Björn van der Doelen en de Huursoldaten – De Cowboy, de Outlaw, de Sheriff en de Hoer (2017)

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Wouterus Jacobus Antonius (Björn) van der Doelen (Goirle, 24 augustus 1976) is een Nederlands singer-songwriter.
Van 1994 tot 2006 was Van der Doelen profvoetballer. Naast zijn muzikantencarrière is Van der Doelen bekend als acteur en radiomaker.

Van der Doelen kwam tijdens zijn voetballoopbaan uit voor PSV, Standard Luik, FC Twente en N.E.C.. Nadat hij zijn profcarrière beëindigde ging hij zich focussen op muziek en werd hij frontman van de groep Allez Soldaat.
Sinds 2016 speelt hij onder de naam Björn van der Doelen en de Huursoldaten.

‘Ik ben Jezus, ik ben Judas’, zingt Björn van der Doelen op het titelnummer van De Cowboy, De Outlaw, De Sheriff & De Hoer (Val Allemaal Maar Kapot Ik Doe Het Zelf Wel Records).
De scheidslijn tussen goed en kwaad is grillig en de Brabander weet soms ook niet aan welke kant hij staat. Ondertussen komt de dood steeds dichterbij.
‘Ik heb te hard geleefd voor iemand die zo bang is voor de dood’, zingt hij op Jimbo, een ontboezeming die verpakt wordt in een overtuigend stukje bluesrock.
De voormalige profvoetballer bij PSV maakt zich op Wie De Schoen Past flink kwaad op zijn omgeving. Nee, hij hoeft niet te worden uitgenodigd bij kennissen als dat slechts is voor de vorm.
Dus fietst hij om 10 over 10 met zijn lief naar de kroeg, omdat er na dat etentje bij kennissen geen aanstalten worden gemaakt om nog iets in te schenken.
Dan liever de herinneringen van Op Het Einde Van De Nacht.
Hij pist tegen de bar omhoog, omdat het om 11 uur al te druk is op de plee. Het zijn avonden die steevast werden afgesloten met ’na sluitingstijd nog een kippetje eten’. Hoe onaangepast Van der Doelen ook is, in zijn liedjes leren we hem kennen als iemand die het liefst een gemoedelijke sfeer creëert.
Het geluk, vaak is het hem ontglipt, zoals op Op Het Einde Van De Nacht blijkt. Ondanks de verwijten die altijd zullen blijven, zou hij toch het liefst willen dat ze nu naast hem zat.
Erg fraai is Liedjes Over Liefde, Liedjes Over Eenzaamheid, waarop hij uitlegt dat het verschil flinterdun is.
De ene keer gaat hij met zijn lief naar een feestje en voelt zich er totaal niet thuis. Hij kijkt naar haar en zij voelt precies hetzelfde. Dat is liefde.
De andere keer is hij op zo’n fout feestje en kijkt hij zijn lief aan met een blik van ‘kom we gaan’, maar zij zegt dan: ‘As ge wilt gaan, ga dan maar hoor.
Ik blijf nog efkes’. Dat is dus eenzaamheid. De Cowboy, De Outlaw, De Sheriff & De Hoer is na Caballero Zonder Filter wederom een puike Nederlandstalige rootsplaat van Van der Doelen.
Opgenomen met Gabriël Peeters (producer, piano, slidegitaar, zang), Matthijs Leeuwis (steelgitaar, dobro).

 

Track listing

  1. De Cowboy, De Outlaw, De Sheriff En De Hoer – 5:10
  2. Op Het Einde Van De Nacht – 3:58
  3. Liedjes Over Liefde, Liedjes Over Eenzaamheid – 3:18
  4. Dit Huis – 3:22
  5. De Kerkklok Slaat – 3:18
  6. Ge Zit Vast In M’n Hoofd – 3:16
  7. Jimbo – 5:09
  8. Rust – 5:15
  9. Wie De Schoen Past – 4:55
  10. Het Regent Hard – 3:38

 

Companies, etc.

Credits

Notes
Released: Apr 23, 2017
Country: Netherlands
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Tijdsduur: 41:19

Label – Val Allemaal Maar Kapot Ik Doe Het Zelf Wel – Records

Johnny Dowd – That’s Your Wife On The Back Of My Horse (2015)

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Johnny Dowd (born John David Dowd; March 29, 1948, in Fort Worth, Texas) is an American alternative country musician from Ithaca, New York. Typical of his style are experimental, noisy breaks in his songs and strong gothic (in the sense of dark and gloomy) elements in the lyrics as well as in the music. There is also a strong undercurrent of black humor and the absurd in his work.

