Last night, after dinner, I listened to the Arsenal match on the radio, watched the last episode of Silicon Valley on DVD and, because I am addicted, looked at Twitter from time to time. Like most other people in the UK, I guess, my timeline was full of people watching the BRIT Awards, splenetically...
Last night, after dinner, I listened to the Arsenal match on the radio, watched the last episode of Silicon Valley on DVD and, because I am addicted, looked at Twitter from time to time. Like most other people in the UK, I guess, my timeline was full of people watching the BRIT Awards, splenetically. What did we all do before social media, I wondered? Avoid TV shows we knew we’d hate?
That’s what I do, or at least have done for the past few years: there are too many things I like out there for me to expend so much time and energy on things I dislike. It’s bad for my health. And, while I appreciate the cultural and professional imperative that lies behind a bunch of music journalists feeling obliged to watch an awards show that’s central to their industry, it still all left me a bit confused and disappointed; much more disappointed, in a way, than I was by the fact that a load of successful musicians I’m not much interested in won some awards.
Plenty of what people were writing on Twitter was undoubtedly funny (though the glee which greeted Madonna’s accident wasn’t entirely edifying, on reflection). It occurred to me, though, that Twitter provides a very easy option for critical snark: how much easier to be droll about Ed Sheeran in 140 characters than to actually analyse what is so interesting about him to so many music fans? Or, indeed, how much more apparent fun it is to take the piss out of George Ezra’s music than to recommend music that you find genuinely exciting?
As Tim Jonze pointed out in his Guardian piece a couple of days ago, there’s a disconnect right now between journalists (or tastemakers) tipping a certain breed of new artists (cf James Bay), then complaining when the same, expertly bland new artists become successful. I’ve written plenty in the past about the invidious nature of the start-of-year tipping business, and it’s odd that, say, the Natalie Prass album has been so lavishly reviewed in the past couple of months without her really showing up in any of the start of 2015 business.
The sanctimonious point I’m building to, of course, is that I’ve been writing about Prass for years, and that I’m immensely lucky to be able to ignore all these mainstream pressures in my job, and concentrate on the great weight of records coming out every month that, contrary to doomsayers’ perspectives on the industry, are still compelling. Hence these weekly playlists, which hopefully give a positive insight into the musical riches to be found if you switch off the BRITS and dig deeper. Not as many good gags, I’ll admit, but I’ll take new Michael Head, Hurray For The Riff Raff, Cannibal Ox and Godspeed You Black Emperor over Paloma Faith jokes, anyday…
Broadcast are to have their back catlogue reissued on vinyl by Warp Records on March 9, 2015.
The reissues include their three studio albums, two compilations and a collaboration with The Focus Group.
Broadcast's soundtrack for Berberian Sound Studio is not included.
Trish Keenan
The ful...
Broadcast are to have their back catlogue reissued on vinyl by Warp Records on March 9, 2015.
The reissues include their three studio albums, two compilations and a collaboration with The Focus Group.
On the occasion of his 70th birthday in late January, I was re-reading my 2007 interview with Robert Wyatt. We were talking about national identity and about how, in spite of all his cosmopolitan influences and interests, Wyatt is always seen as an indelibly British artist. "No-one," he said, "has a...
On the occasion of his 70th birthday in late January, I was re-reading my 2007 interview with Robert Wyatt. We were talking about national identity and about how, in spite of all his cosmopolitan influences and interests, Wyatt is always seen as an indelibly British artist. “No-one,” he said, “has allowed and welcomed, as a xenophile, non-English cultures so wholeheartedly into their lives and into their brains and into their food more than I have. And yet I don’t feel the slightest bit compromised or diluted or melted as a human being. I’m as English as my Staffordshire great-grandparents.”
The second terrific album by Same Lee, “The Fade In Time”, is driven by a fundamentally similar mindset. Lee is, notionally, a folk singer, and the 12 old songs on “The Fade In Time” are all drawn from British tradition, in many cases learned from gypsies and travellers. For all his meticulous historical research, however, Lee is not much of a traditionalist. Instead of preserving the songs in aspic, he treats his material as part of a living tradition, and subjects it to radical, internationalist treatments.
So a mystical Scottish hunting song like “Jonny O’The Brine” is given a woody, organic momentum, tablas to the fore, that makes it sound like a kind of acoustic techno, then layered with horns inspired by Tajikistan wedding bands. Japanese kotos and Indian shruti boxes underpin Romany laments and tales of sacred hares. Jazz trumpets and chamber strings tangle, elegantly, with banjos and fiddles. And, on the outstanding “Bonny Bunch Of Roses”, a Napoleonic ballad is played out over a crackly Serbian 78. But whatever Lee throws at the songs, their Britishness is never diminished, but critically augmented and expanded.
The “Fade In Time” is a phrase lifted from “Over Yonders Hill”, but Lee characterises it as “the textural decays, the transience of time we pass through while listening, and that temporal trance we enter into when listening.” In that spirit, Lee slips field recordings of old singers into his mix (as he did on his 2012 debut, “Ground Of Its Own”), prefacing his subtly orientalised version of the Scottish “Lord Gregory” with a moving recitation by one Charlotte Higgins, recorded in 1956. Time, cultures, national identities collapse again and again, with uncommon empathy and grace.
Lee is a charismatic figure at the heart of all this, as theatrically attuned as he is scholarly: other details on his CV include burlesque dancing, anthropology, performing with the Yiddish Twist Orchestra and being taught wilderness skills by Ray Mears. Occasionally, his adventurousness – and his serene, inflected voice – can recall Damon Albarn. On “Moorlough Maggie” and “The Moon Shone On My Bed Last Night”, Jonah Brody’s koto and ukulele – a frequently twee instrument transformed into something ethereal – are reminiscent of the way a kora added exotic, harmonious new dimensions to Albarn’s “Dr Dee” project.
“Moorlough Maggie”, too, exemplifies the force of Lee’s own personality on these songs, laden as they are with so much inherent and applied cultural baggage. A love song that involves grand promises of flocks of sheep, herds of cows and, perhaps optimistically, about a hundred ships, “Moorlough Maggie” is taken with such measure and emotional investment that it becomes Lee’s own “Song To The Siren”. In the midst of it all, he provides a calm, steadying anchor; ambitious, eclectic but, ultimately, dedicated to the enduring passions that resonate through this treasure trove of great song.
“Memorials, Forensics!? This stuff is alive!…”: A Q&A with SAM LEE
JM: I was thinking about Robert Wyatt a while back, and about how, while he’s so often described as “quintessentially English”, he’s also such a committed internationalist, and anything but parochial. It occurs to me that this seems really relevant to The Fade In Time; is it something you recognise in your work?
Sam Lee: Yes, completely so. I look at my work and my representation of folk a little bit the way we imagine a walk in an English country garden. To anyone in it, it feels unquestionably like you’re in a garden in England, but in actuallity we are surrounded by imported plants from all over; the Himalayan mountainsides, South American temperate forests, Roman apothecaries etc. I want my music to feel local, a ‘home from home’. The sonic beddings which appeal to me most are ones that have an ability to induce, to transport, to alter the state of the listener and give the sense also of being part of a much deeper and geographically indefinite place. I don’t want to get stuck on how folk (or any song for that matter) should sound. To me, it’s a more ephemeral thing.
JM: Does having such a strong connection to Gypsy/travelling culture allow you to see British folk songs in a broader international context?
SL: I guess the nature of being close to a community seen as pariahs and ‘outsiders’ permits me to see the music with an objective freedom and not be so bound by too many assumptions or affectations. The Gypsy Travellers are imaginative geniuses, especially when it comes to appropriation and assimilation, which I admire and aspire to.
JM: Of the many tricks you pull off on The Fade In Time, I think my favourite might be the way you plant the old Serbian record into “Bonny Bunch Of Roses”. Can you tell us a little about this, and the thinking behind it?
