As one of the most influential groups of the 20th century, there is a seemingly endless amount of discourse surrounding The Velvet Underground. Although much of the discussion centres around the partnership of Lou Reed and John Cale, the other band members that made up the Underground should certainly not be forgotten.
Maureen ‘Moe’ Tucker, for instance, was an essential element of The Velvet Underground and their signature sound. Drafted into the group in 1965, following the departure of Angus Maclise, Tucker became known both for her androgynous image and her unconventional playing style. Rather than playing with a traditional drum kit, Moe would play standing up with a simplified version of a kit. This allowed her drumming to take on a more experimental and impactful style, thanks in part to easier bass-drum access.
Independent artist Cam Forrester explores the career of legendary drummer Maureen ‘Moe’ Tucker; focusing on the origins of her unique style of playing, it’s development over the course of her time with The Velvet Underground, and the influence her sound has had on music over the years since the groundbreaking band were in their prime. Included are several demonstration scenes performed on Forrester’s own vintage drum kit, which is set up in the same fashion as Moe’s kits were back in the 60’s, plus rare footage, and photos of her and the band through the years.
Quotes/Introduction – 0:00 Background & musical beginnings – 3:50 “Tucker’s sister plays drums?” – 6:14 Andy Warhol, ‘The Factory’, and Nico – 9:07 The ‘Exploding Plastic Inevitable’ Shows – 12:46 A female drummer? – 15:09 ‘The Velvet Underground & Nico’ Sessions – 17:38 DRUM DEMONSTRATIONS – 21:22 Goodbye to Nico & Andy…hello to VOLUME! – 25:02 ‘White Light/White Heat’ & DRUMMING DEMONSTRATIONS – 28:18 John Cale leaves, and Doug Yule joins – 34:35 The third album & DRUMMING DEMONSTRATIONS – 37:07 ‘Loaded’, band breakup, and solo career – 43:09 Moe’s heroic return to the drums – 45:58 Retirement from the music business – 53:48 Influence & legacy – 54:28 “A natural drummer…” – 57:03 Researched, written, compiled & edited by Cam Forrester.
The Los Angeles punk legends X have announced their final studio album, “Smoke & Fiction”, arriving August 2nd via Fat Possum Records.Exene Cervenka assumes lead vocals for much of the track, with her lyrics recalling memories and vignettes from the early days.
The band also released the video for lead single “Big Black X,” a reflection of the band’s formative years in Hollywood. Exene’s iconic harmonies with singer/bassist John Doe kick in during the chorus, as Billy Zoom holds down slick rockabilly riffs alongside the steady rhythms of drummer DJ Bonebrake.
“X is a great band name; also a bad idea sometimes when it gets lost in print or on the marquee,” Exene said in the press announcement for the album. “Gotta have a sense of humour. We all did in the early days. Los Angeles was a carnival of weirdness back then, with left over traces of silent movie stars, long haired hippies, bikers, and brand new self-defined punks doing anything we wanted. When we started touring the country we found like-minded people everywhere, and somehow they all found us. Even if the X was lost on the old marquee.”
The old-school edits in the music video harken back to the excellent 1986 documentary about the band, “X: The Unheard Music”, and the clip was purposefully meant to evoke the old docs and videos of the classic punk rock era.
X will be supporting their final album with an extensive US farewell tour, X’s new single, “Big Black X,” is out now from the upcoming album ‘Smoke & Fiction’ out August 2nd on Fat Possum Records.
Tindersticks’ 14th album “Soft Tissue” showcases their exploratory spirit, mixing intimate songwriting with experimental soundscapes. The album evolves from their previous work, balancing introspective lyrics with innovative musical textures. Band members, including singer Stuart Staples, emphasize the collaborative nature of the creation process, fostering a dynamic dialogue that shapes their music.
Key tracks like “New World” and “Always a Stranger” highlight this blend of personal reflection and sonic exploration, underscoring the band’s enduring ambition and versatility.
There has always been a soulful quality to Tindersticks’ music and frontman Stuart Staples voice, but they’re really leaning into it on upcoming album Soft Tissue. “New World” opens with blasts of horns, and you might think you put on a Charles Bradley record by mistake, but then in comes Staples’ voice and you know where you are. It’s such a natural fit, especially in the chorus with its killer backing vocals, that you wonder why Tindersticks never went there before.
