New U2 album this Spring?

Apparently the next U2 album, Songs Of Ascent may be coming sooner, rather than later. According to Paul McGuinness it could be before May, when the next North American tour starts.

Great.

You can get plenty of rumours about it here at @U2

Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz - Review

Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
(Asthmatic Kitty - 2010)





So at long last a new Sufjan record. We feared it may never come. Sufjan had hinted before that he didn’t see the point in writing songs any more. He had moved into grand orchestral compositions (the BQE - a whole record about a road), and guesting and arranging on many albums (including The National - High Violet).

No, The Age of Adz is not another 50 states album. That was enough of a millstone to hang around one’s neck. He never intended to complete the project anyway, it was all for press.

So what is it? Well first the good news - it is songs in the usual sense of the word - verse chorus verse (almost). But the (perhaps) bad news is that it’s all electronic. Gone are the acoustic instruments and in are the drum loops, instead we are treated to verse, chorus, bridge, backbeat. Gated reverb. Autotune. Space echo.

It’s all inspired, not by an american state, but by the apocalyptic paintings of outsider artist Royal Robertson (1930-1997), whose work is used for the album cover and interior design. As such it features a song about snake-skinned aliens descending from the skies. Sufjan appropriately locks himself in the toilet before erupting in religious fervour: "I must do the right thing! Get right with the Lord!"

This reference is interesting. Sufjan is adored by evangelicals as he has in the past created beautiful songs depicting Abraham, the Transfiguration and death on a cross (To Be Alone With You). However on this album, (I Want To Be Well) full of his trademark sincerity he uses an expletive, screaming “I’m not f**king around”. I’m sure he’s not but it will be interesting to see what reaction this provokes amongst some quarters.

But the new record - The Age of Adz - is it good? Should you buy it? How does it compare to the timeless brilliance of Illinois?

Well the answers to those are probably:
1 - Yes, in places brilliant, in others not so much.
2 - It’s a Sufjan record. Of course.
3 - Different, at least at first glance.

It opens with “Futile Devices”, a delicate hushed guitar song which was just what the doctor ordered, nothing scary there. Next up is the standout track of the album - “Too Much”. Sufjan, reckoning that he’s got you to track 2 without too much issue decides to make a statement of intent. Drum loops roll, synth go, layer upon layer - check. It sounds different to the previous records since Enjoy Your Rabbit but it is simply painting the same painting with a different colour. At the heart of the song is a good melody, a catchy hook, and trademark backing vocals. It’s a great song.

The Age of Adz is characteristically a very clever album. As we have come to expect the tracks are full of great syncopation, rising layers and terrific melodies but it is intentionally challenging listening in places. Think of listened to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Wilco) it takes quite a few listens to get past the distracting beeps and bops and to find the songwriting at the centre. It ends with “Impossible Soul “ a 25-minute piece, that amalgamates elements of folk, hip hop and anything else Sufjan could find on the recording studio floor.

I Walked, is another example, it opens with a drum loop and keyboard, but proceeds to tell a delicate story. The whole album deals with the personal and primal: love, sex, death, disease, illness, anxiety and suicide conveyed not obliquely, but with urgency and immediacy. Perhaps it is easier to speak of such things with a loud drum loop over the top.

Good artists challenge you, to follow them, to move, not to rest on what is comfortable. Sufjan does this, and I’m glad he does but, am I the only one disappointed that there isn’t more banjo?

Sufjan Stevens - Listen to the Age of Adz

Here is a Tuesday Treat for you all. For a limited time you can listen to the entirety of the forthcoming Sufjan Stevens record - the Age of Adz - for free.

To do so, courtesy of NPR click here: http://n.pr/c7NTuM

And if you don't have time for that check out the Single - Too Much. This was the song that Sufjan has been airing on his recent tours. 

“Too Much (Short Version)”
http://asthmatickitty.com/go/too-much-short

BEN FOLDS ADDS MUSIC TO NICK HORNBY'S WORDS FOR LONELY AVENUE,

Due out Sept 28th and streaming in full here

Ben Folds used to be a great artist. Perhaps he still is, but somehow he seems to have lost his way for a bit. I remember when every college dorm seemed to be playing Whatever and Ever Amen.

He's back, this time with Lonely Avenue, a collaboration with English novelist Nick Hornby. Lonely Avenue will be released September 28 on Nonesuch Records. The album features music and vocals by Folds and lyrics by Hornby, with string arrangements by one of the most influential pop string arrangers of all time, Paul Buckmaster (David Bowie, Elton John, Leonard Cohen).

