On A Clear Day You Can See Nebraska

De Staat: Mechanically inclined and loving the 'machine'

2011-01-15T19:55:00.000Z

Psycho industrial alt rock band 'De Staat' recently announced that they will release the follow up album to Wait For Evolution on March 14th in the UK. They new album, aptly titled "Machinery" promises some heavy duty shennanigans, sonic shoot 'em ups, thundering rhythms and unforgettable sounds.

Machinery is described by the band as a "gut-inducing slab of psycho funk." It's a dark sonic adventure that takes the listener through underground caves of blues, funk and electro where halal butchers, serial killers, whistleblowers, rats and sweat-covered bodybuilders cross paths.

"I often hear we sound like a machine when we play live," says lead singer/songwriter Torre Florim. "I thought it would be fun to expand on and emphasise the mechanical elements in the music."

Continues Florim, "We played a lot of rhythms, and also created crazy sounds with the guitars. I didn't want to exclusively focus on the rhythmic parts, but instead wanted to change the way we approached the tools of a conventional rock band setup. During the process of writing and creating the music, the album developed an industrial flavour that reminded us of a machine."

If you're feeling mechanically inclined - http://www.destaat.net/

DEVO Perform "Fresh" on David Letterman

2010-06-16T13:30:00.002Z

Akron, Ohio's finest export since Canadian Tire, just performed what could possibly be the most exciting electro rock TV performance ever on the David Letterman Show on Tuesday June 15th.

Dig this sonic, Boogie Boy apples my fellow Spuds and learn from the true masters of electronic shennanigans. Welcome back, DEVO!!

DOM: Is It Really That Sexy Living In America?

2010-06-05T15:09:00.002Z

Quite possibly one of the most exciting new bands to emerge from the lo-fi world of online guitar synth rock is the Massachusetts three piece DOM.

The band recently put together a magnificent low budget promo video for their song Living In America (no, not the James Brown song), recently released as part of their Sun Bronzed Greek Godz EP (available on vinyl via Burning Mill Records). Check it out on YouTube.

LIA sounds like it was recorded in their bedroom, but evokes wild abandon, trash pop and rock and optimism. The video explores girls in bikinis, skateboarding and other daredevil juvenile delinquent shenanigans. Best lyric is "It's so sexy to be living in America." Although, truth be told, I could think of ten other places I'd rather be living.

Dom's music has been described as "sunburned guitar pop with fat hooks and stargaze synchs that sound triumphant, heartbreaking, and totally immediate." I, for one, would have to agree. The key to the band is their unslick production and Beach Boy harmonies. It's deliberately low-fi, hopeful and messy but it works incredibly well.

Another one of their songs, Burn Bridges, also makes for essential listening.

Watch this band. Things could get dangerous.
http://www.myspace.com/imfur

DEVO, Cheeseburgers and the Best Album of Their Career

2010-06-05T13:22:00.014Z

Bob Mothersbaugh's distorted guitar shatters your skull at the begining of What We Do, the second track from Devo's phenomenal new album Something For Everybody.

It's been a long ride since their 1978 Eno-produced debut album Are We Not Men?, but through the years and beyond all the music trends and muscial innovations, Devo have miraulously weathered the storm, and comfortably adapted to the techno-savvy world of the Internet, mobile phones and iPads.

This album proves the band have always been ahead of the game. Finally everybody seems to be catching up to the band's theory of De-evolution.

When you usually hear a new album, there's always three songs that aren't up to scratch. Not so on Something For Everybody. For the new kids on the block, power and punch and pristine electronica and dangerous rock guitars fuse together like a Black & Decker power drill. Metal heads will love this album because it balances synth pop and guitar art rock set to a unstoppable rhythm track.

This is art rock at its most exciting. I bet you Nine Inch Nails will be flipping out to this platter.

What's intriguing is how a band like Devo can toy with subversive pop irony and cleverly generate it into a yellow sunshine, executive robot monster killer sound.

When the band formed in 1973 it was all Boogie Boy and Akron, Ohio eccentricity. Then by 1980, things became slicker with Freedom Of Choice. MTV discovered the band, Whip It made Devo a household name in redneck middle America, and towards the latter albums, they became victims of their own game.

What was Devo thinking when they joined forces with Disney to create a kiddies' version of themselves in DEVO 2.0? A few years later, the band slapped a lawsuit against McDonald's for ripping off their likeness. No wonder I never trusted Ronald McDonald,

Twenty years after the release of the album Smooth Noodle Maps, Devo are back with a vengeance, equipped with a killer sound and 12 pop masterpieces that effectively detail the depravity, hypocrisy, global chaos, irony, and stupidy of the human race. The riffs, the beeps and the beats are neatly crafted into hypnotic pop melodies with an eerie edge.

"What we do is what we do. It's all the same, there's nothing new. Eating and breathing and pumping gas. Cheeseburger cheeseburger, do it again." This is a perfect example how Devo can turn an ordinary mantra into a nuclear pop reality nightmare.

Welcome back Devo. Life's been really rather boring... until now.

http://www.clubdevo.com/

Joe Bonamassa's triumphant London Hammersmith Apollo gig paves the way for Black Country Communion

2010-05-30T18:24:00.014Z

Joe Bonamassa played his biggest concert ever at the London Hammersmith Apollo on Friday May 28th. 5,000 people were in awe.

The guitar slinger from Utica, New York, started playing Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix licks at the ripe age of eight, opened shows in the US for B.B. King at the age of 12, and John Lee Hooker at the age of 14. Now, at the age of 33, and having won Breakthrough Artist of the Year at last year's Classic Rock Awards, Bonamassa is championed by the likes of Eric Clapton, and makes Jeff Beck sound almost prehistoric.

Joe kicked off the festivities with The Ballad of John Henry, and continued to slay the audience song after song including Last Kiss, So Many Roads, So It's Like That, If Heartaches Were Nickels, Further Up the Road and Sloe Gin.

Last year, Slow Hand guested at Joe's Royal Albert Hall gig, but this year, Joe invited Jethro Tull's pied piper, Ian Anderson, to the stage to perform to Tull classics - New Day Yesterday and Locomotive Breath. The audience went wild.

Next up, Joe dipped back into the Ballad of John Henry album and performed Lonesome Road Blues and Happier Times, plus the Zepplinesque Jimmy Page dazzler Blue and Evil (the latter from Bonamassa's stunning new album Black Rock).

In 2009, Bonamassa played the London Royal Albert Hall to great critical acclaim, however, was was noticibly apparent at Friday's Hammersmith Apollo gig was that Joe has definitely veered into a heavier blues rock style that leaned more towards Jimmy Page than Clapton or Beck.

SET LIST:

Ballad of John John Henry
Last Kiss
So Many Roads
So It's Like That
If Heartaches Were Nickels
Further On Up the Road
Sloe Gin
New Day Yesterday (feat - Ian Anderson)
Locomotive Breath (feat - Ian Anderson)
Lonesome Road Blues
Happier Times
Blue And Evil
Three Times A Fool (part VIDEO)
Blues Deluxe
Young Man Blues
Woke Up Dreaming
Django/ Mountain Time
-----------
Bird On A Wire
Just Got Paid

One wonders if Bonamassa's energetic and trippy heavy blues rock guitar direction will lead to Joe's next chapter in rock and roll history books with his new rock supergroup Black Country Communion with Jason Bonham, Derek Sherinian and Glenn Hughes.

http://twitter.com/bccommunion, http://www.bccommunion.com/, www.myspace.com/bccommunion. Photo Credit: (c) Christie Goodwin

Heaven 17 celebrate 30th Anniversary of Penthouse And Pavement

2010-05-30T00:35:00.015Z

Sheffield-bred electronic pop group Heaven 17 recently announced they would embark on a nationwide UK tour in November to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their seminal 1980 debut album Penthouse And Pavement.

The band consisting of original founding members Martyn Ware (keyboards, vocals) and Glenn Gregory (lead vocals) recently performed a studio session with LaRoux for BBC 6 Music.

With a recent sold out tour of Germany earlier this year, and rave reviews of a recent H17 documentary that aired on BBC 2 Television entitled Heaven 17: The Making of Penthouse And Pavement, the band that was a spin off from the Human League, has suddenly re-captured the attention of the general public.

They were one of the first British electronic bands to mix synthesizer music with bass guitars, horns and strings. Although Penthouse And Pavement wasn't a commercial success in terms of sales, what it did generate was intense critical acclaim from the music press, in particular with the songs (We Don' Need) That Fascist Groove Thing and Let's All Make A Bomb.

Penthouse And Pavement was one of the first electronic music albums to combine political left wing lyrics with synthesized dance music. When Fascist Groove Thang was released, it was banned from British radio for having lyrics that were deemed too controversial. Now, thirty years later, the band's anti Thatcher sentiments seem to be relevant again, now that the conservative government is back in power.

What is interesting about the album is the consistency of the songs in both the lyrics and music. The album veers between electronic funk in the title track Penthouse And Pavement to radiant electronic synth classics like Geisha Boys and Temple Girls, Play To Win and I'm Your Money.

The recent BBC 2 documentary also revealed how Martyn Ware was kicked out of the band that he originally founded (the Human League), only to be awarded with a record contract of his own which led him to quickly form Heaven 17 (the name of the band was taken from the Anthony Burgess novel A Clockwork Orange... a band that was formed in 1980). If that's not ironic, what is?

Heaven 17 - November UK Tour: http://tinyurl.com/3ynehwe

The Story of Penthouse And Pavement: http://tinyurl.com/2968xsj

DEVO confirms track listing for new album "Something For Everybody"

2010-05-22T19:20:00.005Z

Akron, Ohio's finest "DEVO" just confirmed the track listing for “Something For Everybody” – their first album of new material in 20 years. Stop the train, I'm coming!!!

The track listing was a result of an innovative online Official Song Study that DEVO recently ran on their official website - www.clubdevo.com. Fans from around the world were asked to listen to sixteen new DEVO songs, and select their favorite twelve. The twelve songs that received the most votes made it to the final cut of the album.

The album, which includes the single “Fresh,” is released by Warner Bros. Records in UK on June 14th, followed by a US release on June 15th. The album will be available on CD, Vinyl and as a digital download.

CD Track listing is as follows:

1) Fresh
2) What We Do
3) Please Baby Please
4) Don't Shoot, I'm a Man
5) Mind Games
6) Human Rocket
7) Sumthin'
8) Step Up
9) Cameo
10) Later Is Now
11) No Place Like Home
12) March On

Joan Jett Kicks Ass in London with Sold Out London Show

2010-05-20T22:01:00.008Z

Things are cyclical, and when you're talking about the rock and roll world, people like Joan Jett get what's coming to them.

Earlier this year the Runaways biopic was released to much fanfare in America, but the real starts that burned brightly weren't the key actresses (Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning) but Joan Jett, the black leather clad rock warrior chic that was the blueprint for the sound, the look and the style.

But it’s been a long ride since Cherry Bomb and I Love Rock N Roll, and along the way there were casualties, Cherie Currie's breakdown and then the passing of drummer Sandy West.

Over the years, Joan Jett's been a trooper, and she's possibly the only rock and roller who can still perform Gary Glitter songs (and get away with it). Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah) is a perfect example of how you can make a dumb song sound so dead cool.

Earlier this week it was announced that Joan Jett and the Blackhearts were going to play what was described as "an intimate concert at the legendary punk rock music venue 'The 100 Club' in London, England.

Tickets went on sale this morning and sold out in a matter of minutes. Ebay is selling tickets for £500 a pop. A few days after the 100 Club gig Jett will support Green Day at Wembley Stadium.

This is a rags to riches story about the hardest working woman in the rock and roll business, far more significant than KISS, much more potent than the Sex Pistols, and ten times more meaningful than the Bangles or the Go-Go's.

The point is, you either rock or you don't rock. Joan Jett is in a completely different ballpark. Stick another dime in the jukebox, baby. http://tinyurl.com/39sgr2j

DEVO Gets Ready With Something For Everybody

2010-05-17T13:28:00.006Z

Interesting news from http://www.clubdevo.com/ in theat the Akron, Ohio funsters will release their first studio album in 20 years on June 14th (UK) and June 15th (US). Entitled Something For Everybody, the album includes the songs Fresh and Don't Shoot (I'm Alive).

The boys have opted for blue energy domes instead of red, but they are drawing the line at eating Frankenberry,

"Thirty years ago, people said that we were cynical, that we had a bad attitude," says Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh. "But now, when you ask people if de-evolution is real, they understand that there was something to what we were saying. It’s not the kind of thing you want to see proven right, but it does make it easier to talk about."

More than three decades after the release of their visionary debut, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo, and a full 20 years since their last studio album, Devo is back with the aptly titled Something for Everybody.

The highly anticipated album (which was launched with a memorable performance in Vancouver at the Winter Olympics) features the band's classic line-up - Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh, Gerald and Bob Casale—joined by drummer Josh Freese (Nine Inch Nails, Guns n' Roses).

Produced by Greg Kurstin (The Bird & The Bee), the album also includes contributions from John Hill and Santi White (better known as rising hip-hop star Santigold), John King of the Dust Brothers, and the Teddybears.

Though the 12 songs on Something for Everybody are built on Devo's signature mechanized swing, the recording and presentation of the album saw the band experimenting with an entirely new approach. Greg Scholl was brought in to serve as COO for Devo, Inc., and - working with the advertising agency Mother LA - conducted a series of studies through the www.clubdevo.com site to help the band with its creative decisions, from color selection to song mixes.

Gerald Casale adds that Devo really was looking at today’s world when writing the new songs. “The tautology of a line like ‘What we do is what we do' is taken straight from hip-hop,” he says. “And words like 'bro’ and 'dude'—we're surrounded by it all the time, 20-year-olds don’t even see any irony in it anymore.”

A Devo for our times. A band that evolves, even as the world around them confirms the decay they have long suspected. With Something for Everybody, Devo has gained from experience, honed its attack, and stands ready to sound the alarm for another generation.

“As angry young men who have been validated, we have the possibility to do something that resonates like it did back in the early days,” says Mark Mothersbaugh. “It’s the same car, just now with air bags, power brakes, and steering.”

“We're inspired by reality,” says Gerald Casale, “because the world is so ridiculous and stupid. DE-EVOLUTION IS REAL.”

Duty Now!

http://www.clubdevo.com/

Smokin' Joe Bonamassa brings Black Rock tour to the UK

2010-05-02T11:21:00.015Z

Following the critically acclaimed release of his latest studio album Black Rock featuring the great B.B. King, Joe Bonamassa will embark on a UK tour on May 28th.

Dates include London Hammersmith Apollo (May 28), Rotherham Magna Centre, South Yorkshire (May 29), Bournemouth BIC (May 30) and Birmingham NIA (May 31).

Last year Bonamassa scooped the Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the Classic Rock Awards, and in 2009's Live From the Royal Albert Hall DVD, Joe was joined onstage by Eric Clapton.

Only 32 years of age, Bonamassa has to be the hottest blues rock guitarist around at the moment. Legend has it that when he was twelve he opened for B.B. King on one of the blues legend's American tours. Now thirty-two, Bonamassa has B.B. King performing guitar Night Life - a track from the new Black Rock album.

"Right now, there's no better blues rock guitarist than Bonamassa," hails Gibson.com. If Joe's new Black Rock album is anything to go by, the UK concerts are gonna to be smokin' hot.

Box office: 0871 230 1101, http://www.seetickets.com/, http://www.jbonamassa.com/

Iggy and the Stooges to release Raw Power "Live" on USB stick and MP3 Download

2010-05-01T20:06:00.005Z

Fans of Iggy and the Stooges and their 1973 seminal punkfest garage rock and roll album RAW POWER will hit the decks when they hear that the London Hammersmith Apollo concert on Sunday May 2nd will be recorded live on USB stick and MP3 download.

Thanks to the latest in digital live recording technology, Iggy diehards will be able to but the USB flashdrive directly after the concert at the merch stand.

For those Stoogeheads who won't be attending the show, don't fret because they'll be able to order the USB sitcks and the MP3 downloads online from www.simfylive.com/iggypop.

There's also a UK site that details more information about the Raw Power "Live" USB concert sticks via the following link - http://tinyurl.com/3x85ncd.

Your Pretty Face is Going To Hell, Shake Appeal, Search and Destroy, Gimmie Danger - all the hits and more.

Batusis featuring Sylvain Sylvain and Cheetah Chrome to release EP and embark on UK tour

2010-03-09T21:17:00.003Z

Punk Rockers of the world unite. If you love the New York Dolls and the legendary punk band the Dead Boys, then this punk rock supergroup is for you!

Smog Veil Records today announced the SXSW debut concert and debut recording by punk rock supergroup “Batusis” featuring the seminal punk icons Sylvain Sylvain (New York Dolls) and Cheetah Chrome (Rocket From The Tombs/Dead Boys).

Batusis will perform their debut SXSW concert in Austin, Texas at 10pm on March 18th at the Prague, followed by Cheapo Music at 5pm on March 19th.

Check out the Batusis at SXSW on March 18th: http://my.sxsw.com/events/event/5678

Batusis, whose name is derived from when Adam West danced a version of the watusi on the Batman TV series, release their self-titled debut EP on collectable 7” inch multi-colored vinyl and digital download on Smog Veil records throughout North America & Europe on May 4th.

“I’ve known Sylvain since 1975,” says Cheetah. “The Dolls were a huge influence on me.” Sylvain adds “We’re just nuts about rock ‘n’ roll. We knew that’s what we’d come up with, no matter what!”

The EP also features Enzo Penizzotto (bass) and Thommy Price (drums) of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.

To coincide with the record release, Sylvain and Chrome will undertake a nationwide “Batusis” UK tour in May as follows:

Glasgow ABC2 - May 3
Sheffield O2 Academy2 - May 4
Liverpool O2 Academy2 - May 5
London Islington Academy - May 7
Hatfield Forum, Attic Room - May 8
Oxford Academy2 - May 10
Southampton Joiners - May 11
Bristol O2 Academy2 - May 12
Birmingham O2 Academy2 - May 13

Ticket Hotline:0844 477 2000
Book Online: http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/

Southampton Joiners Box Office: 02380 632 601
Southampton Joiners Online Booking: http://www.seetickets.com/

Check out the track from the forthcoming debut EP from www.myspace.com/batusis

Also check out Smog Veil's official website http://www.smogveil.com/

Todd's bananas, but he's still a True Star

2010-02-14T15:07:00.006Z

Today, the Mail on Sunday newspaper's David Bennun wrote a glowing review of the sold-out British concert premiere of Todd Rundgren's legendary 1973 album 'A Wizard, A True Star'.

"Todd's bananas, but he's still a True Star"
By David Bennun, Mail on Sunday (UK)
14th February 2010

The influence of The Beatles spreads so far through pop that tracking it is almost impossible, apart from one particular aspect: their eclecticism. That prompted a brief flurry of records that leapt gleefully from one genre to another, but the trend faded in the mid-Seventies.

Lately, however, it has been taken up by acts as hip as Super Furry Animals, as middle-of-the-road as Mika and as offbeat as Lawrence Arabia.

The missing link between such modern-style-hoppers and Liverpool's finest is Todd Rundgren (HMV Hammermsmith Apollo, London **** (4 stars).

Although the American rocker most widely known for producing Meat Loaf's 43 milion selling Bat Out of Hell is not so much missing as under-appreciated.

His Seventies solo work has a cult following and A Wizard, A True Star (1973) represents a peak among those albums inspired by Abbey Road, before the format buckled under the weight of Queen's A Night At The Opera.

AWATS, as Rundgren fans know it, is the beneficiary of another current trend: live performances of classic albums. But rather than simply turning up and playing AWATS to a full house, Rundgren has staged a show every bit as magnificently bananas as the record itself.

Picture a hotchpotch of Roxy Music, Monty Python and Tex Avery, set to a soundtrack that lurches between power pop, glam, cosmic rock, proto-metal, classic soul, chanson and Vaudeville. That last influence is particularly telling of Rundgren's debt to The Beatles, who kept a touch of the music hall about them to the last.

AWATS was an impossible album, dazzling, comical and endearingly outlandish. The same goes for this low-budget, high-concept performance. Rundgren hams it up through hilarious costume changes that reveal he might share Iggy Pop's haircut, but not his exercise regime.

Yet while Iggy is selling car insurance, Rundgren is dishing out mirth and rock'n'roll thrills.
It's taken long enough, but perhaps the world is ready to recognise his peculiar brilliance.

Photo Credit: (c) Carey Brandon

Todd Rundgren triumphs with A Wizard, A True Star at the London Hammersmith Apollo

2010-02-07T14:55:00.014Z

Todd Rundgren and his all-star band rolled into London last night for what will be remembered as a career defining concert - the British concert premiere of his 1973 epic album "A Wizard, A True Star."

The concert has been highly anticipated for a year now. Rundgren opened the show with a 30 minute set entitled Todd Rundgren's "Johnson." Todd (vocals, guitar), Kasim Sultan (bass), Jesse Gress (guitar) and Prairie Prince (drums)performed their own renditions of bluesman Robert Johnson. An album's worth of material is to follow in the coming months.

I was very sceptical about how Rundgren would pull off re-creating the music from Wizard and how he would keep the audience's attention. But like some outerspace theatrical glam rock, tongue and cheeck rock concert, the minute Todd walked on stage dressed in NASA astronaut's suit, you new this show was going to be on par with David Bowie's famous farewell Ziggy Stardust gig (at the same Hammersmith Apollo venue).

But this was Rundgren's defining moment. There were rock star moments in a rock and roll circus spetacle that was chaotic, fun and emotionally uplifting, and at times, heartfelt and poignant. Wizard was the album that defined a generation, and although it was originally panned by critics when it was released in 1973, it has since been namechecked by tons of young British bands.

Not only did the album combine several music genres and styles, but it also told the rollercoaster story of a psychedelic trip as driven by one of pop's greatest DIY wonders.

The costume changes brought back the theatricality of when rock and roll shows were an event. I don't know if Rundgren did this concsiously, but I haven't witnessed something theatrical like this since David Bowie stunned audiences with his memorable Diamond Dogs tour.

Vocally, Todd sounded impeccable. His Philly soul stylings touched a nerve, particularly when he sang the soul medly I'm So Proud / Ooh Baby Baby / La La Means I Love You / Cool Jerk.

When Bobby Strickland told everyone to get up on their feet during Cool Jerk, suddenly the gig skyrocketed into orbit with Hungry for Love, I Don't Want To Tie You Down, Is It My Name? and the encore One Last Victory.

As the concert drew to a close, the sold out 3,500 strong crowd, stood on their toes with wild applause. Todd Rundgren conquered London. It will be interesting to see what the 'True Star' will do next.

As we left the venue, there was a stall selling the entire concert on USB stick. The USB is available to order online from http://concert-online.com/en/artist/25886/Todd-Rundgren.html

Photo Credit: (c) John Rahim

Introducing the iGarage-Door-Opener""

2010-01-17T18:11:00.002Z

Apple's newest product offering, the iGarage-Door-Opener, comes hot off the heels of the release of the immensely-popular iPhone.

Featuring a multi-touch display and easy-to-use software, control of all vital garage door functions is at your fingertips.

Similar in appearance and functionality to its telephone counterpart, the iG.D.O. contains a 350MHz transmitter and is capable of downloading and storing up to 10GB of mp3 files.

The advanced settings menu allows you to select various "operation tones" that will play while the door is in the process of opening and/or closing, and the bottom surface of the iG.D.O. even contains a heavy-duty titanium clip if for those who choose to mount it on a belt or sun visor.

With a retail price in the neighborhood of $350, Apple quickly admits that the iG.D.O. isn't for everyone.

However for those well-to-do people who have everything but a fashionable means of opening and closing their garage doors, this product will likely make the perfect Father's Day gift.

