The Fat Angel Sings

“Los Angeles Forum – April 26, 1969” presents an extraordinary live performance by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Before a raucous, sold-out house, Hendrix, drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Noel Redding tore through a unique set featuring highlights such as “I Don’t Live Today,” “Purple Haze,” “Red House,” and an astonishing medley of “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” and Cream’s “Sunshine Of Your Love”. This pristine recording, newly mixed by Hendrix’s long-time engineer Eddie Kramer, captures the original Jimi Hendrix Experience in their unrivalled, peak form.

A portion of this performance was previously included as part of a short-lived Westwood One radio documentary box set [Lifelines 1990-1992] but has been unavailable in any form for two decades.

ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons was there when the Jimi Hendrix Experience performed their legendary 1969 show at the Los Angeles Forum.

At the time, Gibbons was still in his pre-ZZ Top band Moving Sidewalks, and opening for the Experience on a handful of dates had sparked a friendship with Hendrix. So, on April 26th, 1969, Gibbons found himself side-stage watching Hendrix, Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell deliver an incendiary set.

“Excitement was definitely running high in advance of the Jimi Hendrix appearance,” Gibbons says . After initially taking the stage to little fanfare, Hendrix “stepped up and invited the crowd to imagine being in church, and to think of the ceiling as an open sky,” Gibbons adds, “and then it began: Man, it was loud, fast and furious.”

Gibbons says “what unfolded thereafter was first hand evidence of how Jimi Hendrix had figured out to do things on a Fender Stratocaster that had obviously never been imagined by the designers.”

The Experience tore through iconic tracks like “Foxy Lady,” “Purple Haze” and “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” that night, as well as deeper cuts like “Spanish Castle Magic” and the instrumental tune “Tax Free.” Through it all, Gibbons watched in awe of Hendrix’s guitar prowess.

“He was a virtual groundswell of previously unknown techniques,” Gibbons says, noting that Hendrix’s “ferociousness was unequaled. … The Jimi Hendrix Experience lit the house up and tore it right down.”

After the show, Hendrix found Gibbons. “Hey man, how did we do?” he inquired. “How do you respond to that? Since really there’s no basis and comparison,” Gibbons admits. “It was such a singular performance. All I could manage to say was ‘Jimi, I am floored and I am fixed.’”

“The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Los Angeles Forum: April 26, 1969” captures this legendary concert in its entirety. Gibbons provided the preface for the package, which will be released on November. 18th on two-disc vinyl, CD and all digital platforms.

Phoebe Bridgers has released a new cover of the Handsome Family’s Christmas song “So Much Wine.” Proceeds from the single will go toward the Los Angeles LGBT Center. The single features fiddle, whistling, and vocals from Andrew Bird, as well as vocals from organist Ethan Gruska, guitarist Harrison Whitford, and actor Paul Mescal. Hear Bridgers’ take on “So Much Wine” below.

“So Much Wine” is the latest holiday offering from Bridgers, who’s also previously covered other traditional xmas songs like “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” Tom Waits’ “Day After Tomorrow,” Merle Haggard’s “If We Make It Through December,” Simon & Garfunkel’s “7 O’Clock News / Silent Night,” and McCarthy Trenching’s “Christmas Song.”

Bridgers will voice Sally in Danny Elfman’s live The Nightmare Before Christmas concerts.

Bob Dylan has announced the latest release in his ongoing Bootleg Series.

“Fragments – Time Out Of Mind Sessions (1996 – 1997): The Bootleg Series Vol. 17” features a 2022 remix of the album alongside previously unreleased recordings including studio outtakes, alternate versions and live performances from 1997 – 2001.

It’s released by Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings on Friday, January 27 and will be available as a deluxe box set in 5CD and 10LP 12″ vinyl editions. Also available, a two-disc/4LP standard edition of “Fragments” which includes the “Time Out of Mind” 2022 remix disc and a disc of twelve select Outtakes and Alternates highlights.

Digital versions of the complete (five disc) and highlights (two disc) editions of Bob Dylan – Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol.17 will be available on all streaming platforms on Friday, January 27th.

