Well, we know he has “Faith,” har har, but George Michael as a guardian angel? Watch the pilot episode of “Eli Stone” at 10 tonight on ABC and you’ll see George in the role of Jonny Lee Miller’s heavenly adviser. According to the George Michael online fanclub (and no, I’m not an official member), “the series follows a successful corporate attorney, Eli Stone (Miller), who turns over a new leaf and sets forth to help out the ‘little guy.’ George appears in dream sequences where he imparts sage advice to Eli, encouraging him to do good deeds.” And taking things even further, each episode of the season will be titled after a song from George’s extensive oeuvre. Can’t wait for the “I Want Your Sex” episode. C-c-c-c-c’mon!
– Margaret Wappler
[Photo: Miller, left, is blessed by a grinning George. Credit: Dean Freedman / ABC]
San Francisco’s Noise Pop finalized its lineup today, throwing on last-minute additions such as She & Him (Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward) and the venerable divorce duo Quasi. IMHO, there’s not much to get excited about, save the Magnetic Fields and the Mountain Goats.
– Margaret Wappler
[Photo: The Mountain Goats in the ring. Credit: 4AD]
Finally, someone had the good sense to combine two of our favorite things in the world: drum sequencers and candy. This delightful little time-suck of a thesis project comes courtesy of Hannes Hesse, Andrew McDiarmid and Rosie Han, students at UC Berkeley’s School of Information. Who says that a liberal arts education isn’t practical? Or tasty?-August Brown
OK, so the new single “Lights & Music” from Australian disco dudes Cut Copy is a couple laps late on the blog-house/Italo revival. And in the accompanying video, everyone in the band is looking exactly a foot away from the camera, to an oddly detached effect. But still, after a year where M.I.A. took our wallets while we did the shotgun-cocking dance to “Paper Planes,” Skull Disco loosened our fillings with sub-bass and a string of great stuff on Kompakt made us fear German efficiency all the more, it’s nice to get a playbook dance single making all the right moves — shimmering arpeggios, chilly harmonies and threadbare guitar licks. DFA’s in-house producer Tim Goldsworthy midwifed it for Cut Copy’s upcoming album on Modular, “In Ghost Colours,” but the real treat is the band’s mp3 DJ mix of where its collective head was while writing it. Moroder and Fleetwood Mac on the same mix! Someone get me some tissues for this sudden, unstoppable nosebleed.– August Brown
It was busier than usual at Hollywood’s Green Door once word got out that Snoop Dogg might join Deron Johnson’s Tuesday evening jazz group for some freestyle good vibes. And although the D-O-to-the-double-gizzle failed to show, onetime music “star” Macy Grayjoined the ensemble around midnight. The singer, who took to the floor with a pronouncement (”I’ve been drinking”) treated — if that’s the word — the foxy crowd to two songs. Her first offering, a sultry rendition of “Whatever Lola Wants,” was actually quite good at times, but then she sabotaged the tune, sputtering nonsense over the standard’s quieter parts. Gray also gratuitously pointed out that Pink was in the audience, but the Grammy winner really wore out her welcome, however, with her second song: a downright awful cover of Radiohead’s “Creep.” By the end, people were heading toward the exit. Hey, we were there to see Snoop. And if Macy doesn’t take herself seriously, it’s hard for anyone else to, either. That said, seeing Macy sing is far superior to watching her “DJ,” as she did at a Slimfast party (we swear we’re not making this up) in January.
–Charlie Amter
[Photo: Macy gripping the mike. Credit: Charlie “Shorty” Amter / Los Angeles Times]
Channel, a portal that is home to offerings from musician extraordinaire Don Was, along with the likes of Harry
Shearer, David Wain and others.
Was, a bassist, music supervisor, documentary director, Grammy-winning producer and a
driving force behind the cutting-edge funk outfit Was
(Not Was), has seldom been more sublimely
entertaining than as the cool-cat host of the "Wasmopolitan Dance
Party" — a webisode filmed in the showroom of the Furniture Outlet, a
budget joint in North Hollywood. [Pardon the ads, but the installment above is well
worth their intrusion.]
There is singer-songwriter Jill Sobule, gamely playing her beautiful songs
from behind a dining-room set as shoppers mill about looking a recliners.
"I can’t compete with the set-up on Letterman" Was says with a laugh.
"But doing something like this, we asked, ‘What could we offer that’s different?’
The answer is, the stripped-down and personal stuff."
First things first: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers will be playing the Hollywood Bowl on June 25 and Verizon Wireless Amphitheater on Aug. 22 with a little help from opening act Steve Winwood. Tickets to both shows go on sale Monday, and if you’re even a petite Petty fan, you should pick one up then.
Scratching a completely different itch among folks in a similar demographic, those time-signature abusing Canadians, Rush, also announced two shows: May 6 at the Nokia Theatre and May 11 at Verizon Wireless. Tickets go on sale Monday, but there’s no, umm, hurry to buy them.
In less geriatric news, the Bamboozle Left is coming to Verizon Wireless on April 5-6. You can pick up passes to see both shows (which include Paramore, Jimmy Eat World, Face to Face and the All-American Rejects the first day and My Chemical Romance, Anti-Flag, Chiodos and Armor for Sleep the second) here right now, or wait ’til Saturday to get one-day tickets.
If neither aging rockers nor cheesy emo bands are your thing, don’t fret. Other options await at Will Call. There are KCRW faves such as Ed Harcourt, March 10 at the Echoplex (tickets available now), and Kaki King, March 26 at the Roxy (tickets available Friday). There are hip-hop artists worth the drive to the Vault 350, including Pitbull and Baby Bash, April 3 (get tickets Saturday), and Del Tha Funkee Homosapien and Aceyalone, Feb. 20 (get tickets now).
But the winner? That has to be Harptallica, the all-harp tribute to Metallica, which plays the Malibu Inn on May 13 (tickets now). Why? With the possible exception of the Gregorian Masters of Chant, who play the El Rey on April 15 (tickets Saturday), there’s no one else quite like them.
A friend of mine recently sent me a link to this video, saying that this is one of the hotter tracks in Sao Paulo clubs these days. Now, I don’t speak Portuguese and I have no idea what Mc Creu is talking about in this song, but I have a pretty good idea after watching the video (especially when it comes to the not-so-subtle confetti shot around 2:30). Sure, Americans may own air guitar, but it looks like no one can touch the Brazilians when it comes to “air humping” with control and rhythm. Not sure what to make of the repetitive jaw harp sample, however.– Charlie Amter
Well, we know he has “Faith,” har har, but George Michael as a guardian angel? Watch the pilot episode of “Eli Stone” at 10 tonight on ABC and you’ll see George in the role of Jonny Lee Miller’s heavenly adviser. According to the George Michael online fanclub (and no, I’m not an official member), “the series follows a successful corporate attorney, Eli Stone (Miller), who turns over a new leaf and sets forth to help out the ‘little guy.’ George appears in dream sequences where he imparts sage advice to Eli, encouraging him to do good deeds.” And taking things even further, each episode of the season will be titled after a song from George’s extensive oeuvre. Can’t wait for the “I Want Your Sex” episode. C-c-c-c-c’mon!
