Richard Ashcroft - RPA & The United Nations of Sound

I have had this album for a few weeks now and it is sounding better and better to my ears. Oddly I am not a huge Verve fan, bar the obvious big singles, and think that Richard Ashcroft's solo work is much superior.

It is, despite to hoopla about the hip hop influences, much as you would expect from Ashcroft but the quality of songs, playing from a superb band and the amount of energy in the record really deliver.

The lead single you will have heard I am sure with a video directed by former Skids front man Richard Jobson:



Key tracks are Are You Ready , Born Again , Americaright , She Brings Me The Music , Glory,and Let My Soul Rest.

Best of all is the Sweet Jane absolute rip off track called Royal Highness - it's plagiarism but it is good. The guitarist even nicks a bit of the extended intro from Lou's Live rendition on Rock n Roll Animal! Check out a live version here and try and not sing Sweet Jane!

Ashes to Ashes

Thirty years ago....where does the time go!

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

I bought this album today after hearing a track on the radio and on a quick run through it is absolutely superb. I did enjoy the previous two albums but this is a step up again for me.

I have nicked this review from "Stevie Boy" on Amazon so if you are SB and want it removed let me know!

Arcade Fire have slowly grown into one of the most important bands of our era. It really does feel like they are the Beatles/Smiths/Radiohead of the 21st century. I won't even talk about Funeral (everyone knows how good it is), & Neon Bible, although criticised for it's overblown production, was a fine album indeed. The Suburbs feels part sister to both these albums & part a whole different universe. They certainly explore new territory here, throwing influences into the mix as diverse as Depeche Mode, Blondie, Neil Young & The Beach Boys as well as the usual Talking Heads/Springsteen/Pixies reference points. What you get is a fantastic modern masterpiece which is so ambitious, it's almost knowing of the fact that there are clear flaws & holes. This however doesn't matter because the high points are so damn good and lets be honest - no piece of work is perfect!


Opening with the title track, the transition between 'the Suburbs' & 'Ready to Start' is euphoric. The sweet, warbly strings of the former give way to heavy guitar riffs, pounding rock drums & electronic effects. 'Modern Man', 'Empty Room', 'We used to Wait' & 'Sprawl II' are also highlights. 'Sprawl II' is a total curveball: it's pure, unadulterated electro-pop, it's nothing like what they've done before and it's absolutely incredible! I could live without 'Half Light II' & 'Wasted Hours', but some people I know actually dig these tunes. I've no doubt that this album will go down in history & cement Arcade Fire into the rock n roll hall of fame for eternity.

Robert Plant - Band of Joy

I am not a huge Plant fan. But the album with Alison Krauss was good, the forthcoming Band of Koy lp features the talents of Buddy Miller among others and so promises to be a good release.

Here is the lead track:

Leonard Cohen Live lp and video - Songs from the Road.

On the face of it not a very exciting release given that Live In London is from the same tour BUT a track recorded at a concert I was at makes this interesting on a personal level:

Due for release on September 14th, here is the tracklist:

Lover, Lover, Lover (Ramat Gan Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel, September 24, 2009)


Bird On the Wire (Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow, Scotland, November 6, 2008)

Chelsea Hotel (Royal Albert Hall, London, England, November 17, 2008)

Heart With No Companion (Oberhausen King Pilsener Arena, Oberhausen, Germany, November 2, 2008)

That Don't Make it Junk (O2 Arena, London, England, November 13, 2008)

Waiting for the Miracle (HP Pavilion, San Jose, California, November 13, 2009)

Avalanche (Gothenburg Scandinavium, Gothenburg, Sweden, October 12, 2008)

Suzanne (MENA Arena, Manchester, England, November 30, 2008)

The Partisan (Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Finland, October 10, 2008)

Famous Blue Raincoat (O2 Arena, London, England, November 13, 2008)

Hallelujah (Coachella Music Festival, Indio, California, April 17, 2009)

Closing Time (John Labatt Centre, London, Ontario, May 24, 2009)

Josh Ritter Concert Upload

In advance of the upcoming Josh Ritter show in Oran Mor here is a great chance to download a recent gig:

http://www.thefrontloader.com/2010/08/11/crowd-gets-lit-at-josh-ritter-show-video-bonus-download-live-from-seattle-62710/

Van Morrison - Clyde Auditorium

I have been a Van Morrison fan for as long as I can remember and love almost all of his work.

I have seen him in concert more times than I can remember and so I was thrilled to get a pre-sale link to his upcoming Glasgow gig on 24th October. Unfortunately once you take in to account booking fees the cost per ticket is about £85 (£75 face value).

I have paid this much before (Leonard Cohen). But I knew then I was going to get a least 2 hours from a performer who wanted to treat his audience to a great (as it turned out fantastic show).

For Van I might get 40 - 70 sullen minutes. It's just too much to pay, I cannot really afford it,  and sadly wont be going.

New ~John Martyn Tribute cd

In the works a  tribute album for the late, John Martyn is in the works , we can expect somewhere between 24-26 tracks from artists such as Beck, Lisa Hannigan and Robert Smith from the Cure.




The currently untitled compilation doesn't have a release date as yet. But the artist and track list below can be found on Martyn's site.



1. Small Hours - Robert Smith (from The Cure)

2. Rope Soul'd - The Blackships (Nick McCabe and Simon Jones from The Verve)

3. Go Down Easy - Beth Orton

4. Glorious Fool - Clarence Fountain and Sam Butler (Formerly Of The Blind boy's Of Alabama)

5. Couldn't Love You More - Lisa Hannigan

6. Sweet Little Mystery - Devendra Banhart

7. Go Easy – Vetiver

8. Let The Good Things Come -David Gray

9. Lay it All Down - Donovan

10. May You Never - Snow Patrol

11. John Wayne - Oh My God

12. Tearing and Breaking - Phil Collins

13. Head & Heart - Vashti Bunyan

14. Solid Air - Skye Edwards (Morcheeba)

15. Over The Hill -Ted Barnes featuring Gavin Clark (Clayhill and Unkle)

16. I Don't Want to Know - The Swell Season

17. Dancing - Sonia Dada

18. Certain Surprise - Sabrina Dinan

19. Clutches - Foley (Miles Davis bass player)

20. Angeline - Nicholas Barron

21. You Can Discover - Cheryl Wilson

Tom Jones - Praise and Blame

Tom Jones (yep) has released a superb new album called Praise and Blame which he recorded with the great Ethan Johns (Ryan Adams etc etc). Brillaint selection of songs and includes a cover of Dylans "What Good Am I" and there was a special hours chat and songs from the album on Ricky Ross Another Country on Radio Scotland

Highly recommend you listen to the radio show while you can and check out the album...

http://www.tomjones.com/featured/the-making-of-praise-and-blame/

PAUL McCARTNEY

I am assured his gig at Hampden was superb, sadly I was out of the Country and missed it.

Here he is at hard rock, enjoy and let me know your opinion!

New Tom Petty Album - MOJO

The new Tom Petty album is released on 15 June, but you can listen to an entire album stream in advance here:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/thelife/music/news/story?id=5260264

Lissie

Tom Morton has played this a lot and I love this track, very Stevie Nicks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgZTLnqBukk

Josh Ritter - Change of Time

Great clip Josh solo on one of the great tracks from his new album

Phosphorescent

Great Tift Merrit clip

To whet the appetite before the new album is released!