Archive for the ‘MUSIC’ Category

DANIEL LANOIS – ” Under The Heavy Sun “

Posted: November 18, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Acclaimed songwriter and producer Daniel Lanois has announced a new album for April 2021, “Heavy Sun”. He has also shared the first single from the album, “(Under The) Heavy Sun,” which is currently a “dubby, atmospheric tune” that “previews the space-gospel vibe of his upcoming LP.”

“Everything started out as a gospel song in this entourage because our organist, Johnny Shepherd, is a Baptist church minister and choir leader,” Lanois says, noting the vocalists’s “powerhouse” performance. “We started on this journey together thinking about spirit and where the next dimension of spirit might be. We invented this place in the song, imagining some kind of spirit nightclub in outer space you can leave your ego at the door. It’s a kind of fictitious, utopian night club where you can cleanse your soul and have a new beginning not one of sacrifice but one of celebration, entering a new dimension of joy.”

Daniel Lanois recorded Heavy Sun by hopping back and forth between his studios in Toronto and L.A., joined at the latter by Shepherd, co-writer Rocco DeLuca and bassist Jim Wilson. He worked with Shepherd and DeLuca in a sort of writing “factory” — “like the Brill Building of the West Coast” authoring tunes on a back patio. “I’m the studio rat of the bunch,” Lanois adds, “so I’m in [there] building these tracks out of Johnny’s organ performances, largely.”

Fortunately, the producer had the project mostly recorded before the pandemic upended the music industry. (It did force them to cancel a tour, which would have helped “keep the fire burning.”) The real question, he admits, is, “What do we do now?”

“We’re going to make some [videos],” he says. “We made one for this first single, and we’re [hoping] to pick up some streaming and radio play. I suppose there gonna be more live performances by streaming and subscription and all that. The promoters are pretty smart. There may be confusion right now, but I think there’ll be some kind of alignment pretty soon. Maybe we’ll all be doing performances by Zoom or something like that. [laughs]”

In the meantime, he’s continuing to fine-tune Heavy Sun maybe up until the final minute. “I’m still touching [things] up,” he says, “changing some of the lyrics and making the record company crazy.”

“Things are constantly evolving,” Lanois says from his Toronto studio, commenting on both the track, “(Under the) Heavy Sun,” and music in general. “I talked to Neil Young about this, and he said, ‘Songs? They’re like animals. They’re alive. They’re changing all the time.’”

Lanois is a master tinkerer: When not recording his own solo albums, collaborating with his band Black Dub and working on major soundtracks he’s guiding rock giants like Young, U2, Peter Gabriel and Bob Dylan in the recording studio. The space-gospel vibe of his upcoming LP, “Heavy Sun”, out in spring 2021.

 

STEVE EARLE and the DUKES – ” Harlem River Blues “

Posted: November 18, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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When Justin Townes Earle died in August at the age of 38, the music world mourned the talented singer-songwriter, but none more than his musician-father, Steve Earle. To honour his son, Steve Earle and the Dukes decided to record an album with-songs written by Justin Townes Earle. The new album, “J.T.”, features 10 songs penned by Justin and covered by the band, plus one classic tune from Steve.

That song, “Harlem River Blues,” which was the title track of Townes Earle’s 2010 album, and was re-recorded by his father and his band at New York City’s Electric Lady Studios, the LP will follow on what have been Justin’s 39th birthday, January. 4th, 2021. The record is called “J.T.” because Justin was never called anything else until he was nearly grown,” Steve Earle said in a statement. For better or worse, right or wrong, I loved Justin Townes Earle more than anything else on this earth.

“That being said,” he continued, “I made this record, like every other record I’ve ever made…for me. It was the only way I knew to say goodbye.”. The album is described in a release as “sombre in parts. [but] ultimately a rousing celebration of a life lived with passion and purpose.”

