Linda Thompson has revealed that collaborating with ex-husband Richard Thompson on her new album was just like working with any other session player.
Speaking in the new issue of Uncut, dated September 2013 and out now, Thompson says that she finds it “easy” working with the guitarist, despit...
Linda Thompson has revealed that collaborating with ex-husband Richard Thompson on her new album was just like working with any other session player.
Speaking in the new issue of Uncut, dated September 2013 and out now, Thompson says that she finds it “easy” working with the guitarist, despite their difficult break-up in the early ’80s.
“I mean, you can’t get a better guitarist, can you?” Thompson says. “A lot of people say to me, ‘Oh, it must be hard to work with Richard.’ But it’s easy, as you know he’s not going to fuck up.
“I’m not one for dwelling on the past. It was just like having another session player, only a really, really good one.”
Linda Thompson talks about her new album, and her collaboration with Richard Thompson, in the new issue of Uncut, out now.
Neil Young has cancelled the last shows on his European tour "due to an accident involving Crazy Horse" – reportedly guitarist Frank 'Poncho' Sampedro breaking his hand.
A message posted on www.neilyoung.com today read, "Due to an accident involving Crazy Horse, the remaining dates on the Neil ...
Neil Young has cancelled the last shows on his European tour “due to an accident involving Crazy Horse” – reportedly guitarist Frank ‘Poncho’ Sampedro breaking his hand.
A message posted on www.neilyoung.com today read, “Due to an accident involving Crazy Horse, the remaining dates on the Neil Young and Crazy Horse tour of Europe and the British isles have been cancelled. We are sorry for any inconvenience this causes to our fans or the festivals where we were scheduled to appear. As you must be, we too are disappointed at this unfortunate turn of events.”
The message was credited to Neil Young and Crazy Horse.
The affected dates are:
Way Out West Festival, Gothenburg, Sweden (August 8)
Bergenhus Festning, Bergen, Norway (10)
Copenhagen Forum, Copenhagen, Denmark (12)
Dresden, Germany (14)
Pukkelpop Festival, Kiewit, Belgium (16)
Echo Arena, Liverpool, England (18)
The O2 Arena, London, England (19)
According to Young’s website, the North American dates beginning at the end of August remain unaffected.
Stripped mountain music - recorded in a cabin, in a museum...
'Authenticity' is an ambiguous concept in popular music. But if you're serious in its pursuit, a restored homesteaders cabin in a museum devoted to preserving the rustic folk traditions of old Tennessee isn't a bad place to set up the mikes, tune your strings and let the tape roll. Recorded over two days in December 2012, like its acclaimed predecessors, Better Times Will Come (2009) and High Atmosphere (2011), the latest set from the forty-something Nashville-based singer exquisitely channels the weathered but deathless heritage of American mountain music.
You might imagine that songs with titles such as ''O Sinner'' and ''Drunkard's Daughter'' are redolent with history - and in a sense they are. Yet these are not antique memories salvaged from the Harry Smith anthology, but Jones's own vibrant compositions.
Just as Kate Rusby has mined English folk idiom with such conviction that her compositions sound like they've been plucked from another time, Jones' immersion in Appalachian tradition is so absolute that the argot of her songs has become indistinguishable from the antique styles that inspired her. Every note, played on guitar, fiddle, banjo and mandolin without overdubs, might've sounded familiar to the Carter Family. Similarly, all references to contemporary life have been stripped from her lyrics; there's not a word that couldn’t have been written a century ago. Yet what's left is far from anachronistic or ersatz. Rather, these are songs which acutely emphasise that the most profound aspects of the human condition remain unchanging. ''Ohio''' is about a relative who committed suicide. ''Satan'' deals with temptation. '''Sparrow'' was inspired by a tale of familial sexual abuse. ''The Other Side'', written to sing at her grandmother's funeral, works as timelessly as ''Swing Low, Sweet Chariot'' or ''Abide With Me''.
The obvious comparison is with Gillian Welch, and both were adopted at birth, which perhaps explains a mutual search for identity in the roots of Americana. But Jones is a unique voice, breathing new life into a tradition that is far too vital to gather dust in a museum.
NIGEL WILLIAMSON
Photo credit Alan Messer
Stripped mountain music – recorded in a cabin, in a museum…
‘Authenticity’ is an ambiguous concept in popular music. But if you’re serious in its pursuit, a restored homesteaders cabin in a museum devoted to preserving the rustic folk traditions of old Tennessee isn’t a bad place to set up the mikes, tune your strings and let the tape roll. Recorded over two days in December 2012, like its acclaimed predecessors, Better Times Will Come (2009) and High Atmosphere (2011), the latest set from the forty-something Nashville-based singer exquisitely channels the weathered but deathless heritage of American mountain music.
You might imagine that songs with titles such as ”O Sinner” and ”Drunkard’s Daughter” are redolent with history – and in a sense they are. Yet these are not antique memories salvaged from the Harry Smith anthology, but Jones’s own vibrant compositions.
Just as Kate Rusby has mined English folk idiom with such conviction that her compositions sound like they’ve been plucked from another time, Jones’ immersion in Appalachian tradition is so absolute that the argot of her songs has become indistinguishable from the antique styles that inspired her. Every note, played on guitar, fiddle, banjo and mandolin without overdubs, might’ve sounded familiar to the Carter Family. Similarly, all references to contemporary life have been stripped from her lyrics; there’s not a word that couldn’t have been written a century ago. Yet what’s left is far from anachronistic or ersatz. Rather, these are songs which acutely emphasise that the most profound aspects of the human condition remain unchanging. ”Ohio”’ is about a relative who committed suicide. ”Satan” deals with temptation. ”’Sparrow” was inspired by a tale of familial sexual abuse. ”The Other Side”, written to sing at her grandmother’s funeral, works as timelessly as ”Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” or ”Abide With Me”.
The obvious comparison is with Gillian Welch, and both were adopted at birth, which perhaps explains a mutual search for identity in the roots of Americana. But Jones is a unique voice, breathing new life into a tradition that is far too vital to gather dust in a museum.
Nuts week. A lot to recommend and check out here, including plenty of Youtube and Soundcloud links. Among the auspicious comebacks, one that’s slightly obscured is Cavern Of Anti-Matter, who feature Tim Gane and his old bandmate from the first Stereolab lineup, Joe Dilworth.
