Lou Reed and Metallica Combine For album

In what sounds like an intriguing combination, Lou Reed and Metallica will release the joint album ‘Lulu’, this November

As usual Reed had an unique way of looking at the collaboration. The original idea was to record an album of old Lou Reed songs but then Reed came up with a new idea. He wanted to record songs he had written for the German theatre group production ‘Lulu Plays’.

“We were very interested in working with Lou,” says James Hetfield. “I had these giant question marks: What’s it going to be like? What’s going to happen? So it was great when he sent us the lyrics for the Lulu body of work. It was something we could sink our teeth into. I could take off my singer and lyricist hat and concentrate on the music part. These were very potent lyrics, with a soundscape behind them for atmosphere. Lars and I sat there with an acoustic and let this blank canvas take us where it needed to go. It was a great gift, to be asked to stamp ‘TALLICA on it. And that’s what we did.”

“We had to bring Lulu to life in a sophisticated way, using rock,” Reed says. “And the hardest power rock you could come up with would have to be Metallica. They live on that planet. We played together, and I knew it: dream come true. This is the best thing I ever did. And I did it with the best group I could possibly find. By definition, everybody involved was honest. This has come into the world pure. We pushed as far as we possibly could within the realms of reality.”

“It’s definitely not a Metallica album, or a Lou Reed album,” adds Kirk Hammett. “It’s something else. It’s a new animal, a hybrid.”

Reed and Metallica first got together at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concerts in October 2009. The band backed Reed and performed his Velvet Underground classics ‘Sweet Jane’ and ‘White Light/White Heat’. “We knew from then that we were made for each other,” Reed said.

Metallica seem to be into the idea of paying homage to the classic rock greats in recent time, having appeared on an album of the songs of Ray Davies of The Kinks last year.

 

Be The Morning – The Marines (Laughing Outlaw)

The Marines debut album is the product of a lengthy gestation leading to a hot summer spent in a rented workman’s cottage somewhere outside of Sydney. It would also appear that it is the product of a collection of very tasteful record collections.

Not that they are simply mimicking those high quality record collections, but there’s no denying that musicologist listeners are likely to spot strains of artists like Lou Reed, Wilco, Jeff Buckley, World Party and Radiohead threading through these songs.

I’m finding a lot to like about that list.

Thankfully The Marines manage to distill those flavors into something potent and intoxicating in its own right. This is music with not just pedigree but also with undeniable inspiration in its own right. Much of this comes from the songwriting, which is apparently largely the province of singer Dan K. He’s a daring writer who is willing to stretch the boundaries but not self consciously so. His unorthodox twists and turns seem to be the result of instinct in a similar way that an artist like Todd Rundgren or Brian Wilson might have been guided by the voices in their heads, rather than a deliberate attempt to re-produce an admired aesthetic.

The band that has gathered under the name The Marines seems completely empathetic to this approach.  They play very well, but more importantly they play with intelligence – which of course sometimes means knowing when to hold back, or even, not play at all. The Buckley-like Borderline is a case in point, whereas the title track, finds the same band getting all fuzzy and gritty like they were residents of Dirty Boulevard. Dreams remarkably manages to merge this approach with a Beach Boy style vocal approach.

A distinctive element of this band are the harmonies, which may include Dan K’s own contributions (which were apparently recorded post-tracking, in his car). On songs like Trouble the harmonies complement Dan K’s idiosyncratic lead vocals really well. His lead vocals themselves provide some amazing moments as he achieves a hypnotic falsetto to go with his gruffer semi-spoken work on other tracks.

It will be interesting to see what sort of reaction this album gets. By rights it should attract a fervent following and it’s hoped that word of mouth can bring it the attention it deserves.

 

The Cure Play First Three Albums at Vivid

The Cure will perform what appears to be a one-off Australian show for Vivid LIVE at Sydney Opera House. Appearing onstage with a uniquely evolving line-up of band members past and present, The Cure “Reflections” will see the band perform their first three albums live, in their entirety, in an extraordinary concert experience exclusively for Vivid LIVE on May 31 and June 1.

