1,000,001 Jimi Hendrix fans can't be wrong... new/unreleased collection guaranteed to pry open your wallets long enough to make you salivate for the back catalog deluxe editions, too! And you don't even have to be drinkin' bootleg Hendrix Electric Vodka to dig it!

By Hal Bienstock

Despite releasing just three studio albums while he was alive, Jimi Hendrix has one of the biggest catalogs in rock history, with dozens of live performances, outtakes and remasters appearing and disappearing from print. Often thrown together haphazardly, those albums didn't serve the Hendrix legacy well.

Now, his label and his family are hoping to change that by reissuing deluxe editions of his three original albums - Are You Experienced?, Axis: Bold As Love, Electric Ladyland -and the album he was working on at the time of his death (First Rays of the New Rising Sun). But the biggest news for Hendrix fans is a fifth CD, Valleys of Neptune, that includes never before released studio recordings. Most of the material on Neptune was recorded in 1969, as the original Jimi Hendrix Experience was breaking up (some of the later tracks on this album feature Billy Cox on bass, replacing Noel Redding) and Hendrix was beginning to add more funk and R&B to his blues-based sound, something that would come to full flower soon in his Band of Gypsys.

While the band may have been in the process of splitting apart, it's in fine form here, blazing through previously unreleased songs like the title track and "Ships Passing Through the Night," as well as versions of well-known songs like "Fire" and "Hear My Train A-Comin'" that serve as studio counterparts to the expansive renditions of these songs that Hendrix had worked up for the stage.

This is Hendrix in his prime - on fire technically and creatively. Anyone wondering why he's still considered the greatest guitarist of all time need look no further for proof. These aren't scraps dug up by people trying to make a buck off a legend. Many of these tracks are full-fledged songs that Hendrix simply hadn't decided what to do with. The others are rehearsals for a major concert at Royal Albert Hall that was meant to be a theatrical film.

As with most Legacy reissues, Neptune sounds great and comes with extensive photos and liner notes that give the stories behind the songs and the sessions that produced them. (All of the other Hendrix reissues also come with DVDs with newly-created documentaries that offer fans additional insight into the making of the album and include interviews with Experience band members. Neptune doesn't.)  

If there's one flaw with Valleys of Neptune it's that it doesn't hang together as an album as well as the rest of Hendrix's studio catalog. More than anything else that has to do with the inclusion of alternate versions of songs you've heard before. (It's hard to imagine Hendrix would have released another studio version of "Fire" - no matter how good - three years after releasing the first one). But that doesn't make it any less enjoyable or important, either as a document of a transitional period in Hendrix's short career or simply as some of the best music ever made. 

If Neptune is a must-have, the other reissues are more problematic. If you bought the last round of reissues, the DVD, remastering and liner notes probably aren't enough reason to open your wallet again. But if you're still holding on to earlier versions of the CDs - especially the horrible sounding ones from the ‘80s - or haven't yet replaced your old vinyl, you'll be very happy with these new editions.

Valleys of Neptune is released next Tuesday, March 9.

An impressionistic look at the new Jurado album, due May 25 from Secretly Canadian.

By Blurt Staff

Saint Bartlett opens up with a grandiosity yet unheard on a Damien Jurado album. It strips away the many layers of paint from the house down the street where we know Jurado has occupied for the last decade. The new coat is exhilarating. It makes the whole neighborhood shine. It's a modest grandiosity; still homegrown. The mellotron swells, heavenly handclaps ring in stereo and big drums create a sky for the songs to fly in. And the words. Words spring forth from within the volcano of Jurado, full of hope. There's so much hope, in fact, that album opener "Cloudy Shoes" turns into a call-and-response with himself, as though it were a dialogue between two halves of himself.ado and Swift as the performers.

