La Sera - Break My Heart

Sic Alps - Glyphs

This is Pop Download-o-rama

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thank You For Sending Me This DVD


I was very fortunate to be around when the Talking Heads were in their heyday. I remember well their rapid succession of record releases that only got better as they progressed through a career most bands could only dream of.  Save for True Stories perhaps; (I’ve still never truly warmed to that one.)  That being said, the bands rich legacy of music and ground breaking videos still thrill when they pop up on my musical radar.  Good news then this holiday season as the band is set to release some rare video to thrill old and new fans alike.  The DVD, Chronology pulls together live performances from across Talking Heads' career. It starts with their earliest days at CBGB and The Kitchen in New York City in the mid-seventies, through their breakthrough years in the late seventies and on to global success in the eighties. They completed their last tour in 1983 although they would continue to make very successful albums throughout the eighties before officially breaking up in 1991. The DVD concludes with their "reunion" performance of "Life During Wartime" on their induction into the Rock `n' Roll Hall Of Fame in 2002.
 
From David Byrne:

This was very much a live band—at least until the late 80s. The initial recordings emerged out of what we played live, what worked in that context and how we refined our skills playing together. For a lot of musicians in the digital era this is not always the case. These days, the record often comes first and then how it is staged comes later.
A deluxe version of this is packaged in a hardback cover with a 48 page book containing photographs and an unexpurgated Lester Bangs essay written as a review of the Fear Of Music album for The Village Voice in 1979 but only ever published in a heavily edited version.

Track Listing

1) Mic Test (1976)
2) With Our Love (1975)
3) I'm Not In Love (1975)
4) Psycho Killer (1975)
5) Intros Montage (1976)
6) The Girls Want To Be With The Girls (1976)
7) Don't Worry About The Government (1978)
8) Dressing room fan footage: Found A Job (1978)
9) Thank You For Sending Me An Angel (1978)
10) Warning Sign (1978)
11) Artists Only (1979)
12) Take Me To The River (1979)
13) Crosseyed And Painless (1980)
14) Animals (1980)

15) Love Building On Fire (1982)
16) Cities (1982)
17) Burning Down The House (1983)
18) Life During Wartime (2002)
Bonus Features:
Full audio commentary by David Byrne, Jerry Harrison, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth.
35 minute South Bank Show feature (1979)
David Byrne interview (1978)

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Our Tower of Song


I once asked a friend about the enduring appeal of Leonard Cohen and just what was it that keeps it going.  “It’s his dependability…”, she replied.  Leonard Cohen is an institution and he never lets me down.”  That comment came to mind last month when it was announced that Cohen would be returning with a new record called Old Ideas. You certainly can’t get any more dependable than those and Cohen’s ‘golden voice’.

Cohen’s press release explains:

“As I grew older, I understood that instructions came with this voice. And the instructions were these...Never to lament casually. And if one is to express the great inevitable defeat that awaits us all, it must be done within the strict confines of dignity & beauty."


Old Ideas is Cohen's 12th album for Columbia Records, and was produced by Patrick Leonard, Anjani Thomas, Ed Sanders and Dino Soldo. The album also features stalwart Cohen guest vocalists Dana Glover, Sharon Robinson, The Webb Sisters (Hattie and Charley Webb) and Jennifer Warnes.

Old Ideas
will be available on January 31st but pre-order on his site today for an instant download of “Show Me the Place”

Tracklisting Old Ideas:

01. Going Home
02. Amen
03. Show Me the Place
04. The Darkness
05. Anyhow
06. Crazy To Love You
07. Come Healing
08. Banjo
09. Lullaby
10. Different Sides

Monday, November 7, 2011

Radiohead Live Dates Announced


News broke a few days ago that Radiohead when Ed O'Brien pronounced the band would be "on the road from the end of February to November"; Alas, sadly no firm dates accompanied the announcement.   Good news then, all of you excited event planners and calendar jugglers the first announcement of the band's live plans has just come out.
The initial announcement is ten US tour dates, which begin at Miami's American Airlines Arena on February 27th and end at Glendale's Jobing.com Arena on March 15th. Rest assured, the band are expected to announce more dates in the coming weeks, but have not said when this will be as yet.

Exciting news though, this might be just the excuse you need to break the monotony of winter for a trip to the American south.  Looks like nice sized venues too!


Radiohead Tour 2012 (First Dates):

Miami American Airlines Arena (February 27)
Tampa St. Pete Times Forum (February 29)
Atlanta Philips Arena (March 1)
Houston Toyota Center (March 3)
Dallas American Airlines Center (March 5)
Austin Frank Erwin Center (March 7)
St. Louis Scottrade Center (March 9)
Kansas City Spirit Center (March 11)
Broomfield 1st Bank Center (March 13)
Glendale Jobing.com Arena (March 15)