Todd Rundgren to release A Wizard A True Star European Gigs on USB Stick

2010-01-17T17:26:00.007Z

Todd Rundgren today announced that he will release both his forthcoming London Hammersmith Apollo and Amsterdam Paradiso February 2010 concerts on USB stick.

The news recently came as part of an announcement from the German based live music recording company Concert-Online.com. Fans will be able to pre-order both concert sticks weeks before Rundgren and his all-star AWATS band fly to Europe.

A Wizard A True Star is a milestone psychedelic album from 1973 that has influenced a generation of new British bands including The Big Pink, Simian Mobile Disco and Hot Chip. When the album was originally released in 1973, it held the record for being the longest playing vinyl album of all time (over 60 minutes), came in die-cut packaging and was double grooved.

The USB sticks retail for £20 Pounds Sterling and 25 Euros. If you don't want to pre-order the USB sticks, and you will be attending one of the concerts, you can purchase your stick directly after the shows.

The London show will take place at the HMV Hammersmith Apollo on Friday February 6th, followed by the only Dutch show at the Paradiso, Amsterdam on Sunday Feburary 8th.

The impressive all-star AWATS line-up will comprise former members of Utopia, The Cars and The Tubes and includes Ralph Schuckett (keys, vocals), Prairie Prince (drums, vocals), Jesse Gress (guitar, vocals), Greg Hawkes (keys, vocals), Kasim Sulton (bass, vocals) and Todd Rundgren (vocals, guitar).

To pre-order the USB sticks, please visit www.concert-online.com.

Kraftwerk Box Set in German!!!

2009-10-21T18:49:00.004Z

Amazing but true. Fed up with hearing Kraftwerk singing their classics in English?

Interestingly, you can order their new digitally remastered Box set of albums on CD from Amazon.de - with Kraftwerk singing in their native German tongue? It's entitled "Kraftwerk - Der Katalog."

Why order the English edition from Amazon.co.uk when you can order the real thing, the way the band was meant to be heard - in German.

Click here to order the German box set of reissues and forever hold your DAF record collection.

http://www.amazon.de/Katalog-German-Box-Set/dp/B002LYC29A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1256151166&sr=1-1

Europe Back On The Map With Stunning New Album

2009-09-12T16:48:00.005Z

Sweden's hard rock band, Europe, best known for their 1986 global anthem 'The Final Countdown', have returned with an exhilarating new hard rock album that radiates an energetic blues rock and swagger.

Fans of Deep Purple, Journey, Bon Jovi, Van Halen - run for cover, because believe it or not, this could be the rock and roll album of the year.

Entitled 'Last Look At Eden', the album rips up vintage blues, R&B, hard rock, 70's funkin' rock grooves and merges it together with pounding drums and John Norum's signature guitar riffs.

Vocally, lead singer Joey Tempest exudes masterful tones and a conviction not heard since Robert Planet yelped his hear out with Led Zeppelin. Although the title track 'Last Look At Eden' is a majestic sexy rocker, with the lyric - "I've seen the truth, modified for you... and we just can't buy it," it's the power ballad, 'New Love In Town', that puts Europe back on the map.

'New Love' is a classic power ballad of the highest order. It reminds me of Journey's 'Don't Stop Believin' which has become something of a modern day anthem (thanks to the exposure the song had on the final episode of The Sopranos). 'New Love' is the kind of song Aerosmith and Bon Jovi would kill for. If rock and roll is supposed to be everlasting, this is the song to make it a reality. It’s Europe’s one way ticket to salvation.

With an imminent UK tour in February on the cards, and a whole new generation of hard rock fans looking for a classy return, Europe looks like they around going to be around for another 12 rounds of pure rock and roll mayhem.

The Award-Winning SXSW winners "The Black and White Years" to open for KanYe West and Basement Jaxx at London's Wireless Festival

2009-06-05T16:30:00.002Z

Austin indie electro dance rockers, The Black and White Years, will make their debut performance in London at the Wireless Festival in Hyde Park. The band is scheduled to play both dates of the two-day festival with headliners Basement Jaxx on July 4th and KanYe West on July 5th.

The Black and White Years were the standout band at 2009's South by Southwest with four outstanding showcases including a performance with Devo, Tricky and Datarock; plus a relentless week that kicked off by winning five major awards at the 27th Annual Austin Music Awards, the ceremony which marks the beginning of the SXSW Music Festival.

When revealing the band's achievement to the capacity audience at the Austin Music Hall, acclaimed journalist and Austin DJ, Andy Langer, who hosted the Austin Music Awards, announced, "The Black and White Years are tonight's big winners with five awards... a SWEEP!"

The Austin, Texas four-piece were presented with SXSW trophies for Best New Band and Best Song for their single, Power to Change, Best Performing Band - Rock and Best Bass Player (John Aldridge). In addition, Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads, Modern Lovers) won the award for Best Producer of the Year for his work on The Black And White Years' eponymous debut album.
Jerry Harrison first saw The Black And White Years' live performance in a parking lot amongst a handful of people during SXSW 2007 and was immediately taken by the quirky arrangements and lyrical themes. Soon after, Harrison produced the band's debut album in Sausalito Sound Studios.

The single, "Power to Change," became a hit song in Austin after the city's key rock station, KROX-FM, added it into full-time rotation after nearly a year of airplay on their weekly new music program, Next Big Thing. The song became one of the station's most requested favorites, while garnering airplay in other U.S. markets, most notably, Albany, were it spent four weeks at #1 on WEQX.

The band has become a fixture in Austin's legendary club scene via its high-energy sets that are true to the "electro-dance-rock" label that has often been used to describe them and the "wild-eyed, compulsive shuddering" performance of lead singer and writer, Scott Butler. The band has also taken this live experience out of the clubs and to the masses, performing at Austin City Limits Music Festival, CMJ Music Marathon, MIDEM, and now, London's Wireless Festival in July.

The album, The Black and White Years, was released nationally in the U.S. in September 2008 through ADA/Adrenaline after gaining momentum over the year as an "Austin-only" release on the Texas-based independent label, Brando Records.

The album is available in the UK on iTunes. A UK edition of their debut album, featuring five brand new tracks, will be released throughout the UK and the rest of Europe in early 2010.Â Meanwhile, the band is currently recording its second album and planning their first American tour in September.

Todd Rundgren revisits his psychedelic masterpiece: A Wizard, A True Star

2009-05-22T18:18:00.006Z

It was inevitable. Brian Wilson started the trend a few years ago when he performed the album "Smile" for the very first time. Recently, Van Morrison performed the entirety of "Astral Weeks" to rave reviews, as did Lou Reed with the "Berlin" album last year and the year before that.

So it was only a matter of time until the enigmatic pop raconteur, Todd Rundgren, re-visited his 1973 psychedelic masterpiece "A Wizard, A True Star", and decided to perform its British Premiere at the London HMV Hammersmith Apollo on 6th February 2010.

This is the album that literally defied the law of gravity when it was initially released on an unsuspecting public. The album clocked in almost an hour's worth of running time, and back in those days, vinyl albums, on average, lasted 35 minutes.

But forget about the running time shenanigans, think about the music.

It was insane but melodic, pretty but subversive, poptastic but bombastic, sexy but banal, exciting and futuristic, progressive and intuitive.

At the time, Rundgren encapsulated everything glam rock and prog rock, pop and soul couldn't fathom - a reason to live, and a reason to believe.

From the Technicolor "Zen Archer" to "You Need Your Head", "You Don't Have to Camp Around", "Just One Victory", "Just Another Onionhead", "Never, Never Land" to the essential "International Feel" ("I only want to see if you'll give up on me"), this was the album that made David Bowie do a re-think, and also made every half decent rock star throw the rulebook out the window.

So with great applause, I congratulate the Philly Soul boy for having the sheer guts to dust off the sonic extravaganza and let the new generation of fans get a taste of what they missed out the first time around.

If Empire of the Sun and MGMT really want to trip the light fantastic, this will be the concert that will help them trip the day-glo light fantastique.

Interstellar appeal just got more appealing.

New York Dolls Should Get A Grammy For 'Cause I Sez So

2009-05-07T05:59:00.006Z

The new album from the New York Dolls - 'Cause I Sez So - continues to fascinate and entertain. The band have release what potentially could be their finest album of their career.

After 36 years since their 1973 debut album, the band have roped in their original producer, Todd Rundgren, to helm the new album. The results are incredible; with some of the best blues and R&B embellished rock and roll songs of their rollercoaster career.

Stand out tracks include 'Cause I Sez So, Ridiculous, My World, Exorcism of Despair, Muddy Bones and a slow bluesy rendition of Trash. So far, this year, there is no other album that comes close to the new Dolls album.

if you love albums like Raw Power by Iggy and the Stooges, Television, the Heartbreakers and Suicide, this album is right up your rock and roll street.

If the Dolls don't get a Grammy nomination for this album, there is no justice.

Oh, and bring back Creem magazine - all is forgiven!!!

With raw photographs of rock's greatest stars and insightful prose by the legendary rock journalists who were stars in their own right, CREEM magazine stood at the forefront of youth counterculture from 1969 to 1988 as "America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine."

A product of Detroit's revolutionary counterculture, CREEM cultivated an incredibly gifted staff of iconoclastic scribes, editors, photographers, and graphic artists whose work continues to resonate today, including: Lester Bangs, Dave Marsh, Richard Meltzer, Nick Tosches, and a not-so-famous Cameron Crowe.

They invented a raucous new form of journalism, where the writing and photographs were as much an expression of rock 'n' roll as the music itself. CREEM embraced and abused the best and the worst of the era: MC5, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, the Faces, Lou Reed, the Stooges, T.Rex, Kiss, Mott the Hoople, the Who, the New York Dolls, Bob Seger, Ted Nugent, Aerosmith, the Ramones, Cheap Trick, the Clash, and Van Halen, among many others.

Now the Mouth of the Motor City presents a retrospective of the beautiful haze that was rock's golden age—from the end of the hippie days through glam and punk and into '80s metal.

New York Dolls sell out London's 100 Club in 4 minutes

2009-04-09T05:57:00.006Z

The legendary New York Dolls recently announced a rare, intimate concert at London's celebrated punk rock venue "The 100 Club" on May 14th. The concert coincides with the release of the band's fourth studio album in 36 years - 'Cause I Sez So'.

Tickets went on sale on Tuesday April 4th at 9am, but by 9:04, the show was completely sold out. Apparently UK Dolls fans are not happy. Could this be their only UK show or will there be a full-blown UK tour planned for later in the year?

And what of the new album that reunites the band with their first producer, Todd Rundgren? Make no mistake, the Dolls have not lost their rock and roll bluesy edge on this album. If anything, the new album could very well be their best "sounding" album of their career. What's notable is David Johansen's impeccable vocals and lyrics, but the real highlight is Steve Conte's guitar playing. This guy is really amazing and has been kicking around the circuit for years.

So far, this year, there is no other album that comes close to the new Dolls album. It commands a wild energy, a looseness and a swagger that no other album released this year can ever hope to compete with. What's more, it sounds like a collaborative effort, not just a trademark Rundgren produced album. One wonders if Syl and David locked Todd in a cage, twiddled the knobs on the mixing desk, to get it just like they wanted to.

Somewhere in the tracks you can see the Runt trying to put his all into the overall production. So they meet halfway and come up with the best album of their career. From the title track to 'Muddy Bones', 'Ridiculous', 'Nobody Got No Bizness' and the half-assed slowed down re-hash of 'Trash' - this is an addictive collection of nicotine stained gems that just won't let go.

The Dolls are back with a vengeance.

New York Dolls To Release 'Cause I Sez So (And It Could Be The Album of the Year)

2009-03-21T14:30:00.006Z

The New York Dolls' fourth album, 'Cause I Sez So, could be the 36-year career break they've been looking for. Stranger things have been known to happen.

One thing remains, and its the undeniable power and charm of David Johansen and Syl Sylvain - that undeniable Dolls edge is still potent, resilient and surprisingly honed and polished.

A long way from the rock'n'roll garage sound of their eponymous debut album "New York Dolls" (1973), the new album sees David Jo and Syl reunited with a producer who initially got a lot of flack for producing their first album. Enter Todd Rundgren, who many had thought he sold out after he produced Meatloaf's multi-million selling "Bat out of Hell" album.

I admit there was a lot of speculation when the initial news about the Dolls/Rundgren reunion burst on to the Internet last October. The odds were against this project taking legs.

Some critics got wet their panties, while others felt the news was nothing more then a desperate attempt of cashing in on cash money nostalgia. Sure, there were doubters who not only gave up on the Dolls when bassist Arthur Kane died a few years ago, but then again, Syl and David Jo are still very much alive.

Over the years there's been continued discussion about Todd Rundgren being one of the most talented and innovative record producers on the planet. Times changed, and the super producers became extinct to the point where the bands thought they could do it all by themselves, and in their bedrooms. Major studios closed down to lack of business, and suddenly producers like Rundgren were not on the main menu.

There was still that certain something about the Dolls/Todd reunion that had an element of promise and possibility. They had to be doing it for a reason.

The new album sees the Dolls a pop band without losing their Dolls edge. It doesn't even sound like a trademark Rundgren produced album. The only thing hits you in the back of your head is what a fantastic rock'n'roll band the Dolls really are.

The songs are addictive, full of pop hooks and they are non-stop. The title track blasts out, followed by another hit "Muddy Bones", and then it's just hit after hit after hit.

The new songs are much catchier than anything on the Dolls debut album. Classics like Personality Crisis, Private World and Jet Boy are pretty hard to beat, but somehow the Dolls take it to a completely new level on this outing.

Perhaps the oddest track on the album is slow bluesy version of "Trash" which originally appeared on the first album as a souped up rock ditty. Only the Dolls could get away with sending themselves up. It makes for hilarious listening.

This is an exciting, sexy, provocative, dirty, compelling and innovative rock and roll record from a band who has taken 36 years to find their groove.

I'll leave you with the Dolls performing "Personality Crisis" on Burt Sugarman's "Midnight Special" television show (1973).

Who Put The Chicken Into Chickenfoot?

2009-03-04T23:31:00.003Z

The news of the imminent debut album from the rock supergroup Chickenfoot leaves no room for metal trash talk debate or speculation.

The Chilli Peppers' "Chad Smith" (drums), ex-Van Halen "Sammy Hagar" (vocals, guitar) and newly departed Van Halen "Michael Anthony" (bass), plus the shredding guitar wizard "Joe Satriani" (guitar) = a shit hot Led Zeppelin personified electric rock and roll band. What else could you kill for?

The phone lines are closed, the votes have been counted...

Somebody Once Told Me Lux Interior Was Crazy, But I'm Not Too Sure About That

2009-02-14T19:30:00.003Z

The news of Lux Interior's recent passing is unfortunate, but the great thing is that his contribution to rock music will live on.

The man who first gave us the buzz, buzz, buzz in "Human Fly" was always an oddball, but an enigmatic oddball who was a great entertainer.

A video tape on YouTube documents the time when The Cramps gave a free concert for mental patients at the California State Mental Hospital in Napa, California on June 13, 1978.

"We drove 3,000 miles to play for you people," said Lux to the mental patients.

Continued Lux, "Somebody told me you people were crazy, but I'm not so sure about that."

Only The Cramps would take it to the extreme in a mental institution. It's kind of like when Johnny Cash took his music to Folsom Prison.

Does this mean Poison Ivy might be going solo?

We hope so.

Butchering 'This Charming Man' Is Hard To Do (But Morrissey's Gotta Do It)

2009-02-14T19:04:00.005Z

It pains me to say it but, I've had enough of Morrissey. He's past his sell-by date. I'm sincerely sorry to have to admit this, but I can only handle so many of his solo albums.

His recent performance on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross TV show was evident that the sun has long stopped shining on his solo works. Once treated and hailed as a god, the Mancunian has been running on empty for the last 5 years. The first few solo albums were okay, but none of his solo work has ever been up to scratch with the songs he co-wrote with the great Johnny Marr of The Smiths.

Morrissey's new album sees him holding a baby. How controversial!

The singer now looks like a middle aged bloke performing in the local pub. On the Jonathan Ross Show he butchered a live version of "This Charming Man" with a band that we on par with a local bar band.

One can't help but compare Morrissey's ill-fated solo works with that of John Lydon, when the latter continued with a bastardised version of PiL. Lydon's Live in Tokyo PiL album saw our opinionated glove-puppet performing with a really dreary rock and roll bar band.

Can't Lydon and Morrissey understand that they were NEVER the only ingredient to their original success?

It's like Mick Jagger going solo without Keith Richards (or vice versa).

How soon is now?

Oh, just about when The Smiths called it a day.

And on that note, here's the magic that made The Smiths that special something in their heyday (Les Miserables). . .

Magazine and Howard Devoto; Still Sitting Pretty On The Permafrost

2009-02-14T00:11:00.006Z

North London, Kentish Town, Friday 13th February 2009. The ticket touts are out in full force trying to buy spare tickets for Magazine's first London concert together since 1980.

Howard Devoto (vocals), Dave Formula (keyboards), Barry Adamson (bass) and John Doyle (drums) - the four original members from Magazine, and new guitarist 'Noko' are back in London to perform their second concert in 29 years (the night before they played a warm up show in Oxford).

The scene is intense; the 2,750 capacity venue is so packed to the gills, people are left standing in the aisles on the second floor. You can feel the tension in the air. A few minutes before the band take to the stage the warm up intermission music consists of Simple Minds' 'I Travel' and David Bowie's 'Low' instrumental 'Speed of Life'.

The moment when Magazine walk on stage, the crowd goes nuts. The applause lasts for 3 minutes. Devoto walks out sporting a white dinner jacket, knee length trousers and slip on running shoes. He looks like a cross between Lex Luthor, Otto Preminger and Humpty Dumpty (I saw this in the nicest sense). His stage persona has mellowed but the drama still prevails. The crowd is in awe, and rightfully so.

The one hour and fifteen minute set is short but to the point and doesn't dissapoint. The song choices are eclectic. The band perform songs from their 1978 debut album 'Real Life'. The hypnotise the audience with 'Definite Gaze', 'The Light Pours Out Of Me', and they work the crowd into a frenzy with 'Shot By Both Sides'.

While the concert continues, you can't help but wonder why Magazine didn't reform sooner. The evocative 'Parade' calms the crowd with a sense of mystery as Devoto sings "It's so hot in here, what are they trying to hatch."

And now that Howard's "out of touch with anger," - anything is possible.

The band continue their aural assault with songs from the 'Secondhand Daylight' album with the infectious full-throttle rendition of 'Rhythm of Cruelty', as song which Devoto pays tribute to the late guitarist John McGeoch, who died in 2004. The concert rolls on with more songs from 'Daylight' including 'I Wanted Your Heart' and the menacing 'Permafrost'.

Surprisingly, the band performed songs from their underrated 1980 album 'The Correct Use Of Soap', kicking off with a frenzied, energetic version of 'Because Your Frightened, then straight into 'Model Worker', 'You Never Knew Me', 'I Want To Burn Again' and the ever-popular 'A Song From Under The Floorboards'.

The band return for their first encore with an ominous version of the Sly and the Family Stone 'Thank You (Faletin Me Be Mice Elf Again)'. A standing ovation ensues, the band leave the stage, and return for a second encore with the Captain Beefhart classic 'I Love You, You Big Dummy'.

Barry Adamson is like the rock of the band with pulsating bass heavy rhythms, while Dave Formula sets the pace and setting with magnificent keyboard textures and melodies. Devoto prances around the stage like he owns it but is oblivious to the trappings of rock and roll cliches.

The concert is a testament to a band that meant more than the sum of their parts. Their contribution to music has been missed by many, and so, as you can well imagine, seeing Magazine perform for the first time in almost 30 years, was an unforgettable experience for all.

The band bow to the enthusiastic crowd.

The lights go down to the sound of Simple Minds' 'Themes For Great Cities'. The crowd empties out on to the street.

The rest is history.

Moe Berg's still looking for The Pursuit of Happiness

2009-01-05T23:40:00.004Z

Some things come in small packages. Others come wrapped in tin foil. The leftovers are usually somebody else's other problem. But for The Pursuit of Happiness, after their fifth album, they decided to call it quits.

Best known for their first hit single "I'm An Adult Now", the band went on to release some rockin' guitar albums decked out with hookier than now female backing vocals and a lead singer in the long haired Canadian super geek called Moe Berg.

On their third album "Downward Road" they rocked out with the best of 'em with cool tracks like "Cigarette Dangles", and on their fourth album "Off The Bone", their razor sharp wit got the best of them. By the fifth album, like any decent rock band, they imploded.

At the best of times the band sounded like a cross between Cheap Trick, Utopia, Ted Nugent and the Beach Boys, and even Todd Rundgren. Melodic hooks and pop were the order of the day.

Maybe it's time for a comeback?

"She's so young, she's got the answer, she doesn't need to question the world like I do." - 'She's So Young' / TPOH

New York Dolls check into another personality crisis with Todd Rundgren

2008-11-15T23:34:00.004Z

Word broke earlier this week with the news of the New York Dolls being reunited with legendary record producer and rock star Todd Rundgren.

Rundgen will produce the Dolls' new album in January 2009. This is the first time in 36 years since Rundgren originally produced the New York Dolls eponymous debut album "The New York Dolls" which included the timeless classics "Personality Crisis", "Trash", "Jet Boy" and "Private World".

Rundgren will be reunited with original Dolls founding members, David Johansen (vocals) and Sylvain Sylvain (guitar, vocals).

"We're really excited to be working with Todd again," says David Johansen. " We're hoping to recapture the same magic on the forthcoming album."

The album, which is yet untitled, will be released on the Atco label through Warner Brothers. The Atco label has been specially re-launched. The New York Dolls are one of the first signings to the label.

The Dolls will follow the release of the new album with a world tour in 2009. Meanwhile, Todd Rundgren is currently on a European tour promoting his latest solo album "Arena". Todd plays two more UK gigs later in November, including the Norwich Waterfront (Nov 22) and London Kentish Town Forum (Nov 23).

The forthcoming Dolls album will become another chapter in Rundgren's vast list of prodution credits which include albums for Hall & Oats, Cheap Trick, Meatloaf, The Pursuit of Happiness, the Psychedelic Furs, XTC, Patti Smith Group, Tom Robinson Band, Grand Funk Railroad, Badfinger, and many more.

The Zombies announce the final UK concerts for their 1968 album Odessey & Oracle

2008-09-22T10:23:00.006Z

The Zombies, Britain's legendary psychedelic rock band is set to perform the entirety of their 1968 album ‘Odessey & Oracle’ in the UK for the very last time during April 2009.

The band will play the following four UK concerts – Glasgow ABC (April 21), Bristol Colston Hall (April 23), Manchester Bridgewater Hall (April 24) and London Hammersmith Apollo (April 25).

Tickets for the go on sale from 9am on Thursday 25th September. Ticket Hotline: 08700600 100, www.ticketweb.co.uk.

After receiving rapturous critical acclaim from performing the 40th Anniversary of ‘Odessey & Oracle' over three sold out concerts at the London Shepherd's Bush Empire during March 2008, original Zombies members, Colin Blunstone (vocals), Rod Argent (keyboards, vocals), Chris White (bass, vocals) and Hugh Grundy (drums) will get back together again to perform the album that the NME recently described as "British psychedelia with a kaleidoscopic vision that rivals even The Beatles.”

When the Zombies originally performed the 40th Anniversary concert for Odessey & Oracle at Shepherd Bush Empire earlier this year, the concerts were attended by Britain’s rock elite including Paul Weller, Robert Plant, Robyn Hitchcock, Snow Patrol and Garbage.

Bruce Dickinson plays Todd Rundgren's 'Strike'

2008-09-20T14:30:00.010Z

On Friday 19th September at 22:45, Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson played Todd Rundgren's song 'Strike' (one of the new songs featured on Rundgren's forthcoming new studio album 'Arena')on his BBC Radio 6 Music Friday Night Rock Show in the UK.

