Afghan Whigs and Twilight Singers frontman Greg Dullihas announced his first-ever solo album under his own name, titled Random Desire and out February 21st via Royal Cream/BMG. (If you’re wondering, Greg considers 2005’s Amber Headlights “a project and not a solo-record.”) Taking inspiration from Prince and Todd Rundgren, Dulli played nearly every instrument on the record himself, but it does feature appearances from Afghan Whigs’ guitarist Jon Skibic, multi-instrumentalist Rick G. Nelson, Mathias Schneeberger (Twilight Singers), Dr. Stephen Patt on pedal steel and upright bass, and drummer Jon Theodore (Queens of the Stone Age, The Mars Volta). The first single and opening track is “Pantomima,” a soaring, anthemic blast of post-punky rock. .
Greg has also announced UK/EU solo tour dates for March and April.
Pantomima by Greg Dulli Random Desire, the debut solo album by Greg Dulli will be released Feb 21st on Royal Cream/BMG.
Craft Records is about to reissue Big Star’s acclaimed, first two albums on 180-gram vinyl. Set for a January 24th, 202 release date, and available for pre-order now, #1 Record and Radio City feature all-analog mastering by Jeff Powell at Memphis’ Take Out Vinyl, and also manufactured locally—in Big Star’s hometown—at Memphis Record Pressing.
Though they both failed to strike commercial success at the time of their releases, 1972’s #1 Record and 1974’s Radio City are now considered to be milestones in the history of rock by critics and musicians alike. Heavily influenced by the British Invasion, yet markedly original—with their jangly pop, driving guitars, sweet harmonies, and wistful melancholia—Big Star offered a distinctly new sound when they first emerged in the early ‘70s, and are counted among the founders of power pop—a genre which wouldn’t truly take off until later in the decade. Nevertheless, Big Star would become an underground favorite, influencing some the biggest alt-rock artists of the ’80s, ’90s and beyond, including R.E.M., Teenage Fanclub, Wilco, and The Replacements (who famously penned the song “Alex Chilton” as an ode to the band’s frontman).
The Memphis band was formed in 1971 by singer/songwriters Alex Chilton (1950-2010) and Chris Bell (1951-1978), drummer Jody Stephens (b. 1952) and bassist Andy Hummel (1951-2010). Chilton and Bell drew on the Lennon/McCartney style of collaborative songwriting for their aptly titled debut, #1 Record. Working with Ardent Records’ founder and engineer John Fry, Chilton laid down guitar and vocal tracks—often in one take, while Bell added polish with overdubs and harmonies to songs like “The Ballad of El Goodo,” “Thirteen,” and “In The Street.” #1 Record was released to wide critical acclaim, yet distribution issues severely limited the album’s availability in stores. It would sell fewer than 10,000 copies.
Although Chris Bell departed the band shortly after the release of #1 Record, Big Star’s remaining members began work on a second album in the fall of 1973. Losing the creative input of Bell could have wreaked havoc on the band’s progress, but Chilton confidently took the helm, and his undeniable talents shone through—especially on tracks like “I’m in Love with a Girl,” “Back of a Car,” and cult favorite, “September Gurls.” Released in February of 1974, Radio City garnered praise from the press, but, unfortunately, critical acclaim did not translate to sales.
Disbanding in late 1974, Big Star could have easily fallen into the abyss of could-have-beens and one-hit-wonders, yet they have instead achieved near-mythic status in pop music history. The legacies of #1 Record and Radio City—as well as the band’s third LP, Third—have far exceeded their original commercial performances. All three of Big Star’s albums are included on Rolling Stone’s 2012 “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” lists, and tracks from the first two (“Thirteen” and “September Gurls”) are also among the magazine’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.” Numerous artists (Elliott Smith, The Bangles, This Mortal Coil, Beck, and Jeff Buckley, to name a few) have recorded covers of the band’s songs.
