Prince at the Hydro

Well after another frenetic round of ticket buying managed to secure single ticket for the mini purple man.

Will he back on form as they are saying - who knows but it is a big "must see live" box to tick.

No matter what check this amazing video and if Sheena Easton needs a lift to the gig she knows how to find me

Forgotten Album Friday #26 Jackson Browne - I'm Alive

This 1993 album is an absolute stunning piece of work by Jackson Browne but probably overlooked somewhat because of the classic albums Late For The Sky, For Everyman, The Pretender and Running On Empty. To my mind I'm Alive is the equal of that great body of work.

Lucky for us and pity for Jackson but it follows a down period in his personal life which always leads him to those wonderful songs of love, sorrow, regret and maybe a wee piece of redemption. It certainly came at the time as quite a departure from the political albums which immediately preceded it.

The opener and title track  "I'm Alive" sets the scene and tone of the album both musically and lyrically- "now I'm rolling down California 5/with your laughter in my head/gonna have to block it out somehow to survive/cos those dreams are dead, but I'm alive".

There are many great tracks on the album but the real high water mark is the stunning Sky Blue and Black.  In one track he pulls together love, longing, regret and hope for redemption. It is an absolute classic.

Key tracks

I'm Alive
My Problem Is You
Too Many Angels
Sky Blue and Black
Two of Me, Tow Of You

 

Sky Blue and Black

 

I'm Alive

Manic Street Preachers - Futurology

Fast becoming the busiest men in "alternative rock" I reckon this new lp comes less than a year after the excellent Rewind The Film. Furious, propulsive and expansive, 'Futurology' is the sound of the Manics at their very best - a record inspired by permanent revolution, modern art and Autobahns - so there you go!  Due out on 7 July here is the lead single.





The track listing as follows:

'Futurology' - 'Walk Me To The Bridge' - 'Let?s Go To War' - 'The Next Jet To Leave Moscow' - 'Europa Geht Durch Mich' - 'Divine Youth' - 'Sex, Power Love and Money' - 'Dreaming A City (Hughesovka)' - 'Black Square' - 'Between The Clock And The Bed' - 'Misguided Missile' - 'The View From Stow Hill' - 'Mayakovsky'

Bruce Springsteen -"American Beauty" (Charlotte 04/19/14)

I really like this ep I must admit but it is no doubt a solo track , however the E Street Band give it a god go!

Bowie 40th Anniversary

Whilst I am looking forward t the next in the instalment of Bowie 40th anniversary picture disks I have to say the creative department at Bowie Inc seems to have hit a bit of a lull on the b -sides.
Next up following a disappointing RSD release of Rock N Roll Suicide with a previously heard b side version is Diamond Dogs. With yes you guessed it a further release of a b side from an album...next up is probably Knock On Wood? Nice single though...

Simon Felice - Strangers

Following up his first solo album and the excellent Duke and The King albums, Simon Felice has released another cracking instalment in his post Felice Brothers output with the album Strangers. (Thanks to Michael for the pointer!).

Stand out tracks are Molly O, Bye Bye Palenville , Our Lady of the Gun  and  The Gallows.

 

Molly O!

 

 

And here is a clip of a stand out Duke and The King track:

Forgotten Album Friday #25 - David Bowie Hours

It may again seem a strange choice to select an album by one of the best known and most iconic figures in popular music as a Forgotten Album Friday selection. However despite a couple of cracking singles and accompanying outstanding videos this 1999 album sneaked out with very little notice. I suspect that in part it was a backlash to the immediately preceding "drum n bass" effort earthling. To be fair the latter does have a cracking cover and with hindsight a couple of good tracks:

Hours has it all though. The singles from the album are exceptional and stand up with most of Bowie's catalogue and to my ears a lot of the material harks back to Hunky Dory in style. Seven especially would have fitted somewhere between Quicksand and Bewlay Brothers quite nicely.

The album release saw Bowie playing some TV gigs, notably at the Beeb and these hinted at what could have been a great tour much in the same way as a Scary Monsters Tour would have been superb.

Key tracks:

Seven - below from the storytellers DVD
Thursdays Child  - a fantastic video
The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell
Survive

Skip the instrumental!

