“Leaving None But Small Birds”, which consists of re-worked traditional songs and hymns from Appalachia, Canada and England, casts both The Body and BIG|BRAVE in a whole new light that should nevertheless resonate with both fanbases and endear them both to listeners who might otherwise be put off by the forcefulness of their respective back catalogue. By the time any guitar distortion eases its way in about halfway through the song sequence, the transition is so gradual that it makes perfect sense, announcing itself in a most unobtrusive fashion. Both bands have hit their audience over the head with jagged contrasts in the past, but here they pace the music so that there’s a gradual, almost imperceptible incline in heaviness.
Indeed, everything about “Leaving None But Small Birds” bears a deliberate attention to detail. Even fans of BIG|BRAVE and The Body might not necessarily think of them as aspiring masters of craft, but there’s no other way to see them now after this collaboration. With the insistent, shanty-like cadence of “Oh Sinner,” for example, the two groups mimic the hypnotic drone that’s become BIG|BRAVE’s stock in trade, but together they prove that they can be just as powerful with the volume turned way down.
Somewhere along the way, the musical form we once referred to as heavy metal reached a point where it had become as boundless as jazz. It may seem counter-intuitive, but not only can harsh, distorted guitars blend with any other musical element you pair them with, but the density they create also lends itself to subtle shading. Which explains why musicians who play monolithic, crushing music can tend to regard guitar tones with the same discerning sensibilities as fine-wine connoisseurs comparing bottles of different vintage. Metal, alas, increasingly reveals itself to be music built on a keen awareness of texture—at least when it’s coming from bands like The Body and BIG|BRAVE.
On Leaving None But Small Birds, the two acts come together for a joint collaboration that, on paper, would suggest a complementary merger between The Body’s noise-laden brand of sludge and BIG|BRAVE’s melodic doom metal/drone hybrid. As it turns out, the two groups sure do prove to be complementary, but they do so while playing in an old-timey folk style, perhaps the last thing one might have expected from either group. Then again, we probably should have seen it coming. For over 20 years now, The Body—a Portland, Oregon-based duo with a voracious appetite for abrasion—have more or less constantly sought new ways to re-configure the drums, guitars, electronics and screaming that make up their core sound. Conceived as a challenge by Buford to emulate the rustic style of The Band, Of the two groups, BIG|BRAVE have shown the most capacity for tunefulness, but their facility with acoustic instrumentation on Leaving None But Small Birds turns out to be as radical a stylistic shift as The Body’s
Releases October 1st, 2021
Performed by: Lee Buford Chip King Robin Wattie Tasy Hudson Mathieu Ball Seth Manchester Morgan Eve Swain
Singer Songwriter Andy Shauf’s coy, almost boyish voice sounds especially tragic when he says something that breaks your heart. Over the past few years, Shauf has perfected his signature lilt, a habit of unexpectedly pitching up the second half of a word and delicately fading it out, like the brief fluttering of wings. When he does this on his recent single “Spanish on the Beach”—stretching out “wished” and “permanent” in the line, “I wished it could be permanent” you imagine it’s followed by an amused, self-deprecating chuckle. What a silly little thought, he seems to say.
Whispered words in a romantic language set the scene for “Spanish on the Beach,” in which Shauf’s narrator vacations with Judy, the ex who previously sent him down an 11-track memory lane on 2020’s wistful concept album “The Neon Skyline”. The song is deceptively idyllic: A gentle bassline pairs with easy guitar strums; maudlin woodwind drifts in for dramatic effect. Remembered images of Judy’s “long dark dress” and the musicians’ “smiling eyes” populate the song; at one point, Shauf imagines making a “mortifying” over-the-top proposal, like a scene from La La Land’s technicolor fantasy. But tucked between cool cynicism and glam surroundings are the signs of an expired romance: When Judy tries to talk to the narrator in Spanish, he “turn[s] away to watch the musicians play.” They’re doomed, and he knows it.
The Toronto-based Andy Shauf didn’t wait long to follow up his acclaimed 2020 album “The Neon Skyline”, announcing his surprise latest LP just days before its release. A press release allows that Wilds “can certainly be interpreted as a companion piece” to its predecessor, as its nine tracks were picked from the 50-odd songs Shauf hadrecorded while writing The Neon Skyline. Presented in “near-unfiltered form,” the songs on “Wilds” are intended to stand on their own while also providing a window into Shauf’s Neon Skyline-period creative process, returning to that album’s tales of broken romance and everyday escapism. Shauf plays all the instruments, arranges on the fly and records to “a little tape machine” in his Toronto studio, delivering a warm, intimate baroque-pop, folk and rock record.
