Where Monk was mysteriously interior and Coltranebeatific, Mingus was volcanic, a big, turbulent man who notoriously punched the embouchure and prospects of his trombonist Jimmy Knepper to bits, and regularly blew his own career stormily off-course. His autobiography Beneath The Underdog saw his music subsumed by wild pornographic excess, even a composing sanctum in a plush New York pad paid for by the tortured pimping of willing lovers. Where smack and a wounded liver were the crosses Coltrane’s genius bore, libido and temper were Mingus’, snagged at root on American racism’s barbed-wire, which sometimes made him feel that even playing jazz was a defeat, compared to the major classical writing his skin colour (and Nina Simone’s and Billy Strayhorn’s) denied him. His music’s surging peak in 1957-’65 sublimated this painful, erratic, wholly committed life into passages of churning ecstasy, near chaos and sorrowful beauty. Tenderness and yearning spirituality were this furious man’s grace notes, as strong as gentle John Coltrane’s.
These two vinyl reissues are part of Universal’s jazz imprints’ new high-end, high-priced range. Mastered from analogue, with luxurious sleeves, they actually offer vinyl fetishists’ mythic warmth and fidelity for an extra tenner, so this is as good a way as any to sink into Mingus.
Mingus’ own exhaustive liner notes to The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady (1963), setting out his compositions’ ambition, castigating his pianist and bemoaning his arranger’s fee, asking the listener to “throw all other records of mine away except maybe one other”, then leaving his psychiatrist to describe the album, gives a pungent, early taste of the man. The album is a song-suite, with the opener Solo Dancer entering on a swarm of saxes, the sound choppily tidal and almost inchoate, but achieving a turbulent coherence that partly defines its composer. Group Dancers is fragmented, clashing dance music, its Spanish guitar meant to recall the Spanish Inquisition; Mingus’ lonely, intimately personal classical piano solo lingers longer.
Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (1964) is more approachable, revisiting themes from the revered Mingus Ah Um (1959), with Mingus’ bass high in the mix. On Ellington’s Mood Indigo, he finds in his previously unheralded instrument airy melody and pianistic introspection, as mournfully slow and delicate brass completes a version of riverine, languid bliss, finding the familiar tune’s perfect essence. 1 x Love sees the clarinet floating across a sensuous arrangement, and the smooching saxes breathily full and sweet, in a dreamily intoxicated tune. Theme For Lester Young is Mingus’ renamed standard Goodbye Pork Pie Hat, where the beautiful love behind his blinding rage is clear to hear.
Under The Lilac Sky, the closing track from Arushi Jain’s album of the same name, is a startling thing. Moving through a series of gorgeously built patterns for modular synth that spiral around each other like double helixes, it’s a composition that can place you in an entirely different emotional and psychic realm to the quotidian spaces of our daily surroundings, while still serving the everyday needs and desires of the listener. In Jain’s embrace both of modular synthesis and the Indian classical tradition that forms the backbone of her musical education, we can find an experimenter’s eye for possibility and detail, alongside a sensitivity to time, place and mood: a drive towards the evocative through the ritual and the sensual.
It has taken Jain a little while to find her metier. Growing up in her extended family home in Delhi, she started singing with her family at age eight, embracing a collective musicality that eventually would have her train vocally at both the Ravi Shankar Institute and Prayag Hindustani Music School. Relocating to the US for college, she immersed herself in computer science, temporarily abandoning music. Eventually, though, she returned to those roots via electronic music, studying at Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford University, California, and finding her way, through trial and error,
to modular synthesis.
It certainly makes an abstract kind of sense for an artist to cross back over from computer science to synthesis – they’re both about getting under the hood and digging into the nuts and bolts of the thing. Jain’s music and compositions are certainly grounded by a strong capacity to tease out the possibilities proffered by her modular rack, something you can hear on the download and cassette releases she has quietly distributed over the past few years under the name OSE, such as 2019’s lovely With & Without. That album, a set of interpretations of ragas, sets the parameters for what Jain achieves on her debut under her own name.
One of the many achievements of Under The Lilac Sky – beyond its arresting tenor, its everyday beauty – is the relationships that Jain develops between electronic music and modular synthesis, and the tradition of Indian (particularly Hindustani) classical music that she continues to draw from. It’s a deep, symbiotic connection Jain is exploring, not a translation or transposition so much as a ludic but deeply felt interpretation of the music that the artist grew up singing and studying. Some of Lilac Sky was composed for Jain’s sunset performance at the Magnetic Fields Festival in Rajasthan, India; with that in mind, she has drawn sensitively from evening ragas of the Hindustani tradition, notably desh, khamaj and kafi.
This context is important for grabbing hold of the nuance of Jain’s compositions here, but it’s not essential to be across the intricacies of Indian classical music to appreciate what she’s doing throughout Lilac Sky. Opening with Richer Than Blood, the album immediately embraces both the expansive and the intimate, with sky-strafing trails of tone shooting arcs across the stereo spectrum as Jain’s vocals slip between the folds of texture. It’s a particularly resonant opener for Jain: “The track itself is rather simple, on purpose,” she says, “just like my relationship with Indian classical music is. Simple, but deep.”
From there, the album moves through several distinct yet complementary approaches to modular synth sound design. Look How Far We Have Come sets mellifluous arpeggiations adrift, the lightness of their touch belying Jain’s sturdy compositional gambit. On The Sun Swirls Within You, much like the album’s opener, Jain is singing a dadra (which she explains is a “light classical vocal compositional style”) in raga desh, allowing the hypnotic warp and weft of the vocal ornamentation to pirouette across a thick, abraded drone. “I decided to sing this old composition without any traditional percussive aesthetics,” she says, “and instead decided to pair it with a drone and light percussive sounds composed of samples of my voice that were granulated and stretched to
sound percussive.”
There’s something deeply arresting about the way Jain allows these compositions to sit, patiently, and explore the multiple nuances of the caverns of tonology she’s teasing from this deceptively simple intersection of modular synthesis and voice. And while there are many current practitioners of modular synthesis her work could stand alongside, Jain also connects with a broader, at times subterranean history of electronics – the appealing blankness of AFRI Studios or Asmus Tietchens; the quizzical drifts of Miki Yui, and of Sonic Boom’s Experimental Audio Research project. However you hear it, though, Jain’s embrace of the power of texturology, coupled with her transliterations of Indian classical music, makes for profoundly affecting listening.
