After the success of 2017’s There Are No Saints, things just seem to keep getting more and more exciting for this Scottish songwriter, Siobhan Wilson. Siobhan was recently granted a PRS Momentum Music Fund grant, had her song featured on prime time television, and appeared in session on BBC Scotland. All of which might just seem like a sideshow to the upcoming moment of excitement that will be the May release of her upcoming album, “The Departure”.
Ahead of The Departure’s release, Siobhan has this week shared her, “defiant hymn to female empowerment”, April. The track, perhaps unsurprisingly from the title, focuses on the idea of re-birth, and regeneration, and how that gives us all a chance to decide who we want to be; tough, beautiful, even both, as Siobhan sings, “be a mountain if you want…or a mountain flower”. Of the track, Siobhan suggests, “It’s my way of trying to send a direct message out to do whatever the hell you want with your body, your time, and make your own decisions about your life.” Some of the possibilities Siobhan points out seem quite generic, ideas that could be aimed at anyone and everyone, however others feel deeply personal, there’s a certain sense of the pressure women are under to be mothers, and her own desires, to be loud, to fear failure and to embrace success, “you make your own rules, you break the ones you choose”. Siobhan Wilson is walking her own musical path, and sounding this exciting that’s exactly how it should be.
The Departure is out May 10th via Suffering Fools Records.
Cream were a 1960s British rock power trio consisting of drummer Ginger Baker, guitarist/singer Eric Clapton and bassist/singer Jack Bruce. The group’s third album, “Wheels of Fire” (1968), was the world’s first platinum-selling double album. In October 1968 Cream were pretty much coming to an end, apart from the remaining tour dates which would end with two final shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London on the 26th November. Mentally they all knew the musical journey they had embarked on in 1966 was coming to an end. Including this show, they would have 20 dates left until the end of Cream as a band.
The band is widely regarded as the world’s first successful super-group. In their career, they sold more than 15 million copies of their albums worldwide. Their music included songs based on traditional blues such as “Crossroads” and “Spoonful”, and modern blues such as “Born Under a Bad Sign”, as well as more current material such as “Strange Brew”, “Tales of Brave Ulysses” and “Toad”. The band’s biggest hits were “I Feel Free” (UK number 11), “Sunshine of Your Love” (US number 5), “White Room” (US number 6), “Crossroads” (US number 28), and “Badge” (UK number 18).
The band made a significant impact on the popular music of the time, and, along with Jimi Hendrix and other notable guitarists and bands, popularised the use of the wah-wah pedal. They provided a heavy yet technically proficient musical theme that foreshadowed and influenced the emergence of British bands such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath in the late 1960s and the early 1970s. They also had an impact on American southern rock groups the Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Recorded barely a month before the band’s much ballyhooed “Farewell Performance” at the Royal Albert Hall in November 1968, this October 4th show provides sound documentation of the monumental impact Cream had on the world of rock ‘n’ roll in the late 1960s and early ’70s.
The band opened the set with “White Room” which at this point in time was the standard setlist opener. Before the band launch into the song you can hear the excitement and anticipation in the crowd right up until that opening G minor chord rings out through the coliseum. It’s a good version but you can tell the band are still warming up to begin with, at least until Eric’s roaring solo three quarters of the way through this performance. That wah-wah tone is fantastic, and everything you associate with Cream during 1968. White Room is followed by Politician and Jack is the runaway star here, he really sings like a man possessed.
Crossroads is the third song and this is probably the biggest difference when compared to the famous version recorded at Winterland on the 10th March 1968. What you hear here is a slower version and as a result it lacks any of the fire the Winterland version contains. The song plods along more than it flows, however it does picks up when Clapton takes up his first solo. It doesn’t help that the song started slower than it was meant to and when you jump to the end you can instantly hear that the tempo has increased as the song has gone on, and as a result the song ends better than it started.