"I wish that I could float up from the ground / I will never know what that's like"

Heavy stuff. Richard Swift's Spector-esque production is spot-on. He ferries Jurado across the river, where the metamorphosis occurs. He then ferries him back, and it is through Swift's lens that we see Jurado not as a folk singer, but as a mystic - somewhere between Van Morrison, Scott Walker and Wayne Coyne. Saint Bartlett was made entirely at Swift's National Freedom studio in Oregon, in just under a week with only Jurado and Swift as the performers.

Check out an MP3 - speaking of Phil Spector - for new track "Arkansas"

From Cream to Tony Williams to West Bruce & Laing to Bruce Trower to Cream (slight return) AND all those collaborations and solo excursions... whew. Whole lotta low end goin' on, for the virtuoso bassist and iconic classic rocker.

By Lee Zimmerman

For an artist as proficient and as accomplished as the brilliant Jack Bruce, there's been a surprisingly scant number of volumes written about his extraordinary 50 year career. That makes the new biography Jack Bruce: Composing Himself (Jawbone Press) something of a revelation, being that it's the only tome in recent memory to trace Bruce's evolution from his beginnings as a 12-year old composing prodigy to his early involvement in Britain's sprawling music scene of the early sixties and on through his contentious stint with Cream and the experimental efforts he spawned well beyond. A weighty effort, its 300 plus pages go into exacting detail as it spans a life immersed in personal and professional challenges, in which practically every triumph exacted some toll.

Author Harry Shapiro elicits an extraordinary candid commentary from Bruce himself as well as from a stellar, if shifting, cast of collaborators - Eric Clapton, Carla Bley, Mick Taylor, Gary Moore and John McLaughlin among them. Clapton himself writes a special introduction in which he declares, "If I had to reluctantly commit to naming his most defining quality as an artist, it would be that he intuitively knows how to step into, and gather from, all of the genres that he has focused on." Therein lies an obvious hint that it wasn't a caustic relationship between Cream's two competing front men that caused the band's demise. Manfred Mann guitarist Tom McGuiness offers a somewhat backhanded tribute to his former colleague as he reflects on Bruce's reluctant stint with the Manfreds, allegedly done simply for the money. "(He) was quite impossible to play with at time," McGuiness admits. "We often literally couldn't follow him."  

So too, Bruce's efforts have often proved confounding not only for his fellow musicians, but for his audiences as well. Rarely does he find middle ground; an unfortunate pairing as West, Bruce and Laing seemed to many to be a lame attempt to reignite the power trio combo pioneered with Cream, while his more avant-garde excursions with Bley, McLaughlin and Billy Cobham also thwarted those hoping to hear him reprise the Cream catalogue. Shapiro notes one particularly intriguing performance he witnessed. "In front of hundreds of German rock fans, many on the edge of their seats waiting for ‘White Room' or ‘Sunshine of Your Love,' Jack walked out with a chair and a cello and for the first three minutes of the concert regaled the audience with a spirited dose of Bach's preludes."

Of course, as is the case with many musicians of Bruce's generation, the music he made is a backdrop to a much more dramatic tale, one shaped by drugs, health impediments, bad business deals and interpersonal squabbles. Bruce's legendary tempestuous personality is partly to blame, but the book doesn't spare the other principals, which isn't surprising considering its somewhat prickly cast of characters. In fact, if there's one criticism that could be cast on the book itself, it's the fact that Shapiro is so fastidious in his detailing of Bruce's evolving relationships. It's no easy task keeping track of the trajectory, especially given Bruce's prodigious output.  How prodigious? The extensive discography and performance history offered in the appendix offers all the evidence needed.

Nevertheless, obsessive fans will find this fascinating reading.   In Composing Himself, Jack Bruce successfully bares himself as well.

[Photo Credit: Jill Furmanovsky]

With a new album en route in a little over a week, the Truckers also have a revealing film about them that the word's getting out on, too.

By Fred Mills / Photos By Kevin Ruppenthal

March 16 is just around the corner, which means the new Drive-By Truckers album, The Big To-Do, is also just around the corner. We've been listening to it pretty much nonstop and trust us, the motherfucker smokes; watch for a review as well as an in-depth interview with the band to coincide with the release, which will be the band's first for the ATO label.