The track will appear on The Lockdown Sessions, John‘s recently announced collaborations album which will also feature Lil Nas X, Miley Cyrus, Dua Lipa, Eddie Vedder and more.
’I couldn’t be more proud of ‘Finish Line’,” John said of the song in a statement. “I’d go as far as to say it’s one of the best records I’ve ever made.
“Stevie’s voice is as good as I can ever remember hearing him – he sounds like a 17-year-old again, he’s singing with a sheer joy and exuberance in his vocals. Andrew Watt has done an unbelievable job on the production. It was a magical process.”
John continued: “I’ve always loved collaborating with Stevie, and I’m delighted that after 50 years of friendship we finally get to do a full blown duet. He has always been so kind and sweet to me, and his talent is beyond ridiculous. When you listen to what he does vocally and instrumentally on ‘Finish Line’ you think, this is a true genius here.”
Speaking of the track, Stevie Wonder added: “It is both a joy and honour to sing, play piano and harmonica for Elton! He has truly been one of the great spirits of music, life, friendship and love, who I’ve met on this life journey! True artistry and music like love equals a forever commitment lasting many lifetimes.
“And Elton, anyone who hears your voice singing ‘Finish Line’ will hear and feel your wisdom, your pain, your soul, your love, but also your resilience….. I love it!! Congratulations to you and our forever and never, never-ending music, friendship, life-song! Long live Sir Elton John!!!”
Recorded over the last 18 months, work on the singer’s 32nd studio album – which is due to arrive on October 22 – began after he was forced to pause his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“The last thing I expected to do during lockdown was make an album,” John said in a statement. “But, as the pandemic went on, one‐off projects kept cropping up.”
Earlier this month, John announced that he has been forced to reschedule his remaining 2021 Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour dates to 2023 due to a hip injury, saying that it is a decision he took “with great sadness and a heavy heart”.
The mid-tempo track is the first preview of Mellencamp’s upcoming 25th album, according to the singer-songwriter’s official website.
According to Springsteen, he can be heard on three of the album’s tracks. “I worked on three songs on John’s album and I spent some time in Indiana with him,” Springsteen told SiriusXM’s E Street Radio earlier this year.
“I love John a lot. He’s a great songwriter and I have become very close and had a lot of fun with him. I sang a little bit on his record.”
“Wasted Days” hears the pair sing about making the most of the time we have. “How many summers still remain,” Mellencamp asks at the beginning of the track. “How many days are lost in vain?” Later, Springsteen sings: “Who on earth is worth our time? Is there a heart here that I can call mine?”
The track comes with a music video that shows the pair sitting in a living room playing cards, which is contrasted with Springsteen and Mellencamp later playing on an outdoor stage under tree lights. You can watch it below.
“Wasted Days” features Mellencamp’s band and Springsteen on electric guitar. Violin player Miriam Sturm and accordion player Troye Kinnett also appear as featured soloists.
Meanwhile, Springsteen is set to release a concert film showing his 1979 No Nukes concerts alongside the E Street Band.
The 1979 No Nukes concerts film will feature footage of the band’s entire setlist from the Madison Square Garden MUSE benefit concerts for the first time, including 10 never-before-released performances.
The multi-day No Nukes concerts featured a wealth of artists in support of a non-nuclear future, with Springsteen’s performance taking place while recording was underway on the album The River.
The cover of the Chi-Lites is set to appear on the band’s forthcoming 40th anniversary edition of their 1981 album Tattoo You, which will feature a number of previously unreleased tracks.
The newly remastered and expanded reissue is set to arrive on October 22, and will include nine extra songs as part of a Lost & Found: Rarities disc, recorded during the same era as the original 11-track album.
Watch the video for “Troubles A’ Comin”, which will appear on the Lost & Found disc, below:
Last week (September 23), the band shared another preview of the album in the form of a video for “Living in the Heart of Love”, which they dedicated to their late drummer, Charlie Watts.
During the show, which kicked off the band’s No Filter US stadium tour, Mick Jagger addressed the crowd, saying: “It’s a bit of a poignant night for us because it’s the first tour we’ve done in 59 years without our lovely Charlie Watts.” The band also released a tribute video to Watts in the days following his death.
Last month, it was announced that the band were set to play their upcoming US tour dates as planned despite the death of Watts.
It was announced prior to Watts‘ death that the drummer wouldn’t join the band on their autumn No Filter tour dates, with his bandmates sharing messages of support. Longtime Stones associate Steve Jordan was announced to be replacing him on drums for the 13-date tour.
Watts then sadly died aged 80, prompting tributes to pour in from across the music world.
It was announced earlier this month that a 33-minute cassette recording was being sold by four Danish men who met Lennon when they were teenagers.
The Beatles star was spending the winter of 1969-1970 in a small Danish town on the west coast, spending time with his wife Yoko Ono’s daughter Kyoko, who was living with her father in Jutland.
The audio, which was recorded after a press conference, includes a conversation between the four teenagers, Lennon and some local journalists. After their chat, Lennon played a number of songs for them, including a track called “Radio Peace”, which remains unreleased.
The artefact went under the hammer in Copenhagen earlier thisi week (September 28), and while it was expected to fetch between €27,000-€40,000 (£23,000-£34,000), the final figure it sold for was £43,000 (370,000 Danish kroner).
John Lennon and Yoko Ono in Denmark in 1970. Credit: Anthony Cox/Keystone/Getty Images
Recorded on January 5, 1970, the half-an-hour conversation came after the four Danish boys managed to secure an interview with Lennon and Yoko Ono for a school magazine.
During the conversation, they discussed the couple’s ongoing peace campaign, Lennon‘s problems with the image of The Beatles – who broke up just a few months after the conversation – and more.
Pink Floyd‘s David Gilmour has shared a demo version of “Yet Another Movie” ahead of the reissue of the band’s 1987 album A Momentary Lapse of Reason – hear it below.
