Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Cambridge Corn Exchange 27/09/2006

Sometimes you go to a gig and come away knowing that you've seen something really special....

Last night was the first time i'd seen Ryan Adams, after two cancellations on two previous tours, to say I was looking forward to it would be an understatement. We got to the venue in good time so were able to push our way down to the front fairly easily, and pretty much as soon as we got there Neal Casal came on and did a solid 40 minute set with just himself and his drummer "Reggie" (aka Ryan Adams). I never thought that the first time I ever saw Ryan would be behind a drum kit but there you go... Neal played highlights from his current album, including my personal favourites You Dont See Me Crying & Grand Island. His set really translated well into the acoustic environment and, if anything sounded better than the full band versions on record. Mesmerising stuff.



Twenty minutes later and The Cardinals are kicking off with Magnolia Mountain and following with five more songs from Cold Roses including a barnstorming Beatiful Sorta. The sound in the venue was awesome, with Neal Casel commenting its a really beautiful sounding room. A new song Party Clown followed which was a feel good Stones-esque rocker.

It occured to me during Peacful Valley what an incredible lead guitarist Ryan actually is, and the tone he got out of his guitar was jaw dropping. With Neal Casal and Jon Graboff adding guitar and pedal steel to the mix, the overall sound made my face nearly melt off.

In between numbers a background tape was played with random traffic and nature noises with Ryan mumbling to himself and with his bandmates. Hecklers started shouting "speak up" with Ryan retorting "Sorry cant hear you". I think this tape was being played in response to the constant audience banter that goes on in his shows. He was probably playing it just to piss the audience off - and it seemed to work.

Funniest moment of the night came when the band kicked into an improvised hip-hop jam, with the Cardinals all taking turns to freestyle. It was a "you had to be there moment" but very funny.

Highlight of the night for me was probably Dear John, which is fast becoming one of my favourite songs in the Ryan Adams cannon. The harmonies were faultless and sent shivers down my spine.



After a rocking Please Do Not Let Me Go the band kicked into a 13 song non-stop attack playing a couple of new songs, a Grateful Dead cover and even dropping in some Billy Ocean! Shakedown on 9th Street got the pretty much static audience moving with Ryan and Neal each taking it in turns to thrash out a solo.

They ended with I See Monsters from Love Is Hell and left the stage. No encore. No bullshit - Just two hours of incredible rock n roll.



The setlist in full:

Magnolia Montain
Let It Ride
Tears Of Gold
Easy Plateau
Cold Roses
Beautiful Sorta
Party Clown(new)
A Kiss Before I Go
Arkham Asylum
Peaceful Valley
The End
Dear John
Please Don't Let Me Go
Mockingbird Song >
Dear Chicago >
Blue Hotel >
Bartering Lines >
Games >
29
21st Century Wars (new)
Shakedown on 9th St >
Franklin's Tower >
Stella Blue >
Bruce Wayne >
Caribean Queen >
I See Monsters

You can view some more of the photos I took here

Loney, Dear

Don't you just love it when you stumble upon an artist that suddenly stops you in your tracks and leaves you wanting more, lots lots more.

Well, I was listening to Gideon Coes 6music radio show this morning and a Swedish act were in session for him - "Loney, Dear". Apparently on tour in the UK at the moment with Peter, Bjorn & John.

After a little more investigating Loney, Dear (aka Emil Svanangen) appear to have just signed a deal with Sub Pop in the states. Their current album "Sologne" has just been released in the UK via Dear John records. Heres what Rough Trade have to say about it:

"big big talent from sweden,emil svanangen hits all the right buttons with his beautifully crafted songs about love and depair and everyday anxiety, he'll make the hairs on your neck stand up one minute then get your hips swaying the next.
this is set to do what bright eyes and sufjan stevens did over the last few years.fantastic"

So, my advice for today. Wander over to myspace and give this wonderful stuff a listen.

