New Albums 2024

MARK KNOPFLER – Former Sultan Of Swing Serves A Sonic Cocktail Of Roots Music On New Wholehearted Album ‘ONE DEEP RIVER’

Posted on by JL

13 April 2024


Press photo

74-year-old guitar wizard/songsmith MARK KNOPFLER is one of those
70s no-retirement for us musicians who will write/record/release until their
last breath. They have music in their DNA and it streams non-stop through
their veins.

Over the years Knopfler, just like his dear friend Bob Dylan, started to look back and embrace the roots of music, giving it their personal twist, and let us all enjoy along.

His new, 10th album, baptized ONE DEEP RIVER is out today.

Order info here.

UNCUT (British monthly): “Characterised by a laid-back, full-band sound, this heartfelt
music exudes the warm thrill of catching up and looking back among old friends.”

Sparkling single ‘Ahead Of The Game’

TUTV: No arty farty blah-blah, no special effects, no fake commercial BS for Mark Knopler. Only authentic music from the heart and soul is what counts for him. And he created some affecting new of it for this new record.

He serves another refined and flavored sonic cocktail of roots, blues, folk, country, pop and rock. 12 wholehearted, tender, melancholic and melodic musings with, as always, Knopfler‘s warm voice and his sparkling guitar play at the centre of it all.

The ambiance is mellow, cosy and romantically entertaining. It all sounds like if an old friend comes around to dredge up old memories and to dig up unforgettable stories for the umpteenth time together, that put a nostalgic smile on your face and makes you forget about the daily rat race outside.

Let that friend do the talking about then and now right
here in this short 3-part interview (total of 12 minutes).

Dim the lights,
lit a candle,
sit down,
have a drink,
relax and enjoy.


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Knopfler: Instagram – Website

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – Watch Trailer For Upcoming New Album ‘WILD GOD’

Posted on by JL

9 April 2024

Last month, the news came in that NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS have bagged
album number 18. It’s named WILD GOD and will be launched on August 30.

The LP is produced by Cave and his buddy Warren Ellis. Pre-order info here

To promote the LP, a trailer just has been put on the Internet.

WATCH

Along with the LP’s announcement, we got the first taster. The monumental title track.

NC & TBS: Instagram

DOLLY PARTON Covers TOM PETTY On Upcoming Tribute Album For The Late Legend

Posted on by JL

9 April 2024

A TOM PETTY tribute album PETTY COUNTRY: A COUNTRY MUSIC CELEBRATION
comes out on June 21.

I’ll feature 20 covers by a star-studded cast of country artists such as George Strait, Steve Earle, Willie and Lukas Nelson, Marty Stuart, Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton, Wynonna Judd, and Carly Pearce.

DOLLY PARTON was also invited. She covers
SOUTHERN ACCENTS, the title track of Petty’s
1984 LP.

Parton: “I was fortunate enough to get to know Tom over the years. He’s such
an iconic artist and important songwriter. I’m so honored to be a part of this
special album and to be able to share my version of one of Tom’s best songs,
‘Southern Accents’.”

At 78 Parton‘s voice is still as impressive as the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
The accompanying video features some nostalgic Tom Petty home
footage.

WATCH/LISTEN

TRACKLIST

01 “I Should Have Known It” by Chris Stapleton
02 “Wildflowers” by Thomas Rhett
03 “Runnin’ Down A Dream” by Luke Combs
04 “Southern Accents” by Dolly Parton
05 “Here Comes My Girl” by Justin Moore
06 “American Girl” by Dierks Bentley
07 “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” by Lady A
08 “I Forgive It All” by Jamey Johnson
09 “I Won’t Back Down” by Brothers Osborne
10 “Refugee” by Wynonna Judd & Lainey Wilson
11 “Angel Dream No. 2” by Willie Nelson & Lukas Nelson
12 “Learning To Fly” by Eli Young Band
13 “Breakdown” by Ryan Hurd feat. Carly Pearce
14 “Yer So Bad” by Steve Earle
15 “Ways To Be Wicked” by Margo Price feat. Mike Campbell
16 “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” by Midland
17 “Free Fallin’” by The Cadillac Three feat. Breland
18 “I Need To Know” by Marty Stuart And His Fabulous Superlatives
19 “Don’t Come Around Here No More” by Rhiannon Giddens feat.
Silkroad Ensemble and Benmont Tench
20 “You Wreck Me (Live)” by George Strait

(Tom Petty image: cover of his ‘American Treasure’ album)

VAMPIRE WEEKEND Have Their New Versatile Pop Album ‘ONLY GOD WAS ABOVE US’ Out

Posted on by JL

8 April 2024


Album artwork

New York‘s sparkling pop celebs VAMPIRE WEEKEND have their new album,
their 5th one and first in 5 years, titled ONLY GOD WAS ABOVE US out.

