Long-time Friends Iron & Wine & Ben Bridwell Premier "No Way Out of Here" on Letterman (Black Cricket/Brown Records)

While I've never really been a humongous (read: "huge") Band of Horses fan, I can still however, respect their niche singer-songwriter aesthetic, and I can still remember the first time I heard their flawless modern day Folk-Indie Rock "power-ballad," "The Funeral:" on an episode of MTV's ill-fated pseudo-reality series, My Life As Liz, which Kid Cudi would later go on to expertly sample and rhyme atop on his A Kid Named Cudi mixtape. Around the same time, I can also recall first hearing soft-spoken bearded singer-songwriter, Iron & Wine aka Sam Beam's critically-acclaimed mariachi-tinged In The Reins EP (2005) recoded with Tex-Mex Indie Folk band, Calexico; Iron & Wine would gain wide-spread notoriety with his stripped down cover of The Postal Service's "Such Great Heights" that would go on to appear on both the Garden State soundtrack and within a kaleidoscopic M&M's commercial. "I did a record of covers with Ben Bridwell from Band of Horses. He and I grew up together, so we've been trying to find the time to do something together," Beam nonchalantly revealed to Billboard in a February-published interview supporting his Archives Series, Vol. 1 odds-and-ends compilation.

"This is truly a 'full circle' moment for me... I've always wanted to sing together [with Sam] and I finally have that dream realized. I couldn't be more excited to continue this project at the upcoming shows to take it even further, while playing some of out original songs together," Band of Horses frontman Ben Bridwell excitedly added as per a Band of Horses-sanctioned press release. Sing Into My Mouth is reportedly composed of 12 familiar and lesser known covers selections "reminiscent of more than 15 years ago when [Ben & Sam] used to mail each other cassettes and CD's of music [they] were into." Iron & Wine & Ben Bridwell have managed to thoughtfully re-imagine their own unique covers of songs originally performed by Talking Heads, Bonnie Raitt, Sade, Marshall Tucker Band, El Perro del Mar, and seven additional note-worthy musicians. Beam & Bridwell unexpectedly appeared on Letterman late last week to perform "(There's) No Way Out of Here," which was "originally recorded by 70's act Unicorn, but better known as the lead single from David Gilmour of Pink Floyd's 1978 solo debut;" to coincide with their network TV debut, Iron & Wine & Ben Bridwell unleashed 2 full-length streams of "No Way Out of Here" and sultry R&B songstress Sade's "Bulletproof Soul" ahead of Sing Into My Mouth's soon forthcoming Friday, July 17th world-wide release on Beam & Bridwell's home-grown label imprints, Black Cricket/Brown Records.

"Let Me Shine for You:" Lindsay Lohan for Playboy (Winter 2011-12 Leak)

Lindsay Lohan essentially embodies exactly "What NOT to Do In Hollywood :" Fame, fortune, success... sex, drugs & Rock "N" Roll . Within a fairly short period of time, Lohan somehow managed to obtain a plentiful helping of POWER @ a very young age. This gradual rise-downfall was captured on film; Between 1998-2010, she portrayed a wide array of roles across the silver screen in movies including: Mean Girls, Bobby , Herbie Fully Loaded , Georgia Rule, Machete , and Freaky Friday . Between rapid-paced film shoots, Lindsay Lohan also found time to record 2 Pop Rock albums for Casablanca , Speak (2004) and A Litter More Personal-Raw (2005). Needless to say, Lindsay Lohan has gotten roped up in a lot of troubles and woes with the law over the last 3-5 years... a vicious cycle of drugs, arrest, court, rehab, "daddy issues," jail time [Repeat]. That's the pure basics of it - But Google that shit for additional info, if necessary. Towards the end of

[W]reckless, Topless American Youth: Lana del Rey - "Born 2 Die" (Britney Spears Birthday 30)

Lana del Rey [Lizzy Grant] effectively became 2011's "It Girl" with the release of her phenomenal debut single, "Video Games" (Stranger) . Like many struggling singer-songwriters, Grant has been signed, dropped, and significantly changed her public image since bursting onto the scene (2009). With that said, it can be assumed that Lana del Rey has collected just as many "haters" as she has avid supporters. To be perfectly honest, the only other artist I can think of that made this much commotion... garnered so much wide-spread buzz/hate and critical acclaim -- right out of the gates -- with just one track is Britney Spears . And maybe in this post- Mike musical era, that's the true synthesis of Pop Culture: Britney Lynn Spears . After months of repeated teasing and speculation, Lana del Rey 's major label debut, Born 2 Die will [finally] be released this coming Jan. 30-31, 2012. Pitchfork reports that it will feature "Off to The Ra

Liberty Bell Cracked In 1/2: Ween - "Freedom of '76" (Gene Ween's Final Send-Off)

Chocolate & Cheese (1994) was one of the first albums I bought with my own money. I was in some sort of BMG Music Club , where you'd buy 5 CD's and then get 10 for "FREE." It was all sent through mail order and you picked the titles from some special booklet. I'm almost positive that Chocolate & Cheese's side boob-baring album cover was what initially drew me in... mind you, I was 12-15 and the zany Ween logo/middle finger CD graphic really didn't hurt either. Honestly, I forget how I really felt about it @ the time, but a few years later, my older cousin Josh told me that Ween were this BIG college "jam band." CKY did some sort pf 93.3 radio takeover to promote their new album and played "Freedom of '76" late that night on air. Needless to say, I re-visited Chocolate & Cheese @ about 20-something this go 'round and I fucking loved it! Ween were really weird, yet talented... almost too talented. I can vaguel

The Witzard

Search This Blog