You can play the show back online via BBC iPlayer from the following link - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00dhljd until Thursday 25th September.

Here's the transcript of Dickinson's intro to 'Strike' -

"Speaking of The Hermit of Mink Hollow, I did say Todd Rundgren, and I meant it, too. Todd Rundgren...vetran rocker and producer who's turned 60. He must have been given a school boy's outfit. At present this next track does sound a little bit like AC/DC. On the other hand AC/DC are probably close to turning 60, and they're still wearing school boy's outfits."

"Typically we've had no AC/DC for seven years, and then Airbourne turn up, Todd Rundgren does this, and AC/DC re-emerge. Could this be a sign? Could the Routemaster be on its way back? Oh yes, I do hope so (I hate those bendy things)."

"Anyway, from his new album called 'Arena', it's a sort of homage to arena rock. It features a bunch of tracks the rock suprisingly hard."

"The Routemaster of course was a very famous red London bus. For those of you who don't know what a Routemaster bus was, you could walk on and off the back without getting caught up - and it didn't run cyclists over, which is why we like it instead of bendy buses, thank you very much (Public service announcement)."

"It's a nod to Ted Nugent, ZZ Top, Rush and AC/DC. Check it out. This is Todd Rundgren with 'Strike'."

Everything but the Girl: The only way up is down

2008-08-31T19:40:00.011Z

Everything But the Girl are one of those rare bands that keep coming back to haunt us with their infectious dance club sounds. How much longer do we have to wait for a new album? It's almost been ten years since 1999's "Tempremental".

EBTG originally started off as an acoustic-based duo. When they released their 'Amplified Heart' album in 1994, Todd Terry remixed the track "Missing", and it was this song that propelled them into dance music.

When EBTG released the remix as a single, it became a huge international hit. It hit the top of nearly every chart around the world, and charted in the U.S., a feat that had previously eluded the band. The track reached number two and stayed in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for well over a year.

The success of that track, along with a collaboration Thorn did with the bands Massive Attack and Deep Dish, saw EBTG move into a more electronic sound.

Having completed contractual obligations to WEA, they were free to shop their recordings and had full ownership of their future recorded works. They signed licensing deals with Virgin Records for the United Kingdom and Europe, and Atlantic Records for the United States and Canada.

Their subsequent albums "Walking Wounded" and "Temperamental", showed the band's musical progress as well as established Ben Watt as a cutting edge dance music producer. In 2007 Tracey Thorn released her second solo album "Out Of The Woods".

It's surprising to think it will be ten years since the "Tempremental" album was first released. The opening track, "Five Fathoms" brings back the memories of partying in London's Soho at night.

"Five Fathoms"
by Everything But The Girl (from the 1999 album 'Temperamental')

I walk the city late at night.
Does everyone here do the same?
I want to be the things I see,
Give every face and place my name.
I cross the street, take a right,
Pick up the pace, pass a fight.
Did I grow up just to stay home?
I'm not immune - I love this tune.

I wanna love more.
I just wanna love more.

I drag the city late at night.
It's in my mouth, it's in my hair.
The people fill the city because
The city fills the people, oh yeah.
I cross the street, avoid the freeze -
A city's warmer by a couple degrees.
The smell of food. The smell of rain.
I'm not immune - I love this tune.

I wanna love more.
There's a river in my head.
I just wanna love more.
There's a river in my head.

The only way out is down.
The only way up is down.

The days roll by like thunder
Like a storm that's never breaking,
All my time and space compressed
In the low pressure of the proceedings,
And they beat against the sides of my life,
Like fists against the sides of my life,
And the roads all lead behind me,
So I wrap the wheel around me
and I go out.

There's a river in my head.
I'll take you home and make it easy.
Love more.

Copyright (c) 1999 Everything But The Girl

Katy Perry kisses a girl and the USA goes crazy

2008-08-31T18:58:00.005Z

Here comes the most hyped song of 2008 in America; "I Kissed A Girl" by Katy Perry. Currently making it's way to Europe, there's probably no telling how many times this song will get played on radio until the general public gets sick to death of it.

The song's already topped the US singles chart for seven weeks. If you check out the comments on YouTube, people are either love or hate it. For me, Katy looks like some deranged actress from The OC or One Tree Hill. It's way too early to say that I am convinced.

Live, Katy Perry is another thing. Her live performance on US television leave a lot to be desired. Vocally, the song seems to display a lot of studio trickery to make Katy sound better than she actually is.

Hell, singing out of tune never seemed to be a problem for Madonna.

'I Kissed A Girl' could be the only song that Katy Perry will ever be remembered for, and like most one hit wonders, this could have dramatic impact on her future recordings. But something tells me there's more to Perry than this one particular killer teenage anthem.

For the moment, Katy seems to display a certai amount of fun and sexiness in her videos, and I guess us Americans have been missing out on some commerical rauch for some time now. This is like the Brady Bunch and a porn wet dream in one.

What's next, I kissed an German Shepherd?

In the 70s, Cyndi Lauper was singing "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", but now Katy Perry's singing about kissing girls. Some things never change.

Or do they?

This is pop music at it's most risque, even though the music is calculated formula supermarket pop. The perfect comeback single for Britney, but this time the brunettes are taking over - and it's about time!

Even more entertaining is Katy's video for her other song "Ur So Gay" which is a play on Todd Haynes' film about the late Karen Carpenter (the first film to tell the story of the rise and fall of Karen Carpenter re-enacted by Barbie Dolls).

The first line in "Ur So Gay" is classic deviant pop at its best. Katy sings, "I hope you hang yourself with your H&M scarf, jacking off while listening to Mozart."

Katy Perry - "I Kissed A Girl"

Katy Perry - "Ur So Gay"

Warren Zevon; the Excitable Boy lives on

2008-08-31T16:15:00.009Z

Sometimes in this crazy world of rock and roll, certain rock stars need to rob the grave to get a hit single. Case in point is Kid Rock with his infectious song "All Summer Long", taken from his current album "Rock N Roll Jesus".

The songs also samples Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" (which has a similar chord progression).

When it comes to the original,you can't top Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London". With the line, "Better stay away from him, he'll rip your lungs out, Jim - I'd like to meet his tailor," you know Zevon was up to something way beyond the confines of conservative American music.

'Werewolves of London' was taken from Zevon's 'Excitable Boy' (1978), an album that's right up there with any early Steely Dan album. Essential.

Similar in many ways to his fellow Southern California outcast counterpart Randy Newman, during his early career Zevon achieved moderate fame, but as time progressed, instead of writing songs on par with the likes of Dan Fogelberg and Jackson Browne, he opted for tunes about getting your lungs ripped out. The general public could relate.

Obsessed with corrupt anti-heroes, Zevon penned songs with the trademark of a down and out pulp fiction writer who created stories about mutilated mercenaries ("Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner"), mereciless city boys who will do anything to get ahead ("Lawyers, Guns and Money"), cowardly deviants ("Excitable Boy"), and, of course, losers with appetites for beef chow mein ("Werewolves of London").

Excitable Boy's 1976 predecessor (Warren Zevon) may be a stronger album, but this is the one that put Zevon on the map, and still holds a pop hook in the world's consciousness. Kid Rock's "All Summer Long" is a perfect exmaple.

"Werewolves of London"
by Warren Zevon

I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand
Walking through the streets of Soho in the rain
He was looking for a place called Lee Ho Fook's
Going to get himself a big dish of beef chow mein
Werewolves of London

If you hear him howling around your kitchen door
Better not let him in
Little old lady got mutilated late last night
Werewolves of London again
Werewolves of London

He's the hairy-handed gent who ran amuck in Kent
Lately he's been overheard in Mayfair
Better stay away from him
He'll rip your lungs out, Jim
I'd like to meet his tailor
Werewolves of London

Well, I saw Lon Chaney walking with the Queen
Doing the
I saw Lon Chaney, Jr. walking with the Queen
Doing the
I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's
His hair was perfect
Werewolves of London
Draw blood

(c) 1978 Warren Zevon, from the album "Excitable Boy"

Patti Smith's original album review of Todd Rundgren's 'A Wizard, A True Star'

2008-08-31T15:28:00.009Z

In 1973, the then rock journalist and poet, Patti Smith, reviewed albums and interviewed rock stars for the legendary CREEM magazine (aka Boy Howdy).

CREEM was no ordinary monthly music magazine for the uninitiated. It also gave the world the literary prose of Lester Bangs (the No.1 Iggy Pop and Lou Reed rock critic immortalized in Cameron Crowe's movie 'Almost Famous').

CREEM was home to Iggy Pop, Todd Rundgren, the New York Dolls, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Mott the Hoople, Kiss, Roxy Music, The Runaways, Cheap Trick and beyond. If you wanted to find out what was happening in the world of glam rock, CREEM was the bible of corruptable pop salvation.

CREEM effortlessly bridged the gap between 16 magazine and Rolling Stone. It's foray into glam rock was pre-punk. CREEM was 10 years ahead of its time. It made Blender and Spin seem like cheap immitations.

Who could ever forget that pull out poster of a wacked-out, bleached-blonde Iggy Pop burning a pile of vinyl albums with lighter fluid?

The following editorial is a reprint of Patti Smith's original review of Todd Rundgren's ground-breaking 1973 album 'A Wizard, A True Star'.

Six years after Patti reviewed A Wizard, A True Star, Rundgren produced her 1979 album 'Wave' that featured the hit single Frederick, and the song Dancing Barefoot, plus So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star, a rock song originally written by Jim McGuinn and Chris Hillman, and first recorded by The Byrds for their 1967 album Younger Than Yesterday.

"TODD'S ELECTRIC EXPLOITATION: ROCK AND ROLL FOR THE SKULL"
by Patti Smith
[from Creem, April 1973]

A Wizard, A True Star
Todd Rundgren

Ya know where Greaser's Palace ends? That solar burst. The zoot suit Jesus returns to light. Physical atomic end. Well that's where Todd's record begins. Side one is pure brain rocket. Rock and roll for the skull. Todd Rundgren's season in hell.

Put the record on. Internal voyage is not burnt out. Thank the stars for that. Now you got your system of brain travel, Todd got the plane. You're gonna zoom but beware. What he does is very tricky. Mildly sinister. But I give you the satisfaction that all pain on his ticket is well spent. It beings glowing enough. Like a sacred drug. "International Feel." Very Baudelaire. Very godhead. And when he moves to "I Know I Know" you know. For one ecstatic moment you've gone beyond the point of pain into the realm of pure intellect.

I know, here is where I got caught. Not prepared for a transition like "Neverland." Brutally nostalgic. I got that era under my belt. All about toyland. Once you leave no turning back. Well, why did Todd pull us back? The terror of beauty makes one momentarily bitter. First star to the right and straight on till morning. "Neverland" permanently poisons and sweetens. Gives a subconscious aftertaste. Tinges the whole record with Walt Disney. Also torments and slides you into journey a little weak above the belt. As side one progresses you age. There's hair on your fingers.

Tic tic. Like the crocodile alarm that pleasantly ticked away Captain Hook's lifeline, goodie good is wearing off. The move is maniac. Screeching monotone which eliminates mouth, limb and crotch but exalts in brain power. MIT science fiction. The next religion.

Even more ear-itating is "Rock'n'Roll Pussy." Autobiographic as a brainiac. "I'm in the Clique" comes back as "Shove it up your ass, I'm the clique myself." Sexual power is moving up the spine into the skull. It's manic it's magnificent.

Am I getting abstract? It doesn't matter. Music is pure mathematics. And what is more abstract than trigonometry? Todd is further mystery than Greek. You can't plot out his journey so easy. Marco Polo was a natural. Electric exploitation is never predictable.

But beauty is just that. The flamingos that wave you into "Zen Archer" leave you breathless. Happy death. And "Zen Archer" is full of wonder. Beautiful. I'm almost embarrassed to get so worked up over its brilliance. An elegy. Very German. Who did kill Cock Robin? An expression of his guilt? It makes one dizzy. Uncomfortable. He exhibits certain powers, certain confusions. Naked emotion is very frightening. It's extended by Dave Sanborn's saxophone. Elegant and moving as a high and spiraling tombstone.

His language is getting more sophisticated as is his humor and anger. Moving in a very valiant poetry.

The blessings of the turtles/ the eggs lay on the lawn.

Obscure images in "Da Da Dali." Very painterly. Also very Rodgers and Hart. Oh Jesus where are we on this journey; All adolescence out the window. Fags, fag hags, weaklings, minor visionaries and paranoids caught in the cyclone. For the chosen ones there is one last splash in drug soup and up the yellow brick road to Utopia.

That's how it hit me. Sound you can't describe, only experience. Side one is double dose. It takes the bull by the brain. Another point to be examined. He's always been eclectic. Why didn't he care? The evidence is here. Something very magical is happening. The man is magi chef. His influences are homogenizings. Like a coat of many colors. May be someone else's paintbox but the coat is all his. A Gershwin tone some Mr. Kite solid Motown early Rundgren. Several other colors. Telescoping sounds. All manipulated by a higher force. Production itself a form to be reckoned with. The conductor is often more blessed than the orchestra.

There are two sides to every record. Excluding Second Winter. So turn over. This is de soul side. White boys got it you know. Especially ones from Philadelphia. "Sometimes I Don't Know What to Feel" is eighty per cent spade. It touches. I hope Motown grabs it and pumps it Top 40. "I Don't Want to Tie You Down" touches too. "The balance of our minds together/ The perfect give and take." Girl and boy move to man and woman.

Todd does a soul medley. The way he does "Ooo Baby Baby." I know he's no Smokey but I'm addicted to his throat. Cracks and all. I find Todd's voice very sexy; it makes me feel teen-age. Less than perfect but a bit boozier than last shots. The way he does "Cool Jerk" is genius. Real cartoon. Goofy and Daffy Duck are there. Roller skates, Coney Island laughter, the mad bomber. Jesus, sometimes I think he's crazy. Certainly not an earthling. The way he transforms mundane to miracle.

The motherfucker is "Is It My Name?" All the animal energy is in this one. A song that self-destructs. Dirty joke...flaming guitar...the cunt...the man to kick in your brains. It's all there. I love it. Never has he seemed more like a son of a bitch. In fact that's another move on this album. Not only is the quality of his intellect heightened but his emotions. This is the least predictable. The one closest to sainthood and hatchet murder.

My voice goes so high
You would think I was gay
But I play my guitar in such
a mancock way
You only love me for my machine...
"Is It My Name"

Moving into "Just One Victory." A Rundgren classic. Very much a single. Though I would die to hear "International Feel" on the radio. To cruise at suicidal speed down the great highway with "I.F." at full blast:

International feel
And there's more
Interstellar appeal
Still there's more
Universal ideal...

Each album he vomits like a diary. Each page closer to the stars. Process is the point. A kaleidoscoping view. Blasphemy even the gods smile on. Rock and roll for the skull. A very noble concept. Past present and tomorrow in one glance. Understanding through musical sensation. Todd Rundgren is preparing us for a generation of frenzied children who will dream in animation.

Copyright © Patti Smith 1973 / CREEM magazine

Todd Rundgren says "I've got a gun."

2008-08-23T06:55:00.000Z

With the new Arena album along the way at the end of September, don't be surprised if Todd Rundgren's latest platter sparks a little gun control controversy.

On the surface, one of the songs on the new album, 'Gun', communicates social commentary about American gang gun culture; a plea for disaffected youths to put a stop pulling out guns and randomly shooting people.

In America, illegal gun ownership has now become a lifestyle enhancer, something to add credibility and importance in society. In the song 'Gun', Rundgren sings: "This is for fighting and this is for fun."

But if you go back 28 years, the issue of guns took on a larger than life meaning for Rundgren enthusiasts.

On December 8 1980, Mark Chapman (the guy who went on to shoot John Lennon), was a big fan of Rundgren's music.

He woke up in the Sheraton hotel in New York City. After getting dressed, he placed a copy of Rundgren's second solo album, 'The Ballad Of Todd Rundgren', on the dressing table. Next to it he left a photo of himself from when he worked at a Vietnamese refugee camp. He finished this tableau with the hotel Bible, which he had opened to John's Gospel and written the word 'Lennon'.

Chapman was a devoted follower of Todd Rundgren's music. He learned the lyrics and studied the album sleeves for clues and was obsessed with Rundgren's 1973 album 'A Wizard, A True Star'. He was convinced that Rundgren was sending signals to him.

It was then that an interview with Rundgren that was published in Melody Maker by journalist Allan Jones that really struck a chord. During the interview, Rundgren referred to John Lennon as an "asshole"; a comment that Todd made abut John Lennon's behaviour when Lennon was drunk and verbally abusing a waitress at the now legendary Max's Kansas City nightclub in New York City.

The Melody Maker interview also touched on Rundgren's song 'Rock And Roll Pussy', which was thought to have been a critique of Lennon's revolutionary stance. When John Lennon read Rundgren's interview in Melody Maker, he wrote an open letter to the music paper, where he commented:

"I guess we're all looking for attention Rodd, do you really think I don't know how to get it, without "revolution"?"

History has it that Lennon's letter to Rundgren had some kind of emotional impact on Mark Chapman. Just after 10:40pm, on the evening of the 8th, Chapman confronted John Lennon outside the Dakota hotel in New York City and shot him four times.

At the time of Lennon's shooting, Mark Chapman was wearing a Todd Rundgren 'Hermit of Mink Hollow' t-shirt.

Oasis strike back with the Shock of the Lightning

2008-08-17T20:23:00.015Z

The new single from Oasis, The Shock of the Lightning, is quite possibly the best single they've released in 14 years. The band have recaptured their original sound evident on their first two albums, 1994's Definitely Maybe and 1995's (What's The Story) Morning Glory?

The song is loud, powerful and drenched a rock and roll wall of sound, that's not only dangerous, but it's heavy, psychedelic and relentless. This is totally unexpected and surprising news from a band who were almost close to becoming a paradoy of themselves. If this song is anything to go by, the band's forthcoming album is sure dominate planet earth (but not as we know it).

If you loved their early songs including Rock N' Roll Star, Supersonic and Cigarettes & Alocohol, then you'll feel right at home with The Shock of the Lightning. Sometimes simplicity works, but the groove in this track is undeniable, catchy and highly addictive.

In a recent interview Liam Gallagher said that Oasis had no competition. If this song is anything to go by, he may be right on the money.

The Shock of the Lightning is a masterclass in rock and roll adrenalin. This is pure, class Oasis. The drum break towards the end of the song is a nod to the Who's Won't Get Fooled Again. Accept no substitute.

Too Many Creeps... Yeah!!

2008-08-12T19:18:00.004Z

There was a time in the early 80s when punk rock and funk collided and gave us some seminal bands that played it for real.

First there was James Chance and the Contortions, and then Topper Headon from the Clash produced some original studio recordings for a NYC band called the Bush Tetras.

At the time PiL were all the rage in New York City, but one band stood out from the rest of the crowd, and they were untouchable. With Pat Place on guitar and Cynthia Sley on vocals, the band were unstoppable.

It was the post new wave funk/punk early '80s stars of the New York club scene, and the Bush Tetras were one of the most popular and exciting groups of the era.

Who could ever forget the original line-up?

Cynthia Sley - Vocals
Pat Place - Guitar
Dee Pop - Drums
Laura Kennedy - Bass

Their collection of songs recorded from 1980-83, produced by Topper Headon and Joe Blaney, hasn't dated. Flash forward to San Paulo's CSS and hear where they got their riffs from.

Twenty-five years later and the Bush Tetras are still the bomb.

Unforgettable songs like "You Can't Be Funky (If You Haven't Got A Soul", "Cowboys In Africa" and the band's signature track "Too Many Creeps", the sound and the fury is relentless but still independently funky.

Todd Rundgren signs to Cooking Vinyl and gets interstellar appeal

2008-08-12T17:12:00.008Z

The Wizard, A True star (Todd Rundgren) has licensed his new studio album "Arena" to the British indepdendent record label Cooking Vinyl. The UK edition of the album (rumoured to come with a free pair of edible rasberry flavored paper thongs) will be released in the UK on Monday 29th September.

"We are delighted to be releasing Todd's new guitar rock album in the UK," says Cooking Vinyl MD, Martin Goldschmidt.

Former Utopia bass guitarist, Kasim Sulton, is confirmed to play guitar, keyboards and sing vocals on Rundgren's forthcoming American and European "Arena" tours.

Sulton, who recently was the musical director for Meatloaf's North American and European tours, will join Rachel Haden (bass), Jesse Gress (guitar), former Tubes drummer Prairie Prince and Todd Rundgren (vocals, guitar).

Rundgren is currently getting rave reviews for the new guitar led album, with the rocker "Strike" getting considerable airplay on various radio stations in the UK, most notably, Planet Rock Radio, who recently interviewed Rundgren from New Orleans last week. Planet Rock played the songs "Strike" and "Gun" from the new album.

A spokesperson from Planet Rock Radio said, "We've received tons of calls and emails from listeners who thought we'd just played the new single from AC/DC. They were amazed to discover that it was "Strike"; a new song from Rundgren's new album."

"Arena" will be followed by a UK tour in November, with Rundgren playing dates at Manchester Academy 2 (November 6), Edinburgh Picture House (November 7), Norwich Waterfront (November 22) and London Kentish Town Forum (November 23).

Same Old Fucking Story, and it's a new album from Cyndi Lauper

2008-08-10T18:18:00.011Z

"Bring Ya To The Brink" is the name of Cyndi Lauper's 11th album, and shows the American singer in a powerful light. What I like about the new album is, lyrically, Cyndi still in a thought provoking mode.

There's been cheap candy talk about Madonna and Lauper being rivals in the eighties, but I've never seen the musical connection between both artists. The only thing I see is bad journalism.

Before you shy away from the new Lauper album, thinking that it's just another comeback album from a fifty something Diva, looking at the Gay market to re-estabish her place in the pop palace of Gwen Stefani gimmick grabbers, hold up for a minute.

There's enough eletronica, soul, disco and plenty of big bouncy tunes here to fill up your girlfriend's swimming pool, however, although the album does has the odd predictable dancefloor filler, there's just too many great songs on this album to put a damper on anything.

The album really gets cooking with track 3, the brilliant electro ragga, Japanese friendly dance ditty "Rocking Chair". This is Lauper doing Gwen Stefani doing Cyndi Lauper.

This is the song that proves that Stefani's always been a Cyndi Lauper impersonator. In so many words, Cydni sings "Romeo boys they'll be dancing with the Cha Cha girls," while Gwen is treading water in her annoying Hekiru girls bubble.

But Lauper isn't really striving for postal natal depression Studio 54 drivel. Even the most minimal of electronic beats, evident on the track 'Echo', can't take away from Lauper's wonderful vocal stylings.

Cyndi's swansong has to be the disco belter, "Same Old Fucking Story". It's like a hip now generation of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive", but it's more direct and it's got a million times more attitude. Deep down inside Cyndi's always has been and will remain a punk at heart, and this song is no diffrent.

"It's the same old fucking story
With your two differnet sets of rules
It's the same old fucking story
One for me, two for you"

The next six tracks are a masterclass in pop perfection. "Raging Storm" talks about the world's obsession of celebrity. "There's a raging storm in a troubled sea, but you're clouding my mind with celebrity. You can fight for the right to be, but you better not do a bad show on MTV."

One of my favorites, "Lay Me Down" could possibly be the best electronic chill out dancefloor classic of 2008. Lauper has perfected organic dance music with feeling and meaning. This is a far cry from her last magnificent album "The Body Acoustic", but then again, there are also a lot of smilarities. In a strange way, these songs could be played with acoustic guitars. Drop the big beats and Cyndi's vocals could still make the songs shine.

As with "The Same Old Fucking Story", the track "Set Your Heart" is another big beat dancefloor belter that's positioned as an optimistic dance monster track. Lauper's vocals soar high like a raging eagle. This is a skydiving kick drum delight, the perfect showcase to the woman with the biggest lungs in showbiz. This is Cyndi Lauper, larger than life, taking flight and conquering the world.

