An unexpected offering from Manic Street Preachers! The Welsh band, in a classic hype move, suggested they were struggling for new material and would not be releasing material in the foreseeable future. That was all hoodwinking , as the guys are back with a new track International Blue! It is the first single from the forthcoming L.P., “Resistance Is Futile”, but is certainly promising good things!
There was a time when sweet, beautiful, special and talented girls dominated the world, spreading perfect love songs, songs that became true hymns, the magical phase of the 60’s Girl Groups. This collection of versions rescues this magic with love in the first place !!
My special thanks to all the bands that are part of the project and of course, all those great girls who will always be in our hearts. This is the last TBTCI project of this magical 2017
(Sandy) Alex G is one of those artists who dumps dozens of lo-fi albums on Bandcamp, but few catch the spotlight the way he has over the last three years — and deservedly so given the musical growth visible on his latest album Rocket, proving those “prodigy” tags slapped on him back then weren’t over-exaggerated hype.
On its surface, Rocket is a vaguely Americana record where he finally sheds Elliott Smith comparisons for those of Cassadaga-era Bright Eyes, but it’s the experimental tracks. On Rocket, he steps past the Elliott Smith comparisons and into an unsuspected combination of beautiful Americana-evoking tunes often fit with strings (“Proud,” “Bobby,” “Powerful Man”) and left-field instrumentals that vary between hardcore freak-outs (“Brick”) and restless, wild fits (“Horse”). What some might find discombobulated is one cohesive vision in the mind of Alex Giannascoli. A guy-next-door songwriter so brilliant and special that Frank Ocean nabbed his talents for both Endless and Blonde, Giannascoli tells tales that aren’t always relatable and might only make sense to him, but still somehow feel like home.
SIDE A 1. Change My Mind (0:01– 2:40) * 2. Kicker (2:39 – 5:28) * 3. New (5:31 – 8:45) 4. Joy (8:49 – 13:30) 5. Child’s Play (13:34 – 15:49) 6. Promise (15:50 – 19:19) 7. Trash (19:25 – 22:08) 8. Trade (22:10 – 23:26) 9. After Ur Gone (23:28 – 25:47) * 10. Mud (25:56 – 27:44) * 11. Mary (27:48 – 31:02) 12. Bug (31:05 – 33:46) 13. Kara (33:47 – 36:49) 14. Clouds (36:52 – 39:14) 15. Salt (39:18 – 43:55) *
SIDE B 16. Soaker (43:59 – 45:37) 17. Sorry (45:39 – 48:20) 18. Nintendo 64 (48:23 – 51:00) 19. Hollow (51:02 – 55:07) * 20. Skating (55:08 – 57:40) ** 21. Memory (57:41 – 1:00:32) * 22. Tie Me Down (The Skin Cells) (1:00:35 – 1:02:58) 23. Scar Tattoo (1:03:01 – 1:06:04) 24. Sarah (1:06:06 – 1:08:57) 25. Snot (1:09:01 – 1:14:00) * 26. Sandy (1:14:03 – 1:16:42) 27. Break (1:16:46 – 1:19:41) ** 28. In Love (1:19:42 – 1:23:11) ** 29. Waiting For You (1:23:15 – 1:26:43) ** 30. Mis (1:26:49 – 1:30:05) ** 31. Change (1:30:06 – 1:32:08) ** 32. Explain (1:32:11 – 1:33:45) 33. Message (1:33:46 – 1:36:30) * 34. Clouds (1:36:32 – 1:38:55) 35. Go Away (1:38:56 – 1:39:55)
Ratboys have always been a good band. But, with GN, they became a great one. The way in which they blend alt-country with buzzy, borderline pop-punk shouldn’t work, but it totally does. Julia sings and plays guitar Dave does everything else. I didn’t think it was possible to top their debut album, but their growth is hard to ignore on their second release. This album peels off its layers bit by bit with every listen. Ratboys combines folksy roots, guitar rifts, and uncommon lyricism with a mesmerizing lead. Among one of my favorite albums of the year, easily
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One of the most important groups in the development of the Apple label, were Beatles protégés Badfinger, who released their second album under that band name, No Dice, in the UK on 27th November 1970.
The band had made their debut on Apple when they were still named the Iveys, with 1969’s ‘Maybe Tomorrow,’ co-produced by the up-and-coming Tony Visconti and Beatles sideman Mal Evans. After renaming themselves Badfinger, they released the Magic Christian Music album early in 1970, which contained their major hit single ‘Come And Get It,’ written and produced by Paul McCartney.
They followed that towards the end of the year with No Dice, which was notable for including both their second hit 45 ‘No Matter What’ and the original version of ‘Without You,’ which would be turned into a global hit in 1972 by Harry Nilsson.
