Garbage

Nearly 20 years since their self-titled debut, Garbage are aware that nothing will ever be like their first—and why should it? “We’ll never sound like the first record again,” says singer Shirley Manson. The Scottish-bred “Supervixen” admits that she felt like a complete innocent when she first joined Garbage, but that was a long time ago. If Manson felt naïve back then, it didn’t show as the raccoon-eyed, sex kitten crooned out dark, pop echoes of “Only Happy When it Rains,” reaffirmed the need for more female prowess in “Stupid Girl” or revealed a blatant girl-boy seduction in “Queer.” Manson, now 45, still oozes that sexy that some female front women work to attain. She’s even retained her potty mouth, randomly blurting out “fuck” in most sentences. Perhaps some things do remain the same, but almost two decades since their inception, there’s an older, wiser Garbage working on their fifth studio album, due out spring 2012. Read More

Bebe Buell (center) with legendary rock photographer Mick Rock (r). (PHOTO: Tina Benitez-Eves)

Julian Lennon, rock photography royalty including Mick Rock, Merri Cyr and Bob Gruen, actress Gina Gershon and others were under one roof for the 10th anniversary benefit concert for the Morrison Hotel Gallery at the Cutting Room Thursday night. A Joel Brodsky-captured, bare-chested and back-arched Iggy Pop in black and white, candid glimpses of the Beatles through Robert Whitaker’s eyes, a kaleidoscope-colored Bowie circa Ziggy Stardust (Rock) and more were on display and part of a silent auction. A percentage of proceeds from the event went to Rational Animal, a New York non-profit that works to improve the lives of homeless animals in the city and the White Feather Foundation, which helps increase awareness of environmental and humanitarian issues.

Cocktails paying homage to Beatles’ “Blackbird” from The White Album and other rock classics, a night video tribute to legendary photographer Herman Leonard with Joey Ramone’s Louis Armstrong cover of “What a Wonderful World” playing in the background opened the night. Famous for capturing Etta James, Frank Sinatra, a young Tony Bennett, Miles Davis and other legends, Leonard passed away last year at the age of 87.  More

Cupcakes at Mercury Lounge. (PHOTO: Patrick J. Eves)

Cupcakes convincingly wrapped the bass-guitar strap around her neck, looked out to the audience and laughed before passing the guitar to her other half, Ariel Scherbacovsky, better known as Hank. A closer look revealed the left half of Hank’s face, back and torso painted in animalistic black and yellow spots. Offering bass rumble and synth for the band’s 11-song set, Cupcakes, clad in a white business suit, her short, bleached-blonde hair perfectly coifed, pounced onstage as a gender-blurring, Eurythmics-era Annie Lennox.

Fresh from recording their full-length debut at Berlin’s Hansa Studios, the Tel Aviv-by-way-of-Brooklyn bass-and-drum duo felt the New York City love and gave it back. The duo’s chemistry is unyielding. “Ready, naked boy?” asked Cupcakes of a shirtless Hank before her rap reviving some of Blondie’s “Rapture” toward the end of funk-pop groove of “Ain’t No Love.” Dancing, swirling and moving in front—and on top—of her drum kit, Cupcakes is full show-woman-ship. More

The Horrors

Having previously treated fans to an intimate summer show in the Studio, the Horrors moved things upstairs to the big stage last night at Webster Hall. The group covered their full catalog with their third studio album, Skying, setting the barometer for the night and flooding the set with singles like “I Can See Through You” and “Still Life.” Still, the London shoegaze rockers didn’t forget earlier tracks, keeping their 12-song set intact with flashes from Strange House and Primary Colours. Read entire story

Roberta Bayley, self-portrait. (PHOTO: Roberta Bayley)

Roberta Bayley took some photography courses at her high school in Berkeley, California. When she wasn’t dreaming of her own British Invasion she’d snap a few photos with her Instamatic, but that was it. Years later, in New York City, Bayley found herself propping Ramones’ bassist Dee Dee atop a brick so he’d be just a bit taller in line with his other bandmates. That 35mm, black and white photo of the New York punk legends—developed in her rented darkroom—would end up being the legendary band’s first album cover, ranking among Rolling Stones’ Top Album Covers of all time.

