Alexander Laurence's Blog, page 2002
October 12, 2016
Winter premieres new single "Dreaming" via NYLON
Winter premieres new single "Dreaming" via NYLONSTREAM: "Dreaming"
SoundCloud / NYLON
Photo Credit: Photo by Benjamin Askinas -
LA-based (by way of Brazil) dream-pop band Winter shares their latest single "Dreaming." Originally written in 2013, the song was almost lost when the band's laptop was stolen on tour. This summer a version of the song was miraculously recovered on a backup hard drive, and is now streaming over at NYLON and on SoundCloud. A music video for the single will be released soon. Winter is a dreamy indie rock band whose sound was conceived in Boston. Beginning as a collaborative effort between Samira Winter and Nolan Eley, their first recordings culminated into the 2012 EP entitled Daydreaming. Following the release, Samira’s relocation to Los Angeles brought on the recruit of additional members Matt Hogan (guitar), Justine Brown (bass), and Garren Orr (drums) to create a band that would manifest her ultimate dreams.
The quartet released their first full-length album, Supreme Blue Dream, via Lolipop Records in 2015. The aptly titled album floats on with a youthful sense of nostalgia and romanticized segues into adulthood. Touching on not one, but two languages (English and Portuguese), this bi-lingual group of dreamers do their part to lay us down softly while keeping listeners eager for each tune. Winter aspires to connect others with their inner child by making blissful, beautiful and ethereal pop music.
Winter is now working on their upcoming record Ethereality. The band supported BRONCHO on their 2016 North America Tour and recently performed at Animal Collective’s Camping Weekend in Big Sur in September.Tour Dates:October 18 Los Angeles, CA - Bootleg Theater *
October 21 San Francisco, CA - Slims #
November 5 San Diego, CA - Blonde Bar ~
November 6 Fullerton, CA - Continental Room ~
* = w/ Ducktails, Ablebody (Record Release), Wyatt Blair
# = w/ Picture Atlantic
~ = w/ So Many Wizards
SoundCloud / NYLON
Photo Credit: Photo by Benjamin Askinas -
LA-based (by way of Brazil) dream-pop band Winter shares their latest single "Dreaming." Originally written in 2013, the song was almost lost when the band's laptop was stolen on tour. This summer a version of the song was miraculously recovered on a backup hard drive, and is now streaming over at NYLON and on SoundCloud. A music video for the single will be released soon. Winter is a dreamy indie rock band whose sound was conceived in Boston. Beginning as a collaborative effort between Samira Winter and Nolan Eley, their first recordings culminated into the 2012 EP entitled Daydreaming. Following the release, Samira’s relocation to Los Angeles brought on the recruit of additional members Matt Hogan (guitar), Justine Brown (bass), and Garren Orr (drums) to create a band that would manifest her ultimate dreams.
The quartet released their first full-length album, Supreme Blue Dream, via Lolipop Records in 2015. The aptly titled album floats on with a youthful sense of nostalgia and romanticized segues into adulthood. Touching on not one, but two languages (English and Portuguese), this bi-lingual group of dreamers do their part to lay us down softly while keeping listeners eager for each tune. Winter aspires to connect others with their inner child by making blissful, beautiful and ethereal pop music.
Winter is now working on their upcoming record Ethereality. The band supported BRONCHO on their 2016 North America Tour and recently performed at Animal Collective’s Camping Weekend in Big Sur in September.Tour Dates:October 18 Los Angeles, CA - Bootleg Theater *
October 21 San Francisco, CA - Slims #
November 5 San Diego, CA - Blonde Bar ~
November 6 Fullerton, CA - Continental Room ~
* = w/ Ducktails, Ablebody (Record Release), Wyatt Blair
# = w/ Picture Atlantic
~ = w/ So Many Wizards
TOY Premiere "Clouds That Cover The Sun" On NPR: All Songs Considered
TOY Premiere “Clouds That Cover The Sun” on NPR: All Songs Considered
Clear Shot LP Out October 28th on Heavenly Recordings
Photo credit: Steve Gullick
Listen To “Clouds That Cover The Sun” on Soundcloud
“I like that so much, there’s so many sweet spots that hits for me”—Bob Boilen, NPR “ Deliriously delicious grunge-tinted acid-pop, loosely performed, yet impeccably assembled”.” –Stereogum “”I’m Still Believing” is the official lead single from the LP, shiny and bright with a rising, stick-in-your-head chorus” –Brooklyn Vegan
TOY have shared their brand new track “Clouds that Cover The Sun” exclusively on NPR’s All Songs Considered. It is the third track to come from their new album “Clear Shot”, out October 28th on Heavenly Recordings.Splitting their time between Tom Dougall and bassist Maxim Barron’s place in New Cross and Dominic O’Dair’s flat in Walthamstow, where they set up a makeshift studio and laid down the early album demos, their new album Clear Shot began to take shape in the first half of 2015.
Taking inspiration from an esoteric blend – Radiophonic Workshop, Comus, the scores of Bernard Herrmann, John Barry and Ennio Morricone Fairport, COUM, Acid House, Incredible String Band, The Langley Schools Project, The Wicker Man soundtrack and even the direction behind Electric Eden, Rob Young’s book about the development of folk music in the U.K. – by the time they entered Eve Studios in Stockport in October 2015 with producer David Wrench, the band were clear about the direction the album should take.
The result is their most coherent and confident album to date; lushly cinematic, shot through with their most expressive melodies thus far and coated with a ‘sheen’ courtesy of Chris Coady (Beach House, Smith Westerns, Yeah Yeah Yeahs), who mixed the album in LA with some of the reverbs and vocal processors used on Purple Rain, across the 10-tracks strands of ideas appear, sink and re-emerge in an almost modal jazz manner. Clear Shot sees TOY working both in bigger colors and more minutely crafted detail, achieving an altogether higher level of artistry than before.
TOY previously released their self-titled debut in 2012 and cemented their reputation as the best alternative rock band in the country with Join the Dots at the end of 2013. Such was the reception to Join The Dots that TOY toured their second record for nigh-on two years, culminating in their biggest London show yet at Shepherd’s Bush Empire in April 2014.
TOY are: Tom Dougall (vocals / guitar), Dominic O’Dair (guitars), Maxim Barron (bass / vocals), Max Claps (synths / modulations) & Charlie Salvidge (drums / vocals).
Watch the Video for “I’m Still Believing” Listen to “Fast Silver” on Stereogum
Clear ShotAnother DimensionFast SilverI'm Still BelievingClouds That Cover The SunJungle GamesDream OrchestratorWe Will DisperseSpirits Don't LieCinema
Pre-order Clear Shot on iTunes Pre-order Clear Shot on Amazon
Photo credit: Steve GullickListen To “Clouds That Cover The Sun” on Soundcloud
“I like that so much, there’s so many sweet spots that hits for me”—Bob Boilen, NPR “ Deliriously delicious grunge-tinted acid-pop, loosely performed, yet impeccably assembled”.” –Stereogum “”I’m Still Believing” is the official lead single from the LP, shiny and bright with a rising, stick-in-your-head chorus” –Brooklyn Vegan
TOY have shared their brand new track “Clouds that Cover The Sun” exclusively on NPR’s All Songs Considered. It is the third track to come from their new album “Clear Shot”, out October 28th on Heavenly Recordings.Splitting their time between Tom Dougall and bassist Maxim Barron’s place in New Cross and Dominic O’Dair’s flat in Walthamstow, where they set up a makeshift studio and laid down the early album demos, their new album Clear Shot began to take shape in the first half of 2015.
Taking inspiration from an esoteric blend – Radiophonic Workshop, Comus, the scores of Bernard Herrmann, John Barry and Ennio Morricone Fairport, COUM, Acid House, Incredible String Band, The Langley Schools Project, The Wicker Man soundtrack and even the direction behind Electric Eden, Rob Young’s book about the development of folk music in the U.K. – by the time they entered Eve Studios in Stockport in October 2015 with producer David Wrench, the band were clear about the direction the album should take.
