MSN Music Blog - Reverb

Have You Ever Seen Katy Perry Almost Naked?

"California Gurls" video

By percy thrillington Jun 17, 2010 11:04AM
Just in case you were born without the internet, you can, if you feel voyeuristic, feast your peepers on the newest video from the future (ex-?) Mrs. Russell Brand:




 

Teendrake Riot

Free show ends in chaos

By percy thrillington Jun 16, 2010 12:45PM

Perhaps you've heard the name Drake recently? If not, you must not be reading music blogs, because the Toronto-born hip-pop artist is being credited with messianic potential just about everywhere. Whether or not he can save the music biz (why would anyone want to do that?) remains to be seen. What he most assuredly can't do is play a free show in NYC on the day his record made its debut, because too many people (about 10 times too many) came out to celebrate. And violently destroy property.

Tuesday night, a riot broke out at free Drake concert in New York City, where the Toronto rapper was set to celebrate the release of his debut album, Thank Me Later. The NYPD shut down the show and used Mace to stop fights between patrons, who threw bottles and chairs.
Thousands of people began congregating for the gig -- sponsored by Paper magazine and also featuring Hanson and Ninjasonik -- at 3 P.M. By the time the gig was scheduled to start, at 8 P.M., a crowd of around 25,000 packed the city blocks near South Street Seaport's Pier 17.
There were no regulated entrances to control fans, resulting in extreme congestion. Trying to find breathing room, concertgoers scaled various kiosks and overhangs, and crowded balconies above the shops and restaurants on the north side of the Seaport, to the left of the stage.
Local punk-rap outfit Ninjasonik tried to soundcheck, but, as member Jahjah tells SPIN.com, "the kids were too rowdy. You can't integrate a free show when a guy's album is dropping and have 15 security there." Soon after, the melee started with ballcap-sporting youths fighting near the stage; the scuffling quickly escalated into a massive brawl. Beer and water bottles flew, striking people in the crowd and up on the balconies. People on the balconies retaliated by tossing down metal chairs.
Police armed with batons stormed the area and used Mace on concertgoers who refused to disperse. Two police helicopters circled overhead with spotlights on the scene.
"This is fucking crazy. I was seriously scared for my life," said one fan, fleeing the scene. "We just wanted to see Drizzy perform. That's it."
Numerous patrons were seen seeking treatment in ambulances. CBS reported that two arrests were made. One officer was overheard advising a girl standing solo to "find and stick with your friends. This place is full of gang members. Don't be a victim."
Immediately after the fracas, Drake issued a statement: "I am humbled by the crowd that showed up in support of my performance and the release of Thank Me Later. I love performing for my fans but unfortunately the show was canceled by the NYPD due to over crowding, leaving me without the chance to give my fans a real show. I'm thankful for the support that the fans have been giving me... I thank you now."
Drake also tweeted, writing, "I'm disappointed. The police told me to turn around," and later, "To all the devoted fans that came out I wish you could have seen what I had planned! Until next time."
 

Somebody better tell him -- Paul McCartney is dead after all

Newly surfaced tapes "prove" a massive Beatles cover-up

By Mark C. Brown Jun 15, 2010 10:33PM

Paul is dead. Or not.

Apparently that man onstage this summer claiming to be Paul McCartney as he sings “Yesterday,” “Hey Jude and “Helter Skelter” is Billy Shears and/or William Campbell after all (controlled by mysterious secret agent “Maxwell,” according to the new conspiracy theory).


Yes, more than 40 years after the “Paul is dead” rumors were debunked by McCartney’s appearance on the cover of Life Magazine, the rumor is revived – by tapes allegedly recorded by George Harrison before his death. A new DVD, entitled “Paul McCartney Really Is Dead – The Last Testament of George Harrison,” and its website, www.PaulReallyIsDead.com, are both an attempt to rehash (and re-cash) the rumor.


Paul is live. Or not.

