Neil Halstead Talks New Mojave 3 Album
Matthew Solarski reports:
Now ten years old and wrapping up album number five, Britain's Mojave 3 have surpassed their parent band Slowdive in both longevity and output. In the process, they have quietly knitted a few threads of beauty into the grand musical tapestry with their consistently accomplished stratospheric folk-pop. Pitchfork spoke recently with Mojave 3 mastermind and erstwhile Slowdiver Neil Halstead about the new record, adventures in home studio recording, and the ethics of mice removal.
While you languish in front of this insufferable machine, Halstead is putting the finishing touches on Puzzles Like You, the follow-up to Mojave 3's 2003 album Spoon & Rafter, slated for March 7 release. Like Spoon, Puzzles will bear the esteemed insignia of veteran label 4AD in the UK and Beggars Banquet across the pond. It's the first Mojave 3 long-player recorded entirely in Halstead's own studio, located in Cornwall, England, and brace yourself: in the man's own words, it's "poppier".
"These songs are quite immediate," Halstead mused. "It was a fun process, doing things that are a bit faster. Hopefully it won't put off any Mojave fans."
Nonetheless, Halstead promised Puzzles won't be a huge departure from the sound Mojave 3 devotees have grown to love. While the complete tracklist has not yet been finalized, Halstead was happy to disclose the majority of Puzzles's pieces. They include "Truck-Driving Man", "Puzzles Like You", "Running With Your Eyes Closed", "Big Star Baby", "Breaking the Ice", "Most Days", "Ghostship Waiting", "You've Said It Before", "Star In Sky", and "The Mutineer".
Independent home recording proved a "learning experience" for Halstead and company. The band's recording efforts were thwarted at first, when a horde of mice infested the rural studio, scampering atop equipment and causing all sorts of mousy mischief. Locals suggested toxins, but Halstead and friends "struggled with the concept of poisoning a bunch of mice." Graciously, the critters moved on and the merciful Mojave were free to embrace the next challenge: mixing.
That "was a bit of a disaster," Halstead lamented, so at 4AD's suggestion, the band enlisted one Victor Van Vugt to mix Puzzles Like You. Triple V has produced records by Nick Cave, Beth Orton, and Luna, and mixed PJ Harvey's Mercury Prize-winning Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea. With Van Vugt on the reels, things progressed swimmingly, and mixing wrapped up in late November. Only mastering remains, according to Halstead, putting Puzzles on track for the March 7 release. Those curious to sample the sound of Puzzles may coast on over to mojave3online.com, where Halstead has posted an unmixed version of "Big Star Baby". The breezy number features Halstead crooning choice lyrics like, "Everyone I've ever loved / Has been some kind of fuck-up." Totally heartfelt, we kid you not.
And since we had Neil Halstead on the phone, we had to ask: a Slowdive reunion? Unlikely, he said. While not against the idea, Halstead claimed he has a full platter of present interests and wonders if Slowdive are relevant enough to even warrant a reunion. Besides, "I think we sold our pedals, anyway." For shame!
* Mojave 3: www.mojave3online.com
* 4AD: www.4ad.com
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-12/07.shtml#neilhalstead
Ex-Blur Guitarist Graham Coxon Preps New Solo Album
Matthew Solarski reports:
According to several online polls, Graham Coxon is, by unanimous vote, everyone's favorite bespectacled ex-Blur guitarist. Now for something decidedly non-fabricated: Coxon has a brand-gobsmacking-new solo album on the way, entitled Love Travels at Illegal Speeds and due out March 13 in G.C.'s native UK, courtesy of Parlophone Records.
Love Travels will follow up Coxon's well-received 2004 opus Happiness in Magazines, and will be heralded February 27 by the single "Standing On My Own Again"...
* Graham Coxon: www.grahamcoxon.co.uk
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-12/15.shtml#grahamcoxon
Sam Coomes Talks New Quasi Record
Amy Phillips and Kati Llewellyn report:
Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss lack blood relations, aren't married (anymore), don't only function in a red and white world, and perhaps most importantly, had nothing to do with "Who's a Big Baby?"
Nope, the male/female guitar/drums duo that makes up Quasi is only responsible for When the Going Gets Dark, a new album due out via Touch & Go on March 21. In order to get the full scoop and keep the White Stripes comparison filler to a minimum, Pitchfork spoke with Coomes last week regarding the new album, tour plans, and side projects.
"I suppose it's not going to be earth-shattering," Coomes said of When the Going Gets Dark. "Originally I was calling it `neoclassicism'-- not like Mozart classicism, but classic rock, or even jazz or reggae-- all the records that are sort of band-oriented, you know, drums and bass and guitar and piano... before all kinds of fancy production and electronics and shit like that started kind of dictating the sounds of records. We didn't stick entirely to that in the end, but it's more like that-- just sort of guitar, drums, bass, singin'-- simple instrumentation."
Hey, take out the word "bass", and that sure sounds like the words of a certain candy cane child.
COomes said that the duo recorded as if they were a quartet, with drums, guitar, piano, and bass making up the majority of the improvisation-based record. Coomes commented, "It still sounds like Quasi, but I feel like we're branching out a little bit."
When the Going Gets Dark was recorded with Steven Wray Lobdell (Davis Redford Triad, Faust) in his Portland studio and sent off for Dave Fridmann's mixing treatment. "It was getting out of hand," Coomes said, "so [Dave] helped us out-- sprinkled a little pixie dust on it and it sounds pretty good." Think happy thoughts!
At this point in time, the album is complete aside from the finalized artwork. The tracklist is as follows:
01 Alice the Goon
02 The Rhino
03 When the Going Gets Dark
04 I Don't Know You Anymore
05 Peace and Love
06 Beyond the Sky
07 Presto Change-o
08 Poverty Sucks
09 Merry X-Mas
10 Death Culture Blues
11 Invisible Star
Coomes' side project, Pink Mountain (no, we didn't forget the "tops"), has been bustling as well, with an album slated for release on Frenetic Records... sometime. He explained, "I think Frenetic's trying to get a new distribution thing happening, so it's a little bit up in the air, but it's kind of done and in the can, so when they get together, they'll just be able to roll on it." Coomes described the album as "a prog rock psychedelic improv record of some sort." Honestly, we can't say we're all that surprised.
* Quasi: http://www.theequasi.com/
* Sleater-Kinney: http://www.sleater-kinney.com/
* Touch & Go Records: http://www.tgrec.com/
* Frenetic Records: http://www.freneticrecords.com/
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-12/15.shtml#quasi
Mogwai Reveal Mr. Beast Tracklist
Matthew Solarski reports:
March 6 marks the return of the mighty Mogwai, the Scottish post-rock combo of choice for dreamers young and old. On that hallowed date, Matador will unleash Mr. Beast, the revered fivesome's fifth album proper, featuring ten epic tracks and described by Mogwai manager and erstwhile Creation Records guru Alan McGee as "probably the greatest art rock record that I've been involved in since My Bloody Valentine's Loveless", and "possibly better than Loveless." So, like, post-phenomenal.
Those in the know are forecasting a return to form for the Mogwai, apparently in part a reaction to 2003's deliberately toned-down Happy Music For Happy People. Stuart Braithwaite declares in a Matador press release that he and his bandmates "really missed making a lot of noise!" He goes on to admit: "Although only about 25 percent of the new album is actually noise, that's the one thing we consciously had in mind when we set out."
Nevertheless, what Mr. Beast ain't is Young Team (Reprise), as Braithwaite and company also strove to expand their sonic horizons with this latest release. Since the band's inception, says Stuart, "we knew we were in this for the long haul and we knew we wanted to be making worthwhile, important music until the day our hands stop working, so it serves our purpose to challenge ourselves, on every level." And a noble pursuit that is.
Recorded in Mogwai's Castle of Doom studios and produced by Tony Doogan, Mr. Beast features contributions from composer Craig Armstrong, who lends keyboards to the track "I Chose Horses", and Tetsuya Fukagawa of Japanese post-hardcore epic-mongers Envy (signed to Mogwai's own Rock Action label), who shares his lovely vocals on the same track.
And now, the numbers of the Beast:
01 Auto Rock
02 Glasgow Mega-Snake
03 Acid Food
04 Travel Is Dangerous
05 Team Handed
06 Friend of the Night
07 Emergency Trap
08 Folk Death 95
09 I Chose Horses
10 We're No Here
* Mogwai: http://www.mogwai.co.uk/
* Matador: http://www.matadorrecords.com/
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-12/13.shtml#mogwai
J Mascis Goes Stoner Rock With New Band
Rob Kleckner reports:
If you've ever thought to yourself, "J Mascis' guitar solos piss me off", well, maybe his drum solos will touch you in the right spot. The long-haired dude from the recently-reunited Dinosaur Jr. is now behind the kit in a new stoner rock band: Witch. Standing in front of J in Witch are Kyle Thomas of Feathers on vox, Asa Irons (also of Feathers) on guitar, and Mascis' longtime pal Dave Sweetapple on bass.
For those lacking faith in Mascis' ability to pull a reverse Dave Grohl, have no fear. He was originally the drummer in Deep Wound, his pre-Dino Jr. hardcore band with Lou Barlow, and has pounded the skins with people like Mike Watt, Epic Soundtracks, the Velvet Monkeys, and Gobblehoof, as well as on various Dinosaur Jr. records.
As for Feathers... why does that name sound familiar? Well, the eight-piece Vermont band bearing crazy mountain instruments like the dulcimer and the lap harp have been opening for quite a few big shots lately, like Sufjan Stevens, Smog, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, and, of course, Dinosaur Jr. They also guested on Devendra Banhart's Cripple Crow album (hey, who didn't?), and self-released an album last summer.
Witch's self-titled debut album, recorded with John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr., Son Volt, Screaming Trees) is due out on Tee Pee Records on March 7, 2006. The tracklist is short. This either means no bang for your buck or, more likely, lots and lots of solos. Check it out and don't let track three put you to sleep:
01 Changing
02 Seer
03 Rip Van Winkle
04 Hex
05 Hand of Glory
06 Black Saint
Additionally, a 7" will come out on January 10 as a split release between Tee Pee and the UK label Damaged Goods, featuring "Soul of Fire" and an early version of "Rip Van Winkle".
* J Mascis: http://www.jmascis.com/
* Dinosaur Jr.: http://www.dinosaurjr.com/
* Tee Pee: http://www.teepeerecords.com/
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-12/06.shtml#jmascis
Tool Album in April:
Tool has reportedly begun the mixing process on their new album.
The disc will be the first since 2001's 'Lateralus' and could be in stores by April. On December 20th the band will release 'Schism' and 'Parabola', two DVD's witch feature the songs and music videos they are named after, commentary tracks and unreleased remixes. A live DVD is also said to be in the works.
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8767
Prince to record new album:
Paisley loving pop legend Prince has signed a new record deal with Universal and is set to release a new album entitled `3121'.
The record, Prince's first since 2004's `Musicology', will be preceded by the single `Te Amo Corazon', the video for which was directed by Hollywood actress Salma Hayek.
The video will be available for download from Prince's NPG Music Club site on December 13 reports Billboard and a press conference to reveal more details about the new material has been called in Los Angeles for the same day. The album will reportedly be supported by a tour sometime in 2006.
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8747
Mastodon release strategy:
Mastodon drummer Brann Dailor recently spoke to Revolver magazine about the group's upcoming Warner Bros. debut, tentatively due late summer 2006.
"We want the whole thing to flow together as one big piece of music, where the end of one song links up with the beginning of the next one," he said. "We want the whole experience to be like movements in a symphony."
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8748
Secret Machines tracklisting:
Secret Machines have revealed the tracklisting for their new album '10 Silver Drops'.
The eight-track album, the follow-up to 2004's 'Now Here Is Nowhere', is due out in April next year.
The full album tracklisting is as follows:
'Alone, Jealous and Stoned'
'All at Once (It's Not Important)'
'Lightning Blue Eyes'
'Daddy's in the Doldrums'
'I Hate Pretending'
'Faded Lines'
'I Want To Know'
'1,000 Seconds'
A limited 12" vinyl single, 'Alone, Jealous And Stoned', will be released ahead of the LP on January 16.
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8775
Mudhoney new album:
Mudhoney have announced details of their first album since 2002's `Since We've Become Transluscent'.
Entitled `Under A Billion Suns' the record is set for release on March 7 via Subpop and is said to see the band explore "a more snidely political-fueled side" according the labels official website.
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8769
Audioslave prepare new album:
Audioslave's latest album isn't even a year old yet and the band is already preparing to enter the studio in January to record their third studio album.
Brendan O'Brien, who has also produced albums for Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine, is expected to produce the new disc.
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8770
William Orbit album:
Grammy Award-winning writer/producer and contemporary music visionary, William Orbit, returns with an eagerly anticipated new album `Hello Waveforms' on Sanctuary Records out on February 7th.
His first solo release since 2000's critically acclaimed `Pieces in a Modern Style', the new album was performed and produced by William. `Hello Waveforms' is ethereal, ambient, subtle and distinctive in style, fusing strong melodies with electronic synths to produce his definitive signature sound.
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8773
Velvet Revolver concept album:
Velvet Revolver have revealed their plans to record a concept album.
Following in the footsteps of Green Day, who received worldwide acclaim for their rock opera 'American Idiot', the band have been working on the LP for months, but are remaining tight-lipped about its content.
"It's something I've been wanting to do since the last Stone Temple Pilots album, since (2001's) 'Shangri-La Dee Da' album, and it never was completely realised," singer (and former Stone Temple Pilot) Scott Weiland said. "You never know until you really completely get there, but it's going in that direction right now."
Bassist Duff McKagan told MTV News: "This album really has to make a statement. We've toured for 18 months. Now we have a brand name. Now we know each other as a band. The first album was just us together at home, a spontaneous product. Now it's time to make that record."
As well as working on the follow-up to velvet revolver's 2004 debut 'Contraband', Weiland has also started on his second solo album, following 1998's '12 Bar Blues'.
He revealed that he intended to release the solo effort a few years ago but joined former Guns n' Roses members Slash, McKagan and drummer Matt Sorum along with Dave Kushner to form Velvet Revolver.
"I think I was looking really for a way out of doing drugs," Weiland said. "Then I kept on thinking the music (they were sending me) was getting better and better and finally I was just like, 'I think that there really might be a real contribution waiting to happen for rock and roll here. And I think if I join this I can really add something to this and make a real contribution.'"
Neither album has a title or release date as yet, but McKagan hinted that the velvet revolver LP may hit stores in Spring...
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8798
Once again, thanks goes to Jen from Stratosphere Fanzine
Merry Christmas everyone..!
samedi, décembre 24, 2005
mercredi, décembre 21, 2005
Rock news, encore
PLACEBO:
Work on the new Placebo album is completed, and it was produced by Dimitri Tikovoi and mixed by Flood. The fifth, as yet untitled, studio album will be released on Virgin Records on the 13th March 2006. It will feature a track with guest vocals from Alison `VV' Mosshart from the Kills, called `Meds'. Other track titles that can be revealed at this early stage are, the incredible `Space Monkey', another huge twist in the musical tale of Placebo, also the track `Because I Want You'.
Source: placeboworld.co.uk
http://www.musicfolio.com/
Joy Division to record again:
New Order are working on new material for the long-awaited biopic of former Joy Division singer Ian Curtis.
Director and celebrated rock photographer Anton Corbijn - most renowned for his work with U2 - has asked the legendary Manchester four-piece to contribute songs to the film 'Control'.
The biopic, which is based on a book by Ian's widow Deborah, had been planned for a number of years, but the late singer's family were never happy with the proposals until earlier this year.
Bassist Peter Hook told NME: "We were asked to do the soundtrack to the film which I thought was a fucking great idea, for Joy Division to do the music for a Joy Division film because we've never really done a soundtrack before. The soundtrack could include new stuff.
Basically Anton wants to use certain songs by Joy Division so that each song becomes a video. Like the way the 'Atmosphere' video was filmed, he wants to write videos that appear in the film.
"Every time we get accolades for Joy Division it makes [Ian's suicide] sadder, especially with the film. Working on the film has made the whole thing seem more poignant."
It is 25 years since Curtis was found hanging in his home. As a mark of respect to their former singer, New Order have been throwing in Joy Division songs during most of their sets throughout 2005. This culminated in the band playing a set almost entirely made up of Joy Division songs last month, as a tribute to the former Radio 1 DJ John Peel.
Hook said the band are considering playing all-Joy Division sets at some stage in the future. He added: "We have actually talked about doing Joy Division sets and gigs but we haven't actually found our footing yet. We did the festivals and had a bit of time off but because we've played two gigs recently and had the whole UK Hall Of Fame thing we haven't really decided what we're gonna do next. If we deem it to be enjoyable then we'll do it."
Casting for 'Control' is set to begin next spring and the production team are looking for a big screen actor to play the part of Curtis.
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8808
Scott Weiland goes solo:
Ex-Stone Temple Pilots / Velvet Revolver frontman Scott Weiland has been working on the follow-up to his 1998 solo set, "12 Bar Blues".
He has 25 songs written but there is no estimated release date.
Weiland recently told Billboard, "I'm constantly writing, all the time. We got off the road about three months ago, and for me, writing is not a chore.
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8825
Morrissey gets steamy:
Morrissey has revealed where he's at his most creative - in the bath.
In a Q&A session with fans, the singer said that when moving house, the only thing he's interested in is the quality of the bathroom, as that's where he likes to work on songs.
"I lie (in the bath) for hours singing my head off," he told true-to-you.net. "Whenever I've moved house, I first call the agent and ask what the bath is like - nothing else much matters."
Morrissey also spoke about the problems with touring his songs. He added: "Most of the songs are very wordy, and there aren't ever any flashy guitar solos, so the time onstage is usually a vocal rat-a-tat-tat without any pause, which is why I can't manage to stay onstage for longer than one hour and 20 minutes - I literally get lockjaw.
"I think it's easy to stay onstage for hours if you just fiddle about with a guitar and keep your head down, but if it's a vocal assault, then it's harder to maintain energy levels."
The singer has just completed work on his new album, 'Ringleader Of The Tormentors', which is set for release in the spring.
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8821
Pixies to release double album:
Pixies are to release a double live album with tracks taken from their reunion tours of 2004 and 2005.
'Hey - Live Pixies' is available now on emusic, and will be available in other music stores such as iTunes from January 3. There are no plans to release the album on CD or vinyl.
'Hey' features 28 tracks handpicked by the band, all taken from different shows, reports pixiesmusic.com.
The tracklisting, with the shows they're taken from, is:
Disc One:
'Planet of Sound' (Manchester, England - 8/30/2005)
'Debaser' (Norfolk, Virginia - 12/6/2004)
'Gouge Away' (New York - 12/16/2004)
'Ed Is Dead' (Washington DC - 6/13/2005)
'Bone Machine' (Cleveland, Ohio - 6/8/2005)
'No. 13 Baby' (Leeds, England - 8/27/2005)
'Holiday Song' (Raleigh, North Carolina - 6/12/2005)
'I Bleed' (London, England - 6/2/2004)
'Is She Weird?' (Leeds, England - 8/27/2005)
'Caribou' (New York - 12/12/2004)
'Crackity Jones' (Norfolk, Virginia - 12/6/2004)
'Something Against You' (Washington, DC - 12/7/2004)
'Into the White' (Raleigh, North Carolina - 6/12/2005)
'Dead' (New York - 12/11/2005)
Disc Two:
'La La Love You' (Los Angeles, California - 6/2/2005)
'Cactus' (Edinburgh, Scotland - 8/28/2005)
'Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)' (Indianapolis, Indiana - 6/7/2005)
'Mr. Grieves' (Indianapolis, Indiana - 6/7/2005)
'Nimrod's Son' (Washington DC - 12/8/2004)
'Subbaculthcha' (Leeds, England - 8/27/2005)
'Monkey Gone to Heaven' (Denver, Colorado - 6/5/2005)
'Velouria' (Toronto - 7/9/2005)
'Wave Of Mutilation' (San Francisco, California - 5/30/2005)
'U-Mass' (Boston, Massachusetts - 12/9/2004)
'Here Comes Your Man' (Newport, Rhode Island - 8/6/2005)
'Hey' (Dublin, Ireland - 8/23/2005)
'Vamos' (Washington, DC - 12/7/2004)
'Gigantic' (Norfolk, Virginia - 12/6/2004)
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8827
Joey Burns Talks New Calexico Album
Jonah Flicker and Amy Phillips report:
Ennio Morricone's fantasy house band, Calexico, have some surprises in store for their fans when the follow-up to 2003's Feast of Wire comes out this spring. Due April 11 on Quarterstick, their longtime label, Garden Ruin seeks to cement Calexico's reputation as more than just "that indie rock band with Mariachi horns".
