If you think you know Paolo Nutini, think again. His two million selling 2006 debut album, These Streets, established the young Scotsman as a leading light amongst the new wave of singer-songwriters. Paolo’s extraordinary follow up, Sunny Side Up, casts him in a whole other light.
“Musically where I’m at, I don’t really have a genre or style that I feel a part of,” explains Paolo. “It’s a bit of a random mish mash. I honestly wanted it all to come out, and not harness it, not manipulate it. I just wanted it to be organic, and so immediate it’s in your face and you can’t help but take it all in.”
The first single from the 22-year-old’s new release is “Candy” - a heart tugging ballad written after an argument with his girlfriend, when it suddenly occurred to him that the fault lay with him. Watch the cinematic video here, and be sure to pick up a copy of Sunny Side Up available everywhere today.
Check out his new video:
The record was produced by T Bone Burnett and recorded by Mike Piersante during a three-day session at Nashville’s Sound Emporium Studio. Joining Costello were Jerry Douglas (dobro), Stuart Duncan (fiddle), Mike Compton (mandolin), Jeff Taylor (accordion) and Dennis Crouch (double bass), some of the most highly regarded recording artists and musicians in traditional American country music, Bluegrass and beyond.
Several of these songs, including “Down Among The Wines and Spirits”, were given their first public performances during Costello’s acclaimed solo appearances as part of “The Bob Dylan Show” in late 2007.
The album includes ten previously unrecorded songs. “Sulphur to Sugarcane” and “The Crooked Line”, were co-written with T Bone Burnett while, “I Felt The Chill” marks Costello’s second recorded songwriting collaboration with Loretta Lynn.
Costello revisits two songs from his catalogue in string band style. Both songs were originally written for Johnny Cash. “Hidden Shame” was indeed included on Cash’s album, “Boom Chicka Boom”.
The album title makes reference to “The Secret Songs”, Costello’s unfinished commission for the Royal Danish Opera about the life of Hans Christian Andersen.Seeking a new connection from the author to the Anglophone world, Costello wrote about the Andersen’s relationship with the world famous singer, Jenny Lind in “She Handed Me A Mirror” and “How Deep Is The Red”.
“She Was No Good”, relates some of the chaotic details of Lind’s famous “All-American” concert tour of 1850, which was promoted by P.T. Barnum. In its aftermath, “Red Cotton” imagines Barnum reading an Abolishionist pamphlet, while manufacturing cheap souvenirs of the adventure.
“Complicated Shadows” Audio Streams:
These four episodes were newly adapted for the instrumentation of this record.
Indeed these are first Costello compositions to be predominantly rooted in acoustic music since his 1986 album, “King Of America”, which was produced by T Bone Burnett. He also produced the 1989 album, “Spike”.
T Bone adds his distinctive Kay electric guitar to several of numbers, the only amplified instrument on the recording.
Jim Lauderdale takes the close vocal harmony part throughout the record and Emmylou Harris contributed a third vocal part on the chorus of “The Crooked Line” on the final day of recording.
The record concludes with the waltz, “Changing Partners”, a song made famous by Bing Crosby.
The cover artwork of “Secret, Profane & Sugarcane” is an ink drawing by the renowned cartoonist, illustrator and author, Tony Millionaire.
Elvis Costello first recorded in Nashville with George Jones in 1979 and returned to the city for “Almost Blue”, his 1981 album of classic country covers.
He returned to the city in 2004 to record a duet rendition of “The Scarlet Tide” with Emmylou Harris.
This song, co-written with T Bone Burnett, received an Academy Award nomination for Alison Krauss’ rendition in the motion picture, “Cold Mountain” in 2003.
The 7” vinyl single, “Complicated Shadows” b/w “Dirty Rotten Shame” will be released on Independent Record Day, April 18th (CHECK)
Select US tour dates featuring musicians from the album — dubbed “The Sugarcanes” — will follow in June and August, 2009.
