The 2011 Laneways Festival line-up was just announced.  Being held on Auckland Anniversary Day (31 January 2011) at the re-christened Aotea Square, this year's announced line-up are: Yeasayer - Foals -Ladyhawke - !!! (CHK CHK CHK) - Deerhunter - Blonde Redhead -Children's Hour - Warpaint - Beach House - Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti- Lawrence Arabia - Holy F*** - An Emerald City.

Acts I'm looking forward to seeing:

This an indie heavyweight line-up for sure, but it does omit lots of great artists that are on the Australian leg of the tour.  Why couldn't Auckland get the insanely amazing Les Savy Fav,  Los Angeles upstarts Local Natives, skewed popsters Menomena, and the cutesy duo of Jenny and Johnny?  Yes, I'll end up going and will probably enjoy myself in the sun(fingers crossed) and sonics of Aotea Square. Although one has to ask, when does Auckland begin to not get the short end of the stick when it comes to Laneways?  Just saying.

 ~Jerome

It's widely known that musicians are some of the biggest geeks in the world (this is meant to be a compliment). So in honour of comic book month at Auckland City Libraries, I've come up with nine songs that mention superheroes or comic books.

1.  Matter-Eater Lad by Guided by Voices.  A song about an obscure Legion of Super Heroes character.

2.  Superman by R.E.M. I am Superman and I can do anything.

3.  Ghost Rider by Suicide.  Also covered by Henry Rollins for the soundtrack of The Crow.

4.  Can U Dig It?  by Pop Will Eat Itself.  We dig Marvel and D.C., Bruce Wayne auf weidersehn, Alan Moore knows the score.

5.  Waiting for a Superman by The Flaming Lips.  Song about the heavy burden of being Superman.  Also covered by Iron and Wine.

6.  I Am the Law by Anthrax.  Every time I think of Judge Dredd, I think of Sylvester Stallone mumbling "I am the law."

7.  That's Really Super, Supergirl by XTC.  That's really super, supergirl, how you're changing all the world's weather, but you couldn't put us back together.

8. Flash Gordon by Queen.  Theme song to one of the cheesiest and campiest movies ever.

9. DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshake by Art Brut.  Because sometimes nothing is ever as good as a good comic book and a milkshake together.

So go out and buy/borrow some comic books, listen to music and be inspired.

 ~Jerome

In a very sad year of losing important musicians, another lesser known musician quietly passed with little fanfare.  Andy Hummel, founding bassist of cult 70s power-pop band Big Star, died on the 19th of July.  Andy Hummel's death followed the March passing of Big Star's lead singer and main songwriter, Alex Chilton. 

Never achieving mainstream success, Big Star, in the words of Rolling Stone, released "a seminal body of work that never stopped inspiring succeeding generations".  Combining catchy pop with dark themes,  Big Star would directly influence and make fans of important 80s and 90s indie alternative bands such as REM, Teenage Fanclub, The Lemonheads, and The Replacements. 
 
Although critically acclaimed, Big Star's three records: #1 Record, Radio City, and Third/Sister Lovers were commercially unsuccesful.  It is only through word of mouth by these bands and their loyal fans that renewed interest in the 1980s and 1990s would follow in reissues of the band's catalogue.    Such devoted fans were The Replacements that they wrote and released a song called "Alex Chilton".  This is how I discovered Big Star.  Paul Westerberg sang that he "never travelled far, without a little Big Star".  Thank you Paul, because of you I don't ever travel far without Big Star on my iPod.

Although I own all of their records, you might want to take my advice and borrow Big Star's albums:

They may not change your life but they may change how you listen to music.

~Jerome