Monthly Archives: January 2017

THE ATLANTIC PREMIERES JAMES WILLIAMSON & DENIZ TEK’S “PENETRATION”!

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE PREMIERE OF JAMES WILLIAMSON (IGGY & THE STOOGES) & DENIZ TEK’S (RADIO BIRDMAN) NEW ACOUSTIC RE-WORKING OF THE STOOGES’ TRACK “PENETRATION” VIA THE ATLANTIC

The Atlantic Notes: First Drafts, Conversations, Stories in Progress

Track of the Day: ‘Penetration’ by Deniz Tek and James Williamson

by David A. Graham

What happens if you take Raw Power and rip it out of the socket? That’s the landmark 1973 album from the Stooges, a fierce burst of electric guitar that prefigured punk and hard rock.

But guitarist James Williamson, who wrote the songs with Iggy Pop, actually composed the guitar parts without amplification. “We were in a little mews house in London and you couldn’t be loud in there anyway, so I used acoustic to write the songs,” Williamson told me this week. “I got so I liked it better because you can really hear the notes really well.” The reason for his preference is even a little punk: “Sometimes the electric doesn’t have the same kind of punch that acoustic does. Acoustic is a little bit percussive, and sometimes the electric has the big sound, but it isn’t always as percussive.” (There are also some acoustic guitars on the David Bowie-produced record, notably on “Gimme Danger.”)

What would those classic songs sound like played unplugged? There’s no need to wonder, because on a new EP, Williamson teamed up Deniz Tek, the singer and guitarist in Radio Birdman and the Visitors, to record a handful of acoustic versions of songs Williamson wrote with Iggy Pop, including “Penetration.” Here’s the premiere of that track:

Acoustic K.O. (the name is a joke on the live Stooges release Metallic K.O.) also includes “I Need Somebody” from Raw Power as well as “Night Theme” and “No Sense of Crime” from the 1977 Pop/Williamson album Kill City, the former of which gets a full orchestration.

Williamson said the new EP represented the confluence of a couple currents. A Stooges superfan named Hakan Beckman (“He kinda knows what I had for breakfast in 1970,” Williamson chuckled) had long advocated for an acoustic record, and the duo of aging rockers Williamson and Tek decided to to do it after joking about playing lounge gigs together.

On “Penetration,” Williamson laid down an acoustic guitar part as well as some licks on Weissenborn lap slide. The recording process went a lot more smoothly than Raw Power. “At this point in time I think we have a clue as to what to do, and back in the day, that was my first album on Raw Power, so I had no idea what I was doing,” he said. The only hitch came when he sent his tracks to Tek, who discovered they were out of concert pitch, thanks to a miscalibrated electronic tuner. It was an easy fix, though. Plus, the weird tuning was an echo of the way the Stooges did things: Eschewing tuners, they just tuned to each other’s instruments.

Williamson said he hasn’t talked to Pop about the new version. “I doubt if he cares. It’s just another version,” he said. But Williamson likes the way it compares to the 44-year-old original. “I think it stacks up very favorably. The original of course is the original. This one has more of a rhythmic thing going on with it.”

http://www.theatlantic.com/notes/category/track-of-the-day/

 

GLIDE MAGAZINE PREMIERES THE KNITTS’ NEW TRACK “SORRY SONNY”!

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE PREMIERE OF THE KNITTS’ NEW TRACK “SORRY SONNY” VIA GLIDE MAGAZINE!

SONG PREMIERE: THE KNITTS KEEP IT SIMPLE AND CATCHY ON “SORRY SONNY”

In a gritty industrial area of Van Nuys, California, behind a powder-coating plant, lie a dozen neatly stacked repurposed shipping containers. One of these is ‘home’ to The Knitts, a band with a surprisingly long history and a short fuse, ready to explode onto the music scene with the release of their upcoming debut full-length album Retreat, which is out March 3rd via Knitting Factory Records.