Cyndi makes a confession on the second last track, "Grab A Hold", and backs it with her trademark emotional Cyndi vocal delivery. This is undeniable Lauper, and features all the ingredients that has always made her so important in the current hollow pop landscape. Sings Cyndi, "If you want grab a hold, let it go."

Lauper ends the album with the ballad "Rain On Me". It's an electronica nod to "Time After Time", the kind of song that gets played at a disco when everyone's packing up to leave at 6am, or perfect for when you're driving home in your car when it's raining. It's Lauper at her most spiritual.

Check out Cyndi performing "Into The Nightlife", the second track from the new album, "Bring Ya To The Brink" on the Jimmy Kimmel Show.

The Mail on Sunday Hails Martha and the Muffins' 25th Anniversary Edition of Danseparc

2008-08-10T13:37:00.007Z

An insightful review of Martha and the Muffins' recently reissued 25th anniversary edition of 'Danseparc' was written by rock critic David Bennun in today's edition of the UK's Mail on Sunday Newspaper. Bennun comes up with some interesting observations about Toronto's best loved rock band.

Says Bennun - "The under-appreciated Toronto New Wave outfit Martha and the Muffins are nowadays known mainly for their jaunty yet curiously haunting 1980 hit single Echo Beach. Perhaps the reissue of Danseparc will help rectify that."

"By the time of its 1983 UK release, prime movers Martha Johnson and Mark Gane (aka M+M) were making the best Talking Heads records not actually created by Talking Heads themselves."

"But M+M were not simple copyists. While their sound was deeply indebted to the New York trailblazers, Danseparc has a character of its own; lyrically less abstruse - indeed, often precisely observational, with the unforgiving focus oif a documentary camera lense."

"Walking Into Walls, Danseparc (Every Day It's Tomorrow), Several Styles of Blonde Girls Dancing, and Boys in the Bushes all merit a place among the treasures of their time, and still burst with life and energy."

"Now, if only whoever owns the rights to what may be the band's best album of all, 'This Is The Ice Age' (1981), would do us the favour of making it available again."

David Bennun,
The Mail on Sunday
10th August 2008

Sharleen Spiteri injects soul into Melody

2008-07-19T23:00:00.004Z

Over the past twenty years Sharleen Spiteri is mostly associated with the Scottish rock band Texas. Intererstingly, she's just released her first solo album, 'Melody' and the accompanying Northern soul single 'All The Times I Cried'. The album is a masterclass in singer/songwriting and makes Duffy and Adele sound souless.

Spiteri not only wrote and produced all the songs on the album, apart from one track which was co-produced by ex-Suede guitarist Bernard Butler at Edwyn Collins' London studio. Now, at he age of 40, Sharleen says the album was her response to the recent split with her longtime partner Ashley Heath, the father of her daughter Misty Kyd.

The collection of songs sound genuine and steeped in authentic soul power. The influences are there, with shades of the Supremes, Shangri-las, Dusty Springfield, Nancy Sinatra, Jackie De Shannon, and even Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin.

The title track, 'Melody', is based on 'Jane B', the b-side of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin's 1969 'Je T'Aime Moi Non Plus'. "It's about me finding salvation through this record," explains Sharleen. "Coming out of a long relationship, made me rethink my life and the one thing that kept me going was music."

The album closes with a sentimental tribute to the 60's singer Francoise Hardy. Explains Sharleen, "It's saying, 'You tried to take something from me, you maybe took it for a second, but you never really stole it'."

This is a wonderful sounding record with a authentic sounding sixties sound sung by a real torch singer with plenty of emotion, heart and soul. Not only does Sharleen sound sexy and sultry, but she displays buckets of emotion and makes each song sound like a memorable timeless modern classic.

She's not faking it.

Martha and the Muffins: It started in Echo Beach and ended up in Danseparc

2008-07-16T21:08:00.021Z

A few weeks ago I stumbled across a French Canadian blogger who swore blind that Echo Beach was a make-believe place that never existed (except in song). I always thought the beach existed, but now, with an interview that was recently published in Canada's National Post newspaper, I think I was bang on the money.

"The song was inspired by a trip the Muffins' guitarist, Mark Gane, took with his pal Harvey to Sunnyside Beach, a soft-sanded cove on Lake Ontario in Toronto's west end. On that fateful summer evening 30 years ago..."

Here's the National Post story in full (published on July 14 08)

Song's creator goes back to 'Echo Beach'

Craig Offman on Martha and the Muffins' guitarist, Mark Gane, who was inspired by a trip he took to Sunnyside Beach in Toronto.

In the late '70s, when walrus-moustached rockers in hockey jerseys ruled Toronto's stodgy music scene, an aspiring guitarist named Mark Gane helped change all that with a hit called Echo Beach.

The song was inspired by a trip he took with his pal Harvey to Sunnyside Beach, a soft-sanded cove on Lake Ontario in the city's west end. On that fateful summer evening 30 years ago, Mr. Gane may or may not have smoked the sweet herb, soaked up the Impressionistic lights flashing in the evening fog and dreamed up lyrics about this isolated retreat, where "waves make the only sound" and "there's not a soul around."

Echo Beach, as the chorus goes, was "far away in time." So far away, in fact, that it can't be found on any map. Legend has it that Martha and the Muffins made up the whole damn thing.

Over the span of about six weeks, Mr. Gane cobbled together a larger narrative about an office clerk remembering her summer idyll. "The only thing that helps pass the time away," she laments in the chorus, "is knowing I'll be back at Echo Beach some day."

Sung by Mr. Gane's future wife, Martha Johnson, and performed by their band, Martha and the Muffins, the jazz-inflected tune quickly became a CanCon classic in 1980 and cracked the Top 10 on the U. K. charts. At the time, this was a rare coup for any Canadian band with arty pretensions.

"The year before, we were playing at the Beverly Tavern," said Mr. Gane, sitting at the Sunnyside Cafe, metres away from where the inspiration hit him. "Then all of a sudden we're on top. It was all very surreal."

A one-time student at the Ontario College of Art, Mr. Gane was part of an era when many art-school kids minored in rock. Many of them flocked to the Beverly Tavern, a hangout that helped pioneer alternative culture in a white-bread city. "It was where weird bands like ours could have an audience without people calling us faggots and throwing beer bottles at us," he recalls.

Bans like the Diodes and the Dishes hung around there. So did another act, Oh Those Pants!, led by Martha Johnson, who with Mr. Gane and four other musicians would form the Muffins in 1977.

A year later, the band snagged a record deal with Virgin Records, which signed them up partly on the strength of their song Insect Love, which was about a lovelorn man who falls in love with a moth.

That summer, Mr. Gane took his fateful trip to Sunnyside Beach.

Three decades later, Mr. Gane's recollection of the creative process is a little hazy. At first he suggested that pot might have assisted in the songwriting craft, but then wasn't sure. "It's not out of squeamishness. I just don't remember."

Other details are equally hazy. The song's name occurred to him subconsciously, he said, as did one of its signature lines, "My job is very boring/I'm an office clerk." For several summers Mr. Gane was a wallpaper-quality checker. In hindsight, he speculates that he could have been channelling Ms. Johnson's brief experience as a provincial ministry worker. "Martha would finish her work, and when she offered to help out the others they refused because they wanted to drag it out. They wanted the overtime pay."

The song also cites a surreal building, but from our vantage point on Sunnyside Beach, I couldn't really see anything except a wind turbine.

"I actually haven't come back here to look at what I was actually seeing," he said.

Really?

"I probably have been here," he replied ponderously. "But not in the analytical sense. Not to analyze it."

After Echo Beach took off, the band headed to London, where they dodged spitgobs from adoring punk fans at such venerable clubs as The Marquee and The Electric Ballroom. They also won a coveted appearance on The Top of the Pops, only to be ridiculed by disc jockey Steve Wright while they lip-synched. "Strange to see that the singer of such a cool song had hair like Auntie Iris and dresses like Lieutenant Ohura," he scoffed.

Mr. Gane recalled a lot of sniffy reaction from the Brits, not least of all from the New Musical Express. "They hated us: The mewling muffins and their crappy little song."

At the same time, fans recognized them in chip shops and in Scottish hamlets. An audience in Paris bowed to Ms. Johnson as she sang.

Following the initial success, there were other memorable early-'80s CanCon gems, notably Women around the World at Work. The band then survived many intra-band hookups and breakups, teenage stalkers, critical praise, a name change (M + M) a brief commercial resurgence with the single, Black Stations/White Stations, and then a slow slip into obscurity.

After a 16-year hiatus, Mr. Gane, now 54, and the rest of the Muffins will release a new album in November, mixed by Grammy-winner David Bottrill. In the meantime, the band has just reissued a remastered version of Danseparc, their 1983 album produced by the legendary Daniel Lanois, brother of Muffin bassist Jocelyn.

Despite the band's absence over the years, the song's mystique has not waned. Fans from all over the United States e-mail Mr. Gane, wondering where they can find Echo Beach. There are hotels, hostels and boutiques all over the world named after the song. There is even a namesake drama series in Britain.

Ironically, Mr. Gane believes that Echo Beach does not represent his band's best work, but he is not about to disavow it, either. "I don't like taking anything for granted," he said. "I don't."

Okay, but what's the story behind "Danseparc", Martha and the Muffins' 1983 studio album, produced by Daniel Lanois. Danseparc, a far cry from Echo Beach, is like a distant cousin. First the obsession with beaches, and then parks? What's the connection?

Danseparc is one of those songs that has this hypnotic bassline, played by Jocelyn Lanois (sister of Daniel), enhanced with Martha Johnson's sexy Karen Carpenter vocals, backed with some weird keyboards and King Crimson-like guitar rhythms.

The album is getting a 25th Anniversary release on August 4th via Cherry Red Records in the UK. The album's been digitally remastered by Peter J. Moore (the dude who produced the Cowboy Junkies' Trinity Sessions album) and includes 3 bonus tracks including a 12" inch dance mix of the blessed Danseparc.

What's next for the Muffins, Smells Like Teen Spirit?

And for those cynics out there that said it couldn't be done, think again.

How to destroy a classic in three easy steps.

1. Choose the wrong singer.

2. Film the video as if it was a cross between a Jane Fonda workout video and a piece of soft porn.

3. Watch as the singer attempts some really naff dance moves.

The result?

Toyah slaughters Martha and the Muffins's classic Echo Beach.

Be very afraid...

Madonna says "Don't stop me now, don't need to catch my breath, I can go on and on and on."

2008-07-12T11:12:00.007Z

Give It 2 Me, the dancefloor stomper produced by Pharrell Williams, is quite possibly one of the best tracks from Madonna's chunky funky album "Hard Candy". What's incredible about the video is how amazing Madonna still looks. The woman is aspirational to 50 year olds who should know better. When Madonna shakes her ass, she's definitely putting out the right signals.

It's no surprise that the video medium was made for Madonna (or was Madonna made for the video medium?). Either way, put her in front of the camera, Madonna's musical persona becomes larger than life.

A welcome cameo appearance from Pharrell adds to the funky celebrations, making this the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid party video of the year.

It comes to no surprise then, that Madonna's clock was probably ticking, and it was time to ditch Justin for the real deal.

Snazzy, groovy, stylish and fun. Madonna chalks up another winning pop video to add to her candy store shennanigans. The one goes out to all those bitches out there (who still haven't forgotten how to dance).

Todd Rundgren strikes gold with 'Arena'

2008-07-11T21:48:00.014Z

In 2004, Rundgren wowed fans and critics alike with the mind blowing return-to-form retro modern album "Liars". Expect the unexpected from the Wizard, A True Star. Todd's back, but this time he's not asking "can we still be friends?"

Rundgren's new album, "Arena", is a stripped down, back to basics collection of guitar rock anthems. Nuances and nods to vintage ZZ Top, Ted Nugent, RUSH, Robin Trower and AC/DC, make no mistake, this ain't no Salvation Army, formula rock dime store, digital plastic fantastic or a throwback to AOR radio. This ain't distant relative to the likes of REO Speedwagon, Foreigner and Journey.

Todd's got something to shout about. This time around he's really got his trip together, and the process is very entertaining. Like Neil Young, Rundgren continues to push the envelope.

The once-upon-a-time boy wonder who always reinvented the rock landscape with every new album he released, now, at the ripe age of 60, makes bands like the Strokes and the Killers sound redundant.

On his 1975 album, "Initiation", Rundgren once echoed the sentiments in the song "The Death of Rock and Roll"... "The critics got together and they started a game. You get your records for nothing, and you call each other names."

Twenty-eight years later, the former Hermit of Mink Hollow, continues to wave the rock'n'roll rule book in front of the noses of all those cynics who never even knew how to rock in the first place. It's a delightful display of self-recognition and an affirmation that he still holds all the cards close to his chest.

What you get on the new album is a one-way ticket into rock'n'roll salvation. Marvel as you listen to these gorgeous collection of songs. Not only do they evoke an emotional impluse, but, collectively, they also represent a rock mindset that doesn't date.

The album kicks off with the rock humdinger "Mad", followed by the lush mid-tempo power ballad, "Afraid." Make no mistake, on "Arena", Rundgren makes no concessions. This is a guitar rock album, simplified, potent and direct.

Third track in, TR hits the nail on the head with "Mercenary", a song that sounds like it could have stepped out of RUSH's "Moving Pictures" album. "How do you like me now?," screams Todd. No doubt, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson fans will love it.

Are you just lookin' for some "Tush", or is that that the same riff TR's executing in the song "Gun"? The latter starts off all retro sixties electric guitar and then if flash forwards to Ted Nugent's "Cat Scratch Fever" with Utopia backing vocals. This is a bluesy guitar rockin' track that blasts Hendrix and Gary Moore. "This is my rifle and this is my gun. This is for fighting and this is for fun."

When you think there's no stopping the harder edged rock riffs, Rundgren, takes two steps back and introduces one of the best rock ballads of his career. In "Weakenss" he epitomises the human experience. The song starts with a lazy Hendrix guitar riff that sounds it was just ripped out of Electric Ladyland. Todd comes on with a bluesy, gutsy vocal, and literally sings his heart out. Shades of "The Last Ride" from the "Todd" album, and you suddenly find yourself in some kind of post hippy psychedelic acid flashback.

"Are you ready to rumble?" So, asks Todd in the AC/DC electrified song "Strike". Raise your fist in the air. FM radio, smoking dope in your best friend's kitchen, getting so drunk that you can't even remember your name or your home phone number. Remember that scene in Cameron Crowe's movie "Almost Famous", when the guitarist from the band "Stillwater" jumped off the roof of the house, into the swimming pool?

"Pissin" sounds like it was performed by a bar band straight out of David Lynch's "Blue Velvet", and then gradually morphs into some southern fried slide guitar anthem. Perfect for driving down Ventura Highway with the top down, drinking a beer with the car radio blasting.

"Today" begins with a shimmering keyboard intro, sneaks up and subjects you to a masterpiece in pop perfection. It's also quite possibly the only song on the new album that sounds like a distant relative to 2004's exquisite "Liars" album.

As you dig deeper into the album, the song "Courage" rears its head, and suddenly, you find yourself thrown back into Side 1 of "Faithful" where acoustic and electric guitar interweave into a hypnotic flurry of stunning melodic hooks, enhanced with beautiful vocals and glorious harmonies. This is Rundgren's shining moment; the key song that establishes the man as one of the greatest singer/songwriters of our time.

The song that illustrates Rundgren's genius as the ultimate songsmith is celebrated in the thumping, grunge electro guitar rocker, "Mountaintop". Here, Rundgren borrows the riff from Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit In The Sky", and then turns it into a radio active guitar anthem, featuring one of the catchiest choruses you're likley to hear this year.

"Arena" is Todd Rundgren's masterclass in pop perfection. This is the Wizard's gripping return to the guitar rock album. It's a remarkable achievement.

Lou Reed: "I Dunno, What's The Difference?"

2008-07-01T23:33:00.010Z

In 1974, Lou Reed flew to Sydney to perform two sold out concerts. As part of the trip, Lou was forced to endure a ridiculous press conference where he was cross-examined by a group of Australian news reporters.

The interview is done in a style reminiscent to the Warhol school of deadpan "show-no-emotion" answers. Lou turns the tables on the redneck Australian journalists, and comes off cooler than Marlon Brando in a scene straight out of the "The Wild One."

Reporter: "Could I put it bluntly... parden the question, but are you a transvestite or a homosexual?"

Lou: "Sometimes."

Reporter: "Which one?"

Lou: "What's the difference?"

Peter Gabriel champions Emmanuel Jal at the 46664 Nelson Mandela Concert

2008-07-01T18:27:00.009Z

I was fortunate to attend the 4664 Nelson Mandela concert in London's Hyde Park on Friday June 27th.

The low points of the concert included Amy Winehouse, the Sugarbabes and Leona Lewis. And why was Gerri Spice standing beside Nelson Mandela when he made his speach?

The highlight of the show was totally unexpected, and went to the former Sudanese child soldier turned rapper, Emmanuel Jal. He blew the 50,000 strong crowd down, with a lovely introduction by none other than Peter Gabriel, who proclaimed him as “having the potential of a young Bob Marley.”

Jal's Mandela performance was timely, as it dovetailed his forthcoming digital download single, 'Emma' (keep checking iTunes), released from 22nd July.

Featured on the Sudanese rapper's new album ‘Warchild’, ‘Emma’ is dedicated to the British Aid worker Emma McCune, who rescued Emmanuel Jal from a continued existence as a child soldier.

Emma adopted Emmanuel and smuggled him to Kenya to begin a new life, where he could grow up safe and get an education. A few months later Emma died in a car accident.

“I met the next artist about 3 years ago and was enormously impressed with this young man from Sudan,” said Peter Gabriel, as he introduced Emmanuel Jal at the 46664 Nelson Mandela concert.

“His brutal childhood as a 7 year old child soldier taught him to be a mindless killing machine. People expected Mandela to come out of 27 years in jail calling for revenge but he came out calling for forgiveness, compassion and collaboration.”

"This next artist came out of the horror of a brutal war, a brutal childhood with a clear voice calling out against violence, hatred and materialism. He’s gonna have a huge influence in the world way beyond his music."

"He’s still developing and exploring his musical voice, but I think you have the opportunity to see someone with the potential of a young Bob Marley… Please give an enormous welcome to the amazing Emmanuel Jal.”

But this was no ordinary hype. Not even the likes of Queen and Paul Rodgers or Amy Winehouse could compete against the killer combination of Emmanuel Jal and Peter Gabriel. Along with Simple Minds and Eddy Grant, these were the only other artists that truly displayed pure "masterclass" at the Mandela event.

It came to no surprise then when the Daily Telegraph newspaper acknowledged Emmanuel Jal's explosive contribution to the Mandela bash.

"Some of the most memorable moments at the Mandela concert were the least expected. Peter Gabriel popped up to introduce Sudanese rapper and ex-boy soldier Emmanuel Jal, whose vivid and eloquent performance suggested the arrival of a star-in-waiting." - Adam Sweeting, Daily Telegraph

“His story demands to be heard” – Mojo

“Emmanuel Jal was electric (at Mandela).” – London Evening Standard

Emmanuel Jal on tour / Summer 2008:
* July 12th - Rising Styles Hiphop festival in Brighton
* July 13th - Rise Festival in Finsbury Park, London
* Aug 4th - 9th - Afrikadey Festival in Calgary, Canada
* Aug 16th - 17th - the V Festival
* Aug 22nd - the Greenbelt Festival, Cheltenham, UK

Róisín Murphy: The only woman I know who can turn a chip shop into a disco

2008-06-22T20:26:00.003Z

Last year Róisín Murphy released 'Overpowered', her second solo album. Murphy used to be one half of the Sheffield based electronica duo 'Moloko'.

One of the songs from Murphy's new solo album ('Let Me Know') had this wonderfully entertaining video accompanying it with the lady in question returning from a night out to her local chip shop, only to turn it into an imaginary disco (you probably have to be a little drunk).

The results are hilarious, sexy and pure knock out. The track is an elegant dancefloor stomper, while Murphy looks like a stylish Grace Kelly with a retro pillbox hat.

"Let me know when you're lonely, baby."

2008 is the year when Coldplay ruled the world

2008-06-22T19:20:00.004Z

Last week I read a news story in one of the UK newspaper websites where Chris Martin did an interview with BBC Radio 4's 'Front Row' programme, and two minutes into the interview, Chris said something like (and I'm paraphrasing here), "I don't feel comfortable with the questions that you are asking," and walked out.

I sat there and thought to myself, 'Chris Martin guy is not playing the game. How refreshing.'

Along comes the new Coldplay album and everyone anticipates that it's gonna be a load of old cobblers (the American translation: "a pile of crap"). However, not one for name-dropping, but the god-like Brian Eno produced the album (on the liner notes he's also credited for 'Sonic landscapes'), and when you read the credit, you can't help but crack a smile.

Track one, 'Life in Technicolour' starts off all ambient keyboards, then on comes some spagetti western acoustic guitar that's heavily treated. Suddenly you begin to think, 'Wait a minute, isn't this a homage to Simple Minds' See The Lights?'

As the songs unfold, you can feel of a church-like or majestic choir or orchestral atmosphere. The liner notes say the album was recorded in a bakery, a nunnery, a magic shop and a church. It's easy to name-drop other bands like U2, Simple Minds and Pink Floyd, however, this album is more Roger Waters than Bono.

Hold up, I'm now listening to track 5, 'Lovers In Japan/Reign of Love', and it vocally does sound like vintage U2, but the electronic soundscapes are very reminscent of Simple Minds doing session work with Brian Eno. The track has a military ballad vibe to it that is rather beautiful.

This is a lush album, and yet a brave one at that for Coldplay. In the past I've never taken Coldplay seriously, although their last album 'X&Y', did stand out, particularly that Kraftwerk track, 'Talk'.

But back to the new album... Track 6, 'Yes' kicks off with some soothing strings, then wanders into Pink Floyd territory via 'Darkside of the Moon' and 'Wish You Were Here'. I swear I could hear David Gilmore playing guitar on this song. Are those violins I hear? Interesting composition.

"I used to rule world" sings Chris Martin on the stunning title track 'Viva La Vida'. This has to be the knockout track on the album. I first heard this track on the Apple advert and it blew my mind.

Ladyhawke walks the walk and tells us 'Paris Is Burning'

2008-06-22T19:07:00.004Z

They come, they go, and then in walks Ladyhawke with this infectious new song entitled "Paris is Burning."

What starts off with a lyrical melodic riff reminiscent to Gary Numan's "Cars" (dig it... "Here in my car, I see nothing at all.."), Ladyhawke is seen walking down the street at night, looking sexy and punky, something like Kelly out of Girlschool meets the lead singer of Garbage.

The track kicks off in a suspect way. You think to yourself, "Not another Numan rip off," but then the track suddenly steers off into a New Disco direction, and you're thinking, this is a garage rock attitude Studio 54 disco raunch ditty that really is a lot of fun.

I've read a few things about Ladyhawke, but I haven't checked my facts, however, from what I read, I think she's from New Zealand, but is into Ultravox, Gary Numan and all the early eighties electronic new wave music. She brings it up to date and throws in her own trademark sound.

Where the hell did she get that Snoopy t-shirt?

I think we're on to a winner here...

Martha and the Muffins return to Danseparc twenty-five years later

2008-06-10T20:46:00.005Z

After 25 years, the wait for the reissue of Martha and the Muffins’ Danseparc is over. Stockhausen collides with punk funk in an aural collage of rhythm and found sound as the second most fan requested Martha and the Muffins album gets officially reissued and digitally re-mastered 25 years after its 1983 vinyl debut.

The fourth album from the Muffins canon, the second of three production collaborations by the now legendary and critically acclaimed producer Daniel Lanois (U2, Peter Gabriel), Danseparc will be reissued by Cherry Red for the very first time on CD in the UK and Europe on Monday 4th August 2008.