Of course, The Cure have toured Australia many times but have never attempted a show such as this on our shores. The three albums that they will be played , as detailed below, all come from before they were a pop crossover breakthrough, so hits like Love Cats and the like are not likely to be part of this show. Equally their remarkable gloomy brilliance of Pornography wont get a hearing. What we will get is (in the words of the press release) “the punchy, offbeat, starkly unadorned songs of Three Imaginary Boys, through the increasingly shadowy and quixotic pieces of Seventeen Seconds, to the singular melancholic grandeur of Faith”.

But which version of Three Imaginary Boys will they play? The original album of that title didn’t feature the bands first hit Boys Don’t Cry, Jumping Someone Elses Train or Killing An Arab. All three songs were added to the album along with Plastic Passion and World War replacing Foxy Lady, Meathook, So What, It’s Not You and the uncredited instrumental The Weedy Burton). That album was re-titled Boys Don’t VCry for American release and that was the album that was released here. I strongly suspect they will revert to the English album for this event.

Vivid LIVE at Sydney Opera House (May 27 – June 5) is a curated music festival and is part of Vivid Sydney (May 27 – June 13), the city’s annual festival of light, music and ideas. Following on from Brian Eno (2009) and Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson (2010), Australia’s Stephen Pavlovic of Modular has taken the reigns as curator for this unique event for 2011.

Vivid LIVE curator Stephen Pavlovic says “From my teenage years to the present day, The Cure have always been one of the most inspiring bands I have ever come across. To have the opportunity to include them in the line up is an honour equal to curating Vivid LIVE.”

The Cure’s Robert Smith says, “Vivid LIVE is an exceptional event, and we are very excited to be taking part. We have played a lot of memorable shows in Australia – we first performed here in 1980, and this will be our seventh trip – but it will be our first time onstage in the Sydney Opera House, and we want to do something unique to mark the occasion. Combining Cure members past and present in a live filmed interpretation of our first three albums feels to me like it should do the trick!”

The Cure join an incredible line up of local and international artists including Spiritualized, Bat for Lashes, Chris Cunningham, The Avalanches, Sonny Rollins, Yo Gabba Gabba!, WU LYF, OFWGKTA and 2manydjs and more.

The Cure “Reflections”

Three Imaginary Boys (1979)

The Cure Trio: Robert Smith (voice & guitar), Simon Gallup (bass), Jason Cooper (drums)

Side one

1. “10.15 Saturday Night”  – 3:42

2. “Accuracy” – 2:17

3. “Grinding Halt” – 2:49

4. “Another Day” – 3:44

5. “Object” – 3:03

6. “Subway Song” – 2:00

Side two

1. “Foxy Lady” (Jimi Hendrix) – 2:29

2. “Meathook” – 2:17

3. “So What” – 2:37

4. “Fire in Cairo” – 3:23

5. “It’s Not You” – 2:49

6. “Three Imaginary Boys” – 3:17

Untitled (a.k.a. “The Weedy Burton”, hidden track) – 1:04

Seventeen Seconds (1980)

The Cure Quartet: Robert Smith (voice & guitar), Simon Gallup (bass), Jason Cooper (drums), Roger O’Donnell (keys)

Side one

1. “A Reflection” – 2:09

1. “Play for Today” – 3:39
2. “Secrets” – 3:20
3. “In Your House” – 4:07
4. “Three” – 2:36

Side two

1. “The Final Sound” – 0:53
2. “A Forest” – 5:55
3. “M” – 3:03
4. “At Night” – 5:54
5. “Seventeen Seconds” – 4:02

Faith (1981)

The Cure Quintent: Robert Smith (voice & guitar), Simon Gallup (bass), Jason Cooper (drums), Roger O’Donnell (keys & percussion), Laurence Tolhurst (keys & percussion)

Side one

1. “The Holy Hour” – 4:25
2. “Primary” – 3:35
3. “Other Voices” – 4:28
4. “All Cats Are Grey” – 5:28

Side two

1. “The Funeral Party” – 4:14

2. “Doubt” – 3:11

3. “The Drowning Man” – 4:50

4.  ”Faith” – 6:43

Buddy Holly Tribute Draws Cool Artist List

An upcoming tribute album to Buddy Holly, Rave On Buddy Holly, will feature the likes of My Morning Jacket, Fiona Apple and Jon Brion, The Black Keys, Modest Mouse, Nick Lowe, Florence + The Machine, Cee Lo Green, Paul McCartney, She & Him, Justin Townes Earle, Kid Rock, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Julian Casablancas and more.

