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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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.