When you think of Sunshine Of Your Love as a live song, you think of the length of the song and what the band did in that space of time. It was common for the band to jam on Sunshine for over 10 minutes but during the US Farewell tour of 1968 the song was considerably shorter. This version clocks in at just over 5 minutes but thankfully it contains just as much fire as a 10 or 15 minute version. Eric’s playing on this song was always fantastic during his time in Cream and here is no different, with his unique tone hitting those familiar breathtaking heights. You do feel like the song could have gone on for longer. Spoonful follows and there’s no worrying about this being shorter. Standing at 17 minutes in length, it doesn’t get any better than this. Spoonful is a song that probably best showcases Cream as a band and as a live unit. That riff is infectious and you’re just waiting until the band switch into improvise mode . This was Cream at the top of their game, no-one could do jamming and improvising as well.
Deserted Cities Of The Heart comes next, from the then recently released Wheels Of Fire album. This particular version featured on the Live Cream Vol. 2 album released in 1972 (as does White Room and Politician) and contains an explosive solo from Eric. It’s followed by Passing The Time/Toad but only the music from the former features, not including the basic backing vocals which Jack and Eric sing together. But before Passing The Time gets going the guitar and bass cut out and you’re left with eight and a half minutes of Toad. It is sometimes tough to listen to long versions of Toad drummer Ginger Baker was and will always be and why he deserves to be named up there alongside the best drummers of all time. The audience erupts out of satisfaction when Toad comes to an end. The last song, I’m So Glad, begins after a short comment from Ginger in which he says the following: We must apologise for being a little rusty. We’ve all been on holiday. Thank you very much. We’re now going to do I’m So Glad, thank you.
Ginger’s comments definitely make sense after a fairly scratchy Crossroads and a shorter than usual Sunshine Of Your Love. You get the feeling Eric and Jack take notice though because I’m So Glad is a step up in playing compared to the rest of the show.Overall it’s a great bootleg album, Saying that though this certainly isn’t the best show that Cream played, especially when you compare it to other shows like Winterland from the 10th March 1968 or the unbeatable Grande Ballroom shows the band played in October 1967.
For energy, virtuosity and expressive cohesion, few bands could top Cream in their heyday; and perhaps fewer can today. The group, for all their professional and personal conflicts, were still able to fill any performance space with a richness and a soulfulness that was distinctively their own.
Eric Clapton – guitar, vocals Jack Bruce – bass, vocals Ginger Baker – drums, percussion
Setlist: 1. White Room 2. Politician 3. Crossroads 4. Sunshine of Your Love 5. Spoonful 6. Deserted Cities of the Heart 7. Passing the Time 8. I’m So Glad 9. Crossroads (*) 10. Sunshine of Your Love (*) (*) Recorded at the Forum, Los Angeles, on November 18, 1968
Norwegian pop star Aurora Aksnes, or just AURORA, has an unusual fearlessness. The story is that, as a child, Aksnes discovered an electric piano in the attic of her family’s home in Os, near Bergen. She started writing songs with a narrative orientation, Leonard Cohen a hero. After a school performance, Aksnes‘ friends shared Puppet online, leading Aksnes to court management deals. The singer-songwriter developed an individualistic, atmospheric and romantic electro-folk sound, attracting a fandom she calls her “warriors”. Aksnes broke out with Runaway. In 2016, she presented a debut album, All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend. Aksnes captivated critics by inverting Nick Cave with Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1), like a gothic Robyn cosplaying Arya Stark. Ironically, she enjoyed a UK hit with a cover of Oasis’ Half The World Away, cut for a department store Christmas ad.
Yet Aksnes has remained instinctively independent. She self-produces, demoing at home, or liaises with trusted studio cohorts. “I feel like the more people are involved in my art, the worse it gets,” Aksnes ponders. “I’m quite kooky in the way I write my own music, because I feel like I have everything inside of me already and that I don’t need anyone to get anything out… I scare people away sometimes, from coming with ideas, ’cause I’m so clear in my own vision.”
