRESENT “AFRO SAMURAI: RESURRECTION” OUT JANUARY 27, 2009, APPEAR IN NEW JUDD APATOW FILM

(more…)

Bookmark to:

Editor’s note: Contributor Autopsy IV, of ninebullets.net fame, and I are totally in agreement about blues bad ass T-Model Ford, who performs Dec. 12, Dave’s Aqua Lounge, St. Petersburg. Here’s Autopsy’s write-up; check out his kick-ass site for free MP3s. My Ford preview will be in the Creative Loafing that streets today — and will appear here day of show.

It’s not often that you get a chance to see a real deal bluesman, you know, like the ones romanticized in countless books, tv shows and movies. Well, Friday night we get one of those chances when T-Model Ford brings his version of the Mississippi hill-country blues sound to Dave’s Aqua Lounge. Backing T-Model on this tour is a pretty god damned talented blues ensemble in their own right, Gravelroad. I venture to say we could see Dave’s turned into the St. Pete equivalent of a deep South juke-joint until the local authorities tell T-Model and Co. it’s time to pack it up. So come out, get drunk, get high…hell, smoke a cigarette, get in a fight and go to jail. That’s what this night is all about. You could say it’s gonna be good times, but I’ll just quote T-Model and say “it’s Jack Daniel time”.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

I’m always fascinated by music copyright infringement claims. One the one hand, there are only a finite number of musical notes that can be fit together in so many ways. On the other hand, it seems odd to me that two acts could write virtually the same melody independently of each other.

The latest flap involves guitarist Joe Satriani and Coldplay. Last week, Satriani sued the British band, claiming that “substantial original portions” of his 2004 song “If I Could Fly” were used in the song “Viva La Vida.”

Coldplay has answered by saying that Satriani’s allegations are baseless. “If there are any similarities between our two pieces of music, they are entirely coincidental, and just as surprising to us as to him,” the band said in a statement.

Spin magazine has done copyright infringement aficionados a solid by putting the songs back to back on its website. I hear a very distinct similarity between the melodies, so much so that the uninitiated might think that Satriani’s “If I Could Fly” is an instrumental version of “Viva La Vida.”

You decide. Click here. and scroll to the bottom of the page to compare the songs. I’d love to hear other opinions.

Bookmark to:

Last night’s Of Montreal show at the Ritz in Ybor was … mind-blowing!

Here’s Of Montreal covering Tom Petty’s American Girl. Thanks to Danny McGuire for the video!

Enjoy.

Bookmark to:

This just arrived in my inbox about two minutes ago. Rather than ramble on about how cool Langerado is (and it is by far the coolest fest in Florida), or analyze the roster (truth be told, I’ve barely looked at it), I’ll simply pass on the info:

7TH ANNUAL LANGERADO MUSIC FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES INITIAL ARTIST LINEUP:

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE, SNOOP DOGG, RYAN ADAMS AND THE CARDINALS,
THIEVERY CORPORATION, SLIGHTLY STOOPID, FLOGGING MOLLY,
DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL, BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE, COLD WAR KIDS,
GIRL TALK, CHROMEO, MUTE MATH, AND BLACK KIDS

ARE JOINED BY GYM CLASS HEROES, THE FAINT,
THE POGUES, ZAC BROWN BAND, MATISYAHU, THE DISCO BISCUITS,
UMPHREY’S MCGEE, ROBERT RANDOLPH AND THE FAMILY BAND,
MICHAEL FRANTI AND SPEARHEAD, THE VIRGINS, AND MANY MORE

TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY DECEMBER 12TH NOON EST AT WWW.LANGERADO.COM
MARCH 6-7-8, 2009 AT BICENTENNIAL PARK IN MIAMI, FL

(more…)

Bookmark to:

My memory of the event is not very clear. I showed up at the CL office in Tampa, ate a slice of pizza, listened to some Muay Thai boxers beat the shit out of what Stephen Hammill, CL’s online producer, assured me were anatomically correct mannequins and then it all goes blank. I think Joran Oppelt, CL’s Marketing and Promotions Director, may have slipped a roofie under the cheese of the pizza we shared. All I know is that the next day a link to this video was in my inbox:

Lorna performs \”Song for the Voiceless\” live on CL Sessions

There is no telling what else happened during these mysterious “CL Sessions.” I guess we’ll all just have to stay tuned to The Big Music Site to find out.

p.s. If you dig “Song for the Voiceless,” it is available on my latest album, Released. You can order it here.

