VIDEOKILLER - "This is the Day" by The The

NEW GOLD DREAMS - Listen to this! "Noblesse Oblige"

Noblesse Oblige invite you into their exotic world of mysticism and new wave melancholy. From their intoxicatingly provocative live performances, to their unique recordings; this raw art duo commands feverish tribal sounds and acoustically grounded electro-fusion, and stitch them to their theatrical backbone of visceral pop, voodoo musings and eerie sparse electronics. Embark on a hypnotic journey into the dark temptations of the heart!
Noblesse Oblige was formed in London by French actress Valerie Renay and German producer Sebastian Lee Philipp. Their debut album Privilege Entails Responsibility includes "Bitch" and "Daddy, Don't Touch Me There", now classics of the Independent Electro underground scene. After moving to Berlin in 2007, the band released their second album In Exile, winning an endorsement by the German ministry of Culture and the Russian Steppenwolf Music award. Their third album Malady is the conclusion of an exploration of the occult. The dark temptations of the heart expressed in the album's eerie tales of voodoo gods, soul electrification, witchcraft, and tropical fevers are underlined by the band's use of exotic instruments, electronic beats, and tribal percussions, mixed with their traditional blend of melodic kitsch and new wave theatricality. Noblesse Oblige have performed their raw, dramatic and visually striking live shows throughout Europe and South America.
Besides her work as half of Noblesse Oblige, Valerie is a trained actress (aka Femme Facade) directing, writing and performing her own work and appearing at Performance & Art Festivals around the world.
Sebastian is a music producer with his own Berlin based studio in which he records and produces artists and writes film soundtracks. He also releases music as half of Der Räuber und der Prinz.

NEW GOLD DREAMS - Bienvenue Super Pop Corn! La nouveax band fantasme les 80's (et Telex aussi)

Super Pop Corn fantasme les 80's pour les rendre élégantes et faire danser les filles avec des synthés, boites à rythmes, et autres batteries électroniques vintage. Mais Super Pop Corn n’est pas le rejeton de Début de Soirée ou d'Image: C'est dans les 80’s version Electro de Human League, Jacno ou Dépêche mode et la Pop New Wave de Telex ou the Buggles que l'electro duo composé de Julien Mayerus (Chant, Basses, Guitare et Claviers) et de Nicolas Boquet (Batteries et Drums machines) va puiser son inspiration.Grace à sa collaboration avec Jacques Le Honsec (ex-chanteur de Goût de Luxe, groupe Gothico New-Wave des années 80...) qui, séduit par le projet, dépoussière ses synthés et impose une production où aucun instrument ayant été créé après 1989 n’est admis, Super Pop Corn prend la forme d’un Ovni Electro-Pop intemporel, furieusement dansant et qui ne choisit jamais entre la dérision et le sérieux.

LIVE AND KICKING - Japan: "Methods od dance"

LET'S TOUR - Gentlemen say "sorry"...Rinviato il tour di David Sylvian

(ANSA) - ROMA, 31 GEN - ''Con profonda tristezza siamo costretti a comunicare che David Sylvian non potra' sostenere il tour europeo previsto in Marzo e Aprile 2012''. Cosi' scrive il management dell'artista, atteso in Italia proprio per le date di debutto il 1 Marzo a Padova, il 2 a Milano, il 4 marzo a Roma presso l'Auditorium Parco della Musica e il 5 a Bologna. David Sylvian ha subito un infortunio alla schiena che e' causa di forte dolore e limita sostanzialmente la sua mobilita'. Di conseguenza - spiega lo staff - al momento e' impensabile che possa viaggiare o esibirsi in alcun modo ed e' stato cancellato tutto il suo Implausible Beauty 2012. David Sylvian in persona ha inviato una nota ai fan tramite il proprio sito ufficiale davidsylvian.com: ''Questo e' il messaggio che non avrei mai voluto scrivere. A meno che la memoria non mi inganni, non mi e' mai capitato in tutta la mia vita di dovermi sottrarre completamente all'impegno di un tour. Tutte le persone coinvolte mi hanno sommerso di messaggi generosi e amorevoli, che mi augurano di rimettermi presto in salute, il che per me e' la testimonianza di quanto meravigliose sono le persone con le quali lavoro. Le mie scuse piu' sincere e gratitudine infinita vanno anche a chi aveva comprato i biglietti per i concerti, sembra siate molti piu' di quanto avrei potuto immaginare. Al momento mi sto sottoponendo a esami e cure e, se tutto va bene, spero di potere annunciare quanto prima che il tour sara' riprogrammato entro i prossimi mesi del 2012. Se c'e' un aspetto positivo in questa storia e' che, con piu' tempo per prepararlo, lo spettacolo alla fine sara' eccezionale''.

VIDEOKILLER - "Charlotte sometimes" by The Cure

NEWS WAVE - Bevetevi un'Heineken, arrivano i Cure!

La vera "cura" alla sfiga dell'Heineken Jammin' Festival traslocato a Venezia, tra tifoni e tornadi, è cambiare sede (Milano) e puntare su Robert Smith e compagni.

La storica band inglese dei "Cure" composta da Robert Smith (voce e chitarra), Simon Gallup (basso), Jason Cooper (batteria) e Roger O’Donnell (tastiere) sarà tra i protagonisti dell’edizione 2012 dell’Heineken Jammin’ Festival, che si terrà dal 5 al 7 luglio alla Fiera di Rho di Milano.