Although his early albums were most celebrated in the alternative country community, he has never quite fit into any particular genre. As a singer-songwriter, his music is most often compared to that of Tom Waits, Nick Cave and Captain Beefheart.

 Dowd's solo album That's Your Wife On The Back Of My Horse was released in 2015 and featured on several tracks the singer/songwriter Anna Coogan from Ithaca.

Johnny Dowd has never run shy of a little self-mythology. The title of his latest effort cops a line from Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson’s 1957 tune, “Gangster Of Love”, in which a no-good cowboy makes off with the town’s womenfolk on his white steed, taunting the local sheriff as he heads for the prairie.
“Around my neck is your mother’s locket,” scowls Dowd, like a man who’s just decided that his is the only law that counts around here.
“Your sisters will dance at my wake / Your brother will blow out the candles on my birthday cake.” It’s a fabulously cocky introduction to a record that, like the very best of Dowd’s work, fizzes with wild tales and a mongrel approach to traditional American forms.
That’s Your Wife On The Back Of My Horse, the thirteenth album of his career, finds Dowd dispensing with his usual band and, save for the guest vocals of Anna Coogan, doing everything himself.
In some ways it’s a return to first impulses. Dowd has dusted off the same drum machine that was the bedrock of 1997 debut Wrong Side Of Memphis, concocting tart rhythms and overlaying them with distorted bursts of guitar and busy electronica.
These are songs about getting laid and getting dumped, about women, devilry and familial dysfunction, often funny and invariably dark. As such it twists from blues and soul to punk and experimental rock, though Dowd’s terrific voice (like a Texan panhandle Mark E Smith) roots everything in country soil.
The lovely, gliding “Why?”, a resigned ballad about the one who got away, finds a sort of companion piece in the woozy “Dear John Letter”.
At other times Dowd is in full swagger, ramping up the machismo on rap-rocker “White Dolemite” and laying down an evil guitar riff as he recalls blue-eyed Linda Lou on “Cadillac Hearse”.
And “Words Are Birds” is an everyday tale of killer dads, grinding moms and clever-clever morticians. Suffice to say, this is vintage Dowd.

 

Track listing

  1. That's Your Wife On The Back Of My Horse - 2:32
  2. White Dolemite - 3:34
  3. Cadillac Hearse - 2:43
  4. The Devil Don't Bother Me - 3:12
  5. Empty Purse - 2:47
  6. Why? - 3:32
  7. Sunglasses - 2:57
  8. Nasty Mouth - 3:21
  9. Words Are Birds - 2:34
  10. My Old Flame - 3:14
  11. Dear John Letter - 2:56
  12. Female Jesus - 3:04
  13. Poor, But Proud - 3:27
  14. Teardrops - 5:39

 

Companies, etc.

Credits

Notes
Released: Mar 9, 2015
Country: US
Genre: Rock, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Alternative Rock, Country
Length: 45:31
Producer: Matthew Saccuccimorano

Label – Mother Jinx Records

Major Lazer – Free The Universe (2013)

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Free the Universe is the second full-length studio album released by Major Lazer. The album was released on April 16, 2013, and features appearances by Vampire Weekend‘s Ezra Koenig, Dirty Projectors‘ Amber Coffman, Santigold, Peaches, Tyga, Flux Pavilion, Bruno Mars, Wyclef Jean, Shaggy, and more. The album peaked at No. 34 in both the Billboard 200.

His co-conspirator Switch may have moved on, but with producer Diplo’s bag of tricks and his hipper-than-hip selection of guests (including major help from producers Jillionaire and Walshy Fire), the Major Lazer mythos — he’s a DJ by night and a Jamaican zombie killer by other nights — is alive and twitching on this sophomore release.
This welcome return begins deceptively with the slow-burning kiss-off “You’re No Good” starting the show, but the combination of marquee vocalists Santigold and Vybz Kartel couldn’t illustrate the left-field-dance-meets-Jamaican-dancehall style of the project any better.
Once the credits roll on the cinematic track, it’s straight-up bonkers time with “Jet Blue Jet,” a bleeping, furious, trap music cut where dancehall don Leftside leads the pack and offers a Baauer-challenging version of the “Kingston Shake.” Since naughty ragga lady Lady Saw didn’t show up, Peaches and Timberlee face off on “Scare Me,” a punany power meets synth pop cut with some amazing video game chase scene music providing the bridge.
Power puncher “Wind Up” is raw enough to be a hit back home for Elephant Man, the great “Watch Out for This (Bumaye)” finds Busy Signal macking over moombahton beats with a fantastic air horn and disco break in the middle, and fat track “Bubble Butt” is like Bruno Mars, Tyga, and Mystic formed the Ying Yang Triplets just to prove that crunk ain’t dead.
Those who blew their minds and/or speakers pumping the project’s 2009 debut will find it familiar ground, but how Free the Universe arguably tops Guns Don’t Kill People… Lazers Do is with the meatier, more subdued cuts, as Dirty Projectors vocalist Amber Coffman explores the connections between King Tubby and Alicia Keys with the elegant R&B dub of “Get Free.”
Later it’s the imagining of Vampire Weekend holding a session at Kingston’s classic Studio One as VW’s Ezra Koenig’s croons over the scratchy reggae groove of “Jessica,” and while the Flux Pavilion feature “Jah No Partial” has the bass drops to get the mall kids rolling, it’s still a weighty, soul-filling number that could have easily fallen off a Damian Marley album.
All that, and there are still great performances from Wyclef, Shaggy, and Laidback Luke to go, so think of Free the Universe as Major Lazer’s second great modern ragga meltdown.