The Purling Hiss and White Denim trailers look predictably tantalising; will report back when I’ve managed to grab the albums. Meanwhile, the Omar Souleyman (produced by Four Tet) and William Onyeabor (a bit of a cratedigger holy grail, this one) albums are mighty addictive; Jonathan Wilson has basically – and rather nobly - attempted to recreate “Pacific Ocean Blue”; “Crimson/Red” is the first Paddy McAloon album I’ve enjoyed since “Jordan: The Comeback”; Wooden Shjips still sound pretty much the same as ever, no matter how much their press releases hilariously try to differentiate from one album to another; “Another Self Portrait” is so much richer than many of us might have expected; and, yeah, Bill Callahan In Dub is quite the thing. Dig in…
Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnRMulvey
1 Bob Dylan – Another Self Portrait (1969-1971): The Bootleg Series Vol. 10 (Columbia)
2 Mark Kozelek & Desertshore - Mark Kozelek & Desertshore (Caldo Verde)… Review here
3 Wooden Shjips – Back To Land (Thrill Jockey)
4 Desert Heat – Cat Mask At Huggie Temple (MIE Music)
5 Prefab Sprout – Crimson/Red (Icebreaker)
6 Juana Molina – Wed 21 (Crammed Discs)
7 Lee Ranaldo & The Dust – Revolution Blues (Live At Maxwells)
8 Mandolin Orange – This Side Of Jordan (Yeproc)
9 William Onyeabor – World Psychedelic Classics 5: Who Is William Onyeabor? (Luaka Bop)
10 PJ Harvey – Shaker Aamer (Island)
11 Omar Souleyman – Wenu Wenu (Ribbon)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqg702HcnBs
12 Ronnie Lane With Slim Chance – Anymore For Anymore (GM)
13 The Next Uncut Free CD
14 Bill Callahan – Expanding Dub (Drag City)
15 Jenks Miller – Spirit Signal (Northern Spy)
16
17 Various Artists – Live At Caffè Lena: Music From America's Legendary Coffeehouse, 1967-2013 (Tompkins Square)
18
19 Purling Hiss – Paisley Montage Promo (Richie Records)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZUzHMIt4ts
20 Jonathan Wilson – Fanfare (Bella Union)
21 Bill Callahan – Dream River (Drag City)
22 Midlake – Antiphon (Bella Union)
23 Cavern Of Anti-Matter – Blood-Drums (Grautag)
24 White Denim – Corsicana Lemonade (Trailer)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOcWeg5PgWo
25 White Denim – Pretty Green (Downtown)
26 The Julie Ruin – Ha Ha Ha (TJR Records)
27 Various Artists - Theo Parrish's Black Jazz Signature: Black Jazz Records 1971-1976 (Snow Dog)
Nuts week. A lot to recommend and check out here, including plenty of Youtube and Soundcloud links. Among the auspicious comebacks, one that’s slightly obscured is Cavern Of Anti-Matter, who feature Tim Gane and his old bandmate from the first Stereolab lineup, Joe Dilworth.
The Purling Hiss and White Denim trailers look predictably tantalising; will report back when I’ve managed to grab the albums. Meanwhile, the Omar Souleyman (produced by Four Tet) and William Onyeabor (a bit of a cratedigger holy grail, this one) albums are mighty addictive; Jonathan Wilson has basically – and rather nobly – attempted to recreate “Pacific Ocean Blue”; “Crimson/Red” is the first Paddy McAloon album I’ve enjoyed since “Jordan: The Comeback”; Wooden Shjips still sound pretty much the same as ever, no matter how much their press releases hilariously try to differentiate from one album to another; “Another Self Portrait” is so much richer than many of us might have expected; and, yeah, Bill Callahan In Dub is quite the thing. Dig in…
Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnRMulvey
1 Bob Dylan – Another Self Portrait (1969-1971): The Bootleg Series Vol. 10 (Columbia)
2 Mark Kozelek & Desertshore – Mark Kozelek & Desertshore (Caldo Verde)… Review here
Tim Wright of Pere Ubu and DNA has died.
The bassist joined Pere Ubu in 1975, staying with the group for three years before he relocated to New York. He joined DNA - formed by Arto Lindsay and Robin Crutchfield - shortly afterwards. Four DNA tracks ('Egomaniac's Kiss', 'Lionel', 'Not Moving' and '...
Tim Wright of Pere Ubu and DNA has died.
The bassist joined Pere Ubu in 1975, staying with the group for three years before he relocated to New York. He joined DNA – formed by Arto Lindsay and Robin Crutchfield – shortly afterwards. Four DNA tracks (‘Egomaniac’s Kiss’, ‘Lionel’, ‘Not Moving’ and ‘Size’) featured on Brian Eno’s 1978 compilation No New York.
According to a statement on the Facebook page of his Pere Ubu bandmate David Thomas: “Tim Wright died Sunday, August 4, 2013, reports longtime partner Mary Ann Livchak. He was an original member of Pere Ubu and later a contributor to the No Wave scene of New York City.”
HMV has announced that it will return to the 363 Oxford Street store, which it opened more than 90 years ago.
The site was the first HMV and was opened by Sir Edward Elgar in July 1921. The music and entertainment retailer occupied the site until 2000.
HMV, which was bought out of administration...
HMV has announced that it will return to the 363 Oxford Street store, which it opened more than 90 years ago.
The site was the first HMV and was opened by Sir Edward Elgar in July 1921. The music and entertainment retailer occupied the site until 2000.
HMV, which was bought out of administration in April by restructuring firm Hilco, will replace the footwear chain Footlocker at the site when it reopens in early October. HMV chairman and Hilco boss Paul McGowan told Retail Week: “We are thrilled to be returning HMV to its original home at 363 Oxford Street and this reflects HMV’s renewed focus on going back to its roots and getting the basics right, providing the deepest range of entertainment products.”
According to reports, HMV’s other Oxford Street store could be sold to Sports Direct.
HMV has also hired former Vodafone executive James Coughlan to head its new online business, which will launch in October, Retail Week reports.
HMV collapsed into administration in January with £176 million of debt. It now operates 140 stores.
Patti Smith, St Vincent and The National's Matt Berninger are amongst those set to appear on Volume Two of the soundtrack to hit HBO show Boardwalk Empire.
Due for release on September 3, the compilation follows Volume One, which won a Grammy for Best Compilation Soundtrack. The new release sees ar...
Patti Smith, St Vincent and The National’s Matt Berninger are amongst those set to appear on Volume Two of the soundtrack to hit HBO show Boardwalk Empire.
Due for release on September 3, the compilation follows Volume One, which won a Grammy for Best Compilation Soundtrack. The new release sees artists tackling songs from the 1920s.
The show’s music supervisor Randall Poster said in a statement: “Boardwalk Empire provides an incredible backdrop for music. It’s been a steady treat to mark the passing of time in song over the course of four seasons. Terry Winters, Martin Scorsese and the entire Boardwalk Empire team inspire the sound of the episodes.”
