populuxe
42 Years Old from Los Angeles, CA, USA
This is populuxe, or rather we're populuxe. Whatever the case may be, we're here and we're populuxe and you're here too.
Bios. Boring. Boring to write, boring to read. Ho Hum. Who we are, yadda yadda. We're really great and different, blah blah blah. You don't want to read it, and I don't want to write it. Nice and clean.
So what to write then? I like making records, or at least having MADE records. Making them is long and, yes, you guessed it, boring. My friend's mom used to say that only boring people get bored. She was right.
Bored yet?
Here's what Ben Deily had to say about the band and most recent full length release:
"Once a decade or so � if we�re lucky � we stumble upon music that�s genuinely fresh. Music that echoes scarcely remembered classics in the mind�s ear, while striking a tone that we simply can�t remember having heard before. A band whose new releases we anticipate with breathless excitement, and whose inevitable passing we curse and mourn like the death of a loved one. We�re lucky; in 2005, we have Populuxe.
Born in Brooklyn toward the end of the 1990�s, POPULUXE is the brainchild of frontman Rob Shapiro (formerly of 2.5D and THUNDERBATS) � musical polymath, vintage-gear fanatic and (reportedly) gleefully ruthless perfectionist. The band coalesced around the prodigious talents of drummer Pete Straub � multi-credited session player (Glenn Ballard, Cliff Magness, etc.) and formerly of Double-D Nose, and guitar/keyboard prodigy Joshua Pickering, whose musical pedigree includes PODS (with ex-LEMONHEADS founder Ben Deily), and forays into everything from Drum & Bass to classic hardcore punk (THE LAST).
With a name borrowed from Thomas Hine�s seminal text on the space-age baroque style of the 50s and 60s, POPULUXE neatly defies any further categorization. Their sound suggests the Gershwin brothers writing for the New York Dolls; Count Basie reincarnated as Paul Westerberg; Big Star playing Steely Dan � yielding songs that are alternately sly and elegiac, hook strewn and haunting.
With the release of their second album, 'deep in an American evening...' � the follow-up to the 1998 debut 'a foggy day in brooklyn' � the band has achieved a new level of musical depth, wit and sheer pop lushness. 'American evening...' weaves a Robert Altman-like tapestry of love in decline; of desperation, defiance and rueful humor; of familiar lives, tethered together by a thin thread of hope.
And Populuxe gives us � as the somewhat jaded music listeners of the 21st century � something to hope for, too; that a band as rare as this will grace us with a long and unpredictable future."
Favorite Artists
XTC, Steely Dan, Beach Boys, James Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Getz, Postal Service, Elvises Presley and Costello, Police, Parliament, Cheap Trick, Doors, Animals, Van Morrison, Zeppelin, Who, White Stripes, Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Cab Calloway, Joni Mitchell, Prince, Shaggs, King Crimson, The Jam, Marvin Gaye, Brad Sucks, Miles Davis, ELO, Cat Stevens, Bee Gees, Beatles, Trip Shakespeare, Jimi Hendrix, Big Bang, Django Reinhardt, Cramps, Redd Kross, Replacements, Husker Du, Big Star, Gershwin, Alban Berg, Gabor Szabo, Astor Piazzolla, Charlie Christian, Phil Spector, Flaming Lips, X, Blondie, Devo, Wall of Voodoo, Roches, Missy Elliott, Ventures, Jon and the Nightriders, Go-Gos, Joan Jett, B52s, Boz Scaggs, Bowie, Tally Hall, They Might Be Giants, Jayhawks, Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Carol King, Neils Young and Diamond, Johnny Cash, Four Seasons, Burt Bacharach, Zappa, Rolling Stones, Rufus, Parliament, Brides of Funkenstein, Bootsy Collins, Heatwave, Ray Charles, Herb Alpert, Love, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Pavement, Nilsson, Tom Tom Club, Madeleiene Peyroux, Elliot Smith, Al Green, Johanna, Count Five, Liz Phair, Fountains of Wayne, Bob Marley, Specials, Muddy Waters, Pink Floyd, Tom Waits, Buddy Guy, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Wings, Pixies, Dave Brubek, KISS, Pretenders, Meters, The Band, Queen, Buddy Holly, Bill Withers, Nick Drake, Isaac Hayes, Duke Ellington, Stevie Wonder, Count Basie, Tex Beneke, Carl Stalling, Velvet Underground, Earth Wind & Fire, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Eddie Cochrane, Paul Revere & The Raiders, Carpenters, Byrds, Captain Beefheart, Kinks, Zombies, Massive Attack, Stooges, Matt Wilson, Rufus Wainright, The Time, Badfinger, Taj Mahal, Black Sabbath, Romans, Jan and Dean, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, Vince Guaraldi, Bill Evans, Harold Arlen, Roy Orbison, Elma Mayer, Brian Woodbury
Favorite Albums
Hair soundtrack,
Allan Sherman's Mother presents My Son, The Folk Singer,
Aja,
Revolver,
2000 Years with Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner,
Kind of Blue,
The Soft Bulletin,
Burnt, White & Blue,
Painted from Memory
Favorite Songs
are you kidding? I don't have the time to list them all...
