MILES KANE:“Caroline’ is a song about reaching out to someone to tell
them they are special and loved. It’s so important for us to communicate
with each other at the good and the bad times, even when it’s hard to do so.”
“It’s Fine” examines themes of jealousy and insecurity in open relationships
through multiple frames of reference to paint a sonic portrait unlike any other.
The song celebrates self-reflection and personal growth in a relatable way while
acknowledging seemingly insurmountable internal challenges.”
Turn Up The Volume: Not an easy issue to write a song about, but embedded
in a rolling riff ripper like this, it’s fine. Impossible to resist this sickly sticky groove
spinning around like forever inviting you to pirouette yourself dizzy while duet vocals
push the pace. No pause, no breathing space, no interval, always straight on.
Producer: Hal Willner, a longtime Saturday Night Live co-operator. He passed away last year due to complications from COVID-19 at the age of, only, 64. He had just finished working on an all-star T. Rex tribute LP (AngelHeadedHipster came out last September). Furthermore, he was also the driving force behind this VU tribute longplayer.
Turn Up The Volume: I’m always suspicious about tribute albums, certainly when the
celebrated album was/is a masterpiece of which you know every original chord, every
line, every vocal, every twist and turn, every everything, which was/is the case here with VU’s debut longplayer. But (you felt ‘but’ coming) here are several top performances (I’ll
let you choose for yourselves), although you can’t beat the original, nobody can and
never will.
Tracklist…
1. Michael Stipe – “Sunday Morning” 2. Matt Berninger – “I’m Waiting For The Man” 3. Sharon Van Etten – “Femme Fatale” (Feat. Angel Olsen) 4. Andrew Bird & Lucius – “Venus In Furs” 5. Kurt Vile & The Violators – “Run Run Run” 6. St. Vincent & Thomas Bartlett – “All Tomorrow’s Parties” 7. Thurston Moore / Bobby Gillespie – “Heroin” 8. King Princess – “There She Goes Again” 9. Courtney Barnett – “I’ll Be Your Mirror” 10. Fontaines D.C. – “The Black Angel’s Death Song” 11. Iggy Pop & Matt Sweeney – “European Son”
Goth heroinCHELSEA WOLFE shared the short documentary about her 2019
tour following the release of her sixth, critically praised LP BIRTH OF VIOLENCE.
Wolfe: “It’s not my natural inclination to want cameras around when I’m in my head or doing vocal warmups before a show, or when I’m with friends or family backstage, but Bobby asked, and in the spirit of pushing myself to document that era of my musical life, I welcomed him along. Then, after the COVID-19 pandemic hit and I had to fly home from the European acoustic tour before I got to play a single show of it, I was so grateful that he had this footage and was putting it together. I wanted to share this documentary for that reason as well, for those who had tickets to cancelled shows (I love you!), and as a sort of wave goodbye to the time I spent focused on Birth Of Violence, as I’m now making plans for and in the headspace of the next new album.”
Band: NO THEE NO ESS Who: Psych rock duo from Cardiff. A collaboration between Paul Battenbough
(The Cosmic Array, King of Despair) and Andy Fung (Derrero, Cymbient). The two
bonded through a shared love of The Beach Boys, Neil Young, and West Coast
psychedelia.
“The partnership creates spontaneously, conceiving songs and ideas in the studio and
then recording straight away to preserve their freshness and immediacy. The eighth No
Thee No Ess album, ‘Dimmer switch’ was recorded with musician/producer Frank Naughton
at his legendary Cardiff studio, ‘Ty Drwg.’ Naughton contributes additional instrumentation, bringing new lysergic colours to songs like “kaleidoscopic” and “Chorus.” The result is among
‘no thee no ess’ most adventurous works to date, rich with experimental energy while retaining their characteristic blissed out vision.
Turn Up The Volume: Psychedelia in all its sonic varieties. From cinematic soundscapes to far-out weirdness, from prog-rock to Zappa jazz, from pop to roll, from swings to moods and back, from Syd Barrett to The Flaming Lips, from broken wheel symphonies to Lucy in the sky with diamonds. I guess you have the overall picture by now. So much to discover, so much to absorb, so much to enjoy. Close your eyes and let your headphones massage your ears and mind.
Stream/buy Dimmer Switch here…
. Two space cowboys always in the kitchen at parties
From the RAGTM guitarist’s upcoming album titled The Atlas Underground Fire
with a series of big name guests. This is the clamorous belter featuring British noise
freaks Bring Me The Horizon
The second new track of the year from the macho Roses. Old Skool would
be a more appropriate song title. As usual Slash has sex with his guitar and Axl Rose‘s vocal cords are still alive and kicking.
A metal uppercut serving as an urgent call-to-action to address injustices
and atrocities that have plagued Indigenous communities for centuries.
Anger, rage and fury is what you get when awfully greedy governments
do what so many political sharks did in the past, taking the freedom, hope,
and future away of whole populations. Horrible.
We are connected, we’re feeling infected (a toxic life)
The treaty’s neglected, your laws are rejected (give up your fight)
Our colonial apathy, making the rivers bleed (things aren’t alright)
Your violations, stealing from nations (eating us inside)
A few weeks ago the imperishable Stones announced a deluxe edition for
one of their last great albums Tattoo You celebrating its 40th-anniversary.
It will feature several previously unreleased tracks from those recording
sessions.
The band says that this new crackerjack is “an anti-love anthem about the grief and
pitfalls of a serious relationship crumbling due to lies and deceit. This is explored through
the eyes of Bonnie (of Bonnie & Clyde fame), in an alternative universe where Clyde selfishly leaves Bonnie for dead.” Bonnie takes revenge because of the end of their romantic,
albeit toxic relationship.
Famous Bonnie (movie) quote (addressing Clyde): “What would you do if some miracle happened and we could walk out of here tomorrow morning and start all over again clean?
No record and nobody after us?”
Electrifying and fuming. Here comes Bonnie (with mustache)…
One of the catchiest tunes I’ve heard all year, proving that sticky simplicity works tremendously well when you can sing along, hum along, or whistle along.
I Love you, Courtney.