"I guess it kind of sounds different from previous records," frontman Joey Burns told Pitchfork earlier this week. "The Southwestern element is downplayed more on this release. It's focusing more on the songs themselves. There's no instrumentals on this record."
Calexico have been riding high recently. They've been out on the road in support of their successful collaboration with Iron & Wine, In the Reins, and finally secured their place in the adult contemporary world when NPR recently aired a performance from this tour. That's got to be worth, like, three OC soundtrack appearances.
Burns said that Calexico's desire to branch out was inspired by working with Iron & Wine and Neko Case (the band appears on her forthcoming album, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood), as well as touring with Wilco. "It's helped us reconnect to the music scene in the States more, and I can see where in the past our music and our style has maybe been hard for people to identity with here, especially outside of the Western states. So having gotten to tour with Wilco and Iron & Wine, and playing festivals like Bonnaroo, has helped us play to bigger audiences and [ask], `What is about us that makes us different?' and 'What else do we have to offer that hasn't been highlighted before?'" "Listening to bands like Iron & Wine and Sufjan Stevens, digging into this tradition of singer/songwriters from the States, has had a big influence," Burns said. "I wanted to put down the nylon string guitar and pick up the steel string guitar, which may sound like a small factor, but for me, what you gravitate towards as far as what you're going to write songs on really does have an influence as far as where the songs are going to go."
Calexico's live improvisations also helped shape the sound of the album. "It's interesting to see what we can do to kind of continue on in the spirit of experimentation, trying new things and coming up with new sounds and new textures and arrangements," Burns said. "I really enjoyed performing and covering the song "Alone Again Or" [by Love] and just having the whole band singing and playing the trumpet, not so much in a Southwestern style, but more in a pop sense. So the first track off the record, "Cruel", is kind of a result of that. I think because of the climate here politically and socially, and the fact that the band is always into reinventing ourselves, we wound up kind of focusing on more of a classic American singer/songwriter or folk or rock influences."
The lyrics on Garden Ruin have more of a liberal political bent than the usual Calexico fare. "Touring a lot in Europe has presented a lot of questions to the band," Burns explained. "How do you feel about your government? Your country's choice for president? What's going on outside the international boundary lines? Living close to the border of Mexico, being born in Montreal, Canada-- these things kind of make you think outside of the TV box and what's being said and what's being focused on. So I think all things have an influence at some point on your life and eventually it kind of settles into your writing and your experiences as you get older, travel about, do music."
Garden Ruin tracklist:
01 Cruel
02 Yours and Mine
03 Bisbee Blue
04 Panic Open String
05 Letter to Bowie Knife Version 2
06 Roka
07 Lucky Dime Version 1
08 Smash
09 Deep Down Version 1
10 Nom de Plume
11 All Systems Red
In addition to the new album and their work on the new Neko Case record, Calexico have other collaborations planned, including work with Gotan Project and singer/songwriter Marianne Dissard (who appeared on Calexico's 2000 album Hot Rail. But there's one group that Calexico want to play with most of all:
"I really want to tour with Broken Social Scene," Burns said. "I love the fact that there's this kind of element of chaos where neither the band nor the audience knows exactly what's going to happen. That element of surprise is so rare these days, with music and stuff that's downloaded and programmed. The spontaneity factor has become squashed in the music business, and so the more you can kind of tap into that or at least open that factor up, I think it's exciting. You might fail and fall on your face, but you usually have fun doing it because you know that you've tried. And just as much as there might be moments where things fall apart, you're going to have those moments that are just sublime, that are just beautiful."
* Calexico: http://www.casadecalexico.com
* Touch and Go/Quarterstick: http://www.tgrec.com
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-12/16.shtml#calexico
New York Dolls work on new material:
New York Dolls are to head back into the studio to record their first album of new material in over 30 years.
On January 15, the band will enter a hometown recording facility with Jack Douglas - producer of albums by Aerosmith, John Lennon, Cheap Trick and New York Dolls themselves.
The album will feature their first entirely new output since 1974's 'Too Much Too Soon'.
Singer David Johansen said: "Everything feels right. We're excited to get back into the studio to record what we feel are the strongest tracks of our careers."
According to the band's label, Roadrunner Records, tracks expected to feature on the LP include 'Punishing World', 'Plenty Of Music' and 'Rainbow Store'.
Following their reformation last year at the insistence of Morrissey, the New York Dolls line-up now features original members Johansen and guitarist Syl Sylvain with Steve Conte (guitar), Sami Yaffa (bass), Brian Delaney (drums) and Brian Koonin (keyboards).
Former bass player Arthur 'Killer' Kane passed away in 2004.
The new album from New York Dolls is scheduled for a summer release next year.
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8800
Once again, thanks goes to Jen from Stratosphere Fanzine
Work on the new Placebo album is completed, and it was produced by Dimitri Tikovoi and mixed by Flood. The fifth, as yet untitled, studio album will be released on Virgin Records on the 13th March 2006. It will feature a track with guest vocals from Alison `VV' Mosshart from the Kills, called `Meds'. Other track titles that can be revealed at this early stage are, the incredible `Space Monkey', another huge twist in the musical tale of Placebo, also the track `Because I Want You'.
Source: placeboworld.co.uk
http://www.musicfolio.com/
Joy Division to record again:
New Order are working on new material for the long-awaited biopic of former Joy Division singer Ian Curtis.
Director and celebrated rock photographer Anton Corbijn - most renowned for his work with U2 - has asked the legendary Manchester four-piece to contribute songs to the film 'Control'.
The biopic, which is based on a book by Ian's widow Deborah, had been planned for a number of years, but the late singer's family were never happy with the proposals until earlier this year.
Bassist Peter Hook told NME: "We were asked to do the soundtrack to the film which I thought was a fucking great idea, for Joy Division to do the music for a Joy Division film because we've never really done a soundtrack before. The soundtrack could include new stuff.
Basically Anton wants to use certain songs by Joy Division so that each song becomes a video. Like the way the 'Atmosphere' video was filmed, he wants to write videos that appear in the film.
"Every time we get accolades for Joy Division it makes [Ian's suicide] sadder, especially with the film. Working on the film has made the whole thing seem more poignant."
It is 25 years since Curtis was found hanging in his home. As a mark of respect to their former singer, New Order have been throwing in Joy Division songs during most of their sets throughout 2005. This culminated in the band playing a set almost entirely made up of Joy Division songs last month, as a tribute to the former Radio 1 DJ John Peel.
Hook said the band are considering playing all-Joy Division sets at some stage in the future. He added: "We have actually talked about doing Joy Division sets and gigs but we haven't actually found our footing yet. We did the festivals and had a bit of time off but because we've played two gigs recently and had the whole UK Hall Of Fame thing we haven't really decided what we're gonna do next. If we deem it to be enjoyable then we'll do it."
Casting for 'Control' is set to begin next spring and the production team are looking for a big screen actor to play the part of Curtis.
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8808
Scott Weiland goes solo:
Ex-Stone Temple Pilots / Velvet Revolver frontman Scott Weiland has been working on the follow-up to his 1998 solo set, "12 Bar Blues".
He has 25 songs written but there is no estimated release date.
Weiland recently told Billboard, "I'm constantly writing, all the time. We got off the road about three months ago, and for me, writing is not a chore.
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8825
Morrissey gets steamy:
Morrissey has revealed where he's at his most creative - in the bath.
In a Q&A session with fans, the singer said that when moving house, the only thing he's interested in is the quality of the bathroom, as that's where he likes to work on songs.
"I lie (in the bath) for hours singing my head off," he told true-to-you.net. "Whenever I've moved house, I first call the agent and ask what the bath is like - nothing else much matters."
Morrissey also spoke about the problems with touring his songs. He added: "Most of the songs are very wordy, and there aren't ever any flashy guitar solos, so the time onstage is usually a vocal rat-a-tat-tat without any pause, which is why I can't manage to stay onstage for longer than one hour and 20 minutes - I literally get lockjaw.
"I think it's easy to stay onstage for hours if you just fiddle about with a guitar and keep your head down, but if it's a vocal assault, then it's harder to maintain energy levels."
The singer has just completed work on his new album, 'Ringleader Of The Tormentors', which is set for release in the spring.
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8821
Pixies to release double album:
Pixies are to release a double live album with tracks taken from their reunion tours of 2004 and 2005.
'Hey - Live Pixies' is available now on emusic, and will be available in other music stores such as iTunes from January 3. There are no plans to release the album on CD or vinyl.
'Hey' features 28 tracks handpicked by the band, all taken from different shows, reports pixiesmusic.com.
The tracklisting, with the shows they're taken from, is:
Disc One:
'Planet of Sound' (Manchester, England - 8/30/2005)
'Debaser' (Norfolk, Virginia - 12/6/2004)
'Gouge Away' (New York - 12/16/2004)
'Ed Is Dead' (Washington DC - 6/13/2005)
'Bone Machine' (Cleveland, Ohio - 6/8/2005)
'No. 13 Baby' (Leeds, England - 8/27/2005)
'Holiday Song' (Raleigh, North Carolina - 6/12/2005)
'I Bleed' (London, England - 6/2/2004)
'Is She Weird?' (Leeds, England - 8/27/2005)
'Caribou' (New York - 12/12/2004)
'Crackity Jones' (Norfolk, Virginia - 12/6/2004)
'Something Against You' (Washington, DC - 12/7/2004)
'Into the White' (Raleigh, North Carolina - 6/12/2005)
'Dead' (New York - 12/11/2005)
Disc Two:
'La La Love You' (Los Angeles, California - 6/2/2005)
'Cactus' (Edinburgh, Scotland - 8/28/2005)
'Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)' (Indianapolis, Indiana - 6/7/2005)
'Mr. Grieves' (Indianapolis, Indiana - 6/7/2005)
'Nimrod's Son' (Washington DC - 12/8/2004)
'Subbaculthcha' (Leeds, England - 8/27/2005)
'Monkey Gone to Heaven' (Denver, Colorado - 6/5/2005)
'Velouria' (Toronto - 7/9/2005)
'Wave Of Mutilation' (San Francisco, California - 5/30/2005)
'U-Mass' (Boston, Massachusetts - 12/9/2004)
'Here Comes Your Man' (Newport, Rhode Island - 8/6/2005)
'Hey' (Dublin, Ireland - 8/23/2005)
'Vamos' (Washington, DC - 12/7/2004)
'Gigantic' (Norfolk, Virginia - 12/6/2004)
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8827
Joey Burns Talks New Calexico Album
Jonah Flicker and Amy Phillips report:
Ennio Morricone's fantasy house band, Calexico, have some surprises in store for their fans when the follow-up to 2003's Feast of Wire comes out this spring. Due April 11 on Quarterstick, their longtime label, Garden Ruin seeks to cement Calexico's reputation as more than just "that indie rock band with Mariachi horns".
"I guess it kind of sounds different from previous records," frontman Joey Burns told Pitchfork earlier this week. "The Southwestern element is downplayed more on this release. It's focusing more on the songs themselves. There's no instrumentals on this record."
Calexico have been riding high recently. They've been out on the road in support of their successful collaboration with Iron & Wine, In the Reins, and finally secured their place in the adult contemporary world when NPR recently aired a performance from this tour. That's got to be worth, like, three OC soundtrack appearances.
Burns said that Calexico's desire to branch out was inspired by working with Iron & Wine and Neko Case (the band appears on her forthcoming album, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood), as well as touring with Wilco. "It's helped us reconnect to the music scene in the States more, and I can see where in the past our music and our style has maybe been hard for people to identity with here, especially outside of the Western states. So having gotten to tour with Wilco and Iron & Wine, and playing festivals like Bonnaroo, has helped us play to bigger audiences and [ask], `What is about us that makes us different?' and 'What else do we have to offer that hasn't been highlighted before?'" "Listening to bands like Iron & Wine and Sufjan Stevens, digging into this tradition of singer/songwriters from the States, has had a big influence," Burns said. "I wanted to put down the nylon string guitar and pick up the steel string guitar, which may sound like a small factor, but for me, what you gravitate towards as far as what you're going to write songs on really does have an influence as far as where the songs are going to go."
Calexico's live improvisations also helped shape the sound of the album. "It's interesting to see what we can do to kind of continue on in the spirit of experimentation, trying new things and coming up with new sounds and new textures and arrangements," Burns said. "I really enjoyed performing and covering the song "Alone Again Or" [by Love] and just having the whole band singing and playing the trumpet, not so much in a Southwestern style, but more in a pop sense. So the first track off the record, "Cruel", is kind of a result of that. I think because of the climate here politically and socially, and the fact that the band is always into reinventing ourselves, we wound up kind of focusing on more of a classic American singer/songwriter or folk or rock influences."
The lyrics on Garden Ruin have more of a liberal political bent than the usual Calexico fare. "Touring a lot in Europe has presented a lot of questions to the band," Burns explained. "How do you feel about your government? Your country's choice for president? What's going on outside the international boundary lines? Living close to the border of Mexico, being born in Montreal, Canada-- these things kind of make you think outside of the TV box and what's being said and what's being focused on. So I think all things have an influence at some point on your life and eventually it kind of settles into your writing and your experiences as you get older, travel about, do music."
Garden Ruin tracklist:
01 Cruel
02 Yours and Mine
03 Bisbee Blue
04 Panic Open String
05 Letter to Bowie Knife Version 2
06 Roka
07 Lucky Dime Version 1
08 Smash
09 Deep Down Version 1
10 Nom de Plume
11 All Systems Red
In addition to the new album and their work on the new Neko Case record, Calexico have other collaborations planned, including work with Gotan Project and singer/songwriter Marianne Dissard (who appeared on Calexico's 2000 album Hot Rail. But there's one group that Calexico want to play with most of all:
"I really want to tour with Broken Social Scene," Burns said. "I love the fact that there's this kind of element of chaos where neither the band nor the audience knows exactly what's going to happen. That element of surprise is so rare these days, with music and stuff that's downloaded and programmed. The spontaneity factor has become squashed in the music business, and so the more you can kind of tap into that or at least open that factor up, I think it's exciting. You might fail and fall on your face, but you usually have fun doing it because you know that you've tried. And just as much as there might be moments where things fall apart, you're going to have those moments that are just sublime, that are just beautiful."
* Calexico: http://www.casadecalexico.com
* Touch and Go/Quarterstick: http://www.tgrec.com
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-12/16.shtml#calexico
New York Dolls work on new material:
New York Dolls are to head back into the studio to record their first album of new material in over 30 years.
On January 15, the band will enter a hometown recording facility with Jack Douglas - producer of albums by Aerosmith, John Lennon, Cheap Trick and New York Dolls themselves.
The album will feature their first entirely new output since 1974's 'Too Much Too Soon'.
Singer David Johansen said: "Everything feels right. We're excited to get back into the studio to record what we feel are the strongest tracks of our careers."
According to the band's label, Roadrunner Records, tracks expected to feature on the LP include 'Punishing World', 'Plenty Of Music' and 'Rainbow Store'.
Following their reformation last year at the insistence of Morrissey, the New York Dolls line-up now features original members Johansen and guitarist Syl Sylvain with Steve Conte (guitar), Sami Yaffa (bass), Brian Delaney (drums) and Brian Koonin (keyboards).
Former bass player Arthur 'Killer' Kane passed away in 2004.
The new album from New York Dolls is scheduled for a summer release next year.
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8800
Once again, thanks goes to Jen from Stratosphere Fanzine
mardi, décembre 20, 2005
Green Day
Green Day Bash Bush At End of Year Bash
by Paul Cashmere @ Undercover
Green Day finished 2005 in Melbourne, Australia on Saturday night before 37,000 fans by bashing US President Bush. Lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong sent “a big fuck you to George W. Bush” while he strutted the stage draped in an Australian flag. The audience loved it.
Green Day have just had their best ever year off the back of their angriest ever album. The ‘American Idiot’ record has sold more than 10 million copies now worldwide and the American President should be thanked for the inspiration. “My name is Billie Joe Armstrong and I was sent to make George fucking Bush’s life a fucking nightmare” he screamed, again with full support of the fans.
Armstrong was relentless with the message. “No matter who we elect into office, don’t let them dictate your life. We are the leaders” he said off the back of “Minority”.
This was the Green Day at their best. The vitriolic performance with punctuated with songs from across their entire career dating back to the Operation Ivy cover ‘Knowledge’ which they recorded before the breakthrough album ‘Dookie’.
Armstrong also paid tribute to Australia’s The Living End who he said had sent him a demo tape during Green Day’s first Australian tour some ten years ago. The Living End’s Chris Cheney made two appearances at the show, first dressed up as a Bunny before Green Day hit the stage and later on guitar as they cover the Bobby Fuller 4 classic ‘I Fought The Law’.
Green Day setlist for Melbourne, Telstra Dome, Saturday. December 17.
America Idiot (from American Idiot, 2005)
Jesus of Suburbia (from American Idiot, 2005)
Holiday (from American Idiot, 2005)
St Jimmy (from American Idiot, 2005)
Give Me Novacaine (from American Idiot, 2005)
Longview (from Dookie, 1994)
Hitching A Ride (from Nimrod, 1997)
Brain Stew (from Insomniac, 1995)
Jaded (from Insomniac, 1995)
Knowledge (Operation Ivy cover)
Basket Case (from Dookie, 1994)
She (from Dookie, 1994)
King For A Day/Shout (from Nimrod, 1997, Isley Brothers cover)
Wake Me Up When September Comes (from American Idiot, 2005)
Minority (from Warning, 2000)
I Fought The Law (Bobby Fuller 4 cover)
Boulevard of Broken Dreams (from American Idiot, 2005)
We Are The Champions (Queen cover)
Homecoming (from American Idiot, 2005)
Good Riddance (Time Of My Life)
by Paul Cashmere @ Undercover
Green Day finished 2005 in Melbourne, Australia on Saturday night before 37,000 fans by bashing US President Bush. Lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong sent “a big fuck you to George W. Bush” while he strutted the stage draped in an Australian flag. The audience loved it.
Green Day have just had their best ever year off the back of their angriest ever album. The ‘American Idiot’ record has sold more than 10 million copies now worldwide and the American President should be thanked for the inspiration. “My name is Billie Joe Armstrong and I was sent to make George fucking Bush’s life a fucking nightmare” he screamed, again with full support of the fans.
Armstrong was relentless with the message. “No matter who we elect into office, don’t let them dictate your life. We are the leaders” he said off the back of “Minority”.
This was the Green Day at their best. The vitriolic performance with punctuated with songs from across their entire career dating back to the Operation Ivy cover ‘Knowledge’ which they recorded before the breakthrough album ‘Dookie’.