Press info: The album title is lifted directly from the album artwork, which is a photo
taken from a Subway graveyard in New Jersey in 1988 by photographer Steven Siegel.

Only God Was Above Us includes universal themes ranging from the urge to question
the world in which we live, and the quest for peace that can only be found through acceptance. The album is equal parts as direct yet complex as anything the band has
ever released, as beautiful and melodic as they’ve ever sounded but also at their
grittiest.


Press photo

Pitchfork says: “On their masterfully knotty fifth album, Vampire Weekend go on a self-mythological journey into old sounds, old haunts, and old cities to find something new within. Vampire Weekend itself is the focus of Only God Was Above Us. It is the band’s most overtly self-referential release, a collage of signature sounds and motifs dotted with allusions. It feels new and comfortable, regularly elegant and charming, calm and comforting, and, at times, foreboding. And just a bit worried.” Score: 8.5/10.

TUTV: VV have become pop experts by now. Orchestrator Ezra Koenig – who
turns 40 today – creates tantalizing tunes with different rhythms, different dynamics, different tones. He constructs songs like an architect designs artful statues. Piece by
piece, melody by melody, story by story. His songs have a sonic diversity, from catchy to capricious, from symphonic to euphonic, but always riveting and engrossing spiced with vocal melodrama. It’s called versatility. Happy birthday, Ezra Koenig, you did it again.

Key singles/clips: Capricorn / Mary Boone

– CAPRICORN –

– MARY BOONE –

ALBUM


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VV: Instagram

THE BLACK KEYS Surprise With New Album ‘OHIO PLAYERS’ That Balances Between Blues Light And Infectious Guitar Pop

Posted on by JL

6 April 2024

Ohio‘s blues brothers THE BLACK KEYS have
their 12th LP, titled OHIO PLAYERS out.

Rolling Stone‘s verdict: “In many ways, Ohio Players imagines what the Keys might
have sounded like had they been born into the eclectic mid- to late-Nineties that Beck ruled
rather than the minimalist rock-is-back early-2000s. It was a period when every genre — indie rock, hip-hop, trip-hop, rave, and exotica — melted into mellow gold. That era isn’t as mythic as the Mississippi Delta or a weed-fogged Seventies arena show. But it’s a little closer to Auerbach and Carney’s lived experience, and on Ohio Players, they’re at home in every groove.”


Press photo

TUTV: Surprise, surprise. The Black Keys made an album that features lots of bright pop tunes and some light blues ones. The licks/riffs and hooks, about a thousand of course, haven’t that BK’s raw and rough edge as we are used to.

The overall sonority leans more towards power guitar pop (slow, mid-tempo and only
a couple of fast ones), maybe that’s Beck‘s vibes influence, who is present on half of the songs. Even here and there, Auerbach vocals go as high as the Bee Gees helium-infused pipes did back in time and on a couple of songs they invited befriended rappers Lil Noid and Juicy J. Noel Gallagher is supposed to be somewhere in there too.

I never thought that the tandem would come up after 23 years (yes, twenty-three years!) with a different sounding, coherent longplayer, without ignoring their blues roots that is. Ohio Players will be the album that I’ll play more than their whole catalog together. Surprise, surprise indeed.

TOP TRACKS: This Is Nowhere / Beautiful People (Stay High) / On The Game /
Please Me (Till I’m Satisfied) / Every Time You Leave Me

ALBUM


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THE BLACK KEYS: Instagram

JACK ANTONOFF And BLEACHERS Throw A Mood Swing Party With New Self-Titled Album

Posted on by JL

New Jersey singer-songwriter JACK ANTONOFF, and his band BLEACHERS
celebrate their 10th birthday this year and do it with self-titled, 4th LP.


