If the recent news of the White Stripes’ break up has left you weeping over your garage rock/blues collection in dismay, take heart. We’re here to remind you that there are plenty of lesser-known grit-rock stompers in line to fill in for your Jack and Meg fix. From the frenetic, punk-inspired garage rock stylings of Billy Childish to the rambunctious Memphis reel of The Reigning Sound, these bands are sure to distract you from your woe for a while. And who knows? They might just fill that Stripes-shaped hole in your record collection/heart.
It’s before noon on a Wednesday. There’s a good chance you’re not far from your next cup of coffee. Or from your last one. We’ve all become addicted to the delicious goodness and the caffeine high it generates with each delectable sip. It’s no surprise then that musicians have found a love of the deep black drink as well. Maybe it’s not as high on the songwriting subject list as sex or love or breakups or drugs, but some musicians have such passion for the drink that it has made for some tremendous tunes. Here, what we think are the best ones.
Documenting Jack and Meg White’s ambitious 2007 Canadian tour, Under Great White Northern Lights is both a compelling film and the White Stripes’ first official live album.
The duo took director Emmett Malloy on the road for the trip, which included stops in every single province in Canada. Along the way, the pair played a series of surprise shows, met with tribal elders, dressed in Scottish regalia, and celebrated its 10th anniversary as a band. The film captures all the high and lows of the trek, while the album features 16 tracks recorded live on the tour.
For the past decade, the fifth graders chorus at PS22, the largest elementary school on Staten Island, have attained internet fame with their covers of modern day pop songs, ranging from the work of Tori Amos to Lady Gaga to The Beatles. Led by multi-instrumentalist Gregg Breinberg, these elementary schoolers sing with feeling and heart, which is evident in their unpredictably soulful renditions. Riding the wave of yesterday’s buzz from The Village Voice, MTV, and Teen Vogue sparked by their new arrangement of Phoenix’s “Listzomania,” we’ve rounded up nine additional favorites from the PS22 back catalog. Weigh in on which one you like the most.
In case you missed the Air Force Reserve recruitment ad during the Super Bowl that ripped off the White Stripes’ “Fell in Love With a Girl” (and made them really mad) it’s back online now here. Quick side note: Are we the only ones who think “Cannon” would have been a more fitting track for the Air Force to swipe? Or even “Seven Nation Army”? Maybe those don’t mesh as well with extreme snow boarding visuals.
An excerpt from the statement the Stripes posted on their label’s website:
The White Stripes support this nation’s military, at home and during times when our country needs and depends on them. We simply don’t want to be a cog in the wheel of the current conflict, and hope for a safe and speedy return home for our troops.
It would be nice if they pulled an Arcade Fire, and donated the (inevitable) settlement money to Haiti.
Update: The musician who “composed” the track has apologized. “I’m sorry it sounds the same,” Kem Kraft told the New York Times. “It wasn’t my intention, truly, truly, truly.”
With his new film, An Inconvenient Truth director Davis Guggenheim turns his lens on three of rock’s greatest living guitarists: Jimmy Page, Jack White, and the Edge.
It Might Get Loud follows the six-string savants over the course of a year, offering insight into their techniques, influences, and approaches to their instrument. Ultimately, it brings them together on a Hollywood soundstage, for a jam spanning three generations of guitar heroes. Among other highlights are an air-guitar moment with Page, a U2 recording session, and a song written onscreen by White.
So you’re laid up in bed with the flu like everyone else, with nothing to do but chug Emergen-C, ride the NyQuil train, and gaze glassy-eyed at hours of DVR’ed shows that you’d usually let languish. When even keeping your eyes open starts to hurt, queue up this mixtape and zonk out to the best in architectural jams.
