24 January 2021
Band: ARAB STRAP (Scotland)
Album: AS DAYS GET DARK – 7th LP
The first in 15 years.
Out: 5 March 2021 – all info here.
Arab Strap says: “It’s about hopelessness
and darkness. But in a fun way”
Singles…
– COMPERSION PT. 1 –
– THE TURNING OF OUR BONES –
ARAB STRAP: Facebook
20 January 2021
Band: TEENAGE FANCLUB (Scotland)
Active: Since 1989
Album: ENDLESS ARCADE – 11th LP
Out: 5 March 2021
Single: HOME
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TEENAGE FANCLUB: All Albums – Facebook
Out 5 March 2021 via Merge Records
17 January 2021
Living legend NEIL YOUNG releases another new live album and concert film, titled
WAY DOWN IN THE RUST BUCKET on 26th February. Recorded at a 1990 show with Crazy Horse in Santa Cruz, California shortly after his 18th LP Ragged Glory came out.
The special issue contains a 4xLP box set, a 2xCD set and a deluxe edition box set,
with the latter format including a DVD, four LPs, and two CDS. A digital release
is also coming via the official Neil Young Archives site.
Album trailer clip…
Taster track…
– COUNTRY HOME –
NEIL YOUNG: Website
20 November 2020
Band: THE CRIBS (West Yorkshire, UK)
Active: Since 2001
Album: NIGHT NETWORK – 8th full length
Released: 20 November 2020
NME writes: The Wakefield brothers have pulled through some tough times and emerged recharged and back on their strongest form… While the album’s indie and punkier moments
do revitalise the record’s energy, there isn’t a sense of pining for that “classic Cribs sound” whenever the band do decide to explore other songwriting avenues… Even being able to speculate positively about The Cribs’ future should be a cause of celebration these days, given that the band were so recently considering calling it a day. But this album gives ample reason
to be cheerful going forward, and the trio now have a genuine shot at being a force in their
own right in this new decade… “Night Network’ isn’t the sound of a run-down band staggering towards the finish line. Far from it – The Cribs have just embarked on a victory lap.”
Score: 5/5.
Turn Up The Volume says: NME is a bit overexcited and generous (again) when it comes to bands they championed from day one. This record sounds like if The Beach Boys were a 90s indie rock band. Good, but not good enough to be a memorable album. My 3/5 score sounds more realistic.
Tune in…
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THE CRIBS: Facebook
11 November 2020
THE WAR ON DRUGS release a live album called LIVE DRUGS on 20th November, featuring 10 recordings selected from gigs of the past five years. The band, led by
Adam Granduciel , debuted one of the songs, a new one, off the LP on American TV.
Listen to OCEAN DARKNESS…
Tracklist of LIVE DRUGS…
01) An Ocean in Between the Waves
02) Pain
03) Strangest Thing
04) Red Eyes
05) Thinking of a Place
06) Buenos Aires Beach
07) Accidentally Like a Martyr
08) Eyes to the Wind
09) Under The Pressure
10) In Reverse
THE WAR ON DRUGS: Facebook
6 November 2020
Back in 2003 NEIL YOUNG and his long-time orchestra CRAZY HORSE released
a rock opera album called GREENDALE. The story of the Green family in a fictional California seaside town with songs about corruption, environmentalism and mass
media consolidation. Although the critics were divided, for Rolling Stone Magazine
it was one of the best LPs of that year.
Relive the studio album…
.
A concert film of the Greendale tour premiered in San Francisco
and via the Movietone section of Neil Young’s Archives website
on 25th September. And today the audio longplayer is out.
Return to Greendale live…
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NEIL YOUNG: Website
2 November 2020
Legendary twilight crooner NICK CAVE played a solo live-streamed concert
on 23 July inside the cavern of Alexandra Palace in London. More info here.
On 20 November the performance will be released as a live album, titled
Idiot Prayer – Nick Cave Alone At Alexandra Palace.
Ahead of the release Cave gave us two tracks…
– GALLEON SHIP –
– EUTHANASIA –
NICK CAVE: Facebook
26 October 2020
Band: GORILLAZ featuring a long list of famous guests
Album: SONG MACHINE, SEASON ONE: STRANGE TIMEZ
Released: 23 October 2020
24 October 2020
Artist: JEFF TWEEDY (Wilco’s mastermind)
Album: LOVE IS THE KING
Released: 23 October 2020
Uncut Magazine says: “This album marries Tweedy’s mature
emotional outlook to the workaday manners of Uncle Tupelo
or the Woody Guthrie project, Mermaid Avenue.”
Turn Up The Volume: After one spin it’s clear.
Jeff Tweedy is a king of Americana melancholia.
Released: 23 October 2020
Title track…
Stream/buy full LP here…
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JEFF TWEEDY: Facebook
23 October 2020
Artist: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
Album: LETTER TO YOU
Released: 23 October 2020
NME says: “The Boss’ triumphant 20th album features three songs he wrote in his 20s, the
rest grappling with age and mortality… It’s a message that Springsteen returns to almost 40 years later on the meditative ‘Letter To You’, his triumphant 20th album. The question now, though, as Springsteen hits his 70s and watches good friends and family members pass away, is: do they actually? Where he once sang of the mortality of fictional characters, it’s now that much closer to home. That he seems a touch overwhelmed is no surprise… It’s also his best work in 20 years…A powerful synthesis of past and present, ‘Letter To You’ shows us the strength that can be found in sorrow. The result is Springsteen’s finest album since 2002’s ‘The Rising’.”
Full review here. Score: 5/5.
Bruce Springsteen: “I love the sound of the E Street Band playing completely live in the studio, in a way we’ve never done before, and with no overdubs. We made the album in only five days, and it turned out to be one of the greatest recording experiences I’ve ever had.”
Turn Up The Volume: “The Boss for president.”
Key lines: “I’m alive / I can feel the blood shiver in my bones /
I’m alive and I’m out here on my own.” – lines from Ghosts
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Full album…
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BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: Facebook