As we mentioned not long ago the band is also cooking up a very special DBTs goodie for Record Store Day, April 17 (read our report and comments from bandmembers Mike "Stroker Ace" Cooley and Patterson Hood here).

In the meantime, the Barr Weissman-directed DBTs documentary The Secret to a Happy Ending recently had its unveiling at a pair of screenings in Silver Spring, Maryland. The film is still looking for distribution, so here's hoping that the buzz generated in the DBTs community will find its way to the proper individuals so everyone can get a look at it this year.

Our correspondent and blogger pal Kevin Ruppenthal was on hand at one of those screenings in Silver Spring and he posted a lengthy review of the film at his most excellent blog "Playmixt = Playlist + Mix Tape," additionally posting subsequent comments about the Q&A session that took place after the screening with the director and bandmembers Hood, Cooley and Brad Morgan. Ruppenthal's been kind enough to let us publish some extracts, below, along with his photos, but make sure you follow those links to read his full account.

***

Text by Kevin Ruppenthal:

On the origins of the film:

In Barr Weissman's 2010 documentary, The Secret to a Happy Ending, there's great balance between live performance and revealing interview. The subject this time is not a blockbuster band that's topping the charts or selling out arenas and stadiums on their mammoth concert tour. The band is called Drive-by Truckers, and they've most likely played a blistering live show within a reasonable driving distance of wherever you are right now. This film about them is without a doubt a new addition to the pantheon of great rock and roll films. Six years in the making, the film documents a band that has slogged its way out of Alabama in the late 1990s out to clubs across the globe, finally breaking into the Billboard Top 40 Album charts in the late 2000s. What's great about the way the film is organized, though, is it's not just a travelogue or chronicle. It's divided into sections that let you get to know the people on stage, where they've come from both in terms of upbringing and family, as well as the stories behind a great catalog of songs. Drive-by Truckers tunes tend to be story songs.

On the film's content:

Rooted in the story songs of the DBT catalog are a whole lot of real-life people and adventures. You get to meet Patterson's great-uncle, George A., for whom they wrote the song The Sands of Iwo Jima: "I never saw John Wayne on the sands of Iwo Jima," as the song goes, when George talks about his actual experiences there. A lot of Patterson's family is in the film including briefly his mother, the subject of the song 18 Wheels of Love. There are stories about Gregory Dean Smalley, for whom the song The Living Bubba was written - a guitarist dying of AIDS, pushing himself to keep going: "I can't die now, ‘cause I got another show to do." Mike Cooley's tune Uncle Frank and Jason Isbell's song TVA are discussed with the background of a brief history of the Tennessee Valley Authority bringing electricity to some of the poorest parts of the south. These may seem unusual subjects for rock songs that have the power of Neil Young and Crazy Horse going at full tilt, but they make for great narrative songs.... It's not all rock and roll, though. There's the usual discussion about the tedium of the road, which - while a staple of rockumentaries - has got to be fair game for a band like this doing hundreds of dates a year. They're not doing it in airplanes or under giant stage sets or in glamorous accommodations either. The film shows how hard this band works doing so during the kick-ass, stomping live footage shot at various venues across the U.S. These guys and gal bust their asses getting it done, and there's some sense of what it's like to be an album-oriented band in the post-FM radio and post-CD age.

On the post-screening Q&A:

After the screening there was Q&A with director Barr Weissman, band members Brad Morgan, Mike Cooley and Patterson Hood, and some of the other folks who appear in the film. Some of the highlights:

-Barr indicated he was introduced to the band by a friend who'd told him to "RUN, DO NOT WALK" to go listen to this band now around the time Southern Rock Opera came out.

-While qualifying a comment, an audience member started their question by saying, "I didn't like your music the first time I heard it..." which made Patterson quip, "Nobody ever likes us the first time they hear us!"

-Another audience member commented that the band makes "album rock like I remember." Patterson said he still likes to go to record stores. Cooley talked about needing to find a way to get people to listen to an entire album, in this era of 1 or 2-track attention spans.

