New Music: Ask For Water

           

Matt Berninger, the leader and voice of The National, has released his new EP, Type It Up, digitallya couple of days ago through Book/Concord Records. The collection features three original songs and two covers, with a vinyl edition available on December 4, including a bonus acoustic live recording. The lead track, "Ask For Water," has an accompanying music video directed by Berninger's collaborator, Chris Sgroi. This EP follows Berninger’s critically acclaimed album Get Sunk, released last year.

Rocktrospectiva: Jamiroquai's Breakthrough Album "Travelling Without Moving" Turns 30

Released on 28 August in Japan and then on 9 September in the UK 1996, "Travelling Without Moving" was the third studio album by English funk and acid jazz band Jamiroquai. Front-man Jay Kay intended for the album to have a more universal style, revolving around "cars, life and love". Critics have generally praised the album for being more focused and refined than the band's previous work, while others panned its lyrics and found the album too derivative. Its visual concept of sports cars received backlash from press, as it contradicted Kay's professed environmental beliefs. The album spawned the singles "Virtual Insanity", "Cosmic Girl", Alright", & "High Times"

The album was Jamiroquai's American breakthrough. It marked the band's first entry in the US Billboard 200 chart at number 24. In the UK, it peaked at number two. Its singles "Virtual Insanity", "Cosmic Girl" and "Alright" entered the top-ten in the UK singles chart. In the US, "Alright" entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 78, while "Cosmic Girl" and "High Times" were in the top-ten in the Dance Club Songs charts. The music video for "Virtual Insanity" contributed to the album's success. Travelling Without Moving sold over 8 million copies worldwide.

After experiencing a stressful period while recording The Return of the Space Cowboy, Kay sought to make the next album more focused and universal. He also did not want to remain as a semi-underground act "that stuck to its little niche and sold one and a half million albums every time. I wanted to breakout and be something bigger, more international." Speaking of the album's general mood, Kay said: "With Emergency on Planet Earth, people weren't cheering in the streets or anything, and The Return of the Space Cowboy was quite sad. With [Travelling Without Moving], I decided it was important to show people we could enjoy ourselves. That's why it's cars, life and love". Kay booked the band into the residential studio Great Linford Manor so that they could work at their own pace.

The first song composed for the album was "Virtual Insanity". It was recorded as a rough demo and was not fully realised until the album's final recording stage. The song had a piano opening with "buoyant keyboards and soaring strings." Its lyrics are about the prevalence of technology and the replication and simulation of life. The second track "Cosmic Girl" was a disco song with "spacey" lyrics, based on rhythmic "looped beats" "to give it an off-center, otherworldly" sound. For the next track "Use The Force" the group channels "that real vintage football vibe", filled with horns, wah-wah guitar and a rippling barrage of Latin percussion". The fourth track "Everyday" was described "as seductive as any Maxwell ballad" and has "over aching strings and a come-hither bass line". The fifth song, "Alright", was described as an "easy-going disco-funk" track.

"High Times", was a song with "razor-edged funky guitars", references Kay's drug use during the recording of The Return of the Space Cowboy: "'High Times' was admitting the truth of the matter, of where I'd been and how lucky I was to be coming out of the other side." This is followed by the reggae track, "Drifting Along". The tracks "Didjerama" and "Didjital Vibrations" are instrumental tracks containing ambient didgeridoo. The title track is next on the album and samples Kay's purple Lamborghini in the intro. It features a "driving groove" and after two minutes, it "transitions into a bassline-paced, heavy workout". The album ended with the dance track, "You Are My Love", and the soul ballad, "Spend a Lifetime".

After the album was released, Kay received backlash from the press for his interest in sports cars, because it contradicted his environmental beliefs on Emergency on Planet Earth. The album's visual concept revolved around sports cars, with the Ferrari logo being recreated within the band's Buffalo Man logo. Paper magazine also pointed out this contradiction with the music video for "Alright", writing "when Kay rolls up in his purple Lamborghini to party on the dance floor with a bevy of bodacious babes, concerns about seals, whales, rain forests and the revolution are checked at the door." He said that he was hesitant to release the album as he expected the backlash, but added "Just because I love to drive a fast car, that doesn't mean I believe in chopping trees down. It doesn't mean I think they should build more roads for my car".