Album artwork

NME says: “Bleachers’ is the collective’s most quintessentially “them” release yet. It evolves
into new territory, of course, but is equally deeply connected to past releases – a by-product of spending a decade honing their dynamic and sound. Although it’s less prevalent now, there are meditations on grief and loss – topics Antonoff has explored at length over the years – and sonic call-backs.” Score: 4/5.

TUTV: Happy tunes, sad tunes, catchy tunes, musing tunes. Whatever Jack Antonoff
sings about he embeds his stories and emotions in a brisk jacuzzi of upbeat and captivating mood swing songs.

Key singles/clips: Tiny Moves / Alma Mater

– TINY MOVES –

– ALMA MATER –

ALBUM


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BLEACHERS: Facebook – Instagram

Picture This – Cover Of First SHELLAC Album In 10 Years

Posted on by JL

24 March 2024

Notorious noise-rock producer Steve Albini and his band Shellac (feat. Bob Weston,
bass/guitar/vocals and Todd Trainer, drums/vocals) announced via their social media
that they have a new album, their 6th (in 30 years), named TO ALL TRAINS waiting in
the pipeline to be released on May 17.

No music from the LP so far, but you already can memorize the tracklist.

01 “WSOD”
02 “Girl From Outside”
03 “Chick New Wave”
04 “Tattoos”
05 “Wednesday”
06 “Scrappers”
07 “Days Are Dogs”
08 “How I Wrote How I Wrote Elastic Man (cock & bull)”
09 “Scabby The Rat”
10 “I Don’t Fear Hell”


Shellac – Kortrijk, Belgium, 2017 – Photo by TUTV

BETH DITTO And GOSSIP Offer Ideal Soundtrack For Lazy Summer Garden Parties With Rad Comeback Album ‘REAL POWER’

Posted on by JL

24 March 2024


Album artwork

GOSSIP (1999–2016, 2019–2020, 2023–present), the disco-pop-punk trio
from Arkansas, led by the great voice/face Beth Ditto have their 6th LP,
called Real Power, their first in 14 years, out now.

Press info: The album marks a reunion with acclaimed producer Rick Rubin, who helmed the band’s pivotal 2009 album Music For Men. Recorded at Rubin’s home studio in Kauai, the process was temporarily halted by the pandemic and resumed when restrictions lifted. The result is an 11-track celebration of the galvanizing might of music, the joy of creative expression, and the power of chosen family in the aftermath of collective and personal trauma. The timing is ripe for a Gossip reunion, and Real Power heralds a new maturity
and renewed sense of purpose for the trio.

Ditto: “When we began, so much about Gossip was about running away—that was always in the musi. We survived. We came from nothing, and we got the fuck out of there. And to be here 20 years later and still making music together is just incredible.”

NME says: ‘Real Power’ is Gossip’s first release since reuniting in 2019. A focused and polished collection, these 11 tracks find the band continuing a career-long trajectory of shaving down their roughest edges. A “celebration of creative expression”, according to force-of-nature frontwoman Beth Ditto, Gossip’s sixth studio effort sees the trio bend into various new shapes that sharply reframe a host of the band’s familiar tropes. A joyous and compassionate return, ‘Real Power’ proves that Gossip’s clear-headed maturity has ensured they achieve its titular sentiment. Score: 4/5.

TUTV: Musically Real Power sounds more like a new Beth Ditto solo record
than a collective Gossip effort. Well, both Ditto and Gossip got away from their early
disco-punk firework days for a very long time now. So, many years older and more
life-experienced now, they combined their forces once again to make a record that
reflects their grown-up present and their jiving joy of still making music together
25 years after they hit the scene for the first time.

They skip the high-powered punk-infused, now irrelevant, cry outs of yesteryear and
go directly to a series of mid-tempo, sway-swing-along pop tunes for lazy summer garden parties for all ages (Act Of God / Real Power / Crazy Again / Give It Up For Love).

Titillating music that made zippy images pop up in my mind of soul diva Chaka Kan backed by Nile Rodger’s funky Chic freaks. Gossip also provide some laid-back, feel-good melodies (Tell Me Something / Edge Of The Sun / Tough / Peace And Quiet) to close the evening at decent hours with a big smile on everybody’s happy faces. Welcome back.

