thePULSEBy Steve Henricksen
Destroyed: Moby’s New Album and Book Depict Life on the Road
Moby just-released Destroyed, a new album (available in CD, vinyl, and digital formats) and book of photography (which will include the CD version of the album and features 55 photographs taken by Moby all over the world) take us behind the scenes on an international journey with Moby, introducing us to the strange and disconcerting life of touring that is often not exposed: the time spent isolated in anonymous, mundane spaces like hotel rooms, airports, and backstage waiting areas. These experiences are juxtaposed, both musically and visually, with moments and places of intense beauty in the world and the excitement and connection with audiences. From the absurdly empty to the absurdly full, Moby captures the universal situation that so many musicians and artists undergo living nomadic lives. The combination of the album and book of photography, created while touring, provides an intimate look at Moby’s world and his creative process.
Moby wrote most of the songs on Destroyed late at night while staying in hotel rooms around the world when cities had gone to bed and the insomnia that worldwide travel can induce fueled his need to create. A soundtrack for empty cities at 2am, Destroyed fluctuates with nocturnal feelings of anxious isolation and comfort in quiet solitude. The result is a 15-track collection that conflates the atmospheric and the disconcerting with the enveloping and beautiful ~ a record rich in the kind of melodies that are lodged in the brain by stealth rather than with a bludgeon. Destroyed changes and evolves, exploring time, expectation, and ultimately the tension it creates.
Destroyed was produced by Moby and mixed by Ken Thomas (Sigur Ros, M83) on old analog equipment and mixed on a 1972 Neve analog mixing desk from Abbey Road. A cohesive body of work, Destroyed must to be listened to in its entirety and, preferably, as it was made: late at night when your city has gone to sleep.
Moby has been taking pictures since he was nine years old when his uncle presented him with an A Nikon F camera. To this day, Moby carries a camera wherever he goes. “Touring is all contrasts and strangeness, and that’s what I’m trying to convey in these pictures.” The title and front cover of Destroyed, both album and book, is the product of Moby’s keen photographer eye. The eye-catching image depicts the final part of an LED security warning, “Unattended luggage will be destroyed,” which Moby snapped as it flashed up, one word at time, in a deserted hallway at New York’s La Guardia airport.
***
A fixture since the late 80s New York house and hip-hop scenes, Moby has been releasing music ever since his first single in 1991, “Go” (listed as one of Rolling Stones best records of all time). To date, his records have sold over twenty million copies worldwide and he’s played well over three thousand concerts all over the world in his career. Moby has produced and remixed artists such as David Bowie, Metallica, the Beastie Boys, and Public Enemy, and his music has been used in hundreds of different films, including major motion pictures such as Heat, Any Given Sunday, Tomorrow Never Dies, and The Beach. Additionally, “Extreme Ways” is the theme song for the Bourne Trilogy films. More recently, his music is featured in Paul Haggis’ “Next Three Days” and this year’s Oscar nominated, multi-award winning documentary, Waste Land.
This just in! Moby has just unveiled a unique microsite that presents exclusive access to his Destroyed project! Moby has always been focused on pushing the creative barriers online, and, in collaboration with leading audio platform SoundCloud and free iPhone app Instagram, he offers this new standalone website with a fully-interactive digital map that gives fans the opportunity to oversee his global vision for Destroyed. Plotting Moby’s route across the globe, the microsite uses SoundCloud’s creating and sharing capabilities to play-out the entire Destroyed album while tracking Moby’s rich and varied photography from every corner of the globe. Fans are also encouraged to connect directly, adding their own images taken at 2 a.m. to the map using the free iPhone app Instagram. Just tag uploads #destroyed and include location data! Visit destroyed.moby.com to go on an international journey with Moby.
Taking Back Sunday Releases Self-Titled New Album
Taking Back Sunday is set to release their new album on June 28, 2011. The self-titled release marks a return to the band’s original line-up from their ‘02 debut Tell All Your Friends: vocalist Adam Lazzara, guitarist Eddie Reyes and drummer Mark O’Connell have reunited with vocalist/guitarist John Nolan and bass player Shaun Cooper, who departed in ‘03. Tell All Your Friends has sold over one million records worldwide and launched the band as one of the most influential of its generation.
Recorded in Los Angeles with producer Eric Valentine (Queens of the Stone Age, All American Rejects), Taking Back Sunday is the New York band’s fifth studio album, three of which have been certified gold. The first song off the album, “El Paso,” has already become a fan favorite.
Taking Back Sunday will be sharing their new songs with fans on a nationwide summer headlining tour that includes a July 19 show at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom and a July 20 show at the House of Blues in Boston.
Visit www.takingbacksunday.com for more information.