A distanza di 8 anni dall’ultima esibizione sul palco dell’Heineken Jammin’ Festival,
The Cure suoneranno i brani tratti dai loro 14 album e, ovviamente, dall’epico disco “Wish” che proprio nel 2012 festeggia 20 anni dalla data di pubblicazione. La band, capitanata da Robert Smith, esordisce nella seconda metà degli anni ’70 e oggi, a distanza di oltre 40 anni, si conferma icona internazionale della musica new wave e post punk.

Giunto alla sua quattordicesima edizione, Heineken Jammin’ Festival 2012, organizzato da Live Nation e promosso da Heineken Italia, si conferma l’appuntamento più prestigioso dell’anno per gli amanti della musica live.

I biglietti per la data di sabato 7 luglio saranno disponibili dalle ore 9:00 del 19 gennaio, in esclusiva per i possessori di carta di credito American Express (al link www.ticketone.it/americanexpress); dalle ore 10:00 del 21 gennaio i biglietti saranno disponibili tramite il circuito TicketOne http://www.ticketone.it/ e nelle prevendite autorizzate.

Biglietto per una giornata: 55 euro + diritti di prevendita
Biglietto “Pit Fronte Palco”: 65 euro + diritti di prevendita
Informazioni sugli abbonamenti saranno disponibili a breve.

Per maggiori informazioni LIVE NATION ITALIA (02.53006501 – http://www.livenation.it/)

VIDEOKILLER - "I can't escape myself" by The Sound

NEWS WAVE - "Love is the drug"...Bryan Ferry marries his son's ex girlfriend!

"Love Is the Drug" isn't just a Roxy Music hit. It also just might be Bryan Ferry's wedding song.
The British art rock band's suave frontman tied the knot with girlfriend Amanda Sheppard on Jan. 4 in the Turks and Caicos.
So just how did these two lovebirds meet? Let's just say Ferry didn't have to stray too far from home. Per the U.K. Telegraph, the 66-year-old singer met the 29-year-old Sheppard in 2009 after she dated one of his sons—and despite the big age difference, the two hit it off.
A spokesman for Ferry said the nuptials took place at the Caribbean islands' posh Amanyara resort and the twosome exchanged vows in a "simple private ceremony." The bride wore a white dress by Lanvin while the groom donned a dapper dark blue suit.This is the second marriage for the singer-songwriter. He was previously hitched for 21 years to Lucy Helmore; they had four sons before divorcing in 2003.
As for Sheppard, a fashion PR executive and party planner, Ferry said the realities of being a bachelor in his sixties led him to his current ladylove.
"You never meet people your own age who aren't married. Unless they are divorceees knocking about, that sort of thing," Ferry told the paper.

VIDEOKILLER - Happy Birthday, Mr. Bowie (always our "hero")

VIDEOKILLER - "Rip it up" (and start again)...

NEWS WAVE - Depeche Gore Vince! The ex duo of DM come 2gether as VCMG project

30 years working on their respective ongoing music projects, Vince Clarke (Erasure / Yazoo / Depeche Mode) and Martin L. Gore (Depeche Mode) come together for the first time since 1981 as VCMG to release a brand new album preceded by a series of EPs.

VCMG is the fruit of initially tentative discussion and subsequent enthused collaboration where Vince and Martin, both influential as pioneers in electronic music, get to exercise their lifelong love of the genre as the techno inspired VCMG.

As Vince explains: “I’ve been getting into and listening to a lot of minimal dance music and I got really intrigued by all the sounds… I realised I needed a collaborator… so it occurred to me to talk to Martin.”

Says Gore: “Out of the blue I got an e-mail from Vince just saying, ‘I’m interested in making a techno album. Are you interested in collaborating?’ This was maybe a year ago. He said, ‘No pressure, no deadlines,’ so I said, ‘OK’.”

The writing and recording of the album was done in a typically unique way with the pair working alone in their respective studios, communicating only via email, exchanging files until the album was ready. It was in May 2011 that the pair met for the first time to discuss the project when they both performed at Short Circuit presents Mute festival in London.

The album (title to be announced soon) was produced by Vince Clarke and Martin L. Gore and mixed by the influential Californian electronic artist Überzone / Q and will be released in the spring of 2012.

The first release is an EP entitled Spock. EP1 / SPOCK features remixes from Edit-Select, aka Tony Scott, the UK DJ / producer and founder of EditSelect Records whose previous remix credits include Speedy J, Death In Vegas and Gary Beck; Regis, British techno musician Karl O’Connor (member of the Sandwell District collective and co-founder of Downwards Records); DVS1, Brooklyn based producer Zak Khutoretsky; plus XOQ, the alter ego of Überzone / Q, who mixed the VCMG album.

EP1/SPOCK has been available initially as a global exclusive on Beatport on 30 November, and then on all DSPs from 12 December with the 12” release following on 19 December 2011.
EP1 / SPOCK TRACKLIST
Spock – Album versionSpock – Edit Select RemixSpock – Regis RemixSpock – DVS1 Voyage Home RemixSpock – XOQ Remix

https://www.facebook.com/VCMGofficial



VCMG - Spock by Mute UK

VIDEOKILLER - Old Numan! When "We take mystery (to bed)"...