My Sites
My Band's Site: http://populuxeHQ.com
Myspace: http://myspace.com/populuxe
Fanned Artists (2)
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Fanned Labels (0)
populuxe has not yet fanned any labels.populuxe's Network on Amie Street (19)
populuxe's RECs (8)
populuxe Rec'd this on Nov 7, 2007:
Street Cred: 203
Rec's: 8
“Really like this whole record, but grabbed this one for the rec. Great, reductive arrangements and consistently intertesting, loopy melodies. The overall sound of this track is simple and stellar. ”
populuxe Rec'd this on Nov 7, 2007:
Street Cred: 203
Rec's: 8
Track: failure (the summerlove mix)
(
$0.89
)
Album: everytime is the last time
Artist: hot bitch arsenal
“I plan on stealing it; this is great”
populuxe Rec'd this on May 20, 2007:
Street Cred: 203
Rec's: 8
“I have it on very good authority that Father Fishmas would say: "from the smallest to the largest, laughs make us friends, make ideas grow, and change the world. Everyday IS Fishmas day; don't forget to celebrate. And for the love of Mike, clear the hair from the drain!"
Father Fishmas-approved FIRST Fishmas Carol!"”
populuxe Rec'd this on Mar 3, 2007:
Street Cred: 203
Rec's: 8
Track: Anything and Everything!
(
$0.41
)
Album: The Early Years...
Artist: Adam and the Couch Potatoes
“This is, for my money, the most indicative of the little magic that is A & TCP -- a combo of Rubber Soul, Sid & Marty Krofft, loose fun and idealism. Sounds rough and relaxed, and I'd love to see some kids singing these. I recommend this whole record.”
RECs in populuxe's network
CraigH Rec'd this on Oct 27, 2009:
Street Cred: 11096
Rec's: 500
“One of the most compelling proofs that a great song can be great no matter how it's arranged and delivered. This one takes no back seat to any original, no matter how clearly we might remember it. When the chorus comes around on the guitar, and the backing vocals swell behind her, Carly is at her very, very best.”
CraigH Rec'd this on Oct 27, 2009:
Street Cred: 11096
Rec's: 500
“Still with the stones to deliver "fix the toaster" without a wince. Never one of her best, but no less than it ever was when it ran up the charts.”
Elias Rec'd this on Oct 24, 2009:
Street Cred: 14356
Rec's: 508
“Ethereal and catchy, enveloping downtempo. Elsiane has a beautiful voice and isn't afraid to get weird with it.”
CraigH Rec'd this on Oct 10, 2009:
Street Cred: 11096
Rec's: 500
“Something for everyone covering Johnny Cash and missing the way it sounds to be happy to be blue.”
CraigH Rec'd this on Oct 10, 2009:
Street Cred: 11096
Rec's: 500
“"Over easy" tribute to the home of the blue plate special.”
