Thursday 11 May 2017

DEMOB HAPPY - "Dead Dreamers", Released through Atlantic Records' US imprint, Taste and Tone - SINGLE REVIEW


Photo Credit: Old Swiss

DEMOB HAPPY - "Dead Dreamers"
Released through Atlantic Records

Never in my wildest dreams I thought I would be content reviewing just one track so I ended up opening a file on my laptop with the utmost reluctance. How wrong I was!

Demob Happy is the name of the band and UK is their home base. Demob Happy is Matt Marcantonio (vocals / bass), Adam Godfrey (guitar / vocals), and Thomas Armstrong (drums / vocals). "Dead Dreamers" the single in question was produced by Tom Dalgety.

At the infamous game of who they remind me: I don't know and I am not sure, maybe HIM in a faster, more modern and less poppy version but it does not really matter, doesn't it? I think they sound like Demob Happy, mature, melodic and musically thought provoking. I like the story telling of the vocals and overall tone of the tune because that's a song not a collage of different stuff as so many so called arty bands do at the moment. Yes my friends, it is proper craft making with digested influences and all.

Dead Dreamers has definitely its own Demob Happy stamp all over it. Of course the production is sleek and thoughtful. But would you expect less from a guy who has worked with the Pixies!!!

Great teaser and great appetizer. I am now dreaming all day about looking forward to listening to a long LP effort.

Overall: OK, I said I did not like singles but I like it. I like it!!!
If I was to pick three only: Listen to it three times in a row then. :-)
Live test: I hope they will hop over that side of the pond soon.

Reviewed by Pascal Derrien



Wednesday 10 May 2017

DEMOB HAPPY Debut Single "Dead Dreamers"



Photo Credit: Old Swiss


UK's DEMOB HAPPY have debuted their new single "Dead Dreamers" through Atlantic Records' US imprint, Taste and Tone. The marks the first piece of music since the band's 2015 debut album Dream Soda.

“The world tried to set itself on fire the last year, us included,” frontman Matt Marcantonio explains. “We had to mutate and figure out what this band was, so we just wrote and wrote until we knew. 'Dead Dreamers' is a reflection of that. We expelled our demons, along with the worlds’. We wrote the best stuff we've ever written.”

With their debut single heralded as “a joyride through rock’s sleazier back alleys” by The Guardian, Demob Happy have asserted themselves as an unstoppable sonic force since their inception. From playing basements gigs in their own coffee shop-come-studio HQ, the Nowhere Man CafĂ©, sold-out headline shows across the UK and Europe, and appearances at Reading & Leeds, The Great Escape and SXSW, the band makes no plan on stopping their upward trajectory. Looking ahead, Demob Happy are currently working with Tom Dalgety (Pixies, Ghost, Royal Blood) on a new album.

Confirmed to support The Cribs across the UK at shows including London’s The Forum on May 18th, Demob Happy will also support Gang Of Youths in May, all dates listed below.

Demob Happy is Matt Marcantonio (vocals / bass), Adam Godfrey (guitar / vocals), and Thomas Armstrong (drums / vocals). "Dead Dreamers" was produced by Tom Dalgety.

LITTLE STEVEN IS BACK WITH SOULFIRE



Wicked Cool Records/UMG has announced the eagerly anticipated new album from the legendary Little Steven. SOULFIRE arrives everywhere on Friday, May 19th.

SOULFIRE is available for pre-order since Friday, April 7th, with all orders accompanied by an instant grat download of the recently unveiled album track, “Saint Valentine’s Day.” Additional instant grat downloads will be unveiled in the coming weeks, including the blazing title track, “Soulfire.”

SOULFIRE is Stevie Van Zandt’s first solo album in close to two decades and without question his purest and most uniquely personal artistic statement thus far. The album sees the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer revisiting songs that span the length of his career as artist, performer, producer, arranger, and songwriter, focusing directly on the hugely influential “soul horns-meet-rock ‘n’ roll guitars” approach he first pioneered on Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes’ classic first three albums.

“I’ve always been very thematic with my work, very conceptual,” Van Zandt says. “I need a big picture, I can’t just do a collection of songs, that doesn’t work for me. In this case, the concept became me. Who am I? I’m kind of my own genre at this point. So I tried to pick material that when you added it all up, really represented me. So there are a couple of covers, a couple of new songs, and some of what I feel are the best songs I’ve written and co-written over the years. This record is me doing me.”

Little Steven and The Disciples of Soul made their long-awaited return last October, prompted by a friend’s request to perform at London’s BluesFest 2016. Van Zandt had only just returned home from The E Street Band’s summer stadium run but as luck would have it, his autumn plans already included a trip to the UK to celebrate both his wife’s birthday and his friend Bill Wyman’s 80th.

