But is it still Aerosmith?

Aerosmith is diebanding, or Aerosmith are continuing without Mr Tyler, or maybe nobody is leaving anything, or... who knows what's happening!

{Note: This started off as a comment on Layla's Classic Rock blog. If you haven't already been to her blog, it is well worth checking out. However, it was a fairly long comment, so I decided that a bit of editing and a few additions would make it worth posting here too.}

Aerosmith 01
Originally uploaded by Serjao Carvalho

I've been following the reporting of Aerosmith, Tyler and Perry on Classic Rock Magazine's site for a wee while now and I'm not sure what to make of it all.

First news item I noticed was Are Aerosmith Headed For A Permanent Vacation? where it seemed to be about Mr Tyler wanting to do his own thing. At the time I wondered if falling off the stage (and by some accounts off the wagon too) hadn't jumbled his thinking a touch. Then came Aerosmith: Split With Tyler Moves Closer where Perry is quoted as saying "As far as replacing Steve, it’s not just about that, it’s also four guys that play extremely well together, and I’m not going to see that go to waste." To an extent I can see where he's coming from and sometimes a band can pull it off. For instance Deep Purple Gillan era to Deep Purple Coverdale worked (IMHO). However, at what point does a band get broken? Is the band currently touring as Deep Purple really Deep Purple? When does it become something new? For example Black Sabbath without Ozzy... tricky but Black Sabbath with Dio becoming Heaven and Hell - yes, I can see that. However, as Liggy points on Layla's blog, Steve Tyler has been with Aerosmith since they formed in 1970 - that's an awful lot of history with a very distinctive (not to say flamboyant) vocalist and it is difficult to see how anyone could pick up where he has left off. Having said that, Queen + Paul Rodgers seems to have been fairly well received. See what I mean when I say I'm not sure what to make of it?

However, the stories didn't end there because in quick succession Classic Rock Magazine published Aerosmith: Perry Announces Search For New Singer! and Tyler Announces He's Staying With Aerosmith. The last announcement in particular takes me back to my first thought about what damage was done in the stage fall!

So, as I said, I'm not sure what to make of it all. Aerosmith without Tyler would, I think, still be a great band but would it be Aerosmith? Perhaps they just need to do their own thing for a bit. ...Or maybe if we wait another couple of days it will all just go away. :-)

What do you think?

Them Crooked Vultures

Not a free download Tuesday this time, but a return to Them Crooked Vultures. As I mentioned last time, the band consists of John Paul Jones (Led Zepplin) on bass, Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) on drums and Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) on vocals and guitar. If that didn't sell it to you, I directed you to a free download and some YouTube content to reel you in.

However, they've now done more than just release a few bits and pieces to whet our appetites... They are now streaming the whole album a week prior to its release. Will I say that again? The whole album!

I've embedded the stream below, or you can go to their YouTube channel if you prefer.



What do you think? Is the "super" in "supergroup" merited in this case?

Free Download Friday #34: Nine Inch Nails

Before I had started this music blog, I wrote about a crowd sourced video of Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson playing at a Foo Fighters concert. Today's Free Download Friday takes that concept and adds rocket boosters!

Nine Inch Nails Live @ House Of Blues...
Originally uploaded by Nine Inch Nails Official

An extended quote from the This One's On Us site will fill in some of the details:

When I first heard about the TDS set the band performed at Webster Hall on August 23rd 2009, I pretty much, like everyone else in the entire world, went apesh*t. Part of it was my epic failure of choosing to see the Bowery Ballroom show the night before instead (which was still mindblowing in its own right). But then I remembered Trent tweeting the night before about the show not being officially filmed due to Live Nation charging them too much dough. Trent also mentioned this would be the first and last time they'd ever play that set... I immediately got on it and used the @thisoneisonus twitter feed to get the ball rolling.

So what ball started rolling? The ball was to collect together video taken by fans in the audience and edit it together to create a multi-angle DVD release of the concert. Brilliant!

I must admit, it never occurred to me that venues charged bands to allow them to video a show. Clearly they are not making enough money just charging for the hire of the venue and the free publicity from the Nine Inch Nails Live From [Insert Venue Name Here] DVD title is clearly not worth anything. The poor lambs have to make their money somehow. It's like the ticket chaps - I use my machine, my time and often my printer to order tickets for a concert and then they charge me a fee on top of the ticket price! Why? "Because we're the only place you can buy the tickets from so like it or lump it. Mmwwa, ha, ha ha!" Bah!

Anyway... thanks to NIN's open camera policy, the chap(s) at This One's On Us have managed to create a DVD that captures the energy and the excitement of the gig. The site notes that the audio is not perfect, and that it "...has some nasty moments due to one over-excited fan screaming in the microphone." To be honest, I think this adds to the atmosphere rather than detracting from it. It feels authentic.

