The Duke Spirit – Lassoo

Rock, Londres-Neptune, 2008, another Moss.

The Duke Spirit

Beach Road Hotel, Bondi, Sydney

Thursday, 9th April, 2009

Well what can I say that I haven’t already said here. I wholeheartedly love this band and was so pleased that they played a second show in Sydney. But since pictures speak louder than words, I’ll let the pictures explain:

Liela is everything a lead singer should be – captivating and ferocious in a shimmery gold dress.

oh and the setlist…..

Send A Little Lovetoken
Lassoo
Dog Roses
The Step + The Walk
A Wild Hope
Into The Fold
Hello To The Floor
This Ship Was Built To Last
Red Weather
Love is an Unfamiliar Name
You Really Wake Up The Love In Me
—
Wooden Heart
Lion RIP

Kicking off the Easter long weekend, UK band The Duke Spirit played a free show (courtesy of FBi 94.5 and Spring Court sneakers) at the Beach Road Hotel, Bondi.

What an amazing night last night was… I stumbled upon The Duke Spirit back in 2007 through a friend of a friend’s Myspace page. She had a song of theirs on there and it was fantastic. That song  “The Step and the Walk” is now a longtime favourite.

Hubby and I were very taken by their music. We lived in New Zealand and there was no way the Duke Spirit were coming to NZ. They’ve been doing UK and USA but haven’t yet been down under.

You can imagine my surprise when Hubby comes home one night in March with a local music mag and on the cover it’s the Duke Spirit! Yes siree. They were coming to Australia (we’ve moved here last year) and their first show is in Brisbane. Now that was the besy news I’ve had in an uber long time.

We’ve basically been counting sleeps till the gig. And so last night we make our way down to The Zoo in the Valley, full of excitement and anticipation. They were absolutely fantastic. Liela Moss is an ideal frontwoman, captivating and commanding at the same time. The lads do their thing almost unnoticed, but that totally works for them.

I just had to take photos so I spent most of the time behind my point and shoot camera (Hubby even said “Smell the roses honey, smell the roses”, but I just had to immortalise the moment). The set felt 10 minutes long, it was over in a flash.

After the gig we went to buy a poster and Luke the guitarist was there. Hubby and Luke started chatting, I joined in and we kinda just spoke for what seemed like a while. Liela came out and we chatted briefly before she went on to sign a trillion posters and merch. She said she loved my outfit. Word. Toby and the boys from the band came out too, and we had good chats. About their tour, SXSW, the fact they’re actually getting a holiday here in OZ, about them coming to New Zealand, their old record label, about their site and a myriad of other things. They are totally genuine, real folk and I’m so glad we got to meet them.

Just before we left we all took photos together. Liela even said to Hubby and I that we looked so gorgeous she had to take a photo for us (she said we looked like famous people… gosh flattery totally works).

Here are some pics….

The Duke Spirit - Live in Brisbane

Liela on the harmonica

Liela Moss and the Duke Spirit

The Duke Spirit

The Duke Spirit

The Duke Spirit and us after the show

The Duke Spirit

hubby and I - photo by Liela Moss

Here are some videos from last night

The Step and the Walk

Love is…

Primeiro Alexander McQueen se inspira em Liela Moss para criar sua coleção limitada para a marca britânica Target . Agora, além do look de Liela, emprestou também a voz (atributo pelo qual grande parte das pessoas deve conhecê-la): Miss Moss e sua banda, o Duke Spirit, estão lançando um álbum especial para a Target.

A coleção de McQueen chega às lojas em março, mas algumas fotos podem ser vistas aqui: McQueen for Target

Esse é o meu favorito!!!

O álbum novo do Duke,  só dia 24 de fevereiro mesmo, uma boa desculpa pra fugir dos sons de Carnaval!

Yes, it’s true.  Alexander McQueen, one of the coolest, most inventive designers going, is launching a line for Target stores that will debut in March under his McQ label.  The clothes are inspired by rocker chicks and will feature zippered black tights, T-shirt dresses in hot pink and tiger stripes and shirt dresses with a tattoo print.  Concert T-shirts emblazoned with images of Liela Moss, lead singer of the English band The Duke Spirit, are also included.  

