Five months after releasing his new album Fork in the Road, and just three months after unearthing his overwhelming The Archives Vol. 1 1963–1972 box set, Neil Young’s work is far from over for the year. Not only will he perform at the annual Bridge School Benefit in October, Young will releaseDreamin’ Man on November 2nd, a complete live performance of his album Harvest Moon compiled from various acoustic gigs performed in 1992.
The disc is labeled Neil Young Archive Performance Series #12 and is due in stores November 2nd. Before the release of the first box set Young released three late 1960s/early 1970s concert discs that later appeared in the package. It’s unclear why he’s jumping forward to number twelve for the next release. Might box set three or four be the next set slated for release? Young never explicitly said the box sets would come out in sequential order, though that would be an odd move – even for him.
Producer John Leckie may not be a household name, but thanks to his work behind the boards for a long list of diverse, well-respected acts (including Pink Floyd, Radiohead, all four Beatles, and Public Image Limited), his talents are well known to most rock fans — whether or not they’re aware of it. One of his past projects, the Stone Roses’ self-titled debut, celebrates its 20th birthday this year, and thanks to the good people at Sony Legacy, it’s getting scrubbed and primped for a deluxe reissue — one which Leckie is now out making the promotional rounds to support. Bullz-Eye’s David Medsker, an unabashed Stone Roses fan, naturally jumped at the opportunity to interview Mr. Leckie — and the transcript of their chat is now live at Bullz-Eye.
One of the first questions, naturally, is just how far the reissue’s sound has come from the original CD — and Leckie has an interesting response:
We would make the vinyl master that would then be a CD master, and then it would be copied again for overseas. By the time it’s pressed in America or Australia, it’s a copy, of a copy, of a copy, of a copy.
In other words, if you own an original U.S. pressing of Stone Roses, the fidelity is even dodgier than you might have imagined. But is the new CD remaster the be-all, end-all version, or does Leckie recommend trendier audiophile measures, like listening to a new vinyl pressing? Leckie is vinyl-friendly, as you might imagine, but he’s surprisingly pragmatic, as it turns out:
It’s like, well, what are you playing it on? Most people listen to music on iPods or even little speakers on their laptop. Or in the car, with the windows open. Vinyl is an experience. You don’t do anything else. You just sit and listen to it.
To read more of David Medsker’s wide-ranging interview with John Leckie — including his thoughts on the punk bands of the ’70s, some of his favorite lesser-known projects, and his 20-years-removed perspective on Stone Roses, click on the above image or follow this link!
Everyone’s favorite bald, bespectacled techno god is launching a US tour in support of his album Wait for Me, and as a means of getting the word out, Moby and LP33.tv have devised a plan where they will give away a pair of tickets to one lucky person in each city on the tour.
But here’s the thing: this is no ‘enter your name and sit back’ contest, no sir. Contestants must log on to Moby’s Facebook page and rate the videos on his player. They will rack up one entry for each video they rate, with the opportunity to rack up more entries for every embeddable video they host on a web page. (No word on whether all videos must be rated favorably, but since this is aimed at his most dedicated fans, odds are that will not be an issue.)
To my knowledge, the very first legitimate “supergroup” in rock and roll was Blind Faith, a band that included Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Steve Winwood, and Ric Grech. Then came CSN(Y), the Traveling Wilburys, and a few others that aren’t coming to mind. I’m not going to list the members’ credentials from these groups — that would take hours. Let’s just say if you’ve never heard of anyone from the Traveling Wilburys, I don’t know how you can physically perform the tasks of everyday life.
Anyway, I’ve been largely underwhelmed by the supergroups of this century. Bands like Velvet Revolver, the Transplants, Zwan, and Chickenfoot have, for my taste, never recorded anything interesting enough that confirms their collective talents. Well, a new supergroup has decided to enter the fold, and rather than dish out some lackluster effort, they actually seem intent on creating some solid music. They’re called Them Crooked Vultures and the outfit consists of Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal), Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters), and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin). As a dedicated listener of the 70s, John Paul Jones makes this band worthwhile. The band has been surprising audiences at European festivals but has yet to play a show in America. Soon, that will all change, as they’ve announced their new tour dates.
The band’s just-announced nine-date U.S. jaunt kicks October 1 with a pair of gigs in Austin, TX, including a set for Austin City Limits. The rockers will hit major Midwest and East Coast cities like Detroit and Boston before touring the UK in December, but, sadly, will skip New York and the entire West Coast. Let’s hope this brief run is just the beginning!
Them Crooked Vultures Tour Dates: 10/1, Austin, TX (Stubb’s)
10/2, Austin, TX (Austin City Limits Festival)
10/5, Nashville, TN (War Memorial)
10/6, Columbus, OH (LC Pavilion)
10/8, Detroit, MI (The Fillmore)
10/9, Toronto, Ontario (The Sound Academy)
10/11, Boston, MA (House of Blues)
10/12, Philadelphia, PA (The Electric Factory)
10/14, Washington, DC (930 Club)
12/10: Plymouth, UK (Pavilions)
12/11: Portsmouth, UK (Guildhall)
12/13: Blackpool, UK (Empress Ballroom)
12/14: Birmingham, UK (O2 Academy)
12/15: Edinburgh, UK (O2 Academy)
12/17: London, UK (HMV Hammersmith Apollo)
I’m not sure why California isn’t getting any love, but I’m sure they’ll get around to it. Their first album, Deserve the Future, is due out sometime next year.
Bands must love making videos for songs on soundtracks. They only have to do a tenth as much work.
Of course, the majority of the video for “New Perspective,” the lead single by Panic! at the Disco from the soundtrack to the Diablo Cody-penned horror flick “Jennifer’s Body” (which is not being screened for the press, by the way), consists of singer Brendon Urie and drummer Spencer Smith, along with what we’re guessing are body doubles, walking in slo-mo through a high school. A couple cat fights break out, as the action cuts from the high school to the clips from the film, where Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried are either fighting or making out. When Megan isn’t eating boys alive, anyway.
Truth be told, the video is not of major significance to us. What is of major significance is the fact that Panic! is literally half the band they were the last time we heard from them. Guitarist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Welker left the band in July, citing the age-old musical differences. Urie and Smith will continue as Panic, while Ross and Welker have formed a group called the Young Veins, which will be more ’60s oriented in sound. After a quick spin of the Young Veins song “Change” on their MySpace page, the sound of “New Perspective” makes much more sense. It’s more in line with the band’s debut album, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, in that it’s wordy and contemporary. Does that mean Ross and Welker were the brains behind Pretty. Odd, the band’s Beatleriffic sophomore album? And was their departure due to insistence by Urie and Smith that they ditch the retro stuff because it didn’t sell as well?
Personally, we can’t help but think the answer to that last question is ‘yes,’ because the first thing Urie and Smith did after Ross and Welker left the band was put that goddamn exclamation point back into their name. Sigh.
