#16.  The Twilight Singers- Powder Burns (2006): Former Afghan Whigs front man Greg Dulli (performing as the Twilight Singers) once again delivers with Powder Burns.   Recorded in Dulli’s adopted hometown of New Orleans during and in the wake of Hurricane Katrina,  Powder Burns was in some ways a return to form.   His previous album “She Loves You” was a collection of cover songs featuring works by John Coltrane and Bjork among others (no really).  Like much of Dulli’s music, Powder Burns delivers on raw emotion.  But this time, recording sober, and with Katrina as a backdrop, Powder Burns brings out the demons.  But its not all doom and gloom.  The album shines most brightly on  “Forty Dollars,” a fun romp about love with Dulli offering plenty of it.  But this isn’t just any old love song.  In Dulli’s snarky, misanthropic way, he claims “love don’t mean a thing but 2 a.m. and a telephone ring.”   Not yet done, he has a little fun with the tune quoting a few Beatles tunes.  But Dulli knows when to pull back and he does so with skill on more understated tracks like “Candy Cane Crawl” and “The Conversation.”  One of the most listenable albums I’ve heard in some time, it really delivers with soaring melodies, great guitar work, and the signature Dulli vocal style- basically sounding like a guy that’s just smoked a pack of Marlboro Reds while drinking a bottle of Jack.  If you dig some good old fashioned 90’s influenced alt-rock, I implore you to check this one out; it does not disappoint.

Faves: There’s Been an Accident, Forty Dollars, Bonnie Brae, The Conversation

Actuación de The Twilight Singers acompañados por Joseph Arthur no programa Jimmy Kimmer Live! do canle americano ABC, onde interpretan ‘Sublime’ (do seu EP A Stitch In Time de 2007 e ‘Forty Dollars’ (do seu último LP Powder Burns editado en 2006)

Este es uno de los grandes. Es rock, pero tiene en su sangre Jazz y al Soul.

Interviewed for FasterLouder

“Sometimes I forget that I was in another band,” says Greg Dulli, discussing the legacy of his years as the frontman for The Afghan Whigs.

The band released a string of albums through the 90s that earned Dulli a reputation as a dark and complex character. The Ohio band successfully melded rock, soul and R’n’B at a time when grunge was king and since their breakup in 2001 Dulli has continued to explore the shadows of the soul in various guises.

A man who thrives on collaboration, Dulli’s focus of the last few years has been The Gutter Twins with fellow prince of darkness Mark Lanegan. Like his partner, Lanegan has built a post Screaming Trees career as a singer for hire, following his muse through Queens Of The Stone Age, Isobel Campbell, The Twilight Singers and his own solo records. With their drama soaked voices both men gravitate towards angst and heartache so working together seemed a logical step.

Dulli rates Lanegan’s voice as one of the best when he states with conviction, “Aside from being my friend and collaborator he truly is one of my favourite singers that I’ve ever heard.” The attraction to work together seems to be a mutual one built on respect for each others voices. “When I heard his first solo record I was like “my god”, I can’t really compare him to anyone,” says Dulli. “I can tell you as someone who has learned to sing with Mark over the years, his phrasing is utterly unique and unto himself. Its almost like learning algebra. The song will bend to Mark and thats to the songs benefit.”

After releasing their debut album Saturnalia in 2008 The Gutter Twins toured as a full band, exploring their blues and soul inflected rock at full volume. Then came phase two in January with USA and European tour dubbed ‘”An Evening With Greg Dulli & Mark Lanegan”’. Now expanded to Australia and South America, the idea was to strip away the musical layers from a variety of songs from both of their back catalogs, leaving just the duo’s voices to carry the performance.

Originally the idea was to tour the whole band but logistically the stripped down show proved to be more practical. “The full band costs a lot of money. Being asked to do this tour mean it makes more sense to do it acoustically. Plus we would have to re-rehearse the whole thing,” explains Dulli. The two singers are joined by an additional guitarist and Dulli is keen to point out the enjoyment he gets from the format. “I love playing this show, the interplay between me and Mark and Dave Rosser, I’ve never really had that in any other form so I’m totally looking forward to it.”

For the first time the Twins will also be looking back to their former bands and breathing new life into some of their favourite songs. “I’m playing a couple of Whigs songs in this show we are doing and I really hadn’t done any Whig songs in ten years so its been fun to revisit them – in a new way. People sure do like them,” Dulli says.

Rather than just singing their own songs Dulli and Lanegan mix up their roles to give the audience a different perspective. “We’re both singing all the songs, whether as the lead singer or harmony singer or a straight up duet. One of us pipes up at some point during the other one’s songs. It’s cool, I sing a couple of lines from his songs and he sings a couple of lines from my songs too, so its cool,” he enthuses.

Reinterpreting other people’s songs has always been a big part of Dulli’s live shows where he has been inspired to tackle everything from Prince to old soul classics to Fat Freddy’s Drop. “I heard them on KCRW and I was in a parking garage and they didn’t back announce the song so I got out my cellphone and had to walk outside the garage and call the radio station and was like “What’s that last song you played?” and by the time I got outside it was three songs ago so I ended up having to hum it to them. They finally told me two songs and I went and found both songs and one of them was Fat Freddy’s Drop,” he recalls.

Recently the tables have been turned with the imminent release of Summer’s Kiss,  A Tribute To The Afghan Whigs featuring the likes of Lanegan and Joseph Arthur. Dulli is flattered by the tribute and is looking forward to hearing the different versions though one key song is missing. “I used to say I wished Whitney Houston would cover one of mine just to make some money,” he jokes.