Taken from the new album ’Soft tissue’ released by Lucky dog / City Slang on 13th September 2024
Wednesday guitarist and singer-songwriter MJ Lenderman has announced his fourth solo LP. “Manning Fireworks”, the follow-up to 2022’s fantastic “Boat Songs”, is due out on September 6th via ANTI-Records. Lenderman played most of the instruments on the album, and he co-produced it with regular collaborator Alex Farrar.
The album includes last year’s “Rudolph,” and he’s shared a new single, “She’s Leaving You.” His partner and Wednesday bandmate Karly Hartzman sings backing vocals on the heartland rock-inflected track, and you can watch the accomapnying video, drected by Clay Tatum and Whitmer Thomas,
Lenderman will be doing some shows coming up in the US, Europe, and the UK;
UK singer-songwriter Naima Bock is following up her fantastic 2022 solo debut with her second album, “Below a Massive Dark Land”, on September 27th via Sub Pop.
Most of the writing of Naima Bock’s second album, “Below A Massive Dark Land” was a solitary affair. It may not sound it – it’s made up of strong, purposeful arrangements with a huge host of musicians; filled with cradling space and warm light. This will also come as a surprise to anyone who has seen Naima perform in the time since the release of her 2022 debut “Giant Palm”, undoubtedly a communal experience.
With a band of ten, three, or even just solo, when Naima plays there’s a rare bond between the musicians on stage and the audience. In their interview with her, The Quietus declared “after every song the applause and cheering is immense, so immense in fact that it seems to be coming from a different place than the usual formalities of a live show, a link between performer and artist forged somewhere deeper and more personal.”
It was in “Giant Palm’s” music too, a record that sweeps and swells, a chorus of voices and instrumentation that rises and falls as one alongside Naima’s own somersaulting voice.
It’s true though, most of “Below…’s” songs started life very simply; Naima alone, living in her grandmother’s shed in South London, writing just with her voice, guitar and violin. She’s no violin virtuoso but had taken it up as a songwriting exercise for its ability to draw melodies from her – a trick that undoubtedly worked, these are songs that drift into the back of your mind and settle there like fallen leaves, songs you wake up singing. The remainder was written on the road after those moments of audience connection, in the quiet that follows.
There’s power in the solitary too. “Giant Palm” was arranged with collaborator Joel Burton but going it alone in search of something truly hers, Naima found she was capable of more. “After me and Joel stopped working together”, she remembers, “it was an impossibility to even fathom doing arrangements myself but then I started learning violin. Playing it isn’t easy but writing melodies on it is”. Finding that she could go it alone was incredibly powerful for Naima, “I think I needed it, to be able to feel proud of something. Like, that’s me! That feels good.”
Once that writing portion is over though, this ends. The record is not a stark, stripped back affair. “Below…” still has that majesty that made “Giant Palm” so remarkable. Tugging the first record down from the skies and spreading it across the earth; there’s a newfound vocal power and confidence born from hundreds of hours on stage and the music sounds fuller, more tangible, but no less enveloping.
This can be found in the album’s lead singles. ‘Kaley’ feels fresh and surprising in its rug-pull choppiness but is distinctly Naima in its swinging, jubilant choruses. The accompanying ‘Further Away’ takes a different tack, drawing you irresistibly near in its simplicity. Finally, the hazy, luxurious beauty of ‘Feed My Release’ draws on the sepia-toned traditions of The Roches, John Prine and Loudon Wainwright III but imbues them with the kind of stark confessional song writing of Mount Eerie. Lyrically reaching deeper and darker than “Giant Palm“, these are ambitious, rich arrangements.
‘Kaley’ and ‘Age’ were produced by Naima herself and ‘Feed My Release’ was produced by Naima and caroline’s Oliver Hamilton who also helped in various places with arrangement. For the bulk of the record however, Naima brought her arrangement ideas into The Crypt Studios in London where she worked with Bristolian duo Jack Ogborne (aka Bingo Fury) & Joe Jones who were working together and producing for the first time outside of Ogborne’s own album, alongside a core band of Clem Appleby (Bass, Backing vocals), Meitar Wegman (Saxophone), Oscar De Guardans (Backing vocals, Electric Guitar, Harmonium) and Cassidy Hansen (Drums, Backing vocals) alongside and expansive choir, horn and string section. “I put my foot down slightly more this time but that’s not to detract from how much everyone put into it,” Naima says, “it shouldn’t be understated their contribution to the record”.