Apparently it's been made made specifically to be listened to on vinyl. It was recorded on 2-inch tape and will be available on audiophile-grade vinyl, cut with the Direct Metal Master process at Abbey Road Studios and pressed at Pallas Manufacturing in Diepholz, Germany. Don't worry you can still download it or get a CD.

The idea to create an album of Folds' unique pop songwriting sensibilities with Hornby's insightful prose was conceived during a dinner conversation between the two friends one night in 2009. After that, Hornby began regularly emailing lyrics to Folds, who then turned them into Lonely Avenue's 12 musical short stories. The songs touch on subject matter ranging from a mother with a child in the hospital over New Years Eve to the work of Doc Pomus, lyricist of countless `50s and `60s pop hits.

Ben Folds first found mainstream success as the leader of the critically acclaimed platinum selling Ben Folds Five. He has gone on to have a very successful solo career, recording three studio albums in addition to a pair of records documenting his renowned live performances and a remix record. Folds also recently released Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella!, a collection of his songs performed by college groups. In 2009 Folds was featured as a judge on NBC's a capella competition The Sing Off (a role he will reprise later this year on the show's second season), and earlier this year Folds' viral Chatroulette video became a YouTube sensation, garnering almost five million views when he joined a video chat with an unsuspecting online companion live during a show in Charlotte, NC. Folds previously collaborated with Hornby on a song for the Folds-produced William Shatner album, Has Been, which the Huffington Post called "one of the few records in recent memory that dared to tell the unvarnished truth about the human condition." In addition he has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, the Boston Pops with Keith Lockhart, and four sold out nights with the Sydney Symphony at the Sydney Opera House.

John Lennon - Gimmie Some Truth

Click here to see the cover art

FULL TRACKLISTS AND COVER ART UNVEILED FOR EIGHT ALBUMS
REMASTERED FROM LENNON’S ORIGINAL MIXES AND SEVERAL NEW
COLLECTIONS TO BE RELEASED ON 4TH OCTOBER

It's coming up to John Lennon's 70th birthday. Unfortunately he isn't with us to celebrate it but to mark the occassion Yoko Ono has overseen eight remastered John Lennon solo albums and new titles including Double Fantasy Stripped Down, Power To The People: The Hits, Gimme Some Truth, and the John Lennon Signature Box.

It's about a year since the Beatles remasters so just in time for the holiday season the deluxe 11CD and digital John Lennon Signature Box includes 13 previously unreleased home recordings, and Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon, and Julian Lennon have each
written personal essays for the lavish collection.

there will be more coming on this shortly.

Official Website of John Lennon

Sufjan Stevens - Heirloom - Update - new song!

Heirloom, from the All Delighted People EP is named this week by Pitchfork amongst the Best New Music.

Read the review and listen to the track here

You can also listen to a whole host of Sufjan music for free at his Bandcamp site here

UPDATE-

you can now grab The Age of Adz's fourth track, "I Walked", over at Sufjan's Bandcamp The five-minute-long tune is a beat-heavy, dub-leaning mid-tempo cut, complete with soaring vocals and some added guitar lines, as well as Sufjan's always-nimble vocals. Sufjan fans, go forth!

Bandcamp site
Get it on Pitchfork

New Sufjan Stevens record!!

At last! A new, song based record from Sufjan.

It's been way way too long since the wonderful Illinois record in 2005. After prancing around with intellectual side projects Sufjan Stevens has finally decided to bring us a proper new record.

In typical Sufjan 'I like to be different' Stevens style it is called The Age of Adz and features kind of ancient myan artwork depicting aliens on the cover. It is inspired by the apocalyptic paintings of outsider artist Royal Robertson (1930-1997), whose work is used for the album cover, interior design, and as general inspiration for the tone of the album.

There was a bit of worry that Sufjan really wouldn't record another album. He set off on his 50 states project making two breathtaking records for Michigan and Illinois and then nothing. Recently he was comissioned to write a sound track for a film about the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway motorway in new york. It was a long orchestral composition after which he said, to our dismay in a 2009 interview ""I definitely feel like, 'What is the point? What's the point of making music anymore?'" Stevens told Exclaim magazine. "I feel that the album no longer has a stronghold or has any real bearing any more."

But, fear not brave Sufjan fans he is back. The Age of Adz (pronounced Odds) will be released on Asthmatic Kitty records on October 12th (CD, MP3) with a double-LP following on November 9th.

Preorder it all right here.

And if that isn't enough for you, Sufjan has also released a little EP - All Delighted People. You can get it right now on iTunes.

