Music Tonight: Pop Rock group Jack's Mannequin, the brainchild of Andrew McMahon, former frontman for successful Emo Pop group Something Corporate, performs at Bogart's with special guests Jukebox the Ghost (pictured). Showtime is 8 p.m.; tickets are $33.80 (including fees). JM is on the road supporting its third album, People and Things, which came out on Sire last October. McMahon talks about his sense of obligation to his fans, the recent Something Corporate reunion (sorry, kids — no new album anytime soon) and his serious health scare just prior to the release of JM's debut in this week's CityBeat (here's the interview). Philly-based Indie Rock/Pop band Jukebox the Ghost seems primed for a huge breakthrough, as attention for the group continues to grow thanks to extensive global touring with everyone from Barenaked Ladies to James Blunt to Adam Green. The band's most recent album was 2010's Everything Under the Sun (on the Yep Roc imprint). Late last year, the band released an entertaining video for the LP track "Half Crazy." Check it out below.—-
Momentous Happenings in Music History for January 27
On this day in 2006, singer/songwriter Jason Lytle announced the end of his Indie Rock/Pop band Grandaddy. While critically acclaimed and fairly successful, Lytle (who would go solo) told NME (and others) that Grandaddy was simply not making enough money: "The realistic part is it hasn't proved to be a huge money-making venture for a lot of guys in the band." The split came in the middle of the music industry's mad scramble to figure out how to profit in light of lost sales due to easier accessibility to music online. That adjustment is ongoing but artists have been able to find new revenue streams (even Grandaddy had entered the "song placement in commercials" market towards the end); one has to wonder whether the groups who split up around this same time might have survived if they'd only held on for a few more years.
Lytle has continued his solo career and is also a part of the group Admiral Radley, featuring fellow Grandaddy member Aaron Burtch and members of the band Earlimart (fortunately, the original idea to call the band something like Earlidaddy was scrapped).
Check out Grandaddy's excellent single "Now It's On" below.
Born This Day: Musical movers and shakers born Jan. 27 include: Svengali behind rodent Pop stars The Chipmunks, David "Alvin!" Seville (1919); Blues/Soul singer/songwriter Bobby "Blue" Bland (1930); Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason (1944); Country star Tracy Lawrence (1968); and adventurous vocalist/musician Mike Patton (1968).
Patton came to the general public's attention as the singer for Bay Area group Faith No More, replacing original singer Chuck Mosley and then helping the band grow from Alt/Rap/Metal hitmakers into something more progressive and hard to define over the course of its long, storied career.
"Hard to define" should probably be on Patton tombstone. Before (during and after) FTM, Patton was a member of wild Avant Garde sonic carnival Mr. Bungle and his experimental nature has led to an endless, unpredictable stream of collaborative projects, including the slanted Metal "supergroup" Fantomas, Tomahawk (with members of The Jesus Lizard, Helmet and Melvins), the eclectic Pop/R&B/Electronica Peeping Tom project and work with fellow musical mad-scientists like John Zorn, Melt-Banana, Bjork, Dub Trio and many others. Patton has also done some acting, soundtrack and voiceover work for film, videogames and television and he cofounded Ipecac Recordings, label home to many of his projects.
One of Patton's more intriguing recent projects was the Mondo Cane album, featuring covers of various Italian pop songs performed with an orchestra. Check out a live performance clip below:
