Mudhoney is a grunge band from Seattle and was a part of the whole grunge scene alongside bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Screaming Trees or Soundgarden. Their self-titled debut album came out in 1989 and since then they've put out eight studio records. What is admirable about this band is the fact that they've been together all this time and more importantly they've been releasing new albums frequently.
Couple of days ago, they've announced that their ninth studio album will be released on April 2. It is entitled Vanishing Point and it was recorded during April and September at Seattle’s famed Avast! Recording Co.
More information such as tracklisting or cover art are yet to be announced, but what we know is that tracks entitled "What to Do With the Neutral" and "Douchebags on Parade" will be on the album.
Exactly a month ago (November 13), the band released live DVD entitled Live in Berlin 1988. It obviously features the footage of the whole performance form this concert back in 1988. Check out performance of "I Think" from this DVD below.
Today, English hardcore band Gallows revealed new music video for track called "Cross of Lorraine". It is also their new single from their latest self-titled record, which came out in September of this year.
The album is actually not bad and I think that their lineup change really did them well. Former singer Frank Carter left the band in July of 2011 and was replaced by ex-Alexisonfire singer Wade MacNeil. Many fans were sceptical, but it works out really well I think.
Anyway, the video is just simple live music video showing the band and the fans going crazy during one of their typical shows in a small venue. Check it out below.
I just wanted to share with you guys this funny video in which Jimmy Fallon imitates Bob Dylan while singing track "Jingle Bells, Batman Smells". It's short but its funny. Enjoy.
You all probably know that last night concert for hurricane Sandy relief entitled 12-12-12 Concert took place at New York's Madison Square Garden. I didn't get the chance to watch it live because I live in Europe and the concert started at 1:30 am of my time. However, today I watched it and I summarised the most interesting performances of the night for you. So here we go.
Nirvana reunion with Paul McCartney
It was previously announced (one day before the concert I think) that this is happening, but nobody probably didn't know what to expect from this. Living members of Nirvana and ex-Beatle Paul McCartney together played one new song called "Cut Me Some Slack"and it was actually not bad at all. It was heavy and the sound was like Nirvana as we know it. Of course, Paul's voice is different from Kurt's, but still, it was really nice to see Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear perform together.
Roger Waters & Eddie Vedder performed "Comfortably Numb"
Legendary musician and member of even more legendary band - Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, performed four tracks ("In The Flesh", "Another Brick In The Wall Part 1", "Money" and "Us and Them") before he was joined by Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder. They performed together "Comfortably Numb" and it was one of the most powerful and memorable performances of the night.
The Who's seven-song set
The Who's performance was really long (unlike The Rolling Stones'), but I don't think anybody minded. They performed seven tracks "Who Are You", "Bell Boy", "Pinball Wizard", "See Me, Feel Me", "Baba O’Riley", "Love, Reign O’er Me", and "Tea and Theatre". I really like the setlist. Especially, performance of my favorite song by The Who - "See My, Feel Me" made me really happy.
Chris Martin & Michael Stipe - "Losing My Religion"
Coldplay' frontman Chris Martin made an solo performance. First he played "Viva La Vida". After that, he was joined onstage by R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe and they together performed classic tune "Losing My Religion". It was really nice moment. Martin then finished his set with "Us Against The World".
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performance
The boss and his band kicked off the night with performances of 4 tracks. He played "Land of Hope and Dreams", "Wrecking Ball", "My City of Ruins" and "Born to Run". During the last one, he was joined onstage by Jon Bon Jovi.
Eric Clapton's performance of "Nobody Knows When You're Down and Out"
Eric Clapton performed three songs ("Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out", "Got to Get Better in a Little While" and "Crossroads"), but the best was performance of firstly mentioned.
Last week, The Gaslight Anthem appeared on Conan and performed song "Here Comes My Man" taken from their last album Handwritten. Yesterday, I actually put this awesome record on my list of best albums of 2012, so check out what I wrote about it.
Although I usually say that The Gaslight Anthem are awesome live, I have a feeling that this wasn't Brian's best night. His singing is off the tune several times during the performance. Anyway, check it out below because it is still better than performances of most of the today's bands.
Muse have a new music video for their current single called "Follow Me". Song obviously comes from their latest effort. The music video is typical live video capturing band performing live during their current tour. Sound is not live though. But it is entertaining music video to watch and it makes you really wanna see this band live. Check the video below.
Since Muse released their very anticipated sixth studio record entitled The 2n Law, they've been pretty busy touring. They've been touring in Europe only so far. However, they have 5 more EU dates to go (December 13 - Riga, Latvia; December 15 - Hamburg, Germany; December 17 - Amsterdam, Netherlands; December 18 - Antwerp, Belgium and December 19 - Strasbourg, France) and after that, they're heading to Japan where they are playing two arena shows at Saitama Super Arena (January 11 & 12).
Their recently extended North American tour kicks off on January 23 in San Diego, California and ends on April 26 in Quebec City, Quebec. After that, they're heading back to the old continent before their appearance at Rio De Janeiro's Rock in Rio festival. It is expected that more South American tour dates are yet to be announced. To check out all their tour dates, visit their website.
What does this all mean? Only one thing - now is the best time to go and see this awesome band live. I mean, their shows are just incredible because they are not just about the music. I've seen them live during their Resistance tour. However, it was only festival appearance, but I can confirm that this band is really currently the best live rock band in the entire world.
As you probably know, awesome Scottish rock band Biffy Clyro is releasing new album on January 28, 2013. It will be a double album and it is entitled Opposites. For more information, head here.
