The Fat Angel Sings

Celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Yardbirds, the British band who gave rise to Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. From rave ups at the Marquee, via psychedelic sonics, all the way to Led Zeppelin.

Which musical moment is the most definitively “Yardbirds”? The thrilling rave-ups of “I’m A Man”, which were so inspirational to David Bowie? Jeff Beck’s devastating one note feedback solo on “The Nazz Are Blue”? A delivery during which, as Simon Napier-Bell recalls in the following pages, Jeff just “glared at the band through the glass”? It’s a classic. But topping the lot would surely have to be the thirty second burst of madness about one minute and 45 seconds into the 1966 single “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago”.

In historical terms, we welcome this as one of the few recorded instances of the Jimmy Page/Jeff Beck Yardbirds of June-October 1966. On a more visceral level, though, it does something less easy to rationalise when a warning siren sounds and Jeff Beck begins a series of bombing runs on his guitar. One guitar solo threatens to start, but then another one, oblivious to the first begins on top of it. After a few seconds, someone starts talking – actually, more like heckling. “Pop group, are you? Bet you’re making money…” At this, there is mad laughter in the mix. “Why you got to wear long hair?”

It’s disorientating, but it feels representative of how things generally were for this band: hectic, confusing, often magnificent. The Yardbirds, like their more storied contemporaries like The Rolling Stones made a successful transition from R&B enthusiasm to professional pop and psychedelia (something they did markedly better than the Stones). It’s inescapable, though, that they are today better known for giving a home to Eric Clapton, the late Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page, than for their own collective output.

In the face of overwhelming odds, we’ve made some sense of it all. Inside you’ll find in depth reviews of the band’s intriguingly scattershot catalogue, presented alongside our pick of archive interviews. The Yardbirds own lifespan was an explosive five years, so beyond that, we’ve taken the opportunity to follow Jeff Beck’s career, from blues rock, to jazz fusion and even drum ‘n’ bass as he maintained a hunger for fresh sounds, much like his friend David Bowie.

Mo Troper, the Portland power-pop musician whose most recent full-length “MTV” Album, puts out covers with some regularity. A couple months ago, he offered up his take on Chris Bell’s “I Am The Cosmos” and a little while after that he had his hand in a Ducks. Ltd cover of the Feelies. This weekend, he’s shared a home-spun version of the Beach Boys’ “Wonderful,” written for the “Smile” album and included on 1967’s “Smiley Smile”.

“happy st patrick’s night,” Mo Troper wrote in a tweet. “i recorded this cover of Beach Boys “Smile” classic ‘Wonderful’ . I love studying the masters. hope you enjoy, cheers and have an incredible weekend.”

Shannon Lay has announced a new collection of covers, “Covers Vol. 1”, due out on April 14th via Sub Pop Records . “I absolutely love doing covers. It’s such a joy to offer my perspective on songs I admire and spread the word about amazing artists. “Covers Vol. 1” is the first in a series of cover records celebrating my obsession with shannonizing songs,” she says.

“Covers Vol. 1” features renditions of songs by Nick Drake, Arthur Russell, Sibylle Baier, Vashti Bunyan, Ty Segall, and more, and kicks off with the release of her taken on Elliott Smith‘s “Angeles.” “If I had a nickel for every minute I’ve spent listening to Elliott Smith I’d be a very rich woman,” Shannon says. “His intricate thoughtfulness always fills me up. ‘Angeles’ was one of those songs I was always quite intimidated to learn but upon finally trying it came together so naturally. Then Debbie Neigher topped things off with an amazing piano outro. I love feeling Elliott’s spirit embedded in the musical scene at large. Anywhere notes are played he lives on.” Listen to “Angeles” and check out the tracklist for “Covers Vol. 1” below.

Shannon has also announced she’ll be opening for Whitney on tour in March. She heads to the UK and Europe in April.