The full tracklisting for Boardwalk Empire Volume Two: Music From The HBO Original Series is as follows:
David Johansen – ‘Strut Miss Lizzie’
Stephen DeRosa – ‘Old King Tut’
Elvis Costello – ‘It Had To Be You’
Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks – Everybody Loves My Baby
Liza Minnelli – ‘You’ve Got To See Mama Ev’ry Night (Or You Can’t See Mama At All)’
Leon Redbone – ‘Baby Won’t You Please Come Home’
St. Vincent – ‘Make Believe’
Pokey LaFarge – ‘Lovesick Blues’
Neko Case – ‘Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out’
Karen Elson – ‘Who’s Sorry Now’
Stephan DeRosa – ‘You’d Be Surprised’
Margot Bingham – ‘I’m Going South’
Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks – ‘Sugarfoot Stomp’
Arcade Fire will team up with director Spike Jonze to provide the score for his new film, Her.
The film stars Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson and follows a man who falls in love with a computer operating system. It will be released in selected cinemas on November 20.
The project is not the ...
Arcade Fire will team up with director Spike Jonze to provide the score for his new film, Her.
The film stars Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson and follows a man who falls in love with a computer operating system. It will be released in selected cinemas on November 20.
The project is not the first time Arcade Fire have worked with Jonze. They previously provided him with an acoustic version of “Wake Up” for a trailer for his last film, Where The Wild Things Are. Jonze also directed a short film, Scenes From The Suburbs, for the band.
The ashes of performer Richie Havens are to be spread over the site of 1969's Woodstock Festival at a special event on August 18.
Havens, who died of a heart attack aged 72 in April 2013, famously performed a three-hour set in front of 400,000 people at the original Woodstock Festival. He will be remembered with a tribute concert at the site of the festival, now known as Bethel Woods, in Sullivan County, New York. Woodstock Festival organisers Michael Lang and Joel Rosenman will speak, and musical performers will include Jose Feliciano, John Hammond and John Sebastian, reports Rolling Stone.
A statement from Havens' family reads: "Though he traveled throughout the world for decades visiting and returning to countless locations, Max Yasgur's field in the Town of Bethel, Sullivan County, New York always remained the location where Richie felt his deepest connection."
It continues: "Richie used to say a day never went by that he wasn't asked about Woodstock. He certainly understood its profound and indelible cultural impact. As he said on the festival's 40th anniversary, 'Woodstock was both a peaceful protest and a global celebration. We came together communally to be heard and to be acknowledged.'"
The ashes of performer Richie Havens are to be spread over the site of 1969’s Woodstock Festival at a special event on August 18.
Havens, who died of a heart attack aged 72 in April 2013, famously performed a three-hour set in front of 400,000 people at the original Woodstock Festival. He will be remembered with a tribute concert at the site of the festival, now known as Bethel Woods, in Sullivan County, New York. Woodstock Festival organisers Michael Lang and Joel Rosenman will speak, and musical performers will include Jose Feliciano, John Hammond and John Sebastian, reports Rolling Stone.
A statement from Havens’ family reads: “Though he traveled throughout the world for decades visiting and returning to countless locations, Max Yasgur’s field in the Town of Bethel, Sullivan County, New York always remained the location where Richie felt his deepest connection.”
It continues: “Richie used to say a day never went by that he wasn’t asked about Woodstock. He certainly understood its profound and indelible cultural impact. As he said on the festival’s 40th anniversary, ‘Woodstock was both a peaceful protest and a global celebration. We came together communally to be heard and to be acknowledged.'”
I was reading this interesting Wilco piece a few days ago, which talks about how Jeff Tweedy has parlayed cult success into what appears to be a viable business model. It made me think of the strategies used by Mark Kozelek these past few years: how he keeps a steady stream of music, predominantly live albums, coming through his Caldo Verde label to satisfy his obsessive fans (and I suspect Kozelek fans tend to be by nature obsessive; I know I am).
This year, Kozelek’s productivity has accelerated. Besides the discreet glut of live sets (actually only a couple thus far, now I’ve checked), there’s been a solo covers album (“Like Rats”), the Jimmy Lavalle collaboration (“Perils From The Sea”) and, now, a return hookup with his old friends Desertshore (“Mark Kozelek & Desertshore”). Kozelek, one might imagine, would see kindred spirits in Wilco, not least because they share a mutual friend or two (not least Alan Sparhawk, who’s back here singing on “You Are Not Of My Blood”; Kozelek was more or less an original member of Retribution Gospel Choir).
That, though, would be underestimating the perverse care with which Kozelek strives to present himself as a curmudgeon. “Mark Kozelek & Desertshore” once again proves that great artists - and I’d strenuously argue that Kozelek has shown himself, over the past two decades, to be one – do not diminish their potency through thematic repetition. It features a lot of songs that once again confront family memories, girls, the consolations of San Francisco, the iniquities of touring, the allure of boxing, the act of creation, dead cats, dead friends and so forth.
The songs don’t feel like they were conjured up as a batch for this specific project, even though guitarist and Red House Painters vet Phil Carney, and pianist Chris Connolly are credited as having written all the music. Instead, they roll on effortlessly from the diaristic studies of “Among The Leaves” (which I wrote about here) and “Perils From The Sea”. The settings may change - predominantly Spanish classical guitar for “Among The Leaves”, muted electronica on “Perils…”, downbeat chamber rock this time out – but Kozelek’s approach, and especially his sputtering new sprechgesang style, a kind of sadcore (ha) rapping (cf “Gustavo” on “Perils…”), is unerringly consistent.
If there’s a lyrical shift, it’s a slow move away from the drolleries of “Among The Leaves”, and a return to more direct poignancies. “Livingstone Bramble”, though, is a striking exception, and the reason why Kozelek’s attitudes towards Wilco have been pushed to the fore. It begins with the singer unable to sleep, thinking once again about boxing (Bramble, it transpires, was a fighter), before turning into one of his songs about the compulsion to make music, with the focus on the technicalities of guitar playing. Kozelek, we learn, can play like Robert Fripp and Johnny Marr, like Malcolm Young and Neil Young. He rates Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Steve Vai and Kirk Hammett. He is less impressed, though, with Jay Farrar, Derek Trucks and Eric Clapton, and reserves special contempt for, hilariously, Nels Cline. Twice, he pulls out the punchline, “I hate Nels Cline,” and follows it with a preposterously squiggly parody of a Cline solo.