The album, which was the band’s first following the departure of Roger Waters, will be reissued on October 29 via Sony and feature a Remixed and Updated edition on vinyl, CD, DVD and more.
It will also be available in 360 Reality Audio, described as “a new immersive music experience that closely mimics the omni-directional soundscape of live musical performance for the listener using Sony’s object-based 360 Spatial Sound technologies.”
Discussing “Yet Another Movie” in a statement, Gilmour said: “Pat Leonard and I met up at Astoria in September 1986 a couple of days after I had played on a Bryan Ferry track that he was producing.
“We had a glass or two of wine and jammed for hours. For some reason that I can no longer remember I had chosen the fretless bass as my instrument of the day. It turned into a beautiful song.”
Listen to the demo version below:
Gilmour expanded upon his memories of the 1987 album in the same statement, saying: “Some years after we had recorded the album, we came to the conclusion that we should update it to make it more timeless, featuring more of the traditional instruments that we liked and that we were more used to playing.
“This was something we thought it would benefit from. We also looked for and found some previously unused keyboard parts of Rick’s which helped us to come up with a new vibe, a new feeling for the album.”
Drummer Nick Mason added: “There’s little doubt of the advantages in being able to find new elements within the music, or more often uncovering elements that became overwhelmed with all that new science…
“I think there is an element of taking the album back in time and taking the opportunity to create a slightly more open sound – utilising some of the things we had learned from playing so much of the album live over two massive tours.”
The band’s film chronicled the 101st and final performance of their Music For The Masses world tour, recorded live at California’s Pasadena Rose Bowl on June 18, 1988. Depeche Mode 101, helmed by D.A. Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus and David Dawkins, also followed contest winners travelling across the US to attend the landmark Rose Bowl gig.
Now, the HD release will feature unseen footage from the show, including bonus performances of “A Question of Lust”, “Sacred” and “Something To Do” plus the official promotional video for “Everything Counts”.
It’s released on December 3, 2021 (pre-order) as a limited edition 5 disc (Blu-ray/2DVD/2CD) box set with additional bonus content. Fans can also buy it as standalone Blu-ray.
Per press material, additional contents in the limited edition Depeche Mode 101 box set include: a 48 page behind-the-scenes story of the day photo book; a 20″ x 30″ replica of original US theatrical release movie poster; a 16 page Anton Corbijn Photo Mode book as featured in the original album release; a double CD of the original 20 track 101 concert release; and a Download Card providing access to 4K downloads of the film and bonus performances plus 24-bit audio files of the 101 concert release.
The two DVDs in the set contain the original extras from the 2003 DVD release of Depeche Mode – 101, which are exclusive to the DVD discs.
Depeche Mode 101 box set. Credit: Press
Depeche Mode said in a statement: “It’s incredible to be able to see D.A. Pennebaker’s film and this period of our career presented in this new high-definition light.”
Co-director Chris Hegedus added: “We were thrilled to partner with Sony Music on the digital restoration of Depeche Mode 101, definitely one of our all-time favourite films and one of our favourite filmmaking experiences.
“DM 101‘s parallel realities following the historic tour of this pioneering British band as they storm across America bringing an exciting new sound to the masses, along with an intimate view of a bus load of ardent young fans on an unforgettable road trip to the Rose Bowl made this documentary a groundbreaking influence on the reality genre. Making this movie was a grand adventure for both of us (Pennebaker and Hegedus)…. By the end of the tour, we became their biggest fans. We are excited to introduce this new release to audiences.”
The song follows earlier singles “Rae Street” and “Before You Gotta Go”. It’s the latest taste of her third album, which is released on November 12 via Marathon Artists.
Some of the lyrics in the song read: “Sit beside me, watch the world burn / We’ll never learn we don’t deserve nice things / And we’ll scream self-righteously / We did our best, but what does that even mean?”
Barnett said of the track: “I found a deeper communication with people in my life – deeper conversations. And a new level of gratitude for friendships that had been there for so long that I had maybe taken for granted.”
The Australian singer-songwriter recently acknowledged similarities between the recently released music video for her single “Before You Gotta Go” and fellow Melbourne act Quivers’ clip for “You’re Not Always On My Mind”.
Both music videos feature the respective musicians heading out into the field and recording audio samples from the natural world. Additionally, the lyric from Barnett’s song, “You’re always on my mind”, is similar to the title of the Quivers song.
On social media, Barnett promoted the Quivers video, saying: “I thought I had come up with a beautiful, original idea for a video, but it seems like I was wrong.
“I’d like to introduce you to Melbourne band [Quivers] and director [Nina Renee] who had the same idea way before me,” she wrote. “Any similarities are completely coincidental and if I had seen this clip when I was making mine I would have completely changed my concept or the way we explored it.”
Back in the depths of winter lockdown, Tamara Lindeman made our lives a little more bearable with the release of her soaring fifth album, Ignorance.
Today, she’s announced a deluxe version of the album featuring a whole disc of bonus material, including “Better Now” which you can hear below:
“Whenever you make anything, you have to leave things out,” says Lindeman. “It’s a critical part of the process, but a painful one nonetheless. I’m glad to have the opportunity to revisit the paths not taken, and allow some of them out after all; quiet versions of songs that were redirected into rhythm, two of the songs we recorded but left off the album, and some live versions of the songs that have come to be since the recording. It has been overwhelming to have this album be so lovingly received, and it is wonderful to have the space to release more of it into the world.”
You can stream Ignorance (Deluxe Edition) – or pre-order the 2xLP version, coming November 19 – here.
To round off a eventful year, Lindeman has agreed to answer your questions for Uncut’s next Audience With feature. So what do you want to ask? Send your questions to audiencewith@www.uncut.co.uk by Wednesday (October 6) and Tamara will answer the best ones in a future issue of Uncut.
David Bowie’s lost early-2000s album Toy is to finally get a release in November as part of the Brilliant Adventure (1992-2001) box set. It will also be released in January as an expanded 3xCD/6×10″ box set.
Following Bowie’s Glastonbury 2000 performance, he entered the studio with his band, Mark Plati, Sterling Campbell, Gail Ann Dorsey, Earl Slick, Mike Garson, Holly Palmer and Emm Gryner, to record new interpretations of songs he’d first recorded from 1964-1971.