The new album ‘J.T.’ is available January 4th , J.T., Steve Earle & The Dukes pay tribute to Steve’s late son, Justin Townes Earle (J.T.), who passed away on August 20th, 2020 in Nashville. The album will be released digitally on what would have been Justin’s 39th birthday, January 4, 2021, via New West Records. J.T. finds Steve Earle & The Dukes covering 10 of Justin’s songs – from “I Don’t Care,” which appeared on his 2007 debut EP, Yuma, and a trio of selections from his full-length debut album, The Good Life (“Ain’t Glad I’m Leaving,” “Far Away In Another Town” and “Lone Pine Hill”) to later compositions like 2017’s “Champagne Corolla” and 2019’s “The Saint Of Lost Causes,” which was the title track of Justin’s eighth and final studio album. J.T. closes with “Last Words,” a song Steve wrote for Justin.

100% of the artist advances and royalties from J.T. will be donated to a trust for Etta St. James Earle, the three-year-old daughter of Justin and Jenn Earle. While sombre in parts, the album is ultimately a rousing celebration of a life lived with passion and purpose. The recording features the latest incarnation of Steve’s backing band, The Dukes – Chris Masterson on guitar, Eleanor Whitmore on fiddle & vocals, Ricky Ray Jackson on pedal steel, guitar & dobro, Brad Pemberton on drums & percussion, and Jeff Hill on acoustic & electric bass.

BLEACHERS – ” Terrible Thrills Vol. 3 “

Posted: November 18, 2020 in MUSIC
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Back in 2010, Jack Antonoff released Terrible Thrills, a compilation collecting re-imagined versions of his songs to be released on a standalone album. In its first incarnation, the compilation featured music from artists like Tegan and Sara, Scarlett Johansson, and Angel Deradoorian. The LP was soon followed by Terrible Thrills, Vol. 2 in 2015, which included reworks from Sia, Tinashe, Carly Rae Jepsen, Charli XCX, and more. Now, Antonoff has quietly announced Terrible Thrills, Vol. 3, a new collection in the series featuring songs from Bleachers’ latest album Gone Now reimagined by artists like Mitski, Julien Baker, Muna, and Ani DiFranco.

The third volume in the series arrives in in the form of four 7″ vinyl records, pairing each reimagining with a separate Bleachers rarity not included on the original album. The vinyl-exclusive collection finds Mitski performing “Let’s Get Married,” Baker taking on “Everybody Lost Somebody,” DiFranco reworking “Foreign Girls,” and Muna covering “All My Heroes.”

Terrible Thrills, Vol. 3 is currently available for order on the Bleachers’ website, where it will “only be sold this one time as a whole series.” Fans will receive the first 7″ record in early 2019, with the remaining releases to ship out each month thereafter.

Bleachers’ have a New Album ‘Gone Now’ Available now!

ANI DiFRANCO – ” Revolutionary Love “

Posted: November 18, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Ani DiFranco will release an new album in early 2021 that she hopes will bring people optimism and hope. Her upcoming LP, “Revolutionary Love”, follows her 2019 memoir No Walls and the Recurring Dream. Many of the songs were written while DiFranco was on her way back home to New Orleans in February. With the global pandemic looming over everyone since then, the album has personal and universal themes meant to inspire.

“I felt very strongly that I needed a horse to ride to try to help get out the vote—to get people inspired and get them believing in democracy, believing in each other and in themselves,” DiFranco said I’m a statement.

She also released the title track of the new LP, which is a seven-minute melodic message to encourage love and compassion. “It’s about carrying the energy of love and compassion into the centre of our social movements and making it the driving force. It’s about finding it within ourselves to stay curious about our opponents instead of shutting down,” she said.

Revolutionary Love releases on January. 29th, 2021, via her Righteous Babe Records label.

BONNIE RAITT – ” Woodstock ” Joni Mitchell Cover

Posted: November 18, 2020 in MUSIC
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Since writing “Woodstock” while inside a New York City hotel room, Joni Mitchell’s counterculture anthem has been covered repeatedly throughout the last 50 years, most famously with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s electrifying version on Déjà Vu.