SECRET, PROFANE, & SUGARCANE TRACK LIST
1. Down Among the Wine and Spirits
2. Complicated Shadows
3. I Felt the Chill
4. My All Time Doll
5. Hidden Shame
6. She Handed Me a Mirror
7. I Dreamed of My Old Lover
8. How Deep is the Red
9. She Was No Good
10. Sulfur to Sugarcane
11. Red Cotton
12. The Crooked Line
13. Changing Partners
Due to the division of the music over four sides, the vinyl edition will contain two additional tracks, an arrangement of Lou Reed’s “Femme Fatale” and Costello’s sequel to the old Appalachian murder ballad, “Omie Wise”, entitled, “What Lewis Did Last”.
Beginning June 2, ‘Secret, Profane & Sugarcane’ will be available at participating Starbucks company-operated locations in the U.S. and Canada and wherever music is sold.
Elvis Costello Official Site
and Tour page:
Check out a quick teaser for the new Green Day album, and check back often as the widget will be updated regularly:
Did not expect to read this today. From Ultimate-Guitar.com:
Iggy Pop’s new album is informed by jazz, French literature and canine life.
“Préliminaires” is released on May 18 and signals a radical departure for the punk Godfather, embracing jazz and blues influences.
Pop said: “At one point I just got sick of listening to idiot thugs with guitars banging out crappy music and I’ve started listening to a lot of New Orleans-era, Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton-type of jazz. And I’ve always loved quieter ballads as well.”
The record was influenced by Pop’s reading of “The Possibility Of An Island” by French novelist Michel Houllebecq.
The singer explained: “(The book) is about death, sex, the end of the human race, and some other pretty funny stuff. I read the book with intense pleasure when it came out, and in my mind, I created music that would have been the music that I would hear in my soul when I read this book.”
Tracks featured include a French-language cover of “La Feuilles Mortes (Autumn Leaves)”, “How Insensitive” and “King Of The Dogs”, which takes The Stooges classic “I Wanna Be Your Dog” to its natural conclusion, being about “how cool it is to be a dog, and how much it beats human life”.
Are you in need of proof that Ska is in fact not yet dead? Look no further than the debut from Montreal band Stepper. The best way to in fact prove that a genre still has life is to not be ashamed of your influences and to simply do it well. Stepper? Check.
Recorded at Blackbird Studios in Nashville under the guidance of Grammy award winning producer George Massenburg, Way Out is filled with upbeat(obviously) tunes that are tight and well crafted. It’s a fun album to listen to especially if you happened to be a fan of 3rd wave ska music from its late 90’s heyday and will definitely leave you humming certain melodies long after you stop listening. Numerous songs feature a harder rock edge which is a welcomed addition to the sound and should quickly remind you of Reel Big Fish. Inspired guitar playing, tight horn lines and 3 different vocalists taking turns at the mic keep the entire album fresh and unpredictable. Standout tunes include “Turn Up Your Soundsystem”, “Running From Home” and “Bring Us Together”. Ska may not be as popular as it once was but who gives a shit when the tunes are good right? Exactly.
Stepper hits the road this summer for short tour, be sure to keep an eye out and catch up with them online:
http://www.myspace.com/steppermusic
Check out the band in the studio recording “Running From Home”:
MySpace Music (www.myspace.com/music), the world’s premier online music portal, announces the exclusive world premiere of No Line On The Horizon, the new studio album from U2. Beginning on February Feb. 20th ,MySpace U.S. users will be able to stream the album in its entirety from U2’s official MySpace Music profile at www.myspace.com/u2, giving fans a chance to preview it before the U.S. release on March 3rd. No Line On The Horizon will be available for purchase on MySpace Music starting on March 3rd.