When Bowie was unable to release the album instantly as he’d hoped, he dropped the idea and moved on to working on Heathen. Now twenty years after its originally planned release, co-producer Mark Plati says, “Toy is like a moment in time captured in an amber of joy, fire and energy. It’s the sound of people happy to be playing music.”
Hear the Toy track “You’ve Got A Habit Of Leaving (Radio Edit)” below:
Brilliant Adventure (1992-2001) will be released by Parlophone/ISO on November 26. Toy (Toy:Box) will follow on January 7, 2022, the day before Bowie’s birthday. Peruse the full tracklistings below and pre-order here.
CD1 TOY
I Dig Everything
You’ve Got A Habit Of Leaving
The London Boys
Karma Man
Conversation Piece
Shadow Man
Let Me Sleep Beside You
Hole In The Ground
Baby Loves That Way
Can’t Help Thinking About Me
Silly Boy Blue
Toy (Your Turn To Drive)
CD 2 TOY- Alternatives & Extras
Liza Jane
You’ve Got A Habit of Leaving (alternative mix) *
Baby Loves That Way (alternative mix) *
Can’t Help Thinking About Me (alternative mix)
I Dig Everything (alternative mix)
The London Boys (alternative version)
Silly Boy Blue (Tibet version)
Let Me Sleep Beside You (alternative mix) *
In The Heat Of The Morning
Conversation Piece (alternative mix) *
Hole In The Ground (alternative mix)
Shadow Man (alternative mix) *
Toy (Your Turn To Drive) (alternative mix) *
*Previously released
CD 3 TOY – Unplugged & Somewhat Slightly Electric
In The Heat Of The Morning (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)
I Dig Everything (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)
You’ve Got A Habit of Leaving (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)
The London Boys (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)
Karma Man (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)
Conversation Piece (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)
Shadow Man (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)
Let Me Sleep Beside You (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)
Hole In The Ground (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)
Baby Loves That Way (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)
Can’t Help Thinking About Me (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)
Silly Boy Blue (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)
Toy (Your Turn To Drive) (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)
DAVID BOWIE 5. BRILLIANT ADVENTURE (1992 – 2001)
CD Tracklistings
BLACK TIE WHITE NOISE
The Wedding
You’ve Been Around
I Feel Free
Black Tie White Noise (featuring Al B. Sure!)
Jump They Say
Nite Flights
Pallas Athena
Miracle Goodnight
Don’t Let Me Down & Down
Looking for Lester
I Know It’s Gonna Happen Someday
The Wedding Song
THE BUDDHA OF SUBURBIA
Buddha of Suburbia
Sex and the Church
South Horizon
The Mysteries
Bleed Like a Craze, Dad
Strangers When We Meet
Dead Against It
Untitled No. 1
Ian Fish, U.K. Heir
Buddha of Suburbia (featuring Lenny Kravitz on guitar)
OUTSIDE
Leon Takes Us Outside
Outside
The Hearts Filthy Lesson
A Small Plot of Land
Baby Grace (A Horrid Cassette)” (segue)
Hallo Spaceboy
The Motel
I Have Not Been to Oxford Town
No Control
Algeria Touchshriek (segue)
The Voyeur of Utter Destruction (as Beauty)
Ramona A. Stone/I Am with Name (segue)
Wishful Beginnings
We Prick You
Nathan Adler (segue)
I’m Deranged
Thru’ These Architects Eyes
Nathan Adler (segue)
Strangers When We Meet
EARTHLING
Little Wonder
Looking for Satellites
Battle for Britain (The Letter)
Seven Years in Tibet
Dead Man Walking
Telling Lies
The Last Thing You Should Do
I’m Afraid of Americans
Law (Earthlings on Fire)
‘hours…’
Thursday’s Child
Something in the Air
Survive
If I’m Dreaming My Life
Seven
What’s Really Happening?
The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell
New Angels of Promise
Brilliant Adventure
The Dreamers
BBC RADIO THEATRE, LONDON, JUNE 27, 2000 2xCD
CD1
Wild Is the Wind
Ashes to Ashes
Seven
This Is Not America
Absolute Beginners
Always Crashing in the Same Car
Survive
The London Boys
I Dig Everything
Little Wonder
CD2
The Man Who Sold the World
Fame
Stay
Hallo Spaceboy
Cracked Actor
I’m Afraid of Americans
All the Young Dudes
Starman
“Heroes”
Let’s Dance
TOY
I Dig Everything
You’ve Got A Habit Of Leaving
The London Boys
Karma Man
Conversation Piece
Shadow Man
Let Me Sleep Beside You
Hole In The Ground
Baby Loves That Way
Can’t Help Thinking About Me
Silly Boy Blue
Toy (Your Turn To Drive)
RE:CALL 5 3xCD
CD1
Real Cool World (Sounds From The Cool World Soundtrack Version)
Jump They Say (7” version)
Lucy Can’t Dance
Black Tie White Noise (feat Al B. Sure!) (Radio Edit)
Don’t Let Me Down & Down (Indonesian Vocal Version)
Buddha Of Suburbia (Single Version) (featuring Lenny Kravitz on guitar)
The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Radio Edit)
Nothing To Be Desired
Strangers When We Meet (edit)
Get Real
The Man Who Sold The World (Live Eno Mix)
I’m Afraid Of Americans (Showgirls Soundtrack Version)
Hallo Spaceboy (Remix)
I Am With Name (Alternative Version)
A Small Plot Of Land (Long Basquiat Soundtrack Version)
CD2
Little Wonder (Edit)
A Fleeting Moment (aka Severn Years In Tibet – Mandarin Version)
Dead Man Walking (Edit)
Seven Years In Tibet (Edit)
Planet Of Dreams – David Bowie and Gail Ann Dorsey
I’m Afraid Of Americans (V1 – Edit)
I Can’t Read (The Ice Storm Long Version)
A Foggy Day In London Town – David Bowie and Angelo Badalamenti
Fun (BowieNet Mix)
The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell (Stigmata Soundtrack Version)
Thursday’s Child (Radio Edit)
We All Go Through
No One Calls
CD3
We Shall Go To Town
1917
The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell (Edit)
Thursday’s Child (Omikron: The Nomad Soul Version)
New Angels Of Promise (Omikron: The Nomad Soul Version)
The Dreamers (Omikron: The Nomad Soul Version)
Seven (Demo)
Survive (Marius De Vries mix)
Something In The Air (American Psycho Remix)
Seven (Marius De Vries Mix)
Pictures Of Lily
DAVID BOWIE 5. BRILLIANT ADVENTURE (1992 – 2001)
LP Tracklistings
BLACK TIE WHITE NOISE 2xLP
Side 1
The Wedding
You’ve Been Around
I Feel Free
Side 2
Black Tie White Noise (featuring Al B. Sure!)