Dulli is currently recording the next Twilight Singers album and is taking time out from that for the upcoming tour. Though it interrupts that project, there is still some continuity as both his travel mates are involved with the new record. “Rosser is in the Twilight Singers so we can work on things in hotel rooms, it’ll be good. Mark is singing on the Twilight record as well.”

As for future plans, Dulli is confident that the Gutter Twins will reappear at some point. “I’m certain we’ll do another Gutter Twins record someday, there’s no reason why we won’t. I’ve been lucky to be able to do things when I want to do them and that worked for me, I’m not going to fuck with the situation.” That luxury of freedom to create seems to sit well with Dulli as he seems content with the present as well as the music of his past. Don’t go expecting happy songs any time soon though, Dulli still kind of likes the view from the gutter.

‘Too Tough To Die’ é un tema incluído en Quixotic (2003), o primeiro álbum en solitario de Martina Topley-Bird, ex-moza, colaboradora e nai dun fillo de Tricky.

Dous anos máis tarde os Twilight Singers de Greg Dulli incluían a canción no seu disco de versións She Loves You e adaptábana perfectamente ó estilo da banda dándolle un aire  máis acertado que a versión orixinal (na miña humilde opinión).

VS.

Era principios de mayo cuando me enteré de la agradable noticia de que Mark Lanegan se presentaría en Buenos Aires, inmediatamente se lo comuniqué a mi colaborador Julio N, y luego de buscar por varias semanas a las personas indicadas para tratar de realizar una entrevista, finalmente a fines de ese mes se concreta esta feliz conversación. Parte de esta nota fue publicada en una conocida revista cuyo nombre evoca una parte del cuerpo humano. Acá la publicamos completa.

Mark Lanegan - La Trastienda

El Boom Sónico: ¿En dónde te encontrás?

Mark Lanegan: Estoy en Los Angeles.

BS: ¿Has estado muy ocupado estos días?

ML: No tanto, he estado haciendo cosas por aca y por alla, pero nada realmente esta noche…

BS: Leimos que vas a estar viniendo con un formación reducida, vos, Greg Dulli (Afghan Whigs, Twilight Singers) y Greg Rosser (Afghan Whigs) , ¿Es verdad?

ML: Sí, va a ser un acústico con el agregado de un piano, asi que va a ser un show muy tranquilo.

BS: ¿Cómo vas a manejar la intensidad en canciones como “Idle Hands”? Por nombrarte un ejemplo…

ML: Creo que a veces un show mas calmo y tranquilo es mas intenso que uno ruidoso, me parece que es la naturaleza en si.

BS: ¿Cómo surgió la idea de realizar un EP de covers?

ML: Bueno, a Greg Dulli y a mi nos gusta hacer covers, creo que estábamos haciendo un par de canciones para un b-side de un single y a partir de ahi continuamos con esa idea.

BS: ¿Fueron las canciones grabadas en las sesiones de “Saturnalia“?

ML: Sí, la mayoría de ellas, nos sentíamos muy libres en el estudio, haciendo cosas que nos gustan…

BS: ¿Es verdad que una vez en una entrevista le dijiste al periodista que estabas trabajando con Greg, pero él no sabía nada al respecto?

ML: Bueno, en realidad habíamos colaborado en unos temas para ese entonces, sólo que no teniamos un nombre para la banda, pero fue en esa entrevista donde mencioné que el proyecto se llamaba “The Gutter Twins“, y de eso Greg no estaba enterado…

An evening with Greg Dulli & Mark Lanegan

BS: Y uds habian colaborado en The Twilight Singers..

ML: Y con mi banda solista, Greg me acompañó en un tour tocando los teclados, y también tocó en un par de mis discos solistas. Y luego estuve en The Twilight Singers, cantando en un par de sus discos…

BL: Estuviste colaborando con varios artistas luego de la separación de Screaming Trees, con Soulsavers, Isobel Campbell, Queens Of The Stone Age, Twilight Singers, solo por nombrar algunos, ¿Sentís que obtenés algo extra trabajando con artistas tan diversos en vez de tocar con la misma gente regularmente?

ML: Las colaboraciones son lo que me han mantenido interesado en la música, es mucho más interesante, desde mi punto de vista, lo disfruto demasiado. En Screaming Trees estuve tocando con la misma gente por 15 años, no me aburría, pero estuvimos demasiado tiempo juntos.

BS: ¿Seguís en contacto con tus viejos compañeros de banda?

ML: Claro, acabo de recibir un mail de Barrett (Martin, ultimo batero de Screaming Trees) ayer, y Van Conner (guitarrista, Screaming Trees) me envio una copia de su nueva banda un par de dias atras. (Nota: Está hablando de Valis, proyecto que Van Conner se metió en lleno luego de la separación de Screaming Trees)

BS: En enero de este año, Van Conner y Barrett Martin se juntaron en el Highdive de Seattle por primera vez en 9 años, y tocaron un par de canciones de Screaming Trees… ¿Se te ha cruzado la idea de volver a juntarte con ellos y hacer un par de gigs?

ML: Bueno, no se sobre eso, pero nosotros hemos estado colaborando. Barrett y yo estuvimos de invitados en el disco de un artista Danés, yo canto en un par de temas y el toca lo suyo en otros, y Van ha estado en uno de mis discos solistas. Es buenisimo hacer música con ellos cuando la oportunidad aparece, pero no querría volver juntar a la banda, 15 años fueron suficientes.