Last September, Aksnes dropped a surprise album, Infections Of A Different Kind (Step 1) – the first of two parts. The title song, about having faith amid global volatility and existentialist angst, was pivotal. Aksnes had been “feeling quite tired” and “uninspirational” following a hectic 2016. “I remember I didn’t really have any idea of what to do next – which is very strange for me, because I always know what to do next.”
Aksnes, 22, has long admitted to being “shy”, but she loves to talk. “You learn how to interact with people ’cause you have to meet, like, a million people a year.”
it was the lead single, Queendom, which generated buzz. Aksnes described Queendom as a bop inclusive of the “introverts”. But, more a song of fire than ice, Queendom is an empowering anthem, too. “I got a lot of amazing feedback,”.
Queendom is about celebrating all the differences in us. It’s about celebrating the women and the children and animals and the men also. The quiet ones and the introverts, where they can sing and be seen. It’s about the shy people and the lonely people and I hope it can be a place where we can come and be lonely together and then not be lonely anymore.
The 3rd release from The Spiral Electric is a sprawling double-LP veering from jangly psych to growling stoner rock.
The Spiral Electric are a psychedelic rock band from San Francisco, bringing a mixture of roaring guitars and orbiting synthesizer not heard this side of the galaxy since HAL 9000 dropped acid with Brian Jones in the windmills of your mind. Spacey, swirly psych with just the right amount of stoner/hard rock grittiness to balance out its more cosmic interludes.
All songs written & performed by The Spiral Electric: Clay Andrews : Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards/Synthesizers, Percussion, Field Recordings, Assorted Noises Nicolas Percey : Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals, Field Recordings Michael Summers : Bass Guitar Matias Drago : Drums
We began our career exactly 30 years prior by releasing a home-recorded cassette called Failure, which to our complete surprise became an instant favorite around the Northwest, earning us critical accolades, radio airplay, and major label interest all in a very short time. We were lucky to find ourselves living just a few doors down the road in Seattle from Arthur “Rick” Roberts and Mike Musburger, both of whom agreed to join our band on bass and drums, respectively.
Signed to Geffen Records, we recorded 3 releases, 1990’s Dear 23, Frosting On The Beater in 1993, and Amazing Disgrace in 1996.
These three albums remain beloved by our fans; our most popular, most often cited, most requested works. However, over the years, the CDs have been in and out of print, there have been inconsistent presences on streaming, the LPs either long out of print or not issued at all depending on the territory.
Good news: all that’s about to change. Frosting On The Beater is back, re-issued by Omnivore Recordings (who have, among many releases new and old, reissued our first album, Failure, plus releases by Big Star, Game Theory, etc).
The album will be released as a double CD set: one CD containing the original album, remastered from the original analog tapes, plus enough bonus material to fill out the rest of the CD; and another full CD of more bonus material. Don’t expect just a repackaging of material already available on our 2000 boxed set of outtakes—15 of Frosting On The Beater’s 31 bonus tracks on this reissue have never been heard!
Frosting On The Beater will now stretch across two LPs and will be mastered at 45 RPM from the original tapes. We made the decision to stick to just the original albums for the vinyl release, to give it room to breathe across two glorious slabs of wax. So, if bonus tracks are your thing, the 2-CD set will have you covered.
Craig Finn is the front man of The Hold Steady, however he also an incredible singer-songwriter in his own right. His new solo album is called “I Need A New War”. It is Craig’s third solo record on Partisan Records (his fourth overall) and it cements him as one of today’s most vital storytellers, among the ranks of Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits.
I Need A New War feels like another confident step forward from Craig. He tells the stories of people on the margins, focusing on characters who are lost and who have been left behind. There is nothing glamorous about their stories, it is a very “daytime” portrait of these characters. These are also the least American-specific songs that Craig has ever written.
Finn tells us “I Need A New War” is out today. I’m super proud of this record and I owe a ton of gratitude to a bunch of people who got it here. Josh Kaufman is beyond a producer on this music, he’s a co-collaborator and a spiritual guide. He’s become hugely important to me in the past five years. Life changing, actually. Joe Russo brought his spectacular musical sense to another record with me. His percussion playing and input brought so much life to this music. D. James Goodwin engineered, mixed and hosted at The Isokon and made it all sound incredible.