The result is their most coherent and confident album to date; lushly cinematic, shot through with their most expressive melodies thus far and coated with a ‘sheen’ courtesy of Chris Coady (Beach House, Smith Westerns, Yeah Yeah Yeahs), who mixed the album in LA with some of the reverbs and vocal processors used on Purple Rain, across the 10-tracks strands of ideas appear, sink and re-emerge in an almost modal jazz manner. Clear Shot sees TOY working both in bigger colors and more minutely crafted detail, achieving an altogether higher level of artistry than before.
TOY previously released their self-titled debut in 2012 and cemented their reputation as the best alternative rock band in the country with Join the Dots at the end of 2013. Such was the reception to Join The Dots that TOY toured their second record for nigh-on two years, culminating in their biggest London show yet at Shepherd’s Bush Empire in April 2014.
TOY are: Tom Dougall (vocals / guitar), Dominic O’Dair (guitars), Maxim Barron (bass / vocals), Max Claps (synths / modulations) & Charlie Salvidge (drums / vocals).
Watch the Video for “I’m Still Believing” Listen to “Fast Silver” on Stereogum
Clear ShotAnother DimensionFast SilverI'm Still BelievingClouds That Cover The SunJungle GamesDream OrchestratorWe Will DisperseSpirits Don't LieCinemaPre-order Clear Shot on iTunes Pre-order Clear Shot on Amazon
King Khan & BBQ Head On National Fall Tour Starting This Month
King Khan & BBQ Head On National Fall Tour Starting This Month
LISTEN & SHARE: King Khan & BBQ Show - "Alone Again"
"Khan and Sultan may be devout rock'n'roll traditionalists at heart, but their deft balance of sweetness and insolence remains distinctly their own." - Pitchfork
"Whether alone or together, King Khan and BBQ dole out sweaty, dedicated subversion of ’60s garage tropes with a mischievous wink and a waggle of the hips." - Consequence Of Sound
"They’re stuck in the middle, two mutants hopelessly adrift in a sea of normalcy. " - A.V. ClubThe King Khan and BBQ Show are embarking upon their 2016 North American tour starting October 27th in Seattle. Their newest record "Bad News Boys" (In The Red, 2015) was praised by Pitchfork who said that "the question of whether you need another record like this is ultimately answered by the fact that Khan and Sultan play like they need it, barreling through these 12 songs with audible smiles on their faces and a reinvigorated sense of camaraderie."
Over the last 10 years, the band has continuously released top-grade material on Crypt, In The Red, Norton, Fat Possum, Goner, and more, without bowing to business, succumbing to what’s ‘hip’, or changing.
They are real rock n’ roll soldiers, who have traveled the world with one of the best, most magical, energetic, crass and nonsensical free-form live shows, in a sincere effort to keep the music they love alive - BBQ smashing snare, bass drum and tambourine with his bare feet, molesting his guitar and singing like a possessed angel - Khan spinning and howling like amurderous dervish while belting it out on his guitar like a real gone savage.
Love songs, punkers, improvised riot-starters, dance-floor shakers, sing-along stompers, wild rockers - you name it. They always drench the crowd in raw energy, and they're always the last ones dancing and drinking at the bar.
From youngsters to oldsters alike, their crowds sing along incessantly and let their freak-flags fly in joyous solidarity when The King Khan & BBQ Show hit the stage, clamouring like entranced dervishes to be a part of a growing phenomenon. Give into their spell and live forever.
TOUR DATES
10.27.16 || Seattle @ Neumos *
10.28.16 || Vancouver @ Rickshaw Theatre *
10.29.16 || Portland @ Dante’s *
10.31.16 || San Francisco @ Slim’s *
11.01.16 || Los Angeles @ El Rey *
11.03.16 || Pioneertown @ Pappy & Harriet’s *
11.04.16 || San Diego @ The Casbah *
11.05.16 || Tucson @ Night of The Living Fest %
11.06.16 || Albuquerque @ Sister Bar *
11.07.16 || Marfa @ El Cosmico *
11.09.16 || San Antonio @ Paper Tiger *
11.10.16 || Austin @ Barracuda *
11.11.16 || Houston @ Walter’s *
11.12.16 || New Orleans @ One Eyed Jacks #
11.13.16 || Birmingham @ Saturn *
11.15.16 || Orlando @ The Social *
11.16.16 || Miami @ Gramps *
11.18.16 || Atlanta @ The Earl *
11.19.16 || Athens @ Georgia Theatre *
11.20.16 || Asheville @ The Grey Eagle *
11.21.16 || Washington DC @ Black Cat ^
11.22.16 || New York @ Bowery Ballroom ^
11.23.16 || Boston @ Brighton Music Hall ^
11.25.16 || Montreal @ Bar le Ritz PDB ^
11.26.16 || Toronto @ Lee’s Palace ^
11.27.16 || Cleveland @ Beachland Ballroom ^
11.29.16 || Columbus @ Ace of Cups ^
11.30.16 || Bloomington @ The Bishop ^
12.01.16 || St. Louis @ The Duck Room at Blueberry Hill ^
12.02.16 || Columbia @ Café Berlin ^
12.03.16 || Chicago @ The Empty Bottle ^
12.04.16 || TBA
12.05.16 || St. Paul @ Turf Club ^
* with Paint Fumes
% with Big Freedia, Nobunny, Seth Bogart, Reigning Sound, Mike Watt, Paint Fumes
# with Quintron & Miss Pussycat, Paint Fumes
^ with The Gartrells
LISTEN & SHARE: King Khan & BBQ Show - "Alone Again""Khan and Sultan may be devout rock'n'roll traditionalists at heart, but their deft balance of sweetness and insolence remains distinctly their own." - Pitchfork
"Whether alone or together, King Khan and BBQ dole out sweaty, dedicated subversion of ’60s garage tropes with a mischievous wink and a waggle of the hips." - Consequence Of Sound
"They’re stuck in the middle, two mutants hopelessly adrift in a sea of normalcy. " - A.V. ClubThe King Khan and BBQ Show are embarking upon their 2016 North American tour starting October 27th in Seattle. Their newest record "Bad News Boys" (In The Red, 2015) was praised by Pitchfork who said that "the question of whether you need another record like this is ultimately answered by the fact that Khan and Sultan play like they need it, barreling through these 12 songs with audible smiles on their faces and a reinvigorated sense of camaraderie."
Over the last 10 years, the band has continuously released top-grade material on Crypt, In The Red, Norton, Fat Possum, Goner, and more, without bowing to business, succumbing to what’s ‘hip’, or changing.
They are real rock n’ roll soldiers, who have traveled the world with one of the best, most magical, energetic, crass and nonsensical free-form live shows, in a sincere effort to keep the music they love alive - BBQ smashing snare, bass drum and tambourine with his bare feet, molesting his guitar and singing like a possessed angel - Khan spinning and howling like amurderous dervish while belting it out on his guitar like a real gone savage.
Love songs, punkers, improvised riot-starters, dance-floor shakers, sing-along stompers, wild rockers - you name it. They always drench the crowd in raw energy, and they're always the last ones dancing and drinking at the bar.
From youngsters to oldsters alike, their crowds sing along incessantly and let their freak-flags fly in joyous solidarity when The King Khan & BBQ Show hit the stage, clamouring like entranced dervishes to be a part of a growing phenomenon. Give into their spell and live forever.