Joss Stone’s New Album, LP1
As a world-renowned soul singer whom legend Smokey Robinson calls “Aretha Joplin,” Joss Stone has sold over 11 million records globally. Just turned 24, Joss has already amassed a career’s worth of successes. She is a Grammy® winner, five-time Grammy® nominee, and the recipient of several Brit Awards.
Stone recently established her own label, Stone’d Records, and has partnered with Surfdog to release LP1. This is the first album Joss has recorded with total creative freedom. She co-wrote and co-produced it with super-producer and Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart. Together they immersed themselves into a rock n’ soul musical odyssey in Nashville, TN, finishing LP1 in only six days.
“This is the most fun I’ve ever had making a record with Crazy Dave Stewart at the helm, and yes the players in Nashville are unbelievable!!!” says Stone. “This album captures a specific moment in time that was spontaneous and full of creativity.”
“Joss can sing with the ferocity of a lioness and dynamically switch to the most delicate whisper in the same phrase,” says Stewart. “She is always honest and full of real emotion. It is an honor to work alongside a true artist who understands so much at such a young age.”
www.jossstone.com, www.facebook.com/jossstone, www.surfdog.com
Teen Punk Rockers Emily’s Army Make Their Debut with Don’t be a D*ck
Teenage pop-punk group Emily’s Army is gearing up for the release of their full-length debut, Don’t Be A Dick, due June 14 on Adeline Records. Produced by Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, the album features heartfelt teenage anthems dealing in cautionary tales, politics and the pressures of adolescence. The record will be available digitally as well as on vinyl (which, for about two years now, has been quietly staging a huge comeback!).The 14-song set was recorded and mixed in four days at Oakland’s Jingletown Recordings with the help of engineer Chris Dugan. Emily’s Army ~ prolific songwriting brothers Max and Cole Becker, guitarist Travis Neumann and drummer Joey Armstrong ~ counts the rich East Bay music scene and Gilman Street amongst their influences, along with classic power pop, and garage rock.
The band takes its name from Max and Cole’s 15 year-old cousin Emily, who was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis in 1998 and has suffered from the disease her entire life. In tribute, the band adopted the name Emily’s Army, which also happens to be the moniker for a fundraising organization in their cousin’s honor.
www.emilysarmyband.com
www.adelinerecords.net
OK Go’s New Live Album
OK Go will release a live album on June 21st on Paracadute, the independent label founded by the band last year. Entitled 180/365 ~ a reference to the number of shows the band played in 2010 ~ the collection will include 19 tracks recorded live on a multi-track system during their fall tour. Produced and mixed by Dave Fridmann, the CD will be the first ever to feature a “Tronpak” (www.tronpak.com) case, a unique and environmentally friendly packaging from Norway. For those of you who were at the Boston show on Dec. 5 of 2010, you might want to check out track #17, “WTF,” first!
For more deets, head to www.okgo.net
Duncan Sheik’s Covers 80s Brings Us Back in Time
By Kristie Bartlett
“Mr. Sheik’s voice emerged like a prince on a horseback out of a quasi-orchestral midst.”
–The New York Times
Grammy and Tony award winning songwriter and composer Duncan Sheik takes on the synth-pop era’s classic and obscure songs on the upcoming Covers 80s. The album will include tracks by Dépêche Mode, Thompson Twins, New Order, The Cure, Love and Rockets, The Smiths, Tears for Fears and more. Recognized for his theatrical Spring Awakening, Sheik makes this return to performing by covering the stand-alone pop songs of his teen years. Sneaky Records/MRI will release the album on June 7 and the tour will come to the Brighton Music Hall in Boston on June 9.
Covers 80s features 12 highly personalized takes on the decade’s smashes and lesser known gems. “It is nice to sing these songs that are written by other people…you’re inhabiting this other character that isn’t you, but in this case, it is a part of what made me who I am,” Sheik says. “The litmus test for me for choosing the songs was: Did I really, really care about it when I was 15 or 16?”
Nine of the tracks feature the vocals of singer songwriter Rachel Yamagata. The closing song, “The Ghost in You,” actually dates back to Sheik’s most recent album Whisper House, where it served as a bonus track. Whisper House is collection of songs from a musical of the same name that followed Spring Awakening.
Launching his musical career in 1996 with his self-titled debut, Duncan Sheik quickly earned a Grammy nomination for “Best Male Vocal.” He subsequently garnered critical accolades for his unique brand of folk-pop music. Sheik’s last studio album was 2006’s White Limousine. He also released a 2-CD collection of songs titled Brighter/Later: A Duncan Sheik Anthology. Sheik then composed the original score and collaborated with lyricist Steven Sater for 2007’s Spring Awakening, which went on to win eight Tony awards. Sheik alone earned two awards for “Best Orchestration” and “Best Original Score” as well as a Grammy award for “Best Musical Show Album.” He followed with musical theater production Whisper House, which was directed by Peter Askin (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) and written by Kyle Jarrow.