The latest chapter in Columbia/Legacy’s highly acclaimed Bob Dylan Bootleg Series takes a fresh look at “Time Out of Mind”, Dylan’s mid-career masterpiece, celebrating the album and its enduring impact 25 years after its original release.

This edition includes a new 2022 remix, by Michael H. Brauer, of the eleven original recordings on “Time Out of Mind”, sounding more like how the songs came across when the musicians originally played them in the room.

Also included are 12 previously unreleased outtakes and alternate versions of songs written for “Time Out of Mind”, including such iconic tracks as “Love Sick”, “Not Dark Yet” and “Make You Feel My Love”.

“Bootleg 17 Unboxing Video – Long Version” by Bob Dylan Pre-Order “Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997) The Bootleg Series Vol.17” OUT January 27th:

Among the rarities are early versions of “Time Out of Mind” songs from the 1996 Teatro sessions with Daniel Lanois, Tony Garnier, and Tony Mangurian. When sessions began in earnest at Miami’s Criteria Studio the following year, Bucky Baxter, Duke Robillard, Cindy Cashdollar, and many more joined proceedings, and many of their unreleased takes feature here. The completed work won the 1998 Grammy for Album of the Year. 

There are 60 tracks on “Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997)”, the latest installment in Bob Dylan’s ongoing Bootleg Series. Dylan himself wrote 59 of them himself. One, however, is an unexpected cover.

“The Water Is Wide” is a traditional American folk song that dates back to the early 1800s. The waters gets a bit murky at that point, but the song, alternately known as “Waly, Waly,” was likely adapted from a Scottish or Irish ballad dating back a couple centuries further.

Dylan himself has been singing “The Water Is Wide” for decades. He first performed it as a duet with Joan Baez, who might well have introduced him to it, on the Rolling Thunder Revue. It was a highlight of their duo sets together. The next year, he sang it at a session for Eric Clapton’s album “No Reason To Cry”. It returned again in the late ’80s and early ’90s, where he performed an acoustic version in his own shows. Somewhat surprisingly, it doesn’t appear he ever attempted it for the two folk-covers albums he recorded in the mid’-90s, “Good As I Been to You” or “World Gone Wrong“.

Now we learn that a few years later, he actually tried it in the studio for a different album. He delivers “The Water Is Wide” beautifully in 1996, at one of the earliest sessions for “Time Out of Mind”. It’s unclear whether it was actually being considered for the album, or was just a warm-up with the band, but either way it’s clearly a polished arrangement and a wonderfully committed vocal from Bob.

New 2022 remix of the eleven original recordings on “Time Out of Mind”, sounding more like how the songs came across when the musicians originally played them in the room

25 outtakes and alternative versions

Live performances of tracks from “Time Out Of Mind” from 1998-2001

Bonus LP’s with previously released “Time Out Of Mind” material from The Bootleg Series Vol. 9

Extensive liner notes and previously unseen photography, Strictly limited and numbered edition of 5,000 units

Now available for preorder: Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol.17. This latest chapter in the highly acclaimed Bootleg Series takes a fresh look at “Time Out of Mind”, celebrating the album and its enduring impact 25 years after its original release. It includes a remix of the original album, outtakes and alternate versions of iconic tracks like “Not Dark Yet”, “Love Sick” and “Make You Feel My Love” — plus incandescent live renditions from 1998-2001.

Available January 27th as a 5CD or 10LP Deluxe Edition and a 2CD or 4LP

Since ‘Preliminaires’ in 2009, we know that Iggy Pop can express himself in other ways than roaring on guitars in a shower of splinters. Only dictated by his artistic aspirations and driven by a vital need to go to the point, he recorded in 2012 eleven heartful songs under heavy French infuences. With these covers of Edith Piaf’s “La Vie en Rose”, Serge Gainsbourg’s “La Javanaise”, Harry Nilsson’s “Everybody’s Talkin'”, Henri Salvador’s “Syracuse”, or The Beatles’ “Michelle”, Iggy has nothing to prove. He simply brings another side of his personality to light.

With his gut- stirring, beautiful and deep voice, Iggy Pop takes these classics, reshapes them his own way and gives us goosebumps.