The digitally remastered 25th Anniversary edition of Danseparc will be the first of two major releases from the Muffins this year. In November, the band will release their brand new studio album 'Delicate', mixed by David Bottrill (Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, Tool).

With songs written and performed by original founding Muffins, Martha Johnson (vocals, inverse guitar, keyboards, percussion) and Mark Gane (guitars, vocals, keyboards, percussion and treatments), Danseparc also features the musical expertise of Daniel Lanois' sister, Jocelyne Lanois (bass), Nick Kent (drums), and the Plunderphonics' John Oswald on sax.

Hailed as their strongest collection of songs to date, this beautifully packaged 25th Anniversary Edition CD edition captures the Muffins at their creative peak.

Track Listing:

1. Obedience
2. World Without Borders
3. Walking Into Walls
4. Danseparc (Every Day It's Tomorrow)
5. Sins Of Children
6. Several Styles Of Blonde Girls Dancing
7. Boys In The Bushes
8. What People Do For Fun
9. Whatever Happened To Radio Valve Road?

Bonus Tracks:

10. Danseparc (Every Day It's Tomorrow) (Original 12”Dance Mix)
11. These Dangerous Machines (B-side to Danseparc 12” EP)
12. Sins Of Children (Live at The Ontario Place Forum, Toronto, July 1983)

“When we worked in the studio,” reminisces Mark Gane, “Dan became the fifth member of the Muffins. Suddenly he’d play a percussion part, and then we worked on a treatment for the sound together. He constantly came up with great ideas.”

The album was digitally re-mastered during January and February 2008 by Peter J. Moore at The E Room in Toronto. Moore is best known for his production and engineering work on the Cowboys Junkies’ The Trinity Sessions album.

Danseparc 25th Anniversary Edition includes three bonus tracks including the original 12" inch dance mix of Danseparc, plus the accompanying b-side These Dangerous Machines, plus a previously unreleased live version of Sins of Children taken from the band's July 1983 concert at Toronto's Ontario Place Forum, featuring Michael Brook (guitar).

“The songs are an exciting mixture of the experimental and traditional pop,” says Liam Lacey of the Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper.

“The point of view, as Gane has said in the past, is middle class. It shows, not only in the obsessions with privacy and with personal revelation, but also in the concern with such classic Canadian literary themes as isolation and the precariousness of civilization and, at a deeper level, with sexuality and the tension between energy and order.”

“Some people frequent parks to romance each other,” observes Mark Gane, “but for others it can also be a place where you can get attacked and mugged. It’s a synthetic jungle, similar to a dance club at 3am in the morning when some people behave wildly and strive to become primitive, but don’t know how to achieve it. It’s impossible because we’re two million years ahead of the jungle.”

It’s no surprise the songs on Danseparc embody themes from the urban jungle. “When we originally recorded the album, we had an obsession with parks,” says Gane. “The concept of the park is an attempt by urban man to get to a point of naturalness again.”

Says the Globe & Mail’s Liam Lacey - “Between them, the songwriters define a dialectic, with Johnson favouring the songs about breaking down the restrictions of the world, and Gane leaning toward songs that attempt to define another kind of pleasant centre, into the almost infantile consciousness of dreams and mythology.”

“Rene Girard (the author of Violence and The Sacred) has said that cultures anxious about peace and security,” says Lacey, “are those most subject to destruction through violence, and that theme, or something like that theme, is often intimated throughout Danseparc.”

“If Johnson’s songs Obedience and Sins Of Children, delineate the social restrictions and traps,” continues Lacey, “then Gane’s Several Styles Of Blonde Girls Dancing is the song about seeking pleasure through dreams and myths. It was inspired by Gane’s dream of walking through a park, looking at trees inhabited by copulating monkeys, merged with Indian fertility symbols carved on a rock face.

The title track, Danseparc (Every Day It’s Tomorrow), is about people in their native urban city centers: structured and fearful, and imbued with complacency about society that is deliberately evasive.

Johnson’s wry commentary on What People Do For Fun addresses rarely-mined contemporary topics with disarming precision and unassailable musicality. Gane uncovers the existential angst in everyday social situations and ignites them with abstract ideas, accentuated by irrepressibly rhythmic music.

Martha and the Muffins: Official Site - www.marthaandthemuffins.com/

Cherry Records: Official Site - www.cherryred.co.uk/

Call the cops! Madonna's sugar is still raw!

2008-05-12T00:17:00.016Z

Amidst the initial media speculation surrounding Madonna's latest platter, you'd anticipate that it would be a dog's dinner. Well, you know what they say, "Jealousy will get you somewhere."

On first play, the album is consistently slick, awesome and downright cool. The album has an infectious minimalism about it which is refreshing, when one would think someone of Madonna's stature would try to throw everything into it but the kitchen sink.

But Madonna's always understood the groove and what gets people moving. Her music is physical and impulsive, and 'Hard Candy' is no exception.

The Neptunes enhanced 'Candy Shop' kicks off the festivities with Madonna singing, "My sugar is raw." And you know something, she just may have a point. But this ain't Brown Sugar. It's a metaphor for Madonna's hidden agenda, which is, ultimately, to make people THINK while SHE does all the entertaining.

It's a simple but effective ploy, and it's done with precision and passion.

'Hard Candy' doesn't automatically go through the motions. If you've been following Madonna from day one, you'll know she hates to go backwards. So, with that said, if she wants to co-write some tracks with Pharrell Williams of NERD and Neptunes fame, Timbaland (the king of cell phone drama in the studio) and Justin Timberlake, Madonna has good reason.

The press would like YOU to think that she was so desperate that she had to rope the same dudes who made Nelly Furtado and Gwen Stefani relevant. However, unlike Stefani, Madonna is cool, and everybody knows it. Madonna doesn't need the Hiruku girls to validate her bullshit.

So, we dive straight into the second track, '4 Mintues' which, I must admit, when I first heard it on YouTube, I went along with the pack and said, "This is Madonna gone Wal-Mart!" But on third listen, it was hard to kick, and that's when the addiction set in. It's also good to see Justin participating in something cool again, because, in my opinion, he hasn't recorded anything this funky since his first solo album.

So, what about the singles? There's going to be many. After '4 Minutes', it could be 'Miles Away' the pretty ballad songs with the infectious chorus, or the dance frenzy 'Give It 2 Me'. "You've done it all before, it's nothing new." Madonna ain't no hypocrite. She just wants you to lick her boots.

Can she pull it off live? Are you kidding? I saw her BBC Radio 1 performance in the UK last night. Madonna continues to own the stage. Her performance of 'Candy Shop', 'Give It 2 Me' and '4 Minutes' (the latter staged with stunning hi-tech video footage of Timberlake choreographed to Madonna's live dance routine). Forget the music, visually, the show is spectacular.

It's an event. It's Madonna. Bring on the clowns.

What's probably putting people off is the crass artwork on the CD inlay. Pictured is your royal badass licking a leather wristband, dressed up in some tacky wrestling bondage outfit and a look that's very reminiscent to Peaches.

Track #5 is the acoustic guitar flavored 'Miles Away' gets a robotic synth treated vibe, and suddenly Madonna takes you back to the sound of the brilliant 'Music' album. Potentially, this could be the biggest hit from the album. For those lazy journalists who have mistaken this song for a hip-hop groove throw-away, think again. This is pop music at it's most supreme.

'She's Not Me' kicks off with some funky hand claps then follows with some timely lyrics - "I should have seen the sign way back then, when she told me that you were her best friend ... She started dressin' like me and talkin' like me. It freaked me out. She started callin' you up in the middle of the night, what's that about? I just wanna be there when you discover, you wake up in the morning next to your new lover. She might cook you breakfast and love you in the shower . The flavor of the moment is she don't have what's ours. She's not me. She doesn't have my name. She'll never have what I'll have. It won't be the same." Pow.

'Incredible' sounds like a electro pop funk dance floor ditty, a grown up fairy tale that's both beautiful and optimistic. It's like the cherry on a vanilla sundae. "I can't get my head around it," says Madonna. "I need to think about it!"

'Beat Goes On' features Kayne West, is both sexy, moody and slick. Great dance track that gives several nods to Chic and hazy memories of Andy Warhol, Bianca Jagger and Studio 54. This is a great driving track. And thank god Kayne doesn't kill the song by rapping on it. Instead, Madonna makes good use of his falsetto, "Get down, beep beep, gotta get up outta your seat!" Sassy and classy.

'Dance 2Night', another sexy slow tempo funk workout. Great dance track. Meanwhile, the folks in South America and Spain will dig the flamenco enhanced Pharrell Williams co-written track 'Spanish Lession' (for hardcore Madonna fans only).

Madonna saves two thought provoking ballads for the end of the album, the piano driven 'The Devil Wouldn't Recognize You' and the Massive Attack influenced 'Voices'. Both are spiritual in nature and shows Madonna at her most mature, musically speaking of course. What's more, she still looks gorgeous, sophisticated, and most importantly, in control of her destiny.

This candy just got outta control. Sugar, sugar.

Emmanuel Jal knocks some cents into 50 Cent

2008-05-10T15:53:00.007Z

Emmanuel Jal, the Sudanese hip hop prophet/messiah, and possibly the next most important artist to come along since the great Bob Marley, is just one of many artists to perform at Nelson Mandela's 90th Birthday concert in London's Hyde Park on 27th June.

Earlier this month, Jal implored 50 Cent and other hip-hop stars to stop glamorising violence. The Warchild rapper - a former child soldier in Sudan - has a track on his new album called 50 Cent, in which he calls for the end to gangster rap.

Emmanuel said: "The song 50 Cent came when I was in the UK and there's so much gun crime and knife crime. My cousin was arrested because he stabbed a white kid and for me that was so painful.

"I'm saying: 'You've come to this country, they've given you a chance whereby you can make something of your life and you're holding onto this?'

"But I say there must be somebody who's influencing this kid. Because they had formed a little group, they called themselves D Unit and what they do is they beat kids, they think it's fun, they call themselves gangsters, terrifying other kids."

He added: "Also the producer who produced my album, his son did a drive-by shooting in the Bahamas and he's in jail and what's his influence - he wanted to be a gangster as well.

"So I say it's going to be difficult to call 50 Cent and tell him about the situation so that's how we came up with the song.

"The world that is promoting the violence - we can't say it's the hip-hop artists, it's the record companies because they want to make money."

Emmanuel Jal's album Warchild is released by Sonic360 Records on May 12.

Visit www.myspace.com/emmanueljal

Finland's Northern Kings take on Radiohead's Creep and turn it into an instant classic

2008-03-16T19:08:00.012Z

Towards the tail end of 2007, Finland put together four of their biggest hardcore metal rock vocalists in a heavy metal supergroup called the 'Northern Kings'.

They recorded the album 'Reborn' which featured their own metal versions of songs ranging from Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms, David Bowie's 'Ashes to Ashes', Peter Gabriel's 'Sledgehammer', Tina Turner's 'We Don't Need Another Hero' (from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome) and Radiohead's 'Creep'.

On paper, the very idea of doing a metal album of cover songs sounded crazy, like some heavy metal cash-in or a metal version of an El Divo Greatest Hits album. Forget it. This is the polar opposite.

This could very well be, one of the best symphonic power metal albums of the last 20 years. It's a phenomenal achievement.

'Reborn' went Gold in Finland when it was originally released on 31st October 2007. The album will finally be released in the UK by Warner Music in June 2008.

Finland has always been into cutting edge heavy metal music, in particular, bizarre hardcore blood metal bands. The scene is very extreme and makes goth metal types seem power pop perfectionists on a shopping spree in their local shopping mall.

The Northern Kings are comprised of four vocalists, who are all frontmen of successful Finnish heavy metal bands. The band masterminded the idea of recording their own metal versions of an electic selection of 80's staples.

Unlike most bands who try to reproduce the sound and arrangements of the original songs, the Northern Kings have deconstructed the arrangements, by coming up with their own renditions, most of which is backed with metal guitars, a full symphonic orchestral backing, and electronic enhancements.

The four vocalists include Marco Hietala from the critically accliamed Finnish bands 'Nightwish' and 'Tarot', Tony Kakko from 'Sonata Arctica', JP Leppäluoto from 'Charon' and J Ahola from 'Teräsbetoni'. Each vocalist has his own trademark sound, including deep, satanic, operatic metal rock vocals. It's all-consuming and larger than life.

What blew me away is the sonic attack of the bands' take on each song. Any band who attempts to cover Radiohead's 'Creep', either has to be totally insane, or verging on sheer genius. Northern Kings make the song their own animal, and it sounds epic.

The general vibe on the album is to give the metal makeover a fully orchestrated backing (string section, the works), with some electronic noodling thrown in . The metal guitars are prevalent, but you can't help but dig the Norse God, Viking vibe of the band's renditions. It's not a gimmick, but it is very dramatic, very lush and grandoise sounding. However, what really makes the songs fly, are the incredible soaring vocals.

If you loved the way Guns'n'Roses recorded the big orchestral rendition of Wings' 'Live and Let Die', then 'Reborn' will repeatedly hit the mark.

A perfect example is the first single lifted from the album, 'We Don't Need Another Hero'. It makes Tina Turner's original version sound like a cover. The Northern Kings have done the impossible. They've re-invented the original songs and they've made them their own. Unlike most artists or bands who record a cover, the version is traditionally inferior and not a patch on the original.

I can't think of any other band who have taken a song like Peter Gabriel's 'Sledgehammer' or Lionel Richie's 'Hello' and have given it a new lease of life.

The Northern Kings sound harder than Iron Maiden, sexier than Van Halen and more relevant than Metallica. Forget the hype. Potentially, this could be the new dawn for what ultimately could be Finland's heavy metal world takeover. And why not? The Soprano's ended their final episode with Don't Stop Believin', and the Northern Kings take a stab at it as their opening track to the 'Reborn' album. Coincidence?

Track Listing -

Don't Stop Believin'
We Don't Need Another Hero
Broken Wings
Rebel Yell
Ashes To Ashes
Fallen On Hard Times
I Just Died In Your Arms
Sledgehammer
Don't Bring Me Down
In The Air Tonight
Creep
Hello
Brothers In Arms

Northern Kings on MySpace -
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=241416211

Rainbows?

Lou Reed set to conquer Europe with 'Berlin'

2008-03-09T00:22:00.006Z

Lou Reed returns to Europe this June to perform the entirety of his 1973 landmark album Berlin. The European dates will see Reed performing with a 30-piece ensemble including his rock band, a string section, a horn section, and a children's choir.

The Berlin tour is being hailed as a rare insight into one of music's greatest minds, a labour of love and an integral part of rock history. It's also the best concert that Reed has ever performed. I had the joy of catching the show in Brussels, Amsterdam and London last year, and audiences were blown away.

Lou Reed: 'Berlin' 2008 European Tour:

Monday June 23 - Cork Marquee
Tuesday June 24 - Belfast Waterfront
Wednesday June 25 - Edinburgh Playhouse
Thursday June 26 - Notthingham Royal Centre
Sunday 29th June - Paris Salle Pleyel
Monday June 30 - London Royal Albert Hall
Thursday July 3 - Munich Philharmonie
Sunday July 6 - Hamburg CCH – Congress Centrum
Monday July 7 - Copenhagen Opera House
Wednesday July 9 - Stockholm Annexet
Monday July 14 - Warsaw Sala Kongresowa
Wednesday July 16 - Brussels Bozar
Tuesday July 22 - Madrid Conde Duque
Friday July 25 - Girona Portaferrada Festival
Saturday July 26 - Benidorm Bullring

The European tour starts June 23rd in Cork, followed by dates in Northern Ireland, Scotland, England, France, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Belgium and Spain.

Due to popular demand for this prestigious show, Berlin will make a special return visit to London, Brussels and Paris. In addition to playing Poland for the very first time, Reed will also be annoucing dates in Estonia and Latvia; two Eastern European countries that Reed has never played before.

Reed will perform three dates in the UK, including the prestigious London Royal Albert Hall on June 30th. He will also perform 'Berlin' at the Edinburgh Playhouse on June 25th, followed by the Nottingham Opera House on June 26th.

Tickets for all three UK concerts are now on sale by calling the ticket hotline on 08444 775 775, 0870 405 0448, or by booking online from www.aeglive.co.uk. (with the exception of the Edinburgh Playhouse concert on 25th June, where tickets can be purchased by calling 0844 847 2269, www.ticketmaster.co.uk).

The Financial Times' Ludovic Hunter-Tilney called the Berlin concert; "A vindication on an epic scale… Berlin places Reed's natural austerity in a setting that blazes with musical excess and invention."

"Reed can't hide the pride he feels that Berlin is finally being hailed as a long lost masterpiece, wrote Paul Morley of the Sunday Telegraph. "He strolls off stage looking as if he always knew that one day he would be feted a devastating master."

The 2008 'Berlin' European Tour follows the 2007 European tour, which, in turn, followed Berlin's original world premiere at St. Anne's Warehouse in New York City, December 2006 - the same venue where Reed first performed the Andy Warhol inspired Songs For Drella with John Cale in 1990.

When Lou Reed's album Berlin was originally released in 1973, it was a shock to critics and fans that had just seen Reed reaffirmed as a rock visionary with the runaway success of Transformer, which included the runaway Top 20 hit Walk on the Wild Side.

Instead of producing an album that enhanced his reputation as glam-rock innovator, Reed immersed himself in a highly ambitious, emotionally charged, psychologically exhausting, and utterly compelling work. Berlin was a dark concept album about drifting, tormented addicts in love, broken hearted and willfully disabled ex-pats, plotting their own downfalls in the barren outskirts of a divided city in turmoil.

The New York Times called the album "one of the strongest, most original rock records in years." Rolling Stone named it, "the Sgt. Pepper of the 70s."

The same magazine—among many others—attacked Reed for the work: "There are certain records that are so patently offensive that one wishes to take some kind of physical vengeance on the artists that perpetrate them. Reed's only excuse for this performance…can only be that this was his last shot at a once-promising career." Reed never performed Berlin live.

Thirty-three years after the release of the album, Reed launched the world premiere of an electrifying theatrical concert version of Berlin at St. Anne's Warehouse, New York City (December 14-17, 2006), followed by three performances at Australia's Sydney Festival (January 18-20, 2006). The Berlin song cycle was performed live in its entirety. Reed and his band were accompanied by a string and horn section and a children's choir, amounting to a 35-piece ensemble.

As in the making of the original album, the forthcoming 2008 European tour will see Reed l collaborating with an all-star creative team including musical direction by the original producer, Bob Ezrin—who produced the Berlin album, and record producer Hal Willner, whose most recent works include the Leonard Cohen tribute concert I'm Your Man (now a theatrically released documentary film and an album on Verve Forecast) and Lucinda Williams.

Similarly to last year's 'Berlin' European tour, and before that, the New York and Sydney concerts, the forthcoming 2008 Berlin European concerts will be directed and set designed by Reed's friend, the renowned painter and film director Julian Schnabel (recently Academy Award nominated Best Director for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly).

Reed will be joined onstage by friends and favorite collaborators including original Berlin album guitarist Steve Hunter, Mike Rathke (guitar), bandleader Rupert Christie (keyboards), Fernando Saunders (bass, vocals), Rob Wasserman (stand-up bass), Tony 'Thunder' Smith (drums), brass and strings arranged by Hal Willner, featuring the London Metropolitan Orchestra and the New London Children's Choir.

www.loureed.com

Was (Not Was) all-star line-up on new album BOO!

2008-03-02T14:49:00.009Z

You have to hand it to Don and David Was; they've got the funky, jazz-fusion soul brother vibe down pat. Their new album, BOO!, is their first studio album since 1992. Simply put, it's a mindblower.

The minute you slap the CD on, out pops a the funky soul workout "Semi Interesting Week", complete with soul backing vocals, guitar and a cooler-than-now horn section. You begin to ask yourself, "The only other band who can pull this kind of funky stuff off, is Steely Dan, but even the Dan is too clinical sounding when it comes to the dirty raw sound of Was (Not Was)."

Second track which I like to refer to as the 'hit single' is like a throwback to Booker T. and the MGs or the Temptations. "It's A Mircale" is like a wake up call to the authentic Detroit sould of yesteryear, horns a pumping, great vocals from Sweet Pea Atkinson and Sir Harry Bowens. Suddenly they sing the lyric, "Who broke the fucking TV?" You don't say?

Third track, "Your Luck Won't Last", is quite possibly the most cynical song title of the year. It's the kind of shit Prince should be churning out. It's like a cross between Cameo's "Word Up" and something off the "Sign O' The Times" album. Retro modern, funky, electro wah-wah heavy LA cool. Was (Not Was) reign supreme.

The band show their true feathers with another colour when the fourth track hits the speakers. "From the Head to the Heart" is the only ballad "There's a story in the paper about a young boy laying dead. He tried stealing a TV set, when he should have been in bed."

It's like a merry-go-round New Seekers vibe, lots of piano and strings. The perfect chill out track after you return from an expensive restaurant with bad service and lots of ugly people staring at each other. This track reminds me of something from Paul Anderson's "Magnolia" movie. This song will make you cry 96 tears in the motor city.

Track 5, "Big Black Hole" brings you back to familiar Was territory, all rhtyhm and blues, funky soul and smoky jazz lounge nightmares. Very laid back, cool, funky, something familiar and comforting. Very cinematic. Was (Not Was) like to think big screen. Popcorn for everyone.

Track 6, "Needletooth" is the bands experimental robotic, futuristic tour de force. It's wack. Time signatures all over the place. 2 minutes and 14 seconds of anything goes. This is eccentric Was (Not Was). No Was album would be the same without a track like this. Hilarious fun, completely pointless and essential.

Track 7, "Forget Everything" - 5 minutes and 16 seconds of big kick drum beats, Hammond organ, sexy horn section, choppy rhythm guitar, a salute to the late James Brown, a return to chest pounding funk. Yabba Dabba Doo. The soul review just pulled into town, and guess what? It has a sense of humour.

This album makes Donald Fagen's "Morph the Cat" sound like James Blunt with a hangover. Jazzers will love this track. Losers in your local bar will lose their minds to it.

Track 8, Sweet Pea Atkinson belts out "Crazy Water", a staple Was (Not Was) R&B workout. Sings Sweat Pea, "The Senator's son and the President's daughter, all came to town for that crazy water." Not sure if that's a baritone sax or a trumpet pumping out, but it sounds like a Mississippi soul picnic jam. Is there no stopping the Was army?

Track 9 - it's probably the best track on the album, and for good reason. Not only does it have the best song title, "Mr. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore", but the track is co-written by non-other than Bob Dylan, David Was and Don Was. It's reminiscent to something from an Ike and Tina Turner concert, when Tina actually meant something. Great drums and superlative wah-wah guitar. Martin Scorcese must be digging this song. It's no surprise that Kris Kristofferson appears on the closing track on the album.

Which brings us to Track 10, "Green Pills in the Dresser", a bluesy C&W, Mexican heatwave of a song. Says Kristofferson, "He says Hitler's a hero, and that God is a giraffe." It's stunning, momentous and the perfect way to end an album.

David and Don Was have worked with a list of artists which reads like a Who's Who of rock. They've collaborated with stars such as The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop, Elton John and Brian Wilson. Now, as artists in their own right, "BOO!" will put Was (Not Was) back on the scene as one of music's true innovators. They have the knack of effortlessly mixing soul, R&B, funk, blues, pop, rock and electronica into a melting pot of originality.

BOO! is a magnificent achievement.

30 Days of Night: Inside the Creative Mind of Steve Niles

2008-02-23T18:12:00.014Z

By now most of you will have either read Steve Niles' graphic horror novels '30 Days of Night' or you may have seen the big budget vampire horror film adaptation of the same name. Either way, the fact remains, Niles has put a new spin on the vampire movie genre. And it's about time!