Armstrong also paid tribute to Australia’s The Living End who he said had sent him a demo tape during Green Day’s first Australian tour some ten years ago. The Living End’s Chris Cheney made two appearances at the show, first dressed up as a Bunny before Green Day hit the stage and later on guitar as they cover the Bobby Fuller 4 classic ‘I Fought The Law’.
Green Day setlist for Melbourne, Telstra Dome, Saturday. December 17.
America Idiot (from American Idiot, 2005)
Jesus of Suburbia (from American Idiot, 2005)
Holiday (from American Idiot, 2005)
St Jimmy (from American Idiot, 2005)
Give Me Novacaine (from American Idiot, 2005)
Longview (from Dookie, 1994)
Hitching A Ride (from Nimrod, 1997)
Brain Stew (from Insomniac, 1995)
Jaded (from Insomniac, 1995)
Knowledge (Operation Ivy cover)
Basket Case (from Dookie, 1994)
She (from Dookie, 1994)
King For A Day/Shout (from Nimrod, 1997, Isley Brothers cover)
Wake Me Up When September Comes (from American Idiot, 2005)
Minority (from Warning, 2000)
I Fought The Law (Bobby Fuller 4 cover)
Boulevard of Broken Dreams (from American Idiot, 2005)
We Are The Champions (Queen cover)
Homecoming (from American Idiot, 2005)
Good Riddance (Time Of My Life)
Maestro Dylan
Bob Dylan – The Musical
by Tim Cashmere @ Undercover
December 20 2005
The songs of Bob Dylan have influenced millions of people in millions of ways and now they’ve influenced a couple of playwrights.
The play ‘The Times They Are A Changin’ will debut on January 25th at San Diego’s ‘Old Globe Theatre’.
It’s not the story of Bob Dylan’s life, since most of us have already heard it and if you haven’t, it’s easy enough to find it, with music and all. Rather a story of a traveling circus where the music of Bob Dylan helps provide narration.
The Times They Are A Changin’ is scheduled to run until March 5th and tickets are on sale from http://www.oldglobe.org. After its run in March, plans for the show are to take it to Broadway.
Dylan was recently named XM Radio’s newest radio DJ.
by Tim Cashmere @ Undercover
December 20 2005
The songs of Bob Dylan have influenced millions of people in millions of ways and now they’ve influenced a couple of playwrights.
The play ‘The Times They Are A Changin’ will debut on January 25th at San Diego’s ‘Old Globe Theatre’.
It’s not the story of Bob Dylan’s life, since most of us have already heard it and if you haven’t, it’s easy enough to find it, with music and all. Rather a story of a traveling circus where the music of Bob Dylan helps provide narration.
The Times They Are A Changin’ is scheduled to run until March 5th and tickets are on sale from http://www.oldglobe.org. After its run in March, plans for the show are to take it to Broadway.
Dylan was recently named XM Radio’s newest radio DJ.
mercredi, décembre 14, 2005
4AD box
25 years of 4AD boxed up
The immortal 4AD label celebrates its 25th anniversary in spectacular style with the essential budget priced 2CD compilation "1980 Forward - 25 Years Of 4AD" exploring the highways and byways of the label's legendary history.
While 4AD will remain forever associated with the ambient swirls and fairy-tale vocals of the Cocteau Twins and This Mortal Coil, in its first decade it also introduced the world to Bulgarian choral music, worked at the cutting edge of American underground rock music with Throwing Muses, The Pixies and Red House Painters, and even tasted unlikely pop success when Colourbox and A R Kane collaborated (as M/A/R/R/S) on the groundbreaking house collage "Pump Up The Volume", a UK number one single.
Later, after The Breeders had taken the world by storm with "Cannonball" and "The Last Splash", the label could be found releasing rootsy Americana by Tarnation and Mojave 3 and exploring quirky electronica from Iceland's Gus Gus and Birmingham's Magnétophone, as well as enjoying fruitful long-term relationships with artists like Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry Dead Can Dance), Kim Deal, Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly, all of whom continue to record for 4AD.
The immortal 4AD label celebrates its 25th anniversary in spectacular style with the essential budget priced 2CD compilation "1980 Forward - 25 Years Of 4AD" exploring the highways and byways of the label's legendary history.
While 4AD will remain forever associated with the ambient swirls and fairy-tale vocals of the Cocteau Twins and This Mortal Coil, in its first decade it also introduced the world to Bulgarian choral music, worked at the cutting edge of American underground rock music with Throwing Muses, The Pixies and Red House Painters, and even tasted unlikely pop success when Colourbox and A R Kane collaborated (as M/A/R/R/S) on the groundbreaking house collage "Pump Up The Volume", a UK number one single.
Later, after The Breeders had taken the world by storm with "Cannonball" and "The Last Splash", the label could be found releasing rootsy Americana by Tarnation and Mojave 3 and exploring quirky electronica from Iceland's Gus Gus and Birmingham's Magnétophone, as well as enjoying fruitful long-term relationships with artists like Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry Dead Can Dance), Kim Deal, Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly, all of whom continue to record for 4AD.
dimanche, décembre 11, 2005
Zappa DVD
Frank Zappa - The Dub Room Special DVD
By Gary Hill from http://www.musicstreetjournal.com/
Envisioned by Zappa in 1992, this is finally seeing the light of day as a DVD in 2005. The video is a very cool one. According to the booklet it was originally conceived as a TV special and includes excerpts from 2 performances. These are intercut with moments of humor and the offbeat view of the world that was so much a part of Frank Zappa. I'm one who really "gets" and appreciates Zappa's avant-garde insight and humor, but I can also understand why some don't. This release truly captures the essence, though.
This one is now a prized possession in my collection. It showcases Zappa's inimitable musical genius. It also shows his brilliance as a humorist, filmographer and a human being. There is some killer music here, but a whole lot more, too. This also includes a full Zappa discography, a documentary of the song "Valley Girl" and a trailer for the Zappa film Baby Snakes. Zappa fanatics, run out and get this ASAP. For those looking to find out what FZ was all about, this is a great place to start your journey. I envy you experiencing all things Zappa for the first time.
By Gary Hill from http://www.musicstreetjournal.com/
Envisioned by Zappa in 1992, this is finally seeing the light of day as a DVD in 2005. The video is a very cool one. According to the booklet it was originally conceived as a TV special and includes excerpts from 2 performances. These are intercut with moments of humor and the offbeat view of the world that was so much a part of Frank Zappa. I'm one who really "gets" and appreciates Zappa's avant-garde insight and humor, but I can also understand why some don't. This release truly captures the essence, though.
This one is now a prized possession in my collection. It showcases Zappa's inimitable musical genius. It also shows his brilliance as a humorist, filmographer and a human being. There is some killer music here, but a whole lot more, too. This also includes a full Zappa discography, a documentary of the song "Valley Girl" and a trailer for the Zappa film Baby Snakes. Zappa fanatics, run out and get this ASAP. For those looking to find out what FZ was all about, this is a great place to start your journey. I envy you experiencing all things Zappa for the first time.
Rock news
Kevin Shields comes out of hibernation, The Pet Shop Boys, Morrissey, OutKast, Mojave 3, Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips, and Pretty Girls Make Graves.
Exclusive: Kevin Shields Remixes the Go! Team
Amy Phillips reports:
It's a match made in surround-sound heaven: Kevin Shields, the mysterious, reclusive genius behind My Bloody Valentine, has ventured out of hibernation to create a mega-remix of the Go! Team songs "Ladyflash" and "Huddle Formation", to be included on the forthcoming "Ladyflash" single. Due January 30 on Memphis Industries in the UK, the single will also include a RJD2 remix of "Huddle Formation", a Simian Mobile Disco remix of "Ladyflash", and a brand new Go! Team song, "The Wrath of Mikey". It will be available as a 7", CD, and download.
According to Memphis Industries, the genesis of the Shields collaboration began when label representatives approached him following a Go! Team show. Shields told them that the performance was the greatest concert he had ever seen in his life, and expressed his desire to work with the band. The resulting mix is, according to Memphis' Ollie Jacob, "really really happy". He added, "Kevin Shields out-Go! Teamed the Go! Team."
In other Go! Team news, the band recently turned down the opportunity to open for Duran Duran, and announced a new round of shows in the UK in February and March. Let's cross our fingers for a live Shields Team mash-up.
* The Go! Team: http://www.thegoteam.co.uk
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-11/23.shtml
and
Pet Shop Boys finish new album:
Electro legends look to Spring 2006 release. Pet Shop Boys have just completed their new album in a West London studio.
The album has been produced by Trevor Horn and features 10 new Tennant/Lowe songs, a short introduction (also written by Tennant/Lowe) and 'Numb', a song by Diane Warren, originally recorded for the 'PopArt' compilation in 2003.
Neil and Chris started writing songs for the album in January and commenced recording with Trevor Horn in May.
Chris Lowe commented: "We've really enjoyed making this album with Trevor and his team and are very happy indeed with the finished result."
Neil Tennant added: "We think it's a great Pet Shop Boys album and also a great Trevor Horn record."
The album is expected to be released worldwide in April 2006.
http://www.nme.com/news/pet-shop-boys/21623
and
Morrissey: New album is a fresh start
'Ringleader Of The Tormentors' is no 'continuation' of past work Morrissey has spoken for the first time about his forthcoming album 'Ringleader Of The Tormentors', declaring that it is not a "continuation" of his previous work.
Taking part in an online Q&A with fans for website True-to-you.net, the former Smiths frontman spoke about the record and praised the contribution of producer Tony Visconti.
"Firstly, the musicianship is outstanding. Secondly, the songs are very strong, which is a great thing to be able to say this far down the line," he explained. "We were all very unified - everyone gets on very well, we are all very close friends, and everyone works for the common good, and there is never anyone pulling away - as there has been in the past."
He added that the record stood on its own. "It is not a continuation of 'You Are The Quarry', and it has no links to the past. Tony has been a very uplifting influence - has done a great job as producer and I'm honoured to have worked with him."
Talking more generally, Morrissey revealed to his fans that "the birth of each album" had been among his happiest moments in life, adding his other highlights included "Meltdown was also a high spot for me, and selling out the MEN Arena so quickly".
http://www.nme.com/news/morrissey/21621
and
OutKast name new album
The Atlanta duo to release soundtrack to their film Outkast are to release their new album 'Idlewild' in February.
The follow up to 2003's 'Speakerboxx/The Love Below' is not only the duo's new album, but also the soundtrack to their feature film debut.
Set in America's Deep South during the time of the Depression, the film follows the exploits of a struggling musician (played by Andre 3000) and a lovable lothario (Big Boi).
"It's not your typical soundtrack where you have a lot of different artists," Big Boi told Rolling Stone. "It's me and Dre, and Organized Noize doing the production. Sleepy Brown is on the album, a new artist, Janelle Monae and then me and Dre. It's crazy."
Explaining the fact that the album's release date had been put back from December, Big Boi said that the duo were having problems picking a lead-off single from the album.
He said: "There are four songs that we really love and we just want to make sure we pick the right one to come out first. The potential singles are 'The Train', 'Idlewild Blues', 'Foot On The Gas' and 'Cock-A-Doodle-Do'."
http://www.nme.com/news/outkast/21607
and
Mojave 3 forthcoming new album, due out next March
The new Mojave 3 record is at the very top of my most eagerly anticipated records for '06.
http://chromewaves.net/
and
Goldenfiddle reports that Dean & Britta (that's Wareham & Phillips, ex-Luna), have been tapped to provide the soundtrack to the forthcoming film Just Like The Son, which will be directed by Morgan Freeman. They also currently have a couple songs on the soundtrack for The Squid & The Whale, which they also scored...
Dean and Britta are also working on their follow-up album to 2003's lovely, languid L'Avventura and hope for a Spring '06 release. Their freshly redesigned website also has a forum that Britta is hanging out in and will be nice compliment to the Full Of Wishes G500/Luna/D&B HQ as well as the G500 mailing list. If you've never heard any of the D&B stuff, it's really nice. Certainly not light-years away from Luna, but still quite a distinct entity.
http://chromewaves.net/
and
Pretty Girls Make Graves Tour in Advance of Album
Kati Llewellyn reports:
Everyone knows that Pretty Girls Make Graves, but we also know that at the end of the month, the Matador Records power-punk band will embark on a grave procession across their home continent. PGMG will hit both the Northwest and the Northeast, before wrapping it all up in mid-December (like a present). Short and sweet.
...remember that PGMG have a new album in the works, following up 2003's The New Romance.
Aimed for an April 2006 release on Matador, the record is said to be completely different than the oldies. It even features some n00bs to the PGMG crew: producer Colin Stewart (Black Mountain) and multi-instrumentalist Leona Marrs (in place of former guitarist Nathan Thelen).
Bassist Derek Fudesco told Canada's ChartAttack.com, "The difference between Good Health and New Romance is not that big, but sort of big. This one is so much different than both of those. People who liked those two records might not really be into what's going on on this one." Gee, that's descriptive. He also told Milwaukee's Shepherd Express Online that the album is "less guitar-oriented than our other records," and "this is the first record where individual members wrote whole songs. There are a lot of different personalities." Once again, not too helpful.
* Pretty Girls Make Graves: http://www.prettygirlsmakegraves.com
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-11/22.shtml#prettygirlsmakegraves
Note :
Once again, thanks go to the great Jen from Stratosphere Fanzine
That's it & thanks for reading...
Exclusive: Kevin Shields Remixes the Go! Team
Amy Phillips reports:
It's a match made in surround-sound heaven: Kevin Shields, the mysterious, reclusive genius behind My Bloody Valentine, has ventured out of hibernation to create a mega-remix of the Go! Team songs "Ladyflash" and "Huddle Formation", to be included on the forthcoming "Ladyflash" single. Due January 30 on Memphis Industries in the UK, the single will also include a RJD2 remix of "Huddle Formation", a Simian Mobile Disco remix of "Ladyflash", and a brand new Go! Team song, "The Wrath of Mikey". It will be available as a 7", CD, and download.
According to Memphis Industries, the genesis of the Shields collaboration began when label representatives approached him following a Go! Team show. Shields told them that the performance was the greatest concert he had ever seen in his life, and expressed his desire to work with the band. The resulting mix is, according to Memphis' Ollie Jacob, "really really happy". He added, "Kevin Shields out-Go! Teamed the Go! Team."
In other Go! Team news, the band recently turned down the opportunity to open for Duran Duran, and announced a new round of shows in the UK in February and March. Let's cross our fingers for a live Shields Team mash-up.
* The Go! Team: http://www.thegoteam.co.uk
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-11/23.shtml
and
Pet Shop Boys finish new album:
Electro legends look to Spring 2006 release. Pet Shop Boys have just completed their new album in a West London studio.
The album has been produced by Trevor Horn and features 10 new Tennant/Lowe songs, a short introduction (also written by Tennant/Lowe) and 'Numb', a song by Diane Warren, originally recorded for the 'PopArt' compilation in 2003.
Neil and Chris started writing songs for the album in January and commenced recording with Trevor Horn in May.
Chris Lowe commented: "We've really enjoyed making this album with Trevor and his team and are very happy indeed with the finished result."
Neil Tennant added: "We think it's a great Pet Shop Boys album and also a great Trevor Horn record."
The album is expected to be released worldwide in April 2006.
http://www.nme.com/news/pet-shop-boys/21623
and
Morrissey: New album is a fresh start
'Ringleader Of The Tormentors' is no 'continuation' of past work Morrissey has spoken for the first time about his forthcoming album 'Ringleader Of The Tormentors', declaring that it is not a "continuation" of his previous work.
Taking part in an online Q&A with fans for website True-to-you.net, the former Smiths frontman spoke about the record and praised the contribution of producer Tony Visconti.
"Firstly, the musicianship is outstanding. Secondly, the songs are very strong, which is a great thing to be able to say this far down the line," he explained. "We were all very unified - everyone gets on very well, we are all very close friends, and everyone works for the common good, and there is never anyone pulling away - as there has been in the past."
He added that the record stood on its own. "It is not a continuation of 'You Are The Quarry', and it has no links to the past. Tony has been a very uplifting influence - has done a great job as producer and I'm honoured to have worked with him."
Talking more generally, Morrissey revealed to his fans that "the birth of each album" had been among his happiest moments in life, adding his other highlights included "Meltdown was also a high spot for me, and selling out the MEN Arena so quickly".
http://www.nme.com/news/morrissey/21621
and
OutKast name new album
The Atlanta duo to release soundtrack to their film Outkast are to release their new album 'Idlewild' in February.
The follow up to 2003's 'Speakerboxx/The Love Below' is not only the duo's new album, but also the soundtrack to their feature film debut.
Set in America's Deep South during the time of the Depression, the film follows the exploits of a struggling musician (played by Andre 3000) and a lovable lothario (Big Boi).
"It's not your typical soundtrack where you have a lot of different artists," Big Boi told Rolling Stone. "It's me and Dre, and Organized Noize doing the production. Sleepy Brown is on the album, a new artist, Janelle Monae and then me and Dre. It's crazy."
Explaining the fact that the album's release date had been put back from December, Big Boi said that the duo were having problems picking a lead-off single from the album.
He said: "There are four songs that we really love and we just want to make sure we pick the right one to come out first. The potential singles are 'The Train', 'Idlewild Blues', 'Foot On The Gas' and 'Cock-A-Doodle-Do'."
http://www.nme.com/news/outkast/21607
and
Mojave 3 forthcoming new album, due out next March
The new Mojave 3 record is at the very top of my most eagerly anticipated records for '06.
http://chromewaves.net/
and
Goldenfiddle reports that Dean & Britta (that's Wareham & Phillips, ex-Luna), have been tapped to provide the soundtrack to the forthcoming film Just Like The Son, which will be directed by Morgan Freeman. They also currently have a couple songs on the soundtrack for The Squid & The Whale, which they also scored...
Dean and Britta are also working on their follow-up album to 2003's lovely, languid L'Avventura and hope for a Spring '06 release. Their freshly redesigned website also has a forum that Britta is hanging out in and will be nice compliment to the Full Of Wishes G500/Luna/D&B HQ as well as the G500 mailing list. If you've never heard any of the D&B stuff, it's really nice. Certainly not light-years away from Luna, but still quite a distinct entity.
http://chromewaves.net/
and
Pretty Girls Make Graves Tour in Advance of Album
Kati Llewellyn reports:
Everyone knows that Pretty Girls Make Graves, but we also know that at the end of the month, the Matador Records power-punk band will embark on a grave procession across their home continent. PGMG will hit both the Northwest and the Northeast, before wrapping it all up in mid-December (like a present). Short and sweet.
...remember that PGMG have a new album in the works, following up 2003's The New Romance.
Aimed for an April 2006 release on Matador, the record is said to be completely different than the oldies. It even features some n00bs to the PGMG crew: producer Colin Stewart (Black Mountain) and multi-instrumentalist Leona Marrs (in place of former guitarist Nathan Thelen).
Bassist Derek Fudesco told Canada's ChartAttack.com, "The difference between Good Health and New Romance is not that big, but sort of big. This one is so much different than both of those. People who liked those two records might not really be into what's going on on this one." Gee, that's descriptive. He also told Milwaukee's Shepherd Express Online that the album is "less guitar-oriented than our other records," and "this is the first record where individual members wrote whole songs. There are a lot of different personalities." Once again, not too helpful.
* Pretty Girls Make Graves: http://www.prettygirlsmakegraves.com
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-11/22.shtml#prettygirlsmakegraves
Note :
Once again, thanks go to the great Jen from Stratosphere Fanzine
That's it & thanks for reading...
jeudi, décembre 08, 2005
CBGB no more..?
It’s All Over For CBGB’s On Halloween ‘06
by Eve Jenkin @ Undercover
December 8 2005
Legendary punk haven CBGB’s has been given until Halloween next year to evacuate the premises.