NEWS WAVE/OFF THE RECORDS - New Numan! The Pleasure Prince(ple) is out with a new record

Gary Numan interviewed by "Crack"

Gary Numan is a unique breed of electronic animal. Relentless in output and evolution of sound in a career now going into its 33rd year, to describe Numan as a tour de force of electronic music is not hyperbole. One of the most reassuring things about Crack’s conversation with Numan is that despite his position as an elder statesman of the electronic music community, he maintains a humble and honest approach to crafting music. With the ticking clock of age against him and his time as a musician, he has adopted an attitude which is stripped-down and unmuddied. Previous variables such as fashion, attitude and the self-consciousness of youth which can clutter the creative process inevitably wither with age, leaving Numan a carefree open book, able to express himself with a degree of nonchalance. The style and image conjured by Numan throughout his rise to prominence influenced countless 80s fashionistas, emanating a coldness and detachment that perfectly complimented the methodical nature of the synth arrangements employed on first two solo records, The Pleasure Principle (1979) and Telekon (1980). Numan became a pin-up for the era. However, it’s the man’s ability to remain varied and contemporary that has seen him leave many of his 80s electronic peers in the shade with a career has maneuvered with the decades. Dalliances in straight-up pop music, experimental electronica and hard rock spread across 18 albums have made Numan more than qualified to contextualise music in its broadest sense, but it’s the vigour and enthusiasm with which he does this that makes him such an endearing character. You get the impression that if Numan is ever to extinguish his creative fire, he will do so kicking and screaming, and based on latest offering, Dead Son Rising, it will be a significant loss. On this new album, smouldering industrial rock suggests a pairing off of influences with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, who open cites Numan as a significant influence on his work. Dark machinery clatters and is married with brooding undertones that sees Numan return to his austere best. As opposed to his aloof creative persona, Numan in person is warm, welcoming and congenial, a fact kept under wraps by the degree of mysticism that has always run alongside his music.Ladies and gentleman: Mr Gary Numan.

So how did the new record come about?

"It actually started out as a load of out-takes that I’d put to bed for a while. I listened back to them and thought ‘blimey, these are quite good.’ So what started out as a load of filler material ended up being a brand new album. Because of that it’s much more varied. I’m actually writing a book, a science-fiction book which I’ve been working on for the last 10 years. Every day I write out little notes for it and try to develop the story. It’s become a never ending thing. I hope it’ll finally see the light of day at some point. But some of the ideas from that have bled into this record. There are also more conventional themes that have gone into it, such as the fact I had a massive falling out with a close friend of mine a while back, which unfortunately has got worse as time has gone on. Normally when I do an album I have a pretty clear idea where I want it to go, and all the songs musically and lyrically fit in that direction. But I think because of the way it came about and ambled along, being fitted together from these bit parts, it’s a little more varied than my normal record".

So has anyone else been involved?

"While I would say this record is still very much Gary Numan, it’s much more of collaboration. It’s the first properly collaborative album I’ve ever done. In my opinion, it should have gone out as a Gary Numan and Ade Fenton album, but he didn’t think that was a good idea, so it’s gone out as a Gary Numan album".

Was he quite happy to sit in the background and not take credit for anything?

"I’m certainly at pains to make it clear when I’m talking to people that it’s very much a collaboration, though it is true they are all my melodies, all my chord structures. The fact they have gone on from there with Ade showcases the fact they should be labeled as co-written; he’s done more than a producer should do".

So have the songs morphed and changed significantly from what you intended?

"Well, this was meant to be a bit of filler between my last album, Jagged, and the new album I was due to release next year, Splinter. There is a big gap, so the idea was to pop something out that wouldn’t take up too much of my time or interfere too much with what I was doing with Splinter. It’s strange, because when I came back to this music a year and a half later, it was exactly the same, Ade had done nothing to it. So I think it was a confidence thing. You get a bit down on something and your confidence plummets and everything you listen to sounds like shit. Then you hear it again a year and a half later in a different frame of mind and suddenly it sounds alright".

Is that to do with your personal situation at that particular time distorting the quality of music that had been produced?

"I don’t know really, because for quite a while now career-wise, things have been great. I have a much better relationship with the media than I had before. I have lots of people doing cover versions and sampling my stuff and talking about me. From a confidence point of view I should’ve been riding high. I can’t imagine what else it was though. It just doesn’t make any sense for me at all".

Over the years the regularity of your releases has remained ever consistent. You seem to be a workhorse. What keeps you going at such a pace?

"For me it was always a hobby that became something else. I was chatting to someone else the other day and they were saying that if they didn’t think they had an audience to play to they wouldn’t do it. I just couldn’t understand that. Surely you loving doing it, and having an audience should be the icing on the cake. From my point of view if I didn’t have an audience to play this stuff to, I’d still do it, because first and foremost I like it. The fact that I’m able to take the music out on tour and play it in front of people is the most amazing piece of luck. From an incentive point of view, or a desire point of view, getting motivated doesn’t seem to be a problem at all. I’ve really, really wanted to make records and record songs since I was 18 or 19. Your goals and ambitions just change".

So is making a new album a relatively pain-free process for you then?

"I actually find touring more enjoyable at the moment. I find the thought of being stuck in a room on my own for a month recording an album a little bit daunting".

You just finished a tour where you were performing your debut album The Pleasure Principle in its entirety, so are you looking forward to be touring the new album?

"I got into touring the retro album very begrudgingly. It wasn’t really top of my list of things I wanted to do. When I tour normally, I do very little older stuff, which causes a bit of friction between myself and the older fans who want to hear as much of the older stuff as possible. I don’t want to be tied down to doing a Greatest Hits set. It became a real issue for some fans, so I said how about if I do all the songs from one album so I can avoid diluting my conventional tour. It seemed that if I did that then some of the fans would get off my back. So I did one for my 50th birthday and my 30th anniversary of being in the music business. Then the 30th anniversary of The Pleasure Principle came along so I did that one. So I just try to pop these things in once in a while".

Do these tours afford you a bit of breathing space then?

