SONG OF THE DAY: MADNESS/"My Girl"

MADNESS/"My Girl"

From

One Step Beyond

Frontiers Records to release AURAS' debut album, New Generation, on April 6th, 2010

January 2010 – Hailing from Brazil, Auras is one of the most exciting new acts to hit the AOR-rock scene in the past few years and with the release of their debut album New Generation they are ready to prove the world that acts such as Journey, The Storm, Toto and Survivor have found a credible heir from South America!

Auras was formed in the beginning of 2007 by singer Gui Oliver and guitarist Ferpa Lacerda. Tired of playing in cover bands and feeling they were musically mature enough, both musicians decided to write some new music.

The first song coming out of this collaboration Hungry Hearts was sent out to several producers and musicians around the world, gathering some very warm response. Gui and Ferpa therefore kept on writing more material until their songs landed on Frontiers Records desk who some immediately some concrete interest, making Auras the first band from South America to sign with the label.

New Generation is the result of years of hard work and faith in our music, explains Gui Oliver. It sounds corny, but it’s really a dream that came true especially for a Brazilian band where this kind of music is not very popular. We really have to thank Frontiers for their trust and support.

Being a real band, not just a studio project, Auras had their live debut supporting their idols Jeff Scott Soto and Jimi Jamison in Curitiba, Auras hometown. Hearing the band play, Jamison mentioned that Auras songs took him back to the eighties and reminded him of the great bands of that period.

Artists like Toto, Journey and Survivor, tells Gui, are known worldwide and in Brazil it’s not different: their classic hits are still on the radio. Their music touched me in different ways. It was not only the beautiful and amazing melodies, but their songs also had great lyrics. Ferpa also grew up in a very musical family and this kind of music was always part of his life.  Definitely melodic rock and AOR in Brazil is not for the masses but we have a faithful and loyal audience. We received lots of emails of people saying how proud they were of us about the album.

During the recording process the great jazz drummer Edu Sallum, who had already played with Rafael Moreira (Pink, Christina Aguilera, Rockstar INXS, Paul Stanley), joined the band, and the local studio musicians Matheus Brandon and Hemerson Vieira helped to complete New Generation. The album was finally mixed and mastered to sonic perfection by Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69, Sunstorm, Place Vendome, Khymera etc.).

Love, dreams, faith and hope are what Auras music is all about.

Weblinks:

www.myspace.com/auraaor

www.frontiers.it 

www.myspace.com/frontiersrecords

HOT CHIP/One Life Stand CD review

HOT CHIP

One Life Stand

February 23rd, 2010

I have a theory about Hot Chip. I truly do believe that they have become critical darlings and shifted many unites over the last few years because they are actually a GREAT band and not just a 'flavor of the month'.

There are so many bands out there that music critics babble on and on about, but seldom do they have any lasting power.  And often times, certain groups of music snobs will latch on to bands because they feel that they are 'supposed to' (ie: you are only considered 'hip' if you are a fan of Groups A, B, C and D).  But, like fashion, people's musical tastes move on with the times and last week's hip band is now bound for the budget bin!

Hot Chip, on the other hand, have only gone from strength to strength... and everyone continues to go along for the ride.  Seldom are bands loved by the critics AND the public, and it's a real rarity when each album takes the band to the next level and the fickle critics and fans are still digging 'em!  To be honest, I can't think of another band in this position in recent times.

With One Life Stand, Hot Chip have created an album that is so good, it's hard to take it all in during one sitting.  There are moments here that are so glorious that I just HAD to listen to again even before the album was over!   So, needless to say, it took me about four hours to listen to this album in it's entirety, but by the time it was over, I knew it back and forth and was in love with it.  And I do mean 'love'.  Like 'I want to marry this album' kind of love.

Formed by Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard, Hot Chip are now a five piece which expands their musical influences and adds depth to their sound.  While One Life Stand is not as danceable as their previous releases, it is still an Electronic Pop album through and through.  Hot Chip haven't altered their style: they've refined it and created an album that is joyful and melancholic. They've reigned themselves in just a tad bit, but manage to stand apart from their contemporaries by creating eclectic Pop songs that are fueled by Electronics, wonderful harmonies and instantly lovable melodies.