Stuart Bogie added so much emotion with his soulful sax playing and Raymond Mason & Dave Nelson rounded out the amazing horn section. Annie Nero & Cassandra Jenkins sound so fantastic singing together and their backup vocals are a major defining part of this record. Sam Kassirer played the piano that classes up the whole thing. Dave Gardner mastered elegantly. Dan Monick took the rad cover photo again and Vance Wellenstein put the artwork together. Partisan Records allowed all of this to happen.
I love each and every one of these people. Thank you all for being a part of it and thank you to everyone who listens.
Craig Finn & The We All Want The Same Things Band performing “Carmen Isn’t Coming In Today” live at the Murmrr Theatre in Brooklyn, NY. “Carmen Isn’t Coming In Today” A track from Craig Finn’s new album ‘I Need A New War’ out April 26th on Partisan Records
The We All Want The Same Things Band features Stuart Bogie, Cassandra Jenkins, Sam Kassirer, Josh Kaufman, Raymond Mason, Annie Nero, Joe Russo, and Jon Shaw
Aldous Harding release her third album, “Designer”, on 4AD Records. Designer finds the New Zealander hitting her creative stride. After the sleeper success of the internationally lauded Party, Harding came off a 100-date tour last summer and went straight into the studio with a collection of songs written on the road. Reuniting with John Parish, producer of Party, Harding spent 15 days recording and 10 days mixing at Rockfield Studios, Monmouth and Bristol’s J&J Studio and Playpen.
The New Zealand songwriter Aldous Harding with her third studio album “Designer”. At first glance it’s another album of her signature soft-spoken folk sound, but this time around there’s more meat on the bones. It’s her first record with drums on almost every song, and a broader instrumental palate lends the album a newfound sense of gravity. The emotional lows are lower and the highs are even higher than before.
From the bold strokes of opening track “Fixture Picture”, there is an overriding sense of an artist confident in their work, with contributions from Huw Evans (H. Hawkline), Stephen Black(Sweet Baboo), drummer Gwion Llewelyn and violinist Clare Mactaggart broadening and complimenting Harding’s rich and timeless songwriting.
The amazing new album from Aldous Harding is out today on 4AD Records/Flying Nun Records, on limited gold vinyl pressing.
Kelcey Ayer (Local Natives vocalist, pianist, and one of the band’s primary songwriters) has announced his debut solo album under the name “Jaws of Love”,and shared the project’s first single, also titled “Jaws of Love.” The album is titled “Tasha Sits Close to the Piano” released last September via House Arrest. Listen to “Jaws of Love” below .
As Local Natives were getting ready to record Sunlit Youth via Loma Vista and Infectious Music), Ayer laid down the initial tracks over the course of three days in the same Electro-Vox studio in Los Angeles that Local Natives recorded in. Engineer Michael Harris and mixer Cian Riordan were involved. Ayer later finished the album with LocalNatives‘ drummer Matt Frazier. The Tasha Sits Close to the Piano album title was suggested by Ayer’s wife and named after their dog, Tasha. Jaws of Love. made its live debut show in September at Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Ayer had this to say about the album in a press release: “I used to think that in order to write about love, something had to be wrong. I often got my material from pain, or insecurity, or problems – I thought I couldn’t write a good love song because I am in love and it’s going so well. But I’ve grown to realize that even in the most amazing relationships there are turbulent times and misunderstandings that are unavoidable. And that doesn’t mean that anything is doomed, but love is such a complicated thing. The idea of ‘jaws of love’ felt so perfect for this project because it’s all about love’s trials and tribulations.”
Neil Young culled highlights from his February 5th, 1973 concert at the University Of Alabama in Tuscaloosa with The Stray Gators for a new live album entitled “Tuscaloosa”, which is due out on June 7th via Warner Bros Records. The first single from the seven-track LP is a slow and beautiful version of “Don’t Be Denied.”
