Music News

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When recording their newest album, Belong, New York’s Pains of Being Pure at Heart hit the studio with Alan Moulder and Flood, two men who’ve laid down tracks with the likes Bono and Trent Reznor. For the four band members, and longtime friends, rubbing shoulders with industry big-wigs is all well and good, but getting to play music for a living is even sweeter. ” It’s like the best possible life I could think of,” frontman Kip Berman says, reflecting on his career choice.”We’re just really grateful that we have the chance to be a band and not be told to stop.”
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Perhaps that’s because the four self-admitted suburbanites, as bassist Alex Naidus says, “had no expectations at all” when they first played a gig for vocalist/pianist Peggy Wang’s birthday. This one gig however, keyed them in to their collective feng shei as a musical unit, which in turn led to the eventual release of their 2007 self-titled debut EP. Shortly thereafter, Pains were signed to Washington D.C. indie label Slumberland, which whom they’ve now put out two full-length albums.
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Despite the band’s growing popularity, fueled by their catchy, saccharine-sweet melodies with just enough fuzz to recall early-90’s shoegaze, Pains took awhile to feel as if they fit in–particularly within the Brooklyn indie scene from which they were birthed. “We didn’t really feel like people were playing the same music as us,: Wang says of the band’s seminal days. But now that they’ve found their footing, Berman can’t help but feel privileged to “step on his fuzz pedal, play an E chord and sing about his stupid feelings” on a nightly basis. “I just try to appreciate it and hope the world doesn’t end,” Berman says, without hint of sarcasm. “Cause it’s a pretty cool world right now.”
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Check out “Meet Pains of Being Pure at Heart” above. To watch more behind-the-scenes music content, visit Noisey.com
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This may be hard to believe but Nirvana’s classic album Nevermind turns 20 this fall and to celebrate the group will be releasing an expanded version of the album on September 19th.

The special 20th Super Deluxe Edtiion of the disc which will include previously unreleased tracks. rarities, B-sides, alternate mixes, rare living recordings and BBC radio appearances. It will also feature a DVD of an entire unreleased concert.

A statement on the band’s site detailing the release added, “the 20th anniversary of Nirvana will be marked throughout the year, with various events and releases.” While we’re not exactly sure what that entails, hopefully include some performances by the group’s surviving members, bassist Krist Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl.

Since being released in 1991, Nevermind has sold over 30 million copies and become one of the most definitive rock albums of all time by ushering in grunge genre and changing the musical landscape forever. We’ll let you know when we have a tracklisting and more information on this landmark reissue.

Mountain guitarist Leslie West underwent emergency surgery on Saturday to remove the lower portion of his right leg. The musician, who is 65, was admitted to a hospital in Biloxi, Mississippi when his leg began to swell and his foot went septic.

West’s wife Jenni released a statement that explained, “The doctors tried for two days to save it to no avail. The decision to amputate was one that was necessary to save his life as the infection was spreading throughout his body.” She added that the infection was complicated by peripheral arterial disease and “blood clotting factors.”

Jenni wrote of the hospital in Biloxi, “The nursing staff and doctors at Ocean Springs Hospital have taken excellent care of him and should be called angels for their efforts and tenderness they showed us in this time of crisis.” West is expected to recover, but will be looking at an extensive rehab process.

West recently finished a new album entitled The Unusual Suspects, which features appearances by Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top and Slash from Guns N’ Roses, will likely be delayed until after his physical therapy is done. West’s publicist Steve Karas said, “We’re still waiting on guidance on whether it’ll be fall or early next year.”

According to NME the Killers haven’t only started work on their latest album, but they’ve already written a handful of new songs. The magazine reports that while speaking to Zane Lowe on BBC Radio 1 last night frontman Brandon Flowers said that the band was moving full-speed ahead on the follow-up to 2008’s Day & Age.

When asked how many songs had been written so far, Flowers replied,” “We have about four or five. We’ve put them up on the board and they’re sounding good. We think they’re strong.” Although he didn’t indicate what the new tracks would sound like, this is still good news for Killers fans who have been waiting patiently for new recordings.

The Killers went on hiatus in 2010 and since then they’ve only played two shows in Chile and Austria respectively. The band will be playing two intimate dates in London tonight and tomorrow as preparation for a headlining slot at Hard Rock Calling there this Friday. “Those first gigs will definitely be nerve-wracking,” Flowers admitted. Don’t worry guys, we’re sure you’ll, uh, kill it.

The hunt for James “Jimmy Henchman” Rosemond ended yesterday when federal agents spotted him leaving the W Hotel in New York’s densely populated Union Square. Once on the street, Rosemond reportedly tried to outrun police but was apprehended on 21st Street and Park Avenue South by DEA agents. Rosemond was on the run for allegedly being involved in a cocaine ring.

As we reported earlier, Rosemond recently made headlines recently because an inmate Dexter Isaac told the site AllHipHop.com that he was paid $2,500 by Rosemond to rob Tupac Shakur at a recording studio in Manhattan in 1994, an accident that resulted in the rapper being shot five times and almost killed. Many people believe this shooting also instigated the feud between Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G., who were both subsequently gunned-down.

However Rosemond’s lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman contests these claims and told New York Daily News last week that they were a “flat out lie.” “Dexter Isaac is not claiming this 17 years later to clear his conscience,” he explained. “He’s doing it because he’s told anybody who will listen he doesn’t want to die in prison. He has kids and wants to work off his sentence. He can’t be trusted.”