SL: Am really glad you like that one. You have picked out exactly where I’m sonically trying to explore the idea or process of ‘The Fade in Time’; the textural decays, the transience of time we pass through while listening, and that temporal trance we enter in when listening… I wanted to touch upon the boldness of that Slavic choral music in this east meets west, as it kind of honours my own Eastern European Ashkenazi routes. Some of my predecessors were tailors to the Tzars’ army, so I wanted to explore the sonic landscapes of the east. This is folk song which I’ve loved for so long.
JM: How do the old singers and folk musicians that you know react to your experiments with tradition? I guess I’m thinking especially of Stanley Robertson; does The Fade In Time exist in part as a memorial to his cultural knowledge?
SL: Less memorial, more safari.. It’s certainly not dead, even if most carriers of the ‘keepers of the lore’, as Stanley called them, have passed on. They seem, for the most part, thrilled by the music – sometimes overwhelmed by the journey it has taken and get very emotional.. When I played back “Bonny Bunch Of Roses” to Freda Black (the 86-year-old Gypsy who taught me the song) she cried and said it gave her a feeling of her mother singing. That meant a lot…
I am actually making a film at the moment capturing the act of returning these album tracks to the families and then asking the singers to take me to where the song came from, be it a known location or tell me about their history of the song. It’ss really fascinating seeing their reactions to the material. Most of the time…
JM: What are your favourite memories of/stories about Stanley?
SL: Our first meeting will never leave me… It was in a mighty gale, climbing the cliffs at Whitby. He reached the top, with me, nervously, following behind, waiting to introduce myself. Stanley was clutching a giant whale bone arch. I stopped him to thank you for his songs in the concert I had just discovered and he turned around ‘wee a stern look in his ee’ and he growled out in full proud drama “ I ken a thoosand balladsâ€. It was awesome, like a moment out of Tolkien… You just sensed this ancient magic about him and a power… he had such incredible psychic abilities. He would tell me everything about my life, even things I would deem very private… He’d just announce them as they hit him, usually in really inappropriate moments, too. He would travel alongside me when I went abroad and tell me on the telephone things that were happening in my life he had no way of knowing (he called it the astral travelling). To me it seemed real and indisputable, nothing was private and nothing could be hidden. That is the Travellers for you. They are a very gifted people.
JM: Do you think the possibilities of history and tradition are underused in contemporary British music?
SL: ‘History’ and ‘tradition’ are such loaded words. The world of contemporary music is all about the forward thinking, the now, the new, the next. The closest thing we get to history in a lot of music I hear is all the stuff that references the ’70/’80s, electronica or sounds that were engineered within recent memory. That’s history for a lot of listeners and makers. And I think that is great! I love modern sounds and the ephemerality of it. However, I think there is much more scope to marry these styles with a musical connection to the more distant past, dare I say to explore a more ‘spiritual realm’ – without being millstoned by stereotypes. I’m interested in re-wilding and getting back to the roots of things.
JM: How long does it take for you to put together an album like this? It strikes me that, long before the music is even started, there’s an incredible amount of forensic fieldwork involved?
SL: Memorials, Forensics!? This stuff is alive! I guess this new album has taken a couple of years to put together, but that’s only in a very practical sense. It’s not been a direct journey from field to table (record) with many of these songs. Some I’ve sung for years and are longtime friends who have just found their way into the record. Others I’ve been told about, heard other singers along the way – or have developed songs with the band until they felt right to include. There are a few songs on the album which didn’t spend very long in transit till they reached the pot. Others, I feel I’ve known my whole life.
JM: Could you ever envisage yourself making a record without that level of deep research? A set of original songs, say?
SL: Yes. I’m sure that time will come, but right now I have the luxury of being able to forage for these songs, an experience I love. I love the people who I learn them from. I feel a profound honour in both spending time with these ancient remenants of an ancient world and helping to bring a bit of attention to their unbelievable treasures. I think the world can probably wait for my own latest heartbreak/confession etc a bit longer.
JM: What do you find so appealing about singing stereotypically “women’s” songs – songs from someone else’s perspective?
SL: Funnily enough, I don’t see these as women’s songs at all. They have been sung for generations by men and women alike; with no particular rules of appropriateness to gender or sexuality. That seems like a relatively recent way of looking at things. I like to sing songs that bare their heart, and those songs told from the women’s point of view are often ones that deal with universal themes most honestly abandonment, rejection, loss and compassion. These are things men and women experience equally. Folk music allows men and women to tackle big issues in a powerful way. It’s a bit like group therapy. I often get grown-men crying at my gigs. I think that’s pretty cool.
Led Zeppelin’s sixth album, was also, to varying extents, Led Zeppelin’s third, fourth and fifth albums – the fifteen-track running order, consuming 82 minutes and four side of vinyl, consisted of eight new songs, amalgamated with seven out-takes from III, IV and Houses Of The Holy. When Zeppe...
Led Zeppelin’s sixth album, was also, to varying extents, Led Zeppelin’s third, fourth and fifth albums – the fifteen-track running order, consuming 82 minutes and four side of vinyl, consisted of eight new songs, amalgamated with seven out-takes from III, IV and Houses Of The Holy. When Zeppelin began work on Physical Graffiti, in what proved to be abortive early sessions in late 1973, they were – with apologies possibly due to The Rolling Stones – arguably the biggest, certainly the most infamous, rock’n’roll band in the world.
All that remained was the creation of a definitive magnum opus – their own gatefolded masterpiece to file alongside Exile On Main St, the White Album and Quadrophenia. Physical Graffiti could – and in less adroit hands, assuredly would – have been preposterous, the moment at which Zeppelin’s imperial phase collapsed in a goutish wheeze of decadent hubris. Instead, it’s magnificent: the Rome that wouldn’t fall.
This reissue appears in a panoply of formats. There’s a straightforward double CD, a triple CD including a bunch of hitherto unreleased stuff, vinyl and digital equivalents of both those options, and a “super deluxe†box set including all of the above along with alternate cover art, a book of previously unseen photographs, and a print of the original cover, the first 30,000 of which will be individually numbered. It has also been remastered by Jimmy Page, indefatigable curator of Zeppelin’s legacy, who may be unique in being able perceive significant difference between this and the original, or in thinking there was much wrong with the way Physical Graffiti sounded the first time.
The enticement of this reissue is a batch of previously unheard early versions of seven of the fifteen tracks which comprise the epic sprawl of Physical Graffiti. These latest exhumations from Jimmy Page’s attic contain few forehead-slapping revelations. “Brandy & Cokeâ€, an early take on “Trampled Under Footâ€, comes much cleaner on the finished song’s debt to Stevie Wonder’s “Superstitionâ€. “Driving Through Kashmirâ€, part of the journey to one of Zeppelin’s loftiest peaks, suggests that there was a point at which an argument was made for turning up the trumpets slightly.
A shorter, softer instrumental version of “Sick Again†permits appreciation of how pretty Zeppelin were capable of being when dropping to the swaggering priapic metal colossi schtick for a couple of minutes, and also spares the listener Robert Plant’s exposition of the sexual politics of Hollywood’s groupie scene of the early 70s (“The fun of comin’/The pain in leavin’,†etc – arguably, you had to be there.) Of the new versions of “In My Time Of Dyingâ€, “Houses Of The Holyâ€, “Everybody Makes It Through The Night†and “Boogie With Stuâ€, it is difficult to sum up much reaction beyond the thought that they’re not as good as the familiar, finished versions – of some interest to completists and/or musicologists, perhaps, but not worth the price of re-purchase.
This is, of course, the nature of early takes – although, at the risk of prompting another deluge of expensive reissues, it might be more interesting to hear some really early takes. Where, for example, does one even begin assembling something as monumental as “Kashmir� What were the first notes plucked or prodded that eventually became “In The Light� From where did Zeppelin find the nerve to run “In My Time Of Dying†out to eleven – still utterly compelling – minutes?
