Memorable live performances…
To celebrate John Martin Maher aka Johnny Marr‘s 54 birthday – born 31 October 1963 – here’s a dazzling 2013 live version of HOW SOON IS NOW performed at the KRCW Studios in Los Angeles. The ex-Smith shows what a legendary guitar hero is all about…
JOHNNY MARR: Website – Facebook – Twitter
A year later ‘The Messenger’ played that same classic and several solo crackers in Belgium…
Havoc that thrills us in a way we want to scream out loud…
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31 October 2017
British DIY singer/songwriter WULLAE WRIGHT just released his 6th album, titled ‘COGs’.
A record of tormented, raw, mixed emotions and creepy characters like in this bitingly ramshackle stroke KILLER CLOWNS IN TRANSIT VANS. A song about myths, legends,
and nightmares says the author. Sounds to me like a perfect deranged sonic ripper to scare your guests at your HALLOWEEN party tonight. Have fun…
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Now you’re here why not surprise your invitees with
some more pitch-black traumas. Here’s COGs in full…
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WULLAE WRIGHT: Twitter – Bandcamp
Self-made artwork for COGs album…
Weekly firework to kick Blue Mondays in the ass…
Did you ever heard Chemical Brothers, Leftfield and The Happy Mondays in one and the same track? London’s electronic duo KALLI MA new single HIGH SHOT has all the e’s
of the aforementioned dance experts. Energy, ecstasy and euphoria. This elevating trip, with exotic vocals by Elizabeth Anne Martin will energize all of your senses. It’s exaltation
for your elastic body and esurient mind. The ‘ebeneezer goode’ mood is back, no doubt about that. Press the button, take a black grape and get higher…
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KALLI MA: Facebook – Bandcamp – Twitter
Out now via CLUB.THE.MAMMOTH.
Going back in sonic history…
27 October 2017
Band: MOGWAI (Scotland)
Album: YOUNG TEAM – debut LP
Released: 27 October 1997 – 20 years ago today…
All Music wrote: “Mogwai’s first full-length album fulfills the promise of their early
singles and EPs, offering a complex, intertwining set of crawling instrumentals, shimmering soundscapes, and shards of noise. Picking up where Ten Rapid left off, Mogwai use the sheer length of an album to their advantage, recording a series of songs that meld together — it’s
easy to forget where one song begins and the other ends. The record itself takes its time to begin, as the sound of chiming processed guitars and murmured sampled vocals floats to the surface. Throughout the album, the sound of the band keeps shifting, and it’s not just through explosions of noise — Mogwai isn’t merely jamming, they have a planned vision, subtly texturing their music with small, telling details. When the epic “Mogwai Fears Satan” draws the album to a close, it becomes clear that the band has expanded the horizons of post-rock, creating a record of sonic invention and emotional force that sounds unlike anything their guitar-based contemporaries have created.”
Turn Up The Volume! says: The first time I heard this noise army and the first time I saw them live (Brussels, 1997) they blew me off my feet with their hypnotic noise escapades. Nothing less than a stunning experience!
The striking sonic symphony in full…
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MOGWAI: Website – Facebook – Twitter
Havoc that thrills us in a way we want to scream out loud…
Band: J.D. HANGOVER (London,UK)
Who: two sultry blues inspired mortherrockers who “sat in a room with an old friend,
a 1972 Roland TR77 electronic drummer and a 8 tracks 1″ tape Studer recorder. They drank, played music, listened to Alan Vega and Lightnin’Hopkins and they created a sort of alter ego.
A man with no birthplace and no country, who didn’t have ties with anyone but his music.
