Boss Stuff on the Interwebs: Wednesday Links 09/02/11

• Spinner has the new "maybe" Lollapalooza lineup including Foo Fighters, Eminem,  Muse, Crystal Castles, Girl Talk, Lykke Li and Best Coast. They also have the new definitely Sasquatch! lineup, and it includes the Foo Fighters too, as well as Wilco, Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips,  Bright Eyes, The Decemberists, Cold War Kids, Iron and Wine, Yeasayer, Deerhunter and the possible last performance of Wolf Parade.  There. Everyone should be interested at least one thing I just said.

• Stereogum has made a list of the worst Super Bowl halftime shows in recent memory. Now everyone think hard and try to remember one good one.

• Got a song stuck in your head? Rock nyc explains why. With Science.

• "Therapies Son (aka Alex Jacob) is like the world of synth and lo-fi meeting the circus."-- Their Bated Breath

• The Universal Yellow Keys strongly urges you to check out Eulogies. The Universal Yellow Keys is onto something.

• In grave respect for the first week the world is officially without them, The Good, The Bad, and The Unknown counts down the 11 best songs by The White Stripes.

• And finally, if you're cool at all, you hate Bono. So let's all laugh at the fact that the Broadway production of Spiderman he wrote the songs for (?!) is really, really bad. Glenn Beck likes it though. Hahahahahaha Bono. Ha. 

Boss Stuff on the Interwebs: Wednesday Links 02/02/11

• Uh, The White Stripes have split. Full story at Artrocker.

• We All Want Someone to Shout For has The National performing Conversation 16 on Letterman. And it's worth watching if only to hear Letterman say "acclaimed rock-and-roll band" like a great big square.

• guerolitomusic does the new James Blake video. But more importantly, he uses "bad ass" and "smurftastic" in the same post. Not to be missed, all round.

• Play On Daily sums up British Sea Power's Valhalla Dancehall as "Modern English fronted by Alejandro Escovedo." That's not at all what I expected, but  a bloody fantastic description, no?

• Am I the only person who does not like Iron and Wine's new tune Walking Far from Home? Anyone else out there? No? Okay, well Stereogum has a Premature Evaluation of Kiss Each Other Clean, if you're more excited than I am. And This Moving Picture has the exclusive look at the Tree By the River video (a better song by far.)

• And from the vault-- Electric Comic Book dusts off The Who's Quadrophenia to compare and contrast with American Graffiti And it's awesome.

Obituary: Captain Beefheart

This past Friday, December 17th, music lost a psychedelic rock idol. Captain Beefheart of Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band (real name: Don Van Vliet) died at age 69, after a 20 year battle with multiple sclerosis. 


The iclonoclastic front man (with or without his Magic Band) inspired going on three generations of musicians, with heavyweights like The Pixies, Nirvana, Tom Waits, Slash, and Beck citing him as influence. His signature combination of funk, blues, rock, and absurdist humour has been covered in the studio by the likes of The Black Keys, The White Stripes, Sonic Youth and XTC. The band he fronted also inspired another of the greatest psychedelic-rock outfits in history: Dr Teeth and the Electric Mayhem.

And if you've inspired Muppetry, you've led a full life. 

Captain Beefheart will forever be an icon of a too-brief golden age when rockstars were eclectic, otherworldly showmen and never worried about being grounded or accessible.

Rest In Peace, Captain. I hope you and Frank Zappa are dropping acid and writing music in rock-and-roll heaven. 

Since Monday is cover day around these parts, we'll do two from Captain Beefheart  and cover versions from the bands he inspired:

Party of Special Things to Do (Captain Beefheart)(1974) by Mr.Shuffleupagus

Party Of Special Things To Do (The White Stripes Cover) by Mr.Shuffleupagus

Grown So Ugly (Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band)(1967) by Mr.Shuffleupagus

Grown So Ugly (The Black Keys Cover) by Mr.Shuffleupagus

If You Like: The Black Keys, The White Stripes, Iggy and the Stooges

If You Like:

-The Black Keys

-Blues-rock

-Garage rock

-Iggy and the Stooges

-Dr Dog

-The White Stripes

-Generally being badass

Try:

Hanni El Khatib

I know you're thinking "if I hear about ONE more Palestinian-Filipino one-man band, I'm leaving this blog for good." But hear me out. Because this is some balls-out thrash-garage-rock that will restore your faith in the survival of real guitar music.

LA-based Hanni El Khatib's sound pays homage to the mid-century Americana aesthetic that paved the way for rock and roll, from soulful, dark blues to Shangri-La's-ish doo-wap. This is the musical equivalent to a knife-fight at the malt shop.

Comparisons to the Black Keys and the White Stripes are numerous and inevitable. Khatib also just finished a tour opening for Florence and the Machine. And California-based music writers consistently place him on their "ones to watch" lists. So you could say that the multi-instrumentalist is receiving all the right exposure to become the next big thing in rock. But I like to think that the inherent fucking coolness of someone who makes music "written for anybody who's ever been shot or hit by a train" will do the trick on its own.

(Music available from Stones Throw.)

You Rascal You (Hanni El Khatib) by Mr.Shuffleupagus