It has not exactly been kept quiet over the past year that CBGB must find itself a new home, but now that an agreement has been settled on the official vacating of the building, club owner Hilly Kristal has begun to shop around for new venues.
Kristal told MTV News he had been considering locations everywhere from Manhatten to Vegas, and in an official statement said “CBGB will expand and continue to provide great new music for our fans and be a developing ground for new artists, as we've done for over 30 years.”
Although CBGB’s lease officially ended in August 31st this year, Kristal has been paying $16,000US a month on top of his usual rent to continue running the venue from its home of three decades.
by Eve Jenkin @ Undercover
December 8 2005
Legendary punk haven CBGB’s has been given until Halloween next year to evacuate the premises.
It has not exactly been kept quiet over the past year that CBGB must find itself a new home, but now that an agreement has been settled on the official vacating of the building, club owner Hilly Kristal has begun to shop around for new venues.
Kristal told MTV News he had been considering locations everywhere from Manhatten to Vegas, and in an official statement said “CBGB will expand and continue to provide great new music for our fans and be a developing ground for new artists, as we've done for over 30 years.”
Although CBGB’s lease officially ended in August 31st this year, Kristal has been paying $16,000US a month on top of his usual rent to continue running the venue from its home of three decades.
lundi, novembre 28, 2005
Cocteau Twins
COCTEAU TWINS – Lullabies To Violaine singles and extended plays 1982 – 1996
http://www.4ad.com/news/cocteau-twins---/?first=
For the first time all the non-album tracks from across the Cocteau Twins' entire career have been compiled together and offer a unique view of their musical journey from the perspective of all their single / EP releases which incorporate most of their best known tracks.
CTBOX 2
This is an unusual de-luxe package containing all 4 CD's that will be available 21 November (Europe) and 6 December (USA) in a worldwide limited edition of 15,000. The discs are contained in a fold-out package made of a material that itself sounds like a Cocteau Twins title – 'Curious Soft Touch Milk'. It's all very tactile, minimal and V23.
DAD 2513CD and DAD 2514CD
These are the regular versions of the set which will be available spring 2006. Each package is a digipak with 2 CD's. Volume One covers the 4AD era (1982 – 1990) and Volume Two the Mercury / Capitol years (1993 – 1996).
The 4AD material was previously available in a 10 x CD box set which had a CD for each single, though this set features alternative mixes of 'Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops' and 'Aikea-Guinea'. Volume Two has never been anthologised and has tracks that were limited as singles as well as the Christmas tracks 'Frosty The Snowman' and 'Winter Wonderland'.
CD1
LULLABIES (1982)
Feathers-Oar-Blades
Alas Dies Laughing
It's All But An Ark Lark
PEPPERMINT PIG (1983)
Peppermint Pig (7-inch version)
Laughlines
Hazel
SUNBURST AND SNOWBLIND (1983)
Sugar Hiccup (12" version)
From the Flagstones
Hitherto
Because of Whirl-Jack
THE SPANGLE MAKER (1984)
The Spangle Maker
Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops (alternate version)
Pepper-Tree
AIKEA-GUINEA (1985)
Aikea-Guinea (alternate version)
Kookaburra
Quisquose
Rococo
CD 2
TINY DYNAMINE (1985)
Pink Orange Red
Ribbed and Veined
Plain Tiger
Sultitan Itan
ECHOES IN A SHALLOW BAY (1985)
Great Spangled Fritillary
Melonella
Pale Clouded White
Eggs and Their Shells
LOVE'S EASY TEARS (1986)
Love's Easy Tears
Those Eyes, That Mouth
Sigh's Smell of Farewell
Orange Appled
ICEBLINK LUCK (1990)
Iceblink Luck
Mizake the Mizan
Watchlar
CD 3
EVANGELINE (1993)
Evangeline
Mud and Dark
Summer-blink
SNOW (1993)
Winter Wonderland
Frosty the Snowman
BLUEBEARD (1993)
Bluebeard
Three-Swept
Ice-Pulse
Bluebeard (acoustic version)
TWINLIGHTS (1994)
Rilkean Heart (acoustic version)
Golden-Vein (acoustic version)
Pink Orange Red (acoustic version)
Half-Gifts (acoustic version)
CD 4
OTHERNESS (1995) Mark Clifford remixes
Feet-Like Fins
Seekers Who Are Lovers
Violaine
Cherry-Coloured Funk
TISHBITE (1995)
Tishbite
Primitive Heart
Flock of Soul
Round
An Elan
VIOLAINE (1996)
Violaine
Smile
Tranquil Eye
Circling Girl
Alice
http://www.4ad.com/news/cocteau-twins---/?first=
For the first time all the non-album tracks from across the Cocteau Twins' entire career have been compiled together and offer a unique view of their musical journey from the perspective of all their single / EP releases which incorporate most of their best known tracks.
CTBOX 2
This is an unusual de-luxe package containing all 4 CD's that will be available 21 November (Europe) and 6 December (USA) in a worldwide limited edition of 15,000. The discs are contained in a fold-out package made of a material that itself sounds like a Cocteau Twins title – 'Curious Soft Touch Milk'. It's all very tactile, minimal and V23.
DAD 2513CD and DAD 2514CD
These are the regular versions of the set which will be available spring 2006. Each package is a digipak with 2 CD's. Volume One covers the 4AD era (1982 – 1990) and Volume Two the Mercury / Capitol years (1993 – 1996).
The 4AD material was previously available in a 10 x CD box set which had a CD for each single, though this set features alternative mixes of 'Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops' and 'Aikea-Guinea'. Volume Two has never been anthologised and has tracks that were limited as singles as well as the Christmas tracks 'Frosty The Snowman' and 'Winter Wonderland'.
CD1
LULLABIES (1982)
Feathers-Oar-Blades
Alas Dies Laughing
It's All But An Ark Lark
PEPPERMINT PIG (1983)
Peppermint Pig (7-inch version)
Laughlines
Hazel
SUNBURST AND SNOWBLIND (1983)
Sugar Hiccup (12" version)
From the Flagstones
Hitherto
Because of Whirl-Jack
THE SPANGLE MAKER (1984)
The Spangle Maker
Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops (alternate version)
Pepper-Tree
AIKEA-GUINEA (1985)
Aikea-Guinea (alternate version)
Kookaburra
Quisquose
Rococo
CD 2
TINY DYNAMINE (1985)
Pink Orange Red
Ribbed and Veined
Plain Tiger
Sultitan Itan
ECHOES IN A SHALLOW BAY (1985)
Great Spangled Fritillary
Melonella
Pale Clouded White
Eggs and Their Shells
LOVE'S EASY TEARS (1986)
Love's Easy Tears
Those Eyes, That Mouth
Sigh's Smell of Farewell
Orange Appled
ICEBLINK LUCK (1990)
Iceblink Luck
Mizake the Mizan
Watchlar
CD 3
EVANGELINE (1993)
Evangeline
Mud and Dark
Summer-blink
SNOW (1993)
Winter Wonderland
Frosty the Snowman
BLUEBEARD (1993)
Bluebeard
Three-Swept
Ice-Pulse
Bluebeard (acoustic version)
TWINLIGHTS (1994)
Rilkean Heart (acoustic version)
Golden-Vein (acoustic version)
Pink Orange Red (acoustic version)
Half-Gifts (acoustic version)
CD 4
OTHERNESS (1995) Mark Clifford remixes
Feet-Like Fins
Seekers Who Are Lovers
Violaine
Cherry-Coloured Funk
TISHBITE (1995)
Tishbite
Primitive Heart
Flock of Soul
Round
An Elan
VIOLAINE (1996)
Violaine
Smile
Tranquil Eye
Circling Girl
Alice
jeudi, novembre 24, 2005
Chris Whitley R.I.P.
Chris Whitley Dead at 45
by Paul Cashmere @ Undercover Interviews
November 242005
Singer Chris Whitley, best known for the 1991 hit album Living With The Law, has died of lung cancer at his home in Houston, Texas. He was 45.
Whitley only discovered he had lung cancer five weeks ago.
In a statement at his website, his daughter Trixie says "My father took his last breath last night the 20th of November. I would like to make it clear that the people he needed and loved the most were with him while and when he left in peace. Those were Dan, Susann, my beloved mother Helene and me".
Dan is Whitley's brother who played on several of his albums. "I hope you all will mourn my brother's death but more important celebrate his life as Chris was all about life and living... I started the celebration by cranking up Dirt floor in his honor...crying still" he says at the Chris Whitley website.
Susann Buerger was engaged to Whitley. Daniel says that he died in her arms. "The reason I mentioned this is I always felt being held by someone you love while you passed over was a truly special thing" he said.
In his obituary, writer Bradley Bambarger states "Like most bluesmen of any era, Chris had his share of hellhounds on his trail. He chased a lot of them down in song and on stage; other times, demons got the best of him. But whether up or down in his career, Chris's sweet, generous nature and pure sensibility earned him lifelong friends and, as he put it, "guardian angels."
Whitley's last album 'Soft Dangerous Shores' was released in July. It was recorded in Germany. But related to anywhere in the world. "The blues sound different in different places," Chris said about the album. "But on a lonely, rainy night -- whether you're in New Orleans or New York or Dresden -- they feel the same."
A new album 'Reiter In' is currently scheduled for December.
by Paul Cashmere @ Undercover Interviews
November 242005
Singer Chris Whitley, best known for the 1991 hit album Living With The Law, has died of lung cancer at his home in Houston, Texas. He was 45.
Whitley only discovered he had lung cancer five weeks ago.
In a statement at his website, his daughter Trixie says "My father took his last breath last night the 20th of November. I would like to make it clear that the people he needed and loved the most were with him while and when he left in peace. Those were Dan, Susann, my beloved mother Helene and me".
Dan is Whitley's brother who played on several of his albums. "I hope you all will mourn my brother's death but more important celebrate his life as Chris was all about life and living... I started the celebration by cranking up Dirt floor in his honor...crying still" he says at the Chris Whitley website.
Susann Buerger was engaged to Whitley. Daniel says that he died in her arms. "The reason I mentioned this is I always felt being held by someone you love while you passed over was a truly special thing" he said.
In his obituary, writer Bradley Bambarger states "Like most bluesmen of any era, Chris had his share of hellhounds on his trail. He chased a lot of them down in song and on stage; other times, demons got the best of him. But whether up or down in his career, Chris's sweet, generous nature and pure sensibility earned him lifelong friends and, as he put it, "guardian angels."
Whitley's last album 'Soft Dangerous Shores' was released in July. It was recorded in Germany. But related to anywhere in the world. "The blues sound different in different places," Chris said about the album. "But on a lonely, rainy night -- whether you're in New Orleans or New York or Dresden -- they feel the same."
A new album 'Reiter In' is currently scheduled for December.
dimanche, novembre 20, 2005
Sing-Sing
Album Review: Sing-Sing and I
Artist: Sing-Sing
Reviewer: Jen of Stratosphere Fanzine
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Stratosphere_Fanzine/
These are my impressions and thoughts about the album as a music
appreciator (unfortunately, not a music creator!) - Jen
1. Lover - The perfect intro song to the Sing-Sing and I album. Smooth and seductive, with Lisa singing in a rich, delectable voice, and Emma on background vocals, over flowingly-strummed guitar. My only complaint is that the song is too short; I usually play it twice before listening to the rest of the album!
2. Come, Sing Me a Song - This alternately strutting and swaying song has a David Bowie-like guitar strum and 70s feel (from Ziggy Stardust era?) and every once in a while a guitar line that is similar to Everything Will Flow by Suede. Lisa sings in a breathy voice reminiscent of Sarah Cracknell of Saint Etienne. The horns in the chorus are a tad too brash and overpower the vocal chorus, but the "oh, yeah" part of the chorus is brill!
3. Mister Kadali - Starts with the turning of the dial on a radio, going through different stations, then stopping on "Mr. Kadali - African spiritual healer and advisor" and his spiel to help with any problem...then the song steps in with a jaunty rhythm and upbeat, clear, ringing guitars and Lisa singing, with haunting background vocals, and Lisa sounding like Kate Bush on the high notes. There are old piano and flute/cello sounds that create a melancholy backdrop to the song, and a breakbeat mid-way through it all, hinting at a dance-type vibe; a very interesting story-telling-type song in the tradition of a great Saint Etienne song.
4. A Modern Girl - A flowing, 80s-synth and drums backdrop of sound (like Depeche Mode, with speeding-along-highway sounds); a driving beat, insistent rhythm and electro/industrial undercurrent, with high, hard, chiming guitars, echoey vocal bridges, and Lisa singing in a darker, bittersweet voice tinged with melancholy. Moody and catchy.
5. Ruby - Wow, this track is so sonically ornate that it's difficult to know where to begin to explain it! A dazzling amalgam of different musical genres (sinuous, exotic Middle Eastern strings motif, squalling 90s rock guitars, electro-blips) with Lisa singing in pure, clear tones, once again sounding like Kate Bush on the high notes, and layered background vocals. I adore the lines "In chapter four, it's full of thunder, but by chapter five, it feel like summer." - a knowing wink to an earlier song of theirs, Feels Like Summer.
6. I Do - A piano-based, story-telling song with strummed guitar, possibly harpsicord (?), a brief spot of harmonica courtesy of Lisa, with vocals to rival Kate Bush and importance on the lyrics and delivery. This mid-tempo song is sweet and straightforward, until you hit the mid-song "do do do do..." break, which is just lovely.
7. Going Out Tonight - This is my favorite song on the album, and it reminds me of a Lush song. It's a 3-part "chorus" of a song with ever-shifting vocal layers and melodic lines and it washes over you in waves of melancholy beauty. It sounds like there are 2 drumbeats and Lush-like hard, bright guitar patterns.
One part has Lisa sing "I'm going out tonight" in a cool, muted, detached way; the 2nd part isLisa talk-singing lyrical phrases; the 3rd part is distant, echoey, layered background vocals that create a moodiness and expansiveness in the song that evolves into a slowly high-soaring chorus that eventually takes over.
I liken the song to being in an artificially-lighted underground tunnel (like on Hooverphonic's album cover for Blue Wonder Powder Milk), all "underwatery" and muffled, and then getting to the end of tunnel, and getting out to the night sky - dotted with stars and endless, and breathing in the clean, hard air...
8. Unseen - A slow-tempo song based on piano and guitar, a bit Depeche Mode-sounding with synths and breathy vocals by Lisa, Emma harmonizing beautifully with Lisa on the main parts of the song, and an instrumental ending with "added" sounds that recalls a Doves song (sorry, forget the name of song!). Pretty downbeat, but nice.
9. The Time has Come - This mid-tempo song has a carnival background sound and features a multitude of diseparate voices as the chorus. It's a song like raise your glass to and sway along with. I like the song-structure, but thought the varied vocal chorus came off too strident and flat. Very interesting lyrics though... "Looking down through all the years, mapped out in days then just in tears, and with dissenters all around, it's time to move and make a sound."
10. When I was Made - Another highlight of the album, this is an uplifting, grin-inducing, heart-gladdening, joy of a song - all blue skies, bells chiming brightly, birds chirping, and flowers blooming - the song makes you glad to be alive, which is a really amazing thing for a song to do!! It's ABBA-esque/60s girl group in the best meaning possible, with church bell and burnished guitar sounds and a great, positive vocal delivery by Lisa.
11. A Kind of Love - The best ending to a captivating album. An evocative, mid-tempo, piano and guitar-based story-telling song with amazing lyrics ("We spoke too soon, if we could try it again, begin at the end, take it so slowly, and I will let you get to know me") and Lisa sounding like Kate Bush and hitting the high notes with ease. Listen carefully (or check out the lyrics) to the 'kind' of love Lisa is singing about as the song progresses...
To wrap it all up, Sing-Sing and I is a jewel of an album - make that a box of jewels!!
Song structure and sounds are well-crafted and multi-faceted, with careful attention to detail - complex, melodic, and extremely catchy. Lyrics are stunning - intelligent, witty, and deep - like the pages of a book you can't put down.
Lisa's voice is rich, velvety, and quintessentially British - strong, sweet(but not too coy), and clearly enunciated, with turns of a phrase or even word that change the meaning of a sentiment of a song.
Artist: Sing-Sing
Reviewer: Jen of Stratosphere Fanzine
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Stratosphere_Fanzine/
These are my impressions and thoughts about the album as a music
appreciator (unfortunately, not a music creator!) - Jen
1. Lover - The perfect intro song to the Sing-Sing and I album. Smooth and seductive, with Lisa singing in a rich, delectable voice, and Emma on background vocals, over flowingly-strummed guitar. My only complaint is that the song is too short; I usually play it twice before listening to the rest of the album!
2. Come, Sing Me a Song - This alternately strutting and swaying song has a David Bowie-like guitar strum and 70s feel (from Ziggy Stardust era?) and every once in a while a guitar line that is similar to Everything Will Flow by Suede. Lisa sings in a breathy voice reminiscent of Sarah Cracknell of Saint Etienne. The horns in the chorus are a tad too brash and overpower the vocal chorus, but the "oh, yeah" part of the chorus is brill!
3. Mister Kadali - Starts with the turning of the dial on a radio, going through different stations, then stopping on "Mr. Kadali - African spiritual healer and advisor" and his spiel to help with any problem...then the song steps in with a jaunty rhythm and upbeat, clear, ringing guitars and Lisa singing, with haunting background vocals, and Lisa sounding like Kate Bush on the high notes. There are old piano and flute/cello sounds that create a melancholy backdrop to the song, and a breakbeat mid-way through it all, hinting at a dance-type vibe; a very interesting story-telling-type song in the tradition of a great Saint Etienne song.
4. A Modern Girl - A flowing, 80s-synth and drums backdrop of sound (like Depeche Mode, with speeding-along-highway sounds); a driving beat, insistent rhythm and electro/industrial undercurrent, with high, hard, chiming guitars, echoey vocal bridges, and Lisa singing in a darker, bittersweet voice tinged with melancholy. Moody and catchy.
5. Ruby - Wow, this track is so sonically ornate that it's difficult to know where to begin to explain it! A dazzling amalgam of different musical genres (sinuous, exotic Middle Eastern strings motif, squalling 90s rock guitars, electro-blips) with Lisa singing in pure, clear tones, once again sounding like Kate Bush on the high notes, and layered background vocals. I adore the lines "In chapter four, it's full of thunder, but by chapter five, it feel like summer." - a knowing wink to an earlier song of theirs, Feels Like Summer.
6. I Do - A piano-based, story-telling song with strummed guitar, possibly harpsicord (?), a brief spot of harmonica courtesy of Lisa, with vocals to rival Kate Bush and importance on the lyrics and delivery. This mid-tempo song is sweet and straightforward, until you hit the mid-song "do do do do..." break, which is just lovely.
7. Going Out Tonight - This is my favorite song on the album, and it reminds me of a Lush song. It's a 3-part "chorus" of a song with ever-shifting vocal layers and melodic lines and it washes over you in waves of melancholy beauty. It sounds like there are 2 drumbeats and Lush-like hard, bright guitar patterns.
One part has Lisa sing "I'm going out tonight" in a cool, muted, detached way; the 2nd part isLisa talk-singing lyrical phrases; the 3rd part is distant, echoey, layered background vocals that create a moodiness and expansiveness in the song that evolves into a slowly high-soaring chorus that eventually takes over.
I liken the song to being in an artificially-lighted underground tunnel (like on Hooverphonic's album cover for Blue Wonder Powder Milk), all "underwatery" and muffled, and then getting to the end of tunnel, and getting out to the night sky - dotted with stars and endless, and breathing in the clean, hard air...