Current tour dates are:

Sep 26 2006 Louisiana, Bristol
Sep 27 2006 Sumo, Brighton
Sep 28 2006 First Floor Club, Derby
Sep 29 2006 Fibbers, York
Sep 30 2006 ABC2, Glasgow
Oct 3 2006 Dublin Castle, London
Oct 28 2006 Tavasti, Helsinki
Nov 2 2006 Bowery Ballroom, New York

PJ Harvey to Release Peel Sessions Collection

PJ Harvey's power is best experienced live and raw, and who better captured that energy than John Peel? The magic of the relationship between the artist and the legendary DJ will be unleashed upon the masses with the release of PJ Harvey - The Peel Sessions 1991-2004, due via Island Records in conjunction with the BBC on October 23 in the UK.

The due date falls during a month of commemorative events honoring the second anniversary of Peel's death.

Louise Kattenhorn, Peel's former producer, said in a press release, "John loved the sessions and was thrilled to have Polly record so many for his show. He considered her a wonderful artist and they were great friends."

The collection includes tracks spanning from early versions of Polly Jean's 1992 debut, Dry, to her most recent LP, 2004's Uh Huh Her.

Tracklist:

01 Oh My Lover [Peel session, October 29, 1991]
02 Victory [Peel session, October 29, 1991]
03 Sheela-Na-Gig [Peel session, October 29, 1991]
04 Water [Peel session, October 29, 1991]
05 Naked Cousin [Peel session, March 3, 1993]
06 Wang Dang Doodle [Peel session, March 3, 1993]
07 Losing Ground [Peel session, September 5, 1996]
08 Snake [Peel session, September 5, 1996]
09 That Was My Veil [Peel session, September 5, 1996]
10 This Wicked Tongue [Peel session, November 10, 2000]
11 Beautiful Feeling [Peel session, November 10, 2000]
12 You Come Through [John Peel tribute, December 16, 2004]

Jeff Tweedy DVD set for late Ocober release.

The hugely anticipated concert DVD from Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy will be released on October 31st (in the USA). The concert was features performances from Tweedy's 2006 solo tour with footage from Seattle, Portland, Eugene, Arcata & San Francisco shows.

The DVD will document Jeff Tweedy performing songs from the Wilco, Uncle Tupelo & Loose Fur cannon. The tracklisting in full is:

01 Sunken Treasure
02 Theologians
03 The Ruling Class
04 How to Fight Loneliness
05 Summerteeth
06 The Thanks I Get
07 I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
08 ELT
09 Shot in the Arm
10 Black Eye
11 In a Future Age
12 Laminated Cat
13 (Was I) In Your Dreams
14 Airline to Heaven
15 Heavy Metal Drummer
16 War on War
17 Acuff Rose

The DVD was directed by Christoph Green and Brenan Canty and can't come soon enough for some fans, as a DVD from Wilco was scrapped last year after the band weren't happy with the footage.

You can pre-order the DVD from Amazon.com priced $17.99. Bargain.

The Thursday 3 [14/9/06]

There's been a distinct lack of UK bands on this blog, especially in the videos section, so this week we've got two bands that are really popular on the UK gig scene at the moment. Larrikin Love & iForward, Russia!. I missed out on seeing Larrikin Love back in March when they played the Astoria as part of the NME awards show, but caught iForward, Russia! who were on after. It was the second time i've seen them, and to be honest wasn't overly impressed either time. Their album though "Give Me A Wall" completely suprised me. Well worth checking out...
The third video is a classic from The Rapture - House Of Jealous Lovers.

Larrikin Love - Happy As Annie


iForward Russia! - Eighteen


The Rapture - House Of Jealous Lovers

Jenny Lewis to support Death Cab in US

America always gets the good stuff....

Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins will be supporting Death Cab For Cutie for four shows on their fall tour. The dates are:

2 December Mesa Amphitheatre Mesa, AZ
5 December Bren Events Center Irvine, CA
6 December Arlington Theatre Santa Barbara, CA
9 December Key Arena Seattle, WA

Tickets are available from Ticketmaster.

All Eyes On The Shins!

The Shins have asked every member of their audience who attends their set at Austin City Limits to record the show using mobile phones or digital cameras.

The band will be performing new songs from their forthcoming album 'Wincing the Night Away', and the band want the footage to create a video showing the band performing from hundreds of different angles.