 

 
More

Bonnarecap

EW's Whitney Pastorek did it so you didn't have to

By percy thrillington Jun 14, 2010 2:14PM

Wondering what Bonnaroo was like (other than hot and wet and miserable, like most festivals)? You could do a lot worse than to catch up on intrepid Entertainment Weekly music blog correspondent Whitney Pastorek's dispatches from the mud-baked front lines. She didn't see it all (no one could have), but she saw a lot, and wrote about it with a sense of humor and commitment that are weirdly rare commodities among music writers these days. 

To wit:
It was hot at Bonnaroo yesterday. (How hot was it?) It was so hot, I could have poached an organic free-range egg in my Nalgene bottle. It was so hot, the mice crawled out of Jamey Johnson’s beard, hoping to catch a breeze. It was so hot, They Might Be Giants only got halfway through “Particle Man” before he evaporated. I’ve got a million of ‘em, folks. Try the veal.

Or:
Bonnaroo is frequently a land where time has no meaning, where an hour can pass in a blink or an eternity depending on what you’re listening to and the quality of your footwear. While Friday’s 14-hour marathon was an experience I’d not trade — until you’ve watched an entire Kings of Leon set while standing in mud so thick you have to move your rain boots every couple of songs to be sure they don’t get stuck, I believe you have not yet lived — it’s possible that my compact, musically-mindblowing Saturday is the day of this year’s ‘Roo I’ll remember most.
Though I only saw six artists, there were moments in each set that lifted me out of my post-apocalyptic surroundings, transporting me on a cloud of endorphins to a happy place where puppies and kittens roamed, and beer was non-caloric and free. The blisters on my feet stopped screaming. The pain in my back subsided. The worker bee who lives in my head and is constantly telling me to keep moving keep working you’re not doing enough they’re gonna yell at you was silenced, and I was able to enjoy every one of the six acts as a straight-up fan of music who felt very lucky to be standing in her rain boots in that Tennessee field in that humid moment.
Pastorek's dispatches from throughout the weekend can be found here, on EW's Music Mix blog.
 

World Cup Fever: Point-Counterpoint

It is on

By percy thrillington Jun 11, 2010 1:23PM
As the world's most important sporting event begins, please consider the following study in contrasts among World Cup music:

1. R. Kelly (an artist you may associate with other sports):



2. Eux Autres (an ingenious SF-based indie band you never heard of, but should):
3. Fat Les (a late-'90s fake supergroup with the best soccer song of all):

 

500 Greatest Songs of When?

Rolling Stone updates a controversial list

By percy thrillington Jun 10, 2010 12:26PM

Back in 2004, Rolling Stone published its list of the 500 greatest songs of the rock and roll era. Six years on, they've updated the list, and as many have pointed out, you wouldn't really know what decade you're in from reading the top 20.

The first half of the list is below, the rest can be found here.

(P.S. I'd put number 500 a lot closer to number one, not that anyone asked what I would do...) 

