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RIP Storm Thorgerson (Hipgnosis)

Written by Scott Mervis on .

Dark Side Of The Moon REMAKE2 by normanbatesStorm Thorgerson was like the member of Pink Floyd you didn’t hear.

He was the artist who designed the album covers, including the iconic prism on “The Dark Side Of The Moon.”

He died April 18 at age 70 of cancer.

Pink Floyd singer-guitarist Dave Gilmour issued the following statement on his website:

We first met in our early teens. We would gather at Sheep’s Green, a spot by the river in Cambridge and Storm would always be there holding forth, making the most noise, bursting with ideas and enthusiasm. Nothing has ever really changed.

He has been a constant force in my life, both at work and in private, a shoulder to cry on and a great friend.

The artworks that he created for Pink Floyd from 1968 to the present day have been an inseparable part of our work.

I will miss him.

Thorgerson, who was part of design team Hipgnosis from 1968 to 1983, added a wonderfully surreal quality to the music world that made the listening experience that much more enjoyable.

In addition to the Floyd covers, like the cow on “Atom Heart Mother” and the burning businessman on “Wish You Were Here,” he also designed covers for Led Zeppelin (“Presence,” “In Through the Out Door”), Peter Gabriel (first three solo albums), The Catherine Wheel, The Cranberries, Mars Volta, Muse and many more.

He said of work: "I like to mess with reality...to bend reality. Some of my works beg the question of is it real or not? I use real elements in unreal ways. Is the man really on fire? Why would he just be standing there? Who put the beds on the beach? Why? Why is there a cow on the cover? It doesn’t have anything to do with the album, or does it? A boxer dog in designer boxer shorts on a beach."

A statement on Pink Floyd.com said: “We are saddened by the news that long-time Pink Floyd graphic genius, friend and collaborator, Storm Thorgerson, has died. Our thoughts are with his family and many friends.”

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Jerry's Records giving away 5,000 records on Record Store Day

Written by Scott Mervis on .

jerry-weber-and-his-son-willie originalRecord Store Day, the annual celebration that started in 2007, takes place Saturday at a store near you, which in Pittsburgh, means The Attic (Millvale), Sound Cat (Bloomfield), Eide’s (Downtown), Dave’s Music Mine (South Side), 720 Records (Lawrenceville) and Mind Cure (Polish Hill) among others.

Stores generally won't know until the last minute what they're getting, but among the coveted releases will be:

• The White Stripes - Elephant (12” coloured vinyl)
• Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - “Munich ‘59” (12” LP)
• At The Drive-In - “Relationship of Command RSD Exclusive Re-issue” (12” LP)
• Avenged Sevenfold “Carry On” (12” Picture Disc)
• Ben Harper “By Your Side” (12” LP)
• Big Star “Nothing Can Hurt Me [Special Pressing]”
• Bon Jovi “Bon Jovi Live” (12” Picture Disc)
• Built to Spill “LIVE” (Double LP)
• Brian Eno, Nicolas Jaar, Grizzly Bear “Brian Eno x Nicolas Jaar x Grizzly Bear” (12” Vinyl)
• Bob Dylan “Wigwam” (7” Single)
• The Joy Formidable “A Minute’s Silence” (12” vinyl)
• The Notorious B.I.G. - “Ready to Die” (2 x 12” white vinyl)
• Pink Floyd “See Emily Play Pink Vinyl” (7” Vinyl)

Jerry’s Records doesn't bother with new releases (unless they come in used), but the Squirrel Hill store will take part once again by giving away more than 5,000 albums, 45s and 78s (100-plus per box), along with a Giant $ Dollar $ Sidewalk Sale (albums and 45’s). It will also be selling original Robert Crumb Jerry’s T-shirts, in new colors.
 
Jerry's, at 1236 Murray Ave. 2nd floor, will be open from 9:30 a.m. till 6 p.m. Call 412-421-4533

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Thurston Moore in good, loud spirits with Chelsea Light Moving

Written by Scott Mervis on .

ChelseaLightWe’ve seen Thurston Moore here in some pretty nasty moods, most notably in 1991 on the Neil Young arena tour when he kicked over the mike stand and stormed off the stage.
 
Most of the time, the Sonic Youth guitarist quietly goes about the business of blowing our ears back.
 
On Tuesday night at Mr. Smalls, it was a different Thurston Moore in Chelsea Light Moving. The moppy-haired guitarist, a youthful 54, was chatty, funny and goofing around with the crowd and his new bandmates.
 
It started with his entrance, asking if there were any beers on stage. When he was handed a can and a few crowd members chanted “chug, chug!” he did just that, then threw the can toward the drummer.
 
It was a small crowd, maybe just over a hundred people, but all that seemed to do was make the show looser and more intimate.
 
CLM has come to life as a result of his marital split with Sonic Youth bassist Kim Gordon (after 27 years), and while it shares some characteristics of his former band, it’s not Sonic Youth. Obviously, Moore is now alone on vocals, but also, with Lee Ranaldo out of the picture and Keith Wood in, the guitar work is less intricate and less layered. It’s almost like a dumbed-down Sonic Youth, but if you’re out for good sludgy, pile-driving rock, this is a fine substitute.
 