TOUR DATES10.27.16 || Seattle @ Neumos *
10.28.16 || Vancouver @ Rickshaw Theatre *
10.29.16 || Portland @ Dante’s *
10.31.16 || San Francisco @ Slim’s *
11.01.16 || Los Angeles @ El Rey *
11.03.16 || Pioneertown @ Pappy & Harriet’s *
11.04.16 || San Diego @ The Casbah *
11.05.16 || Tucson @ Night of The Living Fest %
11.06.16 || Albuquerque @ Sister Bar *
11.07.16 || Marfa @ El Cosmico *
11.09.16 || San Antonio @ Paper Tiger *
11.10.16 || Austin @ Barracuda *
11.11.16 || Houston @ Walter’s *
11.12.16 || New Orleans @ One Eyed Jacks #
11.13.16 || Birmingham @ Saturn *
11.15.16 || Orlando @ The Social *
11.16.16 || Miami @ Gramps *
11.18.16 || Atlanta @ The Earl *
11.19.16 || Athens @ Georgia Theatre *
11.20.16 || Asheville @ The Grey Eagle *
11.21.16 || Washington DC @ Black Cat ^
11.22.16 || New York @ Bowery Ballroom ^
11.23.16 || Boston @ Brighton Music Hall ^
11.25.16 || Montreal @ Bar le Ritz PDB ^
11.26.16 || Toronto @ Lee’s Palace ^
11.27.16 || Cleveland @ Beachland Ballroom ^
11.29.16 || Columbus @ Ace of Cups ^
11.30.16 || Bloomington @ The Bishop ^
12.01.16 || St. Louis @ The Duck Room at Blueberry Hill ^
12.02.16 || Columbia @ Café Berlin ^
12.03.16 || Chicago @ The Empty Bottle ^
12.04.16 || TBA
12.05.16 || St. Paul @ Turf Club ^
* with Paint Fumes
% with Big Freedia, Nobunny, Seth Bogart, Reigning Sound, Mike Watt, Paint Fumes
# with Quintron & Miss Pussycat, Paint Fumes
^ with The Gartrells
Moderators for Maynard Keenan's Book Tour Include Kim Thayil, Billy Howerdel, Steven Drozd
MODERATORS FOR MAYNARD JAMES KEENAN’S A PERFECT UNION OF CONTRARY THINGS BOOK TOUR ANNOUNCED
KIM THAYIL (SOUNDGARDEN), BILLY HOWERDEL (A PERFECT CIRCLE) AND STEVEN DROZD (FLAMING LIPS) WILL JOIN KEENAN
Oct. 12, 2016, Jerome, Ariz. -- Maynard James Keenan, front man of A Perfect Circle, Puscifer and TOOL, will be joined by fourteen friends over the course of his forthcoming A Perfect Union of Contrary Things (Nov. 8, Backbeat Books) tour including Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil, A Perfect Circle’s Billy Howerdel and the Flaming Lips’ Steven Drozd.
Keenan, who is known for not merely being protective about his personal life but at times pointedly cagey and misleading about his history, will participate in a moderated discussion about the book and his decision to share such intimate details about his life. The special evening also includes Keenan reading passages from A Perfect Union of Contrary Things with a backdrop of never before seen photos and videos, as well as taking questions from the audience in what will be a rare moment of direct interaction between the elusive musician and the fans of his projects.
A Perfect Union of Contrary Things moderators:
November 9 Nashville, TN City Winery SOLD OUTModerators: Dino Paredes (Suretone Management) & Mark Brooks (Metalacolypse director)
November 10 Wappinger Falls, NY Chapel of Sacred MirrorsModerator: Alex Grey (Renowned artist/Chapel of Sacred Mirrors founder)
November 11 New York, NY The New York Society for Ethical Culture SOLD OUT Moderator: Roxy Myzal (hardDrive Producer/beloved radio personality)
November 12 Washington, DC Sixth & I Historic Synagogue Moderator (both 7:30, SOLD OUT, and 10 pm readings): Roxy Myzal (hardDrive Producer/beloved radio personality)
November 14 Toronto, ON Convocation Hall (University of Toronto) Moderator: Alan Cross (102.1 The Edge Music Director)
November 16 Chicago, IL Thalia Hall (7 pm reading) SOLD OUTModerator: Amanda Danielson (Owner, Trattoria Stella and The Franklin/Master Sommelier)
November 16 Chicago, IL Thalia Hall (10:30 pm reading)Moderator: Dirk Flanigan (Executive Chef, Ocean Cut and Il Coniglio/Former Pigface vocalist)
November 18 Portland, OR The Aladdin TheaterModerator (both 7:30, SOLD OUT, and 10 pm readings): Paul Barker (Ministry/Lead Into Gold/Puscifer)
November 19 Seattle, WA Kane AuditoriumModerator: Kim Thayil (Soundgarden)
November 21 San Francisco, CA Herbst TheatreModerator: Laura Milligan (aka Hildy Berger/Mr. Show)
November 22 Los Angeles, CA The Montalban TheaterModerator: Billy Howerdel (A Perfect Circle/Ashes Divide)
November 25 Phoenix, AZ Mesa Arts Center SOLD OUTModerator: Kimber Lanning (Local First Arizona/Stinkweeds)
November 26 Boulder, CO Boulder TheaterModerator: Matt Mather (Sommelier at Frasca Food & Wine)
November 27 Dallas, TX Texas TheatreModerator: Steven Drozd (Flaming Lips)
Tickets for all dates are on-sale now, with the exception of the Nov. 14 event at the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, which are available to the general public on Oct. 14.
KIM THAYIL (SOUNDGARDEN), BILLY HOWERDEL (A PERFECT CIRCLE) AND STEVEN DROZD (FLAMING LIPS) WILL JOIN KEENAN
Oct. 12, 2016, Jerome, Ariz. -- Maynard James Keenan, front man of A Perfect Circle, Puscifer and TOOL, will be joined by fourteen friends over the course of his forthcoming A Perfect Union of Contrary Things (Nov. 8, Backbeat Books) tour including Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil, A Perfect Circle’s Billy Howerdel and the Flaming Lips’ Steven Drozd.
Keenan, who is known for not merely being protective about his personal life but at times pointedly cagey and misleading about his history, will participate in a moderated discussion about the book and his decision to share such intimate details about his life. The special evening also includes Keenan reading passages from A Perfect Union of Contrary Things with a backdrop of never before seen photos and videos, as well as taking questions from the audience in what will be a rare moment of direct interaction between the elusive musician and the fans of his projects.
A Perfect Union of Contrary Things moderators:
November 9 Nashville, TN City Winery SOLD OUTModerators: Dino Paredes (Suretone Management) & Mark Brooks (Metalacolypse director)
November 10 Wappinger Falls, NY Chapel of Sacred MirrorsModerator: Alex Grey (Renowned artist/Chapel of Sacred Mirrors founder)
November 11 New York, NY The New York Society for Ethical Culture SOLD OUT Moderator: Roxy Myzal (hardDrive Producer/beloved radio personality)
November 12 Washington, DC Sixth & I Historic Synagogue Moderator (both 7:30, SOLD OUT, and 10 pm readings): Roxy Myzal (hardDrive Producer/beloved radio personality)
November 14 Toronto, ON Convocation Hall (University of Toronto) Moderator: Alan Cross (102.1 The Edge Music Director)
November 16 Chicago, IL Thalia Hall (7 pm reading) SOLD OUTModerator: Amanda Danielson (Owner, Trattoria Stella and The Franklin/Master Sommelier)
November 16 Chicago, IL Thalia Hall (10:30 pm reading)Moderator: Dirk Flanigan (Executive Chef, Ocean Cut and Il Coniglio/Former Pigface vocalist)
November 18 Portland, OR The Aladdin TheaterModerator (both 7:30, SOLD OUT, and 10 pm readings): Paul Barker (Ministry/Lead Into Gold/Puscifer)
November 19 Seattle, WA Kane AuditoriumModerator: Kim Thayil (Soundgarden)
November 21 San Francisco, CA Herbst TheatreModerator: Laura Milligan (aka Hildy Berger/Mr. Show)
November 22 Los Angeles, CA The Montalban TheaterModerator: Billy Howerdel (A Perfect Circle/Ashes Divide)
November 25 Phoenix, AZ Mesa Arts Center SOLD OUTModerator: Kimber Lanning (Local First Arizona/Stinkweeds)
November 26 Boulder, CO Boulder TheaterModerator: Matt Mather (Sommelier at Frasca Food & Wine)
November 27 Dallas, TX Texas TheatreModerator: Steven Drozd (Flaming Lips)
Tickets for all dates are on-sale now, with the exception of the Nov. 14 event at the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, which are available to the general public on Oct. 14.