Jump They Say
Nite Flights
Side 3
Pallas Athena
Miracle Goodnight
Don’t Let Me Down & Down
Side 4
Looking for Lester
I Know It’s Gonna Happen Someday
The Wedding Song
THE BUDDHA OF SUBURBIA 2xLP
Side 1
Buddha of Suburbia
Sex and the Church
South Horizon
Side 2
The Mysteries
Bleed Like a Craze, Dad
Side 3
Strangers When We Meet
Dead Against It
Untitled No. 1
Side 4
Ian Fish, U.K. Heir
Buddha of Suburbia (featuring Lenny Kravitz on guitar)
1.OUTSIDE 2xLP
Side 1
Leon Takes Us Outside
Outside
The Hearts Filthy Lesson
A Small Plot of Land
Side 2
Baby Grace (A Horrid Cassette)” (segue)
Hallo Spaceboy
The Motel
I Have Not Been to Oxford Town
Side 3
No Control
Algeria Touchshriek (segue)
The Voyeur of Utter Destruction (as Beauty)
Ramona A. Stone/I Am with Name (segue)
Wishful Beginnings
Side 4
We Prick You
Nathan Adler (segue)
I’m Deranged
Thru’ These Architects Eyes
Nathan Adler (segue)
Strangers When We Meet
EARTHLING 2xLP
Side 1
Little Wonder
Looking for Satellites
Battle for Britain (The Letter)
Side 2
Seven Years in Tibet
Dead Man Walking
Telling Lies
Side 3
The Last Thing You Should Do
I’m Afraid of Americans
Law (Earthlings on Fire)
Side 4 – etching
‘hours…’
Side 1
Thursday’s Child
Something in the Air
Survive
If I’m Dreaming My Life
Side 2
Seven
What’s Really Happening?
The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell
New Angels of Promise
Brilliant Adventure
The Dreamers
BBC RADIO THEATRE, LONDON, JUNE 27, 2000 3xLP
Side 1
Wild Is the Wind
Ashes to Ashes
Seven
Side 2
This Is Not America
Absolute Beginners
Always Crashing in the Same Car
Side 3
Survive
The London Boys
I Dig Everything
Little Wonder
Side 4
The Man Who Sold the World
Fame
Stay
Side 5
Hallo Spaceboy
Cracked Actor
I’m Afraid of Americans
All the Young Dudes
Side 6
Starman
“Heroes”
Let’s Dance
TOY 2 x LP
Side 1
I Dig Everything
You’ve Got A Habit Of Leaving
The London Boys
Karma Man
Side 2
Conversation Piece
Shadow Man
Let Me Sleep Beside You
Hole In The Ground
Side 3
Baby Loves That Way
Can’t Help Thinking About Me
Silly Boy Blue
Toy (Your Turn To Drive)
Side 4 – Etching
RE:CALL 5 4xLP
Side 1
Real Cool World (Sounds From The Cool World Soundtrack Version)
Jump They Say (7” version)
Lucy Can’t Dance
Black Tie White Noise (Radio Edit) (featuring Al B. Sure!)
Side 2
Don’t Let Me Down & Down (Indonesian Vocal Version)
Buddha Of Suburbia (Single Version) (featuring Lenny Kravitz on guitar)
The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Radio Edit)
Nothing To Be Desired
Strangers When We Meet (edit)
Get Real
Side 3
The Man Who Sold The World (Live Eno Mix)
I’m Afraid Of Americans (Showgirls Soundtrack Version)
Hallo Spaceboy (Remix)
I Am With Name (Alternative Version)
A Small Plot Of Land (Long Basquiat Soundtrack Version)
Side 4
Little Wonder (Edit)
A Fleeting Moment (aka Severn Years In Tibet – Mandarin Version)
Dead Man Walking (Edit)
Seven Years In Tibet (Edit)
Planet Of Dreams – David Bowie and Gail Ann Dorsey
Side 5
I’m Afraid Of Americans (V1 – Edit)
I Can’t Read (The Ice Storm Long Version)
A Foggy Day In London Town – David Bowie and Angelo Badalamenti
Fun (Bowienet Mix)
The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell (Stigmata Soundtrack Version)
Side 6
Thursday’s Child (Radio Edit)
We All Go Through
No One Calls
We Shall Go To Town
1917
Side 7
The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell (Edit)
Thursday’s Child (Omikron: The Nomad Soul Version)
New Angels Of Promise (Omikron: The Nomad Soul Version)
The Dreamers (Omikron: The Nomad Soul Version)
Seven (Demo)
Side 8
Survive (Marius De Vries mix)
Something In The Air (American Psycho Remix)
Seven (Marius De Vries Mix)
Pictures Of Lily
September 7, 1979: Aberdeen’s Capitol Theatre is hosting a Friday-night concert by Siouxsie & The Banshees, who are just a few days into a tour supporting their new album, Join Hands. Rumours are rife that John McKay and Kenny Morris – the Banshees’ guitarist and drummer – have quit earlier that day, following a bust-up during a signing session at the city’s The Other Record Shop. When the Capitol Theatre opens its doors and the bar fills up, punters wonder whether the headliners will even appear. As the evening progresses, the signs aren’t good. The Cure, support band on the tour, play an extended set. Eventually, Siouxsie – in murderous mood – takes to the stage to address the crowd. The bouncers at the Capitol brace themselves for a riot.