It’s a funny song, and one which artfully perpetuates Kozelek’s persona as a middle-aged grouch that he cultivates so assiduously at gigs nowadays. Maybe, too, it’s a calculated move to drum up a little controversy and notoriety, and – like the tale of meeting Anton LaVey in “Hey You Bastards I’m Still Here” - a tactical attempt to deflect attention away from the ruefully self-flagellating lyrics elsewhere on “Mark Kozelek & Desertshore”. They don’t detract in any way from a tender detailing of his uncles’ deaths and how his father responded to them (“Brothers”), or meditations on mortality prompted by the passing of his peers (Tim Mooney on “Tavoris Cloud”; Jason Molina on the amazing “Sometimes I Can’t Stop”, a song that, like "Somehow The Wonder Of Life Prevails" from “Perils…”, ranks as one of his very best). It just all presents Kozelek as a plausibly complex figure – one who admits “at the age of 46, I’m still one fucked up little kid.”
Desertshore, meanwhile, provide the sort of empathetic support that recalls the backdrops Kozelek used in one of his strongest periods, around Red House Painters’ delayed last album, “Old Ramon” and Sun Kil Moon’s debut, “Ghosts Of The Great Highway”. If the relationship between Kozelek and the band seemed sketchy, exploratory on “Drawing Of Threes”, it feels fully resolved this time, as the band flesh out his ruminations with cycling, almost Tortoise-like figures on “Katowice Or Cologne” and “Seal Rock Hotel”, or bulk up with a Crazy Horse trudge (a mode that suits Kozelek, and that he should revisit more often) for “Livingstone Bramble”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW5jC8YE1Q0
Connolly’s work is especially great on “Brothers”, and on the little flourishes he adds to the end of “Mariette”, playing with a looseness that complements that familiar sense of Kozelek improvising his lyrics on the spot. It feels like fine craftsmen working with a mediated kind of spontaneity, and it suggests that, in the disappointing eventuality of anyone having fallen off the Kozelek wagon these past few years, this might be the album to bring you back onboard. Oh, and “You Are Not Of My Blood” wouldn’t have been out of place on the Rollercoaster album. How’s that sound?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AM45pcQaafE
Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnRMulvey
Picture credit: Gavin Jeffries
I was reading this interesting Wilco piece a few days ago, which talks about how Jeff Tweedy has parlayed cult success into what appears to be a viable business model. It made me think of the strategies used by Mark Kozelek these past few years: how he keeps a steady stream of music, predominantly live albums, coming through his Caldo Verde label to satisfy his obsessive fans (and I suspect Kozelek fans tend to be by nature obsessive; I know I am).
This year, Kozelek’s productivity has accelerated. Besides the discreet glut of live sets (actually only a couple thus far, now I’ve checked), there’s been a solo covers album (“Like Rats”), the Jimmy Lavalle collaboration (“Perils From The Sea”) and, now, a return hookup with his old friends Desertshore (“Mark Kozelek & Desertshore”). Kozelek, one might imagine, would see kindred spirits in Wilco, not least because they share a mutual friend or two (not least Alan Sparhawk, who’s back here singing on “You Are Not Of My Blood”; Kozelek was more or less an original member of Retribution Gospel Choir).
That, though, would be underestimating the perverse care with which Kozelek strives to present himself as a curmudgeon. “Mark Kozelek & Desertshore” once again proves that great artists – and I’d strenuously argue that Kozelek has shown himself, over the past two decades, to be one – do not diminish their potency through thematic repetition. It features a lot of songs that once again confront family memories, girls, the consolations of San Francisco, the iniquities of touring, the allure of boxing, the act of creation, dead cats, dead friends and so forth.
The songs don’t feel like they were conjured up as a batch for this specific project, even though guitarist and Red House Painters vet Phil Carney, and pianist Chris Connolly are credited as having written all the music. Instead, they roll on effortlessly from the diaristic studies of “Among The Leaves” (which I wrote about here) and “Perils From The Sea”. The settings may change – predominantly Spanish classical guitar for “Among The Leaves”, muted electronica on “Perils…”, downbeat chamber rock this time out – but Kozelek’s approach, and especially his sputtering new sprechgesang style, a kind of sadcore (ha) rapping (cf “Gustavo” on “Perils…”), is unerringly consistent.
If there’s a lyrical shift, it’s a slow move away from the drolleries of “Among The Leaves”, and a return to more direct poignancies. “Livingstone Bramble”, though, is a striking exception, and the reason why Kozelek’s attitudes towards Wilco have been pushed to the fore. It begins with the singer unable to sleep, thinking once again about boxing (Bramble, it transpires, was a fighter), before turning into one of his songs about the compulsion to make music, with the focus on the technicalities of guitar playing. Kozelek, we learn, can play like Robert Fripp and Johnny Marr, like Malcolm Young and Neil Young. He rates Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Steve Vai and Kirk Hammett. He is less impressed, though, with Jay Farrar, Derek Trucks and Eric Clapton, and reserves special contempt for, hilariously, Nels Cline. Twice, he pulls out the punchline, “I hate Nels Cline,” and follows it with a preposterously squiggly parody of a Cline solo.
It’s a funny song, and one which artfully perpetuates Kozelek’s persona as a middle-aged grouch that he cultivates so assiduously at gigs nowadays. Maybe, too, it’s a calculated move to drum up a little controversy and notoriety, and – like the tale of meeting Anton LaVey in “Hey You Bastards I’m Still Here” – a tactical attempt to deflect attention away from the ruefully self-flagellating lyrics elsewhere on “Mark Kozelek & Desertshore”. They don’t detract in any way from a tender detailing of his uncles’ deaths and how his father responded to them (“Brothers”), or meditations on mortality prompted by the passing of his peers (Tim Mooney on “Tavoris Cloud”; Jason Molina on the amazing “Sometimes I Can’t Stop”, a song that, like “Somehow The Wonder Of Life Prevails” from “Perils…”, ranks as one of his very best). It just all presents Kozelek as a plausibly complex figure – one who admits “at the age of 46, I’m still one fucked up little kid.”
Desertshore, meanwhile, provide the sort of empathetic support that recalls the backdrops Kozelek used in one of his strongest periods, around Red House Painters’ delayed last album, “Old Ramon” and Sun Kil Moon’s debut, “Ghosts Of The Great Highway”. If the relationship between Kozelek and the band seemed sketchy, exploratory on “Drawing Of Threes”, it feels fully resolved this time, as the band flesh out his ruminations with cycling, almost Tortoise-like figures on “Katowice Or Cologne” and “Seal Rock Hotel”, or bulk up with a Crazy Horse trudge (a mode that suits Kozelek, and that he should revisit more often) for “Livingstone Bramble”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW5jC8YE1Q0
Connolly’s work is especially great on “Brothers”, and on the little flourishes he adds to the end of “Mariette”, playing with a looseness that complements that familiar sense of Kozelek improvising his lyrics on the spot. It feels like fine craftsmen working with a mediated kind of spontaneity, and it suggests that, in the disappointing eventuality of anyone having fallen off the Kozelek wagon these past few years, this might be the album to bring you back onboard. Oh, and “You Are Not Of My Blood” wouldn’t have been out of place on the Rollercoaster album. How’s that sound?