U2 recently premiered their latest video for the hit single Get On Your Boots on MySpace Music to fans around the world. No Line On The Horizon is the group’s highly anticipated 12th studio album and their first release since How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb came out in late 2004. Recording sessions for No Line On The Horizon were held in various locations around the world, including Fez, Morocco, the band’s own studio in Dublin, New York’s Platinum Sound Recording Studios, and Olympic Studios in London. Long-time U2 collaborators Brian Eno and Danny Lanois produced the album, with additional production by Steve Lillywhite.
For more information about U2 and to stream No Line On The Horizon, visit their MySpace Music official profile at: www.myspace.com/u2.
Raul Malo’s Fantasy Records label debut album, Lucky One, finds him fully shedding his musical shackles. “I have been fighting my whole life against people who want to pigeonhole music. I feel like I’ve got no restrictions anymore.” Malo is known for his work as the frontman of the Grammy Award-winning, globally platinum- and gold-certified band the Mavericks. Following two albums of covers, Lucky One is Malo’s first album original material in seven years.
The CD will hit the streets on March 3rd, fronted by the lead single “Hello Again.”
Malo has earned much critical respect over the years. USA Today applauded “a voice that seems to have no limits of range or versatility.” The New York Times said, “Malo has an exceptional voice, a burnished tenor that harks back to Roy Orbison and the great Cuban singer Beny Moré.” Rolling Stone added, “Raul Malo has a voice on par with the best of ‘em: Sinatra, George Jones and Orbison.” And The Wall Street Journal opined: “Malo’s superb voice is big and melodic with a natural vibrato. Exquisite.”
Check out the title track “Lucky One” (right click, save as)
Malo wrote Lucky One over a two-year period at his Nashville home and was so happy with the results that several of his home demos appear as final versions on the CD. For the balance of the album, he once again enlisted Steve Berlin, best known for his work with Los Lobos and who worked on Malo’s 2001 Today album, as co-producer. “I trust Steve musically,” Malo says. “Art comes first with him. That’s the most important quality of all. Nothing gets in the way of that.”
Lucky One follows You’re Only Lonely and After Hours, two CDs of cover songs written by Malo’s favorite tunesmiths including Kris Kristofferson, Dwight Yoakam, Willie Nelson and Roger Miller.
“How could that not influence my songwriting on Lucky One?” Malo asks. “It certainly had an effect on how I wrote for this. There’s an appreciation for song structure, melody and lyric that these guys certainly had.”
Songs on Lucky One range from the upbeat “Moonlight Kisses,” to songs like “One More Angel” and “Rosalie,” which take on mortality and the loss of life. “Hello Again” is a deceptively upbeat, swinging tale of heartbreak, and the closing track “So Beautiful” is an ultimately uplifting benediction influenced by events in and outside Malo’s home.
While fans wait the March 3 release of Lucky One, Malo will travel to several cities in December to preview the songs live, perform solo and Mavericks classics while sprinkling in some holiday cheer. Tour cities are as follows:
Raul Malo Tour Dates:
2/20 Belfast Songwriters Festival Nashville, TN
3/06 Alladin Theatre Portland, OR
3/07 Snoqualmie Casino Snoqualmie, WA
3/08 Tractor Tavern Seattle, WA
3/10 Great American Music Hall San Francisco, CA
3/11 House of Blues Anaheim, CA
3/12 House of Blues West Hollywood, CA
3/13 Clark Center Theatre Arroyo Grande, CA
3/14 John Ascuaga’s Nugget Hotel &Casino Sparks, NV
3/16 Belly Up Tavern Solana Beach, CA
4/03 The Landmark on Main Street Port Washington, NY
4/04 Ridgefield Playhouse Ridgefield, CT
4/05 Keswick Theatre Glenside, PA
4/09 Byham Theater Pittsburgh, PA
http://raulmalo.com
New York, NY- February 3, 2009 – Multi-platinum rock band 311 have been hard at work in their own North Hollywood studio, The Hive, with legendary producer Bob Rock (Metallica, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith) putting the final touches on their ninth studio album. The highly anticipated record, Uplifter, is set for release via Volcano/Jive Records in late spring.