Critics have generally praised Travelling Without Moving for its focused and refined sound, as it deepened the acid-jazz and soul styles that were informed from their first two albums. "Travelling was essentially about the metaphysics of having a good time... Jamiroquai have a thousand musical tricks up their sleeves; edgy horns laced with jazz intricacies, energetic bass lines and disco rhythms, and a wider variety of tempos than usual in British funk."

 

Travelling Without Moving Track List:

 

1. Virtual Insanity

2. Cosmic Girl

3. Use The Force

4. Everyday 

5. Alright

6. High Times

7. Drifting Along

8. Didjerama (Instrumental)

9. Didjital Vibrations (Instrumental)

10. Travelling Without Moving

11. You Are My Love

12. Speed A Lifetime

13. Do You Know Where You're Coming From (bonus track)

14. Funktion (Hidden track)

Rocktrospectiva: The Relevant And Brilliant "The Ultra Vivid Lament" Turns 5

Released on 10 September 2021 "The Ultra Vivid Lament" was the 14th., studio album by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. Preceded by two supporting singles, "Orwellian" and "The Secret He Had Missed", the album features contributions from Julia Cumming and Mark Lanegan. It was received well by critics, and debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart.

The album represented a departure from their 2018 effort Resistance Is Futile. The album announcement made clear that the new record would avoid tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, with Bradfield clearly stating that doing that would just "add insult to injury". Furthermore, about writing in lockdown, James said: "The escape was literally checking to see that the world around you wasn't crumbling when you wrote a song. Lockdown had the element of a waking dream for a lot of people, especially the first one last year. Writing music was a way of pinching myself to say, 'There's still a part of life that works in the same way that it did, albeit in a strange way'". Wire shared that he coped well with this issue: "I'm a very patient and lonely person," he admits. "I can deal with isolation and have always embraced utter boredom quite easily. You see the tragedy and agony unfolding around you and it feels a bit glib to say something like that".

Another event that affected the process of making the album was the death of both of Wire's parents. Having been sick during the making of Resistance Is Futile, his father died in the summer after its release. Wire said: "Having the parents that I had is probably the greatest thing that ever happened in my life. I really liked them; I didn't just love them. I liked talking to them, I'd speak to them every day. They were highly engaged, important, funny people." He credited them with his best traits: "Rage from my dad, he was a mental and physical force. And from my mum, kindness and femininity, an appreciation of aesthetic and the bliss of just sitting down and watching TV together".

While Bradfield learned to play piano during the lockdown, Wire's approach to the lyrical side changed, becoming more introspective and personal: "The lockdown pushed me into facing my own horrors, rather than the horrors outside." The songs that emerged from those sessions, which make up the album "are internal galaxies, of exploration within myself. I think they're the most personal lyrics I've ever written." Also having to confront the loss of his parents, it "allowed me to go deep into myself", the loss "overhung the lyrics". Musically, Wire stated: "I think it's got traces of Lifeblood and Futurology, but I think it is a step into a new dimension. It's got the high modernism of Futurology and the underplayed, glacial power of Lifeblood. It's very much framed within ABBA's 'Waterloo' and Echo & the Bunnymen's 'Bring On the Dancing Horses'." He concluded: "I'm not going to pretend that we're reinventing the wheel in terms of modernity, but it's definitely framed within that era of time." 

The band revealed that there were not many songs to pick from for the new record. Wire reflected: "If it didn't feel like it could be on the album, we were either dumping it or stowing it away so there's three or four. There's one James wrote called 'Eternalised' that he didn't think was up to the mark. The two extra tracks on the Japanese version of the album are really good actually. 'My Drowning World' in particular. There's one I wrote called 'Time of Reckoning' which didn't make the cut either. But we weren't writing masses and masses".

The Ultra Vivid Lament received generally positive reviews from critics. Although some medias said the record has its flaws – the odd misguided lyric, the occasional slip into by-numbers pop melodies – but there's plenty of space for those mistakes to be made... In the end, they are minor bumps in a record of intense beauty, among the best of the Manics' records this century". Thanks to the brilliance of The Ultra Vivid Lament, Manic Street Preachers remain as relevant as ever. They still matter.