BRIE STONER

BRIE STONER
DELICATE HOUR EP OUT AUGUST 3, 2010




Here is a new artist for you. Her name is Brie Stoner...a Midwest girl that spent her early 20's making music with friends David Vandervelde, and the late great Jay Bennett...who instilled in her the beauty of analogue recording, and how to properly mic a guitar.

Drawing upon influences from everyone to Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Fleetwood Mac to Red House Painters and Hope Sandoval, the sound she's formed is one of a kind and one you must hear for yourself.

Now, she's on her own and releasing the Delicate Hour EP on August 3, 2010 including cover of Vixen's 80's classic Edge of A Broken Heart done with a twist only Brie Stoner could add.

Download the MP3 of Delicate Hour here:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/brwj76telvrd57w/01%20Delicate%20Hour.mp3

Enjoy - let me know what you think.

R.E.M. - Fables of the Reconstruction - full album stream

In honor of the 25th anniversary of the release of R.E.M.'s third album, Fables of the Reconstruction, MOG is now streaming the entire 2-CD reissue exclusively on their site one week prior to its July 13th release date.

The new edition features the digitally remastered original album, plus 14 previously unreleased demo recordings, cut prior to the album's studio sessions, including one long-sought track that has never been released. The album will also be released on 180g vinyl.

LISTEN TO THE ALBUM HERE

R.E.M.: Fables of the Reconstruction (25th Anniversary Edition) (2CD, digital)

Disc One: digitally remastered original album

1. Feeling Gravity's Pull
2. Maps and Legends
3. Driver 8
4. Life and How To Live It
5. Old Man Kensey
6. Can't Get There From Here
7. Green Grow The Rushes
8. Kohoutek
9. Auctioneer (Another Engine)
10. Good Advices
11. Wendell Gee
Disc Two: "The Athens Demos"

1. Auctioneer (Another Engine) [demo version]
2. Bandwagon [demo version] [final version was B-side to "Can't Get There From Here"]
3. Can't Get There From Here [demo version]
4. Driver 8 [demo version]
5. Feeling Gravity's Pull [demo version]
6. Good Advices [demo version]
7. Green Grow The Rushes [demo version]
8. Hyena [demo version] [album version appeared on Life's Rich Pageant]
9. Kohoutek [demo version]
10. Life and How To Live It [demo version]
11. Maps and Legends [demo version]
12. Old Man Kensey [demo version]
13. Throw Those Trolls Away [demo version] [previously unreleased]
14. Wendell Gee [demo version]

Download exclusive new song by The Shins

As part of the Levis Pioneer Sessions download The Shins covering "Goodbye Girl". for Levi’s, Mercer is back in Shins’ mode re-crafting “Goodbye Girl,” a tightly-wound pop masterpiece written by Squeeze’s songwriting team of Chris Difford (smart lyrics) and Glenn Tilbrook (catchy melodies). One of the ’80s best pop bands, Squeeze included “Goodbye Girl” on its 1979 classic Cool for Cats, which undoubtedly found its way into the hands of a teenage Mercer when he was living in England. Pitting a reverbed guitar against an earthy acoustic strum he treats it reverently without undoing its big chorus.

Download here

Check out the other awesome artists on the Levis Pioneer Sessions here including The Kills, Jason Mraz,

Music Weekly: The National

The Guardian's music weekly podcast this week has an interview with the wonderful, The National.

You can listen to it here, or subscribe via iTunes

Season Remake Candi Staton's "Young Hearts Run Free"

The Swell Season have remade the pop-disco hit, "Young Hearts Run Free" by Candi Staton.

Its all part of Levi's Pioneer Sessions: The Revival Recordings. Over the next couple of weeks, there will be various artists remaking hits from the past decade including, Nas, She & Him, Dirty Projectors, The Shins, Raphael Saadiq, John Legend and The Roots, Jason Mraz, and many more.

The first two songs in the series will be released this week - hip hop superstar, Nas, covering "Hey Young World" by hip hop trailblazer Slick Rick and folk rock duo, The Swell Season's rendition of the 70s disco hit, "Young Hearts Run Free" by Candi Staton. Both songs will be available for free download, May 24th and May 27th respectively, at www.levi.com.

DOWNLOAD THE SWELL SEASON

Listen to Two New Arcade Fire Songs, "Month of May" and "The Suburbs"

Paste Magazine (my favourite music magazine) has got hold of 2 new Arcade Fire songs from their forthcoming album.

“Month of May” - it sounds very unlike Arcade Fire. Almost like early REM. Kind of punky and very edgy, with a live feel.

This Band and its new song by c20917

“The Suburbs”

Another song by c22113