Recalling (but not sounding like) bands such as The Korgis, 10cc Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk and OMD, Hot Chip are everything you could possibly hope for in a modern Pop band these days.  They do things their way, create music on their own terms and avoid all the commercial cliches... yet they have managed to build up a loyal following and are poised to achieve even greater success with this album.

Standouts on the album include "hand Me Down Your Love", 'I Feel Better" (my personal fave at this moment), "Slush", 'Brothers" and the title track.  With melodies and performances like these, how can you NOT resist them?

For those looking for the more eccentric side of the band, the second half of the album shakes things up a bit although the melodies are still there in spades.

All in all, this is the most immediate album that the band have released thus far, but there's a lot of depth here, so if it doesn't hit you right away, don't fret.  By the third listen, you'll be hooked!

Hot Chip - One Life Stand (MySpace Exclusive)

Hot Chip | MySpace Music Videos

You're Welcome!
Stephen SPAZ Schnee

SONG OF THE DAY: WIG WAM/"Do You Wanna Taste It?"

WIG WAM/"Do You Wanna Taste It"

 from

Non Stop Rock 'n' Roll

SONG OF THE DAY: ALPHABEAT/"Hole In My Heart"

Alphabeat - Hole In My Heart

ALPHABEAT/"Hole In My Heart"

Available on:

The Spell

SONG OF THE DAY: MY LIFE STORY/"Sparkle"

MY LIFE STORY/"Sparkle"

Available on

Sex & Violins: The Best Of My Life Story

THE FUN BOY THREE/The Fun Boy Three CD reissue review!

THE FUN BOY THREE/The Fun Boy Three

(Extended Version)

When Terry Hall, Neville Staples and Lynval Golding left The Specials just after their most successful single, "Ghost Town", nobody could predict what the trio had in store, musically. It was probably safe to say that Hall, Staples and Golding had no clear idea, either!

But when the trio announced that they, as The Fun Boy Three, would continue as a recording unit, their future success was at least partially secure. Specials fans would certainly follow them on their journey, but they had to prove their worth first.  The fact that only Golding played an instrument did not bode well for their future.

Just a few short months after "Ghost Town" had left it's mark, "The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum", the first FB3 single was released on an unsuspecting world.  The song was unlike anything The Specials had ever recorded, yet it retained the ominous feel of "Ghost Town" without sounding anything like it.  Terry Hall's voice was unmistakeable, which was oddly comforting, but it was still a total change of pace for the musicians.  The track blended haungint keyboards, world rhythms, chanting and Hall's droll delivery sitting on top of it all.  In short, it was wonderful!

When the trio's debut album, The Fun Boy Three, appeared in 1982, not only was it unlike anything The Specials did, it was unlike anything in the Pop music charts, period! It was so far ahead of it's time that now, 28 years later, it is STILL ahead of it's time!

The album is not Post-Punk, New Wave, Rock, World, Reggae or Pop, it does contain elements of all of those genres... and then some.  The album is filled with different kinds of percussion, found sounds, chanting, piano tinkling, horns and other odds and ends not found on your normal Pop record.  But the funny thing is, The Fun Boy Three is a great Pop record!  The songs are catchy, although they don't rely on normal songwriting formulas. Repetition can sometimes be annoying, but not so here: there's never too much of anything and many of the songs demand an instant relisten just so you can make sure you process everything! The production is sparse and basic, although there are many unexpected things happening during the course of each track.

Apart from the FB3, the album also features the first major label appearance of another trio, who would scale the charts a short time later: Bananarama, who provide backing vocals on a few tracks including the hit single "T'aint What You Do (It's The Way That You Do It)"

This expanded version of The Fun Boy Three features six bonus tracks including non-album B-sides and extended versions of "The Funrama Theme", "Summertime" and "The Telephone Always Rings"

In short, quite odd and quite brilliant. 

You're welcome,

Stephen SPAZ Schnee

HOT CHIP/One Life Stand available 2/9/2010!

