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Louis XIV

 
WordNet: Louis XIV
Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: King of France from 1643 to 1715; his long reign was marked by the expansion of French influence in Europe and by the magnificence of his court and the Palace of Versailles (1638-1715)
  Synonyms: Sun King, Louis the Great


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Artist: Louis XIV
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Group Members:

Mark Anders Maigaard, Brian Karscig, Jimmy Armbrust III, Jason Hill

Similar Artists:

Influenced By:

See Louis XIV Lyrics
  • Genres: Rock
  • Representative Albums: "The Best Little Secrets Are Kept," "Slick Dogs and Ponies"

Biography

The core unit of San Diego's Louis XIV had originally played together in the rootsy, alt-rocking Convoy, which issued an album called Black Licorice in 2001. Having moved on by 2003, vocalist/guitarists Jason Hill and Brian Karscig and drummer Mark Maigaard hooked up with bassist Jimmy Armbrust and began fleshing out the Louis XIV concept -- irreverent, oversexed lyrics and songwriting that channeled glam, scratchy punk, and vintage Rolling Stones. A self-recorded EP caused quite a stir locally, MP3s helped spread that buzz to England, and Louis XIV released more material to keep up with the growing demand. That spring and summer they played the 2004 South by Southwest festival, toured the U.S. with the Killers and Von Bondies, and signed with Atlantic Records, which issued the introductory EP Illegal Tender in January 2005 and the debut full-length The Best Little Secrets Are Kept the following March. After time spent touring -- and being banned in Alabama for the nature of their lyrics -- the band returned in 2008 with their second album, the decidely more somber and world-weary Slick Dogs and Ponies. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
Wikipedia: Louis XIV (band)
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Louis XIV
Origin San Diego, California, United States
Genres Post-punk revival
Garage rock revival
Indie rock
Years active 2003–2009
Labels Atlantic
Associated acts David Bowie, The Stooges, Serge Gainsbourg, The Killers, White Stripes, T-Rex, Queens of the Stone Age, The Distillers, The Virgins, Sara Guthrie
Website Official website
Members
Jason Hill
Brian Karscig
Mark Maigaard
James Armbrust

Louis XIV was an American rock band from San Diego, California.

Contents

History

Beginnings: 2003-2004

Lead singer/guitarist Jason Hill, guitarist Brian Karscig, and drummer Mark Maigaard formed the group in April 2003 while living in Paris, France. Bassist James Armbrust soon joined after.

Louis XIV, the band's first album, was released in November 2003. It was recorded in a basement in the Spanish district in Paris, France in the spring of 2003. Recorded on a 16-track tape machine, it was released independently through Pineapple Recording Group, a label started by Hill and Karscig. Although the record was only sold at shows, on the band's website, and in some independent record stores, it sold over 22,000 copies in the first six months. First embraced in the UK in 2004, doing the famous Jonathon Ross show television show one week after Oasis and the Mary Hobbs show on BBC Radio 1. They were embraced by Distillers frontwoman Brody Dalle and Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme at the 2004 NME Awards.

Illegal Tender EP and The Best Little Secrets Are Kept: 2005

The 'Scotland News of the World billed Louis XIV as the best band of the T in the Park festival[1]. The music video for the instrumental song "The Hunt" was filmed by Hill. The New York-based group Stolen Transmission, run by former Spin magazine writer Sarah Lewitinn, released a three-song handmade CD featuring the songs "Hey Teacher" and "God Killed the Queen". After the band returned to California, local deejays, including 91x in San Diego, began playing an unreleased song from the bands website, "Finding out True love is Blind", leading to the release of two simultaneous limited EPs, Pink and Blue. Eight major radio stations on the West Coast then named the single a top five song, leading to the band signing to Atlantic Records in late 2004.

The band released an EP entitled Illegal Tender in January 2005, (self produced) followed in March by their second full-length album, The Best Little Secrets Are Kept (produced by Jason Hill). The album depicts a half-naked girl with the song titles written on her back. A tamed-down version of the cover was released in Wal-Mart, with a portion of the girl's body cropped off. Their first single was titled "Finding Out True Love Is Blind". The band released their second single off their debut album, "God Killed the Queen", in September 2005.

In 2005 NME called the band "music to flunk rehab to"[2], while Rolling Stone and MTV named them as one of its top 10 bands to watch[3]. The music video for "Pledge of Allegiance", filmed again by Hill, was filmed containing the album cover girl undressing in front of a camera. The music video for "Paper Doll" was released exclusively on the alt porn website Suicide Girls. The video, featuring various models in different stages of undress, was directed by alt-porn pioneer Eon McKai, director of "Art School Sluts", the "Kill Girl Kill" series, and "Neu Wave Hookers". In 2007, David Bowie and Alicia Keys asked the band to play their BlackBall charity event for Aids in Africa. Bowie cites Louis XIV as one his favorite new bands in numerous Conde Naste publications.

