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Radiohead’s Thom Yorke joins Modeselektor on stage at Coachella

Michael Bonner
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Radiohead’s Thom Yorke joins Modeselektor on stage at Coachella
Radiohead's Thom Yorke joined Modeselektor on stage at the final night of Coachella last night [April 22]. The singer performed at the end of the German electro duo's set to perform "Shipwreck", from their latest album Monkeytown, contributing vocals to "This" and "Shipwreck". Radiohead headed the...

Radiohead‘s Thom Yorke joined Modeselektor on stage at the final night of Coachella last night [April 22].

The singer performed at the end of the German electro duo’s set to perform “Shipwreck”, from their latest album Monkeytown, contributing vocals to “This” and “Shipwreck”.

Radiohead headed the bill again at the second night of week two of the festival in Indio, California at the weekend, where they played new track “Identikit”. In front of a flashy video show, which saw frontman Thom Yorke’s image distorted and projected on multi-coloured screens, the Oxford band went on the play “Idioteque” from 2000’s Kid A’ and “Lucky” from 1997’s OK, Computer.

After the show on Saturday night, Yorke DJed for a crowd of friends and family at the Parker Hotel in Palm Springs, taking to the decks at 4am and playing a set consisting of Snoop Dogg, Diana Ross and James Brown, before taking to the dancefloor himself, reports the LA Times.

It was the second DJ set of the night for Yorke, who had joined Flying Lotus and Gaslamp Killer earlier in the night.

Radiohead will tour Europe in the Autumn in support of their album King Of Limbs, including a trio of UK dates. They play Manchester’s Evening News Arena on October 6 and at London’s O2 Arena on October 8 and 9.

Alabama Shakes top the first ever Record Store Chart

Michael Bonner
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Alabama Shakes top the first ever Record Store Chart
Alabama Shakes have topped the first ever Record Store Chart with their debut album Boys And Girls. The chart, which launched on Friday, is calculated on physical sales from independent record shops and is being overseen by the Official Charts Company. The Georgia band's debut came out on top this...

Alabama Shakes have topped the first ever Record Store Chart with their debut album Boys And Girls.

The chart, which launched on Friday, is calculated on physical sales from independent record shops and is being overseen by the Official Charts Company.

The Georgia band’s debut came out on top this week, narrowly ahead of Adele’s 21, which is Number Two and Trembling Bells’ The Marble Downs, which is Number Three.

Graham Coxon is at Number Four with A+E, with M.Ward at Number Five with A Wasteland Companion and Lana Del Rey at Number Six with Born To Die. Jim Lockey And The Solemn Sun, The Black Keys, Dr John and The Shins make up the rest of the Top 10.

Speaking about Alabama Shakes’ chart success, Geoff Travis, who runs the band’s label Rough Trade, said: “We are very proud that we have not entirely lost our musical marbles. Alabama Shakes deserve every accolade and success that may come their way. They do it right. Independent record stores are very important. They are staffed by people who feel the same way about music that we do and therefore can spread the gospel. Personal contact beats cyberspace every time.”

The Official Independent Record Store Chart was launched to coincide with Saturday’s Record Store Day.

M Ward – A Wasteland Companion

Michael Bonner
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0
M Ward – A Wasteland Companion

She & Him's Him returns to his dark, witty furrow... In conversation, Matt Ward is unfailingly polite, but he gives the strong impression he would rather not talk about himself at all. Even his stage name suggests an underactive ego. Not that Ward is obstructive. He is happy to confirm, for example, that “Clean Slate”, the opening track on his seventh solo album, was written for Alex Chilton, after Ward filled in at a Big Star concert soon after the singer’s death. The album’s title, it seems, is a nod to TS Eliot’s modernist poem – though the connection remains obscure. And, yes, that is Zooey Deschanel adding candyfloss vocals to his cover of Daniel Johnston’s “Sweetheart” (no real surprise, as Ward’s backwards walk into the spotlight includes a successful – continuing - stint as half of She & Him, a vehicle for the actress’s songs). Which leaves us where, exactly? Well, it might be an idea to take the hint and concentrate on the music. Here there are further misconceptions, because Ward is frequently referred to as a folk musician; which is true in the sense that Buddy Holly can be described as a folk musician. In other words, it is slightly true, sometimes. Since Ward is a modest man, let’s examine that Daniel Johnston cover more closely. Bold claims are made for Johnston as a songwriter, but the unprofessional nature of his recordings make it hard to tell whether he deserves to seen as more than a cult in search of a niche. “Sweetheart” first appeared on Yip/Jump Music, a cassette released in 1983. In Johnston’s rendering, a half-tuneless vocal does battle with a half-rhythmic rhythm, and the song’s appeal seems to reside in a charitable interpretation of the author’s intentions. Johnston’s charm is his naivety. In Ward’s hands, the song becomes a sweet rock’n’roll handclapper, with sighing guitar, rolling piano and a vocal dipped in sherbet. It’s retro to the point of timelessness. It sounds innocent, a quality - like sincerity - which is hard to fake. Mostly, it’s adhesive. Listen twice to that chorus and you won’t be able to comb the bubblegum from your hair. The common link between Johnston and Ward is The Beatles. Ward taught himself guitar by studying a Beatles songbook, and what he gleaned was an understanding of how Lennon and McCartney borrowed from the whole of popular music, not just the carbonated thrills of rock’n’roll. Clearly, Louis Armstrong is a touchstone. The other cover version is “I Get Ideas”, with Armstrong’s mournful serenade replaced by a kind of Babyshambles skiffle. But that’s not where you’ll hear Ward’s debt to Armstrong. Listen instead to “Crawl After You”. It’s a gorgeous, woozy, mysterious song, about a lovestruck man seeing an old flame walk by in the street. The hope and the pain are carried aloft by Amanda Lawrence’s violin, and Ward sings the mysterious lyric huskily (“I was raised by a tribe of Vegas cowboys/Who claim I was born from a union of dust and wind”). It works a treat. There are further echoes of Satchmo on the album’s title track. There’s levity in “Watch The Show”, a dream narrative about a man called Bill Burroughs (no relation), who hijacks a TV station after years of dubbing laughter onto sitcoms. And there’s a hint of gospel in the dreamy “Wild Goose” (with Howe Gelb on piano), which flows into the final song, “Pure Joy”, in which the singer overcomes depression by inhaling “the medicine of oxygen”. An optimistic conclusion, then, to an album which contains dark material, without ever sounding weighty. That, surely, is a matter of wit. Observe “There’s A Key”, and you’ll hear a writer fully in charge of his talent. Inside 10 short lines, he contemplates fate, oblivion, God, and the devil. Vocally, Ward sounds like Paul Simon. But that’s misdirection. Go past the tone of his voice, inhale the poetry, and you’ll taste a sweeter, less mordant Leonard Cohen. Alastair McKay Q&A M Ward Did you have a plan for this album? I produce my own songs the same way I produce Zoooey (Deschanel)’s songs. I demo them over and over again, and try to listen for where the song wants to go. That involves the imagination. The song is a direct connection between the inspiration and the listener’s ears, and you’re just trying to get out of the way. Your songs sound very immediate – is that deliberate? That might come from how I first started recording, on my 4-track in my bedroom when I was 15. For as long as I’ve been recording I’ve been trying to translate the intimacy and warmth that you get from a 4-track audio cassette onto two-inch tape. It’s been an interesting journey. That reminds me of Daniel Johnston (who you cover). His catalogue is the catalogue of pop music of the future. It’s just a matter of time before everyone goes back and listens to those old tapes. They are as good and as pure as John Lennon’s songs. Daniel Johnston was a very big Beatles fan, and when I hear those tapes I hear the Beatles filtered through an American lens, and that’s a big inspiration. INTERVIEW: ALASTAIR McKAY