 
The band drew from its debut album for the grungy (“Burroughs”), the drony (“Alighted,” “Frank O’Hara Hit”), the bratty (“Lip”) and variations on all three (“Empires of Time,” for Roky Erickson). Most of the songs, with lyrics more skeletal, had Moore stomping pedals and running up and down the neck of his Strat to create his signature ear-shattering squalls.
 
After seven songs from the new album, he declared, “OK, we’re out of old songs” (SY always looked forward, after all) and he taped lyrics to the mike stand to do a newly written song called “The Ecstasy,” then added “Sunday Stage” and “No Go.”
 
In this midst of this playful climax to the set, he joked with Wood about his co-guitarist's whammy bar being squeaky and recalled once recording a whole cassette of his own squeaky bar. He also joked about doing an album and tour of covers — “Kinks or [s--t] like that.”
 
 
In the place of covers, Chelsea (also featuring the sturdy rhythm section of Samara Lubelski and John Moloney) returned with a pair of moody songs — “Staring Statues” and “Pretty Bad” — from his 1995 solo album, “Psychic Hearts.”
 
Appropriately, they never touched the Sonic Youth catalog, but there were no complaints from a crowd that saw a lighter side of Thurston Moore in a still-heavy band.
 
Shockwave Riderz, featuring Modey Lemon members Phil Boyd and Paul Quattrone with singer Sarah Mcelhaney, opened with a set of frantic garage-punk that also showed a poppier side of the two Modeys.
 
Chelsea Light Moving setlist
Burroughs 
Sleeping Where I Fall
Alighted
Groovy + Linda 
Lip
Frank O’Hara Hit
Empires of Time
The Ecstasy
Sunday Stage 
No Go
 
Encore:
Staring Statues
Pretty Bad

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Thurston Moore bumps Chux Beta from show over 'stripper' comment

Written by Scott Mervis on .


chuxbetaChux Beta was thrilled to open for one of its musical heroes, Thurston Moore, and his new band Chelsea Light Moving, Tuesday night at Mr. Smalls.

At the last minute, though, the band claims that it has been squeezed out of that spot, replaced by Shockwave Riderz, the new band from The Modey Lemon's Paul Quattrone and Phil Boyd.

The reason?

The band says it was told by promoter Opus One Productions that the Sonic Youth guitarist was offended by a live video from the Pittsburgh Rock Awards where one of the Chux Beta members jokes, "Where are the strippers?" -- who had been on stage presenting the band with an award.



CB's James Dunn says,"In your humble opinion, do you really think Thurston Moore watched a [crappy] Chux Beta YouTube clip? I mean come on!"

He adds, "I just don't see Thurston Moore being offended by 'Where are the strippers? I would've believed, 'Hey they didn't like your music.' "

Normally, he says, a comment about strippers would not appear in one of the band's videos.

"We're 30 somethings in a glorified grunge band," Dunn says laughing, "not Mötley Crüe."

He speculates that the real reason is that the Modey Lemon is just better connected in the scene.

"We support so many Pittsburgh bands and causes. We did a St. Jude's benefit, we try and do the right thing and keep plugging along and this is the thanks you get," Dunn says, adding, "It's hard not to talk about this without sounding like an entitled child."

Sticking with company policy, Opus One did not comment, and Moore is not doing interviews.

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Grizzly Bear: Better than Radiohead?

Written by Scott Mervis on .

grizzly3It speaks to the maturity of the college-age music connoisseur that Grizzly Bear could nearly sell out the 1,800-capacity Carnegie Music Hall on a Saturday night in the middle of March Madness and spring break.
 
The Brooklyn band is the dictionary definition of nuance, playing music best for gazing out the window on a gray day. 
 
In a confessional mood last week, AC Newman, of The New Pornographers, tweeted that he thought Grizzly Bear was better than Radiohead, which Grizzly Bear toured with in 2008. That's a big claim for a little tweet.
 
Having seen Grizzly Bear, there's no way I'm going there. Grizzly Bear doesn't have the rhythmic overdrive or the Yorke-ian emotional punch of the British art-rockers, but its certainly in the sonic ballpark.
 
grizzly1The Brooklyn darlings put more emphasis on the shimmering group vocals, shared between the frontline of lead singer Ed Droste, guitarist Daniel Rossen (who took several leads) and bassist Chris Taylor. You could put them in a harmony showdown with CSN, Fleet Foxes and My Morning Jacket and there's no telling what would happen.
 
The dreamy vocals came to the fore on songs like "Lullabye," "Shift" and "Foreground," while their rhythmic muscle was flexed on noisy psych-rock songs such as "Yet Again," "Ready, Able" and "Two Weeks." The new album, "Shields," brought some of the strongest pieces, including dashing openers "Speak in Rounds" and "Sleeping Ute."
 
Grizzly Bear isn't much to look at visually. They played in shadowy lighting, with ghostly luminaria behind them, and Droste is a largely internal frontman who doesn't stray from his electronic keyboard.
 
With opener Owen Pallett, who returned to play violin on "What's Wrong," it was a show that stood out more for its subtle virtuosity than its rock energy.
 
Updated at 9:23 p.m. April 1.

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