They called him James Dean Hangover”
Sound: a smoking melting pot, containing a raw dosage of early 60s blues delirium, a poisonous portion of Dr. John‘s voodoo turbulence, a bleeding touch of the Gun Club‘s tortured past and some mystifying blackness. Nasty, damnable, hallucinating and so perfectly out of tune. Beware, as Halloween is approaching, good old mean Satan is on
his way to your town to steal your sinful soul while listening to these garage blues rebels on his brand new, black iPod. You should too otherwise the evil Diabolus will crush your front door and force you himself to listen to J.D. Hangover‘s demonic EP. C’mon, hurry,
play it very loud and pray…
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J.D. HANGOVER: Facebook – Twitter – Label: Annibale Records
26 October 2017
We championed this thrilling electronic power pop quartet here before for the simple reason that they produce delightful symphonies that make you smile all day long. Yes,
indeed, THE BANKROBBER is a thrilling Italian band without sonic frontiers, formed in 2008. After last year’s delectable 5-track Land Of Tales EP, they return now with brand new single CLOSER. An irresistible dance floor filler, that you’ll have on repeat after one spin. Saturday night fever all the way. Although the song is apparently about an on/off mixed-love-emotions relationship its addictive drive will be certainly approved by electro dance experts New Order, while moaning for not having written this cracker themselves. Get ready, time to stretch your limbs, here we go…
Let’s draw an agreement up before we go
before we go any further with this love.
I don’t feel up to hang out with you tonight
I’m going to lose myself in m’tv screen
and I feel like I told you I’m away
but you’re still always calling me at night
you know it hurts, but I want to be sure
please leave me alone, you got to let me go
I feel it in my bones
I am sorry it’s not worth it
I am human and you are perfect
we just met but we are distant
I’m so sorry we were closer, closer
smoking calms me down
I want to drink with you I want to clear up this mess
but I feel like I told you I’m feeling fine
the ocean is screaming
you know it hurts, but I want to be sure
your voice is calling me and I won’t go
I here take it slow
I am sorry it’s not worth it
I am human and you are perfect
we just met but we are distant
I’m so sorry we were closer, closer
(photo: Daniele Magoni)
INHEAVEN – Botanique, Brussels – 24 October 2017
They’re young. They’re wild. They’re sexy. They rock like hell. They roll all over you. They have it all. They’re INHEAVEN. A blazing 4-piece turbo out of South-London. Their self-titled debut album is a tempestuous fireball, a blustery power plant, dealing with mixed emotions of being young today. Unquestionably, one of this year’s best long-players. All killers, no fillers. Yesterday the hefty gang invaded Brussels. Two songs in and everybody, just everybody, young and old(er) went bananas in the basement club of our capital’s historic building ‘Botanique’. Fueled by frontman James Taylor the whole place went
mental and the temperature rose drastically in less than no time. A string of massive rippers (like Baby’s Alright / Vultures / Regeneration ) alternated with some scream along mid-tempo power pop crackers (like Real Love / All There Is / Drift) turned the venue into
a steamy sauna. The unforgettable highlight of this glowing gig occurred when the band agreed to meet the fans’ begging chants and played stellar rocker ‘Treats’, with charismatic bassist Chloe Little on vocals, once again. WOW! What a tumultuous closer of this storming concert it was, as by that time I was up there on the small stage to take some pics (I know, I’m crazy) of the euphoric audience. But many followed my steps and a stage invasion was inevitable. Party time! ROCK AND ROLL! Awesome night! Unforgettable gig! Thank you, INHEAVEN…
Here’s an idea of the band’s dynamite energy on stage…
I just can’t get enough…
Their smashing debut album in full…
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More concert pictures…
Treat Chloe right…
Yoohoo!….
There goes James…
Hell yeah…
Triumph!..
Setlist…
INHEAVEN: Website – Facebook – Online Store
(all concert pics by Turn Up The Volume!)
Going back in sonic history…
Artist: MARK STEWART
Album: Self-titled, third LP
Released: 26 October 1987 – 30 years ago
The Maffia: Mark Stewart – vocals, production / Keith LeBlanc – drums / Skip McDonald – guitar / Adrian Sherwood – keyboards, production / Doug Wimbish – bass guitar
All Music wrote: “Mark Stewart challenges listeners’ expectations through open-ended experimentation, rejecting simple song-oriented formats. With producer Adrian Sherwood and Maffia members Keith LeBlanc, Skip McDonald, and Doug Wimbish, he continues to play havoc with conventional notions of structure on several tracks, assembling dark, fragmented collages cut up with scratches, heavy metal guitar flourishes, voices culled from the media, and blasts of electronic noise. A prime example is the nine-minute assault of “Anger Is Holy,” which finds Stewart pasting together big go-go beats, a recurring sample from Billy Idol’s “Flesh for Fantasy,” and his signature distorted vocals, as well as interrupting the proceedings with a random moment of complete silence. But there is a less difficult, more melodic side to this album. Considered by some to be the blueprint for trip-hop, “Stranger” grafts together a version of Satie’s “Gymnopedie No. 1,” West Side Story’s “Somewhere,” and Stewart’s pained/painful crooning. More than this track, however, the most genuinely beautiful and affecting cut on the album is the bass-heavy reworking of Ryuichi Sakamoto and David Sylvian’s “Forbidden Colours” (titled “Forbidden Colour”), which Stewart then deconstructs on the dub version that follows. “Fatal Attraction” moves in a more dance-oriented direction; with its snaking, Moroder-esque disco beat, this track points toward the heavyweight ‘funk grooves Stewart would explore on 1990s Metatron.”
