London’s indie band NIGHT FLOWERS recorded an intimate version of THE PRETENDERS‘ 1983 Christmas pearl ‘2000 MILES‘ written by frontwoman Chrissie Hynde in memory of the band’s guitarist James Honeyman-Scott, who died of cocaine-induced heart failure the year before. Night Flowers, at their turn, dedicate the song to a personal friend and vivid fan of theirs who passed away recently. All benefits will go to CALM = Campaign Against Living Miserably. An award-winning charity offering support to prevent male suicide, the single biggest killer of men under 45 years in the UK. In 2015, 75% of all UK suicides were male.
British hard rockin’ legends LED ZEPPELIN knew all the classics back then. They not only covered some of them live and on record but used others’ work, mainly songs from black blues artists, as a (sometimes literal) inspiration. But before starting an endless plagiarism debate, let’s hear/watch their thunderous 1970 live rendition at London‘s Royal Albert Hall of Eddie Cochran‘s 1959 firecracker SOMETHIN’ ELSE…
Who: Fresh Canadian foursome formed in 2017, through friends, and craigslist ads.
Their sound is a combination of Beatlesque melodies with the passion of nineties alternative rock. Inspired by artists such as Nirvana, Oasis, Strokes, Red Hot Chilli
Peppers, White Stripes, and Bob Dylan.
Pick: WIDE AWAKE – debut single that “focuses on the topic of self-reflection and the happenings of everyday life.”
Score: Wow! Talking about a loud and clear debut. Towering guitars, zealous swagger, impassioned vocals and an anthemic chorus so forceful that it makes your speakers tremble. Oh yeah, here’s a titanic mid-tempo crackerjack that leaves you speechless afterward. This hungry young Canadian foursome is unquestionably wide wake. So
will you when you hit the button right here…
Canadian three-piece BASEMENT REVOLVER led by heartwarming singer/songwriter Chrisy Hurn released their emotive debut LP Heavy Eyes last Augustus with KNOCKING as one of the standout tracks. Hurn‘s breathtaking voice on this marvelous song’s live rendition will make you silent. Sheer splendor…
TWILIGHT FIELDS is the moniker of DIY singer-songwriter Allister Thompson who is based in Ontario and has been around for several years, playing in different bands as
well as making solo records. He has announced his new album Songs From The Age
Of Ruin, planned for release in early 2019. A longplayer that pays grateful homage to
such artists as Billy Bragg, Killing Joke, Midnight Oil, The Levellers, as well as other great musicians influencing his music like Leon Rosselson, Bob Dylan, Robert Wyatt & Phil Ochs.
Thompson just shared the new single off the LP. A loud and clear attack on demagogic politicians and their deceitful modus operandi to misinform people and create hate,
non-solidarity and inequality. Of course, Donald Trump (He’ll cut your taxes and build a fence), the president of The Divided States Of America, comes to mind but it’s actually
about the evilness of the universal and timeless DEMAGOGUE. About nationalistic
‘Me, Myself and I‘ leaders worldwide. Gripping song, alarming video clip…
Here’s the new boss on the scene
Always raging, lying and mean
He knows five wrongs erase one right
Just give the masses someone to fight
Someone to hate, someone to hurt
Someone who’s different, sound the alert
Pick those traitors out of the crowd
Make an example, make us all proud
The demagogue is coming
He’ll give you riches at no expense
He’ll cut your taxes and build a fence
To keep out foreigners who’d take what’s yours
Your plastic and metal, all you adore
He’ll usher in the bright white new age
He’ll fight progress and turn back the page
To a past that never existed
A vision of glory so evil and twisted
The demagogue is coming
Take to the streets before it’s too late
You can’t beat him with status updates
His followers ride his wave of hate
This fight is eternal it never will abate
The demagogue is coming
SONGS FROM THE AGE OF RUIN – out 1 February 2019 – more info here
The Doors‘ enigmatic and charismatic James Douglas Morrison was born in Melbourne, Florida on 8 December 1943. He would have turned 75 today. Here’s a big one to celebrate the legend’s birthday…
Johnny Marr – Trix Club, Antwerp, Belgium – 7 December 2018
The 10 Highs of the night…
1. Johnny Marr is a natural rock star, not a fabricated one, unlike many. 2. His way of communicating with the crowd through electricity is unique. 3. His glowing vox touches me more than that Smiths guy’s voice ever did. 4. He played 9 out of the 12 ‘Call The Comet‘ tracks. His best non-Smiths LP. 5.Easy Money is unquestionably THE catchiest cracker he ever wrote. Top! 6. ‘Hi Hello‘ has that heartwarming Smithsesque swagger. Magical touch. 7. 15 seconds of ‘Fly Like An Eagle‘ and 5 secs of ‘This Charming Man’. LOL. 8. Turning ‘Getting Away With It‘ into a psychedelic disco stomper was ace. 9. Dedicating ‘Bug‘ to Trump was spot on. ‘Population is sick and shaking’. 10. The place went ballistic when that moment he took us all out kicked in.