Cloud Nothings announces new album, shares first single + tour dates
CLOUD NOTHINGS ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM
SHARES LEAD SINGLE "MODERN ACT"
LIFE WITHOUT SOUND DUE JANUARY 27TH VIA CARPARK
Cloud Nothings by Jesse LirolaLISTEN: "Modern Act" - https://soundcloud.com/cloudnothings/modern-act-2
After recently hinting at an imminent new album in recent interviews, Cloud Nothings is back today to announce its followup to 2014's Here And Nowhere Else. Due January 27th for Carpark Records, Life Without Sound is the band's new 9-song LP. To celebrate its announcement, the band is sharing lead single "Modern Act", which can be heard above now.
The album news comes on the heels of the band headlining a New York City show last night at Villain, where they previewed a handful of songs from the record. In conjunction with the album announcement and single release, the band is announcing a run of North American and European tour dates, the details of which are below.
While supplies last, fans can head to cloudnothings.com to pre-order a limited edition t-shirt & deluxe LP, LP or CD bundle directly from Carpark or Wichita.
Check out "Modern Act" above now and see below for all Life Without Sound details and upcoming Cloud Nothings tour dates.
About Cloud Nothings:
10/14 Greenville, SC - Fall for Greenville Fest
SHARES LEAD SINGLE "MODERN ACT"
LIFE WITHOUT SOUND DUE JANUARY 27TH VIA CARPARK
Cloud Nothings by Jesse LirolaLISTEN: "Modern Act" - https://soundcloud.com/cloudnothings/modern-act-2After recently hinting at an imminent new album in recent interviews, Cloud Nothings is back today to announce its followup to 2014's Here And Nowhere Else. Due January 27th for Carpark Records, Life Without Sound is the band's new 9-song LP. To celebrate its announcement, the band is sharing lead single "Modern Act", which can be heard above now.
The album news comes on the heels of the band headlining a New York City show last night at Villain, where they previewed a handful of songs from the record. In conjunction with the album announcement and single release, the band is announcing a run of North American and European tour dates, the details of which are below.
While supplies last, fans can head to cloudnothings.com to pre-order a limited edition t-shirt & deluxe LP, LP or CD bundle directly from Carpark or Wichita.
Check out "Modern Act" above now and see below for all Life Without Sound details and upcoming Cloud Nothings tour dates.
About Cloud Nothings:
10/14 Greenville, SC - Fall for Greenville Fest
Emily Reo shares "Spell"; Announces new 10" out 10/28 on Orchid Tapes
EMILY REO SHARES "SPELL"
ANNOUNCES SPELL 10" OUT 10/28 ON ORCHID TAPES
Photo Credit: Brian Vu
LISTEN TO "SPELL"(CLEARED TO POST & SHARE)
Today, Emily Reo has shared "Spell," the A-side for her new 10". Rookie Magazine , who premiered the track today are calling it ""hypnotic... the artist's vocals create a futuristic but soothing sonic atmosphere." The Spell 10", the follow up to Reo's critically acclaimed debut album, Olive Juice, is available for pre-order now, and out 10/28 on Orchid Tapes.
ABOUT EMILY REO:"I can't feel anything." Emily Reo's self-harmonizing repetitions of this phrase, solemn and slow, make up the heavy heart of "Spell," her first single in three years. It is robotic but delicate; a harrowing electronic meditation on the feedback loops that can trap a person inside her own head. Here, Reo's struggles are channeled primarily through just her voice and a vocoder-an instrument that embodies the collisions of humans and machines, embedding an eerie world of modern anxiety into her every turn of phrase.
"Spell" is stark and chillingly sparse, the A-side of a 10-inch single due this fall on Orchid Tapes. The lyrics are her most personal to date, and perhaps her most powerful-making the song an unlikely favorite in her live sets over the past years. "Time cast a spell on me / burn down the trees / make me believe / feel something," Reo sings. Over six minutes, it builds internally into a subtly explosive ending, with mesmerizing strings, looping synth chirps, and wordless falsetto hooks."I was going through a long period of feeling numb," Reo says, on writing this song. "I've struggled with different incarnations of mental illness since I was eight, but this was a new kind of depression. I felt unable to be motivated by anything ... This was a first for me, being so lyrically open. This song was definitely an act of recognizing myself."
The B-side, "Stronger Swimmer," occupies a different emotional space. It was inspired by a short story Reo once read, about a woman who was domestically abused by her husband. As the story goes, the couple were taking a boat ride together, when the boat flipped over. He couldn't swim, but she was a great swimmer. She left him there and saved herself. "I found that story super powerful," explains Reo, who translates it through some of her most hypnotic and intricate production yet. "It felt like persevering to me. When everything is rough, sometimes you find one thing that you're really good at and it saves you. The way that song sounds, it feels like taking external chaos and finding a way to organize it and power through it."
Together, these songs show two sides of Reo's production sensibilities: the first being very minimal, the second very maximal. A duality is inherent: "Spell is about feeling internal disorder, even when everything around you is okay. Stronger Swimmer is more about thriving and surviving when you are in an environment of chaos." Both songs feature a 9-piece string ensemble that Reo scored with Owen Pallett. Reo self-produced and largely engineered this release, with mixing assistance from from Jack Greenleaf and Warren Hildebrand.
"Spell" b/w "Stronger Swimmer" follows Reo's critically acclaimed debut album, 2013's Olive Juice. In the years since its release, Reo has toured as a multi-instrumentalist for Foxes and Fiction, and bassist for Sharpless. She has produced and mixed music for other artists, including Yohuna and performed on The Go! Team's most recent album, The Scene Between.
Reo has been touring and recording independently since 2008, self-releasing demos and cassettes and playing self-booked shows throughout the U.S. and internationally. She has been inspired by the many places she's called home: Orlando, Boston, Los Angeles, Montreal. She currently lives in Brooklyn.
Album Art by Brian Vu
ANNOUNCES SPELL 10" OUT 10/28 ON ORCHID TAPES
Photo Credit: Brian VuLISTEN TO "SPELL"(CLEARED TO POST & SHARE)
Today, Emily Reo has shared "Spell," the A-side for her new 10". Rookie Magazine , who premiered the track today are calling it ""hypnotic... the artist's vocals create a futuristic but soothing sonic atmosphere." The Spell 10", the follow up to Reo's critically acclaimed debut album, Olive Juice, is available for pre-order now, and out 10/28 on Orchid Tapes.
ABOUT EMILY REO:"I can't feel anything." Emily Reo's self-harmonizing repetitions of this phrase, solemn and slow, make up the heavy heart of "Spell," her first single in three years. It is robotic but delicate; a harrowing electronic meditation on the feedback loops that can trap a person inside her own head. Here, Reo's struggles are channeled primarily through just her voice and a vocoder-an instrument that embodies the collisions of humans and machines, embedding an eerie world of modern anxiety into her every turn of phrase.
"Spell" is stark and chillingly sparse, the A-side of a 10-inch single due this fall on Orchid Tapes. The lyrics are her most personal to date, and perhaps her most powerful-making the song an unlikely favorite in her live sets over the past years. "Time cast a spell on me / burn down the trees / make me believe / feel something," Reo sings. Over six minutes, it builds internally into a subtly explosive ending, with mesmerizing strings, looping synth chirps, and wordless falsetto hooks."I was going through a long period of feeling numb," Reo says, on writing this song. "I've struggled with different incarnations of mental illness since I was eight, but this was a new kind of depression. I felt unable to be motivated by anything ... This was a first for me, being so lyrically open. This song was definitely an act of recognizing myself."
The B-side, "Stronger Swimmer," occupies a different emotional space. It was inspired by a short story Reo once read, about a woman who was domestically abused by her husband. As the story goes, the couple were taking a boat ride together, when the boat flipped over. He couldn't swim, but she was a great swimmer. She left him there and saved herself. "I found that story super powerful," explains Reo, who translates it through some of her most hypnotic and intricate production yet. "It felt like persevering to me. When everything is rough, sometimes you find one thing that you're really good at and it saves you. The way that song sounds, it feels like taking external chaos and finding a way to organize it and power through it."
