2017 was an awful year for humankind
Intolerance, sexism, racism, and inequality
reared their ugly heads, again, thanks to
idiotic, narcissistic ‘Me, Myself and I’ elite of
politicians led by clown Trump(et), closely
followed by Erdogan, Theresa May, Kim Jong Un,
Putin and fanatic terrorists who murder viciously
in the name of a God…
Let’s hope that wit, reason, peace, understanding,
togetherness and love will be big again next year!
A couple of sonic screams will certainly help…
HELLO 2018!…
COME TOGETHER
IT’S ALRIGHT, IT’S OK
And many sonic thanks to the more than
40.000 visitors, from around the globe,
who came here to turn it up this past year…
Last track of the day
of the year 2017
An emotional year
A tumultuous year
A year with more lows
than highs for humankind…
Goodbye 2017…
It’s the last goodbye I swear
I can’t rely on a dime a day love that don’t go anywhere
I learn to cry for someone else
I can’t get by on an odds and ends love that don’t ever match up
I heard all you said and I took it to heart
I won’t forget I swear
I have no regrets for the past is behind me
Tomorrow reminds me just where
Can’t quite see the end
How can I rely on my heart if I break it with my own two hands?
I heard all you said and I love you to death
I heard all you said don’t say anything
It’s the last goodbye I swear
I can’t survive on a half-hearted love that will never be whole
For twenty tears I PROMISE was one of the 3 previously unreleased tracks from the OK Computer sessions that appeared on the reissue edition called OKNOTOK to celebrate the 20th birthday of RADIOHEAD‘s masterpiece LP. It’s a breathtaking pearl, a gripping ballad, a melancholic gem with softly marching drums, tenderly acoustic guitar, emotionally orchestral arrangements, an intensely captivating melody and Thom Yorke‘s fragile and impassioned voice. A gloomy reverie about regret, hope, sorrow and profound love. The accompanying clip is harrowing too . I heard it for the first time some days after the awful terror tragedy in Manchester and I couldn’t stop my tears. When will humankind and its political leaders understand that we only can survive with tolerance, with equality, solidarity, oneness and peace. So far, only promises…
I won’t run away no more, I promise
Even when I get bored, I promise
Even when you lock me out, I promise
I say my prayers every night, I promise
I don’t wish that I’m strict, I promise
The tantrums and the chilling chats, I promise
Even when the ship is wrecked, I promise
Tie me to the rotten deck, I promise
I won’t run away no more, I promise
Even when I get bored, I promise
Even when the ship is wrecked, I promise
Tie me to the rotten deck, I promise
I won’t fool around no more, I promise Even when I get bored, I promise Even when you lock me out, I promise I say my prayers every night, I promise I won’t fool around no more, I promise
This will be the last Viva Video of the year, folks. But one you will remember for a very long time. Well, actually it’s a short movie rather than the traditional clip we all know. It’s fascinating Los Angeles‘ trio VAST ASTEROID who launched a highly eye-catching, extended video for ‘SPACEGAZE‘. Their monstrous closer of their 8-track self-titled full-length. An almost 18-minute wall-of-mind-boggling sound escapade. A shattering, overwhelming
and electrical marathon jam that messes up your brain the way you’ll definitely like.
Drummer Mark Reback explains what happened: “Rancho de la Luna Studio host extraordinaire + co-conspirator Dave Catching of Eagles Of Death Metal, joined our band with his guitar magic on a late night totally improvised jam that we were lucky to capture on tape. No overdubs or editing, and the wind and rain and chimes were
recorded real time from the front porch of the studio during the storm outside while we were jamming. It all adds up to pure sonic magic.”
Here’s the audio-visual Götterdämmerung experience, sounding and looking exactly like the past year. Scary, thunderous, confused, bewildered, tumultuous, nightmarish and full of black humor. Dim the lights, take a deep breath and experience Apocalypse 2017…
VAST ASTEROID is L.A. based trio featuring The Warlocks former bassist Mimi Star, seminal Mancunian punk-rock band Slaughter And The Dogs. Stream/purchase the full album here on Bandcamp.
Awesome vibrations that thrill us in a way we want to scream out loud…
2017 was an awful year for humanity
but a great one for thunderous debut
longplayers by all female rock gangs.
Here are TURN UP THE VOLUME’s
favorite five amazing ones…
1998: A year full of versatile vibrations!
Here’s my selection – 10 remarkable ones!