1. "Like a Rolling Stone" – Bob Dylan
2. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" – The Rolling Stones
3. "Imagine" – John Lennon
4. "What's Going On" – Marvin Gaye
5. "Respect" – Aretha Franklin
6. "Good Vibrations" – The Beach Boys
7. "Johnny B. Goode" – Chuck Berry
8. "Hey Jude" – The Beatles
9. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" – Nirvana
10. "What'd I Say" – Ray Charles 
11. "My Generation" – The Who
12. "A Change Is Gonna Come" – Sam Cooke
13. "Yesterday" – The Beatles
14. "Blowin' in the Wind" – Bob Dylan
15. "London Calling" – The Clash
16. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" – The Beatles
17. "Purple Haze" – The Jimi Hendrix Experience 
18. "Maybellene" – Chuck Berry
19. "Hound Dog" – Elvis Presley
20. "Let It Be" – The Beatles
21. "Born to Run" –Bruce Springsteen
22. "Be My Baby" – The Ronettes
23. "In My Life" – The Beatles
24. "People Get Ready" – The Impressions
25. "God Only Knows" – The Beach Boys 
26. "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay" – Otis Redding 
27. "Layla" – Derek and The Dominos
28. "A Day in the Life" – The Beatles
29. "Help!" – The Beatles
30. "I Walk the Line" – Johnny Cash
31. "Stairway to Heaven" – Led Zeppelin
32. "Sympathy for the Devil" – The Rolling Stones
33. "River Deep – Mountain High" – Ike and Tina Turner
34. "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" – The Righteous Brothers
35. "Light My Fire" – The Doors
36. "One" – U2
37. "No Woman, No Cry" – Bob Marley and The Wailers
38. "Gimme Shelter" – The Rolling Stones
39. "That'll Be the Day" – Buddy Holly and The Crickets
40. "Dancing in the Street" – Martha and The Vandellas
41. "The Weight" – The Band
42. "Waterloo Sunset" – The Kinks
43. "Tutti-Frutti" – Little Richard
44. "Georgia on My Mind" – Ray Charles
45. "Heartbreak Hotel" – Elvis Presley
46. "Heroes" – David Bowie
47. "All Along the Watchtower" – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
48. "Bridge Over Troubled Water" – Simon and Garfunkel
49. "Hotel California" – The Eagles
50. "The Tracks on My Tears" – Smokey Robinson and The Miracles 
51. "The Message" – Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five
52. "When Doves Cry" – Prince
53. "When a Man Loves a Woman" – Percy Sledge
54. "Louie Louie" – The Kingsmen
55. "Long Tall Sally" – Little Richard
56. "Anarchy in the U.K" – The Sex Pistols
57. "Whiter Shade of Pale" – Procol Harum
58. "Billie Jean" – Michael Jackson
59. "The Times They Are A-Changin'" – Bob Dylan
60. "Let's Stay Together" – Al Green
61. "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On" – Jerry Lee Lewis"
62. "Bo Diddley" – Bo Diddley
63. "For What It's Worth" – Buffalo Springfield
64. "She Loves You" – The Beatles
65. "Sunshine of Your Life" – Cream
66. "Redemption Song" – Bob Marley and The Wailers
67. "Jailhouse Rock" – Elvis Presley
68. "Tangled Up in Blue" – Bob Dylan
69. "Crying" – Roy Orbison
70. "Walk On By" – Dionne Warwick
71. "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" – James Brown
72. "California Girls" – The Beach Boys"
73. "Superstition" – Stevie Wonder
74. "Summertime Blues" – Eddie Cochran
75. "Whole Lotta Love" – Led Zeppelin
76. "Strawberry Fields Forever" – The Beatles
77. "Mystery Train" – Elvis Presley
78. "I Got You (I Feel Good)" –James Brown
79. "Mr. Tambourine Man" – The Byrds
80. "You Really Got Me" – The Kinks
81. "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" – Marvin Gaye
82. "Blueberry Hill" – Fats Domino
83. "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" – The Beatles
84. "Every Breath You Take" – The Police