-In a discussion about album cover artwork, Patterson said he thought that London Calling was the greatest album cover ever and that you knew that whatever was inside was gonna be great.

Forty-track digital collection includes Grace Potter, Jack Johnson, Jackson Browne and others who donated their songs.

By Blurt Staff

1% for the Planet, a global network of 1,200 companies that donate 1% of annual sales to environmental causes, has released a digital music compilation: 1% for the Planet: The Music, Vol. 1, the world's first music compilation dedicated to supporting non-profit organizations working to create a healthy planet. The album aims to accelerate the 1% movement by engaging more people and inspiring more companies to join.

Featuring more than forty tracks, the album can be found on the 1% music web site, (http://music.onepercentfortheplanet.org/), and on all major music download sites. (And at only $9.99, forty tracks makes for one whale of a bargain, folks.)

More than 40 musicians have donated music to the album and are featured on the 1% music site. Leading artists, including Jack Johnson, Jackson Browne, and Grace Potter, gave rare and exclusive tracks. "The artists are amazing. They have been incredibly supportive of the project from the beginning, and their passion is infectious. Fans hear the artists' music and are inspired to get involved themselves" says Melody Grote, VP of Marketing and Acquisitions, 1%.

There's also a special video that Johnson created for the project. View it here: www.youtube.com/1percentfortheplanet

In the spirit of reducing waste generated from the distribution and disposal of traditional CDs, the album is an all-digital release. At the new 1% music web site, fans can sample and buy the music, see what the artists are saying about their involvement in the cause, and spread the word online. Supporters can visit the site to get a web badge to display on their site or blog, or use social media tools like Facebook and Twitter to spread the word.

Though the release is all-digital, the compilation is also available to offline purchasers. With a greater number of consumers buying CDs only to store them after they've saved the music digitally, 1% for the Planet offers consumers and retailers a more earth-friendly option in purchasing music.  Eco friendly download cards allow the music to be merchandised in retail stores alongside regular CDs. The download card evokes the look and feel of a CD but is made entirely of recycled paper. Consumers purchase the download card with an enclosed access code which allows them to download the music. The new format is available now to retailers worldwide.

"1% for the Planet: The Music, Vol. 1 is an easy way to make a difference for anyone who loves good music," says Grote. "Listeners can share the music online with their friends, family and colleagues in order to exponentially increase giving to the environment."

About 1% for the Planet:

Started in 2002 by Yvon Chouinard, founder and CEO of Patagonia, and Craig Mathews, owner of Blue Ribbon Flies, 1% for the Planet is a growing global movement of over 1,200 member companies, small and large, that donate 1% of their sales to environmental organizations worldwide. Each day, more than one new business joins the 1% for the Planet movement. As a network, the 1% community has become a global frontrunner in funding the work of environmental groups around the world.

Long-in-limbo album  Dark Night of the Soul should see release later this year.

By Fred Mills

Whew. That Danger Mouse/Sparklehorse/David Lynch project Dark Night of the Soul sure has had a twisted, tortured trajectory. You'll recall that the all-star studded album - in addition to DM and Mark Linkous, it featured contributions from Flaming Lips , Gruff Rhys , Iggy Pop , Suzanne Vega , Black Francis , Vic Chesnutt , Julian Casablancas , Jason Lytle , Nina Persson , James Mercer and David Lynch  - had been lined up as long ago as a year for a mid-2009 release via Chyrsalis/EMI. At one point, as we reported, it was streaming at the Chrysalis site, and then when that turned out to be problematic it got streamed at NPR Music. Meanwhile, review copies were sent out to journalists.