Ozzy Osbourne has said that original Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward was "too overweight" to join the band on their reunion tour.
Ward was meant to be a part of the band as they returned earlier this year for a new studio album and world tour. However, he pulled out of the reunion with reasons including money, time and his ability to drum all cited as being behind the departure. In a new interview, Osbourne has now claimed that the drummer is out of shape and that a gruelling set of live dates was too much of a health concern.
"I don’t think he could have done the gig, to be honest. He’s incredibly overweight," Osbourne told the New York Daily News. "A drummer has to be in shape. He’s already had two heart attacks. I don’t want to be responsible for his life."
Osbourne previously claimed that Ward was no longer a capable drummer, stating that he required too much help to play along with his bandmates: "We looked at Bill, and he couldn't remember what the fuck we were doing," he explained earlier this year. "But he didn't come clean and say, 'I can't cut this gig, but can we work something out, guys, where I'll come on but with another drummer backing me up?' Or, 'I'll come and play a few songs.' That would have been cool."
Guitarist Tony Iommi also explained that his recent cancer diagnosis made him want to reform the band, with Ward or without him. "We waited a long time for Bill and we wanted to sort it out. But at the end of the day, especially after I was diagnosed, I thought 'Fucking hell, that’s it – we’ve got to get a move on. I might pop off next year!' So I emailed him and said 'Bill, we can’t wait any longer. We’ve got to get a move on with it.' And that was it."
However, Ozzy Osbourne has said he hopes Ward will appear on the next Black Sabbath album, following their recent Number One record, '13'. Speaking to NME in LA earlier this year Osbourne said: "Maybe we can work things out by the next one. But it won't take another 35 years. I'm 65 now. There's no fucking recording studios in the afterlife. We're all even closer for all this shit, so there's one positive, one fucking silver lining."
Black Sabbath go on a UK tour in December. They play:
London O2 Arena (December 10)
Belfast Odyssey Arena (12)
Sheffield Arena (14)
Glasgow Hydro (16)
Manchester Arena (18)
Birmingham LG Arena (20)
Ozzy Osbourne has said that original Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward was “too overweight” to join the band on their reunion tour.
Ward was meant to be a part of the band as they returned earlier this year for a new studio album and world tour. However, he pulled out of the reunion with reasons including money, time and his ability to drum all cited as being behind the departure. In a new interview, Osbourne has now claimed that the drummer is out of shape and that a gruelling set of live dates was too much of a health concern.
“I don’t think he could have done the gig, to be honest. He’s incredibly overweight,” Osbourne told the New York Daily News. “A drummer has to be in shape. He’s already had two heart attacks. I don’t want to be responsible for his life.”
Osbourne previously claimed that Ward was no longer a capable drummer, stating that he required too much help to play along with his bandmates: “We looked at Bill, and he couldn’t remember what the fuck we were doing,” he explained earlier this year. “But he didn’t come clean and say, ‘I can’t cut this gig, but can we work something out, guys, where I’ll come on but with another drummer backing me up?’ Or, ‘I’ll come and play a few songs.’ That would have been cool.”
Guitarist Tony Iommi also explained that his recent cancer diagnosis made him want to reform the band, with Ward or without him. “We waited a long time for Bill and we wanted to sort it out. But at the end of the day, especially after I was diagnosed, I thought ‘Fucking hell, that’s it – we’ve got to get a move on. I might pop off next year!’ So I emailed him and said ‘Bill, we can’t wait any longer. We’ve got to get a move on with it.’ And that was it.”
However, Ozzy Osbourne has said he hopes Ward will appear on the next Black Sabbath album, following their recent Number One record, ’13’. Speaking to NME in LA earlier this year Osbourne said: “Maybe we can work things out by the next one. But it won’t take another 35 years. I’m 65 now. There’s no fucking recording studios in the afterlife. We’re all even closer for all this shit, so there’s one positive, one fucking silver lining.”
Black Sabbath go on a UK tour in December. They play:
Greil Marcus has re-evaluated Bob Dylan’s Self Portrait in the new issue of Uncut, out now, over three decades after he wrote his infamous ‘what is this shit?’ review of the record for Rolling Stone.
The critic explains that his review wasn’t nearly as negative as many like to make out – that it in fact reflected varying opinions on and responses to Dylan’s album – and states that some of the tracks on the new Bootleg Series release, Vol.10: Another Self Portrait, “will be real revelations to people”.
“[Dylan’s manager, Jeff Rosen] started playing me some of the Dylan-David Bromberg collaborations [from Bootleg Series, Vol.10: Another Self Portrait],” says Marcus. “It’s just the two of them playing. And immediately, those songs just leapt out, they leapt out of all the overcoats that had been draped over them. You know: you suddenly saw people running through fields.
“It was just alive in a remarkable way. And I said, ‘God. I have to write about this. This is just terrific.’”
Also in the Dylan cover feature, Uncut editor Allan Jones takes an exclusive look at the new instalment in the Bootleg Series.
The musicians who played on Dylan’s albums from the period, including Al Kooper and Charlie McCoy, tell of their varied experiences working with the singer-songwriter, while Low’s Alan Sparhawk reviews Dylan live in 2013.
The new issue of Uncut, dated September 2013, is out now.
Photo: Al Clayton
Greil Marcus has re-evaluated Bob Dylan’s Self Portrait in the new issue of Uncut, out now, over three decades after he wrote his infamous ‘what is this shit?’ review of the record for Rolling Stone.
The critic explains that his review wasn’t nearly as negative as many like to make out – that it in fact reflected varying opinions on and responses to Dylan’s album – and states that some of the tracks on the new Bootleg Series release, Vol.10: Another Self Portrait, “will be real revelations to people”.
“[Dylan’s manager, Jeff Rosen] started playing me some of the Dylan-David Bromberg collaborations [from Bootleg Series, Vol.10: Another Self Portrait],” says Marcus. “It’s just the two of them playing. And immediately, those songs just leapt out, they leapt out of all the overcoats that had been draped over them. You know: you suddenly saw people running through fields.