Track Listing for Covers 80s
“Stripped” ~ Dépêche Mode
“Hold Me Now” ~ Thompson Twins
“Love Vigilante” ~ New Order
“Kyoto” ~ The Cure
“What Is Love” ~ Howard Jones
“So Alive” ~ Love & Rockets
“Shout” ~ Tears for Fears
“Gentleman Take Pictures” ~ Japan
“Life’s What You Make It” ~ Talk Talk
“William It Was Really Nothing” ~ The Smiths
“Stay” ~ The Blue Nile
“The Ghost in You” ~ Psychedelic Furs
Tommy Tutone of “867-5309/Jenny” Fame Releases A Long Time Ago
By Mike Newford
No-one who listened to the radio in the early 1980s (or has embraced the resurgence of 80s music) was immune to it ~ the infectious pop-angst of “867-5309/Jenny,” the song that forced the phone company to remove the number from the public domain. Never have seven digits beec so famous ~ or so damn catchy!
Tommy Heath, together with guitarist Jim Keller, formed the band Tommy and The Tu-Tones. They soon shortened the name to Tommy Tutone and recorded for Jupiter Records in the late 1970s. In 1980 they signed with Columbia Records and had a minor hit with “Angel Say No” later that year. This led to an opening slot touring with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Determined to break out with a hit, the band spent the better part of a year writing and recording the next album, Tommy Tutone, which was released in late 1981. The first single, “867-5309/Jenny,” proved to be their breakthrough record and reached #4 on the pop charts in 1982 (and quickly became ubiquitous on radio and MTV, back when they played music videos…remember that?). The song was written by Keller with Alex Call of the bay area group Clover. The two bands were closely linked and over the years swapped members and wrote songs together. Clover never had a hit record, but will be forever remembered as Elvis Costello’s backing band on his debut album, My Aim Is True. Tommy Tutone the band released their third album for Columbia, National Emotion, but eventually called it quits in 1984.
Tommy continued in the music business as a songwriter and headed to Nashville, the song-writing capitol of the world, in the late eighties. He co-wrote with heavy hitters like Keith Sykes (writer for Jimmy Buffett, Rosanne Cash, etc.) and Johnny Neal (of the Allman Brothers Band).
Tommy recorded this solo album with Nashville producer Fred James and originally released it in 1994 as Nervous Love.
Fred has remixed, re-mastered and added extra tracks to this re-titled album. Quite to his surprise, when he dug out the old tapes he found several out-takes and alternate versions of songs. He had completely forgotten that they had tried both electric and acoustic versions of “Another Slow Dance” and “Nervous Love,” and eve an acoustic version of the mega-hit “867-5309/Jenny.”
Tommy has a tremendous knowledge of all forms of classic American musical genres and that’s a big part of what makes his song-writing so unique. So while we look forward to what he’ll come up with next, we have A Long Time Ago.
“For a good time…”, visit www.tutone.com or www.myspace.com/spvmusic
Ben Harper Releases Give Till It’s Gone
By Regina Allen
With Give Till It’s Gone, his 10th studio album, Ben Harper, a two-time Grammy winner®, examines the disparity between the man he is today and the man he is working to become. Reaching deep within, he discovers there are no easy answers, but implores us to go the distance with him on this journey in the moving album opener, “Don’t Give Up On Me Now.” While its songs are highly personal, Give Till It’s Gone illuminates the universal struggle to find meaning and fully engage with life and each another. We may pass through a dark night of the soul, but giving up is not a viable option, as Harper reminds us with certainty in the transcendent “I Will Not Be Broken.”
With “Rock N’ Roll Is Free,” the album’s first single, Harper pays tribute to an audacious art form that continually challenges the status quo, demanding that we look at the world in “a brand new way.” The song was inspired by rock legend Neil Young, whom Harper opened for in London last summer. Young’s mesmerizing performance of “Rockin’ in the Free World” planted the seeds of a new song in Harper’s mind, compelling him to go straight back to his room after the show and write “Rock N’ Roll Is Free.” The incident is emblematic of the kind of urgency with which the new album was forged.
Harper recorded most of Give Till It’s Gone ~ his first solo record since 2006’s Both Sides of the Gun ~ at the LA studio of Jackson Browne, who harmonizes with him on the wistful “Pray That Our Love Sees The Dawn.” The album also features two tracks co-written with Ringo Starr ~ the exuberant, psychedelic-tinged “Spilling Faith” and “Get There From Here,” an improvisational instrumental.
“I’ve never made a record that was such a timeline,” says Harper. “It’s a real extension of the last year and half in my life, and all these sounds are inspired by my experiences. It’s as honest a musical statement as I could make.”
For more on Harper, his tour schedule, and the album, head to www.BenHarper.com. Also catch Ben at the House of Blues in Boston on September 30.