Having not gelled with slicker, more experienced producers, Naima found the duo a production team who were able to take her ideas and apply a boundless enthusiasm and meticulous attention to detail in executing them. They had a remarkable knack for knowing exactly how to record Naima’s less-concrete ideas and a flexibility in getting what she needed particularly when it came to recording her voice. “I do still struggle with singing in the studio”, Naima recalls, “we had to figure it out. I kept having to put myself in different places like in the hallway, or in another room just to be able to access something”.
During the release of “Giant Palm”, Naima spoke about how she left previous bands and went it alone due to difficulty enjoying touring. However, with headline tours including London’s EartH and support shows for artists such as A. Savage, J. Mascis, Squid, Rodrigo Amarente, Arab Strap, and This is the Kit,
Naima’s feet have hardly touched the ground since 2022. Instead, what she found is her place in touring, largely entirely alone. “I managed to find my favourite little safe spaces”, she says, “its nice compiling spots like that in every city, now every time I circle back to the place, there’s like at least five or six people I know”.
This is touring at its most romantic. “Traipsing around and playing music”, staying with artists, friends, or just friendly people and finding the artistic pockets in every city. Naima has always been slightly nomadic – living as a child between Brazil, Greece, and all over London – and that background has now led to a place where she’s truly fallen for touring and travel. This appears in the album title which comes from Olga Tokarczuk’s book Flights, a description of the view from an aeroplane. It’s a title that initially may sound imposing but in its context this vastness, dimpled with the weak glow of city lights, is a form of comfort.
These safe spaces bleed into the writing; songs written hiking the wide horizons of Tucson, Arizona or inspired by the residents of one particular Amsterdam hotel with a penchant for swimming naked in the canal behind. ‘Further Away’ meanwhile was written on a rare non-musical holiday in Greece, “after about four days without an instrument, I start getting itchy. So, I went to the shop and bought a tiny bouzouki and wrote it on that”. This became the album’s starkest moment, one of those rare songs that arrived so tender and fully-formed it didn’t need to be touched.
It’s not all grand vistas and clear waters though. There were lonely, difficult moments and clarifying conversations in these places around things like depression, family and abortion, relationships and break-ups and growing old that melded with Naima’s own experiences, bringing them into view for her, working their way into her lyrics and finding release.
It’s these types of conversations that mean the lyrical content of “Below…” often yearns for more stability. ‘Gentle’ wrestles with ideas of settling more. “It’s something I’d like to do one day but my tendency is to move, I find myself unable to feel fully at home in the world”, she says, “I just feel like it would be difficult to bridge that gap”. The album elsewhere is often interested in the process of ageing. This comes in the reckoning that “gravity is just kind of slowly pulling us down” in ‘My Sweet Body’, a song where sweetness is gently tinged with a creeping unease as she sings “I cannot seem to look after this body”. “It’s beautiful” Naima says, “but emotional to think about and a burden sometimes”. The traps we can fall into as we age appear in the wry good time of ‘Age’. Naima saw this first-hand on a less pleasant touring experience staying with someone whose “things were better in my day” mindset consumed and warped otherwise well-intentioned beliefs.
This results in a record that may occasionally appear to contradict itself; communal but solitary, rooted in place but free, intimate but spacious. This, however, is what makes “Below…” comforting and familiar. Who doesn’t contain within them these contradictions, who doesn’t want things that are directly at odds with each other. Like the safe spaces Naima has found the world over, “Below…” doesn’t require all the answers, not yet, but provides a safe place to look.
releases September 27th, 2024 Sub Pop Records
She’s shared two songs from the album you can listen to now.
I’m thrilled to announce that I will be doing two solo tours this fall: Europe & the UK in September, followed by a run of dates in the USA in November.
