80s Brit-glam stars DURAN DURAN have no intention to retire.
Five years after Paper Gods they have a new longplayer in the
pipeline. FUTURE PAST arrives on 22 October. They invited
several guests to join them for the new record.
For the new single INVISIBLE they called Blur‘s guitarist Graham Coxon
to pass by. If I didn’t read the press statement I wouldn’t have a clue Coxon
was somewhere on it.
Album: WHAT’S GOING ON – his 19th LP Released: 21 May 1971 – 50 years ago today Score: Platinum in the UK / Gold in the US
Rolling Stone (Vince Aletti): “Ambitious, personal albums may be
a glut on the market elsewhere, but at Motown they’re something new.
The album as a whole takes precedence, absorbing its own flaws. There
are very few performers who could carry a project like this off. I’ve always
admired Marvin Gaye, but I didn’t expect that he would be one of them.
Guess I seriously underestimated him. It won’t happen again.” Score: 5/5.
Singles: What’s Going On / Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)
Album: FLY LIKE AN EAGLE – 9th LP Released: 20 May 1976 – 45 years ago Score: #11 in the UK / #3 in the US
All Music (Stephen Thomas Erlewine) Steve Miller had started to
essay his classic sound with The Joker, but 1976’s ‘Fly Like an Eagle’
is where he took flight, creating his definitive slice of space blues.
The key is focus, even on an album as stylishly, self-consciously trippy
as this, since the focus brings about his strongest set of songs (both
originals and covers), plus a detailed atmospheric production where
everything fits. Score: 4/5.
Singles: Rock ‘N Me / Take The Money And Run
– ROCK ‘N ME –
(Striking live rendition)
– TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN –
(From the same concert)
Album: INTRUDER– his 19th (!) longplayer Released: 21st May 2021 – Order info here
Gary Numan: “Intruder looks at climate change from the planet’s
point of view. If Earth could speak, and feel things the way we do, what
would it say? How would it feel? The songs, for the most part, attempt to
be that voice, or at least try to express what I believe the earth must feel
at the moment.”
NME says: “in 2021, and with ‘Intruder’, he’s chiming with the times – and
sounding thrillingly relevant in the process… The electro-pop legend has seen
and done it all in 45 years – so when he says the planet’s knackered, as on this
bruised concept album, you’d better listen.” Full review here. Score: 4/5.
Turn Up The Volume: Numan still is an electric friend. His Tubeway Army
still is well oiled. No time yet to retire and leave us in your spaceship, Gary.
5 new firecrackers to boost your favorite 48 hours…
‘Stick By Stick’ by LITTLE MUSGRAVE (Brussels)
Lighten up, folks. Joey Wright aka Little Musgrave activates your feet, hips, and head with
this ongoing funky groove. Its hypnotic vibe triggers your best body moves. Shake and quake is what you’ll do when this inflammable crackerjack hits your ears. EP ‘Matches’ coming up via Wild Goose Chase Records.
Here‘s the vibe…
‘High & Hurt’ by ICEAGE (Denmark)
One of the best pieces these Danish rockers ever recorded. Amplified passion,
anthemic swagger, and a titanic chorus. From the band’s new, very impressive
fifth LP Sheek Shelter. Actually their best (so far). Hurrah!
Feel the glow…
.
‘Non-Dramatic Break-Up Song’ by LINNEA’S GARDEN (Boston, MA)
The happiest break-up song I heard in ages. All lovers out there, listen and learn. This electrical earworm will make you stay good friends after you called it a day with your partner. Heads up, put Linnea on the stereo and your broken heart will be healed in no time (I hope). From her new 5-track sensual party EP Nowhere Friday’s Night.
Let’s roll…
‘Sketch Of Light’ byTHURSTON MOORE (US)
One of those 24/7 musicians who breathe music, who dream about music, who are obsessed about music and who only make music they want to make. Like this sparkly, instrumental jam you wanna hear when you get up in the morning (well, I do).
A sonic veteran with a youthful heart…
. ‘Save Yourself’ by THE NEVERLUTIONAIRIES (North-Carolina, US)
Wow! This pumping psych knockout grabs you by the throat from the get-go with its Black Sabbathesque drone hammering all the way and its thunder and lighting beat doing your head in. The band’s brainchild Christopher Harold Wells: “I wrote ‘Save Yourself ‘ about a dear friend of mine who had serious substance abuse issues that eventually claimed his life. Though he had a crazier existence than mine, he always tried to give me advice about getting myself together.”
NME says: “A record that never sits still, an album of considerable polish and scope
and by far the boldest thing the Danes have ever made, but also a album that still feels distinctly theirs. The fierce 90-second punk songs of their early days might now have
morphed into vast stadium-rock anthems, but Iceage remain as razor-sharp as ever.”
Full review here. Score: 4/5.
Turn Up The Volume: Finally, Iceage do what they were expected to do for a long
time. Creating a standout album that makes the hair in the back of your neck stand
up. Melodramatic with balls, impassioned with vigour, romantic with grimness. Charismatic frontman Elias Bender Rønnenfelt leads the troops as never before.
Their fifth, their best.
Singles/clips: Vendetta / Shelter Song / The Holding Hand
Shirley Manson about the new record: “It was our way of
trying to make sense of how fucking nuts the world is and the
astounding chaos we find ourselves in. It’s the record we felt
that we had to make at this time.”
New single: WOLVES
Third piece of the upcoming album.
Shirley Manson: “When you’re young and in self-survival mode,
much like a baby rattlesnake, you have no idea how strong your
venom is. But it has the power to kill. You’re just out there having
fun. This is the pop song off the record.”
Score: With the two previous jackhammers No Gods No Masters and The Men Who Rule The World Garbage score a hattrick with this new
killer. High-energetic, high-powered and high-spirited. Glowing synths
and glowing guitars fuel Shirley Manson for another red-hot-blooded
outcry. This a goddam clamoring corker going forth and back. With the
three knockouts we heard so far, I have the very strong feeling that an
a.w.e.s.o.m.e longplayer is waiting around the corner.
Score: Who said that guitar rock is dead? Actually, a lot of people. Actually, the ones
who never listened to guitar rock anyway and never will. Whatever. The Haciendas rattle their butts off on their new roaring ripper The Joker and prove loud and clear why guitar rock still rules. They submerge a tornado tune, as sticky as first-class glue, in an electric-powered riffs-hooks-and-licks bath, they turn up the decibels and peak with a blistering chorus. Say no more!
Grace Beverly Jones was born on 19 May 1948 in Spanish Town, Jamaica.
One of the coolest stars ever in my ‘coolest stars ever’ book. She’s outspoken,
sexy and blessed with a magnificent sensual voice. Her overall don’t mess with
me attitude is utterly special. Happy 73, lady Grace. Wish you a very long vie
en rose.