No Dice was the album on which guitarist Joey Molland joined the Badfinger line-up as replacement for Ron Griffiths. While Ham was the major writing contributor (penning ‘No Matter What’ and other tracks), Molland co-wrote four tracks on the record. Evans shared production duties with another Beatles collaborator, Geoff Emerick.
Oddly, Badfinger not only missed the UK chart with No Dice, but never made the album listings at all in their native country. In America, though, where Magic Christian Music had reached No. 55 in a respectable 17-week run, the album went as high as No. 28, with 15 weeks on the chart, the band’s best-ever ranking. After the No. 7 success of ‘Come And Get It,’ ‘No Matter What’ followed it into the top ten, at No. 8. single.
Following the acclaimed 2CD and digital collection 1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow, released in June, The Beach Boys have released two new digital collections through Capitol/UMe: 1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow 2 and Live Sunshine – 1967.
Both these new collections reveal more of the legendary band’s pivotal 1967 creative work in the studio and onstage. 1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow 2: The Studio Sessions presents 29 studio recordings and Live Sunshine – 1967 features 109 live recordings, most of which are previously unreleased.
1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow, 1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow 2: The Studio Sessions, and Live Sunshine – 1967 dive deep into a fascinating and frenetic chapter in The Beach Boys’ long, groundbreaking creative arc, exploring the band’s dynamic year through their recordings. The Beach Boys have personally overseen the creative process for the three collections, which are produced by Mark Linnet and Alan Boyd.
1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow as “remarkable,” saying, “These recordings make it possible to hear The Beach Boys simultaneously as the moody pop geniuses of Pet Sounds and the fresh-faced surf-rockin’ teens from Hawthorne, California.”
1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow featured Linett and Boyd’s new, first-ever stereo mix of The Beach Boys’ 1967 Wild Honey album, and all three collections throw open the legendary band’s vault to debut sought-after rarities 50 years after they were put to tape. Previously unreleased highlights across the titles include The Beach Boys’ shelved “live” album, Lei’d In Hawaii, studio recordings from the Wild Honey and Smiley Smile album sessions, and stand-out concert recordings spanning 1967 to 1970. Wild Honey’s 2017 stereo mix is also available in a 180g vinyl 50th-anniversary edition.
The Beach Boys’ final studio session for the shelved SMiLE album took place on 18th May 1967, with Smiley Smile album sessions booked at Brian Wilson’s new home studio from 3rd June through to the end of July. The band’s 12th and 13th studio albums were released exactly three months apart to cap the year’s studio efforts: Smiley Smile on 18th September, followed by Wild Honey on 18th December.
For the Smiley Smile sessions, “I wanted to have a home environment trip where we could record at my house,” recalls Brian Wilson in the liner notes for 1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow. “I wanted to try something different, something new. I produced Smiley Smile, but Mike [Love] inspired me. He said, ‘Brian, let’s make a really good, easygoing album.’ We had an engineer convert my den into a studio. We had my piano detuned to make it ring more.”
“Just prior to that, Brian had built up this production peak and then just completely reversed field, and [for Smiley Smile] did something so light and airy, and y’know, easy,” explains Mike Love. “That was an underground album, I figure, for us. It was completely out of the mainstream of what was going on at that time, which was all hard rock, psychedelic music, and here we come with a song called ‘Wind Chimes’. It just didn’t have anything to do with what was going on – and that was the idea.”
“Times were changing,” adds Al Jardine. “We were happy to put our musical skills to work. We didn’t have to look at the clock; there was virtually 24-hour availability to experiment.”
On 25th and 26th August 1967, The Beach Boys (with Bruce Johnston absent, but with Brian Wilson on organ for his first concert appearances with the band in more than two years) recorded two concerts and rehearsals in Honolulu for a prospective live album to be titled Lei’d In Hawaii, applying a new Smiley Smile-inspired aesthetic to the performances. Just over two weeks later, the band (with both Brian and Bruce participating) began re-recording the live set in-studio at Brian’s house and at Wally Heider Recording in Hollywood, after the Honolulu concert tapes were deemed unusable. Though completed and mixed, the final planned audio element of a canned concert audience was not added and the Lei’d In Hawaii project was canceled. Those live, in-studio performances morphed into sessions for the Wild Honey album, primarily comprised of original Brian Wilson and Mike Love compositions.
Two days after wrapping the Wild Honey sessions on 15th November 1967, Mike Love, Carl and Dennis Wilson, Al Jardine and Bruce Johnston returned to the road for The Beach Boys’ Thanksgiving Tour, premiering several songs from the forthcoming album at their concerts.
Inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1988, and recipients of The Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award, The Beach Boys are a beloved American institution that remains iconic around the world.
The 1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow 2: The Studio Sessions and Live Sunshine – 1967 are available digitally now.
Without doubt, 2017 has been a year that, though yielding some phenomenal music, also put some serious effort into killing off too many of our rock ‘n roll heroes.
