BLONDIE – ” Autoamerican ” Released in November 1980

Posted: November 14, 2021 in MUSIC
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Blondie Autoamerican album cover 820

At the dawn of the 80s, Blondie was one of the biggest bands on the planet. They’d hijacked the mainstream with 1978’s flawless release “Parallel Lines” and consolidated that success with the following year’s multi-platinum “Eat To The Beat“. However, while these legend-enshrining titles showed that the New York sextet had outstripped both the punk and new wave scenes, the group made an even more radical departure with their fifth album, “Autoamerican“.

The album was a radical departure for the band, with opening track “Europa” setting the pace. The track is a dramatic instrumental overture featuring orchestral arrangements and ending with vocalist Debbie Harry declaiming a passage about automobile culture over an electronic soundtrack. Incorporating elements of jazz, blues, disco, and the avant-garde, “Autoamerican” was still a sizable commercial success (going platinum on both sides of the Atlantic), but it confounded critics at first. Rather like The Clash’s equally ambitious Sandinista!, “Autoamerican” attracted criticism simply for daring to embrace sonic diversity – something that was an element of Blondie’s DNA from the get-go.

“Blondie was probably the most modern band I’ve ever worked with in that they soaked up influences from innumerable sources,” Blondie and No Exit producer Craig Leon said in a 2019 Record Collector interview.

“As songs like [Parallel Lines’] ‘Heart Of Glass” show, they were like human samplers when it came to incorporating ideas and concepts and genres, often in just one song. They are probably the most eclectic band I’ve ever worked with.”

“Eclectic” remains the watchword where “Autoamerican” is concerned. Marking the first time Blondie had left their native New York to make an album, the recording sessions took place at United Western Recorders (now part of the Ocean Way complex) in Hollywood, where The Beach Boys recorded parts of “Good Vibrations”. During their Californian sojourn, Debbie Harry’s team was joined by “Parallel Lines” producer Mike Chapman and studio engineer Lenise Bent. The latter recalls band and producer being meticulous in their preparation. Producer Mike Chapman insisted the band record in Los Angeles. Guitarist Chris Stein lamented: “Every day we get up, stagger into the blinding sun, [and] drive past a huge Moon-mobile from some ancient sci-fi movie.” Drummer Clem Burke welcomed the change: “Autoamerican” was fun. We got to spend two months in California. I’m always up for a free ride.

“They’d done a lot of pre-production”, she said in 1999. “Everybody was pretty prepared by the time they got into the studio. Magical things did happen, there was room for those spontaneous things, but the preparation helped because you didn’t have to think about the basics.”

Blondie brought a wealth of new songs to the sessions, a clutch of which – “T-Birds,” the cinematic “Angels On The Balcony” and the aggressive, drum-heavy “Walk Like Me” – could easily have graced “Eat To The Beat“. Elsewhere, however, the band fearlessly grappled with everything from the jazzy cabaret of “Here’s Looking At You” to the shimmering disco-funk of “Live It Up” and the smoochy, noir-infused blues of “Faces,” with the latter featuring a gloriously smoky vocal from Harry.

Two radically disparate musical genres, meanwhile, provided the album’s signature hits. Blondie had already dabbled with reggae on Eat To The Beat’s “Die Young, Stay Pretty,” but at the instigation of guitarist Chris Stein, they delved deeper into Jamaica’s rich musical heritage for a sunny, horn-laced cover of The Paragons’ 1967 ska hit, “The Tide Is High.”

“I was the one who picked ‘The Tide Is High’,” Stein told The Village Voice in 2008. “That’s the only song [from Autoamerican] I was sure was going to be a hit beforehand – not least because it said ‘number one’ in the chorus!”

Stein’s assumption proved entirely correct when the infectious “The Tide Is High” – released as the album’s lead single, in October 1980 – shot to the top of both the UK Top 40 and the Billboard Hot 100. Its follow-up, “Rapture,” also broke new ground. A hypnotic hybrid of disco, funk, and New York’s emerging hip-hop scene, the song featured an extended rap from Debbie Harry, who namechecked hip-hop pioneers Fab Five Freddy and Grandmaster Flash.