All is not what it seems when it comes to the film adaptation. Bizarrely, like any big film studio, sometimes the original graphic novel storyline doesn't make it in full to the final big screen adaptation.

Before the movie came out in the UK last November, I wasn't aware of who Steve Niles was or his 30 Days of Night graphic novels. Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, Spiderman) spent several years trying to get 30 Days greenlighted into a big budget vampire horror flick, but it wasn't until he had success with the Spiderman movies, when 30 Days finally made the jump from a jumped up comic book to a big budget horror movie (with a twist).

I got into the 30 Days experience the other way around, whereby I saw the movie first, before I read the first 30 Days graphic novel. The movie was intriguing, but I was convinced the Hollywood studio diluted Niles' original vision that he shared in his first 30 Days graphic novel. I decided to get my hands on a copy of the first book which featured fantastic, if not, disturbing illustrations by Perth-based graphic illustrator, Ben Templesmith.

The novel knocked me for six. It was both intelligent, very direct, imaginative, haunting and psychologically disturbiing (but in a good rock'n'roll kind of way). Once I read the book and digested Templesmith's eye candy, everything fell into place.

I then realised that there were several subplots within the first novel that never made it to the movie adaptation. Strage because it was Niles who ended up writing the screenplay for the movie. After I read the first book, I got the impression that Niles had to compromise about what he could include in the movie and what he could not.

What is missinig from the movie is the back story about Judith the vampire hunter who is based in New Orleans. She knows that vampires from around the world are communicating with each other over the Internet, to all meet up somewhere on the planet to participate in a massive feeding frenzy. Judith almost pieces the clues together and thinks the Vampires will be meeting up in her native New Orleans, but inevitably she is duped, and the Vampires end up targeting a small town in the Northern most part of Alaska (Barrrow).

Every December, the town of Barrow doesn't get sunlight for a month. The Vampires do their homework and that's where they converge for the feed. But once it happens, it's too late for Judith to stop it. The Vampires have tricked her and they work the con to their advantage. But in the movie, you have no idea who the Vampires are or where they come from. The studio thought it would be too complicated to include the back story about Judith the vampire hunter.

Interestingly, I have just discovered that the UK distributor for the DVD release of 30 Days of Night, Icon Home Entertainment, are planning on releasing the movie as a 2-Disc Special Edition DVD, and it will also be released on Blu-ray (apparently HD DVD is R.I.P.).

But that's not all. In America last year a couple of US horror movie websites were streaming "30 Days of Night: Blood Trails" - seven episodes of live action film sequences that tell the back story of Judith the vampire hunter. Icon Home Entertainment will be releasing Blood Trails in the UK as a separate DVD for £4.99 ($10.00 US dollars), and this will be sold alongside the DVD and Blu-Ray release of the 30 Days of Night movie. Release date in the UK is Monday 14th April

But getting back to Steve Niles. Currently in the US, he is experiencing even more success wiith his current graphic novel series "Simon Dark". This is a compelling story about a teenage Frankenstein type loner who is comprised of numerous body parts. He can't remember his name or who his parents are.

But here's the catch - he lives in Gotham City. Simon Dark is the first officially commissioned Gotham City character that has been given his own graphicn novel series who isn't Batman or Robin. This could be the start of a new spin-off trend, and if anyone can make it convincing, it's probably Steve Niles

UK DVD Press Release of 30 Days DVD and Blood Trails -
http://www.noblepr.co.uk/Press_Releases/icon/30_days_of_night.htm

The Official Steve Niles Website -
http://www.steveniles.com/

The Official Ben Templesmith Website -
http://www.bentemplesmith.com/

One more note to add - Danny Huston is outstanding as the sinister lead vampire 'Marlow'. If you loved John Carpenter's The Thing and the innovative vampire flick 'Near Dark', then '30 Days of Night' will be right up your street.

'30 Days of Night' will literally take your head off.

Did you say the Hammy Awards or the Grammy Awards?

2008-02-16T19:17:00.015Z

What can I possibly say except for the fact that if you like your awards ceremonies in the grand old tradition of American cheese, then this year's Grammy Awards was just the ticket.

In short, the show was cheap looking, tacky, corny, predictable and anything but spontaneous. I wish I could say one good thing about it, but when the highlight is a tribute to the cornerstones of rock and roll fifties style (Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis), you kind of have to ask yourself what the hell is happening "musically" in 2008.

No offence to the duet with Beyonce and Tina Turner, but the latter looked like a baked potato squeezed into a casket of bacofoil. With Tina, some things are best left alone.

And then there was Feist, probably the most irritating new female vocalist of the year. If I was a serial killer, I would have probably been the first one to walk into the Staples Centre in LA to make an attempt to shoot her.

Roll up to Kayne West, possibly the most self-obsessed hip-hop star of the moment. The only cool thing about his Graduation album is that he had the savvy to sample Daft Punk. Other than that, he's like a self-inludgent ass who makes Puff Daddy seem like the Sally Field in the Flying Nun.

His acceptance speech went on to long to the point where the hall tried drowning him out with pre-recorded music. He immediately told the hall to cut the music so he could finish his all -important speech about hip-hop not being dead (when we all know it should have died around 4 years ago).

For the current rock elite, the Foo Fighters won an award. Lots of screaming and shouting and average songs that make we shrug my shoulders and say "If the original drummer from Nirvana wasn't fronting the band, nobody would be listening."

FF are not great. In fact, I see them as some kind of convenient excuse to upold the legitimacy of rock and roll. Only problem is that Foo Fighters are a god awful rock band with no redeeming qualities. Dave isn't sexy and the music is grating, although the band seem to think they are the true masters of irony.

So, with the exception of thunder thighs Kerri Underwood (former blah blah American Idol country and western muppet), there was no Britney or Christina this year. Although there was Rhianna, dressed in a candy wrapper, and singing out of tune.

The real highlights of the evening were some of the co-presenters who didn't get to perform, particularly the great Carole King. The amazing Cindy Lauper also presented an award, but sadly, she didn't get to sing a number.

Alicia Keys started the show off by singing a duet with Frank Sinatra, and she also went on to win an award for mundane piece of drivel that reared it's ugly head in the R&B charts. Keys comes on high and mighty, but she isn't the star she probably thinks she is.

Also when one of the other highlights includes Kid Rock presenting an award, you now the show is lacking some serious shit.

Out rolled Andy Williams and Tony Bennet from the retirement home, to present a few awards. To make them look good, they were accompanied by Nelly "fake-hop" Furtado (she's the only woman I know who makes Canadians feel embarassed to be Canadian) and that sexy Spanish chick from Without A Trace who sounds sexy but I never understand what the hell she is saying).

The highlight of the night probably had to be non-other than the wicked witch of the west, Amy Winehouse. Live from satellite to the Riverside Studios in London's Hammersmith. Amy sang "Rehab" and came across as a psychotic putz. She went on to win 5 of the six nominated awards she was up for.

Inarticulate, awkward and unnerving to watch, Winehouse, is not only unstable but she's also unbearable. Another blog I read recently said "Somebody give the girl a ham sandwich!" I couldn't agree more. During her acceptance speech, Amy screamed, "Camden Town is burning down." Hail, hail, the witch is dead (or melting).

Other cringe-worthy highlights of the night included Black Eyed Peas' Fergie trying to be Sade while accompanied by no-name John Legend on piano. Kind of gave a new meaning to the word "bland".

Rip-off of the evening, Burt Bacharach and Doris Day both won Lifetime Achievement Awards but weren't at the awards to make a speech.

Question: Is Doris Day still alive?

Herbie Hancock won for 'River: The Joni Letters', which made for a refreshing change from a hip hop album winning the award. I love Herbie. I am curiouis to hear the album. His acceptance speech probably represented the penultimate Grammy Award snapshot moment. Anyone who thanks John Coltrane and Miles Davis in his acceptance speech, must be cool.

No Justin. No Michael Jackson. No Moonwalking.

Wake up Los Angeles. The Grammy Awards needs a serious facelift (and I ain't talkin' plastic).

Polysics - Japanese Moonage Daydream

2008-02-16T01:20:00.005Z

Don't ask me how I ended up on the Polysics MySpace page, it happened by accident.

Whilst trying my best to avoid the latest Natasha Beddingfold video, I crashed into what I can only describe as a zany post-modern homage to a Japanese pop band who are a cross between The Jetsons and DEVO. They make Daft Punk seem boring.

Their video for 'Electric Surfin Go Go' is hilarious, if not super-charged, cartoon-like and very entertaining. Like a breath of fresh air, and a much-needed alternative from all the indie rock rubbish that is currently being force fed down our throats by record companies who lack a sense of imagination and vision.

Well, if you want vision, then Japan's 'Polysics' (sic name for a band), is your secret gateway into something new, fun and exciting. Check out the video for 'Electric Surfin Go Go' - http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=18919404

If you want to see if the band can cut it live, then check out 'New Wave Jacket' -
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=18301291

What really sums of the genius of Polysics is their ultra cool and deadpan futuristic pisstake video of tacky hip off body-popping dance moves. One member of the band impersonates Michael Jackson's moonwalking to the point where it's almost ridiculous but cool.

The video is for the song 'I My Me Mine' -

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=18273074

Polysics are MySpace's best kept secret (but not for long).

Was (Not Was) Go "BOO!" With First New Album in 16 Years

2008-02-14T00:45:00.012Z

Was (Not Was), the seminal, indestructible art-funk collective from Detroit have just returned from 16 year hibernation. They are finally ready to ensnare the innocent with its snaky beats and brain-virus lyrics. The new album and Rykodisc debut, "BOO!" is set for release on April 8, 2008 in the U.S. / April 7, 2008 UK and worldwide.

In a quasi coma since 1992, when they opened a 4-month tour for Dire Straits (?) across Europe, Don and David Was are again ready to rumble and are planning an endless series of live dates accompanied by special guests and friends the boys have bonded with over the years.

Was (Not Was) will perform a special sneak-peak engagement on Valentine’s Day at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, with special guests Kris Kristofferson and Brian Wilson, and will also be hitting SXSW in March. Kris Kristofferson makes a guest appearance on the closing track of Boo! -- a swirling, psychedelic spoken word number, Green Pills in the Dresser.

With "BOO!" David Was (flute, harmonica, keys and vox) Don Was (bass, keyboards, percussion, programming, vox), Sweet Pea Atkinson (lead vocals) and Sir Henry Bowen (lead vocals) have created an album brewing with the unconventional lyrics and funk-driven R&B beats for which the band is known.

And, as is the Was (Not Was) way, a host of additional players join in on the party: Donald Ray Mitchell (lead vox), David McMurray (sax and horn arrangements), Randy Jacobs (guitar) Jamie Muhoberac (keyboards) and Luis Resto (keyboards), just to name a few. The album was produced by Don and David Was, engineered and mixed by Rik Pekkonen, Krish Sharma and Don Was.

Of course, that's not all the lads were up to all those years. Don Was stepped to the fore as a producer after working with Bonnie Raitt on the Grammy-winning Nick of Time, staying in constant demand for the next decade and working with everyone from, The Stones to Iggy to Kristofferson to the B52's to Elton John and Brian Wilson, to drop just a few names.

David Was went Hollywood and produced two soundtrack collections for the X-Filesand wound up scoring two network TV dramas. And together, Don and David produced the Grammy-winning Roy Orbison/k.d. lang duet of Crying as well as Bob Dylan's Under the Red Sky album. They also started a badminton club for ex-cons called the Birdie Men from Alcatraz, or so it was rumored.

The band reformed to play the Sundance Film Festival in the winter of 2004 and made a triumphal return to London's Jazz Café the following fall.

Was (Not Was) may have been napping, but they never stopped having nightmares! The results will soon storm the barricades of radio, concert halls and festivals 'til they are sent to their rooms to do more audio homework. Stay tuned. Don't drop out, not just yet!

BOO! The New Album
Tracklising -

01. Semi Interesting Week
02. It's A Miracle
03. Your Luck Won't Last
04. From The Head To The Heart
05. Big Black Hole
06. Needletooth
07. Forget Everything
08. Crazy Water
09. Mr. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
10. Green Pills In The Dresser (ft. Kris Kristofferson)

BLASTS FROM THE WAS (NOT WAS) PAST:

Shake Your Head (ft. Kim Basinger)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65ruXryKPTA

Walk The Dinosaur
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNRsIFKLDBk

Spy In The House Of Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8bZ3zf_4l0

Plus . . .

Was (Not Was) on MySpace
http://www.myspace.com/wasnotwasfreaks

Lou Reed joins Stephen Emmer & Tony Visconti on 'Recitement' Spoken Word Album

2008-02-12T23:12:00.001Z

Lou Reed is among the artists collaborating on a new spoken word album. The former Velvet Underground frontman recites Paul Theroux’s poem ‘Passengers.’ ‘Recitement’ comprises of a diverse set of literary source texts reinterpreted to a soundtrack of original music compositions.

Check out the stunning video for Passengers ft. Lou Reed reciting Paul Theroux's poem of the same name. Stephen Emmer's music is haunting, and Tony's Visconti's mix is astouding. A gorgeous collaboration of talented minds. Reed/Emmer/Visconti. Awesome!

Passengers video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbSTAwpfwcY

The record features recitals from numerous musicians, including Blonde Redhead singer Kazu Makino, plus writers like Allen Ginsberg and actors including Richard Burton. The literature is drawn from such diverse writers as Yoko Ono and Thomas Hardy.

The 17 tracks are performed in seven different languages and are mixed by Tony Visconti. The legendary producer, famed for his work with David Bowie and T-Rex, is expected to begin work on Klaxons second album at the end of the month.

‘Recitement’ is the brainchild of leading avant-garde music composer Stephen Emmer.

Emmer began his career in experimental Dutch band Minny Pops, who were signed to Factory Records. Fans of Lou Reed will be pleased he has undertaken a project with a degree of musical integrity after mixed reactions to his recent collaboration with The Killers on the track ‘Tranquillize.’

‘Recitement’ is released by Supertracks Records in the UK on 7th April 2008. Spoken word combined with original music composition never sounded so good.

Burning Down The (Amy) Winehouse

2008-02-11T21:14:00.001Z

Surprise. It's another television appearance from North London's favourite screwed up singer, Amy Winehouse.

She made global news by not being allowed a visa to America to perform on last night's Grammy Awards. People are killing each other in Nigeria and Amy's still making the news. Go figure.

Thank god Madonna is releasing a new album in April.

What I don't understand about the Winehouse effect is that there are probably 7.5 million struggling musicians out there who would kill to be as successful as Amy, but everyone's favourite Devil Doll can't even string a sentence together. It must be fun to be inarticulate and sell millions of albums in the process.

"Camden's Burning," she cried out during one of last night's slurry acceptance speeches.

Cue for standing ovation from the American hipsters and the rock'n' hip-hop elite.

Close up of Justin Timberlake smiling with the instant nod of approval.

Even Lou Reed digs Amy's album. Is there no stopping this madness?

It's like some George Romero Night of the Living Dead movie that refuses to die. The zombie (Amy Winehouse) just keeps coming back from the dead. How does she do it?

On a more positive note, I couldn't help but chuckle when I read the following blurb written by E. Jasmin on the News Tribute blog, entitled - "Will Someone Give That Girl A Ham Sandwich?"

http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/ej/2008/02/11/will_somebody_get_amy_winehouse_a_sandwi

"The thing I was most looking forward to was Amy Winehouse who performed via satellite from London. We can look past some of her spacey, strung out demeanor, considering what she’s been through lately. (You Tube it if you don’t know already.) Oh, and the fact that it took her something like 15 seconds to remember she needed to give an acceptance speech after she won her next award – ahem – for some reason."

"But will someone please give that girl a ham sandwich? Extra mayo. Side order o’ cheesy fries. They could show a clip of that performance at Calista Flockhart and Mary-Kate Olson’s next intervention. I thought Amy’s legs might snap every time she did that weird knee-knocking thing during her oh so appropriate set list, “You Know I’m No Good” and “Rehab.” Her voice still sounds good. All jokes aside, congrats to Amy for racking up a whole shelf of well-deserved awards. And here’s hoping she can get her life back together before it's too late."

Now what was the movie called starring Bette Davis? Oh yeah, "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane". Amy Winehouse or Bette Davis? You decide.

Eric Burdon & WAR To Reunite For One Concert

2008-02-09T01:19:00.001Z

ERIC BURDON AND WAR will reunite for one performance only at London's Royal Albert Hall on Monday 21st April 2008. This will be the first concert Eric Burdon and War have performed in 37 years since they originally disbanded in 1971.

http://www.noblepr.co.uk/Press_Releases/live_nation/war.htm

Originally the front man of the Animals, the legendary Eric Burdon is considered to be one of the greatest blues singers in the world. His contribution to music by joining forces with War; possibly the most popular funk groups of the 70's, makes this one-off concert one of the hottest must-see tickets of 2008.

With a distinctive sound that captured the heart and soul of 1970's America, Los-Angeles based WAR played the music that made people dance and think.Their 1970 album Eric Burdon Declares WAR included two No. 1 worldwide hits - Spill the Wine, and Tobacco Road.The follow-up 1970 album, The Black-Man's Burdon featured the hit singles They Can't Take Away Our Music and a cover of the Jagger-Richards seminal track Paint It Black, amongst many others. Both albums became cultural touchstones of the early seventies.

Although WAR's lyrics were sometimes political in nature (in keeping with their racially integrated line-up), their music almost always had a sunny, laid-back vibe emblematic of their Southern California roots. Shortly after the sudden death of Burdon's close friend Jimi Hendrix (Jimi overdosed on the night he jammed with Eric Burdon and WAR at Ronnie Scott's), the singer moved away from the group, and WAR went on to become a creative force and released many successful albums in their own right.

Eric Burdon & WAR rode the fine line between brilliance and excess during their time together, performing & recording with a sense of risk, imagination, and adventure.

"The diversity of influences on us was not only musical, but was social as well,” says singer-keyboardist and founding WAR member Lonnie Jordan. “As a result we tried to be entertaining while also spreading the word of peace, harmony and brotherhood. Our instruments and voices became our weapons of choice and the songs our ammunition. We spoke out against racism, hunger, gangs, crimes and turf wars, as we embraced all people with hope and the spirit of brotherhood.”

The London Royal Albert Hall reunion concert also dovetails a massive reissue campaign that will see Rhino Records releasing all of Eric Burdon and War's seminal albums. The two 1970's albums Eric Burdon Declares WAR and Black-Man's Burdon will be released in the UK on Monday 24th March, followed by the release of their 1976 compilation album Love Is All Around on Monday 31st March.

All of War's subsequent studio albums will follow through the month of April. The reissue campaign will end on 14th April with the release of The Best of Eric Burdon and WAR and The WAR Anthology.

ERIC BURDON & WAR
MONDAY 21ST APRIL 2008
LONDON ROYAL ALBERT HALL

Tickets on sale From Thursday February 14th, 9am GMT

24 Hour Ticket Hotline: 0844 576 5483
Venue Box Office: 020 7589 8212
www.livenation.co.uk

Tickets: £35.50 / £30.00 / £27.50 (plus booking fee)
Website: www.royalalberthall.com
Show time: 7:30pm

Vote For Joe Jackson

2008-02-09T00:08:00.001Z

Hilarious new tribute video to Joe Jackson directed by Sarah Schaefer just went up on YouTube.

Some comedic moments about one of Britain's best loved singer/songwriters. The video is nicely timed with the recent release of his current album "Rain". I almost split my pants watching the video. Check it out.

The Cops - Get Ready For Seattle's Best New Band

2008-01-20T20:35:00.002Z

A strange thing happened the other week. I was surfing the net for info about Joe Jackson's new 'Rain' album and I ended up on a blog called Cherrybombed (http://cherrybombed.com/index.php?s=the+cops), which I think is Seattle based.

On the blog, the blogger gave their top 10 rundown of what they considered to be the hottest bands in Seattle. One of those bands was 'The Cops'. They're even better than the Strokes!

Upon further investigation, I tracked down a copy of their 'Free Electricity' album (their second album) and was completely knocked for six. This band are brilliant and could blow up into the next big thing, especially here in the UK.

Immediate impressions - lead vocalist sounds like an angry and pissed off Joe Strummer. Elements of Clash Sandinista meets Television, Wire with the Dolls thrown in. 'Light It Off' is a knockout song, while 'Them Cats' reminds me of some crackhead dickheads who should know better. And the songs keep rolling in 'Secret Lives', 'Mega Suicide', 'Cold Crushin', 'Free Electricity' and the atonal organ enhanced 'N-99'.

This is an exciting record from a potentially exciting new band (well, not so new - they've been touring for three years in the US).

Look no further - http://www.thecopsmusic.com/, www.myspacec.om/thecops. 'Free Electricity's is available on the Mount Fuji label in Seattle.

Do the right thing. Call the Cops.

Check out what Music Remedy.com has to say about the band -

The Cops are a band of the people; born out of repression, revulsion, frustration and all the other things that make life so horrible and rock bands so great. After spending much of 2006 on the road they now present to you their razor-sharpened 2nd full-length, Free Electricity.

Dynamiting the walls of classic rock and rebuilding on the crumbling foundations, The Cops have constructed a set filled with scratching, twitching, aching, unholy rock music that still manages to be both familiar and crucially entertaining.

Topical without being political and political without being preachy, Free Electricity is eleven dark, roughhousing manifestos broadcast from roughly 5.3 meters below the sidewalk of every major street in the world. No fuss, no muss, no stupid hippie haircuts. No shit.

The Cops formed in July of 2004 with Michael Jaworski on lead vocals and guitar, John Randolph on guitar and David Weeks on drums. Seattle label Mt. Fuji Records released both their debut EP Why Kids Go Wrong in March of 2005, and the critically acclaimed full-length Get Good or Stay Bad in November of 2005.

Former Supersuckers and Hater bassist, Drew Church, replaced Brian Wall on bass in early 2006, just in time for a tour supporting Cursive and Jeremy Enigk. Following the recording of Free Electricity guitarist Brandon Bay was added to the mix to make The Cops a full-fledged 5-piece rock band.

The band has toured the US consistently for the past 3 years supporting the aforementioned Cursive & Jeremy Enigk as well as tours with The Hold Steady, Constantines, and others. Free Electricity was recorded with the band’s spiritual godfather Kurt Bloch (The Fastbacks & Young Fresh Fellows) and mixed by the multi-talented producer Johnny Sangster (Mudhoney, Old Haunts, The Briefs).

The Cops new record makes good on their debut while showcasing a band hitting their stride as a powerful force in rock music. The Control Group released Free Electricity on November 6th, 2007.

“On Free Electricity, the Cops' staccato stop-and-go six-string rhythms couple with abusive drumming to create a surprisingly danceable set.” – Spin.com

"The Cops are the Seattle rock act most likely to blow up global-style any minute now. Currently at work on another full-length effort coddled by local rock n' roll sage and apparent busybody Kurt Bloch, The Cops are going to have a tough time staying off everyone's radar real soon."
- The Stranger

New York City is Suzanne Vega

2007-12-26T19:38:00.001Z

Suzanne Vega's 2007 album, "Beauty & Crime" was dedicated to the memory of her brother, Tim Vega who lived on Ludlow Street." You can't help but feel the emotional impact and melancholy of this magical collection of songs. Produced for Bluenote Records, Vega's album comes as an unexpected surprise.

A devoted fan since god knows when, I kind of lost touch with Suzanne's work after the Mitchell Froome produced 1996 album "Nine Objects of Desire". I loved the song 'No Cheap Thrill', but more importantly, I loved the sound of the entire album and it's nod towards electronic experimentation.

In 1991 she returned with 'Songs in Red and Gray' which saw her move back to her acoustic guitar-based folk roots. The album was cool, but "Beauty & Crime" is so much better.

Somehow, 2007's "Beauty & Crime" seems to have struck something of a sentimental note with a lot of her devoted fans, including me.