Arcade Fire Releases Super-Deluxe Edition of The Suburbs
Arcade Fire will release a deluxe CD/DVD version of its Album of the Year Grammy Award-winning third album The Suburbs on August 2nd via Merge Records.
The expanded CD version of The Suburbs sees the original album augmented by a longer version of the track “Wasted Hours (A Life That We Can Live),” as well as the previously unreleased “Culture War” and “Speaking In Tongues,” the latter of which features David Byrne on additional vocals.
Highlights of the DVD portion include the complete half-hour short film Scenes From The Suburbs, directed by Spike Jonze (and hailed as “…absolutely f–king gorgeous” by INDIEWIRE at its U.S. premiere at this year’s SXSW festival), the companion documentary Behind The Scenes From The Suburbs, and the music video for the track “The Suburbs.”
The package is rounded out by an exclusive booklet featuring lyrics and 80 pages of photos taken during the Scenes From The Suburbs film shoot.
For further information, go to arcadefire.com or mergerecords.com.
BURN HALO’S SOPHOMORE ALBUM UP FROM THE ASHES COMING SOON!
THE SINGLE “TEAR IT DOWN” IS ALREADY BLOWING UP HARD ROCK RADIO
“Sometimes you’ve got to burn the past to rise up from the ashes,” sings Burn Halo frontman James Hart. What started out as Hart’s solo project has been laid to rest and reborn in Burn Halo’s sophomore album Up From the Ashes, due out June 28 on Rawkhead Records (through Warner Music Group’s Independent Label Group) and produced by Colby Wedgeworth, is a new collection that confirms Burn Halo’s evolution from a solo project by former 18 Visions singer/songwriter James Hart to a full-blown, collaborative band. The music has grown too, and now marries the anthemic, radio-ready hard rock of their 2009 self-titled debut to metalcore flourishes reminiscent of 18 Visions.
The band ~James Hart (vox), Joey Roxx (guitar), Brandon Lynn (guitar), Aaron Boehler (bass), Dillon Ray (drums) ~ is already receiving early radio support for the first single, “Tear It Down,” from stations such as SiriusXM’s “Octane,” WIIL (Chicago), KHTQ (Spokane), WCCC (Hartford) and WJJO (Madison). A video for the song will be hitting the TV and Internet airwaves before the end of the month. A behind-the-scenes teaser clip was recently posted on the band’s YouTube page here: bit.ly/iOriSG.
“We wanted our own identity,” says singer James Hart. To achieve that, Burn Halo would collaborate in the studio for the first time. “This album is us. This is Burn Halo,” states guitarist Brandon Lynn. Bassist Aaron Boehler was the first to initiate the writing process with drummer Dillon Ray. Brandon and lead guitarist Joey Roxx quickly followed suit and began compositions of their own. It was Brandon who was the real architect in the musical direction of the new album. “Most of the songs we were writing early on were very standard rock songs,” says James. “I had written an old song called ‘Dakota’ that was much more aggressive and a lot heavier,” says Brandon. “To me, ‘Dakota’ is the most important track on the album,” explains James. “Without that track, we don’t have the album we have.” The path was clear and what they would pave out from there would be 11 bone-crushing rock songs that touch on every edge of the rock/metal spectrum.
The future wasn’t always so clear for Burn Halo. It took quite a while for their current lineup to come together. “There were just a couple of things that never felt right,” said James of touring prior to the recent band additions. It was bassist Aaron Boehler who brought friend and fellow Tulsa, OK resident Brandon Lynn to the band in 2009 when the band needed a fill-in on rhythm guitar. “It just felt right after one rehearsal,” James said of Brandon joining Burn Halo. In early 2010, it was Aaron again who had targeted his best friend and previous band mate Dillon Ray to take over on the drums. “The three of us living in Tulsa just gave us a great opportunity to work on the songs for tour,” Aaron states. “I had been lobbying for Dillon to join the band since day one.”
Songs from the band’s debut album, which went on to sell over 25,000 copies, were heard frequently on WWE and ESPN, as well as the season finale of “Friday Night Lights.” It also spawned the hit single, “Dirty Little Girl,” which features a guest appearance by Avenged Sevenfold’s Synyster Gates. Alternative Press had described the album as “…a raucous collection of arena-ready rock songs…,” while Outburn had praised: “…this self-titled debut doesn’t just rock a little, this disc is loaded with sing-along anthems that will get stuck in your head for days…this is a must-have record that will spend more time spinning in your player than sitting on the shelf. 9 out of 10.”
On the touring front, the band has already racked up a slew of dates with bands including Avenged Sevenfold, Korn, Buckcherry & Papa Roach. They’ll be hitting the U.S. concert trail this summer, with dates currently being confirmed.
iTunes Ping page – c.itunes.apple.com/us/profile/id-11804
“Tear It Down” iTunes link – itunes.apple.com/us/album/tear-it-down-single/id430249113