“Rapture” also topped the Billboard Hot 100 and received numerous critical plaudits, but while “Autoamerican“, which was released on November 14th, 1980, fared well on the charts, it was greeted with less than sparkling reviews. These days, forward-thinking music fans would welcome a record which so brazenly pushes the envelope, but, in 1980, contemporary critics struggled to get a handle on this mind-bogglingly diverse disc, which concluded with a heartfelt cover of Lerner & Loewe’s “Follow Me,” from the musical Camelot.

Divorced from the times, though, “Autoamerican” has come into its own. In an interview on Blondie’s website, drummer Clem Burke enthusiastically cited it as “my favourite… it’s a very eclectic album”.

  • Deborah Harry – vocals
  • Chris Stein – guitar, tympani
  • Jimmy Destri – piano, organ, synthesizer, background vocals
  • Frank Infante – guitar, background vocals
  • Nigel Harrison – bass, background vocals
  • Clem Burke – drums, background vocals

LAURA MARY CARTER (Blood Red Shoes) – ” Town Called Nothing “

Posted: November 14, 2021 in MUSIC
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Laura-Mary Carter, best known as one half of rockers Blood Red Shoes, will make her solo debut this December with the release of mini-album, “Town Called Nothing“, due 3rd December. Following title-track “Town Called Nothing“, today Laura–Mary has shared the new single “Ceremony“. The accompanying video sees her performing the song in Jimi Hendrix’s bedroom, backed by a band consisting of Seb Rochford (Polar Bear, Electric Ladyland, Patti Smith), Jack Flanagan (The Mystery Jets) and Patrick Walden (Babyshambles).

Laura-Mary explains of “Ceremony”: “The song is about my career. It’s about being in debt to someone and trying to break free. It’s about the feeling of not having a choice but to make music because that’s who I am but that sometimes comes with a price or with massive sacrifices. It’s about making peace with the choices and decisions I have made over the years and moving forward.”

Of the writing process, she adds: “Ceremony” started with the bass-line and I really enjoyed the feel as it reminded me of The Pink Room, a track from the David Lynch movie “Fire Walk With Me”. I created the song around the groove, which is very different to the rest of the mini album as the other songs all started with the guitar and voice. I wanted it to be percussion driven so I found random stuff I could hit, shake, smash that would add interesting layers and create an uneasy feeling. I wanted the guitars to sound like violins that bite like rattlesnakes. I always imagined it to be the last song on the record, so it fades out at the end like the end credits of a movie.”

Incase you didn’t know I have a band camp where you can pre order my record in various formats and I just put up a very limited photo print for sale as my first merch item. Thanks all for your support https://laura-marycarter.bandcamp.com

I have been waiting to show you this for a long while and finally the time has come. So pleased to announce the release of the title track to my debut solo ‘mini-album’, “Town Called Nothing”. I started making solo music which was totally different to my band and this was the first song that I wrote and thought “where did this come from?”

I guess my name fits the music, maybe I was country gal in a past life or something haha. Anyways I will save all the mushy thanks and stuff for when it fully comes out but I am really happy that I get to share with you the first song.

Velveteen Records Released on: 2021-11-09

CAMP COPE – ” Blue “

Posted: November 14, 2021 in MUSIC
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Melbourne trio Camp Cope have released their new single “Blue” today, their first release in three and a half years. “Blue” is the first single taken from Camp Cope’s to-be-announced third album, the follow up to their critically acclaimed record “How to Socialise and Make Friends” (2018). “Blue” is out now through long-time labels Run For Cover and Poison City Records.

Ruminating on what it’s like to love through depression, and persevering while the world outside has other plans (“I put down your pain, but I’ll pick it up again / it’s all blue, that’s why I fit in with you“), ‘Blue’ is a calling card for acceptance, both in that external forces cannot fundamentally change what’s going on inside your head, and searching for peace amidst the chaos.

“Blue” is a signal of what’s to come sonically from Camp Cope on their highly-anticipated, as-yet-unannounced new album – and their most triumphant yet – that will be released in 2022. The band entered the studio during the pandemic, without the pressure of deadlines and global touring schedules, which allowed them to take their time and just create beautiful music. They, like many of us, were living in a whole new context – new jobs, new cities, and a completely altered outlook. When brought into the studio, it culminated into a change in gears for the three-piece.