BS: A prinicipios de este mes estuviste presente en el tributo que le hizo John Cale a Nico, esta vez en Italia, ¿Cómo surgio este colaboración con él?

ML: Él me invitó, soy un gran fan de John Cale, Nico, y The Velvet Underground, asi que fue un gran placer para mi, y muy divertido, formar parte de la banda de John Cale. Interpreté “Win a Few” y “Roses in the Snow“

Mark Lanegan with John Cale (and his band) – “Win a Few”  Teatro Comunale, Ferrara – Mayo 10, 2009

BS: ¿Colaboraste con mas voces en el último disco de Soulsavers, “Broken” no? (Nota: El disco finalmente salió la semana pasada, e incluye también colaboraciones de Jason Pierce, Mike Patton, Will Oldham y el gran Gibby Haynes de Butthole Surfers) ¿Como te juntaste con ellos?

ML: Sí, a través de un amigo que tenemos en comun ellos me pudieron contactar. Estaban interesados en hacer algo conmigo, escuché lo que venían haciendo y me gustó, me pareció algo que yo podia disfrutar. Y lo hice.

BS: ¿Qué es lo que tomás en consideración antes de colaborar con alguien?

ML: Antes que nada, me tiene que gustar lo que escucho,  y luego tengo que pensar si es algo donde yo podría sentirme cómodo, y también si va a ser un reto en alguna manera. Asi que basicamente son esas cosas que tomo a consideración.

BS: ¿Podemos esperar algunas canciones de Afghan Whigs o Screaming Trees?

ML: Absolutamente, va a haber un par de canciones de Afghan Whigs, Twilight Singers, algunas cosas de Screaming Trees, temas de mi carrera solista. Eso es lo que lo hace diferente de un show de The Gutter Twins, en el cual tocamos una o dos canciones de esas y luego nuestro disco completo. Este abarca mucho mas nuestra carrera, espero que lo disfrutes

The Gutter Twins: Greg Dulli & Mark Lanegan – The River Rise – July 7, 2009 – La Trastienda – Buenos Aires,

BS: ¿Preferís tocar shows mas íntimos?

ML: Esto es un reto para mi, disfruto hacer las dos cosas, shows íntimos y shows ruidosos, y por suerte puedo hacer los dos cosas. Disfruto tocar mucho con una banda en vivo y tambien hacer un show acustico

BS: ¿Vas a estar tocando la guitarra, o solo vas a cantar?

ML: No, le dejo los instrumentos a los muchachos, mi manera de tocar la guitarra no ha mejorado (risas)

BS: ¿Algunas expectativas por este tour en Sudamérica?

ML: Lo estoy esperando con ansias porque son lugares en donde nunca he estado anteriormente.

The Gutter Twins: Greg Dulli & Mark Lanegan – Creeping Coastline Of Lights – Martes 7 de Julio, 2009 -

entrevista: julio nusdeo/sebastián jarpa

videos: sebastián jarpa

fotos: damián j.

traducción: sebastián jarpa

As the twilight hours engulf another perfect Winter’s day here’s a couple of gems to fuel you for the next few hours and transport you into whatever Saturday night may hold for you…

Twilight Singers – Candy Cane Crawl

Quite simply, Greg Dulli embodies Rock’n'Roll… my mind lights up every time I hear this song. Perfect for sipping on a few whiskeys, or whatever else may take your fancy.

The Twilight Sad – And She Would Darken The Memory

Elegant, aching rock from one of Glasgow’s finest. Swirling guitars, tumultuous rhythms and James Graham’s raggedly sentimental lyrics… now where’s that second drink?

I have a special connection with the Lo Fidelity Allstars. I used “Bootsy Call” from their On the Floor at the Boutique mix as my intro music on my college radio show, Fireball Music. While I enjoyed the first Lo Fi album just fine(How To Operate With a Blown Mind), it isn’t a timeless classic by any means. The second record, 2002’s Don’t Be Afraid of Love firmly established the template that Lo Fidelity Allstars have operated from ever since, that they love funk and disco. LOVE IT. Funky basslines, Bootsy Collin’s appearances, straight faced disco pop tracks with unapologetic lyrics of unfettered love, that’s Don’t Be Afraid of Love in a nutshell. In the time since Don’t, the band hasn’t really done much of anything beside post some angry Myspace blogs about the state of British popular music(Though angry, these posts are not incorrect in their statements on the general terribleness of Kasabian and Razorlight). Along with his pessimistic posts, apparent Lo Fidelity Allstars mouthpiece Phil Ward did drop news of a new record, one of which they were immensely proud. They did warn against people hoping for another How To Operate With A Blown Mind, which was fine by me. I wanted another Don’t, which Northern Stomp essentially is.

Northern Stomp easily takes the title of most streamlined Lo Fi Allstars album. The first two records, for all their strengths could get bogged down in spacey interludes and go nowhere dub tracks. At ten songs, Northern Stomp is tighter than ever before, with more dance jams than I ever expected. If “Valentine’s Roast” had appeared on either of their previous releases, I would expect it to run an additional two minutes, slowly drifting into space. Whatever their recording conditions were this time, brevity was the result.

