Saturday, March 29, 2008

The Money Shot: The Old 97's Fight Back, R.E.M. Gets Focused and A Jayhawks Post-Mortem...

More headlines...

Solo shot (The Phoenix)
MS: The band’s last studio disc, Rainy Day Music, came out in 2003. “We were running a bit on fumes,” he admits. “Not in terms of popularity or anything, but in terms of inspiration. It seems like there’s a certain lifespan for a band, and ours was longer than most.” What hadn’t run its course was Louris’s desire to keep making music. “So I just decided to use my own name.”


Old 97's Ready 'Epic' New Album (Billboard)
MS: "I'd say looking back at the last record, there's only two songs that would have made this record. The quality just wasn't there," Miller says. "On 'Drag It Up,' I let the other members run the show; I took a total step back. [1999's] 'Fight Songs' was called that because we fought about everything, and I was pushing everyone. The last one, I didn't push. I just let it happen and then they could feel what it's like to carry the load. Afterward, they were more willing to let me in. I'm the youngest member of the band, so there has always been this push back."


Interview: R.E.M. (Pitchfork)
MS: We went to the most obvious place, which was to do really fast songs that were really short. Peter did what he does, I did what I do, and Mike did what he does, so we kind of trimmed the fat, if you will, and got down to the very basics that make each of us musicians. And so what you're left with is this type of material performed with Peter doing... a couple of times in the past ten years, I've said to him, I want that thing again. Just for the longest time I said, Stop doing that, to Peter. Or, Mike would be like, The vocal is really great as it is, and it's coming from an articulated place conceptually, so I don't think it really needs background vocals. So he wouldn't do background vocals. Or, I would say, Yeah, I think it stands alone. Or whatever. So anyway, we threw our cards on the table and did what comes naturally when we've got a more broken-down palette of colors to work with. And that's what you wind up with. I'm really happy with it.


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