Then it got blocked in some kind of unspecified beef between Danger Mouse in EMI. As we reported on May 15, the NPR Stream was shut down (a message at NPR read, "The album was initially going to be released with a book of photos by director David Lynch in July. But a dispute with EMI records may delay or kill the project."), leading to this turn of events:

A dispute between EMI and Danger Mouse that for the moment has left the project in limbo. Or at least the musical portion of it. The limited-edition package was to include, obviously, the DM/SH album along with a book containing David Lynch photos. Now, however, the way things stand is that it the book will be accompanied by a blank CDR. According to a spokesperson for Danger Mouse, the package will "come with a blank, recordable CD-R. All copies will be clearly labeled: ‘For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will.' Due to an ongoing dispute with EMI, Danger Mouse is unable to release the recorded music for Dark Night Of The Soul without fear of being sued by EMI. Danger Mouse remains hugely proud of Dark Night Of The Soul and hopes that people lucky enough to hear the music, by whatever means, are as excited by it as he is."

A lot of media outlets, including BLURT went on and reviewed the record - fairly enthusiastically, at that. But with fans essentially left to pursue underground means of getting the tunes, Dark Night of the Soul, for all intents and purposes, was a lost album.

Lost no longer, however: The BBC is reporting (thanks for the tip, Pitchfork) that EMI and DM have resolved their differences and the record should see the light of day this year. Speaking to the BBC, Danger Mouse (Brian Burton) said, "The problems of last year are last year, so hopefully it will be out soon in June or something like that," he said.

An EMI spokesman said: "We can confirm that EMI are working with Brian Burton AKA Danger Mouse again, and are delighted to be doing so. Further information on releases will follow shortly."

Meanwhile, as you await the official release, the Danger Mouse-James Mercer project Broken Bells hits stores next week. Keep your eyes peeled at BLURT for a look at that album soon.

So... with all that in mind, lets revisit what our reviewer, Aaron Kayce, had to say about the album in his 8-star (out of 10) review last August:

Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse

Dark Night of the Soul

(self-released; www.dnots.com)

Just by reading the credits - Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse, David Lynch, Flaming Lips, Iggy Pop, Frank Black, Julian Casablancas, James Mercer, Suzanne Vega - you know this is either gonna be really cool or a half-baked slapped together mix tape compilations. Pfhhh! Danger Mouse would never let that happen and his production (which is somehow both vintage and futuristic at the same time) is the silver thread that ties this somber beast together.

Although it rarely gets particularly heavy, even with the sympathetic strings, airy static bleeps and swells of orchestral harmony, this is a dark album about lonely people searching for connection. If Wayne Coyne singing about "bringing you fuckers down" or Vic Chesnutt talking about "cutting a baby out" doesn't do you in, David Lynch's creepy ass cinematic delivery surely will. And you have to dig how Danger Mouse makes you feel like you snorted an OxyContin during Jason Lytle's (Grandaddy) powerful performance on "Everytime I'm With You."

Unfortunately, at presstime EMI had blocked the release of the album for undisclosed reasons, leaving fans to seek out the music via underground avenues. Dark night indeed.   

Standout Tracks: "Revenge," "Dark Night of the Soul" AARON KAYCE

As yet untitled album arrives in May, to be preceded (and followed) by a tour.

By Blurt Staff

LCD Soundsystem hasn't named its new album, the third one, but a date has been set already: May 18, via DFA/Virgin. Written/produced, as usual, by James Murphy, it was recorded at The Manshun in Los Angeles and the DFA  studios in New York and mixed at DFA from April 2009 through February 2010. Full tracklisting below.

Some random stats for ya: The new album is LCD Soundsystem's  first full offering of new studio material since 2007's Sound Of  Silver, which was named best album of the last decade by NPR, ranked #1 in the 2007 Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll, landed at #12 and #17 respectively in Rolling Stone and Pitchfork's best albums of the decade, and like its predecessor 2005's  LCD Soundsystem received a Grammy nomination for Best Electronic/Dance  Album. Sound Of Silver also featured "All My Friends," ranked #4 by Time in its Best Songs of 2007 and named single of the year by Pitchfork, and Entertainment Weekly #8 song of 2007 "Someone Great." In 2008, LCD Soundsystem contributed the track "Big Ideas" to the soundtrack of the movie 21. The band has since released the 45:33: The Remixes EP and a cover of Alan Vega's "Bye Bye Bayou," issued to commemorate Record Store Day 2009 and earning LCD its fifth NME single of the week. The album will be preceded by the March 23 release of the soundtrack to Noah Baumbach's  Greenberg, which features both composition's from James Murphy's  original score for the film and the new LCD Soundsystem song "Oh You  (Christmas Blues)."

