The Real Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds Passes Away

Lucy Vodden, the inspiration for the famous Beatles song "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" passed away yesterday at the age of 46 from the disease Lupus.

Vodden attended the same elementary school as John Lennon's son, Julian. One day returning home from class, Julian had a picture he drew of his good friend Lucy proclaiming to his father "It's Lucy in the sky with diamonds!". The rest is history I suppose.

The tune appeared on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band and has long been a classic amongst other Beatles song as well as one of the most quintessential psychedelic pop song ever recorded.

Many have assumed that the song was a blatant drug reference since the song's initialed titled becomes LSD. "Lucy" was even banned from the BBC for such a suspicion. Lennon always refuted these claims and insisted his son named the song for him.

Jack White Gets His Kanye On

Jack White doesn't know when to quit.

His most popular band, The White Stripes, haven't released an album since 2007 but White has been at work on many projects since then. Last year was time spent with The Racontuers. 2009 found White with another side project called The Deadweather.

Now he's featured in not just one, but two documentary films. The first, entitled It Might Get Loud features White, Jimmy Page and The Edge talking about music, guitars and life. The film has already opened New York City, L.A. and other cities. It will open in Indianapolis on Friday (click here to watch the trailer).

The second documentary is called Under Great White Northern Lights and follows The White Stripes during their short 2007 tour of Canada in support of Icky Thump (watch the trailer here). The rest of the tour was cancelled due to acute anxiety had by Meg White - Jack's ex wife and White Stripes drummer.

Today at the Toronto Film Festival Northern Lights director, Emmett Malloy, was taking questions about the rockumentary when White made a surprise appearance and let his inner Kanye get out. Video is below.

Jimi Hendrix - 39 Years Later

Jimi Hendrix passed away 39 years ago yesterday at the age of 27. Although he died so young, he recorded an entire career's worth of classic songs in that short span that have withstood the test of time.

No one has, can, or ever will play guitar the way that Hendrix did. He not only played guitar, he used the guitar to get sounds and feeling out of the instrument that everyone else thought were impossible. Jimi once said "I want to do with my guitar what Little Richard does with his voice."

He left everyone in the dust. Eric Clapton was wowed beyong belief. Pete Townshend almost considered giving up electric guitar and turning The Who into an acoustic outing. Jimi is simply the greatest guitar player of all time.

Plenty has been written about what his life, his music, his death and his legacy. So I will just let his music speak for itself. Below are some of my favorite Hendrix moments.

National Anthem At Woodstock

Voodoo Child (Slight Return)

Johnny B. Goode

Kurt Cobain: Rock Icon, Video Game Tool (Thaks Courtney)

Courtney Love sure does know how to piss almost everyone in the world off at the same time. In fact I'd say she's the expert.

In a pretty cut and dry case, Ms. Love intends to sue Activision, the makers of the Guitar Hero video game franchise, for using her dead husband's, famed Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain, image in Guitar Hero 5. Most legal experts say that there is only one problem.

Courtney Love gave permission for Activision to use Mr. Cobain's likeness. Oops.

A certain video (click here to watch) has been circulating on the web showing an avatar of the late Nirvana singer playing songs... that he didn't even write.

The video shows an unusually happy Cobain lip syncing to Flavor Fav and Bon Jovi's You Give Love A Bad Name.

Needless to say, an entire legion of Nirvana fans cried bloody murder upon hearing of this ill fated avatar.

Love first claimed that it was former Nirvana band mates Dave Grohl and Kris Novoselic who made the ever so regrettable decision. Taking to her twitter account, she posted this message, "you can assrape dave he was always a bad seed and is stillriding the shit while i take bullets if thers a hell he's going. i'm not."

Grohl and Novoselic responded by posting a statement reading, "The name and likeness of Kurt Cobain are the sole property of his estate (which is owned by Love) - we have no control whatsoever in that area. Kurt Cobain wrote songs that hold a lot of meaning to people all over the world. We feel he deserves better."