8. Unseen - A slow-tempo song based on piano and guitar, a bit Depeche Mode-sounding with synths and breathy vocals by Lisa, Emma harmonizing beautifully with Lisa on the main parts of the song, and an instrumental ending with "added" sounds that recalls a Doves song (sorry, forget the name of song!). Pretty downbeat, but nice.
9. The Time has Come - This mid-tempo song has a carnival background sound and features a multitude of diseparate voices as the chorus. It's a song like raise your glass to and sway along with. I like the song-structure, but thought the varied vocal chorus came off too strident and flat. Very interesting lyrics though... "Looking down through all the years, mapped out in days then just in tears, and with dissenters all around, it's time to move and make a sound."
10. When I was Made - Another highlight of the album, this is an uplifting, grin-inducing, heart-gladdening, joy of a song - all blue skies, bells chiming brightly, birds chirping, and flowers blooming - the song makes you glad to be alive, which is a really amazing thing for a song to do!! It's ABBA-esque/60s girl group in the best meaning possible, with church bell and burnished guitar sounds and a great, positive vocal delivery by Lisa.
11. A Kind of Love - The best ending to a captivating album. An evocative, mid-tempo, piano and guitar-based story-telling song with amazing lyrics ("We spoke too soon, if we could try it again, begin at the end, take it so slowly, and I will let you get to know me") and Lisa sounding like Kate Bush and hitting the high notes with ease. Listen carefully (or check out the lyrics) to the 'kind' of love Lisa is singing about as the song progresses...
To wrap it all up, Sing-Sing and I is a jewel of an album - make that a box of jewels!!
Song structure and sounds are well-crafted and multi-faceted, with careful attention to detail - complex, melodic, and extremely catchy. Lyrics are stunning - intelligent, witty, and deep - like the pages of a book you can't put down.
Lisa's voice is rich, velvety, and quintessentially British - strong, sweet(but not too coy), and clearly enunciated, with turns of a phrase or even word that change the meaning of a sentiment of a song.
samedi, novembre 19, 2005
Rachel Goswell
Disclaimer: This is just my opinion of Rachel's ep, which a pal of mine in the UK sent me. I would love to hear the opinions of anyone else who has listened to the ep and/or her full-length solo album. In my review of this ep I tend to extrapolate my view to her album, although I have not heard it. I am hoping that the material on her album surpasses what was included on the ep. Ok, on to my review -
Review of Sleep Shelter ep by Rachel Goswell
Or as I prefer to call it, Sleep-Due-To-Boredom Shelter. I know, not as catchy, but definitely more accurate. I didn't want to have to write a negative review, and maybe this 5-song ep is not indicative of the song quality on Rachel's solo album (I haven't heard it yet), but I was very disappointed by the lazy lyrics, poor musical execution, half-finished songs, and worst of all, uninspired vocals on this ep.
As part of Slowdive, Rachel's vocals were gorgeously melancholy and buoyant on the ascending waves and crests of the signature Slowdive wall-of-guitar sound. In Mojave 3, all of Slowdive's sonic splendor was stripped away to reveal lyrics once buried in feedback and a more simple alt-country sound – with Rachel singing and harmonizing beautifully on too few tracks.
Whether Mojave 3 was your cup of tea after the sonic heights and density of Slowdive depended on your willingness to follow the band members into new terrain (I do want to mention that Mojave 3 is not the only branch growing out of Slowdive; a couple other band members formed another band called Monster Movie that sound nothing like their moniker and are quite good, from the songs I've heard).
Then Rachel struck out on her own, and it was with great excitement that fans of Slowdive, Mojave 3, and Rachel Goswell awaited the release of her solo album. The major looming question was – what would the album sound like, Slowdive or Mojave 3?
Based on the ep, it sounds like a more lackluster Mojave 3 without the musical chops, insightful lyrics, and emotional depth. Two out of the 5 songs on the ep are also on the album, Plucked and Sleeping `n' Tooting. Plucked is an intimate, slow-paced song with a wandering melody line and simplistic lyrics and sound, redeemed by Rachel's pretty vocals and elegiac tone (strings come in near the close; cellos, I think). It's also way too short and left me wanting more, always a good sign, and a nice start to the ep.
Next up is Sleeping `n' Tooting, a slicker, country-type song that reminds me of old Fleetwood Mac out-takes where Christine McVie had lead vocals – 70's-sounding in the instrumental backing and some slight harmonizing vocals (nothing against the Mac, as they have produced some great songs). There's something wrong with the mix because Rachel's voice sounds thin and nasal and limited in its range. The sound overpowers her and while she always had a laid-back, sad inflection to her voice, here it contrasts too much with the upbeat nature of the song.
The rest of the songs are not on her album, and in the case of one of the songs, that's quite a shame. Before we get to that one, however, we must tackle Flying with Gene. Once again the sound mix is bad, with the instruments coming off too loudly. Rachel doesn't have enough gravity to her voice and it sounds like she's hurriedly singing through the chorus, not even sounding totally on-key. The overemphasis on shallow lyrics, pushed home by repetition, and strident instruments weigh the song down, instead of carrying it away.
The next song, Sticking with Grace, is a welcome reprieve and return to form (and, unfortunately, is not on the album). Rachel sings in a higher register and sounds more self-assured. It's a sweet, more emotive song along the lines of Mojave 3, with upbeat guitars, a more pleasant and memorable melody, and more lyrically complex. The song is light on its feet and almost, but not quite achieves grace. Come Rescue Me ends the ep on a slow, regretful note, with the emphasis on plaintive vocals, lyrics, and guitar. Rachel's voice returns to being pallid and not emotive enough. The lyrics "come rescue me" are repeated too many times for comfort – the listener ends up hoping someone (or some other album) will come rescue them from the half-formed songs on the ep.
Sleep Shelter needs a wake up call to give it more zest and life. It also needs to be mixed properly. Most of the songs sound like demos and, without the sonic beauty and veil of mystery of Slowdive's songs or the solid structure and catchy melodies of Mojave 3's songs, the Sleep Shelter ep's faults are laid bare. This could have been an autumnal solo masterpiece in the vein of Out of Season by Beth Gibbons (of Portishead, with Rustin' Man). Instead the sound is one-note and no boundaries are stretched – lyrically, musically, and most sadly of all, vocally.
Rachel has so much potential and maybe her full album, Waves are Universal, is better than the material chosen for this ep. Here's hoping!
Copyright by Jen
Review of Sleep Shelter ep by Rachel Goswell
Or as I prefer to call it, Sleep-Due-To-Boredom Shelter. I know, not as catchy, but definitely more accurate. I didn't want to have to write a negative review, and maybe this 5-song ep is not indicative of the song quality on Rachel's solo album (I haven't heard it yet), but I was very disappointed by the lazy lyrics, poor musical execution, half-finished songs, and worst of all, uninspired vocals on this ep.
As part of Slowdive, Rachel's vocals were gorgeously melancholy and buoyant on the ascending waves and crests of the signature Slowdive wall-of-guitar sound. In Mojave 3, all of Slowdive's sonic splendor was stripped away to reveal lyrics once buried in feedback and a more simple alt-country sound – with Rachel singing and harmonizing beautifully on too few tracks.
Whether Mojave 3 was your cup of tea after the sonic heights and density of Slowdive depended on your willingness to follow the band members into new terrain (I do want to mention that Mojave 3 is not the only branch growing out of Slowdive; a couple other band members formed another band called Monster Movie that sound nothing like their moniker and are quite good, from the songs I've heard).
Then Rachel struck out on her own, and it was with great excitement that fans of Slowdive, Mojave 3, and Rachel Goswell awaited the release of her solo album. The major looming question was – what would the album sound like, Slowdive or Mojave 3?
Based on the ep, it sounds like a more lackluster Mojave 3 without the musical chops, insightful lyrics, and emotional depth. Two out of the 5 songs on the ep are also on the album, Plucked and Sleeping `n' Tooting. Plucked is an intimate, slow-paced song with a wandering melody line and simplistic lyrics and sound, redeemed by Rachel's pretty vocals and elegiac tone (strings come in near the close; cellos, I think). It's also way too short and left me wanting more, always a good sign, and a nice start to the ep.
Next up is Sleeping `n' Tooting, a slicker, country-type song that reminds me of old Fleetwood Mac out-takes where Christine McVie had lead vocals – 70's-sounding in the instrumental backing and some slight harmonizing vocals (nothing against the Mac, as they have produced some great songs). There's something wrong with the mix because Rachel's voice sounds thin and nasal and limited in its range. The sound overpowers her and while she always had a laid-back, sad inflection to her voice, here it contrasts too much with the upbeat nature of the song.
The rest of the songs are not on her album, and in the case of one of the songs, that's quite a shame. Before we get to that one, however, we must tackle Flying with Gene. Once again the sound mix is bad, with the instruments coming off too loudly. Rachel doesn't have enough gravity to her voice and it sounds like she's hurriedly singing through the chorus, not even sounding totally on-key. The overemphasis on shallow lyrics, pushed home by repetition, and strident instruments weigh the song down, instead of carrying it away.
The next song, Sticking with Grace, is a welcome reprieve and return to form (and, unfortunately, is not on the album). Rachel sings in a higher register and sounds more self-assured. It's a sweet, more emotive song along the lines of Mojave 3, with upbeat guitars, a more pleasant and memorable melody, and more lyrically complex. The song is light on its feet and almost, but not quite achieves grace. Come Rescue Me ends the ep on a slow, regretful note, with the emphasis on plaintive vocals, lyrics, and guitar. Rachel's voice returns to being pallid and not emotive enough. The lyrics "come rescue me" are repeated too many times for comfort – the listener ends up hoping someone (or some other album) will come rescue them from the half-formed songs on the ep.
Sleep Shelter needs a wake up call to give it more zest and life. It also needs to be mixed properly. Most of the songs sound like demos and, without the sonic beauty and veil of mystery of Slowdive's songs or the solid structure and catchy melodies of Mojave 3's songs, the Sleep Shelter ep's faults are laid bare. This could have been an autumnal solo masterpiece in the vein of Out of Season by Beth Gibbons (of Portishead, with Rustin' Man). Instead the sound is one-note and no boundaries are stretched – lyrically, musically, and most sadly of all, vocally.
Rachel has so much potential and maybe her full album, Waves are Universal, is better than the material chosen for this ep. Here's hoping!
Copyright by Jen
lundi, novembre 14, 2005
Motorhead...
Motorhead Reissued
by Tim Cashmere @ Undercover
November 14 2005
Motorhead may be one of the loudest and most rockin’ bands in the world, but they just sounded a little better as Sanctuary Records prepare to re-release five classic Motorhead albums to mark the 30th anniversary of the band.
The albums ‘Ace Of Spades’, ‘Overkill’, ‘Bomber’, ‘Iron Fist’ and ‘No Remorse’ are going to be re-released, re-mastered and repackaged with bonus vintage archive recordings from the BBC and beyond throughout the 70s and 80s.
‘No Remorse’ is the band’s best of and even that is getting a working over. It will now feature ‘Under The Knife’, ‘Masterplan’ and two tracks ‘No Class’ and ‘Stand By Your Man’ with guest vocals by rock icon Wendy O’Williams.
______________________________________________________________________________
Warner Music eLabel Kicks Off
by Tim Cashmere @ Undercover
November 14 2005
The Warner Music Group has officially started its first eLabel. Cordless Recording is an all-digital label with an all-digital strategy and no physical releases going into bricks and mortar stores.
Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr announced the label in August 2005 and hired Elektra Records veteran Jac Holzman to head it up. Holzman goes back to the 60s with the label and was the Executive Producer of The Doors albums.
The model for the label allows artists to release music regularly as they record new music and not have to wait for the album to be finished. In a way, it mirrors the Music Industry model of the 60s and 70s when artists released a new single every 6-8 weeks and 1-2 albums a year.
AC/DC released their first five albums in just two and a half years. The Beatles entire catalogue through EMI was recorded between 1962 and 1969. These days, even a first release artist may have to wait up to three years before the second album comes out because of marketing, touring and elongated and expensive recording sessions.
The unfortunate part of the music business today is that it near impossible for acts to maintain and build their fanbase. Three years down the track when a second album is ready, the fanbase, especially in the younger demographic has moved on.
The beauty of Cordless Records is that it skews back to the “music” part of the term “music business”.
Sales for artists on the label will come from downloads and ring-tones.
Initial artists on the label are Break-up Breakdown, Dangerous Muse, Human Wine, Nozzle, Koishii & HushJihad Jerry & The Evildoers. Downloads can be purchased for $0.99 from the Cordless Records website.
by Tim Cashmere @ Undercover
November 14 2005
Motorhead may be one of the loudest and most rockin’ bands in the world, but they just sounded a little better as Sanctuary Records prepare to re-release five classic Motorhead albums to mark the 30th anniversary of the band.
The albums ‘Ace Of Spades’, ‘Overkill’, ‘Bomber’, ‘Iron Fist’ and ‘No Remorse’ are going to be re-released, re-mastered and repackaged with bonus vintage archive recordings from the BBC and beyond throughout the 70s and 80s.
‘No Remorse’ is the band’s best of and even that is getting a working over. It will now feature ‘Under The Knife’, ‘Masterplan’ and two tracks ‘No Class’ and ‘Stand By Your Man’ with guest vocals by rock icon Wendy O’Williams.
______________________________________________________________________________
Warner Music eLabel Kicks Off
by Tim Cashmere @ Undercover
November 14 2005
The Warner Music Group has officially started its first eLabel. Cordless Recording is an all-digital label with an all-digital strategy and no physical releases going into bricks and mortar stores.
Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr announced the label in August 2005 and hired Elektra Records veteran Jac Holzman to head it up. Holzman goes back to the 60s with the label and was the Executive Producer of The Doors albums.
The model for the label allows artists to release music regularly as they record new music and not have to wait for the album to be finished. In a way, it mirrors the Music Industry model of the 60s and 70s when artists released a new single every 6-8 weeks and 1-2 albums a year.
AC/DC released their first five albums in just two and a half years. The Beatles entire catalogue through EMI was recorded between 1962 and 1969. These days, even a first release artist may have to wait up to three years before the second album comes out because of marketing, touring and elongated and expensive recording sessions.
The unfortunate part of the music business today is that it near impossible for acts to maintain and build their fanbase. Three years down the track when a second album is ready, the fanbase, especially in the younger demographic has moved on.
The beauty of Cordless Records is that it skews back to the “music” part of the term “music business”.
Sales for artists on the label will come from downloads and ring-tones.
Initial artists on the label are Break-up Breakdown, Dangerous Muse, Human Wine, Nozzle, Koishii & HushJihad Jerry & The Evildoers. Downloads can be purchased for $0.99 from the Cordless Records website.
samedi, novembre 12, 2005
Music News, the return
Primal Scream:
Primal Scream... are currently putting the finishing touches to their new album...
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8359
Richard Ashcroft album details:
Richard Ashcroft has confirmed the details of his third solo album, to be released early next year.
'Keys To The Word' is released on January 23...
Talking exclusively to NME.COM, Ashcroft explained: 'I've been working on it on and off all year, but the main recording of the songs took just a couple of nights.'
The new album's tracklisting is:
'Why Not Nothing?'
'Music Is Power'
'Break the Night With Colour'
'Words Just Get in the Way'
'Keys to the World'
'Sweet Brother Malcolm'
'Cry Til the Morning'
'Why Do Lovers?'
'Simple Song'
'World Keeps Turning'
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8364
and
Gwen Stefani planning No Doubt return:
Gwen Stefani is planning to make another album with No Doubt - despite her success as a solo artist.
The singer, who is currently touring her album 'Love Angel Music Baby' in the US, says she intends to go back into the studio with her band but she doesn't know when at this stage.
She said: "That's the plan. I really didn't know that it would take so long to make 'Love Angel Music Baby'. Then we ended up putting a greatest hits record out and that took up time. We went on tour. It was amazing.
"I never intended for this record to take so long, but I want to ride this wave while it's out there."
The last album the band brought out was 'Rock Steady' three years ago.
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8367
and
Rufus Wainwright album:
Rufus Wainwright will release a new album on 28 November 'Want'
The special edition LP will combine his previous 2 albums 'Want 1'and 'Want 2' plus 2 brand new tracks, a cover of Leonard Cohen's Chelsea Hotel #2 and 'In with The Ladies' co-written with Alex Gifford of the Propellerheads.
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8369
and
Green Day reveal new album plans:
Green Day have revealed that they will be 'taking their time' writing the follow-up to the hugely successful 'American Idiot'.
The band are also still looking at a full length movie version of their seventh LP, and have said that they will not be rushing into making the follow-up.
"We're gonna take our time," singer Billie Joe Armstrong said. "We'll probably start writing after the first of the year and then just regroup. We've gotta take our time - this year was such a big year for us. I think it's a good time to regroup and have good substance to write about instead of hopping into something really fast."
Despite talks of an 'American Idiot' film, the band say that they are unlikely to be appearing in the flick themselves.
"We're gonna make a movie going along the story of 'American Idiot'," drummer Tre Cool told Xfm. "A rock opera. We need to go home, put some thought into it, talk to directors and writers and get the script together, stuff like that. I don't think that I'm going to have to (be in the film), because we're making the movie and I
wouldn't do that to myself."
Armstrong added: "I'm not an actor at all. I'd rather be behind the writing and the production, and leave the acting to the actors."
Bassist Mike Dirnt has also explained how Green Day dealt with the initial criticism after breaking out of the Californian underground scene to a worldwide fanbase.
He said: "We were so busy concentrating on living our lives and touring and working and growing into who we are as a band. You've gotta put the blinders on sometimes and go forward and say 'To hell with what anyone says'. You've just got to move forward and I think, at the end of the day, I'm glad we're here."
http://www.nme.com/news/green-day/21480
and
All star line up for Peaches album:
The electro-clash star reveals all about her new record -
Peaches has roped in a host of stars to feature on her forthcoming third studio album, due out next April.
Queens Of The Stone Age singer Josh Homme, ex-Hole drummer Sam Maloney and '80s songstress Joan Jett all put in an appearance on the follow up to 2003's 'Fatherfucker' along with Canadian singer-songwriter Feist and Electrocute frontwoman Nicole Morier.
Peaches told Rolling Stone: "The track 'Giver' features Josh (Homme) on guitar. There's a solo that I could play but I couldn't play it like Josh. He learned it in a second, and was playing all over it. It's exciting that I'm branching out. I just want to make things harder. I want to go more hardcore. I just want to make things
harder. I want to go more hardcore."
The singer has been working with Beck producer Mickey Petralia in Los Angeles on the as-yet-untitled album.
Earlier sessions of the LP were recorded in her own Berlin studio with Eagles Of Death metal singer Jesse 'The Devil' Hughes.
Other songs set to feature on the record include 'Hankie Code', 'Stick It to the Pimp' and 'Two Guys for Every Girl'.
Of the latter track, she said: "The lyrics are all real dirty about guys getting down with each other, and then I join in. Everybody fantasises about the two-girl thing - to hell! Guys gotta get sexy with each other!"
http://www.nme.com/news/peaches/21459
and
Hives say that's it for 2005:
But they're already getting ready for next year. The Hives have played their last shows for 2005 and will begin recording the follow up to last years 'Tyrannosaurus Hives' at the start of next year.
Speaking during their recent show in Sydney (October 21), frontman Howlin' Pelle Almqvist told the crowd...that the band were now heading home to spend Christmas in Sweden before beginning work on their next album in January.
http://www.nme.com/news/hives/21430
and
The Vines 'back on track':
'Edgier and wilder' third album in the bag. The Vines have overcome the traumas of recent years and completed their third album.
The band have just completed a four-week stint in Sydney's BJB Studios with producer Wayne Connerly, and made an album he says is "edgier and wilder".