Big Star has been honored with a tribute record (Big Star Small World, 2006), a documentary (2012’s Nothing Can Hurt Me) and a touring live show, “Big Star’s Third,” in which an all-star roster of guest vocalists and musicians join a core group (including R.E.M.’s Mike Mills, Chris Stamey of The dB’s, The Posies’ Ken Stringfellow and sole surviving Big Star member, Jody Stephens) to perform Third, plus selections from #1 Record and Radio City. Most recently, the 2016 concert film and live album, Thank You, Friends: Big Star’s “Third” Live…And More, captures one such performance in Glendale, CA. Through their heartfelt renditions of the band’s songs, a cross-generational lineup of talent—Jeff Tweedy (Wilco), Ira Kaplan (Yo La Tengo), Robyn Hitchcock, Dan Wilson, Jessica Pratt, and San Francisco’s Kronos Quartet among them—prove the enduring appeal of Big Star’s music.
#1 Record and Radio City (180-gram vinyl editions) will be available on Friday, January 24th, 2020
Big Star’s Third performing live from the Bumbershoot Music Lounge. Recorded August 31st, 2014.
Songs:
For You
Take Care
Nightime
Give Me Another Chance
Thirteen
Blue Moon
I Am The Cosmos
In The Street
2019 has unequivocally been something special for Daddies, wheather for better or mostly worse. Arguably the least Freudian of the bunch came from Melbourne’s Sarah Mary Chadwick (whose full-on “Daddy” album arrives early next year), which is preceded by the release of a title track written at first as a letter to both mama and daddy about the songwriter’s struggle with depression and the prospect of suicide, and later, yeah, as a bit of an Elektral complex deal. As always, Chadwick’s commanding voice takes center stage, with a rich orchestral backdrop supporting her booming vocals before they’re reduced to smoldered submission at the hands of yet another big and strong Dad.
First single from Sarah Mary Chadwick’s new album, ‘Please Daddy’. Out January 24 on Sinderlyn Records.
The debut album from Russian Baths has been a long time coming, and for anyone who’s kept tabs on this Brooklyn duo, there weren’t many surprises when the record was released last month. “Ambulance” and “Ghost” were shared as singles all the way back in 2016, while “Parasite” and “Tracks” began floating around the web this summer. Of the six new tracks, though, “Tremble” is the standout, positioning Jess Rees’ castrato vocals against the band’s sludgy instrumentation to provide the perfect hypothetical grunge horror movie soundtrack composed by a metal band. Stepping out of the shadow of producer Ben Greenberg’s career in noise rock, and checking their evident reverence for A Place to Bury Strangers at the door, “Tremble” is a uniquely chilling outro (not considering the even-more-chilling, nearly ambient proper closer, “Guts”) to their introductory LP
Sometimes a rock band exudes such swirly, Goth-tinged intensity, you’d swear you can actually hear the smoke machines and foreboding light.” ~ NPR Music
an ambient wash of artfully loud rock music, pushed and pulled by lulling vocals and echoing yet powerful riffs.” ~ Stereogum
Russian Baths is Jess Rees (guitar, vocals) and Luke Koz (guitar, vocals), joined live by Kyle Garvey (bass) and Steven Levine (drums) from Brooklyn, NY. They have shared stages with Black Midi, Drahla, Uniform, Horrors, We Are Scientists, Bambara, and others.
The trio hails from Minneapolis, a city already well known for its connection to noise rock. They stand alongside other Gilead Media bands Couch Slut and Kowloon Walled City as a select group of artists masterfully harnessing overdriven, rhythmic, and noisy riffs.
Threading the needle between the Euro-freakouts of Girl Band and the bleak fatalism of Daughters, Buildings is notably a very not-black-metal band signed to a very black-metal label. On their second release for Gilead Media, the trio builds upon the Jesus Lizard aggression of 2017’s You Are Not One of Us while also venturing into a handful of other heavy-rock influences—including metal on the headbangable second track, “Sit With It.” Comprised of nearly doom-paced guitar and heavy-hitting percussion, “Sit” is…well, pretty bleakly fatalist (“What does this world have left for me?”) and pretty freaked out the sense of doom, like any track on Negative Sound, is fully their own.
Buildings is:
Brian Lake: Guitar and Vocals
Mike Baillie: Bass Guitar
Travis Kuhlman: Drums and percussion
Official music video for “Sit With It” from the Buildings album “Negative Sound”. Out November 22nd, 2019 on Gilead Media (US) and Antena Krzyku (EU).