For this 10th anniversary reissue, Iggy Pop covered “La Belle Vie”. The song was composed by Raymond Le Senechal and Sacha Distel, and co-written by Jean- Broussolle and Jack Reardon in 1962. It became a jazz standard in 1963 when Tony Bennett recorded it under the title “The Good Life”. Has Iggy Pop buried the hatchet? Nothing is less certain. The elegance of the arrangements takes the songs directly to what matters with a conviction more dangerous than any weapon!

Our new album is finally here! It took us nearly two years to finish this, and we could not be happier to share it with you. I hope you let it soundtrack your day and many days ahead. As you listen, here’s the story of what this album means:

Before “Look At What Tomorrow Brought Us” could come to life, I had to find a way out of today. 

In early October of 2020, I arrived at Stephen Shirk’s studio in Chicago with a few songs that echoed with the emptiness of a pandemic that was surging, a justice system that was failing and a campaign season that seemed to be closing its doors on democracy. Each day blurred into the next. The songs felt like they were traveling the same road— one long highway I had driven a million times before. 

Shortly after that first session, I came down with covid. I spent a week unable to move more than a few steps at a time. It served as the reminder I needed that time is precious — and that songs should reflect the gift to live and work and laugh and cry. I started writing with an optimism that has been elusive for most my time as a maker of music. Each month, Aaron Kiser and I met Stephen at the studio for a few days to focus on a few new songs. We spent the whole year in that rhythm — a few days each month offered an escape from everything.  

Then, in May, my wife and I received the news that we would be welcoming a little person into the world. In fact, I wrote this from the neonatal intensive care unit after my son just turned five days old after arriving much, much earlier than we expected. It was exciting and overwhelming and terrifying— and most importantly, it delivered a reassurance that the world can offer a meaningful weight that is well worth carrying.

I have spent the past 10 years creating music about my fears that the universe is teetering on the edge of doomsday. That might still be happening, but I’ve finally learned that, if it’s true, we may as well enjoy it all while we can. 

When you press play on this album, you will see Aaron and me having the time of our lives throughout every minute of this album — from the opening solo piano notes of “Slow Dance” to the anthemic close of “A Billion Drums.” There’s Aaron’s gospel-esque vocals on the bridge of “Goodness Gracious”. There’s me channeling the most John Lennon guttural scream of celebratory anticipation in the outro of “Eleanor.” There’s the two of us stomping on the floor of the studio to create a two-man marching band in “Parentheses.” I think the best way to sum up the entire album is the bridge of “If You Look Hard Enough”: 

Make every morning New Year’s Day/ We’re counting down to throw the past away

If you look for the problems in the world, you will find them. But if you look for the things that are worth smiling about, you will find those, too — it just takes a bit more work. 

Tomorrow is here. And it brought so many reasons to smile.

released November 11th, 2022

Angelo De Augustine is an American musician residing in Thousand Oaks, California. He has collaborated with and opened for musician Sufjan Stevens. The songwriter has shared two new video singles: “27” and “Hologram.” Both singles are out now via Sufjan Stevens’ label Asthmatic Kitty. De Augustine and Stevens released a collaborative album, “A Beginner’s Mind”, last year via Asthmatic Kitty.

De Augustine’s last solo album was 2019’s “Tomb” and the 2020 tracks ‘Santa Barbara’ and ‘Blue’. De Augustine recorded, produced, and mixed the tracks, which “hint at a larger sound to come,”

Thanks Sufjan for helping me with “27,” Jessica Calleiro for editing my VHS-C tapes, and to Matt Czap for animating my cover art illustration.

There’s a particularly good bit in our interview with Nick Cave in this month’s new issue of MOJO. He’s telling Danny Eccleston about how he and the writer Seán O’Hagan worked on their exceptional book, Faith, Hope And Carnage. “We ended up talking more about universal matters,” Cave says, “but all of that circles around music, as everything does, really.”

Everything circles around music here, not least as a respite from the anxieties and iniquities of the world right now. Please welcome, then, the new MOJO and our annual review of the best things about the year; the music that has kept us more or less sane in 2022.

