Do you remember The Feeling? Ten years ago their debut "Twelve Stops And Home" was not just a quite successful album (No. 2 in the UK charts!) it was also REALLY good!
Sadly their success declined with every following album (I also lost track with them).
Now - 10 years later - The Feeling is back with the fifth - self-titled - album. A record I didn't expect to leave any impact on me. Boy I was wrong!
Instruction Manual for the record "The Feeling":
1) Check your pulse.
2) Find a source to listen to the record in full (Spotify, Apple Music, Google Music ... or if you're as old as me: buy it on CD or Vinyl)!
3) Turn the volume UP (you know how far you can go, do you?)! Alternative: Headphones!
4) Use this track list: Feel Something // Wicked Heart // Spiralling // Real Deal // Repeat To Fade // Let It Be Gone // What's The Secret? // Sleep Tight
5) Check your pulse. Has it changed?
Friday, May 27, 2016
The Monkees - Good Times!
"Good Times!" is the twelfth studio album by the Monkees - and the band's 50th anniversary. Produced by Adam Schlesinger it bring together Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork.
The record consists of unreleased songs they wrote together with Neil Diamond, Carole King & Gerry Goffin, Harry Nilsson & Bobby Hart as well as new songs by Rivers Cuomo, Andy Partridge, Ben Gibbard, Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller.
The title track was written by Harry Nilsson. A demo was used to create a duet between Nilsson and Micky Dolenz.
The record consists of unreleased songs they wrote together with Neil Diamond, Carole King & Gerry Goffin, Harry Nilsson & Bobby Hart as well as new songs by Rivers Cuomo, Andy Partridge, Ben Gibbard, Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller.
The title track was written by Harry Nilsson. A demo was used to create a duet between Nilsson and Micky Dolenz.
Travis - Everything at Once (Update May 2016)
Travis are back! Their latest full length record "Everything at Once" is their 8th record and the 20th year of the band (time flies!). It was produced by Michael Ilbert at the legendary Hansa Studios in Berlin.
If you don't know the history of the band - here's a collection of the best Travis songs:
Travis never disappoints with their records. The opener "What Will Come" impressively shows the strength for lyrics & melody.
Fran Healy described "Magnificent Time" as the time of everyone's life where boys and girls become adults. A time where everything explodes and you say "Woo-ooh - wait a second, I can do all THAT now?" - a period you never ever get back and you should enjoy it as much as you can. The song itself is also magnificent, by the way.
"Radio song" and "Animal" are dangerously catchy!
And there is "Everything At Once". I had the chance to see it live (it was the opener of the show). Play it LOUD. It rocks!
Listen to the full album below!
Listen to the full album below!
If you don't know the history of the band - here's a collection of the best Travis songs:
Sunday, May 1, 2016
Owsley - The possibility of a third record
About a month ago I asked via Facebook:
Just a theoretical question: If there would be enough songs for a proper third record of Owsley, how many people would buy this record or would pay for a crowd funding?
Within 24 hours more than 120 people (just at this Facebook group) answered "YES". They would have bought at least this record, many of them wanted give more money just to get this record out.
Because of this, I thought a next step would be to start a poll and give you some samples of the songs that are already out in the world wide web (at various sources).
These are the songs that are already there. I excluded some collaborations and live recordings. So this is the attempt for a first track list. There are even more songs in the archives.
The biggest problem to get this record done are copyright questions and production costs. It could be helpful to estimate if financing of the record (e.g. by crowd funding) would work well or not. So please answer the poll below:
So everyone: let's cross your fingers we get this thing started (or better done).
Just a theoretical question: If there would be enough songs for a proper third record of Owsley, how many people would buy this record or would pay for a crowd funding?
Within 24 hours more than 120 people (just at this Facebook group) answered "YES". They would have bought at least this record, many of them wanted give more money just to get this record out.
Because of this, I thought a next step would be to start a poll and give you some samples of the songs that are already out in the world wide web (at various sources).
These are the songs that are already there. I excluded some collaborations and live recordings. So this is the attempt for a first track list. There are even more songs in the archives.
The biggest problem to get this record done are copyright questions and production costs. It could be helpful to estimate if financing of the record (e.g. by crowd funding) would work well or not. So please answer the poll below:
Would you buy a third Owsley record?
So everyone: let's cross your fingers we get this thing started (or better done).
Sunday, March 27, 2016
The Honeydogs - Love & Cannibalism (Review)
The Honeydogs are back. Four years after What Comes After comes ... Love & Cannibalism. Adam Levy and his band recorded the album at The Pearl Studio in Minneapolis with producer John Fields (Semisonic, Rooney). Love & Cannibalism will be out April 16, 2016.
The album opens with a straight rocker: Vermillion Billows (Shouldn't Take It So Hard). Devices sums up classic Honeydogs sound with soul and jazz influences. Art & Vandalism goes into your ears and gets stuck in your brain (careful!) - it's such an ear-worm. Wheels has a classic (maybe 1970s) touch - the ending is magnificent. Gorgeous harmonies accompany Left Alone. Yet another bad-ass ear-worm.
And then comes Sandstorm: My gosh - this is such a strong song. By the way: the intro reminds me of Bleu's Redhead. Again a hard rocking track: Blue-Backed Speller. The guitar work is stunning, reminds me sometimes of Brian May's Queen sound.
Look Through The Sun (Photokeratits),Arguing With Fiction and Ordinary Legs are instant Honeydogs classics. I rest my case.