“Covers Vol. 1″ Tracklisting
Angeles (Elliott Smith)
From the Morning (Nick Drake)
Blues Run the Game (Jackson C. Frank)
Close My Eyes (Arthur Russell)
The Keepers (Ty Segall)
I Lost Something in the Hills (Sibylle Baier)
Glow Worms (Vashti Bunyan)
I’m Set Free (The Velvet Underground)
I Am Slow (OCS)

“Angeles” by Shannon Lay from the upcoming ‘Covers Vol. 1′ out April 14th on Sub Pop Records Original song by Elliott Smith

Horse Jumper of Love released “Natural Part” last year, and now they’ve shared a new acoustic version of album track “I Poured Sugar In Your Shoes.” “’Last Night Version’ is always how the song was meant to be: simple and acoustic,” vocalist and guitarist Dimitri Giannopoulos says. “Sometimes the pressure of turning a track into a rock song can get to me. But this is how it was meant to be. We recorded this version because I was in my friend Rhys’ student film Townsends Last Night.

We were filming this scene outside of a gas station on Comm Ave. by Boston University where the main character has a vision of me playing guitar. We recorded it in one take because the guy who owned the gas station was closing and kept shutting the lights off on us. Rhys had to go in and beg him to give us five more mins with the lights on. So that’s all we had – five minutes – just enough time for one take of the song. I liked the performance and how you can hear cars driving by in it, so I asked them to rip the audio from the movie for me to be released as a Horse Jumper track.”

“I Poured Sugar In Your Shoes (Last Night Version)” by Horse Jumper of Love, out now via Run For Cove Records

New York City duo Laveda’s new album “A Place You Grew Up In” is out next month, and the latest single is the propulsive “Troy Creeps,” which Ali Genevich says is meant to evoke “a long night spent along with your thoughts.”

Laveda’s new album, ‘A Place We Grew Up In’, is highly anticipated, with the singles; ‘F***’, ‘Surprise’, Clean’, and ‘Troy Creeps’ setting an impressive scene to an epic dreampop masterpiece.

Founded by duo Ali Genevich (vocals/guitar) and Jake Brooks (vocals/guitar/synths), Laveda released their polished debut album ‘What Happens After’ in 2020. As complex as it was colourful, the LP saw the band compared to the likes of The Sundays and My Bloody Valentine as they attracted glowing praise across the US and beyond.

Written and Produced by Ali Genevich and Jacob Brooks

releases April 14th, 2023

 The Lemon Twigs shared another single leading up to the release of “Everything Harmony”, their first record for Captured Tracks, released May th5. Brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario produced and mixed “In My Head,” which is ocean-sprayed pop music at its finest. The bright melody in combination with pensive, melancholic lyrics recalls The Beach Boys, but “In My Head” is The Lemon Twigs’ own twist on Californian surf-pop.

“The song’s about the disconnect between your inner and perceived self,” the group shared. “The music video was shot mostly at Fort Tilden Beach and juxtaposes the fun in the sun energy of the track with inclement weather and neuroscience.”

This new single and video. “The music video was shot mostly at Fort Tilden Beach and juxtaposes the fun in the sun energy of the track with inclement weather and neuroscience.” New album “Everything Harmony” is out May 5th via Captured Tracks.

The duo’s latest album “Everything Harmony” is out May 5th via Captured Tracks.

The late Jonathan Demme’s iconic Talking Heads concert film “Stop Making Sense” has been acquired by indie studio A24, who are giving it a newly restored 4K transfer for a worldwide theatrical release. The news came via a new trailer for the film featuring the current David Byrne picking up his also iconic Big Suit from the dry cleaners. “It’s been here for a while,” Byrne tells the owner. Byrne puts the suit back on and recreates a few of his classic dance movies from “Stop Making Sense” as “This Must Be the Place” plays in the background.

If the suit still fits… This year, we’re bringing Jonathan Demme’s ground breaking 1984 Talking Heads concert film (newly remastered in 4K!) The full audio of Talking Heads classic 1984 concert film, “Stop Making Sense”, will be issued on vinyl for the first time in August. While it focuses mainly on music by Talking Heads but does include a few songs recorded outside the band: ‘Genius Of Love’ by Weymouth and Frantz’s side-project Tom Tom Club and ‘What A Day That Was’ and ‘Big Business’ from Byrne’s 1981 album, “The Catherine Wheel”.

Meanwhile, Rhino are to reissue the “Stop Making Sense” soundtrack on vinyl and digital, including the first-ever release of the whole concert. That will be out August 18th.

