Friday, October 19, 2007

The Killers- Sawdust

'Sawdust' is the forthcoming compilation of B-sides, rarities and remixes by the Las Vegas rock band The Killers. The album is set for release in the United States on November 13, and on November 12, in the UK. "Tranquilize" is the first single from the album which features Lou Reed.

The song was made available for download on iTunes(UK) from October 12th, there will also be limited edition etched 7" vinyl of "Tranquilize" avalaible from November 5th, it will feature a lyric from the song hand picked by Brandon Flowers etched onto one side.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Yazoo- The 25th Aniversary

This year Yazoo celebrates its 25th anniversary. In 1982, they released their biggest hits "Only You", "Don't Go" and the album 'Upstairs At Eric's'. Their 'Bad Connection' site has recently updated and contains new sections and some information which has been added.


Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Black

Black was a British group which was formed in Liverpool, England in the early 80’s.The main figure of this unit was the singer/ songwriter Colin Vearncombe. In 1987 they would score on of the biggest hits of 80’s music, the “Wonderful Life”.


The first incarnation of Black, consisting of Vearncombe and a cast of anonymous session players, debuted with the single "Human Features" on the local Rox label. The record quickly sold out, and soon Vearncombe was approached by the Eternal label, operated by fellow Liverpudlians Pete Wylie and Wah! With the addition of ex-Last Chant keyboardist Dave Dickie and bassist Jimmy Sangster, Black became a true band, and soon issued their sophomore effort "More Than the Sun".

The trio eventually came to the attention of WEA, which funded Black's third single "Hey Presto". The record stiffed, however, and when an orchestral rendition of "More Than the Sun" met a similar fate, Black were dropped from their contract. Some 18 months of writing and searching for a new record deal followed before Vearncombe was contacted by the tiny Ugly Man label, which issued the minor hit "Wonderful Life." Soon A&M came calling, and in 1987 Black scored a UK Top Ten hit with "Sweetest Smile" the follow-up, a reworked "Wonderful Life," was also successful.
The group's debut LP, also titled 'Wonderful Life', appeared in late 1987, and was well-received throughout Europe. Three years after their biggest hit, the group finally resurfaced in 1991 with an eponymously-titled LP featuring cameos from Robert Palmer and Sam Brown. Black soon left A&M, and after teaming with producer Mike Hedges issued ‘Are We Having Fun Yet?’ on their own mail order label Nero Schwartz in 1993.
After a prolonged hiatus, Vearncombe returned in 1999 to release a string of critically acclaimed recordings under his own name. In 2005 though he returned to the band format and name to release a new recording entitled ‘Between Two Churches’
Update:
The lead singer Colin Vearncombe sadly passed away after being in coma after a car accident. He was 53 years old.


Monday, October 15, 2007

Instant Hit: Informatics- Accident In Paradise

Australian band Informatics released "Accident in Paradise" in 1985 as their second single on Last Chance Records in Germany. The same song was reissued in 2003 by Punx.


Sunday, October 14, 2007

Radiohead- In Rainbows

'In Rainbows' is the seventh studio album by the English rock band Radiohead. It was first released on 10 October 2007 as a digital download, and is scheduled to be released on 3 December 2007 as a "discbox" with a second CD of additional material. By the day of its release, In Rainbows had sold 1.2 million copies as digital downloads.


Friday, October 12, 2007

WAW: Kylie Minogue- Two Hearts

Kylie is going to release her 10th album 'X' this Autumn. The single "Two Hearts" is a little warm up for the album. Here some rocky Kylie with some Goldfrapp and Madonna impressions.

Hooverphonic- The President of LSD Golfclub

Hooverphonic have released their sixth studio album 'The President of LSD Golfclub' on 7, October and the first single "Expedition Impossible" was released in September. The album is rumored to contain some of the additional songs composed for 'No More Sweet Music' that did not make it to the final release.

Foreign Press

After the initial explosion of punk, and the cut and thrash of that genre, bands began to find there own direction and, occasionally, a name change would help to disassociate them from their original intentions, Emergency were one of those bands, and early in 1979 changed their name to Foreign Press, (999's single Emergency gave the final push, although as a band name, 'Emergency' lived on, in the shape of a Belfast based punk outfit) the name the band eventually settled on was Foreign Press, and with this name change came a first EP 'Downpour' on Streets Ahead, (SA1) recorded at Rochdale's Cargo Studios and Co produced by Joy Division's Rob Gretton.

Streets Ahead began life as a small record shop in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, (42 Lloyd Street) during the early 70's, owned and ran by Bob and Jane Jefferson, their interest in music was deep, and not just content with selling vinyl, they wanted to be involved in the whole process, initially by promoting gigs for the Youth club night at the nearby Bowdon Vale Social Club, as well as Foreign Press, bands such as Joy Division, The Fall, The Freshies, V2, The Passage, The Fast Cars all helped make the Youth club nights pass into legend. Bob also wanted to get involved with recording, and the unsigned Foreign Press took up his offer to record (the Chiswick label had been making their intents known about signing the band, but their constant stalling prompted the band to sign to Streets Ahead for a single deal)
It was around this time that a couple of the band members invested in a large ALTEC PA, not only for the use of the band, but also to hire out to anyone willing to part with the cash, and as many bands rehearsed at TJD's, the word soon spread, Joy Division took up the offer on more than one occasion, (The above Bowdon Vale gig being a prime example) this kept everyone busy, when not gigging themselves, we were out live mixing for other bands
Foreign Press, as Emergency before them, played the various infamous Manchester Venues of the period, so much so, it was remarked that "Tony Wilson has had Emergency/Foreign Press play the Factory so many times, I thought they were the House band".

