Quote Of The Day – TODD RUNDGREN Not A Fan Of Today’s Musicians
Oops.
(Image on top: cover of his ‘Todd’ album)
Month: April 2023
Album Of April 2023 – British Psych Pop Outfit TEMPLES With Their Best (So Far) ‘EXOTICO’
Standout album of the month
30 April 2023
Band: TEMPLES
Who: Glam and glitter popsmiths
from Kettering, England formed in 2012 by
charismatic frontman James Bagshaw and
bassist Tom Walmsle.
Active: Since 2012 / 4 LPs (new one included)
New album: EXOTICO
Clash Magazine says: “Indie rockers Temples demonstrate an illustrious way forward for traditional guitar music. Taking place in a mystical, dream-like utopia, this supremely ambitious sixteen track presentation is the broadest, most eclectic palette of sound yet to be released by the neo-psychedelic, alternative ensemble. There are no bounds. ‘Exotico’ let’s go of control, so remarkable things can happen. It’s the closest Temples have been to releasing a masterpiece, and that’s saying something.” Full review here. Score: 8/10.
(Photo by Turn Up The Volume)
TUTV: I became a Temples fan since their 2014 debut album Sun Structures. A psych
retro pop record sounding like 5-star sonic sugar. But the weirdest thing happened now with this new longplayer. I was really disappointed after my first listen. It all (16 tracks) sounded too mellow, too laid-back, too familiar, and too much.
But being a fan I didn’t want to quit on them and I had several spins thereafter.
At one point it felt like my ears made sense of it all, helped by the images of sunny beaches, cocktail bars, and palm trees that popped up on my inner dream screen.
This album grew on me spin after spin. It’s still a mellow, laid-back, and familiar-sounding collection of music. But its sunlit spirit, its vivid vibe, its infectious melodies are SUPREME. Let your thoughts ignore reality and drift away in your happy-go-lucky cocoon. Top-tier, top-tier record, their best so far, hands down.
Singles/clips: Afterlife / Cicada / Gamma Rays
– AFTERLIFE –
– CICADA –
– GAMMA RAYS –
FULL ALBUM
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TEMPLES: Facebook – Instagram
Soulful Sunday With Living Country Legend WILLIE NELSON Who Celebrates His 90th Birthday
Reveries for the laziest day of the week
30 April 2023
Living country legend WILLIE HUGH NELSON was
born on 29 April 1933 in Abbott, Texas. Happy 90!
Nelson was also political activist. He was one of the main figures of outlaw country,
a subgenre of country music that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restrictions of the Nashville sound. Big name stars praised/praise
Nelson for his music and his humanist vision.
He recorded/released no less than 73 albums (so far) with I Don’t Know A Thing
About Love: The Songs of Harlan Howard that came out last March (steam below).
One of his biggest hits was the splendiferous
1961 ballad CRAZY (covered by countless artists).
Happy B. Willie!
WN: Bio – Discography – Website
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(Image on top: the cover of his 1996 album ‘Spirit’)
Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space With MONTA And Their New Single ‘APPLES OF THE SUN’
New striking strokes
30 April 2023
Band: MONTA
Who: A post-punk electronic collective that
ventures into dark synthpop and art rock
from Kansas City.
Promo photo
New single: APPLES OF THE SUN
“It’s inspired by the Parker Solar Probe which has recently passed the Alfvén critical surface, allowing it to enter the solar atmosphere. The achievement was inspired by
the classic Ray Bradbury short story The Golden Apples Of The Sun“ which in turn was inspired by the song of the same name. The song speaks to the collective human hubris in striving for greatness and proving our own invincibility, reflected in the line “Let’s touch the sun and claim our eternal modern status.” This milestone signals an exciting time in space exploration as we begin to break the limits and expand further into space.”
TUTV: Apples Of The Sun is a slo-mo psych trip, both ghostly and moony.
Glittering guitars, scintillating synths and idyllic vocals. Think Jason Pierce‘s
symphonic rock band Spiriualized and his otherwordly and dreamy 1997
pearl Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating In Space.
Relax.
Enjoy.
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MONTA: Facebook – Instagram
Gone But Not Forgotten – Guitar Hero MICK RONSON Passed Away 30 Years Ago
Great artists from the past
30 April 2023
Highly praised and outstanding guitar hero (although he didn’t think of himself
like that) MICK RONSON was born in 1993 in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England
and passed away on 29 April 1993, 30 years ago due to that deadly beast cancer. He was only 46.
He was a lot more than just the guitarist for Ziggy Stardust and his Spiders Of Mars.
He toured with Bob Dylan, played with Mott The Hoople, worked with Lou Reed, and produced an impressive number of albums. He also made 6 solo albums.
David Bowie: “Mick was the perfect foil for the Ziggy character. He was very much a
salt-of-the-earth type, the blunt northerner with a defiantly masculine personality so
that what you got was the old-fashioned Yin and Yang thing.”