Far back in the summer, they revealed first track of the album. It is called "Stingin' Belle" and you can check it out here (also along with music video).
However, first official single of the record was revealed only last month. It is entitled "Black Chandelier" and you were able to hear it on my blog right after it was revealed. The single will be digitally released on January 14 and it will feature two non-album tracks - "The Rain" and "Thundermonster".
Today, the band also uploaded music video for this track on their YouTube channel. It was directed by Big TV production duo, which consists of Andy Delaney and Monty Whitebloom.
There is really nothing unusual about the video, but the song's really good like I previously said on my blog. Anyway, check out the video below
The Killers just now revealed new music video for track "Miss Atomic Bomb". The song obviously comes from their last and very anticipated fourth studio record entitled Battle Born, which came out in September of this year.
British band The XX, which released new album this year entitled Coexist, announced first three gigs of their Night + Day series of gigs. It is a series of tour dates that will take place at really unusual places. Also, these shows won't be usual concerts, but mini festivals.
The band said about their plans following:
"Night + Day is a series of events, curated by us, to start in the summer of 2013. We searched high and low for unique and beautiful locations to stage these shows and picked the artists that we most respect and admire to join us. The events will run from early afternoon, with some of our favourite music (and food) to take you from day into night."
So far, three dates has been announced, but it is expected that more dates will be added. First, the band will perform at waterfront park in Portugal that has 4.7 hectares of gardens, right on the edge of Lisbon's waterfront Jardim da Torres de Belëm.
Then, the band will perform at an abandoned Berlin theme park with rusty roller coasters, broken rides, crumbling dinosaurs and a 45m ferris wheel.
Finally, The XX will come back to their home city London. They'll perform at Osterley Park & House, which is one of the last surviving country estates in London. It is set to be their biggest headline show to date with capacity of 10,000.
I really like this idea and I am sure that these gigs will be unforgettable for both, the band as well as fans.
Night + Day tour dates:
May 5 - b]Jardim da Torres de Belëm, Lisbon
May 18 - Spreepark, Berlin
June 23 - Osterley Park & House, London
Last night, Jack White made an appearance on Conan TV show. However, it wasn't an ordinary performance of this guitar magician because he performed track "I'm Shakin'" taken from his debut solo album Blunderbuss (one of my best albums of 2012 + review here) for the first time ever.
Jack White this time performed with his all-female band Peacocks (he has one all-male band and one all-female band, which is really cool). As usual, the performance is awesome and the track maybe sounds even better than the studio version. Check it out below.
These rockers from New Jersey have been on the scene since 2006 and during that time they've released 4 studio LPs. They've built quite a big audience and become respected band on the rock scene during their career. Their musical style could be best described as punk mixed with stadium rock (similar to Bruce Springsteen's style).
Their last effort Handwritten came out on July 20, 2012 and I gotta say, it is their best album so far. I've said it many times on this blog and I'll say it again - I think they've found a perfect combination of their punk roots and that huge stadium sound on this record.
Actually, I had no doubts this album will be good after they revealed first track of the album - "45". It is such an awesome song. It's got this really big sound. Other tracks on the album continue with spirit of the opener. However, I wouldn't say tracks on this album are too similar. No, I don't think that's the case because every track has slightly different style.
Vocals are typically incredible like we are used to when listening to this band. But what I like maybe even little more is the guitar work on this album. I don't mean really hard and fast guitar solos that last longer than 5 minutes. No, you won't find these on this LP. I mean emotional guitars that can be heard throughout the entire album. In the background, there is always one guitar playing some riffs in addition to the rhythm guitar. Just listen to it and you'll find out for yourself.
Tracklisting of Handwritten:
1. ''45''
2. "Handwritten"
3. "Here Comes My Man"
4. "Mulholland Drive"
5. "Keepsake"
6. "Too Much Blood"
7. "Howl"
8. "Biloxi Parish"
9. "Desire"
10. "Mae"
11. "National Anthem"
Deluxe Edition Bonus Tracks:
12. "Blue Dahlia"
13. "Sliver" (Nirvana cover)
14. "You Got Lucky" (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers cover)
As I informed you last month, Dave Grohl is recording drums with Josh Homme's The Queens Of The Stone Age. And it is really cool that he will appear on another record of QOTSA (he has previously recorded drums on 2002' Songs for the Deaf - in my opinion the best album from QOTSA).
Even though, this fact is really awesome, many people (including me) were wondering if he will actually appear live with Homme and cos. However, in an interview with CBS Local, he ruled out this option.
Everything is not so bad though. He pointed out that his side band Them Crooked Vultures (which he formed with QOTSA's Josh Homme and Led Zeppelins' John Paul Jones) will reunite at some point in the future.
He explained:
"We’ve talked about it, I know that someday we’ll get back together and do stuff, because we love playing with each other."
Dave Grohl is currently preparing for premiere of his directorial debut Sound City, which is set to premiere Sundance Film Festival, which takes place from January 17 – 27 in Park City, Utah. Worldwide premiere is set to be on February 1 of the next year.
Alabama Shakes is a band from Athens, Alabama. They were formed in 2009 and this album entitled Boys and Girls is only their debut album. And I gotta say, this band is the best new act of 2012 for me. The passion this band puts into the music and also incredible skills of every member of this group creates the best combination for awesomeness.
The album was released on April 9, 2012 and I almost immediately got my greedy little hands on these 11 tracks (plus one bonus). I knew this band a little since the beginning of 2012 and based on those couple of songs I had heard ahead of its release, I thought they are pretty good band.