As 2019 winds down, we’re all starting to think about what types of changes we’re looking to implement in our lives to better ourselves in the coming decade, beyond the hollow and overly optimistic cliché of getting maybe a gym membership next year. The return of Best Coast appears to harness this translucent positive energy, strategically announcing their first non-kid’s music LP in nearly five years upon the changing of the decade. With plenty of positivity taking place in the duo’s lives in the interim, “For the First Time” is predictably upbeat both lyrically and instrumentally, with Bethany Cosentino’s lines about learning self-care countering flutey gildings which match the earnest simplicity of Talking Heads’ most zen-like type sound.
Best Coast – For The First Time (Official Music Video)
“Fox,” the first single from their debut album, Dogleg devastate listeners with a heart wrenching take on losing touch, with a song that’s thrives on leaving blood on the page. The band, who are expected to release their debut album next Spring, they take a power pop approach and then distort the hell out of it. While the feelings of loss and confusion could resonate with anyone, few artists could deliver a song on the subject with as much energy as Dogleg.
Along with the high energy video, “Fox” rips with an epic level of engagement that most modern pop-punk lacks. The song puts an emphasis on intensity, but it also has the dynamics of an early Taking Back Sunday song or a Nimrod–era Green Day track. While so much of the enjoyment comes from the screamed gang vocals and fast, punchy riffs, the song is set in the soft bass breakdowns, where you’re reminded that you’re listening to a song with more emotional resonance than just your standard emo track. While this is clear to anyone who heard Dogleg’s Remember Alderaan EP, “Fox” takes the interesting parts of that release and smoothes out the creases.
A fantastic explosion of noise. fast, cathartic, melodic. if you want to cry/dance in your room alone on a saturday night while your friends are out having a good time this is the record for you.
Band Members
Alex Stoitsiadis – guitar, vocals
Chase Macinski – bass, vocals
Parker Grissom – guitar
Jacob Hanlon – drums
Patti Smith’s fascination with the work of poet Arthur Rimbaud is such that she once bought his reconstructed home in the small French town of Roche. On the second of her Perfect Vision triptych with field recording and soundscape specialists Soundwalk Collective, she is joined by Phillip Glass, Mulatu Astatke, and the Sufi Group of Sheikh Ibrahim. Exploring Rimbaud’s fascination with Ethiopia, levels of sonic and conceptual intricacy run deep here, and the record even features recordings made under the tree where Rimbaud photographed the shrine of Sheik Abadir Umar ar-Rida al Harari, the founder of the holy city Harar. While also featuring a Patti Smith poem on title track ‘Mummer Love’, it’s the process of second-hand reading which is central to the project. As Smith describes: “Because we are working with other people’s work, and not just reading it but channelling these people, they become a fourth mind. We are Rimbaud, you, I, and the work.
“We go as far as we can to honour their work”… Take two celebrated poets and add inspired music for a stunning listen. Soundwalk Collective With Patti Smith – Mummer Love,
Soundwalk Collective with Patti Smith featuring Philip Glass and the Sufi group of Sheikh Ibrahim. Taken from ‘Mummer Love’, the second album in the Perfect Vision triptych collaboration between Soundwalk Collective and Patti Smith. Released 8th November via Bella Union,
Cruising with Ruben & the Jets is the fourth studio album by the Mothers of Invention. Released on December 2nd, 1968, on Bizarre and Verve Records with distribution by MGM Records, it was subsequently remixed by Frank Zappa and reissued independently.
As with the band’s previous three albums, it is a concept album, influenced by 1950s doo wop and rock and roll. The album’s concept deals with a fictitious Chicano doo wop band called Ruben & the Jets, the cover illustration depicts the Mothers of Invention as anthropomorphic dogs. Zappa described the album as an homage to the 1950s vocal music that he was “crazy” about.Mothers member Collins later left the Mothers of Invention, and Zappa began working on a project entitled No Commercial Potential, which included sessions that produced Cruising with Ruben & the Jets,which later produced three other albums: Lumpy Gravy, We’re Only in It for the Money and Uncle Meat.
