Filed under: Adventures in Stereo favourite, Blind Melon, Bootleg of the Month, Downloads, Imperial Teen, Izzy Stradlin, Mark Lanegan, Scott Weiland | Tags: Blind Melon, Bootleg of the Month, Download, Imperial Teen, Izzy Stradlin, Live, Mark Lanegan, Scott Weiland, Shannon Hoon
It’s June! How quickly has the last 6 months passed? It seems that the older I get the quicker I grow older (if that makes sense to anyone but me) … I can’t believe that just about 10 years ago the soundtrack to my summer was Imperial Teen’s What Is Not to Love, 12 Bar Blues by Scott Weiland, Mark Lanegan’s Scraps at Midnight and Izzy Stradlin’s 117 Degrees.
Another band that I listened to a helluva lot (although not active) around this time was Blind Melon.
Blind Melon’s debut album was one of those records that sorta defined the generation … when rock music was breaking into the mainstream without the bands sacrificing their integrity.
No Rain and Change where big hits and people knew what you were talking about when you mentioned the “song with the bumblebee girl”. The debut, Blind Melon, was in many ways a rock classic. It was seeped in all the 70’s influences that each member had, whilst sounding fresh.
Their second album, Soup, was superior in many ways … the song craft was perfected and diversified. The band was inspired! Sadly, this wasn’t everyone’s belief and the album never really took off … many people looked for the big hit in the foil of Change or No Rain.
Soup never had a song like that … it offered more than a few hits. It was a master class in how to write and compile an album that consisted of nothing but great songs.
Sadly, Shannon Hoon died during the touring to promote Soup.
June’s Bootleg is a brilliant show from Vancouver, Canada, October 3rd 1995. A great performance and one of my favourite shows … and as always it’s a soundboard recording. Enjoy.
2×4
Toes Across the Floor
Tones of Home
Wilt
Vernie
No Rain
Walk
Lemonade
Time
St Andrew’s Fall
Skinned
Change
Soup
the Duke
Galaxie
Car Seats (God’s Presents)
Filed under: 10 Minute Warning, Adventures in Stereo favourite, Bright Eyes, Downloads, Greg Dulli, Grinderman, Guns N' Roses, Isobel Campbell, Jane's addiction, Mark Lanegan, Music News, NME, Nick Cave, Slash, The Gutter Twins, The Panic Channel, Tom Waits, Velvet Revolver, Video, folks on tour | Tags: 10 Minute Warning, Appetite for Destruction, Autobiography, Bright Eyes, Downloads, folks on tour, Fopp, Gears of War, Greg Dulli, Grinderman, Guns N' Roses, Isobel Campbell, Mark Lanegan, Mark Lanegan & Isobel Campbell, Mercury Rev, Sigur Ros, Slash, Spiritualized, The Gutter Twins, The Panic Channel, Tom Waits, Velvet Revolver, Video
So, in between going to work and playing Gears of War on the Xbox I’ve been reading Slash’s autobiography (SLASH) and it’s pretty damn good. Those Gn’R fellas were pretty wild … as I’ve said many times, I don’t care much for anything past Appetite for Destuction, but back when I was ‘discovering’ music I sought out everything Gn’R. Although I don’t listen to much of their post-Appetite output, there is a good album within the Use Your Illusion double. I can’t even be bothered discussing this ‘Chinese Democracy’ and the best of all the post Guns projects was Duff McKagen’s record with his old 10 Minute Warning pals. However, I just had to listen to some early Gn’R stuff that I had kicking around so as to hear what Slash was talking about.
Here’s a few early Guns N’ Roses tracks (available for 1 week only):
November Rain demo from 1986, Welcome to the Jungle, Bad Obsession (early Use Your Illusion demo)
… and away from this Guns N’ Roses stuff, the Connect Festival (held in the ancient grounds of an 18th Century castle in the Scottish Highlands) will feature some mighty fine bands this year (as well as not so mighty fine) and although the tickets are pretty pricey, you can expect your weekend of Friday 29th to Sunday 31st August to include entertainment from Sigur Ros, Grinderman, Elbow, Spiritualized, Mercury Rev, Howling Bells, Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band and … The Gutter Twins! (for the full list of the announced acts visit the Connect Music Festival dot Com).