This is the next installment of Neil Young’s ongoing archival series, a concert he played with the Stray Gators simply titles “Tuscaloosa”, it will come out on a single CD and a three-sided vinyl album with etched artwork on side four.
“It’s from the period right around Harvest and Tonight’s the Night,” said Young, “For me, it’s edgy. It’s like those mellow songs with an edge. It’s really trippy to be down in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and singing those songs from Harvest and the songs that we were doing for Time Fades Away before it came out. I found this thing and it had such a great attitude to it. I just loved the whole night, so I put that together with [engineer] John Hanlon.
Neil Young + Stray Gators “Don’t Be Denied” from the upcoming album ‘Tuscaloosa” Available on June 7th.
4CD digipack set that includes shows from the Palladium New York, 21st Sepetember 1979, the Capitol Theatre, Passaic NJ, 8th March 1980, the Nakano Sun Plaza, 28th January 1982, and the US Festival San Bernadino, 28th May 1983. One of the greatest live bands ever at the peak of their powers. These are live broadcasts from the time so quality is variable.
Disc 1-New York, 1979 Safe European Home I’m So Bored With The U.S.A. Complete Control London Calling (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais Koka Kola I Fought The Law Jail Guitar Doors The Guns Of Brixton English Civil War Clash City Rockers Stay Free Clampdown Police And Thieves Capital Radio Tommy Gun Wrong ‘Em Boyo Janie Jones Garageland Armagideon Time Career Opportunities What’s My Name White Riot
Arguably among the most famous concert in the history of The Clash; the night of the ‘ultimate rock photo’ and cover of London Calling and the source of probably the most widely circulated Clash bootleg from the FM radio broadcast. Critical acclaim following the gig was also significant in pushing further the band’s profile in the US. WNEW FM recorded the complete concert and this high quality stereo broadcast is the source of all the recordings in circulation. This was the second of the two concerts at the seated and sold out Palladium on New York’s 14th Street.
The 3,800 seater Palladium was an old converted theatre, as ornate as London’s Lyceum but sleazier with drug pushers plying their trade outside.
Disc 2-Passaic NJ, 1980 Clash City Rockers Brand New Cadillac Safe European Home Jimmy Jazz London Calling Guns Of Brixton Train In Vain White Man Koka Kola/I Fought The Law Spanish Bombs Police and Thieves Stay Free Julie’s Been Working For The Drug Squad Wrong ‘Em Boyo Janie Jones Complete Control Armagideon Time English Civil War Garageland Bank Robber Tommy Gun
Disc 3-Tokyo, 1982 London Calling Safe European Home (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais Brand New Cadillac Charlie Don’t Surf Clampdown This is Radio Clash Armagideon Time Jimmy Jazz Tommy Gun Fujiyama Mama (w/ Pearl Harbour) Police On My Back White Riot
Disc 4-San Bernadino, 1983 Somebody Got Murdered Rock The Casbah Guns Of Brixton Know Your Rights Koka Kola Hate & War Armagideon Time The Sound Of Sinners Safe European Home Police On My Back Brand New Cadillac I Fought The Law I’m So Bored With The U.S.A. Train In Vain The Magnificent Seven Straight To Hell Should I Stay Or Should I Go Clampdown
Bored With The USA
The final concert the Clash played with Mick Jones, and just after Combat Rock had made them into platinum selling world stars. Recorded on 28th May, 1983 at San Bernadino’s US Festival. Tracks include Rock The Casbah, Magnificent 7, I’m So Bored With The USA (you gotta love them!), and plenty more.
The Clash came to a rather sad ending in May 1983. The group had every reason to be on the top of the world by this point: their previous LP, Combat Rock, was an enormous hit and their singles “Rock the Casbah” and “Should I Stay or Should I Go” were all over radio and MTV. But drummer Topper Headon was kicked out of the group for drug abuse in 1982, and Mick Jones and Joe Strummer were barely speaking.