HOT CHIP

One Life Stand

February 9, 2010

Warmer, deeper and more stripped back than their previous record Made In the Dark- One Life Stand is still conscientiously crafted and informed by the kind of intelligent evaluation that is now second nature to Hot Chip. The seductive and surprisingly glossy finish they can deliver when the mood takes them is enhanced by an emotional honesty and open-hearted optimism that is disarmingly affecting. With both feet in the Jack Track underground roots of classic house and techno, and a heart in candid song-writerly craft, the album is convincingly inspired by Joe Smooth, Marshall Jefferson, Derrick May, Theo Parrish, Bill Withers and Bill Callahan all at once. One Life Stand seeps through to your soul while defiantly striking a pose in the middle of the dance floor called Now!

“We never have any plan when we record”, says Joe Goddard, one half, along with Alexis Taylor, of a core duo that have had the name Hot Chip since they played Pavement and Spacemen 3 covers at Elliott School, Putney where they first met in their early teens. “Things happen and we try to follow the thread wherever it leads. People might be surprised by a song like “I Feel Better” coming from us. It’s kind of a big, commercial song that came from nowhere. We decided to embrace that instead of discarding it on this album. ”

But even this accidental towering Euro classic just waiting for a Robyn or a David Guetta to add shimmering synths and perform it on some glittering music awards show from Dubai- isn’t enough to drag the whole thing in one direction. There’s still one of those gorgeous ballads that make you feel like you’re looking though a gap in Alexis’ curtains as he emotes almost privately on the ironically titled “Slush” (a recent collaboration with Robert Wyatt was inspired and makes perfect sense when you hear this). Songs from Joe like “Brothers” ad the beautifully naive “Alley Cats” seem to move closer to Alexis’ instinctively candid style. Gospel-inspired arms-aloft future house classics like “Hand Me Down Your Love” arm-wrestle with the spooky bass-line heavy Detroit influenced disturbance that is “Take It In”- something which might have Jeff Mills wondering why he’d never thought of putting something whistle-able on top of his brooding psychosis.

One Life Stand is brimming with the easy eclecticism we have come to expect- absorb if you will, the idea of avant icon Charles Hayward of This Heat making like Marshall Jefferson’s 909 machines on real drums. Still, uniquely, Hot Chip remain upliftingly accessible.

“I’m always naturally drawn to simple, honest, big productions- things like “Love Can’t Turn Around”. Even if I’m lost in underground stuff, I’m always drawn to music with hooks in it. This record is the best and clearest expression of that kind of idea for us so far,” says Joe.

Alexis concurs: “Instead of being something to shy away from it should have that honesty, always. That’s what I want from other people’s music too”

When they speak you quickly realize these are two people who would have become friends whether their tastes in music saw them working together or not. “We bonded at a very early age. We’ve known each other for 18 years”, remembers Joe. “We met in first year at school. We were in different form groups but I became friendly with his group of friends and we’d eat our packed lunch out on the stairs. We used to spend our Friday evenings at 15 or 16 playing acoustic guitars and hanging out. He would write songs on his guitar and I would help him record things round my house on computer. We were always very serious about it. Alexis is more obsessed with music than almost anyone else I know and I am pretty bad too. Even back then we were trying to record things properly. ”

“He had a 4 track. He was the only person I knew that did. And he was always up for recording stuff. We had the name Hot Chip set in stone even then. We did a gig together when we were 16 at lunchtime or something- covers of “Range Life” by Pavement and “Walking With Jesus”’ by Spacemen 3 and our own songs too on organ and electric guitar. It was quite lo-fi but not acoustic. We both listened to The Beatles, The Kinks and I loved Prince and Stevie Wonder, Tim Buckley too. We went to separate Universities but we still carried on, stayed in touch, getting into new things like the Rodney Jerkins productions and trying to make things inspired by Aphex Twin and Destiny’s Child in our own little way…” Alexis drifts in a kind of reverie. You realize music for him is a desperate passion. That he almost lives through what he loves (does?)

Joe is not far behind though according to his school friend. “He’ll be straight off the tour bus wherever we go. Right into a record shop and gone for maybe 4 to 6 hours. Sometimes I join him, standing behind him at the deck waiting to listen to things while he’s trawling through a vast pile, totally oblivious. Maybe he takes no notice because it’s just me.”

