Peter Gabriel has today made available a previously unreleased version of his song ‘Shock The Monkey’. It was the first single from his fourth self-titled album (aka “Security“). It was more successful in America than it was in the UK .
The new version of ‘Shock The Monkey’ is only available digitally via Bandcamp and is called ‘Shock The Monkey (EarthPercent x Earth Day Mix)’. I should stress this is not some sort of modern remix, it’s a completely unheard alternate version from 1982 and it is really good!
Money from the sale of this track will to got EarthPercent and contribute to the charity’s Grantmaking Fund, which supports organisations doing vital work to help tackle the climate emergency
This version of the song is being made available for a limited time in support of EarthPercent x Earth Day, where over 100 artists have contributed a combination of new, unheard, exclusive and archival tracks.
Peter Gabriel is best known as a musician. He started his solo work in 1975 after leaving his old school group: Genesis. He has released eleven solo albums and written soundtracks for three films. Peter is now writing and recording, and working on a plan to create a streaming service for digital medicine and an Interspecies Internet.
S.G. Goodman looks right at home sitting in one of the bright red booths at Rudy’s on the Square as awaitress sets breakfast before her. She’s wearing two layers beneath her black Carhartt overalls, and a camouflage Hickman Hardware cap from her hometown overtops her trademark wire-rimmed glasses. The tables around her are filled with construction workers and farmers who are talking quietly as they devour meat-and-threes and receive coffee refills from waitresses who call them “honey and “darlin’”.
Rudy’s is the oldest restaurant in the small city of Murray, Kentucky, where Goodman has lived since she was 18, except for a six-month stint in Nashville. The café sits across the town square from the tall white Confederate memorial that was recently challenged; a unanimous vote kept the statue there.
Murray State University is what first brought Goodman here from Hickman, an hour west, about as far west as one can go in Kentucky.
“I’ve set up my own roots,” Goodman says, scooping up a spoonful of grits. “When I first came here, it was like I was coming to the big city compared to where I’m from. It allows me to be an hour closer to Nashville. I’ve got a lot of chosen family here.”
Goodman is a keenly intelligent person who can talk at length about musical forms, theology, the history of the Mississippi River, and everything in between. She laughs often and easily, somehow mischievous and sweet at the same time.
“Not seen you in here lately, honey,” the waitress says when Goodman pays the bill. “Where you been?”
“Yeah, I’ve been gone a little bit,” Goodman replies, not mentioning that she has just returned from doing a photo shoot in New York City for her much-anticipated second album. It’s unclear if the waitress realizes she’s talking to one of the most exciting acts in Americana music, an artist who has built a rabid following despite releasing her debut album at the height of the pandemic. “Old Time Feeling” was acclaimed by the likes of NPR, The New Yorker, PBS, The Guardian, and many others. It led to her touring with acts such as Jason Isbell and John Moreland, charming crowds with her precise lyrics, gritty sound, unforgettable vocals, and impish humour.
Formed in 1976 by Matt Dangerfield of London and Norwegian-born keyboardist Casino Steel (formerly in glam act Hollywood Brats), the Boys were the power-pop pioneers of the London punk scene. After two albums for NEMS that spawned followings in Europe, the quintet signed to Safari for To Hell WithThe Boys, considered their finest LP.
Mixing glam-pop and power-punk, there’s an adaptation of ‘Knocking On Heaven’s Door’ as ‘Terminal Love,’ motorcycle thriller, ‘Kamikaze,’ and punky country track ‘Lonely Cowboy.’ All killer, no filler – a must have for all Boys fans and lovers of early London punk and power pop!
In late January and early February of 1982 the Clash played eight shows in Japan. The band was embarking on a month-long tour of the Far East that, as fate would have it, would be the last tour with their classic line-up. When it was over, drummer Topper Headon was kicked out , and the band would never be the same.
In this LP we go back in time to listen to The Clash in the twilight of their period of highest splendour.
