Month: June 2023

Symphonic Pop Rockers MERCURY REV Finally Back In Belgium This Friday – Here’s TURN UP THE VOLUME’s Proposed Playlist

Posted on by JL

20 June 2023

MERCURY REV. One of my favorite bands ever, on record and on stage.

The band was formed in 1989 by a bunch of students from the University at Buffalo
in New York. Their first three LPs (Yerself Is Steam – 1991 / Boces – 1993 / See You On
The Other Side – 1995) were dope-infused psych rock-out records. Check them on Spotify

The great breakthrough came in 1998 with the majestic masterpiece DESERTER’S SONGS .
From there on, I started to go and see them play live. The magic about them performing on stage is that it doesn’t feel like a rock concert, but rather a spiritual experience. Always spellbinding and hypnotic.

With goosebumps vocalist and co-songwritter Jonathan Donahue (who also played for
2 years with fairytale eccentrics The Flaming Lips) and musical orchestrator Grasshopper (born Sean Thomas Mackowiak) as the beating heart of the Rev, another 5 albums followed with The Light In You as the most recent one, released in 2015. Full discography here .

All that said, I’m warming up now to see/hear MR for the 12th time, the first show since they played Brussels in 2015. They play in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium this Friday, 23 June. For the occasion, I made a playlist of 12 magnificent Rev pearls. Actually, 12 I want them to play.


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Below photos and impressions of their 2015 gig in Brussels.

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Jonathan Donahue
The King Of Swans

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Glistening guitar sparks with Grasshopper

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Spiritual happening
Symphonic orchestra

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MERCURY REV: Story – Instagram – Twitter

THE RUPERT SELECTION Hit Hard With Left/Right Stoner Rock Uppercut ‘TAKING TURNS’

Posted on by JL

Daily electricity to load your batteries

20 June 2023


Photo Credit: Peter McManus

Band: THE RUPERT SELECTION
Who: A psychedelic grunge band from Boston, Massachusetts. They’re inspired by
90s grunge and bring it with a modern twist. So far they released three EPs and one
full-length album.

New single: TAKING TURNS
Lyrically, it centers around being lost in the void, an out-of-body mental experience spawned by drug-induced anxiety. I’ll feature on the band’s new full length, out later
in the year.

Reilly Somach (vocalist/guitarist) “‘Taking Turns’ started from a verse riff and melody I’ve had forever but for whatever reason could never really find a home for. One day in practice I just started playing it and Peter and Sam jumped in and it started coming together. I started playing the chorus riff after and 30 minutes later it was done.”


Art Credit: Crystal Araiza

TUTV: Taking Turns is a riff-vicious mid-tempo psych-blues wallop. A stoner rock jackhammer that triggers you to hit your poor head against a wall. Raw vocals, thumping drums, Slash-like guitar aggression and an ablaze grunge chorus combine for an on-target left/right uppercut. Think Queens Of The Stone Age and Jon Spencer & Blues Explosion having a noise contest. Helter skelter.

Tune in.
Crash.


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TRS: Facebook – Instagram

‘SIDEWALKING’ By JESUS & THE MARY CHAIN (With Bobby Gillespie On Drums) – Released 35 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

20 June 2023

Band: THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN
Active: 1983–1999, 2007–present / 7 studio LP

Song/clip: SIDEWALKING

Released 35 years ago (March 1985) as a stand-alone single.
Bobby Gillespie, who later co-founded Primal Scream,
played the drums.

Chilled to the bone and five miles to home
I’m messing in the dark and feelin’ all alone
I’ve got ice in my fire got the heat in my wire
inject a little heat, I’m burnin’ up the tires

Sidewalking, sidewalking, sidewalking, sidewalking

Talking like I’m on and I’m the only one
I’m making like I’m done and staring like a gun
and I gotta get a call and I gotta get a ride
gonna get a car got Jesus on my side

Sidewalking, sidewalking, sidewalking, sidewalking
Messing in the dark and walking all alone
alone in the streets and I know just where I’m goin’

Sidewalking, sidewalking
Chilled to the bone, chilled to the bone
hot wired heat and all the way home

JAMC: Bio – Discography – Instagram

PRETENDERS Share Romantic Lullaby ‘I THINK ABOUT YOU DAILY’ From Their Forthcoming LP

Posted on by JL

New striking strokes

20 June 2023

Last month CHRISSIE HYNDE and her PRETENDERS announced that their new LP,
the 12th, titled Relentless, will come out on September 1. The news was accompanied
by the jangly lead single Let The Sun Come In.

Soon after (30 May) I saw the band play a cooking show in Antwerp, Belgium,
with Hynde turning all cylinders on like an eager Riot grrrl, despite being 71.

And now the stars share a second appetizer named I THINK ABOUT YOU DAILY.
A romantic and nostalgic piano ballad. It also features a string arrangement from Radiohead‘s multi-instrumentalist Johny Greenwood, who also conducted the
12 Ensemble in the recording session.

Hynde about Greenwood: “I met Jonny a couple of times, and we’re obviously big fans
of him because he’s done some incredible music over the years. I saw him at the Phantom Thread premiere, where the film was running onscreen with a live orchestra playing. And we spoke afterward and he expressed an interest in doing something one day. I was thrilled and very surprised. He also came down to see a Valve Bone Woe show we were doing in the basement of a Pizza Express. So when we discussed the idea of getting strings on “I Think
About You Daily,” he was the first choice. Legend!”

Dim the light, sit down, relax and lit a candle.

PRETENDERS: Facebook – Instagram

(Photos by Turn Up The Volume)

Waking Up With Canadian Rockers VICKY VON VICKY And Their New Steamy Stunner ‘JEALOUSY’

Posted on by JL

Daily noise that works faster than any stimulant

 

20 June 2023

Band: VICKY VON VICKY
Who: Indie rock act from Toronto. After the release of 2 LPs they
took a hiatus in the early 2000s. Now, after two decades, VVV are
back in town.

New single: JEALOUSY
Essentially, a break-up song that doesn’t dwell on your typical anxiety & heartbreak.
It is an uplifting indie rock anthem that guides the listener through the story of a relationship gone sour, with the narrator in a seemingly state of bliss throughout,
and is ultimately content at the conclusion.


The single’s image of 2 dragonflies is a simple way to show how one living thing can envy another

TUTV: Jealousy is an irresistible pop tune amplified by an army of frenzied guitars and a titanic sing-along chorus. Ridiculously catchy for the full 3.33 minutes. Not really a happy song as it’s about a break-up, but you can’t but pirouette yourself totally dizzy to this wham bam glam banger. I love the smell of uppers like this in the morning.

Press play.

VVV: Facebook – Instagram