So, the end of November is drawing near and December will no doubt bring countless ‘The Best Of’, ‘The Very Best Of’ and ‘Essential’ compilation albums that capture only a selection of the artists work.  Normally it’s the stuff that the average fan can’t bear … ‘The Greatest Hits’: the breakthrough single and a bunch of top 60 ‘chart toppers’.

I have never been a fan of such albums.  All of the tracks (bar one or two ‘previously unreleased’) are on the studio albums and if you like the artist enough then you’ll own these anyway.  However, there are exceptions …

1. Unbreakable: The Afghan Whigs compilation released last year. There’s a few notable exclusions, but it’s nicely packaged, plays like a set from a Whigs gig and it’s great to hear the two new tracks from one of the greatest bands ever.

2. Thank You: The bonus DVD edition is worth purchasing. There’s the ‘previously unreleased’ gem, ‘All In The Suit That You Wear’, alongside some of the Stone Temple Pilots‘ best moments.  Again there are notable exceptions, but the bonus DVD is the icing on the cake … 3 hours of videos, live stuff and amateur bootleg footage.

3. Selections Circa 1990-2000: The Giant Sand compilation is a nice starting point for anyone interested in the dusty sounds of Howe Gelb collective.

4. Ocean of Confusion: is the second, and finest, Screaming Trees retrospective from Epic/Sony (the first being the shabbily packaged Nearly Lost You).  Covering the best of the Trees’ output between 1990 and 1996, this is another fine starting point.

… there are probably more, but I don’t own too many.  If I remember any others I’ll give them a mention.

December also brings a ton of year end lists and I wonder how many of these that Axl Rose‘s Chinese Democracy will appear in.  Billed as “the most eagerly anticipated album ever”, 17 years and 4,800 musicians later, The Chinese Democracy was eventually released yesterday (November 24th).  Some of the songs do sound like they were conceived 17 years ago and in that time rock music has evolved and many of Guns N’ Roses’ fans have likely passed on.  All credit to Mr. Rose though, he’s stuck by the project and the sound that he heard.

I did expect the album to be terrible (mainly due to the farcical wait, the high drama and the fact it would never live up to the hype) I have to admit that it’s not.  I’ve laughed at some of the insanity, the clichéd lyrics and the over the top howls.  I’ve also found a few toe tapping moments there too, but ultimately it’s way too long (clocking in at over 70 minutes), lacks cohesion and is a little bloated (I expect the fact that there’s been so many ‘cooks’ involved hasn’t brought focus).

As I’ve said, I don’t think it’s terrible, but I don’t think it’s particularly good … in fact, I’m actually quite baffled by much of the album.

Where to now? Well, Velvet Revolver are still looking for a singer.  But, according to ‘The Management’, this is an exciting time for Guns N’ Roses.

There’s also great news for fans of The Gutter Twins (well, those in Europe anyway): after what has been a very successful year for Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan, they return to Europe early in the New Year. We should expect a more stripped back set similar to Greg Dulli’s incredible Triple Door set (which was released via iTunes last month).  The dates and venues:

January

15 UK Glasgow Oran Mor
16 IRELAND Dublin Academy
17 IRELAND Galway Roisin Dubh
19 UK London Union Chapel
20 BELGIUM Hasselt Muziekodroom
21 BELGIUM Brussels Ancienne Belgique
22 HOLLAND Haarlem Patronaat
24 GERMANY Berlin Babylon
25 AUSTRIA Vienna WuK
26 ITALY Milan La Salumeria Della Musica
27 ITALY Rome Auditorium Parco Della Musica
28 ITALY Florence Auditorium Flog
30 SPAIN Barcelona Apolo
31 SPAIN Bilbao Kafe Antzokia

February

2 SPAIN Madrid Joy Eslava
4 GREECE Athens Gagarin 205

Anyway, I’ll be making a start on the Adventures In Stereo Best of 2008 list fairly shortly and for the people who bother visiting the blog and who emailed to say “hey! What’s going on here?”, I’ll be making an effort to post more often in 2009 (well, at least once a month).  I’m also aware that I haven’t posted a bootleg in a while (in fact, Blind Melon was the last one) so I’ll get round to changing that real soon.  My apologies.

 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.

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

… 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.

 

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?

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)

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.

It’s just occurred to me that I made no mention of The Gutter Twins’ performance on Later … I watched the Tuesday show and caught up with the extended Friday show on Saturday via Virgin Media’s ‘Catch Up’ service (skipped most of the acts – especially Operator Please).

It was great to see Dulli, Lanegan and the rest of the guys (Dave, Jeff, Cully, Scott and Ed) on UK TV and if you missed it …

… and some other dates:

August 1st – 3rd – Lollapalooza, Grant Park, Chicago
August 13th – London’s Shepherds Bush Empire

So, the newly reformed Stone Temple Pilots have made some additions to the reunion tour which kicks off on May 17th and have suggested that a new album is on the cards.  This is all very good and certainly makes me a happy man.  Don’t get me wrong, Velvet Revolver were enjoyable, but not a patch on Stone Temple Pilots.

The band start by headlining the Rock on the Range Festival in Columbus, OH before finishing up in New Orleans (Voodoo Music Festival) on October 24th (list of dates below).  Hopefully they’ll make their way out of the US.

As well as annoncing a pretty extensive touring schedule, the band appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live on May 1st. 

Welcome back!