 
The record's release will be supported by a world tour beginning with an April 16 penultimate slot at the Coachella festival in Indio CA and continuing with a run  of UK/Europe headline  dates (several of which have sold out well in advance and necessitated added  dates) and further worldwide festival appearances. For a full itinerary, see below.

Tracklisting:

 Dance Yrself Clean
 Drunk Girls  
 One Touch
 All I Want
 Change
 Hit  
 Pow Pow
 Somebody's Calling Me
 What You  Need

Tour Dates:
 
 April 16    Indio CA     Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival
 April 20     Dublin       Tripod * SOLD OUT   
 April 21    Dublin        Tripod * SOLD OUT  
 April 23     London      Brixton Academy * SOLD  OUT
 April 24    London       Brixton Academy *SOLD OUT
 April 26     Birmingham  Academy
 April 27     Leeds   Academy * SOLD OUT
 April 28     Glasgow Barrowlands
 April 29     Glasgow Barrowlands * SOLD OUT
 May 1    Manchester  Academy * SOLD OUT
 May 2    Bristol  Academy * SOLD OUT
 May 4    Amsterdam   Paradiso * SOLD OUT
 May 5    Brussels    Ancienne Belgique * SOLD OUT  
 May 6   Berlin  WMF
 May 7    Luxembourg  Den Atelier
 May 8   Paris    Bataclan * SOLD OUT   
 May 9   Paris    Bataclan
 May 30  George WA   Sasquatch  Festival
 June 11 Manchester TN   Bonnaroo  Festival
 July 10 Lisbon  Alive Festival
 July 17 Chicago  IL  Pitchfork Music Festival
 September 12    Isle  of Wight   Bestival

40 years of frammin' on the jim-jam?!? WTF! Here's what they say: "As we are not just a band, but a music commune, a social experiment, and a work of art, it's just natural to stay together, and of course: it must be love, or something close enough...." Check the video, below.

By Blurt Staff

Krautrock pioneers Amon Duul II are back - Krautrock fans are literally on edge here - with a new album, Bee As Such. Currently only available by download through the band's website, the CD marks the first new album by the legendary group in several years. They call it a "sound painting," however, and not a so-called extension of the underground/progressive aesthetic that marked the band's initial ascendency.

The band explains: "Recorded April 2009 at Dreamscape Studio, Amon Duul 2 celebrated a highly sensitive performance, of finding back to the roots - not in the past, but essentially - seeking the new sounds and contents at the same time. No 'kraut', no '70s', but the music of the new millennium. This sound painting is one more of our unique works, containing the spirit of our time."

According to guitarist John WeinzierlL "Amon Duul never used to present the same style on their albums. We like to develop our music into all kinds of directions and sometimes we don't even know where it´s gonna lead us. We don't follow a pattern only because it is successful. Since 2000 we´ve used lots of elements of world music, we had eastern influences, ethnological sounds, and of course we never forgot 'sound painting'."

When asked if there was a concept behind this new album, Weinzierl added,  "Avoiding industry music, heading for new frontiers."