 

The Ultra Vivid Lament Track List:  

 

1. Still Snowing In Sapporo

2. Orwellian

3. The Secret He Had Missed (featuring Julia Cumming)

4. Quest For Ancient Colour

5. Don't Let The Night Divide Us

6. Diapause

7. Complicated Illusions

8. Into The Waves Of Love

9. Blank Diary Entry (featuring Mark Lanegan)

10. Happy Bored Alone

11. Afterending

Rocktrospectiva: The Renewed And Wonderful "Roll The Bones" Turns 35

Released on 3 September 1991, "Roll The Bones" was the 14th., studio album by the Canadian rock band Rush. Produced by the band and Rupert Hine, the album continued the shift away from the keyboard-heavy arrangements of the 1980s toward a more guitar-oriented sound, a transition that had begun with their previous release, Presto (1989). The sessions, primarily held at Le Studio in Morin-Heights, Quebec, saw the band embracing funk and jazz influences, most notably in the title track's inclusion of a rap segment performed by bassist Geddy Lee. The album spawned the singles "Roll The Bones", "Dreamliner", & "Ghost Of A Chance."

Lyrically, the album explores themes of chance, fate, and the weight of circumstances, inspired by drummer Neil Peart's interest in the role of fortune in human life. The title is a slang term for rolling dice, a motif reflected in the Juno Award-winning cover art designed by Hugh Syme. 

In June 1990, Rush finished touring their previous album, Presto (1989). They purposely kept the tour short, which Lee said was due to the group feeling overcautious about touring the album. However, it became an enjoyable and positive experience for them, and by the time it finished, "we were so charged up we wanted to keep on playing." This renewed energy in the band carried through to the writing and recording sessions for Roll the Bones. They then took a break, but decided to cut it short in order to start work on new material for a follow-up record.

As with Presto, Rush started work by retreating to Chalet Studios, a remote studio in Claremont, Ontario. They stayed for 2+1⁄2 months, with Lee and Lifeson working on the music while Peart wrote lyrics. The three would reconvene in the evenings, when Peart would hear what the other two had come up with during the day. Lee had developed an interest in bird watching, and ensured some broken bird feeders by the studio window were repaired and filled with feed, which he enjoyed observing while writing. The album's liner notes include a thanks to birds.

The demos were recorded using an eight-track TASCAM 388 recorder and an integrated mixer hooked up to a sequencer running C-Lab Notator software. Lee set up simple drum patterns on the computer for Lifeson and himself to work from. It took between nine and ten weeks to write and rehearse for the album, and eight weeks to record it.

The album displays the continued change in the group's sound which started on Presto, with a reduction in keyboards and a return to guitar-driven songs. Lee said the change was "a backlash against the more computer-style of writing" which had dominated their sound through the 1980s, and the band now chose to use synthesizers and sequencers as an "orchestration device", rather than a key component in the songwriting. The writing sessions for Presto had involved just bass, guitar, and vocals, which contributed to the style shift, and the group continued with this approach for Roll the Bones. 

The album contains a running lyrical theme concerning the element of chance in different aspects of life, which Peart had devised while experimenting with lyrics. The first lyric that he wrote for the album was used on "Face Up", specifically: "Turn it up – or turn that wild card down." He recalled sitting on his cottage floor "with a pile of papers around me" of notes from the previous two years, mostly consisting of phrases written on tour or during "that dreamlike moment before sleep." He started to experiment with the phrases "turn it up" and "turn it down", which led to the idea of turning a card down and a wild card, and applied them to events that a person may face.

Roll the Bones was recorded at Le Studio in Morin-Heights, Quebec, and McClear Place in Toronto, between February and May 1991. The band resumed working with co-producer Rupert Hine and engineer Stephen Tayler, both of whom had worked on Presto. The vocals were recorded in England. Rush wanted to continue to work with Hine due to his accomplished songwriting, the feedback he gave their songs and his ability to allow the group to achieve a looser sound than previous albums. The bass and drum parts were recorded in four days, and the guitars in eight. Lee was amazed at how Peart had learned his parts for an entire song prior to recording it, and that "Nine times out of 10 it took only one pass for him to nail it." 