However, after Boys and Girls came out, it blew my mind. Seriously, there is no track that sounds bad or at least not as good as the other tracks on this record. What I like about all those tracks is the incredible voice of singer and also main song writter Brittany Howard. Her voice is perfect addition to already incredible music and together they create something really unusual. The best way to describe their music is probably 'blues rock with badass female singer'.
Of course, Alabama Shakes aren't typical modern today's band because they just aren't, but they make real music with passion and that's what I like. I can listen to this album over and over again and it still sounds awesome, coherent and fresh. The opener "Hold On" may be even the best track of the entire year.
Their live performances are incredible as well - to prove for yourself just check their entire performance from KEXP at the bottom.
Tracklisting of Boys and Girls:
1. "Hold On"
2. "I Found You"
3. "Hang Loose"
4. "Rise To The Sun"
5. "You Ain’t Alone"
6. "Goin’ To The Party"
7. "Heartbreaker"
8. "Boys & Girls"
9. "Be Mine"
10. "I Ain’t The Same"
11. "On Your Way"
As I informed you in November, Blink-182 will release new music in form of a new Christmas EP. It is entitled Dogs Eating Dogs and it will be out next week (December 18) as digital download. In fact, there are three different packages, which you can order along with the digital download. To see all the possible packages and to order them, visit their website.
Couple of days ago, somehow it got leaked that the band will reveal first song of the album on December 10 (today). All the Blink-182 fans can tonight get a good sleep because the rumours were true and new track was really revealed.
It was presented to the world via BBC 1. New track is called "Boxing Day" and I gotta sadly admit that it is not so good. It is highly influenced by Tom's band Angels and Airwaves. I really miss there typical Blink-182 sound. The only thing I can do now is to hope that the entire EP won't sound like this.
Anyway, check out the track below.
The cover should look like it is shown at the very top of this post. The band was revealing it as puzzles. However, first when the album was announced, the cover was supposed to look like this:
Me personally, I like the older cover much better than the new one. I think the new one is too dark.
You probably saw this coming, right? I mean, really, this was Jack White's year and his album just had to make the list.
Form White Stripes's frontman's debut album entitled Blunderbuss came out on April 23 and many people had been anticipating it ahead of its release. And I gotta say, Jack White didn't let us down. Not at all.
People who expected that this album will be raw and fast (like The White Stripes) were wrong. Probably, they are the only people who don't like it...
In fact, Jack White's debut record is all over the place. He really mixed his favorite music genres together and put them all on the record. But he did it very well. There are jazz tracks, rock'n'roll tracks, country tracks and of course songs that sound like The White Stripes. And I like the variety of different sounding tracks because I think there would be no point in making a new record that would sound completely like his former band.
If you wanna read the full review of the record, head here. You'll read there everything I had to say about it.
To conclude, the record is an awesome sounding mixture of songs driven by Jack White's awesome guitar skills. Jack White once again proved why he is so respected in the music world - for music like this.
So I'm back and I hope I will have the time to finish my list of best albums of 2012 until the end of year. I tend to post mini review of one album every day from now on.
Anyway, first album I'm going to write about is Enter Shikari's A Flash Flood Of Colour. It was released in January of this year and it's been basically soundtrack of my whole year. It was playing in my car, on my laptop and also in my headphones pretty much all the time. Basically, I've been coming back to this album constantly.
This album is really great because these guys have learned how to move their music to the next level. Their previous efforts (2007's debut Take To The Skies and 2009's Common Dreads) weren't bad at all. Music and style they brought with these albums was quite unique and in fact, still is.
However, this one.. it is completely new level for me. It may not be as unique as Common Dreads, but the lyrics, the music and also music videos made for tracks from this album really create the uniqueness of this album.
If you want to read full review of it, click here. You can find out there about this album's flaws as well as great points. I just love it and it really have grown on my over time (I love it even more now than I did during writing the review). I definitely recommend you to check it out and fully emerge into Enter Shikari. I think they fight for good stuff and definitely come to one of their shows! They're great live.
My favorite Scandinavian band called Disco Ensemble are back with new album and also with new music video. The news is not so fresh though - new album with a name Warriors came out on September 21 and about the same time, music video for the first single of the record entitled "Second Soul" was revealed. I just didn't quite catch that and completely forgot about their new album.
However, new record is not their best (I think that their previous effort The Island of Disco Ensemble is much better). They kind of moved the other direction and slowed down a lot. I miss their hardcore roots in their music, which were present on their previous albums. I mean, there are also on this album, but not so much.
I'm not saying the album is bad or something, I just don't like it as much as their older stuff. There are still typical guitar riffs and also typical synthesizers for their music, but they are not used in the way I wished they were.
Anyway, listen to the song and check out the music video for it below.
Mark Lanegan is an artist that I admire quite a lot. His music contribution is really huge. He stood on the start of the whole grunge scene in Seattle in early 1990s whit his band Screaming Trees that released seven studio albums.
After the band broke up in 2000, he joined legendary Josh Homme's band The Queens of The Stone Age and recorded three albums with them (2000's Rated R, 2002's Songs for the Deaf and 2005's Lullabies to Paralyze). He also toured with them and therefore we can say he was regular member of the band.
During his career, he also collaborated with names such as Kurt Cobain, Belle and Sebastian, Isobel Campbell or Melissa Out of her Mind. The album made in collaboration with Isobel Campbell entitled Ballad of the Broken Seas was even nominated for Mercury Prize.
Despite all of his collaborations with different kind of artists, his solo career is the main reason why he is so respected. Since 1990, he has released seven solo studio LPs. The last one called Blues Funeral came out this year in February.