“Blue” by Camp Cope out now via Run For Cover Records

MARISSA PATERNOSTER – ” Peace Meter ” 

Posted: November 14, 2021 in MUSIC
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Screaming Females’ lead singer and head shredder, Marissa Paternoster is all the justification needed to expand this year’s Best Guitarist entry slightly beyond New York City’s borders and into New Jersey — and not just because her band plays this side of the Hudson every other week. No, it’s because Paternoster’s versatile virtuosity is unparalleled. Perhaps world-famous record producer Butch Vig said it best after Screaming Females toured with Garbage: “She has the chops to absolutely shred, but she can also push a song into crazy places: primal punk riffs, complex jazzy motifs, beautiful shimmering chords, and speed metal, sometimes all in the same song!” Ours isn’t the first list to say so; she’s been christened one of the 30 Best Guitarists Under 30 byredbull.com and came in at No. 77 in a 2012 Spin rundown of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. The band’s latest LP, sees Paternoster pulling a dazzling array of sounds and tones out of her G&L S-500, but the true testament to her picking prowess is seeing her do it live.

About new single “I Lost You,” Paternoster had this to say: “It’s one of my favourite songs I’ve ever written, and I think it’s safe to say that all parties involved brought their A game to this tune. After initially sending Andy (Gibbs, of THOU) the framework for this song, he immediately knew it could be transformed into more of an up-beat dance song with ease. I told him to go for it, and he did. Shanna’s (Polley, of Snakeskin) vocal refrains draw out the end of the song perfectly, and Kate’s (Wakefield, of Lung) rapid-fire cello breaks add a lot of cutting texture to the song.”

After a handful of releases under the moniker Noun, “Peace Meter” is the first ever recording to be released under Paternoster’s name, a deliberate choice making it stand on its own as a unique statement from the prolific guitarist.

Don Giovanni Records has just released the second single from the new solo album from Screaming Females guitarist and vocalist Marissa Paternoster. The track “I Lost You” is now available across all streaming platforms and Bandcamp. The album is titled “Peace Meter” and it will be released on December 3rd 2021.

MARISSA NADLER – ” The Path Of The Clouds “

Posted: November 14, 2021 in MUSIC
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Now that the summer seems to have finally been driven away, it is time for the dark autumn soundtracks, for which Marissa Nadler immediately sets the bar particularly high with the beautiful “The Path Of The Clouds“
Marissa Nadler has been building a special and very beautiful oeuvre for 17 years now. I sometimes miss an album by the American musician, but fortunately I did not miss the release this week “The Path Of The Clouds”. Also on her new album Marissa Nadler draws for atmospheric and dreamy but also some dark sounds, for beautiful vocals and for a unique and often somewhat dark atmosphere that comes back in the equally dark stories. Compared to many of her previous albums, “The Path Of The Clouds” features a fuller and more melodic sound, which further enhances the power of the American musician’s songs. The umpteenth beautiful album by Marissa Nadler and perhaps her best.

Since her great debut album “Ballads Of Living And Dying“, which to my surprise is already 17 years old, I have been following the career of the American musician Marissa Nadler.

I have not always done that intensively, because although I have quite a few albums by the musician from Nashville in the closet, there are now also a lot missing.

In recent years I have certainly not been paying attention, because after the excellent Strangers from 2016, I have not noticed “Bury Your Name” from the same year, “For My Crimes” from 2018, “Instead Of Dreaming” from 2021 and “the Droneflower” released in 2019 and made together with rock musician Stephen Brodsky. The last album is not entirely dedicated to me, but all other albums certainly deserved a place on this BLOG with For My Crimes as a provisional favourite.
Fortunately, Marissa Nadler is also popping up this week with a new album, The Path Of The Clouds. The music of the American musician was originally mainly labelled indie folk and folk-noir, but in recent years Marissa Nadler has shifted towards indie rock.
“The Path Of The Clouds” can work in all three of these genres and, like almost all other albums by the American musician, is a pretty dark or even dark album with a lot of influences from the ambient this time. The album also sounds dreamy at the same time, which creates a unique atmosphere.
Marissa Nadler has a beautiful voice, which could work well in sweet and whisper-soft folk songs, but somehow her music always has something dark. It is no different on “The Path Of The Clouds“, which despite the beautiful sounds and the beautiful voice of Marissa Nadler often sounds a bit spooky. It sometimes gives chills, but the special atmosphere on her albums is also the strength of the American musician.


