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A hot-blooded clip from the venerable news program, the "O'Reilly Factor".
Ask most serious bands about the recording process, and if they dont compare it to giving birth, they'll likely tell you that making an album is akin to psychotherapy. But lets be real here: How many of those bands actually take the album-as-therapy idea literally? For Atlanta quintet Norma Jean, who for all intents and purposes should be some of the most content dudes in underground music right now, the recording sessions for their third album, Redeemer, packed group therapy, boot camp and endurance test into one gnarly package. Produced by Ross Robinson (At The Drive-in, From First To Last, Sepultura), Redeemer is at once the heaviest and most personal album in this bands arsenaland thats saying something: With their 2002 Solid State Records debut, Bless The Martyr And Kiss The Child, Norma Jean established themselves as one of the noisiest and most adventurous young bands in metal today. With the 2005 follow-up, O God, The Aftermath, drummer Daniel Davison, bassist Jake Schultz, and guitarists Chris Day and Scottie Henry welcomed new vocalist and Arkansas native Cory Brandan to their lineup and took their artful, technical noise to the proverbial next level, earning critical acclaim and a 2006 Grammy nomination (for Asterik Studios awe-inspiring artwork) in the process, and embarking on a grueling tour schedule that most recently found them on Ozzfest 2006s second stage. And now, with a new, expanded edition of Aftermath in stores, the obvious question follows: When you still have past glories to coast on, why make a new album at all? Basically, we had too much material brewing inside us, and we wanted to get it out, says Davison, laughing. We probably couldve waited to record until after we cut back on what we had, but when the opportunity to work with Ross came up, it just felt like, Man, being in the studio with this guy is something Ive wanted to do since I was 12 years old; Im gonna do anything I can to make this happen now. After practicing, in Davisons recollection, pretty much ever day, for about 50 days solid, and going through rigorous pre-production at home in Atlanta, the band decamped with Robinson to Radio Star Studios in the tiny mountain town of Weed, California, to start work on Redeemer. Though some of the songs were still works-in-progress (as Brandans recalls it, Songs were changing up until 20 minutes before we tracked them) the lyrics, again written collaboratively by Brandan, Henry and Davison, really took shape once the band got into the studio. Wed rehearse a song till we felt we had it worked out, and then wed bring in Ross and sit down for another hour or two just to discuss it, Brandan says. He had us all in there as a group, talking about each songwhat the lyrics were about, where they came from, what the song meant to us personally and spiritually. It was really intense; so much stuff came out during those sessions, and in the end, it was really unifying for us as a band. While rehearsals took place in a beautiful, open-stage environment inside the studio, tracking itself was another storyall part of the intense process that would eventually shape the songs. I tracked my drums under the stage, Davison remembers, laughing. Wed get done talking about the song, and then wed head down below the stage into, like, this little dungeon. It was really small, and the drums were set up with mikes all over them; there were hot water pipes, ventilation, everywhereit was really intense. We could barely stand up because the ceiling was so low, but Ross was there the whole time, coaching us and keeping us in that mindset. Just one listen to Redeemer confirms the ferocity of the bands performances. From the discordant breakdowns and jarring time changes of The End Of All Things Will Be Televised to the newfound melodic intensity of Blueprints For Future Homes, the album packs some of Norma Jeans most unhinged, soul-baring playing into the span of 11 songs. And though the weird angles and difficult guitar figures that comprised Aftermath are still prevalent, that albums refined, very-much-studio feel has given way to raw atmospheres in which you can practically see the sweat running onto the instruments. Brandan, whos already proved himself a formidable vocalist, fully comes into his own on Redeemer with a style that veers between unhinged screaming and down-on-his-knees melodic belting. As has been the case with Norma Jeans previous albums, fans will interpret Redeemers title in a number of ways: Theres the obvious (its their shortest album title ever); the semi-obvious (the band members are Christian; the albums called Redeemeryou follow?); and the not-so-obvious (look up Redeemer in Websters Dictionary for even more possibilities). All of these, says Davison, are valid readings, but as before, its better just to listen to the whole album before settling on an opinion about what it all means. We just wanted a title that was short and simple, but also really powerful, Davison explains. Redeemer was the most powerful word we could think of, and obviously, for us, being a spiritual band, it takes on special meaning. Brandan agrees. We didnt call it Redeemer and then try to make the lyrics work around that [idea], he says. Theres some really personal stuff on this record, and even though Im seeing in hindsight that the title ties into some of that, Ive always thought its best just to let people come up with their own ideas about the songs, rather than say, This is our concept; this is what the records about. No matter how you interpret it, one things for sure: Slide it into your player, and you will feel Redeemer more than any other Norma Jean album. Emotional, spiritual, visceral, physicalthis isnt just the third album Norma Jean wanted to make; its the career-defining statement they had to.
New Young Pony Club: "Ice Cream"
Hot on the heals of previous limited 7" single "The Get Go" New Young Pony Club (NYPC) return with Ice Cream, a sparsely minimal punk funk jerkout that sounds like a distaff version excursion on disco-era Rolling Stones fronted by the Slits' Ari Up and produced by David Byrne and Brian Eno. Partly inspired by LCD Soundsystem and a chance meeting of like-minded band members intent on establishing something potent, Andy and Tahita formed NYPC in 2005. A five-piece comprising of Tahita (vocals), Andy (guitar), Igor (bass) Lou (keyboards) and Sarah (drums), they provide the kind of tight and bass-heavy future discoid noise currently setting hairs on end up and down the country. Ice Cream, their first single on Modular, is already causing a stir online with fans creating myspace pages with lyrics taken from the provocative song. ?A lot of [the lyrics are] about the perceived idea of how women are supposed to be, and putting my twist on it.? Says Tahita. NYPC have quietly set their world alight with a swell blend of disco, pop and punk which they are currently distilling into a debut album for Modular. Undoubtedly, one of THE bands to watch for 2007.