“It was perfect circumstances coming together,” says Van Zandt. Little Steven quickly put together a Disciples of Soul for the 21st century, an “ever-changing group of misfits, rogues, and roustabouts” complete with three backing vocalists and a full horn section currently featuring original Asbury Jukes/Miami Horns saxophonists Stan Harrison (tenor) and Eddie Manion (baritone). Stevie and his 15-piece big band crossed the Atlantic and blew the roof off London’s indigo at The O2 with what was supposed to be just a “one-night-only” performance highlighted by classic hits like “I Don’t Want To Go Home,” solo favorites, songs written for other artists, and inventive covers of tracks made famous by Etta James, James Brown, and The Electric Flag.

“I thought, well, we’ve already learned 22 songs,” Van Zandt says. “Maybe we should make an album.” With his usually packed schedule clear until The E Street Band’s “Summer ‘17” tour of Australia/New Zealand, Van Zandt decided to strike while the iron – and his big band – was hot. SOULFIRE was arranged and produced by Van Zandt at his own Renegade Studios in New York City, co-produced and recorded by GRAMMY® Award-winner Geoff Sanoff (Fountains of Wayne, Stephen Colbert) and co-produced and music directed by guitarist Marc Ribler – the latter musician recruited by Stevie as Darlene Love’s music director for Love’s 2015 Van Zandt-produced INTRODUCING DARLENE LOVE and then “borrowed back” to serve that same role with The Disciples of Soul. Background vocals on “I Don’t Want To Go Home” and “The City Weeps Tonight” come courtesy of renowned a cappella group, The Persuasions. SOULFIRE was mixed and mastered by Van Zandt’s career-long collaborators and friends Bob Clearmountain (Rolling Stones, David Bowie, The Who, Bryan Adams), and Bob Ludwig (Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, The Band, Sly and the Family Stone).

“This was the most fun I’ve ever had making a record,” Van Zandt says. “We did it quickly, while we still had the fire and energy from the London show. We just took it into the studio and banged it out, six weeks from start to mix. It’s one of those strange things, it really seems like it was meant to be.” Each of Van Zandt’s prior five solo albums had seen him expressing his utterly personal songwriting through a changing variety of sounds and approaches, an ambitious adventurousness that has fueled much of his creative output these past two decades. He expanded his parameters, as an actor on The Sopranos and Lilyhammer, as host, historian, and rock ‘n’ roll advocate on Sirius XM’s one-and-only “Little Steven’s Underground Garage” (not to mention creator of Sirius XM’s long-running “Outlaw Country” format). Van Zandt kept his skills sharp by composing the score for all three seasons of Lilyhammer and continued to work as producer and songwriter, lending his distinctive craft to records from an array of international garage rockers, but couldn’t kick a lingering sense of unfinished business.

“I felt a bit guilty about having walked away from Little Steven the artist,” he says. “I left that part of myself behind and I shouldn’t have done that. I let the material down by not continuing to perform it,” he says. “I betrayed the work and I want to fix that. I didn’t give up on the material – there were a lot of other factors – but I do have a sense of wanting some redemption for it.”

Van Zandt – who will remain a touring and recording member of The E Street Band – is now looking forward to hitting the road with his own big band. Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul will celebrate SOULFIRE with an epic international tour schedule, set to begin April 22nd with an eagerly anticipated return to Asbury Park, NJ’s historic Paramount Theatre and then continue with headline gigs and festival dates around the world. A full-scale North American headline tour will be announced soon – for regular updates and ticket information, please visit http://littlesteven.com/index.php/tour-dates.

“I want to take this band to every place that wants to see us,” Van Zandt says. “It’s tricky with a 15-piece band, but I’m just trying to achieve my lifelong goal of breaking even!”

Six solo albums and countless milestones in, Stevie Van Zandt has fully captured the singular vision he has refined and pushed forward for the length and breadth of his life and already brilliant career. SOULFIRE marks the much-needed return of a truly great artist, reenergized and unstoppable. “I’m back into it,” Little Steven says. “And this time I’m going to stay back.”

Tuesday 9 May 2017

FOLK SOUL SONGWRITER NORA ROTHMAN ANNOUNCES DEBUT SELF-TITLED EP



Folk/Soul singer/songwriter Nora Rothman is thrilled to announce the release date for her debut self-titled EP, set for July 21, 2017. Recorded at The Fortress in downtown Los Angeles, the EP will feature three spine-tingling tracks that highlight Rothman's dynamic vocal range and intimate songwriting. All songs on the EP were written and arranged by Nora Rothman and produced by Grammy-nominated Felix McTeigue (Radio Perfecto, Florida Georgia Line), Drew Guido (Ingrid Michelson, Sara Bareilles),and Nora Rothman. The EP was mixed by Drew Guido, mastered by Amar Lal, and engineered by Adam Lathrum and Brian Harris. Along with this announcement, Rothman has unveiled a live studio version of her original track, "Judy Garland," which will appear on the forthcoming EP as a bonus track. This is what Rothman had to say about the release of her debut EP:

"These songs were all written alone, in my studio apartment, with a ukulele and a notebook. I wanted the EP to be truthful to that. Intimate, natural, and really damn honest, it's me at my most bare." - Nora Rothman

