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January 3, 2008
Shorties
The New Statesman interviews filmmaker Ang Lee about his next project.
"I have to feel passionate enough about a project before I agree to come on board. But it will most likely be another adaptation." It seems odd that someone with a well-demonstrated gift for screenwriting should be so eager to use other people's material. "I'm quite lazy," the director explains. "I prefer to find a ready-written piece of literature that's already great, and I snatch the idea. I find the writing process very lonely, very painful. I only started out writing because, at a young age, nobody would give me anything to work with. I was just earning my right to direct."
Download.com reviews the new version of the music discoverer and player, Songbird.
Popmatters interviews Sea and Cake frontman Sam Prekop.
The Detroit Free Press interviews Bettye LaVette.
QUESTION: What were the first words out of your mouth when you heard you got a Grammy nomination for best contemporary blues album?
ANSWER: There weren't any words. I didn't say anything. I had my mouth open and tears running down my eyes but I couldn't say anything because I couldn't breathe. This is the biggest thing that's ever happened to me.
NPR lists its memorable stories of 2007.
The Houston Press lists the worst song lyrics of 2007.
Bootie is offering a download of its favorite mashups of 2007.
Rolling Stone profiles Bodies of Water.
Sounds Like: The Arcade Fire as composed by Ennio Morricone. The band funnels roots rock, soaring gospel, the Mamas & the Papas-style harmonies and Spaghetti Western themes into an uplifting, California-baked package. Despite their foursome status, the band pack a Polyphonic Spree-sized wallop on their debut album Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink, as singer-songwriter David Metcalf (along with his wife, Meredith) lead a battalion of blaring horns and strings.
The Cleveland Free Times lists ten bands to watch in 2008.
The Anderson Independent-Mail interviews Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers.
RH: Do the members of the Truckers all share common musical influences?
PH: Not really. It’s a pretty wide variety. Cooley was a much bigger Lynyrd Skynyrd fan than I was. I became a fan when I was in my 30s, whereas he was a fan when he was growing up. The first record he learned to play guitar along to was a live Skynyrd record. My directions went more toward punk rock. I was a big Clash fan and a fan of Elvis Costello and Springsteen. But we’re all big soul music fans and fans of old-timey country music. When Cooley’s at home, he listens to Kenny Rogers. And our drummer, Brad Morgan, likes bad ’80s hair metal, and Alabama (laughs). It’s pretty eclectic.
http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/33413 has the longlist of nominees for the Shortlist Music Prize.
Patton Oswalt comedically lists his top books, movies, movie quotes, and albums of the year.
London's Maccabees put together a mixtape at Drowned in Sound.
The staff at Comic Book Resources lists its favorite writers, artists, and titles of 2007.
Drowned in Sound previews 2008's notable album releases.
The National Post's Ampersand blog lists its favorite books of the year.
Drowned in Sound interviews Austin's White Denim.
You've repeatedly been described as one of the bands to watch coming out of Austin at the moment. What's the secret to your success in a town famed for its abundance of music?
I think our secret is that we really enjoy playing our instruments and we love playing our instruments with each other. We always strive to have fun making music together and we hope that audiences can become a part of that. Whether or not people come to the concerts has never really influenced what we do. We would be making this music together with or without the attention of our 2,000 MySpace friends. We played together almost completely unnoticed for about a year and a half until SXSW 2007, now we are just incompletely noticeable.
The Deli has added a Los Angeles edition to its online sites dedicated New York and San Francisco music.
also at Largehearted Boy:
2007 online music lists
Daily Downloads
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and full album streams from this week's CD releases)
this week's CD releases
tags: music books popculture indie news