On this album, Suzanne seems to be looking back into her past as she reminisces about her old friends and haunts, and her brother Tim. The opening track, 'Zephyr & I' seems to be an old friend of hers in the 1970s (and also a grafitti artist friend of her brother, Tim). The area was West End Avenue by the Hudson River. It's a simple track embellished by Vega's signature whispery vocals.

What's also cool about the 'Zepher & I' is that the opening riff is a direct steal from Lou Reed's "Vicious". The Reed riffs repeats several times before Vega digs into so doo-wop backing chorus. Suzanne's clever. but what's more, this is her New York Lou Reed album but from a very different perspective.

She follows this with the autobiographical 'Ludlow Street' where her brother Tim used to live. "This time," sings Suzanne, "when I go back to Ludlow Steet, I find each stoop and doorway's incomplete without you there." This is a far cry from the recent hype of irritating female singer/songwriters like Feist (I couldn't get past track two on Feist's new album - it's soooo irritating to listen to).

Which brings us to track three (my favourite song on the album) - 'New York Is A Woman'. Clocking in at 2 minutes and 54 seconds, for me, this song represents the mindset of the album.

Suzanne Vega's always been about New York City, and although she hooked a lot of people with the mindbending 'Luka' back in the eighties (about a kid being beaten up by her parents), the Big Apple becomes the ultimate metaphor for the woman you can't help but fall in love with. It's a one-sided affair of the mind. It's a teaze.

"New York city spread herslef before you, with her bangles and spangles and her stars. You were impressed with the city so undressed, you had to go out cruising all the bars."

Vega follows the song with the delightful 'Pornographer's Dream' - another gem of a song with some beautiful orchestration.

The album flows effortlessley with 'Frank & Ava', 'Edith Wharton's Figurines', 'Bound' and 'Unbound'. The album was recorded at Sear Sound, NYC, Jimmy Hogarth's Studio in London, and at Olympic Studios in London. The London Studio Orchestra contributed strings and horns, while the album includes guest appearances from Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo and singer KT Tunstall.

This is a passionate, if not understated, intitmate, beautiful collection of songs from one of America's greatest modern day folk singers. I'll be playing this for many more days and nights to come. Sounds particularly good when you play it in your car and is a great alternative to the rubbish that is currently being played on most radio stations.

The final track, 'Anniversary' is obviously about 911 and every family that survived the tragedy of the Twin Towers. It's a fitting way to end the album with the ultimate aftermath of New Yorkers trying to pick up the pieces. 'Beauty & Crime' is clearly the work of a genius singer/songwriter.

Contact Music gives thumbs up to Joe Jackson's 'Rain'

2007-12-04T21:26:00.001Z

Contact Music.com published a glowing preview of Joe Jackson's highly anticipated album 'Rain'. Beware - the new album is being hailed as Joe's best album since 1982's "Night and Day".

Says Contact Music -
http://www.contactmusic.com/new/home.nsf/webpages/joejacksonx04x12x07

"Very much in keeping with the eclecticism of Jackson's wonderful three-decade spanning career, Rain is another genre-stretching effort from an artist who continues to extend the boundaries of his craft. Reflecting the title, the record is melancholic in places, but also boasts plenty of humor, swing, sophistication and barbed social commentary as well as some out and out rockers. The common thread running through the record is its simplicity; where Jackson's distinctive piano and voice, Maby's intricate and melodic bass and Houghton's tough and tender drums are all you hear."

"A rich yet stark production by Jackson and mixed by Paul Kolderie and Sean Slade, Rain boasts a broad, grand sound, open yet tightly wound and focused at the same time, that emphasizes Jackson's sterling songcraft -- a unique amalgam of pop, rock, jazz and classical ideas and lyrics with deep, sympathetic glimpses into the human spirit written by a man who is keenly sensitive, sharp and complex."

Raindrops keep falling on Joe Jackson

2007-11-21T05:50:00.001Z

One of the best singer songwriters from the heyday of 1979, is back with a new studio album in January 08. The new album, "Rain" is Jackson's best album since 1982's milestone "Night and Day", which featured the infectious "Steppin' Out".

Joe Jackson, best known for his 1979 debut album "Look Sharp", which was recently voted as one of the "1000 Most Important Albums to Hear Before You Die" in the UK's Guardian newspaper, is set to release his first studio album in four years, "Rain". Back in the late seventies Jackson and the Police were the big selling artists on the now defunct A&M Records (home of The Carpenters).

I've been fortunate to have a listen to an advance copy of the new Rykodisc album. It's a welcome return to Joe's original stripped down no-nonsense sound of piano, vocals, drums and bass guitar.

If you thought the songs on 1979's "Look Sharp" were a fluke, think again, because Joe is the true master of singer/songwriting. What's more, for the album he brought in a little help from Graham Maby (bass) and Dave Houghton (drums) - the same musicians who played on his first three albums; "Look Sharp" (1979), "Im The Man" (1979) and "Beat Crazy" (1980).

Released by Rykodisc, standout tracks include the opening number the emotive opener "Invisible Man", the rockin' "Citizen Sane" and the stunning ballad "Wasted Time".

Joe's last studio album, "Volume 4", was released back in 2003, so getting this new platter has been a long time coming, but worth the wait. Joe is still looking sharp, and lyrically, he cuts through popular culture with a swiss army knife.

It will be wonderful to see Joe in concert at the London Sheperd's Bush Empire on Sunday 2nd March 2008. Hopefully, it won't be raining, but seeing that it rains practically every day in London, I'll try to remember to bring my umbrella.

Hey honey, I shrunk Ian Hunter

2007-10-14T18:17:00.001Z

On Ian Hunter's latest studio album, the phenomenal 'Shrunken Heads', what you get is a collection of confession songs fueled by acoustic and electric guitars, piano and heartfelt sentiment. This is Hunter at his most outspoken. It's his take on Americana but done in his own style, and it's brilliant.

It's been light years since his days in Mott The Hoople, and even the distant thunder of one of his first solo albums - 'All American Alien Boy' featuring the classic ballad 'Irene Wilde' - it's a sequin footnote to the grassroots of 70's glam rock rock'n'roll history.

'Shrunken Heads' could possibly be Hunter's most convincing solo album to date. Always a Brit at heart, the new album is a golden snapshot of America, the good, the bad and the ugly (but predominantly the bad and the ugly).

"Nothin' matters any more," growls Hunter during the start of the title track. "The rich get richer, and the poor get sorer. This house is haunted and the streets are dead. We're all at the mercy of shrunken heads." The song is another disfunctional ballad from rock's greatest wordsmith. It's emotionally compelling, and it makes you start thinking about how fucked up living in the USA can be.

This is the kind of album where it's difficult to encapsulate into a short review, mainly because every song is fantastic. Ian Hunter doesn't know how to write a bad song. He delivers a rock'n'roll dirge anthem in the shape of 'How's Your House' - an insight into the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. "Crept across the border, got a mobile home," sings Ian. "Hurricane Katrina sunk me like a stone yeah. Now I'm runnin' outta water, there's nothing left to eat. Kitchen's on the car 'n it's floating down the street."

Guilty pleasures creep in with 'Stretch', a bar room rock'n'roll throwback to Hunter's seminal 'Overnight Angels' album. The drums are pounding, the guitars could have been played by the late Mick Ronson, while the ragtime piano is classic Hoople. Then suddenly you get visions of his earlier Hoople classic, 'All The Young Dudes', and that's when you begin too realise that's it's a no-brainer. Ian Hunter is a genius.

He closes the album with a simple, poignant, piano and vocal ballad 'Read 'em 'n' Weep'. It's a typical relationship gone bad song, but it's sung from the heart. While a lot of today's new bands try their best to impress, the one key thing they all lack is the ability to write consistently compelling songs. Where will Brandon Flowers be 30 years from now?

Ian Hunter's been doing it for 35 years, and while other artists like the Stones ran out of steam in the mid 70's, Hunter continues to get better with age. 'Shrunken Heads' is a milestone.

I'm in love with the idea of Siouxsie Sioux

2007-10-13T23:37:00.001Z

It's probably been a long time coming, but Siouxsie Sioux has finally swept the Banshees under the floorboards and she's checked the Creatures into her local vet. Siouxsie has gone solo. Surprisingly, her debut album, 'Mantary', is a joy to behold... well, almost.

Before the Banshees split up years ago, they released a cool song entitled 'Peek-A-Boo' which featured the catchy lyric, "Jeepers creepers, where'd you get those peepers?" The track was a departure from the Banshees signature distorted guitar sound. 'Peek-A-Boo' was a chopped up, beat-driven burlesque monster whose signature instrument was an accordian. The band seemed to be moving in a new direction, but sadly, their audience did not.

Similarly, on her new solo album, Mantaray, Siouxsie tends to put less focus on guitars. From track 3, Here Comes That Day, she delivers a song that is faintly reminiscent to Peek-A-Boo. But it's track 4, Loveless, that starts to give the album a life of its own. "It's a sick and twisted game. To and fro and back again." In comes the glorious tones of the glockenspiel that Siouxsie first experimented on the Creatures' debut album, Feast.

For an album that starts off with two cliche guitar songs, the predictable Into A Swan and the no-name pop rocker About To Happen, Siouxsie moves on from her Banshee roots in favour for something a bit more personal and experimental. If It Doesn't Kill You is a haunting ballad that sees our beloved Siouxsie steeped in a golden liquid vocal. It's gorgeous.

One Mile Below sees Siouxsie in Creatures territory with a Phil Spector wall of sound driven by a burundi rhythm track. Drone Zone shifts the album into a shuffling, jazzy swingbeat mode. It's eccentric, quirky and addictive to listen to. While Bjork tends to go for high drama, Siouxsie's more like a kitten with a whip.

Marvel at the pop perfection of They Follow You. It starts off with a marching drum beat and breaks into a colour musical arrangement that sounds both hopeful and momentous. It's Siouxsie's swansong. It's cool, Pan European, cinematic and sexy.

The album closes with the sparse piano track 'Heaven and Alchemy'. "I'm in love with the idea of you in rush reality," sings Siouxsie. And so she should be. The album's a wake up call and will hopefully kill off the old punk rockers who thought they were going to get Arabian Nights II.

With all the recent spate of reunions, not to mention the desperate return of the Sex Pistols, its nice to know that Siouxsie isn't reforming the Banshees. That chapter is over.

Shirley 'Garbage' Manson may have a hard time following this with her highly anticipated solo album, but for the moment, Siouxsie is still sitty pretty.

Prince - 21 Nights and it's like Viva Las Vegas!

2007-08-18T09:52:00.000Z

Prince is currently winding up his 21-night concert engagement at the 02 centre in London. The pint sized 49-year old wonderboy is performing to 21,000 people a night. It's a remarkable achievement for an artist who really hasn't released a decent studio album since 1987's Sign O' The Times.

The O2 gigs follows a major publicity and promotional stunt where the Purple pied piper gave away his new album "Planet Earth" free with every copy of the Mail on Sunday newspaper. The upshot, one great pop rock song "Guitar" on an otherwise lacklustre studio album.

The 02 Concert was impressive but also showed a lot of significant flaws in Prince's onstage perception of what a solid concert should be like. Although he's a great showman and he put on a sold performance, the Prince symbol-shaped stage was way to big for him (and his ego). It was like watching Prince running around the symbol, performing to different parts of the audience in the arena, while the rest of the band was performing like hired hands.

To fill out the vast stage, Prince was flagged by four female backing vocalists and dancers, who were only there to justify some kind of eye candy. The girls kept leaving the stage (there were were lots of costume changes). The idea of performing the show in the round was an exciting one, but soon came apparent the stage was too big for Prince to fill.

I remember seeing Prince on the Sign O' The Times tour where he performed on a normal stage, and as part of a real band that had character. Perhaps Prince's recent residency in Las Vegas has rubbed off on his O2 shows. It was like watching a Prince-by-numbers concert. The only problem was, the dots were not connecting.

"What would you like to hear," Prince asked the audience, "new stuff or old stuff?" "I could play "Sign O The Times" or "Raspberry Beret". Instead, he launches into a sing-a-long version of "Kiss". Why was I constantly thinking about Tom Jones?

"I have so many hits," says Prince. We didn't have to be reminded. He performed "Cream", "You Got The Look (minus Sheena)", and started off the show with the explosive crowd-pleaser, "1999".

The show lagged halfway through, when Prince performed songs from his new album "Planet Earth". The standout track, the infectious "Guitar" failed to translate live in concert, while the recorded version on the new album remained superior. To make "Guitar" work live, Prince would have to 'share' the stage with a real rock and roll band, but sadly, he's working the stage while his 'backing band' are running through the motions at the other end of the stage.

Interestingly, for "Black Sweat", Prince takes to the funky bass guitar and comes up with an infectious groove that really drives things home. For me, it was one of the highlights. Great funky kick ass song. Loved it.

He ends the first hour with a blistering "Purple Rain" which kind of makes the concert worth it (an amazing song). His guitar playing was phenomenal.

Although he played 21 concerts at the 02, he never performed the same set each night. Instead of playing "Sign O' The Times", Prince performed "If I Was Your Girlfriend". Perhaps the idea of the 21 nights is to get the same fans buying tickets to multiple shows.

Did I forget to mention that everyone who bought a ticket to the shows received a free copy of the "Planet Earth" CD when they were give their ticket stubbs at the door? Did I also forget to mention that the merchandise stand featured Prince tamborines on sale for only £55.00, and that t-shirts were £25.00. The tour programme was similar to putting a downpayment on a mortgage. The only thing missing was Prince ice cream.

Two days after the concert, a friend of mine put on the Greatest Hits album. I couldn't help but thinking how brilliant the classic hits were when they were originally recorded all those years ago.

Whatever happened to Wendy and Lisa? Prince had chemistry with those gals. I could never understand why he broke up the original band and went on to form the dreaded New Power Generation. For me, his best albums will always be "Parade" and "Sign O The Times". Diamonds and Pearls was the begining of the end of peak Prince.

Today, Prince's live show is a victim of it's own success; making it, in many ways, the ultimate sign o' the times. Elvis may have left the building, but I think Prince has become too comfortable in Vegas. The London audiences probably don't know any better, and in their eyes, Prince can do no wrong. Thankfully, he didn't perform any songs from his 1990 movie "Graffiti Bridge".

Metal Machine Music gets a classical contemporary makeover courtesy of Zeitkratzer

2007-07-31T22:57:00.001Z

Just when you thought you'd never hear about Lou Reed's phenomenal noisefest album of feedback and distortion, along comes the news hat Metal Machine Music is back in the saddle with a transcribed classical contemporary chamber music ensemble score verging on the avant-garde and industrial rock.

The CD/DVD is a 2002 concert in Berlin that Reed performed with the 11-piece German chamber music ensemble Zeitkratzer. The album "Lou Reed Metal Machine Music performed by Zeitkratzer is released by Asphodel Records on September 4th. The results are frenzied, full-frontal; a relentless physically exhausting whirlwind of sound that leaves you gasping for air.

It's noise, but not as we know it.

You can't disco dance to it in a nightclub. Indie rockers will have a tough time trying to decide which shirt to wear. If you are a Sonic Youth fan, watch out, this one's for you.

Berlin-based avant-garde sax player, Ulrich Krieger, whose projects include collaborations with Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo, is the brainchild behind the current rendition of Metal Machine Music. Krieger (no relation to Robbie Krieger of The Doors), transcribed Reed's 1975 MMM album and converted it into a classical contemporary piece of avant-garde chamber music, making is a surprisingly impressive and believable acoustic score.

The results are phenomenal and brings Reed full circle, around to his vintage roots with the Velvet Underground via the cello and viola backing. The similarities are evident, but somehow you can't help thinking that John Cale is missing from the fanfare.

Metal Machine Music is a moment in time, March 17th, 2002, to be precise. Don't dare miss it.

Further information about this extraordinary release can be found here -
http://www.noblepr.co.uk/Press_Releases/lou_reed/metal_machine_music.htm

Lou Reed's been a busy little bee throughout 2007. First he tours his Berlin album in Europe, then releases the meditation album Hudson River Wind Meditations, and now he brings us Metal Machine Music Live.

What's next, a kabuki version of Rock'n'Roll Heart?

Lou Reed knocks 'em dead at the London Hammersmith Apollo

2007-07-01T10:53:00.000Z

Lou Reed performed to a sold out London audience at London Hammersmith Apollo last night. Reed performed the entirety of his 1973 classic album 'Berlin' to a thunderous 10-minute standing ovation.

Highlights included the haunting "The Kids" featuring the London Children's Youth Choir on backing vocals, "The Bed" the song where the main character, Caroline, commits suicide, and the victorious and tearful "Sad Song" which ended the show. Hats off went to original Berlin album guitarist, Steve Hunter, who nailed it on every single song - the same cat who played guitar on Reed's live album "Rock'n'Roll Animal".

The Bob Ezrin produced album was given an imaginative new arrangement, augumented by a string section, horn section, a new backing vocalist calle Katy, and Reed's core rock band featuring bassist and backing vocalist Fernando Saunders, drummy Tony Thunder Smith and stand up bassist Rob Wasserman. Even Hal Willner, 'Berlin's musical director, walked out on stage to hug Reed for performing a fantastic show.

After the rapturous standing ovation, Reed and his 26-piece orchestra returned to the stage for stunning new-arranged live versions of "Sweet Jane", "Satellite of Love" and "Walk on the Wildside". It was Satellite of Love that triumphed with a refreshing news musical arrangement which showed off Fernando Saunder's falsetto vocal range, backing vocalist Katy's soulful vocals (look out Annie Lennox!) and some wild guitar playing by Reed and Hunter.

I'd been to the Apollo several times but never experienced this kind of electric audience reaction to a rock concert before. It was as if everyone had a lightening rod wedged up their ass and the power was turned on at 10. If you missed this show, you definitely missed out on a piece of rock history.

'Berlin' live is Lou Reed's swansong.

Lou Reed's 'Berlin' Comes Full Circle in Amsterdam

2007-06-23T00:01:00.000Z

Lou Reed brought his "Berlin" concert to Amsterdam's Heineken Music Hall on Wednesday 20th June and virtually brought the 3,400 sold out capacity audience to their knees.

This was not just your ordinary rock'n'roll concert, but instead an emotionally absorbing multimedia event - part theatrical, but raw, beautiful and tragic. Reed performed his 1973 milestone album with a string secton, horn section, a childrens' choir and his core rock band which featured the original 'Berlin' album guitarist, Steve Hunter.

Lou performed the album in its entirety and along the way, introduced some new twists and turns on most of the songs. You could feel Lou's torment and his pain as he pushed the envelope with every nuance, lyric and guitar lick. Berlin was a personal release for him, and you could feel every note with a vengeance.

'Lady Day', 'How Do You Think It Feels', 'Caroline Says', 'The Kids', 'The Bed', 'Sad Song'.... song after song, the audience became dumbfounded by how amazing the delivery of the songs were. What started off as a tale of two lovers (Caroline and Jim), gradually turned into a one way ticket to hell, which ended in prostitution, drugs and suicide.

After final song 'Sad Son', Reed received a standing ovation. He returned five minutes later for an encore which included 'Sweet Jane' and orchestral enchanced arragements of 'Satellite of Love' and 'Walk on the Wild Side'. At the end of the concert Lou took bow and said "I Love You" to the audience.

"Berlin" - a snapshot moment in time, and probably the rock'n'roll moment of 2007. Make no mistake, this was history in the making.

Lou brings Berlin to Paris on June 23rd, then brings the show to Berlin on June 26th. The concert then moves on to the UK on Friday June 29th where Lou plays Manchester International Festival, and then two shows at London Hammersmith Apollo on Saturday June 30th and Sunday July 1st.

The following UK press page has further informaton about the current tour - http://www.noblepr.co.uk/Press_Releases/live_nation/2007_tour.htm

Liz Phair - She's Got You, Babe

2007-05-28T19:11:00.002Z

What is it about Liz Phair that sounds so right?

The shortage of good new albums has forced me to dig out my old Liz Phair albums. Due too the fact that the Maroon 5 album is so vacuous (who really wants to listen to 12 songs of Adam Levine bitching about his split with his girlfriend), I remember hearing various intelligent pop songs on Phair's 2005 album 'Somebody's Miracle' that seemed to be about break-ups, but the songwriting was so much more personal and real. It had substance and wasn't devoid of any meaning. Every song on the album seemed important.

I've never figured out why Liz Phair has not been more successful as a female singer/songwriter and rock'n'roller. Her early albums were cool, but as she progressed, she became rockier but her lyrics were always snappy and direct. She's difficult to ignore.

It's also a statement on the current state of female rock musicians. It seems to be a man's world out there. What happened to Joan Jett and the Blackhearts? Were the Runaways a joke? Was Suzi Quatro just an illusion? Why is there no Heart reunion?

My point is that it's empowering to have really good female rock musicians doing their thing. Of course, you do get the commercial extreme of things that seem to be a bad dream (like the recent Avril Lavigne single 'Girlfriend'), but when you get a serious contender like Phair, who not only has the ability to write a pop savvy lyric with a political and social bent, you have to keep her at the top of the pile.

The major lablels would rather concentrate their humble efforts on plastic role models like Gwen Stefani, instead of nurturing real authentic talent. It's all style over content. Somebody shoot the stylist.

I not only commend Liz Phair for all the great albums she's released over the years, but like a fine wine, she continues to excel with every new album. Why am I looking back to her 2005 studio album for inspiration?

The difference between a lyricist like Liz Phair and a pop frontman like Adam Levine is like night an day. It's like Liz is Cher and Adam is Sonny Bono. The big difference is that Liz Phair definitely still has the 'I've Got You Babe' good seal of approval stamped across her forehead.

Check out the lyrics to the opening track, 'Leap of Innocence' on Phair's 'Somebody's Miracle' album (I rest my case) -

"I saw John. He looked so sad. I want you to know that I feel bad. For not making our dreams come true. We had so many dreams me and you. I want you to know. I love you. You're my favourite thing from the past. And all of those nights that we spent together. I never had such a blast. Anyone could tell. You were my instrument. He said "I understand you. You want to play me." Everything about us had an innocence. But everything around us was changing. It's hard to believe. So much happened so fast. Remember the way we'd always laugh. While thinking up things to do. We were kings of the world me and you. I wish it had stayed like that forever. But everyone was dropping off like flies. I had so many friends in rehab. A couple who practically died."

Check out this interview Liz did for the release of the 'Somebody's Miracle' album.

In the meantime, here's a blast from the past...

Maroon 5: Adam Levine Drops His Girlfriend (And Decides to Write An Album About It)

2007-05-27T19:15:00.000Z

LA-based Maroon 5 (formerly known as Kara's Flowers), have released their highly anticipated follow up to their 2002 Platinum selling 'Songs About Jane' album featuring the radio staple hit 'This Love'. The new album is entitled 'It Won't Be Soon Before Long', and is released off the back of the infectious hit single 'Makes Me Wonder'.

Was the wait worth it?

The album is packed with mixed emotions (courtesy of singer/guitaristAdam Levine). Based on the personal reflections of the songs, it seems that Levine recently split up with his girlfriend. He's chosen the new Maroon 5 album as the place to rant his frustration about the break-up.

But why subject his listeners to this for an entire album?

What happend to the bluesy funk on 'Shiver' and the infectious, soulful mindset on 'Harder to Breathe'. What happened to the sexy strut the permeated the 'Songs About Jane' album?

What happened to Maroon 5?

'It Won't Be Soon Before Long' is the hotly tipped Maroon 5 album follow-up. It's about exciting as trip to Wal-Mart. The problem is, aside from the brilliant pop power of 'Makes Me Wonder', the rest of the songs on the album are more 'Plain Jane' than cutting edge. This album makes the Killers sound like Led Zeppelin.

Maroon 5 need to find Levine a girlfriend.