This is an extension of the This is What It Looks Like tour I did earlier this year. I loved that tour so much I wanted to keep it going, update the show, and bring it to some new places. The shows will feature songs from my solo catalogue as well as the stories behind them. I’ll also be debuting some new songs that I’m very excited to share.
One of my favourite songwriters, Kathleen Edwards, will be joining the September UK and Euro dates as a special guest. This is super exciting to me. I’m a huge fan of Kathleen’s records.
During the tour we will visit the Nashville Nights festival in Odense, Denmark, my third time at this great festival. Kathleen and I will play together at this one, in a songwriter’s round. Also at Nashville Nights, I’ll be recording a live version of my podcast That’s How I Remember It, with Kathleen as my guest.
The vinyl reissue of Night Beats’ 2011 self-titled debut album is out now, There’s a splatter vinyl LP available from the Fuzz Club store with a fold-out poster, “LEVITATION” have an exclusive sunburst LP and the purple LP can be found in all good record stores.
An acid-drenched modern garage-rock classic this 12-track set is a reckoning, a shoot-out at dawn, the ear-splitting peel-out that leaves nothing but a cloud of red dust in its wake.
A modern garage-rock classic in the Texan thirteenth-floor tradition, Danny Lee Blackwell’s R&B-inspired Western Psychedelic sound on this 12-track set is a reckoning, Following early releases in the shape of the ‘H-Bomb’ 45 and a split 10” with UFO Club (a collaborative project between Blackwell and The Black Angels’Christian Bland), the ‘Night Beats’ LP was the first full-length introduction to the band and propelled them to the forefront of burgeoning contemporary psych scene in a blaze of scuzzy rock’n’roll release.
Heavy touring immediately ensued and hasn’t let up in the years that followed, and the definitive NightBeats hit ‘Puppet On A String’ has since clocked up millions of streams and become the soundtrack to an underground, fuzz-worshipping generation.
Looking back on the record and upcoming reissue, Danny Lee Blackwell says: “Turning stones, looking for a sound. In bloom, or right before. Looking back on this first album I see a band with ideas that committed early on. I see where things will be built from, ideas that set up the groundwork for sounds to expand far beyond while honing a classic sound. I ventured with my voice and guitar and glad I did because there’s self acceptance and experimentation on this album. I’m proud of it and very glad it’s getting a long overdue repress.”
Genesis “Live at the Hammersmith Odeon” in London, England on June 10th, 1976 ‘A Trick of the Tail’ Tour 1976. Taken from the Pre-FM broadcast audio soundboard recording that is great quality, and one soundboard audio source that is slightly lower quality. This live recording by Genesis was a landmark King Biscuit Flower Hour appearance because it marked the first time the band had been heard on a national broadcast with its new line-up, after the departure of lead singer Peter Gabriel.
The band had toured for over a year between 1974 and 1975, performing 103 shows on the “Lamb LiesDown On Broadway” tour knowing the whole time that Gabriel would be departing to focus on his new family and to launch a solo career. The band had pleaded with Gabriel not to go public with his decision to leave, because the members feared they could not move forward without their charismatic lead vocalist.
This album showcases Genesis’ stellar concert at the Hammersmith Odeon, on 10th June 1976, during the “A Trick of the Tail” Tour.
Broadcast on the King Biscuit Flower Hour, this performance features unmissable renditions of Genesis classics such as ‘Firth of Firth’, ‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’, ‘The Carpet Crawlers’, ‘I Know What (I Like In Your Wardrobe)’ and more.
Setlist:0:00:00 – Dance on a Volcano 0:07:12 – The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway 0:14:33 – The Carpet Crawlers 0:21:19 – The Cinema Show 0:33:59 – Robbery, Assault, and Battery 0:40:29 – White Mountain 0:48:06 – Firth of Fifth 0:57:44 – Entangled 1:04:28 – Squonk 1:11:20 – Supper’s Ready 1:37:24 – I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) 1:44:28 – Los Endos ENCORE 1:52:27 – It / Watcher of the Skies | Band Members: Phil Collins – Lead Vocals, Drums, Percussion Tony Banks – Keyboards, Synthesizers Steve Hackett – Guitar Mike Rutherford – Bass, Guitar, Backing Vocals Bill Bruford – Drums
The Dogs D’Amour are an English bluesey hard rock band formed in London in 1983. Over the years the band has had various line-ups, the only constant being vocalist Tyla. Their music has been described as a mixture of the Rolling Stones, the Faces and glam punk. Coming in JulyDogs D’Amour – The Dynamite China Years – Complete Recordings 1988-1993. An 8CD boxset featuring the albums In The Dynamite Jet Saloon, Errol Flynn (King Of The Thieves), A Graveyard Of Empty Bottles Vol. 1, …Straight??!! and…More Unchartered Heights Of Disgrace, plus two discs of singles, B-sides and rarities.