Instead, after explaining what has happened to McKay and Morris, Siouxsie and bassist Steven Severin join The Cure for a 20-minute version of The Lord’s Prayer, complete with squealing feedback and Sioux wailing away.
When news broke that McKay and Morris had left the band, it was not the first seismic event to happen to the Banshees that month. They had started unravelling even before the tour began. McKay was dissatisfied with the production of Join Hands. A dawn photo shoot at Camber Sands ended acrimoniously. Just two days before Aberdeen, a show in Belfast was heavily delayed when the band’s equipment failed to turn up at the city’s Ulster Hall, leaving groups of angry, tired and bored fans to be dispersed by the RUC.
Meanwhile, as the final chords of The Lord’s Prayer ring out in the Capitol Theatre, a watershed has been reached. While less stubborn bands may have thrown in the towel, the bruised and bloodied Banshees turned adversity into an opportunity. But single-minded determination has always been a critical part of the band’s arsenal. “Siouxsie and Severin were very much carved out on their own ledge somewhat, looking down on everybody,” laughs the band’s long-serving drummer, Budgie.
In the aftermath of the Aberdeen show, the first of many mercurial transformations takes place. Travelling far beyond the jagged energy of their early recordings, a new lineup of Siouxsie & The Banshees presided over a peerless run of albums during the early ’80s – Kaleidoscope, Juju and A Kiss In The Dreamhouse. Together, they constitute the Banshees’ first imperial phase – a trio of richly atmospheric albums underpinned by the fluid explorations of new guitarist John McGeoch.
The Bristol punk band’s fourth album is the follow-up to last year’s Ultra Mono, which landed them their first Number One on the UK album chart.
Set to be released on November 12, CRAWLER – which is co-produced by Kenny Beats and IDLES guitarist Mark Bowen – was recorded at the famed Real World Studios in Bath during the coronavirus pandemic.
The album’s announcement comes alongside the release of its first single, “The Beachland Ballroom”, an “honest-to-goodness soul song” named after the iconic Ohio venue.
“It’s the most important song on the album, really,” IDLES frontman Joe Talbot said of the track. “There’s so many bands that go through the small rooms and dream of making it into the big rooms. Being able to write a soul tune like this made me go, fuck — we’re at a place where we’re actually allowed to go to these big rooms and be creative and not just go through the motions and really appreciate what we’ve got.”
He added: “The song is sort of an allegory of feeling lost and getting through it. It’s one that I really love singing.”
Bowen chimed in about the track, adding: “I didn’t know Joe could sing like that. He’s been trying to write ‘Be My Baby’ since the very beginning, but he didn’t want to be the punk guy wearing the Motown clothes. He wanted it to feel natural, and this song is.”
CRAWLER arrives on November 12 – see the tracklisting below and pre-order it here.
1. “MTT 420 RR”
2. “The Wheel”
3. “When the Lights Come On”
4. “Car Crash”
5. “The New Sensation”
6. “Stockholm Syndrome”
7. “The Beachland Ballroom”
8. “Crawl!”
9. “Meds”
10. “Kelechi”
11. “Progress”
12. “Wizz”
13. “King Snake”
14. “The End”
IDLES are gearing up to head out on a sold-out 23-date North American tour that begins on October 7. They will then play a run of sold-out UK and Ireland shows throughout January and February 2022 including a four-night stretch at O2 Academy Brixton in London. See the UK and Ireland dates below:
January 2022
16 – O2 Academy Brixton, London
17 – O2 Academy Brixton, London
18 – O2 Academy Brixton, London
19 – O2 Academy Brixton, London
21 – Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff
22 – O2 Academy, Birmingham
24 – Vicar Street, Dublin
25 – Vicar Street, Dublin
26 – Vicar Street, Dublin
28 – O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester
29 – O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester
30 – O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester
IDLES were also recently announced as one of the main headliners of Creation Day Festival 2022.
The festival is being curated by Creation Records co-founder Alan McGee, and had been set to debut this year before coronavirus-enforced restrictions forced its cancellation.
Ringo Starr has recalled a story of him jamming in his attic with the late Charlie Watts and John Bonham, saying it makes him wish TikTok existed in the 1970s.
The Beatles‘ drummer was speaking in a press conference about his new EP Change The World, when he remembered the three iconic drummers sharing a jam session.
“I had a drum kit up in the attic – it was like a cinema attic, music, whatever you want to do up there. Charlie came, and so did John Bonham,” he remembered. “We’ve got three drummers, just hanging out.
“Bonham got on the kit,” Ringo added of the late Led Zeppelin sticksman. “But because it was just like … you know, it’s not like onstage, where you nail them down, so they’re steady. It was just, like, there. So as he was playing, the bass drum was hopping away from him.
“You think, ‘Ah, man! That would have been a great little video, a TikTok or a photo [that] would have gone worldwide!” Ringo laughed.
“But in the ’70s, I had parties, and you’ll never find any photos because I wouldn’t let you take photos, you know, in my house. But I always think, That would have been a great shot to have.”
Ringo Starr. Credit: Scott Robert Ritchie
At the same press conference, Ringo paid tribute to late Rolling Stones drummer Watts, calling him a “beautiful human being.”
Upon the news of Watts’ death, Stones members Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood all shared tributes on social media, with the latter simply writing: “I love you my fellow Gemini ~ I will dearly miss you ~ you are the best”.
Taking place October 5 to 19, the exhibition – dubbed How To Completely Disappear – will be held at Christie’s headquarters.
Speaking to Christie’s about his work with Radiohead, Donwood revealed some of the influences that inspired the album covers and how the creative process unfolded.
“It’s quite rare for a band to be as interested in their visual representation as the music,” Donwood said of the band’s interest in the physical presentation of their album.
He explained he was invited to move into the studio during the recording of Kid A so that his paintings might “respond to the developing mood of the album”.
Donwood is selling six large-scale paintings he created for Kid A at the upcoming exhibition, alongside drawings, lyrics, and digital art made around this era in the band’s history. The series of dystopian landscapes were made in the period 1999-2001, and closely related to the final cover and sleeve art for Kid A.