The sessions mark a return to action for the band, who looked on the verge of collapse when frontman Craig Nicholls was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome.
"There's a bunch of different styles on this record," Connerly told NME. "He's kind of got a little bit of that space rock stuff but he's also got some really intense wild punk rock, there something very primal about it."
He added: "Then he's got a couple of great Beatles kind of punk rock songs, a bit of sixties beat garage stuff, a couple of really good indie slacker tracks and a bit of soaring pop stuff like that. A few strings. He's always been a really big fan of that lush production, whether it's been obvious in the past."
Working track titles include 'Nothing's Coming', 'Any Sound' and 'Take Me Back'.
And relations within the band are good, says Connerly. "The morale's been really good because they do enjoy recording. It kind of makes it easier for everybody. Craig doesn't really devote himself to the serious issues of the day, he pretty much devotes most of his energy to hiding behind doors and scaring people. It's great to see his eccentric playful side."
However, bass player Patrick Matthews has played a minimal role in the new album, since his side project Youth Group took off.
The album is expected to be released next year, though management have previously gone on record saying that the band will "never" go on a traditional tour again.
http://www.nme.com/news/vines/21426
and
Edith Frost to Release First Album in Four Years
David Maher reports:
2005 has been good to Drag City Records, or maybe it's the other way around. Either way, the label has been putting the "sweet" in "Sweet Home Chicago" all year by releasing albums by highly acclaimed and variously bearded folk-rockers like Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Smog, Six Organs of Admittance, and the Silver Jews.
But there's something missing from this picture. "What is it?" you may ask. Well, aside from David Berman's wife Cassie, there are no women on that list. But have no fear! Edith Frost is returning from a four-year hiatus to play Joanna this year by releasing her fourth album, It's a Game.
The album was recorded with long-time Frost producer Rian Murphy and includes performances by musicians from groups as disparate as Prefuse 73 and The Mekons. Edith becomes eclectic, anyone?. It arrives in stores on November 15, just as Frost's cousin Jack begins to set in on the rest of us. The tracklist is as follows:
01 Emergency
02 It's a Game
03 What's the Use
04 A Mirage
05 Playmate
06 My Lover Won't Call
07 Lucky Charm
08 Larger Than Life
09 Just a Friend
10 If It Weren't for the Words
11 Stars Fading
12 Good to Know
13 Lovin' You Goodbye
* Edith Frost: http://www.edithfrost.com/
* Drag City: http://www.dragcity.com/
http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-11/11.shtml#edithfrost
and
Rose Melberg (ex-Softies/Tiger Trap):
Matthew Solarski reports:
Twee as Fuck! That tasty shibboleth greeted you for five consecutive days last week, thanks to Nitsuh Abebe's exhaustive indie pop history, and now you're struck with the urge to scour eBay for early Sarah seven inches, dust off that old cassette recorder, and cry un-ironically. Why not take a moment to brush up on the present exploits of one of the twee subculture's most crushworthy icons?
Enter Miss Rose Melberg, who played with not one but two of indie pop's seminal acts: Tiger Trap and the Softies. Now solo, Rose... Melberg aims to record her second solo album, the follow-up to 1998's Portola. The as-of-yet untitled full-length will see release sometime in 2006 on NYC's Double Agent, also home to the woefully defunct new-wave revivalists My Favorite.
Those pining for a whiff of Rose's recent musical dabblings can promenade on over to Double Agent's website, where Melberg has offered up a free mp3. The song, which she says was "just something I recorded at home on a whim," is a cover of "The Time Has Come" by elusive British folk singer Anne Briggs. Twee as folk?
* Pitchfork Weekly Feature: Twee As Fuck
* Pitchfork Review: The Softies: Holiday in Rhode Island
* Double Agent: http://www.doubleagentrecords.com
http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-11/04.shtml#rosemelberg
and
Legendary Punk Band X Hit the Road and Exene Exhibit:
Zach Vowell and Amy Phillips report:
After successfully exorcising their well-honed honky-tonk demons by resurrecting their alt-country alter-ego the Knitters for a reunion album and tour, legendary L.A. band X is grabbing guitarist Billy Zoom and painting the town punk... Juliana Hatfield will serve as the jaunt's opening act.
If November 5 is a bad day for some of you out in Cali, there is a slightly less energetic, and definitely less noisy, alternative. The Santa Monica Museum of Art is displaying a selection of X singer Exene Cervenka's approximately 100 journals, plus some "mixed media collages", in an exhibit called "America the Beautiful", which will
be up until November 26. According to the museum's website, the journals contain "rough drafts of songs and personal reflections rendered in a baroque calligraphic script." We hope that means there's dirt about Cervenka's ex-husbands, X bandmate John Doe and actor Viggio Mortensen, hidden somewhere in the exhibit.
There, we've namedropped every band member but the drummer. D.J. Bonebrake:
Doe himself is heading out on a European trek next week, supporting his latest solo album, Forever Hasn't Happened Yet, which came out on Yep Roc in March. Joining him on most dates are fellow singer/songwriters Peter Case (of the Plimsouls) and Michael Weston King (of the Good Sons).
* X: http://www.xtheband.com
http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-11/04.shtml#x
and
Comet Gain Return with New Album on Kill Rock Stars:
David Nadelle reports:
Having evolved from early rumblings of Heavenly-esque workouts, taut British guitar pop, and the odd Northern Soul tribute, Comet Gain has more recently been recording schizophrenic albums reflecting the band's far-flung musical tastes. The group's last two albums, Tigertown Pictures and Realistes took those early tendencies and added sneering toytown political shout-alongs, latent riot grrrl chutzpah, and spoken word poem-songs taken from the misshapen musings of pop addict David Feck. After years of small-time tours with the cream of the British and American indie scenes, the band has finally reached a point where it seems comfortable and confident enough to squirm into any available rabbit hole if it senses too much complacency.
In short, Comet Gain has become an exemplary Kill Rock Stars act. Like those two albums mentioned above, the latest Comet Gain album, City Fallen Leaves, will be released on that label tomorrow, November 8. Here's the tracklist:
01 The Fists in the Pocket
02 Days I Forget to Write Down
03 Daydream Scars
04 Bored Roar
05 Seven Sisters to Silverlake
06 This English Melancholy
07 The Punk Got Fucked
08 The Story of the Vivian Girls
09 Just One More Summer Before I Go
10 Draw a Smile Upon an Egg
11 Fingernailed For You
12 Your Robert!
13 Gone Before We Open Our Eyes
14 Right Now? No
15 The Ballad of a Mix Tape
This is the first of many promised Comet Gain releases to come in the near future. Feck details a number of projects on his rambling press sheet for the new album, including a lost album called Far Out Isn't Far Enough, and a track on a Northern Soul tribute EP tribute out now on Fortuna Pop. Up-and-coming NYC label What's Your Rupture? will release a Comet Gain 12" featuring the songs "Beautiful Despair", "Never Die", and "The White Radiance of Eternity" in December, and Comet Gain/Morrissey/Holly Golightly drummer Woodie Taylor produced the debut album by white-hot Swedish band Love Is All, which will be out on What's Your Rupture? December 12.
* Kill Rock Stars: http://www.killrockstars.com/
http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-11/07.shtml#cometgain
and
Slowdive to Receive Reissue Treatment:
Matthew Solarski reports:
Once upon a time in England, that magical island which birthed the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Stephen Patrick Morrissey and, yes, Ali G, four lads and a lass got together and decided to make guitars glimmer and soar like none had before. They were Slowdive, and over the course of a six-year career, the quintet (in various
incarnations) graced us with three glorious full-lengths and a few EPs, and left a patina which continues to imbue the songcraft of countless contemporary acts.
Though often lumped into the same early-90s shoegaze set that included My Bloody Valentine, Curve, Ride, Chapterhouse, Revolver, and the Boo Radleys, Slowdive was treated as revelation by fans.
People cried at their shows, overcome by the compelling pulchritude of Slowdive's music (and, quite possibly, drugs). Folks still clamor for their rarer releases on eBay, while discussion lists and several fansites remain to tout Slowdive long after they dissolved into Mojave 3 and Monster Movie.
Now, hardly a year after the release of Slowdive's 9.5-rated anthology Catch The Breeze, Sanctuary Records plans to treat `gazers young and old with lavish reissues of each of the band's three celebrated full-lengths. Both Just for a Day and Souvlaki will feature bonus discs compiling sought-after EPs. According to Sanctuary, Just for a Day and the bonus discs have been "re-done", but former Slowdive singer/guitarist Neil Halstead saw no need to tinker with Souvlaki or its follow-up, Pygmalion.
Pygmalion, Slowdive's criminally underrated third and final long-player, is the real reissue treat here, as it has been fetching upwards of $50 on a certain e-auction house. The disc's sparse, ambient soundscapes alienated many, including several members of Slowdive, and precipitated the act's demise. Though dismissed in its day, the haunting ultimate opus has since garnered considerable acclaim, with Pitchfork'a Nitsuh Abebe extolling it as a post-rock cornerstone. So, in a small way, this is Big.
Just for a Day is set for a November 14 release, with the other two following shortly. Until that hallowed date arrives, why not turn your gaze to these delectable tracklistings?:
Just For A Day:
Disc 1:
01 Spanish Air
02 Celia's Dream
03 Catch the Breeze
04 Ballad of Sister Sue
05 Erik's Song
06 Waves
07 Brighter
08 The Sadman
09 Primal
Disc 2:
01 Slowdive
02 Avalyn 1
03 Avalyn 2
04 Morningrise
05 She Calls
06 Losing Today
07 Golden Hair
08 Shine
09 Albatross
10 Catch the Breeze (Peel Session)
11 Song 1 (Peel Session)
12 Golden Hair (Peel Session)
Souvlaki:
Disc 1:
01 Alison
02 Machine Gun
03 40 Days
04 Sing
05 Here She Comes
06 Souvlaki Space Station
07 When the Sun Hits
08 Altogether
09 Melon Yellow
10 Dagger
Disc 2:
01 Some Velvet Morning
02 So Tired
03 Moussaka Chaos
04 In Mind
05 Good Day Sunshine
06 Missing You
07 Country Rain
08 In Mind (Bandulu Mix)
09 In Mind (Reload Mix)
Pygmalion:
01 Rutti
02 Crazy gor You
03 Miranda
04 Trellisaze
05 Cello 07 Visions of La
08 Blue Skied An' Clear
09 All of Us
According to Sanctuary, the reissues were overseen by the members of Slowdive and will feature liner notes penned by Melody Maker and NME scribe Ian Watson. According to me, the reissues will also be fecking brilliant. Believe it.
* Slowdive: www.slowdive.co.uk
http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-11/07.shtml#slowdive
and
Clearlake Prep Third Album:
Jason Toon reports:
When it comes to album titles, Clearlake is a band of few words. The British quartet debuted with 2000's Lido, added a couple of letters for the 2003 follow-up Cedars, and they've recently announced that their third record, Amber, is on its way, thanks to Domino.
Amber's first single, "Good Clean Fun", will get a proper British release on December 5, with a remix by Caribou as the b-side. Because Clearlake is a rock band, a physical, slap-it-in-the-disc-tray U.S. single is not planned.
Subjects of the Queen will wrap their ears `round the full-length on January 16, while us Yankee Doodle dandies have to wait until January 24 to hear these top choons:
01 No Kind of Life
02 Neon
03 Good Clean Fun
04 Finally Free
05 You Can't Have Me
06 Amber
07 I Hate It That I Got What I Wanted
08 Here to Learn
09 Far Away
10 Dreamt That You Died
11 Widescreen
12 It's Getting Light Outside
So what's this new record all about, then? Guitar-slinging, keyboard-plinging frontbloke Jason Pegg says, "The music we were listening to this time was definitely more rock: Queens of the Stone Age, Neil Young, Low, My Bloody Valentine." We're not sure that really qualifies as news-- Clearlake covered Young's "Cinnamon Girl" on a
2001 single, and MBV and Low aren't exactly in another galaxy from Clearlake's sound thus far.
More headline-worthy, perhaps, is the album's production team of Pegg, the well-traveled Steve Osborne (New Order, Happy Mondays), and hot younger knobtweaker Jim Abbiss (Kasabian, Arctic Monkeys), augmented by the nigh-unto-legendary engineer Phil Brown (who's worked with Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix, as well as various other
still-living icons). The stories those guys could tell, if only they could talk...oh, wait, they probably can.
Although founding guitarist and longtime friend of Pegg's Sam Hewitt does play on Amber, he has left the band, according to an otherwise tight-lipped official announcement. We can only hope Hewitt doesn't do anything goofy like break into his former bandmate's apartment and steal stuff to pawn for drug money, but then that might get Clearlake in the tabloids. Recent dates have been played as a trio, and the
band plans to find a replacement by the beginning of their planned February tour. We recommend either Mick Jones from the Clash or Mick Jones from Foreigner.
* Clearlake: http://www.clearlake.uk.com
* Domino: http://www.dominorecordco.us
http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-11/10.shtml#clearlake
and
Elf Power Touring in Support of Forthcoming Album:
Chris Rediske reports:
Neutral Milk Hotel is (presumably) no more, the Apples in Stereo haven't released an album in nearly four years, and though Olivia Tremor Control did play All Tomorrow's Parties (at the behest of the ever-so-convincing Vincent Gallo) and a few subsequent reunion shows, odds on a new OTC album are pretty damn low.
However, years after the demise of the Elephant 6 collective, Elf Power continue to pump out quality records, tour their asses off, and, in the case of Elf Power leader Andrew Rieger, run Orange Twin, a record label and "pedestrian-based eco-village." It's a busy life.
Pitchfork spoke to Rieger via email about Elf Power's current U.S. tour and upcoming full-length, which you probably didn't even know existed. Well, surprise! Rieger says they've just completed recording their as-yet-untitled eighth album, with a lineup that includes multi-instrumentalists Laura Carter and Derek Almstead, bassist Bryan
Poole, guitarist Jimmy Hughes, drummer Josh Lott, John Fernandes of Olivia Tremor Control on violin, Heather McIntosh of Japancakes on cello, and Deanna Varagonna of Lambchop on saxophone. As far as the sound of the new record, Rieger quotes fan comments like "evil gypsy music" and "R.E.M.'s Chronic Town meets Bob Dylan's Desire."
"It's definitely folkier and more orchestrated than the last few Elf Power records," Rieger continues, "though this album still rocks pretty hard at times, in... a face-melting psychedelic manner. There's lots of 12-string acoustic guitar, accordion, cello, and violin arrangements, which gives the tunes somewhat of a rockin' gypsy music flavor." According to Reiger, they're still figuring out which label to release it on, though it should be out in Spring 2006, after which they'll spend the better part of the year touring.
Rieger also set us up with the tracklist for the upcoming record, and since we like you...:
01 Come Lie Down With Me (and Sing My Song)
02 An Old Familiar Scene
03 Rolling Black Water
04 King of Earth
05 Peel Back the Moon, Beware
06 23RD Dream
07 Somewhere Down the River
08 The Spider and the Fly
09 Forming
10 All the World Is Waiting
11 Under the Northern Sky
12 Come Back to the Web
* Elf Power: http://www.elfpower.com
* Orange Twin: http://www.orangetwin.com
http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-11/10.shtml#elfpower
and from band Profiles at MySpace.com:
Clair Voyant are working on a new album titled Lustre.
Classic US-shoegazers Alison's Halo duo Adam and Catherine have reformed under the band name Lochheed.
Bethany Curve are working on their 6th album
Great thanks go to Jen, she knows who she is...
Primal Scream... are currently putting the finishing touches to their new album...
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8359
Richard Ashcroft album details:
Richard Ashcroft has confirmed the details of his third solo album, to be released early next year.
'Keys To The Word' is released on January 23...
Talking exclusively to NME.COM, Ashcroft explained: 'I've been working on it on and off all year, but the main recording of the songs took just a couple of nights.'
The new album's tracklisting is:
'Why Not Nothing?'
'Music Is Power'
'Break the Night With Colour'
'Words Just Get in the Way'
'Keys to the World'
'Sweet Brother Malcolm'
'Cry Til the Morning'
'Why Do Lovers?'
'Simple Song'
'World Keeps Turning'
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8364
and
Gwen Stefani planning No Doubt return:
Gwen Stefani is planning to make another album with No Doubt - despite her success as a solo artist.
The singer, who is currently touring her album 'Love Angel Music Baby' in the US, says she intends to go back into the studio with her band but she doesn't know when at this stage.
She said: "That's the plan. I really didn't know that it would take so long to make 'Love Angel Music Baby'. Then we ended up putting a greatest hits record out and that took up time. We went on tour. It was amazing.
"I never intended for this record to take so long, but I want to ride this wave while it's out there."
The last album the band brought out was 'Rock Steady' three years ago.
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8367
and
Rufus Wainwright album:
Rufus Wainwright will release a new album on 28 November 'Want'
The special edition LP will combine his previous 2 albums 'Want 1'and 'Want 2' plus 2 brand new tracks, a cover of Leonard Cohen's Chelsea Hotel #2 and 'In with The Ladies' co-written with Alex Gifford of the Propellerheads.
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8369
and
Green Day reveal new album plans:
Green Day have revealed that they will be 'taking their time' writing the follow-up to the hugely successful 'American Idiot'.
The band are also still looking at a full length movie version of their seventh LP, and have said that they will not be rushing into making the follow-up.
"We're gonna take our time," singer Billie Joe Armstrong said. "We'll probably start writing after the first of the year and then just regroup. We've gotta take our time - this year was such a big year for us. I think it's a good time to regroup and have good substance to write about instead of hopping into something really fast."
Despite talks of an 'American Idiot' film, the band say that they are unlikely to be appearing in the flick themselves.
"We're gonna make a movie going along the story of 'American Idiot'," drummer Tre Cool told Xfm. "A rock opera. We need to go home, put some thought into it, talk to directors and writers and get the script together, stuff like that. I don't think that I'm going to have to (be in the film), because we're making the movie and I
wouldn't do that to myself."
Armstrong added: "I'm not an actor at all. I'd rather be behind the writing and the production, and leave the acting to the actors."
Bassist Mike Dirnt has also explained how Green Day dealt with the initial criticism after breaking out of the Californian underground scene to a worldwide fanbase.
He said: "We were so busy concentrating on living our lives and touring and working and growing into who we are as a band. You've gotta put the blinders on sometimes and go forward and say 'To hell with what anyone says'. You've just got to move forward and I think, at the end of the day, I'm glad we're here."
http://www.nme.com/news/green-day/21480
and
All star line up for Peaches album:
The electro-clash star reveals all about her new record -
Peaches has roped in a host of stars to feature on her forthcoming third studio album, due out next April.
Queens Of The Stone Age singer Josh Homme, ex-Hole drummer Sam Maloney and '80s songstress Joan Jett all put in an appearance on the follow up to 2003's 'Fatherfucker' along with Canadian singer-songwriter Feist and Electrocute frontwoman Nicole Morier.
Peaches told Rolling Stone: "The track 'Giver' features Josh (Homme) on guitar. There's a solo that I could play but I couldn't play it like Josh. He learned it in a second, and was playing all over it. It's exciting that I'm branching out. I just want to make things harder. I want to go more hardcore. I just want to make things
harder. I want to go more hardcore."
The singer has been working with Beck producer Mickey Petralia in Los Angeles on the as-yet-untitled album.
Earlier sessions of the LP were recorded in her own Berlin studio with Eagles Of Death metal singer Jesse 'The Devil' Hughes.
Other songs set to feature on the record include 'Hankie Code', 'Stick It to the Pimp' and 'Two Guys for Every Girl'.