“It was just alive in a remarkable way. And I said, ‘God. I have to write about this. This is just terrific.’”
Also in the Dylan cover feature, Uncut editor Allan Jones takes an exclusive look at the new instalment in the Bootleg Series.
The musicians who played on Dylan’s albums from the period, including Al Kooper and Charlie McCoy, tell of their varied experiences working with the singer-songwriter, while Low’s Alan Sparhawk reviews Dylan live in 2013.
The new issue of Uncut, dated September 2013, is out now.
Bill Callahan is to release a new single on August 19, featuring dub versions of two songs from his forthcoming album, Dream River.
The single features "Expanding Dub" - a take on the song "Javelin Unlanding" - backed with "High In The Mid-40's Dub", a version of the album's closing track, "Winter ...
Bill Callahan is to release a new single on August 19, featuring dub versions of two songs from his forthcoming album, Dream River.
The single features “Expanding Dub” – a take on the song “Javelin Unlanding” – backed with “High In The Mid-40’s Dub“, a version of the album’s closing track, “Winter Road”.
Scroll down to hear “Expanding Dub”.
Dream River is released on September 16 on Drag City.
You find us at that time in the month when things start getting more than a wee bit hectic, deadlines fast approaching as we head into the final week or so of work on the new issue, for which I am reviewing Roy Harper’s Man & Myth, his first album of new material since The Green Man, 13 years ago. There’s also the small matter of next month’s cover story, which I’m also writing, which means it’s all go at the moment.
Meanwhile, as part of the special promotional feature in the current issue that we produced in association with hmv celebrating six decades of music and films, we have reached the 1970s, the era of stadium superstars, progressive rock, glam, punk, new wave and disco, for which I’ve compiled the following playlist.
Have a great week.
Music
Joni Mitchell
Blue
1971
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAsXMlkwXgs
Sly & The Family Stone
There’s A Riot Goin’ On
1971
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-sonJId90Y
Can
Tago Mago
1971
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QLL2j8ZtxE&list=PLBC71D1E094A43EBB
Roxy Music
Roxy Music
1972
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpSJVlDSlFY
Dr Feelgood
Down By The Jetty
1975
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuvYL2AnSeE
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Zuma
1975
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GDIkb5CDUY
Bob Dylan
Blood On the Tracks
1975
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwSZvHqf9qM
Television
Marquee Moon
1977
Bruce Springsteen
Darkness On the Edge Of Town
1978
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGGGZetEkz0
The Clash
London Calling
1979
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEuyLJKG_ac
Films
Dirty HarryThe Godfather
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
1972
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppjyB2MpxBU
Badlands
Terrence Malick
1973
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsN2Eq7EW6Q
Chinatown
Roman Polanski
1974
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aifeXlnoqY
Jaws
Steven Speilberg
1975
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucMLFO6TsFM
Dog Day Afternoon
Sydney Lumet
1975
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucMLFO6TsFM
Taxi Driver
Martin Scorsese
1975
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVoSt1glAf4
The Deer Hunter
Michael Cimino
1978
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gqit3zVmyc
Manhattan
Woody Allen
1979
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dihjrm1Qk_0
Quadrophenia
Franc Roddam
1979
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6wq20cZosQ
Apocalypse Now
Francis Ford Coppola
1979
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz3Cc7wlfkI
You find us at that time in the month when things start getting more than a wee bit hectic, deadlines fast approaching as we head into the final week or so of work on the new issue, for which I am reviewing Roy Harper’s Man & Myth, his first album of new material since The Green Man, 13 years ago. There’s also the small matter of next month’s cover story, which I’m also writing, which means it’s all go at the moment.
Meanwhile, as part of the special promotional feature in the current issue that we produced in association with hmv celebrating six decades of music and films, we have reached the 1970s, the era of stadium superstars, progressive rock, glam, punk, new wave and disco, for which I’ve compiled the following playlist.
Elvis Presley's recording sessions at Stax Records will be released together as a box set for the first time today (August 6).
Titled Elvis at Stax: Deluxe Edition, the three-CD box set also features outtakes and rare photos from the two July and December 1973 sessions, which resulted in three sep...
Elvis Presley‘s recording sessions at Stax Records will be released together as a box set for the first time today (August 6).
Titled Elvis at Stax: Deluxe Edition, the three-CD box set also features outtakes and rare photos from the two July and December 1973 sessions, which resulted in three separate albums.
As AP reports, the sessions started in 1973 when Presley was forced to head into the studio to record new material to fulfil his contract.
The box set includes a session recorded from July 20-23, during which he made “Raised On Rock”, “I’ve Got A Thing About You Baby” and “For Ol’ Time’s Sake”. Presley later returned to Stax in December for a week-long session to record tracks including “I Got A Feeling In My Body”.
It is the first time Presley’s songs recorded at Stax are together in the same release. “The dissipation of the Stax recordings across three albums over 18 months provided little or no creative kudos for such deserving artistic accomplishment,” ‘Elvis at Stax’ producer Roger Semon writes notes accompanying the release. “The objective of ‘Elvis at Stax’ is to reflect the true spontaneity and musicianship of Elvis’ sessions.”
Uncut is delighted to host an exclusive clip from the upcoming concert film, Morrissey 25: Live.
Filmed live by director James Russell during Morrissey’s show at the Hollywood High School in Los Angeles on 2 March 2013, Morrissey 25: Live is the artist's first authorised film for nine years and celebrates his 25th anniversary as a solo artist.
Scroll down to watch Morrissey perform "Everyday Is Like Sunday" from the film.
Morrissey 25: Live is in cinemas from August 24. Meanwhile, we celebrate Morrissey's quarter century as a solo artist in the current issue of Uncut, where collaborators including Stephen Street, Mike Joyce, Clive Langer and Steve Lillywhite remember working with Morrissey on his early solo albums.
The tracklisting for Morrissey 25: Live is:
Alma Matters
Ouija Board, Ouija Board
Irish Blood, English Heart
You Have Killed Me
November Spawned A Monster
Maladjusted
You're The One For Me Fatty
Still Ill
People Are The Same Everywhere
Speedway
That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
To Give Is The Reason I Live
Meat Is Murder
Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want
Action Is My Middle Name
Everyday Is Like Sunday
I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
Let Me Kiss You
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
We are sorry, but this clip is available to viewers in the UK & Eire only.
Morrissey 25: Live is A Nineteen Fifteen and Eagle Rock Entertainment production, distributed to cinemas by More2Screen. For cinema listings and booking information, click here.
Photo credit: Scott Uchida
Uncut is delighted to host an exclusive clip from the upcoming concert film, Morrissey 25: Live.