Now, a folky rendition by Bonnie Raitt has been unearthed, recorded at a March 27th, 1971, performance at Syracuse University’s Jabberwocky Club. Raitt was just 21 and eight months away from dropping her self-titled debut. Unlike many covers of Mitchell’s spiritual song, Raitt’s version is stripped-down and acoustic, using solely her voice to channel the muddy festival on Max Yasgur’s farm. Her register is akin to Mitchell’s, soaring through the octaves with each line: “And I dreamed I saw the bombers/Riding shotgun in the sky/And they were turning into butterflies/Above our nation.”

This is a real lost gem of the 21 year old Bonnie Raitt singing Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock”. The Jabberwocky Club was in the basement of the cafeteria at Syracuse University. The gig was recorded by WAER radio but was never released as one of her albums. Its considered a bootleg and hard to find. Many current music stars like James Taylor played here because WAER would do the broadcasts “live” to the New York area. 

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Prior to closing its doors in 1985, the Jabberwocky Club hosted James Brown, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Roger McGuinn, and more. The campus’ FM radio station, WAER, would broadcast the live performances in New York. Raitt’s set has been bootlegged, but is extremely rare.

ADRIANNE LENKER – ” Tiny Desk (Home) Concert “

Posted: November 18, 2020 in MUSIC
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The Tiny Desk is working from home for the foreseeable future. Introducing  (home) Concerts, bringing you performances from across the country and the world. It’s the same spirit — stripped-down sets, an intimate setting — just a different space. introduced by Bob Boilen | November 18th, 2020 For her Tiny Desk (home) concert, Adrianne Lenker’s home is a camper trailer parked somewhere in Joshua Tree National Park. It’s the appropriate setting for the five songs she performs from her new album, tunes birthed in a wooden cabin in Massachusetts. The songs, the words, the voice of Adrianne Lenker has been at the top of my year-end musical loves for the past five years, more so than any other artist. It began with her work as the singer and songwriter on Big Thief’s electric debut album, “Masterpiece”, in 2016 and runs through this year’s two sister solo albums, one titled songs and the other instrumentals. Those albums contain nothing more than an acoustic guitar, voice, and the bug, birds, and creatures captured while recording. Her yearning voice, simultaneously frail and strong, draws me to those songs — songs about people, everyday life, everyday death, and ordinary places. All the while, she picks the tunes out of her guitar or paints the rhythms with a brush. These are songs worth spending time with, simple on first listen, but so much more profound once you live with them.

SET LIST: “zombie girl” “two reverse” “dragon eyes” “anything” “ingydar” MUSICIANS Adrianne Lenker: vocals, guitar

 

SAULT – ” Untitled (Black Is) “

Posted: November 17, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Good match … the covers of 5 and 7, the two albums released in 2019 by Sault.

Sault and the incredible ‘untitled (black is)’ double album from the band of mystery themselves has just this minute landed!

Mystery is a rare commodity in rock and pop these days. The internet has made investigative journalists of us all, and an artist who expends a lot of effort creating an enigmatic aura will almost invariably find themselves revealed online. So hats off to Sault, who managed to release two albums in 2019 – titled “5” and “7” – without anyone managing to conclusively solve the puzzle of who was behind them.

The incredibly elusive band Sault released their debut album “5” on Vinyl via independent record label Forever Living Originals. The record fuses African, soul, funk and post-punk vibes amongst other flavours. With support from Radio 6’s Lauren Laverne and USA’s KWRC and KEXP, the band are set to go from strength to strength becoming one of the most prolific bands of 2020 with a barrage of material up their sleeves.

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It was not for want of trying. Some people suggested the involvement of a London-based musician called Dean Josiah, whose CV boasts co-writing and production credits for Michael Kiwanuka, the Saturdays and Little Simz – the last of whom raved about Sault on social media. Others have posited that British soul singer Cleo Sol and Chicago-based rapper and sometime Kanye West collaborator Kid Sister – both signed to Sault’s label, Forever Living Originals – are the vocalists. But no one has confirmed or denied anything. Sault’s 2019 release is an incredibly strong collection of tracks, a near perfect blend of Soul and Post-Punk aesthetics that works powerfully and seamlessly together.

Political and thought provoking, “5” challenges existing structures and forms while simultaneously keeping listeners moving and dancing.