The album opener "Dreamline" had references to astronomy, which Peart was inspired by after bicycling a hundred miles from Cincinnati to Columbus between two gigs on the Presto tour. Upon arrival, he watched the popular science series Nova on PBS, and a program on satellite imaging captured his imagination. "Bravado" dealed with how one should not give up after failing, as opposed to ending life by suicide, which Peart had addressed in "The Pass" on Presto. "Roll the Bones" was named after a science fiction story by Fritz Leiber that Peart had read some 15 years prior, titled "Gonna Roll the Bones". Though the story had no influence on the music or its message, Peart took a liking to the particular phrase and had kept it in his notebook. "Where's My Thing?" was the band's first instrumental since "YYZ" from Moving Pictures (1981). It has the humorous subtitle of "Part IV, 'Gangster of Boats' Trilogy", referring to an inside joke where Lee and Lifeson threatened to name a Rush album Gangster of Boats if Peart ever had difficulty coming up with a title, as well as the joke that it's the fourth part of a trilogy. 

Then was "Heresy" is a more straightforward rock song with a rhythm that Lee described as a "heart beat pulse" that reflected some of Peart's lyrical ideas for it. Peart was inspired by the events surrounding the fall of Communism in eastern Europe in the early 1990s and people regaining their freedoms. "Ghost of a Chance" features Lifeson playing a PRS guitar, and he rated his solo on the track as one of his best. Lyrically the song is based on the compromises that one makes in a relationship to make it work. Peart was particularly proud of his words for it, as he had written a love song that avoided the clichés of more typical, sentimental love song lyrics. "You Bet Your Life", was the most difficult to record, partly due to getting a balance in the chorus between the vocals and the vocal melody. It was also hard to mix, and Lee "never felt confident that we actually nailed [it]."

Critical reception was positive praising the band renewed musical energy and melodic focus althought some critics were polarised by the rap section, also called the album as one of the most darkest in Rush's career, highlighting "Dreamline" and the finest tracks such as "Bravado", The Big Wheel," & "Heresy" for their wonderful melodies and arrangements.

 

Roll The Bones Track List:

 

1. Dreamline

2. Bravado

3. Roll The Bones

4. Face Up

5. Where's My Thing? (Part IV, Gangster Of Boats Trilogy) instrumental

6. The Big Wheel

7. Heresy

8. Ghost Of A Chance

9. Neurotica

10. You Bet Your Life 

Rocktrospectiva: The Mourning And Poignant "Bouncing Off The Satellites" Turns 40

Released on 8 September 1986 "Bouncing Off The Satellites" was the 4th., studio album by the US new wave band the B-52s. It was recorded in July 1985 and was produced by Tony Mansfield. It is the band's first release since the death of guitarist Ricky Wilson, who died of AIDS after most of the work on the album was completed, but a year prior to its release. The band had gone on hiatus by the time Bouncing Off the Satellites was released, and it took three years for the band to recover from Wilson's death and release their next studio album. The album spawned the singles "The Girl From Ipanema Goes To Greenland", "Summer Of Love" & "Gig." 

Bouncing Off the Satellites was recorded in July 1985. According to Kate Pierson, "Wig" was written and recorded after the band's label, Warner Bros., asked them to write a hit song for the album. The band had the title in mind for years and devised the song via a jam session. A backwards message was deliberately inserted into the song "Detour Thru Your Mind": in the last 30 seconds of the track, Fred Schneider says, "I buried my parakeet in the backyard. Oh no, you're playing the record backwards. Watch out, you might ruin your needle."

Unfortunately during the recording, guitarist Ricky Wilson was suffering from AIDS. Keith Strickland was the only bandmate who was informed of Wilson's illness. Strickland later stated that Wilson "was very protective, particularly of Cindy and his family", due to the public's misconceptions about AIDS.

On October 12, 1985, Wilson succumbed to the illness, at the age of 32. Pierson has stated that Wilson worked on the album in its entirety prior to his death, and that it was completed. Strickland later recalled, "After Ricky Wilson died, we felt that the band was finished. We couldn't imagine continuing without him. So, we each went our separate ways." The band took a hiatus from their musical careers until they reformed in 1988 for the recording of their next studio album, Cosmic Thing.

The album was released on September 8, 1986. Devastated at Wilson's death, the band did not tour and were involved in minimal promotion for the album. However, the band did produce a music video for "Girl from Ipanema Goes to Greenland", which Schneider has stated was both "bittersweet" and the best video they ever made.