It’s this ironclad – metalclad, if you will – confidence that makes Physical Graffiti such a gripping listen. So very many things could have gone wrong; none of them do. When Zeppelin are silly and puerile, they manage to sound guileless and charming – just as Plant is possibly not really singing about a car when he begs to be permitted to pump gas and dig under the hood on “Trampled Under Footâ€, it’s plausible that “Custard Pie†is not actually about dessert. When Zeppelin are pompous and preposterous, they’re also perfectly poised – in the years ahead, many would seek to conquer the heights of “Kashmirâ€, and most would pratfall spectacularly. And the rare excursions into modesty are all the more affecting amid the sturm and drang elsewhere – Page’s acoustic instrumental noodle “Bron-Yr-Aurâ€, named for the Welsh cottage where Zeppelin composed much of III, and originally recorded for that album, is a deceptively nonchalant expression of his mastery of his instrument.
In retrospect, Physical Graffiti stands as Peak Zeppelin. Its sheer size and scope, and the epoch-spanning, piecemeal nature of its assembly, give it the feeling of an accidental best-of. And while Zeppelin’s two subsequent proper studio albums, Presence and In Through The Out Door, had their moments, they also – substantially as a function of having to follow Physical Graffiti – felt somewhat like exercises in decline management. The album endures as a bequest to the bogglement of the ages.
Red House Painters are to have their first four albums re-issued as a box set.
The collection, limited to 1,500 copies, will be released on Record Store Day 2015; April 18 in the UK.
The albums, originally released between 1992 and 1995, are Down Colorful Hill, Red House Painters (Rollercoaster), ...
Red House Painters are to have their first four albums re-issued as a box set.
The collection, limited to 1,500 copies, will be released on Record Store Day 2015; April 18 in the UK.
The albums, originally released between 1992 and 1995, are Down Colorful Hill, Red House Painters (Rollercoaster), Red House Painters (Bridge) and Ocean Beach (which has been reformatted as a double 12†to also include the Shock Me EP).
The boxset comes with a unique design from Chris Bigg (v23), with each album pressed on bronze vinyl, and download codes also included.
Red House Painters box set
The tracklisting is:
Red House Painters –Â Down Colorful Hill –Â CAD 3408 A1. 24
A2. Medicine Bottle
A3. Japanese To English
B1. Down Colorful Hill
B2. Lord Kill The Pain
B3. Michael
Red House Painters –Â Red House Painters –Â CAD 3409 A1. Grace Cathedral Park
A2. Down Through
A3. Katy Song
A4. Mistress
B1. Things Mean A Lot
B2. Funhouse
B3. Take Me Out
B4. Rollercoaster
C1. New Jersey
C2. Dragonflies
C3. Mistress (Piano Version)
D1. Mother
D2. Strawberry Hill
D3. Brown Eyes
Red House Painters –Â Red House Painters –Â CAD 3410 A1. Evil
A2. Bubble
A3. I Am A Rock
A4. Helicopter
B1. New Jersey
B2. Uncle Joe
B3. Blindfold
B4. Star Spangled Banner
Red House Painters – Ocean Beach – CAD 3411
A1. Cabezon
A2. Summer Dress
A3. San Geronimo
A4. Shadows
B1. Over My Head
B2. Red Carpet
B3. Brockwell Park
B4. Moments
C1. Long Distance Runaround
C2. Drop
C3. Brockwell Park (Part Two)
D1. Shock Me
D2. Sundays And Holidays
D3. Three Legged Cat
D4. Shock Me (Acoustic)
Red House Painters –Â Red House Painters –Â CAD 3411 A1. Cabezon
A2. Summer Dress
A3. San Geronimo
A4. Shadows
B1. Over My Head
B2. Red Carpet
B3. Brockwell Park
B4. Moments
C1. Long Distance Runaround
C2. Drop
C3. Brockwell Park (Part Two)
D1. Shock Me
David Gilmour’s new solo album “sounds fantasticâ€, Phil Manzanera reveals in the new issue of Uncut, dated April 2015 and out now.
The guitarist also discusses the future of Roxy Music, and recalls working with Brian Eno, Nico, David Bowie and Bob Dylan, in the 'audience with' piece.
“Itâ€...
David Gilmour’s new solo album “sounds fantasticâ€, Phil Manzanera reveals in the new issue of Uncut, dated April 2015 and out now.
The guitarist also discusses the future of Roxy Music, and recalls working with Brian Eno, Nico, David Bowie and Bob Dylan, in the ‘audience with’ piece.
“It’s going very well,†Manzanera says of the Pink Floyd leader’s album, the follow-up to 2006’s On An Island. “I think it sounds fantastic, people will be very happy.â€
Manzanera co-produced On An Island with Gilmour and Chris Thomas, and also contributed guitar and vocals to the record.
Discussing Roxy Music and their supposed break-up in the feature, he says: “Last year, I said, ‘I think our job is done.’ “Everyone thought, ‘Roxy’s split – again.’ Not at all! If we fancied having another go, there’s no rules.
“That’s what’s great about Roxy. It’s not over ’til you’re 10 feet under…â€
The new issue of Uncut, with Joni Mitchell on the cover, is out now.
“Have I ever played any song twice exactly the same?â€
“No, Bob, no.â€
“See? I don’t do that.â€
In this week’s very special archive feature (from November 2008, Take 138), Uncut talks to the musicians, producers and crew who have worked with him from 1989 to 2006, where an unprecedente...
“Have I ever played any song twice exactly the same?â€
“No, Bob, no.â€
“See? I don’t do that.â€
In this week’s very special archive feature (from November 2008, Take 138), Uncut talks to the musicians, producers and crew who have worked with him from 1989 to 2006, where an unprecedented glimpse of the real Dylan emerges – a genius who works at night, makes producers smash guitars in frustration, obsesses over Al Jolson, and never, ever repeats himself.