Turn Up The Volume! says: Mark Stewart is one of the last true originals. An artist who never ever compromised. An authentic performer and a restless creator, then and now. From the gloriously wayward funk punk eccentricity of the legendary The Pop Group to his solo achievements. He always explored new soundscapes and questioned, unceasingly, society’s madness and most of all its narcissistic, unworldly leaders. And he still does. Listening to his work is like going on a discovery trip. This album is a damn compelling example of the man’s insatiable hunger for sonic experiment and his constant investigation of humankind’s raison d’être. Ingenious triumph. Experience here…
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MARK STEWART: Facebook – Twitter
THE POP GROUP: Website – Facebook
(photo: JL/Turn Up The Volume!)
THE BREEDERS – Trix, Antwerp – 23 October 2017
Aloha THE BREEDERS. The most famous twins in rock history, the Deal sisters annex bashing drummer Jim Macpherson and immovable bassist Josephine Wiggs are back.
With a new album in the pipeline they came to Europe for a string of gigs to get back in
‘live shape‘. The first image that hit me was that Kim and Kelley, although a bit older (like everyone) looked fresh, spirited and yes, better than, say, 20 years ago. Second thought: the first ever time I saw Kim performing was in 1990 with the PIXIES. I remember well she
was smiling from start to finish and on all other occasions I witnessed her later on AND also yesterday night she had her charming ‘little girl‘ smile on her face throughout the whole show. On the other hand you could see clearly that they were all nervous and hesitant. But the crowd’s euphoric response from the first chord on gave them enough confidence to play a solid show. The setlist was a mix of classic Breeders crackers (like
No Ahola / Saints / Cannonball), amplified lullabies (Glorious / Off You / Night Of Joy and the delightful Do You Love Me Now), some Amps tracks, one gigantic Pixies belter and two new songs, one being their new storming single ‘Wait In The Car’…
Overall the Ohio Express, assisted now and then on guitar by their tall Kentucky roadie, delivered the goods as expected. An emotional and electrical performance, although the balance of the set wasn’t actually perfect. Every rocker was followed by a couple of soft ones which slowed the rhythm of the concert down and also the audience’s stream of adrenalin. Something the girls will surely work on for the future I guess, after all that’s
why try-outs are for. Anyway, it was an absolute thrill to see/hear them back again, for
me and for the at times ecstatic spectators. And YES, Kim ‘s eyes twinkled as never before, while smiling of course. Legends forever…
I know it’s stronger than myself, but I have to hear it again and again…
THE BREEDERS: Facebook – Twitter – Discography
(concert pics: JL/Turn Up The Volume)
John Spencer and his New York blues-punks BOSS HOG fronted by his charismatic wife Cristina Martinez released, last March, their very first new album in nearly two decades. BROOD X is a mighty, robust beast of a record filled with a series of dynamite killers. Dark, ominous and firing. The torrid kick-ass clan will invade Europe at the end of this month for several concerts. Check the cities and dates here. Until then we’ll have this smoking taster to prepare us for the storm. Here’s one of the nastiest cuts on the new longplayer, the spine-tingling SHH SHH SHH with Martinez explaining “The lyrics began as an exercise in
free association. I imagined a place of chaos, panic, and loss of control and that’s what emerged.” Yes, Halloween is just around the corner…
BOSS HOG: Facebook – Instagram – Discography
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