Pierson later stated, "Warner Bros. figured since we weren't touring after Ricky died that they would just not promote the record. We all went through so many changes—especially without touring, and the record just dropped like a stone—and we all dealt with our grief." Pierson also theorized that the label did not promote the album because the band stated they had no intention of hiring a new guitar player to replace Wilson, thus the label assumed the band would not continue on without him. However, on August 5, 1987, the band appeared on the British ITV show Hold Tight!, miming to the song "Wig", with Strickland now on guitar and Ralph Carney credited on-screen for drums. The first side is entirely delightful, filled with such classic B-52 silliness as 'Wig,' 'Detour Thru Your Mind' and 'Girl from Ipanema Goes to Greenland,' but the flip is overly smooth, limp and uninspired, while Summer of Love' and 'She Brakes for Rainbows' redeem anybody's '60s retro,

Despite the relative lack of promotion, "Summer of Love" was released as the lead single and initially received a considerable amount of airplay from some radio stations, managing to peak at No. 3 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. Pierson later recalled that Warner Bros. employee Steve Baker had tried to get the label to promote the album in light of the single's success, to no avail. Subsequently, the album only reached No. 85 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Several critics stated: "Considering their loss, it's not surprising that the B-52's don't sound entirely focused throughout the record", adding that "There are so many musicians on the record that it winds up sounding too carefully considered the polar opposite of the loose, inspired fun of their early work." Others called the album "wistful" and "subdued", concluding that it is "the most subtle of the B-52s' albums, with the loss of Ricky Wilson adding to the album's poignancy."

 

Bouncing Off The Satellites Track List: 

 

1. Summer Of Love

2. Girl From Ipanema Goes To Greenland 

3. Housework

4. Detour Thru Your Mind

5. Wig

6. Them For A Nude Beach

7. Ain't It A Shame

8. Juicy Jungle

9. Communicate

10. She Breaks For Rainbows

Rocktrospectiva: Dire Straits' Final Studio Album "On Every Street" Turns 35

Released on 9 September 1991 "On Every Street" was the 6th., and final studio album by British rock band Dire Straits. It was the follow-up to the band's massively successful album Brothers in Arms, On Every Street reached the top of the UK Albums Chart and spawned the singles "Calling Elvis", "Heavy Fuel", "On Every Street", "The Bug", "You And Your Firend" & "Ticket To Heaven."

On Every Street was released more than six years after the band's previous album, Brothers in Arms. On Every Street reached number 12 in the United States and number one in the United Kingdom and numerous European countries. The album was produced by Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits. Curiously, the band was about to released a record for what turned out to be the last time. 

By this time, the band consisted of Knopfler, John Illsley, Alan Clark and Guy Fletcher, and the album features session musicians including Chris White, Paul Franklin, Phil Palmer, Danny Cummings and American drummer Jeff Porcaro from Toto, who was asked to play the band's subsequent world tour, although he declined because of other commitments, both with Toto and as a studio musician.

Dire Straits promoted the album with a 14-month world tour which comprised 216 shows in Europe, North America, and Australia, sold 7.1 million tickets, and lasted from August 1991 to October 1992. This was documented in the group's second live album, On the Night, which was recorded in May 1992 at Les Arenes in Nîmes, France, and at Feijenoord Stadion in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and was released in May 1993. Dire Straits disbanded permanently in 1995, after which Mark Knopfler pursued a solo career.

The LP arrived all of six years and four months after their record-smashing, multi-million-seller of 1985, Brothers In Arms. It was that gruelling itinerary that made Mark Knopfler realise once and for all that the world of stadia shows, giant arenas and massive touring entourages and rigs was no longer one he wanted to live in.

As we know, Dire Straits never issued a formal statement to announce that they were splitting, but a strong clue had arrived with his 1990 splinter group the Notting Hillbillies, and their album Missing…Presumed Having A Good Time. By 1995, Knopfler was committed to his work outside of Dire Straits, and finally released his first non-soundtrack solo studio record, Golden Heart, a year later.

On Every Street produced a number of memorable songs, notably the lead single "Calling Elvis," one of many showcases for Mark's ever-nimble rock guitar lead lines. Three further releases from the album followed in the characteristically rocky "Heavy Fuel," the reflective title track, and the rock n' roll-flavored "The Bug." And perhaps some lesser-known gems such as "Fade To Black" and "You And Your Friend", the track "Iron Hand" relates to the Battle of Orgreave during the 1984–1985 UK miners' strike, with Knopfler remarking on how the police charge on horseback into the crowd of striking miners had reminded him of the savagery of medieval times.

