The Fat Angel Sings

Bruce Springsteen, joined by The E Street Band, members sat down for a special live interview on The Howard Stern Show to promote his upcoming Hulu documentary, “Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band.” The interview with Howard Stern, spanning over two hours, featured Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band performing various songs.

Before the band — which includes his wife and longtime E Street band member Patti Scialfa — joined Bruce live in-studio to chat and perform a mini concert, the Boss discussed some of the fun he’s had as their boss over the years. “Torturing the band is the bandleader’s prerogative,” he laughed. “I used to keep them playing for hours during a soundcheck while I walked around the entire arena making sure every seat had the optimum sound.”

While Bruce is the Boss in concert, that all changes when the band is off the clock. Scialfa made that clear as she explained their dynamics to Howard. “I always tried not to be a wife onstage,” she noted. “But as soon as I get my foot off the stage …”“It’s over, baby,” her husband added. “I’m only Boss [for] three hours and then I surrender the title, happily.”

Collectively, the couple made a point of not bringing their work home with them. “You walk into our home, especially when the kids were growing up, you wouldn’t know what anybody did for a living — there was nothing [that] indicated there’s somebody famous in the house,” Scialfa revealed.

Their oldest of their three children, Evan, didn’t know what his parents did for a living until he was in the second or third grade. “’Hey Dad, “What’s ‘Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out?’” Bruce remembered him asking.

“I think what we do that the kids would sometimes complain about is, instead of talking, we’d sing everything back and forth to each other,” Patti said before demonstrating in song, ‘I’m making the pancakes!’”

On the subject of songwriting — which Springsteen called “pure torture” — the singer revealed he’s endured extended periods of non-productivity. “Writing is really hard, and you’re failing. Ninety percent of the time, you’re writing stuff that’s mediocre or worse,” he told Stern.

Springsteen likened songwriting to “soul mining” and noted that only once in his entire catalogue has music come to him in his sleep, with “Working on a Dream’s” “Surprise, Surprise” the “only song I’ve actually dreamt and then woke up, got up, and written.”

Bruce Springsteen: “Max Weinberg is the hardest working drummer in show business.” “He’s a phenomenal drummer.” “I mean, Max, how old are you man?”

Max Weinberg: “I think Nils is a month younger than me. 73.” Bruce Springsteen: “I mean, he’s doing something, first of all, it could kill him.” Howard Stern: “Well, literally you’re not joking, right?”

Bruce Springsteen: “No. You gotta give him a gold star for pure balls and bravery every night. Second of all, the guys stop a little bit in between songs. Max Weinberg does not. Max Weinberg plays from the minute we get on stage for three solid hours, pedal to the metal until we get off, and he’s doing things that are simply incredible.”

Howard Stern: “And he puts his hands in ice after the show because they hurt so much after drumming for three hours. 

“It’s really hard… 90 percent of the time you’re writing stuff that’s either mediocre or worse… The only good thing is I’ve learned to recognize what’s mediocre and worse sooner,” Bruce Springsteen admitted. “I’ve gone for two years without writing a song and then written an entire album in three weeks.”

Springsteen said songwriting has always been a grind. “You’re soul mining, is what I call it,” he explained. “You’re down in the soul mines, and just like any mine, you’re chippin’ away looking for a vein. I’ve been lucky. I’ve hit a lot of veins in my lifetime, but you do not know if you’re going to hit another one.”

“Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band” debuts on Hulu Friday, October 25.

Manic Street Preachers have announced details of their fifteenth studio album “Critical Thinking” out on January 31^st 2025 on Columbia Records. The band have also released a new single, called ‘Hiding In Plain Sight’ and also announced a run of UK tour dates. The band will perform the new single on Later…with Jools Holland on Saturday night.

Recorded at the band’s Door To The River Studio and Rockfield, Monmouth, for the first time in their career a single features a lead vocal by Nicky Wire and added soulful vocals by Lana McDonagh. It was produced by the band with regular collaborators Dave Eringa and Loz Williams and mixed by Caesar Edmunds (St Vincent/Wet Leg).

Initially inspired by a line from the poet Anne Sexton (“I am a collection of dismantled almosts”), ‘Hiding in Plain Sight’ contrasts a wistful vocal ripe with fearful midlife nostalgia – one in which the writer longs to “keep the curtains drawn all day” – with an uplifting melody, and soaring string stings and a super guitar riff from James Dean Bradfield, with echoes of their “Postcards from a Young Man” album, they say it “draws on classic ’70s rock’n’roll of The Only Ones, Cockney Rebel and the loose flow of Dinosaur Jr’s ‘Freak Scene’”

Manic Street Preachers’ Nicky Wire on “Critical Thinking”: “This is a record of opposites colliding – of dialectics trying to find a path of resolution. While the music has an effervescence and an elegiac uplift, most of the words deal with the cold analysis of the self, the exception being the three lyrics by James (Dean Bradfield) which look for and hopefully find answers in people, their memories, language and beliefs.

