Karl's Corner - 01/05/2006

01/05/06 the dust of 1,000 generations

...hello everybody and a hearty welcome into 2006! 2005 was a great year for weezer but a decidedly mixed bag around the world. Let's hope that 2006 will be a better one for the world, as weezer takes a step back from the limelight for a little while.

...the '05 holiday digital treat is in the pipeline, ready to go but waiting for a few tech/website things to be sorted out before its up and ready for your consumption. It should be a matter of days rather than weeks, so stay tuned.

...L.A. area peeps: here's your chance to do something fun for charity and watch weezer bassist Scott Shriner call out bingo numbers! Its the latest installment of Rock N' Roll bingo, a charity bingo series where rock stars, celebrities, and other cool cats volunteer their time and bingo refereeing skillz for charity. Scott will be MCing and calling out the numbers on the night of Jan 19th in Hollywood. Check the details here.
Please note - this is not a musical performance - Scott will not be playing bass or any other instrument, aside from his, er, bingo voice. Come down for fun and to support the charity, and perhaps Scott's number calling will hook you up with a bingo victory!

Large size picture link: here.

...Meanwhile, Brian Bell writes in with his account of recording the Velvet Underground song "Heroin" (with Pat) for the in production film "Factory Girl" about VU, Warhol, and Edie Sedgwick. Take it away, Brian...
"...Covering the Velvet Underground song "Heroin" for the movie "Factory Girl" has made me rethink how I approach music, it at least gives validation to an already known fact: music does not need to be sober. By "sober" I mean perfect, tight, or in the case of most modern rock music, uptight.
Working on this project with Pat was a blast. There was no premeditated plan, no rehearsal, there was barely even a discussion of how to approach this seven minute ride. I was a bit nervous going into it because the song still needed to be approved by the film's makers, who were coming to the studio to meet us and probably also to see that their investment was not in vain. As far as I know they are satisfied and haven't changed their minds. No matter anyway because the lessons learned and the experience of recording with Pat proved to be invaluable.
We started at ten in the morning and ended up using the fourth of fifth take. I really wanted to have a good version of the song to play the producers of the film before they arrived at two. We kept my tracking guitar and I re-sung the song trying to mimic Lou Reeds' phrasing word for word. Just as I finished they arrived and I was sweating bullets nervously waiting for approval. They seemed genuinely pleased and the only concerns at that time were that the song broke into a beat, which was different than the drumming of the Velvets' drummer Mo Tucker. Tucker did have an amazing feel, but she was no Pat, and Pat pulled out an "Only In Dreams" type crescendo that I think makes that aspect of the song better.
Later, I got a call from the director telling me to re-sing the song using my own phrasing, "just go for it", he said. I did just that and threw in a little Dylan for good measure. My reservation going into this was that no matter how good it turned out, criticism would soon follow. You can't attempt a rock classic (especially a cult band like the Velvets) and not get a few sneers. But the important thing here is that maybe we might help turn a new generation on to this amazing art rock band and change the perspectives of a few unknowing listeners. If your music has steered too far from the aesthetic of the Velvet Underground you have to ask yourself, "What the hell am I trying to do?"..." -Brian

...The CFNY "Ongoing Historyy Of New Music" episode from November featuring the story of Rivers is online for your streaming pleasure here. Check it oot!

...Vote for "Perfect Situation" on the TRL webpage! Your vote counts and is mucho appreciated! Meanwhile, the single has risen to #4 on the modern rock chart, and is doing its best to catch up to its 900-pound gorilla big brother known as "Beverly Hills", which keeps popping back up near the top of the pop charts time and time again! The "Perfect Situation" video should be available on iTunes very soon. It's also coming to our streaming media page sometime soon, but we haven't heard exactly when yet. It's still available to stream on the Yahoo! Music pages. (best in IE, Firefox doesnt seem to like it).

...coming up in a little over a month: The Grammys. "Beverly Hills" has been nominated in the Best Rock Song catergory for the 2006 Grammy Awards, up against U2, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, and Bruce Springsteen. The Grammy Awards take place on Feb 8th at the Staples Center in L.A.

...looks like the karma account wasn't too badly overdrawn: Japan luggage accounted for! Thanks to all who wished me luck, and to Continental's staff for doing the right thing.