It should come as little surprise seeing their record label, as the origins of The Knitts go back to the final years of the Knitting Factory on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. “That’s strangely how the band name came about, from Charlie’s time working the box office,” recalls Justin Volkens of his brother, Charlie Volkens’ time at the club while various future Knitts hung out at KF shows. Now The Knitts are made up of the brothers Volkens – Justin (Vocals) & Charlie (guitar), along with Victor Portillo (lead guitar), Jaime “Jimmy” Luque (bass) and Clare Taylor Wilkes (drums).

Retreat is a tightly crafted collection of tunes, bringing to mind the second-wave of Brit pop with the danceable energy of Wolf Parade and the gritty garage folk of Deer Tick. Many of their songs don’t stretch beyond three minutes but manage to make a strong impression with their pop-laden hooks and catchy choruses. Today Glide Magazine is offering an exclusive listen of the shortest song on the album, “Sorry Sonny”. Coming in at just under two minutes, the acoustically strummed tune is a simple little ditty with minimal, non-sensical lyrics that one can only assume reference a friend of the band. It’s a nugget of simple folk-rock that lingers in your head.

Frontman Justin Volkens sheds some light on the magic of the track:

“The recording of ‘Sorry Sonny’ made use of a plastic bag as the snare drum to add a different element to the recording. It was written to not have any percussions, but the sound of the plastic bag helped it maintain its intended acoustic/unplugged sound as well as add a layer a rhythm.”

The Knitts release Retreat on March 3rd.
http://www.glidemagazine.com/178806/song-premiere-knitts-sorry-sonny

Retreat Album Cover_web

 

 

HEATH GREEN AND THE MAKESHIFTERS SHARE THEIR NEW TRACK “AIN’T IT A SHAME”

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO HEATH GREEN AND THE MAKESHIFTERS’ NEW SONG “AIN’T IT A SHAME” (FEEL FREE TO POST AND SHARE)

THE BIRMINGHAM, AL-BASED BAND TO RELEASE  THEIR NEW SELF-TITLED DEBUT STUDIO ALBUM  MARCH 3RD RELEASE VIA ALIVE NATURALSOUND RECORDS

You would think that with all of the attention being paid to the resurgence of Alabama soul music that someone like Heath Green would surely be on the radar of every A&R guy out of Nashville by now, yet for someone who has been quietly plying his trade for well over 15 years, Mr. Green has somehow managed to avoid the spotlight due to a lifetime of patience, hard luck and working man’s caution. As a longtime fixture on the Birmingham music scene through groups like Mudpie, Fishergreen, and the Back Row Baptists, Green has carved out a reputation as one of the finest songwriters and performers around, combining gritty storytelling born out of the dirt and red clay of his home state with an electric delivery that’s on par with the best soul men of the modern era. Having toiled countless hours at dive bars and late-night haunts that have served as the real-time backdrop for his ongoing musical canvas, Green’s penchant for “tell it like it is” songwriting has made him a favorite among local scenesters in the Magic City music community, weaving tried and true tales of desperation, redemption and devil-may-care attitude into a cohesive whole worthy of Delta blues relics twice his age.

But that’s really only half of the story. Having grown up on a steady diet of Stones, Faces, Humble Pie and a lifetime of wanting to capture the live fire of artists like Ike & Tina Turner and the Joe Cocker/Leon Russell nexus, Heath’s uncanny ability to channel the best of his musical heroes is truly a sight to behold. From sidelong stage shimmies and full blast soul screams, to exorcising rock ‘n’ roll demons with plaintive pleas for mercy and salt-of-the-earth salvation, there are few modes of musical catharsis his sonic world leaves untouched.