While knowing what a Lo Fidelity Allstars album is going to sound like isn’t that hard to predict, it’s the vocals where they continue to surprise. Northern Stomp runs the gamut from loutish Brit vocals who sound like they had too many fags and pints the night before, Bee Gee aping male falsettos, and the now expected Greg Dulli appearance(“Southside Lowdown”). Dulli appeared on “Somebody Loves You” on Don’t, where he put in a more demure lover man performance, while his performance here is positively feral, akin to his more passionate Afghan Whigs work. It takes an already strong track and makes it one of the albums many standouts. The album’s highlight is “I Know I’m a King”, disco funk pop of the highest order, where the chorus explains that “Women dress for women/I dress for a living”.

On the aforementioned Myspace Blog, Ward mentions that this might be the last Lo Fidelity Allstars record, indicating a recording process that while creatively fruitful, left them in a less promising financial situation. I hope this isn’t their swan song, as it sounds like they’ve fully shook off their Big Beat late 90’s past and are fully embracing their favorite influences, merging everything together into a frothy dance funk mix.

Por fín, luego de esperar varios años, Mark Lanegan, ícono del subgenero mal llamado “grunge”, se hizo presente en Sudamerica. Luego de su gigs en San Pablo y Santiago de Chile, y junto a su amigote Greg Dulli (de los olvidados The Afghan Whigs) hicieron delirar de histeria a unos pocos cientos de agitadores nostálgicos.

Tratamos de entrevistar a Greg Dulli para esta nota, pero el muy simpático me mando a hablar con el promotor primero. “Andá por el canal adecuado” fue lo que me respondió en una pequeña charla telefónica el dia anterior a su show en La Trastienda. Bueno, para ser sinceros, Dulli nunca fui muy partidario del llamado “diy” que digamos.

Igualmente interceptamos a Mark Lanegan en el soundcheck y nos confirmó que seguramente su nuevo disco solista saldrá el año que viene por el sello 4AD (su último disco, “Bubblegum“, data del 2004). Ah, y de que es muy amigo de los Beat Happening

Les dejamos dos lindas canciones.

The Gutter Twins: Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan – The River Rise

The Gutter Twins: Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan - Creeping Coastline Of Lights

Sebastián Jarpa ©

“He looks like David Mitchell” says Mrs Loft and Lost.
“You go and tell him that” say I.
“Actually, he looks like the lovechild of David Mitchell and Stephen Fry”
“Are you trying to get us killed?”

Mrs Loft and Lost is right though. Greg Dulli doesn’t really look like the sex-and-drugs obsessed rock demon of Afghan Whigs and Twilight Singers fame. He really does look like he could be David Mitchell’s taller, stroppier older brother. Not that I would tell him to his face, as he’d likely take me into the concrete wilderness of the South Bank and give me a good shoeing. On our way into the Royal Festival Hall I asked the lovely lady on the door if we could bring drinks in, and she replied “Of course, as long as it’s in plastic”. Yes, because I’m actually feeling suicidal right now, and I’d like to end it all by chucking a wine glass at the two grumpiest men in rock – Mark Lanegan and Greg Dulli, otherwise known as The Gutter Twins. And playing acoustic, too.

I’ve seen Mark Lanegan live about six or seven times now, both with his band and with Queens Of The Stone Age, and I don’t recall him saying anything more than a couple of sentences each time¹. Tonight, he managed a couple of jokey lines, but that was about the end of it, leaving his somewhat more forthcoming² partner Mr Dulli to talk to the crowd, lead us in handclapping, introducing the (fantastic) guitarist (Dave Rosser, as both Martyn and Goonerandy have let me know – thanks chaps!), and exhorting us to “live life to the full”. Even sitting down, on a huge stage, with the usual huge amp stacks and drummer and the rest of the trappings of heavy rock replaced by a couple of acoustic guitars and a piano, he’s still a force of nature. On the third song in, whilst Greg and the guitarist are singing in harmony, a low, low growl comes through the speakers. I thought, “What the hell’s that?”. It took me a couple of seconds to realise it was Mark singing. He sounds like a particularly disgruntled tiger.

But by the sweet Mary mother of Jebus, does he have a voice. Quite frankly, it’s astonishing. He sounds like he’s spent an eternity sitting in run-down bars, drinking cheap whiskey and rueing the day he met that cheap no-good low-down woman and how she broke his heart. You can just as well picture him hunched over a glass of gutrot bourbon in a one-horse frontier town in 1874, as in a tavern by the docks in Plymouth in 1534, or drinking fermented woolly mammoth milk in an ostentatiously shabby cave about 5000 years BC, muttering something about how the dark days are going to come, and how that cheap no-good low-down woman has run off with Zog from the next cave along, and he’s going to have some of that there cactus juice tonight. There’s thousands of years of pain and heartache in that voice, and hearing him sing accompanied with just an acoustic guitar is a pleasure beyond mere words.

Don’t think that it’s just the tone of his voice that is special though. Mark’s actually got a better vocal range than you’d first expect; not just the bass growl that makes Barry White sound like he’s on helium. During “Sworn And Broken”, he actually sings, properly, and it’s a fair old treat. Ok, so he’s hardly Jeff Buckley, but the contrast with his usual rumblings makes the times he does venture above low C all the more effective. Oh, and thankfully the dreadful keyboard solo has gone (almost as bad as Sugar’s “Hoover Dam”), replaced with a marvellous guitar solo from Mr Rosser.