Bookmark to:

It was early Tuesday morning, December 9. I was 9 years old and living on 30th Terrace in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida. I must have been eating my breakfast and getting ready for school. My memory of this day has all the clarity of a dream, except for one element:

I still can recall watching the Today show and seeing the live footage of people gathered near Central Park to mourn the passing of John Lennon. He’d been shot the night before and pronounced dead just after 11 p.m.

Mom wasn’t crying, but I could sense that her world, if only for a little while, had just become a little bit grayer.

Even at my young age, I was a Beatles fan. At my insistence in 1978, Mom took me to see Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band: The Movie. It’s probably an awful film, but as a child who played that record over and over on 8-track, I loved it.

So I was well aware who John Lennon was and why his passing could bring so many to tears. He was a Beatle. And I loved the Beatles. I would walk around one of the handful of apartment complexes I lived in singing “Let It Be.” I barely knew any words to “Good Morning, Good Morning,” but I would sing it anyway, much to Mom’s aggravation.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

The Loaf music staff, Snider and Tatangelo, will be issuing our Top 10 albums of the year later this month, but the ball is already rolling. Here are the year-end best-of lists from Time, New York and England’s The Guardian. Click on the name of each mag and it’ll take you directly to their survey.

Time
1. Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III
2. TV On The Radio, Dear Science
3. Metallica, Death Magnetic
4. Girl Talk, Feed The Animals
5. Vampire Weekend
6. Kanye West, 808s And Heartbreak
7. Santogold
8. Portishead, Third
9. Lucinda Williams, Little Honey
10. Duffy, Rockferry

(more…)

Bookmark to:

I’m totally digging Lily Allen’s brilliant, highly hypnotic new single “The Fear” (see clip below). It’s a disco-beat dagger in the plastic heart of celebrity culture and the first single/video from her wonderfully titled new album  It’s Not Me, It’s You, which drops Tuesday. Here’s the skinny:

It’s Not Me, It’s You is both a continuation of the preoccupations of Alright, Still, Lily’s critically acclaimed debut, and a stiletto-heeled leap forward. The forensic, affecting, often humorous examinations of relationships and sexual politics are still there, but bigger themes are also tackled. BLENDER aptly summed it up as “part God, part country and all middle finger.” Working in a tiny rented house in England’s Cotswolds and at Eagle Rock Studios in Los Angeles, Allen wrote and recorded the album’s 12 songs with producer Greg Kurstin (the bird and the bee), who collaborated with her on three tracks for Alright, Still - “Everything’s Just Wonderful,” “Alfie” and “Not Big.”

Lily Allen: “The Fear”

Bookmark to:

Boss local punk-blues power trio Roppongi’s Ace have posted new tracks on their MySpace page. Here’s what the band wrote in a recent blog post:

Record in 1/09! Demos up now

Hope y’all get a chance to listen to the new tracks. They’re still in demo form and are a little rough around the edges–the masters are done and should be up soon. Look for the new record in early January and a whole bunch of new dates to be posted soon! - RA

Singer/guitarist/fiddler Alex Spoto has been away at college (Brown, last we spoke; yep, he’s a thinker), causing the recent band hiatus. But you can witness Roppongi’s Ace rip it up Dec. 28 at Crowbar and Dec. 31 at Skipper’s Smokehouse. Here’s what I wrote about Roppongi’s spectacular summer of 2007 farewell gig at the Skipperdome:

(more…)

Bookmark to:

Friday night, Orlando’s Matt Butcher debuted his new album, Me and My Friends, with a perfomance at Ybor’s New World Brewery with support from Will Quinlin and the Diviners and North Carolina-based Bombadil.

The diminutive troubadour Butcher (who sounds more like a young Neil Young with each listen) and crew of six knocked out some great harmonies, especially on the title track. Lead guitar and pedal steel work filled things out nicely. As a friend commented, “it’s just enough country, but never too much country.”