Ian Hunter (Mott The Hoople): “I’m entirely different from Mick. He’s schooled musician.
Mick came up the serious way. He was a cello player, I mean he wanted to be a cello player.”
Three great Ronson live moments.
– With BOWIE –
– SOLO –
– With MOTT THE HOOPLE –
MICK RONSON: Story
(Image on top: cover of his biography book)
Poster This – Talking Heads TINA And CHRIS
The former Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club‘s rhythm section,
Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz are married for 46 years now.
A rarity in rock.
Three years ago the pair published a book, titled Remain In Love. In the book Frantz writes about the beginnings of Talking Heads‘s days as art students in Providence, moving to the sparse Chrystie Street loft Frantz, Weymouth, and Byrne shared where the music that defined an era was written. With never-before-seen photos and immersive vivid detail, Frantz describes life on tour, down to the meals eaten and the clothes worn―and reveals the mechanics of a long and complicated working relationship with a mercurial frontman.
Now Tina and Frantz will have a conversation about
it all with fans in the UK for 2 nights (US dates TBA).
This is the poster/artwork for the 2 evenings.
BILLY EILISH Will Not Follow New York Pop Duo TEENIEST
Daily electricity to load your batteries
30 April 2023
Artists: TEENIEST
Who: A musical duo from Brooklyn, New York. Their music is alive with beauty
and colorful quirkiness, whether it’s a gentle acoustic folkie tune or an all-out
electric guitar rock assault. They released their self-titled debut album in 2019.
New single: BILLIE EILISH WON’T FOLLOW ME
“This quirky song takes a wry look at pop stardom and music streaming algorithms,
with a good dose of kind-hearted humor. We brought a unique sound to this project, with clarinet, Rickenbacker electric guitar and bizarre chanting voices. It’s weird but fun and accessible.”
TUTV: This is big fun. Even if Billie Eilish won’t follow you, you just can’t resist this sunlit
funky-reggae-y earworm. A frisky clarinet, a sparkling Rickenbacker, whimsical vocals, and last but not least a sickly catchy melody combine for a tantalizing tune that will tapdance
in your head all Spring long.
Stream/buy
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Waking Up Kicking Out The Jams – Happy 75 To WAYNE KRAMER
Daily noise that works faster than any stimulant
30 April 2023
The legendary Detroit noise-turbo MC5 shook the rock world
in 1969 with a maniacal motherfucker of a live album called
KICK OUT THE JAMS.
WAYNE KRAMER was their riff-rollin’ guitarist /co-founder who said
at the time that they were a soul band. He was born Wayne Kambes
on 30 April 1948.
Happy 75!
Kick out the jams motherfuckers
Yeah I, I, I, I, I’m gonna
I’m gonna kick ’em out, yeah
MC5: Bio – Discography
BELLTOWN BLOOM FEST In SEATTLE – May 5/ 6
RICKIE LEE JONES Sensualizes Jazz Classics For The Midnight Hours With ‘PIECES OF TREASURES’
29 April 2023
68-year-old iconoclastic songstress RICKIE LEE JONES was once
labeled The Duchess Of Coolsville by Time Magazine (in the late 70s).
The charismatic musician who fused jazz with pop/R&B/folk/ and
soul with style, verve, and bravoure.
Yesterday she released a new album – her 15th – displaying her love
for authentic jazz again with her feverish interpretation of 10 classic jazz
songs from the Great American Songbook. The collection is named
PIECES OF TREASURES.
RLJ: “This album is as much about being human, the view of surviving,
which means aging, and loving relentlessly, as it is about anything. We
love ’til the day we die, love our lives, our families, and finally ourselves.”
Video for ‘Just In Time’ track
Jones‘ sensual voice sounds like she was born with it to sing this kind of late-night musings. Tender, romantic and heartfelt. The images on my screen in my mind show a cozy, smoky little bar with dimmed lights, somewhere in a dark alley in a big city with sexy Jones‘ on a barstool assisted by a pianist, a soft drummer, and a cellist, singing downhearted ballads for a handful of barflies. Wonderful!
Tracklist
01 “Just In Time” (Jule Styne, Betty Comden, Adolph Green)
02 “There Will Never Be Another You” (Harry Warren, Mack Gordon)
03 “Nature Boy” (Eden Ahbez)
04 “One for My Baby” (Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer)
05 “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin)
06 “All the Way” (Jimmy Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn)
07 “Here’s That Rainy Day” (Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke)
08 “September Song” (Kurt Weill, Maxwell Anderson)
09 “On the Sunny Side Of The Street” (Jimmy McHugh, Dorothy Fields)
10 “It’s All In The Game” (Charles G. Dawes, Carl Sigman)
Dim the lights, have a seat, relax, close your eyes and let your thoughts float.