85. "Crazy" – Patsy Cline
86. "Thunder Road" – Bruce Springsteen
87. "Ring of Fire" – Johnny Cash
88. "My Girl" – The Temptations
89. "California Dreamin'" – The Mamas and the Papas
90. "In the Still of the Night" – The Five Satins
91. "Suspicious Minds" – Elvis Presley
92. "Blitzkrieg Bop" – Ramones
93. "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" – U2
94. "Good Golly, Miss Molly" – Little Richard
95. "Blue Suede Shoes" – Carl Perkins
96. "Great Balls of Fire" – Jerry Lee Lewis
97. "Roll Over Beethoven" – Chuck Berry
98. "Love and Happiness" – Al Green
99. "Fortunate Son" – Creedence Clearwater Revival
100. "Crazy" – Gnarls Barkley 
101. "You Can't Always Get What You Want" – The Rolling Stones
102. "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
103. "Be-Bop-A-Lula" – Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps
104. "Hot Stuff" – Donna Summer
105. "Living for the City" – Stevie Wonder"
106. "The Boxer" – Simon and Garfunkel
107. "Mr. Tambourine Man" – Bob Dylan
108. "Not Fade Away" – Buddy Holly and The Crickets
109. "Little Red Corvette" – Prince
110. "Brown Eyed Girl" – Van Morrison
111. "I've Been Loving You Too Long (to Stop Now)" – Otis Redding
112. "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" – Hank Williams
113. "That's All Right" – Elvis Presley
114. "Up on the Roof" – The Drifters
115. "You Send Me" – Sam Cooke
116. "Honky Tonk Women" – The Rolling Stones
117. "Take Me to the River" – Al Green
118. "Crazy in Love" – Beyonce Feat. Jay-Z
119. "Shout (Parts 1 and 2)" The Isley Brothers
120. "Go Your Own Way" – Fleetwood Mac
121. "I Want You Back" – The Jackson 5
122. "Stand By Me" – Ben. E. King
123. "The House of the Rising Sun" – The Animals
124. "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" – James Brown
125. "Jumpin' Jack Flash" – The Rolling Stones
126. "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" – The Shirelles
127. "Shake, Rattle & Roll" – Big Joe Turner
128. "Changes" – Davis Bowie
129. "Rock & Roll Music" – Chuck Berry
130. "Born to Be Wild" – Steppenwolf
131. "Maggie May" – Rod Stewart
132. "With or Without You" – U2
133. "Who Do You Love?" – Bo Diddley
134. "Won't Get Fooled Again" – "The Who"
135. "In the Midnight Hour" – Wilson Pickett
136. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" – The Beatles
137. "Your Song" – Elton John
138. "Eleanor Rigby" – The Beatles
139. "Family Affair" – Sly and The Family Stone
140. "I Saw Her Standing There" – The Beatles
141. "Kashmir" – Led Zeppelin
142. "All I Have to Do Is Dream" – The Everly Brothers
143. "Please, Please, Please" – James Brown and His Famous Flames
144. "Purple Rain" – Prince and The Revolution"
145. "I Wanna be Sedated" – Ramones
146. "Everyday People" – Sly and The Family Stone
147. "Rock Lobster" – The B-52'S
148. "Me and Bobby McGee" – Janis Joplin
149. "Lust for Life" – Iggy Pop
150. "Cathy's Clown" - The Everly Brothers
151. "Eight Miles High" – The Byrds
152. "Earth Angel" – The Penguins
153. "Foxey Lady" – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
154. "A Hard Day's Night" – The Beatles
155. "Rave On" – Buddy Holly and the Crockets
156. "Proud Mary" – Creedence Clearwater Revival
157. "The Sounds of Silence" – Simon and Garfunkel
158. "I Only Have Eyes for You" – The Flamingos
159. "(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock" – Bill Haley and His Comets
160. "Moment of Surrender" – U2
161. "I'm Waiting for the Man" – The Velvet Underground
162. "Bring the Noise" – Public Enemy
163. "Folsom Prison Blues" – Johnny Cash
164. "I Can't Stop Loving You" – Ray Charles
