Steve Miller will give fans a deeper look at his five-decade career with the October. 11th release of “Welcome to the Vault”, a 52-track collection that includes 38 previously unreleased recordings by the Steve Miller Band.
The set includes live versions, demos, rehearsals and outtakes; five of the songs have never been released in any form, including a 12-minute “work-in-progress suite” for “Fly Like an Eagle,” acoustic versions of “Kow Kow Calculator” and “Seasons” a big-band performance of “Take the Money and Run” with Jimmie Vaughan and a recording of T-Bone Walker playing “Lollie Lou” in the living room of Miller’s childhood home in 1951.
There’s also a DVD with 21 live performances, including a pair of songs recorded at 1967’s legendary Monterey PopFestival, a 100-page hardcover book of photos from Miller’s collection and a 9,000-word essay by David Fricke. The box also features an authentic backstage pass and 10 guitar picks emblazoned with Miller’s Pegasus logo.
You can watch the trailer for Welcome to the Vault .Welcome to the Vault is now available for pre-order at Miller’s web store; an alternative version of “Rock’n Me” is also up at all streaming services.
At the core of Death Valley Girls, vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Bonnie Bloomgarden and guitarist Larry Schemel channel a modern spin on Fun House’s sonic exorcisms, ZZ Top’s desert-blasted riffage, and Sabbath’s occult menace. On their third album Darkness Rains, Death Valley Girls churn out the hypercharged scuzzy rock every generation yearns for, but there is a more subversive force percolating beneath the surface that imbues the band with an exhilarating cosmic energy.
Album opener “More Dead” is a rousing wake up call, with a hypnotic guitar riff and an intoxicating blown-out solo underscoring Bloomgarden’s proclamation that you’re “more dead than alive.” The pace builds with “(One Less Thing) Before I Die”, a distillate of Detroit’s proto-punk sound. At track three, Death Valley Girls hit their stride with “Disaster (Is What We’re After)”, a rager that takes the most boisterous moments off Exile On Main Street and injects it with Zeppelin’s devil’s-note blues. Darkness Rains retains its intoxicating convocations across ten tracks, climaxing with the hypnotic guitar drones and cult-like chants of “TV In Jail On Mars”.
On August 2nd, Craft Recordings will release the Official full hour-long concert by Creedence Clearwater Revival in a 50th year celebration of the appearance at the Woodstock Festival. The show delivered a classic run-through of eleven well-known CCR songs. This historic show will be delivered on vinyl 2LP package. The set will be called “Live At Woodstock”.
Woodstock has long been considered the classic Rock and Roll event by which ALL festivals pattern, govern, and aspire to. To date, none have superseded the event. Many bands refused to go and be a part of soon to be historic festival, but for those that did, they forever became a strong tie-in to Woodstock. One of those bands was Creedence Clearwater Revival. CCR were at a peak and this hour-long set helped to contribute to their growing fame. I’m sure no band ever regretted joining this ‘at the time’ unsure festival plagued with everything that could possibly go wrong.
This long sought-after release celebrates the 50th anniversary of Woodstock by giving fans a front-row seat to relive Creedence Clearwater Revival’s hour-long set as it was performed that historic night in August of 1969. Kicking off with “Born on the Bayou,” the album features the band’s biggest singles of the day including “Proud Mary,” “Bad Moon Rising,” “Green River,” and more. Full of creative energy, John, Tom, Stu, and Doug delve deep into their music, playing extended improvisations of “I Put a Spell on You,” “Keep on Chooglin’” and “Suzie Q.”
Taken from Creedence Clearwater Revival “Live At Woodstock”, available August 2 via Craft Recordings.
If she prefers to stay inside, then Faye Webster makes music for her own kind: With all its droopy pedal steel, unhurried funk and a breezy island air that could sub in for your AC, Atlanta Millionaires Club is the perfect summer album for indoors-y types. Drawing on both her Americana roots and the bendy R&B of artists like Aaliyah (one of her cited inspirations), Webster creates a dramaticized retelling of romantic shortcomings that sounds like the sun crying. After her debut album Run and Tell and high school, Webster did what any aspiring songwriter would: she moved to Nashville. There, she studied songwriting at Belmont University before trying out graphic design, but when she found herself jonesing for a trip home every other weekend, decided to abandon collegiate life altogether and made plans to return to Atlanta, where she has since stayed put.
