Following the announcement of her involvement with January's 'Way To Blue' series of concerts celebrating Nick Drake's music ; Vashti Bunyan will be playing six UK headline dates in April and May. She is currently working on a new album, the follow up to 2005's long- awaited 'Lookaftering' with Andy Cabic of Vetiver tipped for the producer's chair. The spring tour starts off in April in Bristol and wraps up at Bracknell's beautiful South Hill Park Arts Centre. Dates for the January gigs and Spring tour here: [...]
![<span style="color: #384E60; background-color:#84CCF2">Robyn</span> <span style="color: #384E60; background-color:#84CCF2">Hitchcock</span>: I Often Dream of Trains in New York [DVD] (Reviews)](http://cache.elbo.ws/posts/2139363_lg.jpg)
Good performances of great songs, but there's nothing to see here, people. Not too long ago, I reviewed the new Flight of the Conchords album, and among my complaints was the charge that some of the songs didn't work without their accompanying visuals. Well, feel free to haul out your Emerson and find something about foolish consistency, because I'm about to say that Robyn Hitchcock's concert DVD I Often Dream of Trains in New York would be a lot stronger without the whole "DVD" part. Takes all...
The first time I did acid was the nite of our junior prom. Of course, I didn't go. No self respecting stoner would go to a dance party! So Neil and I (with Steve driving... and non psychedelicized) ate some Mickey Mouse blotter and went to the local Church carnival... where the acid kicked in as we were flying around on those not so safe carny rides. After that, we went to the beach. I had never been to the beach before... and wading into the ocean with a head full of trips in the dark was certainly [...]
A sparkling revu of David Greenbergers spoke-word w/ music Cherry Picking Apple Blossom Time by none other than Robyn Hitchcock: David Greenberger meanders around America, lovingly collecting the life stories of old people like fireflies in a jar. On Cherry Picking Apple Blossom Time he visits Milwaukee which, as one elderly resident explains, has the same [...]
Broken-hearted folk, power pop and soul Ardent Studios , famed both for their original productions by Big Star and the raft of overflow sessions hosted for Stax, is still a working concern. Recent visitors have included Robyn Hitchcock, Klaus Voorman, Jack White and many more local, national and international luminaries. Less well-known is that the Ardent Music record label provides a modern day parallel to the original Ardent Records upon which Big Star's albums and singles were released. The label's latest is the debut by Star & Micey, [...]
I came across this Big Dipper 12" single the other day at my local record store. It was still sealed and only a $1.99. What the heck? I remember this 12" from back when it came out in 1987, mostly because of the memorable cover, which was very similar in layout to both Robyn Hitchcock's Element of Light and The Jazz Butcher's Fishcotheque , all of which came out around the same time. But I can't remember if I owned it, or if I had a friend who owned [...]
Nick Nicely is perhaps the ultimate musical cult hero — he released two singles in the U.K. in the early '80s, both of which earned critical acclaim but gathered little commercial steam, and then he fell below the radar. Nicely's mix of '60s psychedelic influences and the sonic vocabulary of '80s New Wave prefigured the work of artists like Robyn Hitchcock, The Three O'Clock, and XTC's paisley alter egos The Dukes of Stratosphear, but it would take 22 years before anything more was heard from the British singer/songwriter/multi-instru mentalist. When the Psychotropia collection finally arrived in 2004, it [...]
More slim pickins for Drake this week as he runs down the latest live effort from the prolific Robyn Hitchcock . -ed. Drake's Take: New Releases 11.10.09 Another week closer to the holidays, and even more gift-oriented releases - this week featuring live ( Robyn Hitchcock ) and greatest hits ( Snow Patrol ) collections. There were a few new releases as well, from The Cribs (featuring Johnny Marr ), Asobi Seksu, Wale, Grant-Lee Phillips, Caroline Herring, Ray Davies, Pants Yell! and [...]
Photo: Davey Wilson Download podcast: Courtney Smith's review of Champagne in Seashells Download MP3: Liam Finn "Plane Crash" Liam Finn is a musical legacy. His is the son of Neil Finn, who is famous in his own right, but more so for bands Crowded House and Split Enz. The latter band was started by his brother Tim Finn, Liam's uncle, who also joined in to record and tour with Crowded House for one of their later albums, Woodface . [...]