Singles/Clips: Crazy Again / Real Power / Act Of God  

– CRAZY AGAIN –

– ACT OF GOD –

– REAL POWER –

ALBUM


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GOSSIP: Instagram

For Those About To Rock THE BLACK CROWES Salute You With Their New Blazing Album ‘HAPPINESS BASTARDS’

Posted on by JL

16 March 2024

Atlanta’s family rockers THE BLACK CROWES are back in town after
15 years with their 9th longplayer, baptized HAPPINESS BASTARDS.

Rolling Stone: “Back in the 1990s, the Black Crowes blew up out of Atlanta, playing
soulful, swaggering classic rock in an era of alt-rock irony and grunge bellyaching. Even
more impressively, the two guys at the heart of the band — singer Chris Robinson and his guitar-playing brother Rich — managed to pull off their multi-platinum run while absolutely hating each other, like an American version of Oasis. But eventually the tension between
Chris and Rich forced the Crowes to close up shop.

The band released their last studio album in 2009, and the Robinson brothers needed
a decade to cool off before they reformed in 2019. In 2022, they released 1972, an EP
with covers of David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, the Temptations, T. Rex, Little Feat, and
Rod Stewart, forcefully arguing that Rock Eden could be specifically located in one year
of the Nixon administration. But what’s surprising about Happiness Bastards, their first
studio album together since reuniting, is how fun, energetic and, unmistakably not-crusty
it sounds, even as the references they lean into are all roughly a half-century old.”

TUTV: It feels like the Robinson bros were locked up in a cave somewhere in
the middle of nowhere after their 2009 album Before The Frost… Until The Freeze
and now, 15 years later, they found a way to escape and unleashed all their pent-up
anger and frustration on this red-hot-blooded record. Afire, ablaze, amazeballs stuff.

The Crowes let the good times stream again with badass steamrollers (Bedside Manners, Dirty Cold Sun, Flesh Wound), roasting blues stompers (Bleed It Dry, Wanting And Waiting, Follow The Moon), an AC/DC riff monster (Rats And Clowns) and a romantic country ballad
to close this blazing comeback record. Amazeballs fireworks .

For those about to rock
The Black Crowes salute you.


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Linktree

KIM GORDON – New Industrial Factory Album ‘THE COLLECTIVE’ Out Now

Posted on by JL

11 March 2024

Former Sonic Youth icon KIM GORDON has launched
her 2nd solo album, titled The Collective.

Press info: Recorded in Gordon’s native Los Angeles, The Collective follows her 2019 debut LP No Home Record and continues her collaboration with producer Justin Raisen (Lil Yachty, John Cale, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Charli XCX, Yves Tumor), with additional production from Anthony Paul Lopez. The album advances their joint world building, with Raisin’s damaged, blown out dub and trap constructions playing the foil to Gordon’s intuitive word collages and hooky mantras, which conjure communication, commercial sublimation and sensory overload.


Album artwork

The Guardian (UK newspaper): “The former Sonic Youth bassist’s follow-up to her acclaimed solo debut has some great moments, but tips over into a barrage of distortion… Unfortunately, Gordon’s spiky, staccato delivery is too often drowned in distortion and diminished by tune-dodging cacophony. Perhaps the risk of making music that sounds so close to the edge is that sometimes you fall off. Hopefully she’ll try again soon though.” Score: 4/10.

Pitchfork: “The cacophonous, vexing, endlessly fascinating The Collective represents the experience of logging off and finding that your perception of the real world has been forever altered” Score: 8.5/10


Live in Brussels, 2022 – Photo by Turn Up The Volume

TUTV: As you can read above the critics are quite divided. TUTV’s verdict is somewhere
in the middle. The Collective is monotone at times, going nowhere at times, too often of
the same timbre.

Imagine walking around in a car assembling factory and machines go off, sometimes all
of them together, sometimes a sledgehammer goes solo, but despite the fact that the chaotic noise is fascinating in itself, it’s like the factory is empty and there’s nobody to orchestrate the machines in the intriguing way they were conducted on her 2019 debut exploit No Home Record.

Mind you there are some startling tracks on the record, the 3 singles, Dream Dollar
and Tree House, but as a unit, it doesn’t work enough to be memorable. Score: 6.5/10.

Singles/clips: Psychedelic Orgasm / By Bye / I’m A Man

– PSYCHEDELIC ORGASM –

– BYE BYE –

– I’M A MAN –

STREAM


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KM: Facebook – Instagram