Recording could sometimes be sporadic and isolated, at other times we played live in a band setting, again the opposites making sense with each other. There are crises at the heart of these songs. They are microcosms of skepticism and suspicion, the drive to the internal seems inevitable – start with yourself, maybe the rest will follow.”

Speaking to Mojo Magazine, James Dean Bradfield said “Sometimes just to have your best songs is enough, just putting a record out and not trying to describe a big overarching concept, even though there is a thread there.”

The record is available on LP, CD, hardbook CD and cassette with two brand new songs available on a limited 7”, a remix of ‘Decline & Fall’ by Steven Wilson and demo versions of all the new album tracks on an extended CD. 

A kaleidoscopic collection of 10 songs spanning dark but danceable guitar pop, euphoric electro and low-fi introspective ballads. Lyrics explore themes of self-identity and the notion of truth in a bewildering world where our lives are lived increasingly online. A collection of abstract visions that question reality, celebrate love and long for connection.

One of Manchester’s best-kept musical secrets for over a decade at this point, The Slow Readers Club present their seventh studio album “Out Of A Dream” to coincide with a big UK tour in late 2024. Featuring the single ‘Technofear’, the band explore themes of identity in belonging in the context of a life increasingly lived online, set to a backdrop of noirish indie rock. For fans of The Killers or The National.

The Slow Readers Club are here for SoundON 009! We’re so excited to have one of Manchester’s finest acts on for an exceptional live performance! Performing songs from ’91 Days in Isolation’ their second album released in 2020 that was written in lockdown, as well as tunes from the monster ‘The Joy Of The Return’ alongside some of their classics!

The Slow Readers Club are completely at home performing live and tour the UK & Europe

On their debut album “Mill On The Hill”, Melin Melyn move effortlessly between surf-rock, country, prog-rock and psychedelia with the grace and skill of a band with numerous records under their belt, held together by an efficacious and fantastical thematic principle. Melin Melyn translates to ‘Yellow Mill’ in Welsh, and on this album the Welsh six-piece invite the audience into the world they have quite literally built around them.

“Croeso! Welcome, one and all to the magical world of the “Mill On The Hill”. The yellow mill that sits on top of a hill, looking down on Melin Village and all of its wonderful occupants. Everyone is welcome here.” says Chief Miller Gruff. “Don’t be deceived, this is no ordinary mill. Our duty is to create music inside the mill for all the occupants of Melin Village, and anyone else who’d like to listen. Because, after all, who could imagine a world without music?”

Melin Melyn are more than just a band. They’re world-builders; storytellers absorbing various elements of the increasingly strange times around us and using them to create fables that ruminate on grief, love, and hope.

“Mill On The Hill” transports the listeners to the utopian ‘Melin Village’, a Seussian world where townsfolk “bask in the beauty of song.”

Father John Misty’s sixth album “Mahashmashana”, produced by himself and Drew Erickson; executive produced by Jonathan Wilson. After a decade being born, Josh Tillman is finally busy dying. “Mahashmashana”  was produced by Josh Tillman and Drew Erickson. It was engineered and additionally produced by Michael Harris.  It was arranged by Drew Erickson.  It was performed by Josh Tillman, Drew Erickson, Jonathan Wilson, Dan Bailey, Eli Thomson, David Vandervelde, Chris Dixie Darley, Jon Titterington, and Kyle Flynn. 

“Mahashmashana” features 8 songs across 50 minutes and includes the singles “I Guess Time Makes Fools of Us All,” “She Cleans Up,” “Screamland,” and “Josh Tillman and The Accidental Dose.” The latter two were mixed by BJ Burton.

It was executive produced by Jonathan Wilson. It was recorded and mixed at Five Star and East/West , United and Drew’s House

“Mahāśmaśāna” (महाश्मशान)— great cremation ground, all things going thither, The official video for “She Cleans Up” by Father John Misty from the upcoming album ‘Mahashmashana,’ out November 22nd.

After a decade being born, Josh Tillman is finally busy dying. “Mahashmashana” is the sixth album by Father John Misty.

releases November 22nd, 2024

St. Vincent’s ‘Todos Nacen Gritando’ is equal parts labour of love and tribute to the fans who inspired its creation. The three-time Grammy award-winning singer / songwriter / guitarist cites a handful of her most memorable live experiences, including shows in Mexico, South America and in particular a 2023 appearance at Primavera Barcelona.