Then, Allan Jones reviews the lost songs and radical revisions of 2008’s Tell Tale Signs, the astonishing 3CD collection of unreleased Dylan material taken from the past 20 years – a vital part of the Dylan canon…
_________________________
OH MERCY
(1989)
By the end of the ’80s, as he writes in Chronicles, Dylan wasn’t even sure whether he even wanted to make another record. In that frame of mind, he hooked up with producer Daniel Lanois in New Orleans for what became his most focused work in 10 years…
Malcolm Burn, engineer: “In the weeks before recording, I kept asking Dan [Lanois], ‘Have you heard from Bob? Have you heard any songs?’ Then, a week before we were due to start, we received a cassette from Bob. I thought, ‘Great, we’re going hear some songs.’ There was this little note: ‘This’ll give you a good idea.’ Dan and Mark Howard and I sat down to listen – and this Al Jolson music started. We were like, ‘What the fuck?’ So, we fast-forwarded. It was a whole tape of Al Jolson. We looked back at Bob’s note: ‘Listen to this. You can learn a lot.’ When Bob arrived, though, I’d sort of forgotten this. Then, one evening, something came up about favourite singers, who were influences, especially when it comes to phrasing. Bob said several times that phrasing was everything. And he said, ‘My two favourite singers are Frank Sinatra and Al Jolson.’ And I thought, wow, now I get it. I asked who his favourite songwriters were. ‘Gordon Lightfoot and Kris Kristofferson. Those are the guys.’â€
Mark Howard, engineer: “When we started, because Dylan and Lanois didn’t have a working relationship, there was about two weeks of finding the ground. It was slightly uncomfortable. Dylan was being a bit snotty, and Dan has this ability to be over-excited. That’s how Dan likes to work at times: he hypes people on their performances, and that makes them excited, too. Well, that didn’t work with Dylan. Bob was just strumming, sloppily playing, and Dan was politely putting up with it. Dan would try to get things out him. He’d say, ‘We did this mix this afternoon…’ Dylan would cut in, ‘I don’t even wanna hear it. I only wanna hear stuff done at night.’ He had this night rule.â€
Daniel Lanois, producer: “Bob had a rule, we only recorded at night. I think he’s right about that: the body is ready to accommodate a certain tempo at nighttime. I think it’s something to do with the pushing and pulling of the moon. At nighttime we’re ready to be more mysterious and dark. Oh Mercy’s about that.â€
Howard: “Those first weeks, everything we did, he wouldn’t accept it. But there came this one point when Dan finally had a freakout. He just wanted Dylan to smarten up. It became… Not a yelling match, but uncomfortable. Malcolm and me, we left and let them sort it out. From then on, Dylan was just really pleasant to work with.â€
Lanois: “I operate with Bob the same way I always operate. I’m totally committed and I try and look out for the best expression, the best performance. I’m completely honest and clear about what I think is the best. And if anything gets in the way of that, then they’re gonna have to deal with The Lanois.â€
Burn: “Bob would show up every night about nine, and we’d work into the early hours. He’d come in with a rolled-up bundle of paper, lyrics he was working on. He’d go over to where we had the coffee machine, start scribbling, fixing up lines, and then he’d say, ‘Okay, let’s go.’â€
Mason Ruffner, guitarist: “Bob was doodling a lot with the lyrics. He used a pencil. He didn’t use no ink-pen. Always making changes and additions and subtractions. An elephant could’ve walked in and he wouldn’t have seen it. His concentration is unbelievable.â€
Howard: “He would always be working on his lyrics. He’d have a piece of paper with thousands of words on it, all different ways, you couldn’t even read it. Words going upside-down, sideways, all over this page. I never saw him eat. He drank coffee and smoked cigarettes, and he’d sit chipping away at the words, pulling in words from other songs.â€
Burn: “For him, the song wasn’t ready to be a song until the lyrics were in place. It wasn’t necessarily about the melody or the chords. The only thing that made any difference to Bob was whether what he was saying was in place. Quite often, he’d rewrite even one line. Even by the time we were mixing, he’d suddenly say, ‘Y’know, I’ve just rewritten that line, can I re-sing it?’ One night, we were going to do “Most Of The Timeâ€, and he sat down with his guitar, and he said, ‘We could do it like this…’, and I recorded him on acoustic guitar and harmonica, the archetypal Bob Dylan thing. He actually referred to himself in the third person: ‘That would be a typical Bob Dylan way of doin’ it.’ Then he did it another way, like a blues, really slow. The treatment of the song was secondary. If the lyrics were in place, then it was sort of, ‘Well, what’s appropriate? What kind of song do we need to stick in here? If it needs to be up-tempo, I’ll do it up-tempo.’â€
Howard: “I’m not sure if he had an actual sound in his head to begin with. He’d recorded this whole record before. With Ron Wood. There’s a whole version of Oh Mercy with Ron Wood.â€
Ruffner: “It was different. We were recording in an old house, just sitting around the living room. Bob had his little stand with his lyrics, and we’d cut off into something. Seems we were cutting these songs all kinds of ways. Rock groove, slow, funk or folk groove, trying different grooves and tempos. Bob would put his head down and start playing, and we’d tag along. It was all a big experiment, try the song 20 different ways. We were doodling with half the songs that wound up on his next record, Under The Red Sky.â€
Burn: “One song that didn’t end up on Oh Mercy that Dan and I pushed for was ‘Series Of Dreams’. I remember standing in the courtyard, Bob saying, ‘Y’know what: I only put 10 songs on my records.’ I said, ‘But, Bob, that song is so great.’ He goes, ‘Nah, nah. I’m only puttin’ 10 songs on there.’â€
Howard: “We were doing the record in this Victorian mansion in the garden district of New Orleans. I had a bunch of Harleys in the courtyard, and Dylan asked, ‘Think ya could get me one of those?’ I got him this 1966 first year Shovelhead Harley Davidson. Dylan would go out for a ride every day. But one day, I heard him stall just around the corner. So I ran around the corner to see, and he’s sitting there, on the bike, staring straight ahead. And there are already three people gathered around the front of the motorcycle, saying, ‘Bob, can we have your autograph?’ And he just sat there like they weren’t even there. I ran up and said, ‘Hey, c’mon guys, leave the guy alone.’ And he just continued to sit there and stare straight ahead. So we got the bike fired up and – bang – he took off. He was living in California in those days and there was no helmet law in California, but there we were in New Orleans. He’d come back from rides and he’d say, ‘The police are really friendly around here, they’re all waving at me.’ I’m like, ‘They’re waving at you because you don’t have a helmet on, and they’re telling you to stop!’ I think the bike helped him. He’d go for a ride, think about what was going on, and I think he could see where Dan was trying to go.â€
Lanois: “The concept was fully emphasising the centre of the picture: the song, Bob’s voice, and Bob’s guitar or piano playing. Then we built the frame around the centre, with what we had available to us in the neighbourhood musically.â€
Burn: “Bob never really spoke to the other musicians. He’d speak to people he knew, but he wasn’t interested in making buddies. And he always wore this hoodie, y’know. The first few days, we had the Neville Brothers’ rhythm section there, and the drummer, Willie Green, came up to me after the second night. I was sitting at the mixing board, and Bob was like, four feet away. Willie says, ‘Man, I’ve been here two or three days. When the fuck’s Bob Dylan showing up?’ I said, ‘Willie, he’s sitting right next to you.’ ‘Oh. Is that Bob Dylan right there?’ And then, seriously, the bass player, Tony [Hall], he comes in, and he says, ‘Man, that Bob Dylan is some weird motherfucker.’ Bob just sort of looked up and raised his eyebrow. Then went back to working on his lyrics.â€
Ruffner: “For me, Bob was easy to work for. But I think he was a pain in the ass for some people. Sometimes he’d argue with Lanois, looked like just for the sake of arguing. After reading Chronicles, though, it seems that was a crucial time. It was shit or get off the pot. I think he was a little apprehensive, didn’t really know who Daniel was and if he could make him a record. But, after he realised they were going to make a good record there, I think Dylan softened up. By the end, he was a lot different. I remember he did a drawing of Daniel.â€
Howard: “I always like to have a drawing pad with me. One day, Bob saw it, and he said, ‘Hey, mind if I use your pad? Daniel, you mind if I draw a picture of you?’ So Bob scratches out this drawing of Dan, like this wild Indian, hair all over. It was pretty cool. But he didn’t want to sign it, and he didn’t sign it. So, this picture was left in my art book. About two weeks after we’d finished the record, I’m sitting in one day, and suddenly there’s somebody at the door. I go out, and it’s New Orleans, pouring with rain – and there’s Bob in his hoodie. I say, ‘Hey, Bob.’ He says, ‘I’ve decided to sign the drawing.’ And he came in, he signed the drawing, and he left.
“A lot of people get the impression he has a star complex, but he really doesn’t. He’s just saving his energy for what he’s doing…â€
Thom Yorke and Massive Attack's Robert Del Naja have released their joint soundtrack to UK Gold, an upcoming documentary on tax avoidance.
The 12-track score is available to stream via the UK Uncut website.
It also features contributions from Jonny Greenwood, Elbow's Guy Garvey and Euan Dickinson....
Thom Yorke and Massive Attack‘s Robert Del Naja have released their joint soundtrack to UK Gold, an upcoming documentary on tax avoidance.
The 12-track score is available to stream via the UK Uncut website.
It also features contributions from Jonny Greenwood, Elbow’s Guy Garvey and Euan Dickinson.
UK Gold, which explores the history of tax avoidance, is directed by Mark Donne and narrated by Dominic West.
You can watch a clip below, in which Channel 4 News host Jon Snow discusses the UK tax haven network.
Speaking to NME, Thom Yorke said, “For all the current government’s talk of standards in the Financial Industry it comes as no surprise perhaps that the reality beneath reveals their staggering hypocrisy.”
