As you may or may not know, Chi Cheng (bass player of Deftones) was in a car accident in November 2008 and is currently in a “minimally conscious” state.
I’ve previously posted links to the website set up to raise funds for his care and i make no apologies for doing so again. Please donate…. oneloveforchi.
Over the last 3 and bit years Chi has been very slowly making progress and at the beginning of this month there was a heart warming and encouraging moment when he lifted his leg on request. It’s one very small step in a long, long road to recovery.
Deftones are and always will be one of my favourite bands but, even though their last album and latest live shows were phenomenal, i just can’t help but feel their not quite complete without the presence of Chi. My best wishes go out to all the Cheng and Deftones family.
Last month Justin Vernon of Bon Iver revealed that the band would be releasing his second album, the follow up to the bautiful “For Emma, Forever Ago”, in June. Earlier this week he released artwork, tracklisting and a little video teaser of what to expect….
It’s taken 3 years to make “Bon Iver, Bon Iver” and inbetween, the recording of the new stuff, Justin Vernon has been a very busy man. Always keeping himself on the go musically with not only his own material but guest spots with Kanye West, Anais Mitchell, All Tiny Creatures, The National etc etc. Add in his collaborative work with Gayngs and Volcano Choir and you have an insanely tight schedule. So it’s pretty fucking amazing to know that he’s put the time aside to release what is surely going to be another masterpiece under the Bon Iver name. I hope they tour this summer.
Bon Iver – Self Titled (Tracklist)
All the songs (apart from the closer Beth/Rest) are named after places.
I’m gonna do a post on the many musical adventures of Justin Vernon at some point this summer, you won’t want to miss it. Until then here’s a little reminder of THAT talent in the form of the delicate “Creature Fear”.
Just discovered the really sad news that TV On The Radio member Gerard Smith has passed away at the age of only 34.
Last month the band revealed that their bassist had been diagnosed with lung cancer and today they announced that he had passed away this morning, just 9 days after the release of the bands latest release “Nine Types Of Light”. To some, Smith was maybe one of the lesser known members of TV On The Radio but he was not any less influential than any of his bandmates. He’ll be sadly missed. My thoughts are with his friends and family.
Sometimes words can’t do justice so i’ll let the music speak for itself.
Apparently, here in Glasgow, today is to be the hottest day of the year so far. Mr Sunshine should be making his appearance within the next hour or so and the heat should hit 19 degrees celsius……
…..that’s only if you believe the weather boffins though. Maybe they’ve got it right (for once) or maybe they’re wrong and we’ll have another distinctly average day of weather. Distinctly average weather in Scotland means rain, sun, wind, more rain, cold breeze, really really warm for an hour, back to breezy, rain again, wind and then maybe some sleet to finish off the day. Basically, on a “good” day we could experience all four seasons in 24 hours.
Here’s a couple of interesting weathermen…..
“Pretty much everywhere’s gonna be hot….”
“Tut tut, Tomasz Scahfernaker…”
I do love the proper summer though and to be fair looking out at my current view it looks like it’s gonna be a nice day. A really nice day. Is summer here early and getting a dress rehearsal in for the coming months or will today just be a cameo appearance? Here’s hoping it’s the former. I’m looking forward to a summer of lazing about in the Botanic and Kelvningrove Parks with my girlfriend and best friends. Picnics and beer at the ready. Smokes rolled, iPods fully charged and the sun shining.
Anyway, the whole point of this post was to bring you the sound of pre-summer……the sunshines opening act if you like. It’s a little collaboration i randomly happened upon. It’s a collection of tracks courtesy of the musical minds that are Star Slinger and TEAMS. Call it re-works, call it sampling, call it whatever you want. But i call it summer.
TRACKLISTING
——————–
SIDE A
1. Close To Me
2. Punch Drunk Love
3. Life Partner
SIDE B
4. Say Please
5. 86 Carat Gold (right click save as)
6. The Yes Strut
You can buy this glorious piece of mini sunshine here.
I stumbled across this online and i feel it’s my duty to share it.