She & Him’s Him returns to his dark, witty furrow…

In conversation, Matt Ward is unfailingly polite, but he gives the strong impression he would rather not talk about himself at all. Even his stage name suggests an underactive ego.

Not that Ward is obstructive. He is happy to confirm, for example, that “Clean Slate”, the opening track on his seventh solo album, was written for Alex Chilton, after Ward filled in at a Big Star concert soon after the singer’s death. The album’s title, it seems, is a nod to TS Eliot’s modernist poem – though the connection remains obscure. And, yes, that is Zooey Deschanel adding candyfloss vocals to his cover of Daniel Johnston’s “Sweetheart” (no real surprise, as Ward’s backwards walk into the spotlight includes a successful – continuing – stint as half of She & Him, a vehicle for the actress’s songs).

Which leaves us where, exactly? Well, it might be an idea to take the hint and concentrate on the music. Here there are further misconceptions, because Ward is frequently referred to as a folk musician; which is true in the sense that Buddy Holly can be described as a folk musician. In other words, it is slightly true, sometimes.

Since Ward is a modest man, let’s examine that Daniel Johnston cover more closely. Bold claims are made for Johnston as a songwriter, but the unprofessional nature of his recordings make it hard to tell whether he deserves to seen as more than a cult in search of a niche. “Sweetheart” first appeared on Yip/Jump Music, a cassette released in 1983. In Johnston’s rendering, a half-tuneless vocal does battle with a half-rhythmic rhythm, and the song’s appeal seems to reside in a charitable interpretation of the author’s intentions. Johnston’s charm is his naivety. In Ward’s hands, the song becomes a sweet rock’n’roll handclapper, with sighing guitar, rolling piano and a vocal dipped in sherbet. It’s retro to the point of timelessness. It sounds innocent, a quality – like sincerity – which is hard to fake. Mostly, it’s adhesive. Listen twice to that chorus and you won’t be able to comb the bubblegum from your hair.

The common link between Johnston and Ward is The Beatles. Ward taught himself guitar by studying a Beatles songbook, and what he gleaned was an understanding of how Lennon and McCartney borrowed from the whole of popular music, not just the carbonated thrills of rock’n’roll. Clearly, Louis Armstrong is a touchstone. The other cover version is “I Get Ideas”, with Armstrong’s mournful serenade replaced by a kind of Babyshambles skiffle. But that’s not where you’ll hear Ward’s debt to Armstrong. Listen instead to “Crawl After You”. It’s a gorgeous, woozy, mysterious song, about a lovestruck man seeing an old flame walk by in the street. The hope and the pain are carried aloft by Amanda Lawrence’s violin, and Ward sings the mysterious lyric huskily (“I was raised by a tribe of Vegas cowboys/Who claim I was born from a union of dust and wind”). It works a treat.

There are further echoes of Satchmo on the album’s title track. There’s levity in “Watch The Show”, a dream narrative about a man called Bill Burroughs (no relation), who hijacks a TV station after years of dubbing laughter onto sitcoms. And there’s a hint of gospel in the dreamy “Wild Goose” (with Howe Gelb on piano), which flows into the final song, “Pure Joy”, in which the singer overcomes depression by inhaling “the medicine of oxygen”. An optimistic conclusion, then, to an album which contains dark material, without ever sounding weighty. That, surely, is a matter of wit. Observe “There’s A Key”, and you’ll hear a writer fully in charge of his talent. Inside 10 short lines, he contemplates fate, oblivion, God, and the devil. Vocally, Ward sounds like Paul Simon. But that’s misdirection. Go past the tone of his voice, inhale the poetry, and you’ll taste a sweeter, less mordant Leonard Cohen.

Alastair McKay

Q&A

M Ward

Did you have a plan for this album?

I produce my own songs the same way I produce Zoooey (Deschanel)’s songs. I demo them over and over again, and try to listen for where the song wants to go. That involves the imagination. The song is a direct connection between the inspiration and the listener’s ears, and you’re just trying to get out of the way.

Your songs sound very immediate – is that deliberate?

That might come from how I first started recording, on my 4-track in my bedroom when I was 15. For as long as I’ve been recording I’ve been trying to translate the intimacy and warmth that you get from a 4-track audio cassette onto two-inch tape. It’s been an interesting journey.

That reminds me of Daniel Johnston (who you cover).

His catalogue is the catalogue of pop music of the future. It’s just a matter of time before everyone goes back and listens to those old tapes. They are as good and as pure as John Lennon’s songs. Daniel Johnston was a very big Beatles fan, and when I hear those tapes I hear the Beatles filtered through an American lens, and that’s a big inspiration.

INTERVIEW: ALASTAIR McKAY

Dexys’ Kevin Rowland: ‘The stars were aligned for us’

Tom Pinnock
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0
Dexys’ Kevin Rowland: ‘The stars were aligned for us’

Kevin Rowland has told the full story of Dexys, and shed light on the band's future, in the new Uncut. The singer and songwriter explains in June's issue, which is in shops on Thursday, April 26, that he believes, despite their many lineup changes and years of silence, that the group were somehow blessed. “I do think the stars were aligned for us. I really do,” he said, also revealing that he believes the time is finally right for the band’s new album One Day I’m Going To Soar, which is released on June 4. “I knew I wasn’t ready to put my heart and soul into something until quite recently,” Rowland explains. The new issue of Uncut, dated June 2012, is in shops from Thursday, April 26.

Kevin Rowland has told the full story of Dexys, and shed light on the band’s future, in the new Uncut.

The singer and songwriter explains in June’s issue, which is in shops on Thursday, April 26, that he believes, despite their many lineup changes and years of silence, that the group were somehow blessed.