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Without pausing for breath and hot on the heels of their exhilarating debut album 5, the elusive Sault returned with their sophomore full length titled 7. The signature hybrid of funk, dance, post-punk, soul and disco is front and centre once again, confidently delivered with their typical fearless nature. If 5 had you out of your seat, 7 will have you dancing in the streets….Spread the word, Sault are back at it!. “7” is a great album with strong percussion and vocals, tight production and solid song writing, really great music that’s catchy, accessible, and all around awesome…

Released September 27th, 2019

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You can understand why people are intrigued, because both of Sault’s albums are fantastic, walking an idiosyncratic path that zig-zags between ESG-esque post-punk funk, early 80s boogie and something approaching neo-soul, without ever really fitting into any of those categories or sounding like straightforward homage. Whoever is on drums is clearly a big fan of Can’s Jaki Liebezeit: their playing adds a strange, hypnotic intensity to tracks even as laidback and sunlit sounding as 5’s We Are the Sun. Elsewhere, the dubbed-out spaciness of the production consistently gives everything a weird, disorientating edge, no matter how poppy the melodies get. The mysterious Sault returned with album number three that was announced when the whole album was played on BBC 6 Music’s Gilles Peterson’s show. This is the most essential album for 2020. The 18 track album is an absolute joy whilst delivering a powerful message. Each tracks title nods towards revolution, expression and a celebration of black culture. The sound once again mixes R&B, funk, soul and hip-hop together. For fans of classic soul, ESG and groove.

For all the sparseness of the arrangements – drums and bass, the odd wash of electric piano or blast of fuzzed-out guitar and synth – Sault seem as interested in writing songs as constructing grooves. Virtually every track is concise and to the point, rarely tipping over four minutes, and even the furthest-out moments – 7’s Red Lights or 5’s warped closer BABE – come with really powerful hooks woven through them. The net result feels simultaneously exploratory and confident, a really appealing, intriguing combination. Whoever they are, Sault sound like they know what they’re doing.

The EVERLY BROTHERS – ” Down In The Bottom – The Country Rock Sessions 1966-1968 “

Posted: November 17, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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As the British Invasion kicked in the hits dried up for The Everly Brothers; the one bright spot was ‘The Price Of Love’ near-topping the UK charts in 1965; yet Warner Brothers kept faith and the fall of 1966 would find them in a Los Angeles studio with the session elite. Over the following two years they conjured a body of material – three albums and a plethora of singles and out-takes – staggering in both its invention and realisation. RPM bring it all together in this essential three CD collection. The Hit Sound Of The Everly Brothers and The Everly Brothers Sing came in quick succession, mixing intelligent re-workings of rock’n’roll songs – an extraordinary slowed-down ‘Blueberry Hill’ – with contemporary covers like ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’, and two excellent Jimmy Webb songs – ‘She Never Smiles Anymore’ and ‘When Eddie Comes Home’.

Equally fine were the compositions of Terry Slater – often co-writes with the Everly wives Jacqueline and Venetia. Slater and Jacqueline would conjure ‘Bowling Green’ the one chart hit of this period. Roots had a clear concept, framed around The Everly Family radio shows of the 40s and 50s, but predominantly featured newer songs from Haggard, Glen Campbell, Randy Newman, and Ron Elliott; among the out-takes is Buffalo Springfield’s ‘Mr Soul’. Over the years Roots’ reputation has only grown; the same deserves to be true for the rest of this rich collection.

In 2014 The Everly Brothers’ legacy was saluted at the Americana Music Assn. show , held at The Troubador, Los Angeles. The artists in the show including Bonnie Raitt, Ry Cooder, Rodney Crowell, T Bone Burnett, Joe Henry, Asher, Rhiannon Giddens, Jim Lauderdale, Dawes, the Milk Carton Kids, used The Everly Brothers music as its musical anchor. With the current widespread rise in popularity of Americana music as a genre, now seems a good time to reappraise and re-establish one of the first true Country Rock albums – the 1968 Everly Brothers album ROOTS. This box set presents the build-up story to this landmark album.