 

Track listing

  1. You’re No Good (featuring Santigold, Vybz Kartel, Danielle Haim and Yasmin) – 4:04
  2. Jet Blue Jet (featuring Leftside, GTA, Zia Benjamin, Razz and Biggy) – 3:19
  3. Get Free (featuring Amber of Dirty Projectors) – 4:51
  4. Jah No Partial (featuring Flux Pavilion) – 4:13
  5. Wind Up (featuring Elephant Man and Opal) – 4:27
  6. Scare Me (featuring Peaches and Timberlee) – 3:00
  7. Jessica (featuring Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend) – 4:13
  8. Watch Out for This (Bumaye) (featuring Busy Signal, The Flexican and FS Green) – 4:29
  9. Keep Cool (featuring Shaggy and Wynter Gordon) – 4:22
  10. Sweat (featuring Laidback Luke and Ms. Dynamite) – 4:29
  11. Reach for the Stars (featuring Wyclef Jean) – 4:06
  12. Bubble Butt (featuring Bruno Mars, Tyga and Mystic) – 3:47
  13. Mashup the Dance (featuring The Partysquad and Ward 21) – 3:49
  14. Playground (featuring Bugle and Arama) – 3:56
  • ^[a] signifies an additional producer.
  • "Wind Up" features additional vocals by Chippy Nonstop.
  • "Reach for the Stars" features additional vocals by Jarina De Marco.

 

Companies, etc.

Credits

Notes
Released: April 16, 2013
Recorded: 2012
Genre: EDM, dancehall, post-dubstep, bounce, moombahton
Length: 57:05

Label – Secretly Canadian / Warner

Depeche Mode – Sounds Of The Universe (2009)

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Sounds of the Universe is the twelfth studio album by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released on 17 April 2009 by Mute Records. The album was supported by the 2009–10 Tour of the Universe. Three singles were released from the album: “Wrong“, “Peace“, and a double A-side of “Fragile Tension” and “Hole to Feed“. “Perfect” was also released in the United States as a promotional single.

2005’s Playing the Angel proved to be one of Depeche Mode’s strongest albums — the combination of Ben Hillier’s production, the emergence of David Gahan as a songwriter following his initial solo effort and a clutch of striking songs that openly embraced arena-level bombast following the much more subtle Exciter resulted in wide praise and a well-received tour.
As a result — especially given the return of Hillier, the first producer to work on two Depeche albums in a row since Flood’s heyday with Violator and Songs of Faith and Devotion — Sounds of the Universe was initially suspected of being Playing the Angel redux, something the swaggering lead single “Wrong” didn’t undercut at all.
After all these years, though, Depeche can still pull out surprises, and what’s quite astonishing about Sounds is how they’ve returned to the equipment and textures of their early-’80s work in particular while reworking it to match both Gahan and Martin Gore’s current lyrical and songwriting techniques.
On balance, Sounds is one of Depeche’s lower-key albums, but not without explosive or dramatic moments by any means, though. “Come Back,” one of Gahan’s three songwriting contributions, captures a sudden sense of vast space right from its start, the deep-chugging percussion and reverberation perfectly contrasting the soft chimes on the verses, while “Peace,” with an opening bassline straight out of the days of the band’s pop-industrial phase, and a stellar vocal turn from Gahan, is an absolute high point.
But “In Chains,” the slow-building start to the disc, sets the tone best for Sounds as a whole, with a hushed keyboard introduction, Gahan’s swoon-worthy vocals (showcasing some of his best falsetto work yet), Gore’s compressed funk guitar blasts and, above all else, the sense of older styles and sounds — classic drum machines, early synthesizers, a rumbling bass undercarriage — serving new purposes.
More overt nods to earlier days appear with songs such as “Fragile Tension” and “In Sympathy,” both featuring keyboards and beats sounding beamed in from A Broken Frame days but also with beautiful vocals that the younger Gahan could never have so easily done and guitar textures that the younger Gore had yet to fully embrace.
“Perfect,” meanwhile, almost reaches back to Speak & Spell thanks to an opening keyboard line that immediately calls the song “Puppets” to mind, but again it’s more of a launching point for the current band’s sound rather than a simple exercise in retrospection.
Gore’s sole lead vocal appears towards the end of the album on the enjoyable if understated “Jezebel,” but his uncanny knack for harmonizing with Gahan throughout remains intact, with stand-out performances including the understated clatter and chime of “Little Soul” and his bravura turn toward the end of “Wrong.”
On the whole, Sounds of the Universe is a grower, relying on a few listens to fully take effect, but when it does, it shows Depeche Mode are still able to combine pop-hook accessibility and their own take on “roots” music for an electronic age with sonic experimentation and recombination — not bad for a band with almost three decades under its collective belt. [Review by Ned Raggett]