1/ ‘Deserter’s Songs’ by MERCURY REV Jonathan Donahue (lead singer/songwriter) said about their masterpiece: “It had the feeling of rebirth, of going down to the grave for quite a while and lying down there in the darkness and the quiet, and then someone pulls you up and shakes the dirt off you and
says ‘no, you thought you were dead, but you’re not.'” Released: 29 September 1998 – their fourth album Listen here
2/ ‘This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours’ by MANIC STREET PREACHERS Pitchfork: “The Manic Street Preachers are one of the few groups capable of integrating orchestral instruments in a way that still produces great rock music. Meanwhile, they
manage to infuse some quite dour lyrics with some of the most haunting melodies.” Released: 14 September 1998 – fifth LP Listen here
3/ ‘Good Morning Spider’ by SPARKLEHORSE Pitchfork:“The album shines an old light on impossible things. He found the purity of
pop music and then lacerated it with the quirks and imperfections he cherished.” Released: 20 July 1998 – second album Listen here
4/ ‘Celebrity Skin’ by HOLE Rolling Stone:“Sprung, flung and fun, high-impact, rock-fueled pop and the album teems with sonic knockouts that make you see all sorts of stars and is accessible, fiery and intimate – often at the same time.” Released: 8 September 1998 – third full length Listen here
5/ ‘How to Operate With A Blown Mind‘ by LO FIDELITY ALL STARS All Music:“With an effortless grace unmatched by even their Skint labelmates, ‘Lo-Fidelity Allstars’ segue between acid house, hip-hop, punk, soul, and disco on their debut album. Previous high-energy singles like ‘Vision Incision’ and ‘Kool Roc Bass’ are included, along with new tracks like the surprising Hi-NRG/electro-fusion on ‘Lazer Sheep Dip Funk’ and early-’80s funk reminiscent of ‘Prince’ or ‘Jamiroquai’ on ‘Battle Flag’ (with Pigeonhed).” Released: 25 May 1998 – debut longplayer Listen here
6/ ‘This Is Hardcore’ by PULP All Music: “The ambitious follow-up to their breakthrough LP ‘Different Class’ is haunted by disappointments and fear. By the realization that what you dreamed of may not be what you really wanted. The shift in direction shouldn’t come as a surprise, Pulp was always an arty band, but even the catchiest numbers are shrouded in darkness. An artistic triumph.” Released: 30 March 1998 – sixth album Listen here
7/ ‘Hello Nasty’ by THE BEASTIE BOYS The Guardian: “It fills a gap created by the current profusion of serious rock bands like Radiohead, elbowing its way up front, and letting rip with adolescent vigour. The perfect
party soundtrack by the perfect party band.” Released: 14 July 1998 – their fifth longplayer Listen here
8/ ‘Mezzanine’ by MASSIVE ATTACK All Music:“Increasingly ignored amidst the exploding trip-hop scene, Massive Attack returned in 1998 with a record immediately announcing not only that the group was back, but that they’d recorded a set of songs just as singular and revelatory as on their debut.” Released: 20 April 1998 – third full length Listen here
9/ ‘The Good Will Out’ by EMBRACE All Mmusic:“One listen to ‘The Good Will Out’ illustrates why the group ingeniously combines the anthemic hooks and monolithic roar of ‘Oasis’ with the sweeping aural majesty of ‘The Verve.’ The record illustrates enough promise and panache to make it a first-rate debut.” Released: 8 June 1998 – debut LP Listen here
10/ ’65’ by THE AFGHAN WHIGS All Music:“With 1965, the band finally made the gritty soul record just always out of their reach seamlessly integrating the R&B aspirations which have textured the band’s sound since the beginning, the music simmers with raw energy, its deep, dark grooves not so much white-boy as simply white-hot.” Released: 27 October 1998 – sixth album Listen here
So many questions surround metallic sludge funk punks ELEFANT. Where do they come from? Where will they go? Are they the lost sons of the Chernobyl engineers who fucked up back in 1988 or are they related to that evil hip-hop gang, called the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Are they evil? Are they good? They communicate verbally, now and then, using a weird German code language. They claim to be peaceful although all their propaganda video clips are horrific and stuffed with hidden messages to confuse us, earthlings. After
I overcame my panic fear, with a couple of red Bordeaux bottles, I had the guts to contact Wolf, the leader of this mysterious Ausländer combo to get some answers on as many questions as possible. Let’s enter the wicked world of these mischievous screwballs starting with one of their finest carols, a head-splitting hammer revealing the band’s
psychotic pain, helpless hopelessness, and demonic damage…
Guten Abend Herr Wolf Welcome at Turn Up The Volume!…
Where can we find traces of ELEFANT‘s roots: on Jupiter, Mars, the Milky Way, Snicker or an der schönen blauen Donau?
