Evil Urges Cover Art

Word on the street is that pic right there is the cover art for My Morning Jacket's new album "Evil Urges" out June 10th. First Impression: Meh, looks a little too much like photoshop to me, but the opera house vibe is kind of cool. That's them on the balcony way over there. Here's a promo pic that was also released:

New Rolling Stone Issue

The new Rolling Stone issue, released yesterday, features Mr. Jack White gracing the cover, but he's not alone, in fact he is draped by the presence of two legends of rock'n'roll: Mr. Keith Richards and Mr. Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones. Inside they are all interviewed together, talking about many things such as getting off on stage, getting old, and passing the torch. Here is a short excerpt of the conversation between Jack and Keith and Rolling Stone:

Keith, what do you think of "Shine a Light"?
Richards: I'm just seeing what Marty Scorsese sees in the Stones. I was never aware of the cameras. I knew they were there. But once you go to work, your job is to give the audience what they want and, at the same time, get yourself off. I've no doubt that Mick was far more aware that he was making a movie. But once I get going, I just look at Charlie.
I've always been amazed by how much fuss goes on around us — the big screens, the technology. And it has to be coordinated. Mick loves to coordinate. But I'm selfish. I gotta feel good. I can't go up there worrying about things. I go onstage to get some fucking peace and quiet.

Jack, what did you learn about the Stones when you opened for them?
White: How good they were. You could see the comfort level between them, in Keith's guitar playing and Ron's slide playing. It's impressive, man, when that confidence is exuded. Someone once told me when I first started playing — you get a lot more respect if you act like you own the joint. If you fumble around, you don't gain respect.
Richards: You could have asked me that question back when we went from clubs to opening for Bo Diddley, Little Richard and the Everly Brothers on one tour [in 1963]. I learned more in those six weeks than I would have learned from listening to a million records.

What was the primary lesson?
Richards: Stagecraft — what works and how to feel comfortable onstage. The Everly Brothers were superb every night — those beautiful harmonies. We'd open, then climb the rafters and hang there, watching them. Watching Bo Diddley was university for me. Every set was twenty minutes long in those days. When he came off, if he had two strings left on the guitar, it was a fucking miracle. The Duchess was there [on guitar], and Jerome Green, with the maracas in each hand. It was my job to be Jerome's minder. I used to fetch him from the pub — "You're on, mate."

Acid Mothers Temple: Concert Review

Here it is Ladies and Gentlemen, our first entry from a foreign correspondent, a concert review by none other than Richard MacIntosh. For those of you out there who know Richard, you know he is a frequent attendee of concerts; a hobby, a passion, an obsession really, it's got to the point where they're are probably the pinnacle moments of his life. Anyways, he was nice enough to review his latest show for us, so here it is, in all it's glory:



"Music, for me, is neither something that I create, nor a form of self-expression. All kinds of sounds exist everywhere around us, and my performances solely consist of picking up these sounds, like a radio tuner, and playing them so that people can hear them."

These are the inspirational words of Kawabata Makoto, the lead guitarist and founding member of the Japanese psychedelic rock band, Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. (“under-ground freak out!)” in 1995. I was fortunate enough to experience “these sounds” Saturday night (March 28th) at the Horseshoe Tavern, in downtown Toronto. A buddy of mine attending with me, and we began drinking once we hit the dusty greyhound to the big city. Our day consisted of crushing a Mickey, shots of Zambuca, multiple beers, sweet-sweet Mary Jane, and other substances that are not appropriated to leak into the “blogosphere” world. Once we consumed enough drugs that we thought were legit for a wild night, we arrived at the Horseshoe to see none other than Kawabata Makoto, and the synthesizer/guitarist, Higashi Hiroshi, struttin’ down Queen St. Kawabata with his long black hair, and Higashi with his grey, and both extending passed their skinny shoulders and their scraggly clothing, these two Japanese men had a sort of aura around them that I’ve never sensed before. We decide to follow them down the street; curious to what the hell they would be doing an hour before their performance. They entered into a Sushi bar, and so we decide to enter in after them. Since we knew nothing about these exotic looking rockers, upon entering the Sushi bar we headed directly to the washroom. While in the washroom, completely wasted, we construct a plan to approach these mad men. We finally gather enough courage and go up to them as they sit at the bar waiting for their food to be delivered to them (Korean BBQ I believe). We begin to shake their frayed hands and ask them if they were “really Acid Mothers Temple?” they respond with a gentle nod and then we tell them they “are amazing musicians.” They smile and shake our hands, while muttering something in Japanese; they clearly didn’t know what we were saying to them! With that being said, it was still a special moment that was lost in translation. After that, I felt like I knew where they were coming from; and not just Japan. After our meeting with the two leaders of the band we arrived at the Horseshoe in awe. While entering the venue, my one buddy gets this idea of buying a ticket for himself and then finding a way to sneak the other two of us in for free. To our amazement it actually worked! He found a back door into the venue and brought us in one at a time behind the bar and down a scary looking alley into the kitchen area. The rush of adrenalin you get when you’re sneaking around somewhere you shouldn’t be is always a welcome feeling. Once we finally got in, the opening band, Danava, began to perform. They were from Portland Oregon, and to my surprise, these guys fucking rocked! They began throwing down ridiculously long jams that included nicely distorted guitar solos and block rockin’ bass beats, that had the crowd in a fury. The band really got me in the mood to rock, and they especially got me ready for what was about to transpire. Once Danava left the stage to a happily clapping audience, AMT began to set up their gear and got ready for what would be a psychedelic journey unlike no other. While standing roughly three rows back in the small, sweaty Horseshoe Tavern, I wait and wonder, and then the show begins like a splash of liquid acid stinging the faces of the entire audience; yet at the same time coupled with a sense of unity that was sprinkled throughout the bar. Everyone seemed to be completely engrained in the experience I was partaking in. An experience that included mainly instrumental tracks that seemed to never end, with the odd vocals of the monster bassist Tsuyama Atsushi, also known as the band’s “cosmic joker”. The guy was hilarious to say the least, giggling and mumbling in Japanese, while the audience laughed in his essence. Kawabata was ripping the guitar so hard to the point where I had to stop rockin’ out and just listen to the “sounds” of his brilliancy. At times he would lean his guitar into the crowd and everyone around it started strumming along with the band. Along with the heavy drum beat thrown down by Shimura Koji, and the mysterious, mind-boggling sound of the synthesizer by Higashi Hiroshi, my buddy and I began to lose control and proceeded to start an outlandish mosh-pit inside the small bar. The foursome of the Acid Mothers’ were unbelievably tight, and it seemed like they reached another world inside the Horseshoe. For one night I was able to join them in that mystical land. Maybe it was the multiple drugs, or the heavy amount of alcohol, or maybe even because I met them an hour before the show; I’m not too sure. But one thing I am sure of; it was most definitely another world; a world of ecstasy and bliss, a world where every rock n’ roller needs to be to truly exonerate their minds and become one with the music. I highly suggest that everyone should experience AMT next time they reach North America, or at least broaden your musical horizon and give psychedelic music a chance. A chance to enter into another realm of pure authenticity and musical genius that begins and stops with a sense of belief that there really is something more to this modern day rock scene than just pop rock and emo bullshit. It’ll always be hard to bring back that magical sound of the 1960’s, when psychedelic rock music shined a luminous light in the rock n’ roll scene. AMT is bringing this force back and have been for many years. Music is so precious, and once you enter into its sphere and you receive its manifestation you’ll truly understand your life better. I’ll say nothing more, but end with the words of Timothy Leary:

“Turn on, tune in, drop out.”