The full DVD release can be downloaded as a bit torrent. This is slightly more complex than a standard point and click download but is appropriate for such a massive file. If you want a smaller, more straightforward download, This One's On Us has links to an iPod friendly version and a YouTube version.

Not the usual Free Download Friday today but I thought it was worth sharing. Is it OK to do the occassional non-audio download or would you prefer it if I stuck to audio files?

Update: If you want an mp3 download, I've just noticed that the NIN Hotline have a link to an audio version of the concert.

Bonfire Night

It's Guy Fawkes - Bonfire Night here in the UK. I noticed that Classic Rock Magazine had suggested a soundtrack for the night, and I thought it would be fun to start a Spotify list on the same topic.

Only eight tracks just now. Feel free to add more tracks on the bonfire/fireworks theme. :-)

When musical worlds collide #3

I thought it was a one off... then I found some more... and here we are with the third When musical worlds collide. Do you enjoy these odd pairings as much as I do? Would you like to see more?

Collision 1: I'll start with the one I'm least sure about. I love the video but I'm not sure it counts as a collision as I'll explain below:



My memory of Gary Numan is of a early pioneer of Synth Pop whereas Nine Inch Nails are the founding fathers of Industrial Rock. Surely no connection there - a clear collision. But when you watch the video - it works. What do you think? musical collision or is there is a clear line from Numan to NIN?

Collision 2: I'm not convinced that the embed code for this next video is right. However, you should be able to see it in the original ill doctrine post. If it doesn't work here, check it out there... as long as you promise to come back here afterwards. :-)

Update: I really like this video but I can't get it to load reliably either here or on the ill doctrine site (which is a pity). I've edited the embedded video out because the page just hangs when it fails to load. :-(

I think this Blues/Rap mashup works well. John Lee Hooker and 50 cent - two very different artists and two different attitudes to money but one interesting musical mashup.

Collision 3: Next up is a musical duo that featured in Free Download Friday #33: - Rodrigo Y Gabriela:



Listening to the free download of Orion, it was clear that they were very good but watching them perform with Robert Trujillo is just stunning.

Collision 4: Finally, something that's more than a little bizarre. When I hear the term One Man Band, I picture a chap playing a guitar, with a bass drum on his back, cymbals between his knees and a kazoo on a bit of wire round his neck... that doesn't come close to describing this chap:



The drumming is good - that he's doing it one handed is brilliant! If you had only heard the track without seeing him perform, would you have guessed that he was doing it live and all by himself?

I can't quite remember who directed me to these videos but feel free to claim the credit in a comment. I can't see that I'll have another of these posts in the near future but if you want to make some suggestions...

Free Download Tuesday... Again!

This is getting to be a habit! For the second week in a row, I decided to post a music download early rather than wait until Friday.

Today's download is from the latest supergroup to hit the Rock world - namely Them Crooked Vultures. The band consists of John Paul Jones (Led Zepplin) on bass, Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) on drums and Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) on vocals and guitar. To be honest, they had me at John Paul Jones! Can't remember where I first heard about this band but I've been listening to the stuff they've made available on YouTube with interest.

However, today's Track of the Day from Classic Rock Magazine is Mind Eraser, No Chaser from Them Crooked Vultures. Brilliant. The Classic Rock site links you to iTunes where the track is available as a free download to anyone who finds their way there. (When I tried the link, for reasons unknown, it took me to the iTunes site in the USA, so here is a link directly to the UK iTunes page in case you have similar difficulties.)

This a strong track, but not my favourite, so I offer you the New Fang video from the official channel as well. Which track do you like best from the material available so far?



In closing, what's with supergoups and birds? First we have Chickenfoot and now Them Crooked Vultures. All suggestions for the next bird themed supergroup (name and line up) will be welcome. :-)

Free Download Friday #33: Rodrigo Y Gabriela

I was very tempted to keep Rodrigo Y Gabriela for a When musical worlds collide post. I may still feature them again at some point in the future but I decided the downloads available were too good to miss for a Free Download Friday.

_Rodrigo y gabriela Live concert @AB Ancienne Belgique Bruxelles -9
Originally uploaded by Kmeron

Rodrigo and Gabriela are two Mexican musicians who are currently living in Dublin. They play a style of guitar that is normally described as flamenco metal. However, I don't feel this is fair to either flamenco or metal! What ever you call it, they are stunningly talented guitarists, playing a fast, percussive and powerful style on classical guitars.

I heard them on the radio ages ago and thought they sounded interesting but for some reason I did not seek out any of their recordings. However, when I went looking a couple of weeks back, I was pleased to discover three of their tracks were available on the rcrd lbl site. (I've talked about rcrd lbl once before and always meant to go an see what else of interest I could find there.)

The three downloads are:

1. Diablo Rojo
2. Buster Voodoo (Radio Edit)
3. Orion

Of the three, my favourite is probably Diablo Rojo:

What do you think? What's your favourite track?