Hailing from Hollywood nobility as the daughter of Tom Rothman (Chairman, Sony Pictures Entertainment) and Jessica Harper (Actress), it was inevitable that indie singer/songwriter Nora Rothman would find herself fully immersed in all things music and entertainment. At three she laid down her first recording, at eleven she wrote her first song, and at sixteen she played her first professional show. Finding a relief in music while struggling with an anxiety disorder, Rothman immersed herself in songwriting and vocal studies as she channeled her contemporary rawness and pop sensibility into acoustic, 70s-esque arrangements. Now at 26, Rothman has more experience under her belt than most. After graduating from Brown University with honors in Creative Writing, she picked up a ukulele, and settled into her unique soulful folk sound while simultaneously appearing as an actress on stage and screen. As a professional vocalist, Rothman soloed at the KJazz Fall Benefit Concert, toured through Italy, played at the inaugural Life is Beautiful Festival in Vegas, and collaborated with visionary director Nathan Kim on their video "Strange // Humanshapes." As an actress, Rothman has starred in Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders and acclaimed indie film, Hunky Dory.

A singer-songwriter with a singular folk soul sound, Rothman finds a home somewhere in between the deep vocals of Sarah Vaughan, poetic lyrics of Joni Mitchell, and honest musicality of Frank Ocean. An avid feminist and political voice, Rothman moved to Boulder, CO working as a field organizer for the Hillary Clinton campaign and after a six month hiatus, returned to music to release her self-titled debut EP this summer.

For a sneak peek at Nora Rothman's debut EP, head to YouTube today to check out the live studio version of "Judy Garland," recorded at Sunsesh LA.

Monday 8 May 2017

GLENN DANZIG CONFIRMS EXCLUSIVE NEW ALBUM RELEASE AUTOGRAPH SIGNING SESSION MAY 26TH AT BLACKEST OF THE BLACK DESTINATION FESTIVAL



Friday, May 26th & Saturday, May 27th -- Memorial Day Weekend at Oak Canyon Park in Orange County, CA

Blackest Of The Black Destination Festival will be taking over Oak Canyon Park in Silverado, CA in Orange County this Memorial Day Weekend, Friday, May 26th and Saturday, May 27th. The brainchild of Glenn Danzig, the event not only serves as a music festival, but as a cultural experience: an escape. The festival will be hosted by Full Metal Jackie and will feature camping, along with a number of sinister attractions, and two music stages curated by Danzig.

Glenn Danzig’s comic book company Verotik will be hosting a few special signings at their booth during the festival. To commemorate the release date of his new album, Black Laden Crown, Danzig has confirmed a rare and exclusive autograph signing session for the first day of the festival only, on Friday, May 26th. Additionally, award-winning comic book artist Simon Bisley will be signing on both nights of the festival, Friday, May 26th and Saturday, May 27th. Bisley has contributed to a number of comics including Verotik, DC, Fleetway, Full Circle, Marvel, and more, as well as Danzig album covers, including Lost Tracks Of Danzig, 6:66 Satan’s Child, and Thrall: Demonsweatlive. His work has also influenced Beast in the 2006 Doctor Who episode “The Satan Pit,” and Simon Pegg’s character Tim Bisley on the U.K.’s Channel 4 sitcom, Spaced.

The Verotik area is only one of a slew of dark attractions to be featured at Blackest Of The Black. The festival will also feature a roaming freak show filled with contortionists, demons, and more, thrill rides, and a Sugar Skull Contest. The main attraction, Castle Danzig is a fully immersive walkthrough experience of agony and ecstasy, all based on the music and graphic novels of Glenn Danzig. Within the vicinity of the eerie castle and courtyard, attendees will find a sacrifice altar, bondage stage, suspension stage, electro stage, blood bath, a padded cell, stocks, cage dancers, and more!

Blackest Of The Black will host two music stages, curated by Danzig, with performances by some of the heaviest acts around. Deafheaven has been added to Friday’s lineup, in place of Belphegor. The music lineup for Blackest Of The Black is as follows:

Friday, May 26: Suicidal Tendencies, Corrosion of Conformity, Suicide Silence, Discharge, Deafheaven, Butcher Babies, 3 Teeth, and more to be announced!

Saturday, May 27: Danzig, Ministry, Vamps, Atreyu, Venom Inc., DevilDriver, Marduk, Combichrist, Ghoul,Ritual, and more to be announced!

You Me At Six Reveal Video To 'Take on the World'



Filmed at their headline show in London’s Alexandra Palace on April 15th YOU ME AT SIX are back to reveal their video to ‘Take On The World’ from their critically acclaimed 5th studio album Night People, which is OUT NOW on Infectious Records.


2017 got off to a flying start for the guys with the release of their chart topping album and news that they were the first band to land 15 concurrent Radio 1 A list records in a row. All that and frontman Josh Franceschi, still found time to lobby parliament in support of the anti-ticket tout ban. You Me At Six have just returned from an extensive tour in Europe and the UK which kicked off on April 3rd in Newcastle. They’ve also been announced for the Radio 1/NME stage, headline slot at this year’s Reading & Leeds Festival.