Together, these songs show two sides of Reo's production sensibilities: the first being very minimal, the second very maximal. A duality is inherent: "Spell is about feeling internal disorder, even when everything around you is okay. Stronger Swimmer is more about thriving and surviving when you are in an environment of chaos." Both songs feature a 9-piece string ensemble that Reo scored with Owen Pallett. Reo self-produced and largely engineered this release, with mixing assistance from from Jack Greenleaf and Warren Hildebrand.
"Spell" b/w "Stronger Swimmer" follows Reo's critically acclaimed debut album, 2013's Olive Juice. In the years since its release, Reo has toured as a multi-instrumentalist for Foxes and Fiction, and bassist for Sharpless. She has produced and mixed music for other artists, including Yohuna and performed on The Go! Team's most recent album, The Scene Between.
Reo has been touring and recording independently since 2008, self-releasing demos and cassettes and playing self-booked shows throughout the U.S. and internationally. She has been inspired by the many places she's called home: Orlando, Boston, Los Angeles, Montreal. She currently lives in Brooklyn.
Album Art by Brian Vu
October 11, 2016
The Molochs Premiere "No More Cryin" On Beats 1 Radio
The Molochs Premiere "No More Cryin" Via BEATS 1
On Tour This Fall With The Mystery Lights
New Album 'America's Velvet Glory' Out 1/13 Via
Innovative Leisure
LISTEN & SHARE: The Molochs - "No More Cryin"
Over the weekend the Molochs premiered their first single "No More Cryin' " on Beats 1 Radio. The song is the first single off their upcoming album 'America's Velvet Glory', which will be released 1/13/17 via Innovative Leisure.First, let’s meet Moloch. You remember him, right? The ancient god, the child eater, the demander of sacrifice, the villain in Ginsberg’s Howl(and also real life) and now the personal antagonist of singer and songwriter Lucas Fitzsimons, who named his band the Molochs because he knew he’d have to make sacrifices to get what he needed, and because he always wanted a reminder of the Ginsbergian monster he’d be fighting against. And so this is how you make a record right now: you fight for every piece, and when Moloch takes apart your relationships and career potential and leaves you sleeping on couches or living in terrifying apartments and just about depleted from awful people involving you in their awful decisions, you grab a bottle of wine (and laugh at the cliché) and put together another song. And once you do that eleven hard-won times in total, you get a record like America’s Velvet Glory: honest, urgent, desperate and fearless because of it. Fitzsimons came to his calling in an appropriately mythic way, born in a historic city not far from Buenos Aires and raised in L.A.’s South Bay—just outside of Inglewood—where he was immersed in the hip-hop hits on local radio. (Westside Connection!) The summer d before he started middle school, a close friend got an electric guitar, and Fitzsimons felt an enirresistible inexplicable power: “I'd go back home and I’d look up guitar chords on the internet—even though I had no guitar—and just imagine how I WOULD play them. I was slowly getting obsessed.” When he was 12, his parents took him back to Argentina, and on the first night, he discovered a long-forgotten almost-broken classical guitar in the basement of his ancestral home: “It sounds made-up, but it’s true,” he says. “I didn't put the guitar down once that whole trip—took it with me everywhere and played and played. When I got back to L.A., I bought my first guitar practically as the plane was landing.” This started a long line of bands and a long experience of learning to perform in public, as Fitzsimons honed intentions and ideas and tried to figure out why that guitar seemed so important. After a trip to India in 2012, he returned renewed and ready to start again, scrapping his band to lead something new and uncompromising. This was the true start of the Molochs: “It didn't make any sense to not do everything exactly the way I wanted to do it,” he says. “I was so shy and introverted that singing publicly sounded like a nightmare come true. But I didn't have a choice—I heard something inside of me and I needed to be the one to express it.” The first album Forgetter Blues was released with Fitzsimons’ guitarist/organist and longtime bandmate Ryan Foster in early 2013 on his own label—named after a slightly infamous intersection in their then-home of Long Beach—and was twelve songs of anxious garage-y proto-punk-y folk-y rock, Modern Lovers demos and Velvet Underground arcana as fuel and foundation both. It deserved to go farther than it did, which sadly wasn’t very far. But it sharpened Fitzsimons and his songwriting, and after three pent-up years of creativity, he was ready to burst. So he decided to record a new album in the spirit of the first, and in the spirit of everything that the Molochs made so far: “I wanted to spend less time figuring out HOW we were gonna do something and just actually do it.” The result is America’s Velvet Glory, recorded with engineer Jonny Bell at effortless (says Fitzsimons) sessions at Long Beach’s JazzCats studio. (Also incubator for Molochs’ new labelmates Wall of Death and Hanni El Khatib.) It starts with an anxious electric minor-key melody and ends on a last lonesome unresolved organ riff, and in between comes beauty, doubt, loss, hate and even a moments or two of peace. There are flashes of 60s garage rock—like the Sunset Strip ’66 stormer “No More Cryin’” or the “Little Black Egg”-style heartwarmer-slash-breaker “The One I Love”—but like one of Foster’s and Fitzsimons’ favorites the Jacobites, the Molochs are taking the past apart, not trying to recreate it. You can hear where songs bend, where voices break, where guitars start to shiver and when strings are about to snap; on “You And Me,” you can almost hear Lou Reed’s ghost call for a solo, and on “I Don’t Love You,” you get that subway-sound guitar and find out what happens when Jonathan Richman’s G-I-R-L-F-R-E-N goes wrong. And of course there’s the charismatic chaos of bootleg basement-tape Dylan—always Dylan, says Fitzsimons—and the locked-room psychedelia of Syd Barrett, especially on “Charlie’s Lips,” Fitzsimons’ ode to—or antidote to—those times when he felt the bleakness completely: “Then a bird lands on a branch nearby, you hear leaves fluttering, you hear a child laughing … all of a sudden things don't seem so bad anymore.”