May

17 - Columbus OH US Columbus Crew Stadium
18 - Camden NJ US Susquehanna Bank Center
20 - Cleveland OH US State Theatre
22 - Chicago IL US Charter One Pavilion/Northerly Isle
23 - Indianapolis IN US Indianapolis Motor Speedway
25 - Wallingford CT US Chevrolet (Oakdale) Theatre
26 - Uncasville CT US Mohegan Sun Arena  
31 - Holmdel NJ US PNC Bank Arts Center

June

01 – Mansfield MA US Tweeter Center
03 - Detroit MI US Fillmore
04 - Detroit MI US Fillmore
06 - St. Paul MN US Wilkens Auditorium
07 - Kansas city MO US Liberty Memorial Park
08 - St. Louis MO US Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
11 - Salt lake city UT US E Center
12 - Las vegas NV US Pearl Concert Theatre (Palms Resort) 
14 - Las vegas NV US Pearl Concert Theatre (Palms Resort)
21 - Calgary AB CA V Festival @ Fort Calgary
24 - Los angeles CA US Hollywood Bowl
25 - Tucson AZ US Anselmo Valencia Ampitheatre 
27 - San antonio TX US AT&T Center 
28 - Woodlands TX US Woodlands Pavilion
29 - Grand prairie TX US Nokia Live

July

02 - Denver CO US Red Rocks Amphitheatre
04 - Milwaukee WI US Summerfest
10 - Quebec City QC CA Quebec City International Festival
11 - Montreal QC CA Bell Centre 
12 - Toronto ON CA Downsview Park
15 - Canandaigua NY US Constellation Brands Performing Arts Center
17 - Green bay WI US Oneida Casino
18 - Mt. Pleasant MI US Soaring Eagle Casino 
19 - Cadott WI US Chippewa Valley Music Festival 
25 - Berkeley CA US Greek Theatre
26 - Paso robles CA US California Mid-State Fair
27 - San diego CA US Qualcomm Stadium
29 - Phoenix AZ US Dodge Theatre

August

08 – Bethlehem PA US Musikfest
09 - Atlantic city NJ US Borgata Hotel and Casino
10 - Pimlico MD US V Festival
16 - Elizabeth IN US Caesars Casino
17 - Charlotte NC US Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
19 - Orlando FL US UCF Arena 
20 - Hollywood FL US Hard Rock Live (Seminole) 
22 - Tampa FL US Ford Amphitheater
23 - Alpharetta GA US Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre @ Encore Park
30 - Vancouver BC CA General Motors Place 
31 – Seattle WA, US Bumbershoot

October

24 – New Orleans, LA US Voodoo Music Festival

With Sunday at Devil Dirt due out on May 5th 2008, Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan will be taking to the road.

31 May 2008, ESTRAGON BOLOGNA
1 Jun 2008, OSSIGENO TURIN
3 Jun 2008, MOUSONTURM FRANKFURT
4 Jun 2008, L’USINE GENEVA
6 Jun 2008, LA CIGALLE PARIS
7 Jun 2008, ANCIENNE BELGIQUE BRUSSELS
8 Jun 2008, PARADISO AMSTERDAM
10 Jun 2008, SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE LONDON
11 Jun 2008, ST GEORGES CHURCH BRIGHTON
12 Jun 2008, ACADEMY 2 MANCHESTER
13 Jun 2008, ABC GLASGOW

According to Onewhiskey.com (the Mark Lanegan fansite) and various music publications, Mark Lanegan will be appearing at all dates … except Glasgow.  Which is a bummer, but you can be sure I’ll check this out a little more.

However!  According to Mascot Recordsit aint all bad:

Chris Goss has announced the postponement of the new Masters Of Reality release as well as the summer tour, due to the fact that he is still in the studio recording what he considers the best Masters of Reality record ever.

As Chris Goss quotes:
“I sincerely regret if the tours’ delay is causing any inconvenience and disappointment. I can only say that I have not stopped and cannot stop writing new music for the album. I believe it is our best work to date. We will bring this on large and correctly; both in album form and in the live arena. The summer will bring the album. The autumn will bring a Masters of Reality tour of a quality I’ve waited my whole life to present to you.”

… donno about you folks, but the blow is more than softened with the prospect of a masterpiece.

In the meantime, enjoy this fantastic performance:

One Hot Minute is the first and only Red Hot Chili Peppers record that featured ex-Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro.  Coincidentally it also found the band on a darker, richer vein of form than they had been on their previous albums (and indeed the records that followed).

Although there is no denying that ‘Blood Sugar Sex Magik’ will remain the highlight of their career, ‘One Hot Minute’ is its equal.  But, it will forever be discarded by ‘fans’ of the band who dislike its ‘experimental’ sound.

For those fans who discovered the ‘Chili Peppers following the success of Californication and By The Way, One Hot Minute is bound to disappoint. It’s dark and edgy and although it plays unlike anything the band produced before, or after, Navarro’s stint you can’t help but feel that something doesn’t quite fit.

The lead-off single, ‘Warped’, was certainly an indication of what to expect. The band had never sounded so full or heavy. The instrumentation is busy, which seems to highlight the musicianship of the band more than their other records (though there’s no denying that Flea always brings his ‘A’ game to the table). This is evident throughout much of the album.

Navarro turned the band on its head. Turned them into something more than the band they were (or the pop band they would become), but it just wouldn’t work out.

There’s definately a different feel and atmosphere surrounding each of the album’s tracks.  But that’s no bad thing.  One Hot Minute is a great record. Possibly the record that they needed to make in order to exorcise their demons.