For those who walked in late, the backstory:

Formed in Munich in 1968, Amon Duul 2 rapidly excelled to the forefront of German avant garde music along side notable peers Can, Faust and Tangerine Dream. Amon Duul 2 quickly distinguished themselves from these other ensembles with their use of pop elements interspersed with eclectic songwriting and arrangements along with deft musicianship and the sweet voice of female vocalist Renate Knaup-Krotenschwanz. The band's influences ranged from jazz and classical to Zappa and Syd's Pink Floyd, although the music has remained so original these past 30 years it's difficult to tell who the band's influences are! "That's because Germany culture-wise has no rhythm and blues influence," explains Renate. "We have classical music and traditional music, so we just experimented with what we had. To copy rhythm and blues or rock and roll would be silly because they are not our roots." By 1979 and many critically acclaimed, pioneering LPs later, Amon Duul 2 went their separate ways, only to reunite in the 1990s, and most recently in the mid-2000s. The current line-up includes original members: Chris Karrer (guitar, violin, vocals), John Weinzierl (guitars, synth, vocals), Renate Knaup-Krotenschwanz (vocals), Danny Fichelscher (drums), Lother Meid (bass, vocals) and neo-Duul Jan Kahlert (percussion, vocals).

"We didn't want to have an anglophonic name, because in those days everybody was called Rattles, or Beatles, or some other english name," adds Weinzierl. "We didn't wanna have a German name either, that's why we went into a long period of finding an appropriate name. At some point the band had a different name with every other concert that was played. Finally it was AMON DUUL. Amon refers to the Egypt sun god Amon-Re. Duul (with the "Umlaut" dots, that your computer can't print out) comes from a Canadian group's album called Tanjet, that we used to listen to a lot. On this album there was a self-constructed mythology with a part called Dyyl. This eventually was transformed into Duul and the Umlauts gave it this slight German touch. Since then many groups started having fantasy names, or even using Umlaut dots like in Motorhead. Understand? (of course you have to imagine the Umlaut dots, cause your computer can't...)  And I shall never answer this question any more now."

Amon Duul 2 - Bee As Such will be released on CD and DVD later this year. It is currently available for download at: www.amonduul.de

***

Ed. note: umlauts provided free of charge. Copy, cut, and paste!

Amon Düül 2

Motörhead

Blue Öyster Cult

Blürt Önlinë

Etc.....

Officially streeting in conjunction with the Metal Machine Tour in the UK...

By Blurt Staff

As the photo above - taken from the March '75 issue of Creem, which featured one of the classic all-time Lou Reed-Lester Bangs dust-ups - ever-so-subtly suggests, Uncle Lou will always have a lot to answer for. Not the least of which is his 1975 double LP, Metal Machine Music. If you don't know the story behind that magnum horribulus, give yourself 40 lashes and go listen to your Archies records.

At any rate, a month or so ago we brought you the news that Reed would be touring the UK and Europe with his Metal Machine Trio in April, and to coincide with the tour he was planning on releasing a remastered version of MMM. Now we have a date for it: April 19 is technically the street release, although as fans probably already know, Reed has been taking orders for it at his site since early January.

For $18 you can nab the audio DVD, while $23 will get you either the Blu-Ray edition or the 180-gram double LP vinyl version. There are also bundles for the Vinyl + Blu-Ray $43) and the vinyl + audio DVD ($39). The only thing missing is audio commentary by Lester Bangs himself!

Reed did the digital re-mastering from the original multi-tracks with the help of mastering specialist Scott Hull. This is a new and improved re-mastered version, and is different from all previous releases on the RCA, Buddha and Sony affiliated labels.

Says Reed, "The out of print "Quad" release has been replicated for all formats, including a perfect vinyl version playable on your stereo turntable with the original rear sections moved to the center of the front left/right speakers. It's worth getting a turntable to hear this. We worked from digital transfers (95k 24bit) made from the original analogue masters. The original label supplied us with these files and photo copies of the analog reels including copies of Bob Ludwig's mastering notes."

Incidentally, if you go to that link, above, to Reed's site a music player automatically starts warbling some of the signature MMM oscillating tones ‘n' drones. WWLD!?!

Still building on the momentum from their 2009 debut, the Kentucky combo blasts through the 9:30 Club like nobody's business - uncaged, even. Openers As Tall as Lions don't come off too shabby either.

