20 years ago today, on 24 March 2003 (international release date,
the USA followed a day later) celebrated Californian nu-metal rockers LINKIN PARK unleashed their 2nd album METEORA.
Rolling Stone said: The band squeezed the last
remaining life out of this nearly extinct formula”
Billboard Magazine: “A ready-made crowdpleaser”.
NME: “A massive commercial appeal” but
it left the reviewer “underwhelmed”.
And they’re back now with a new firecracker called CHEW.
Promo pic by Charlie Barclay Harris
Tom Rees “I always wanted to write a song for my dog Norma but could never really get it right, it was always a little weird doing a love song to an animal. Instead I wrote a song about how empowered and inspired I feel when people see Norma and cross the street or pull their children in close to them or open their eyes really wide and skip a little to one side. I love that people find her terrifying, she’s so sweet it’s just super funny.”
The idea of let’s rock for my dog is just witty. What we don’t know is what Norma thinks about her boss’ guitar-charged tribute ripper which is an agitated fuzz and buzz energizer.
40 years ago today, on 23 March 1983, giant Californian
rock trio ZZ TOP released their 8th LP ELIMINATOR.
It was a big commercial triumph.
#9 in the Us, #3 in the UK
#in New Zealand, #2 in Canada
AllMusic said: “One of their best, yet it sounds like a mechanized ZZ Top thanks to the unflaggingly accurate grooves. Then again, that’s part of the album’s charm — this is new wave blues-rock, glossed up for the video, looking as good as the omnipresent convertible on the cover and sounding as irresistible as Reaganomics. Not the sort the old-school fans or blues-rock purists will love, but ZZ Top never sounded as much like a band of its time as they did here.” Score: 4.5/5.
Artist: ARBORIST Who: The moniker of Belfast native singer-songwriter Mark McCambridge, So far
he released two critically acclaimed albums, Home Burial(2016), which included
his Kim Deal (ex-Pixies/The Breeders) duet Twisted Arrow and Another View(2020).
A third LP is underway.
Arborist:“The older, bitter generation stroking hatred in the young, only to realise
that they are not of the same mentality, their minds not as poisoned. Its closing line
“Honey, I’ve been dreaming of an awful rage. In another body, in another language”
hints at the album’s dream state feel both sonically speaking and in its esoteric lyrics,
with much of it written in the surrealist fugue of the last five years.
Artwork album
TUTV:Alabaster Skin is a stirring and melancholic reflection that triggers your sensitive daydreaming. This bittersweet mixed emotions symphony with beauteous piano play
and classical strings has sepia-colored radiation and brings intimate Neil Young musings
to mind. And with Arborist‘s both tender and somber vocals, this composition becomes
a heart-and-soul touching pearl.
The song introduced the call-and-response “Are we not men?” / “We are Devo!” and
took its title from a 1924 anti-evolution tract called Jocko Homo Heavenbound
by Bertram Henry Shadduck, where it is explained as meaning ape-man.
In the video, Devo collaborator Mark Mothersbaugh plays a professor, lecturing
to a class of students in surgical masks, caps, and 3-D glasses. As the song progresses,
the class begins to riot.
Folk songsmith Drake (1948-1974) was/is an inspiration for many singer-songwriters.
His 3 LPs Five Leaves Left (1969), Bryter Layter (1970), and Pink Moon (1972) were and
still are widely lauded. The trouble artist died following an overdose of amitriptyline,
an antidepressant, aged only 26.
25 covers will feature on the compilation. Involved among others are Bombay
Bicycle Club & The Staves, Ben Harper, John Parish, David Gray, Craig Armstrong, Liz Phair, John Grant and Irish post-punk heroes Fontaines D.C.
Let’s Eat Grandma
British dream-pop duo is also part of the tribute. They picked FROM THE MORNING.
A characteristic, tender Drake musing. It was featured on his 1972 Pink Moon album.