Asked how he relaxes, Joe says he just likes to work. He recently recorded Kano and Little Boots and is sought after for his empathetic skills. “When I’m not working I buy records. I love the calmness in a dusty old record shop. I buy music to DJ with but to learn from too. That’s how I unwind.”

But this obsessiveness about music from all genres and all eras is not just about the anal retentiveness of the collector. All of this free time research is clearly feeding into the records they write and record together.

Joe uses them at his own Greco Roman nights while the clearly scholarly Alexis mentions his love of the directness of author Raymond Carver and 20th century Greek poet CP Cavafy before getting right back to what makes him tick.

“I guess if you could say this record had any starting point it was listening to Derrick May’s “Strings Of Life” the original mix of that. It’s inspiringly primitive sounding and quite rough - with wild panning from left to right. Those production values together with Bill Withers' “Harlem” and one by Swamp Dog called “God Bless America For What” really hit home. They seem now to make some sense of what we have done. Then there are the steel pans, played by Fimber Bravo (formerly of Steel n' Skin). I loved records like Van Dyke Parks' “Discover America”, which evokes a beautiful atmosphere using that instrument. They were intended to be all over the album but we restrained ourselves a bit!"

Similarly, Joe’s intentions were quite clear. “I got really annoyed with aggressive processed digital dance music. I wanted to think about the antidote to that, to bring back some of the original spirit of dance music. I was thinking about records like “Stand On The Word” by The Joubert Singers. It’s a gospel record really, but played in New York clubs in the 80s. These records mean what they say and it’s the same with Alexis and what he writes. It’s important for things to feel human. Some things are so airbrushed and slick and perfect…. we quite like to try to do something more human than that. I like things that have something not right about them, I suppose.”

This could also explain how the location for much of the recording of One Life Stand was chosen. In the heart of a disused industrial building in London, Lanark Studio, run by Hot Chip’s Felix Martin and Al Doyle, was reduced to a blackened hole following an accident in 2008. The studio was rebuilt and refitted with all analogue equipment just in time for the sessions to begin in Spring 2009, and the defiantly eccentric atmosphere was important to shaping the sound of the new record.

The three other members of the band each bring their own unique skills to the Hot Chip dynamic, which have been fused over the years through relentless touring and live performance.

Owen Clarke, a school friend of Joe and Alexis, is a quick-witted instrumentalist with a stubbornly experimental streak only matched by his ear for a catchy guitar hook. His artistic visions have also been the catalyst for most the band's artwork from the first album onwards.

Al Doyle, a highly talented guitarist long coveted by LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy, can play virtually any instrument, and on One Life Stand this includes bass, cello, synthesizer and the flugelhorn, which he learnt so that it could be played on just one of the new songs.

Fellow producer Felix Martin completes the formidable 10 armed-beast that we know as Hot Chip with a passion for house and techno music that has also seen Al and Felix embark on their own studio projects including original material as well as remixes and production for other artists (including Kraftwerk and planningtorock) and DJ’ing around the world.

Of the three Joe says, “They are crucial to us in terms of the aesthetic and the feeling. Talking to you about how Alexis and me work is necessary, but Hot Chip is very much a band and they are a vital part of it. What we do live together is a whole other thing that has a life of its own too. Things evolve as we try them out live.

“Often we don’t play the same parts on the same instruments when we go back to playing live”, says Alexis. To be honest it’s not that important to us. It’s better that the songs speak for themselves, regardless of arrangements. I find it boring to go and hear people replicate a record note for note. I can’t really see the point of that”.

Such is the commitment to a kind of theoretical drift in their method, there is quite a good chance that the songs from One Life Stand may well end up rendered on the spoons when Hot Chip get to playing them live soon. However they choose to frame them, they stand tall alongside those beloved ‘proper songs’- the many inspirations Joe and Alexis amass on a seemingly daily basis.

GREAT BUILDINGS/Extra Epic Everything CD review

GREAT BUILDINGS/Extra Epic Everything (the unreleased album)

Great Buildings were a quartet with roots stretching back to the mid-'70s. Vocalist Danny Wilde and bassist Ian Ainsworth had been members of the Sparks-inspired band The Quick, who had released their Mondo Deco album in 1976. The Quick actually ended up spawning some of L.A.'s finest: drummer Danny Benair, went on to help form The Three O'clock while guitarist Steven Hufsteter played in bands like The Dickies before forming The Cruzados.