Patti Smith, Talking Heads, the New York Dolls, Stiv Bators, and Blondie—with whom Bayley toured frequently—would soon become her camera pawns. Today, a Flickring twenty-something would die and go to heaven before so casually shooting our YouTube ruling musical elites, but Bayley was ultimately in the right place at the right time, and was happy to capture one of the most important eras of music in New York City’s Lower East Side:

“I was traveling around a lot, and I didn’t have a darkroom. I didn’t really get serious about it until 1975. But the reason that I specifically bought a camera was to document what was going on at CBGBs and lower Manhattan. This was a scene that needed to be documented.” Read entire story

Covered in what looks like a southern-style French maid’s outfit with three-quarter-length sleeves and a black-and-white pin reading “Power to the People” planted on her upper right breast, Cervenka is dressed for the occasion. After all, she’s been doing this for 35 years, ever since connecting with X partner — and first husband — singer John Doe at a poetry reading in the late 70s. Tonight, she’s playing her 10th SXSW show. “Or it could be 12. I don’t know,” the punk legend tells Spinner. “It’s all a blur.”

She’s there to support her latest solo effort, ‘Excitement of Nowhere.’ With bluegrass and, according to some reviews, country sounds, ‘Excitement’ may be the alter ego of the loud singer, who founded one of the most influential punk bands in history, but Cervenka doesn’t see any difference in what she’s doing now as opposed to her past work. Read More

PHOTO: Kayt Jones

In their second-to-last SXSW show (of seven) Voxhaul Broadcast spiraled through a brief set at the PureVolume House. With no time to waste, the Orange County, Calif. quartet filled the next 25 minutes with six songs, mostly from their debut — ‘Timing is Everything’ — even sharing one story about a bad trip that inspired a great song.

Just two days earlier at the band’s Filter magazine showcase, singer David Dennis, whose semblance to the later singer Jeff Buckley up close is striking, described their ‘Timing’ track ‘Cheetah,’ one of the most anthemic and anticipated tracks of their set, as a (drug) trip gone bad.

The story: Dennis was driving the band’s van to rehearsal at a Los Angeles studio when the mushrooms that he took earlier started to kick in. As the hallucinogens flooded his mind, he parked the unlocked van and went inside and spent the rest of the night writing the punk-driven ‘Cheetah.’ By the next morning, the van was gone. Lesson learned, but in retrospect, the band laughs at the incident. It’s just part of rock ‘n’ roll. Read More

His wispy, gray bangs failing over his face, the Irish rocker and humanitarian brought his seven-man band, complete with all the bells and whistles — including a violin player wearing a white fishnet shirt — to the show. He opened with a very festive rendition of single ‘The Great Song of Indifference,’ a track from his earlier catalog of 1990. But Geldof wasn’t forgetting newer tunes off his just-released album, ‘How to Compose Popular Songs That Will Sell,’ — which, coincidentally, was the title of the panel he conducted earlier in the day.

Calling rock ‘n’ roll “America’s great cultural gift to the world,” Geldof said, pleading for more respect for the music industry during the panel. “The future might not be ours, but it’s our job to shape it … through music.

“F— great sound. It’s only great sound when it expresses the writer’s intent.” Read More

Shirley Manson's Peking Noodle.

A voluptuous woman blurred out, save for what seems to be a bulbous breast, a patch of pubic hair and a faint violet on her flesh, channels Picasso. The painting, by Frank Black, was one of 34 pieces on display by various artists, including musicians like Pete Wentz, Joby J. Ford from The Bronx and Adam Jones of Tool, last week at Sloan Fine Art in celebration of Alternative Press’ 25th anniversary. Marilyn Manson contributed a close self-portrait titled “Baby’s On,” a watercolor painting blushed with a willowy, red-and-orange figure. At $30,000 it was the priciest of the bunch. Garbage singer Shirley Manson’s “Peking Noodle,” an ode to Louise Bourgeois, the French artist who passed away earlier this year, was made of pink yarn and shaped like an eye with the words “soon you will be sitting on top of the world” scribbled on it. Shepard Fairey’s two pieces, album-cover silk screens, included an “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll”-era tribute to Joan Jett and a collage entitled, “Half Face.” Read entire story