19 songs are included in the collection, which will be released on Fantasy/Concord on June 28 in the US. Let’s hope it gets a release here around the same time.

A press release states that “Rave On‘s striking collection of musicians share Holly’s insurgent rebel spirit and outsider point of view. The artists cross generations and styles, collectively and defiantly embracing Holly’s distinctive rough and tumble inventiveness.”

Instead of being a straight cover album, artists were “free to explore radically new interpretations.” For example, Florence + The Machine brings an “industrial New Orleans” feel to “Not Fade Away” with Ivan Neville playing the keys, while Paul McCartney’s rendition of “It’s So Easy” features “raw, propulsive excursion filled with boisterous ad-libs.”

Film-music supervisor Randall Poster, notable for his work with Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson and Todd Haynes, was hired as producer and overseer. “As the tracks from various contributors were gathered for the album, we seemed to be gathering pieces of a complex and original puzzle,” says Poster. “[That puzzle] traces back to the roots of rock and roll and shapes so much of the music that followed.”

Poster also credits various track producers like Matt Sweeney, Joe Henry, Jack White and C.C. Adcock for the record’s richness.

Had Buddy Holly not died in 1959 at the age of 22, he would have been 75 years old on Sept. 7.

Track List:

1. Dearest – The Black Keys

2. Every Day – Fiona Apple & Jon Brion

3. It’s So Easy – Paul McCartney

4. Not Fade Away – Florence + The Machine

5. (You’re So Square) Baby, I Don’t Care – Cee Lo Green

6. Crying, Waiting, Hoping – Karen Elson

7. Rave On – Julian Casablancas

8. I’m Gonna Love You Too – Jenny O.

9. Maybe Baby – Justin Townes Earle

10. Oh Boy – She & Him

11. Changing All Those Changes – Nick Lowe

12. Words Of Love – Patti Smith

13. True Love Ways – My Morning Jacket

14. That’ll Be The Day – Modest Mouse

15. Well…All Right – Kid Rock

16. Heartbeat -The Detroit Cobras

17. Peggy Sue – Lou Reed

18. Peggy Sue Got Married – John Doe

19. Raining In My Heart – Graham Nash

Joseph Arthur – Emerges In Australia

So where have I been for the last decade or so? I’ve recently discovered an artist named Joseph Arthur. He’s extraordinary. Maybe you have heard of him and already know what I am talking about. I hadn’t until recently. The whole world should. Listening through his extensive back catalogue of music, virtually all of which is on independent labels, I’m hearing traces of numerous other artists who I either love or respect, or both. Here’s a few discernable influences: Lou Reed, Mark Bolan, David Bowie, Jim Carroll, old blues greats like John Lee Hooker, the Rolling Stones, more obscure artists like Garland Jeffrey and more contemporary names like Ben Harper, David Gray and Grant Lee Phillips. But he’s not a copy of any of them, in fact, he’s brilliantly original.

I became aware of Joseph Arthur because he’s touring Australian soon as a part of Bluesfest – in a kinda supergroup thingy with Ben Harper and Dhani Harrison (son of George) called Fistful of Mercy. Arthur is going to do his own solo shows in Melbourne and Sydney where he is likely to both play music and paint on stage. Oh, didn’t I mention he was also a prolific and highly regarded visual artist as well?

I need to find a big mirror and have a damn good look at myself.

Andrew meet Jo, Jo meet Andrew…

——————————————————————————————————

HHMM: With so much output, both as a musician and as a visual artist, how would you describe your approach to art? Is it an obsession, a compulsion, a job?

JA: It occupies my mind all the time. Visual art works the same way as music. You care about each project individually and then when its done you’re on to the next. There is a compulsive aspect to it but it’s a healthy compulsion like exercising your spirit or something. These things evolve through you and you evolve through them, you know? You can trace personal growth through your history of making art.  It’s also a process of becoming more genuine all the time and getting more down to it hopefully and becoming more truthful and more profound. It’s also a way to kill time. It’s like the most serious thing and the most frivolous thing at the same time. It’s packed with meaning and it’s meaningless. It’s almost like a play of opposites. That’s what I like about painting and making music. One is coming through your eyes and one is coming through your ears. It’s interesting.

