Yeasayer have finished recording their second album ‘Odd Blood’. Their debut album ‘All Hour Cymbals’ – filled with avant-garde rock and excellent vocal harmonies – was one of the best albums of 2007, so this follow up album is eagerly awaited in the WoB headquarters. It will be out early 2010.
In the meantime the band have dropped the first single ‘Ambling Alp’. A track they’ve been playing for a long time during their gigs. It even made my ‘best of 2008‘ list, based on this live version.
You can check out how the final studio version turned out by downloading the mp3 right here. Don’t thank me, thank flipper.
Filed under: Music | Tags: Fever Ray, Here Before, limited edition 7", Nick Cave, Stranger than Kindness, Vashti Bunyan
If you’ve seen Fever Ray live over the past few months, you might have noticed that their set included 2 great non-album tracks. Both are actually covers: ‘Stranger than Kindness’ by Nick Cave & Anita Lane and
‘Here Before’ by Vashti Bunyan.
Fever Ray have now recorded studio versions of both tracks. In the olden days, they would have popped up as b-sides. Nowadays, it means that there will be a deluxe re-release of the album with an extra disc with these tracks (and some other extras) on it. Which is great news if you’ve already bought the album before. Not.
Anyways, in case you don’t want to buy the album again, they’ve also put them on a limited edition (999 numbered copies) 7″ that you can buy in the Fever Ray web shop for £4.
If you haven’t seen Fever Ray live yet, you’ll have to hurry as they’ve just announced their very last tour dates. They’re playing the US at the end of September and a small European tour that ends in the first week of December.
Pukkelpop have announced that there’s a surprise act planned at the Marquee on Thursday at 20.55.
All they say is that the audience will be amazed. To quote a Dutch a radio presenter: “I’ll eat a shoe if it’s not Them Crooked Vultures”. Them Crooked Vultures are rumoured to play Lowlands 2 days later, late Saturday afternoon.
Filed under: Music | Tags: Andreas Nilsson, Fever Ray, Mikel Cee Karlsson, Triangle Walks video
Fever Ray have released the video for Triangle Walks, the third single to be taken from the debut album:. The video was directed by Mikel Cee Karlsson and captures the eerie vibes of the Fever Ray concerts. The man responsible for the look and feel of those concerts is Andreas Nilssons who also made the If I Had A Heart video.
LYRICS:
an apple and a berry plant
comes with a house
on the grass
who is that
to come by my house
stands outside my window
sucking on the berries and
eats us out of house and home
keeping us awake
keeping us awake
can i come over, i need to rest
lay down for a while
disconnect
the night was so long
the day even longer
lay down for a while
recollect
five AM
out again
triangle walks
magpies, i throw sticks at them
they laugh behind my back
getting a feeling
maybe i will dream again
having that feeling
when there’s no one awake
no no one awake
can i come over, i need to rest
lay down for a while
disconnect
the night was so long
the day even longer
lay down for a while
recollect
Filed under: Music | Tags: Afreux, Gerard Leysen, Luisterpaal, Naïve records, The Hickey Underworld, VPRO
I know I’ve been mentioning The Hickey Underworld A LOT on the blog, but that’s only because they really are the bee’s knees (yes, I have thing for outdated expressions). Their superb debut album is working towards an international release and can now be previewed in full on the Dutch VPRO listening post. Do check it out if you haven’t heard it/bought it yet.
The band also launched a new version of their website which is the hummingbird’s elbows. The flash animation is based on the fold out artwork by Gerard Leysen which was featured on the limited edition first pressing of the album. To find the info you have to navigate with a piramid around a world full of black magic, animal sex, mythical figures and of course nuns with knives. In other words: a typical day at the office.
If you visit the site for a quick check of the news or the tour dates you’re pretty much fucked as you need some time and space to discover the location of said info. Other than that, this website is a feast.
Scene from the intro:
Scenes from the site itself:
Filed under: Music | Tags: Fever Ray, fever ray live, Karen Dreijer Andersson, Polsslag
Saw Fever Ray play at the Polsslag festival yesterday. Not only has Karen Dreijer Andersson made one of the best albums of the year, the live show is equally mind-blowing.