Indie-pop singer/songwriter Ada Lea (born Alexandra Levy) asserts her artistry anew on “One Hand On The Steering Wheel The Other Sewing A Garden”,the impressive follow-up to her 2019 debut “What We Say In Private”. Set in Levy’s native Montreal, the album looks back on personal moments from the artist’s coming of age in the city, using delicate, carefully crafted guitar pop and folk to connect her memories to a wider collective consciousness. “Every year is just a little bit darker / Then the darker gets darker / Then it’s dark as hell,” Levy sings on hooky album opener “damn,” the unflinching observation letting a bit more light into the world.
Levy wrote and demoed one hand on the steering wheel during an artist residency in Banff, Alberta, reuniting with her “Woman, Here” EP (2020) collaborator Marshall Vore (Phoebe Bridgers) to round the album into form. Drummer Tasy Hudson, guitarist Harrison Whitford (of Bridgers’ band) and mixing engineer Burke Reid (Courtney Barnett) also lent their talents to the project.
Following the subdued and very surfy “Bossanova”, Black Francis, Kim Deal, Joey Santiago and DavidLovering cranked things back up seriously with their fourth album in four years — and last for this original line-up of the Pixies. “Trompe Le Monde” is Pixies’ loudest, noisiest album. It’s also one of their most fun, with Black Francis’ flights of fancy heading even further out into outer space, aided by keyboardist Eric Drew Feldman who adds flying saucer keyboards to much of the record. Their punky cover of The Jesus & Mary Chain’s “Head On” was the album’s hit, but “Trompe le Monde” is jam-packed with Pixies-penned classics, the best of which were not chosen as singles: “U-Mass,” with it’s monster riff and chorus of “It’s educational!”; “Space (I Believe In)” another guitar crusher with a memorably weird vocal hook (“Jefrey with one F, Jef-rey!”); and poppier tracks like “Letter to Memphis” and “Motorway to Roswell.” Kim may not have any songs here (The Breeders were in full affect by this point), but her flinty basslines give much of the album its edge. Pixies’ subsequent break-up, following a 30-date opening slot on U2’s Zoo TV tour, has coloured the album a bit, but 30 years later Trompe le Monde is a helluva way to go out.
To celebrate the occasion, 4AD Records has given the album a new vinyl pressing on cool-looking marbled green vinyl that echoes its Vaughan Oliver-designed eye-grabbing artwork.
Thursday was the 30th anniversary of Trompe le Monde’s UK release, guitarist Joey Santiago participated in a listening party for the album, where he mainly stuck to discussing the guitar solos. “A critic said my guitar playing on Bossanova (the album before “Trompe le Monde” was released) was too simple. Wtf?!,” Joey says of the album’s title track, which opens the album. “I looked for an opportunity to do some fret tapping. This was the song to do it on. Triplets to boot.”
Joey said that the solo in “The Sad Punk” “sounds a bit like Femme Fatale. Therefore it is good,” and notes that on “Bird Dream of the Olympus Mons” that the “wind is my wah pedal making noise.” He admits to “sneaking the James Bond riff” into “Subbacultcha” and that he “did it again at another song. You all should look for it.”
While Santiago doesn’t rate any of the songs on the album, in regards to “Distance Equals Rate Times Time,” he admits, “Gotta be honest with you. I don’t enjoy playing this.” On the other hand, he says he loves playing “Motorway to Roswell” live. “Good bass playing Kim!!!”.
The ‘Remixed & Updated’ version of Pink Floyd’s 1987 album “A Momentary Lapse of Reason” first included in 2019’s The Later Years box set is being made available on separately on CD and vinyl and two ‘combo’ box sets offering CD+DVD or CD+blu–ray.
The changes made to the album included returning to some of Richard Wright’s original keyboard takes, and re-recording new drum tracks with Nick Mason. The producers David Gilmour and Bob Ezrin felt that they restored “a better creative balance between the three Pink Floyd members”. It was their first album after Roger Waters had left the band.
For the first time, the album will be presented in 360 Reality Audio, a “new immersive music experience that closely mimics the omni-directional soundscape of live musical performance for the listener using Sony’s object-based 360 Spatial Sound technologies.”