Jenny Hollingworth from LEG: “I’ve always thought of it as the most hopeful song on Pink Moon and listening to its lyrics about nature showing us the beauty in the light and darkness and how life and death are connected helped me to find acceptance and comfort after loss. Thank you so much to David Wrench for working on it with me.”
Italian singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalistGIOELE VALENTI is a busy musical bee. He’s the mastermind of spellbinding psych acts JUJU and HERSELF and he regularly works with fellow Italian artist Nicola Sanguin of Lay Llamas. He also toured and recorded with the wonderful duo Jonathan Donahue/Grasshopper of the supreme band Mercury Rev recently.
A couple of weeks ago JUJU played my hometown of Ghent (Belgium) again and we had
a chat focused on his newest album made withLay Llamasand namedFlag Of Breeze.
But first, as usual, we start an interview with a slice of music. Here’s one of my
favorite Juju songs, it’s from the excellent 2nd LP Our Mother Was A Plant.
Hello Gieole,
great to meet you again
You operate under two different monikers: JUJU and HERSELF.
Why, Gioele? Different music and/or different musicians?
“I think that at the basis of my training there are such heterogeneous listenings,
from folk to post-punk, that I immediately found it necessary to split into several
artistic personalities.
Different sound perspectives for the same artistic identity. Call it, if you will, sonic schizophrenia or company of artistic sub-personalities. I’ve always made my records myself. Of course, live, both Herself and JUJU become a real band.”
Which track would you pick from your work – overall – to introduce
yourself to people who never heard of you ?
“I think a good synthesis of JUJU’s sound, we find it in the song We Spit On Yer Grave, from the debut album… you can find everything in it. From new wave to post-punk; from indie pop to shoegaze. It still sounds very good to my hyper-critical ears!”
New mini-album FLAG OF BREEZE is a collaborative one with Lay Llamas (Nicola Giunta) You worked with LL before. What connects you both?
“It’s a long story… rooted in twenty years, I think. Nicola and I met at the time of Herself‘s first records. Nicola came to one of my concerts, if I remember correct-ly, in my city. And we immediately became friends. Lay Llamas is a Nicola‘s idea, and when he started taking his first steps, he immediately involved me, more or less.
Our most nourished collaboration takes shape in the Ostro (Rocket Re-cordings) album. From time to time, we like to make a record together, like the latest Goud, or the Flag Of Breeze collaboration. Between me and Nicola, in addition to a long-standing friendship, there is an extraordinary artistic affinity. In the work of the Lay Llamas, a perfect chemistry is unleashed, which neither he nor I can explain on rational grounds. I think it’s “simply”
a kind of alchemy.”
Lay Llamas’ Nicola Sanguin
Are all songs created together, lyrically and sonically?
“Normally the work with LL takes happens in the following way. Nicola sends me a sonorous canvas, or a definite structure. I write the lyrics and record my vo-cals, some arrangements, guitars, and synthesizers and then he polishes everything to a strong, typically LL aesthetic. It often works like this… but it’s not a rule. Sometimes everything
is already clear enough. Other times, we have no idea where the songs will lead us.”
Are all tracks connected or does each one stands on its own?
“As for my writing part on Flag Of Breeze, in agreement with Nicola, there is a universalist inspiration, which I am not afraid to define as pacifist. the whole record is lavished by this utopia of brotherhood, which is not mannerism, but a yearning pure, sincere. Fully aware that our world is falling apart under the yoke of truly negative powers.”
I like the artistic image on the album’s cover, although I have
no idea what it means? Is there a story behind, Gioele?
“The aesthetic part of the cover is totally Nicola‘s prerogative.
I can only tell that, yes, I like it!”
Which movie would be perfect to have your music as its soundtrack?
“A film whose story is written by Tom Robbins and whose photography is han-dled by John Alcott! Naturally, I would see Lucifer directing, the most misunder-stood angel of all!”