He continued: “Now is the time to reveal the revolving doors between government and the City that has bred lies and corruption for so long, siphoning money through our tax havens for the global super rich, while now preaching that we the people must pay our taxes and suffer austerity. Just who does our government work for?”
UK Gold will air on London Live tonight [February 25] at 8pm.
Suede debuted a new song, "What I'm Trying To Tell You", at last week's NME Awards 2015 with Austin, Texas.
The track was part of a six-song set which included classics such as "Animal Nitrate", "Filmstar" and "Trash".
Earlier in the evening, Suede collected the Godlike Genius Award at the NME Awa...
Suede debuted a new song, “What I’m Trying To Tell You“, at last week’s NME Awards 2015 with Austin, Texas.
The track was part of a six-song set which included classics such as “Animal Nitrate”, “Filmstar” and “Trash”.
Earlier in the evening, Suede collected the Godlike Genius Award at the NME Awards 2015 with Austin, Texas. The band were presented with the award by Bernard Sumner.
A special video, featuring the band’s former manager, comedian Ricky Gervais, was also shown. “I did help this band out a little bit in the early years,” Gervais said. “When I told them I couldn’t manage them anymore, there were no tears, they didn’t beg – and that’s when their career really took off.”
Awarding the gong to Suede, Bernard Sumner joked: “I’ve just had a text from Kanye West and he said you should have won Best Book and I’m really fucking annoyed.” He then added: “I thought I was presenting an award to Slade and then I heard it was Suede.”
Accepting his award, Brett Anderson said: “Thank you so much. What an honour it is to meet Mr Sumner. I spent much of my teenage years listening to Unknown Pleasures. 21 years ago we received best band award at the NME Awards so it’s genuinely touching to get this. It’s been a long strange heartbreaking journey but well worth it.”
Previous winners of the Godlike Genius Award include Blondie, The Clash, Paul Weller, The Cure, Manic Street Preachers, New Order & Joy Division, Dave Grohl, Noel Gallagher and Johnny Marr.
How do you choose the greatest Joni Mitchell song - or even, abandoning the wild goose chase of objectivity, your personal favourite Joni Mitchell song?
It's a daunting challenge, and one that not all of the illustrious contributors to this month's Uncut cover story would accept. When we asked Davi...
How do you choose the greatest Joni Mitchell song – or even, abandoning the wild goose chase of objectivity, your personal favourite Joni Mitchell song?
It’s a daunting challenge, and one that not all of the illustrious contributors to this month’s Uncut cover story would accept. When we asked David Crosby to pick a song, he gave us another one of his delightful pro-Joni and anti-Dylan rants, and scrupulously avoided specifics. “There’s so many songs of hers that are so brilliantly written,” he countered. “You can’t say which one is the best. There are 30 or 40 best ones.”
In the end, and with the help of Pink Floyd, Roger McGuinn, Matthew E White, Graham Nash, Linda Perhacs, Mike Heron and quite a few more, we settled on 30 songs. To rank them in any kind of order, though, struck us as an excruciating and ultimately pointless procedure; to be honest, we bottled it. In the new Uncut that’s out today, then, you’ll find 30 insightful pieces on 30 exceptional Joni songs, arranged in the order they were released, beginning with Radiohead’s Philip Selway on “Both Sides, Now” and ending with the 2002 orchestral version of “Amelia”, nominated by Robert Plant.
Elsewhere in this Uncut, there’s a pretty intense, exclusive interview with Sufjan Stevens, an insight into life alongside Nick Cave by the trusty and mercurial Warren Ellis, and further chats with Julian Cope, Phil Manzanera, The Yardbirds, The The, The Dave Clark Five (a weird and fascinating story, there) and, I’m particularly excited to say, Alejando Jodorowsky, whose story involving a swimming pool, a naked George Harrison and a hippopotamus is one of the highlights of the issue.
Reviews include reissues from The Specials (featuring a revealing Jerry Dammers Q&A), Bob Marley, John Coltrane, new ones by Mark Knopfler, Laura Marling, Bjork and three big personal favourites by Matthew E White, Ryley Walker and Sam Lee. Those last three also feature on the issue’s free CD, which we’ve been working hard on to make a bit more eclectic and representative of the range of new music that we cover in the magazine each month: also on there you’ll find Johnny Dowd next to an extract from Cat’s Eyes’ soundtrack to The Duke Of Burgundy and, in a fantastically unlikely segue, Marc Almond next to the tempestuous Lightning Bolt. Good stuff, I hope you’ll agree.
All this, a piece about Chile’s equivalent to Woodstock, an in-depth examination of country music’s brightest new stars, and a memorably deranged archive piece with Kim Fowley, in which he reveals that “The 16-track studio has become the heroin needle of the record industry.”
Let me know what you think about it all; as ever, I’m genuinely keen to hear from you. The email address for letters is uncut_feedback@timeinc.com, and you can find me on twitter at www.twitter.com/JohnRMulvey. Oh, and one last thing: you may have noticed we’ve radically spruced up www.www.uncut.co.uk in the past week, with lots of new features and the sort of responsive design which means you can now usefully read our stories on phones and whatever other devices you might have to hand from moment to moment. Again, drop me a line with your thoughts about this; early days, but it seems to be working smoothly right now…
The End Of The Road festival have announced an additional 26 names to the line up for this year's event.
My Morning Jacket, Mark Lanegan Band and Saint Etienne are among the acts confirmed. They join Sufjan Stevens, The War On Drugs and Tame Impala - who were announced last month - at this year's f...
The End Of The Road festival have announced an additional 26 names to the line up for this year’s event.
My Morning Jacket, Mark Lanegan Band and Saint Etienne are among the acts confirmed. They join Sufjan Stevens, The War On Drugs and Tame Impala – who were announced last month – at this year’s festival, which takes place between September 4 – 6 at Larmer Tree Gardens.
Uncut will be hosting a stage at this year’s festival; check back here for updates.
You can find further details about tickets and the line-up at the festival’s website.
Pete Townshend has announced details of a major reissue campaign.
11 of his solo albums will be remastered ahead of a digital release on February 23. They will then be released on CD in stages throughout the rest of 2015 and into 2016.
The 11 digital album releases cover Who Came First, Rough Mix ...
Pete Townshend has announced details of a major reissue campaign.
11 of his solo albums will be remastered ahead of a digital release on February 23. They will then be released on CD in stages throughout the rest of 2015 and into 2016.
The 11 digital album releases cover Who Came First, Rough Mix – his collaboration with The Faces’ Ronnie Lane – as well as his albums Empty Glass, All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes and the live album Deep End Live, featuring David Gilmour.
The albums will all be released on UMC/Universal Music are:
Who Came First
Rough Mix
Empty Glass
All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes
White City
Iron Man: The Musical
Psychoderelict
Scoop
Another Scoop
Scoop 3
Deep End Live
News of the reissues arrives soon after The Whoconfirmed plans to release a 7″ singles and all studio albums on vinyl.
Meanwhile, later this year, Townshend will premier a new orchestral version of Quadrophenia at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
The Who are also due to play London’s Hyde Park on June 26, 2015.
Joni Mitchell has been writing songs recently, a close collaborator reveals in the new issue of Uncut, dated April 2015 and out now.
Jean Grand-Maître, artistic director of the Alberta Ballet, mentioned Mitchell’s recent activities as he picked his favourite of her songs in our cover feature.
â...
Joni Mitchell has been writing songs recently, a close collaborator reveals in the new issue of Uncut, dated April 2015 and out now.
Jean Grand-Maître, artistic director of the Alberta Ballet, mentioned Mitchell’s recent activities as he picked his favourite of her songs in our cover feature.
“I was at her birthday party in LA last year,†the choreographer, who worked with Joni on 2007’s The Fiddle And The Drum show, says, “and she’s got more energy than ever. Her mind never stops, it’s a locomotive of thinking and feeling.