“I’m bringing my culture to them,” Mr. McQueen said.  ”I wouldn’t ever design a collection where I’d think about what people would wear in the Midwest.”

“We are trying to push the envelope with this,” says Trish Adams, a Target senior vice president.  ”We thought it was maybe time to come up a level in fashion credibility.”

The line will be offered in 250 Target stores and online and will retail from $19.99 to $129.99.  There will be a two-day preview in Manhattan, starting February 14, at 330 West Street.

New collection inspired by The Duke Spirit singer

Described by Vogue magazine as “a truly lust-worthy offering of lightweight knits, skinny jeans, bubble dresses, cuffed shorts and denim jackets imbued with a rebellious punk edge”, fashion giant Alexander McQueen’s new clothing range for US retailer Target is inspired by Cheltenham’s most glamorous export, Liela Moss of The Duke Spirit. In conjunction with the launch of the collection, the band plan to issue a career overview disc featuring choice tracks from both their albums and various single and EPs. Available exclusively through Target from February 24th, the 10-song compilation features an early version of ‘Red Weather’ from 2003’s hard-to-find Roll, Spirit, Roll EP and a brand new cover of Alex Chilton’s ‘Baby Doll’.

“I am ecstatic to be an aspect of Alexander McQueen’s work,” said Liela in a statement. “I have always been fascinated by the way he brings the raw, symbolic beauty of the natural world sharply into play with a regal, noble, architectural force. Thematically, The Duke Spirit and McQueen tread a similar path at times…antlers, feathers and the stuff of the pastoral idyll, stumble into a loud, sweaty pit of punk rock.”

Here’s a tracklist. No idea what the thing is actually called though.

01 The Step & The Walk
02 Love Is An Unfamiliar Name
03 Masca
04 Cuts Across The Land
05 My Sunken Treasure
06 Lassoo
07 Souvenir
08 Do What You Love
09 Red Weather
10 Baby Doll

1,5,6 from Neptune (2008)
2,4,7 from Cuts Across The Land (2005)
3 from Ex-Voto EP (2007)
8 from ‘My Sunken Treasure’ single (2008)
9 from Roll, Spirit, Roll EP (2003)

Alan Pedder

‘The Step & The Walk’

‘My Sunken Treasure’

Target is introducing a slightly different take on their GO International lines (Proenza Schouler, Thakoon Panichgul, etc.) with a new initiative called Designer Collaborations, the first of which is the highly anticipated McQ by Alexander McQueen set to drop in March. This Designer Collaboration seems to have higher price points and hopefully better quality. Based on McQueen’s lower diffusion line McQ, the collection is supposedly inspired by The Duke Spirit singer Liela Moss.  Some choice preview images from the lookbook below (for the full collection):

source/images: battledroid/nitrolicious

Já havia postado sobre ela no livejournal antes de começar o blog, mas não consegui me segurar e tive que escrever de novo.

Então parece que Alexander McQueen trocou de musa e esqueceu de trocar o sobrenome, esta ainda não tem um holograma dela em tamanho real mas a bonita já está sendo a inspiração da linha que ele está lançando pra Target. Pode anotar, o nome dela é Liela Moss e ela é vocalista do novo-não-tão-novo hype londrino The Duke Spirit. A moda e a música vem caminhando juntas a um bom tempo, e dessa vez eu fiz o caminho contrário, foi a moda que me apresentou a banda (que é muito boa, vai lá no myspace deles!).

Vamos combinar que é praticamente uma Kate mais rocker e menos wannabe né? E menos o dente torto, e menos escandalo, e provavelmente não tão menos cocaina, e… brinks Kate, vou te amar para sempre (L)

As peças da coleção serão todas inspiradas no estilo da moça. As cores, o shape, a atitude, e vai até ter camiseta com a cara dela silkada.

não canso de ouvir o cd, acho que já virou minha musa também.

I was recently tipped off to The Duke Spirit.