 

Track listing

  1. In Chains – 6:53
  2. Hole to Feed (Gahan, Christian Eigner, Andrew Phillpott) – 3:59
  3. Wrong – 3:13
  4. Fragile Tension – 4:09
  5. Little Soul [Lead Vocals: Gahan, Gore] – 3:31
  6. In Sympathy – 4:54
  7. Peace – 4:29
  8. Come Back (Gahan, Eigner, Phillpott) – 5:15
  9. Spacewalker (instrumental) – 1:53
  10. Perfect – 4:33
  11. Miles Away/The Truth Is (Gahan, Eigner, Phillpott) – 4:14
  12. Jezebel [Lead Vocals: Gore] – 4:41
  13. Corrupt (includes a hidden track “Interlude #5”, starting at 8:16) – 8:59

Japanese edition bonus track

  1. Oh Well (Gore, Gahan) – 5:59

All tracks are written by Martin L. Gore, except where noted. All lead vocals by Dave Gahan, except where noted.

 

Depeche Mode

Additional musicians

  • Luke Smith – programming
  • Christian Eigner – original programming (tracks 2, 8, 11); drums (tracks 2, 4)
  • Andrew Phillpott – original programming (tracks 2, 8, 11)

Technical

  • Ben Hillier – production
  • Tony Hoffer – mixing at Chung King Studios (New York City)
  • Ferg Peterkin – engineering
  • Josh Garcia – engineering assistance
  • Jesse Gladstone – engineering assistance
  • Anthony Palazzole – engineering assistance
  • Sie Medway-Smith – pre-production assistance
  • Stephen Marcussen – mastering at Marcussen Mastering (Hollywood, California)

Artwork

  • Anton Corbijn – art direction, photography, cover design
  • ShaughnessyWorks – design
  • Tea Design – artwork

Notes
Released: 17 April 2009
Recorded: 2008 Studio Sound Design (Santa Barbara, California) Chung King (New York City)
Genre: Synth-pop, electro-rock
Length: 66:52
Producer: Ben Hillier

Label – Mute Records

The Cassandra Complex – Theomania (1988)

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The Cassandra Complex are a British electronic rock group originally formed by Rodney Orpheus, Paul Dillon, and Andy Booth in 1980 in Leeds, England. The current line-up still features original members Orpheus, Dillon, and Booth, with the addition of US musicians Chris Haskett, Mera Roberts, and Brent Heinze.

This album is considered by many people to be the classic Cassandra Complex record. It took a lot of time and energy to make it just the way we wanted, and we seemed to be working on it endlessly. But the result is a beautiful record, one that we’re really proud of.
The title Theomania means: the insane belief that one is God.

Over the years, the band’s sound has included elements of EBM, industrial, goth rock, new wave and synthpop, and the band’s sound has been described as a blend of Joy Division, the Ramones and Kraftwerk.

Touches the boundaries of punk, goth and electronica. At it’s peaks it’s uplifting with a cynical humor and at it’s lows it’s typical 80’s “look down on the floor and feel sorry for yourself” music in a Sisters of Mercy (also from Leeds – must’ve been in the air at the time) tradition. It’s not always clear if the tongue is in the cheek when it is pretentious.

Highlights are “God John”, “Too Stupid Too Sin”, “Defcon 1” and “One millionth happy customer”, which explores the distance that condom use causes: “I can only hold you through a piece of plastic/with your name on it (2x)/I feel a million miles away from you/but it’s just (2x) a millionth of an inch”.