“I do think the stars were aligned for us. I really do,” he said, also revealing that he believes the time is finally right for the band’s new album One Day I’m Going To Soar, which is released on June 4.

“I knew I wasn’t ready to put my heart and soul into something until quite recently,” Rowland explains.

The new issue of Uncut, dated June 2012, is in shops from Thursday, April 26.

‘Nevermind’ producer Butch Vig: ‘It’s been fun recording new material with Dave Grohl’

Tom Goodwyn
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‘Nevermind’ producer Butch Vig: ‘It’s been fun recording new material with Dave Grohl’

The soundtrack for Dave Grohl's documentary on Sound City Studios, where his former band Nirvana's 'Nevermind' was recorded, is set to be finished this autumn. Last week, producer Butch Vig revealed on Twitter that he had been back in the studio with the Foo Fighters mainman and former Nirvana bass player Krist Novoselic. Speaking to NME, the Garbage drummer confirmed that the trio are working on tracks for Grohl's new documentary on Sound City Studios, where 'Nevermind' was recorded with Vig on production duties. He also revealed a tentative release date for the material. "It's a work in progress," he said of the soundtrack, adding: "We're not really sure how it's all gonna end up at this point but its been fun. There's still quite a bit more work to do and we hope to finish up in the next three or four months, and try get it all mixed and completed some time in the fall." Grohl is currently working on the film, which pays tribute to the studio complex where numerous classic albums including Slipknot's 'Iowa', and Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumours' were recorded. Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor, Tom Petty, Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor, Queens Of The Stone Age's Josh Homme are set to be among the contributors. You can watch a teaser trailer for the documentary below:

The soundtrack for Dave Grohl’s documentary on Sound City Studios, where his former band Nirvana‘s ‘Nevermind’ was recorded, is set to be finished this autumn.

Last week, producer Butch Vig revealed on Twitter that he had been back in the studio with the Foo Fighters mainman and former Nirvana bass player Krist Novoselic.

Speaking to NME, the Garbage drummer confirmed that the trio are working on tracks for Grohl’s new documentary on Sound City Studios, where ‘Nevermind’ was recorded with Vig on production duties. He also revealed a tentative release date for the material.

“It’s a work in progress,” he said of the soundtrack, adding: “We’re not really sure how it’s all gonna end up at this point but its been fun. There’s still quite a bit more work to do and we hope to finish up in the next three or four months, and try get it all mixed and completed some time in the fall.”

Grohl is currently working on the film, which pays tribute to the studio complex where numerous classic albums including Slipknot’s ‘Iowa’, and Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’ were recorded.

Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor, Tom Petty, Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor, Queens Of The Stone Age’s Josh Homme are set to be among the contributors.

You can watch a teaser trailer for the documentary below:

Sound City – A film by Dave Grohl from Sound City on Vimeo.

Beatles, Queen influence Bert Weedon dies aged 91

Tom Goodwyn
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Beatles, Queen influence Bert Weedon dies aged 91

The guitarist whose books taught The Beatles, Queen's Brian May and Robert Smith to play guitar has died aged 91. Bert Weedon, who played with stars including Frank Sinatra, wrote the 'Play In A Day' books which have been used by millions to learn to play the guitar. He published his first book in 1957. Weedon was born in east London in May 1920 and had been ill for some time, according to his friend John Adrian. He died at his home in Beaconsfield. As a solo guitarist Weedon had a number of hits, including 'Guitar Boogie Shuffle', 'Apache' and 'Nashville Boogie'. He became the first solo guitar player to top the Official Top 40 album charts in 1976 with '22 Golden Guitar Greats'. Weedon later played for numerous stars including as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole and Judy Garland. The Beatles' Paul McCartney, George Harrison and John Lennon all admitted to using Weeden's manuals to help them learn guitar. Eric Clapton has said in the past that he had "never met a player of any consequence" who had not learned from his 'Play In A Day' books. In 2001 Weeden was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to music. He is survived by his wife and two sons.

The guitarist whose books taught The Beatles, Queen’s Brian May and Robert Smith to play guitar has died aged 91.

Bert Weedon, who played with stars including Frank Sinatra, wrote the ‘Play In A Day’ books which have been used by millions to learn to play the guitar. He published his first book in 1957.

Weedon was born in east London in May 1920 and had been ill for some time, according to his friend John Adrian. He died at his home in Beaconsfield.

As a solo guitarist Weedon had a number of hits, including ‘Guitar Boogie Shuffle’, ‘Apache’ and ‘Nashville Boogie’. He became the first solo guitar player to top the Official Top 40 album charts in 1976 with ’22 Golden Guitar Greats’.

Weedon later played for numerous stars including as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole and Judy Garland. The Beatles’ Paul McCartney, George Harrison and John Lennon all admitted to using Weeden’s manuals to help them learn guitar. Eric Clapton has said in the past that he had “never met a player of any consequence” who had not learned from his ‘Play In A Day’ books.

In 2001 Weeden was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for his services to music. He is survived by his wife and two sons.

Moby remixes David Lynch for Record Store Day – listen

Tom Goodwyn
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Moby remixes David Lynch for Record Store Day – listen
Moby has remixed David Lynch's 'Noah's Ark' for Record Store Day, which is taking place on Saturday (April 21). The track originally appeared on the 'Twin Peaks' director's debut solo album, 'Crazy Clown Time' which came out in November. You can listen to the track by scrolling down and clicking ...

Moby has remixed David Lynch’s ‘Noah’s Ark’ for Record Store Day, which is taking place on Saturday (April 21).

The track originally appeared on the ‘Twin Peaks’ director’s debut solo album, ‘Crazy Clown Time’ which came out in November. You can listen to the track by scrolling down and clicking on the video below.

Moby began his career by sampling ‘Laura Palmer’s Theme’ from the television series Twin Peaks for ‘Go’, the first single from his self-titled album. ‘Noah’s Ark’ is the first time Moby has remixed one of Lynch’s solo tracks.

Moby has said of the remix: “David Lynch is my friend and I love his movies and his art and his music. Few things make me happier than working with him.”

Supporting Record Store Day, Lynch has previously said of independent record shops: “People should support these stores as a place where you can still find and enjoy all the different kinds of music.”

The limited edition heavyweight vinyl single features the ‘Noah’s Ark’ remix on the A-side and a Vaughan Oliver etch on the B-side.

The Charlatans’ Tim Burgess: ‘We used to blow coke up each other’s arses’

Tom Goodwyn
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0
The Charlatans’ Tim Burgess: ‘We used to blow coke up each other’s arses’
The Charlatans' singer Tim Burgess has made a rather startling revelation in his new autobiography, Telling Stories. The book, which is described as a "frank and vivid memoir" by its publishers, promises tales of rock'n'roll excess and it certainly offers that, especially with one particular reve...