"It’s a great compromise to keep the older fans happy. The Pleasure Principle thing got a bit out of hand and ended up going all round the world when it was only meant to be a handful of shows in the UK. I won’t be doing any of that for quite some time. It is very nice to be coming back and have something new out. We’re doing the September and December mini-tours to promote this and then in the new year Splinter is coming out which I’m really excited about. Then for the bulk of next year we are going to be primarily touring the world doing Splinter and Dead Son Rising. We’ll be doing that for the next couple of years I reckon".

So are those old album gigs made up of older people then?

"Not at all, the demographic is really split. One thing I didn’t realise is that a lot of the younger audience haven’t heard of this material before. It was 60-70% kids under-25 who know the album because it’s a big part of my history, but they haven’t ever heard any of the songs live. It’s also because people like Trent Reznor talk about it being a particularly large influence on them. So you’ve got people coming along who weren’t even born when the record was released. I thought it would be all about 55-year-old people reminiscing about their youth but it wasn’t like that at all, so I had to stand corrected there".

As you’ve got older do you still find yourself drawn to keeping abreast of modern music and modern fashions, or has this got less important to you as you’ve got older?

"It’s easier than it’s ever been, especially with the internet. If you follow fashion then it’s easy enough. You can just pick up a magazine and find out what the latest trends are. But to be honest, I actually don’t give a shit about fashion. Although I did fashion shoot for All Saints yesterday! (laughs) But in all seriousness, I really don’t care about that I look how I look. Keeping up with it all isn’t difficult, finding something you like really is. It’s always been like that. Take 1979 when I first started having success: look at the Top 40 then, and I only liked about two of the records in there. It’s exactly the same today. The chart in 1979 was full of utter shite. Very few things in the chart last for a long time and that’s what makes it such a scary business".

What is it about you that has meant you’ve been able to have such a good run, and sustained such success over an extended period of time? You’re quite a rare breed. How have you survived in such a credible way?

"I’ve always believed you’re only as good as your next album, and you can never have a career based on past glories. It’s obvious, but you always have to continue doing something new and something interesting. I’m not saying I’ve always done that, cause I’ve put out some pretty dodgy albums in my time. It is always my intention, however, to go into the studio and do something I’ve never done before, and come up with some sounds that no one has ever heard before. The reason I got into electronic music in the first place was because it seemed to have an unlimited potential for creating new sounds. I love guitar-based things, but they are inherently limiting to some degree. In electronic music we are lucky as there is always new technology so the potential is neverending. The thought of going in and repeating the same sounds used before seems pointless to me. I juts don’t get it. It’s like entering a Formula 1 race on your bicycle, it’s fucking pointless. I also just don’t get some people who have long careers that mellow and start doing ballads, and it gets bland and middle-of-the-road. You end up saying ‘what on earth happened to you?’ My music for the last 10 years has got heavier and heavier each album that I’ve made. I’m quite proud of that, and I think I still do enough interesting things to keep them coming back. There are probably people who sell more than I do, but that’s probably because they’ve done more ballads".

So who in the main is Gary Numan enjoying at the moment and musically, who has had the biggest influence on you over the years?

"I love Battles, with whom I recently did a single. I love them because I can’t place them. I love everything about what they do and it was great to work with them. Nine Inch Nails will always be a massive influence for me, as will Ultravox when I first started. Depeche Mode too are a huge part of my world and changed my way of looking at music".

http://www.numan.co.uk/

NEWS WAVE/VIDEOKILLER - Oh, La Roux? No, Oh Land. Here it is the Danish sister of the "In for the kill" singer...

LET'S TOUR/VIDEOKILLER - Arriva in Italia da oggi Zola Jesus, la nuova Siouxie

Finalmente arriva, o meglio torna, in Italia. Da questa sera, 6 dicembre, il "fenomeno" Zola Jesus approda nel Bel Paese con la sua voce possente che ricorda la migliore Siouxie o Elisabeth Fraser dei Cocteau Twins. Qualche improvvido, forse per via del look, l'ha etichettata come "una Lady Gaga post-punk". Tant'è. Da questa sera, si potrà assistere all'attesa messa in scena di Zola Jesus - vero nome: Nika Roza Danilova, di origini russe-americane - e del suo terzo album già di culto "Conatus" e dopo il divampante singolo apripista "Vessel" e sulla scorta di "Night" di qualche tempo fa. Se sentite tremare la terra, non sarà alcun cataclisma, quanto la sua voce che sembra nascere dalla viscere, dall'oscurità, pronta ad esplodere e a far diventare i ghiacci cristalli, per poi librarsi su ali di farfalla (come nel video di "Vessel"). Stasera ZJ sarà al Magnolia di Milano, il 7 dicembre al Covo di Bologna, l'8 al Circolo degli Artisti di Roma, il 9 al New Carocol di Pisa. Vivamente consigliata.

NEWS WAVE - New Year's Eve with Culture Club reunion!

It's official. Culture Club are back! The band of Boy George will be on stage on New Year's Eve in Australia...We miss them blind!

LIVE AND KICKING - Eurythmics over the top! That unforgettable "Revenge Tour" (1987)...

Uno dei concerti più emozionanti mai visti per esecuzione, intensità, bravura degli strumentisti e riusciti (ri)arrangiamenti...Oltre all'indiscussa capacità di Annie Lennox e Dave Stewart (quest'ultimo lo si veda nell'assolo di chitarra di "Here comes the rain"), menzione speciale per l'armonicista/sassofonista Jimmy "Z" Zavala (guardate cosa fa negli assoli di "There must be an Angel")...Il dvd del tour è vivamente consigliato sotto l'Albero di Natale...!