Another week closer to the holidays, and even more gift-oriented releases -- this week featuring live (Robyn Hitchcock) and greatest hits (Snow Patrol) collections. There were a few new releases as well, from The Cribs (featuring Johnny Marr), Asobi Seksu, Wale, Grant-Lee Phillips, Caroline Herring, Ray Davies, Pants Yell! and Echo & the Bunnymen. Playlist: New Releases 11.10.09 Robyn Hitchcock - I Often Dream of Trains in New York Stream / [...]
Bobby Birdman - New Moods D. Boon - D. Boon and Friends Brazos - Phosphorescent Blues Dragon Turtle - Almanac MP3: Dragon Turtle - "Causality" Stream: Dragon Turtle - Almanac via Listen@MBV [...]
We've still got a couple of weeks before the holiday season officially kicks off, so don't make us start thinking end-of-year roundup just yet, okay? Before that seasonal mania sets in, let's have ourselves some actual fun . Now, if you're the sort who's likely to find your fun in this week's offerings by the likes of Bon Jovi or Switchfoot, God bless, good luck, and take it someplace else. If, however, you share with us that rare commodity called "taste," you could do a lot worse than to avail yourself of the sweet, snappy pop, moody, mysterioso folk-rock, [...]
Busy with work this week, so I don't have time to right much right now. Here's three random songs that have absolutely no relation to each other, other than the fact that I like them all. MC Chris - "Fett's Vett" If you're a Star Wars geek like me, chances are you've already heard this one. If you haven't, take a listen now. I pretty sure it's the best sci-fi gangsta rap ever. From Chris's album Life's A Bitch and I'm Her Pimp [...]
Here's a look at one of the last few good weeks for new releases in 2009: Tori Amos- Review Animal Collective Bobby Birdman- MP3 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club- video Blue Rodeo Bon Jovi Dashboard Confessional Robyn Hitchcock Ash Koley- MP3 Loch Lomond- Review Omar Rodriguez Lopez Heather Masse Puscifer The Sun- MP3 Stationary Odyssey- MP3 Tommy T- MP3
Tori Amos's holiday album, Midwinter Graces , is in stores tomorrow, as is the Pixies 17-disc Minotaur box set. Among the discs that have already been sent my way, I can definitely recommend Caroline Herring's Golden Apples of the Sun , Hyperstory's self-titled album , Loch Lomond's Night Bats , and Robyn Hitchcock's live album, I Often Dream of Trains in New York (CD & DVD) . Reissues this week [...]
Prepare yourself. Super producer/genius Jon Brion is probably going to work with Of Montreal on their Skeletal Lamping follow-up. This came to the music world's attention via the band's twitter page where the following message was posted: Just had a rad meeting with sir jon brion.looks like were gonna work together on the new album! Dreams do come true:•) I feel like someone just dunked my head in cold water and if this goes down, I'm going to lose it. I love Jon Brion [...]
Friday afternoon I was listening to my ipod at work. In the space of an hour three different versions of "A Day In The Life" came up on shuffle, and not one of them was the The Beatles' original version. What are the chances? This is probably my second favorite Fab Four song, so it didn't really surprise me that I had so many versions of it (I don't have any covers of "In My Life" in my collection, because anyone who does that song tends to make it overly [...]
Of Montreal and Jon Brion are a match made in heaven, apparently: according to the band's Twitter , they "Just had a rad meeting with sir jon brion.looks like were gonna work together on the new album! Dreams do come true:•)." Kevin Shield's penchant for body paint and riding horses onstage meshes perfectly with Brion's production style. The musician/producer, who has written the scores for a variety of soundtracks (including those for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind , I Heart Huckabees , and Synecdoche, New York ) in addition to producing albums [...]
' Tonight , Matthew, I'm going to be ..... " Is Nick Drake still trendy? Mind a few years back when Brad Pitt and the like started declaring their love for the cult folk song writer, that's all passed by now right? Hopefully as there is nothing worse than having to listen to celebrities banging on about a musician they've 'discovered', it can really kill the music for me, it's like finding the moment when the muppets in your work suddenly know all about that [...]
![Mock Orange - Captain Love - Tigertrap Records [Album Review]](http://cache.elbo.ws/posts/2087772_lg.jpg)
Hearing Captain Love made me want to HUP-two-three-four, stand at attention and snap a million salutes because it's so rare for me to take such pleasure from a rock album with pop persuasions. Mock Orange present a rare batch of influences before the listener and DARE him/her to deal with it, up to and including: A resemblance, in both the lead and back-up vocals, to How it Feels / Rising [...]
new music from vampire weekend – cousins + music video
Friday Five: Surf Songs
Beach House: Norway
No Curve Allowed (Grading This Week's New Tracks)