They took a six-month break after the Combat Rock tour ended in November 1982, but a $500,000 offer from Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to headline New Wave Day of the US Festival proved impossible to turn down. To warm up for the huge festival, the group went on a four-date tour of Texas and Arizona. Founding drummer Terry Chimes (who rejoined the band in 1982 after Headon got the boot) was once again out of the group by this point, so they took out an ad in Melody Maker and recruited 23-year-old Pete Howard.
By the time they got to San Bernardino, California for the festival, they were in complete disarray. Things got worse when they learned fans were paying $25 to attend the show. They had been told previously that prices would be set at $17, and shortly before they went onstage, they held a press conference. The band announced they wouldn’t go on unless Apple gave $100,000 to charity. It was chaos. Some later claimed the real cause of their rage was the knowledge that Van Halen were getting a million dollars for their set.
The band eventually went onstage two hours late and played a sloppy, 80-minute set in front of a banner that read “The Clash Not for Sale.” Joe Strummer taunted the audience from the stage and afterward, the band got into a brawl with security. The group still walked away with a half-million dollars; four months later, they announced that Mick Jones was leaving the group. The chaotic US Festival was his final appearance with the band.
Guns From Brixton
Legendary cable broadcast recorded at the Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ on March 8th 1980, and featuring the classic line up of Strummer, Jones, Simonon, Headon. Tracks include London Calling, Guns of Brixton, Police and Thieves, Complete Control etc.
We can be very grateful that this very enjoyable Clash 16 Tons performance is unusually well documented by not only a good audience recording, but an excellent soundboard source too and even complete black and white video recording of the whole show.
This documentary evidence reveals a typically of this tour, super-tight and professional show. Although, inspired in places it does not really catch fire until Clampdown through to the encores. The Clash tired no doubt after their high profile Palladium show the night before (TV crews, New York press and glitterati) needed the feedback of energy from the audience, but that was not going to happen from this all seated venue. The result as can be seen from the video is that The Clash this night are largely on auto-pilot and real inspiration is only there on certain songs.
The Only Band That Matters
Compilation of live broadcast tracks dating from 1977 to 1983. Tracks include all the favourites – White Man, Tommy Gun, Train In Vain, Should I Stay and more.
Radio Clash From Tokyo
Legendary live broadcast from Nakano Sun Plaza, Tokyo recorded on 28th January 1982, and around the time of the release of Sandinista. Tracks include London Calling, White Man, Brand New Cadillac, Armagideon Time, White Riot etc.
The Clash were burning down the Nakano Sun Plaza in Tokyo as part of their Far East tour in early 1982, playing some pre-release versions of songs that would eventually appear on “Combat Rock” three months later. In terms of quality, this set is hit and miss . . . But even in its muddied glory, you can still hear the power and musicianship of the band shining through. You can even sense some remaining rapport between the band members here – probably the last of it, as the band was touring in the midst of the contentious recording of that album. Mick Jones was unhappy with the rest of the band rejecting his Rat Patrol From Fort Bragg mix, and Glyn Johns was about to be brought in at the end of the tour to remix the album in London. Jones was especially pissed at Joe Strummer; their acrimony would lead to Jones leaving the group less than eighteen months later .
White Riots In New York: Broadcast Live From The Palladium, NYC, 1979
The classic line up of The Clash lasted for five years from 1977 to 1982 and featured lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Joe Strummer, lead guitarist and vocalist Mick Jones, bassist Paul Simonon and drummer Nicky “Topper” Headon. Give ‘Em Enough Rope, the second studio album, was released on 10th November 1978. The album was a huge success and by 1979 The Clash had begun to make serious inroads into the US market.
White Riots in New York City is the legendary Clash broadcast from The Palladium NYC on 21st September 1979. This powerful recording captures The Clash at the peak of their form performing material from Give ‘Em Enough Rope and The Clash and their soon to be released third album, London Calling.
Featuring cover illustrations by Ray Lowry, the official Clash “War Artist”, who toured with The Clash and sketched them on stage and in rehearsal.
