Deep Sea Diver (the band led by Jessica Dobson) released a new album late last year “Impossible Weight” via High Beam/ATO . Now that the album has been out sometime we can share one of our favourite tracks from it, the seven-minute centerpiece song “Eyes Are Red (Don’t Be Afraid),” which wasn’t released as a pre-release single.
Previously Deep Sea Diver shared the album’s title track, “Impossible Weight” which features a guest verse from Sharon Van Etten. It was shared via a video featuring both Dobson and Van Etten. Then Deep Sea Diver shared another song from the album, Wishing via a video that is made up of crowd-sourced footage of fans standing in front of 78 music venues closed because of the pandemic, in an effort to promote the Save Our Stages movement.
Then they shared a video of them performing album opener “ShatteringThe Hourglass” in the studio. Previously Impossible Weight’s first single “Lights Out” was shared.
Dobson’s Deep Sea Diver bandmates include her husband Peter Mansen (drums), Garrett Gue (bass), and Elliot Jackson (guitar, synth). Impossible Weight is the band’s third album. The band entered the studio not long after the touring cycle for their sophomore album, 2016’s Secrets.
“We went into the studio pretty quickly after the tour ended, and I sort of hit a wall where I was feeling very detached from making music, and unable to find joy in it,” Dobson reveals. “I realized I had to try to rediscover my voice as a songwriter, and figure out the vocabulary for what I needed to say on this album.”
Eventually she regrouped and co-produced the album with Andy D. Park (Pedro the Lion, Ruler), recording it at Seattle’s Studio X and The Hall of Justice.
Dobson has also performed in The Shins and in Beck’s band.
With the year-long absence of live music, it seems logical that with the recent vaccine rollout and consequent waning number of new cases, things will be a little chaotic for the foreseeable future in terms of securing a tour schedule (with the additional hurdle of a condensed number of indie venues nationwide after Congress failed to act before many beloved clubs had to permanently close their doors). Fortunately, we have music festivals—those weekend-long onslaughts of vaguely familiar tunes barely within earshot from four different directions at once as you stand at the food vendor weighing the pros and cons of splurging on a Bud heavy.
With most of the country’s major fests announcing lineups over the past few weeks, Barcelona’s Primavera Sound is showing up fashionably late with almost literally every artist you can possibly imagine listed on their announcement flyer for their 2022 event, including headlining slots for [deep breath] Massive Attack, Pavement, Tame Impala, Beck, The Strokes, Gorillaz, Jorja Smith, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Tyler, the Creator, Disclosure, Interpol, Jamie xx, Lorde, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Megan Thee Stallion (who finally secured a rightful largest-font spot on a fest line-up this year). This somehow doesn’t even include first-tier-worthy second-tier artists like Bauhaus, Beach House, Charli XCX, 100 gecs, girl in red, Kacey Musgraves, King Gizzard, Clairo, Run the Jewels, M.I.A., Sky Ferriera, and many, many more artists I feel like I’ve slighted by omitting but boy is this a large paragraph already. To be fair this is a two-weekend event, but my goodness.
Will the number of available tickets be reduced due to the large number of performers on site? Will there be any artists left to play U.S. venues those two weeks?
This performance was commissioned by the University of Melbourne Student Union’s Activities Department and funded by the Student Services Amenities fee.
This album was recorded on the stolen land of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, and we would like to pay our respect to their Elders past, present and emerging. We also want to extend our respect to all First Nations people upon whose land we tour and create music. This is stolen land, and sovereignty has never been ceded.
I love that their punk rock songs spill over into punk epics! I’ve never disliked a song of theirs, so far they’re all rip-snorters! This live album is so full of rock and roll firing on all cylinders, a power trio if ever there was one. For an album recorded live it’s very well mixed and engineered and Jenny McKechnie’s vocals just come soaring like a true siren through it all.