“Some years after we had recorded the album, we came to the conclusion that we should update it to make it more timeless, featuring more of the traditional instruments that we liked and that we were more used to playing,” says David Gilmour. “This was something we thought it would benefit from. We also looked for and found some previously unused keyboard parts of Rick’s which helped us to come up with a new vibe, a new feeling for the album.”
Says drummer Nick Mason, who re-recorded drums for this new version, “There’s little doubt of the advantages in being able to find new elements within the music, or more often uncovering elements that became overwhelmed with all that new science…I think there is an element of taking the album back in time and taking the opportunity to create a slightly more open sound – utilising some of the things we had learned from playing so much of the album live over two massive tours.”
Ahead of the release, David Gilmour has shared the demo of “Yet Another Movie,” which features David on fretless bass. “Pat Leonard and I met up at Astoria in September 1986 a couple of days after I had played on a Bryan Ferry track that he was producing,” David recalls now. “We had a glass or two of wine and jammed for hours. For some reason that I can no longer remember I had chosen the fretless bass as my instrument of the day. It turned into a beautiful song.”
Meanwhile, there’s also a reissue of “Animals” on the way, if Gilmour and Waters can ever agree on anything.
The new version of “A Momentary Lapse Of Reason” also features a new album cover using an alternative beds photo by Robert Dowling from the original album cover shoot directed by Hipgnosis’Storm Thorgerson.
Stereo versions are available on CD and 2LP vinyl while the CD+DVD editions go much further with the video discs also providing 5.1 surround mixes, music videos, concert screen films, a documentary and some bonus live tracks. The surround mix on the DVD is 5.1 Dolby Digital (48/16) and DTS (48/16). On blu-ray it’s 5.1 DTS Master Audio (96/24). Both include hi-res stereo.
Both box sets come with a 40-page booklet and an envelope containing six exclusive stickers designed by Peter Curzon from StormStudios.
The Remixed & Updated edition of “A Momentary Lapse of Reason” will be released on 29th October 2021.
A wonderfully talented up-and-coming artist based in the creative heart of Nottingham, Charity Stow has always been drawn to music. Hailing from a musical family, Charity has found her unique sound with support and guidance from her father, Jack, both of whom are self-taught musicians with a penchant for emotive, tactile sounds. With song writing shaped by the music of the greats, such as Carole King, Bob Dylan and The Beatles, she’s poised to become one of the most impressive new artists around, and it’s all thanks to singles like ‘Perfect Thought’.
While Charity’s hometown is the small, quaint town of Stamford, she first took to song writing in Nottingham, pushing herself to forge a new musical identity and starting on a new phase in life. True to form, song writing became a form of therapy for Charity, guiding her to become the impressive talent that is today.
Her latest release, ‘Perfect Thought’ shines with an honesty and passion that is slowly becoming a trademark for the young artist, transporting the listener into a textured musical dream world filled with possibilities. The single is also the first glimpse into Charity’s upcoming EP of the same name, which is set to be released on the 24th of September this year.
In addition to petitioning for Operation Ivy to play Riot Fest, Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace has also found time to write and record new music, and she just surprise-released the new seven-song EP “At War with the Silverfish” on Polyvinyl Records. Similar to last year’s “Stay Alive”, it’s a stripped-back solo release that’s largely fuelled by Laura’s acoustic guitar and voice, but there are some other embellishments on there too, like the string-laden “Electro-Static Sweep” and the Strokesy rhythms of “Long Dark Night.” Some songs are fired-up enough to pass for Against Me! songs (“Day Old Coffee”) and others are tender in a Shins-y indie pop way (“Lolo 13”).
The EP was half recorded at Laura’s TinyQuietStudio in Chicago and half at Electric Eel in St. Louis, and mixed by her Devouring Mothers bandmate Marc Hudson. Laura says, “These are songs of late night madness and loneliness, orphan songs that came wandering in looking to feed like insects. I’ve learned that if you share your experience with good intentions that the universe will always surprise you with abundant return. Every song is an act of faith; you don’t necessarily know why you’re singing it other than you know you’ve got to sing it.
Yusuf / Cat Stevens celebrates his 1971 landmark album “Teaser And the Firecat” with this extensive 4CD, Blu-Ray, 2LP and 7” set in a rigid clamshell box.