LET'S TOUR - Simple Minds are alive and kicking again! Nuovo tour incentrato sul pokerissimo di album di esordio, quelli che hanno segnato un'epoca

(ANSA) - ROMA, 22 NOV - I Simple Minds hanno annunciato un breve e intenso tour in venue di dimensioni ridotte, dove proporranno solo del materiale dai loro primi cinque importantissimi album in due ore e mezza di show davvero da non perdere. Un tour che partira' dal Portogallo il 14 febbraio e che sbarchera' a Milano (all'Alcatraz) il 28 febbraio.

Simple Minds are pleased to announce a very rare and exciting opportunity to see them perform material from their first five albums at intimate venues, in February and March 2012. As a Member at Simpleminds.com you have access to these special tickets before general release on Friday 25th November. Read on to find out more! These landmark shows, lasting over two and half hours, will be part of a 16-date European tour beginning in Portugal on 14th February with the first UK shows taking place at Birmingham Academy and in the band's hometown of Glasgow, at Barrowlands, on 24th and 25th February respectively, with the final UK shows of the tour at London's Roundhouse (3rd March) and the Manchester Ritz the following evening. The band will exclusively play five songs from each of their first five albums - Life In A Day, Real To Real Cacophony, Empires and Dance, Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Calling and New Gold Dream (81, 82, 83, 84), which celebrates its 30th anniversary next year - which were released in a prolific period from 1979 to 1982. These five albums have had a massive cultural impact from the time of their release during the birth of the new wave electro scene in the late 1970s, through the dance revolution of the '80s and '90s, to the music of the Manic Street Preachers and the recent sound of The Horrors' Skying album, making them five of the most vital albums of the post-punk period and the last 35 years.

"This is the set that so many who appreciate Simple Minds have been begging us to play and finally this is that one-off chance to see it." Jim Kerr.

OFF THE RECORDS - Buon Natale con Kate Bush! Il nuovo disco è un'ode alla neve

Roma, 22 nov. (Adnkronos) - A sei anni di distanza dall'ultimo album "Aerial" esce oggi il nuovo lavoro di studio di Kate Bush "50 Words For Snow". Il disco, che contiene sette brani inediti sul tema della neve, in pieno clima di strenne musicali in vista del Natale, e' pubblicato dall'etichetta di proprieta' della stessa cantante, la Fish People ed e' distribuito da EMI Music. Un lavoro di classe, contemporaneo negli arrangiamenti e senza tempo nella sintesi di voce e suggestioni letterarie. E con una sorpresa: un meraviglioso duetto con Elton John. "50 Words For Snow" e' una raccolta di canzoni della durata complessiva di sessantacinque minuti ed e' stato definito dal The Guardian come "Un album inaspettatamente straordinario, un magnifico sogno contemporaneo". La tracklist dell'album si apre con "Snowflake" e prosegue con i brani "Lake Tahoe", "Misty", "Wildman", "Snowed in at Wheeler street" (feat Elton John), "50 Words for snow" e "Among angels".



Click here to pre-order "50 Words For Snow" from your nearest retailer now: PRE-ORDER
“50 Words For Snow” will feature seven brand new tracks set against a background of falling snow. The total running time is 65 minutes.

VIDEOKILLER - Years go by, but "Lips like sugar" again...

OFF THE RECORDS - The last laugh! Going into the deep of soul with the first solo album by David Lynch

Best known as the surrealist auteur behind "Eraserhead," "Twin Peaks" and "Blue Velvet," David Lynch is one of America's most acclaimed film directors. Having long written and performed music for his films -- often in collaboration with others, most notably composer Angelo Badalamenti and Polish pianist Marek Zebrowski -- this fall sees the three-time Academy Award nominee make his debut as a solo recording artist. With the release Tuesday of his debut studio album, "Crazy Clown Time," on Sunday Best Recordings/PIAS, Lynch talks to "Billboard" about his hatred of singing, fear of performing live and working with the late Mark Linkous.

You recently curated a week-long music showcase at Paris' Club Silencio (a venue modeled on one featured in Lynch's 2001 film "Mulholland Drive"). Was it an enjoyable experience?
It's been incredible. Do you want to hear the bands that came? I started out with The Kills, followed by Au Revoir Simone and Kitty Daisy & Lewis. Followed by Gary Clark Jr, a bluesman from Austin, Texas. Followed by Dirty Beaches, [who sings] American rockabilly in the most dreamlike way. And then it ended up with Lykke Li and she did an incredible show. It was a real good week and the club is really fantastic. It's got a great, great feel and people are happy in that club.

How does it feel to begin a solo music career aged 65?
I'm finding it really good. I'm not touring. I'm not playing live. It's a studio experience... I've been working on music through the years and it's Sunday Best Recordings which came along and wanted to get the music out. Their enthusiasm was what really catapulted it coming out.

Most of the songs on "Crazy Clown Time" originate from studio jams, correct?
That's the technique that was used more often than not. I [would] say probably a 20 to 25-minute jam is 97% garbage. Maybe in that three percent there is something there and that becomes the fuel for the next steps, which lead to the finished song. An example of that is [album track] "Speed Roadster." That track came out of a jam when my guitar was just making a sound that was thrilling to me. It started making the sound of a speed roadster... a night time dream that was sparkling in the piney woods.

How did you approach sequencing the album? Are there similarities with editing film?
Exactly. I'm not sure if these days people really sit down and listen to an album start to finish but if they do, you want to have the correct sequence. So you live with the sequence, you think intellectually and emotionally to get a line, then you test it and live with it for a while. Maybe rearrange a few things and then you've got a sequence that feels good should someone sit down and listen to it start to finish.

