Month: January 2010

Categories
GUEST EDITOR

Sam Phillips’ Fan Dance: 17-Mile Drive

SamPhillipslogoIt’s not as much of a journey from religious music to Jerry Lee Lewis and the Die Hard movie franchise as you might think. For someone who began her recording career as a Christian artist, Sam Phillips has had a very secular professional life. Born Leslie Ann Phillips in 1962, she cut her last album of religious music, produced by future husband T Bone Burnett, in 1987. (Phillips and Burnett divorced in 2004.) Phillips then jumped ship to the Virgin label in 1989 and began recording albums of thoughtful-yet-stirring music to document her new life as Sam Phillips. Critics’ fave Fan Dance, her 2001 debut record for Nonesuch Records, featured lovely string arrangements by the legendary Van Dyke Parks. Phillips is currently in the middle of a year-long multimedia project called Long Play and also has a tune placed in Oscar-contending film Crazy Heart with Jeff Bridges. In addition, Phillips will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Q&A with her.

17MilePhillips: California’s 17-Mile Drive is one of the most beautiful and mysterious places. The only problem is there is a lot of golf around here. Maybe you like golf. I once met Mary Morse, whose dad developed the Pebble Beach Golf Links. I loved hearing her talk about running around the beach when she was a little girl. Ignore the golf and visit the rocks where a lone gentleman built a little hut to live in. Video after the jump.

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FREE MP3s

MP3 At 3PM: Seabear

seabear3776If you like Fleet Foxes, Sufjan Stevens and pretty much anything that comes out of Iceland, then prepare to fall in love with this new single from seven-piece indie-folk outfit Seabear. “Lion Face Boy” is off the Icelandic band’s sophomore album, We Built A Fire (Morr Music), which will be released in March. Its U.S. touring debut (including performances at SXSW) will follow.

“Lion Face Boy” (download):
https://magnetmagazine.com/audio/LionFaceBoy.mp3

Categories
THE OVER/UNDER

The Over/Under: Ryan Adams

Ryan-adamsover

It’s been 10 years since the release of Heartbreaker, Ryan Adams‘ first post-Whiskeytown effort, and these days he is sober, married and seemingly well-balanced. Unless you were paying attention, you might not know the whole story—with the endless string of movie-star girlfriends and the drug-fueled, spoiled-rock-star antics. There was a time when Adams physically threatened his critics and routinely threw violent hissy-fits with damage bills in the thousands of dollars. He was a brash, arrogant diva, partly due to his own buying-in to the vast amount of bullshit surrounding him and partly due to all of the cocaine and heroin he was snorting. I don’t think we’ve had another artist so roundly dubbed the “second-coming of Dylan” since Adams was given the designation a decade ago, so it might be hard for a 20-something listener today to comprehend the level of hype that was dumped on him when he was emerging as a solo artist. It was blinding. With a staggering amount of unreleased material—including multiple albums that were shelved and several website-only releases under numerous band names—he’s since become one of the most prolific recording artists of his time, inarguably responsible for some certifiable modern classics and future rock standards. This might not go well; judging by Adams’ vocal disdain for MAGNET in the past, just writing about him is going to piss him off. Nobody tell him where I live. Anyway, here are Adams’ five most overrated and five most underrated songs.

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Categories
GUEST EDITOR

Sam Phillips’ Fan Dance: Il Buco Restaurant

SamPhillipslogoIt’s not as much of a journey from religious music to Jerry Lee Lewis and the Die Hard movie franchise as you might think. For someone who began her recording career as a Christian artist, Sam Phillips has had a very secular professional life. Born Leslie Ann Phillips in 1962, she cut her last album of religious music, produced by future husband T Bone Burnett, in 1987. (Phillips and Burnett divorced in 2004.) Phillips then jumped ship to the Virgin label in 1989 and began recording albums of thoughtful-yet-stirring music to document her new life as Sam Phillips. Critics’ fave Fan Dance, her 2001 debut record for Nonesuch Records, featured lovely string arrangements by the legendary Van Dyke Parks. Phillips is currently in the middle of a year-long multimedia project called Long Play and also has a tune placed in Oscar-contending film Crazy Heart with Jeff Bridges. In addition, Phillips will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Q&A with her.

IlBucoPhillips: I am secretly married to Il Buco in New York City. This is very difficult, because I don’t live in New York City, but it is worth it. I have never been married to a restaurant before, and I plan to make this one last. Don’t tell Wikipedia. Video after the jump.

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Categories
VIDEOS

Film At 11: Slow Six

Eleven days ago, we gave you an mp3 for Slow Six‘s “The Night You Left New York,” from Tomorrow Becomes You. The album is out tomorrow on Western Vinyl. To celebrate, MAGNET is proud to premiere the NYC band’s video for “Because Together We Resonate,” also from Tomorrow Becomes You. Enjoy.