 

Track listing

  1. God John – 4:00
  2. Oz – 3:41
  3. Too Stupid To Sin – 5:31
  4. Honeytrap – 5:56
  5. One Millionth Happy Customer – 6:19
  6. Ground – 4:07
  7. Second Shot – 6:01
  8. Defcon 1 – 8:02

 

Companies, etc.

Credits

Notes
Released: 1988
Recorded at: ABS Studio, Brussels.
Mixed at: ABS Studio (Track 6 & 8) and at Woodlands Studio, Castleford (Track 1 to 5, 7).
Genre: Electronic
Style: Industrial
Length: 43:30

Label – Play It Again Sam Records

Blue Flamingo – 78 Rpm (2008)

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Blue Flamingo is Ziya Ertekin uit Rotterdam, DJ en verzamelaar van 78-toerenplaten. Hij heeft zich vernoemd naar een toevallig passerende Rijnaak.
Zijn collectie bevat oude jazz, gospel, tango, soca, calypso, soukous, rumba en ndombolo. Hij maakt meerdere muzikale reizen om inspiratie op te doen en muzikanten te ontmoeten in Cuba (2005), Trinidad (2007), New Orleans (Mardi Gras in 2010) en Afrika (Zanzibar, Tanzania, Kenia, Kameroen, Burkina Faso, Mali en Gambia in 2011).

Het gaat om Amerikaanse rhythm & blues uit de jaren vijftig, waarin de ritmiek van de toen erg populaire mambo en rumba centraal staan.
Merkwaardig is dat het korte fragment van Jelly Roll Morton als enige uit de Noord-Caribische stad New Orleans komt.
Ertekin heeft in ieder geval de onder verzamelaars gangbare verleiding weerstaan om de meest zeldzame of obscure platen uit te zoeken.
Zijn keus staat geheel in diens van de gedroomde avonturen die hij met deze suites oproept.
Uniek is deze aanpak niet. Labels als Revenant, Dust-To-Digital of Old Hat maken al tijden dergelijke themacompilaties uit het gouden tijdperk van de grammofoonplaat.

Steeds meer is de Alan Lomax van een nieuwe tijd zich ook toe gaan leggen op zijn eigen muziek.
In de geest van de artiesten die hij compileert en draait op zijn Garrard RC-88 uit 1957 met ingebouwde speaker, maakt Blue Flamingo muziek met een gezonde minachting voor genres, tijden of monocultuur.
Dansend de grens over. Met als voorlopig hoogtepunt de geboren festivalhit Boom Nama Gan Gan.

Three Musical Journeys Compiled By 78 r.p.m. Record Collector and DJ Ziya Ertekin Alias Blue Flamingo.

 

Oriental Nitty Gritty

  1. No Artist – Intro: Welcome To The Casbah – 0:14
  2. Sidney Bechet’s Circle Seven – Casbah – 2:29
  3. Duke Ellington & His Cotton Club Orchestra – Arabian Lover – 2:43
  4. Lil Armstrong And Her Swing Orchestra – Oriental Swing – 2:54
  5. Mill’s Blue Rhythm Band – Congo Caravan – 2:40
  6. Fats Waller And His Rhythm – Abdullah – 2:52
  7. John Kirby & His Orchestra – Dawn On The Desert – 2:58

The Spanish Tinge & The French Connection

  1. Jelly Roll Morton – Intro: The Spanish Tinge – 0:52
  2. Alphonso Et Son Orchestre Typique Antillais – Mettezi I Dero – 2:13
  3. Don Azpiazu And His Havana Casino Orchestra – El Manicero – 3:29
  4. Lionel Belasco Y Su Orquestra – Juliana – 2:55
  5. Wilmoth Houdini & His Royal Calypso Orchestra – The Welcome Of Their Majesties – 2:12
  6. Alphonso Et Son Orchestre Typique Antillais – Chain La Lou – 2:06
  7. Lecuona Cuban Boys – Rumba Tambah – 3:03

Ritmo & Blues

  1. Charles Brown – Hot Lips And Seven Kisses – 2:22
  2. Lloyd Glenn – Ugh – 1:40
  3. The Moonglows – Tempting – 2:14
  4. Otis Blackwell – Daddy Rollin’ Stone – 2:41
  5. Joe Liggins & His Honey Drippers – Going Back To New Orleans – 2:48
  6. Christine Kittrell – You Ain’t Nothing But Trouble – 2:08
  7. Kid King’s Combo – The Sneak – 2:50
  8. Big Maybelle – That’s A Pretty Good Love – 2:33
  9. Vin Strong – Swinging The Mambo – 2:44

 

Companies, etc.