Following last year’s 50th anniversaries of the era-defining albums, “Tea for the Tillerman” and “MonaBone Jakon“, 2021 will see Yusuf / Cat Stevens celebrate the succeeding album that immortalized his status as a forerunner in the singer-songwriter movement. The 1971 multi-platinum selling landmark record, “Teaser and the Firecat”, will be celebrated as a 50th anniversary Super Deluxe Edition box set, due on November 12th, 2021 via A&M/UMe.
A previously unheard recording of the Cat Stevens classic and Teaser album highlight “Moonshadow (Olympic Studio Demo, 1970)” is released today. Actually recorded at Olympic Studio’s before the release of the two 1970 albums, Mona Bone Jakon and Tea For The Tillerman, this version provides a fascinating insight into the origins of one of the most enduring songs of the 1970s.
Cat Stevens achieved phenomenal success with his early work, but it was Teaser and the Firecat, his third LP with Island Records and A&M in the U.S. – that propelled Cat Stevens into superstardom, spawning some of his most unforgettable hits including “Moonshadow,” “Peace Train” and “Morning Has Broken,” songs by a youthful spiritual seeker, wise beyond his years that would lay the pretext for a poignant new wave of soulful troubadours and poets. Later, “The Wind” would see Teaser and the Firecat celebrated anew, rising to prominence following the song’s use in Wes Anderson’s much celebrated film “Rushmore” as well as the Oscar-winning Cameron Crowe film, “Almost Famous.” Through his spell-binding gift for song writing and his introspective vision, Cat delivered a universal sense of hope and peace in Teaser and the Firecat that still resonates profoundly to this day.
Teaser and the Firecat walked tall in what was a year of classic albums and events that would echo down the decades. The 12 months of 1971 was a transitional year in pop culture in which the album joined John Lennon’s Imagine, David Bowie’s Hunky Dory, Joni Mitchell’s Blue, Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, The Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers and Led Zeppelin IV as the soundtrack to the momentous 500,000 strong anti-Vietnam war March on Washington D.C., the largest demonstration against US war in history, and the “Fight of the Century” at Madison Square Garden, New York City which saw Joe Frazer hand Muhammad Ali his first ever defeat. With the ’60s now in the rear-view mirror – The Beatles gone, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin having already passed on, and Jim Morrison tragically joining their number in July ’71 – there was a distinct mood of change in the air. Along with burgeoning heavy rock and the socially-conscious R&B of Funkadelic and Sly And The Family Stone, it was the era of the poetical singer-songwriter. As well as being part of this latter movement, Cat Stevens was himself inspired by it.
Half a century later, Teaser and the Firecat has been given the ultimate treatment in a brand new Super Deluxe Edition set; the most in-depth and definitive version of the album possible. Presented in a remastering of Yusuf’s original artwork, the release will include: 41 previously unreleased audio tracks and 21 live video performances on disc for the first time, amongst an entire CD and LP of studio demos and alternate mixes; a stunning 44-page, 12” soft cover replica of the original Teaser and the Firecat book, hand written and illustrated by Yusuf in 1972, and now featuring text in 10 languages; and a 108-page hard-cover 12” essay book, alongside a host of other rarities across 4CDs, Blu-Ray, 2 LPs and 7” vinyl. The set will be presented in a rigid clamshell box and is the latest in a series of boxsets – so far consisting of Back To Earth, Mona Bone Jakon and Tea for the Tillerman – that celebrate the albums in full depth with the direct involvement and direction of Yusuf and his son Yoriyos, who curates and designs each box set.
There will also be a slimmed down version of the Super Deluxe Edition, including the 108-page book in a soft cover format, along with the 4CDs and Blu-ray, housed in a rigid slipcase. Other 50th Anniversary reissue formats include a 2CD Deluxe Edition, plus 1CD and 1LP Remasters.
The 50th anniversary remaster of the album was mixed by David Hefti on CD and LP, the Super Deluxe Edition also includes a CD of previously unreleased studio material and bonus tracks, an alternate version of the album on LP, as well as a third and fourth CD featuring 23 live performances from 1971. The 50th anniversary remaster was completed at Abbey Road Studios, and was overseen by original album producer, Paul Samwell-Smith.