The Charlatans‘ singer Tim Burgess has made a rather startling revelation in his new autobiography, Telling Stories.

The book, which is described as a “frank and vivid memoir” by its publishers, promises tales of rock’n’roll excess and it certainly offers that, especially with one particular revelation.

Part way through, Burgess casually reveals that he and his bandmates used to indulge in offering each other ‘Manhattan-powdered doughnuts’. For the uninitiated, that’s not New York-specific snack, but the practice of blowing cocaine up each others’ arses.

He writes: “We discovered the process of blowing coke up each others’ arses. There, I have said it. It’s not like we invented the practice, but I realise now it’s not an everyday thing for most people.”

Burgess then goes on to placate libel lawyers by assuring the general public that the whole band did not take part and also smashes that age old cliché that it’s better to give than receive.

He continues: “Not every member of The Charlatans took part in this highly-charged ritual, which has been described as having ‘a Manhattan-powdered doughnut’. I was a giver and receiver. They say giving is better than receiving, but believe me, in this case the giving is not that great.”

No wonder, then, that Burgess named his limited-edition breakfast cereal ‘Totes Amazeballs’ rather than ‘Manhattan Powdered Doughnuts’. The book is published next Thursday (April 26).

Watch: Your favourite Levon Helm performances

John Mulvey
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Watch: Your favourite Levon Helm performances

To celebrate the life and music of Levon Helm today, I’ve been collecting your favourite songs and clips of him over on Twitter @JohnRMulvey. Enormous thanks, then, to @DanPatonMusic, @BDStanley, @Trickytoon, @HarrieBosma, @DanJones655, @HughesRich, @p_wood, @thescrvnr and @Ed_Oldham for their suggestions. I’ve collected them all below. Nice way to memorialise a remarkable musician, I hope. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZaU3VtMfoM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te7KW4K-00E http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF32IZggmBg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpYsBArEg30 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P-NuPWKQDg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaKD1Vdarnw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBuJB218UvU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDgu6iE4od0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLTZGTlRTus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbSkXWCh5Z4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqbTPVvZ5pA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNVFu7c3yMU

To celebrate the life and music of Levon Helm today, I’ve been collecting your favourite songs and clips of him over on Twitter @JohnRMulvey.

Enormous thanks, then, to @DanPatonMusic, @BDStanley, @Trickytoon, @HarrieBosma, @DanJones655, @HughesRich, @p_wood, @thescrvnr and @Ed_Oldham for their suggestions. I’ve collected them all below. Nice way to memorialise a remarkable musician, I hope.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF32IZggmBg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P-NuPWKQDg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqbTPVvZ5pA

Leonard Cohen’s former manager sentenced to 18 months in prison

Tom Goodwyn
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0
Leonard Cohen’s former manager sentenced to 18 months in prison
Leonard Cohen's former manager, Kelley Lynch, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison, with five years probation, after being found guilty of harassing the singer. She will also have to attend anger management classes, psychological training and alcohol education sessions, Rolling Stone reports...

Leonard Cohen‘s former manager, Kelley Lynch, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison, with five years probation, after being found guilty of harassing the singer.

She will also have to attend anger management classes, psychological training and alcohol education sessions, Rolling Stone reports. In addition, Lynch is now banned from owning weapons for the next 10 years.

Lynch was last week also convicted of violating court orders forbidding her to contact Cohen after a campaign of expletive-strewn emails and letters.

Cohen severed all ties with Lynch in 2004 after accusing her of stealing $5 million from him, suing her in 2005. He had told the court that his former manager made up lies claiming he was a drug addict in order to destroy his reputation.

Cohen said that Lynch had accused him of tax evasion and perjury in a series of messages he claimed had made his life “a complete and utter living hell”. He added that the voicemail messages would sometimes be 10 minutes in length and that Lynch said he “needed to be taken down and shot”.

Lynch’s lawyer Nikhil Ramnaney had claimed that the messages were prompted by the loss of her career and that they were actually “cries for help”, rather than threats.

Cohen recently announced a one-off UK outdoor show for later this year. The singer, who released his 12th studio album ‘Old Ideas’ in January, will headline a new event put on by the promoters of Hop Farm Festival, which is named A Day At Hop Farm.

The show takes place on September 8 at Hop Farm Country Park in Kent and will have a capacity of around 10,000. Cohen will play a three-hour set and will also have a full supporting bill. It will be Cohen’s only UK show of his 2012 world tour.

Red Hot Chili Peppers cover David Bowie, Ramones, Beach Boys on new EP

Tom Goodwyn
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0
Red Hot Chili Peppers cover David Bowie, Ramones, Beach Boys on new EP
Red Hot Chili Peppers are set to release a covers EP to celebrate their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last weekend in Cleveland, Ohio. The six track EP sees them covering tracks by fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members, including their versions of the Ramones' 'Havana Affair',...

Red Hot Chili Peppers are set to release a covers EP to celebrate their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last weekend in Cleveland, Ohio.

The six track EP sees them covering tracks by fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members, including their versions of the Ramones‘ ‘Havana Affair’, Iggy and the Stooges’ ‘Search and Destroy’, Neil Young‘s ‘Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere’, David Bowie‘s ‘Suffragette City’, the Beach Boys‘ ‘I Get Around’ and Dion and the Belmonts’ ‘A Teenager In Love’, reports Rolling Stone.

Most of the tracks have previously been available – but only one of them digitally. The band’s version of ‘Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere’ was recorded during their current tour.

Earlier this month Red Hot Chili Peppers gave away a live EP as a free download from their official website Redhotchillipeppers.com.

The EP was recorded on the band’s 2011 European arena tour, with four of the five tracks on the free download recorded on the band’s UK run of shows. The EP included the band’s early singles ‘Give It Away’ and ‘If You Have To Ask’, ‘Dani California’ and recent cuts ‘Look Around’ and ‘Monarchy Of Roses’.

Red Hot Chili Peppers will return to the UK and Ireland this summer to play three huge outdoor shows. The band will play Knebworth Park near Stevenage on June 23, Sunderland‘s Stadium Of Light on June 24 and Dublin‘s Croke Park on June 26.

Feist and Mastodon cover each other for Record Store Day – listen

Tom Goodwyn
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0
Feist and Mastodon cover each other for Record Store Day – listen
Feist and Mastodon have covered each other's songs to celebrate this year's Record Store Day and you can hear the covers now by scrolling down to the bottom of the page and clicking. The Georgia metallers have covered Feist's 'A Commotion' from her recent album 'Metals', while Feist has in turn c...