Filmed live by director James Russell during Morrissey’s show at the Hollywood High School in Los Angeles on 2 March 2013, Morrissey 25: Live is the artist’s first authorised film for nine years and celebrates his 25th anniversary as a solo artist.
Scroll down to watch Morrissey perform “Everyday Is Like Sunday” from the film.
Morrissey 25: Live is in cinemas from August 24. Meanwhile, we celebrate Morrissey’s quarter century as a solo artist in the current issue of Uncut, where collaborators including Stephen Street, Mike Joyce, Clive Langer and Steve Lillywhite remember working with Morrissey on his early solo albums.
The tracklisting for Morrissey 25: Live is:
Alma Matters
Ouija Board, Ouija Board
Irish Blood, English Heart
You Have Killed Me
November Spawned A Monster
Maladjusted
You’re The One For Me Fatty
Still Ill
People Are The Same Everywhere
Speedway
That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore
To Give Is The Reason I Live
Meat Is Murder
Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want
Action Is My Middle Name
Everyday Is Like Sunday
I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris
Let Me Kiss You
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
We are sorry, but this clip is available to viewers in the UK & Eire only.
Morrissey 25: Live is A Nineteen Fifteen and Eagle Rock Entertainment production, distributed to cinemas by More2Screen. For cinema listings and booking information, click here.
A series of Bob Dylan/'s paintings are to go on display at the National Portrait Gallery.
The series of 12 pastel works are a mix of real and fictitious characters and will be displayed at the London museum from August. It will be the first time Dylan has exhibited his work in the UK since 2008, when The Halcyon Gallery showed a collection of Dylan's drawings from 1989 and 1992.
The director of the National Portrait Gallery, Sandy Nairne, said: "Bob Dylan is one of the most influential cultural figures of our time. He has always created a highly visual world either with his words or music, or in paints and pastels."
Bob Dylan: Face Value will be in the Contemporary Collection displays at the National Portrait Gallery, London, from August 24 2013 to January 5, 2014.
You can read about Dylan's new album of rarities and previously unheard recordings - The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10 - Another Self Portrait (1969-1971) - in this month's Uncut, in shops now.
A series of Bob Dylan/‘s paintings are to go on display at the National Portrait Gallery.
The series of 12 pastel works are a mix of real and fictitious characters and will be displayed at the London museum from August. It will be the first time Dylan has exhibited his work in the UK since 2008, when The Halcyon Gallery showed a collection of Dylan’s drawings from 1989 and 1992.
The director of the National Portrait Gallery, Sandy Nairne, said: “Bob Dylan is one of the most influential cultural figures of our time. He has always created a highly visual world either with his words or music, or in paints and pastels.”
Bob Dylan: Face Value will be in the Contemporary Collection displays at the National Portrait Gallery, London, from August 24 2013 to January 5, 2014.
You can read about Dylan’s new album of rarities and previously unheard recordings – The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10 – Another Self Portrait (1969-1971) – in this month’s Uncut, in shops now.
Every Tuesday, we send out a free email newsletter containing the highlights of our busy week on www.uncut.co.uk.
That's the best news stories, features, reviews and blogs – as well as Allan's editor's letter. It brings you all you need to know about everything the stuff that matters in Uncut's world, from gig reviews to previews of new films, cuts from our dedicated features section and new album and reissues.
Essentially, it means you can catch up with our Rolling Stones live reviews, find out what we thought of the Alan Partridge film, discover what we’ve been listening to in the office playlists or read a classic interview from the Uncut archives with everyone from Radiohead to David Bowie. It’s where you’ll find out, too, about what’s in the latest issue of Uncut, gets a heads up on our Ultimate Music Guides, or discover who’s in the hot-seat for An Audience With...
So if you'd like to receive a copy, it's very simple: just sign up to the newsletter in the box on the right of this screen.
See you on Tuesday, then.
Every Tuesday, we send out a free email newsletter containing the highlights of our busy week on www.uncut.co.uk.
That’s the best news stories, features, reviews and blogs – as well as Allan’s editor’s letter. It brings you all you need to know about everything the stuff that matters in Uncut’s world, from gig reviews to previews of new films, cuts from our dedicated features section and new album and reissues.
Essentially, it means you can catch up with our Rolling Stones live reviews, find out what we thought of the Alan Partridge film, discover what we’ve been listening to in the office playlists or read a classic interview from the Uncut archives with everyone from Radiohead to David Bowie. It’s where you’ll find out, too, about what’s in the latest issue of Uncut, gets a heads up on our Ultimate Music Guides, or discover who’s in the hot-seat for An Audience With…
So if you’d like to receive a copy, it’s very simple: just sign up to the newsletter in the box on the right of this screen.
Power pop-rock heaven tonight, with a few hiccups....
The story of Cheap Trick’s early days could feasibly be re-told by replacing the band’s name with Peter Frampton’s. A handful of albums garner critical acclaim but sell poorly, a jittery label wonders when and from where the breakthrough might come, before a game-changing live release provides the catapult to Top 10 glory.
Ultimately, the multi-million sales and year-long chart residency of 1978’s Cheap Trick At Budokan (originally only intended for the Japanese market) was relatively small beer compared to the juggernaut of Frampton Comes Alive two years previously, but it was the making of this quartet of Illinois anglophiles. Like The Raspberries and Todd Rundgren before them, Cheap Trick worked from a power pop template; in thrall to The Beatles but imbuing their own music with the broader rock hues favoured by American FM radio.
The past tense is misleading, as the band continue to tour and record today, but this box set is a celebration of their major label output, an impressively prolific dozen albums between 1977 and 1990. Road-hardened by a minimum of 200 gigs a year, the first few releases were recorded quickly, although attempts to capture their stage vitality on record brought mixed results; studio versions of “I Want You To Want Me” and “Clock Strikes Ten” merely whispered where the subsequent Budokan readings roared.
Heaven Tonight remains the high watermark of the ‘70s albums, singer Robin Zander and the melodic power chords of guitarist Rick Nielsen forging radio-friendly anthems at will (“Surrender”, “Takin’ Me Back”). 1979’s Dream Police, recorded before Budokan but held back until after promotion of the live album, signalled the start of a change, the swathes of synths on the title track suggesting a shift from bars to arenas, although the minor chord splendour of “I’ll Be With You Tonight” kept a foothold in the group’s pure pop past.
Perhaps ironically, the hiring of George Martin as producer for 1980’s All Shook Up took these Beatles fans further away from the sound that first inspired them (in the same year that Nielsen and drummer Bun E Carlos would take part in demo sessions for John Lennon’s Double Fantasy). Bombastic and overblown, Martin’s grandiose tricks were unsuited to the sprightly rock ‘n’ roll of “Just Got Back” and “I Love You Honey”, but strong songs were few and far between anyway.