Zappa later stated, regarding the releases Lumpy Gravy, We’re Only in It for the Money, Cruising with Ruben & the Jets andUncle Meat, “It’s all one album. All the material in the albums is organically related and if I had all the master tapes and I could take a razor blade and cut them apart and put it together again in a different order it still would make one piece of music you can listen to. Then I could take that razor blade and cut it apart and reassemble it a different way, and it still would make sense. I could do this twenty ways. The material is definitely related.
The album and its singles received some radio success, due to its doo wop sound.
Ray Collins rejoined the Mothers of Invention for the recording of the album, as his high falsetto was really suited for the recordings. According to Collins, “I brought the style of being raised in Pomona, California, being raised on the Four Aces, the Four Freshmen, Frankie Lane, Frank Sinatra and Jesse Baldwin. The early influences of R&B came into the Southern California area when I was probably in the tenth grade in high school. And I remember Peter Potter’s show, and I think I recall the first R&B tune on there was ‘Oop-Shoop’. Frank actually had more influences from the ‘real blues’, you know, like Muddy Waters, those kind of people. But I wasn’t into that in my early life. I was more of the pop culture, pop radio things, and it’s always been more of a favourite of mine than the early blues stuff
The range of material includes originals as well as standards like Chuck Berry’s “Almost Grown,” and there’s not a weak moment anywhere on the album. And as good as all of For Real! is — without a false note sounded anywhere — they save the best for last, a stomping, killer version of “All Nite Long” that definitely leaves the listener wanting more
Run Out Groove curated new collection of Idle Race’s best Liberty-era tracks.
The Idle Race were a British rock group from Birmingham in the late 1960s and early 1970s who garnered a cult following but never enjoyed mass commercial success. In addition to being the springboard for Jeff Lynne’s career, the band holds a place of significance in British pop-rock history as a link between The Move, Electric Light Orchestra, The Steve Gibbons Band and Mike Sheridan and The Nightriders. The band was initially formed in 1959 under the name of Billy King and The Nightriders; and consisted of core-members rhythm guitarist Dave Pritchard and drummer Roger Spencer, along with vocalist Billy King, bassist Brian Cope, and lead guitarist Al Johnson. In 1962, King departed and was replaced by Mike Tyler who changed his name to Sheridan and this change coincided with the band’s rise and gaining a record deal with EMI in 1964.
Around this time Cope was replaced by Greg Masters and Johnson by lead guitarist, Roy Wood. Wood who went on to find greater success in subsequent bands, had his first commercially released composition, Make Them Understand, with the Nightriders in 1965. By 1965 Wood then formed the Move and the band started touring by 1966. Johnny Mann was eventually replaced by Jeff Lynne—who at the time was an unknown guitar prodigy from Birmingham. They released one single in 1966 on Polydor—It’s Only The Dog / Your Friend featuring Lynne on lead guitar. Eager to showcase Lynne’s vocal and guitar skills as well as his growing cache of catchy Beatlesque songs and wishing to embrace the psychedelic movement of the time, the group changed its name, first to The Idyll Race and then The Idle Race. Roy Wood who had become a star as The Move became a successful chart act, helped arrange a partnership with producers Eddie Offord and Gerald Chevin for The Idle Race. In 1967, the band was the first major signing by the new British arm of Liberty Records. Only their first single (not issued in the UK) and their first album got released in the US on Liberty. The band was well received by the press for their melodies, whimsical lyrics and inventive production. They often appeared live in performance with such bands as The Spencer Davis Group, The Who, The Small Face, Pink Floyd, The Moody Blues, Status Quo, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Yes and Free. BBC disc jockeys such as John Peel and Kenny Everett were big champions of the group.
Despite critical respect and famous admirers such as The Beatles and Marc Bolan, The Idle Race failed to catch fire with the public. After suffering through bad luck that sabotaged their efforts in releasing singles Here We Go ‘Round The Lemon Tree, The Skeleton and the Roundabout, and The End Of The Road, the band splintered, leaving in their wake several of the quirkiest and most distinctive pop records of the psychedelic era.