You've formerly described yourself as a self-taught non-musician. Have you got more proficient through making this album?
No. No. No. I can play it once. I can find a thing and it's very, very much like accidents that occur. We all know exceptionally great musicians in the world. I can't play like them. I find a way of getting something that thrills me on the guitar. I don't play them in a normal way. I started playing a guitar just to make sound FX and that method of playing kind of led to how I work in music.

Twelve of the 14 tracks on "Crazy Clown Time" feature your vocals. Is singing something that you have always done outside of the recording studio?
No. The opposite of that. Zero. I hated the idea of singing. I never wanted to sing. Ever. [But] I started getting kind of infatuated with this high voice and singing [about] these characters. I don't know quite how it happened. The only person I sing in front of is Dean [Hurley, studio engineer and key collaborator on the album]. I sometimes sing a little bit to Emily, my wife, but I'm even embarrassed singing in front of her.

Are there any plans to perform the record live, at all?
In the future it could be possible. I think emotionally I'm not quite ready to do that and technically [I'm] even further away.

Do you plan to do another record or is "Crazy Clown Time" a one-off?
I always love making music in the studio, so we'll see how this goes but definitely they'll be more music. Whether it goes out into an album or not, I don't know. Let's see if people like "Crazy Clown Time."

You worked with Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous on the 2010 "Dark Night of the Soul" album. What are your strongest memories from that time?
A great, great happiness and fondness. Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse became my friends because of that and they actually really did me a huge favor allowing me to sing on that [record]. It kind of gave me more confidence and it worked out so well... I was looking forward to really having a great long time friendship with Sparklehorse and then he ended up taking his life which was just a huge giant catastrophe and sadness. I really feel bad about that part of the story.



Director: Arnold de Parscau
Cinematography: Jonathan Bertin, Antoine Bon
Actors: Elia Blanc, Jean-Christophe Bouvet, Brigitte Aubry, Sarah Barzyk.
Almost 450 were entered into the competition to create the official music videos for David Lynch's single 'Good Day Today / I Know'm released on Sunday Best Recordings www.sundaybest.net
This fantastic video directd by Arnold de Parscau was chosen by David Lynch as the winner for Good Day Today from a shortlist of 10 finalists.

VIDEOKILLER - Girls (aka Superhot Models) on film! Brand new fetish kolossal-video "Girl Panic!" by Duran Duran is NOW

Make yourself comfortable…the premiere of Duran Duran’s “Girl Panic!” is here!

VIDEOKILLER - All you need is now! On November 8th Duran Duran's "Girl Panic!" video-kolossal is out. Take a look at the sexy backstage

The eighties gave us supermodels, and they gave us Duran Duran. Fast-forward to 2011 and they’re all making headlines again. The band recruited five über-supers for a video for “Girl Panic!,” its new single off the album All You Need Is Now, released earlier this year. In the nine-minute clip directed by Jonas Akerlund (the Grammy Award winner behind Lady Gaga’s “Telephone”) and made in collaboration with Swarovski Elements, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Eva Herzigova, Helena Christensen, and Yasmin LeBon play Simon, John, Nick, Roger, and an “anonymous guitarist,” while the real members of the group appear as bellhops, waiters, chauffeurs, and paparazzi. Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana even make cameos as Harper’s Bazaar U.K.’s guest editors during a photo shoot scene, images from which can be found in that magazine’s actual December issue. “It’s all daft stuff, but it’s fantastic daft stuff,” says John Taylor in a “making of” video that Style.com is debuting exclusively here. Check back on Tuesday, November 8, for our interview with Nick Rhodes and the complete music video.

Nicole Phelps for "Style.com"

Watch the backstage of "Girl Panic!"

http://www.style.com/stylefile/2011/11/duran-duran-super-sized/

Duran Duran’s “Girl Panic!” is Coming!
Premiering on November 8th on VEVO.com

NEWS WAVE - The Book of Love! "We can be heroes" is the right present for Christmas...

This Friday 4th November, Graham Smith and Chris Sullivan will be hosting an evening soirée geared around the forthcoming book ‘We Can Be Heroes’ at The Society Club in Soho. I’ll have polished up my frames and be exhibiting a few prints and Chris will be telling his ribald tales:

The Society Club
12 Ingestre Place, on the corner of Silver Place, which is off Lexington Street, Soho, W1F OJF.
Prints will be on sale.
It’s early 7-10pm

Afterwards Chris will be Djing classic club tunes from 1976 – 84 at the The Aviary Bar – 17 Little Portland Street, Oxford Circus, London W1W 8BW from 10 till 3:00am (http://www.theaviarybar.com/). Both venues are free to get into – so dig out your espadrilles and book yourself a baby sitter now!!!!

"We Can Be Heroes" is only available from www.unbound.co.uk/books/we-can-be-heroes

Graham was an essential cog in Spandau Ballet’s early pioneering days. He was the band’s original graphic designer and was responsible for the initial performance posters and record sleeve designs. He also happened to capture those days on camera. And now 30 years later he is producing his first photographic book of those heady days.

Chris Sullivan has written a brilliant and hilarious main text and Robert Elms has contributed an introduction. Our very own Gary Kemp has written a foreword along with Boy George and Steve Strange.

OFF THE RECORDS/VIDEOKILLER - Nomi and cognomi...Jessica 6 new album is out and we are into it!

Jessica 6 'Prisoner Of Love' feat. Antony from Jessica 6 on Vimeo.

Talking about Jessica 6 and Nomi Ruiz (see the Post down under), here it is the article of "Interview" about their brand new album "See the light" (out now), the premiere of "Prisoner of Love" video and their astonishing video "White Horse"...It seems Soft Cell's "Non stop erotic cabaret" meets Andy Warhol...Enjoy!