The album received positive reception throughout the music world. Of course, the most important element of his music is his powerful voice, which is by many compared to Tom Waits. When we add brilliant music to his incredible vocals, nothing bad can come out.
He is currently on tour in support of his latest effort. As part of this tour, he also stopped by in Slovakia for the first time ever. Concert took place at small venue in our Capital this past week (Tuesday, September 20).
First band of the evening called Tornado Lue started right on time according to schedule - at 7 pm. This young slovak indie band showed their uniqueness during their short set. Although, not many people were there yet during their performance, they showed why a lot of people like them.
Second artist that performed slightly before 8 pm was british guitarist and songwritter Duke Garwood. During his set, most of the people were really surprised by his incredible guitar skills. He didn't play for a long time either, but his gig was great. Although, vocals could be set up little higher.
Third and last support band of the evening was band called Creature with the Atom Brain from Belgium. They put fans on the right wave with musically perfect grunge music. Interesting thing about this band was the fact that three of four members were actually roadies of Mark Lanegan band. One of them was even keyboards and guitar player in Lanegan's band. However, during their set the vocals were really low as well, but it didn't matter so much since their gig was more about music than vocals.
Main act of the evening started on 9:40 pm. Mark kicked it off with first track of his last record "The Gravedigger's Song", which predicted the direction of the whole concert. He played mostly songs from his last record and therefore people in the audience weren't cheering as much as they could. They probably didn't know as many songs, but the atmosphere of the small venue mixed with extremely emotional music of Mark Lanegan provided this invisible power and communication between the audience and the band.
The fans reacted the most during the encore when Mark played two extra tracks. First one was Queens Of The Stone Age's "Hangin' Tree" during which people went crazy. He finished the set with slow "Methamphetamine Blues", which gave the concert a beautiful finish.
To conclude, Mark Lanegan played a dark emotional concert, which was definitely one of the highlights of 2012 concert season in Slovakia. The only thing that could be better is sound because during some tracks Mark's vocals were disappearing.
Setlist:
"The Gravedigger's Song
"Sleep With Me
"Hit the City
"Wedding Dress
"One Way Street
"Resurrection Song
"Gray Goes Black
"Devil in my Mind (Smoke Fairies cover)
"Harborview Hospital
"Quiver Syndrome
"One Hundred Days
"Creeping Coastline of Lights (Leaving Trains cover)
"Black Rose Way (Screaming Trees song)
"Riot in My House
"Ode to Sad Disco
"St. Louis Elegy
"Tiny Grain of Truth
Encore:
"Hangin' Tree" (Queens of the Stone Age song)
"Methamphetamine Blues"
Fans of legendary american guitarist and singer Jimi Hendrix (who is probably everybody who knows at least something about good music) can be happy because they will hear tracks that haven't been released so far. Album entitled People, Hell and Angels will contain songs that were recorded during 1968 and 1969. They were supposed to be featured on album First Days Of The New Rising Sun.
In that times, this phenomenal artist experimented with his music (and also with drugs) quite a lot. He didn't play just the guitar but percussions, flutes and keyboards as well. Jimi died on September 18 1970 and therefore, he never got the time to finish the record. First Days Of The New Rising Sun did come out in 1997 though.
People, Hell and Angels will feature 12 rarities and according to Rolling Stone Magazine it will be in stores on March 5 in the US. European date of release will be probably March 4, but it hasn't been officially announced yet.
I'm actually really happy about this because I admire Jimi Hendrix a lot. He gave the rock the right direction, which was later followed by many artists. I think that rock wouldn't exist in such form as we know it today. It is sad that such great artists die very young. Well, maybe we wouldn't admire them as much if they had still lived...who knows...
At least, let's remind his greatness with his performance of "Wild Thing" at Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. Yes, this is the legendary performance during which he famously puts his guitar on fire. This concert actually really started his career.
Legendary ex-Beatle Paul McCartney revealed recording of "Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)". Cover of this classic Christmas tune can be found on special edition of his latest record entitled Kisses On The Bottom - Complete Kisses, which will come out next week (November 26) on iTunes. It will feature all original 14 tracks + 4 bonus tracks and DVD of a concert filmed at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles earlier this year.
Speaking to NME he said about the song:
""Doing 'Chestnuts" was a bit intimidating because when you do these old songs, there's so many good versions of them – particularly Nat King Cole's in this case. So, I thought, 'You know what, I'm not even going to listen to it, I'm not going to see who's done it, I'm not even going to figure out how I'm going to sing it. So it was just done in one afternoon in New York. And I'm quite pleased with it, because it's not like anyone else's version."
By the way, already mentioned concert featured on special edition of his last album is the first one that Paul performed completely without playing any instrument. That's quite interesting.
Paul said about this experience:
"It was a bit naked, you never realise how much your guitar or piano is protection. There's something between you and the sound. Like you're plugged into the music, because you've got your hands on the keys, or you've got your hands on the fret. When you haven't got anything, it's like: what do you do with your hands? They feel very awkward. So there was a bit of hand waving here or there, but that was it. No mic techniques. No [Roger] Daltrey swirling."
So watch the "Christmas Song" here and don't forget that the Capitol concert will be aired on british public tv called ITV tomorrow (November 24).
Yesterday, we had song called "Fuck You" as song of the day. Well, today I chose another song entitled the same from legendary punk band - Rancid.
This (also Californian) band isn't preparing new album though (or maybe they are but they haven't officially announced it yet). Their new song is part of a compilation called Oi! This is Streetpunk Volume Two. It is obviously punk compilation album featuring artists such as Street Dogs, Argy Bargy or Stranglehold. To be honest with you, except Rancid (which I know quite well), I am not familiar with any of these bands. Anyway, the compilation will be out on December 12. For more information visit Pirates Press Records website.