Though separated by time and geography, and across a diverse range of settings and venues, these crowds were united in their passion—singing every word to every song in perfect English. Inspired by their collective effort and intensity, St. Vincent would find herself pondering, “If they can sing along in a second or third language, why can’t I meet them halfway?” She then enlisted best friend and occasional collaborator Alan Del Rio Ortiz to work on translating “All Born Screaming’s” lyrics, tweaking here and there for melodic reasons, and ultimately recording new vocals en Espanol for every one of the album’s 10 tracks. The result is “Todos Nacen Gritando“, a reinterpretation that makes every effort to stay true to the original while never sacrificing accuracy.

Sonically rich and lyrically open-hearted, ‘Drive to Goldenhammer’ sees Divorce assemble a shelter for themselves amid the chaos and leave the front door open to everyone. This album pays homage to seeking place and home; one of the great human levellers. Much of life feels at odds with this particular need. And to Goldenhammer; you are a reason to keep driving. We will find you again and again!

For Nottingham quartet Divorce, home is a feeling. Initially meeting as teenagers through the city’s close-knit DIY scene, the band – completed by members Tiger Cohen-Towell (vocals / bass), Felix Mackenzie-Barrow (vocals / guitar), Adam Peter Smith (guitar / synth) and Kasper Sandstrøm (drums) – came together as Divorce in mid-2021, releasing a slew of genre-defiant singles that quickly caught the attention of tastemakers the world over.

Sonically rich and lyrically open-hearted, “Drive to Goldenhammer” sees Divorce assemble a shelter for themselves amid the chaos and leave the front door open to everyone. This album pays homage to seeking place and home; one of the great human levellers. Much of life feels at odds with this particular need. And to Goldenhammer; you are a reason to keep driving. We will find you again and again!

‘What Are You Going to Do with Your Life?’ is the eighth studio album by British post-punk legends Echo & The Bunnymen, originally released on April 16th, 1999. With an inspired selection of collaborators including strings from the London Metropolitan Orchestra and two songs featuring the American rap rock band Fun Loving Criminals, ‘What Are You Going to Do with Your Life?’ featured two singles, the title track, and the atmospheric fan favourite ‘Rust’, which would mark the band’s final Top 40 UK single.

Celebrating 25 years of “What Are You Going to Do with Your Life?“, the album is issued on vinyl for the very first time.2CD – The Double CD features 25 extra tracks including a live set from Cream, Liverpool 1997, Live At The Improv Theatre, 1999 plus B-sides, radio edits and unreleased tracks.

Enjoy this fully restored video of the iconic Echo & The Bunnymen single ‘Rust’.

Lovingly overseen by Dhani and Olivia Harrison, “Living in the Material World” has now been completely remixed from the original tapes for a stunning suite of 50th anniversary releases. Remixed by triple GRAMMY® Award-winning engineer Paul Hicks (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, John Lennon), the new mix elevates the album with a sonic upgrade, delivering a sound that’s brighter, richer, and more dynamic than ever before.

On November 15th, Dark Horse Records will revisit “Living in the Material World“, the classic 1973 solo effort from George Harrison, as an expanded 50th anniversary edition.

Said Dhani Harrison of this project:

“Finally, we are overjoyed to present to you the 50th anniversary package of George Harrison’s ‘Living in the Material World’. For those of you who are just discovering this album; This record was released in service and with deep love for all our Brothers and Sisters around the world who populate this dualistic system we live in called Earth. Peace be upon all sentient beings.”

Limited to 5,000 units globally, the Super Deluxe Edition box set features the album on 2LP (180g) and 2CD, which includes the newly remixed original album and a bonus disc containing 12 previously unreleased early renditions of every song on the main album. Additionally, the set includes a Blu-Ray of all album tracks and previously unreleased tracks in Dolby Atmos, and an exclusive 7” single of the never-before-heard recording of ‘Sunshine Life For Me (Sail Away Raymond),’ featuring the Band’s Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, and Rick Danko alongside Ringo Starr.

Housed in a rigid slipcase, the box set contains a beautiful 60-page hardcover book curated by Olivia Harrison and Rachel Cooper, with unseen imagery and memorabilia from the era, handwritten lyrics, studio notes, and tape box images. Also included is a 12-page Recording Notes booklet, drawing from original “Living in the Material World” production notes, photographs, and reel-to-reel session tapes housed in the George Harrison Archive. For the first time, the Harrison archive team offers an in-depth, chronological account of the album’s creation, revealing insights that have never been shared with the public before.