It's not clear yet whether Courtney Love will sue or not. But I have to say I don't see how she wins this one. Epic fail indeed.

Beatles Conquer America (Again!!)

40 years after the Beatles broke up, the fab four are storming the charts once again.

Thanks to the massive reissuing of their entire catalog, along with the hype of the Beatles: Rock Band video game, the band have sold a combined 626,000 copies of all their albums since the 9th.

The highest charting record was 1969's Abbey Road which sold 89,000 units and earned a debut of #3 on the Billboard charts following only Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3 and Miley Cyrus.

The Beatles have never sold less than a million records a year since 1991 when Nielsen Soundscan first began tracking album sales. The foursome were the highest selling group of the 1960s and are only a little over 4 million copies away from out selling Eminem to become the highest selling artist this decade as well.

Sales figures for the rest of the Beatles albums are as follows: (all figures from Billboard.com)

• Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band -74,000
• The White Album - 60,000
• Rubber Soul - 58,000
• Revolver - 46,000
• Help! - 39,000
• Let It Be - 32,000
• Past Masters Vols. I and II - 31,000
• Magical Mystery Tour - 30,000
• A Hard Day's Night - 29,000
• The Beatles In Stereo - 26,000
• Please Please Me - 23,000
• With The Beatles - 22,000
• Beatles For Sale - 21,000
• Yellow Submarine - 14,000
• The Beatles In Mono -12,000

Review: Pearl Jam - Backspacer

Pearl Jam aren't nearly as relevant as they used to be. But then again when your first album sells over 9 million copies and spawns 5 radio mainstays I suppose that sets the bar rather high for the rest of your career. Nevertheless you can't fault them for constantly trying to expand beyond their glory days.

Backspacer, in stores September 20th, finds the band at a crossroads. It marks the first time that Eddie Vedder and company find themselves without a major label backing them. The album is just another experiment where bands, such as Radiohead and Nince Inch Nails have marketing control their own music. It will be sold exclusively through big retailer Target, as well as through the band's official website, iTunes and independent record stores.

Brednan O'Brien, who recently worked with Mastodon, AC/DC and Bruce Springsteen, produced the album along with Pearl Jam themselves.

Backspacer is the Seattle band's most concise album to date. Spanning only 11 songs, and a very short 36 minutes, every song is perfectly put in place and precisely constructed for maximum effect (although only a select few achieve it). Each arrives and fades in an instant. It's almost as if Vedder took his blueprint from 2007's Into The Wild soundtrack and gave it to the rest of his band mates and simply told them to put more crunch to it.

The first 4 songs blast by so rapidly that you have to hold on to every word and note pummeling your ears or else the song looses it's intended impact. In fact it's probably one of the best opening sets of music the band have put together since their debut album Ten. The album opener "Gonna See My Friend" rattles and rolls in a way that would only make Chuck Berry proud. "Got Some" hops along its beat like some of the best Hives songs. The current single, "The Fixer", is the best song on the album that perfectly balances power and fragility that hearkens back to some of Pearl Jam's better known songs.

Yet for however promising the first third of the album is, the rest of the album desperately tries to live up to the challenge. The quiet log cabin tune "Just Breathe" sounds so awkwardly out of place following the first 4 hell raising songs. Some songs, such as "Supersonic" and "Amongst the Waves"are just simply forgettable and uninspired. Only oober radio friendly "Unthought Known" truly stands out in the mediocrity of the later songs on Backspacer. Just imagine if Pearl Jam became a Cheap Trick cover band.

Mr. Vedder's grungish growl, though not as powerful, is still in tact and used for every bit of what it's worth. The rest of band simply play back up on the rest of the album. Gone are the two minute outros featuring epic guitar solos and thundering drums rolls that show off the often faceless and under rated musicians that deserve just as much credit as their front man.

