Before our regularly scheduled blog, we have some unfinished business from yesterday's gem "Amanda Palmer Takes On Roadrunner."
Roadrunner has issued an official response to Palmer's request in song to be dropped from the label and we have it here for your reading pleasure:
"Roadrunner Records continues to support the career and artistry of Amanda Palmer and the Dresden Dolls. We are proud of what we have accomplished collectively for the latter, and are enthusiastically promoting Amanda's debut solo effort Who Killed Amanda Palmer. In fact, anyone reading this text would be wise to pick up a copy, it is a riveting listen. As well, Roadrunner will be releasing a DVD companion to the album which will comprise videos of every song from the album, and more this June."
Now, back to our regular scheduled programming...
When I first heard that Phoenix was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, I must admit, I found it a little odd. Sure Shaquille O'Neal was a rapper of some note in the '90s. More recently he leaked his underground freestyle that asked former teammate Kobe Bryant the beat-ridden question, "Tell me how my ass tastes." He later pulled off an entertaining, more family friendly performance with the Jabbawockeez at the NBA All-Star Game. Phoenix point point guard Steve Nash also has some musical credentials. He didn't actually guest on Nelly Furtado's 2001 hit "Promiscuous," but he was name-dropped in the lyrics. "Is your game MVP like Steve Nash?" asked Furtado, who at one point was rumored to be linked romantically to the fellow Canadian. Despite those musical credentials, the fact that Phoenix was booked as the musical guests on SNL left me somewhat perplexed, although I think their orange jerseys, with the letter "PHX" emblazoned across the chest, look really cool on TV.
Since I missed the actual broadcast of Saturday Night Live, imagine my surprise when I tuned to to the handy-dandy web-to-TV portal Hulu and found that this Phoenix had nothing to do with basketball or Arizona. It was the French quartet that uses that name, appearing on the show to drum up advance interest in its forthcoming album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, due on May 26. Check out the band's SNL performance of "Lisztomania" and "1901," the first and second tracks on the new set.
If you thought that was groovy, you should visit the band's website where you can download high-quality multitracks of "1901" for your remixing pleasure or perhaps you just like listening to isolated insrumental and vocal tracks for kicks.
Phoenix seems very hip and happening now, but would you believe they were once guests at Yahoo! Music where they sat for an exclusive interview and actually answered questions? Not only that, they also performed two exclusive tracks--"Everything Is Everything" and "Run Run Run"--way back in 2005. You can check all that out below. Strangely enough, the latter song kind of sums of the Phoenix Suns' style of play before Shaq joined the team. Now, Shaq, Nash and company will be lucky to make the playoffs, but I think the band Phoenix is still a contender. How about you?