Monday, October 8, 2007

Instant Hit: Mo- Fred Astaire

"Fred Astaire" is a very cheerful and a catchy tune by a Dutch group Mo. This song was released back in 1980 and is from their self titled album Mo. They released another album in 1982, entitled Ha Ha! The sound of Laughing

David Gahan-Hourglass

‘Hourglass’ is the second solo album by David Gahan of Depeche Mode, to be released on October 22, 2007 in Europe, and October 23, 2007 in the US. It will be the follow up to his 2003 solo album ‘Paper Monsters’ and will be co-produced Andrew Phillpott and Christian Eigner, who co-wrote all the songs with Gahan. (They also co-wrote his three Depeche Mode songs on Playing the Angel.) Phillpott will play Guitar and Eigner will play drums. Tony Hoffer will mix the album. The album is said to be more electronic than ‘Paper Monsters’. “Kingdom” is the first single release from the album.

Friday, October 5, 2007

Vitamin Z

Vitamin Z founders Geoff Barradale and Nick Lockwood, both just 25 years old, were born and raised in the industrial wastelands of Northern England’s Sheffield, a city whose pop heritage included such notables as Dave Berry and Joe Cocker, as well as, Human League and Cabaret Voltaire.

The group originally took shape around a loose-knit collection of local musicians who came together in a common rehearsal space.Vitamin Z’s vocalist Geoff Barradale was inspired to be a singer after attending a Paul Young concert. Ironically, like Paul Young, Vitamin Z became recognized in the U.S. for one lovelorn ballad in the ’80s and really nothing else. The song was “Burning Flame” and it represented Vitamin Z’s creative peak, encapsulating the mid-’80s pop scene in England when British artists such as Young, the Style Council, and Spandau Ballet took stabs at blue-eyed soul.
Barradale and Lockwood, recognizing early their mutual affinity for melodic evocative modern music, began developing material together, eventually forming a group that performed for increasingly enthusiastic crowds in and around their home town. They next traveled south to London to record their Geffen debut, choosing the famed Abbey Road Studios to cut the tracks that would eventually comprise 'Rites Of Passage'. Provocative, compelling, innovative - Vitamin Z, on 'Rites Of Passage', their debut album for Geffen Records, have fashioned a fresh and fully realized sound far ahead of its time. It’s an accomplishment all the more impressive given the fact that Vitamin Z is a brand new musical entity. While others were more intent on making their image fit the mainstream, Vitamin Z were working on their songs, smelting down their soul influences, manicuring their melodies, making modern sound with roots firmly embedded in the music they respected.

Their “Burning Flame” single was a club favourite in Britain and appeared in dance charts all over America while in 1985, as accompaniment to their “Circus Ring” single, they filmed a video in Istanbul, the first time Western cameras were allowed into Turkey since Alan Parker’s prison movie, Midnight Express, had so outraged and enflamed international relations.
Vitamin Z have been ominously quiet since 1985 but it transpires they were spending time doing what they've always done - seeking to perfect their notion of what music should be. The result of their labours is "Burn For You", a soaring affirmation of undying love, a meteorite among electric soul ballads. Strongly humanitarian, it carries the same message that runs through all Vitamin Z’s work that an experience honestly shared is a joy and a hope; a belief that shines through Sharp Stone Rain, their second LP, due for release in the Autumn.

'Sharp Stone Rain', Vitamin Z’s second album (both on Geffen Records), justifies the band’s unswerving persistence of vision. From it’s first single, “Can’t Live Without You”, to a reprise of its initial American success, “Burning Flame”, to the intense "Burn For You", Vitamin Z proves to be a master of the electric soul ballad, the rock ‘n’ roll torch song. Barradale’s honey-poured-over gravel voice and Lockwood’s compelling music create an unmistakably distinctive sound, one matched by Barradale’s deceptively simple yet intriguing lyrics. Vitamin Z also revisited “Burning Flame” on their next album, Sharp Stone Rain, its title a reference to the bombing of a Northern Ireland church wherein 11 people were killed. But the LP was not successful and the group split up. Barradale started the Wild Orchids and then began recording with Seafruit in 1998.
You may have heard of one of the hottest bands in the U.K. these days called the Arctic Monkeys. Well it was Geoff Barradale who saw the band and signed on as their manager. They had a hit in the U.K. with the song “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor”, and released their first full length CD titled Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not.

Alison Moyet- The Turn

Alison Moyet has returned to pop music again this autumn. Her seventh studio album will be released on October 15, 2007. The album contains eleven tracks and “One More Time” will be the first single release. The album is available on her official 'The Turn' Micropage as well as the listening booth.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Instant Hit: Human Hands- Trains Vs. Plains

"Trains vs Plains" was the first single for the L.A. based Human Hands which was released in 1981 by Faulty Products. The band broke up shortly after this and Independent Project Records released a first edition double-album compilation of the band's work in the 1982. The Complete Human Hands Vol. 1 was released in 1997 on CD by Grand Theft Audio.

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