Speaking of The Gutter Twins, here’s some more dates that are shown on their MySpace:
JUNE
28 - Sled Island Festival, Calgary
JULY
10 - The Roxy, Hollywood, CA
12 - Showbox, Seattle, WA
AUGUST
2 - Lollapalooza, Chicago, IL
6 – Tavastia, Helsinki, FI
7 – Way Out West, Gothenburg, SE
8 – Voxhall, Aarhus, DK
9 - Haldern Festival, Haldern, DE
11 – Zodiac, Oxford, UK
12 – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, UK
13 – Shepherds Bush Empire, London, UK
15 – Pukkelpop Festival, Hasselt, BE
16 - Lowlands Festival, Biddinghuizen, NL
17 – Highfield Festival, Hohenfelden, DE
19 - Beatpol, Dresden, DE
20 – Ampere, Munich, DE
21 – Palac Akropolis, Prague, CZ
23 – Proxima, Warsaw, PL
25 - Forum, Bielefeld, DE
26 - Komedia, Brighton, UK
27 - Leadmill, Sheffield, UK
29 - Electric Picnic, Stradbally, IE
30 - Academy, Liverpool, UK
Also on tour is Tom Waits. Hopefully I’ll get the chance to catch one of the Edinburgh shows, but here’s a list of dates from the Anti- website …
JUNE
17 & 18 – Orpheum, Phoenix, AZ
20 – Plazza Theatre, El Paso, TX
22 – Jones Hall, Houston, TX
23 – Palladium, Dallas, TX
25 – Brady Theatre, Tulsa, OK
26 – Fox Theatre, St. Louis, MO
28 – Ohio Theatre, Columbus, OH
29 – Civic Auditorium, Knoxville, TN
JULY
1 – Times Union Centre, Jacksonville, FL
2 – Saenger Theatre, Mobile, AL
3 – Alabama Theatre, Birmingham, AL
5 – Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA
12 – Auditorium Kursaal, SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN
14 & 15 – Auditorium Forum, BARCELONA, SPAIN
17, 18 & 19 – Teatro Degli Arcimboldi, MILAN, ITALY
21 & 22 – KCP, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
24 & 25 – Grand Rex, PARIS, FRANCE
27 & 28 – Playhouse, EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND
30 & 31st – The Ratcellar, DUBLIN, IRELAND
AUGUST
1 – The Ratcellar, DUBLIN, IRELAND
There’s loads of other stuff happening (Festival season and all), but I’ve been to busy playing Gears of War to notice! … oh, and Sunday at Devil Dirt (the new Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan album) was released on May 12th, not May 5th! … but it’s a great album. I also got my hands on The Panic Channel’s (ONe) for £3 out of Fopp: it’s anything but brilliant, but enjoyable enough (hopefully something comes from the NME jam with the original Jane’s Addiction line up).
I’ll be getting May’s bootleg posted in the next few days, but in the meantime enjoy those Gn’R tracks and this smashing video from Mr. Waits.
Filed under: Downloads, Ford Radio, Future releases, Greg Dulli, Isobel Campbell, Jane's addiction, Jools Holland, Little Radio, Mark Lanegan, NME, Perry Farrell, Radio Sessions, Random, Satelitte Party, Scott Ford, Scott Weiland, Stone Temple Pilots, The Afghan Whigs, The Gutter Twins, Video | Tags: Greg Dulli, Isobel Campbell, Jane's addiction, Jools Holland, Mark Lanegan, NME, Scott Ford, Screaming Trees, Stone Temple Pilots, Sunday at Devil Dirt, The Afghan Whigs, The Gutter Twins
Just a few things that you folk might be interested in:
1. Jane’s Addiction will unite for an NME Awards show, where they will receive the Godlike Genius Award
The original line up will perform for the first time since September 1991 at the ceremony on Wednesday, April 23rd at the Goldenvoice El Rey Theatre in L.A.
Hopefully the band rediscover the magic that brought them together and embark on a tour … maybe even record some new material. With Perry Farrell’s Satellite Party seemingly stalled who could say?
2. Sunday at Devil Dirt, the second album from Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan, is due out May 5th. You can expect more of the same, however the chemistry is slightly different this time around (due to the both being in the same room this time), making the whole thing sound that little better. And if what I’ve heard is anything to go by, this album is a lot darker than it’s predecessor.
Although Ballad of the Broken Seas was well received by critics, Lanegan fans were largely divided. I actually enjoyed the album, but felt that ‘Revolver’ (Lanegan’s writing contribution) was the highlight.
Sunday at Devil Dirt is again penned by Campbell and those who fell in love with the first album will no doubt fall in love all over again … those looking for something a little bit more will not be disappointed either.
3. Scott Ford has confirmed that The Gutter Twins will be appearing on Jools Holland’s ‘Later … ‘ on April 29th. This is great news as it harks back to the days when I actually enjoyed watching Later as it had bands that were great, not just ‘cool’.
It seems that The Gutter Twins have been well received and this just strengthens that further. Sadly it means that some tour dates will have to be cancelled, but this exposure is certainly good news.
4. Stone Temple Pilots announced an extensive tour, which is scheduled to kick off on May 17th. At the press conference at Harry Houdini’s Estate in Hollywood, the band also performed a 30 minute set.
This comes shortly after Weiland’s split from Velvet Revolver and almost certainly will result in a new album.
That’s about it.
Until next time, here’s two great MP3’s:
The Gutter Twins: Idle Hands (the Letterman performance) and Down the Line.
… and two great video’s to watch.
Filed under: Black Crowes, Bootleg of the Month, Cypress Hill, Downloads, Foamfoot, Jayhawks, Jellyfish, JuJu Hounds | Tags: Black Crowes, Cypress Hill, Foamfoot, Jayhawks, Jellyfish, JuJu Hounds
The Black Crowes are one of my favourite bands and I had the pleasure of seeing them during the Sho’ Nuff tour around 10 years ago. Chris Robinson is one of the truly incredible ‘rock n’ roll’ singers …
I was gonna upload one of the really good Crowes boots that I have, however I thought of something a little more special. This month’s show is from a project known as ‘Foamfoot’, which features Chris Robinson and Marc Ford of the Black Crowes as well as Jimmy Ashurst (who was part of Izzy Stradlin’s JuJu Hounds), Eric Bobo (of Cypress Hill), Andy Sturmer (Jellyfish) and Gary Louris (The Jayhawks). It’s also worth noting that David Crosby appeared on stage for ‘Long Time Gone’.
As far as I’m aware, the show was recorded at the Troubadour in Hollywood on January 8th 1994 and an actual release was planned. However, none ever surfaced (likely due to the master being copied) and this soundboard recording has been doing the rounds in various trading circles.
I hope you enjoy it.
Walk in my Shadow (Free)
Bottle of Red Wine (Eric Clapton/Bobby Whitlock)
Tin Soldier (Steve Mariott)
Take the Highway (The Marshall Tucker Band)
Deal (The Grateful Dead)
Love me till the sun shines (The Kinks)
Long Time Gone (Crosby, Stills & Nash) (with David Crosby)
Jemima Surrender (The Band)
One Way Out (Elmore James)
Presence of the Lord (Eric Clapton)
Get it here
Filed under: Adventures in Stereo NEWS!, Adventures in Stereo favourite, Downloads, Earth, Joseph Arthur, Nick Cave, Perry Farrell, Random, Satelitte Party, Scott Weiland, Stone Temple Pilots, The Gutter Twins, Velvet Revolver, Video | Tags: Adventures in Stereo favourites, Earth, Gutter Twins, Joseph Arthur, Nick Cave, Random, Satelitte Party, Scott Weiland, Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet Revolver, Video
Greetings!
I realise that it’s been a while since my last post and in that time Velvet Revolver have announced that they are parting company with Scott Weiland. This comes just shortly on the heels of Weiland’s announcement in Glasgow on March 20th that “this is the last tour” and former band, Stone Temple Pilots, announcing that they were reforming for a tour in the summer.
Slash had stated that “This band is all about its fans and its music and Scott Weiland isn’t 100% committed to either. Among other things, his increasingly erratic on-stage behavior and personal problems have forced us to move on.”
Regardless, it seems that a 3rd Velvet Revolver album is on the cards, while Weiland will no doubt focus on the Stone Temple Pilots reunion.
… I also realise that I’ve again been late with the monthly bootleg. I had loaned much of my collection to a friend and it’s taken me a while to look out a worthy show.
… I’ve also been re-arranging my proper CD collection so that ‘Saturnalia’, ‘The Bees Made Honey In The Lions Skull’, ‘Ultra-Payloaded’, ‘Our Shadows Will Remain’ and ‘Dig, Lazarus Dig!!!’ finally find their place among the many others.
Saturnalia, for those who are missing out, is one of the finest albums I’ve heard in a number of years. I’ve been a fan of Lanegan for some time (since I first heard Screaming Trees) and I also loved The Afghan Whigs (Twilight Singers are pretty good, but The Whigs were special), so to say this collaboration is a little special would be understatement. The first 3 tracks (The Stations, God’s Children and All Misery/Flowers) make their intentions very clear: there’s no dwelling on past glories and although often echoing the best work of each frontman (God’s Children sounding like Black Love era Whigs, All Misery/Flowers creeps in like one of Lanegan’s Bubblegum-era tracks, while Bete Noir is reminiscent of the best of Screaming Trees), the approach is fresh, with both are on particularly inspired form.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ latest (Dig, Lazarus Dig!!!) may not be as instantly appealing as it’s predecessor (2004’s amazing double Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus), but after a few listens it has managed to tunnel its way into my brain. The title track is particularly catchy and was for a while my wake up call in the morning. Night of the Lotus Eaters, We Call Upon the Author and Jesus of the Moon are highlights.
I’ll say no more about Earth’s latest, as I’ve already commented on it in a previous post. However, if you haven’t already checked out the MP3 of Omens & Portents I: The Driver (courtesy of record label Southern Lord), I recommend that you do so now. The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull’ is an incredibly powerful album, tinged with desert rock and uplifting southern gothic (doesn’t that stir some intrigue?).
The other two albums are older, but are well deserving of a mention here. Perry Farrell’s first Satellite Party record didn’t get the reaction it deserved from me first time around, but I’ll have to review my top 10 of 2007. I’ve been listening to it a fair bit these last few weeks and it’s a brilliant album … a natural progression from Jane’s Addiction’s Strays.
‘Our Shadows Will Remain’ is another that has grown on me over time. There’s no denying Joseph Arthur’s talent, however I’d initially found it to be a little too … overwhelming. Or underwhelmingly overwhelming? Regardless, it has since grown on me … the sign of a great album. Even Tho is my current favourite, with Can’t Exist being a close second.
Anyhoo, hope you are all doing well and enjoy these videos.
Filed under: Adventures in Stereo favourite, Albums of Year, Chris Goss, Downloads, Future releases, Masters of Reality, Music News, folks on tour | Tags: Adventures in Stereo favourites, Chris Goss, Desert Sessions, Downloads, folks on tour, Future releases, Goon Moon, Mark Lanegan, Masters of Reality, Music News, Queens of the Stone Age, Tour Dates
For those of you unaware of Chris Goss or Masters of Reality, check out this incredible show from Roadburn Festival 2001 that I’d found floating around the net. I’ve been a fan of this band since 1998, when I found ‘How High The Moon’ in one of these record fayre events for £7.00. I had been looking for the rare debut album, but I figured anything would do.
‘How High The Moon’ is one of the finest live albums I have ever heard and remains a favourite. I duly purchased the entire back catalogue (including the Def American, Rick Rubin produced debut) and caught the band on tour in 2001.
You may also be interested to learn (if you aren’t aware of Mr Goss) that Chris Goss was also a major player in the founding of Queens of the Stone Age (having ‘discovered’ Kyuss and having helped name the QotSA) and the Desert Sessions, as well as being a collaborator of Josh Homme, Mark Lanegan … well an extensive list of alternative artists who he’s produced records for or appeared on records with. He has even written a track for an episode of ‘Ren & Stimpy’.
Anyhoo, having been busying himself with Queens of the Stone Age’s excellent ‘Era Vulgaris’, gigs with Josh Homme as 5:15er’s and a brilliant full length debut with Goon Moon, Mascot Records have announced that the new Masters of Reality record is due out May 12th.
There’s also some tour dates announced:
May
31st: Bad Bonn Kilbi – Düdingen [Switzerland]
June
6th: Rock-Im-Park – Nürnberg Zeppelinfeld [Germany]
8th: Rock-Am-Ring – Nurburgring [Germany]
12th: Hultsfred Festival – Hultsfred [Sweden]
16th: The Cathouse – Glasgow [UK]
… oh, and the picture? That was from the last night at the Rancho de Luna.
Goss explains: “the idea was to get a photo of us roasting marshmallows on the burning guitar. It was a 12 string. I tuned the strings pretty high hoping the tense strings would pop and make good noises. We set up a microphone and recorded, but nothing happened. Our spirits shrivelled.
Then John and I thought the wood might explode, splashing molten varnish on us, or perhaps the fumes from the plastic pick guard would kill us. So we ran. We forgot to buy marshmallows too.”
– thanks to MastersofReality.co.uk for this (a great fricken’ site).
Filed under: Bootleg of the Month, Downloads, Richard Buckner | Tags: Adventures in Stereo favourite, Bootleg of the Month, Download, Richard Buckner
One of my favourite artists is the songwriter Richard Buckner. I got into his music around 8 years ago when a friend of mine loaned me ‘Bloomed’.
I listened to the record that much that when the time came to return it I duly purchased the Rykodisc reissue, which featured 5 quite amazing bonus tracks.
Through the years I’ve introduced a few folk to the work of Mr Buckner. Sadly, not all have been enamoured enough to go out and buy his albums.
Anyway, this recording, from January 4th 1996, is one of my favourites (and again, like the other monthly bootlegs on here it’s a soundboard recording). A real gem of a performance from a very, very, talented man.
Home
Catfish Song
Pull
Fater
Figure
Down, Demon, Down
On Traveling
Boys, The Night Will Bury You
Song of 27
Emma
This Is Where
Cradle To The Angel
Guazy dress In The sun
Filed under: Albums of Year, Downloads, Greg Dulli, Mark Lanegan, Radio Sessions, The Gutter Twins | Tags: Greg Dulli, Idle Hands, Mark Lanegan, The Gutter Twins
9 days till ‘Saturnalia’ arrives. I have to confess, I’ve been unable to prevent myself listening to the stream each time I’ve been online. I can honestly say that the wait has been worth it …
For those who missed the free MP3 of the album track ‘Idle Hands’, here it is courtesy of those good folks over at Sub Pop: ‘Idle Hands’
“2 posts in two days, Jim!?”
Yeah, why not? Now I’ll go figure out which bootleg to post this month.
In the meantime, check out Lanegan with the Soulsavers at ‘WXPN World Cafe’.
Have a splendid weekend.
Filed under: Adventures in Stereo NEWS!, Albums of Year, Downloads, Random | Tags: Adventures in Stereo favourites, Because of the Times, Downloads, Earth, Forum, King, Never, Never Land, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Pale Horse and Rider, PJ Harvey, Random, T.I., The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull, The Gutter Twins, UNKLE, Video, Wu Tang Clan
Firstly, HOORAY!!! for the end of the working week.
Secondly, I can’t wait to have another listen to The Gutter Twins album that has been streaming online for a few weeks now (see ‘The Gutter Twins: Saturnalia’ post).
Thirdly, I’ve been sitting around thinking “I really have to watch ‘Intacto’ at some point”. A friend of mine loaned it to me several months ago and I still haven’t watched it. But I shall … this week (unless I watch the remake of ‘3:10 to Yuma’ again, as it’s that darn good).
… my music collection has been largely neglected these last few months. I’m still listening to Kings of Leon’s excellent ‘Because of the Times’ quite a bit, and aside from that the playlist has included UNKLE’s ‘Never, Never Land’, ‘Uh Huh Her’ by the wonderful PJ Harvey (who, according to the BRITS, isn’t deserving of BEST FEMALE ahead of Kate Nash), Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ ‘The Boatman’s Call’ (getting ready for the release of ‘Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!!’) and Pale Horse and Rider’s ‘Moody Pike’.
I’ve also recently discovered ‘King’ by T.I. I know that many folk will know who this guy is and be thinking “old news, Jim”, but give me a break. On the subject of Hip-Hop, not so old news is The Wu-Tang Clan’s ‘8 Diagrams’, which is a stunning return (as is Ghostface Killah’s recent release, ‘Big Doe Rehab’).
But, the one album that I really can’t get enough of at the moment is Earth’s astounding ‘The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Head’. I’ve liked a few of their previous records, but found this one to be instantly captivating … and joyous! I’d encourage anyone – having heard their previous work or not – to go out and purchase this album.
If you’d like to know more about Dylan Carlson’s Earth, give this place a visit.
… and from The Southern Lord website, here’s the brilliant track that opens 2008’s brilliant ‘The Bees Made Honey In The Lions Skull’: ‘Omens and Portents I: The Driver’ (MP3)
As well as all this, there’s an Adventures in Stereo forum in operation. It might not last long, but I figured it’s worth it.
Enjoy and have a splendid weekend.
Filed under: Downloads, Radio Sessions, The Afghan Whigs | Tags: Adventures in Stereo favourite, Download, Radio Sessions, The Afghan Whigs
On February 22nd 1994, Greg Dulli, Steve Earle, John Curley, Rick McCollum and Douglas Falsetti took a bunch of instruments to BBC’s Media Vale studios and bashed out a few tunes.
They were amazing (as always). Luckily the songs they performed were recorded by the BBC for a broadcast on a John Peel show in March that year.
And here they are.
The Afghan Whigs and Stone Temple Pilots on the same day? Woah! Enjoy.