 

Credits

 

Notes
Released: Apr 14, 2008
Format: CD, Compilation, Limited Edition, Mono, Digisleeve
Country: Netherlands
Genre: Jazz, Latin, Blues
Length: 58:22

Label – Excelsior Recordings

Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris – All The Roadrunning (2006)

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All the Roadrunning is a collaboration between British singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Knopfler and American singer-songwriter Emmylou Harris, released on 24 April 2006.

This lush and earthy collaboration between Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris may sound like it rose from an amiable weeklong studio session, but the 12 tracks that make up All the Roadrunning were actually recorded over the span of seven years.
The boot-stomping “Red Staggerwing” and the gentle “Donkey Town,” both of which were bumped from Knopfler’s Sailing to Philadelphia record, give the ex-Dire Straits leader a chance to flex his country muscle, while the wistful title track spotlights the lovely Harris, whose playful demeanor and guarded confidence helps keep Knopfler in check during his sometimes excessive soloing.
The two couldn’t be more at odds vocally, but Knopfler’s laconic drawl is like an easy chair for Harris’ fluid pipes, and standout tracks like the 9/11-inspired “This Is Goodbye,” the wistful “Beachcombing,” and the infectious single “This Is Us” come off as effortless statements of vitality from both camps.

All the Roadrunning was recorded sporadically over a seven-year period.
Two of its tracks, the Cajun-style “Red Staggerwing” and the acoustic ballad “Donkey Town”, were originally planned to be included in Knopfler’s 2000 solo album Sailing to Philadelphia.
On Thanksgiving evening in 1998, at a recording session in Nashville, Knopfler and Harris ran through the two songs with Harris adding her vocals.
The session sparked the idea for a collaborative album of duets. Harris later recalled, “When you combine two unique voices it creates a third, phantom voice…. I love the third voice that Mark and I create.
We noticed right away that our voices blended pretty effortlessly.” Further recording sessions took place in 2002 and 2004, with the pair recording songs from the ground up, supported by some of the best Nashville session players.
Their duets album was interrupted by their individual solo projects—Harris’s Stumble into Grace in 2003 and Knopfler’s Shangri-La in 2004—and their supporting tours and promotional activities.

 

Track listing

  1. Beachcombing – 4:14
  2. I Dug Up a Diamond – 3:38
  3. This Is Us – 4:39
  4. Red Staggerwing – 3:03
  5. Rollin’ On – 4:14
  6. Love and Happiness [Emmylou Harris, Kimmie Rhodes] – 4:22
  7. Right Now – 3:33
  8. Donkey Town – 5:42
  9. Belle Starr [Emmylou Harris] – 3:06
  10. Beyond My Wildest Dreams – 4:25
  11. All the Roadrunning – 4:49
  12. If This Is Goodbye – 4:44

All songs were written by Mark Knopfler, except where indicated.

 

Personnel

Production

  • Mark Knopfler – producer
  • Chuck Ainlay – producer, recording engineer, mixing
  • Guy Fletcher – recording engineer
  • Mark Kapps – recording engineer (horns)
  • John Saylor – assistant recording engineer
  • Mark Ralston – assistant recording engineer
  • Rupert Coulson – mixing assistant
  • Graham Meek – technical support
  • Maria Verel – hair and makeup for Ms. Harris
  • Fabio Iovino – photography

Notes
Released: 24 April 2006
Recorded: 1998, 2002, 2004
Genre: Country rock, Americana, country folk
Length: 50:29
Producer(s): Mark Knopfler, Chuck Ainlay

Label – Mercury, Universal, Warner Bros.

Soundtrack – Romeo + Juliet (1996)

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William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet: Music from the Motion Picture is the soundtrack to the 1996 film of the same name. The soundtrack contained two separate releases: the first containing popular music from the film and the second containing the score to the film composed by Nellee Hooper, Craig Armstrong and Marius de Vries.

The first soundtrack album to accompany the film was released on the Capitol Records label. It features songs by a number of artists including Garbage, Butthole Surfers and Radiohead (their song “Exit Music (For a Film)“, which appears over the end credits, was not included on the soundtrack however, but appeared a year later on Radiohead’s album OK Computer).