So Moloch might still be out there, devouring his sacrifices, but the Molochs are still fighting, too. And that’s why Fitzsimons picked the band name—it’s so he remembers what he’s up against. He’s not celebrating the destroyer of youth and individuality and creativity, he says: “I’m just keeping him in sight so that he doesn't win.” – Christopher ZieglerTOUR DATES:
Oct 21 - Non Plus Ultra Los Angeles, CA (IL 7 inch release show)
Nov 6 - The Crepe Place - Santa Cruz, CA W/ The Mystery Lights
Nov 7 - The Crepe Place - Santa Cruz, CA W/ The Mystery Lights
Nov 8 - Starline Social Club - Oakland, CA W/ Night Beats, The Mystery Lights
Nov 20 - The Constellation Room - Santa Ana, CA W/ The Mystery Lights
Nov 22 - The Bootleg - Los Angeles, CA W/ The Mystery Lights
On Tour This Fall With The Mystery Lights
New Album 'America's Velvet Glory' Out 1/13 Via
Innovative Leisure
LISTEN & SHARE: The Molochs - "No More Cryin"Over the weekend the Molochs premiered their first single "No More Cryin' " on Beats 1 Radio. The song is the first single off their upcoming album 'America's Velvet Glory', which will be released 1/13/17 via Innovative Leisure.First, let’s meet Moloch. You remember him, right? The ancient god, the child eater, the demander of sacrifice, the villain in Ginsberg’s Howl(and also real life) and now the personal antagonist of singer and songwriter Lucas Fitzsimons, who named his band the Molochs because he knew he’d have to make sacrifices to get what he needed, and because he always wanted a reminder of the Ginsbergian monster he’d be fighting against. And so this is how you make a record right now: you fight for every piece, and when Moloch takes apart your relationships and career potential and leaves you sleeping on couches or living in terrifying apartments and just about depleted from awful people involving you in their awful decisions, you grab a bottle of wine (and laugh at the cliché) and put together another song. And once you do that eleven hard-won times in total, you get a record like America’s Velvet Glory: honest, urgent, desperate and fearless because of it. Fitzsimons came to his calling in an appropriately mythic way, born in a historic city not far from Buenos Aires and raised in L.A.’s South Bay—just outside of Inglewood—where he was immersed in the hip-hop hits on local radio. (Westside Connection!) The summer d before he started middle school, a close friend got an electric guitar, and Fitzsimons felt an enirresistible inexplicable power: “I'd go back home and I’d look up guitar chords on the internet—even though I had no guitar—and just imagine how I WOULD play them. I was slowly getting obsessed.” When he was 12, his parents took him back to Argentina, and on the first night, he discovered a long-forgotten almost-broken classical guitar in the basement of his ancestral home: “It sounds made-up, but it’s true,” he says. “I didn't put the guitar down once that whole trip—took it with me everywhere and played and played. When I got back to L.A., I bought my first guitar practically as the plane was landing.” This started a long line of bands and a long experience of learning to perform in public, as Fitzsimons honed intentions and ideas and tried to figure out why that guitar seemed so important. After a trip to India in 2012, he returned renewed and ready to start again, scrapping his band to lead something new and uncompromising. This was the true start of the Molochs: “It didn't make any sense to not do everything exactly the way I wanted to do it,” he says. “I was so shy and introverted that singing publicly sounded like a nightmare come true. But I didn't have a choice—I heard something inside of me and I needed to be the one to express it.” The first album Forgetter Blues was released with Fitzsimons’ guitarist/organist and longtime bandmate Ryan Foster in early 2013 on his own label—named after a slightly infamous intersection in their then-home of Long Beach—and was twelve songs of anxious garage-y proto-punk-y folk-y rock, Modern Lovers demos and Velvet Underground arcana as fuel and foundation both. It deserved to go farther than it did, which sadly wasn’t very far. But it sharpened Fitzsimons and his songwriting, and after three pent-up years of creativity, he was ready to burst. So he decided to record a new album in the spirit of the first, and in the spirit of everything that the Molochs made so far: “I wanted to spend less time figuring out HOW we were gonna do something and just actually do it.” The result is America’s Velvet Glory, recorded with engineer Jonny Bell at effortless (says Fitzsimons) sessions at Long Beach’s JazzCats studio. (Also incubator for Molochs’ new labelmates Wall of Death and Hanni El Khatib.) It starts with an anxious electric minor-key melody and ends on a last lonesome unresolved organ riff, and in between comes beauty, doubt, loss, hate and even a moments or two of peace. There are flashes of 60s garage rock—like the Sunset Strip ’66 stormer “No More Cryin’” or the “Little Black Egg”-style heartwarmer-slash-breaker “The One I Love”—but like one of Foster’s and Fitzsimons’ favorites the Jacobites, the Molochs are taking the past apart, not trying to recreate it. You can hear where songs bend, where voices break, where guitars start to shiver and when strings are about to snap; on “You And Me,” you can almost hear Lou Reed’s ghost call for a solo, and on “I Don’t Love You,” you get that subway-sound guitar and find out what happens when Jonathan Richman’s G-I-R-L-F-R-E-N goes wrong. And of course there’s the charismatic chaos of bootleg basement-tape Dylan—always Dylan, says Fitzsimons—and the locked-room psychedelia of Syd Barrett, especially on “Charlie’s Lips,” Fitzsimons’ ode to—or antidote to—those times when he felt the bleakness completely: “Then a bird lands on a branch nearby, you hear leaves fluttering, you hear a child laughing … all of a sudden things don't seem so bad anymore.”
So Moloch might still be out there, devouring his sacrifices, but the Molochs are still fighting, too. And that’s why Fitzsimons picked the band name—it’s so he remembers what he’s up against. He’s not celebrating the destroyer of youth and individuality and creativity, he says: “I’m just keeping him in sight so that he doesn't win.” – Christopher ZieglerTOUR DATES:
Oct 21 - Non Plus Ultra Los Angeles, CA (IL 7 inch release show)
Nov 6 - The Crepe Place - Santa Cruz, CA W/ The Mystery Lights
Nov 7 - The Crepe Place - Santa Cruz, CA W/ The Mystery Lights
Nov 8 - Starline Social Club - Oakland, CA W/ Night Beats, The Mystery Lights
Nov 20 - The Constellation Room - Santa Ana, CA W/ The Mystery Lights
Nov 22 - The Bootleg - Los Angeles, CA W/ The Mystery Lights
Tori Amos "Amazing Grace/Til the Chicken" B-Side Available Today, 'Boys For Pele' 20th Anniversary Deluxe Reissue Out 11/18
TORI AMOS
Boys For Pele Celebrates 20th Anniversary
" Amazing Grace/Til the Chicken " Stream Available Today
Two-CD Deluxe Edition Featuring Remastered Audio,
Plus Rare and Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks
2-LP Set Of Original Album Available On Vinyl
Available November 18 From Rhino
Photo Credit: Cindy Palmano
One of the most successful and influential artists of her generation, Tori Amos is as much a force to be reckoned with today as when she made her debut as producer in 1996 on her third studio album, Boys for Pele. To celebrate the pivotal album’s 20-year anniversary, Rhino will release a deluxe edition that includes a newly remastered version of the original, along with a selection of B-sides, rare recordings, and four previously unreleased tracks. Boys For Pele: Deluxe Edition will be available on November 18 as a 2-CD set ($19.98) and digitally. A 2-LP set ($31.98) of the original album on vinyl will also be available on the same date.
Stereogum premiered " Amazing Grace/Til the Chicken " alongside a retrospective interview, today. " Amazing Grace/Til the Chicken " was recorded at the Ballywilliam House in Cork, Ireland and is available to post/share HERE .
Amos was so prolific writing Boys for Pele that a number of songs were left off the album and released as B-sides. Many of them can be found among the 21 bonus tracks that appear on Boys For Pele: Deluxe Edition , including “Toodles Mr. Jim” and “Frog On My Toe.” Other rarities include the demo for “Fire-Eater’s Wife/Beauty Queen” and live recordings of “Honey,” “Sugar” and “Professional Widow.” Four unreleased gems make their debut on the collection: “To The Fair Motormaids of Japan,” “Talula” (M&M Mix), “In The Springtime Of His Voodoo (Rookery Ending)” and “Sucker.”
Moving away from the corporate environment to record in a church In Delganey, Co Wicklow, and at the Ballywilliam House in Co Cork, Ireland, Boys for Pele altered the course of Amos’ career. As she explains in the album’s liner notes, “This is the record where I fought for my life.” Greeted with rapturous fan support, this proved this to be a rewarding decision. In addition to album fan favorites “Caught a Lite Sneeze” and “Hey Jupiter”, the groundbreaking Armand Van Helden remix of “Professional Widow” was #1 on the UK Singles Chart and US Dance Chart. An ambitious and uncompromising collection of songs about mythology (Pele was a Hawaiian volcano goddess), suppression and self-discovery, the record became one of her most successful, debuting at #2 on the album charts in both the U.S. and the U.K. An international hit, Boys for Pele hit the Top 10 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Holland, Germany and Sweden.
Boys For Pele Celebrates 20th Anniversary
" Amazing Grace/Til the Chicken " Stream Available Today
Two-CD Deluxe Edition Featuring Remastered Audio,
Plus Rare and Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks
2-LP Set Of Original Album Available On Vinyl
Available November 18 From Rhino
Photo Credit: Cindy Palmano
One of the most successful and influential artists of her generation, Tori Amos is as much a force to be reckoned with today as when she made her debut as producer in 1996 on her third studio album, Boys for Pele. To celebrate the pivotal album’s 20-year anniversary, Rhino will release a deluxe edition that includes a newly remastered version of the original, along with a selection of B-sides, rare recordings, and four previously unreleased tracks. Boys For Pele: Deluxe Edition will be available on November 18 as a 2-CD set ($19.98) and digitally. A 2-LP set ($31.98) of the original album on vinyl will also be available on the same date.
Stereogum premiered " Amazing Grace/Til the Chicken " alongside a retrospective interview, today. " Amazing Grace/Til the Chicken " was recorded at the Ballywilliam House in Cork, Ireland and is available to post/share HERE .