Of the latter track, she said: "The lyrics are all real dirty about guys getting down with each other, and then I join in. Everybody fantasises about the two-girl thing - to hell! Guys gotta get sexy with each other!"
http://www.nme.com/news/peaches/21459
and
Hives say that's it for 2005:
But they're already getting ready for next year. The Hives have played their last shows for 2005 and will begin recording the follow up to last years 'Tyrannosaurus Hives' at the start of next year.
Speaking during their recent show in Sydney (October 21), frontman Howlin' Pelle Almqvist told the crowd...that the band were now heading home to spend Christmas in Sweden before beginning work on their next album in January.
http://www.nme.com/news/hives/21430
and
The Vines 'back on track':
'Edgier and wilder' third album in the bag. The Vines have overcome the traumas of recent years and completed their third album.
The band have just completed a four-week stint in Sydney's BJB Studios with producer Wayne Connerly, and made an album he says is "edgier and wilder".
The sessions mark a return to action for the band, who looked on the verge of collapse when frontman Craig Nicholls was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome.
"There's a bunch of different styles on this record," Connerly told NME. "He's kind of got a little bit of that space rock stuff but he's also got some really intense wild punk rock, there something very primal about it."
He added: "Then he's got a couple of great Beatles kind of punk rock songs, a bit of sixties beat garage stuff, a couple of really good indie slacker tracks and a bit of soaring pop stuff like that. A few strings. He's always been a really big fan of that lush production, whether it's been obvious in the past."
Working track titles include 'Nothing's Coming', 'Any Sound' and 'Take Me Back'.
And relations within the band are good, says Connerly. "The morale's been really good because they do enjoy recording. It kind of makes it easier for everybody. Craig doesn't really devote himself to the serious issues of the day, he pretty much devotes most of his energy to hiding behind doors and scaring people. It's great to see his eccentric playful side."
However, bass player Patrick Matthews has played a minimal role in the new album, since his side project Youth Group took off.
The album is expected to be released next year, though management have previously gone on record saying that the band will "never" go on a traditional tour again.
http://www.nme.com/news/vines/21426
and
Edith Frost to Release First Album in Four Years
David Maher reports:
2005 has been good to Drag City Records, or maybe it's the other way around. Either way, the label has been putting the "sweet" in "Sweet Home Chicago" all year by releasing albums by highly acclaimed and variously bearded folk-rockers like Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Smog, Six Organs of Admittance, and the Silver Jews.
But there's something missing from this picture. "What is it?" you may ask. Well, aside from David Berman's wife Cassie, there are no women on that list. But have no fear! Edith Frost is returning from a four-year hiatus to play Joanna this year by releasing her fourth album, It's a Game.
The album was recorded with long-time Frost producer Rian Murphy and includes performances by musicians from groups as disparate as Prefuse 73 and The Mekons. Edith becomes eclectic, anyone?. It arrives in stores on November 15, just as Frost's cousin Jack begins to set in on the rest of us. The tracklist is as follows:
01 Emergency
02 It's a Game
03 What's the Use
04 A Mirage
05 Playmate
06 My Lover Won't Call
07 Lucky Charm
08 Larger Than Life
09 Just a Friend
10 If It Weren't for the Words
11 Stars Fading
12 Good to Know
13 Lovin' You Goodbye
* Edith Frost: http://www.edithfrost.com/
* Drag City: http://www.dragcity.com/
http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-11/11.shtml#edithfrost
and
Rose Melberg (ex-Softies/Tiger Trap):
Matthew Solarski reports:
Twee as Fuck! That tasty shibboleth greeted you for five consecutive days last week, thanks to Nitsuh Abebe's exhaustive indie pop history, and now you're struck with the urge to scour eBay for early Sarah seven inches, dust off that old cassette recorder, and cry un-ironically. Why not take a moment to brush up on the present exploits of one of the twee subculture's most crushworthy icons?
Enter Miss Rose Melberg, who played with not one but two of indie pop's seminal acts: Tiger Trap and the Softies. Now solo, Rose... Melberg aims to record her second solo album, the follow-up to 1998's Portola. The as-of-yet untitled full-length will see release sometime in 2006 on NYC's Double Agent, also home to the woefully defunct new-wave revivalists My Favorite.
Those pining for a whiff of Rose's recent musical dabblings can promenade on over to Double Agent's website, where Melberg has offered up a free mp3. The song, which she says was "just something I recorded at home on a whim," is a cover of "The Time Has Come" by elusive British folk singer Anne Briggs. Twee as folk?
* Pitchfork Weekly Feature: Twee As Fuck
* Pitchfork Review: The Softies: Holiday in Rhode Island
* Double Agent: http://www.doubleagentrecords.com
http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-11/04.shtml#rosemelberg
and
Legendary Punk Band X Hit the Road and Exene Exhibit:
Zach Vowell and Amy Phillips report:
After successfully exorcising their well-honed honky-tonk demons by resurrecting their alt-country alter-ego the Knitters for a reunion album and tour, legendary L.A. band X is grabbing guitarist Billy Zoom and painting the town punk... Juliana Hatfield will serve as the jaunt's opening act.
If November 5 is a bad day for some of you out in Cali, there is a slightly less energetic, and definitely less noisy, alternative. The Santa Monica Museum of Art is displaying a selection of X singer Exene Cervenka's approximately 100 journals, plus some "mixed media collages", in an exhibit called "America the Beautiful", which will
be up until November 26. According to the museum's website, the journals contain "rough drafts of songs and personal reflections rendered in a baroque calligraphic script." We hope that means there's dirt about Cervenka's ex-husbands, X bandmate John Doe and actor Viggio Mortensen, hidden somewhere in the exhibit.
There, we've namedropped every band member but the drummer. D.J. Bonebrake:
Doe himself is heading out on a European trek next week, supporting his latest solo album, Forever Hasn't Happened Yet, which came out on Yep Roc in March. Joining him on most dates are fellow singer/songwriters Peter Case (of the Plimsouls) and Michael Weston King (of the Good Sons).
* X: http://www.xtheband.com
http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-11/04.shtml#x
and
Comet Gain Return with New Album on Kill Rock Stars:
David Nadelle reports:
Having evolved from early rumblings of Heavenly-esque workouts, taut British guitar pop, and the odd Northern Soul tribute, Comet Gain has more recently been recording schizophrenic albums reflecting the band's far-flung musical tastes. The group's last two albums, Tigertown Pictures and Realistes took those early tendencies and added sneering toytown political shout-alongs, latent riot grrrl chutzpah, and spoken word poem-songs taken from the misshapen musings of pop addict David Feck. After years of small-time tours with the cream of the British and American indie scenes, the band has finally reached a point where it seems comfortable and confident enough to squirm into any available rabbit hole if it senses too much complacency.
In short, Comet Gain has become an exemplary Kill Rock Stars act. Like those two albums mentioned above, the latest Comet Gain album, City Fallen Leaves, will be released on that label tomorrow, November 8. Here's the tracklist:
01 The Fists in the Pocket
02 Days I Forget to Write Down
03 Daydream Scars
04 Bored Roar
05 Seven Sisters to Silverlake
06 This English Melancholy
07 The Punk Got Fucked
08 The Story of the Vivian Girls
09 Just One More Summer Before I Go
10 Draw a Smile Upon an Egg
11 Fingernailed For You
12 Your Robert!
13 Gone Before We Open Our Eyes
14 Right Now? No
15 The Ballad of a Mix Tape
This is the first of many promised Comet Gain releases to come in the near future. Feck details a number of projects on his rambling press sheet for the new album, including a lost album called Far Out Isn't Far Enough, and a track on a Northern Soul tribute EP tribute out now on Fortuna Pop. Up-and-coming NYC label What's Your Rupture? will release a Comet Gain 12" featuring the songs "Beautiful Despair", "Never Die", and "The White Radiance of Eternity" in December, and Comet Gain/Morrissey/Holly Golightly drummer Woodie Taylor produced the debut album by white-hot Swedish band Love Is All, which will be out on What's Your Rupture? December 12.
* Kill Rock Stars: http://www.killrockstars.com/
http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-11/07.shtml#cometgain
and
Slowdive to Receive Reissue Treatment:
Matthew Solarski reports:
Once upon a time in England, that magical island which birthed the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Stephen Patrick Morrissey and, yes, Ali G, four lads and a lass got together and decided to make guitars glimmer and soar like none had before. They were Slowdive, and over the course of a six-year career, the quintet (in various
incarnations) graced us with three glorious full-lengths and a few EPs, and left a patina which continues to imbue the songcraft of countless contemporary acts.
Though often lumped into the same early-90s shoegaze set that included My Bloody Valentine, Curve, Ride, Chapterhouse, Revolver, and the Boo Radleys, Slowdive was treated as revelation by fans.
People cried at their shows, overcome by the compelling pulchritude of Slowdive's music (and, quite possibly, drugs). Folks still clamor for their rarer releases on eBay, while discussion lists and several fansites remain to tout Slowdive long after they dissolved into Mojave 3 and Monster Movie.
Now, hardly a year after the release of Slowdive's 9.5-rated anthology Catch The Breeze, Sanctuary Records plans to treat `gazers young and old with lavish reissues of each of the band's three celebrated full-lengths. Both Just for a Day and Souvlaki will feature bonus discs compiling sought-after EPs. According to Sanctuary, Just for a Day and the bonus discs have been "re-done", but former Slowdive singer/guitarist Neil Halstead saw no need to tinker with Souvlaki or its follow-up, Pygmalion.
Pygmalion, Slowdive's criminally underrated third and final long-player, is the real reissue treat here, as it has been fetching upwards of $50 on a certain e-auction house. The disc's sparse, ambient soundscapes alienated many, including several members of Slowdive, and precipitated the act's demise. Though dismissed in its day, the haunting ultimate opus has since garnered considerable acclaim, with Pitchfork'a Nitsuh Abebe extolling it as a post-rock cornerstone. So, in a small way, this is Big.
Just for a Day is set for a November 14 release, with the other two following shortly. Until that hallowed date arrives, why not turn your gaze to these delectable tracklistings?:
Just For A Day:
Disc 1:
01 Spanish Air
02 Celia's Dream
03 Catch the Breeze
04 Ballad of Sister Sue
05 Erik's Song
06 Waves
07 Brighter
08 The Sadman
09 Primal
Disc 2:
01 Slowdive
02 Avalyn 1
03 Avalyn 2
04 Morningrise
05 She Calls
06 Losing Today
07 Golden Hair
08 Shine
09 Albatross
10 Catch the Breeze (Peel Session)
11 Song 1 (Peel Session)
12 Golden Hair (Peel Session)
Souvlaki:
Disc 1:
01 Alison
02 Machine Gun
03 40 Days
04 Sing
05 Here She Comes
06 Souvlaki Space Station
07 When the Sun Hits
08 Altogether
09 Melon Yellow
10 Dagger
Disc 2:
01 Some Velvet Morning
02 So Tired
03 Moussaka Chaos
04 In Mind
05 Good Day Sunshine
06 Missing You
07 Country Rain
08 In Mind (Bandulu Mix)
09 In Mind (Reload Mix)
Pygmalion:
01 Rutti
02 Crazy gor You
03 Miranda
04 Trellisaze
05 Cello 07 Visions of La
08 Blue Skied An' Clear
09 All of Us
According to Sanctuary, the reissues were overseen by the members of Slowdive and will feature liner notes penned by Melody Maker and NME scribe Ian Watson. According to me, the reissues will also be fecking brilliant. Believe it.
* Slowdive: www.slowdive.co.uk
http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-11/07.shtml#slowdive
and
Clearlake Prep Third Album:
Jason Toon reports:
When it comes to album titles, Clearlake is a band of few words. The British quartet debuted with 2000's Lido, added a couple of letters for the 2003 follow-up Cedars, and they've recently announced that their third record, Amber, is on its way, thanks to Domino.
Amber's first single, "Good Clean Fun", will get a proper British release on December 5, with a remix by Caribou as the b-side. Because Clearlake is a rock band, a physical, slap-it-in-the-disc-tray U.S. single is not planned.
Subjects of the Queen will wrap their ears `round the full-length on January 16, while us Yankee Doodle dandies have to wait until January 24 to hear these top choons:
01 No Kind of Life
02 Neon
03 Good Clean Fun
04 Finally Free
05 You Can't Have Me
06 Amber
07 I Hate It That I Got What I Wanted
08 Here to Learn
09 Far Away
10 Dreamt That You Died
11 Widescreen
12 It's Getting Light Outside
So what's this new record all about, then? Guitar-slinging, keyboard-plinging frontbloke Jason Pegg says, "The music we were listening to this time was definitely more rock: Queens of the Stone Age, Neil Young, Low, My Bloody Valentine." We're not sure that really qualifies as news-- Clearlake covered Young's "Cinnamon Girl" on a
2001 single, and MBV and Low aren't exactly in another galaxy from Clearlake's sound thus far.
More headline-worthy, perhaps, is the album's production team of Pegg, the well-traveled Steve Osborne (New Order, Happy Mondays), and hot younger knobtweaker Jim Abbiss (Kasabian, Arctic Monkeys), augmented by the nigh-unto-legendary engineer Phil Brown (who's worked with Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix, as well as various other
still-living icons). The stories those guys could tell, if only they could talk...oh, wait, they probably can.
Although founding guitarist and longtime friend of Pegg's Sam Hewitt does play on Amber, he has left the band, according to an otherwise tight-lipped official announcement. We can only hope Hewitt doesn't do anything goofy like break into his former bandmate's apartment and steal stuff to pawn for drug money, but then that might get Clearlake in the tabloids. Recent dates have been played as a trio, and the
band plans to find a replacement by the beginning of their planned February tour. We recommend either Mick Jones from the Clash or Mick Jones from Foreigner.
* Clearlake: http://www.clearlake.uk.com
* Domino: http://www.dominorecordco.us
http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-11/10.shtml#clearlake
and
Elf Power Touring in Support of Forthcoming Album:
Chris Rediske reports:
Neutral Milk Hotel is (presumably) no more, the Apples in Stereo haven't released an album in nearly four years, and though Olivia Tremor Control did play All Tomorrow's Parties (at the behest of the ever-so-convincing Vincent Gallo) and a few subsequent reunion shows, odds on a new OTC album are pretty damn low.
However, years after the demise of the Elephant 6 collective, Elf Power continue to pump out quality records, tour their asses off, and, in the case of Elf Power leader Andrew Rieger, run Orange Twin, a record label and "pedestrian-based eco-village." It's a busy life.
Pitchfork spoke to Rieger via email about Elf Power's current U.S. tour and upcoming full-length, which you probably didn't even know existed. Well, surprise! Rieger says they've just completed recording their as-yet-untitled eighth album, with a lineup that includes multi-instrumentalists Laura Carter and Derek Almstead, bassist Bryan
Poole, guitarist Jimmy Hughes, drummer Josh Lott, John Fernandes of Olivia Tremor Control on violin, Heather McIntosh of Japancakes on cello, and Deanna Varagonna of Lambchop on saxophone. As far as the sound of the new record, Rieger quotes fan comments like "evil gypsy music" and "R.E.M.'s Chronic Town meets Bob Dylan's Desire."
"It's definitely folkier and more orchestrated than the last few Elf Power records," Rieger continues, "though this album still rocks pretty hard at times, in... a face-melting psychedelic manner. There's lots of 12-string acoustic guitar, accordion, cello, and violin arrangements, which gives the tunes somewhat of a rockin' gypsy music flavor." According to Reiger, they're still figuring out which label to release it on, though it should be out in Spring 2006, after which they'll spend the better part of the year touring.
Rieger also set us up with the tracklist for the upcoming record, and since we like you...:
01 Come Lie Down With Me (and Sing My Song)
02 An Old Familiar Scene
03 Rolling Black Water
04 King of Earth
05 Peel Back the Moon, Beware
06 23RD Dream
07 Somewhere Down the River
08 The Spider and the Fly
09 Forming
10 All the World Is Waiting
11 Under the Northern Sky
12 Come Back to the Web
* Elf Power: http://www.elfpower.com
* Orange Twin: http://www.orangetwin.com
http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-11/10.shtml#elfpower
and from band Profiles at MySpace.com:
Clair Voyant are working on a new album titled Lustre.
Classic US-shoegazers Alison's Halo duo Adam and Catherine have reformed under the band name Lochheed.
Bethany Curve are working on their 6th album
Great thanks go to Jen, she knows who she is...
dimanche, novembre 06, 2005
Some more music news
Music News about Belle & Sebastian, The Strokes, Melissa Auf der Mar, Beth Orton, Morrissey, Kate Bush, Mojave 3, Th' Faith Healers, Queens of the Stone Age, The Rentals, and Neko Case:
Belle & Sebastian new album
Belle & Sebastian have named their new album 'The Life Pursuit'.
The follow-up to 2003's Mercury-nominated 'Dear Catastrophe Waitress' is out on February 6.
The spent the summer in Los Angeles' Sunset Sound studios with Beck producer Tony Hoffer working on the record.
Singer Stuart Murdoch told NME the seven-piece group threw out their regular instruments as part of the writing process for the new album.
He revealed: "The process of making the record has been amazing. The last record had quite a few older songs on it because we were working with Trevor (Horn) and we wanted to give them a proper go with big arrangements. This record is all new songs - 18 of them - so it's all very current. It's us pretty much writing in a circle and writing within the group."
Working titles include 'Song For Sunshine', 'Funny Little Frog', 'Sukie In The Graveyard', 'Another Sunny Day', 'Act Of The Apostle Part I' and 'A White Collared Boy'.
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8218
The Strokes confirm album tracks
The Strokes have confirmed the tracks set for inclusion on their eagerly awaited third album, 'First Impressions Of Earth'.
The LP is set to feature 14 songs and is currently scheduled for a January 9 UK release.
The track list for the album is currently unsequenced but The Strokes' 'First Impressions Of Earth' will feature:
'You Only Live Once'
'Juicebox'
'Heart In a Cage'
'Razorblade'
'On the Other Side'
'Vision of Division'
'Ask Me Anything'
'Electricityscape'
'Killing Lies'
'Fear of Sleep'
'Evening Sun'
'Ize of the World'
'15 Minutes'
'Red Light'
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8260
Auf der Maur new album
After releasing her first solo album last year and touring non-stop all year, Melissa Auf der Maur is getting to work on her sophomore effort and bringing in an old friend to lend a hand.
Billy Corgan will write with the Canadian bassist in Chicago. "It's really symbolic for me to have this opportunity with Billy, who is one of my main musical mentors," Auf der Maur tells Rolling Stone.
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8271
Beth Orton calls on Sonic Youth
Beth Orton is due to release her fourth studio album 'Comfort Of Strangers' next February.
The 14 track LP was recorded at New York's Sear Sound studio and produced by Sonic Youth guitarist and bassist Jim O'Rourke.
The album features Orton on guitar, piano and harmonica along with O'Rourke on bass, piano and marimba and the esteemed American percussionist Tim Barnes on drums.
'Comfort Of Strangers' is out on general release on February 13th 2006.
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8278
Morrissey album release
...further details about his forthcoming album "Ringleader Of The Tormentors".
The singer...is currently mixing the follow up to 'You Are The Quarry' in Rome with producer Tony Visconti...
...speaking about the sessions on his own website, Visconti wrote: "I am two thirds of the way through one of the best albums I've ever worked on, with not only Morrissey at his best, but the plot has twists and turns which somehow involve film composer Ennio Morricone and an Italian children's choir.
"Not only is this a departure in his writing (my opinion) but he has extended his vocal range and has written extended melodies."
'You Are The Quarry' marked Morrissey's first album since 1997's 'Maladjusted' and received a rapturous worldwide reception.
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8282
Kate Bush talks at last
Kate Bush will speak in her first broadcast interview for more than 12 years this Friday (November 4).