165. "Nothing Compares 2 U" – Sinead O' Connor
166. "Bohemian Rhapsody" – Queen
167. "Fast Car" – Tracy Chapman
168. "Let's Get It On" – Marvin Gaye
169. "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" – The Temptations
170. "Losing My Religion" – R.E.M.
171. "Both Sides Now" – Joni Mitchell
172. "99 Problems" – Jay-Z
173. "Dream On" – Aerosmith
174. "Dancing Queen" – ABBA
175. "God Save The Queen" – The Sex Pistols
176. "Paint It, Black" – The Rolling Stones
177. "I Fought The Law" – The Bobby Fuller Four
178. "Don't Worry Baby" – The Beach Boys
179. "Free Fallin'" – Tom Petty
180. "September Girls" – Big Star
181. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" – Joy Division
182. "Hey Ya!" – OutKast
183. "Green Onions" – Booker T. and the MG's
184. "Save The Last Dance For Me" – The Drifters
185. "The Thrill Is Gone" – B.B. King
186. "Please Please Me" – The Beatles
187. "Desolation Row" – Bob Dylan
188. "Who'll Stop The Rain" Creedence Clearwater Revival
189. "I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)" – Aretha Franklin
190. "Back in Black" – AC/DC
191. "Stayin' Alive" – Bee Gees
192. "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" – Bob Dylan
193. "Free Bird" – Lynyrd Skynyrd
194. "Rehab" – Amy Winehouse
195. "Wichita Lineman" – Glen Campbell
196. "There Goes My Baby" – The Drifters
197. "Peggy Sue" – Buddy Holly
198. "Sweet Child O' Mine" Guns N' Roses
199. "Maybe" – The Chantels
200. "Don't Be Cruel" – Elvis Presley
201. "Hey Joe" – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
202. "Flash Light" – Parliament
203. "Loser" – Beck
204. "Bizarre Love Triangle" – New Order
205. "Come Together" – The Beatles
206. "Positively 4th Street" – Bob Dylan
207. "Try a Little Tenderness" – Otis Redding
208. "Lean on Me" – Bill Withers
209. "Reach Out, I'll Be There" – The Four Tops
210. "Bye Bye Love" – The Everly Brothers
211. "Gloria" – Them
212. "In My Room" – The Beach Boys
213. "96 Tears" - ? and the Mysterians
214. "Caroline, No" – The Beach Boys
215. "1999" – Prince
216. "Rockin' in the Free World" – Neil Young
217. "Your Cheatin' Heart" – Hank Williams
218. "Do You Believe in Magic" – The Lovin' Spoonful
219. "Jolene" - Dolly Parton 
220. "Boom Boom" – John Lee Hooker
221. "Spoonful" – Howlin' Wolf
222. "Walk Away Renee" – The Left Banke
223. "Walk On the Wild Side" – Lou Reed
224. "Oh, Pretty Woman" – Roy Orbison
225. "Dance to the Music" – Sly and the Family Stone
226. "Hoochie Coochie Man" – Muddy Waters
227. "Fire and Rain" – James Taylor
228. "Should I Stay or Should I Go" – The Clash
229. "Good Times" – Chic
230. "Mannish Boy" – Muddy Waters
231. "Moondance" – Van Morrison
232. "Just Like A Woman" – Bob Dylan
233. "Sexual Healing" – Marvin Gaye
234. "Only The Lonely" – Roy Orbison
235. "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" – The Animals
236. "Paper Planes" – M.I.A.
237. "I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better" – The Byrds
238. "Everyday" – Buddy Holly and the Crickets
239. "I Got A Woman" – Ray Charles
240. "Planet Rock" – Africka Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force
241. "I Fall to Pieces" – Patsy Cline
242. "Son of a Preacher Man" – Dusty Springfield
243. "The Wanderer" – Dion
244. "Stand!" – Sly and the Family Stone
245. "Rocket Man" – Elton John
246. "Love Shack" – The B-52's
247. "Gimme Some Lovin" – The Spencer Davis Group
248. "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" – Jackie Wilson
249. "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" – The Band
250. "Hot Fun in the Summertime" – Sly and the Family Stone
 