We are thrilled to partner with @radiohead@thomyorke to present artworks by @StanleyDonwood who has created the cover art for #Radiohead's ground-breaking albums since The Bends in 1996. The paintings will be offered this October in First Open: Post-War and Contemporary Art. pic.twitter.com/MSOaR7lTYh
Asked about the dark nature of some of the paintings, Donwood said it had a lot to do with how he was feeling at the time.
“I had a lot of things on my mind to do with the ongoing conflict in the former Yugoslavia, and the death tolls,” he explained. “It was about some sort of cataclysmic power existing in the landscape.”
Yorke has previously said that he and Donwood were “obsessed with triangular mountains” and “had visions of pyramids flying over us”. Donwood elaborated further.
“We started to use the computer to collapse geology into itself and to exaggerate mountains and gorges,” Donwood said, “to populate the landscape with stalking creatures like pylons that had come to life, with half-completed cartoon behemoths and floating red cubes, aerial swimming pools of blood.”
Alan Lancaster, founding bassist of UK rock greats Status Quo, has died in Sydney, Australia, aged 72.
According to a post shared to Facebook by Australian entertainment reporter and Lancaster‘s close friend, Craig Bennett, the musician had been suffering from Multiple Sclerosis (MS) for some time.
“[I] am heartbroken to announce the passing of Alan Lancaster, British born music royalty, guitar God and founding member of iconic band, Status Quo,” Bennett wrote on 26 September.
“Despite having MS and issues with his mobility, Alan participated in hugely successful reunion tours… He bravely played to thousands of adoring fans..and loved being back with the band and his loyal Quo army.”
Read Bennett’s full post below:
At the request of his loving and deeply cherished family, am heartbroken to announce the passing of Alan Lancaster,…
Shortly after Bennett’s post, Status Quo confirmed the news of Lancaster’s passing.
“I am so sorry to hear of Alan’s passing,” vocalist Francis Rossi wrote in a statement shared by the band. “We were friends and colleagues for many years and achieved fantastic success together as the Frantic Four alongside Rick Parfitt and John Coghlan. Alan was an integral part of the sound and the enormous success of Status Quo during the 60s and 70s. Although it is well documented that we were estranged in recent years, I will always have very fond memories of our early days together and my condolences go to Dayle and Alan’s family.”
Status Quo’s manager Simon Porter added, “This is such sad news and my sincere condolences go out to Dayle and the family. It was an absolute pleasure to be able to reunite the original line up for two sellout tours in 2013/2014 and to give Status Quo Frantic Four fans a final legacy and such a lasting memory. Although Alan was not in the best of health even then, he got through the tours with determination and grit and was a pleasure to work with.”
Alan Lancaster – R.I.PIt is with great sadness that we report that Alan Lancaster – one of the original members of…
Lancaster and Rossi met at Sedgehill Comprehensive School in London, where they performed together in its orchestra. Along with two other classmates, they formed a group known as Scorpions. Undergoing two name changes before settling on Status Quo, Lancaster, Rossi and guitarist Rick Parfitt – who died in 2016 – launched their hit-making career with the release of “Pictures of Matchstick Men”.
From there, Lancaster performed with the group until 1985, appearing on 15 albums. The band enjoyed more than 60 Top 40 hits in the UK, had 25 UK Top 10 albums and released over 100 singles, including hit songs such as “Down Down” and “Whatever You Want”.
His last album with the band was 1983’s Back To Back.
Reuniting with Rossi, Parfitt and John Coghaln, Lancaster performed with Status Quo for a UK tour in 2013. His last ever show as a member was in Dublin in 2014.
Lancaster‘s last performance with Status Quo as a full-time member was there opening slot in 1985 for Live Aid, when Queen, U2, David Bowie, Elton John, and more also performed.
Lancaster had been living in Australia for 45 years, having migrated in the 1980s. There, he formed The Bombers with The Angels‘ guitarist John Brewster. He was also a member of Australian supergroup The Party Boys, in 1987, who enjoyed hits with covers of Argent‘s “Hold Your Head Up” and John Kongos‘ “He’s Gonna Step On You Again”.
The musician is survived by his wife, Dayle, whom he met on tour with Status Quo in Australia in 1973, their children, Alan Jr., Toni and David, and five grandchildren.
The show opened with an empty stage and only a drumbeat, with photos of Watts flashing on the giant stage screens.
“This is our first-ever tour we’ve ever done without him,” frontman Mick Jagger said during the early part of the show. “We’ll miss Charlie so much, on and off the stage.” The band then dedicated “Tumbling Dice” to Watts. You can view footage below.
The legendary rockers went on to perform a host of classics hits from their back catalogue including “Paint It Black”, “Sympathy For The Devil”, “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Gimme Shelter”.
The Rolling Stones played:
“Street Fighting Man” “It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll (But I Like It)” “Tumbling Dice” “Under My Thumb” “19th Nervous Breakdown” “Wild Horses” “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” “Living In A Ghost Town” “Start Me Up” “Honky Tonk Women” “Happy” “Slipping Away” “Miss You” “Midnight Rambler” “Paint It Black” “Sympathy For The Devil” “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” “Gimme Shelter” “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
The Parliament-Funkadelic legend announced his retirement from the road almost two years ago, but due to the coronavirus pandemic his UK farewell tour was put on hold.
“This has been coming a long time,” Clinton said in a statement at the time. “Anyone who has been to the shows over the past couple of years has noticed that I’ve been out front less and less.
“Truth be told, it’s never really been about me. It’s always been about the music and the band. That’s the real P-Funk legacy. They’ll still be funkin’ long after I stop.”
Now, the 80-year-old, whose last album was 2018’s Medicaid Fraud Dog, has announced he and Parliament-Funkadelic will hit the UK next May for a short run of dates, taking in Nottingham, London, Glasgow, Bristol, Manchester, Margate and Scarborough.
Tickets are on sale now here – see the full list of dates below.
