Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman (of Catfish fame) received a special request from John Baldessari, the subject of their new short, on who should narrate the 6-minute documentary: Tom Waits. “He’s got a great voice,” says the conceptual artist and star of A Brief History of John Baldessari. What follows is a witty, well-paced and inspiring highlight reel of Baldessari’s career, complete with his list of 3 things every young artist should know:
1) Talent is cheap.
2) You have to be possessed, which you can’t will.
3) Being at the right place at the right time.
In keeping with Baldessari’s own 1971 mantra, this film is intriguing throughout—the complete opposite of boring art. Check it out below. Continue →
Where the title track’s live reveal saw Kristian Matsson dabble with a fresh full-band sound, our first studio glimpse at The Tallest Man on Earth’s third LP, There’s No Leaving Now, brings a more seamless transition from the folky solo side of 2010′s The Wild Hunt and supplemental EP, Sometimes the Blues Is Just a Passing Bird. ”I wanted to build something that didn’t sound like a rock band, but wasn’t super minimalistic,” he told Rolling Stone for their premiere of the MP3 today. “I wanted a sound that had that brittle [quality], that feeling that it might just fall apart.”
“1904″ offers just that (save for the minimalism foray): an unpolished gem with hints of lead guitar that recall Graceland/Hearts and Bones-era Paul Simon, whom he’s covered. All told, we have a safe preview here, sure to please existing fans and recruit new ones — not to mention proof that Matsson can cook up a familiar formula in his new home studio. The stream/download is below: Continue →
It was only a matter of time before the self-proclaimed “Danzig of alternative country” stripped down his hero’s most famous song into a low-key solo number. “Everything is always about Danzig eventually. Danzig, good lovin’ and pizza,” Ryan Adams wrote for The Awl in 2009, before sharing a fantasy about the pair meeting ”for a two player run with some or all the members of Whitesnake.” A year later came their real-life introduction (complete with photo op) and now for the inevitable acoustic homage.
Adams brought out the tune for encores along a few European dates earlier this month, including this version in Paris appropriately (or inappropriately, depending on mom’s taste for the macabre) just ahead of Mother’s Day. Hear a decent recording below: Continue →