Fronted by Liela Moss – a woman who evokes expectations of Blondie – the music actually ends up sounding like a modernized version of Jefferson Airplane (note that I said AIRPLANE, not STARSHIP) – kind of a psychedelic Sonic Youth. More specifically, Liela Moss’ voice might remind you of Grace Slick.

The Duke Spirit have two albums – The Cut Across the Land, which came out in 2005, a year after being recorded – and Neptune, which arrived in February of this year.

Check out “Lassoo”…

…and “The Step and the Walk.”

This band has been around for a few years and have been relying greatly on playing out and touring around. This is exactly the kind of band we hope to attract with NewTunes. I think there are many song searches that would produce The Duke Spirit as a search result.

The renowned Shoreline Ampitheatre in Mountain View, Ca. was the site of the Download Festival 2008 on July 19, 2008. 27 bands played on two stages with only five minutes separating the bands on the rotating main stage.

The lineup may have been devoid of a heavy hitting headliner but if you had ears in the 90’s there was no way you couldn’t be excited to hear Jesus and Mary Chain. The Duke Spirit kicked things off on the main stage lead by the charismatic Liela Moss. This band keeps developing buzz and momentum. See their show and you’ll understand why. This band wouldn’t be out of place in the 60’s and I say that in a good way.

Athens, Ga.’s finest, The Whigs played their signature southern blues no frills rock. This three piece played a high energy set full of leg kicks and flying hair. They have dates lined up all the way until late September so its inevitable that they’re coming to your town at some point.

Mute Math played their 30 minute set like their lives counted on it. You could tell they were having a blast since they’ve been cooped up in the studio working on their follow up. The drummer Darren King busted through his kick drum head on the first song but they didn’t lose a step as a replacement was close by.

Frontman Paul Meany makes the most of his time on stage, whether it’s doing headstands on his Fender Rhodes or taking his Kaoss pad equipped guitar into the crowd. Quite simply, they could be the best live band in rock with their melding of breakbeats, stellar songwriting and showmanship. They’ll be hitting the road this fall behind their new record which hits shelves in September 2008.

Vedera, fronted by the charismatic Kristen May on guitar and keys, played a set that showcased May’s soaring vocals. This band clearly has mastered the art of dynamics as they can go from arena ready to rock to softer piano ballads. Recently signed to Epic, they’re going to be busy for a while promoting their new record, Stages.

A recently revived Gang of Four played a lean set in fine form, betraying their respective ages. Lead by core members Andy Gill and Jon King, they played the most energetic set of the festival. King stalked the stage like he’s been caged up for 30 years…oh wait, he has been. He clearly enjoyed himself while nearly jumping into the photo pit and swaggering around like he owned the place, unlike the anticlimactic Brand New, on this night he clearly did.

The Jesus and Mary Chain (who should have headlined) showed no signs of the behavior they once were notorious for during their 45 minute set. No one turned their back on the audience and no one smashed their equipment. Yet, it was an electrifying performance based on displaying the pure magnitude of their songs. A decade apart must have been the reignition the brothers William and Jim Reid needed to make music together because there seemed to be no baggage on stage. Supposedly a new album is in the works so hopefully we’ll get to see more of them in the future.

The Download Music Festival continues in Philadelphia August 2, 2008 at the Susquehanna Bank Center.

Download Music Festival:website | buy tickets | downloads | win stuff

My 3 year old is obsessed with The Duke Spirit and their lead singer Liela Moss. Every day he practices singing his favorite Duke Spirit songs into his microphone and playing his tambourine – ‘just like Liela’. Part of his self-prescribed training involves intently studying all of The Duke Spirit videos available on YouTube. They only have videos out for a few songs and most of the live footage available is unwatchable (‘that’s a bad one mamma’). So imagine my surprise when I stumbled across this amazing live performance from the soon to be launched DigforFire.tv.

There’s not a lot of information on the site as to what it’s all about, other than it looks to be NYC-based, if not affiliated with 89.1 WNYU. Whatever the case, the quality of the small amount of content they have up there now makes Pitchfork.tv look like amateurs.  It’s like the IFC for indie music, with well produced documentaries, interviews and live sessions.