Baz Luhrmann’s garish, flamboyant adaptation of Romeo + Juliet was hyper-kinetic and colorful, boasting a heavy inspiration from the visual style of MTV, so it’s only appropriate that the soundtrack was tailored for the alternative nation that MTV fostered.
Combining modern rock acts like Garbage, Radiohead, the Cardigans, and the Butthole Surfers with contemporary soul like Des’ree and adult alternative like Gavin Friday, the album is slick, polished, catchy — and surprisingly strong. Though the soul and pop is good, the alternative rock acts on the soundtrack fare the best, with Garbage and Radiohead both contributing excellent B-sides (“Number One Crush” and “Talk Show Host,” respectively), with the Cardigans’ sleek, sexy lounge-disco number “Lovefool” stealing the show.

The soundtrack was a popular and solid seller, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and went triple-platinum sales in the U.S. It was especially successful in Australia, where it was the second-highest selling album in 1997, going five times Platinum in sales. A number of hit singles also resulted from the soundtrack, including “Lovefool” by The Cardigans, the love theme “Kissing You” by Des’ree, and a cover of “Young Hearts Run Free” by Kym Mazelle. Quindon Tarver‘s choral rendition of Rozalla‘s “Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good)” was later used in Luhrmann’s “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)” single.

 

Track listing

  1. Garbage – #1 Crush – 4:47
  2. Everclear – Local God – 3:56
  3. Gavin Friday – Angel – 4:19
  4. One Inch Punch – Pretty Piece of Flesh – 4:53
  5. Ds´ree – Kissing You (Love Theme from Romeo + Juliet) – 4:58
  6. Butthole Surfers – Whatever (I Had a Dream) – 4:09
  7. The Cardigans – Lovefool – 3:19
  8. Kym Mazelle – Young Hearts Run Free – 4:16
  9. Quindon Tarver – Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good) – 1:43
  10. Mundy – To You I Bestow – 3:59
  11. Radiohead – Talk Show Host – 4:37
  12. Stina Nordenstam – Little Star – 3:40
  13. The Wannadies – You and Me Song – 2:45

 

Companies, etc.

Credits

Notes
Released: Oct 29, 1996
Genre: Electronic, Rock, Stage & Screen
Style: Alternative Rock, Pop Rock, Disco, Soundtrack, Downtempo, Synth-pop
Length: 51:07

Label – Capitol Records

The Black Crowes – Warpaint (2008)

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Warpaint is the seventh studio album by American rock band The Black Crowes. Released on March 3, 2008, it was the band’s seventh studio album and first studio album in almost seven years, and its first with new members Luther Dickinson and Adam MacDougall, as well as the first to be released on the band’s own Silver Arrow Records label. 

Looking back, it seems inevitable that the Black Crowes would suffer a rocky middle age. Young bands yearning to be old tend to stumble when the years start to pile up, once hunger and ambition start to fade into the ceaseless grind of the road, and the Crowes were no exception.
After they mapped out the furthest reaches of their world on 1994’s Amorica they slowly spun their tires, turning out records both respectable and tired, before internal tensions slowly tore the brothers Robinson apart, leading to a split in 2002, not long after the release of their sixth album, Lions.
A few years of solo wanderings led the Crowes to a reunion in 2005, but they had to go through a few more lineup changes — including the addition of North Mississippi Allstar Luther Dickinson as the replacement for guitarist Marc Ford — before they buckled down to record their seventh album, 2008’s Warpaint.
All that turmoil and trouble are felt on Warpaint, as are the years the band spent paying dues on the jam band circuit after Amorica. Warpaint shows that the decade of hard struggle gave the Crowes soul and chops, turning them into the band they’ve always wanted to be.
The Black Crowes haven’t changed their basic sound — ever since Shake Your Money Maker the band has always drawn deeply from the Stones and Faces, tempering that British swagger with Southern-fried blues borrowed from the Allmans, then slowly threading hippie mysticism throughout — but the feel of the band has changed, as the Crowes have turned from reckless ruffians into seasoned veterans, with the group feeling lived-in and genuine.
There’s depth here, highlighted by an instrumental suppleness that slightly recalls Little Feat — particularly on the slow-rolling “Oh Josephine” with its gently cascading choruses — an evolution that could only be earned during those years on the road, building the band through nightly jams and a slow cycle of membership turnovers.
This is a suppleness that has grit, thanks especially to Dickinson’s glass slide runs that give this music some welcome grease. The Crowes also pull off a couple of sly moves here, weaving some swirling psychedelia through the chorus of “Movin’ on Down the Line,” turning the Reverend Charlie Jackson’s “God’s Got It” into a heavy, heavy backwoods stomp, then spinning the closing “Whoa Mule” into a roiling blues raga.
These are the turns and tricks of veterans, who can slide these flourishes into their signature sound without calling attention to their changeups, but these numbers are enough of a departure to garner attention — what may not get as much praise is how the Crowes write compellingly within their standard sound, as they do here, beginning with the opening gambit of the down’n’dirty “Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution” and the crawling “Walk Believer Walk.”
From there, Warpaint continues to gain momentum, as this album is not only their strongest set of songs since Amorica, it has a depth and presence that is rare for a digital age creation and, best of all, the album has a true narrative thrust, making it feel like a true classic rock album.
What the Black Crowes have done here is what true journeymen do: they don’t renounce their past, they build upon it, finding hidden depths within it, shaping tradition after their own image to make it sound fresh.
They’re old-fashioned, but in the best sense: they’re in it for the long haul, which the superb Warpaint proves beyond a shadow of a doubt. [Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine]