The wonderful thing about records is that, no matter how many musicians we lose, when they go, or how their work changed over time, we’ll always have those vital, tangible slabs of wax cut deep with the songs that have defined and soundtracked our lives.
As we head into the final few weeks of December, do us (and yourself) a favor and revisit some of your favorite records, whether from this year or three decades past.
Those records brought you here, they keep us here, and we’re pretty sure they’ll still be here when we’re long gone.
Limited Edition Electric Ladyland [Redux] 4 Panel 2 Disc DigiPak.
DISC 1
1. AND THE GODS MADE LOVE – ELEPHANT TREE
2. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN (TO ELECTRIC LADYLAND) – OPEN HAND
3. CROSSTOWN TRAFFIC – SUPERCHIEF
4. VOODOO CHILE – ALL THEM WITCHES
5. LITTLE MISS STRANGE – ORIGAMI HORSES
6. LONG HOT SUMMER NIGHT – THE HEAVY EYES
7. COME ON (LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL) – EARTHLESS
8. GYPSY EYES – WO FAT
9. BURNING OF THE MIDNIGHT LAMP – MOS GENERATOR
DISC 2
1. RAINY DAY, DREAM AWAY – GOZU
2. 1983…(A MERMAN I SHOULD TURN TO BE) – SUMMONER
3. MOON, TURN THE TIDES… GENTLY GENTLY AWAY – CLAYMATION
4. STILL RAINING, STILL DREAMING – MOTHERSHIP
5. HOUSE BURNING DOWN – KING BUFFALO
6. ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER – TUNGA MOLN
7. VOODOO CHILD (SLIGHT RETURN) – ELDER
The Big Moon have revealed a new video for ‘Happy New Year’, taken from their debut album ‘Love in The 4th Dimension’. The indie band (and some tiny doppelgängers) hit the dancefloor in the new clip
The clip features the Mercury-nominated indie group taking part in some choreographed dancing – before long, though, they’re joined by some miniature versions of themselves, as well as a whole bunch of other fun-loving kids. Check out the nostalgic, heartwarming . The Big Moon’s debut album ‘Love In The 4th Dimension’ was recently rated as one of albums of the year in 2017. Speaking on the red carpet for the Mercury Prize, the band also confirmed that they’ve been thinking about their follow-up.
Bassist Celia Archer revealed that they’ve had “lots of thoughts, some formed thoughts, some solid thoughts that are really great” about their new record. “It is going to happen,” frontwoman Juliette Jackson added. “I’m not gonna say what it is or anything because it doesn’t exist yet, so you’re going to have to wait and see.”
N.Y.C. blues-punk combo Boss Hog was helmed by the husband-and-wife team of singer Cristina Martinez and singer/guitarist Jon Spencer. If you like your blues rough, devilish, dirty and burning as hell you’ll be as ecstatic
about the spectacular return of Boss Hog. After 16 years this glowing gang featuring legendary blues junkie Jon Spencer and his charismatic wife and ex-Pussy Galore tiger Cristina Martinez the band have released new album BROOD X earlier this year. The longplayer bellows viciously as if the 5-piece band is involved in a merciless, sonic fight with evil demons, with unsightly cacodemons and anything nasty in daily life on this troubled planet.
Boss Hog was formed in 1989 by Cristina Martinez and Jon Spencer. The band has released three disturbed and sexually provocative studio albums and as many EPs, along with numerous incendiary and slashing singles, on the world’s most important record labels, including Amphetamine Reptile, In The Red, and DGC/Geffen. Boss Hog is internationally-known as New York City’s most provocative and original rock’n’roll band.
Darlene Shrugg is the point where loads of great artists meet. The Toronto-based outfit originally came together four years ago, but their live shows and recorded output has been sporadic. They also have little to no presence online, so keeping tabs on their movements has involved some extra leg work. Nothing on record, nothing streaming, nothing on YouTube.
The project was put together by Maximilian Turnbull (used to be Slim Twig) and Simone TB, who for a decade, played in the band Tropics. U.S. Girls‘ Meg Remy joined up, along with Carlyn Bezic and Amanda Crist from electro-pop band Ice Cream.
Now, Fucked Up guitarist Young Guv convinced them to get in the studio and record some material. The result is an album, self-titled, coming out on Upset The Rhythm due out on 27th October. For its first three quarters, the song is an intoxicating ambient symphony, atop which Remy’s angelic vocal floats as if awaiting a lakeside baptism. But in its final minute, the swirling strings and choral harmonies are rudely upended by a frenetic, fuzz-rockin’ finale ‘Strawberry Milk’ is the first track they’ve shared from it. Don’t let the ambient beginnings fool you.
The Band: DARLENE SHRUGG is:
Carlyn Bezic
Amanda Crist
Meg Remy
Simone TB
Maximilian ‘Twig’ Turnbull
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