I can’t wait to see more from these guys. In the meantime, we’ll be rocking out to this great live track from The Duke Spirit – This Ship Was Built to Last. They look so polished and professional here it’s hard to imagine they’ll be playing such a tiny venue as The Bottom of the Hill on July 23.

Quand j’entend le nom d’un groupe de rock associé à celui du studio du “Rancho de la Luna”, une petite clochette se met à tintinabuler frénétiquement. “Neptune”, le second album des Duke Spirit a en effet été enregistré sous la férule stonerienne de Chris Goss dans le mythique studio situé à Joshua Tree. Tout autant que la qualité des groupes qui s’y succèdent ( Kyuss, Queens of the stone age, Mark Lanegan, Unkle…Etc) ce fameux ranch excite mon imagination, réveillant mon américanophilie rock & rollesque…

Liela Moss et Luke Ford fondent The Duke Spirit en 2003 avec 3 potes rencontrés en fac. Il sortent un premier album en 2005, “Cuts across the land”, bien accueilli par la critique. Groupe  d’indie pop emmené par une chanteuse, on les compare facilement à PJ Harvey ou aux Pixies mais leur musique dépasse et va au delà de ces glorieuses influences. Car bien qu’anglais et donc fins mélodistes, les Duke Spirit ont incorporé à leur pop noisy, une touche américaine mi soul mi stoner rock.

Liela Moss sait mettre du groove dans son chant tout en restant abrasive et les musiciens font la navette entre shoegazing et gros son américain. Ce second album doit beaucoup à la production de Chris Goss, il leste les mélodies des anglais et nous les impriment plus profondément sans pervertir l’âme indie des anglais. Si comme moi vous adorez les groupes de rock avec chanteuse à la voix écorchée, si vous aimez les grosses grattes psychés venues du désert, la pop qui groove, jetez vous sur “Neptune” ou allez le découvrir ici :

http://www.myspace.com/thedukespirit

http://www.dukespirit.com/

Afin de répondre à d’éventuels quolibets amicaux et néanmoins malfaisants,j’assume complétement ce deuxième post en moins d’un mois sur une jolie chanteuse blonde…

Titolo: The step and the walk
Autore: The Duke Spirit
Album: Neptune (2008 )

Oggi torniamo a occuparci di voci femminili. La frontwoman dei Duke Spirit si chiama Liela Moss e nel video la vediamo alle prese con una delle 12 tracce dell’ultimo LP, Neptune, uscito nel febbraio scorso grazie alla proficua collaborazione con Chris Goss, già produttore dei Queens of the Stone Age. Si tratta del secondo lavoro della band londinese, affacciatasi sulla scena musicale nel 2005 con Cuts Across the Land.

In Neptune i Duke Spirit scivolano dai toni più garage dell’esordio a un piacevole mix di energia e dolcezza, fino a toccare sfumature pop-rock come in questa The Step and the Walk, che, al primo ascolto, mi ha fatto pensare ai Cranberries, forse complice anche la bella voce di Liela, che vagamente richiama quella di Dolores O’Riordan.

The step and the walk non può forse definirsi alternativa ma è impreziosita da elementi che contribuiscono a creare una buona struttura armonica, come l’uso del tamburello o gli ululati che percorrono tutta la canzone. Efficace anche il gioco del basso che per tutta la canzone si fa sentire più della chitarra. Insomma, un brano pulito e senza troppe pretese che piacerà alle vostre orecchie.

Link: sito ufficiale; pagina MySpace

Il y a aussi les Duke Spirit.

Alors, les Duke Spirit sont anglais et ils sont 5. Ils ont 2 albums à leur actif et tout pleins d’EP. Leur musique est indéfinissable, la voix de Liela Moss (rien à voir avec Kate, bien qu’à un moment j’ai cru qu’elles étaient soeurs) a une voix qui sonne très soul mais leur univers musical est définitivement électrique avec une petite touche de mystique.

Le premier album Cuts Across The Land regorge de pépites. Mes préférées sont Cuts…, Dark Is Light Enough, Darling You’re Mean, Lovetones, Lion Rip et Bottom Of The Sea (un peu tout l’album en fait).

Le deuxième (sorti cette année) s’intitule Neptune et, je ne sais pas si je suis influençable ou pas, mais je trouve qu’on retrouve vraiment bien la thématique maritime dans cet album. Liela apparaît comme une sirène sur cet album en particulier avec I Do Believe et puis, on a aussi le très marin This Ship Was Built To Last.

Ce groupe a la classe et il peut plaire à énormément de monde car il y a une certaine douceur et poésie qui se détache d’eux loin de tous genres spécifiques (contrairement aux Black Keys par exemple qui sont bluesy à 100%).

Et pourquoi je parle d’eux ? Parce qu’ils sont en concert le 23 mai (soit vendredi prochain) au Point Ephémère, il faut venir, c’est pas cher (15€) et c’est un vendredi et c’est pas complet et ils sont vraiment top.
Réservation ici

Leur myspace : http://www.myspace.com/thedukespirit
Site officiel : http://www.dukespirit.com/

“Lassoo”By The Duke Spirit

The Duke Spirit have been compared to many great bands , Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, The Pixies, The Velvet Underground etc and such juxtaposition’s are clearly well founded, as the Duke Spirit are truly an incredible band, a veritable force of nature who know their musical history and how know how to rock and rock hard! Initially a three piece rather uninspiringly named “Solomon,”they evolved into to a quintet, consisting of Liela Moss, Luke Ford, Toby Butler, Dan Higgins and Olly Betts. They then gave careful consideration to the wisdom of Solomon being a suitable moniker for a self respecting rock band and after some cogitation became the primal, thundering, crashing, fragile, beauteous, cool as f**k entity that we now know and love as The Duke Spirit . At the outset their incendiary brand of rock n’ roll led to a huge word of mouth buzz due in no small part to their amazing performances, for those who had witnessed the power of The Duke live, where quite simply blown away …. Following the release of their debut album “Cuts Across The Land” in the US , they took on a grueling tour schedule, which may have sent lesser mortals completely barkingly howling at the moon, underpants on head stir crazy bonkers and which included a show stopping turn at the 2006 Coachella festival. This year the band have toured on a slightly saner scale and have been recording their second album “Neptune” with Queens Of the Stone Age and Melissa Auf Der Maur producer Chris Goss. The Duke Spirit are quite simply one of the coolest bands on the planet and 2008 will be their year, of that, there cannot be any doubt…

Toby Butler had a chat about music life and going crazy on the road

VP: Although you’ve been performing beforehand is it safe to say that The Duke Spirit came into being in 2003 ? Where did the name come from ? And what was your initial thoughts on what the band should be about?

TB : Yes, Luke, Liela and myself have been writing and playing together since about 1999. We put The Duke Spirit together in 2003 when the band we had before split and a moment of clarity presented itself to us. I guess when something you’re putting all your energy into comes to an end, you naturally re-evaluate your situation. We decided that we actually wanted to write and play rock and roll in it’s most pure and exciting state. We just listened to loads of our record collection and soaked it all up. The name was an accident really. The label were pressing up our first 7″ and we hadn’t decided on a name yet. We were at Simon Raymonde’s office (who was producing our first e.p. with us) and we found it in one of his books. It sounded like a gang or an attitude.

VP: After your debut was released in the US in 2006 you appeared to spend much of the year “on the road” there. Many bands talk about touring the U.S being a test of endurance. due to the sheer scale of the place . Was there ever a time it got a little crazy or you thought you were “losing it”

TB: The album can out in the UK in may 2005, but didn’t get released in the US until march 2006, so our touring schedule was really drawn out. The US is a vast place to tour, mainly because of the distance between each city. So somedays, we’d play a show, leave straight after playing so that we could get 4 or 5 hours driving in. Then sleep for 5 or 6 hours and get up and drive another 9 or 10 hours just to get to the next city in time. That can get pretty exhausting after 4 months. Plus we all like to drink, so your mind does start to suffer after a while, yes. We were falling out with our record label too at the time, so our morale was taking a bashing. It’s a cliche, but we knew if we could survive it then it’d make us stronger…… and we collectively feel pretty tough at the moment!

VP: You have been recording your new album”Neptune” with QOTSA Producer Chris Goss at RDLL in Joshua Tree, and have just released the excellent “Ex Voto Ep” as a taster to precede the album- as well as touring through November-. when will “Neptune” finally surface ?

TB: Neptune will surface at the start of February ‘08 (only 2 months away now)! We spent 2 months out in Joshua Tree in the Joshua Tree recording with Chris Goss in Dave Catching’s studio ‘Rancho De La Luna.’ The area, as well as the studio, has an amazing feel to it. The vastness of the sky and the surroundings infuses itself into the whole recording process. Everything had to sound huge, or heavy, or delicate.

VP: What would you say have been the highlights over the past couple of years ?

TB: Recording the album in Joshua Tree was definitely an experience that will stay with us all. We played the Coachella festival in California last year, which i managed to do with a broken elbow. So that was pretty memorable! I think doing a headline show at the Astoria in London when the album came out was my favourite highlight. It seemed to creep up on us, and suddenly we were there playing to a huge crowd in our local venue where we’ve seen so many gigs ourselves. It was pretty surreal and exciting.

VP: Critics have compared you to everything from Nico and the Velvets through to My Bloody Valentine and PJ Harvey but who would you say are your major musical influences ?

TB: We obviously love all those people. It’s a little strange sometimes, because as fans it feels a bit odd being compared to ‘the greats.’ Like they’re putting too much praise on us….. or saying we’re completely unoriginal! I guess those comparisons are just meant to help people who haven’t heard of us know what genre we lay in.
I find it weird to talk about influences, as when I’m writing I tend not to listen to anything at all. Otherwise I find myself ripping songs off, consciously and subconsciously. We use more wide terms when writing and recording, like “make it sound like Ron Ashton” or “do the Shangri-Las thing.” We listen to a lot of old rock and roll, The Stooges, The Rolling Stones, The Clash, Gene Vincent, Nuggets box-sets, old soul like Candi Staton, Erma Thomas, Eddie Floyd, more recent stuff like Spiritualised, JAMC, QOTSA. There’s a new band called The Rascals I really like.

VP: What do you make of the current music scene in the UK

TB: It’s been pretty stagnant for a while now. I’m sick of hearing post-libertines bands, with the exception of a few, like The Arctic Monkeys who are clearly a great band. I’m slowly hearing some good new bands now though, so maybe things are changing. I like The Rascals, Future Of The Left, Creepy Morons.

VP: The Internet and music ? Has it helped or hindered.

TB: Both

VP: So you’ve worked with UNKLE, Chris Goss and The Jesus & Mary Chain , whose next ? Anybody else you’d love to collaborate with in the future?

TB: We’ve just got Teenage Fanclub singer Gerry Love to duet on a song, which was some thing Liela had wanted to do for a long time, they are heroes of hers. It’d be cool to do something with Bjork. I’d love to get Mark Lanegan to sing a song with us.

VP: The Spice Girls Reunion , a sign of the Apocalypse or harmless entertainment for some cash strapped old dears ?

TB : Harmless pop fun. I prefer Girls Aloud though.

VP: Five words to sum up Leila’s reaction to being asked to sing “Just Like Honey ” live with the Mary Chain….?

TB : Festival Hall? I’m in Glastonbury!

Links

On Myspace

Official Site

EX VOTO EP:

3 of the songs (Lassoo, Dog Roses, & MASCA) were recorded
earlier this year at Rancho De La Luna in Joshua Tree, California
with desert Czar Chris Goss. ‘A Wild Hope’ was produced by The Duke Spirit.

[Available on 10" vinyl, CD, & Download]

CLICK HERE TO BUY THE EP
ON 10″ OR CD

CLICK HERE
FOR THE DUKE SPIRIT ON iTUNES

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Videos

“Lassoo” By The Duke Spirit

“Lion Rip” By The Duke Spirit

“Cuts Across the Land” The Duke Spirit

Wallpaper