Feist and Mastodon have covered each other’s songs to celebrate this year’s Record Store Day and you can hear the covers now by scrolling down to the bottom of the page and clicking.

The Georgia metallers have covered Feist’s ‘A Commotion’ from her recent album ‘Metals’, while Feist has in turn covered Mastodon’s ‘Black Tongue’, which is taken from their 2011 album ‘The Hunter’. Both tracks will be released on limited edition 7” vinyl this Saturday (April 21).

Mastodon will also release a cover of The Flaming Lips’ ‘A Spoonful Weighs A Ton’ over the record. They join the likes of Arcade Fire, The Black Keys and Arctic Monkeys in putting out special releases for Record Store Day.

Feist returns to the UK later this summer to headline Green Man Festival, joining the likes of Van Morrison, Slow Club, The Walkmen and Of Montreal at the festival.

‘Black Tongue’

‘A Commotion’

Primal Scream announce June UK tour

Tom Goodwyn
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0
Primal Scream announce June UK tour
Primal Scream have announced an intimate UK tour for this June. The band, who completed their 18-month tour in support of the reissue of their seminal 1991 album 'Screamadelica' last year, will play three dates in Scotland this summer. The gigs kick off at Inverness Ironworks on June 14, before ...

Primal Scream have announced an intimate UK tour for this June.

The band, who completed their 18-month tour in support of the reissue of their seminal 1991 album ‘Screamadelica’ last year, will play three dates in Scotland this summer.

The gigs kick off at Inverness Ironworks on June 14, before moving on to Aberdeen Music Hall on June 15. The band wrap things up with a headline show at Edinburgh’s Queens Hall on June 16.

The shows, which will act as warm-ups for the band’s shows at Isle Of Wight Festival and Hop Farm Festival, will be the group’s first scheduled live dates since bassist Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield left to rejoin The Stone Roses.

Speaking to NME about this previously, singer Bobby Gillespie revealed that he asked Happy Mondays‘ dancer Bez to replace Mani, but the dancer told him he couldn’t play.

He said of this: “I was at an awards ceremony and Bez said to me, ‘What are you gonna do now that Mani’s gone?’ and I said, ‘Can you play the bass, Bez?’ How cool would that be? Bass and maracas! He was like, ‘I’d love to do it Bob, but I can’t fucking play!'”

Primal Scream are currently working on the follow-up to their 2008 album ‘Beautiful Future’.

Primal Scream will play:

Inverness Ironworks (June 14)

Aberdeen Music Hall (15)

Edinburgh Queens Hall (16)

Richard Thompson – My Life In Music

Tom Pinnock
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0
Richard Thompson – My Life In Music
Fairport Convention founder, solo artist and folk-rock guitar legend Richard Thompson is featured in Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes in the latest issue of Uncut (May 2012, Take 181), out now. The songwriter appeared in My Life In Music in our February 2009 issue, speaking to Terry Staunton about his favourite ...

Fairport Convention founder, solo artist and folk-rock guitar legend Richard Thompson is featured in Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes in the latest issue of Uncut (May 2012, Take 181), out now. The songwriter appeared in My Life In Music in our February 2009 issue, speaking to Terry Staunton about his favourite cuts, from Les Paul to Klaxons…

__________________________________

The First Record I Bought

Roy Rogers – A Four Legged Friend (1952)

“I must have been about three when I got this, a bit young to be buying records I suppose. I first heard it on the radio, on Family Favourites or such like, rather than in a cowboy film. I don’t think it was from any deep love of country and western, but I liked the idea of a man with a hat and a horse making a record together. It’s important to mention Trigger – he sort of neighs at the end.”

The Record That Made Me Pick Up A Guitar

Les Paul – Caravan (1950)

“This was in my dad’s record collection, and it really stood out from the other jazz stuff. It was

an odd-sounding start, sort of Oriental, and then Les Paul’s echo, multi-tracking effects and double-speed guitar made it seem like music from another planet. He was the first person I ever saw on TV holding a guitar. He inspired me to pose in front of the mirror with a tennis racket, long before Elvis came along.”

The Song I Wish I’d Written

Bob Dylan – Tangled Up In Blue (1975)

“It’s a ballad of sorts, but it’s not a linear ballad, the story jumps about back and forth. It’s great storytelling, and it shows how Dylan really studied Irish and Scottish folk music. He really knows that stuff, and it’s reflected in his contemporary take on the story song. There’s dozens of equally good examples in his back catalogue, but how he gets the message across in this one is particularly breathtaking.”

The Song That Changed My View Of Love Songs

Leonard Cohen – Suzanne (1967)

“Fairport Convention used to play this a lot in the early days, though I think we learnt it from the Judy Collins version. It struck me as an extraordinary way of writing about a love affair, really groundbreaking. It was clearly written by a poet. “Famous Blue Raincoat” is another with a great poetic quality, a remarkable song about a complex triangular relationship that very few writers are articulate enough to pull off.”

The Record I Wanted To Steal From My Sister

Jerry Lee Lewis – Big Blon’ Baby (1959)

“My first exposure to rock’n’roll was at Hampstead fairgrounds, blasting over the dodgems, or from the music seeping through my sister’s bedroom wall. Jerry Lee was the biggest influence on me. I still sing his stuff at gigs, and “Big Blon Baby” [the B-side to “Lovin’ Up A Storm”] is the ultimate lascivious rocker – a perfect picture of an obscene Mamie Van Doren type. If there was ever a reason to ban rock’n’roll, here it is.”

The Record That Makes Me Miss Vinyl

Louis Armstrong – St James Infirmary (1928)

“A song I heard a lot growing up, it sounded like it was from the Victorian age, dusty and ancient. It was a scratchy copy that my dad had, very poorly recorded to start with, but that just made it seem more exotic. There was always a sense of anticipation before you dropped the needle onto the groove, and then there’d be two seconds of hiss. I’d give anything to get those back again.”

The Record That Taught Me Something New

Klaxons – Myths Of The Near Future (2007)

“There’s very little new stuff that has the ability to blow you away. I don’t hear another Hendrix or Beatles, but I do find the Klaxons very interesting. It’s hard to come up with original melodies or chord structures, but they have a spirit of reinvention and seem to have found a way to rearrange the building blocks of rock’n’roll into something fresh and extremely listenable.”

The Music That Scared Me At The Cinema

Bernard Herrmann – Psycho (1960)

“He was a trained classical composer, but to most people he’ll be most closely identified by his Hitchcock scores. The Psycho score was as terrifying as the film itself. I’d never heard anything so menacing, especially when you’re sitting in the dark. There was a less-is-more simplicity. It was just strings but it was very disturbing, and you can hear how he harnessed influences like Ravel and Shostakovich.”