All songs by J. McKechnie, S. Boyle, N. Brown Recorded by Alicia Saye and Nico Wilson at the Scrap Museum at Bakehouse Studios, Richmond, March 9, 2021
This was the first single ever released by Gang on Four back in 1978 on the Fast Product Label. Three tracks appeared which were the now legendary ‘Damaged Goods’ on the A-Side, and ‘Love Like Anthrax’ (in a colder, more robotic version) and ‘Armalite Rifle’. All of these tracks would appear later on the ‘Mutant Pop’ compilation by the same label in 1980. The versions appearing on this EP are unavailable elsewhere.
The title track starts with syncopated bass and guitar, which are later accompanied with the drums. The song also features vocals by Jon King, which take the role of “a lonesome, longing lament” and a “nearly spoken word section sung by the band’s guitarist Andy Gill critic Tom Maginnis argued that the track is “the closest thing approaching a pop single from their influential first record,” while noting the “uncharacteristic lightness and bounce from Dave Allen’s superb, bass line, countered with a constant hacking rhythm guitar from Andy Gill.” He also described the end result as “almost danceable, skewed only by singer Jon King’s indignant rant. NME also stated that the track “boasts a riff that could slice through a particularly strong girder.
Lyrically, the song is about “sexual politics,” with “a sexual/political double entendre providing the crux of the song’s message.” Kevin J.H. Dettmar, the author of Gang of Four’s Entertainment!, argued that “the song’s protagonist shows no self-awareness.” In a 2009 interview with Clash magazine, singer and lyricist Jon King stated that he was inspired by an “in-store slogan” in a Morrisons supermarket in Leeds,” using it as “a good starter for words about a doomed relationship where legover had become, maybe, too much of a good thing.” Magginis also noted that the lyrics “could summarize the collective attitude of the post-punk era, bidding adieu to the more optimistic music of the ’60s and self-absorbed ’70s with a singalong chorus.”
Produced by Fast Product owner Bob Last under the alias “Fast Product”, the single received critical acclaim, prompting the band to sign to major label EMI Harvest Records imprint. The title track and “Love Like Anthrax” were re-recorded for Gang of Four’s debut album “Entertainment” in 1979 and the whole EP was included in the Fast Product compilation Mutant Pop in 1980.
On this day (October 19th) in 1978: influential Leeds, UK post-punk band GANG OF FOUR released their debut recording, the ‘Damaged Goods’ EP on Edinburgh, Scotland indie label, Fast Product; along with the title track, it included “Armalite Rifle” & “Love Like Anthrax”; it became a No#1 UK Indie chart hit as well as a BBC radio ‘John Peel Show’ favourite; considered both abrasive but accessible, cold but funky, the critical acclaim led to the band signing to major label EMI; UK music weekly New Musical Express (NME) later ranked it #46 on their list of ‘The 100 Best Tracks of the Seventies’
The wide release of the Margo Price concert film “Perfectly Imperfect At The Ryman” via a free nugs livestream. The film, which premiered at the Stardust Drive In theatre outside Nashville on December 2nd, was culled from Price’s three night residency in May 2018 at the iconic Nashville venue known as “The Mother Church of Country Music.”
Prior to the film’s wide release, Price also shared a Perfectly Imperfect At The Ryman live album. While the album’s track list is similar to that of the film, it differs in track order as well as some notable omissions as well as additions. Unfortunately, the film does not feature any of the special guest appearances found on the album from Sturgill Simpson, Jack White, or Emmylou Harris.
Instead, Perfectly Imperfect At The Rymanis all Margo Price. From the opening funk of the alternate “Weekender”, the 49-minute movie captures the familiar feel of a Price concert as she throttles through a range of emotions in “A Little Pain (Waltz Version)” and a tender collaboration with her husband/bandmate Jeremy Ivey on “Revelations”.
Also found in Live At The Ryman is Price’s unique transcription of “Proud Mary”. The Creedence Clearwater Revival cover takes on a whole new life in Price’s hands, starting as a drowsy reflection and building up into a gospel/rock n roll frenzy. The presence of the Nashville Friends Choir is felt throughout the film, as the stable of gospel singers lend an added layer of soul to Price’s already stirring vocals.