The band will give the audience a cue to begin recording, and they can then go to http://www.myspace.com/StareAllYouWant for details on where to send the video clips.

The band will take to the AT&T Stage at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, Texas at 4.30pm on September 16.

Arab Strap Split

Arab Strap have announced that they are to split up after ten years of performing and recording.

The duo - Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton - are to focus on their blossoming solo careers: Middleton released his second long-player, Into The Woods, to great acclaim last year, while Moffat's Lucky Pierre material has been equally praised.

One further Arab Strap album is forthcoming, though: Ten Years Of Tears, a collection of b-sides and rare tracks, will be released on October 23.

Albert Hammond Jnr Debut Single

Friend of Line Of Best Fit and fellow blogger Rich Hughes reviews Albert Hammond Jnrs new single Everyone Gets A Star for CD Times:

Albert Hammond Jnr. - Everyone Gets A Star

It sounds like The Strokes. C'mon, did you expect anything else? Albert Hammond, Jr's solo single is everything you might imagine it to be, except that it's rather good. His voice comes across not like Julian Casablancas' rock n roll scream, but more like Willy Mason - deep and gentle.

Otherwise it's business as usual with its post-punk meanderings and highly strung guitars with the unexpected bonus of the chorus thrashing about a bit. In my mind, at least, it's better than most of the songs from the last Strokes album. Certainly, the proposition of his solo album is now more eagerly awaited than previously.

Download Everyone Gets A Star [here]

The Thursday 3 [7/9/06]

Don't the weeks just fly by?

Some "interesting" news...I heard the other day that one of the guys who wrote Robbie Williams' new single has moved into my old flat.. If anyone wants the address so they can punish him email me and I'll give it to you for a tenner.

So, videos for this weeks then, we have M. Wards amazing new single "Chinese Translation" taken from the equally amazing "Post-War" album. Ryan Adams break-through single New York, New York - shot days before 9/11 - can you believe its 5 years? And, finally a live video of Yeah Yeah Yeah's new single "Cheated Hearts".

M. Ward - Chinese Translation


Ryan Adams - New York, New York


Yeah Yeah Yeah's - Cheated Hearts (Live)

Phoenix - Live Review

Live: Phoenix
Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY: 08 Aug 2006
Live Review by Jessica Suarez
[Pitchfork]

Cancer can't sponsor a show, but cigarette companies can-- even though they don't actually allow smoking indoors in New York City. Camel reps gave away so many tickets for the last stop on the Phoenix/French Kicks tour that the line outside the Bowery Ballroom wound around the block. Bouncers sent half the line home, and those that made it in looked more like freeloaders than fans.

After a longish set by openers the French Kicks, stage guys unfurled a large banner with four crests on it, which read "Nec Pluribus Impar", or "No unequal match for many". Less literally, it translates to "Second to none," the name of the last song on Phoenix's latest, It's Never Been Like That. This album is more rock than slick French pop, and fittingly their shows have become louder and less polished. On "Run Run Run", from 2004's Alphabetical, the band showed off its best live attribute: A gift for manipulating its songs' dynamics by stretching out their breaks and silences, creating maximum drama. But even live, smoothness can be a hindrance-- the band was so tight that I was tempted to look for an iPod plugged into the boards.

The audience loved new single "Long Distance Call" but showed more enthusiasm for the band's back catalog. After a few polite merci beaucoups Phoenix returned to perform "Too Young", a song best know for its use in the party scene in Lost in Translation. Singer Thomas Mars-- a striking if somewhat distant front man-- is the father of Sofia Coppola's baby, and the LiT director watched the show from the balcony. The band closed by reprising the show-opening "Napoleon Says", speeding up the song to double time, and then ran through bits and pieces of some of the other tracks they performed that night, for a bizarre live mash-up/encore/look back at the evening's selections, which gave the show a pleasant arc. Too bad so many people missed this: By that point, the freeloaders had streamed out of the Bowery. Maybe they needed a cigarette.

Postal Service Live Download

Heres a show from Line Of Best Fit favourites The Postal Service. Recorded in Minneapolis on 25th April 2003. It was recorded direct from the Soundboard so its real good quality apart from some slight feedback in one of the tracks.