HHMM: Something else you seem to have done well is to solve that dichotomy between art and commerce. Your art remains very pure but your willingness to share it and provide people with commercial access to it seems to be working really well.

JA: Thank you for saying it. It’s interesting, I haven’t had a whole lot of commercial success but I still can make a living. I think I’m kind of shameless about trying to make a living with it. I think there might be more shame attached to it if you were like stinking rich! But if you are not and you are living hand to mouth or maybe a little better than that sometimes, or not as quite that sometimes, then you can maybe be more open about trying to make some money. But I think that is maybe the times we are living in too. The wall between being an artist and being, say, a plumber is less. There’s no distinction any more. There used to be some kind of invisible wall between being and artist and the rest of the world and I don’t think there is that anymore.

HHMM: It is an exciting time now in music because the access to the audience is clearly no longer solely determined by corporations.

JA: Yeah, but it is and it isn’t. If you look at most of the most successful bands in the world they are all still deeply affiliated with corporations. But there are other possibilities now. I remember when I first got my first record deal we had cassettes. You couldn’t even dream about making a CD, you had to have money to do that. We’d make cassettes and the way of getting that out to a wider range of people than beyond your thirty friends was by getting a magical thing called a ‘record deal’. From there it was anybody’s guess what was going to happen. But getting that record deal was like lightning striking. Now you don’t need to have a record deal but you do need to be a internet sensation, but that’s like lightning striking too. So it’s sort of the same as it ever was but it’s different. It’s still impossible, but it’s always been impossible.

HHMM: Bob Geldof was recently talking about the lack of powerful voices in contemporary music and how society was worse off for the lack of those voices. He was suggesting that there was ‘entertainers’ and there was ‘artists’ and there were more entertainers and less artists. How do you see that division?

JA: I hear people sometimes say stuff like that and I think, ‘hang on a minute, I’m an artist, but you just don’t know who I am!’ Maybe it’s harder for legit artists to get out there than it was. Maybe we are just more underground now. Back in Bob Dylan’s time, well it still is Bob Dylan’s time, but back when he became like the biggest thing ever, it was just a time and a place. Who knows what it all means? I’m sure there are just as many talented people doing just as much great art now as ever, maybe more, but knowing who they are and hearing of them is another thing.

HHMM: You originally came from Ohio, but now you live in Brooklyn. Have you found that you’ve been able to be a part of a creative community and find like-minded individuals in New York, in a way you couldn’t have done at home?

JA: I think I could have maybe, but I was ready to leave Ohio. I left Ohio four days after I graduated high school. I needed to go explore the world. I love Akron, Ohio actually. I’ve very proud of it, I love going back there and I would even consider moving there again, but I needed to go explore the world. But now I find a real collaborative spirit when I go out to California, even more than New York. Maybe cos New York is my home and when I’m at home I tend to do my own thing more and isolate more. Maybe when you travel, life is more of a celebration in a way and so when I’m in California and I’m there for a month, maybe I look for people to work with. I don’t know if I look for it or open my energy up to it more, but  every time I go out to California there is some wild collaborative thing that happens.

HHMM: Speaking of collaborations at Bluesfest you are going to be playing with Ben Harper and Dhani Harrison in Fistful Of Mercy. How would you describe that collaboration? Is it democratic or organic or how does it work?

JA: It’s democratic, organic, collaborative thing that just sort of happened. It happened to happen. It’s actually what I’m saying about California. I was in san Francisco preparing to play two nights at the Troubadour in Los Angeles and I called Ben to see if he wanted to sit in with me and he was open to that. And then we decided to write some songs together and he said, ‘do you know Dhani Harrison?’ And I actually didn’t and I said “Why? Is he in our band?” So he introduced me to Dhani and then we were a band.

HHMM: It’s nice how it works like that sometimes.

JA: It’s unbelievable actually.