The Song That Restored My Faith In Pop

Abba – The Name Of The Game (1977)

“They’re a classic example of pop music surpassing its supposed limitations. It’s rare that something so sophisticated can have such mainstream appeal, popular music as a whole hasn’t had much sophistication since the swing era. ‘The Name Of The Game’ is a multi-layered work of art, full of musical and lyrical sub-plots. It may seem simple, but there’s so much detail.”

The Band That Taught Me Trad Folk Was Cool

The Watersons – For Pence And Spicy Ale (1975)

“Seeing The Watersons really opened my eyes. It was rare to hear that kind of harmony singing back then; it wasn’t considered cool compared to all the singer-songwriter types, but I thought they were very, very cool. This was sort of a comeback for them, nearly all traditional songs, and time proved just how influential they were. They certainly had a huge impact on Fairport.”

Avengers Assemble

Michael Bonner
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0
Avengers Assemble

Superior superhero mash up... Avengers Assemble represents a gearshift for Marvel Comics’ Marvel Studios division; “the initiation of Phase Two protocols”, as Robert Downey egomaniacal billionaire industrialist Tony Stark might say. It shepherds into one mega-franchise a number of Marvel’s successful current properties – Iron Man, Captain America, Thor – and reboots another, The Hulk, for a third time. This is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – an ambitious strategy to crossover plots, cast and concepts that finds actors signed up not just for one sequel, but in certain cases optioned for nine films. This kind of forward thinking is to be admired, but such is the nature of superhero movies that there is very little that is unpredictable here. It features six superdudes, some of whom are initially in conflict with one another before uniting to fight a common foe. An American city is imperiled. That it stars Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L Jackson and Tom Hiddleston ensures the acting is of quality. As Buffy creator Joss Whedon directs it, it has a savvy, pop culture wit about it. As it cost $220 million, the effects are satisfactorily high end. It’s in 3D, but that’s no longer really a selling point any longer.. The only surprise – and sorry for spoiling it for you – is an unexpected but entirely welcome cameo from Harry Dean Stanton, a warm, analogue presence in a robustly digital-age product. Discerning followers of the Marvel movies may quibble with the programmatic nature of Avengers Assemble. (Certainly, there’s none of the blithe, whimsical qualities that made the best Marvel films fly: it seems extraordinary now to think that Marvel took such a high-risk gamble signing up Robert Downey Jnr for Iron Man, at a time when Downey’s stock was at the very least uncertain). Whedon directs with professional skill. It would be daft to truffle around for depth, motivation or emotional resonance here, but there is some attempt – particularly by Mark Ruffalo, as the Hulk’s human counterpart, Bruce Banner – to push a little deeper into his character. Ruffalo brings a quiet, melancholic dignity to Banner while his colleagues work their way through the full repertoire of superhero cliché; in many ways, he is the most intriguing player here, a more reflective presence alongside Downey Jnr's deadpan cynicism. Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner – as super-assassins the Black Widow and Hawkeye – seem to come from have interesting, morally questionable backstories, which the film doesn’t feel obliged to address. Certainly not when there’s some witty banter to be had, or a “Hulk smash!” sequence. Indeed, as one watches Manhattan decimated in a final, exhausting battle between the Avengers and an army of alien baddies led by Hiddleston’s Loki, you might wonder how the insurance companies in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe pay out against claims relating to ‘damage caused by exploding giant alien slug.’ MICHAEL BONNER

Superior superhero mash up…

Avengers Assemble represents a gearshift for Marvel Comics’ Marvel Studios division; “the initiation of Phase Two protocols”, as Robert Downey egomaniacal billionaire industrialist Tony Stark might say. It shepherds into one mega-franchise a number of Marvel’s successful current properties – Iron Man, Captain America, Thor – and reboots another, The Hulk, for a third time. This is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – an ambitious strategy to crossover plots, cast and concepts that finds actors signed up not just for one sequel, but in certain cases optioned for nine films.

This kind of forward thinking is to be admired, but such is the nature of superhero movies that there is very little that is unpredictable here. It features six superdudes, some of whom are initially in conflict with one another before uniting to fight a common foe. An American city is imperiled. That it stars Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L Jackson and Tom Hiddleston ensures the acting is of quality. As Buffy creator Joss Whedon directs it, it has a savvy, pop culture wit about it. As it cost $220 million, the effects are satisfactorily high end. It’s in 3D, but that’s no longer really a selling point any longer.. The only surprise – and sorry for spoiling it for you – is an unexpected but entirely welcome cameo from Harry Dean Stanton, a warm, analogue presence in a robustly digital-age product.

Discerning followers of the Marvel movies may quibble with the programmatic nature of Avengers Assemble. (Certainly, there’s none of the blithe, whimsical qualities that made the best Marvel films fly: it seems extraordinary now to think that Marvel took such a high-risk gamble signing up Robert Downey Jnr for Iron Man, at a time when Downey’s stock was at the very least uncertain). Whedon directs with professional skill. It would be daft to truffle around for depth, motivation or emotional resonance here, but there is some attempt – particularly by Mark Ruffalo, as the Hulk’s human counterpart, Bruce Banner – to push a little deeper into his character. Ruffalo brings a quiet, melancholic dignity to Banner while his colleagues work their way through the full repertoire of superhero cliché; in many ways, he is the most intriguing player here, a more reflective presence alongside Downey Jnr’s deadpan cynicism. Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner – as super-assassins the Black Widow and Hawkeye – seem to come from have interesting, morally questionable backstories, which the film doesn’t feel obliged to address. Certainly not when there’s some witty banter to be had, or a “Hulk smash!” sequence.

Indeed, as one watches Manhattan decimated in a final, exhausting battle between the Avengers and an army of alien baddies led by Hiddleston’s Loki, you might wonder how the insurance companies in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe pay out against claims relating to ‘damage caused by exploding giant alien slug.’

MICHAEL BONNER

Levon Helm of The Band dies aged 71

Tom Goodwyn
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0
Levon Helm of The Band dies aged 71
Levon Helm, singer and drummer with The Band has died, aged 71. The news was announced in a message posted by his family on Facebook and Twitter, which read: "Levon Helm passed peacefully this afternoon. He was surrounded by family, friends and band mates and will be remembered by all he touched ...

Levon Helm, singer and drummer with The Band has died, aged 71.

The news was announced in a message posted by his family on Facebook and Twitter, which read: “Levon Helm passed peacefully this afternoon. He was surrounded by family, friends and band mates and will be remembered by all he touched as a brilliant musician and a beautiful soul.”

Earlier this week it was announced that Helm was in the final stages of his ‘battle with cancer’. A number of artists have paid tribute to the musician via Twitter. The Maccabees said: “Goodbye and thank you Levon xxx” while Yim Yames from My Morning Jacket wrote: “Sending well wishes and healing thoughts to the great Levon Helm and his family right now.”