Tyler Gray over at Fast Company enlisted the help of Tiffany Farrant in deconstructing the latest mash up full length from Greg Gillis aka Girl Talk. But this wasn’t any old deconstructing or review. It was a “visual breakdown” infographic. I was intrigued. I’m sure you will be too.
“Greg Gillis quit his job as a biomedical engineer two years ago to become a full-time mashup artist known as Girl Talk. He still approaches his music like a scientist, though, combining the DNA of songs in divergent genres to grow unique hybrid jams. He’s the only one who knows the full genetic code. But here’s a stab by Fast Company and infographic artist Tiffany Farrant at mapping the samples on Girl Talk’s latest, “All Day.”
Here’s an example of the kinda thing i’m talking about.
Also, any excuse to post a track from the mash up master.
MP3: Girl Talk – Oh No
If you head on over to the article you’ll be able to expand on the available infographic and browse through in more detail.
For those who want an audio and visual experience of the work of art that is “All Day” then check out this fine piece of technology over at Mashup Breakdown.
Remember “All Day” is available for free download under the Creative Commons license at Illegal Art.
Before i finish up i’m gonna leave you with a few Girl Talk extras.
First, a brilliant track from the “Stop Cleveland Hate” EP.
I’ve not had nearly enough time to get as much 2011 posts up as i’d like to. As usual it’s a culmination of many things preventing me. Lack of time, work, family, friends and a new addition to the reasons…..jamming. My old band “The Gorecki” have got back together. So we’ve been busy jamming and rehearsing new tracks and i’ve been spending a lot of time writing some new material for both “The Gorecki” and for an other upcoming boy/girl project i have planned with one of my best friends. More news on that to follow though.
If you wanna keep up to date with any happenings on The Gorecki front then the places to check are The-Gorecki/2 or for a studio diary from our newest member check over at thetwosimons.wordpress.com/.
It’s looking like i’ll have a relatively free evening tomorrow night so i’ll 100% get the rest of the “Best of 2010” lists posted up over the weekend and then we can look ahead to what 2011 has to offer on the music front.
In the meantime, here’s a few songs on rotation on my iPod that have currently been keeping me sane during my busy week at work.
Today the five year plan is over but this “celebration” lives on in whatever way you want it to…..
I’ve stuck to the idea of “No Music Day” as much as i possibly could since it’s introduction in 2005 but his year i’m skipping class and breaking the rules, well i’m actually destroying them, by going to the ABC tonight to see Nathan Fake, Caribou, Four Tet, James Holden and Rocketnumbernine in an electronic and IDM-fest. And i don’t feel in the slightest bit guilty.
It’s up to you whether or not you give your ears the day off or not…
Before i begin, i’ve heard a rumour recently that Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster have split. I really hope it’s just that, a rumour and nothing more.
In all honesty i probably should’ve had this post up up sooner but i’d kinda forgot about it. Earlier this year i posted about the long awaited comeback of the Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster and mentioned that i had most of the “hard to find” tracks. Since then i’ve had a few requests through this site and through emails asking if i could forward the tracks on. So here they are….
The tracks range from early pre debut album demo’s through to b-sides, live tracks and an amazing cover of T-Rex.
I was gonna upload all the tracks separately but decided against it as i didn’t have the time to convert them all tonight. They were all on a CD i made years ago so i ripped them back onto my laptop and then just created zip files and uploaded them to my mediafire account.
EIGHTIES MATCHBOX – RARITIES (PART 1)
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1. Count The Voices
2. Love Turns To Hate (original version)
3. Surrender
4. 20th Century Boy (T-Rex cover)
5. Briefcases for Girls
6. Ice Cream
7. Grrr
8. 6:30
9. Alchemy
10. Charge The Guns (demo version)
11. Chicken (demo version)
12. 6:30 *
13. Ha!
14. Return December
15. Professionalism
16. We Don’t Rock
17. Ho Ha
18. Alex
19. Torrential Abuse
20. Turkish Delights Of The Devil
21. Mr Mental (live)
22. Giant Bones (live)
23. Morning Has Broken (live)
24. Palominos Dream DOWNLOAD: TEMBLD – Rarities Part 1 * For some reason the track “6:30” appears twice. It’s the same version twice over.