 

Track listing

  1. Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution – 5:03
  2. Walk Believer Walk – 4:39
  3. Oh Josephine – 6:38
  4. Evergreen – 4:20
  5. 5ee Who See the Deep – 4:50
  6. Locust Street – 4:14
  7. Movin’ On Down the Line – 5:42
  8. Wounded Bird – 4:23
  9. God’s Got It (Rev. Charlie Jackson) – 3:22
  10. There’s Gold in Them Hills – 4:47
  11. Whoa Mule – 5:45

All songs written by Chris Robinson and Rich Robinson, except where noted.

 

The Black Crowes

Additional musicians

Technical personnel

  • Paul Stacey – producer, engineer, mixing
  • Justin Kessler – Pro Tools operator, second engineer (studio)
  • Matt Howe, Justin Lawson – Pro Tools operator, second engineer (mix)
  • Pete Angelus – manager (Angelus Entertainment)
  • Amy Finkle – manager (Angelus Entertainment, East Coast)
  • Joshua Marc Levy – illustrations
  • Matthew Mendenhall – photography
  • Chris Robinson – collage

Notes
Released: March 3, 2008
Recorded: July 2007 Studio Allaire, Shokan, New York
Genre: Southern rock, blues rock
Length: 53:44
Producer: Paul Stacey

Label – Megaforce/Silver Arrow Records

Atoms For Peace – Amok (2013)

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Amok is the only album by the supergroup Atoms for Peace, released on February 25, 2013 by XL Recordings. It features the Radiohead singer Thom Yorke (vocals, keyboards, programming and guitars), the Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich (production and programming), the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, the drummer Joey Waronker and the percussionist Mauro Refosco. It combines electronic and live instrumentation.

Yorke formed Atoms for Peace in 2009 to perform songs from his first solo album, The Eraser (2006). After the tour ended, the band spent three days jamming and recording original material in a Los Angeles studio.
Yorke and Godrich edited and arranged the recordings over two years, combining them with Yorke’s electronic music.

The songwriter Thom Yorke formed Atoms for Peace in 2009 to perform songs from his first solo album, The Eraser (2006). After the tour ended in 2010, the band spent three days jamming and recording original material in a Los Angeles studio.
The members bonded over a shared love of afrobeat, such as the music of Fela Kuti.
Describing his role in the sessions as “conducting”, Yorke would show the band electronic music he had created and they would recreate it with live instruments. He said: “The music I do on my laptop is so angular.
When you get people to play like that, it’s so peculiar … One of the things we were most excited about was ending up with a record where you weren’t quite sure where the human starts and the machine ends.”[6] Yorke and the Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich edited and arranged the recordings over two years, combining them with Yorke’s electronic music.

Four Amok singles were released: “Default”, “Ingenue”, “Judge, Jury and Executioner” and “Before Your Very Eyes”, with music videos for “Ingenue” and “Before Your Very Eyes”.
The album received generally favourable reviews, though some critics found it too similar to Yorke’s solo work. It reached the top ten in several countries, including the UK, US, and Japan. It was followed by an international tour.

 

Track listing

  1. Before Your Very Eyes… – 5:47
  2. Default – 5:15
  3. Ingenue – 4:30
  4. Dropped – 4:57
  5. Unless – 4:40
  6. Stuck Together Pieces – 5:28
  7. Judge, Jury and Executioner – 3:28
  8. Reverse Running – 5:06
  9. Amok – 5:24

All tracks are written by Atoms for Peace

 

Atoms for Peace

Additional personnel

  • Darrell Thorp – live recording engineering
  • Drew Brown – additional engineering
  • Stanley Donwood – artwork (“lost Angeles lost”)
  • Brian Gardner – mastering

Notes
Released: February 25, 2013
Recorded: 2010–2012
Genre: Electronica
Length: 44:35
Producer: Nigel Godrich

Label – XL Records