 

On Every Street Track List:  

 

1. Calling Elvis

2. On Every Street

3. When It Comes To You

4. Fade To Black

5. The Bug

6. You And Your Friend

7. Heavy Fuel

8. Iron Hand

9. Ticket To Heaven

10. My Parties

11. Planet Of New Orleans

12. How Long

Rocktrospectiva: The Rare And Intense "Test For Echo" Turns 30

Released on 10 September 1996 "Test For Echo" was the 16th., studio album by the Canadian rock band Rush. It was the final Rush album to be co-produced by Peter Collins. The band supported the album with a world tour in 1996 and 1997, after which they went on a five-year hiatus following the deaths of drummer Neil Peart's daughter and wife, and would not record again until 2001, the album spawned the singles "Test For Echo", "Driven" & "Half The World."

The title track reached No. 1 on the mainstream rock chart. The song "Driven" became a bass showcase for Geddy Lee during live performances, while "Resist" was rearranged as an acoustic song on the Vapor Trails and R30 tours. The band did not perform any tracks from the album on subsequent tours.

In May 1994, Rush finished their Counterparts Tour of the United States and Canada in support of the band's 15th album Counterparts (1993). The group then took a usual break in activity, but this went on to last 18 months as bass guitarist and vocalist Geddy Lee wanted to be at home for the first year of his daughter's life. With their free time, guitarist Alex Lifeson recorded his first solo album Victor and drummer/lyricist Neil Peart released a Buddy Rich tribute album Burning for Buddy and spent time on his technique, receiving formal instruction from the jazz drummer Freddie Gruber.

In October 1995, the band decided to start work on the next Rush album and, as with their previous three albums, retreated to Chalet Studios in Claremont, Ontario, to write and rehearse. Having been together for more than 20 years at this point, Lifeson questioned whether Test for Echo would be Rush's last album, and if they would tour behind it. He changed his mind when it was finished, as the group was already in talks about the next album and said, "We've got a lot of stuff in us yet." The first sessions were difficult for him, having had full control of Victor and the "same old" discussions with Lee as to what direction the new Rush album would be prior to writing. "Once I exorcised those ghosts, the following week we wrote five songs. We dove into it and it was very, very positive from then on".The band put up inspirational slogans on the studio wall, including "Individually we are a ass, together we are a genius" and "If you want something done right, just forget it". Lee and Lifeson completed almost six songs before they presented any of their work to Peart as they did not want to interrupt the flow of their productive writing. They had reserved the studio for around ten weeks, but the productive sessions resulted in the writing finishing three weeks early. Lifeson said the group were in particularly good spirits throughout the album's production and put it down to the break they had taken.

The band adopted its usual method of Lee and Lifeson working on the music with Peart working alone on the lyrics, but the music was written in a different way than before. In the past, the writing had Lee and Lifeson form songs by matching pieces of music to verses and choruses as they went and all three would listen to what was put down and exchange ideas to develop them further. This time, lyrics were matched with suitable sections of music, after which they were recorded and Lee and Lifeson would work on something else. As Peart wrote: "They didn't want to get bogged down in the 'jigsaw puzzle' of assembling whole songs, but rather keep the momentum going with a flow of fresh ideas." After a collection of songs were worked out, the group started to refine their individual parts. In November 1995, the group were faced with heavy snow at Chalet Studios which led into the North American blizzard of 1996 in early January. The snow continued through the recording of the album, which inspired the album's artwork.

The album was recorded from January to March 1996 at Bearsville Studios in Bearsville, New York. The studio was chosen because the band wanted to capture "more size" from Peart's drums and the facility was more suited to his kit. Additional recording took place at Reaction Studios in Toronto, where it snowed for 40 consecutive days. Test for Echo was the first time Rush worked with American engineers and mixers, having only worked with English or Australian personnel before. They chose the recording engineer Clif Norrell, a longtime fan of the band who once performed Rush cover songs in his own group.

The album opened with "Test for Echo" features lyrical contributions from Pye Dubois who had also written lyrics for three Rush songs prior. Lee said the words reflect the group's current situation at the time. Lifeson plays a Les Paul Custom guitar and described the song as "pure Rush". "Driven" was written entirely on Lee's bass guitar and features three separate bass tracks. Lifeson said that Peart played "a little bit back on the beat" which gave the song a "heavier character" and caused Lee and himself to adjust their parts to fit his drums. "Half the World" features Lifeson playing a 10-string mandola which he had played to get a feel for the instrument, but found it changed the song's personality completely. He presented it to Lee who expressed initial doubts as it displayed an unusual texture, but grew to like it.