“I think there’s always a chance of new music. She was writing a few months ago – but there was the event at the Hammer Museum in LA, so I think she put that on hold to finish the Love Has Many Faces boxset. The ideas are always there.â€
Mitchell’s last studio album was 2007’s Shine, released on Starbucks’ Hear Music label.
Robert Plant, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Graham Nash, REM, Laura Marling, Roger McGuinn, Elbow and more also pick their favourite songs by Joni Mitchell in our countdown of her greatest tracks, in the new Uncut, which is out now.
Joni Mitchell, Nick Cave, Sufjan Stevens and PJ Harvey all feature in the new issue of Uncut, dated April 2015 and out now.
The incredible Joni Mitchell is on the cover, and inside, famous fans including Robert Plant, David Crosby and members of Radiohead and Pink Floyd pick the singer-...
Joni Mitchell, Nick Cave, Sufjan Stevens and PJ Harvey all feature in the new issue of Uncut, dated April 2015 and out now.
The incredible Joni Mitchell is on the cover, and inside, famous fans including Robert Plant, David Crosby and members of Radiohead and Pink Floyd pick the singer-songwriter’s 30 greatest songs.
Close friends and collaborators also choose their favourites, with recollections of Mitchell provided by Graham Nash, the Incredible String Band’s Mike Heron, Linda Thompson, Joe Boyd, members of LA Express, and Alberta Ballet’s artistic director Jean Grand-Maitre, who worked closely with the singer on 2007’s The Fiddle And The Drum ballet.
“I don’t think there’s a singer-songwriter in the world that hasn’t been affected by Joni,†David Crosby explains.
Elsewhere, Warren Ellis provides the inside story of life in the Bad Seeds, describing the way Nick Cave and the group go about their work. Scary silences, boils, Australian Goths and, of course, the evolving work of this enduring musical force, are included.
“Nick loves to work,†says Ellis, “he has this incredible drive and a belief in what he’s doing. He’s always challenging himself.â€
Uncut also heads to New York City to meet Sufjan Stevens and hear all about the musical polymath’s hushed, delicate new album, Carrie & Lowell, while editor John Mulvey reports from PJ Harvey’s pioneering Recording In Progress project, where fans can watch her working on a new album.
Also in the issue, Phil Manzanera answers your questions about Roxy Music, David Gilmour’s new solo album and his work with Nico, David Bowie, John Cale and Robert Wyatt.
Uncut meets a young breed of country artists, including Kacey Musgraves, Brandy Clark and Angaleena Presley, emerging from the US, positioned between the grit of Americana and mainstream glitz. “Go out on a limb. That’s where the fruit is,†we are told.
We also salute the late legend Kim Fowley, auteur, producer, Svengali and provocateur, with a hair-raising 1972 interview from the Melody Maker archives; meanwhile, Simple Minds’ Jim Kerr takes us through the records that informed his adolescence in this month’s My Life In Music piece.
Our ‘album by album’ feature this month comes from Matt Johnson, who guides us through his catalogue with The The and solo, while we also hear from The Dave Clark Five on how they created their transatlantic chart-topper “Glad All Over†and became the first British Invasion band to tour America.
Uncut’s 40-page reviews section looks at new releases from Laura Marling, Björk, Ryley Walker, Courtney Barnett and more, while we assess archive releases from The Specials, Bob Marley, Roxy Music and more.
Live, we catch Julian Cope on typically entertaining form in London, and Lambchop recreating their masterpiece, Nixon, in Berlin.
Kim Gordon’s memoir, Girl In A Band, and a new biography of Sandy Denny feature on our books page, while we look at films including Altman, Michael Winterbottom’s The Face Of An Angel and a new Joe Strummer documentary.
And finally, our free CD, Back To The Garden, includes songs by Sufjan Stevens, Matthew E White, Courtney Barnett, Marc Almond, Ryley Walker, Steve Gunn, Cat’s Eyes, Sam Lee and more.
Nile Rodgers has announced that Daft Punk have made a film to accompany the upcoming Chic album.According to Billboard, Rodgers announced the news on Twitter on February 21 by releasing a still from what he called a "touching film" made by Daft Punk.When asked when fans can view the video, the guita...
Nile Rodgers has announced that Daft Punk have made a film to accompany the upcoming Chic album.According to Billboard, Rodgers announced the news on Twitter on February 21 by releasing a still from what he called a “touching film” made by Daft Punk.When asked when fans can view the video, the guitarist responded “within the next few weeks”. Rodgers previously worked with Daft Punk on their single “Get Lucky“.
Nile Rodgers
In a blog post penned for his official website, Rodgers has also released a snippet of new music, previewing the track ‘I’ll Be There’.
Due to be released on March 20, the new record will be a double-sided 12-inch single and will come with B-side ‘Back In The Old School’.
According to Rodgers, “I’ll be there” were the “first words I spoke upon finding my partner Bernard Edwards, (RIP) dead after our last concert together”. Click above to listen to the preview.
Starbucks are reportedly to stop selling CDs in their stores worldwide, according to a story on Billboard.As well as selling music from major artists in their shops, the coffee chain also has its own Hear Music label.
The label has previously released original material from artists including Joni M...
Starbucks are reportedly to stop selling CDs in their stores worldwide, according to a story on Billboard.As well as selling music from major artists in their shops, the coffee chain also has its own Hear Music label.
The label has previously released original material from artists including Joni Mitchell, Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello. Now, they are to stop physical sales from March 2015, although digital music will still be available via Starbucks outlets.”We will stop selling physical CDs in our stores at the end of March,” a representative from the company told Billboard.”Starbucks continually seeks to redefine the experience in our retail stores to meet the evolving needs of our customers. Music will remain a key component of our coffeehouse and retail experience, however we will continue to evolve the format of our music offerings to ensure we’re offering relevant options for our customers. As a leader in music curation, we will continue to strive to select unique and compelling artists from a broad range of genres we think will resonate with our customers.”
Meanwhile, Neil Young recently urged fans to boycott Starbucks in response to the coffee house chain’s decision to ally with agrochemical company Monsanto in a lawsuit against the state of Vermont.
“Monsanto might not care what we think – but as a public-facing company, Starbucks does,” he wrote. “If we can generate enough attention, we can push Starbucks to withdraw its support for the lawsuit, and then pressure other companies to do the same.”
Young added: “Vermont is a small, entirely rural state with just 600,000 people. It’s a classic David and Goliath fight between Vermont and Monsanto. Considering that Starbucks has been progressive on LGBT and labour issues in the past, it’s disappointing that it is working with the biggest villain of them all, Monsanto.”
Brian Wilson has released a video for new song "The Right Time".
The song, which is taken from Wilson's upcoming new album, No Pier Pressure, also features fellow Beach Boys Al Jardine and David Marks.
The clip was filmed in-studio during the track's recording and includes the song's lyrics. Click...
Brian Wilson has released a video for new song “The Right Time”.
The song, which is taken from Wilson’s upcoming new album, No Pier Pressure, also features fellow Beach Boys Al Jardine and David Marks.
The clip was filmed in-studio during the track’s recording and includes the song’s lyrics. Click above to watch.
No Pier Pressure sleeve artwork
No Pier Pressure will be released on April 7. It features collaborations with a number of artists, including Jardine and Marks, She & Him’s Zooey Deschanel and country singer Kacey Musgraves.The tracklisting for No Pier Pressure is:
‘This Beautiful Day’
‘Runaway Dancer’ [featuring Sebu Simonian]
‘What Ever Happened’ [featuring Al Jardine and David Marks]
‘On The Island’ [featuring She & Him]
‘Our Special Love’ [featuring Peter Hollens]
‘The Right Time’ [featuring Al Jardine and David Marks]
‘Guess You Had To Be There’ [featuring Kacey Musgraves]
‘Tell Me Why’ [featuring Al Jardine]
‘Sail Away’ [featuring Blondie Chaplin and Al Jardine]
‘One Kind Of Love’
‘Saturday Night’ [featuring Nate Ruess]
‘The Last Song’
‘Half Moon Bay’
Joni Mitchell, Nick Cave, Sufjan Stevens and PJ Harvey all feature in the new issue of Uncut, dated April 2015 and out now.