“Creeping Coastline Of Lights”, the sole track from Mark’s covers album “I’ll Take Care Of You”, was lovely, and was followed by “Resurrection Song”. In all honesty, the Lanegan material worked better acoustically than Dulli’s; partly because Dulli’s best songs have been balls-out, drink-sodden rage-filled soul-inflected numbers about doing all the wrong things in life (see “Teenage Wristband” or “Uptown Again”), so he had to fall back on either the quieter numbers, or try and make as loud a sound with two acoustics (or an acoustic and a piano). Some worked pretty well, like “Martin Eden” and the old Whigs number “If I Were Going”, but others don’t quite click as well as the Lanegan numbers do. But that’s harsh criticism, in fairness – there wasn’t a single moment that I got bored or wished a song was over. If anything, from the stage, they probably saw looked at me sitting in the front row wondering who that galoot was with the dumb grin on his face.

Setlist

The last song before the encore was Bukka White’s “I Am In The Heavenly Way”. As both of them sang “Moving, joy, joy, joy\Wonderful joy, I’m movin’ on ”, we all thought “You know, you guys can stick about a bit longer if you want to”. So they did, and finished off with another cover, this time of Nick Drake’s “Three Hours”, with Dulli and Lanegan’s voices about as far from Drake’s fragile soprano as you can imagine. They sent us off into the South Bank night, happy as songs of misery, pain and addiction can make you.

Which, as it turns out, is pretty happy indeed.

(MP3’s courtesy of Mundo Eleven)

MP3: I Am In The Heavenly Way by The Gutter Twins (Live in Glasgow 2009)

MP3: Creeping Coastline Of Lights by The Gutter Twins (Live Glasgow 2009)

¹ Andy, who’d originally told me about this show, said that when he first saw QOTSA live, he saw Mark shambling onto the stage and thought to himself “What the hell is that roadie doing?”. I can see exactly where he’s coming from there.

² That’s not saying much. Lichen is more forthcoming.

Buy Mark Lanegan’s “I’ll Take Care of You” (Please, please do, it’s utterly fantastic)

Buy Gutter Twins “Saturnalia” (CD)

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Este sábado vi a Mark Lanegan y Greg Dulli en un concierto acústico en el Teatro Oriente. Eran ellos dos y un guitarrista invitado.  Estuvo increíble, escuchar a Mark Lanegan en vivo es un puto sueño.

Greg Dulli es un tipo de verdad también. Toca, tiene una voz increíble y su ex-banda Afghan Wigs era muy buena.

Empezaron con canciones de  Gutter Twins y después de eso se fueron una y una. Con canciones de ambos, de Lanegan, Screaming Trees, Afghan Wigs incluso un cover de Nick Drake.

Aunque la selección de canciones era finísima algunos estúpidos les pedían sus canciones favoritas, por hacerse notar, por ignorantes o por exigentes. Una mierda.

Gracias a Coté y Ángeles de rockaxis por la entrada, clic acá para ver el review de ellos en la revista.

Grabé dos canciones. Sworn and Broken de Screaming y Gods children de Gutter twins, veanlas acá.

Quando escrevi sobre Mark Lanegan aqui, em fevereiro desse ano, sequer sonhava que, dali a alguns meses, estaria assistindo a um show do homem. Ele ali, a alguns metros de mim, um monstro, e aquela voz magnetizante. Num sonho, isso não seria tão estarrecedor.

Talvez Lanegan nem seja uma figura de tamanha essencialidade para a história do rock. Não sei se muita coisa teria acontecido de forma diferente se ele não existisse. Mas a verdade é que Lanegan não precisa de nada disso, de história e de cortejos. Ele está vivo, fazendo música e cantando como um gênio. Isso importa mais que tudo. E é isso que faz dele um dos caras mais respeitáveis da música atual.

Em sua recente visita ao Brasil, Lanegan veio ao lado de seu colega Greg Dulli (ex-Afghan Whigs), com quem forma o Gutter Twins – o guitarrista Dave Rosser também acompanhou a dupla. Com esse projeto, eles lançaram, no ano passado, o elogiado disco Saturnalia – além do EP Adorata. O show mostrado no charmoso Bourbon Street, no entanto, não foi uma apresentação do Gutter Twins, propriamente dita, como eu e muitos imaginávamos que seria.

Entitulada “An Evening with Greg Dulli & Mark Lanegan”, a apresentação configurou na verdade um apanhado geral de todo o trabalho dos dois músicos – seja nessa parceria, seja em outras bandas. Imagine, então, que este não deve ter sido um setlist fácil de montar – considerando o tanto de bandas que cada um deles já formou ao longo da carreira. Para se ter uma idéia, o show teve músicas de cinco projetos diferentes. Duas faixas do Afghan Whigs e três do Twilight Singers representaram a carreira de Dulli. Lanegan mostrou duas canções do Screaming Trees e quatro de sua carreira solo. Do Gutter, apenas cinco músicas. Algumas belas covers (José González, Bukka White e Nick Drake) completaram o repertório.

Down The Line (José González cover)

Mas o diferencial desse show não esteve apenas nas músicas que o compuseram. O modo como elas foram tocadas também foi especial. Nada de guitarras, distorções ou bateria. No lugar, violão, teclado e vozes. Vozes, em alto e bom som. É aí que esses caras te fazem chorar – Lanegan, principalmente.

O ex-grunge não dirige ao público uma palavra durante todo o espetáculo – ao contrário de Dulli, que esboça alguma simpatia e arrisca agradecimentos em português. Lanegan na verdade mal parece estar ali; incólume e imóvel, sentado em seu banquinho. Basta abrir a boca, no entanto, e deixar sair suas notas graves e ásperas, e tudo em volta parece ficar menor. A voz desse homem não é qualquer coisa, uma das que mais me impressionam de tudo que já ouvi, e ao vivo ela é ainda mais emocionante. E mais um pouco, quando canta versos de Dylan. “There must be some kinda way out of here…”, emendou Lanegan, no final de God’s Children. Dulli, por sua vez, é outro excelente vocalista, de um feeling diferenciado e interpretações mais passionais. O contraste entre seus agudos e o tom mais baixo de seu parceiro funciona perfeitamente à medida que as vozes vão se entrosando ao longo do show.