In fact, you can now listen to the whole album here. Rancid's new song is just kick-ass song with crazy guitar line.
Also, don't forget that these punk veterans will release career-spanning box-set entitled Essentials, which will capture their 20 years of their career. Pre-order it here.
My all time favorite punk band, legendary Bad Religion, are back with new record. It is called True North and it will come out on January 22, 2013.
To make the waiting shorter for us, they revealed first song of the album called simply "Fuck You". As the title, the track is straightforward fast punk tune as typical Bad Religion. I'm really glad that this song is good because I believe Bad Religion really can't disappoint. Check the track below.
Also, if you have half a hour to spare, watch video of their Google hangout during which they all answered the various questions from fans. It is actually pretty interesting and entertaining. Check it also below.
Couple of days ago, Green Day announced ;Quattro!. Because why not, right?
Well, it's not a new album featuring new tracks like some of you (including me) could have expected, but it's a documentary movie. It will obviously feature footage of making their ongoing album trilogy.
It was directed by Tim Lynch and according to a press release, the film "pulls back the curtain and takes fans inside the world of Green Day, from the various spontaneous live performances in select cities across the U.S. to the chronicling of their creative process while conceptualizing and recording their current trilogy of albums."
The documentary movie will be premiered on VH1 on Wednesday, November 28. Later, on November 30, it will be aired on MTV2 and also on Palladia. The full-length version of ;Quattro! will be released sometimes in 2013 (no exact release date is announced yet).
Legendary rock band R.E.M., which called it quits in September of last year, have a new music video for track called "Blue". Video was directed by actor James Franco. Song that also features Patti Smith on vocals is taken from their last studio album entitled Collapse Into Now (released March 7, 2011).
Franco used footage of Los Angeles, parties in it, walking people and also Hollywood Walk of Fame. It also features controversial Lindsay Lohan during her photo shoot with famous photographer Terry Richardson at Chateau Marmont Hotel.
Famous actor's effort is part of Collapse Into Now Film Project, which started in March of 2011. It gave opportunity to different artists to create short video for each track of the album.
Michael Stipe said about the project following:
"I approached people which I really wanted to work with. This way I could just let them work as they wish. It was just up to them. In many cases, I was surprised and in others, I expected similar results."
The result in this case is really good in my opinion. The footage used for the video really fits the music. In fact, it makes me kind of sad that such an awesome band broke up. But still, we have their awesome music and we can listen to it whenever we want. R.E.M. still lives in our hearts!
End of the year is slowly approaching and that means that I will once again make a list of best albums of the past year. They will be obviously best albums only in my opinion - your opinions may differ a lot.
I don't know how many albums I will list but it will probably be something around 20. Maybe more, maybe less. We'll see. I will try to post new album every two or three days, but I'll see how that goes. Also, the list won't be in order.
I hope you'll like my choices and hopefully you discover something new because of me.
So stay tuned for this and thanks for you support.
"Drama Queen" is a track taken from Green Days last album of their ongoing ;Uno! ;Dos! ;Tre! album trilogy. Formerly, ;Tre! was supposed to come out in January of 2013. However, after the band was forced to cancel their scheduled tour dates because of Billie's treatment, they decided to release it earlier - on December 7. For all the Green Day fans, it is at least some kind of compensation...
Like I said, song "Drama Queen" will be on last album of the trilogy, however it was formerly featured on ;Dos! on early vinyl pressing instead of "Stray Heart". That's why it is already available to listen (of course, unofficially).
In fact, it is nice acoustic song. I'm glad they didn't put it on ;Dos! though because I think it wouldn't fit in there at all. Anyway, listen to it below.
Song called "Love Me Do" is the first single ever released by this legendary band, which is probably one of the best bands ever. The single was released on October 5, 1962 - 50 years ago and therefore, The Beatles fans from all over the world recently celebrated band's 50th anniversary.
Biffy Clyro are back! Yes, they are back with new single, new UK & Ireland tour and it seems like they're stronger than ever.
Just today, Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro revealed first single of their upcoming double-album entitled Opposites. Song called "Black Chandelier" is second track revealed from their sixth studio LP (after "Stingin' Belle", which you can check out here), which is set to be in stores on January 28, 2013.
Single will be released physically on January 14. Also, music video for the song is being made as it was revealed by actor Ricki Hall via his Twitter.
Track itself is really good. It's got typical, old-school Biffy Clyro sound mixed with catchy vocals. Check it out below.
Like I previously mentioned, after they finish this year's touring with two shows in Europe (November 26 in Paris and November 28 in Amsterdam) and two gigs in the US (On December 3 in New York and on December 8 in Los Angeles), they will return to UK in March and play 6 shows. For more information, visit their website.
Grunge veterans, Seattle's Soundgarden, are back with new album entitled King Animal (you can still stream it in its entirety along with new Deftones and How to Destroy Angels records here). It's interesting that even though it is their first new full-length studio album in long 15 years (last one was 1996's Down on the Upside), it is really good.
To promote their latest effort, they recently stopped by at New York’s Ed Sullivan Theatre to appear in the latest installment of the Live on Letterman online concert series.
Their ten-song setlist, which lasted almost one hour, included 7 tracks from King Animal, two from 1988's Ultramega OK and one tune from 1994's Superunknown.
Band also performed current single "Been Away For Too Long" for Late Show With David Letterman TV series. Check both performances below.