“The Path Of The Clouds” also does beautifully on rainy, dark and chilly evenings, although I keep the curtains closed and the door locked just to be sure. The music of Marissa Nadler was extremely sober in the past, but in recent years her music sounds just a bit fuller, which is partly the result of the collaboration with other musicians.
On The Path Of The Clouds, Mary Lattimore, Amber Webber (Black Mountain, Lightning Dust), Jesse Chandler (Mercury Rev), Emma Ruth Rundle and Simon Raymonde (Cocteau Twins, Lost Horizons) contribute to the music of Marissa Nadler, which still sounds subdued, but less Spartan and is just as easily provided with fairytale harp sounds as with gritty guitars.
The somewhat fuller and certainly more melodic sound on the new album has fortunately not been at the expense of the special atmosphere that Marissa Nadler creates on her albums and the vocals of the American musician are also wonderful.

On “The Path Of The Clouds”, Marissa Nadler draws for a series of beautiful songs and, as usual, for a number of dark stories such as the one about the canoe trip of the freshly married Glen and Bessie Hyde, of whom only one eventually returned and the story of the mysterious plane hijacker D.B. Cooper, who jumped out of the plane with his ransom and a parachute and disappeared from the face of the earth.
The bar has been set high for 17 years within the oeuvre of Marissa Nadler, but “The Path Of The Clouds “could just be her best album so far and every time I listen to the album it is even more beautiful, more urgent and more enchanting.

thanks https://dekrentenuitdepop.blogspot.com/

The WEATHER STATION – ” Ignorance “

Posted: November 14, 2021 in MUSIC
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“Ignorance“, the new album by the The Weather Station, begins enigmatically; a hissing hi hat, a stuttering drum beat. A full minute passes before the entry of Tamara Lindeman’s voice, gentle, conversational, intoning; “I never believed in the robber”. A jagged music builds, with stabbing strings, saxophone, and several layers of percussion, and the song undulates through five minutes of growing tension, seesawing between just two chords. Once again, Toronto songwriter Tamara Lindeman has remade what The Weather Station sounds like; once again, she has used the occasion of a new record to create a new sonic landscape, tailor-made to express an emotional idea. Ignorance, Lindeman’s debut for Mississippi label Fat Possum Records, is sensuous, ravishing, as hi fi a record as Lindeman has ever made, breaking into pure pop at moments, at others a dense wilderness of notes; a deeply rhythmic, deeply painful record that feels more urgent, more clear than her work ever has.

On the cover, Lindeman lays in the woods, wearing a hand made suit covered in mirrors. She was struck by the compulsion to build a mirror suit on tour one summer, assembling it in a hotel room in PEI and at a friend’s place in Halifax. “I used to be an actor, now I’m a performer” she says. In those roles, she points out, she often finds herself to be the subject of projection, reflecting back the ideas and emotions of others. On the album, she sings of trying to wear the world as a kind of ill fitting, torn garment, dangerously cold; “it does not keep me warm / I cannot ever seem to fasten it” and of walking the streets in it, so disguised, so exposed. Photographed by visual artist Jeff Bierk in midday, the cover purposefully calls to mind Renaissance paintings; with rich blacks and deep colour, and an incongruous blue sky glimpsed through the trees.