Sutrvive VH1 Storytellers Version

 

Thursdays Child - one of his best videos

New Springsteen ep American Beauty

You may have been lucky enough to snatch one on RSD 2014 (or pay over the odds on eBay). No matter - this is worth the price of admission for Hey Blue Eyes alone. Bruce seems to have been one of the few social commentators on the Bush Jr era and I often wonder why that is. To quote the artist “Hey Blue Eyes” rounds out the EP with one of my darkest political songs. Written during the Bush years, it’s a metaphor for the house of horrors our government’s actions created in the years following the invasion of Iraq. At its center is the repressed sexuality and abuse of power that characterized Abu Ghraib prison. I feel this is a shadow we as a country have yet to emerge"

 

You can download the ep at iTunes.

Glastonbury!

Ok I am yet again giving Glastonbury a miss instead my weekend will consist attending the Bowie exhibition at the V&A and the Springsteen Concert at Olypic Park as part of Hard Rock Calling. I think the sound will be poor but I am looking forwrad to the show:


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and this:

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Big Country-Fields of Fire

Just a gentle reminder of how good Big Country were following my suggestion this be played on Off the Ball today!

Forgotten Album Friday #24 - The Waterboys - A Pagan Place

If you are suffering from overload of prime time karaoke from The Voice and the like this is the place to restore your faith in quality music.




In looking up the information on this album I came across the following great Rolling Stone Reviews from 1984:

The Waterboys’ chunk of British big-guitar rock has a very familiar ring. There are resonant echoes of the Bunnymen in singer Mike Scott’s tremulous wail and the martial slice of his massed acoustic guitars, along with hints of fellow Scotsmen Big Country’s Highland swirl and enough studio reverb to swallow U2. What distinguishes ‘A Pagan Place’ - the Waterboys’ first full-length U.S. release - is the unique, exhilarating force of its rock & roll heart. Like a punk bursting into Van Morrison’s mystic with six strings blazing, Scott (head Waterboy and the album’s producer) has made a kind of black-leather-jacket version of ‘Astral Weeks’. The raging guitars of “Rags” and eager gallop of “Church Not Made with Hands,” with its bursts of Gabriel like trumpet, explode the folkie purity of his melodies and frank introspection of his lyrics into epic blasts of what he aptly calls, in another song, “The Big Music”.




Often, that sound is composed of a lot of little things that add up brilliantly. In ‘All the Things She Gave Me,’ Scott heightens the funeral-pyre image of a failed love affair with a pained, questioning vocal, brooding acoustic guitars and a rousing chorus glowing with an R&B flame. The title song, powered by guitars in locomotive drive and hopeful trumpet flourishes, sounds like an impatient prayer. Even the ambitious naiveté of ‘Red Army Blues,’ in which the rites of passage of a young Russian soldier in World War 2 are detoured by Stalinist cruelty, is effectively dramatised by the band, whose sad, gray march evokes a tired legion crossing the bleak Siberian steppes.

The gripping quality of Scott’s expansive big-music gestures is wondrous enough. That he pulls it off with a defiant acoustic purity - no synthesizers, by God! - is reason to cheer. Contrary to their name, the Waterboys already qualify for a spot on the new-rock A team. 

New Justin Currie lp due August

Good news that Justin Currie is back with a new lp and hitting the road later in the year.

Here is the lead track, sounds great to me if not particularly ground breaking for him.

http://youtu.be/4u_Z1_3i2K4

The new album Lower Reaches. Released 19th August.

New Jackson Browne Live DVD

Jackson Browne has a new live DVD / Blue Ray coming out. Great tracklisiting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YNMEnd9rA_Y

Jackson Browne-I’ll Do Anything: Live In Concert DVD track listing:
1. Black And White - 7:14
2. I'm Alive - 5:40
3. Farther On - 5:18
4. The Naked Ride Home - 8:06
5. Live Nude Cabaret - 4:34
6. Sleep's Dark And Silent Gate - 2:35
7. The Pretender - 7:01
8. A Child In These Hills - 6:02
9. Tokyo Girl - 4:54
10. These Days - 6:29
11. In The Shape Of A Heart - 6:32
12. The Late Show - 6:26
13. I'll Do Anything - 6:18
14. Running On Empty - 6:15
15. Take It Easy - 5:28
16. Rock Me On The Water - 6:01
17. Before The Deluge - 10:00

Total Running Time: 1 hour, 45 mins

Springsteens greatest ever gig?

What do you think?

Trevor Bolder

Like many people sad to hear of the passing of Trevor Bolder. Most well known of course being one of the "Spiders From Mars".