Tracklisting of Live on Letterman:
"Worse Dreams" (from King Animal)
"By Crooked Steps" (from King Animal)
"Incessant Mace" (from Ultramega OK)
"Beyond The Wheel" (from Ultramega OK)
"Taree" (from King Animal)
"A Thousand Days Before" (from King Animal)
"Eyelid’s Mouth" (from King Animal)
"Non-State Actor" (from King Animal)
"Fell On Black Days" (from Superunknown)
"Rowing" (from King Animal)
The Rolling Stones' track "Sympathy for the Devil", which comes from their 1968's Beggars Banquet, is true classic rock song. It has been covered by many artists all over the world.
However, nobody probably has covered it the way like Jane's Addiction recently did. They completely stripped it down to its basics. Perry Farrell's vocals alongside Dave Navarro's acoustic guitar fits this track perfectly.
Reason why Jane's Addiction did this is soundtrack for TV series Sons of Anarchy entitled Songs of Anarchy: Vol 2. You can listen to their cover along with complete soundtrack here (embed code wasn't working for some reason...).
Also, check out the original version of the track and decide which one is better.
Last weekend (November 11), MTV EMAs took place in Frankfurt. Even though I don't care about these kinds of awards at all, sometimes they feature pretty decent performances from artists who actually make real music and not those gangnam-style kind of "artists". It makes me really sad when I look at the nominees and winners... seriously, look for yourself here.
Anyway, like I said, sometimes they feature performances of great artists. This year, it was Muse, The Killers and No Doubt. It's not a lot, but we can be glad for at least something, right?
Muse obviously put out the best show of these three. They performed song "Madness" taken from their latest album The 2nd Law. I really like the beginning during which frontman of the band, Matt Bellamy, wears these cool glasses with two screens instead of see-through glass. However, he obviously can't see through them so before he's about to start playing his guitar, he has to take them off
No Doubt also performed quite well. They played song called "Looking Hot" from their comeback album Push and Shove, which came out only recently.
Finally, The Killers... Well, I'm kind of disappointed because they performed with playback and that's just not performance for me. However, at least they were there and brought real music to this horrible event...
Great indie rock band from Canada called Metric released fifth studio LP entitled Synthetica in July of this year. It features 11 new tracks, which got mostly positive reception. The band basically continue doing what they've been doing for last 14 or 15 years because it obviously works.
The band also recently revealed new music video for second single of the album called "Breathing Underwater". The track is really catchy and in fact, I like it more than the first single "Youth Without Youth".
New music video contains footage from their endless touring. So they basically used well-known concept and used it for their new music video. Though I think it's not bad when a band shows "on-the-road footage" in their music video from time to time.
Check the video below.
Also, if you've got some time to spare, check out Metric perform at Radio Music City Hall here.
Icelandic singer-songwritter, well known and well respected, Björk, has released her eighth studio record entitled Biophilia last year. It is once again great record from this incredible artist, which got positive reviews from music critics as well as her fans. Actually, I start to feel that Bjork can hardly go wrong and make something really really bad. I'm not saying that everybody should and does love her, but I definitely think she deserves the respects she receives for her work.
Recently, she teamed up with Los Angeles' Museum of Contemporary Arts and together made a music video for second single of the album called "Mutual Core".
The music video was directed by Andrew Thomas Huang and it is as weird as Björk and her music. It features 46 years old singer in sand. Around her are these sinister rock creatures. Like I said, it is weird, but these visuals are made with passion and are really incredible. Check this piece of art at the bottom of the post.
Björk is also set to release Biophilia remix album. It is called Bastards and it will be out next week (November 19). Although, all remixes have been previously released as The Crystalline Series of the Biophillia Remix Series, Björk picked quarter of them and put them on single CD.
Song called "Stray Heart" was first track revealed from Green Day's second album of their ongoing album trilogy;Uno! ;Dos! ;Tre!. It is also first single of the record, which officially came out last week (November 9).
Couple of days ahead of the album release, music video for this single was revealed. The video is typical love music video about a couple in which a guy messes it up and so on and so on... There is also this kind of weird thing where his heart jumps off his body and leaves literally a hole in his chest. The rest of the video is pretty much about that guy chasing his heart around the town. It is kind of weird.
However, the track is really good. Especially, the chorus is really catchy. Also the bass sounds great.
Yesterday (November 13), video game Call of Duty: Black Ops II (alongside its soundtrack) came out as well as Trent Reznor's side project How To Destroy Angels new EP entitled Omen (stream it here).
As you know, Trent Reznor has written a theme track for above mentioned video game. One day ahead of its release date, theme surfaced online. It sounds pretty much the same as preview from July. Really it doesn't evolve anywhere. It's just a mixture of keyboards, pounding rhythms and little distortion.
I'm not saying I don't like it, I just expected something more. Trent Reznor really didn't experiment a lot and instead used practices he has previously used on music scores for The Social Network, Girl With The Dragon Tattoo or on both How To Destroy Angels' EPs.
Song called "Boy Division" is one of two new songs recently revealed by band My Chemical Romance. Second track's name is "Tomorrow's Money".
Both tunes were recorded during Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys recording sessions back in 2009. Although, they didn't make it to the actual album, they will be featured on band's upcoming series of singles called Conventional Weapons.
Conventional Weapons will feature 10 previously unreleased tracks. They will be released as five singles (each containing two songs) between October 2012 and January 2013. The release dates are, respectively, October 30, 2012; November 23, 2012; December 18, 2012; January 8, 2013; and February 5, 2013.
Check out tracks "Boy Division" and "Tomorrow's Money" (they were already released on October 30) below.