A little while after The Quick split, Wilde and Ainsworth joined forces with guitarist Phil Solem and drummer Richard Sandford in a quartet they christened Great Buildings. Though they weren't immediately caught up in the Power Pop scene in '79, within a year, the labels came sniffing around and the band were eventually signed, releasing their debut album, Apart From The Crowd, in 1981.

(For my review of GREAT BUILDINGS' Apart From The Crowd CD, go HERE.)

Though the band gigged over the next year or so (even adding fifth member Mike Mariano on keyboards), no album seemed to be forthcoming and they soon split. What outsiders (such as myself) didn't know is that the band had demoed a second album with Apart From The Crowd producer John Boylan.  That set of demos (along with a previously unreleased track from the Apart From The Crowd sessions) has finally been released some 28 years after they were recorded!

Extra Epic Everything is exactly what one would have expected from the band following their excellent debut: catchy tunes, punchy production and pure infectious energy.  Wilde's vocals have a lot more soul and power, the band's musical interplay is more dynamic and Mariano's keyboards add extra depth to the band's sound.

If the word 'demo' scares you away, there is absolutely no need to fear: Extra Epic Everything rocks even harder than Apart From The Crowd! While these recordings could have used an extra layer of harmony vocals or a very minor tweak or two, they are damn near perfect as is.  To be honest, I have heard bootlegged 4th generation versions of many of these tracks for years, but these recordings are direct from the master and they sound absolutely wonderful.

To think of these tracks as nearly 30 years old boggles the mind because they sound so crisp, clean and clear.  "Mama Don't Shoot", "Way To Go", "Final Showing", "Goodbye, Goodbye" and "So You Dance" are standouts, but I'm sure I'll discover (and rediscover) new gems with each spin.

Liner notes from Ian "Ainsworth" Grey provide an inside look at the band, which fascinates this long-time fanboy!

Is Extra Epic Everything as good as Apart From The Crowd? That is hard to say because their debut has a 28 year advantage over EEE.  I'd say that they are pretty damn close but ask me again in about 30 years time....

You're welcome,
Stephen SPAZ Schnee

DAVID MCALMONT & MICHAEL NYMAN/The Glare CD review

DAVID MCALMONT & MICHAEL NYMAN The Glare

Available NOW!

While composer extraordinaire Michael Nyman is well known for his soundtrack work, vocalist David McAlmont remains an under-appreciated artist with an amazing array of releases to his name.

McAlmont's career began with the short-lived duo Thieves in the early '90s.  After a handful of recordings, the band split and McAlmont released those recordings under his own name.

Though the album was well recieved, it didn't set the charts on fire like it should have.  Soon enough, David hooked up with former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler and released two singles and a mini album before they, too, split. McAlmont & Butler did achieve plenty of press and success in their short time together, but their collaboration was not meant to be... for the time being, at least!

McAlmont then released the album A Little Communication to great critical success, but, once again, the public didn't take to him like they should have.

By 2002, McAlmont & Butler were back together and released the lushl and beautiful Bring It Back album. The album faired well, reviews were solid, but alas, the duo went off and did their own projects, leaving their collaboration on hold yet again.

McAlmont released Set One: You Go To My Head in 2006, an album of sweetly sung standards.

While his back catalog is top notch, The Glare is perhaps David McAlmont's finest moment to date! 

While I haven't researched on just how McAlmont hooked up with Michael Nyman, this collaboration is brilliant on many levels.  First off, David's vocals are still as beautiful, romantic and emotional as ever.  Then, Nyman's compositions are the perfect vehicle to carry McAlmont's angelic vocals up to heaven. The arrangements are top notch, hitting so many nerves from soft and gentle emotions to euphoric joy.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this collaboration apart from the fact that it lasts just a few minutes over the half-hour mark. Thankfully, there's a wonderous 17 minute Nyman instrumental that closes out the album in grand style.

People should really know who the hell David McAlmont is.  If you don't, then do yourself a favor and start with this release. 

You're welcome!

Stephen SPAZ Schnee

We're with BOY GEORGE: MARILYN and HELEN TERRY reissues!