Blow By Bonnaroo

What to expect (even if you're not going)

By percy thrillington Jun 9, 2010 3:16PM

The second of the summer's big festivals kicks off tomorrow in Manchester, TN, and Rolling Stone has compiled a very handy (and reasonably far-reaching) hour-by-hour guide to the highlights of the next few days at Bonnaroo—here are the first two. It's almost enough to make me wish I were going. Almost.
THURSDAY
4:00 p.m.—5:00 p.m.: Frontier Ruckus 
They may hail from up north — Michigan, to be specific — but Frontier Ruckus sing the sound of the South: delicate, finger-picked banjos, aching, oaky violin and the haunting voice of frontman Matthew Milia, who conjures what might happen had Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum been raised in a log cabin. Their songs are full of rich, rural details: frozen lakes, swaying trees, highway lights glowing in the deep night. Add to the mix baleful brass and trembling percussion, and you've got the perfect recipe for Gothic Americana.
5:45 p.m—6:45 p.m.: Baroness 
Georgia metal band Baroness pull of a rare feat: displaying endless technical prowess without ever being boring. Their second outing, The Blue Record, was one of last year's best, but as impressive as they are on record, live they are borderline miraculous — miles of interlocking, blitzkreig riffing, superhuman drumming, and songs that shift speeds more often than a dying Buick.
7 p.m.—8 p.m.: Local Natives 
L.A. jangle-pop outfit Local Natives are already earning deserved accolades for their earnest, tautly constructed indie pop. Think Grizzly Bear, with a bit more panache — they've got the same stacked harmonies and airy production, but their songs also move, tugged along by silvery guitar lines and somersaulting percussion. They'll go down smooth and cool, summer pop music made for evening listening.
8:30 p.m.—9:30 p.m.: Neon Indian 
Blissed-out synth band Neon Indian are no one's idea of an audience darling, so it was surprising when their name ended up on so many tongues after the release of last year's Psychic Chasms. Their kaleidoscope-like sound features weird, whirling synth patterns that suddenly explode into throbbing, insistent dance rhythms and spaced-out, heavy-lidded vocals. It's dance-psych, somehow taking the haze of mushroom-pop music and making it tremble.
10:30 p.m.—11:30 p.m.: Mayer Hawthorne 
Mayer Hawthorne may be loosely categorized as neo-soul, but there's nothing new about his fantastically dusty, throwback R&B. The onetime hip-hop DJ and producer turned soul crooner mixes heavy doses of the Four Tops, Smokey Robinson and the Temptations into his dusky ballads and straight-ahead stompers, bringing all the exuberance of the Motown Revue to his brisk live show. Nevermind the heat: expect Hawthorne to be dressed to the nines, and for his silky voice to sound splendid soaring up into the steamy Tennessee air.
11:30 p.m.—12:45 a.m.: The xx 
This hushed U.K. R&B trio pull songs out of thin air — just a couple of spindly guitar lines, heartbeat percussion and the twin whispered vocals of Romy Croft and Oliver Sim. The results are spectacular: lithe, sexy, mysterious songs that percolate gently. Everyone from Maxwell to Michael Stipe have fallen all over themselves praising the group — Maxwell even says his upcoming remix EP is directly inspired by them — and the group's riveting live show ratchets up the suspense while keeping the mood minimal. Expect this to be the perfect way to drift off after a long opening day.
FRIDAY