The Clash had refused to play in Japan prior to this tour because of the Japanese custom forbidding audience members to stand up. They agreed to play after a compromise was struck: the fans could stand, but only at their seats
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Released for Record Store Day 2022 on Radiation Records
Undoubtedly one of the pioneering members of the of rock ‘n’ roll, the late and great Lou Reed’s contribution to music is undeniable and immovable all at the same time. The singer-songwriter carved out an influential niche as one of the founding members of the Velvet Underground but arguably his work as a solo entity is the finest demonstration of his star power and immearsurable talent. His debut solo album release included “Berlin”, by Lou Reed, released in April 1972 compiled largely of songs leftover from his days with the Velvet Underground.
As such, the songs are well-crafted and compelling, noting the street life Reed was still wholly immersed in. It also means that this LP is missing the cut-throat wit of Reed’s later work.. The album features no less then three great guitar players: Caleb Quaye, Steve Howe (then with Yes) and Paul Keogh. On release the album did not fare that well, neither in stores nor with critics. But it did include another wonderful guest appearance by Rick Wakeman on piano. The grumpy old man remembers: “Everyone who was taking part waited down in the bar not a difficult thing for me at the time. So you waited until you were called by Lou – a bit like a doctor’s surgery. Eventually someone came over and told me: ‘Rick, Lou is ready for you now.’ So I went up, and the studio was pitch-black apart from a lamp on the piano. I put the cans on, and I hear Lou’s voice in my ear: ‘I’m gonna play you this track, and I want you to play piano real quick over it. Just make sure you play real quick.’ I played over a few song snippets, then he went: ‘Thank you. That was great.’ I got up, the lights came on, and he came down, thanked me, and I walked out the door. It was an incredibly bizarre session.”
The Cover art by Tom Adams, illustrator known for his book cover art for the paperback editions of Agatha Christie.
The band:
Lou Reed – vocals; guitar Caleb Quaye – electric and acoustic guitars; piano Steve Howe – electric guitar Paul Keogh – electric and acoustic guitars Rick Wakeman – piano Les Hurdle – bass guitar Brian Odgers – bass guitar Clem Cattini – percussion Kay Garner – harmony vocals Helene Francois – harmony vocals
Traffic were an English rock band, formed in Birmingham, in April 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason. They began as a psychedelic rock group and diversified their sound through the use of instruments such as keyboards like the Mellotron and harpsichord, sitar, and various reed instruments, and by incorporating jazz and improvisational techniques in their music. Their first three singles were “Paper Sun”, “Hole in My Shoe”, and “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush”.
Traffic disbanded in 1969, during which time Winwood joined Blind Faith, then reunited in 1970 to release the critically acclaimed classic album “John Barleycorn Must Die”. The band’s line-up varied from this point until they disbanded again in 1974. A partial reunion, with Winwood and Capaldi, took place in 1994.
April 6th, 1973 Musikladen, Bremen, GER (supported by Spooky Tooth)
Traffic were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.
Since forming in high school, Brisbane band The Goon Sax—the trio of Riley Jones, Louis Forster, and James Harrison, best friends who take turns writing, singing, and playing each instrument— have been celebrated for their unpretentious, kinetic homemade pop.
Australian trio The Goon Sax have released a digital deluxe edition of last year’s “Mirror II”, which was their first album for MatadorRecords. It now comes with four unreleased tracks, including two album outtakes, a demo of “In the Stone,” and a cover of LEN’s “Steal My Sunshine.” The digital deluxe edition is out now .