From 1982 to 1985, it was a great time to be friends with CULTURE CLUB vocalist BOY GEORGE. During those few short years, anyone seen within a few feet of George would have their faces plastered all over the tabloids and they, in turn, would become tabloid fodder!

By 1986, though, Boy George's long slide to bargain basement embarrassment began and, apart from a brief reunion with Culture Club in the '90s, he has essentially become the butt of '80s jokes alongside Mike 'A Flock Of Seagulls' Score's ridiculous hairstyle. 

But, in the early to mid '80s, he was a glorious pop star with a fantastic voice, a cheeky personality and loads of charisma. That magic also rubbed off on those around him including his clubbing mate MARILYN (he of long flowing blond locks) and HELEN TERRY (she of the soulful voice on Culture Club hits like "Church Of The Poison Mind"). Both Marilyn and Helen had shortlived (but memorable) recording careers, which have recently been reissued by Cherry Red subsidiary, Cherry Pop!

MARILYN/Despite Straight Lines

(The Very Best Of)

While Marilyn was not initially known for his singing/songwriting talents, he was (supposedly) marvelous to look at.  As a clubber at the Blitz Club during the New Romantic movement, he attracted as much attention as (Boy) George O'Dowd did. When he was linked with George during Culture Club's heyday, the labels came calling.

His debut single, "Calling Your Name", was an instant hit.  It's catchy melody and Soul-inspired beat was similar to Culture Club's "Church Of The Poisoned Mind" and other tracks from their Colour By Numbers album.  While his other singles didn't fare as well, Marilyn kept on releasing wonderful little Pop/Soul nuggets that would eventually lead up to his sole album, Despite Straight Lines.

By the time the album reached the shelves, Marilyn had cut his blonde locks and changed his image, but the music was still infectious and hard to resist.  While nothing here may have reached the spectacular heights of CC's "Karma Chameleon", it's admittedly not even fair to compare the two acts.

Despite Straight Lines is filled with great Pop music that stands up well on it's own.  Apart from "Calling Your Name", the album includes many tracks that stand up well even 25 years after their release. "Mountains To The Ocean", "Surrender To Your Love", "Cry To Be Free", "You Don't Love Me" and "Baby U Left Me (Out In The Cold)" are just a few of the standouts. And with some prime bonus remixes and non-album tracks, this is a must of CC/Boy George fans as well as those of you who dig catchy '80s pop.

(NOTE: The album has been subtitled The Very Best Of.. because of the exclusion of one track from the original album at Marilyn's request. Bummer for us, but at least we have the rest of the album to enjoy on CD!)

HELEN TERRY/Blue Notes (Special Edition)

While the name Helen Terry may not jump out at you, her voice most definitely will.  It is her wailing, soulful voice that makes Culture Club's "Church Of The Poison Mind" really leap out at you.  Yes, she was a 'backing vocalist' for CC during the most popular time of their career, but her performances were so spectacular that she was often referred to as 'the unofficial fifth member' of the band!

While she started her solo career in 1984 with the hit single "Love Lies Lost", her debut album, Blue Notes, didn't hit the shelves until 1986. By that time, Culture Club were already in the midst of their fall from grace and the public's insatiable interest in anything Boy George was long gone. Which was a shame because Helen had managed to cut an album that could have had a lot of potential (especially for those who were following the musical careers of acts like Sade, Deacon Blue, Carmel and other acts that combined Pop with Jazz-influenced overtones).

Those expecting Helen to showcase her wailing, soulful vocals over danceable Motown-ish beats were disappointed for the most part, although she does occasionally cut loose on Blue Notes. Most of the album is dedicated to finely produced Gospel/Jazz influenced mid-tempo tracks and ballads.  While this certainly isn't what her early singles hinted at, it's still a treat to hear Helen up front and center. Tracks like "The River", "Come On And Find Me" and the glorious "Close Watch" are standouts on an album that surprises with each and every listen.

Bonus tracks include remixes, early non-album singles (including "Love Lies Lost" and her Giorgio Moroder collaboration, "Now You're Mine" from the soundtrack to Electric Dreams) and more.  Another fine Cherry Pop release that will please those with fine musical tastes!

You're welcome!
Stephen SPAZ Schnee