The title of the album, Ignorance, feels confrontational, calling to mind perhaps wilful ignorance, but Lindeman insists she meant it in a different context. In 1915 Virginia Woolfe wrote: “the future is dark, which is the best thing a future can be, I think.” Written amidst the brutal first world war, the darkness of the future connoted for Woolfe a not knowing, which by definition holds a sliver of hope; the possibility for something, somewhere, to change. In french, the verb ignorer connotes a humble, unashamed not knowing, and it is this ignorance Lindeman refers to here; the blank space at an intersection of hope and despair, a darkness that does not have to be dark. credits

Released February 5th, 2021

All Songs Written by Tamara Lindeman

WHY BONNIE – ” Galveston ” 

Posted: November 14, 2021 in MUSIC
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New song “Galveston” out now! An ode to Galveston, Texas — the capital of ghosts and good memories

Texas quintet Why Bonnie have shared a new single/video, “Galveston,” via Fat Possum Records. Led by songwriter/vocalist Blair Howerton and joined by keyboardist Kendall Powell, guitarist Sam Houdek, bassist Chance Williams, and drummer Josh Malett, “Galveston” is wistful and draws on inspirations as broad as Sparklehorse and Sheryl Crow.

Built around a chiming guitar line, Howerton recalls childhood trips to the island city of Galveston, singing evocatively of “candyland beaches” and “the East Texas sunrise making a face.” Howerton elaborates: “An ode to Galveston, Texas — the capital of ghosts and good memories. One of the most literal recollections of growing up in Southeast Texas, ‘Galveston’ is a snapshot of an old childhood haunt.”

Speaking about the video, directed by Grace Pendleton, Howerton said: “I wanted the video to reflect the experience of digging through old memories which sometimes really feels like finding little spotlights coming through the darkness.”

The official music video for Why Bonnie’s new single “Galveston.”

CHUCK PROPHET – ” No Other Love ” Reissue

Posted: November 13, 2021 in MUSIC
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Chuck Prophet - No Other Love [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Red Splatter LP]

“No Other Love” is now on vinyl New West Records is proud to release this record on limited edition red splatter vinyl. “No Other Love” is the sixth album in a solo career that began when California native Chuck Prophet split from Green on Red in 1990. Green on Red helped lead the way for the insurgent country of the 1990s, but on his own Prophet has grown far beyond the category. His previous album, 2000’s “The Hurting Business”, was a striking breakthrough–hip-hop scratching and samples added to his bedrock country and R&B influences. “No Other Love” is maverick genre-bending in the manner of Beck and Jim White, and the stylistic variety suits Prophet’s compositions, peopled by crazed desperados and beautiful losers.

The songs run the gamut from the raunchy horn-driven swagger of “That’s How Much I Need Your Love” to the stinging, pleading “Elouise,” where his ever-inventive guitar vies with Farfisa organ. Prophet enjoys spicing songs with pop culture references, but his wry humour is counterbalanced by a strong moral undertow in “I Bow Down and Pray to Every Woman I See” and the beautiful “Summertime Thing.” This is a Prophet with plenty of honour.

“No Other Love?” It’s hard to pin that record down exactly. I guess it’s a singer songwriter record. Out there on the fringes. Songs about dancing monkeys, failed criminals, and the storms that come between seasons. Judging from the liner notes, the production included a Chinese Menu of instruments. Aside from guitars and drums, the record features an Omnichord, a punchbowl, 45 RPM samples and string sections. It was recorded by Jim Waters (Jon Spencer, Sonic Youth etc) in Tucson, Oakland and San Francisco. Probably the best seller of my “career”. Thanks in no small part to the success of the radio friendly track “Summertime Thing”. We toured with Lucinda Williams the summer it came out. And put a whole mess of miles on the Econoline trying to keep up with her buses. Whenever I see Lucinda, to this day, I always tell her, “Lu, you put me on the map!”

This limited edition release will be pressed on red splatter vinyl at MPO in France. Mastered for vinyl by Jason NeSmith – Chase Park.

“No Other Love” is now on vinyl for the first time outside of a limited German release in 2002. This release is limited to 4,000 copies worldwide

Tracklist:SIDE A 1.) What Can You Tell Me 2.) After The Rain 3.) I Bow Down And Pray To Every Woman I See 4.) Run Primo Run 5.) Storm Across The Sea 6.) No Other Love SIDE B 1.) Elouise 2.) That’s How Much I Need Your Love 3.) Summertime Thing 4.) What Makes The Monkey Dance 5.) Old Friends

Release Date: December 10th, 2021.

