When early December descends upon us, yes we remember that the holidays are just around the corner, but music and art lovers alike have their own little holiday to anticipate: Miami Art Basel. In 2011, there was a record attendance of 50,000 (up from 40,000 just one year earlier) so it's clear that the annual exhibition is flourishing. The roster of music fueled events that hit Miami each year are adding up and it's no surprise that a new music festival is in the works to correspond with Art Basel. Alex Omes and Emi Guerra of GO BIG Productions are adding yet another musical force to their agenda with the introduction of the first annual UR1 Music Festival in Miami.
UR1 will take place on December 8 and 9, in Bayfront Park, Downtown Miami.
The Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame's 25th Anniversary Concert, (October 2009) started this mess. For it was this weekend, at a breathlessly packed Madison Square Garden, that two disparate rock sensations, Lou Reed and Metallica high fived over an unprovoked collaboration album. While the music world covered the news with undisputed anticipation, and quite understandable curiosity ("What could the world’s hugest metal band and the co-founder of the avant-rock deities the Velvet Underground possibly have in common," said Ben Sisario of The New York Times on October 27, 2011) the fan base was dubious from the start. In either case, Lulu came and saw, but far from conquered.
Lou Reed and Metallica have leaked out "The View" today, the first taste of their much-anticipated collaboration. The 5-minute, generation-bending opus is slated to hit iTunes and other digital retailers tomorrow.
Reed carries most of the vocal torch, delivering a monotone, folky speech over the slow-burning heavy metal of Metallica. James Hetfield takes the reigns on the chorus, providing a fiery counterpart to Reed's wise words. The meaty track is complimented by a classic Kirk Hammett solo, giving it all the makings of a great Metallica song, this time with a very special guest appearance.
The hard-rock dream-team will release their full length Lulu on Nov. 1st, but you can hear "The View" over at Spin right now. What do you think?
Through the honored vocals of artists like The Black Keys, Patti Smith, Lou Reed, Paul McCartney, Graham Nash, Modest Mouse, My Morning Jacket and Fiona Apple, rock 'n' roll pioneer Buddy Holly continues to live on long after his tragic death. The sonic sweeping star would be 75-years-old on September 7th of this year and the highly anticipated release of Rave On Buddy Holly proves that his music is still more relevant than ever and his influence has not ceased to spread across all music soundscapes.
The production of Rave On Buddy Holly celebrates the rock icon's 75th birthday and enduring legacy with a 19-song collection of outstanding Holly covers by an eclectic assemblage of today's most talented musical visionaries. Due on June 28th from Fantasy Records/Concord Music Group, the album was overseen and produced by the esteemed film-music supervisor Randall Poster, who is known for his collaborative works with directors such as Martin Scorsese, Todd Haynes, and Wes Anderson.
Forget Botox, Pilates, and Spanx, the secret to eternal youth is us! Just ask Charles Whitney, the fictional retiree who was holed up in the Assisted Living Community, Sundale, when he discovered the formula for eternal youth. The secret, if you act young, you become young, manifested famously on The Twilight Zone's instant classic episode, Kick the Can, when Charles Whitney inspired elders en masse to run amok in the yard and reawake their unbound childhood fancies.
You know Gorillaz, you know N.E.R.D, you know the Gibson Amphitheatre, so you know what you have to do. Sometimes life is a simple as that.
We're talking about two of the most creative bands, and they are meeting on stage. This is tour directly linked to the new Gorillaz album Plastic Beach, they named it 'Plastic Beach World Tour'... told you it was simple. This is going to be 'Hot N Fun' but probably too much expensive for a lot of us.
Well sometime quality has a price. And we must confess these guys are way not as fake as they pretend to be.
- Lou Reed (NYC only)
- Mos Def (NYC, Camden and DC only)
- Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
- Bashy
- Little Dragon
- De La Soul
- Bobby Womack
- Roses Gabor
- Bootie Brown
- Kano
- Miho Hatori (to appear in Los Angeles and NYC only)
Gorillaz and N.E.R.D.Z
Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal CityWalk Universal City, CA
07:30 PM
Lou Reed, Maureen Tucker, and Doug Yule, members of the pioneering New York City art band The Velvet Underground, will be reuniting for a public appearance at the New York Public Library on December 8. The influential musicians will not be joining together for yet another band reformulation, but they will be key speakers in a panel discussion with rock journalist David Fricke to discuss their music and influence in the budding art scene that germinated from New York during the sixties.
The band forum, a part of the “LIVE from the NYPL” series, is a response to growing interest in the group by way of the release of the new book, The Velvet Underground: New York Art. The book contains a rare collection of handwritten music and lyrics by Reed, unseen performance photographs, underground press clippings, and posters and cover art by Andy Warhol, the group’s manager/producer during their early years.