Uma noite memorável no Bourbon Street. Assim como certamente foram aquelas das fotos penduradas no hall de entrada da casa. B.B. King, Nina Simone, Ray Charles, Ron Wood. Tanta gente boa que passou por ali e eu não pude ver. Espero que o show de quarta passada também renda um retrato para essa galeria. E quando eu olhar para esse, não terei do que me arrepender. Eu estive lá. Eu vi Mark Lanegan subir naquele palco e cantar.

Dollar Bill (Screaming Trees) – a mais ovacionada pela platéia

Setlist do show:

01 The Body (The Gutter Twins)
02 God’s Children (The Gutter Twins)
03 The Stations (The Gutter Twins)
04 If I Were Going (The Afghan Whigs)
05 Sworn and Broken (Screaming Trees)
06 Down The Line (José González cover)
07 We Have Met Before (The Gutter Twins)
08 Creeping Coastline of Lights (Mark Lanegan)
09 Resurrection Song (Mark Lanegan)
10 The Twilite Kid (Twilight Singers)
11 King Only (Twilight Singers)
12 Sunrise (Mark Lanegan)
13 Summer’s Kiss (The Afghan Whigs)
14 The River Rise (Mark Lanegan)
15 Sunset Machine (The Gutter Twins)
16 I Am in the Heavenly Way (Bukka White cover)
17 What Jail Is Like (The Afghan Whigs)
18 Dollar Bill (Screaming Trees)
19 Three Hours (Nick Drake cover)

Esse mês de Julho começa com grandes shows em SAMPA !!

Para a galera mais roqueira temos amanhã – THE GUTTER TWINS - projeto de Greg Dulli  (Ex.Afgan Wings) e Mark Lanegan (Ex.Screeming Trees), apresentando show do disco Saturnalia lançado em março desse ano.

Dia 01 de Julho de 2009 -Ingressos R$ 125,00 – 22:00

Já para quem gosta do som latino do grande Jorge Drexler, ainda há ingressos para pista. Confiram !!

Dia 02 de Julho de 2009 – Ingressos (PISTA) R$ 95,00 – 22:00

hey, look – its june 2009 & i haven’t made a mix-tape (disk? playlist?) in sometime.  i was killing time the other day so i threw together some shit that i’m loving at this moment – some of it is new, some of it old, some funky & filled with hooks – other tracks a lil’ quieter… but all good imho.  want a copy?  let me know… or better yet, show the bands some love & spend .99 on them, most of these tunes are on itunes.

baditude | spoon, harris + obernik

this was a huge dance floor jam last summer & it still amazes!  dave spoon, paul harris & vocalist sam obernik join forces for this instant classic.  we’ve used it a ton in runway shows & trust me, girls can walk the fuck out of this groove.  turn this baby up loud in the car, with the windows down.  

disco heaven | heloise & the savoir faire

what do you get when you mix “tina turner beyond the thunderdome era…diana ross central park 1983 era…and the french revolution”?   nyc’s club scene/fashion provocateur’s heloise + the savoir faire.  disco punk never sounded so fun.  debbie harry is swooning in her hair bleach even as we speak.  i’ve been addicted to their cd ‘trash, rats & microphones’ for about 6 months now, the full album never ceases to get me to jump around my apartment like a fool.  

heads will roll | yeah yeah yeahs

what new order started in 1983 with ‘blue monday’ evolves sweetly into the brand new yeah yeah yeahs track ‘heads will roll’ – it’s urgent, synth-y & pure dance floor sex.  the infectious groove get’s under your skin & sticks to your bones.  and based on their gig last week at minneapolis’ 1st ave, we finally have a proper heir to siouxsie’s throne.  throbbing, sexy, hard, soft, aggressive & vibrant.  all at the same time.

i was made for loving you | queen of japan

having absolutely nothing to do with japan (are a nebulous group of producers + catriona shaw on vox), queen of japan are a confusing lot.  they’ve made their underground name on remaking (reworking?  destroying?) well known tunes with an ear towards sleaze/electroclash.  the track here, originally done by kiss, turns into a slow-burn, deeply intimate/sexual come-on to an unseen girl.  is the music a lark, or is it meant to be taken serious?  not sure, but i do know i love the groove they’ve laid down & again, this thing sounds massive in a car or in headphones.

black + gold | katy perry

yeah, yeah, she kissed a girl and the track sucked balls.  she’s redeemed herself a bit here with this cover of last year’s sam sparro smash.  completely up-ending the tune and reworking it as an urgent, quiet ballad works well for the song (!) and for katy’s thin voice.  yeah, i love the original, but katy’s version opens new layers to sparro’s grammy-nominated song.  

listen to the darkside | charlie mars

this track is my new favorite as i just discovered it a week or so back.  one review i read compared him to the ethereal quality of daniel lanois mixed with a bit of g. love.  to that i would add some of the country-rock flavor the jayhawks.  the tune is a simple little groove that is quite lovely and subtle, but with a lot of soul.  