While the album is a solo-project, live Fever Ray transform into a 5-piece band. Their instruments were spread across a very dimly lit stage filled with old standing lamps and loads of smoke.
The band were all dressed up in weird costumes, which makes the gig look like some creatures from a far-off planet in an early Star Trek episode have invaded your granny’s living room and are now scaring the shit out of her with their doom-electronics.
Underneath two laser beams that peer out of the smoke, Andersson enters the stage wearing a massive shaman-like head-dress. The whole set-up works perfectly as it manages to recreate the brooding atmosphere of the album.
As for the music itself, considering it’s a mostly electronic affair, it’s quite amazing how much of it was recreated on the spot. The sound was perfect and the bass was low enough to re-align your internal organs. I’m yet to locate my pancreas. If you’ve seen it let me know.
Pretty amazing gig for someone who “doesn’t understand the purpose of live gigs”!
If you only see one gig this year make sure it’s Fever ray. Go see them if you have the chance.
Filed under: Art, Music | Tags: debut album, Future Words, HUMO's Rock Rally, Naïve records, The Hickey Underworld, VRMNSMR
The Hickey Underworld won HUMO’s Rock Rally in 2006 but failed to reach a large audience afterwards. Few people were able to see the brilliance of their songs and it wasn’t until a few months ago – when THU released the more accessible ‘Future Words’ as a second single – that they got some decent airplay and a larger audience. Meanwhile I had the chance to see them live 19 times over the past 3 years and to me they are nothing short of the best live band in the country.
Anyways, a promo of the soon to be released, self-titled debut album found it’s way into my paws and my god it IS good. I’m especially glad that for the most part they were able to capture the raw power that is THU live onto this album. Hats off to the Das Pop guys who produced the album.
My only disappointment is that ‘VRMNSMR’, the last song on the album and usually also the live set closer, has been cropped from a 10 minute behemoth to a 4 minute track. One can only hope they also release the full version as a b-side as it is one of the best songs ever written in this small country.
And do check out the excellent cover artwork (see top of this post) by Gerard Leysen, who if I’m not mistaken was also responsible for the great image that used to be the first THU website index page (see below).
The album is out March 8th on Naïve. Buy this puppy, you won’t regret it.
Track list:
1. Zero Hour
2. Sick Of Boys
3. Blonde Fire
4. Zorayda
5. Future Words
6. Mystery Bruise
7. Of Asteroids And Men
8. Plus added Wizardry
9. Blue World Order
10. Flamencorpse
11. VRMNSMR
Filed under: Music | Tags: 4AD, fotl, Future Of The Left, new album, the hope that house built
When Future Of The Left come out of hibernation (it was a short one though, Welsh winters aren’t what they used to be) it’s always worth a post at Weapon Of Beauty.
They just announced that their second studio album (but first one for 4AD) is almost finished and should be released late May/early June.
Expecting nothing else from Falco, the album will sport another bunch of excellent song titles: ‘arming eritrea’, ‘chin music’, ‘throwing bricks at trains’, ‘land of my formers’, ‘you need satan more than he needs you’, ‘that damned fly’, ’stand by your manatee’, ‘yin/post-yin’, ‘drink nike’, ‘lapsed catholics’ and ‘i am civil service’.
‘The hope that house built’ is the new single (see cover above) and physical copies of it will be out on March 14th. To prove that they really really love you, it will even have a b-side that is NOT a remix: ‘I have four names’.
Check the video here:
Filed under: Music | Tags: A Cabinet of Curiosities, Jane's Addiction, Rhino Records, Soul Kiss
Continuing the box set theme: Rhino Records finally dropped the details on the soon to be released (and already many times postponed) Jane’s Addiction ‘A Cabinet of Curiosities’.
While the first two discs are comprised mostly of previously unreleased demos and little-heard compilation tracks, the third disc is a complete Jane’s Addiction live concert recorded during the band’s three-night run at the Hollywood Palladium in December 1990. The DVD
includes the rare VHS-only short film “Soul Kiss,” music videos and three unreleased live clips taped for MTV Italy in 1990.