"Time and Motion" originated from a set of lyrics that Peart had written, after which Lee and Lifeson worked on music for it which developed quickly. They wanted to dramatise the first lyrical phrase by incorporating major chords, but Lee said a first version of the track was put together some years prior, but never used. Lee described "Dog Years" as "a bit punky". "Limbo" is an instrumental track that was pieced together from different bits of ideas that the group had sketched out but remained unused. Lifeson picked "Resist" as one of his favourite tracks, and among the best Rush had ever recorded.

Critics praised the album by saying that Rush has rarely played better in the past ten years than they have on Test for Echo". In retrospective, and according to Lee; the album has been considered a strange record in a sense. It doesn’t really have a defined direction. I kind of felt like we were a bit burnt creatively. It was a creative low time for us.

 

Test For Echo Track List:

 

1. Test For Echo

2. Driven

3. Half The World

4. The Color Of Right

5. Time And Motion

6. Totem

7. Dog Years

8. Virtuality

9. Resist

10. Limbo (Instrumental)

11. Carve Away The Stone 

In Memoriam: The Broadway Composer And Barely Breathing Composer "Duncan Sheik" Dies Aged 56

The Grammy- and Tony-winning musician and composer Duncan Sheik has passed away at age 56, his mother has confirmed. Sheik, perhaps was best known for his 1996 hit "Barely Breathing," had been hospitalized in critical condition earlier this week, according to a message posted to his official Instagram page on Wednesday. The post did not elaborate on his medical condition, but said Sheik was stable and receiving treatment.

On Friday, The New York Times reported that Sheik's mother Suzanne Sheik had said her son died of organ failure, but the outlet later reported that she identified the cause of death as cardiac arrest. He died on Thursday while hospitalized in New York City, she said.

Another message posted to Sheik's Instagram page on Friday also confirmed his death:

"The world has a lost a singular talent, and deeply influential voice in music and theater,” reads the caption. “From his Grammy-nominated hit ‘Barely Breathing’ to his groundbreaking, Tony and Grammy Award-winning work on Spring Awakening, Duncan’s artistry touched many and leaves an indelible mark on the cultural landscape.

“Duncan was a father, husband, son, brother, and friend. He will be remembered for his sensitivity, wit, inteligence, and depth of spirit he brought to those who knew and loved him."

Growing up between South Carolina and New Jersey, Sheik learned guitar as a child and got his first synthesizer when he was 12. He was heavily influenced by Talk Talk, David Sylvian and Nick Drake. His self-titled debut album was released in 1996 and Rolling Stone gave it a four-star review, calling it "a defiant debut — beautiful and benevolent of spirit."

The single "Barely Breathing," from that album, spent 55 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 16. It was nominated for best pop vocal performance at the Grammy Awards in 1998.

Sometime during the production of his third album, Sheik teamed up with playwright Steven Sater to compose the music for "Spring Awakening," a musical that opened on Broadway in 2006. "Spring Awakening" went on to win eight Tony Awards, including for best musical, as well as the Grammy for best musical show album.

New Music: Take Me By The Hand

           

Taken from Echo And The Bunnymen's new album "Apples For Isaac" out today, "Take Me By The Hand" is the band's latest single that stick again with that legendary post punk vibe from the 80's, the band's new album had the collaboration of the legendary Clem Burke from Blondi who managed to work in 10 of the 11 tracks before his demise last year, the track was produced by Ian McCulloch, Alan Moulder & Andrea Wright.

New Music: Western/Martian Skyline

           

           

The Church have announced their 28th studio album — a stat that would close out most careers and is, for this lot, simply Thursday. Lacuna lands October 30 via Cooking Vinyl, and shares the lead single "Western"; Steve Kilbey has said the title came straight from the setting, a nod to a childhood spent absorbing TV. It also arrives paired with second track "Martian Skyline", the pair following on from last year's "Sacred Echoes (Part Two)." Kilbey calls the album “intense, forlorn, and exultant” — as tidy a summary as any for a band still finding new corners inside their own sound: jangling guitars, atmospheric post-punk, dream-pop haze.