Bombadil overcame some questionable wardobe choices to knock out really tight set of twee pop/Indie/Irish sea chanties for children.

Matt Butcher:

(more…)

Bookmark to:

Updated: Dec. 6, 2008:

Updated: Dec. 16, 2008:

Click here for “Ten more depressing Christmas songs.”

This list of sad Christmas songs first ran as a feature in Creative Loafing, back when it was the Weekly Planet, in 2002. I then re-posted it here at TampaCalling last December.

Unfortunately, the list is again proving appropriate, even more this year than during any holiday season in my lifetime. So, I decided to revive the entire article that ran in the old Weekly Planet under the title “Blue Christmas: Songs to avoid (or wallow in) for the season.” Cheers.

Originally published 12.18.02:

As anybody living on this side of a Rockwell canvas already knows, the holidays aren’t always the happiest time of the year. If you’re strapped for cash, feeling lonely or disenfranchised, Christmas usually ushers in as much grief as joy. So, to help deal with the potential doldrums of this week of all Madison Avenue weeks, here’s a list of 12/25 songs from the past three decades that wittily reflect — in no uncertain terms — the occasionally grim realities of the season. (Such pre-rock classics as “White Christmas” harbor nearly as much melancholy as merriment, as well, but Jewish composers like Irving Berlin buried the sentiment a bit deeper in the subtext than today’s songwriters.)

The alphabetically listed tunes posted below range from poignant (”Pretty Paper”) and irreverent (”Fairy Tale of New York”) to humorous (”The Christians and the Pagans”) and morbid (”Brick”) — the overriding criteria for the selections being reality-based storytelling traditionally missing from the standard holiday fare. And although John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” made the cut, political songs with less universal emotional gravity — Steve Earle’s “Christmas in Washington,” Randy Newman’s “Christmas in Capetown” — were deemed unworthy. As was Elvis’ generic “Blue Christmas” and the well-intentioned but nauseating 1980s sap-fest “Do they Know It’s Christmas.”

Included after the artists’ name is the best budget album on which to find each title. This little perk is just in case you’re looking for that special depressing something to send your ex. You know, just to remind him or her of just how much misery they’ve caused you during this season of supposed Yuletide spirit.

“Brick” Ben Folds Five, Whatever and Ever Amen The economically challenged protagonist rises at “6 a.m. the day after Christmas” to drive his young girlfriend to the abortion clinic. Now how’s that for holiday cheer? Killer Line: “They call her name at 7:30/ I pace around the parking lot/ Then I walk down to buy her flowers/ And sell some gifts that I got.”

“The Christians and the Pagans,” Dar Williams, Mortal City How about a little humor before blowing our brains out? In this astute comedic sketch from Williams, two related families polarized by religious differences come together for a holiday meal and try to agree that “Christmas is like solstice.” Killer Line: “The food was great, the tree plugged in, the meal had gone without a hitch/ Till Timmy turned to Amber and said, “Is it true that you’re a witch?”

“Christmas in Prison,” John Prine, Sweet Revenge John Prine is one of few songwriters who could take such clichéd country-music terrain as prison, heartache and Christmas, and come up with something that smacked of true sincerity — no big surprises, but genuinely moving. Killer Line: “It’s Christmas in prison/ There’ll be music tonight/ I’ll probably get homesick/ I love you/ Goodnight.”

“Fairytale of New York,” The Pogues, If I Should Fall From Grace With God A homeless couple’s dialogue begins cheerily but by the end of this four-minute exchange, vile nastiness prevails. Killer Line: “You’re a punk/ You’re an old slut on junk … You scum bag/ You maggot/ You cheap lousy faggot/ Happy Christmas your arse/ I pray God/ It’s our last.”

(more…)

Bookmark to:

I’ve done hundreds and hundreds of interviews during my career in music journalism, and I can say without equivocation that my recent conversation with Phoebe Snow was about as intimate and confessional as I’ve ever experienced.

Snow, a singer/songwriter whose first single, the transcendent ballad “Poetry Man” peaked at No. 5 in 1975, had a shot at major stardom. But in December of that year, she gave birth to a daughter, Valerie, who was severely brain-damaged. Snow effectively shelved her career to care for her daughter, refusing to have her institutionalized.