The set includes a remastered 7” single of “Moonshadow,” backed with a previously unreleased Spike Milligan narration of the track from the 1977 Teaser and the Firecat animated video. The 50thanniversaryedition also includes an exclusive vinyl LP, track listed with 5 live performances at Montreux in 1971 and six BBC Recordings, as well as a Blu-Ray disc featuring a restored version of the 1977 animated video for “Moonshadow,” a live performance of “The Wind” from 2020, plus 21 live TV performances.
Also featured in the collection is “Bitterblue,” a newly recorded and never-before-heard version of the classic Teaser album track. Yusuf’s rich vocal, sung a full octave lower than the original, imparts a new sense of experience and gravity to the song whose lyrics seem to resonate with a whole new level of meaning: “I’ve been waiting a long time/To be back beyond.”
Ahead of the 50th anniversary Teaser and the Firecat celebrations, 2021 has seen Yusuf / Cat Stevens partner with New York Times bestselling author and illustrator Peter H. Reynolds to produce “Peace Train,” a children’s book celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the iconic song’s original release. Featuring joyful illustrations and the timeless lyrics of the much-loved peace anthem, this hopeful picture book – now a New York Times bestseller itself – continues Yusuf’s commitment to children’s education and shared love for people of all cultures and identities.
Elsewhere, July 2021 saw a special Record Store Day release of the 1971 “Harold And Maude” soundtrack, featuring iconic songs from Tea for the Tillerman and Mona Bone Jakonalongside two new compositions for the film, “If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out” and “Don’t Be Shy.”
50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Editions of Teaser and the Firecat will be released on November 12th via A&M/UMe.
For nearly two straight years following the release of their critically acclaimed debut, “Chasing Lights“, Ida Mae — the husband-wife duo of Chris Turpin and Stephanie Jean lived on the road, crisscrossing the U.S. from coast to coast as they performed hundreds of dates. While those shows were electrifying for the duo, it was what happened in between the countless hours spent driving through small towns and big cities, past sprawling suburbs and forgotten ghost towns, across deserts and mountains and forests and prairies that truly laid the creative groundwork for “Click Click Domino“. Written primarily in the backseat of a moving car, “Click Click Domino” embodies all the momentum and possibility of the great American unknown, offering up a series of cinematic vignettes full of hope and disappointment, promise and regret, connection and loneliness. The songs here are raw and direct, fuelled by an innovative mix of vintage instruments and modern electronics, and the performances are loose and exhilarating to match, drawing on early rock and roll, classic country, British folk, and ’50s soul to forge a sound that’s equal parts Alan Lomax field recording and 21st century garage band.”
IDA MAE is Christopher Turpin and Stephanie Jean Turpin
“Click Click Domino” Musicians: Chris Turpin: vocals, programming, electric lead guitar, tin can, washboard Stephanie Jean: vocals, synthesizer, finger clicks, synthesizer bass Nick Pini: electric bass Marcus King: featured electric guitar Ethan Johns: Drums
A great new song from E and his band Eels is here, months in advance of the new album from which it comes, “Extreme Witchcraft”, which will be released on January 28th, 2022. It is their fourteenth studio album.
It’s in A, as were most of Buddy Holly’s songs. It is called “Good Night On Earth.”Eels leader Mark Oliver Everett, aka E, co-produced the record with John Parish, who is best known for his work as PJ Harvey’s producer and guitarist. Parish and E first teamed up in 2001 to create Eels’ “Souljacker” Album.
“John Parish,” said E, “is one of the most even-tempered, polite people I’ve ever met. A true gentleman. Actually he’s probably the most polite person I’ve ever met. But when he gets into the studio he becomes a mad scientist. If you make music with John Parish, you get stuff no one else does.”
“[Parish] has a really unique toolbox and musical outlook,” said E. “Perhaps his politeness is a coping mechanism to keep Mr. Hyde under control when he’s out of his laboratory.”
Eels have had one of the most consistently acclaimed careers in music. The ever-changing project of principal singer/songwriter Eels have released 13 studio albums since their 1996 debut, Beautiful Freak.
In 2008, E published his highly acclaimed book “Things the Grandchildren Should Know” and starred in the award-winning Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives documentary about the search to understand his quantum physicist father, Hugh Everett III. 2020’s Earth To Dora album, received extensive critical praise, and was described as “their sweetest natured album ever”.
EELS are also set for their Lockdown Hurricane Tour of Europe and America in Spring 2022; kicking off on March 11th in Belfast through to Rock City, Nottingham, UK on March 17th
The Fat Angel Sings 