Not everyone will admit to loving disco. But deep inside, everyone loves soul-searing, bass-thumping, sex-appeal-oozing disco à la Summer's "I Feel Love," which is what Jessica 6, and its frontwoman Nomi Ruiz, serve up in heaps. And smartly, the sensuality that pervades the band's debut album See The Light is as present in the band's visuals as it is in sound. Ruiz is simply a bombshell, and J6's gritty, red-drenched videos put her front and center. (Bandmates and production team Andrew Raposo and Morgan Wiley make their presence known in acid-house synths and basslines.) Her seductive performance and voice even caught the attention of the man behind one of the most captivating stage performers in the world: Gaga stylist Nicola Formichetti. For their new video "Prisoner of Love," Formichetti does put Ruiz in a baroque, high-necked, crystallized piece by The Blondes, but for the most part, he lets her captivate in simple outfits, like a black crop-top or a white tank. (Her two-toned nails, however, are pretty eye-catching.) Halfway through the Marco Ovando-directed video, Ruiz's friend and collaborator Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons appears, adding a warm timbre and throaty roundness to Ruiz's breathiness. But this isn't a repeat of Hercules and Love Affair's 2008 synthy rave tribute hit "You Belong" (in which Hegarty supplies Ruiz's backing vocals); "Prisoner of Love" is a more organic affair, with Hegarty crooning while Ruiz purrs, and the two engaging in a vocal tête-à-tête until crescendo. On top of vocal layers, there are Ruiz layers too, with the singer's silhouette providing a window to her bandmates, Hegarty, and Ruiz herself. Check out the exclusive here, and rest assured that underground dance music divas are just as sexy as their '70s predecessors.

JESSICA 6'S DEBUT, SEE THE LIGHT, IS OUT NOW. THEY'LL PLAY WITH HOLY GHOST! THIS SATURDAY AT BOWERY BALLROOM. FOR MORE ON THE BAND, VISIT THEIR MYSPACE.

NEW GOLD DREAMS/LET'S TOUR - Take off your shoes, better Boots with rain...The coming back of Little Boots (feat. Nomi Ruiz!)

Welcome back Boots! Little Boots has been busy recording her second studio album and we're super excited for it! Aww man! Just now, like less than a half hour ago she dropped this brand new mixtape filled with good, good stuff. Oh Land, Madonna, The Magician and Eli Escobar featuring the astonishing Nomi Ruiz of Jessica 6 (one of the best and peculiar voices of the last decade, believe me)! Also, she's embarking on an international DJ tour in November and early december. If you're in Paris, Berlin, New York, L.A, San Francisco, Tokyo, Beijing or London - check her out! Shake Until Your Hearts Break at the very end must be a new Boots track too. Love this mix edition (listen to this at high standard, please)!
SHAKE UNTIL YOUR HEART BREAKS MIXTAPE by LittleBoots

VIDEOKILLER - Brand new IAMX video "Volatile Times" is out! Good blood&rain...

OFF THE RECORDS - Erasure Up! Esce questa settimana "Tomorrow's World", il nuovo Cd del duo Vince Clarke-Andy Bell

Articolo tratto da Vogue.it
In un periodo dove la retromania per gli anni 80 ha invaso la scena musicale, dalla mainstream a quella indie, Andy Bell e Vince Clarke, gli Erasure, non potevano non tornare a farsi sentire con il nuovo album: Tomorrow’s World (Mute), proprio loro che del synthpop britannico sono i pionieri. Il rientro del duo è avvenuto un mese fa sul palco del Short Circuit presents Mute, alla Roundhouse di Londra. Coincide con il venticinquesimo compleanno della loro carriera, il cui esordio risale al 1986 con l’album Wonderland come nuova reincarnazione di Vince Clarke, che aveva alle spalle progetti come Yazoo, di recente riesumato in coppia con Alison Moyet, e Depeche Mode su tutti.
«Se si vanno a contare le band di musica elettronica in classifica fra gli anni 80 e l'inizio dei 90, non ce n'erano molte in realtà. Oggi sono il 90%. Trovo la nuova scena elettronica emozionante, ma non parlerei di nostalgia solo perché si suonano dei sintetizzatori come allora» afferma Vince Clarke, che in 25 anni con gli Erasure ha centrato 40 hit single e venduto 25 milioni di dischi.

Registrato tra Londra, New York, Los Angeles e il Maine, dove oggi vive Clarke, e anticipato dal singolo When I start to (Break it all down), Tomorrow’s World arriva a quattro anni dal precedente album di studio The light at the end of the world ed è stato prodotto da Frankmusic, nuovo pupillo della scena dance, già al servizio di Ellie Goulding, Lady Gaga e Pet Shop Boys. «Abbiamo scelto lui perché ha un approccio diverso alla musica, lavora ai synth con una sensibilità unica. Produce un suono molto più intenso e pieno del nostro, un vero e proprio wall of sound. Nei passati album tendevamo invece ad avere un atteggiamento più minimal. Credo che Tomorrow’s World sia un buon compromesso fra suoni analogici e synth, si avvicina molto a lavori come Erasure, del 1995, e Loveboat mescolati insieme a Chorus».

Alla tournée attualmente in Usa con Frankmusic, segue il tour che fino a fine novembre porta gli Erasure nei teatri e club europei.

TALK TALK - Blondie forever! Debbie Harry interviewed (part 2 final)

I guess you could say that Blondie have a very street-wise glamour but they're also a band for romantics. Are you a romantic person at heart?

DH: Personally? Hmmmm. I don't know. I probably have a good imagination but I don't know if I'm a true romantic. But I do like romance. I don't know, it's a word that's been so mistreated. I mean, what is romance?