Painting by Alexandre Cabanel named ‘Ange Dechu’ (The Fallen Angel) in 1847
If you could collaborate on a new record with
a big name artist, who would it be and why?
“You know, I feel like a craftsman. I even have a hard time thinking of myself with a “big” name. There are so many artists that I love… I think with Mike Scott of the Waterboys. I loved them so much that I sanded my heart. Simply, because they are a part of me.”
I know you like to play live, so the lockdown years must have been
a pain in the ass. How did you cope with that Covid-19 period?
“Yes, that was a very painful time. As for everyone, by the way.
I think JUJU is a machine that express itself at his best in live dimension.
Yes, I really missed the live dimension. But I’m a fatalist, and I think everything
happens for a reason. And here we are again.”
A couple of weeks you played in my hometown of Ghent in Belgium again.
It looked/sounded as if you and the band were happy to be back on stage
despite car problems the day before.
“Sure, man. We were coming off a date in Bordeaux and were on our way to Beaumont.
We had this bad, but not serious, accident. We missed a date. But we caught up with Ghent. A city that we love and have played many times.
We were happy to play this concert organized by Sven Van Daele. Sven is a fan and a great person. We are always very happy to play in Belgium. A place where we feel at home.
March 9 – Ghent, Belgium – photo by TUTV
Any plans to work or tour with Mercury Rev again?
“Oh man. Yes I’d really like. We catch up with Jonathan: (note: Jonathan Donahue
is Mercury’s Rev charismatic singer/frontman) from time to time, like old friends.
They are extraordinary artists and very special human be-ings. Maybe…”
Gioele’s Herself project feat. Jonathan Donahue
What’s the next step for Gioele Valenti
and his different projects/collaborations?
“There’s something brewing… but I’m not the type to open
my mouth before things are done. Fingers crossed.”
Buy/stream FLAG OF BREEZE
here via Bandcamp.
. Thank you Gioele for this interview.
May the road rise with Juju/Herself.
The film will feature archival footage from the rock ‘n roll pioneer’s career and personal life, as well as never-before-seen interviews with the man himself as well as new interviews with musicians, his family and friends and Black and queer scholars – all of whom discuss his cultural impact.
Press info:“Little Richard: I Am Everything tells the story of the Black queer origins of rock n’ roll, exploding the whitewashed canon of American pop music to reveal the innovator – the originator – Richard Penniman. Through a wealth of archive and performance that brings us into Richard’s complicated inner world, the film unspools the icon’s life story with all its switchbacks and contradictions.”
Release Date – Theaters: Apr 11, 2023
Release Date – Streaming): Apr 21, 2023
Seasoned hardcore fanatics OFF! returned last year with
a changed line-up for their blistering 3rd LPFree LSD
Now exclusively for Record Store Day (April 15) they’ll have a new EP out
with 4 tracks from that album’s sessions, plus the unedited versions of
the four jazzy interludes that appeared on it. More info here.
As a taster for the havoc to come the explosive Florida engine shares
a video for one of the EPs blasts named KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT.
It starts with footage from a Free LSD narrative feature film.
Here comes the malevolent missile.
105 seconds of vitriolic venom.
Artist: EMMA HUNTER Who: Singer-songwriter, 1950s-inspired guitarist, and loop-maker from Oxford, UK. Assisted by trip-hop-inspired percussionist Tom Bruce, she creates complexly evocative soundscapes, filled with dramatic Lynchian atmosphere.
New single: MORIRE
A new EP is planned for Autumn 2023.
TUTV: OMG! Emma Hunter‘s vocals reach for the sky on this flamenco-influenced, breathtaking tour de force. She has truly an overwhelming vox that sends shivers down your spine. Mourning trumpets and Chris Isaak-like guitar sparks add a haunting timbre. Morire (the Italian word for ‘to die and fade‘) is what goosebump songwriting-quality is all about. It wouldn’t be out of place on the melodramatic soundtrack of western classic Once Upon A Time In The West . Capisce?