This is the band’s first album in over three years – and their first with producer Bob Rock. 311 will hit the road in support of Uplifter with Spring & Summer tours across the US. 311’s Spring Tour will begin April 15 and 311’s Summer Unity Tour will follow in June.
311 formed in Omaha, Nebraska in 1990 and is vocalist/guitarist Nick Hexum, vocalist/DJ SA Martinez, lead guitarist Tim Mahoney, drummer Chad Sexton and bassist P-Nut. To date, 311 has sold over 8.3 million units in the U.S alone, with 5 albums in the Top 10 on Billboard’s Top 200 Sales Chart and 7 singles soaring into the Top 10 on Billboard’s Modern Rock Chart (including the #1 singles Down, Love Song and Don’t Tread On Me).
The band’s celebratory live shows & incessant touring schedule have earned them a massive grassroots following nationwide. Since its inception in 2004, 311’s annual summer headlining amphitheatre run, Unity Tour, has become one of the largest modern rock concerts of the summer. Support acts on the past five Unity Tours have included Snoop Dogg, The Roots, Papa Roach, The Wailers, O.A.R. and Matisyahu.
For more information on 311, their upcoming release and for the most up-to-date tour stops point your browser to www.311.com or www.myspace.com/311.
Here’s 311 performing a classic tune:
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus have just released their long-anticipated album, Lonely Road. Produced by Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance, Incubus), the collection features the single “You Better Pray” which AOL Music just bestowed with their “Video of the Day” honor. The band has also just premiered an alternate version of the video that strictly features the band in full performance. Both the new and original videos were helmed by Iranian director Tony Petrossian who has also worked with Taking Back Sunday, Rise Against, and Serj Tankian among others.
Lonely Road is available now on Virgin Records
Cursive has confirmed that their sixth full-length studio album, Mama, I’m Swollen, will be released March 10, 2009 on Saddle Creek Records. The follow-up to 2006’s Happy Hollow – which was heralded by publications such as Alternative Press, Spin, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and Blender as an adventurous and triumphant evolution of the band – the new album was recorded this past summer and fall at ARC Studios in Omaha, NE. Track listing for Mama, I’m Swollen is as follows:
1. In The Now
2. From The Hips
3. I Couldn’t Love You
4. Donkeys
5. Caveman
6. We’re Going To Hell
7. Mama, I’m Satan
8. Let Me Up
9. Mama, I’m Swollen
10. What Have I Done?
Wrestling with life’s miseries and mysteries, Mama, I’m Swollen is an album brimming with the universal, questioning the human condition, social morality, and the ‘Peter Pan Syndrome’ of grown men. Road-tested and refined this past spring and summer via a series of one-off tour dates, Cursive recently previewed the new material to their ardent fans on an 11-date small club tour last month Check out a series of videos from the tour on Saddle Creek’s YouTube channel! (www.youtube.com/saddlecreekrecords) Of the Cleveland show and new material, Alternative Press’ Music Editor Scott Heisel blogged: “I saw Cursive tonight. Holy h**l, they were awesome. They sprinkled five new songs into their set, my favorite of which has been titled ‘What Have I Done?’ by fans online. Stop whatever you’re doing and spend the next eight minutes watching a video of this absolutely incredible song…I also want to hear Cursive’s new album…ASAP.”
Cursive March tour dates:
MAR. 9 BROOKLYN, NY MUSIC HALL of WILLIAMSBURG (sold-out)
MAR. 10 NEW YORK, NY BOWERY BALLROOM
MAR. 13 LOS ANGELES, CA THE TROUBADOUR (sold-out)
MAR. 14 SAN DIEGO, CA THE CASBAH
MAR. 15 PHOENIX, AZ RHYTHM ROOM
MAR. 16 ALBUQUERQUE, NM THE LAUNCHPAD
www.cursivearmy.com
www.myspace.com/cursive
www.saddle-creek.com
PLAY