Having finally found a working unit of like-minded musicians to bring his songs to life in the form of the Makeshifters— consisting of his longtime musical partner Jason Lucia (13 ghosts, Dead String Brothers) on drums and half of Alabama indie rock savants Through the Sparks manning a blistering string section, with fretboard firebrand Jody Nelson on guitar pyrotechnics and Greg Slamen on bass— Heath may finally be on the cusp of the wider audience he has long deserved. Showcasing a unique blend of Swampers-tinged R&B and churning Zeppelin/Sabbath riffage— all tied together by Green’s smoky and guttural leave-it-on-the-stage delivery— the Makeshifters have created the perfect palette for one of the South’s most under-recognized frontmen to take his craft to the next level. Effortlessly navigating between the emotional and sonic extremes of songs like the mournful “Ain’t It A Shame” and the raucous take-no-prisoners guitar blitz of “Livin’ On The Good Side,” there are few bands below the Mason-Dixon line with enough brass to conquer the terrain these four gentlemen lay asunder any given night of the week.

From searing blues boogie and heartbreaking balladry, to maximum rock n’ roll with a side of fatback bounce, they’ve got it all and then some with enough to spare for the rest of us. And now it’s time for the rest of the country to choogle along with them and bear witness to the lightning in a bottle that is Heath Green & The Makeshifters.

Heath Green and The Makeshifters’ self-titled debut album will be released on limited vinyl, CD, digital and streaming formats March 3rd via Alive Naturalsound Records. Click here to pre-order the limited starburst vinyl.

heathgreen_cover-442

HEATH GREEN & THE MAKESHIFTERS TRACK LISTING:

01 Out To The City

02 Secret Sisters

03 Ain’t Got God

04 Hold On Me

05 Ain’t It A Shame

06 Living On The Good Side

07 Took Off My Head

08 I’m A Fool

09 Ain’t Ever be My Baby

10 Sad Eyed Friend

FOR MORE INFO ON HEATH GREEN & THE MAKESHIFTERS:
http://www.heathgreenandthemakeshifters.com
https://www.facebook.com/HeathGreenAndTheMakeshifters

FOR MORE INFO ON ALIVE NATURALSOUND RECORDS:
http://www.alive-records.com

FOR MEDIA AND INTERVIEW REQUESTS:
Tony Bonyata
Pavement PR
p: 262.903.7775
e: tony@pavementpr.com
https://pavementpr.com

 

THE BOOT PREMIERES THE WHISKEY GENTRY’S NEW VIDEO!

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE PREMIERE OF THE WHISKEY GENTRY’S NEW VIDEO “FOLLOWING YOU” VIA THE BOOT!

The Whiskey Gentry, ‘Following You’ Music Video [Exclusive Premiere]
By Amy McCarthy

Ahead of the release of a new album, Americana eight-piece the Whiskey Gentry are premiering the music video for their song “Following You” exclusively for readers of The Boot.

Formed in 2009 by husband and wife Lauren Staley and Jason Morrow, the Whiskey Gentry blend bluegrass, folk, Americana and country in an effortlessly infectious kind of way. They’ve built buzz with crowd-pleasing performances at festivals such as Shaky Knees and Merlefest, and will release their third studio album, Dead Ringer, in April.

“Following You” appears on Dead Ringer and is an ode to the struggles of life on the road: “It can be hard,” Morrow tells The Boot, “but there’s still nothing else we would rather do.”

“The chorus says, ‘The worst day on the road beats spreading paint.’ I’ve spent a majority of my life playing music, painting houses and trying to balance the two,” Morrow adds. “Even when playing music gets hard, it’s still better than sitting in a cubicle.”

If the “Following You” video has a DIY feel, that’s because it was: The clip was filmed by the Whiskey Gentry throughout their time on the road and using a GoPro camera; it provides a glimpse inside the craziness (both good and bad) of being a touring band.

“We filmed this video over the course of three years in six different countries and countless U.S. cities,” Morrow explains. “The video is a highlight reel of the best parts of being in a band, and a reminder that even when it’s tough, it’s still worth it.”

Dead Ringer is set for release on April 7. Fans learn more about the Whiskey Gentry on their official website.
http://theboot.com/the-whiskey-gentry-following-you-music-video/

 

 

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    • 03/22/24 THEE SINSEERS in Los Angeles, CA at The Belasco
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