Amos was so prolific writing Boys for Pele that a number of songs were left off the album and released as B-sides. Many of them can be found among the 21 bonus tracks that appear on Boys For Pele: Deluxe Edition , including “Toodles Mr. Jim” and “Frog On My Toe.” Other rarities include the demo for “Fire-Eater’s Wife/Beauty Queen” and live recordings of “Honey,” “Sugar” and “Professional Widow.” Four unreleased gems make their debut on the collection: “To The Fair Motormaids of Japan,” “Talula” (M&M Mix), “In The Springtime Of His Voodoo (Rookery Ending)” and “Sucker.”
Moving away from the corporate environment to record in a church In Delganey, Co Wicklow, and at the Ballywilliam House in Co Cork, Ireland, Boys for Pele altered the course of Amos’ career. As she explains in the album’s liner notes, “This is the record where I fought for my life.” Greeted with rapturous fan support, this proved this to be a rewarding decision. In addition to album fan favorites “Caught a Lite Sneeze” and “Hey Jupiter”, the groundbreaking Armand Van Helden remix of “Professional Widow” was #1 on the UK Singles Chart and US Dance Chart. An ambitious and uncompromising collection of songs about mythology (Pele was a Hawaiian volcano goddess), suppression and self-discovery, the record became one of her most successful, debuting at #2 on the album charts in both the U.S. and the U.K. An international hit, Boys for Pele hit the Top 10 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Holland, Germany and Sweden.
New Orleans Music In Exile
New Orleans Music In Exilecoming to Blu-ray on 11/18
Robert Mugge's film examines what Hurricane Katrina and breached levees did to the city's music community
"Historically invaluable. An intimate and eye-opening meditation on the resiliency of the artists and the magnitude of the loss." - Variety
When Hurricane Katrina struck on August 29, 2005, filmmakerRobert Mugge and his son Rob were living in Jackson, Mississippi. Mugge was just completing a two-year run as filmmaker in residence for Mississippi Public Broadcasting and preparing to develop a music filmmaking program for Delta State University. Then the storm came, and all bets were off.
When Hurricane Katrina struck on August 29, 2005, filmmaker Robert Mugge and his son Rob were living in Jackson, Mississippi where Mugge was completing a two-year run as filmmaker in residence for Mississippi Public Broadcasting. The storm's effects were nowhere near as bad in Jackson as they were along the Gulf Coast, but they were bad enough. After a week without power, Mugge and his son sought to learn what had happened to their musician friends in New Orleans and elsewhere across Louisiana. Gradually, they got word that nearly all were okay, though exiled with their families to other cities throughout the South, often with destroyed houses left behind.
Mugge discussed the situation with his Philadelphia-based associate Diana Zelman, and the two resolved to produce a film on what the storm and breached levees had wrought for the New Orleans music community. He next contacted Starz cable TV executives Stephan Shelanski and Brett Marottoli who had previously underwritten his 2002/2003 film LAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI JUKES and then acquired his 2004/2005 film BLUES DIVAS with Morgan Freeman (produced for Mississippi Public Broadcasting). He explained that he and Zelman wanted to move as quickly as possible to capture the damage and rebuilding efforts in New Orleans itself, while also tracking down and filming prominent musicians in their new, presumably temporary homes elsewhere. Shelanski and Marottoli were intrigued by the idea, yet wary they could pull together the necessary funding on extremely short notice.
Ultimately, Mugge and Starz worked out a deal where he, Zelman, and a small crew would film the transplanted Voodoo Fest - usually held in New Orleans but, for that year only, mostly moved to Memphis, Tennessee - and the outcome of that effort would determine whether Starz would provide the money needed for them also to shoot in New Orleans and elsewhere. The happy result was successful filming of outdoor performances by Dr. John, Cyril Neville, Cowboy Mouth, Theresa Andersson, beatinpath, and World Leader Pretend; of a recording studio performance by Theresa Andersson intended to open the film; and of a good number of relevant interviews.
In the meantime, Starz assigned new executive Michael Ruggiero to oversee the project, and he was happy enough with reports from Memphis to okay filming in New Orleans as well. Of course, at that point in late October, New Orleans was still barely functioning. For instance, as the film crew quickly learned, most hotels, restaurants, and other businesses were still closed; abandoned cars and boats littered the landscape; the air was dense with particles not conducive to breathing; countless homes were damaged beyond repair; blue protective tarps covered the roof of every second or third building; and stores displayed warnings that looters would be shot. For the most part, people seen on the street tended to be aid workers, construction crews, and Blackwater security guards (unmistakable from their black outfits, automatic weapons, and menacing looks). But somehow, Zelman managed to find rooms in a slightly damaged hotel not far from the French Quarter and figured out which few restaurants were at least partially up and running again.
In New Orleans, the project filmed Papa Loves Funk performing at the Maple Leaf Bar, as well as an intimate home performance by Jon Cleary, recently returned to his darkened Bywater neighborhood and a freezer full of stinking, spoiled meat. Other goals included documenting the overall devastation and recording interviews with key witnesses to what had happened, among them a magazine publisher, a newspaper reporter, a public radio general manager, staff of the charitable Tipitina's Foundation, and officials of the beleaguered Army Corps of Engineers. Certainly, the most moving shoots involved escorting singer Irma Thomas into her flooded home and nightclub, accompanying label owner Mark Samuels into his equally damaged home and offices, and running into Stephen Assaf at his fully demolished home, barely standing after being washed from its foundation. But perhaps the most unique experience was documenting a local voodoo priestess and her followers as they engaged in a ritual ceremony intended to "bring the dead city back to life again." Although it's unlikely this ceremony had anything to do with the city's ultimate revival, it did, at least in the moment, seem to bring electricity back to the surrounding neighborhood.
The biggest disappointment of the New Orleans visit was the canceling of promised use of an Army Corps of Engineers helicopter to film the closed-off Ninth Ward from above. The problem was that the visiting Prince of Wales wanted a helicopter ride as well, and royalty took precedence. Still, the New Orleans shooting had gone well, so Ruggiero scraped together funding for additional stops in Lafayette, Louisiana, then Houston and Austin. In Lafayette, the crew filmed Marcia Ball and her band in concert at Grant Street Dance hall, where Ball also presented a donated keyboard to her friend Eddie Bo. Bo, who had been playing in Paris when Katrina hit, was currently staying with his manager near Lafayette until he could safely return to New Orleans. The manager was kind enough to invite the entire crew to join her for dinner, after which, they filmed Bo playing a borrowed piano elsewhere in the neighborhood.
Leaving Lafayette, the crew moved on to Houston, where they filmed available members of the ReBirth Brass Band performing in a public park, and then Kermit Ruffins and his band performing at the Red Cat Jazz Cafe. From there, they drove to Austin, where they filmed the Iguanas at the Continental Club and a second performance by Cyril Neville at Threadgill's.
Buoyed by continuing good news from location, Ruggiero was even able to support a return of the crew to New Orleans. And this time around, thanks to Zelman's persistence, they finally were given access to an Army Corps of Engineers helicopter for the purpose of filming what was left of the Ninth Ward, the damaged Superdome, and several breached levees, all of which were better viewed from the air. In addition, the crew filmed Eddie Bo again, this time returning to New Orleans and entering his severely damaged coffeehouse for the first time since the storm.
In short, thanks to the timely support from Starz, producer-director-editor Mugge and his crew (producer Diana Zelman, cameramen Dave Sperling and Chris Li, audio person Seth Tallman, and production assistant/photographer Rob Mugge) managed to survey what was happening in New Orleans and several other cities as the catastrophe was still unfolding. As Mugge has said, "While in New Orleans, shortly after Katrina, it was clear we could have pointed our cameras in any direction and found powerful stories to tell. In fact, the devastation was so overwhelming that we were grateful we had decided to focus solely on what happened to the New Orleans music community, because that was a story of manageable scale, yet one which suggested the breadth of the larger human tragedy."
