After being the colorful dressed-up/masked face/voice of prog rockers Genesis for
8 years PETER GABRIEL left the band to pursue a solo career, a very successful
one and still running.
He released his Self-Titled Debut LP on 25 February 1977,45 years ago today.
Still one of his best works to my ears. Gabriel didn’t left prog- rock completely
behind him, as he incorporated the bombast of the genre here and there in his
new musical direction of accessible art-pop. A varied, splendid album.
AllMusic: “It’s an imperfect album, but that’s a byproduct of Gabriel’s
welcome risk-taking, the very thing that makes the album work, overall.” Score: 4.5/5.
The American dreamers collective THE NATIONAL led by mixed emotions crooner Matt Berninger share their new, 9th LP, namedFIRST TWO PAGES OF FRANKENSTEIN with the world on 28 April. It features guest appearances from Taylor Swift, Sufjan Stevens, and Phoebe Bridgers.
Yesterday they shared new track, weirdly named NEW ORDER T-SHIRT. A vintage TN reverie.
I keep what I can of you
Split second glimpses and
Snapshots and sounds You in my New Order t-shirt
Holding a cat and a glass of beer
I flicker through
I carry them with me like drugs in a
You in a Kentucky aquarium
Talking to a shark in a corner
Listen/watch.
Guess what? The band contacted New Order (the band) and the result
is a real New Order/The National T-shirt you can purchase HERE. Proceeds
from the sale will benefit a charity of NO’s choice.
Anton Newcombe:“My son Wolfgang is very different to me, thank god, but we have so many things in common; dancing, making up songs, and vocalizing strange combinations of words and ideas that make us laugh, or make sense to us in some meaningful way,” frontman Anton Newcombe said in a press release. “At a certain point, I started writing down these words and random ideas to use as titles.I felt like everything was so sad and hopeless, but I am not helpless. I decided to sing anthems to empower me, to remember to remember, to fight the beast until it dies, to give it everything you got because that’s all there is to give… these were not songs for COVID times, for these times of war and crisis after crisis, these are songs for all time.”
(Photo by Turn Up The Volume)
Louder Than War said:“Aside from plundering the darkest corners of psychedelic rock,
Brian Jonestown Massacre have ventured into all corners of the sonic spectrum from rock’n’roll, blues, folk, country and pop through to blazing swirls of distortion and mesmerising fuzzed up soundscapes. Also do not forget the sonic textures which have been influenced by musical traditions across the globe, especially the middle east. Much of all of this is on this album
albeit in different shades and shapes than before.”
TUTV: Last year’s Fire Doesn’t Grow On Trees was unquestionably one of the best BJTM’s longplayers of the 21st Century. An intoxicating piece of work still playing regularly on my stereo.
Guess what? Only eight months later and 24/7 musician Anton Newcombe hits bulseye again with this fantastic new LP. Fans (including me, of course) know his all-time favorite sonic sphere he operates in for years now.
The 60s psychedelic fuzz and buzz, the famed BJTM feedback, the jingle jangle virtuosity, the affecting, feverish vocals are all around again with an (even) richer and coherent reverberation than in the old(er) days, but most of all the record’s 10 songs, are without any exception, TOPNOTCH TUNES. Every single track has its own magnetizing attraction and its own spellbinding aura. No arty-farty redundancy, only pure spot-on crafted melodies. An art in itself, missing with so many artists/bands.
I know and you know the cliché, but it’s the most effective way to describe this magnum psych opus: no fillers, all killers. File between the Stones’ Their Satanic Majesties Request and Love’s Forever Changes.
Dark-synth-pop-wave giants DEPECHE MODE are back in the spotlight
after the passing of their co-band-founder and keyboardist Andy Fletcher
who passed away last year in May following an aortic dissection, only 60.
Next month – 24 March – the duo share their new, 15th longplayer
named MEMENTO MORI and will embark on a massive world tour.
So it’s promotion time now. Last Thursday DM were on The Late Show
with Stephen Colbert for a special edition in the Ed Sullivan Theatre on
Broadway. They performed new single Ghosts Again and imperishable
1990 golden oldie Personal Jesus.
David Gahan‘s performance was highly passionate and
intense and caused a standing ovation by the audience.
Cassyette : “I made ‘Boom’ whilst I was having a manic episode.
I had gone into mania that morning and wanted to write about what
it feels like for me. Experiencing extreme highs and lows can be so draining,
so writing this felt like scratching an itch that can’t be scratched.”
TUTV: Wowzers! Imagine American red-hot-blooded punk-rap act Ho99o9
fronted by Fever Ray. Sounds motherrocking cool, right? You betcha. With Boom you can crush your worst demons. Oh yeah, its intimidating electro-metal
impact is AWESOME. Rollin’ from sensual-voiced verses to a TITANIC chorus Cassyette fulminates like a rattling roller coaster without breaks. Holy booming shit. I wouldn’t
mess with this she-devil if I was you. Her adrenalin production goes over the top,
and so should yours.