The album is already selling millions of copies in America. Adam and his slicker than now cohorts hammed it up on American Idol a few weeks ago, and as a result their single went back in to the No.1 spot in the singles chart. I mean, anything is possible. Look at Jordin Sparks!

I just can't help but notice that Adam doesn't look like he's having a good time. He looks bored out of his skull, kind of like he'd rather be doing something else.

'Makes Me Wonder' includes the lyric - "I don't believe in you anymore." You're left feeling sorry for Adam.

But not for long.

As the other songs on the album begin to unfold, the song titles seem as if they were written by a thirteen year old manic depressive - 'Little Of Your Time', 'Wake Up Call', 'Won't Go Home Without You', 'Nothing Lasts Forever', 'Not Falling Apart', 'Better That We Break'.

The new album lacks any kind of edge.

I am amazed because Maroon 5 could have produced a really good follow-up album, but instead they've come back with something to the equivalent of elevator mood music for rock'n'roll executives who are only interested in one-night stands; the same guys who are too worried about scratching the company car.

If Octone (the independent label that originally signed Maroon 5) is in bed with Universal Music for worldwide distribution, you just know the album has been market researched to the point where all the originality, blood, sweat and tears the band have put into this effort, was mass processed for Orange County bratpack rich girls who think Adam is a pin-up, while male teens aspire to be just like him.

The other thing about the album is that someone has told the band to come up with some songs with an "Every Breath You Take" bassline on 'Won't Go Home Without Y0u' and Andy Summers' signature Police guitar riff on 'Every Breath You Take' on 'Not Falling Apart'. The Police did it better.

It's not all bad.

Take'Goodnight Goodnight' - one of the memorable ballads. Nice opening guitair riff and some soothing vocals from Levine. Radio friendly and inoffensive. It's the kind of song they'd probably play during the end credits on a Kevin Costner movie. It's kind of retro, but at the same time, didn't Phil Collins record this kind of stuff back in the eighties?

As the album progresses, Adam comes up with some tunes that are familiar to vintage Prince circa 'Purple Rain' and 'Parade' albums. In particular 'Kiwi' sounds like it could be the bastard child of 1999 (without the bells and whistles).

The band saves some of their more compelling songs for last (track #11 'Better That We Break' and track #12 'Back At Your Door').

What is it with Universal slapping a 'Special Edition' sticker on the front of the CD jewell case?
Is it really so special that the album contains two bonus tracks. Maybe it's a marketing ploy to get people like me to make an impulse purchase for the extra tracks. What's ironic is that the two bonus tracks are two of the best songs on the album. What's it supposed to mean? That the other Maroon 5 tracks are not deemed 'bonus eligible' because they weren't an after thought?

The two bonus tracks in questions 'Until You're Over Me' (vintage Prince) and 'Infatuation' are what 'It Won't Be Soon Before Long' should have been all about. I am sure the band know that the big compromise on this album (via the safety-in-numbers bubblegum pop-rock sound) will fly. Is this album that defines what Maroon 5 are really all about?

No pun intended, but it kind of makes me wonder.

Adam Levine puts an altogether new spin on sleepwalking, particularly during the video for 'Makes Me Wonder' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaPIhetUn_k.

Adam Levine will continue to experience iffy relationships, he'll fall in love too easily, and suckers like you and I will continue to pay for the abuse with the hope that one fine day he'll write the pop masterpiece we all know is inside him.

Wake up Adam, it's not too late. Stop wondering about it. Just do it.

Alan Vega Commits Suicide

2007-05-23T19:24:00.001Z

"There was a time when you could dream. Now, now . . . it has become a crime to dream."

'Station Station' - Alan Vega's back singing his lungs out for a crowd of "dream losers". Everybody's favourite viet vet with the signature scarf on his head is back in top form with an industrial trip hop album that makes Ministry and the Revolting Cocks sound like Timberland on poppyseed sticks.

'Station' is a relentlessly painful, semi-tragic, angry album. Vega hasn't lost the conviction from his early days with the seminal Suicide. There is no Ric Ocasek on this latest offering. This ain't no 'Saturn Strip'.

Back in his brief Elektra days, Ocasek thought he could make Vega into a pop star, kind of like an antichrist version of Billy Idol. 'Saturn Strip' rocked but mainstream radio didn't get the joke. Vega's album bombed and Ocasek left the Cars.

Who was this Sal Mineo of rock? Suicide invented the lead singer, mystery keyboard player set against a loud drum machine. This dated back to the Mercer Arts Centre in NYC back in the mid seventies. The Dolls and Wayne County and the Electric Chairs were on the scene. Richard Hell was just a newborn toying around with his mother's safety pins. The Ramones probably had brush cuts and were still in Junior High.

Soft Cell and the Pet Shop Boys took Suicide's primitive two-man line up via drum machine and commercialised it for mass consumption. 'Frankie Teardrop' got raped and re-surfaced again in the eighties as 'West End Girls'. Everyone took their cue from Marty Rev and Alan Vega, but most would never admit it.

Take track three for example - 'Psychopatha'. Vega laments - "Moms and Dads, take your kids to deadland. It'll make you a man. B brain. Get a medal. That's it. Go to deadland. It'll make you a man."

The drum machine crunches in on a war-like stampede. The troops are coming in and we're all doomed. But life goes on in Sucide land. Vega convulses like Rasputin the Mad Monk. This classic Vega with traces of paranoia and disturbing realizations.

'Crime Street Cree'; a 6-minute tour-de-force which puts Vega back on the radar. This is Vega's swansong. "It's the street of no chances. It runs to infinity. This is as bad as it gets. I'm a dead marine. I'm way to young to die."

Vega lashes out with an explosive wall of disjointed atonal synth riffs sandwiched between a machine-like, pulsating beatbox rhythm. He sings of going through hell and coming back on the other side. It's a living nightmare and this song leaves you feeling Vega's anguish and desperation. This is rock'n'roll (but not as we know it).

"The traceman dies. It came from the sky, to die. Lookin' for a human. Why? Ask why?"

In 'Traceman', Vega unveils a distorted mix of vocal samples, female spoken word, jumbled beats in a haze of macabre rhythms. It's another last ditch attempt, a hypnotic plea for help. Stunning, classic Vega.

In 'Gun God Game', Vega delivers his triple G's in spectacular fashion. Orchestral backing vocals on a demented death defying loop and some of his best lyrics in years. . .

"How many time do you need to live out of control. Rip it into that twisted wind. The wave goodbyes, the heavy hearts. It's the takedowns, the breakdowns, the humiliations. Gun God Game. Yeah, the future's determined that you can never beat that game. So why try? Not believing. I can't believe it. Hey, how many times driving to the uncontrollable release of the events twisting all around you? It's there for cryin' out loud. Give it up says the ghost of nothings. Ripping through your heart forever. It's the endless attempts of bringing back what's not there."

Alan Vega is an undisputed genius. Nobody in music can touch him. "Station" is his milestone album. Hail New York City's finest.

Here's a gem from Vega's "Saturn Strip" album. The song's called "Wipeout Beat" - produced by Ric (The Cars) Ocasek.

Candie Payne: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

2007-05-21T19:20:00.001Z

New on the UK music scene comes Liverpudlian songstress Candie Payne. Her debut single on the Deltasonic label is entitled 'I Wish I Could Have Loved You More'. It's kind of like a throwback to mid sixties Avengers style sound track music, with an instrumental spaghetti western type of vibe.

Vocally, Candie comes across like a hybrid of Nancy Sinatra meets Julie London, with shades of Julie Driscoll thrown in. A touch of 'This Weel's on Fire' meets 'Man In A Suitcase' - it's a retro John Barry meets Monty Norman James Bond fast-forward, with monochromatic vocals. A distant nod to Dustry Springfield wrapped up elegant psychedelic black leather gloves.

Candie arrives at a time when the British music scene is stuck in limbo. Her competition is spiteful and hideous, from overrated Phl Spector drag queens like Amy Winehouse to superbrat monkey girl Lily Allen.

Candie drops in like a breath of fresh air. The single is sexy, intelligent and effortless and makes Winehouse and Allen seem as if they're battling it out in as Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in a dire remake of 'What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?'

Some say it's grim up North. This is a good reason to prove otherwise.

RUSH vs Iggy Pop: Let The Games Begin

2007-05-17T17:29:00.000Z

Back in the early seventies, when Iggy and the Pop toured the Raw Power album, there was this rock trio called RUSH. One of the guys in the band, Geddy Lee, went to my Dad's school, Northview Heights (a few years before he went to the same school).

When he first started going to Northview he noticed a poster for a Friday night gig in the school cafeteria. The poster pictured these three rockers with shag hairuts dressed in what looked like skin-tight metalic Sweet outfits. At that time Rush were on their first album and they kind of sounded like a Canadian version of Led Zeppelin.

In those days my Dad and his friend's hated Led Zeppelin but really liked Iggy Pop and the New York Dolls. I reckon they were more into punk before it was really known as punk, although years later, my Dad met Iggy several times in NYC, Toronto and the UK.

Getting back to Rush performing a gig at their high school, well, it was a choice between my Dad seeing Rush in concert at his high school or seeing Iggy Pop at the Victory Burlesque Theatre on the corner of Spadina and Dundas Street (the place has now been converted into a Chinese bank).

My Dad and his friends said - "Who do Rush think they are? We give this band three years and they'll be gone."

Thirty-Three years later Rush have morphed into one of the biggest album rock bands on the planet.

Not only did they pick up a new drummer along the way (Neil Peart), but they've just released one of their best studio albums of their entire career ("Snakes & Arrows"). Gone are the shag haircuts and the tight sequin trousers and platform shoes.

Stranger things have been known to happen (www.rush.com).

Jerry Casale of DEVO on David Bowie at the Public Auditorium, Cleveland, Ohio, 1974

2007-05-17T17:12:00.000Z

Today the UK's Daily Telegraph newspaper published this fascinating Q&A with Jerry Casale of DEVO. The band will embark on a UK tour (their first visit to the UK in 15 years) at the Brighton Dome on June 18th 2007.

Jerry was recently interviewed from LA about his favourite all time gig. Bizarrely, it happened to be David Bowie's Diamond Dogs tour.

I saw the same show, but instead of catching Bowie's show in Cleveland, Ohio, I saw the show in Toronto. My impression of the gig was similar to Jerry's. I thought Bowie was the best thing in rock and was miles ahead of everyone else.

Here's what Jerry had to say to the Daily Telegraph newspaper today (May 17th 2007) -

"The gig was part of David Bowie's Diamond Dogs tour. I'd never seen anything as spectacular before. The tour was choreographed by Toni Basil, and the stage was designed by a New York theatre company. The result was hypnotic, weird and fantastic."

"At the start, an 8ft diamond descended to the floor of the stage. The front opened forward and Bowie jumped out wearing a Kabuki outfit, pulling dance moves reminiscent of Broadway."

"I lost count of the number of set changes and dance routines. It was seamless - an incredible fusion of rock music energy, theatrics and disturbing assexual innuendos."

"The show solidified right then and there what I wanted to do with Devo. We'd spent way too much time smoking pot talking about ideas and doing nothing about it. Here was someone who'd taken the time to do it for real."

Devo tour the UK next month, starting at the Brighton Dome on June18. For tickets call 0870 735 5000, or visit www.bookingsdirect.com or visit www.clubdevo.com

Interview by Tim Burrows

Mr Hudson & the Library (hot band with the dumbest name of the year)

2007-05-16T18:11:00.001Z

I saw this new band on Later With Jools Holland (BBC1) earlier this year. I taped one of Holland's TV shows back in December but didn't end up watching the show on my Sky+ until a few weeks ago (Sky+ is Britain's bastard relative to America's TIVO). The show wasn't outstanding, but one band did stand out from the rest of the hipper than now crowd. They called themselves Mr. Hudson and The Library.

The song that hit me was "Take Me Somewhere New". It's one of these immediate pop masterpieces. There's a Hunky Dory quality to it (which is no bad thing). But there's also nods to Cockney Rebel and Danny Wilson.

Sometimes when you hear a new band, they play one signature track and it just sticks. A few weeks later I almost forgot the name of the band, but somehow, their name was so wack - I just didn't forget it.

I knew "library" had something to do with it. It was the "Hudson" that escaped me. I then did a Google search and ended up on their official site - http://www.mrhudsonandthelibrary.com/.

The sound production their songs are crisp, punchy and direct. Vocals are cool. Kind of sounds like the Feeling, but it's more simplified and doesn't savage ELO in an obvious way.

The lead singer has definitely got a way with pop hooks. The Library have a clever use of piano and the acapella vocals are infectious. This is a band where less means more in the production department. The Killers could never make an album like this.

Their website streams several tracks including a live version of "Take Me Somewhere New". If John Peel were still alive, these guys would be a household name. I also love there white reggae track "Too Late".

This is probably the best debut album I've heard from a new band this year. The Library are the Burt Bacharach of rock. "Take us out tonight . . . in the backseat please. . . take us somewhere new."

Bjork Declares Independence with Volta

2007-05-13T19:09:00.001Z

I read some reviews of Bjork's new album "Volta" in numerous national newspapers here in the UK. One review said something along the lines abou the fact that all the news songs sounded old Bjork who was at her avant-garde peak 10 years ago, or that she was trying to sound retro and that now she was outdated.

To appreciate Bjork you have to be in love with her passion for music. Problem is, we live in such a fast-moving download digital world, where informationi flows instantly, to the point where jadded rock critics (who get their CDs send to them for free), tend to lose attention to detail, and because they don't pay for the music, their criticisms aren't authentic.

"Volta" is a unique and special album from one of music's greatest minds. Nothing is obvious on this album, and Bjork doesn't turn into a cliche nor does she try to re-invent the past. Yeah, sure there are some nods to older songs via the signature style of her vocal delivery, hoever, I defy anyone to tell me there is anyone doing what Bjork is doing at the moment.

There are no pop singles on this album, and for good reason. On "Hope" Bjork asks the question "What's the lesser of two evils? If a suicide bomber made to look pregnant, manages to kill the the target or not?" The music is slow. Bjork plays clavichord and sine bass. Timbaland triggers pre-recorded percussion loops.

On "Innocence" the track kicks off with a hip-hop vocal grunt which is repeated as a percussive sample. The track is like homemade beats with a techno wack impact. Timbaland produced the track and provides keyboards and beats. It's wild and inspiring, and believe me, Gwen Stefani could never sing this track like Bjork does.

Stand out track is "Feel The Independence" where Bjork sings "Declare indpendence, don't let them do that to you. Start your own currency, make your own stamp, protect your language, make your own flag..."

DEVO: Still eliminating the ninnies from the twits

2007-05-12T00:48:00.002Z

DEVO, the famed Akron, Ohio rock band return to UK shores for the first time in 15 years.

The very idea of DEVO peforming a string of concert dates in the welfare states in intriguing. Just when Tony Blair was on his way out...

DEVO play Jarvis Cocker's Meltdown on June 19th at the Royal Festival Hall in London. They also plays dates in Brighton, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and a second London show on June 26th at Shepherds Bush Empire.

I recall a video they made for the single "Through Being Cool" which included the lyric "Separate the ninnies from the twits." The sentiment is quite apt today. I'm subjected to working with a lot of twits. It's nice DEVO wrote a song about it.

The "Through With Being Cool" promo is hilarious as it depicts American teenagers dressed up in DEVO gear jumping around in what looks like the backlot to Michael Jackson's Thriller video. There's even a breakdancing sequence towards the end. This is pre-Beastie Boys without the hip-hop element.

Kids with guns. Video stars. Young alien types (you know the kind).

Lou Reed: No Preconceptions, Only Meditation

2007-05-10T23:34:00.000Z

The first thing that hits you when listening to Lou Reed's new meditation and relaxation album is the sheer hypnotic impact, simplicity and soothing nature of the audio soundscapes. It's a magical, uplifting and spiritual recording that connects more with your mind and then relaxes your body.

This ain't rock'n'roll. This ain't Metal Machine Music Part 2. This is "Hudson River Wind Meditations"; the new album from Lou Reed.

"I first composed this music for myself as an adjunct to meditation, Tai Chi and bodywork," says Lou on the liner notes of the CD, "and as music to play in the background of life - to replace the everyday cacophony with new and ordered sounds of an unpredictable nature."

The track listing says it all . . .

1. Move Your Heart (28:54)
2. Find Your Note (31:35)
3. Hudson River Wind (Blend the Ambiance) (1:50)
4. Wind Coda (5:23)

A practitioner of Yoga and Tai Chi , Reed brings his unique sensitivity and knowledge of a broad spectrum of music genres to provide a tranquil bed of soothing harmonics that opens the heart and eases the mind. The pieces on this hypnotic album will wash away tension and negative energy with sparse instrumentation and subtle waves of electronic sound.

Vision magazine recently published a fascinating interview with Reed, where he openly talks about the Wind Meditations album - http://www.visionmagazine.com/feature1.htm

The album is released by the independent new age and well-being label 'Sounds True' ("Tools and teachings to spark your inner evolution").

Check out Lou's album on their official site - http://store.soundstrue.com/mm01117d.html

Lou Reed’s fans have learned to expect the unexpected,but his latest work may still come as a surprise. After four decades in the rock spotlight,Lou Reed has turned his attention to the world of meditation music, inviting listeners on a relaxing journey to the hidden territory of his inner landscape. With Hudson River Wind Meditations, the iconic “art rocker” presents his first album created specifically for quiet contemplation.

After listening to "Move Your Heart" and halfway through "Find Your Note", I felt totally relaxed and calm. This is an essential record that relieves daily stress. What's more, it shows a different side to the Lou Reed we've grown to know and love.

Lou Reed Does Berlin (with a 30-piece orchestra)

2007-05-08T18:55:00.000Z

Lou Reed is coming to Europe in June with a 30-piece orchestra to peform his critically acclaimed 1973 album "Berlin". Reed performed the world premiere of Berlin last December at St. Anne's Warehouse in New York City. The reviews were amazing.

The publicity for the European tour of Berlin includes a funny if not sarcastic quote from the man himself - "One time, one time only; you can tell your kids you saw Berlin."

Typical Lou. He talks like he's a circus ringleader. Miss this at your peril and you'll never get a chance to see him peform the album again. Talk about mental anguish.

The new show will feature the New London Children's choir, a string section, a horn section and Lou's core rock band.

Berlin is on of those rare albums that tends to tap a nerve. It's atmospheric, sad and haunting. When the album was originally released in '73, the majority of rock critics slated it. It wasn't Transformer 2. But like Iggy and The Stooges "Raw Power" or the early Velvet Underground albums or the first New York Dolls album, the mainstream didn't get it. These albums didn't shift units. Record executives had nothing good to snort about (no pun intended).

I mean, on face value, and album about a housewife who turns to drugs and prostitution in Berlin, and then commits suicide, isn't exactly Norah Jones or Corrine Bailey Ray territory. I mean, Amy Winehouse might be the new shrunken head/big hair she devil, but that doesn't mean rock and roll records can't have a place outside of traditional music.

Berlin has it all - from Caroline Says, The Bed, The Kids, How Do You Think It Feels, Men of Good Fortune, Sad Song, Oh Jim. Can you just imagine what this concert is going to sound like with horns, strings and a choir. This could be Lou's swansong. History in the making.

Don't forget to bring junior along to the fesitivities.

Lou Reed, Berlin forever - www.loureed.com.

Grindhouse: I Want the Quentin Tarantino Action Figure

2007-05-07T18:36:00.001Z

So, the word up in the UK is that there is a delay on the release on two full length feature Grindhouse movies written by Quentin Tarantino & Robert Rodriguez put together as a B movie double feature combo including fake movie trailers sandwiched in between. The films opened recently in the US and the takings at the box office were not great as expected.

Surprised?

The word on the street is that people couldn't hack the 3-hour plus running time of both films. On paper the concept is hilarious, but somehow it defied the law of gravity and failed to translate with the i-Pod generation who have as much patience as a digital donut.

IMDb said it best - "a double-bill of thrillers that recall both filmmakers' favorite exploitation films. "Grindhouse" (a downtown movie theater in disrepair since its glory days as a movie palace known for "grinding out" non-stop double-bill programs of B-movies) is presented as one full-length feature comprised of two individual films helmed separately by each director. Tarantino's film, "Death Proof," is a rip-roaring slasher flick where the killer pursues his victims with a car rather than a knife, while Rodriguez's film "Planet Terror" shows us a view of the world in the midst of a zombie outbreak. The films are joined together by clever faux trailers that recall the '50s exploitation drive-in classics."

Why didn't the the American movie going public didn't latch on to the double feature movie drive-in vibe of these two cinematic monsters?

I can't wait to see Rose McGowan as 'Cherry Darling' in Planet Terror. NECA Toys has even made a Quentin Tarantino action figure entitled "Rapist No #1". It's hilarious.

Meanwhile, the UK film distributor is having kittens over releasing the two films back to back. There's now talk that Mirrormax is re-editing both films to make them shorter, which, to me, defeats the whole purpose of presenting these films in their originial cut.

The American movie market is steeped in Disney-friendly test screenings. The investors don't want to gamble on their financial investments. This is why the majority of today's movies are predictable, cliche and boring. Boy meets girl, boy gets girl, audience goes home with nothing new. No wonder the film industry is in trouble!

More power to Rodriguez and Tarantino for sticking it to the traditional Hollywood star system. I guess what Mirrormax is trying to do is what they did on Kill Bill 1 and Kill Bill 2. Both Kill Bills were originally one 3-hour movie, but the studio realized that the US film audiences wouldn't be able to sit through 3 hours of gore and violence, so they split the film in two and released it in two stages. It seemed to have been critically and commercially successful.

The same cannot apply to Grindhouse because 'Death Proof' and 'Planet Terror' were made to be seen side by side. It saddens me that today's cinema goers have now conception of what it is like to go to the movies with your friends and watch two B movies back to back, eat a lot of popcorn and feel bug-eyed when you leave the cinema. It's a great movie going tradition which mean anything to today's moving going public.

Tarantino and Rodriguez are adventerous in their quest for originality and cool, but today's Pepsi generation is too steeped in Spiderman 3 and Fantastic Four Do Dallas. But don't let the big studios influence you in your judgement. 'Death Proof' and 'Planet Terror' are both works of art. If you dug 'Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill Kill', these films are for you.

Spiderman 3 - Peter Parker Goes My Chemical Romance

2007-05-06T19:45:00.000Z

Caught the new Spiderman 3 flick on Saturday. The film wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. The whole storyline with Kirsten Dunst being a theatrical singer was really bizarre. But even more baffling was how strange Peter Parker started behaving after he put on the black Spidey suit.

Next thing you know he looks like he's playing bass guitar for My Chemical Romance, sports an Emu haircut and eyeliner. He walks down the street to the Bee Gees' 'Staying Alive', looking at all the hot chicks.

I am sure Sam Raimi had something up his sleeve here, but what was a superhero franchise, started to turn into an episode straight out the OC.

There's no denying the visual effects were stunning, but you just couldn't help thinking what they are going to do next with Spiderman 4. There has to be another film to the series, because this one ended with a soppy love story element to it which was unsurprisingly corny and predictably American.

The romantic thread between Peter Parker and Mary Jane was very suspect. In Spidey 3, Peter studies at school with some hot blonde babe who looks a million times sexier than Kirsten, verging on hooker territory. I am sure Kirsten is a nice babe, but she tends to come across like a moody brat. You can't help but want to snap her out of her post-teen coma.

What was she doing snogging Green Goblin?

Sandman was a fascinating super villain. Venom was interesting but he didn't get enough screen time. I liked how Raimi brought back the Green Goblin and used this character as a counterpoint to Peter Parker's paranoia.

Spiderman 3 was a lot better than the recent Batman and Superman movies. I think if Raimi can get even more subversive on the next Spidey movie, we might even start seeing the real Peter Parker; former heroin addict and ex-porn star... but don't expect an action figure. Popcorn for everyone. But please, no more test screenings. Just make Spiderman real.