“Beyond the horizons of Venus YOU will FIND the Holy Spirit.”
What was the band’s most memorable experience during
their stay on Planet Earth in 2017?
“We had a great deal of fun staying in Studio Moskou. With legendary sound engineer P. Landman we recorded our album in 3 days! TBC!”
What will be on ELEFANT’s New Year’s diner table: Bratwurst oder Kaese Spaetzle?
“None of the above, we’ll be sticking to our daily Zoloft dose.”
Tasty stuff…
Best home for psychotic elephants: Guantanamo Detention Camp,
the Antwerp Zoo or the White House?
“Guantanamo is to destroy humans, so let’s skip that one. The Antwerp Zoo, you mean ‘t Schoon Verdiep or that poor thing where animals are locked up? Maybe it’ll be the White House that we’ll be staying this weekend.”
The White House Zoo, this weekend…
Do ELEFANT members make babies the way humans do?
“YES! With a lot of LOVE.”
Which Xmas gift did you return to the one who gave it to you, this year?
“Xmas is for X-men, I stopped doing X in 1994.”
Party time…
Glühwein or Blue Jupiler?
“I prefer Earth‘s most wasted fluid: water. It melts in your mouth, not in your hands.”
‘Mumbo Jumbo’: fake or real song?
“Well, it’s a song, well kind of. Uhm, it’s a dance. It’s a song and a dance, but you don’t
want to dance, do you?”
Freddie Kreuger or Harvey Weinstein?
“Who are they? We don’t do sports.”
Vinyl, cassette or barrel organ?
“Vinyl.”
What movie would you pick to visualize ELEFANT’s
supercalifragilisticexpialidocious melodies?
“Ingmar Bergman’s ‘Persona’. Funky Shit.”
666 or ‘one-two-three-four’?
“We don’t have that many songs in ¾, so I guess it’ll be 1-2-3-4.”
Most scary creature on this planet: Bono, the Pope, Ozzy Osbourne, Pokémon or a(ny) Belgian politician? “Bono’s pretty scary when he dresses up as a businessman. The Pope wears a dress. Ozzy these days is scary when he farts.”
Fartman…
Rammstein oder Hof Von Commerce?
“Hof Von Commerce have better rhymes and looks.”
Donald Trumpet oder Vladivostok Putin?
“Donald for being the new kid on the block. What a fresh wave of shit.”
Shit, indeed…
Any new ELEFANT noise in the pipeline for the new year?
“For RSD we’ll be releasing a split 10’’ with our friends of FOPAW. In May we’ll be releasing our first full album through 9000 Records!!!!!! EXCLAMATION MARKS!!!!!”
Audi oder Mercedes?
“I stopped doing drugs in 1996.”
Held(in) des Jahres?
“I stopped doing heroes in 1997.”
Barbie oder Beyoncé?
“Barbie for perseverance. Beyoncé for president.”
Make America sing in harmony again, Beyo…
Schweinhund von 2017?
“We tend to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative. So no Schweinehund-elections für me this year.”
‘Jede uhr Tickt’: a song for the soundtrack of ‘Apocalypse Now’ or ‘Wagner’s Gödverdommedämmerung’?
” ‘Jede Uhr Tickt‘ is most suitable for children’s parties and wedding dances. It was actually inspired by Irreversible. A Nightmare directed by Gaspard Noé.
Beste lange Spielplatte von 2017?
“Arca by Arca.”
Bestes Lied des Jahres?”
“For me personally, the song of the year is an old Belgian one by Jan De Wilde, titled ‘De Eerste Sneeuw‘. It’s blatant romantic and I love how it makes me feel. Happy and blue.”
Bestes Konzert des Jahres?
“Ho99o9, Pukkelpop Kiewit. FUN FUN FUN!!!”
Waltz oder Polonaise?
“I prefer the Waltz: it’s gracious and beautiful. Polonaise is
a dance for drunk, unimaginative rake pigs.”
Fürher Wolf organizing a dance for drunk, unimaginative rake pigs…
Was sind die ELEFANT neue Jahre Wünsche?
“Live your life by your will, learn to be an animal.”
Vielen Dank für diesen exklusive babbel, mein Fûhrer!
I guess we know a little bit more about those Mutterrockers.
But not all. Whatever. Let’s dance like it’s 1999 again… Hail Hail ELEFANT!