As for “Steal My Sunshine,” they turn LEN’s 1999 Top-10 hit (and Go! soundtrack standout) into a noisy shoegaze anthem. The core of the song is still front and centre but they put lots of guitars all over it. TheGoon Sax are currently on tour in the USA with Snail Mail
Hazan and Mingay caused a stir with 1973’s A Bigger Splash, a film about the painter David Hockney and his circle that uneasily blended fly-on-the-wall footage, restaged scenes based on real events, and fantasy sequences. This docu-fiction approach carries through to “Rude Boy”, the Clash movie notoriously disowned by the Clash. A real-life character named Ray Gange is the central figure, playing an unflattering version of himself as a beer-swilling Clash hanger-on who finds the band’s political lyrics annoying and proves to be an unreliable roadie on their tour. Rude Boy is a disjointed patchwork that obliquely gestures towards a negative verdict on punk’s political potency. An unconnected subplot involving Jamaican-British kids colliding with the judicial system hints that the tribulations of white youth are trifling in comparison; the film glumly ends with Margaret Thatcher waving from 10 Downing Street after a landslide Conservative victory in May 1979, as if to say all those righteous anthems and Rock Against Racism benefits achieved little. But despite its listless pace, the film holds your attention with electrifying concert footage, low-key “off-duty” scenes with the ever-luminous Strummer, and glimpses of the sheer crapness of the U.K. in the late ’70s, which resembles an Eastern Bloc country more than the touristic image of Great Britain.
For more than a year now, London’s Black Country, New Road has patiently teetered on the cusp of success. The seven-piece experimental rock outfit emerged from relative anonymity in 2019 with just two songs, and publications from the New York Times to the Guardian quickly embraced them. The Quietus even declared the group “the best band in the world.”
With a visceral sound that melds post-rock, jazz, post-punk, and even klezmer into dynamic compositions, the band would soon sell out shows across the country, book international festivals, and land a record deal with independent stalwart Ninja Tune. Then the pandemic hit, delaying the release of their debut album “For the First Time” for a year.
Despite a refreshingly opaque social media presence (the band only posts stock photos), the disruption hasn’t detracted from the hype — and might have even been a blessing in disguise. “For the First Time” arrived at the top of 2021 as a thrilling palate cleanser from the nostalgia and inertia that characterized much of the pandemic music experience. The record feels urgent and wild, a document of raw youth, generational disillusionment, and the hollow excesses of late capitalism that bristles with tension, intelligence, and a smirk.
It’s also a fine middle finger to today’s short attention spans, with long tracks that grip you till the end. The nearly nine-minute “Sunglasses,” for example, shape-shifts from ruminative post-punk into an orchestral ballad before collapsing into cacophony and reassembling as a dance-punk invective.
“I am so ignorant now, with all that I have learnt,” singer-guitarist Isaac Wood howls and pants into the bridge. “I’m more than adequate / Leave Kanye out of this / Leave your Sertraline in the cabinet / And burn what’s left of all the cards you kept.” We’ll bring the matches.
Cerebral song writing and sheer catharsis both come naturally to South London seven-piece Black Country, New Road. Ever referential, lead singer Isaac Wood namechecks scene mates black midi on “Track X” and quotes Phoebe Bridgers’ “Motion Sickness” on their standout single “Athens, France” with trademark tremor in his voice as he intones, “Why don’t you sing with an english accent? Well, I guess it’s too late to change it now.” At the same time, songs like “Opus” jangle the nerves with ebbs and flows of energy that refuse to let up. Their aptly titled debut For the first time, with fewer tracks than band members, proves a rollercoaster of noise-rock and jazz. This powerhouse needs to be seen live to be believed.
The skyrocketing septet Black Country, New Road found their band name using a random Wikipedia page generator. With singles like 2019’s “Athens, France” and “Sunglasses,” and last year’s “Science Fair,” the U.K. up-and-comers are growing and changing before our eyes. On their debut album “For the first Time”, frontman Isaac Wood’s hypnotic speak-singing shifts subtly away from “speak” and towards “sing” so as to more effectively meld with the band’s mercurial instrumental outbursts. Their thunderous post-punk, spiked with discordant jazz and bookended by klezmer squalls, feels both explosively raw and carefully, ingeniously crafted.