May be an image of guitar and text that says 'A GALLINITA NO OTHER LOVE CHUCK PROPHET CHUCK OTHER LOVE 1. WHAT CAN YOU TELL ME AFTER THE RAIN IBOW DOWN AND PRAY TO EVERY WOMAN SEE RUN PRIMO RUN STORM ACROSS THE SEA .NO OTHER LOVE .ELOUISE 8. THAT'S HOW MUCH NEED YOUR LOVE SUMMERTIME THING 10. WHAT MAKES THE MONKEY DANCE 11. OLD FRIENDS 00IX3M жR3ma 285'

JACK WHITE – ”  Fear of the Dawn “

Posted: November 12, 2021 in MUSIC
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Jack White Fear of the Dawn

Jack White is releasing two new albums next year: Fear of the Dawn is out April 8th, and Entering Heaven Alive is out July 22nd. Featured on Fear of the Dawn is White’s recent single “Taking Me Back,” which also has a new music video.

Find the clip, directed by White and co-directed by Lauren Dunn, below.

Both Fear of the Dawn and Entering Heaven Alive are being released via Third Man Records. The former LP includes a collaboration with Q-Tip called “Hi-De-Ho.” Back in 2016, White was notably featured on A Tribe Called Quest’s comeback album We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service.

Jack White last released the studio album Boarding House Reach in 2018.

The Official Video for Jack White’s new single “Taking Me Back” from the upcoming album “Fear Of The Dawn” out April 8th, 2022.

“Fear of the Dawn” is the fourth studio album from Jack White, founding member of The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, and The Dead Weather. True to his DIY roots, this record was recorded at White’s Third Man Studio throughout 2021, mastered by Third Man Mastering, pressed to vinyl at Third Man Pressing, and released by Third Man Records. Pressed on limited astronomical blue vinyl, only available at independent record stores

LET’S EAT GRANDMA – ” Two Ribbons “

Posted: November 11, 2021 in MUSIC
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We’re Excited for the new Let’s Eat Grandma album with the release of two new singles, the previous album : ‘I’m All Ears’ was one of our favourite albums of 2018 which is such a long time ago. So, understandably, we’re thrilled to see electro-pop duo Let’s Eat Grandma back with their latest singles ‘Hall of Mirrors’ and the titular ‘Two Ribbons’. Confirmed in November last year, the new album ‘Two Ribbons’ already boasts a variety of sounds based on the first two singles and it’s certainly whet our appetite for more. Let’s Eat Grandma, the duo composed of songwriters, multi-instrumentalists and vocalists Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth, have shared their new single an upbeat, blissful song celebrating friendship, and the opening track from their upcoming much anticipated third full-length album Two Ribbons.

We can’t wait for this one!

Let’s Eat Grandma, the multi-instrumentalists have shared their new single “Happy New Year”, an upbeat, blissful song celebrating friendship, and the opening track from their upcoming much anticipated third full-length album

Rosa Walton said the following about the track:

“Happy New Year” is a celebratory song written about my relationship with my best friend. I wrote it after a breakdown between us that lasted for a long period of time, to communicate to her how important she is to me and how our bond and care for each other goes much deeper than this difficult time. I used the setting of New Year as both an opportunity for reflection, looking back nostalgically through childhood memories that we shared, and to represent the beginning of a fresh chapter for us. I’d been struggling to come to terms with the fact that our relationship had changed, but as the song and time progresses I come to accept that it couldn’t stay the way it was when we were kids forever, and start to view it as a positive thing – because now we have been able to grow into our own individual selves.”

“Happy New Year” is the third song to be heard from “Two Ribbons“, following the album’s stunning, melancholic title track and the ethereal, glistening pop song “Hall Of Mirrors”.

Let’s Eat Grandma’s two special and intimate early 2022 shows at Norwich Arts Centre on 26th January and at XOYO in London on 27th January are now sold out. 

“Two Ribbons”, Let’s Eat Grandma’s third album will be out on Transgressive Records , It’s been a long time in the works and we can’t wait for you to hear it

Let’s Eat Grandma, “Two Ribbons” will be released on 8 April 2022 via Transgressive Records

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