EIGHTIES MATCHBOX – RARITIES (PART 2)
——————————————————-
1. In The Garden (original version)
2. You Say You’re The Doctor But I Know You’re The Mister
3. Eureka!
4. I Hate The Blues
5. Presidential Wave (live @ the BBC)
6. Celebrate Your Mother (live @ the BBC)
7. Flag Party
8. Horse Of The Dog
9. Lazy Bones DOWNLOAD:TEMBLD – Rarities Part 2
I have a few other ones lying around too. Two tracks from the “In The Garden” EP.
Speaking of the most recent incarnation, new addition guitarist Dominic Knights solo project “Screaming Tupelo” is more than worth checking out.
The most accurate description i’ve heard of him is the following:
Raised at the altar of Elvis and The Cramps, baptised in the fire of sonic fuzz and primitive stomp, Screaming Tupelo is a one man ear-pounding, heart-thumping blues-punk evangelist, delivering his testimony of raw blood and tears, sweat-soaked rock’n’roll.
And now for one from the old brigade. Original lead guitarist and founding member Andy Huxley (that’s him sitting down top left up there) left in 2005 and went onto form Vile Imbeciles.
Then Rich Fownes came and went. In his 3 year tenure in the 80’s Matchbox he obviously contributed a few songs. The one that stuck out most is called “Kemptown Animal”. Since his departure from the Disaster he has played in/formed two bands, With Scissors and Bad For Lazarus. He’s also been known to play live with UNKLE and he had a planned role in Nine Inch Nails live band that eventually crumbled.
The track “Kemptown Animal” was also recorded by Bad For Lazarus with Rich on vocals. I don’t actually have the Eighties Matchbox version but if anyone knows where i can get it then it’d be well appreciated.
There are also a few more Eighties Matchbox rare tracks that i’d like to get a hold of. They’re mostly the newer demo’s and b-sides from “In The Garden” era and onwards. Once again, any help in finding these is much obliged.
7 Years ago today the late, great Elliott Smith died. There is still some debate as to whether he committed suicide or not. But that’s another matter altogether. This post is to celebrate the life of Smith and the never ending legacy that he left behind.
I’m a huge fan of his songwriting skills and voice but i’m simply in awe of the raw emotion he could pluck and strum out of 6 simple guitar strings. There are only a handful of people in this universe of ours who can somehow make me feel the way i do when i listen to Elliott Smith tracks. His albums aren’t ones that i listen to when i’m company of friends. No, Elliott Smith is best experienced alone and dare i say it when you’re feeling down. If you know his back story and the struggles he went through then you’ll know what i mean. The words he sings, the way he sings them, the guitar he strums and the way he strums it can inspire anyone, no matter how down you are, to find that little extra bit of strength to pull through the darkest of times.
He was and still is an inspirational figure to myself and many my friends but it’s not just us who love him…….
His songs have been covered by a wide variety of artists and through a huge spectrum of genres. Here’s a select few.
On the 1st of November, Domino Records release a best of Elliott Smith CD simply entitled “An Introduction To……Elliott Smith”. The tracklisting is pretty flawless. Elliott Smith isn’t the easiest person to make a best of compilation for as he has so many songs that are worthy of making the cut but the album has been whittled down to 14 tracks from this supremely talented and gifted artist.
Live he was a phenomenal force. Quiet yet loud. Happy yet sad. Weak yet somehow strong. All the while very shy and very endearing.
You can download a live Elliott Smith set from Stockholm in 1998 here.
Here’s the setlist:
1. Angeles 2. Division Day 3. Clementine 4. Alameda 5. Between the Bars 6. Pictures of Me 7. Waltz #2 8. Rose Parade 9. Some Song 10. Say Yes 11. Needle in the Hay 12. Roman Candle 13. Independence Day 14. Speed Trials 15. 2:45 AM 16. No Name #1 17. Thirteen
I’ve never seen him live in the flesh but i’ve seen a lot of YouTube videos and this one in particular gives me chills every time. You feel like he’s in the room alongside you playing for only you.
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Someones In The Wolf 