A notable addition from the album to film is that of “Long Live The King”. Though a live staple of Price’s for a number of years, the song was only released as a studio single earlier this month. The onstage chemistry between Price and Ivey bleeds through the screen yet again with the joint “All American Made”, before the distorted rock stomper “Worthless Gold” shakes off the dust. Finally, Perfectly Imperfect At The Rymanwinds down with “World’s Greatest Loser” before the closing “Hurtin’ (On The Bottle) Melody” brings the show to a close.
In 1973, the Byrds’ classic line-up of Gene Clark, Chris Hillman, David Crosby, Roger McGuinn and Michael Clarke fully reunited for the first time since 1966, when they released the album, Byrds.
Recorded at the Wally Heider studios in Los Angeles during October and November 1972, the album featured compositions by Gene Clark (“Full Circle” and “Changing Heart”), Roger McGuinn (“Sweet Mary” and “Born to Rock n’ Roll”) and Chris Hillman (“Things Will Be Better” and “Borrowing Time”) along with David Crosby’s “Long Live the King” and a new version of “Laughing” (originally recorded by Crosby on his 1971 solo album If Only I Could Remember My Name).
The album also featured a cover version of Joni Mitchell’s “For Free” and two Neil Young compositions: “Cowgirl in the Sand” and “(See the Sky) About to Rain,” the latter not released by Young himself until 1974 when his version appeared on the album On the Beach.
Byrds reached #20 on the U.S. album chart, soaring higher than any release since 1965’s Turn! Turn! Turn!. There were very high hopes for this album prior to its original release. McGuinn had helped to fuel this sense of anticipation some months earlier by telling a journalist that the new album would “continue where ‘The Notorious Byrd Brothers’ had left off.”. When ‘Byrds’ finally appeared it seemed as segmented as the latter day Byrds’ Columbia albums and had little of that remarkably unified sound that had been the hallmark of the same line-up between 1965 and 1967.
The two Gene Clark compositions (‘Full Circle’ and ‘Changing Heart‘) have become classics and are worth the price of admission alone. McGuinn’s ‘Sweet Mary’ is in the style of a traditional folk song and features some excellent mandolin and acoustic guitar. Neil Young’s (then unreleased) ‘See the Sky About to Rain’ sees some stunning 12 string guitar work, great harmony and the kind of Gene Clark vocal that we would hear from him on ‘No Other’ the following year.
David Crosby is very much in his element as a harmony singer – especially on ‘Cowgirl in the Sand’ and the version of his own composition ‘Laughing’ contains enough of McGuinn’s Rickenbacker raga sound to render its inclusion worthwhile. And don’t forget that there is an astonishing outtake from this album –‘My New Woman’ on McGuinn’s self titled solo album from a few months later.
The album was remastered and reissued in 2019 by Cherry Red Records’ Esoteric Recordings label. The updated edition of Byrds restored the original album artwork and features an illustrated booklet with essay.
In 1966, Gene Clark had left the group in part due to his fear of flying. (He died at just 46 years old on May 24th, 1991.) The following year, Michael Clarke departed and ultimately joined the Flying Burrito Burritos. (He passed on Dec. 19th, 1993, at age 47.) Soon thereafter, Crosby left and soon formed Crosby, Stills & Nash.
Originally released on the Asylum label in March 1973, Reissued through Cherry Red Records’ Esoteric Recordings label.
By going back to basics with “Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge”, Mudhoney flipped conventional wisdom. Not for the first time – or the last – they would be vindicated. A month after release in July 1991, the album entered the UK album chart at Number 34 (five weeks later, Nirvana’s Nevermind had entered at 36) and went on to sell 75,000 copies worldwide. A more meaningful measure of success, however, lay in its revitalisation of the band, casting a touchstone for the future. The record is a major chapter in Mudhoney’s ongoing story, the moral of which has to be: when in doubt, fudge it.