The incredible Joni Mitchell is on the cover, and inside, famous fans including Robert Plant, David Crosby and members of Radiohead and Pink Floyd pick the singer-songwriterâ€...
Joni Mitchell, Nick Cave, Sufjan Stevens and PJ Harvey all feature in the new issue of Uncut, dated April 2015 and out now.
The incredible Joni Mitchell is on the cover, and inside, famous fans including Robert Plant, David Crosby and members of Radiohead and Pink Floyd pick the singer-songwriter’s 30 greatest songs.
Close friends and collaborators also choose their favourites, with recollections of Mitchell provided by Graham Nash, the Incredible String Band’s Mike Heron, Linda Thompson, Joe Boyd, members of LA Express, and Alberta Ballet’s artistic director Jean Grand-Maitre, who worked closely with the singer on 2007’s The Fiddle And The Drum ballet.
“I don’t think there’s a singer-songwriter in the world that hasn’t been affected by Joni,†David Crosby explains.
Elsewhere, Warren Ellis provides the inside story of life in the Bad Seeds, describing the way Nick Cave and the group go about their work. Scary silences, boils, Australian Goths and, of course, the evolving work of this enduring musical force, are included.
“Nick loves to work,†says Ellis, “he has this incredible drive and a belief in what he’s doing. He’s always challenging himself.â€
Uncut also heads to New York City to meet Sufjan Stevens and hear all about the musical polymath’s hushed, delicate new album, Carrie & Lowell, while editor John Mulvey reports from PJ Harvey’s pioneering Recording In Progress project, where fans can watch her working on a new album.
Also in the issue, Phil Manzanera answers your questions about Roxy Music, David Gilmour’s new solo album and his work with Nico, David Bowie, John Cale and Robert Wyatt.
Uncut meets a young breed of country artists, including Kacey Musgraves, Brandy Clark and Angaleena Presley, emerging from the US, positioned between the grit of Americana and mainstream glitz. “Go out on a limb. That’s where the fruit is,†we are told.
We also salute the late legend Kim Fowley, auteur, producer, Svengali and provocateur, with a hair-raising 1972 interview from the Melody Maker archives; meanwhile, Simple Minds’ Jim Kerr takes us through the records that informed his adolescence in this month’s My Life In Music piece.
Our ‘album by album’ feature this month comes from Matt Johnson, who guides us through his catalogue with The The and solo, while we also hear from The Dave Clark Five on how they created their transatlantic chart-topper “Glad All Over†and became the first British Invasion band to tour America.
Uncut’s 40-page reviews section looks at new releases from Laura Marling, Björk, Ryley Walker, Courtney Barnett and more, while we assess archive releases from The Specials, Bob Marley, Roxy Music and more.
Live, we catch Julian Cope on typically entertaining form in London, and Lambchop recreating their masterpiece, Nixon, in Berlin.
Kim Gordon’s memoir, Girl In A Band, and a new biography of Sandy Denny feature on our books page, while we look at films including Altman, Michael Winterbottom’s The Face Of An Angel and a new Joe Strummer documentary.
And finally, our free CD, Back To The Garden, includes songs by Sufjan Stevens, Matthew E White, Courtney Barnett, Marc Almond, Ryley Walker, Steve Gunn, Cat’s Eyes, Sam Lee and more.
In the aftermath of Bob Dylan's speech at the MusiCares charity gala in February, most of the attention focused on his apparent hostility towards Merle Haggard, his enduring prickliness with those who would question the texture and timbre of that indefatigable voice.
At the heart of his 30-minute d...
In the aftermath of Bob Dylan‘s speech at the MusiCares charity gala in February, most of the attention focused on his apparent hostility towards Merle Haggard, his enduring prickliness with those who would question the texture and timbre of that indefatigable voice.
At the heart of his 30-minute disquisition, though, was the sort of sentimentality that informed Chronicles, the Theme-Time Radio Hour and, most recently, “Shadows In The Night”; a devotion to the music of his youth that was at once nostalgic and forensic, and appeared deeply informed by a conviction that modern music could never measure up against the towering achievements of the mid-20th Century.
“Very few rock’n’roll bands today play with rhythm. They don’t know what it is,” Dylan claimed, although he gave no indication that he’d actually heard or analysed any of these bands. Not for the first time, it was possible to be touched by Dylan’s scholarly humility to those who went before him, and exasperated by his ignorance of those who came after.
I was thinking about this, though God alone knows why, at some point in the extraordinary show by D’Angelo & The Vanguard on Saturday night. D’Angelo, it should be said straight away, is not remotely indebted to Dylan. But if anyone needed an example of the continuing, evolving potency of rhythm and blues, of how a 21st Century artist can not just channel, but effectively match up against, the achievements of his forefathers, Michael ‘D’Angelo’ Archer works perfectly.
Take “Sugah Daddy”, the last song The Vanguard play in their main set at the Hammersmith Apollo (though it turns out that they will return, soon enough, to continue for the best part of another hour). “Sugah Daddy” is a song from “Black Messiah”, the album that D’Angelo released, with about 24 hours’ notice, near the end of 2014: his third album in 20 years, and his first since the 2000 nu-soul landmark, “Voodoo”.
On record, “Sugah Daddy” is a masterclass in fiendish syncopation, an intricate and infectious song that provides a jazzy spin on the kind of science worked by Prince circa “Kiss”. This is more or less how it begins live, though the fluent urgency of The Vanguard have now accelerated it into something approaching a frenzy. D’Angelo is, initially, sat behind a piano as the groove bends around him, the swinging complexities underpinned by the bass of Pino Palladino, on leave from The Who, positioned to his right.
After a while, D’Angelo emerges from behind the keyboard, bounces his mic stand with the nonchalant grace of James Brown, and begins exhorting his band to faster, harder, higher goals. When the song finishes, he stands silent for what feels like a minute, becalmed after what has been a virtuoso maelstrom. Not for the first time, however, he appears to be toying with the expectations of his audience. He is, in fact, fulfilling the expectations of what the complete R&B bandleader can, and possibly should, do.
“Sugah Daddy”, it transpires, is far from over. First it morphs into a massive JBs groove, with D’Angelo’s creative spar, Kendra Foster and two more backing singers pinballing across the stage while the two star guitarists, Isaiah Sharkey and Jesse Johnson (an early Prince cohort, from Minneapolis veterans The Time) continue to play with phenomenal restraint, sublimated in the nuanced collective effort. Then, after another flamboyant caesura, Cleo ‘Pookie’ Sample generates a theremin-like wail from his keyboards and the whole thing ramps up another notch, into the tight abandon of peak Family Stone.
At one point, D’Angelo seems to be quoting Curtis Mayfield as he chants “Freddie’s Dead” in the midst of it all. At this point, though, it’s hard to work out quite what’s happening, beyond a sense that this might be one of the finest shows I’ve seen in years: staggeringly accomplished, historically resonant, conceptually progressive, socially aware, dynamic, erotic, adventurous, theatrical – the whole package.
To those who have followed D’Angelo’s story this past decade or so, the achievements of “Black Messiah” and this supercharged live show are even more remarkable. For most of the 21st Century, D’Angelo has been missing in action, an apparently lost genius, intermittently resurfacing in a cloud of rumour and innuendo; car crashes, substance issues, police scrapes, precious little music. All the time, however, it seems he was working on the songs that would become “Black Messiah” with a team focused around Palladino, Foster, Q-Tip and Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson.