As I've only heard three of the songs off the album I had to make some guesses about the other tracks based on title alone. Does 'D-Day' stand for 'Debbie-Day'?

DH: YES! [punches air] But I really wrote it because I thought, if I play it over here it will be like [blows air through lips] … you know… it'll go down really well.

And there's 'The End, The End'. Now I'm kind of hoping this isn't The Doors song played twice in a row.

DH: That was a collaborative effort with this guy Ben Phillips and he had this idea about finding someone that you wanted to be with until the very end. So I guess that is a very romantic idea. He gave me this idea of what it was about and then we fleshed out the lyrics.

'Wipe Off My Sweat' sounds rather saucy…

DH: That's because it is [laughs]. It's in Spanish: 'Kiss me, kiss me, she has a tattoo on her skin where only he can see it…' And then when they're dancing she says: 'Kiss me, wipe off my sweat, don't stop, don't stop for anything.' It's simple and direct.

I'm also intrigued by the idea of 'China Shoes'.

DH: That's a ballad. Mid-tempo. It starts off, 'Cheap china shoes, tie on my feet, all man-made fabric worn out and beat, from pacing the floor, from walking the street. You fly over Brooklyn, back in a week.' So it's about someone leaving and you want them to come back. And then the chorus is, 'I left a note in the back page of your book, volumes away but it's worth a good look. Remember me, remember that you're mine, remember me when you get to the last line.'

You are a romantic! When I think of Blondie, I think of a pop group who had equals and contemporaries in the worlds of art, writing, photography, etc. I wonder if that's something that's missing from today's pop scene? How important was it for you to know people like William Burroughs and Andy Warhol?

DH: Really important. They were such great influences. It might be a little bit different in New York, because of the area — because everything is located so closely together and it's very easy to jump into the art world, to jump into the music scene, into the photography scene. It's all compacted together. Maybe that's why it happens. It seems kind of natural.

Do you think this concentration of people and ideas causes a continuum? When I think of The Velvet Underground I can see that there are clear lines through to Television, Suicide, Blondie, Sonic Youth…

DH: Yeah. Oh yeah. Well, I hope so…

Were The Velvet Underground still playing when you moved to New York?

DH: They were. Actually, the first time I saw them was one of the best shows I have ever seen. I didn't have a clue who they were. I used to go to this place — a big room called The Balloon Farm… [laughs] Well, it was the psychedelic period, right? So we went in this place, which was like a former Ukrainian nursing home, and it was The Velvet Underground playing live with Nico. The stage set and colours were designed by Andy Warhol who was also doing the lights. It was beautiful. And you know, Moe Tucker on drums was fucking great. And you could just wander in and watch them.

In a way you got the whole drug thing out of your system before you started Blondie. I was wondering how you got into heroin — was it just that there was a lot of it about?

DH: It was the time. It was all over the place. At first we felt that it might have been political [to take heroin]. Yeah, I know… [giggles and shakes head] It was everywhere and it really had a lot to do with the end of Vietnam and the fallout from that. What's that airline they talk about bringing everything in on? Air America. That's how the junk came in. It was very noticeable; it was everywhere.

A hundred and fifty years before Blondie, the popular perception of anyone female singing for their supper would have been that she was a prostitute. Do you think the music industry has ever got past seeing its female talent in terms different to commodities that could be sold or traded with?

DH: We are all commodities and I don't think it's necessarily just women. That was the game, you know? It outlived itself, didn't it?

Do you feel more in control now that the music industry is shrinking rapidly and is pretty much crippled in comparison to the monolithic thing that it used to be?

DH: No. No. Not necessarily. I mean, commerce and art have always had difficulties co-existing from the very beginning. I'm sure there were problems back when they were building the pyramids. I feel, perhaps, under the same amount of pressure to write another 'Heart Of Glass'. We're more in control of the creative end, yes, but it's not really fair for us because we've been around for a while and I think we have our thing figured out. And if we make a Blondie album we make a Blondie album. You know what that is. We've done our experimentation, basically. We've set up a framework that has a broad field of reference musically and we play with that. That is what our format is. The industry makes it hard to get a record out. It's like that for everyone. I mean, how many big artists are there? There are 10 or 20 major artists out there now and those are the ones who have big record deals.

You've said that the Plastic Letters album was about death. I was wondering how you dealing with Chris's illness in 1983 affected your view of your own mortality?

DH: I think that, up until that time, I had a lot of what you would call 'childish ways' and then the idea of taking complete responsibility for my life and not seeing it as just sheer fate or luck really hit home. Then, BAM! I knew death. I knew it right then. And I think everyone should know it. Everyone should know it, because we aren't really taught that, are we? We're not taught it and it's the total truth. I don't really want to talk about Chris getting ill today, but there are a few pictures of the last tour we did [in 1982] that I saw recently. I hadn't really seen them for a long, long time and I was so shocked. He must have gone down to 120lbs. It was just… horrible.

I guess you must get asked this quite a lot, but I'm interested in knowing what you put the bond between you and Chris down to. Because it is a very strong bond that transcends physical relationships. It goes beyond that.

DH: Yeah, it does. I think we just had a meeting of the minds…. Maybe it's because we've both got such accepting natures and we have a lot of room for a lot of different kinds of people and different dispositions and things like that. We both have a temper, though.

What do you think would have happened if you had changed the band's name to Adolf Hitler's Dog?

DH: The label would have dropped us. I loved that name, though. It's really funny, isn't it? Do you want to help me finish this salad?

This article originally appeared in The Stool Pigeon. For all things Pigeon, go here