The album began at Music Source Studio, a large space equipped with a 24-track mixing board – downright futuristic, compared to the 8-track setup that birthed the band’s catalytic 1988 debut, “Touch Me I’m Sick.” The Music Source session quickly turned into a false start when the results, in guitarist Steve Turner’s words, “sounded a little too fancy, too clean.” Lesson learned, the band went primitive and got to work at Conrad Uno’s 8-track setup at Egg Studio. Named after the cartons pasted on the walls in an optimistic attempt at sound-proofing, Egg boasted a ’60s vintage 8-track Spectra Sonics recording console, originally built for Stax in Memphis.
So it was that, in the spring of 1991, Mudhoney made Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge. The resulting album is a whirlwind of the band’s influences at the time: the fierce ‘60s garage rock of their Pacific Northwest predecessors The Sonics and The Lollipop Shoppe, the gnashing post-hardcore of Drunks With Guns, the heavy guitar moods of Neil Young, the lysergic workouts of Spacemen 3 and Hawkwind, the gloomy existentialism of Zounds, and the satirical ferocity of ‘80s hardcore punk. The quartet’s special alchemy meant these fond homages never slid into pastiche. Ultimately, Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge epitomised the best of Mudhoney: here was a band reconnecting with its purest instincts, and in the process reinventing itself.
This 30th anniversary edition, remastered by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service, stands as testimony to the creative surge that drove them in this period. The album sessions yielded a clutch of material that would subsequently appear on B-sides, compilations, and split-singles. This edition includes all those tracks, and a slew of previously unreleased songs, including the entire five-track Music Source session.
On July 23rd, 2021, Sub Pop will release the remastered 30th-anniversary deluxe edition of Mudhoney’s “Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge”, the Seattle group’s classic second full-length album. This expanded release will include the original album in its entirety as well as a 15-track bonus LP and CD of additional material, with 7 previously unreleased songs. The album also includes liner notes from Mudhoney biographer (Mudhoney: The Sound and the Fury from Seattle) and MOJO journalist Keith Cameron, as well as new cover art, archival band photos, and a full-colour fold-out poster. The first run of LP’s will be on coloured vinyl.
In celebration of this upcoming, momentous release, please enjoy the new video for “Ounce of Deception”! This track was previously released as the b-side to the 1991 “Let it Slide” 7”, and was also included on the 52-track compilation of Mudhoney smash hits and rarities, March to Fuzz (orig released in 2000 and now only available on the increasingly unpopular CD format). The video was directed by Duncan Sharp, and features wonderfully entertaining, vintage footage of the group performing live.
Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack of Wye Oak have spent most of their lives in Baltimore, MD. But after two years of constant touring with Civilian, they landed on opposite sides of the country with an unforeseeable future ahead. Despite this newfound uncertainty, the two bandmates embraced their physical distance, passing ideas back and forth, allowing new work to evolve in their respective solitudes.
Wye Oak’s forthcoming “No Horizon”, set for release on July 31st worldwide. Like the rest of the EP, the track was written for and features contributions from the Brooklyn Youth Chorus.
Wasner and Andy Stack have been making music together as Wye Oak for over a decade, yielding five critically acclaimed LPs in the process. The Baltimore-born, Durham-based pair spent 2012–2018 writing music while living in different parts of the country, but the five songs that make up No Horizon mark the first that Stack and Wasner composed while both lived in Durham. The EP was originally composed in a tight, concentrated timeframe at the end of 2018 and early 2019, and then performed at New York’s Merkin Hall as part of Ecstatic Music Festival in collaboration with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus.
The EP’s opener “AEIOU,” was released earlier this month, was hailed as the #1 song of the week by both Under The Radar and Stereogum, the latter of which described “AEIOU” as “a song about choosing whatever form you will take, from a band who continues to do the same.”
The Fat Angel Sings 