Although the track list (see below) has a lot of ‘previously unreleased asterisks’, it is slightly disappointing. It’s basically full of live tracks and demos. There are no real new songs and a lot of this stuff has been floating around the net for years. One can only hope that the demo’s are different enough from the album version to make this box set worth its $75 asking price.
Apparently the packaging is a real wooden box (cabinet). Considering the fact that postal services are often unable to deliver a standard cd undamaged, I wonder in how many broken pieces this will arrive on your doorstep when you order this box set on-line…
Disc 1
“Jane Says” (Radio Tokyo Demo*)
“Pigs In Zen” (Radio Tokyo Demo)
“Mountain Song” (Radio Tokyo Demo)
“Had A Dad” (Radio Tokyo Demo)
“I Would For You” (Radio Tokyo Demo)
“Idiots Rule” (Demo*)
“Classic Girl” (Demo *)
“Up The Beach” (Demo*)
“Suffer Some” (Demo*)
“Thank You Boys” (Demo*)
“Summertime Rolls” (Demo*)
“City” (Demo*)
“Ocean Size” (Demo*)
“Stop!” (Demo*)
“Standing In The Shower…Thinking” (Demo*)
“Ain’t No Right” (Demo*)
“Three Days” (Demo*)
Disc 2
“Ted, Just Admit It…” (Demo*)
“Maceo” (Demo*)
“No One’s Leaving” (Demo*)
“My Time” (Rehearsal*)
“Been Caught Stealing” (12″ Remix Version)
“Ripple”
“Don’t Call Me Nigger, Whitey” (with Ice-T & Ernie-C)
“L.A. Medley: L.A. Woman/Nausea/Lexicon Devil” (Live 1989)
“Kettle Whistle” (Live 1987*)
“Whole Lotta Love” (Live 1987*)
“1970″ (Live 1987*)
“Bobhaus” (Live 1989*)
Disc 3
“Drum Intro” (Live 1990*)
“Up The Beach” (Live 1990)
”Whores” (Live 1990*)
“1%” (Live 1990*)
“No One’s Leaving” ‹ Live 1990)
”Ain’t No Right” ‹ Live 1990*)
“Then She Did…” ‹ Live 1990*)
“Had A Dad” ‹ Live 1990*)
“Been Caught Stealing” (Live 1990*)
“Three Days” (Live 1990)
“Mountain Song” (Live 1990*)
“Stop!” (Live 1990)
“Summertime Rolls” (Live 1990*)
“Ocean Size” (Live 1990*)
Disc 4 (DVD)
Soul Kiss: The Fan’s Video
“Mountain Song” (Unedited Version)
“City”
“Had A Dad” (music video)
“Ocean Size” (music video)
“Stop!” (music video)
“Been Caught Stealing” (music video)
“Classic Girl” (music video)
“Ain’t No Right” (music video)
Live at the City Square, Milan, Italy (for MTV Italy) (10/11/90):
“Whores” *
“Then She Did…” *
“Three Days” *
* previously unreleased
Filed under: Design, Music | Tags: Aidan Moffat, Arab Strap, box set packaging, Chemikal Underground Records, How To Get To Heaven From Scotland
With record companies complaining about the decline of CD sales there are musicians out there who know how to persuade their fans into buying the cd-version of their output.
Take Aidan Moffat (ex-Arab Strap) who just released a new solo album ‘How To Get To Heaven From Scotland’. The album is available as a ‘deluxe box set’ that really pushes the boat out and offers more in the way of content than most artists would provide over three seperate releases.
This is what you get:
• Full enhanced CD version of the album.
• Full 12″ LP vinyl version of the album.
• An exclusive 5 track EP with alternate versions of album tracks + bonus track.
• An exclusive 7″ with covers of ‘I Got You Babe’ by Sonny & Cher and ‘Love Is Not A Game’ by Glen Campbell.
• A ‘How To Get To Heaven From Scotland’ board game with die and counters.
• A Valentine’s Card with envelope – individually numbered and signed by Aidan.
And they only ask £30 for it which – if my memory serves me right – is less than what Radiohead asked for their ‘In Rainbows’ box set.
And the artwork is super too (click the image for a better view). Look how they took the album cover and turned it into some sort of MB toy packaging. (Although we’ve seen that one before)