The Mountain Goats posted “I am sad Levon Helm is dead that guy was great in every way long live Levon Helm’s spirit in all the musicians his life has touched” while BBC 6 Music DJ Lauren Laverne wrote that it was “awful news”.

The Band released their debut album, ‘Music From Big Pink’, in 1968, and went on to perform at the legendary Woodstock Festival in 1969. Their final show in 1976, which saw guest appearances from Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris and Neil Young, was the subject of the acclaimed Martin Scorsese documentary, ‘The Last Waltz’. The band went on to reform in the early 1980s, splitting for good in 1999 upon the death of Rick Danko.

Levon Helm won the Grammy Award for Best Americana Album in 2010 with ‘Electric Dirt’ and in 2012 for the live album ‘Ramble At The Ryman’.

Watch Levon Helm and The Band performing ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down’ and ‘The Weight’ from ‘The Last Waltz’ below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQYj2ltJKe8

US TV host Dick Clark dies

Tom Goodwyn
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0
US TV host Dick Clark dies

US TV host Dick Clark has died after suffering a massive heart attack yesterday (April 18). The 82-year-old fronted the popular live music show American Bandstand from 1956 until 1989. The music driven television programme saw appearances from the likes of The Jackson 5, Elvis, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Link Wray. Clark also hosted the game show Pyramid. In the early 1970s Clark began hosting Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, a New Year's Eve broadcast direct from New York's Times Square, which he appeared on every year until his death - aside from 2004, after he suffered a stroke. The show has recently been co-hosted by Ryan Seacrest. Clark – who was nicknamed America's Oldest Teenager - leaves behind a wife and three children. The veteran presenter and businessman was undergoing a medical procedure when he suffered the heart attack which killed him. His death was announced by his agent, Paul Shefrin, reports ABC. Clark was the winner of several Emmy Awards and is a member of the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Watch The Jackson 5 and Link Wray appearing on American Bandstand below: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyn1cqSpUBE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l0c9wFoT1I

US TV host Dick Clark has died after suffering a massive heart attack yesterday (April 18).

The 82-year-old fronted the popular live music show American Bandstand from 1956 until 1989. The music driven television programme saw appearances from the likes of The Jackson 5, Elvis, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Link Wray. Clark also hosted the game show Pyramid.

In the early 1970s Clark began hosting Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, a New Year’s Eve broadcast direct from New York’s Times Square, which he appeared on every year until his death – aside from 2004, after he suffered a stroke. The show has recently been co-hosted by Ryan Seacrest.

Clark – who was nicknamed America’s Oldest Teenager – leaves behind a wife and three children. The veteran presenter and businessman was undergoing a medical procedure when he suffered the heart attack which killed him. His death was announced by his agent, Paul Shefrin, reports ABC.

Clark was the winner of several Emmy Awards and is a member of the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Watch The Jackson 5 and Link Wray appearing on American Bandstand below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyn1cqSpUBE

Lee Ranaldo: ‘Sonic Youth’s future is up in the air’

Tom Goodwyn
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0
Lee Ranaldo: ‘Sonic Youth’s future is up in the air’
Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo has said that the band's future remains "up in the air". Last October, the band's members Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore announced they were separating after 27 years of marriage and sparked rumours that the band could split up, with their label Matador Records ad...

Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo has said that the band’s future remains “up in the air”.

Last October, the band’s members Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore announced they were separating after 27 years of marriage and sparked rumours that the band could split up, with their label Matador Records admitting they were “uncertain” of their future plans.

Ranaldo has been vague on the group’s future ever since and has now said that, although nothing has been decided, he and his bandmates are not making plans for new material or live dates.

Speaking to Spinner, Ranaldo said when asked about Sonic Youth’s future: “It’s up in the air. We’re taking a much-needed break and leaving it at that. We’re not saying anything final, but we’re not discussing anything for the future either. We’re just letting it be.”

Ranaldo went on to say that he’s relaxed about the possibility of the band ending as they’ve had “an amazing 30-year run” and that he believes whatever happens in the future, the band’s members will always be “tied to each other”.

He added: “Our lives and careers are so intertwined that, even if nothing is happening as far as new recordings and new performances, we’ll be tied to each other. We’ve had an amazing 30-year run. We’ll see what the future holds.”

Ranaldo released his ninth solo LP ‘Between The Times And The Tides’ in March.

Arctic Monkeys unveil new track ‘Electricity’ – listen

Tom Goodwyn
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0
Arctic Monkeys unveil new track ‘Electricity’ – listen
Arctic Monkeys have debuted their new track 'Electricity' online, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click to hear it now. The track will be released as the B-Side to the band's new single 'R U Mine?' on special purple vinyl for this Saturday's (April 21) Record Store Day. The band have ...

Arctic Monkeys have debuted their new track ‘Electricity’ online, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click to hear it now.

The track will be released as the B-Side to the band’s new single ‘R U Mine?’ on special purple vinyl for this Saturday’s (April 21) Record Store Day.

The band have spoken recently about the follow-up to their fourth studio album ‘Suck It And See’ and drummer Matt Helders has said that the Sheffield rockers are keen to continue writing material in the vein of ‘R U Mine?’ and recent B-Side ‘Evil Twin’ for their next LP.

He said of this: “The way ‘R U Mine?’ has gone we are more into doing songs like that for now. We are kind of into the idea of doing a record that is like ‘Evil Twin’ and ‘R U Mine?’.”

The band are in the midst of a lengthy stint across the USA and Canada as support to The Black Keys on their US arena tour and will make their second appearance at Coachella Festival this weekend.

Jack White – Blunderbuss

Michael Bonner
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0
Jack White – Blunderbuss