Backspacer is an album that was almost certainly designed for the stage more than anything. Pearl Jam aren't looking to expand their base anymore - nor should they be. They remain content with simply trying to appease what fans have stuck around all of these years. However this plan of attack can often lead to hit or miss albums. Backspacer is no exception.

Grade: B-

Karen O Fights Fat

Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is set to rip apart childhood obesity and kill your fat cells - with love.

"All Is Love" is the new song , performed by Karen O and the Kids that is currently being featured in a new commercial for the Did You Play Today Campaign that targets kids who are overweight (click here to watch it).

The song will also be featured in the upcoming film Where The Wild Things Are that is directed by O's former boyfriend Spike Jonze. The movie hits theaters October 16th.

You can check out the entire song here on the official Where The Wild Things Are MySpace. "All Is Love" is also available on iTunes. The soundtrack for the movie, which features more Karen O orginals, is due in stores September 29.

Weezer Reveal Their New "Raditude"

Weezer will release their new album, the horribly titled Raditude, on October 27th. However the band just released the album cover today.

I must say that I lawled when I first saw the picture. And apparently so did Weezer front man Rivers Cuomo when he selected this photo out of National Geographic Magazine.

Ratitude is only the third time that members of the band do not grace the album cover sharing that honor with 1996's classic Pinkerton and 2002's fan titled Maladroit.

Although there is no confirmed track listing, "(If You Are Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To" has already been released as a single (click here to listen).

If the current single is a sign of things to come Raditude could be a return to form for the band. However that's what I thought when "Pork and Beans" was released before the hit-or-miss Red Album.

Just as long as there isn't another "Beverly Hills" or Make Believe right?

UPDATE: The official track listing for Raditude has been posted. The band will offer a standard edition of the disc, as well as a deluxe edition that features bonus songs. Those who pre-order the album from iTunes, will also recieve 3 exclusive songs. Song list appears below.

Standard Edition

1) (If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To

2) I'm Your Daddy

3) The Girl Got Hot

4) Can't Stop Partying

5) Put Me Back Together

6) Trippin' Down The Freeway

7) Love Is The Answer

8) Let It All Hang Out

9) In The Mall

10) I Don't Want To Let You Go

11) The Story Of My Life (iTunes bonus)

12) Kids/Poker Face (iTunes pre-order bonus)

Deluxe Edition

11) Give Me Som

12) Run Over By A Truck

13) The Prettiest Girl In The Whole Wide World

14) The Underdogs

15) The Story Of My Life - (iTunes bonus)

16) Kids/Poker Face - (iTunes pre-order bonus)

Kanye + Lady Gaga = Good Food For Thought

I feel kind of cheated in a way. While the now infamous VMA moment involving Kanye West and Taylor Swift went down, I was watching the Packers and Bears game which was a little underwhelming. I found out about the public smack down through everyone talking about it on Facebook. If you by some strange chance haven't seen the video, watch it here below.

Now let me just be honest - I love Kanye West. I've often defended some of his most outlandish statements or actions. I really do believe that George Bush doesn't care about black people. I really do think that he is the best rapper alive right now (sorry Weezy). I really do think that she is a gold digger. I really don't think he's a gay fish. However, I can't really defend him on this.

That was Miss Swift's moment and he had no right to ruin it. No matter how much I do agree that Beyonce had the better video (although it certainly was no "Thriller"), no matter how unoriginal and unimportant I think Taylor Swift is, and no matter how much marginally better I think Miss Knowles is, the people spoke and it was Swift they spoke for. After all, it is the MTV loving, Twilight obsessing crowd voting on the VMA awards.

I suppose the only reason Kanye acted up was to keep his name in the news. I mean, it has been less than 2 seconds since he released any new material or made some new outlandish proclamation that I would have the responsibility to defend to all of my blood thirsty anti-Kanye friends. It's not easy having to fill the shoes that you made for yourself and he knows that.