Robert Mugge's film examines what Hurricane Katrina and breached levees did to the city's music community
"Historically invaluable. An intimate and eye-opening meditation on the resiliency of the artists and the magnitude of the loss." - Variety
When Hurricane Katrina struck on August 29, 2005, filmmakerRobert Mugge and his son Rob were living in Jackson, Mississippi. Mugge was just completing a two-year run as filmmaker in residence for Mississippi Public Broadcasting and preparing to develop a music filmmaking program for Delta State University. Then the storm came, and all bets were off.When Hurricane Katrina struck on August 29, 2005, filmmaker Robert Mugge and his son Rob were living in Jackson, Mississippi where Mugge was completing a two-year run as filmmaker in residence for Mississippi Public Broadcasting. The storm's effects were nowhere near as bad in Jackson as they were along the Gulf Coast, but they were bad enough. After a week without power, Mugge and his son sought to learn what had happened to their musician friends in New Orleans and elsewhere across Louisiana. Gradually, they got word that nearly all were okay, though exiled with their families to other cities throughout the South, often with destroyed houses left behind.
Mugge discussed the situation with his Philadelphia-based associate Diana Zelman, and the two resolved to produce a film on what the storm and breached levees had wrought for the New Orleans music community. He next contacted Starz cable TV executives Stephan Shelanski and Brett Marottoli who had previously underwritten his 2002/2003 film LAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI JUKES and then acquired his 2004/2005 film BLUES DIVAS with Morgan Freeman (produced for Mississippi Public Broadcasting). He explained that he and Zelman wanted to move as quickly as possible to capture the damage and rebuilding efforts in New Orleans itself, while also tracking down and filming prominent musicians in their new, presumably temporary homes elsewhere. Shelanski and Marottoli were intrigued by the idea, yet wary they could pull together the necessary funding on extremely short notice.
Ultimately, Mugge and Starz worked out a deal where he, Zelman, and a small crew would film the transplanted Voodoo Fest - usually held in New Orleans but, for that year only, mostly moved to Memphis, Tennessee - and the outcome of that effort would determine whether Starz would provide the money needed for them also to shoot in New Orleans and elsewhere. The happy result was successful filming of outdoor performances by Dr. John, Cyril Neville, Cowboy Mouth, Theresa Andersson, beatinpath, and World Leader Pretend; of a recording studio performance by Theresa Andersson intended to open the film; and of a good number of relevant interviews.
In the meantime, Starz assigned new executive Michael Ruggiero to oversee the project, and he was happy enough with reports from Memphis to okay filming in New Orleans as well. Of course, at that point in late October, New Orleans was still barely functioning. For instance, as the film crew quickly learned, most hotels, restaurants, and other businesses were still closed; abandoned cars and boats littered the landscape; the air was dense with particles not conducive to breathing; countless homes were damaged beyond repair; blue protective tarps covered the roof of every second or third building; and stores displayed warnings that looters would be shot. For the most part, people seen on the street tended to be aid workers, construction crews, and Blackwater security guards (unmistakable from their black outfits, automatic weapons, and menacing looks). But somehow, Zelman managed to find rooms in a slightly damaged hotel not far from the French Quarter and figured out which few restaurants were at least partially up and running again.
In New Orleans, the project filmed Papa Loves Funk performing at the Maple Leaf Bar, as well as an intimate home performance by Jon Cleary, recently returned to his darkened Bywater neighborhood and a freezer full of stinking, spoiled meat. Other goals included documenting the overall devastation and recording interviews with key witnesses to what had happened, among them a magazine publisher, a newspaper reporter, a public radio general manager, staff of the charitable Tipitina's Foundation, and officials of the beleaguered Army Corps of Engineers. Certainly, the most moving shoots involved escorting singer Irma Thomas into her flooded home and nightclub, accompanying label owner Mark Samuels into his equally damaged home and offices, and running into Stephen Assaf at his fully demolished home, barely standing after being washed from its foundation. But perhaps the most unique experience was documenting a local voodoo priestess and her followers as they engaged in a ritual ceremony intended to "bring the dead city back to life again." Although it's unlikely this ceremony had anything to do with the city's ultimate revival, it did, at least in the moment, seem to bring electricity back to the surrounding neighborhood.
The biggest disappointment of the New Orleans visit was the canceling of promised use of an Army Corps of Engineers helicopter to film the closed-off Ninth Ward from above. The problem was that the visiting Prince of Wales wanted a helicopter ride as well, and royalty took precedence. Still, the New Orleans shooting had gone well, so Ruggiero scraped together funding for additional stops in Lafayette, Louisiana, then Houston and Austin. In Lafayette, the crew filmed Marcia Ball and her band in concert at Grant Street Dance hall, where Ball also presented a donated keyboard to her friend Eddie Bo. Bo, who had been playing in Paris when Katrina hit, was currently staying with his manager near Lafayette until he could safely return to New Orleans. The manager was kind enough to invite the entire crew to join her for dinner, after which, they filmed Bo playing a borrowed piano elsewhere in the neighborhood.
Leaving Lafayette, the crew moved on to Houston, where they filmed available members of the ReBirth Brass Band performing in a public park, and then Kermit Ruffins and his band performing at the Red Cat Jazz Cafe. From there, they drove to Austin, where they filmed the Iguanas at the Continental Club and a second performance by Cyril Neville at Threadgill's.
Buoyed by continuing good news from location, Ruggiero was even able to support a return of the crew to New Orleans. And this time around, thanks to Zelman's persistence, they finally were given access to an Army Corps of Engineers helicopter for the purpose of filming what was left of the Ninth Ward, the damaged Superdome, and several breached levees, all of which were better viewed from the air. In addition, the crew filmed Eddie Bo again, this time returning to New Orleans and entering his severely damaged coffeehouse for the first time since the storm.
In short, thanks to the timely support from Starz, producer-director-editor Mugge and his crew (producer Diana Zelman, cameramen Dave Sperling and Chris Li, audio person Seth Tallman, and production assistant/photographer Rob Mugge) managed to survey what was happening in New Orleans and several other cities as the catastrophe was still unfolding. As Mugge has said, "While in New Orleans, shortly after Katrina, it was clear we could have pointed our cameras in any direction and found powerful stories to tell. In fact, the devastation was so overwhelming that we were grateful we had decided to focus solely on what happened to the New Orleans music community, because that was a story of manageable scale, yet one which suggested the breadth of the larger human tragedy."
New video from Soundtrack Of Our Lives Ebbot Lundberg
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[image error]Ebbot Lundberg & The Indigo Children drop new album ‘For The Ages To Come’ in the UK, December 2nd
Here is the awesome video from Swedish indie favourites Soundtrack Of Our Lives frontman, Ebbot Lundberg https://youtu.be/6kpZT0OWnEc
Most well-known as the charismatic former Soundtrack Of Our Lives (SOOL) and Union Carbide Productions frontman, Ebbot Lundberg is finally set to unleash his first full solo release in the UK. Having teamed up with Grammy-nominated band The Indigo Children ‘For The Ages To Come’ will impact December 2nd.
Self-produced and recorded throughout last year in his native Gothenburg, the album is over-flowing with Lundberg’s trademark ear for melody; ‘For The Ages To Come’ is the musical odyssey we have come to expect, but has its roots firmly planted in the 1960s beat movement, with lyrical themes and hooks to match.
Witness the effervescence of ‘To Be Continued’, or the raucous pop stomp that is ‘Backdrop People;’ this is clearly an album overflowing with energy and vigour, a vibrancy that Lundberg was keen to capture on record.
“The Indigo Children actually supported SOOL a few years ago,” explains Lundberg, “They astounded us with their sheer energy. When it came to deciding who I wanted to work with on this record, there was only one option in my mind…”
‘For The Ages To Come’ represents the first solo release for Lundberg since the epic 43 minute long song ‘There’s Only One Of Us Here’, and to mark the occasion, he is set to play songs from the album at a headline show in London Upstairs At The Garage on December 4th.
It is clear the album represents the beginning of a journey for Lundberg; “This represents where I am, and where I am going. It is the first album, but certainly not the last.” In fact, Lundberg’s creative output shows little sign of abating; whilst already writing songs for the follow-up album, he is also collaborating with members of Spiritualized and legendary Nirvana producer Butch Vig on a project to see the light of day next year.
For Ebbot Lundberg, it is clear that age is a barrier to neither creative output nor excellence; for that we need only witness ‘For The Ages To Come’ as living proof.
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