On Thursday I waxed poetic about a recent concert featuring The Rascals, The Turtles and Herman’s Hermits and left off at intermission. Here’s the rest…

I wondered why Herman’s Hermits was set up as the sole act past intermission, an obvious headline ploy (as if the posters didn’t make it clear enough).  As the lights dimmed after intermission, a huge Union Jack dropped down across the upstage scrim in tandem with explosive fanfare and British anthems blaring. But when Peter Noone hit the stage with four younger, energetic musicians dressed as if it was 1964, my question was answered. The British were coming…again!

Peter Noone is 62 but looks like he’s in his mid-40s and sings like he’s in his 20s. In reality, by the time he was twenty, Herman’s Hermits were just about done. But on this night in a packed auditorium, the only sign of age was in the crowd; the band was on fire and gave the songs a boost they never had in their original form; for the most part they sounded as good or better.

Noone led the band through an entire catalogue of beloved songs, and as each one played two points dominated my thoughts. First, every one of these tunes was melodic, crisp and fun, and he and the band played them with such enthusiasm and life that they should just hit the club circuit and win over a whole new generation of fans; ones who avoid “oldies shows” like the plague. And second…my God, this was a prolific band!

When people talk about the great bands of the ’60s, Herman’s Hermits seldom enters the discussion. Why not? For starters, just look at this string of singles - five Top Five hits…in five months! A dozen singles in the Top 15 in just over two years. Amazingly, in 1965, they outsold The Beatles in the United States!

And in addition to their own great material, Noone filled out the show with tributes both sincere and funny. Peers like Freddy and The Dreamers, Peter and Gordon and Chad and Jeremy got their due with excellent cover versions of some of their hits. But Noone’s funny between-song banter and occasionally randy storytelling also gave him an opportunity to imitate artists from Mick Jagger to The Sex Pistols (!) as the band launched into segments of “Start Me Up” and “Pretty Vacant”.  There was also a running gag about The Turtles being old men, although like Peter,  Mark Volman and Howard Kalyan are also 62 (their birthdays are a few months apart). It was just banter between and about old friends, playfully mocking them for being asleep in the limo before it gets to the hotel and wondering if it was their set list taped to the floor “because there’s only four hits on it“.

Like many UK groups from the pre-Beatles  era, there’s a strong music hall influence bleeding through their material, whether it’s vaudevillian jokes  about dim people requesting “She’s A Muscular Boy”, or the bounce in pop chestnuts like “Dandy” and “Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat”. Until Noone pointed it out, I hadn’t realized that part of the charm about Herman’s Hermits was the unrelenting joy in their songs. Maybe “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter” is a little sad, but only “The End of the World” is truly morose. The rest can’t help put a smile on your face.

He also wove in a couple of tracks from his underrated skinny-tie era album with The Tremblers and cheekily made up a song about his lifelong dream to be in this very theatre on this very night. By the time the vocal participation challenge went out to the audience during “I’m Henry VIII, I Am”, he had the entire crowd in the palm of his hand (not that there hadn’t been a few eating out of it since the moment he walked onto the stage). Knowing the show was closing with “There’s a Kind of Hush”, the audience was on their feet mid-song, providing Noone and band a lengthy standing ovation for what was truly a dynamic ninety minute show. The post-show autograph and merch line was enormous, and Noone graciously shook every hand and signed every item.

Some bands from long ago trot themselves out for these events to get a little adulation, connect with their glory days and make a little coin (sadly, perhaps for the first time in their career). Peter Noone and his new version of Herman’s Hermits might be a nostalgic act because of their catalogue, but their presentation, energy and musical chops were fresh and vibrant. No doubt they could kick the ass of a lot of current pop acts.

I’m not certain if Peter is writing songs these days, or even if he’s entertaining cutting new material in addition to bringing the old hits to his loyal fanbase of Noonatics. But he’s talented as hell, is a consummate entertainer, and he’s proven time and time again that he can deliver the goods. The Hermits era speaks for itself. The Tremblers album from 1980 still sounds wonderful. And as recently as 2001 he guested on pop wunderkind Richard X Heyman’s ep titled Heyman, Hoosier and Herman and nailed it with “Hoosier Girl”.

Someone get this guy and this band into a studio, get them the right material, and have at it. Something tells me we’d be into something good.

Peter Noone website.

Wiki pages for Peter and Herman’s Hermits.

Grab that Tremblers album!

56 tracks of Hermits

Forward, Into The Past

I don’t live in the past, but I don’t disavow it, either. I’m crammed into small clubs to hear The Gaslight Anthem and The Reigning Sound as often as I am out watching veterans like John Hiatt and Graham Parker still crafting magic. And when a tour like Sixties Spectacular comes rolling through town featuring The Turtles, The Rascals and Herman’s Hermits, well I’m there, too.

The show was opened by a ’60s cover band who played a competent set of radio staples. While hearing a pedestrian version of “Honky Tonk Women” might be acceptable at a wedding or corporate function, I dreaded the fact that my a quarter of my $50 ticket was designated to 30-40 minutes of this. I also feared I might be seeing these same people acting as the band behind the remaining original members of these featured groups. I’ve been to oldies shows before where a group of unknown musicians simply changed shirts between sets to morph from The Grass Roots into The Buckinghams. But as it turned out, I had nothing to fear (although one of these bands could have used the help). And old bladders be damned, the show lasted almost three and a half hours.

Why can't you and me learn to love one another?

First up was The New Rascals, a legally-retitled band featuring original Young Rascals members Dino Danelli on drums and Gene Cornish (a native of this town) on guitar. A long time acrimonious split with Felix Cavaliere and the absence of Eddie Brigati meant that the primary vocalists of the band were no longer in the fold, their slots filled by current members Bill Pascali on keyboards and lead vocals and bassist/vocalist Charlie Souza. (Although they are advertised as formerly being with Vanilla Fudge and Tom Petty, respectively, neither were ever with the named artists in their heyday. Souza played bass with a late version of Mudcrutch and left before Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers; Pascali sang and played keyboards on one of Carmine Appice’s many reanimations of Vanilla Fudge earlier in the decade.)

Unfortunately, despite a wealth of great material to offer, the New Rascals were disappointing. I’m hoping that the issue was merely being under-rehearsed rather than lacking in ability. I don’t expect Pascali to be as soulful as Cavaliere, one of the era’s greatest singers, but he was often flat and occasionally struggled when playing piano and organ simultaneously. On other occasions, the band seemed to be playing off-rhythm. Ordinarily I’d chalk this up to bad monitors and/or faulty equipment, but having just witnessed the cover band whip through a set unscathed, I can’t lay blame there.

Cornish, who recently has endured some health scares, was as animated as he could be and flashed solid rock chops as the sole guitarist, and Souza did bring great energy and good voice to the mix. Danelli can still play flash, spinning sticks and muting cymbals, and on several songs everything clicked to remind the audience what an incredible catalogue of music this band generated in their career. Highlights included a rousing ”People Got To Be Free”, “A Girl Like You” and a stripped-down “Groovin”, featuring a soulful harmonica solo by Cornish. The crowd ate it up warts and all, of course, and gave the band a rousing ovation. I saw enough good moments to warrant seeing them again in the hope that this was just an off-night.

Stll two of the greatest voices in pop music

When the musicians in The Turtles hit the stage one by one, the keyboard player spun in circles before taking his place behind the rack, and I thought I had seen that move before. Sure enough, it turned out to be Greg Hawkes from The Cars, who has been with The Turtles for three years; the remainder of the band (although also not original members) have been in their shells for twenty. But the show is all about Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, the original lead vocalists, who are still singing as well as they did in their prime.

Scheduled for approximately forty minutes like The Rascals, I wondered how many Turtles favorites I wouldn’t hear, since my admiration for them goes way beyond the hit singles. Thankfully I got a good sampling of both, from “Outside Chance” to “”Happy Together”, ”You Baby” and “She’s My Girl”. The band was tight, Howard and Mark sounded fabulous, and their infamous stage banter was on display as they ripped into sacred cows as well as each other. I’ve seen them several times over the years, and can honestly say that they are as good now as they have ever been.

It’s amazing to think how long these two have been (happy) together, from sax-honking friends in The Crossfires to huge stardom in the ’60s to the Zappa years, followed by literally hundreds of session appearances and their hilarious syndicated radio show. Yet here they are, almost fifty years later, still viable and still creative. There were a lot of incredible artists vying for chart position and limited radio play in the ’60s, and the under-appreciated Turtles were an integral part of that amazing musical era.

The concert was promoted as an oldies show, and the majority of the attendees looked to be several years older than me and there for the hits. I don’t think many appreciated the segment of the set where the band ripped into several minutes of Frank Zappa material (a medley including a ferocious version of “Peaches en Regalia”) and a couple of tunes from the Flo and Eddie catalogue, but I was thrilled. But even with the mid-set segue, after so much familiar material was performed so well, the band got several well deserved lengthy ovations and a standing O at the end.

During the break, the lobby was flooded with fans lined up in queues past long banquet tables where their heroes sat with Sharpie pens. It was quite the assembly line – hand over a twenty, receive a CD, get your autograph, thanks and keep moving please. I’m not certain how much the bands got paid to perform, but the money that changed hands at intermission was staggering; an exercise repeated after the show. It dawned on me that with a three thousand seat theatre almost sold out, this annual caravan of yesterday was far more financially viable than most bands or tours that come through town.

And now…Intermission!

I’ll finish this tale of time travel on Saturday. Until then, enjoy some of the great music that The Rascals and The Turtles brought to the world. Listen to samples of The Ultimate Rascals and The Turtles: 20 Greatest Hits and check out some video below.

The Turtles:  “She’d Rather Be With Me“

The Rascals: “Good Lovin“

The Turtles:  “Elenore“ - how great was Johnny Barbata on drums?

The Rascals: “People Got To Be Free“

And Happy Birthday, ‘erman! Hard to believe he’s 62 today!

Noe musikkpressen i Storbritannia er gode til, så er det å hype band langt opp i skyene. Der blir ofte bandene værende en kort periode, før de faller hardt og brutalt ned i bakken og forsvinner fra søkelyset. De gangene jeg har kjøpt Classic Rock er det gjerne en reportasje eller en anmeldelse, som mer enn gjerne hinter om at dette bandet kan bli det nye The Beatles, eller Oasis om du vil. Øya har utvilsomt dype tradisjoner innen musikken de kan være stolte over. Listen er så lang over gode artister og band at jeg ikke orker å nevne et eneste ett.  Ofte kjører nyere band på med referanser til eldre band, både i kleskode, cover, tekster og musikk. Kjekt for kjennerne med beatnik-sveis. For meg betyr det ikke så mye. Sikkert fordi jeg sjelden skjønner hentydningene. 

Snøapene vet å ta seg et bad, lukke øynene og høre på god musikk mellom slagene.

Jeg har helt siden jeg leste om Arctic Monkeys for noen år siden, tenkt at de falt inn under denne kategorien; Blåst opp i dag, borte i morgen. I kveld har jeg ved siden av å glede meg over at nå er det helg, hørt litt på hva de har laget. Jeg skjønner godt at de har blitt så store som de har og hvorfor de har holdt seg flyvende. Jeg digger denne videoen.

Kjeltringene i The Rascals kan en gjerne sette i samme kategori som apene.

Frontfigurene fra Arctic Monkeys og The Rascals gikk i 2007 sammen om et sideprosjekt: The Last Shadow Puppets. Sterkt inspirert av 60-tallet kan en gjerne si. Herlig låt!

Just lions. Hundreds of them.

Erin McKeown’s new album Hundreds of Lions just became available on Tuesday.  She’s been described as a quirky folky singer kind of gal. Think Ani DiFranco (who she’s toured with).

After having a listen to the album, I have decided (as usual) to share my favorites with you! First is “The Foxes” which I’ll be posting up a video for it shortly. I also really like “The Boats” and “The Rascal”. Oh, and “28″ is a really pretty song.

She’s currently on tour with Jill Sobule. Check out this list of where they’ll be…as you can see it’s a busy schedule!

10/17: Northampton, MA @ Iron Horse Music Hall  
10/19: Vienna, VA @ Jammin’ Java
10/20: Easton, MD @ Coffee East
10/21: Charlottesville, VA @ The Southern
10/22: Charlotte, NC @ The Evening Muse
10/23: Asheville, NC @ Grey Eagle
10/25: Nashville, TN @ The Basement
10/26: Memphis, TN @ Hi-Tone Cafe
10/27: Birmingham, AL @ The Bottletree
10/28: Decatur, GA @ Eddie’s Attic 
10/29: Athens, GA @ The Melting Point
10/30: Louisville, KY @ Jim Porter’s Good Time Emporium
11/01: Lexington, KY @ Al’s Bar
11/02: Lexington, KY @ Kentucky Theater
11/04: Ann Arbor, MI @ The Ark
11/05: Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern 
11/06: Buffalo, NY @ The Ninth Ward 
11/07: Pittsburgh, PA @ Diesel Club Lounge
11/08: Chicago, IL @ Old Town School of Folk Music
11/09: Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon 
11/10: Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Centre
11/12: Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern
11/14: Portland, OR @ The Woods
11/15: Ashland, OR @ Stillwater
11/17: Santa Cruz, CA @ The Crepe Place
11/18: San Francisco, CA @ Cafe du Nord
11/19: Stanford, CA @ Stanford Coffee House – Stanford University
11/20: Santa Monica, CA @ McCabe’s Guitar Shop 
11/21: Santa Barbara, CA @ SohO Restaurant & Music Club 
11/22: San Diego, CA @ Casbah 
11/27: Denver, CO @ Walnut Room 
11/29: Kansas City, MO @ Record Bar 
11/30: St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway 
12/03: Asbury Park, NJ @ The Saint 
12/04: New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom
12/05: Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live
12/06: Goshen, MA @ The IMA Big Barn
12/10: Portland, ME @ One Longfellow Square
12/11: South Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Lounge
12/12: Becket, MA @ Dream Away Lodge
12/13: Providence, RI @ The Speakeasy @ Local 121
12/17: Arlington, VA @ IOTA Club & Cafe

First, a bit of news.  I had a dream last night about a unique passion:  Halloween music.

Following that inspiration, in the mold of last year’s “Greatest Christmas Music Countdown,” we will have a “Greatest Halloween Music Countdown.”  There will likely be 13 songs of this list, because I have no energy to come up with another spooky number that relates to Halloween.  However, all of this is condition to change.

For Today,

It’s A Beautiful Morning – The Rascals

It’s your chance to wake up and plan another brand new day

Dans un monde musical actuel décidément bien terne, où la création stage, il est plaisant de voir de temps en temps que certains musiciens adoptent une autre démarche. C’est le cas de ce groupe anglais, très inspiré du garage punk des sixties, qui nous sort un opus, ma foi très plaisant à écouter. Douze titres qui tournent autour de plus ou moins 3 minutes et des poussières, pourquoi les allonger à 10 minutes comme pour faire actuel? C’est bien plus électrique que électronique. Chaque morceau à son charme et sa sonorité, et c’est bourré d’effets “spéciaux” instrumentaux et vocaux que l’on découvre au fil de l’écoute. Cela me rappelle un peu l’ambiance des Dukes of Stratosfear, il y a déjà pas mal de temps. On y retrouve un peu de hard rock, des plans qui n’étaient pas absents de certains disques de new wawe, le punk peut aussi faire un semblant de figuration. Le tout est supervisé sous un oeil assez sixties dans sa cote d’amour psychédélique.
Oserais-je que ce disque m’a emballé du début à la fin, assez pour en faire “mon” disque de l’été?
Alors et vous?

Ecouter gratuitement et télécharger The Rascals sur MusicMe.

Jeg elsker jo coverlåter. Jeg elsker jo Lily Allens versjon av Womanizer, og jeg trodde ikke at det var mulig å overgå den versjonen. Jeg har dog funnet en fyr som overgår alt. Han er fransk, og ja, han er faktisk en fyr. Hør den! DIGG DEN:

Åh bare sånn btw, gjett hvem som har forlatt bandet sitt for å fokusere på en solokarriere? GJETT. Hvis du er ferdig å gjette kan du lese dette hvis du bryr deg om bra musikk! Stakkars meg! Nå får jeg begynne å se fram til soloprosjektet til Miles Kane i stedet for. Og dø innvendig mens jeg ser denne videoen:

Jeg tror jeg må begynne å søke etter videoer med de der to. Du aner ikke hvor mye glede jeg fikk ut av de knappe 3 minuttene. Spesielt når de begynner å synge (og hver gang de åpner kjeften stort sett. Jeg elsker aksentene)!

“We don’t want to be known as the tank band”

Luego de la separacion de Goodbooks seguimos con las malas noticias, el dia de hoy se informo que la banda de Miles Kane decidio separarse, se dice que Kane empezo a trabajar en su album solista, yo por lo menos espero que sea solista y que si saque album para no quedar siempre como el segundon de Alex Turner, ya que me parece que Miles tiene muchisimo potencial, pero nunca tuvo suerte, yo me arriesgaria a decir que tiene por lo menos la misma capacidad de Alex Turner.

Para recordar un tiempo a The Rascals vamos a recordar a la anterior banda, antes que se forme The Rascals, estoy hablando de The Little Flames, estubo desde el 2004 hasta el 2007, luego se separaron y 3 miembros formaron los rascals, les dejo el unico disco que alcanzaron a lanzar que esta muy bueno  y se llamo The Day Is Not Today, disfrutenlo, tambien les dejo el album de the rascals, “Rascalize” para recordarlos, a los Little Flames y tambien un poco a The Rascals se los han comparado con The Coral, y solo como dato les digo que Miles Kane es primo de James Skelly, cantante de the coral que tambien influencio mucho a los Arctic Monkeys.

01 – Rascalize
02 – Out of Dreams
03 – Bond Girl
04 – The Glorified Collector
05 – Fear Invicted Into the Perfect Stranger
06 – Does Your Husband Know You Are on the Run?
07 – I’d Be Lying to You
08 – Freakbeat Phantom
09 – People Watching
10 – Stockings to Suit
11 – How Do I End This?
12 – I’ll Give You Sympathy

THE RASCALS – RASCALIZE(2008)

01. Isobella
02. The Day Is Not Today
03. If Tomorrow Never Comes
04. Seven Days
05. October Skies
06. Strager To You
07. Meols Reggae
08. Close My Eyes
09. In Another Life
10. That Brat’s A Fiend
11. The Girl Of Last Year

THE LITTLE FLAMES – THE DAY IS NOT TODAY(2007)

COMENTAR NO CUESTA NADA MAS QUE TIEMPO!!!COMENTEN!!!

A package from cdon.com!

In the package I found:

Björn Gustafsson – Et livsverk. 2 hours of sketches and clips from one of my favourite comedians.

Oh, how I love men with dark hair and nice accents. I guess Nicole Kidmans Botox infested face is just the prize to pay for two hours with Ewan McGregor and Hugh Jackman.

I always feel bad about not owning albums I love. Now, Rascalize is part of my small, but growing collection.

Kill me now. I love this. I have no words to describe my joy right now. They played in Oslo the other day, and I wasn’t there. This is not as good as actually seeing them live, but until the day I get the chance, at least I’ll have this!

]]> http://iidaen.wordpress.com/2009/08/10/shopaholic/ Mon, 10 Aug 2009 23:51:41 +0000 iidaen http://iidaen.wordpress.com/2009/08/10/shopaholic/

When you live in a town without a record store, ordering music online makes you a little crazy. I was supposed to buy one DVD, but I ended up with a lot more:

I don’t know what happened, but all of a sudden I decided to get as many B-sides from my favourite bands as possible, and I’m buying singles from bands I love. I’m also going to cry my eyes out watching moulin rouge over and over again. Oh, and I’m going to watch Arctic Monkeys “live” while hating every single person who actually gets to see them live in Oslo in a couple of days. I hate you and envy you at the same time.

Just when I thought I was out of bands to obsess over, I figured it was time to check out The Rascals. I’m not talking about the 60’s band that I’ve never heard of, but has released a ton of albums just to make it harder for me to find the album that I’m after. This one:I love it. Last night I was listening to it on Spotify with Jonathan (from spotify). I don’t get the hatred toward this guy(Jonathan, that is). He’s got a nice accent, and it’s not like he’s interupting you mid song. At least he has the decency to wait until the song is finished to tell you about the wonders of Spotify premium. Anyways, I was listening to it on spotify while putting it in my shopping basket at cdon.com. As soon as my pay check comes (only eight more days) it is mine. Listen to 5 of my favourite songs by them here (I’m so stupid when it comes to these things, so if the link doesn’t work or something, let me know).

The Rascals’ best album, and one of the finest blue-eyed soul albums of all time, was Groovin’, which came out on July 31, 1967. It was also the third and last LP on which they were called “The Young Rascals.” After Groovin’, they were simply The Rascals.  The album is filled with catchy, mostly upbeat mixes of soul, pop and mild psychedelia, and includes the monster title-track hit, plus other period gems such as “How Can I Be Sure,” “You Better Run” and “I’m So Happy Now.” Groovin’ made it into the Billboard Top 10 and saw the Rascals reach the pinnacle of their all-too-short career. Unfortunately, after the #1 hit single “People Got To Be Free” in early 1968 and Time Peace: The Rascals’ Greatest Hits in June of the same year, the hits stopped coming and the band broke up in 1972.  Groovin’ is available for purchase as a CD or individual mp3 files on Amazon and as iPod files on . A Rascals playlist is in Dr. Rock’s Playlist Vault.

Sorry for the late post. I took a rather spur-of-the-moment (at least for me who plans obsessively) trip into the past to Youngstown, Ohio to visit old friends. Good to get away from here and very nice to connect with that part of my life. I was also played tons of good music so future music posts may actually have songs that could be called “new”!

Today though I wanted to share this one because its sound and look are so polished. I appreciate ultimately they are kind of ripping off past artists but since they’re ripping off a style I really like, I forgive them. The band is The Last Shadow Puppets made up of from Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys and Miles Kane from the Rascals. This song was released almost exactly one year ago. They were Ivor Novello Award nominees this spring.

Although I feel old and creepy saying it, they are quite sexy, aren’t they?

Verão é sinónimo de férias, lazer e também festivais, concertos, concentrações etc… O Final Encounter dá uma ajuda para decidirem, quais os festivais a que vocês querem ir, e quando é que estes se realizam.

Delta Tejo

Alto da Ajuda, Lisboa, de 3 a 5 de Julho

Bilhetes: entre 25 euros (um dia) e 40 euros (passe de três dias)

3 de Julho: Orishas, Skank, Bajofondo Tango Club, Buju Banton, Monobloco

4 de Julho: Vanessa da Mata, Deolinda, Sara Tavares, Bossa Nossa

5 de Julho: Alexandre Pires, Banda Calypso, Irmãos Verdades, NBC

Site Official:http://www.deltatejo.com/

OptimusAlive 2009

Passeio Marítimo de Oeiras, de 9 a 11 de Julho

Bilhetes: entre 50 euros (um dia) e 90 euros (passe de três dias)

PALCO OPTIMUS 9 de Julho: Metallica, Machine Head, Mastodon, Slipknot, Lamb of God

10 de Julho: Prodigy, Placebo, Eagles of Death Metal, The Kooks, Os Pontos Negros

11 de Julho: Dave Matthews Band, Chris Cornell, Black Eyed Peas

PALCO SUPER BOCK 9 de Julho: TV On The Radio, Klaxons, Crystal Castles, Erol Alkan, Delphic, Silversun Pickups, Air Traffic

10 de Julho: The Ting Tings, Late of the Pier, The Gaslight Anthem, Hadouken!, Does it Offend You, Yeah?, Fischerspooner

11 de Julho: Los Campesinos, Trouble Andrew, A Silent Film, Lykke Li, Ghostland Observatory, Deadmau5 e autoKratz

Site Official:http://www.optimusalive.com

SuperBock Super Rock

Bilhetes: entre 40 euros (um dia) 70 euros (Porto + Lisboa)

SUPER BOCK SUPER ROCK PORTO Estádio do Bessa, 11 de Julho

Depeche Mode Nouvelle Vague Peter Bjorn and John Motor Soapbox (vencedores do concurso Super Bock Preload)

SUPER BOCK SUPER ROCK LISBOA Estádio do Restelo, 18 de Julho

The Killers Duffy Mando Diao Brandi Carlile Walkmen Bettershell (vencedores do concurso Super Bock Preload)

Site Official:http://www.superbock.pt/SuperMusic/sbsr15/

Marés Vivas

Gaia, de 16 a 18 de Julho Bilhetes: entre 25 euros (um dia) e 38 euros (três dias)

Site Official:www.festivalmaresvivas.com/

Paredes de Coura

Alto Minho, de 29 de Julho a 1 de Agosto

Bilhetes: entre 40 euros (um dia) e 70 euros (três dias).

29 de Julho: Patrick Wolf

30 de Julho: Franz Ferdinand, Supergrass, The Rascals, Chew Lips e Holy Ghost (after hours)

31 de Julho: Nine Inch Nails, Peaches, Blood Red Shoes, Kap Bambino e Punks Jum Up (after hours)

Site Official:www.paredesdecoura.com/

Rock One

Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, 5, 6, 7 e 8 de Agosto

Bilhetes:desde 15€…(240€- 4 bilhetes x 4 dias), (80€-1b x 4dias)ou 50€ (1b x 1 dia)

Site Official:http://www.rockone.pt/

Sudoeste TMN

Zambujeira do Mar, de 5 a 9 de Agosto

Bilhetes entre 40 euros (um dia) e 80 euros (três dias) Ainda sem data: Mariza Recepção ao Campista

5 de Agosto – David Guetta

6 de Agosto Palco TMN: Buraka Som Sistema, The National, Ebony Bones

Palco Planeta Sudoeste:Marcelo Camelo, Devotchka, Mallu Magalhães

Espaço Electrónico: Miss Kittin com The Hacker

7 de Agosto Palco TMN: Madcon

Espaço Electrónico: Ame Schwarz Dixon

9 de Agosto Palco TMN:Lily Allen, Basement Jaxx,Amy Macdonald

Palco Planeta Sudoeste: Caravan Palace,Amadou & Mariam

Palco Positive Vibes: Antony B,Third World

Espaço Electrónico: Dubfire

Site Official:http://www.tmn.pt/swtmn09.html

Ilha do Ermal

I Acto - de 27 a 30 de Agosto – Sepultura, Obituary, Pestilence, RAMP, Angra, Disbelief, Heavenwood, One Man Army and the Undead Quartet, Hatesphere, Textres, Desire, Korpiklaani, W.A.K.O., Pitch Black, RCA

Blog Official:http://festivalilhadoermal.blogspot.com/

in honor of the new arctic monkeys album, which will be out august 24th- uk 0r 25th- u.s., here is a video from the last shadow puppets which consists of alex turner of arctic monkeys and miles kane of the rascals.

Decided to sneak up away from your stomach, and try your pulse.

- Alex Turner (The Last Shadow Puppets), “The Age of The Understatement”.

A principio, nada distingue – ao menos categoricamente – The Last Shadow Puppets de outras bandas indie: misturar Arctic Monkeys e The Rascals seria como comer uma enorme bola de sorvete de chocolate mergulhada em… calda de chocolate. É gostoso, sim, mas nenhum dos dois trás nada de complementar ao outro; e à medida que você vai chegando ao final, o sorvete vai derretendo, a calda vai esfriando e você já nem sabe qual é qual (mas The Rascals é sempre a calda, crianças, lembrem-se). Isso é exatamente o que temos aqui: uma colaboração entre Alex Turner (Monkey) e Miles Kane (Rascal) que – para a alegre perplexidade de todos – resultou em um disco de estréia que é tudo menos previsível, consensual ou limitado.

O segredo por trás desse insuspeitado sucesso é insuspeitadamente simples: adaptar o espírito jovem e mordaz das bandas originais à música tipicamente western americana, do tipo que ouvimos quando tropeçamos em um filme spaghetti na televisão. Se, no entanto, o conceito é simples, a execução é magistral: The Age of The Understatement é todo acompanhado por arranjos orquestrais excepcionalmente dramáticos (mas nunca piegas), vocais admiravelmente melódicos e composições muitíssimo inspiradas. E para os que receiam ter que ouvir uma versão “domesticada” dos dois frontmans, não há com o que se preocupar: o disco ainda cumpre todos os pré-requisitos que qualquer um poderia pedir em um bom trabalho de rock, e dão nova roupagem às qualidades que tornaram Arctic Monkeys e The Rascals bandas relevantes atualmente.

Isso fica claro já a partir da espetacular abertura, a faixa-título: uma abertura que não só causa uma estranha sensação de familiaridade (como se já tivéssemos ouvido a canção antes, em algum lugar), mas nos impressiona pela força das cordas e pela forma extremamente empática de Alex Turner cantar os versos e refrões. Acabando em um crescendo, a música mal nos dá tempo de respirar antes de cair na faixa seguinte, a igualmente emocionante “Standing Next To Me”, que não só tem um refrão memorável, mas mantém uma dinâmica ainda mais forte e veloz do que a faixa anterior. Fechando esse trio inicial temos possivelmente a melhor faixa do disco, a sincopada “Calm Like You”, que, apesar de mais lenta e pesada do que as anteriores, tem os melhores vocais e o refrão mais emocionante de todo disco. Se nesse blog já foi mencionada a importância de hambúrgueres musicais, esse aqui exemplifica perfeitamente o que foi pretendido com aquela afirmação.

A partir daí, The Age of The Understatement alterna uma coleção de canções catárticas e agressivas com um surpreendente conjunto de baladas soturnas. Dentre os momentos mais enérgicos, temos músicas como “Separated and Ever Deadly”, “Only the Truth” e a quase-punk “I don’t like you anymore”: todas demonstram não só que os músicos (e a orquestra, sempre presente) estão muito afiados, como revelam o enorme talento de Turner & Kane como cantores e compositores de grandes refrões. Além da clara influência de maestros como Bacalov e Ennio Morriconi, percebe-se de forma pungente a presença do radicalismo adolescente que marcou a estréia do Arctic Monkeys. Mesmo imersas em uma estética dramática e às vezes quase apocalíptica, as músicas não perdem o carisma quase non sense de sucessos como “I bet you look good on the dance floor” e “Still take you home”.

Por outro lado, as baladas revelam que a fórmula pretendida nesse álbum tem a sua maleabilidade. Não apenas isso, mostra que a nossa dupla tem segurança para embarcar em experimentações musicais como o quase-tango “The Chamber” e a quase-bossa “Meeting Place”: ambas estão entre os momentos mais bonitos do disco, e mostram que a escolha pelo acompanhamento orquestral não é só uma forma de causar impacto dramático, mas de contribuir com texturas sofisticadas para os momentos suaves. Ademais, Turner & Kane seguram as pontas perfeitamente bem em duetos que chegam a ter seu senso de humor (como na já citada “Meeting Place”). Aqui, cabe um óbvio destaque para a romântica “My Mistakes Were Made For You”, que em sua elegância canta uma desilusão amorosa quase retro.

The Age of The Understatement é um disco que exerce a grande façanha de ser muito melhor do que a soma das suas partes. E hoje em dia, é raro encontrar trabalhos que sejam ao mesmo tempo tão dramáticos e tão concisos, tão cinematográficos e tão bem embalados no formato da geração Ipod. É um disco válido não só para o fã mais xiita de indie rock, como para o ouvinte que está simplesmente atrás de algo diferente e lírico. Se você não se encaixa em nenhum das duas categorias, ouça mesmo assim, pois não é todo dia que se aproveita algo do tipo.

Site oficial do Last Shadow Puppets: http://www.thelastshadowpuppets.com

Myspace do Last Shadow Puppets: http://www.myspace.com/thelastshadowpuppets

Sheffield band Arctic Monkeys are expected to release the follow up album to 2007’s ‘Favourite Worst Nightmare’ on August 24th in the UK, following the opening release in Japan on August 19th. It will be released in the USA 25th August. The album is currently unnamed.

Early previews of the album suggest that it is a departure from the style of the band’s first two albums, with a prevailing influence from lead singer Alex Turner’s side-project The Last Shadow Puppets ( Turner and Miles Kane from The Rascals) – the same “laconic croon” has been adopted by the whole band, “injecting the Arctics with a new sound that sends them onto wild soundscaping adventures”.

Recording began towards the end of summer 2008, with lead singer Alex Turner suggesting that the inspiration for the first few guitar riffs came while the band were attending the Latitude Festival in Suffolk. Tracks were written through the end of 2008, with recording taking place around the band’s touring schedule towards late 2008 and early 2009. The album was finally recorded in New York City, Los Angeles and the Mojave Desert.

The band themselves suggested that the album would be “full-on”, with tracks influenced by Black Sabbath. On ClashMusic.com, Alex Turner revealed that the band had listened to Jimi Hendrix and Cream while writing the new album.

The album has been described as has having a “carnival-esque atmosphere”, but it is described as a “spooky and ethereal trip, a lysergic cavalcade that haunts every track”. If the track titles are anything to go by, then this information is definitely plausible.

The album’s tracklisting was confirmed on the band’s website on 1 June 2009:

“My Propeller”
“Crying Lightning”
“Dangerous Animals”
“Secret Door”
“Potion Approaching”
“Fire and the Thud”
“Cornerstone”
“Dance Little Liar”
“Pretty Visitors”
“The Jeweller’s Hands”

Watch this space for the forthcoming review.

Arctic Monkeys Website; Tracklist Announcement.

The Rascals son una banda musical de indie rock procedente de Liverpool cuyos miembros eran parte de The Little Flames. Han sido teloneros de bandas como The Coral o The Zutons pero destacan principalmente por haber sido teloneros de Arctic Monkeys. La banda surgió cuando Miles Kane (guitarrista y cantante), Joe Edwards (bajista) y Greg Mighall (batería), todos ellos antiguos miembros de The Little Flames estaban de gira como teloneros y decidieron dejar la banda y formar un nuevo proyecto. En septiembre de 2006 ya empezaron a escribir nuevo material y nació la banda. En diciembre de 2007 fue publicado su primer EP titulado Out Of Dreams bajo la discográfica Deltasonic Records. En enero de 2008 se ha puesto a la venta su single titulado Suspicious Wit. Su álbum debut ha sido grabado en Londres, grabaron 16 canciones de las cuales tendrán que escoger 12 y saldrá a principios de 2008.

MYSPACE

Super descarga:

The Rascals Live At Reading Festival 2008

“Ik zou nog eens moeten bloggen”, sprak een wijs man enkele seconden geleden. En zo geschiedde..

(om zo maar eventjes een comeback te maken met de slechtste opener aller tijden, wat een lef heeft die man!). 
Deze tekst barst niet van allerlei literaire (poging tot) hoogstandjes of (alweer poging tot) beeldspraak, deze post is puur informatief. Ik luister momenteel muziek  (de cd van The Rascals – Rascalize) en kan mij niet vasbijten in mijn tekst. 

Een vers spreekwoord luidt: ‘Sombere tijden worden vaak verlicht door nieuwe tv-zenders’. In mijn geval wordt ‘de blok’ (zoals dat in de volksmond vaak wordt genoemd)  leuk gemaakt door “Acht”, de nieuwe digitale zender van de Concentra Media Groep. Deze zender is gratis beschikbaar voor digitale abonnees van Telenet en BelgacomTV. “Acht” brengt buitenlandse series en documentaires van hoge kwaliteit. Zelf volg ik de series  ’Reno 911′, ‘Flight of The Conchords’, ‘Shameless’ en (last but not least) ‘The Wire’.  De programma’s worden meer dan 1x uitgezonden (meerdere herhalingen), zodat je niet altijd op hetzelfde uitzenduur moet kijken. Check zeker eens de website voor meer informatie. “Acht” is nu al mijn favoriete zender! Naast kwaliteitsvolle series, zendt “Acht” ook boeiende documentaires uit. ‘Heavy Metal in Bagdhad’ was bijvoorbeeld echt de moeite, zo merk je via een heel andere invalshoek dat vrijheid helemaal niet voor de hand ligt. Laat op de avond wordt ‘Vice Night’ uitgezonden. Een programma met allerlei geschifte mini-docu’s; over een texadermiste, gevaarlijke drugsplanten in Colombia en het repetitiehok van ‘The Black Box Revelation’. De reportage die mij het meest is bijgebleven, is die over ‘True Norwegian Black Metal’. Niet zozeer de inhoud van de docu, die wel interessant is maar niet buitengewoon, maar wel de frontman van de black metal-band in kwestie. Gaahl, de leadzanger van Gorgoroth, is een huiveringwekkend personage. De hele reportage is hij spraakzaam en nog vrij normaal, zeker als je weet dat hij enkele malen veroordeeld is voor marteling (hij ving het bloed van zijn gemartelde persoon op in bloed en dronk ervan/liet zijn slachtoffer ervan drinken). De volledige reportage is te vinden op “Acht”, op VBS.tv of op YouTube. Ik wil jullie het allerlaatste deel niet besparen. Even schetsen: Gaahl neemt de reporters mee naar een speciale plek, hij wil daarvoor naar een erg hoog (en dus besneeuwd en ijskoud) plekje wandelen. Het beste moet nog komen: als de eigenlijke reportage afgesloten is, tonen de makers van Vice nog een merkwaardig stukje. Gaahl zegt dat de interviewer de verkeerde vragen stelt, waarop de journalist zegt: “Guide me”. Hierop blijft Gaahl iets meer dan 3 minuten recht in de camera kijken zonder iets te zeggen en amper te bewegen. Wat mij betreft enorm angstaanjagend ! Oordeel zelf.

Liverpool Sound City is underway! Last night I went to see The Rascals at the Liverpool Guild of Students. They were ably supported by Sound of Guns, Go Faster and Bicycle Thieves who I managed to grab a word with afterwards. They’re good guys who will hopefully get a break out of their first festival appearance.

My review is now online at Jade Wright’s music blog on the Liverpool Echo website.

Whilst reading up on the every move of Alexa Chung, one of my favourite ladies ever, I came across The Rascals, an indie rock band hailing from Wirral, England. Admittedly, I don’t listen to a huge amount of indie rock of late as I have grown accustomed to a more electronic sound but the odd time I will dance around to the Kooks while getting ready to go out. These guys are fun, think Artic Monkeys – vs – The Rumble Strips. ‘Bond Girl’ is one of my favourite songs on the album, ‘Rascalize’ which realised in June last year. Possibly only hearing about them now would suggest an unsuccessful start to their music debut (or I was just incredibly tuned out at the time) but I think they are light, easy listening all the same.

Pop Tarts Suck Toasted Report:

Click here to go to PTST to check Bruce Springsteen “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out”, and The Rascals “Come On Up”

The Rascals- It´s a beautiful morning