Since then she’s spent considerable time photographing various ATL stars like Offset and Lil Yachty. Webster released her second, self-titled album after college, which contains her first Spotify hit, the groovy “She Won’t Go Away,” a hazy country dream. But dreamier still is Webster’s third solo LP, Atlanta Millionaires Club, a steamy brush with R&B flourished with lots of twang and retro grooves. It’s weird and sleepy and full of droll one-liners like “I should get out more,” the chorus from “Room Temperature.”
“Room Temperature” by Faye Webster off ‘Atlanta Millionaires Club’ out May 24 on Secretly Canadian
Singer/songwriter Sharon Van Etten experienced a lot of change after the release of her last album, 2014’s Are We There, and they’re the kind of life-altering shifts newfound romantic partnership, motherhood, career advancements—that are all but destined to reveal themselves in one’s art. And here, on her fifth studio effort Remind Me Tomorrow, those evolutions are apparent in a powerful sonic swerve, and in Van Etten’s desire to explore both nostalgia and rebirth, and maybe even how they intertwine.
Remind Me Tomorrow was the first great rock album of the year, and it would behoove any and all of Van Etten’s fans, even those who staunchly prefer her folk-leaning material, and rock ‘n’ roll aficionados of all stripes to open their ears (and their hearts) to this beautifully executed pivot. And for all its bold sonic upheavals—the addition of drum machines and electric shred and cavernous synth Remind Me Tomorrow maintains Van Etten’s gothic sensibilities.
Sharon Van Etten was truly one of the great lyricists of the ’10s, but with this breathtaking project, she’s proved an artistic pliancy her contemporaries may not possess. She hit her stride with Are We There, but here she’s not even on the ground.
Following the release of excellent recent single “Moral Fibre”, Hull based outfit LIFE have now announced details of their much anticipated second album “A Picture Of Good Health”. Alongside this announcement the band have also shared a new single taken from the record called Hollow Thing.
Whereas the band’s excellent debut album Popular Music was broadly political, the new album takes a more personal approach with some beguilingly honest and brave lyrics that are bold in both sound and feeling, whilst also retaining the core DNA of their previous material. Hollow Thing has the band homing in on a bigger and more focused sound whilst also channelling the lyrical content inwards.
Hollow Thing is about tackling isolation and fixing yourself. It’s about letting go of something in your life, something that’s passed.
‘’Wait for the past to fade, wait for that hollow thing…’’ Hollow Thing is about moving on and overcoming hurt, taking the hits but getting through it.
‘’Wade through a sea of beige, choke on great clods of dirt…’Hollow Thing is embracing your worth.
‘’I look much better than you, I love much deeper too.’’Hollow Thing is littered with lyrics that reference something ending and then something beginning again. It’s a twisted pick me up!
‘Hollow Thing’ is the second single to be taken from LIFE’s new album. Produced by Luke Smith (Foals) and mixed by Claudius Mittendorfer (Parquet Courts), the band home in on a bigger and more focused sound .
Going on to speak about the album Mez says “A Picture of Good Health is not a collage of work but rather a snapshot of time; our time and the time of those around us. It’s political, but in a personal way. It’s a body of work that explores and examines the band’s inner-selves through a precise period; a period that has brought pain, loneliness, blood, guts, single parenthood, depression and the need for survival and love. It is the sense and need for belonging that is the resounding end note!”
New album out on 20TH SEPTEMBER 2019 via Afghan Moon.
Releasing their latest track “Missing The Mark”, the boys are doing the exact opposite of what the title suggests, creating a dreamy indie anthem that you won’t be able to get out of your head. Full of mesmerising guitar hooks and compelling lyrics, the track describes the downfalls of falling in love and is the next instalment of the band’s “love letters compilation” which has been inspired by frontman Kevin Potter’s relationship tales.
There are certain sounds that good bands are able to craft that somehow sound and transcend lyrics. It is like the landscape of their sound is able to unlock a thousand thoughts and feelings from deep within you. Paris Youth Foundation are capable of just doing that. Both nostalgic and romantic, the five-piece creates an explosion of life within the few minutes of this track. Perhaps it is no coincidence that the band recorded in the same studio as Oasis’ “Supersonic”, another band who could elicit an avalanche of emotion with ease. If you like dreamy and timeless indie pop, then look no further than Paris Youth Foundation from Liverpool .