Inside the issue you’ll find the accumulated wisdom of the MOJO team channelled into a Top 75 albums of the year list, plus the reissues, books and movies of 2022. No spoilers, but we’ve talked to plenty of people who’ve had a hand in the key music and musical happenings these past 12 months. We’ve also, of course, got plenty more for you to enjoy, starting with our Blondie cover story, as Debbie Harry and her numerous bandmates commemorate 40 years this month since their original split. We break metaphorical bread with Nick Cave, let our hair down in New Orleans with Wet Leg, and leave plenty of space for an exclusive chunk of writing by one Bob Dylan.

Plus: Crazy Horse on Neil. Johnny Marr on The Queen Is Dead. Sonic Boom on Spacemen 3. The Joni Jammers on Joni. The Heartbreakers on Tom Petty. Don Was on everyone. Rick Wakeman on ice. Bowie, Bruce, Bono, The Beach Boys. Peter Blake. Loretta Lynn. How To Buy Beyoncé. And, yes, a little Beatles on the side.

Introduced by Graham Nash and presenting Henry Diltz’s remarkable CSN&Y archive, CSN&Y: Love the One You’re With is a celebration of the supergroup and its individual members, documented through 1,000 photographs and 34,000 words from 20 contributors.

With their unique vocal blend and a musical approach that ranged from acoustic folk to melodic pop to classic rock, supergroup CSN&Y created some of the most beloved songs of the Sixties and Seventies. The story of one of the world’s most famous vocal harmony groups has been one of extremes: break ups and make ups, sublime musical chemistry and creative conflict, reunions and solo endeavours. Throughout, their enormous cultural impact has remained inarguable.

Documenting it all from the band’s very beginning was renowned rock photographer, Henry Diltz. For the first time, Diltz’s photos of CSN&Y are being collected and presented in CSN&Y: Love the One You’re With. Only 350 Deluxe copies are being created, each signed by Henry Diltz and Graham Nash, with an exclusive signed fine art print. 

‘It was scary. But once we knew what we had, you could not pry us apart with a crowbar. We knew we’d lucked into something so special. We could hear it plain as day.’ – David Crosby

How grateful we are that the musical story of CSN&Y is being celebrated with this beautiful book, which showcases our visual history through Henry Diltz’s camera lens.’ – Graham Nash

‘We were eager, young, and hungry. All we needed to do was get it right.’ – Stephen Stills

Featuring over 1,000 photographs, Love the One You’re With is the first time that Henry Diltz’s photos of CSN&Y have been collected and presented in such number and format. Selected from an immense archive of colour slides, contact sheets and negatives, many are previously unpublished, while others are of iconic status.

The book’s photographic journey starts at the roots of CSN&Y, centred on the ‘sylvan place’ that was Laurel Canyon in the late Sixties. Diltz photographed Graham Nash, David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Neil Young in their previous incarnations in the Hollies, the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield. He was then witness to musical alchemy as CSN discovered their astonishing vocal dynamic, first performing to fellow musicians and friends. 

Throughout every decade since, Diltz has shot CSN, CSN&Y and their various iterations, in recording studios, on concert stages, for album covers, and at benefit concerts.

Psychedelic rock heavyweights Dead Meadow will release a new album on Blues Funeral Recordings. The three-piece comprised of guitarist/vocalist Jason Simon, bassist Steve Kille and drummer Mark Laughlin offer their first studio recording since 2018’s “The Nothing They Need”, a unique piece of art that was written and recorded remotely and sees the trio diving into yet another form of boundary-free experimentation.

In 2021, they began work on a collection of jams and experiments for Blues Funeral Recordings’ PostWax series, working up a disparate yet cohesive group of songs that placed new works alongside the culmination of ideas they’d been tinkering with since the band’s genesis. The result of these efforts is “Force Form Free”, a spacey and dreamy record at times, grimly propulsive at others, and which captures Dead Meadow continuing their effortless exploration of the transporting, astral-gazing form they’ve spent their entire existence pushing forward.

New album “Force Form Free” will be available worldwide on December 9th, 2022 (with the ultra-limited PostWax edition shipping this October to PostWax Vol. II subscribers) on various vinyl formats and limited digipack CD through Blues Funeral Recordings.

from the Album “Force Form Free” Release Date: December 9th, 2022