A24 is also the studio that released Everything Everywhere All At Once, which just swept the Oscars, though David Byrne, Son Lux  & Mitski’s “This is a Life” lost Best Original Song to RRR’s “Natuu Natuu.”

David Byrne says it’s interesting that this album was – for many people – an introduction to Talking Heads: “We had done a live album before this, but coupled with the film, and with the improved mixes and sound quality, this record reached a whole new audience. As often happens, the songs got an added energy when we perform them live and were inspired by having an audience. In many ways, these versions are more exciting than the studio recordings, so maybe that’s why a lot of folks discovered us via this record.”

“Stop Making Sense” is reissued on 2LP vinyl on 18th August 2023, via Rhino. 

Personality Crisis: One Night Only is a new documentary about New York Dolls frontman David Johansen that was co-directed by Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi. According to the official synopsis, the film “tells the definitive story of the culture-defying David Johansen, notorious ’70s glam punk lead singer of the New York Dolls. Framed around an intimate cabaret performance filmed in January 2020 at New York City’s storied Café Carlyle, Personality Crisis: One Night Only reveals Johansen’s enormous influence, transcending the walls of music as a window into the art and cultural evolution of New York City.”

“I’ve known David Johansen for decades, and his music has been a touchstone ever since I listened to the Dolls when I was making Mean Streets,” Scorsese said in a statement. “Then and now, David’s music captures the energy and excitement of New York City. I often see him perform, and over the years I’ve gotten to know the depth of his musical inspirations. After seeing his show at the Café Carlyle, I knew I had to film it because it was so extraordinary to see the evolution of his life and his musical talent in such an intimate setting.”

PERSONALITY CRISIS: ONE NIGHT ONLY tells the definitive story of the culture-defying David Johansen, notorious ’70s glam punk lead singer of the New York Dolls. Framed around an intimate cabaret performance filmed in January 2020 at New York City’s storied Café Carlyle, PERSONALITY CRISIS: ONE NIGHT ONLY reveals Johansen’s enormous influence, transcending the walls of music as a window into the art and cultural evolution of New York City. Streaming April 14th on SHOWTIME. Co-directed by Academy Award-winning director Martin Scorsese and Emmy nominee David Tedeschi, and executive produced by Scorsese and Sikelia Productions with Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Imagine Documentaries.

one of this year’s most anticipated releases as Poolblood readies the release of the debut album album mole on January 13th via Next Door Records. From the initial release of the “Yummy” EP back in 2019 and the steady release of singles from the aforementioned full-length; Toronto artist Maryam Said makes art that stems from the most privy and guarded places of heart and expressive trajectory streams of thought. Tracks like “twinkie”, “wfy”, “my little room”, “shabby” and more take the listener on journeys toward those inward chambers of the soul that allow for perspectives of spiritual reckonings and the dawning of personal realizations that only the most illuminated aesthetics can curate with their indelible rays of light. For those new to Maryam’s wonderstruck world of Poolblood ⁠— welcome to the new dimension of poetic pop symphonies of universal spirit and limitless consciousness.

Released January 13th, 2023

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Frankie Rose – 2017 to be exact – but in that time we’ve managed to revisit her excellent complete overhaul of The Cure‘s ‘Seventeen Seconds’. Here, the Vivian Girls, Beverly, Crystal Stilts, and Dum Dum Girls member travels to the ’80s once more, as ‘Love As Projection’ takes inspiration from 1980s art pop, new wave, and synth-pop. Lead single ‘Anything’ sounds like New Order closing off a John Hughes movie. .

After spending nearly two decades establishing herself across New York and Los Angeles independent music circles, Frankie Rose returns with a fresh form, aesthetic, and purpose embodied in her new album “Love As Projection.” Celebrated by countless critical and cultural outlets over the years for her expansive approach to songwriting, lush atmospherics, and transcendent vocal melodies and harmonies, “Love As Projection” is a reintroduction of her iconic style through the new lens of contemporary electronic pop. Featuring beautiful, ethereal songs like lead-off single “Anything,” “Sixteen Ways” and “Come Back,” this album is more than a rebirth, a refinement, a resurgence – it’s a culmination of influence and the most personal and accessible collection of art-pop that Frankie has delivered yet.

Taken from the album “Love As Projection” Out March 10th, 2023 on Night School and Slumberland Records.