HHMM: In Melbourne and Sydney you are doing solo shows, which will be really exciting. What can we expect from those shows? Do you have the scope to do music and painting as you sometimes do?

JA: I don’t know if we are going to go for that or not. I kinda hope we do. I’m actually sitting on the floor building the ultimate pedal board. I’m actually a super guitar geek working on this pedal board for a while now. It’s like paints on my pallet basically. I’m going to do looping and stuff like that, so hopefully I’ll paint too.

HHMM: Interesting you mention the looping. I got to see Eddie Vedder last night in Melbourne doing a solo show and he was trying to do some live vocal looping, but the machine didn’t work for him. So it’s risky.

JA: It is risky. But that’s what makes it good. Without the risk things aren’t any good. People tend to like it when things go awry. It’s a bit of excitement.

HHMM: I want to mention someone else. I kind of feel like Jim Carroll was a kindred spirit to what you do, combining the music with another form. In his case it was poetry, in your case it’s painting. Is he someone you feel a connection with?

JA: Well I hope so. I mean, I take that as a complement. All I can say is that I respect him a lot.

HHMM: The other guy that comes to mind when I hear your music is another New York guy named Garland Jeffrey. Is he someone you are aware of?

JA: I know Garland, yeah. I actually met him through Lou Reed, cos he’s a friend of Lou’s. I actually met him and I know him as a person more than I know his music, just as a guy around New York. That is New York.

HHMM: And I understand you have a new record of your own on the way, called The Graduation Ceremony? Can you tell me about that?

JA: I’ve been working on this futuristic gospel concept record called The Ballad of Boogie Christ, which is about this guy who is either insane or becoming Jesus Christ. It’s this very wordy record with back up singers and horns and super production and Garth Hudson playing organ on it. I was working on it for about two years and then I wrote a couple of new songs on an acoustic guitar. I recorded one of them and I really liked the way it came out, it was so relieving to have something so simple. So I called up the studio and said do you have any time when I can come in and record some more acoustic songs. And he was like ‘yeah come by’ and I was like sat his front door. So I walked in the studio and cut the record in an afternoon with first and second takes. Then Jim Keltner came by to play drums on some of the Boogie Christ tracks and I played him some of the other songs and he played on a song and then we went through the whole record and he played on all the other songs. Then I gave the record to John Alasia and we ended up working in his studio in Santa Monica for about a month I guess and it became a beautiful record. At the same time I ended up finishing the Boogie Christ record, so I mastered both of them. So there’s two records waiting in the wings.

HHMM: It’s nice to have these journeys without a roadmap.

JA: That’s what its all about, its like let the unconscious guide you. I believe in that. I believe in the wisdom of the unconscious.

JOSEPH ARTHUR AUSTRALIAN SOLO PERFORMANCE DATES

Wednesday 27 April – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne

Friday 29 April – The Vanguard, Sydney

Also Appearing at Bluesfest with Fistful of Mercy – Easter Friday 22

John Cale and Graham Nash Get Queens Birthday Honours

In a turn of events that few would have predicted John Cale, he of the Velvet Underground has been awarded an  Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.). Who would have thought Queen Liz was a I’m Waiting For My Man, Sweet Jane or Pale Blue Eyes?

Cale wasn’t the only rocker to get a gong with Graham Nash also getting the same award in the Queens Birthday honours.

Cale’s statement indicated that he was as surprised as anyone:  “I’m stunned. It makes you think ‘well maybe I did something right’ ? and now I’ve got to figure out what that was. I thought I was too much of a tearaway,” he was quoted as saying.

Cale is 68-year old and he was born in Wales making him eligible for an OBE even though he is best known for his work with Lou Reed, primarily in New York.

Nash received the award for his services to music and his charitable activities. He was a founding member of The Hollies and later he re-located to the USA and formed Crosby Stills and Nash with David Crosby and Stephen Stills. The trio were joined by Neil Young for three very significant albums as  Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

My First Interview Ends In…..

My first ever interview ended up with me sharing the stage with one of rock’s most iconic characters.

Well, kind of sharing the stage.

My first ever interview wasn’t even with a musician.