May 2022 22 – Nottingham, Rock City
23 – London, O2 Forum Kentish Town
24 – Glasgow, O2 Academy Glasgow
26 – Bristol, O2 Academy Bristol
27 – Manchester, Albert Hall
28 – Margate, Dreamland
29 – Scarborough, Open Air Theatre
The Ealing Jazz Club didn’t promise much from the outside. Situated opposite Ealing Broadway tube station, wedged between a jeweller’s and a tea shop, a tight set of steps led down into a faceless cellar. “It had a capacity of about a hundred people, maybe a few more,” recalls frequent visitor Dick Taylor. “There was a cloakroom, then a narrow room with the bar at one side. It was only a small club. But you’d walk through the door and it would sound like Chicago in there. The atmosphere was incredible.”
On March 17, 1962, the club began to operate as Britain’s first regular rhythm’n’blues venue. Led by guitarist Alexis Korner and harmonica player Cyril Davies, Blues Incorporated took over on Saturday nights, providing a nexus for the growing number of R&B bands that sprouting up around London and the suburbs.
But the Ealing Club wasn’t just about the music. It was a place where crucial connections were made, a gathering of kindred souls. “We all saw ourselves as crusaders for the blues,” says Paul Jones. “We were all more or less the same age. To find all these other like-minded people down there was very significant.”
One of these figures was 20-year-old Charlie Watts, then drummer with Blues Incorporated. “Charlie came from a jazz background and was just a brilliant drummer,” says Taylor. “You had to be seriously good to get into Alexis’s band. Everybody was aware of that. Not only that, but Charlie was also always such a cool character and smart dresser, from the early days.”
A nod and a handshake in a smoky room. Such was the ease with which friendships were made, alliances formed. In the space of a few weeks, Watts was introduced to Brian Jones, thenMick Jagger and Keith Richards. By the summer of 1962, all three had guested with Blues Incorporated, sharing the stage for the first time with their future bandmate.
“You never knew who was going to be part of Alexis’s band next,” says Taylor. “He wasn’t a particularly amazing musician, but he was so into his blues. He was more like a curator. That’s one of the key things about the club in those days. It was an offshoot of the jazz scene, because you had people like Dick Heckstall-Smith and Graham Bond. On stage at various times there would’ve been Charlie and Mick Avory and Jack Bruce. I remember arriving early one evening and meeting Ginger Baker.”
When Taste broke up in the autumn of 1970, Rory Gallagherwent through the mixed emotions that follow any divorce. There was pride: their final festival appearance at the alongside and had been spectacular and their last studio album, 1970’s On The Boards, had fused Gallagher’s driving blues-rock with jazzier, more experimental influences and taken the band into the UK albums chart for the first time.
Yet there was frustration and anger, too. There was enmity with Taste’s manager Eddie Kennedy, who had signed a recording deal with Polydor that gave him ownership of the band, with Gallagher and the other two members of Taste individually under contract to him as employees.
There were also tensions within the trio, as drummer John Wilson and bassist Richard McCracken increasingly came to resent Gallagher taking the limelight as guitarist, singer and songwriter. After Taste had played their final gig, Wilson savaged Gallagher in the music press, claiming the band had broken up owing to the guitarist’s greed and arrogance.
Neither were traits that anybody who knew Gallagher remotely recognised and it was typical of his generosity and modesty that he refused to respond. He preferred to look forward rather than back and Taste had turned so sour that he refused to play the band’s material in his live sets for the rest of his life.
Keeping his eyes on the horizon meant going solo and a new deal with Polydor, negotiated with the assistance of Led Zep manager Peter Grant, who stormed into the office of Polydor’s MD, ripped up the offered contract and told him, “Give Rory a decent fucking deal.” The outcome was a six-album deal on substantially more generous terms.
Gallagher wanted a fresh approach but was still wedded to the idea of a power trio, and a new rhythm section was required to back him. According to one story, Robert Stigwood tried to persuade him to play with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker in a putative Cream Mark II. Gallagher rejected the idea of being shoehorned intoEric Clapton’s fringed boots, but he did try working with Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell, both of whom were at a post-Hendrix loose end. In the event he found what he was seeking closer to home in drummer Wilgar Campbell and bassist Gerry McAvoy from Deep Joy, an Irish band that had supported Taste at the Marquee.
By the time Gallagher’s eponymous solo debut finally appeared in May 1971, it was almost 18 months since Taste’s final studio album and the songs were tumbling out of him. It’s not hard to see references to the break-up of Taste in the lyrics of songs such as I Fall Apart and For The Last Time. But it’s the breadth and nuance of the material that is most striking. Laundromat boasts a classic Gallagher blues-rock riff, as does Sinner Boy with its stinging slide guitar. But thereafter things get gentler and more introspective, in the manner of the more acoustic-tinged material on Led Zeppelin III.
Heavily influenced by his admiration for Davy Graham, Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, Just The Smile would not have been out of place on a Pentangle album. Can’t Believe It’s True has a West Coast vibe, aJefferson Airplane jam maybe. On the acoustic down-home blues of Wave Myself Goodbye and I’m Not Surprised – inspired by Gallagher’s discovery of the 1930s recordings of Scrapper Blackwell and Blind Boy Fuller – the rhythm section is banished and replaced by the boogie-woogie piano of Atomic Rooster’s Vincent Crane. It’s You is pure country and oozes with Gallagher’s love of Hank Williams.
This anniversary edition expands the album’s 10 original songs somewhat gratuitously to more than 50 tracks. ’ Gypsy Woman and Otis Rush’s It Takes Time are ferocious excursions into electric Chicago blues. The gentle folk-rocker At The Bottom heard in four almost identical takes and on which Gallagher blows some lovely harmonica, eventually appeared on the 1975 album Against The Grain. For the rest it’s mostly alternate takes of songs on the album, several of them breaking down and few, if any, departing radically from the versions that made the cut.
The final disc of radio sessions offers further iterations of six of the songs on the 1971 album plus a preview of In Your Town, a stomping slide-guitar showcase that would appear six months later on Gallagher’s second solo set, Deuce.
By coincidence Gallagher and Clapton both released their self-titled solo debuts within a few months of each other – and in terms of blues-rock guitar-slingers seeking to expand their signature sound, Gallagher’s effort at this distance stands up as more coherent, consistent and focused. More than a quarter century on from his death, he’s missed more than ever.