Before you would ask, no, there were no lows. Along with The Flaming Lips
and Idles one of the 3 top gigs of Turn Up The Volume‘s busy concert year.
Some snapshots…
Glowing starr…
“You just keep me hangin’ on”…
Mister Marr took us all out tonight…
Setlist
The Tracers
Bigmouth Strikes Again
Jeopardy
Day In Day Out
New Dominions
Hi Hello
The Headmaster Ritual
Walk Into the Sea
Getting Away With It
Hey Angel
Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me
Spiral Cities
Get the Message
Easy Money
Boys Get Straight
How Soon Is Now? Encores:
Rise
Bug
There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby
Going back in sonic history looking for memorable albums…
7 December 2018
Band: PUBLIC IMAGE LTD
Album: FIRST ISSUE
Released: 8 December 1978 – 40 years ago
ALL MUSIC wrote: “Like it or not, Public Image Limited’s First Issue (aka Public Image) was an album that helped set the pace for what eventually became known as post-punk. In England a vacuum had opened up in the wake of the breakup of the Sex Pistols in January 1978, and many punk fans and rival groups were impatient to see what ex-Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon aka “Johnny Rotten” was going to roll out next. Disheartened owing to events in his legal proceedings against the Sex Pistols management company Glitterbest, and disgusted by the punk scene in general, Lydon was determined to create something that was neither punk nor even really rock as it was known in 1978. Working with ex-Clash guitarist Keith Levene, first-time bassist Jah Wobble, and Canadian drummer Jim Walker, Public Image Limited produced an album that represented the punk sound after it had shot itself in the head and became another entity entirely. Embracing elements of dub, progressive rock, noise, and atonality and driven by Lydon’s lyrical egoism and predilection towards doom, death, and horror, ‘First Issue’ was
among a select few 1978 albums that had something lasting to say about the future of rock music. And not everyone in 1978 wanted to hear it; contemporary critical notices for ‘First
Issue’ were almost uniformly negative in the extreme.” – Full review here – Score: 4/5
TURN UP THE VOLUME! says: After the “Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?” fiasco gig in San Francisco back in early ’74 Johnny Rotten Lydon must have thought something like: ‘Never mind the commercial bollocks, I’m off and I will never ever make another fucking Sex Pistols album‘. Yes, indeed, instead of cashing in on the Pistols‘ filth and fury (which he did much later!!) he went on an experimental odyssey with his new company featuring musical maestro Keith Levene, awesome bass player Jah Wobble and drummer Jim Walker. Besides the stunning single ‘Public Image‘ the first PIL longplayer was a baffling, uneasy, yet truly fascinating melting pot of bass excess, synths explorations, wayward noise dissection, freakish dub and Lydon‘s creepy voice. Perplexing stuff!
THREE TOP TRACKS: Public Image / Religion II / Fodderstompf
