What’s been going on in the world of music lately? Read on to get the scoop on your favorite artists, and start some discussion about current music-related events!
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Oasis‘ Gallagher brothers are no strangers to brawls, but this time they’re not the ones throwing punches. NME reports that Noel and Liam will have the honor of carrying friend Ricky Hatton’s boxing belts into the ring for his Las Vegas fight on the 22nd.
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Sadly, drummer Mitch Mitchell, the last surviving member of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, passed away in Portland on the 12th. Feel free to comment and let us know what The Experience’s music has meant to you.
Mitch Mitchell Interview from 1973:
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For the three or four Guns N’ Roses fans out there who remain optimistic about Chinese Democracy‘s long time coming release, check out a track-by-track review from Mojo Magazine. For those of you who already got a taste of the new tunes from the internet leaks, what do you think? Was it worth the wait? (Oh, and don’t forget to snag your free Dr. Pepper in celebration of the record’s release!)
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Manic Street Preachers fans have a new album to look forward to next year, which is already being hailed as the follow up to one of the most brilliantly depressing albums of all time, The Holy Bible. According to bassist Nicky Wire, the Welsh lads are recording a batch of songs under the production of Steve Albini featuring the previously unused lyrics of guitarist Richey Edwards, who has been missing since 1995.
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MTV’s Total Request Live is officially kaput. For some music fans, the show’s cancellation came years too late–for others, like Spin magazine’s Peter Gaston, TRL was a pop culture gem. With ever-changing methods for fans to learn about and experience music, do you accept this partiular change as only natural–a sign of the interruption of mainstream culture in favor of independent opinion–or have we truly lost something special and important here?
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Filed under: Music News & Reviews
Hendrix was my favorite artist as a kid. I had the first three Experience records…Electric Ladyland was my favorite…though Are You Experienced was not far behind.
Buddy Miles (the post-Experience drummer) has also passed on. But it was Hendrix’ untimely death in 1970 at the age of 27 that was the real tragedy.
Imagine if he had lived on?
…from Wikipedia:
Mitchell pioneered a style of drumming which would later become known as fusion. This is a “lead” style of playing distinguished by interplay with lead instruments such as guitar or keyboards, and the melding of jazz and rock drumming styles. Though lead drums was not a new concept in the world of jazz, it was relatively unheard of in the rock genre at the time. Upon joining Hendrix in late 1966, it soon became evident to Mitch that the trio format of the band was very similar to the recently formed Cream, and that it would allow him an opportunity to become more free with his playing. Like a jazz drummer, Mitch’s playing not only provided a rhythmic support for the music, but also a source of momentum and melody. He made heavy use of snare rudiments, fast single and double stroke rolls, and jazz triplet patterns in his playing, and shifted between both traditional and matched grips. Notable examples of his style include the rudiment-heavy fills on “Hey Joe”, which help to carry the song through a series increasingly intense crescendos. “Manic Depression” is a 3/4 rock waltz that finds Mitch playing a driving afro-cuban inspired beat, which then shifts to an explosion of triplets all around the drumkit during the outro. “Third Stone from the Sun” incorporates a jazz ride pattern to underpin Hendrix’s jazzy surf guitar, and the spacey breakdown section features polyrythmic drum fills that float over the 4/4 meter. “1983… (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)” features military-style snare drum work and delicate cymbal playing that evokes the sound of wind chimes. The long blues jam “Voodoo Chile” features Mitch playing a deep blues groove with subtle hi-hat accenting and powerful drum fills that help to propel the song to new heights. Alongside Hendrix’s revolutionary guitar work and songwriting, Mitchell’s playing helped redefine rock music drumming.[8]