“This song is technically a cover but interestingly, we do not know who the original artist is. We’ve put some of our own touches on this song but it’s mostly a cover. Has a bit of that “wall-of sound” guitar that gives it a shoegaze sound with a falsetto ear worm for a chorus. We also had to come up with a way to start the song and all come in together and since we are huge fans of “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes, we decided to pay a little homage to its drum intro.”
TUTV: If you embed an instantly sticking pop melody into a fuzzy guitar-layered sonic
bath and you add the right bells and whistles, like an overall scintillating sonority, an effervescent oh-oh-oh-oh chorus, electrical flashes here and there, and crackerjack vocals there’s a big chance you’ll end up with a winner. Which is what happens exactly right here. Trust me, Kevin is for real. Excuse them while they kiss the sky.
It’s the fictional act’s, led by human voice and musical centipede Damon Albarn,
eighth studio album with 10 tracks on it and another stellar line-up of collaborators, including Thundercat, Tame Impala, Bad Bunny, Stevie Nicks, Adeleye Omotayo, Bootie
Brown and Beck. It’s produced by Gorillaz, Remi Kabaka jr. and eight-time Grammy
Award-winning producer/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter extraordinaire Greg Kurstin.
NME says: “The band’s first post-pandemic record eschews industry-busting rollouts or a concept-heavy narrative, instead showing their influence on pop’s present and future. While ‘Cracker Island’ doesn’t exactly ape a sound that’s proving already-popular, it does a fine job
of reminding everyone where much of the limitless thinking came from. Gorillaz take snapshots of a diverse music scene – from psych-fused pop to reggaeton – and put a unique spin on it. There’s no broad concept or industry-busting roll-out, just 10 pristine, richly satisfying tracks;
no more, no less.” Score: 4/5.
TUTV: Vocally, despite contributions of a star line up it’s Albarn‘s lazy voice that’s prominent on almost every song, as we know it. 10 familiar, mostly bluesy, synth-pop tunes except for the upbeat title track and New Gold, is what we get. Yes, smooth mid-tempo grooves dominate the record, even more than on previous LPs. But ALL grooves have a feel-good, mesmeric and slow hip-shaking vibe, so before you notice it, the relaxing party is over and you reach for the repeat button (which I did, anyway) for an encore and another happy-go-lucky ride. Music for drowsy moments on your favorite, imaginary island.
KEY SINGLES: Cracker Island / Skinny Ape / Silent Running
YOUNG FATHERS – Trix, Antwerp, Belgium – 22 February 2023
Sassy Scottish trio YOUNG FATHERS released their 4th LP, titled Heavy Heavy, early
this month. The year is still young, but it’s a sterling contender for best-album-of-2023
to Turn Up The Volume‘s exited ears. Take note.
“Heavy Heavy could be a mood, or it could describe the smoothed granite of bass that
supports the sound or it could be a nod to the natural progression of boys to grown men
and the inevitable toll of living, a joyous burden, relationships, family, the natural momentum of a group that has been around long enough to witness massive changes. “You let the demons out and deal with it. Make sense of it after, ” said the band about their new opus.
The once, with their debut full-length (2014), Mercury Prize nominated act
are touring heavily now to bring their new steaming spectacle to the people.
Last Wednesday they blew the roof off in Antwerp with their funk-punk-dance-rap exuberance and astonishing vocal teamwork. Holy moly! What a storming show it was. After the acapella beauty of Only Child they ignite the fireworks with master blaster
single I Sawand never looked back. Neither did the elated crowd.
From there on, assisted by a pounding jungle drum(mer), guitarist/keyboardist Callum Easter (who also was the support act), a grand female soul vox, and digital synths Young Fathers thundered on for 75 minutes with a spot-on selection of booming knockouts from their 4 longplayers.
Stunner ‘Queen Is Dead’ from 2013 LP ‘Tape Two’
As I said their brilliant vocal razmataz is the dominant and overwhelming factor, rollin’ all over the high-powered bass-beat machine. Their non-stop intoxicating ebullience activated all limbs present in the venue and the huge decibels made sure that the whole city of Antwerp could shake their booty along.
Young fathers Alloysious Massaquoi, Kayus Bankole and G. Hastings rule. Heavy Heavy rules. Their staggering live explosiveness rules. Hail hail.
All together now
SETLIST
1. Only Child 2. I Saw 3. Queen is Dead 4. Wow 5.Rain or Shine 6. Get Up 7. Old Rock n Roll 8. Be Your Lady 9. Sink or Swim 10. Drum 11.I Heard 12.In My View 13. Tell Somebody 14. Rice 15. Geronimo 16. Shame 17. Toy
Next month, 29 March, it will be 30 years since London‘s glam rock heroes
SUEDE released their monumental self-titled debut LP (stream below) that
catapulted them to the top of the indie rankings, in and outside of the UK.
Yes, the album with the notable front artwork. A photograph taken by Tee Corinne that, in its entirety, shows a woman kissing an acquaintance in a wheelchair. Corinne had turned down the band’s request to use the full shot of the two naked women and insisted they could only use a head and shoulders close-up of the women to protect their identity.
To start the festive celebrations of the 30th anniversary the band
just shared a remastered video of one of the 4 sublime singles.