Jimmy and Ben are joined by the very fine Jenny Lewis for backing vocal duties. Hope you enjoy it. Tracklisting as follows:


The Postal Service - 2003-04-25 Minneapolis

1. District Sleeps Alone Tonight
2. We Will Become Silhouettes
3. Sleeping In
4. Nothing Better
5. Recycled Air
6. Clark Gable
7. This Place Is A Prison
8. There's Never Enough Time
9. Brand New Colony
10. Such Great Heights
11. Natural Anthem
12. Against All Odds

Paris Hilton targeted in CD prank

Hundreds of Paris Hilton albums have been tampered with in the latest stunt by "guerrilla artist" Banksy.
Banksy has replaced Hilton's CD with his own remixes and given them titles such as Why am I Famous?, What Have I Done? and What Am I For?
He has also changed pictures of her on the CD sleeve to show the US socialite topless and with a dog's head. A spokeswoman for Banksy said he had doctored 500 copies of her debut album Paris in 48 record shops across the UK.
She told the BBC News website: "He switched the CDs in store, so he took the old ones out and put his version in."
But he left the original barcode so people could buy the CD without realising it had been interfered with.
Banksy is notorious for his secretive and subversive stunts such as sneaking doctored versions of classic paintings into major art galleries.
His spokeswoman said he had tampered with the CDs in branches of HMV and Virgin as well as independent record stores.
He visited cities including Bristol, Brighton, Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow and London, she added.
A spokesman for HMV said the chain had recovered seven CDs from two Brighton shops but was unaware that other locations were affected.
No customers had complained or returned a doctored version, he said.
"It's not the type of behaviour you'd want to see happening very often," he said.
"I guess you can give an individual such as Banksy a little bit of leeway for his own particular brand of artistic engagement.
"Often people might have a view on something but feel they can't always express it, but it's down to the likes of Banksy to say often what people think about things.
"And it might be that there will be some people who agree with his views on the Paris Hilton album."
A spokesman for Virgin Megastores said staff were searching for affected CDs but it was proving hard to find them all.
"I have to take my hat off - it's a very good stunt," he added.

Thundering Guitars & Songs About Snakes.

Alas, its Monday morning. The weekend is over and I'm back at work. What better way is there then to start the week by mentioning Thee Single Spy whos self styled Gothic Black and Blues is the perfect soundtrack!

Armed with an acoustic guitar and a voice that brings the unlikely pairing of Coner Oberst and Shane McGowan to mind the two tracks on his myspace page are outstanding, and if they're anything to go by - the forthcoming debut release should be an absolute corker.

As a live act Single Spy also has the helping hand of upto ten musicians (Lambchop anyone?) including (in his own words) Organ, Skateboard Wheel Spinners, Wood Slappers, Trumpeters, Clarinettists, Saxophonists, Melodicas, Hummers, Xylophone tinklers, Harmony makers and mischief makers.

I insist you go over to his myspace site now and download the two tracks on offer - then after you've fallen in love with them ask nicely for a CD, im sure he won't mind. Then you can repay the favour by going to see him play at the following shows:

Sep 17 2006 'What's Wrong With My Boyfriend?' @
Page 2 Bar, London SE15
Sep 26 2006 Fight The Night @
The New Cross Inn, New Cross, London SE14
Nov 29 2006 Lark in the Park, Islington, London N1

Liquid Sunshine EP launch.

West London five piece Liquid Sunshine are all set to release their debut E.P entitled "Ghosts" on October 27th at the infamous Queen Is Dead Night run by a certain Alan McGee @ The Borderline, London.

Liquid Sunshine are another band enjoying success with myspace. One of the tracks previewing on the site - Payroll, with its pounding bass line sounds similar to Editors or Doves, but theres no gloomy vocals on display here - vocalist Darryl Higgs spits out the lyrics with a cock sure swagger you don't hear everyday.

The band are also set to play the Mean Fiddler, London on September 26th supporting The Stone Roses Exprerience with Dave Haslam behind the decks. Tickets are prices at £12.50 - available at the usual outlets.

myspace page.