Propelled by the albums’ three singles ‘The Kid from Kensington’, ‘I Don’t Want You to Go’ and ‘How Come It Never Rains’ edging their way up the charts, when The Dogs D’Amour’s genre-defining 1988 “debut” ‘In The Dynamite Jet Saloon’ (CD2) was released in 1988, it must have looked like the band was an overnight sensation. But this couldn’t have been further from the truth.
The Dogs D’Amour originally formed in 1983, and had already recorded two previous “debut” albums. First was 1984’s now highly collectable ‘The State We’re In’, for Finnish label Kumibeat. Further recordings were made in 1985 and 1986 for Watanabe Records in Japan, and it’s the latter where this collection kicks off. ‘The (Un)Authorised Bootleg Album’ (CD1) was the record originally intended for Japan a mostly acoustic grab-bag of the previous years’ sporadic sessions — became the band’s second album.
The second set in this collection is the aforementioned the critically acclaimed “In The Dynamite Jet Saloon’ (CD2), bursting with classics. A highly prolific band in their earliest days, ‘Errol Flynn’ (re-titled ‘King Of The Thieves’ in the States) (CD3) was released in 1989 as was the extended mini-album, The all-acoustic ‘A Graveyard Of Empty Bottles Vol. 1’ (CD4), a collection of acoustic songs that reached the UK Top 20.
Now officially England’s most notorious and decadent glam rock band, the Dogs d’Amour reeled off another solid, and adequately sleazy follow-up in 1990s ironically titled saw the release of ‘…Straight??!!’ (CD5) featuring the singles ‘Victims of Success’, ‘Empty World’ and ‘Back On The Juice’. Unfortunately, and in true rock ‘n’ roll tradition, the band split up on stage in Los Angeles in 1991.
Steve James started a new project called the Last Bandits, and Bam temporarily joined the Wildhearts. Thankfully the band regrouped for the self-explanatory ‘…More Unchartered Heights Of Disgrace’ (CD6) in 1993. This eight CD collection is completed with no less than two discs of rarities, live tracks and B-sides with ’Singles, B-Sides & Rarities’ (CD7) and ‘Even More Singles, B-Sides & Rarities’ (CD8), making this the most complete and comprehensive collection of the band’s recordings for China Records.
Tyla embarking on a solo career with an album fittingly titled “The Life & Times of a Ballad Monger”.
The Dogs’ sound was firmly rooted in American blues music, and Jo Almeida’s unique and distinctive slide guitar was reminiscent of blues masters like Lightnin’ Hopkins and Charlie Patton.
An 8CD complete collection of recordings released by China Records. • Featuring what most consider to be the classic line-up of The Dogs D’Amour; Jo ‘Dog’ Almeida on guitar, Steve James on bass, the onomatopoeic Bam on drums, and of course fronted by songwriter and singer, the inimitable Tyla.
Albums
The State We’re In (Kumibeat – 1984)
In The Dynamite Jet Saloon (China – 1988)
Errol Flynn (China – 1989)
Straight??!!’ (China – 1990)
…More Unchartered Heights of Disgrace (China – 1993)
Happy Ever After (Artful – 2000)
Seconds (Basementboy – 2000)
When Bastards Go To Hell (Rock Treasures – 2004)
Let Sleeping Dogs… (King Outlaw – 2005)
In the Dynamite Jet Saloon MMX ( King Outlaw 2011)
Graveyard of Empty Bottles MMXII (King Outlaw 2011)
Tyla and The Dogs D’Amour will be on the road in 2024 and 2025 to support this release,
The Fat Angel Sings 