Brandon Flowers from the “Killers” goes Solo, Pulls Jenny Lewis into the Mix

I love it when my favorite musicians collaberate!

Check out this news bit posted recently on Spin.com:

Brandon Flowers has finally spoken about the mysterious Flamingo, his debut solo album.

The Killers frontman — who unveiled the project in April via a website that post that offered only the album title and the promise that it was “coming soon” — gave his first interview about the fall release, dishing on his decision to go solo and revealing one of his collaborators: Rilo Kiley singer Jenny Lewis.

“Jenny’s helped me out on a couple of songs, and we also got to duet on a song called ‘Hard Enough,’ which turned out great,” Flowers told NME [via ONTD].”She’s always popped into my mind whenever I think about getting a female vocalist involved because she’s a fellow child of Las Vegas, too. A lot of people don’t realize that, but she was actually born there, in the same hospital as [Killers drummer] Ronnie Vannucci Jr, only a few weeks apart!”

Flowers also recruited three top notch producers for Flamingo: Daniel Lanois (U2, Brian Eno, Neil Young), Stuart Price (The Killers, Madonna, Kylie Minogue), and Brendan O’Brien (Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen), who produced three songs.

The 28-year-old singer — who confirmed another new song title, “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” — added that many of Flamingo‘s tracks were originally intended for a Killers album. But while the quartet takes a break, Flowers wasn’t ready to slow down.

“To be honest, I personally would prefer it if this was a Killers record,” he said. “I certainly never sat around dreaming of going out on my own, but singing songs and writing songs, it’s kind of what I do, you know? And I just don’t want to stop right now.”

But the Killers certainly aren’t done for good. In fact, Flowers sees Flamingo “as something that will only make the Killers stronger.” “I feel like I’m getting something out of my system with this album, but I want the next Killers album to be a wonderful collaboration between four guys who are ready to make the best record that they possibly can.”

Apparently it takes two for some badassery

For the record,the first dictionary entry for badassery in  the urban dictionary is:

Engaging in seemingly impossible activities and achieving success in a manner that renders all onlookers completely awestruck.

“Did you see that badassery? He just took down a whole battalion with nothing but his hands!”

(However, it should be noted, the urban dictionary is basically an open source slang dictionary, which while it’s an interesting source of colloquialisms, doesn’t mean they have to be known to anyone except the person who wrote the entry)

Anyway, on to my main point. Apparently two is the magic number for creating some rock magic, a la the White Stripes or even the sugary garage pop Ting Tings. While they’ve been around for some time, the Black Keys seem to be gaining some stronger momentum as of late. It can’t hurt that they just released the stellar new album “Brothers” in May of this year.

The sound tends to be simple and lo-fi, but reeks of old soul reminiscent of screaming jay hawkins and other greats. These boys evidently have a good sense of humor as well as evidenced in some of their videos. Check out a few below and prepare to be hooked…

buy badassery mugs, tshirts and magnets Engaging in seemingly impossible activities and achieving success in a manner that renders all onlookers completely awestruck. Did you see that badassery? He just took down a whole battalion with nothing but his hands!

Cello Playing Songstress Emily Hope Price – My Kind of Peep

I was fortunate to be the recipient of my friend’s invite to see Emily Hope Price at hog farm studios, a cozy little venue in Biddeford, Maine. HFS is an intimate setting with a great deal of creative ambiance – walls slapped with inspired and fun colors and designs (check out the ladies room decked out with mexican wrestler masks!) and swaths of mismatched fabrics draped as a backdrop to the stage.

Emily Hope Price was first to play the evening we went – last Friday, Jan 15th. She began with just cello, looping various musical phrases via an effects pedal and teasing an intriguing range of sounds from her instrument. She really embraces multiple ways to create sound, playing her cello to its full potential. She also has a wonderful voice, smooth and lilting, reminding me at times of Nellie McKay, Regina Spektor, and Fiona Apple. Multiple instruments made appearances during the evening including an accordion (yay!), xylophone, and a $15 violin gifted from her father that sounded almost ukulele-like.

Emily Hope Price has an instantly likable personality. She’s gracious and witty and chats with her audience between songs. She played us several songs from her recently started 365 project – a venture where she plans to write 365 songs in the same amount of days. It’s in its early stages but has already yielded some beautiful songs,  purposeful collaborations, and even some videos! Also be sure to check out Emily’s facebook and myspace pages.

Here are a couple videos from youtube that give a flavor of what to expect when (no maybe’s) you see her: