Adventures In Stereo


New releases from Dulli, Weiland and … Goss?

 So, with rumours still doing the rounds over a possible Stone Temple Pilots album in 2009, there’s the announcement of the imminent release of Scott Weiland’s second solo record.

Happy in Galoshes has been anticipated for quite a while.  And since a Rolling Stone article in 2002 I guess we all kinda thought the album would be with us real soon.

The wait is over though.  The album will be released on November 25th 2008, however those folks over at Amazon.com have a little surprise for us all.

For more information check out Scott Weiland’s Official Site

The track listing for the album is (according to Amazon):

1. Missing Cleveland
2. Tangle With Your Mind
3. Blind Confusion
4. Paralysis
5. She Sold Her System
6. Fame
7. Killing Me Sweetly
8. Big Black Monster
9. Crash
10. Beautiful Day
11. Pictures & Computers (I’m not Superman)
12. Arch Angel
13. Be Not Afraid

As well as this, Weiland’s Biography, Desperation #5, is also scheduled for an early 2010 release.

This isn’t the only release that has me singing the paises of the music gods.

What!?
Yeah!  I know!

In October 2007 Greg Dulli (The Afghan Whigs / Twilight Singers/ The Gutter Twins) played two nights at the Triple Door in Seattle.

As a founding member of The Greg Dulli Appreaciation Society (G Division) and hearing the tracks posted on MySpace, I have been itching to hear the rest of the recordings.

To be honest, I was fearing the worst (along with other Dulli fans) but a release – albeit through iTunes – has been announced for October 28th 2008.

Dulli assembled a cast of musicians including Petra Haden, Shawn Smith (Pigeonhed, Satchel, Brad), Jeff Klein and Barb Antonio to reinterpret - acoustically – some of his finest material.

The highlights from both nights will be included on the digital release:

 

1. The Killer

2. Candy Cane Crawl
3. Black Is The Color Of My True Love’s Hair
4. Tell Everyone
5. That’s Just How That Bird Sings
6. Isn’t It A Pity/Atlantis
7. King Only
8. Bonnie Brae
9. Tonight
10. Down The Line
11. Front Street

 

… and I’ll also await the release of Pine / Cross Dover from Masters of Reality.  Originally pencilled for an August (and then October) 2008 release, mastersofreality.co.uk has it credited as 2009.  Still, it promises to be a crackin album.

 


Has it been THAT long!?

Greetings … 

… It’s been near enough 4 months since I last posted and there’s been so much that I’ve failed to comment on.

So what’s been going on?  I’m assuming that everyone who is interested will know that The Gutter Twins have issued a 7″ of God’s Children, which includes a great (new) track, titled Spanish Doors (which happens to be a door without a handle).  They also released Adorata (a ‘digital release’ of outtakes and the likes) through iTunes.

Speaking of iTunes, I aint a big fan ‘digital music outlets’.  I have never been inclined to buy MP3’s and although much of the music I buy ends up on the MP3 player, I like the ‘hard copy’.  The whole package (whether it be CD or record) is a necessity and I hope that Adorata eventually makes it on to such a format.

I figure that it’d be a good time to look over the year so far and also look at what’s ahead. 

The Gutter Twins, Saturnalia
The finest album this year?  So far anyhoo.  It’s powerful and is exactly what we were all looking for from Mark Lanegan and Greg Dulli.  We haven’t been disappointed.

Earth, The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull
Another brilliant release from Dylan Carlson’s Earth.  Similar to HEX in its gothic soundscape and a title that refers to the story of Samson, this is one of the finest albums to have been released this year.

Shawn Smith, The Diamond Hand
Another great release from Shawn Smith (Pigeonhed, Brad, Satchel, Twilight Singers).  This has been a mainstay of my stereo since I purchased it.  It’s also worth noting that his previous albums have been re-issued.  Nice one.

Brian Wilson, That Lucky Old Sun
The demos floating around the information superhighway gave us all a taste of what was to come and there’s no denying that Mr. Wilson is back on form (the star studded ’Gettin’ In Over My Head’ was a little hit and miss, while the Christmas album wasn’t so inspiring either).

Other albums worth mentioning:
Nas, N; Calexico, Carried to Dust; Giant Sand, ProVISIONS; Kings of Leon, Only By The Night; Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!; Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III; MGMT, Oracular Spectacular and Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan, Sunday at Devil Dirt.

Stone Temple Pilots:
together and touring, Scott Weiland, the De Leo’s and Eric Kretz look as though they are back for good. It’s been too long.

Jane’s Addiction:
a stunning performance at the NME awards in L.A. reminded everyone just how incredible this band were prior to Strays.  Sadly it looks like it was just a one off … but with Perry Farrell’s Satellite Party falling apart at the seams and Dave Navarro’s The Panic Channell being the most musically redundant project he or Mr. Perkins have been involved in, maybe there’s hope that they’ll decide to get back in the studio.

What’s on the horizon?



Bootleg of the Month: Blind Melon, Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, October 3rd 1995

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)



Hello again!

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

“so…short story is that ive decided to do a few songs with janes addiction at the nme awards show. they are honoring the legacy of janes and therefore i have decided to participate”.

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.



Hello again!

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.