Love'll play some dirty tricks on ya. Jack White goes noirishly solo... He may call himself White, but there's always been a touch of noir about Jack. This is a man, let's not forget, who owns guitars adorned with the visages of '40s vamps like Rita Hayworth and Veronica Lake, and whose home base studio in Nashville is named after The Third Man. So it's perhaps not too surprising to find that on his first solo album, recorded in that very studio, Jack White has fallen amongst dangerous women and treacherous men - some of whom, song lyrics being such a tricky, amorphous matter of metaphor and maybe, may be Jack himself. Recorded by Vance Powell, a man splendidly blessed of both name and beard, with whom White has previously worked on Raconteurs recordings, it's a surly, spiky piece of work, on which the few shafts of sweetness are soon soured with guilt, recrimination and reproach. Jack himself is clearly not precious about his own role, pragmatically switching between keyboards, guitars and bass according to each track's needs, alongside a core crew that includes Carla Azar on drums, Bryn Davies on bass, Olivia Jean on guitar and Brooke Waggoner on keys, with occasional extra colour furnished by mandolin, fiddle, pedal steel and clarinet, and the welcome attentions of a trio of soulful backing vocalists whose number includes Jack's ex-wife Karen Elson. Confounding expectations as usual, the first sound heard on the album is not guitar but a lovely Fender Rhodes piano figure that leads into the rolling R&B groove of "Missing Pieces". Sketched through briefly-glimpsed memories of a liaison, it carries a sharp moral about being careful how you deal with obsessional love. "Sixteen Saltines", which follows, uses terse bursts of imagery - "Lipstick, eyelash, broke mirror, broken home" sums up one girl's character with not a syllable too many - to depict how jealousy breeds paranoia, its edgy manner reflected in the brusque guitar riff and splashy cymbals. Love, clearly, is the brooding heart of the matter here, with protagonists trapped in a co-dependency of dark desire. "Freedom At 21" and "Love Interruption" present this as a sado-masochistic dichotomy, the girl in the former using her new-found freedom to trample ruthlessly over his affections with "no responsibility, no guilt or morals", while the latter, more warmly acoustic piece finds the victim prostrate before such pain: "I want love to roll me over slowly," claims the narrator, "stick a knife inside me and twist it all around". It couldn't be more perfectly film noir if James M. Cain had scripted this relationship, our hero exulting in the sweet pain of some spider-woman's stilettos piercing his spirit. From there, the album slips into a more general survey of lax morals and scummy behaviour. "Hypocritical Kiss" and "Trash Tongue Talker" - on which Jack essays some stylish, Nicky Hopkins-esque piano - both launch heat-seeking missiles aimed at the shame of treacherous betrayers; while "Weep Themselves To Sleep" employs two simultaneous itchy, edgy guitar breaks to animate another undercurrent of paranoid speculation, with noble "men who fight the world" battling against the "rules that try to bind them", their struggle etched in vicious, bloody imagery. It's a blend of romance, neurosis and violence akin to a James Crumley novel, and when it's done you're more than ready for the relief of "I'm Shakin'", a cover of the Little Willie John R&B hit on which, save for pronouncing nervous "noyvus", White sounds uncannily like Robert Plant in full Zep splendour, over a great swingy blues groove. As the album approaches its final reels, though, one starts to suspect, in best psychological-thriller manner, that the real, underlying subject of Jack's attacks is, yes, himself. "It turns me on when the song takes over me," he admits in "Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy", another ostensible putdown, this time with multi-tracked piano parts riding a New Orleans second-line shuffle; before nervously admitting in "Take Me With You When You Go" that when left to pursue his desires unrestrained, he risks unconsciously harming others. It leaves hanging the question of whether, if and when he gets to go, he'll ever be able to successfully escape his own self. Which is, of course, the fate of every man who ever walked alone down those mean streets. Andy Gill

Love’ll play some dirty tricks on ya. Jack White goes noirishly solo…

He may call himself White, but there’s always been a touch of noir about Jack. This is a man, let’s not forget, who owns guitars adorned with the visages of ’40s vamps like Rita Hayworth and Veronica Lake, and whose home base studio in Nashville is named after The Third Man.

So it’s perhaps not too surprising to find that on his first solo album, recorded in that very studio, Jack White has fallen amongst dangerous women and treacherous men – some of whom, song lyrics being such a tricky, amorphous matter of metaphor and maybe, may be Jack himself. Recorded by Vance Powell, a man splendidly blessed of both name and beard, with whom White has previously worked on Raconteurs recordings, it’s a surly, spiky piece of work, on which the few shafts of sweetness are soon soured with guilt, recrimination and reproach. Jack himself is clearly not precious about his own role, pragmatically switching between keyboards, guitars and bass according to each track’s needs, alongside a core crew that includes Carla Azar on drums, Bryn Davies on bass, Olivia Jean on guitar and Brooke Waggoner on keys, with occasional extra colour furnished by mandolin, fiddle, pedal steel and clarinet, and the welcome attentions of a trio of soulful backing vocalists whose number includes Jack’s ex-wife Karen Elson.

Confounding expectations as usual, the first sound heard on the album is not guitar but a lovely Fender Rhodes piano figure that leads into the rolling R&B groove of “Missing Pieces”. Sketched through briefly-glimpsed memories of a liaison, it carries a sharp moral about being careful how you deal with obsessional love. “Sixteen Saltines“, which follows, uses terse bursts of imagery – “Lipstick, eyelash, broke mirror, broken home” sums up one girl’s character with not a syllable too many – to depict how jealousy breeds paranoia, its edgy manner reflected in the brusque guitar riff and splashy cymbals.

Love, clearly, is the brooding heart of the matter here, with protagonists trapped in a co-dependency of dark desire. “Freedom At 21” and “Love Interruption” present this as a sado-masochistic dichotomy, the girl in the former using her new-found freedom to trample ruthlessly over his affections with “no responsibility, no guilt or morals”, while the latter, more warmly acoustic piece finds the victim prostrate before such pain: “I want love to roll me over slowly,” claims the narrator, “stick a knife inside me and twist it all around”. It couldn’t be more perfectly film noir if James M. Cain had scripted this relationship, our hero exulting in the sweet pain of some spider-woman’s stilettos piercing his spirit.

From there, the album slips into a more general survey of lax morals and scummy behaviour. “Hypocritical Kiss” and “Trash Tongue Talker” – on which Jack essays some stylish, Nicky Hopkins-esque piano – both launch heat-seeking missiles aimed at the shame of treacherous betrayers; while “Weep Themselves To Sleep” employs two simultaneous itchy, edgy guitar breaks to animate another undercurrent of paranoid speculation, with noble “men who fight the world” battling against the “rules that try to bind them”, their struggle etched in vicious, bloody imagery. It’s a blend of romance, neurosis and violence akin to a James Crumley novel, and when it’s done you’re more than ready for the relief of “I’m Shakin'”, a cover of the Little Willie John R&B hit on which, save for pronouncing nervous “noyvus”, White sounds uncannily like Robert Plant in full Zep splendour, over a great swingy blues groove.

As the album approaches its final reels, though, one starts to suspect, in best psychological-thriller manner, that the real, underlying subject of Jack’s attacks is, yes, himself. “It turns me on when the song takes over me,” he admits in “Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy”, another ostensible putdown, this time with multi-tracked piano parts riding a New Orleans second-line shuffle; before nervously admitting in “Take Me With You When You Go” that when left to pursue his desires unrestrained, he risks unconsciously harming others. It leaves hanging the question of whether, if and when he gets to go, he’ll ever be able to successfully escape his own self. Which is, of course, the fate of every man who ever walked alone down those mean streets.

Andy Gill

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