When The Cure (not the band, but a cool name for a student political ticket) swept to power in the Monash University student elections I found myself part of a loose alliance of interests left running the student newspaper, Lots Wife. I hadn’t really planned on this I thus I had no real idea what my role would be.

I was obviously interested in music and I tended to spend more time in the record shop than the lecture theatre but the idea of writing about music hadn’t really occurred to me. Somehow I stumbled upon an idea of writing a series of articles about jobs that existed in the music industry when you weren’t a musician.

In retrospect that idea probably had a bit to do with the fact that my only attempt at playing music (lessons on an electronic organ) had ended in absolute failure. I was hopeless.

I thought an interesting place to start with my series (brilliantly entitled And The Beat Goes On) was to interview a music journalist. Call it student irony, if you will.

The unfortunate soul that I thrust myself upon was a Sydney music journalist named Stuart Coupe. I was a regular reader of Stuart’s articles and I was most impressed by the fact that he had been flown to America to see Bruce Springsteen in concert. That seemed like my kinda job. This Stuart Coupe guy must have some serious clout.

I got in touch with Stuart and he agreed to be interviewed – he must have been struck by the turning of the tables that that represented! Either that or I was the first person that had ever asked.

Stuart was going to be in Melbourne that week as a band he managed had scored the support spot on an international tour. The band he managed was Hoodoo Gurus. We arranged that I would come to the venue where the concert was (the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre – better known as the old Olympic Pool). I would find Stuart and once his band had finished soundcheck we would find a quite spot and he would subject himself to my incisive questioning about his career choice.

Sound easy enough.

It started to go wrong when I arrived at the venue (with my little red tape recorder and my detailed list of questions) only to find the doors shut. Fortunately I was a regular in them parts with big connections. My Mum worked part time in the offices of Victorian Athletics which was located in the grandstand of Olympic Park which backed on to the old swimming pool.

Thus I entered the precinct via the athletics track. I was inside the fenced off area but I still wasn’t inside the actual building. There were a lot of doors but none that were open. I tried all of them, until at last I hit paydirt.

I opened the only unlocked door and behind it was….a corridor. What followed was a one man (well… boy) re-enactment of the Cleveland scene from Spinal Tap. I followed any number of dark corridors, long passages, open doors and curtained off areas but I didn’t really seem to be getting anywhere.

I could hear music though, familiar music and it wasn’t Hoodoo Gurus. This actually made me more nervous because I thought I was running late and had probably missed Hoodoo Gurus and thus Stuart. I wasn’t aware of the fact that the support act actually didn’t start soundcheck until after the headliner had finished. Who knew?

Surely I’d find someone soon that I could ask about the whereabouts of the manager of the support band.

Finally I climbed some stairs, opened a door and pushed aside another black curtain.

I found myself about five metres away looking at a man with a guitar strumming the chords to a song I knew very well.

Lou Reed was looking back at me.

I was on stage. Lou Reed was playing Sweet Jayne and he was looking straight at me.

He wasn’t smiling.

Also not smiling was a very large, very black and very intimidating man. He was not smiling and he was approaching me.

“You are not supposed to be here”, he said in a voice that would have struck fear into a much larger and braver man than I.

He was also correct.

As he gently (well as gently as a man with the size and demeanour of a grizzly bear) escorted me back from whence I came I tried to explain that my mission was neither to assassinate the singer nor record his soundcheck on my little red tape player. Fortunately he believed me.

Even more fortunately he believed my story about being a writer from a student newspaper being at the venue to interview the manager of the support band about his other career as a music journalist.

Either he believed me or took pity on me.

He directed me to the foyer, told me to stay put and told me he would find Stuart and direct him my way. I agreed. A gonzo journalist I was not.

Of course the story ends with Stuart appearing, me conducting a genuinely interesting interview and ending up doing probably a thousand more interviews over the course of the next couple of decades.

Stuart remains a good friend and colleague until today. He still writes, manages and has a very cool record label called Laughing Outlaw. I don’t think I’ve ever actually told him this story.

Hoodoo Gurus went on to be one of Australia’s greatest rock bands and they continue to release great new albums as recently as last month. I’ll probably see them again in concert next week.

Of course Lou Reed is still Lou Reed.

And I was on stage with him.