front street | the gutter twins

anyone who’s ever read any of my blogs knows i love me some greg dulli.  along with prince, siouxsie, peter gabriel, kate bush & concrete blonde; his songs have informed the better part of my musical world for the better part of 15 years.  this tune, off last year’s saturnalia was the result of a partnership with screaming tree’s mark lanegran  and finds dulli at his most confessional.  admitting secrets is never an easy thing, but his words evoke a dark feeling most of us are too afraid to tell the world.  for me, it’s amazing when a song can take you on a journey – and that’s just what front street does, granted its a dark journey, but a journey just the same. 

lassoo | the duke spirit

i discovered the duke spirit after they appeared on the last UNKLE record & was immediately taken with liela moss’ voice (NME calls moss’ a proper lady of rock, and what a wonderful thing that is).  then i checked out their sophomore effort, neptune, from-which ‘lassoo’ was taken and was quickly blown away.  the mix of big horn’s, 60’s grooves and tight hard rock makes for a pretty impressive sound.  

you can’t see me | grand ole party

ok, you won’t be able to get this track for a bit o’time – the band gave it out at a show i saw last week (they opened for the yeah yeah yeahs).  matt and I were completely impressed by this cali trio (by the way, the vocalist is also the drummer, how cool is that?)  the music itself is such a brilliant mix of that classic 60’s sound mixed with the modern edge of a siouxsie or a pj harvey.  i see big things happening for grand ole party .

tell the lie | the bellrays

discovered these guys via lead singer lisa kekaula’s appearance on the ’05 basement jaxx album kish kash.  and was a little taken aback by the bands punk/soul vibe (vs, the straight up soul/disco of the ‘jaxx), but the more i listen, the more i love.  this is what i think me’shell ndegeo’cello would sound like if she ever made a straight up bar/rock record.  powerful pipes supported my a very muscular lil’ punk/soul band.  nice job bellrays!

exit through you  | joseph arthur, peter gabriel aka big blue ball

i’ve talked at length about how much i love the world beat fusion rock record big blue ball (recorded over a 4 year period in the early 90’s & then guided to release over the next 13 years by karl wallinger (world party) and stephen hague (pet shop boys, annie lennox) before, and the album is still a-must listen to a couple times a week – and this is the track that fires on all cylinders.  arthur’s moody earthy vox and words partnered with gabriel’s world view is a great mix.  filled in with a cast of players from all over the world and you get one great tune – a tune that you’ll be humming for days to come.  

fucking boyfriend (peaches remix) | the bird & the bee

as a huge fan of the bird and the bee, i was giddy happy to see what electroclash queen peaches would do to this killer track.  what she does as a remixer is brilliant; she takes the track, twists it and builds the monster groove (in a club this would be amazing), but holds onto the essence of the song (love when it all drops out about 3/4 of the way in and your left with the simmering original vocal).  very nice peaches.  and yes, i would be your fucking boyfriend.

puppets | atmosphere

winning the title for best album name of 2008 (when life gives you lemons, you paint that shit gold), minneapolis based hip hop kings return with this moody, atmospheric (!) slow burning anthem.  puppets is simply an amazing piece of poetry with a really great groove underneath.  who’s it about?  who knows, but given they’re from minneapolis – there’s a ton of speculation that they’re about our purple prince.  slug’s words are nothing short of amazing:

i think its great how you used to be great

i cant hate on how you choose to relate

but i know that you had the potential

i understand why you wanted to let go

a lot of pressure in the middle of those shoulders

and we aint gettin nothin but older

aint nothin change but the day we run from

but nobody knows it better than you huh?

billionaire | peaches featuring yo majesty’s shunda k

all hail the queen.  peaches came back this year with the utterly amazing ‘i feel cream’ album.  what puppets did for subtlety, billionaire does for sheer force of power and bravado.  billionaire is raunchy, hard, throbbing and completely inspiring.  there’s power here in both her rap and shunda’s – these are women completely, unapologetically in control of their lives and sexuality.  lucky is the man (or woman) picked to please them.  peaches is the female equivalent to every male rock-fantasy icon in a way madonna can never be. 

absent minded friends | moloko

this is an old track that is stuck on repeat for me lately.  what grabs me every single time is the amazing production (layers upon layers; listen to it in headphones = amazing) mixed with róisín murphy’s amazingly fragile voice.  normally she sounds strong and hard, but her voice here is like a pane of thin glass.  i love that dichotomy.  surprise me like they did in 2000 with this release and i’ll come back time and time again.

i’m good, i’m gone (black kids remix) | lykke li

hailing equally from stockholm, portugal, lisbon, morocco, nepal & india, lykke li is much like a better travelled bjork.  albeit a better travelled bjork with more accessible tunes.  equal bits new wave & dance-pop – this tune is infectious and slinky.  as rolling stone said in their 100 best singles of ’08; “hand claps are the new power chords.”

quiet steam | peter gabriel

rumor has it that gabriel, fearing that his 1992 hit ‘steam’ would simply be dubbed ‘son of sledgehammer’, simultaneously recorded this muted, ambient version & released it as a b-side.  as great as steam is, this version just blows it away.  there is an aching, yearning quality to his voice that the pop version simply doesn’t have.  the rhythmic percussion, simple repeating guitar line (that maintains a bit of that soul/stax vibe the original has) & flutes move the song along a gentle winding stream. 

drifting away | faithless

i am dying to use this song in a show; i have the whole production mapped out in my head, now to just find the money and the talent!  hard to sum up this song in a paragraph – it’s just beautiful plain & simple… the opening vocals, to the percussive  (loose) beat.  the song just moves me.  