The singer, who has been absent from the music scene in recent years, will break her silence in a special interview on BBC Radio 4's Front Row at 7.15pm.
She talks openly about avoiding the media, her frustration at completing her first album - Aerial - in more than 10 years and motherhood.
Bush tells John Wilson: "I'm very opinionated. I'm horrible to work with; I'm so fussy and picky. What's good is that I know what I want. It's when you don't know what you want that you're in trouble.
"There were so many times I thought I wasn't going to have the energy to see it (the album) through. I knew I couldn't go on any longer or it would have killed me. I was so fed up making it."
The reclusive artist reveals that she was only able to make a new album, her first since 'The Red Shoes' in 1993, because she has a studio at home and it was still a struggle to juggle the demands of music and motherhood.
She added: "I wanted to give as much time as I could to my son. I love being with him, he's a lovely little boy and he won't be little for very long. I felt my work could wait whereas his growing up couldn't."
On being a recluse she went on: "I am a private person, but I don't think I'm obsessively so. It's more that I choose to try and have a normal a life as possible. I don't like to live in a glare of publicity.
"My creative process was very time consuming and comes from a very quiet place... people seem to find that weird and strange, but its common sense really."
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8280
Mojave 3 news
There's been a dearth of Mojave 3 news to report this year, but thankfully that drought appears to be ending. Neil Halstead has provided Mojave3online.com with a sneak preview MP3 from what will be the new M3 album, due out hopefully around March of next year. Says Neil:
"Trk is called "Big star baby" and will be on the new record. The version I'm sending is a rough version of the tune and is really a moniter mix, but we hope you like it
The record is coming on good now. We have got Victor Van Vugt to mix the record for us. He's worked with Beth Orton, Nick Cave and a few others. The mixes he's done so far sound awesome ( he hasn't mixed big star yet)...way better than the mixes we were doing..were having a few problems in the studio in cornwall. There was a mouse invasion over the summer and we never quite recovered".
Seeing as how it's still an early mix, it's probably premature to review the track in too great depth, but it's a compact, jaunty number that wouldn't have sounded out of place on Out Of Tune - it's certainly poppier than your typical Mojave 3 track.
http://www.chromewaves.net/
Th' Faith Healers Peel Sessions Due
Jessica Suarez reports:
Forget the burning out vs. fading away argument for a second. Some bands just quit the game because they have other things they want to do. British dreamcore four-piece Th' Faith Healers were the first band signed to Too Pure Records, but they split up in 1994 after releasing just two albums and a few singles and EPs.
Calling it quits might have seemed a good idea at the time, as their Krautrock-influenced sound was out of place back in those Britpop-saturated days. Plus, members went on to form Quickspace, photograph the cover of My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, and perform tree surgery, among other things. (You know your parents are always prouder to have a surgeon in the family than a musician.)
On November 15, Ba Da Bing! Records will release Th' Faith Healers' Peel Sessions, collecting four previously unreleased sessions recorded between 1992 and 1994 on the legendary DJ's radio show. It features a couple of unlikely cover choices: Abba's "S.O.S." and Badfinger's "Without You".
Th' tracklist:
01 Hippy Hole
02 This Time
03 Reptile Smile
04 S.O.S.
05 My Loser
06 Moona Inna Joona
07 I'm Ready
08 Get the F**k Out Of My Face
09 See Saw
10 Bulkhead
11 Sparklingly Chime
12 Serge
13 Ooh La La
14 Curly Lips
15 New Number Two
16 Without You
* Th' Faith Healers (fan site):
http://homepage.univie.ac.at/horst.prillinger/healers/
* Ba Da Bing!: http://www.badabingrecords.com/
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-11/01.shtml#thfaithhealers
span style="font-weight:bold;">Queens of the Stone Age Prep Live DVD/CD
Caroline Bermudez reports:
Lots of bands have recorded live sets in London: The Carpenters, Billy Ocean, and Kelly Osbourne to name an illustrious few. On November 22, Queens of the Stone Age will join the club with a DVD/CD package entitled Over the Years and Through the Woods.
Filmed during two night of performances at London's Brixton Academy back in August, the two-disc set includes rarities (like early track "The Bronze" and "The Fun Machine Took a Shit and Died", which was cut from Lullabies to Paralyze), songs from bandleader Josh Homme's side project the Desert Sessions ("I Wanna Make It Wit Chu"
and "Covered in Punk's Blood"), behind the scenes footage, and interviews with the band.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Homme said of "Fun Machine": "It sounds like a circus -- like you won stuff at a carnival. The tapes got lost. Actually, they were just at another studio, but we falsely accused everyone in the world of theft." If you were a member of Sonic Youth or the Brian Jonestown Massacre, you'd accuse everyone of theft, too.
Tracklist:
01 This Lullaby
02 Go With the Flow
03 Feel Good Hit of the Summer
04 The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret
05 Regular John
06 Song for the Deaf
07 Avon
08 Little Sister
09 You Can't Quit Me, Baby
10 I Wanna Make It Wit Chu
11 Monsters in the Parasol
12 The Fun Machine Took a Shit and Died
13 Mexicola
14 Burn the Witch
15 Covered in Punk's Blood
16 I Think I Lost My Headache
17 Song for the Dead
18 I Never Came
19 No One Knows
20 Long Slow Goodbye
21 The Bronze
22 Better Living Through Chemistry
23 Auto Pilot
24 Precious and Grace
25 First It Giveth
26 You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire
27 How to Handle a Rope
28 Quick and to the Pointless
29 God is in the Radio
30 Hanging Tree
* Queens of the Stone Age: http://www.qotsa.com/
The Rentals Return (Again)
Rob Kleckner reports:
Remember the Rentals? No? You know, that mid-90s one-hit-wonder "Friends of P"? "If you're friends with P / Then you're friends with me"? Still doesn't ring a bell? In that case, you probably won't care about any of this. Unless, of course, you like WEEZER.
Ah, we knew that would grab your attention. See, the Rentals were the side project of former Weezer bassist Matt Sharp, who left after the 1996 =W= album Pinkerton. The band included a revolving cast of characters including actress Maya Rudolph (you know, from "Saturday Night Live") and Petra Haden (formerly of That Dog, currently of the Decemberists). The Rentals put out two LPs, Return of the Rentals in 1995 and Seven More Minutes in 1999. And now they're returning again.
Last week, the band announced their comeback with the launch of their new website, which commemorates the ten-year anniversary of the release of their debut album. (Aren't we all about tenth anniversaries here at Pitchfork today?) The site intends to offer everything you always wanted to know about the Rentals but were afraid to ask. Or something like that.
According to said site, "THE BAND IS CURRENTLY IN LOS ANGELES WRITING, REHEARSING, AND PREPARING TO RECORD THEIR 3rd STUDIO ALBUM." While no definite plans are set for that album, the band hopes to have one on shelves by the end of 2006.
We realize the band hails from 1995, but does the website really have to look that way?!
* The Rentals: http://www.therentals.com/
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-10/31.shtml#rentals
Neko Case Brings the Flood on New Album
Caroline Bermudez reports:
Sitting in a bar at three AM with other lonely souls. Taking an unfamiliar detour and winding up frighteningly lost. Nursing heartbreak under moonlight-- Neko Case's voice was made for these scenarios. The flame-haired songstress is alt-country's dark heart, the wild woman who has seen too much and will never completely reveal herself to you.
We'll get another crack at her mysteries come March 7, 2006, when Anti- will release Case's fifth solo album, Fox Confessor Brings The Flood. Produced by Case and longtime associate Darryl Neudorf, the album features a number of her previous partners in noir-drenched crime, including fellow chanteuse Kelly Hogan, country-garage rockers the Sadies, Giant Sand's Howe Gelb, and Calexico's Joey Burns and John Convertino. Rachel Flotard of Seattle pop-punks Visqueen, former Flat Duo Jet Dexter Romweber, and the legendary Garth Hudson of The Band also appear. Maybe they should have just gone ahead and called this album We Are the Alt-Country World.
The album apparently blends 60s pop sheen with Case's trademark lugubrious country sound. Says Case about Fox: "I recorded the album intermittently over the past couple years. With each record, you think you've figured it out, but once you get into the studio, you realize there's always more to learn. But I feel like we managed to get all my ideas to tape." She added, "I feel really good about this album." But really, who is going to admit that they feel bad about their upcoming album?
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-10/27.shtml#nekocase
Belle & Sebastian new album
Belle & Sebastian have named their new album 'The Life Pursuit'.
The follow-up to 2003's Mercury-nominated 'Dear Catastrophe Waitress' is out on February 6.
The spent the summer in Los Angeles' Sunset Sound studios with Beck producer Tony Hoffer working on the record.
Singer Stuart Murdoch told NME the seven-piece group threw out their regular instruments as part of the writing process for the new album.
He revealed: "The process of making the record has been amazing. The last record had quite a few older songs on it because we were working with Trevor (Horn) and we wanted to give them a proper go with big arrangements. This record is all new songs - 18 of them - so it's all very current. It's us pretty much writing in a circle and writing within the group."
Working titles include 'Song For Sunshine', 'Funny Little Frog', 'Sukie In The Graveyard', 'Another Sunny Day', 'Act Of The Apostle Part I' and 'A White Collared Boy'.
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8218
The Strokes confirm album tracks
The Strokes have confirmed the tracks set for inclusion on their eagerly awaited third album, 'First Impressions Of Earth'.
The LP is set to feature 14 songs and is currently scheduled for a January 9 UK release.
The track list for the album is currently unsequenced but The Strokes' 'First Impressions Of Earth' will feature:
'You Only Live Once'
'Juicebox'
'Heart In a Cage'
'Razorblade'
'On the Other Side'
'Vision of Division'
'Ask Me Anything'
'Electricityscape'
'Killing Lies'
'Fear of Sleep'
'Evening Sun'
'Ize of the World'
'15 Minutes'
'Red Light'
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8260
Auf der Maur new album
After releasing her first solo album last year and touring non-stop all year, Melissa Auf der Maur is getting to work on her sophomore effort and bringing in an old friend to lend a hand.
Billy Corgan will write with the Canadian bassist in Chicago. "It's really symbolic for me to have this opportunity with Billy, who is one of my main musical mentors," Auf der Maur tells Rolling Stone.
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8271
Beth Orton calls on Sonic Youth
Beth Orton is due to release her fourth studio album 'Comfort Of Strangers' next February.
The 14 track LP was recorded at New York's Sear Sound studio and produced by Sonic Youth guitarist and bassist Jim O'Rourke.
The album features Orton on guitar, piano and harmonica along with O'Rourke on bass, piano and marimba and the esteemed American percussionist Tim Barnes on drums.
'Comfort Of Strangers' is out on general release on February 13th 2006.
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8278
Morrissey album release
...further details about his forthcoming album "Ringleader Of The Tormentors".
The singer...is currently mixing the follow up to 'You Are The Quarry' in Rome with producer Tony Visconti...
...speaking about the sessions on his own website, Visconti wrote: "I am two thirds of the way through one of the best albums I've ever worked on, with not only Morrissey at his best, but the plot has twists and turns which somehow involve film composer Ennio Morricone and an Italian children's choir.
"Not only is this a departure in his writing (my opinion) but he has extended his vocal range and has written extended melodies."
'You Are The Quarry' marked Morrissey's first album since 1997's 'Maladjusted' and received a rapturous worldwide reception.
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8282
Kate Bush talks at last
Kate Bush will speak in her first broadcast interview for more than 12 years this Friday (November 4).
The singer, who has been absent from the music scene in recent years, will break her silence in a special interview on BBC Radio 4's Front Row at 7.15pm.
She talks openly about avoiding the media, her frustration at completing her first album - Aerial - in more than 10 years and motherhood.
Bush tells John Wilson: "I'm very opinionated. I'm horrible to work with; I'm so fussy and picky. What's good is that I know what I want. It's when you don't know what you want that you're in trouble.
"There were so many times I thought I wasn't going to have the energy to see it (the album) through. I knew I couldn't go on any longer or it would have killed me. I was so fed up making it."
The reclusive artist reveals that she was only able to make a new album, her first since 'The Red Shoes' in 1993, because she has a studio at home and it was still a struggle to juggle the demands of music and motherhood.
She added: "I wanted to give as much time as I could to my son. I love being with him, he's a lovely little boy and he won't be little for very long. I felt my work could wait whereas his growing up couldn't."
On being a recluse she went on: "I am a private person, but I don't think I'm obsessively so. It's more that I choose to try and have a normal a life as possible. I don't like to live in a glare of publicity.
"My creative process was very time consuming and comes from a very quiet place... people seem to find that weird and strange, but its common sense really."
http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?nItemID=8280
Mojave 3 news
There's been a dearth of Mojave 3 news to report this year, but thankfully that drought appears to be ending. Neil Halstead has provided Mojave3online.com with a sneak preview MP3 from what will be the new M3 album, due out hopefully around March of next year. Says Neil:
"Trk is called "Big star baby" and will be on the new record. The version I'm sending is a rough version of the tune and is really a moniter mix, but we hope you like it
The record is coming on good now. We have got Victor Van Vugt to mix the record for us. He's worked with Beth Orton, Nick Cave and a few others. The mixes he's done so far sound awesome ( he hasn't mixed big star yet)...way better than the mixes we were doing..were having a few problems in the studio in cornwall. There was a mouse invasion over the summer and we never quite recovered".
Seeing as how it's still an early mix, it's probably premature to review the track in too great depth, but it's a compact, jaunty number that wouldn't have sounded out of place on Out Of Tune - it's certainly poppier than your typical Mojave 3 track.
http://www.chromewaves.net/
Th' Faith Healers Peel Sessions Due
Jessica Suarez reports:
Forget the burning out vs. fading away argument for a second. Some bands just quit the game because they have other things they want to do. British dreamcore four-piece Th' Faith Healers were the first band signed to Too Pure Records, but they split up in 1994 after releasing just two albums and a few singles and EPs.
Calling it quits might have seemed a good idea at the time, as their Krautrock-influenced sound was out of place back in those Britpop-saturated days. Plus, members went on to form Quickspace, photograph the cover of My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, and perform tree surgery, among other things. (You know your parents are always prouder to have a surgeon in the family than a musician.)
On November 15, Ba Da Bing! Records will release Th' Faith Healers' Peel Sessions, collecting four previously unreleased sessions recorded between 1992 and 1994 on the legendary DJ's radio show. It features a couple of unlikely cover choices: Abba's "S.O.S." and Badfinger's "Without You".
Th' tracklist:
01 Hippy Hole
02 This Time
03 Reptile Smile
04 S.O.S.
05 My Loser
06 Moona Inna Joona
07 I'm Ready
08 Get the F**k Out Of My Face
09 See Saw
10 Bulkhead
11 Sparklingly Chime
12 Serge
13 Ooh La La
14 Curly Lips
15 New Number Two
16 Without You
* Th' Faith Healers (fan site):
http://homepage.univie.ac.at/horst.prillinger/healers/
* Ba Da Bing!: http://www.badabingrecords.com/
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-11/01.shtml#thfaithhealers
span style="font-weight:bold;">Queens of the Stone Age Prep Live DVD/CD
Caroline Bermudez reports:
Lots of bands have recorded live sets in London: The Carpenters, Billy Ocean, and Kelly Osbourne to name an illustrious few. On November 22, Queens of the Stone Age will join the club with a DVD/CD package entitled Over the Years and Through the Woods.
Filmed during two night of performances at London's Brixton Academy back in August, the two-disc set includes rarities (like early track "The Bronze" and "The Fun Machine Took a Shit and Died", which was cut from Lullabies to Paralyze), songs from bandleader Josh Homme's side project the Desert Sessions ("I Wanna Make It Wit Chu"
and "Covered in Punk's Blood"), behind the scenes footage, and interviews with the band.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Homme said of "Fun Machine": "It sounds like a circus -- like you won stuff at a carnival. The tapes got lost. Actually, they were just at another studio, but we falsely accused everyone in the world of theft." If you were a member of Sonic Youth or the Brian Jonestown Massacre, you'd accuse everyone of theft, too.
Tracklist:
01 This Lullaby
02 Go With the Flow
03 Feel Good Hit of the Summer
04 The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret
05 Regular John
06 Song for the Deaf
07 Avon
08 Little Sister
09 You Can't Quit Me, Baby
10 I Wanna Make It Wit Chu
11 Monsters in the Parasol
12 The Fun Machine Took a Shit and Died
13 Mexicola
14 Burn the Witch
15 Covered in Punk's Blood
16 I Think I Lost My Headache
17 Song for the Dead
18 I Never Came
19 No One Knows
20 Long Slow Goodbye
21 The Bronze
22 Better Living Through Chemistry
23 Auto Pilot
24 Precious and Grace
25 First It Giveth
26 You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire
27 How to Handle a Rope
28 Quick and to the Pointless
29 God is in the Radio
30 Hanging Tree
* Queens of the Stone Age: http://www.qotsa.com/
The Rentals Return (Again)
Rob Kleckner reports:
Remember the Rentals? No? You know, that mid-90s one-hit-wonder "Friends of P"? "If you're friends with P / Then you're friends with me"? Still doesn't ring a bell? In that case, you probably won't care about any of this. Unless, of course, you like WEEZER.
Ah, we knew that would grab your attention. See, the Rentals were the side project of former Weezer bassist Matt Sharp, who left after the 1996 =W= album Pinkerton. The band included a revolving cast of characters including actress Maya Rudolph (you know, from "Saturday Night Live") and Petra Haden (formerly of That Dog, currently of the Decemberists). The Rentals put out two LPs, Return of the Rentals in 1995 and Seven More Minutes in 1999. And now they're returning again.
Last week, the band announced their comeback with the launch of their new website, which commemorates the ten-year anniversary of the release of their debut album. (Aren't we all about tenth anniversaries here at Pitchfork today?) The site intends to offer everything you always wanted to know about the Rentals but were afraid to ask. Or something like that.
According to said site, "THE BAND IS CURRENTLY IN LOS ANGELES WRITING, REHEARSING, AND PREPARING TO RECORD THEIR 3rd STUDIO ALBUM." While no definite plans are set for that album, the band hopes to have one on shelves by the end of 2006.
We realize the band hails from 1995, but does the website really have to look that way?!
* The Rentals: http://www.therentals.com/
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-10/31.shtml#rentals
Neko Case Brings the Flood on New Album
Caroline Bermudez reports:
Sitting in a bar at three AM with other lonely souls. Taking an unfamiliar detour and winding up frighteningly lost. Nursing heartbreak under moonlight-- Neko Case's voice was made for these scenarios. The flame-haired songstress is alt-country's dark heart, the wild woman who has seen too much and will never completely reveal herself to you.
We'll get another crack at her mysteries come March 7, 2006, when Anti- will release Case's fifth solo album, Fox Confessor Brings The Flood. Produced by Case and longtime associate Darryl Neudorf, the album features a number of her previous partners in noir-drenched crime, including fellow chanteuse Kelly Hogan, country-garage rockers the Sadies, Giant Sand's Howe Gelb, and Calexico's Joey Burns and John Convertino. Rachel Flotard of Seattle pop-punks Visqueen, former Flat Duo Jet Dexter Romweber, and the legendary Garth Hudson of The Band also appear. Maybe they should have just gone ahead and called this album We Are the Alt-Country World.
The album apparently blends 60s pop sheen with Case's trademark lugubrious country sound. Says Case about Fox: "I recorded the album intermittently over the past couple years. With each record, you think you've figured it out, but once you get into the studio, you realize there's always more to learn. But I feel like we managed to get all my ideas to tape." She added, "I feel really good about this album." But really, who is going to admit that they feel bad about their upcoming album?
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-10/27.shtml#nekocase
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