The Rolling Stones' celebration of their 50th anniversary as a band will have a peak at the end of this year when they will perform 4 huge shows. Two are set to take place on November 25 and 29 at London's O2 Arena and other two will happen on December 13 and 15 at Newark's Prudential Center.
If they'll continue touring in 2013 is uncertain for now. However, I think they may do it and I even assume they might headline Glastonbury 2013. It would be awesome.
Anyway, their compilation album entitled GRRR! is set to be in stores next week (November 12). However, two new tracks featured on the record are already available on YouTube. You can listen to previously revealed song (also in my opinion better one) called "Doom and Gloom" here.
Second new track "One More Shot" was revealed just couple of days ago. I think it's not as good as "Doom and Gloom", but it sounds like typical Rolling Stones and that's definitely a good thing. Check the track along with official audio video below.
Great news for fans of both bands! Blink-182, which recently left their major label and have become an independent band, are currently planning to release new music in form of an EP.
Mark Hoppus recently announced via his Twitter account several news such as the band is recording and people should hear new tracks in near future and so on. Tom Delonge also tweeted that new EP will come out by Christmas.
No tracklisting, exact release date or title have been announced yet, but I feel we won't have to wait for them for too long.
Similar plans has also Delonge's second band - Angels and Airwaves. They are even set to release two new EPs. Name of this doubel EP is Stomping The Phantom Brake Pedal and official release date is set to be December 18. It will be the first record on which band collaborated with new drummer Ilan Rubin (former Lostprophets and tour member of Nine Inch Nails).
First track revealed from Stomping The Phantom Brake Pedal is song called "Diary". They recently also revealed new music video for it. Check it out below.
On the election day, there was revealed already fifth music video from The Black Keys' latest album El Camino (which is awesome by the way; check out my mini review of it here).
After "Lonely Boy", "Gold on the Ceiling", "Dead and Gone" and "Little Black Submarines" we have a new video for track called "Sister". The track itself is one of my less favorite of the album, but the video is good. Even though, the video is probably not official (it is fan-made), I think that they should make it official.
As it was described by Noisey: "a group of rebellious young women’s trip to the laundromat". Well, I think that pretty much sums it up. Check it out below.
This is pure awesomeness. Dave Grohl and QOTSA recording new album together? Hell yes!
First of all, exciting news is that Queens of the Stone Age are recording new album, which should be out prior to their Download Festival 2013 appearance. I think only this fact made a lot of people happy.
However, when all the fans found out that Dave Grohl is back in the band, everybody probably was like: "Holy Shit, this is even more awesome!".At least that was my reaction...
Anyway, I think this is great and really unexpected news. I mean, Dave Grohl drummed on QOTSA's best album called Songs for the Deaf (2002), but nobody probably thought he could be on their new effort as well. Well, dream of many came true.
I wonder if he will perform live though. It would be awesome and since Foo Fighters are on hiatus, I think it is not impossible.
Dave Grohl also recently revealed poster for his documentary movie Sound City. It looks pretty cool.
I'm finally back writing new post to my blog. Even though, it's been only like a week or so, a lot of new stuff have happened during the time I wasn't writing anything new. Here are all the new upcoming albums that I think you should check out.
Deftones - Koi No Yokan
I think that many people have been waiting for new album from awesome band Deftones entitled Koi No Yokan. Although it isn't out until next week (November 13), you can listen to it now in its entirety. Follow-up to 2010's Diamond Eyes features 11 tracks, which you can check here (via RollingStone).
Soundgarden's very anticipated new album is also going to be out next week (November 13). It is their first LP featuring new songs in long 15 years. And I know they made a lot of people happy after they announced their new record. People started to be even more excited when they revealed first song of the album "Been Away Too Long". The track's really really good.
Anyway, stream King Animal here (via NME). I've listened to the album twice so far and I like it. Of course, it has to grow on me more over time (I'm sure it will), but so far, it is really good and I think they still got it.
How To Destroy Angels - Omen EP
Last new album, which you can stream is from Trent Reznor's side band called How To Destroy Angels. Their second EP entitled Omen features 6 new tracks and are driven by beautiful voice of Reznor's wife Mariqueen Maandig. You probably know that this band's music is very experimental electronic music, but I think it is damn good. However, I also get that this kind of music isn't for everyone... Anyway, stream their new EP below.
I've been quite silent lately on my blog, but I am currently really busy with my school and stuff. Therefore, I haven't got much time to write. However, I'll try to make it up to you next week with several posts per day.
Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder released his sophomore solo record last year. It is called Ukulele Songs and it features original songs collected over longer period of time and also some covers. All tracks are obviously performed with ukulele.
Just today, Eddie revealed new music video for second track of the album - "Sleeping By Myself". The video actually doesn't reflect lyrics of the track, but it shows how Eddie's ukulele was made in Hawaii. It is really interesting how the ukulele is made. Check this pretty video out below.
The Gaslight Anthem released an awesome record this year called Handwritten. I admire how this band found perfect combination of punk and stadium rock very similar to Bruce Springsteen's style. Many people talk shit about this band because they think they are copy of Bruce Springsteen. I don't think it is true and I just think it works very well for these guys and they proved it once again with this album.
Track called "Here Comes My Man" is after "45" and "Handwritten" third single of the album. Couple of days ago, they revealed music video for this track. It also features very sexy actress Elisha Cuthbert. Check the video below.
You all probably know very awesome post-punk band from New York called Interpol. Their musical style could be best compared to bands such as The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Franz Ferdinand or Talking Heads. However, Interpol's music is little darker, so for a lot of people they are very similar to Joy Division and I agree.