‘Down The Line’ é un tema composto polo sueco José González e que está incluído no seu segundo LP In Our Nature de 2007. Un ano máis tarde Greg Dulli e Mark Lanegan comezaron a versionalo nos seus concertos como The Gutter Twins, con tan boa aceptación por parte do público que se converteu nun dos temas estrelas da súa xira de presentación como banda. O pasado setembro incluíron o tema no seu EP de versións e rarezas Adorata.

VS.

Greg Dulli lead singer of Afghan Whigs/ Twilight Singers/ Gutter Twins sings with the earnestness and urgency of a Southern Baptist Preacher but from an ideological standpoint, the gulf between them could not be further apart. After having seen him with the Twilight Singers and Gutter Twins repeatedly, I can report that Mr. Dulli could possibly be doing one or all of the following from the stage: smoking 3 or 4 cigs at the same time, sweating profusely, grinning like he stole money from the collection plate, delaying the start of the concert 2 hrs because 9pm is too early for a denizen of the night to start working, singing as if he were at the Crossroads trying to save his soul.
Greg walks on the dark side of things without really coming off as evil. He is a congenial host who will smile pleasantly before lighting into a songs about ladies of the night and drugs all the while gulping on almond colored liquor. The givens are that his band is always tight, that Mark Lanegan is always hunching in the shadows waiting to waiting to slow the pace with his guttural whiskey wisened vocals and that a religious experience will be had by all. At all three concerts they played well past 2am, which is probably their optimal high energy time of day. The crowds at all the shows were well behaved and it doesn’t hurt that Dulli doesn’t have a “radio” song, so there can’t possibly be a neophyte in the crowd requesting one. The leers and grunts from the stage, which are abound at Greg’s shows, send the audience into a communal roar. The mere strains of the beginnings of songs elicit cat calls and howls from everyone looking up at the stage littered with candelabras. The audience is picking up on the Dulli vibe and responding in like kind.
And then Dulli and company are off to the next town where all of this will happen again. Greg will proudly strut up to the mic and wonder loudly whether “tonight’s” crowd will be louder than the one in the last town…and Mr. Dulli will have them eating out of his hand from the start and the only real question is, how far down will he lead them?

Aparición dos Twilight Singers de Greg Dulli na famosa emisora americana KCRW no programa Morning Becomes Eclectic o 5 de marzo de 2004, durante a presentación de seu disco ‘Blackberry Belle’.

• Papillon

• If I Were Going (Afghan Whigs)

• Decatour St.

• Number Nine (con Mark Lanegan)

  +Entrevista

‘Having A Party’, versión en directo do tema de Sam Cooke no programa Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson da CBS. (1998)

‘Forty Dollars’ en directo, actuación de The Twilight Singers no programa Jimmy Kimmer Live! da ABC. (2006)

‘Idle Hands’ en directo, actuación de The Gutter Twins no programa David Letterman’s Late Show. (2008)

‘Idle Hands’ en directo, actuación de The Gutter Twins no programa Later…with Jools Holland da BBC. (2008)

‘God’s Children’ en directo, actuación de The Gutter Twins no programa Later…with Jools Holland da BBC. (2008)

Primeira parte con as actuacións de Afghan Whigs en distintos programas de televisión.

‘Debonair’ en directo no programa Late Night with Conan O’Brien da NBC. (1993)

‘Debonair’ en directo no programa 120 Minutes da MTV. (1994)

‘Gentlemen’ en directo en The Jon Stewart Show da MTV. (1994)

‘Blame, Etc.’ en directo no programa 120 Minutes da MTV. (1996)

‘Going To Town’ en directo no programa 120 Minutes da MTV. (1996)

‘Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love Babe’ en directo nun especial da MTV durante a promoción do filme Beautiful Gils de Ted Demme e no cal aparecen ós Afghan Whigs. (1996)

‘Going To Town’ en directo no programa Late Night with David Letterman da CBS. (1996)

‘Honky’s Ladder’ en directo no Late Night with Conan O’Brien da NBC. (1996)

‘Somethin’ Hot’ en directo no programa Later…with Jools Holland da BBC. (1998)

‘Uptown Again’ en directo no programa Later…with Jools Holland da BBC. (1998)

Hai un par de días publicouse un tema inédito dos Afghan Whigs de Greg Dulli a través do seu myspace.

O tema en cuestión é nin máis nin menos que unha versión de ‘Woman’ de John Lennon. Aquí pego o que foi a historia de esta canción e porqué permaneceu tanto tempo sen ver a luz.

In 1996, during the recording sessions for the album that would be called “Black Love”, the Afghan Whigs were
asked to choose a song to cover for a planned tribute album to the late John Lennon. They agreed and chose to
do a version of the song “Woman” from Lennon and Yoko Ono’s 1980 record “Double Fantasy”.

However, when the label heard that the Whigs version had been based on a sample of Phil Spector’s string and
choral arrangement from The Beatles’ “The Long and Winding Road” they referred this matter to the Paul McCartney
camp and permission was flatly denied. The band refused to change it and the entire tribute record was subsequently
shelved for unknown reasons.

At the last minute, band collaborator Derek DiCenzo painstakingly recreated the sample using a mellotron and his
infinite talent.

Until now this version has not been heard before. The reasons for revealing it at this particular time are equally
unclear, but here it is…

Ésta é  a versión orixinal que estaba incluída no álbum ‘Double Fantasy’ e que foi editada só 3 semanas antes da morte de John Lennon.