By Roxana Hadadi / Photos by Adam Fried

For anyone who was attending the sold-out Cage the Elephant show at the 9:30 Club Feb. 25 and was only there to hear their hit single, "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked," they needed to wait through half the band's set to get there. But if you didn't enjoy that waiting game, then there probably is something wrong with you.

Although the bluesy, punky rock band from Kentucky is best known for that song, which has been featured in everything from commercials for the video game "Borderlands" to the TNT drama Leverage, they proved to be capable of so much more. Delivering an electric, thrash-heavy set of 11 tracks, plus an encore, lead singer Matt Shultz and Co. galvanized the audience into a distinct frenzy, a mass of frantic fans who were all too happy to cradle Shultz whenever he jumped into the crowd. Which, to put it mildly, was a lot.

Sure, there were prepubescent kids running around in Ed Hardy sneakers and Avril Lavigne-like accessories, but the audience also had a solid number of older fans, those in their late 20s or above, including a few federal-looking guys who could have been the Smoking Man's stunt double. Oh Mulder, where art thou?

But back to the topic at hand: Things started off with first opener Morning Teleportation, whose weird name underscores their strange - and almost unbearable - sound. A mix of psychedelic influences and dissonant sounds and static, the Portland group's sound wasn't aided by their high-energy performance. All you need to know is that they wore sequined jackets straight out of Golden Girls and had a friend who wandered through the crowd in a Mad Hatter-esque tophat. Not acceptable.

More enjoyable, though, was second opener As Tall as Lions, a New York band delivering a catchier, more alternative rock-influenced vibe. As photographer Adam Fried noted, many of their tracks sounded like "seagulls and crickets," but As Tall as Lions also displayed a juxtaposition of melodically thumping drums and guitars and grandiose, soaring vocals, almost like if the Gin Blossoms dropped the endearing-lover-boy act and got bitter and realistic. For example, "That's What You Get," has lyrics like "Darling, you look twisted/ Could you see yourself with a better man?/ Darling, it's sadistic/ I know I caught your eye, I'm optimistic," while "A Soft Hum" is similarly musing: "But no one gets what they really want/ We love only when it's convenient/ We act like we know more than we know/ We treat love like it's something you own."

And though their set dragged a bit during some of the ballads, like the tediously slow "Lost My Mind," As Tall as Lions was certainly a step up from Morning Teleportation, and helped hype the crowd up into a bouncier, more enthusiastic mood when it came time for Cage the Elephant. Only 10 minutes late to their 10 p.m. set time, the band burst onto the stage, giving the crowd a live reenactment of Rob Gordon's "High Fidelity" rule about mixtapes.

First, start off with a bang: The thrashing, screamo fury of "Tiny Little Robots," which involves Shultz demanding, "Are you scared?/ Are you scared?/ Are you scared?" as the album's chorus, then take it up a notch, which the band did with "Lotus." Though the track started off with a slower feel - with lots of discordant reverb - it soon developed into a swift kick in the face, with politically charged lyrics ("A billion faces running round my head/ All got opinions, but they don't mean shit/ Keep droppin' bombs until the whole world's dead"), accentuated by Shultz's no-holds-barred performing style. Climbing up on speakers and screaming into kids' faces? Yes, please!

And maybe because the group only performed about 10 other tracks - basically, they ripped through their self-titled debut album, which was released last May - Cage the Elephant was able to keep the energy up the whole time. Obviously, the show's highest points came during the group's singles, such as "Back Against the Wall," which was the night's first audience sing-along, and "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked," after which small pockets of the sold-out crowd left (jumping on that bandwagon sure is easy), but the galloping pace and jagged feel of the set was certainly a welcome surprise.

Case in point: The first song the group performed during their encore, "In One Ear," includes the line, "In one ear/ And right out the other" - but after such a thrilling set, that's certainly not the case. In fact, it's pretty much the opposite. Oh, and the numerous half-naked members of Morning Teleportation and As Tall as Lions who joined Cage the Elephant onstage for their encore? Definitely awkward, but not distracting enough to take away from the group's hesitation-free style - and that's a compliment.