Band members Jason Hill and Brian Karscig sang on three songs on The Killers 2007 album Sam's Town, which has gone on to sell almost 5 million records.

In 2007 Hill is credited as sometime touring guitarist for country musicians and drum engineer for Dixie Chicks. He also remixed a song by the Los Angeles-based punk band The Bronx(Island/Def Jam) and produced an EP by the New York-based The Virgins (Atlantic) featured on HBO's Entourage.

In September 2007, Louis XIV was joined by violinist Ray Suen as a touring member[4].

Also in 2007, Louis XIV toured Australia, Mexico and the USA with The Killers and played several AIDS IN AFRICA charity events with David Bowie and Alicia Keyes

In February-April 2009, Louis XIV went on a world tour with the Killers playing upwards of 15,000-25,000 people a night. After a show in Manchester at the o2 arena, the manchester tribune called the band, "Criminally overlooked".

The Distances from Everyone to You, another EP, was released through the iTunes Store on September 11, 2007. The EP contains the band's cover version Queen's Flash Gordon theme and later used for the Sci Fi Channel's new Flash Gordon television series.

Slick Dogs and Ponies and breakup: 2008-2009

Their 2008 album, Slick Dogs and Ponies, produced by Hill, was released on January 28, 2008. The album contained the release of "Guilt by Association", complete with an eight piece cello and eight guitar solo and ending with a flute. The first single, "Air Traffic Control", featuring a 24-piece string section, was in the Top 40 Alternative radio charts.

The band toured North America between January and March, supporting Editors. On June 7, 2008 the band opened for The Sex Pistols in Las Vegas, the only U.S. performance of the Pistols' "Combine Harvester" tour.

Louis XIV announced a European tour for August 2008, including the Carling Weekend Reading and Leeds Festivals.

In February-May 2009 Louis XIV joined The Killers for a European tour, followed by a main stage spot on V Festival tour around Australia Vfestivals and a string of club dates in the region with The Kills.

Louis XIV recently announced the breakup of the band. Band member Brian Karscig says this: "Never say never to another LXIV record...just not anytime soon." All the members are pursuing their own musical interests at this time.[citation needed]

Controversy

Louis XIV were known for their sexually provocative lyrics. In 2005 the Hoover, Alabama board of education withdrew an invitation for the band to perform a free concert at Hoover High School after hearing complaints about the band's lyrics. The board, citing a recent arrest in California for drug possession, song contents and "the likely possibility of irresponsible acts," determined that it was "not appropriate to have a band of this kind of nature.".[5]

The incident has given rise to the group being "banned from Alabama". As Hill explained to Reverb Magazine (Newcastle, Australia) on November 17, 2007, while on tour in Melbourne, Victoria:

When you hang out with us, you realize that we like having a laugh. But Hoover, Alabama banned us — we weren't allowed to perform in the city at the time. I have no idea why. I've been called a sexist and a male chauvinist. There was a really great article in San Francisco's paper, '[6]], which was about "10 Reasons Why You Should Not Like Louis XIV"; it was the greatest article I’ve ever read. I've even been called a racist when I used the terms "Chocolate Girl" and "Vanilla Girl". I was trying to be playful and flirtatious. People don't realize when we're being tongue-in-cheek. But in some ways, the most negative press can also be the biggest compliment.

Former Members

  • Jason Hill – vocals, bass, guitar,piano engineer,producer
  • Brian Karscig – vocals, guitar, bass, piano
  • Mark Maigaard – drums
  • James Armbrust – bass

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

Year Song U.S. Mod. Rock[7] UK Singles Chart[8] Album
2005 "Finding Out True Love Is Blind" 9 26 The Best Little Secrets Are Kept
2005 "God Killed the Queen" - 68 The Best Little Secrets Are Kept
2008 "Air Traffic Control" - - Slick Dogs and Ponies

References

  1. ^ Scotland news of the world July 2005
  2. ^ New Music Express 2005
  3. ^ Rolling Stone 4/2005
  4. ^ "Ray Suen impresses Louis XIV as quick study". San Diego Union Tribune. 2007-07-27. http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070920/news_lz1w20god.html. Retrieved 2008-05-09. 
  5. ^ Richter, Greg (April 27, 2008) "Outside Looking In - Decadent glam rockers Louis XIV claim they're banned in Alabama - Pennsylvanians hate comparison," Birmingham News
  6. ^ '[[The Guardian]
  7. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:jjfoxqqald6e~T51
  8. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 330. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 

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