The other thing I noticed while reading the

all revealing Facebook statuses was that of Lady Gaga. A few professed unwavering love while the vast majority told Miss Gaga (something tell me that's not her real name) to lay off the cocaine.

So I guess it's time for me to be honest again - I respect Lady Gaga. I understand why some people would be freaked out by someone who looks like this picture you see to the right. It's not everyday that you see a pop star wear a crowned rug over their face.

But I respect Lady Gaga because I know what she's trying to do. She's what a modern pop star should be. She's mixing music, fashion, art and charisma all into one ball of WTF-Was-That-Ness. She's not the first one to do something like this.

Bands like Pink Floyd and The Who were considered bizarre and avant-garde because not only did they play music, but they smashed up their instruments or played strobe lights at their concerts. Even the Beatles were chastised for having hair below their ears. Lady Gaga is just waving her freak flag high and picking up where Madonna left off. Americans have just become so complacent with weirdness over the years that it takes new extremes to grab our undivided attention.

So congratulations Lady Gaga. I respect you - penis or not.

Review: Arctic Monkeys - Humbug

Pick your favorite Quentin Tarintino movie out of your collection and play it along with the latest Arctic Monkeys album Humbug and get lost in its dark, dusty, seductive romanticism. Why not crack open a bottle of wine to top it all off?

The Arctic Monkeys are one of the biggest groups on the other side of the pond. However their rise to fame was not your typical behind the music boredom. Much of their early success is credited to the Internet and numerous fan based sites that spread the gospel of Monkeys.

Their first two albums were met with praise from both critics and fans alike. The band set many sales records in England and were even, somewhat controversially, ranked higher than the Beatles in a list of the greatest British albums ever.

Needless to say that this album had some hype behind it. Thank god they delivered.

Queens of the Stone Age front man Josh Homme served as producer and helped the band record the album at his Ranco de Luna studio in the Mojave Desert marking the first time that the band has recorded in America.

The Monkeys soaked in their new environment like a sponge and the music only becomes more intriguing because of it. Fuzzy grooves are effortlessly paired along with rustic tremelo guitars that make for a sound as desolate as the desert horizon. Many of these songs feel like they're being sung by a lone drifter underneath a distant street light outside his lost lover's house.

Humbug begins with the not so subtle "My Propeller"that rumbles and tumbles like a lone tumbleweed. Singer Alex Turner sounds exhausted, and (maybe) a little high as he sings "If you can summon the strength tow me". And what does the lucky person who chooses to help Mr. Turner receive? Why a spin on his propeller of course (hmmm, whatever that means right?).

Every song on this precisely constructed album oozes lo-fi 60s fuzz. Never getting too loud and never too soft, the Arctic Monkeys play the middle ground to perfection. Some of the best examples are "Dangerous Animals", "Secret Doors" and "Fire and the Thud" - all of which are the best songs on the album.

However it goes without saying that not every song is a gem on Humbug. "Pretty Visitors" simply sounds like a fill in song that takes up space before the last song on the album. Turner attempts to shout/chant/rap? like Jack White while the rest of the band tries to keep up. Also, the second half of the album has the tendency to be somewhat forgettable when compared to the first. So in that sense this is a very front ended album and opposed to well rounded.

Overall Humbug is still a very solid collection of songs worth more than one listen. Though not as spectacular as their 2006 debut,Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, Humbug is still noteworthy and will have you groovin' and booty shakin' until the next Arctic Monkeys record.

Grade: B+

Hello And Welcome

Hello to all of you.

This is something a bit on the adventerous side for me. As most of you know, I already have one blog that serves mainly as a way for me to write about how I see, interact, or feel about the world.

This blog, entitled The Hanging Tree after the Queens of the Stone Age song, is going to be a music only blog. I'm not sure yet what it all will encompass, but look for reviews, important news, or just anything that I feel like talking about that involves music.

Look for this thing to really get off the ground here in the coming week.