“Diving is about desire and anxiety in equal measure,” explains Art School Girlfriend (AKA Polly Mackey). Written during a shift in Mackey’s personal life, the lyrics muse on the anticipation of new possibilities in her relationship. Grounded in quintessential Art School Girlfriend production elements – cavernous space, swathes of reverb and great rushes of air – Mackey’s vocal is centered in the ebb and flow.
Over the course of his quarter-century-plus career, Will Johnson has dealt with every challenge a musician can face. The silver lining, however, is that the Austin-based songwriter excels at taking bumps in the road and turning them into gold. As a solo artist, Johnson also knows all too well the balance required to navigate solitude and collaboration.
“Cornelius” is the first single from Will Johnson’s new album “Wire Mountain” coming September. 27th, 2019 via Keeled Scales. This album was recorded at Ramble Creek Recording in Austin, Texas
Will Johnson’s got no problem shelving a great song. To him, “the ride” of a record is so paramount that outliers – even if they’re superb – are sent to purgatory. Such had been the case with “Cornelius.”
“That damn song,” he says. “I thought it was gonna go by the wayside. It’d been hanging around for about 10 years and I could never find the right collection of songs to tuck it into. It finally found a home.” At last, the pounding and melodic four-and-a-half minute track slots into Wire Mountain, his newly announced seventh solo LP
Will Johnson’s solo album Wire Mountain will be released via Keeled Scales on September 27, 2019.
The Soft Cavalry are a new duo featuring Rachel Goswell of legendary ’90s shoegazers Slowdive alongside her husband Steve Clarke. They are releasing their self-titled debut album on July 5th via Bella Union Records. This week they shared another song from the album, “Bulletproof,” via a video for the track. The striking black & white video features the band performing the song via sign language.
Goswell had this to say about the video in a press release: “For a long time now I have wanted to do a video that incorporates BSL (British Sign Language) due to my son being Profoundly Deaf with no hearing. He also has additional needs with CHARGE Syndrome that brings many added complications. I live within two worlds both Hearing and Deaf; and have learned a lot in the last nine years about the many barriers Deaf people can face in our society. One of the main points I was taught very quickly is how music is accessible to Deaf people. Of course music can be felt through vibration but visually I feel so much more could be done to enhance the experience. We made this video with the support of Sign Up BSL to translate ‘Bulletproof’ so that the song flows properly in BSL. Sometimes with signing videos – they can be a literal translation of the words (Sign Supported English) which will make little sense to the Deaf viewer. Our hope is that we have achieved this and also that one day as my son gets older and develops his language skills he will be able to understand this song.”
Previously they shared its first single, “Dive,” Then they have shared a video for “Dive.” Hand Held CineClub directed the video, which fittingly featured a man contemplating taking a high dive into a public swimming pool.
Of the theme of the album, Clarke says: “It’s recovery versus new doubt. I’m there, in the middle. The word that kept coming back to me was ‘resilience.’ With the right mentality and people around you, especially family, we get through, and find a level of hope.”
Clarke’s brother Michael Clarke produced the album, which also features keyboardist Jesse Chandler (Mercury Rev, Midlake), guitarist Tom Livermore, and drummer Stuart Wilkinson.
Slowdive released a new album, a self-titled affair and their first full-length in 22 years, in 2017 via Dead Oceans.
Clarke has been a musician since the late ’90s, playing bass and singing backup vocals with various bands live and in the studio. But The Soft Cavalry is the first album he’s been in creative control of. He’s also been a tour manager, which is how he met Goswell, managing one of Slowdive’s reunion tours in 2014. He had been divorced since 2011 when he met her.
In a press release Clarke sets the scene for when he first met Goswell: “I was hung-over in the back of my van trying to work out how I was going to fit all the band’s gear into this confined space whilst I still had all of mine from the show that I’d played in London the night before. The second of two sold-out shows at Hammersmith Apollo with David Brent!”
A year later, Clarke and Goswell were living together. They got married in 2018. In the press release Clarke says that Goswell inspired him to focus more on his own music.
“I’d always had ideas but never felt that anything I had to say was worthy of anyone’s attention, let alone my own,” he says. “I wish that I could have done this 15 years ago but, in reality, I simply couldn’t have. But I’m not one to overly wallow. I’d rather plough the various levels of confusion into songs.”.