Anyway, during their career they've released four studio albums. Their debut entitled Turn On The Bright Lights is considered as one of the most important albums of this genre. The album was very unique back in 2002 and it still sounds brilliant. Sad thing though is, they haven't made such good record anymore. The latest is self-titled and was released in 2010. After touring behind this record in 2010 and 2011, the band announced they will go on hiatus
Main reason is probably frontman's (Paul Banks) focus on his solo career. He previously released debut solo album under the name Julian Plenti called Julian Plenti Is... Skyscraper in 2009. He also released 5-track EP earlier this year. Couple of days ago, he released his very anticipated sophomore record simply called Banks.
It features 10 new tracks and based on my two listens to it, I don't actually like it as much. To me, it is kind of boring and maybe also pointless. I mean, it is very similar to his main band and it just brings nothing new.
Anyway, Paul Banks recently revealed new music video for the first single of the album called "Young Again". You can now check it out below. In my opinion, the music video is better than the song itself.
Earlier this month, I informed you about new track from The Black Keys & RZA called "The Baddest Man Alive". It is featured on soundtrack for movie called Man With The Iron Fists. The movie was actually directed and written by RZA himself and it will hit theatres on November 2 in the US and in other countries obviously some time later.
The soundtrack for this motion picture is actually already out (it was released yesterday). Day ahead of its release, The Black Keys & RZA unveiled music video for their awesome track. Go check this video out below. In fact, it is as good as the song itself.
Also, if you wanna stream the soundtrack in its entirety, now you can here:
Yesterday, I wrote about Bullet For My Valentine's new album called Temper Temper. Well, yesterday I didn't know that they will actually reveal first track of this album couple of hours after my post. It is title track of the album and I feel that we will get more news about their upcoming album in near future, because so far we haven't got any details about Temper Temper and I think that it is time when we consider they want to release it in early 2013.
The track itself is alright... I guess. But like I wrote yesterday, I didn't like their previous album called Fever and I won't probably be a big a fan of this one either. Anyway, check "Temper Temper" below.
Welsch metal band Bullet For My Valentine will release its fourth studio album called Temper Temper sometime in 2013 (no album details have been announced yet). Although I like this band (better said I like their first two albums), I'm kind of skeptical about this record because Fever was quite disappointment for me. And based on their statement that new album will sound like their 2010's effort, I don't have a good feeling about it. Anyway, we'll see.
They recently covered ACDC's classic "Whole Lotta Rosie" during their Radio 1's Live Lounge performance. You can check it out below.
Last month, The Killers released one of the most anticipated (if not the most) albums of the year. As Battle Born was approaching its release date, it had been all over the news (and not only music news). The Killers truly attract a lot of people and are definitely currently one of the biggest rock bands in the world.
Their recent album effort only proved it. It sold well in both UK and the US as well. In overal, it's got mostly positive reviews. Although, some people claim that it just doesn't work for them anymore and that The Killers will never release as good album as their debut album called Hot Fuss, I say it is good. Actually, it is probably my second favorite record from this band.
Of course, the band is currently massively touring and promoting the Battle Born. Recently they also appeared on Letterman. In fact, you can now watch performances of 11 songs from this gig (I think it is the entire show, but I'm not sure) below. They played new tracks as well as their older classics.
You all probably know very popular indie pop duo Tegan and Sara, which consists of twins Tegan Rain Quin and Sary Keirsten Quin. These girls have been on the scene since 1995 and have released 6 studio albums.
The seventh record entitled Heartthrob will be out in early 2013 (no official release date has been announced yet). First track revealed from this album is song called "I'm Not Your Hero" and it was revealed only recently. You can now check it out at the bottom of the post.
This Canadian duo is also set to release a special compilation for british iTunes store only. And it will also feature this song.
Tegan and Sara are also quite busy touring a lot nowadays. They have been touring for some time now and they will continue touring pretty much for the rest of the year. They will head to UK as opening act for The Killers during their tour. To see all their tour dates, visit their website.
American band Motion City Soundtrack released their fifth studio album entitled Go in June of this year. It features 11 tracks and it overally received quite positive reviews. I also like the record, but I think it lacks originality. It all sounds like I've already heard it somewhere.
Anyway, if you still want to stream the album, you can via playlist made by Epitaph Records YouTube channel (record label of the band). Start the playlist featuring all the songs of the album as well as some interviews here.
First single of the album is track called "True Romance". The band recently also made a 8-bit video game with this title. The game is simple adventure in which you can play for any member of the band. If you finish the game, as a reward you can listen to 8-bit version of "True Romance". Play the game here.
This Canadian indie rock band, which has a great singer Emily Haines, has been pretty busy touring since release of their fifth studio album entitled Synthetica in Juny. Although they have currently little break, in November, they are set to tour in their home country Canada. After that, they will play some shows in the US. To see all their scheduled tour dates, visit their website.
They also recently performed at New York City's Radio City Music Hall. Fuse was kind enough and uploaded five songs from this show on their YouTube channel. You can now watch all of them at the bottom of the post. As usually, Metric put out an awesome performance.
List of uploaded tracks:
"Synthetica"
"Artificial Nocturne"
"Youth Without Youth"
"Gold Guns Girls"
"Speed the Collapse"
The Uniques is a band from Slovakia, which is just amazing. They sing in English so they can more easily get recognised in other countries. Their music is mixture of rock, electric music and many other genres. Their sound is also influenced by 80's music and simply just music experimentation is what they do. But they do it really well.
So far, they've only released one LP called From The Dust. It features 7 great tracks including song called "Dungeon". You can now check out this track along with music video.