The record finishes with a slightly seldom kind of album ending song: Little Sister is so positive - or better: it just makes you happy. The track mixes upbeat elements (I LOVE the chorus) with Caribbean sound.
The record finishes with a slightly seldom kind of album ending song: Little Sister is so positive - or better: it just makes you happy. The track mixes upbeat elements (I LOVE the chorus) with Caribbean sound.
For me Love & Cannibalism is the counterpart to Adam Levy's Naubinway from 2015. While Naubinway is sometime hard to get through because of its meaning (which is reflected in every song), Love & Cannibalism is straight, positive and full of joy.
Just to make sure: Don't get me wrong about Naubinway - I love the record (see my Top 10 list of 2015).
In my opinion there is not a single filler or skippable song on Love & Cannibalism. Every songs stands on his own. This may be one of the best things you can say about a record.
Listen (and watch the video) to "Arguing With Fiction" here:
You can and would do well to buy Love & Cannibalism at Bandcamp after its mid-April 2016 release.
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Paul Steel - April & II (Update - March 13, 2016)
Paul Steel is back with a new record. The PledgeMusic campaign for April & II is out now.
Paul explains:
"‘April & I’ the first time round was a pre-emptive teenage rebellion against all the musical sacrifices I suspected I’d have to make once I’d signed a record deal. That was in 2007.
I’m nearly 30 now, I have facial hair, hypothyroidism, occasional back problems and I’ve been working as a commercial pop writer and producer where my own personal musical sacrifice has earned me a living.
However, more and more I’ve been craving that rush you get from making music for its own sake. After a few years of nothingness, I had a thought. Then shortly after another different thought appeared. Then another. And another. By the end of 2014 I could count at least 20 different thoughts and observations roughly speaking! This giddy feeling of infinite possibility and inspiration took me straight back to the ‘April & I’ days so it made sense for this new record to be a sequel."
"‘April & I’ the first time round was a pre-emptive teenage rebellion against all the musical sacrifices I suspected I’d have to make once I’d signed a record deal. That was in 2007.
I’m nearly 30 now, I have facial hair, hypothyroidism, occasional back problems and I’ve been working as a commercial pop writer and producer where my own personal musical sacrifice has earned me a living.
However, more and more I’ve been craving that rush you get from making music for its own sake. After a few years of nothingness, I had a thought. Then shortly after another different thought appeared. Then another. And another. By the end of 2014 I could count at least 20 different thoughts and observations roughly speaking! This giddy feeling of infinite possibility and inspiration took me straight back to the ‘April & I’ days so it made sense for this new record to be a sequel."
BEWARE! Listen to the first song and you will HAVE TO pledge. It's stunning.
Update (March 13, 2016) - here is another song from the record:
Friday, March 11, 2016
Teddy Thompson & Kelly Jones - Little Windows
Teddy Thompson & Kelly Jones recorded an album together with the help of our co-writer Bill DeMain and producer Mike Viola. It’s called Little Windows and will be out April 1, 2016.
On their debut collaboration, Teddy Thompson and Kelly Jones give listeners ten engaging views of the joys and sorrows of love and the vagaries of the human heart - from wide-eyed wonderment ("Wondering") to lingering nostalgia ("I Thought That We Said Goodbye"), from promises ("Make A Wish On Me") and pleas ("Don't Remind Me") to sad self-deception ("Better At Lying").
Teddy and Kelly first sang together at LA's Club Largo in 2011. A George Jones song. The harmony blend was goosebump good. It seemed only natural to do more.
The songs create complex emotions with simple honesty, that measure up to those by favorite artists like the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly and Sam Cooke.
Johnson & McAuley - Illuminated Dream
Alexz Johnson and Bleu team up for a new record: Johnson & McAuley - Illuminated Dream.
Track Listing:
01 Illuminated Dream
02 The Promise
03 Heartbeat (Beatin’ You Up)
04 The Secrets You Keep
05 Diametrical
06 No More Fear
Pre-Order via PayPal:
US Shipping - Black Vinyl Album
International Shipping - PINK Opaque Vinyl Album
Bleu - Won't Make It Out Alive
Won't Make It Out Alive is the new video of To Hell With You from Bleu:
Air Traffic Controller - Black Box
Serving in the US Navy as an air traffic controller, Dave Munro sent home demos written during deployment. Band mate Casey Sullivan met Dave soon thereafter, and the two founded Air Traffic Controller.
Their third record BLACK BOX is out now.
Listen to BLACK BOX here:
Listen to BLACK BOX here:
Linda Perhacs - The Third Album
"Legendary" is a kind of inflationary phrase. But sometime it fits quite well: Linda Perhacs’ record Parallelograms is one of those. Released in 1970 it wasn't a big hits back then, but became a record in great demand. The original vinyl release was quite rare, but also quite badly pressed. Perhacs says: “I could only bear to listen to it once. I
then threw my copy of my own record away.”
In 2003 a CD release followed and in 2010 she began slowly again making music.
2014 - after 43 years - her second record finally was made. With producers (and Perhacs fans) Fernando Perdomo and Chris Price the stunning follow-up The Soul of All Natural Things was released.
Presently Perhacs will be self-releasing her third album. She has decided to go without a label to get the music straight to the people. Joining her on her new album will be co producers, Pat Sansone of Wilco and The Autumn Defense, and Fernando Perdomo. Guests will include Chris Price, Julia Holter, Jonathan Wilson, Durga McBroom, Michelle Vidal, Devendra Banhart and more.
Perks include signed CD's and LP's, Signed Lyric Sheets, Signed Guitars, Skype Sessions, and more.
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