Luciano was born in 1974 as Jepther McClymont in Davey Town, Jamaica. He grew up in Manchester, in the country. Then he becomes a orange-seller in Montego Bay. He began singing in his local parish church before assuming the name of Stepper John and migrating to Kingston in 1992. His debut tune was for Herman Chin-Loy at Aquarius, then he did half an album with Pressley for Mau Mau producer Sky High. His name was then changed into Luciano. 'Give my love a try' was his first Jamaican hit. Phillip 'Fattis' Burrell produced his first two UK hits: 'Chant Out' and 'Poor and Simple', that was in the summer of 1993 on Exterminator. His debut solo album, Moving Up was released in 93 (RAS/Exterminator). Sly and Robbie and their Taxi label helped Luciano, who later joined Freddie McGregor's Big Ship organisation. 'Shake It Up Tonight' was his first UK number 1. This song came from the album with the same name (Big Ship 1993).
Le Kim Luc: "Chuyen Tinh My Chau (The Love Story of My Chau)"
This song is based on an old Vietnamese story about a princess named My Chau who got married to the son of a long-time enemy named Trong Thuy. She trusted him and told him about the magic bow of the King. He switched it and then invaded the country. While fleeing with the King, she picked the feathers from her coat and threw them along the way so that her husband could find her track. The King got mad and killed his daughter.
The White Stripes: "Blue Orchid"
get behind me satan -is the white stripes? fifth album -produced by grammy award winning producer jack white -recorded in Detroit at third man studios, mixed in Memphis at ardent studios, mastered in new york city at masterdisk -album contains thirteen original songs -songs were written on piano, acoustic guitar, and marimba -songs are deceivingly orchestrated, some sounding as if they were recorded with a full orchestra when they only have piano and bass on them -none of the songs had been played live before the recording of the album -none of the songs were completely written before the recording of the album -contains the white stripes shortest song to date -only three songs are electric guitar based -the band used their live sound engineer to engineer the recording -their fourth album, elephant was released one year after completion. the first single from get behind me satan, ?blue orchid,? was released two weeks after completion -jack white has described the record as an exploration of ?characters and the ideal of truth? -the band will tour prior to, and continue after, the album?s release but are only playing countries and cities that they?ve never been to before. The band plan to tour the u.s. and Europe afterwards. -a vinyl version of the record will be put on hold pending a unique release. -produced by jack white, engineered by matthew kettle, mixed by jack white, mix engineer john hampton, mastered by howie weinberg, photos by ewen spencer all songs written by jack white album artwork design by the third man artwork layout by arthole graphics
Bonnie "Prince" Billy and Matt Sweeney: "I Give You"
This video from two great indie songwriters is among the best indie music videos of 2005. The song is from the duo's album "Superwolf," released on Drag City.
The band released only three singles in the last year - but these 12inches caused a good buzz and heavy rotations with DJ's all over the place. Especially the single SPACE FOR RENT (and The Rapture's remix of it) is currently getting a huge response (Leftfield single of the issue in DJ mag), and their cover version of Benny Benassi's Satisfaction is still a hit in many clubs. The album?s second single OUT THE DOOR was remixed by French producers IN FLAGRANTI and SUPERDISCOUNT and has been getting good exposure in clubs worldwide. Pete Tongfeatured it in his Radio One Essential charts and 2 MANY DJ?s featured a few WhoMadeWho Songs in their latest Radio One mix. MTV in France and Italy and MTV in UK put the video on rotation. The 2 MANY DJ'S/ SOULWAX guys are such huge fans of WhoMadeWho that they invited the band to do their live support on their big UK tour in autumn 2005. Same with MYLO who invited the band to support them on their tours. UK Press quotes: "Brilliant!"(NME) "...focused and brilliant." (iD sept 2005) "while the record is super fun, the band is even better live!" (Dazed & Confused) "Should coax even the shyest of floors back from the death!"(DJ mag) NME about WHOMADEWHO's Remix of MUNK's Kick out the chairs!:One of our favorite dance tracks of the year!
30 Seconds to Mars: "A Beautiful Lie"
"A Beautiful Lie," the title track and current single from 30 Seconds to Mars' platinum album, marks the first music video ever shot 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle in Greenland. It is the third in a series of short films featuring songs from the band's 2005 album. (The previous two were "The Kill" and "From Yesterday," which was the first American music video shot in the People's Republic of China); both were directed by Bartholomew Cubbins. "A Beautiful Lie" directed by Angakok Panipaq premieres January 30th in an array of countries including the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Spain, Sweden and Denmark through a never before seen global Myspace exclusive event. This will be followed by a multi-channel and online media blitz.
"Run Away" is an easy listening acoustical based love ballad from the CD "Rocks Paper Scissors and Dynamite" released in March 2005 and available at all MAJOR INTERNET RETAILORS!! My first video -- no rehearsal, $200.00, one light, a few takes, getting rained on, way out on some country road, where the locals were amused!