The rest of the decade saw Cheap Trick only intermittently catch sight of their earlier benchmarks. Producer Todd Rundgren gave their backsides a kick on Next Position Please (1983), “You Say Jump” and “Heaven’s Falling” recalling the fiery attitude of his own work with Utopia, but the albums that bookended it (One On One, The Doctor) suffered from weak material and coldly clinical period production.
After six years away bassist Tom Petersson returned to the fold for 1988’s Lap Of Luxury, and although the band were initially unhappy about Epic persuading them to work with outside professional writers (including Diane Warren on the cheesy power ballad “Ghost Town”) the likes of “Let Go” and a flirtatiously camp cover of Elvis Presley’s “Don’t Be Cruel” contained enough echoes of what went before to keep the customers satisfied.
Throughout the period covered by these albums, Cheap Trick’s bread-and-butter was the live stage, the goodwill earned from the energy and enthusiasm of the first few releases, the now iconic ...At Budokan especially, carrying the requisite clout to forgive them their missteps. Certainly, their 21st century set-lists are still dominated by songs from their first half-dozen years together, while not entirely saddling them with the tag of nostalgia act.
It could be argued that theirs is a story of promise only partially fulfilled, a lack of consistency that saw their accomplishments dwarfed by those of contemporaries like Tom Petty, or even Huey Lewis. Some of these albums don’t warrant too intense a revisit, but others remain shining examples of how joyful guitar-based pop-rock can be.
Terry Staunton
Power pop-rock heaven tonight, with a few hiccups….
The story of Cheap Trick’s early days could feasibly be re-told by replacing the band’s name with Peter Frampton’s. A handful of albums garner critical acclaim but sell poorly, a jittery label wonders when and from where the breakthrough might come, before a game-changing live release provides the catapult to Top 10 glory.
Ultimately, the multi-million sales and year-long chart residency of 1978’s Cheap Trick At Budokan (originally only intended for the Japanese market) was relatively small beer compared to the juggernaut of Frampton Comes Alive two years previously, but it was the making of this quartet of Illinois anglophiles. Like The Raspberries and Todd Rundgren before them, Cheap Trick worked from a power pop template; in thrall to The Beatles but imbuing their own music with the broader rock hues favoured by American FM radio.
The past tense is misleading, as the band continue to tour and record today, but this box set is a celebration of their major label output, an impressively prolific dozen albums between 1977 and 1990. Road-hardened by a minimum of 200 gigs a year, the first few releases were recorded quickly, although attempts to capture their stage vitality on record brought mixed results; studio versions of “I Want You To Want Me” and “Clock Strikes Ten” merely whispered where the subsequent Budokan readings roared.
Heaven Tonight remains the high watermark of the ‘70s albums, singer Robin Zander and the melodic power chords of guitarist Rick Nielsen forging radio-friendly anthems at will (“Surrender”, “Takin’ Me Back”). 1979’s Dream Police, recorded before Budokan but held back until after promotion of the live album, signalled the start of a change, the swathes of synths on the title track suggesting a shift from bars to arenas, although the minor chord splendour of “I’ll Be With You Tonight” kept a foothold in the group’s pure pop past.
Perhaps ironically, the hiring of George Martin as producer for 1980’s All Shook Up took these Beatles fans further away from the sound that first inspired them (in the same year that Nielsen and drummer Bun E Carlos would take part in demo sessions for John Lennon’s Double Fantasy). Bombastic and overblown, Martin’s grandiose tricks were unsuited to the sprightly rock ‘n’ roll of “Just Got Back” and “I Love You Honey”, but strong songs were few and far between anyway.
The rest of the decade saw Cheap Trick only intermittently catch sight of their earlier benchmarks. Producer Todd Rundgren gave their backsides a kick on Next Position Please (1983), “You Say Jump” and “Heaven’s Falling” recalling the fiery attitude of his own work with Utopia, but the albums that bookended it (One On One, The Doctor) suffered from weak material and coldly clinical period production.
After six years away bassist Tom Petersson returned to the fold for 1988’s Lap Of Luxury, and although the band were initially unhappy about Epic persuading them to work with outside professional writers (including Diane Warren on the cheesy power ballad “Ghost Town”) the likes of “Let Go” and a flirtatiously camp cover of Elvis Presley’s “Don’t Be Cruel” contained enough echoes of what went before to keep the customers satisfied.
Throughout the period covered by these albums, Cheap Trick’s bread-and-butter was the live stage, the goodwill earned from the energy and enthusiasm of the first few releases, the now iconic …At Budokan especially, carrying the requisite clout to forgive them their missteps. Certainly, their 21st century set-lists are still dominated by songs from their first half-dozen years together, while not entirely saddling them with the tag of nostalgia act.
It could be argued that theirs is a story of promise only partially fulfilled, a lack of consistency that saw their accomplishments dwarfed by those of contemporaries like Tom Petty, or even Huey Lewis. Some of these albums don’t warrant too intense a revisit, but others remain shining examples of how joyful guitar-based pop-rock can be.
Château d'Hérouville, the French country house with studio where David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac and more recorded, is up for sale.
The house located 18 miles north of Paris in the Val d'Oise département, is on sale for €1.29m (£1.12m), according to a report in The Guardian...
Château d’Hérouville, the French country house with studio where David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac and more recorded, is up for sale.
The house located 18 miles north of Paris in the Val d’Oise département, is on sale for €1.29m (£1.12m), according to a report in The Guardian.
The château was bought in 1962 by composer Michel Magne, who converted it into a residential recording studio seven years later. Elton John was among the first artists to use the premises, recording his 1972 album Honky Château there. David Bowie recorded Pin-Ups at Château d’Hérouville in 1973 and returned with Tony Visconti and Brian Eno to record Low there in 1976. Other artists who recorded there included T-Rex (The Slider), Pink Floyd (Obscured By Clouds), Iggy Pop (The Idiot) and Fleetwood Mac (Mirage). The Grateful Dead played an impromptu gig there on June 21, 1971.
The château is reportedly haunted by the ghost of Frédéric Chopin. While recording Low there, Bowie felt a supernatural presence. Tony Visconti later claimed, “There was certainly some strange energy in that château. On the first day, David took one look at the master bedroom and said, ‘I’m not sleeping in there!’ He took the room next door. The master bedroom had a very dark corner, right next to the window, ironically, that seem to just suck light into it. It was colder in that corner too.”