1:20 p.m.—2:20 p.m.: The Young Veins 
Talk about a reinvention. Ryan Ross and Jon Walker, ex- of Panic! at the Disco, hinted at their love of '60s psych on that group's overlooked Pretty, Odd, but with their new outfit they indulge those impulses completely. Shelve everything you think you know about them: their debut draws heavily from the deep well of the Kinks and the Left Banke — and even adds a dollop of late '90s indiepoppers like Apples in Stereo — to create an album's worth of irresistible summer songs, the kind of music made for warm afternoons.
1:45 p.m.—2:45 p.m.: Gaslight Anthem 
New Jersey's second hardest-working band made a worthy splash with 2008's gutsy The '59 Sound. Packed with heart-on-sleeve lyrics and meat-n-potatoes blue-collar punk instrumentation, the group radiated ragged charm and steely determination. Their upcoming American Slang is even better, incorporating dashes of gospel and R&B into the band's rugged formula. Live they're dynamos, barely breathing between songs and tossing lyrics from classics by the Clash and Social Distortion into their own roaring compositions.
3:15 p.m.—4:30 p.m.: The Gossip 
Possessor of one of the greatest voices in popular music, Beth Ditto is simply magnetic onstage. She's a disco star shot 30 years into the future, a technicolor wonder belting out big, impossible notes over thumping backbeats. Gossip shows are clubland gone grand scale, and in early evening Tennessee, their brand of fiery electro-soul is sure to generate heat.
4:00 p.m.—5:00 p.m.: Nas & Damien "Jr Gong" Marley 
Nas is the rare rapper able to skillfully bridge the divide between commercial success and social consciousness, lacing recent albums with searing indictments of Fox News and racism. Marley has done the same for reggae, netting a world-beating crossover hit in the process. The just-released Distant Relatives finds both artists firing on all cylinders, delivering searing, Afrocentric songs against a sonic backdrop culled from reggae, R&B and Ethiopian jazz. Their live shows have been part party, part protest rally, and all energy.
5:45 p.m.—7:15 p.m.: The National 
Forget how reserved they sound on record — in person, the National want to be your next U2. Their tense, quivering songs expand stadium size to shocking effect, Bryce and Aaron Dessner's pealing guitars darting firefly-like around Matt Berninger's basement baritone. It doesn't hurt that they're backed by a small army of instruments — a brass section, additional percussion, violins — or that Berninger has a fondness for climbing stage scaffolding and leaping into the crowd during the incendiary "Mr. November."
6:45 p.m.—8:15 p.m.: Tori Amos 
Few pop artists are as idiosyncratic as Tori Amos. Say what you will about her recent efforts, there's no denying that the vision behind them is specifically hers. Whether it's an odd concept record about beekeeping or a meditation on multiple personality disorder, Amos aggressively seeks out the less-trodden path. Her musical tastes are equally restless. Though she started out favoring ethereal piano ballads, her palette has broadened over the years to include folk, glam rock and dance music. Her set ought to be a thorough examination of all of her impulses, making for a varied and gripping performance.
8:00 p.m.—9:00 p.m.: Samantha Crain 
Samantha Crain writes folk music, but she belts out notes like she's singing R&B. Her rich alto seems to have no bottom, and the sound of it against her bare guitar is enough to raise gooseflesh. Like Frontier Ruckus, with whom she occasionally tours, Crain inverts folk music and leavens it with other elements, placing square emphasis on her singular pipes.
9:30 p.m.—11:30 p.m.: Kings of Leon 
Raise a glass to Southern boys done good. The Kings' transformation from Skynyrd-inspired gutbucket rockers to bona fide arena act culminated in their leap to arenas and headlining dates last year. Live, Caleb Followill's voice is often all the animus they need. It cuts upward at sharp angles, and grafts soul into their roaring, open-hearted anthems.
11:30 p.m.—12:30 a.m.: Warpaint 
A late night set is an unlikely time slot for an up-and-coming L.A. band, but Warpaint's brilliant, crystalline music more than justifies the high billing. The all-girl quartet recalls the best aspects of groups like Pylon and Throwing Muses: sharp, darting guitars puncturing aching vocals, nervous rhythms that add tension and edge, tuneful, gripping minor key melodies. Warpaint are one of the few bands on the Bonnaroo bill mining completely uncharted territory — a quartet of gauzy phantoms moaning in the graveyard late at night. You can say you saw them way back when.
12:00 a.m.—2:00 a.m: Flaming Lips + StarDeath & White Dwarfs 
What do you do if you can't get the band that recorded Dark Side of the Moon to perform it from start to finish? You get the Flaming Lips to do it instead. For sheer gonzo wow factor, this is the show to see. The Lips have built a career on their carnivalesque live shows, and sister Oklahoma band Stardeath and the White Dwarfs are turning out to be a kind of Lips-in-training (lead singer Dennis Coyne is Lips singer Wayne's nephew). There are one of two ways this performance goes: so ridiculous that it actually works, or so ridiculous that it just ends up being ridiculous. Either way, there won't be much else on the Bonnaroo bill like it.
2:30 a.m.—4:00 a.m.: LCD Soundsystem 
James Murphy owns one of the world's greatest record collections, and he takes pride in synthesizing and redelivering it in with LCD Soundsystem. The group's catalog is practically a trip through the last three decades of pop music: a bit of New Order here, a bit of Bowie in Berlin there, a dash of Carl Craig to round the whole thing out. He injects his songs with dry wit and overplayed neurosis about aging, commercialism and human connection, making for the kind of rare dance music where the lyrics actually matter. Live, LCD go full-bore with a sweaty rave-up that demands full-body participation.
 

"Disintegration" holds it together

The Cure classic gets the deluxe treatment in stores today

By Mark C. Brown Jun 8, 2010 12:02AM

Robert Smith has always been involved and thrilled with the remastering of The Cure’s catalog, but nothing delighted him so much as the prospect of having another go at “Disintegration.”

 

In an interview five years ago he said he was already working on it, and envisioned the ultimate 5.1 surround-sound mix of the swirling sonic textures that made up songs like “Pictures of You” and “Fascination Street.”


The Cure

 

Unfortunately, five years later 5.1 mixes in music are the rarity, not the norm. Fans and Smith himself will have to settle for a three-CD set that lacks the surround treatment, but the clarity of the stereo remaster and wealth of unreleased and live takes will leave all far from disappointed.

 
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