DESPERATE JOURNALIST – ” The Fear ” Pulp Cover

Posted: November 17, 2020 in MUSIC
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Desperate Journalist’s new lockdown cover of ‘The Fear’ by Pulp is out now. The band are currently working on new material, the follow-up to 2019’s ‘In Search Of The Miraculous’.

Much-admired darkpop dreamers DESPERATE JOURNALIST are popping their heads out of the giant pandemic duvet with the special release of their cover of Pulp’s ‘The Fear’ on October 2nd.

Back in the panic-stricken spring of 2020, when the growing global pandemic ensured that the playing of gigs suddenly became as practical as the flying of pigs, fierce panda asked its newly domesticated acts to choose a favourite tune by a.n.other band with which to rockdown in lockdown. These covers would form the Covid Version Sessions, informal home recordings designed to capture the unsettling mood of the moment, and now those recordings are all seeing the digital release light of day throughout the autumn.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and doom’n’boom experts Desperate Journalist couldn’t really capture the unsettling mood of the moment much more adroitly than by flirting with a song called ‘The Fear’ and anointing it with their patented brand of bruisingly low slung indie sass.

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“We are all fans of Pulp in the band, but my personal favourite album of theirs is ‘This Is Hardcore’,” explains singer Jo. “It’s where Jarvis’s talent for the great observational lyric meets a cracking in his writerly facade, and the parallels between all the unusually personal angst in the songs and the death-of-the-Britpop-party cultural landscape of the UK at the time add up to a sublimely melancholic and relatable whole. It’s my go-to hangover record so (as bassist Simon says) I know it like the back of my hand. Anyway our friend Kevin kept suggesting we do a cover of ‘The Fear’ every now and again and it finally made sense in April what with the entire world slowly supernovaing into oblivion around us, all shut in our houses, so we had a go, because there was nothing else to do.”

Desperate Journalist have been more lockdowned than most this year: after the sensational response to their 2019 album ‘In Search Of The Miraculous’ – their third exemplary long-player – the foursome were already hiding away working on new material when the proverbial pandemic shutters came slamming down in March. Desperate Journalist’s fearless take on ‘The Fear’ is the second of the fierce panda Covid Version releases in the wake of woozy dreamboats MOON PANDA, who took The Strokes’ ‘Call It Fate, Call It Karma’ outside for a big cosmic cuddle on September 11th. More CV tunes from GHOST SUNS, JEKYLL, CHINA BEARS and NATIONAL SERVICE coming soon… 

Until the end
Ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh
Ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh

Released October 2nd, 2020
Written By: Pulp (Candida Doyle / Jarvis Branson Cocker / Mark Andrew Webber / Nick Banks / Stephen Patrick Mackey)

Performed By: Desperate Journalist [Jo Bevan (vocals), Rob Hardy (guitar), Simon Drowner (bass) and Caroline Helbert (drums)]

FRANCIS LUNG – ” Brooklyn Gurls “

Posted: November 17, 2020 in MUSIC
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Initially I just wanted to record a version of “Brooklyn Gurls” after it being requested a lot during my livestreams b/c a definitive version didn’t exist. When I’d finished I asked fans on Instagram which other songs/versions they’d enjoyed and I half listened/half did what I wanted and thusly the track-listing was born. I hadn’t recorded anything completely alone at home since my Vol I EP (2015) so I wanted to dust off my engineering chops. It was recorded on a Yamaha MT8X Cassette 8 track & Logic, and features vinyl samples of various classical records (which may or may not be in the public domain), and I also stole an intro from a punk compilation featuring my English teacher’s old band. There are mellow versions of Up & Down & Unnecessary Love from A Dream Is U for sad people who hate drums, an electric cover of J Mascis‘ acoustic guitar bummer ‘Several Shades of Why’, completely undanceable versions of Dance 4 Sorrow & A Selfish Man and a bluegrass cover of Paul Westerbergs ‘Androgynous’ dedicated to every non-binary kid out there struggling, growing up in a world that doesn’t want them to have rights. I guess that for better or worse, this is a pivotal time and I wanted to put out a record that was a snapshot of this moment, like a piece of wedding cake that sits in the freezer for 30 years and ends up lasting longer than your marriage.

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released July 22nd, 2020

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