Dear And The Headlights

Okkervil River's Sheff: Touring with Erikson was inspiring last year

— Will Sheff and his band, Okkervil River, helped bring back psychedelic rock legend Roky Erikson — who had been fighting the effects of sometimes radical treatments for paranoid schizophrenia for some three decades — with his first album of new material in eons, “True Love Cast Out All Evil.”

Erikson can still look a bit like a dear in the headlights on stage. But Sheff said such appearances can be deceiving.

“I think a lot of what people interpret as the thoughts going through his head playing a show are actually quite normal thoughts that anybody would have,” Erikson said. “For example, at the New York show, I think he walked out up on stage and was like ‘Holy s---, there are a ton of people here.

This is a New York audience. New York audiences are all jaded and judgmental and they see everything all the time, and I’m kind of overwhelmed that I have to be good in front of all these people.”

In fact, Sheff said he and his Okkervil River bandmates found Erikson to be a powerful live presence.

“Playing with him was really, really fun. He’s a legend, and he’s really a dynamic and fascinating live performer,” he said. “He really kind of kept us on our toes with his changes. He changes it up all the time.”

Quick Hits

- Cake is inviting high school and college marching bands to compete for a chance to appear in the group’s video for its song, “The Federal Funding March.” Filming is planned for later this year in the winning band’s hometown.

- Greg Graffin, frontman of Bad Religion, will return to the classroom from Aug. 24 through Dec. 11, co-teaching a course in evolution at Cornell University. Graffin recently published a science memoir, “Anarchy Evolution: Faith, Science and Bad Religion in a World Without God.”

- Cibo Matto, the genre-jumping pop duo of Miho Hatori and Yuka C. Honda, have reunited and will mark their return with a pair of brief tours (June 21-26 on the West coast and July 11-20 in the Midwest and East coast). The duo is writing material for a new CD planned for release early next year.

- Corey Lamb will release a new CD, “Break the Cycle,” on June 1.

- Piano player Neil Pearlman will release his new CD, “Coffee and the Mojo Hat” on June 5.

- Mike Bloom, co-founder of the band The Elected with Rilo Kiley’s Blake Sennett, will release his solo debut CD, “King Of Circles,” on June 6.

LIGHTS & Owl City / Dear In The Headlights MV / Togetherness « I ...

Be a perv… Anyway, so most LIGHTS fans should know how involved she is with Owl City. What with the similarities in genres, interests, and personalities; they are perfect for each other. Recently, LIGHTS has been featured on, what I believe is one of Owl City’s best songs, The Yacht Club. This, when taking into consideration the massive amount of work LIGHTS is doing for her album, is a big sign for further collaboration. LIGHTS has said that her album will feature some amazing collaborations (And that her album will in fact not be like walking down a dark alley eating a rotten casserole.). That, my friends, is yet another hint at an Owl City collaboration. I mean, how could they not, at this point? One is featured on the other’s new album, and the other returns the favor.

Now what do we have here? A preview for a new Owl City video for Deer in the Headlights with… LIGHTS!? LE GASP! But… What is LIGHTS, and all of her sexiness, doing in this music video? Especially since this is not the track she collaborated on.  Not that I’m complaining, because I died my face off when I saw her in this, but I am in shock. Either way, this is even more LIGHTS – Owl City collaboration. And we can tell that they really are into collaborating if they are doing it this much, and being involved in not only the music, but the music videos.

This also makes me wonder – Will The Yacht Club become a single? And, if so, will LIGHTS be featured in that video as well? I feel like if that were to happen, it would solidify the 2 as a package. I don’t know, but something tells me LIGHTS is going to get a lot more attention after this, and there are going to be even further collaborations between the 2. Aren’t we are all aware of Adam’s typical female vocalist, Breanne Duren. She, to my knowledge, does not have a solo act, or at least a very successful one. With LIGHTS taking her spot (Not saying that she’s replacing her), and with LIGHTS already being a well established solo musician, Owl City and LIGHTS will be a duo, of sorts, and even more so than they already are. What do you think of this? Discuss… or don’t.

Also, very little side note, but why Deer in the Headlights? I mean, I’m not complaining, but where’s Galaxies? Where are my epic string and synth solos? A little theory I have is that they are waiting to release it as a single for when NASA launches their last shuttle. It’s a very far-fetched idea, but it seems like a stunt Adam would pull.