“Black Messiah” sounds like an album that took an insane amount of work to give the impression of effortlessness, and one suspects that D’Angelo would have continued finessing it indefinitely, had not the American political climate, in the wake of the Ferguson and New York shootings, provoked him into action. The context of the album’s release, notwithstanding the Afropunk artwork and a Saturday Night Live performance during which The Vanguard wore “I Can’t Breathe” t-shirts, has slightly overplayed the actual political content of the album. Tonight, it reverberates through the stuttering “1000 Deaths” (Funkadelic’s “Wars Of Armageddon” might be a useful analogue here) and, in particular, the ravishing “The Charade’, a Prince-like psychedelic rock song whose key lines – “All we wanted was a chance to talk/ ‘Stead we only outlined in chalk” – come punctuated with raised fists from The Vanguard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpMIB4ETkkQ
Mostly, though, there’s a sense that the personal and political, self-expression and community action, partying and protest, are intertwined in a fundamental way which is not always easy to parse. The throb of “1000 Deaths” is sticky, forbidding, and the first sequence of songs pass by in an interlocking rush that has an unexpected urgency and relentlessness. Where D’Angelo appeared still and dignified on Saturday Night Live, it’s a shock to see how he has regained the physicality, the energy, that rippled through sensational gigs around the time of “Voodoo”. “If you’re wondering about the shape I’m in,” he sings in “Back To The Future”, “I hope it ain’t my abdomen that you’re referring to.”
As the show goes on, his aura of command intensifies at the same rate as his showmanship. “One Mo Gin”, in particular, is astonishing, the band falling into a kind of militarised, hyper-alert funk slouch, then gradually being compelled towards a rapturous climax, with D’Angelo’s keen manipulation of soul history moving into the terrain explored so enthusiastically by Marvin Gaye on “Let’s Get It On”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3eZSd1LqEw
The performance of “Chicken Grease”, meanwhile, could probably be dissected as an accelerated history of funk grandstanding, compacted into ten or 15 minutes, but which always feels intuitive rather than studied. There are multiple false endings, successful attempts to take it to the bridge, soulclaps, mic stand pivots, priapic yowls, mysterious hand signals to drummer Chris ‘Daddy’ Dave. The instructions reveal the rigorous management that goes into such delirium, and remind that the most freakish auteurs have often been the most unstinting taskmasters.
There’s a danger in all of this that such a depth of cultural knowledge can manifest itself as pastiche, so much so that it can lead one to some preposterous speculations – as when D’Angelo wears a Stars’n’Stripes cape for “The Charade” that appears faded to the same tone as the flag on the cover of “There’s A Riot Goin’ On”. But for all the assiduous study, the show feels more like a kinetic updating of old traditions, one that transcends mere revivalism, with D’Angelo having cast himself emphatically as heir rather than interloper.
He has, critically, classics of his own to spare, none more resonant than the closing “Untitled (How Does It Feel?)”, a song which takes the lubricious tenets of the slow jam and stretches them into something that is immensely calculated, but also moving to the point of absurdity. Tonight, “Untitled” lasts for about 15 minutes, the last seven of which see the band taking rare, microscopic solos and leaving one by one until, finally, D’Angelo is alone at the piano, singing a refrain which he finally hands over to the audience. In keeping with the extraordinary standards of the evening, their performance is subtle and exceptional.
“Times always change,” Bob Dylan noted in that MusiCares speech. “They really do. And you have to always be ready for something that’s coming along and you never expected it.”
In the end, Wes Anderson got overlooked. Boyhood got beaten. The Brits just about made it. In many respects, last night’s Oscars were more ho hum than brouhaha. In winning both Best Picture and Best Director (for Alejandro Inarritu), Birdman demonstrated that Hollywood really does love nothing bet...
In the end, Wes Anderson got overlooked. Boyhood got beaten. The Brits just about made it. In many respects, last night’s Oscars were more ho hum than brouhaha. In winning both Best Picture and Best Director (for Alejandro Inarritu), Birdman demonstrated that Hollywood really does love nothing better than films about Hollywood; especially ones that expose the rigors they often endure. That it trumped Richard Linklater’s warm, human and technically audacious Boyhood is less a reflection of Linklater than it is on Hollywood’s capacity for self-reflection. It was good, at least, to see Boyhood’s fragile mother Patricia Arquette winning Best Supporting Actress; though it’s conspicuous (again) how few of the Best Film nominations had strong roles for women.
Admittedly, I was curious to see how American Sniper would fare. I’m no fan of Clint Eastwood’s Iraq war film; yet the film has shattered one of Hollywood’s ancient myths, that launching a film in January is doomed for failure. Not only that, American Sniper has become a phenomenon – debuting with a stunning $89.5m during its opening weekend in the States. And it has travelled, too: taking £2.53m from 410 UK cinemas. It is a divisive film; one that has played incredibly well in middle America yet less well received by more liberal audiences. In the end, it won Best Sound Editing.
Elsewhere, the Oscars were remarkably unremarkable. Wes Anderson managed four technical wins for The Grand Budapest Hotel (my favourite), Eddie Redmayne won Best Actor for his deeply felt portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory Of Everything, Julianne Moore won Best Actress for Still Alice; a film in which she is the only remotely interesting item. It would have taken some kind of miracle for JK Simons not to win Best Supporting Actor for his fierce music professor in Whiplash. Nothing, though, for Foxcatcher; the other big film in contention.
It was good, though, to see Oscars for the Edward Snowden documentary CitizenFour and Pawel Pawelkowski’s Ida to win Best Documentary and Best Foreign Language Film.
But what do you think? Did Birdman deserve to best Boyhood..? Or would you rather have seen Foxcatcher outsmart Whiplash?
Best Picture Birdman
American Sniper
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory Of Everything
Whiplash
Best Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
Best Actor Eddie Redmayne, The Theory Of Everything
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Best Actress Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones, The Theory Of Everything
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild
Supporting Actress Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Laura Dern, Wild
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into The Woods
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Supporting Actor JK Simmons, Whiplash
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
Adapted Screenplay The Imitation Game
American Sniper
Inherent Vice
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash
Original Screenplay Birdman
Boyhood
Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Nightcrawler
Animated Feature Big Hero 6
Boxtrolls
How To Train Your Dragon 2
Song Of The Sea
The Tale Of Princess Kaguya
Foreign Language Film Ida
Leviathan
Tangerines
Timbuktu
Wild Tales
Best Cinematography Birdman, Emmanuel Lubezki
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Robert Yeoman
Ida, Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski
Mr. Turner, Dick Pope
Unbroken, Roger Deakins
Visual Effects Interstellar
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes
Guardians Of The Galaxy
X:Men: Days Of Future Past
Film Editing Whiplash
American Sniper
Boyhood
Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Production Design The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Into The Woods
Mr. Turner
Best Score Alexandre Desplat, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alexandre Desplat, The Imitation Game
Hans Zimmer, Interstellar
Gary Yershon, Mr. Turner
Jóhann Jóhannsson, The Theory Of Everything
Best Original Song “Glory”, Selma
“Everything Is Awesome”, The Lego Movie
“Grateful”, Beyond the Lights
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You”, Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me
“Lost Stars”, Begin Again
Best Costume Design The Grand Budapest Hotel
Inherent Vice
Into the Woods
Maleficent
Mr. Turner
Best Documentary CitizenFour
Finding Vivian Maier
Last Days in Vietnam
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga
Best Documentary Short Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1Â
Joanna
Our Curse
The Reaper (La Parka)
White Earth
Best Makeup And Hair The Grand Budapest Hotel
Foxcatcher
Guardians of the Galaxy
Best Animated Short Feast
The Bigger Picture
The Dam Keeper
Me and My Moulton
A Single Life
Best Live-Action Short The Phone Call
Aya
Boogaloo and Graham
Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak)
Parvaneh
Best Sound Editing American Sniper
Birdman
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar
Unbroken
Best Sound Mixing Whiplash
American Sniper
Birdman
Interstellar
Unbroken
