Pop Levi: "Blue Honey" Video

Video description: Pop Levi has led what one might describe as a melodic life. From childhood his life has been steeped in music. He took up piano at age 3, joined a gospel choir at 7, and started record collecting at 9 just prior to writing his first song. It was a precocious start for an artist who has proved to be a prodigious talent. This English born, LA based multi-instrumentalist was a founder member of avant-garde rock collective Super Numeri before embarking on a global roller coaster ride as bassist with electro pioneers Ladytron. All the while he?s been perfecting his modern spin on rock and soul, releasing two singles on the ?Trons Invicta Hi-Fi label', and carefully crafting his debut solo album. August 2006 sees the release of his first EP on Counter Records. Drawing inspiration from such luminaries as Van Dyke Parks, Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye and Syd Barrett, Levi creates his own brand of gloriously funky alt-rock, meticulously piecing together his kaleidoscopic sound from recordings he?s compiled over a ten-year period. The roar of a motorcycle and the Bolan-esque swagger of title track Blue Honey, kicks off this five track EP. Track 2 (A Style Called) Crying Chic sees Levi pay tribute to the sun drenched sounds of 60's west coast America before he struts his stuff on the Zeppelin-heavy guitar riffs of Mournin Light. Penultimate song Baby Again (Midnight Version) has a looser, more experimental feel, prior to more close-vocal harmonising and finger clicking beats from Levi on an alternate recording of album track Skip Ghetto (Echo Park version). The album, The Return To Form Black Magick Party, described by Levi as a truly bizarre whirlwind of classic sounds has been mixed by Thom Monahan, Devendra Banhart's producer, and produced by Pop Levi himself. It is due for release in the New Year. Meanwhile Levi and his band have been astounding audiences with their soulful vocals and guitar pyrotechnics both at home and here in the UK and plan a return trip to the UK in August for a clutch of dates to be announced shortly.

Related Videos

"The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Electric Ladyland" DVD clip: "The Making of 'Crosstown Traffic'"

The story of "Electric Ladyland" is told here in words, music, rare archival film footage, and a contemporary diary kept by one of Hendrix's employees. Among those contributing are Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell of the Jimi Hendrix Experience; singer/keyboardist Steve Winwood; engineer Eddie Kramer; and, in his last interview, Hendrix' manager Chas Chandler. With a musical soundtrack that includes "All Along the Watchtower," "Still Raining Still Dreaming," "Gypsy Eyes," "Crosstown Traffic," "Voodoo Chile" and "House Burning Down," this electrifying program provides insights into the life, work, and musical genius of a rock music legend.

"The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Electric Ladyland" DVD clip: Introduction

The story of "Electric Ladyland" is told here in words, music, rare archival film footage, and a contemporary diary kept by one of Hendrix's employees. Among those contributing are Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell of the Jimi Hendrix Experience; singer/keyboardist Steve Winwood; engineer Eddie Kramer; and, in his last interview, Hendrix' manager Chas Chandler. With a musical soundtrack that includes "All Along the Watchtower," "Still Raining Still Dreaming," "Gypsy Eyes," "Crosstown Traffic," "Voodoo Chile" and "House Burning Down," this electrifying program provides insights into the life, work, and musical genius of a rock music legend.

"The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Electric Ladyland" DVD clip: "Rainy Day, Dream Away"

The story of "Electric Ladyland" is told here in words, music, rare archival film footage, and a contemporary diary kept by one of Hendrix's employees. Among those contributing are Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell of the Jimi Hendrix Experience; singer/keyboardist Steve Winwood; engineer Eddie Kramer; and, in his last interview, Hendrix' manager Chas Chandler. With a musical soundtrack that includes "All Along the Watchtower," "Still Raining Still Dreaming," "Gypsy Eyes," "Crosstown Traffic," "Voodoo Chile" and "House Burning Down," this electrifying program provides insights into the life, work, and musical genius of a rock music legend.

Tour the archives of music mogul Bill Graham

Wolfgang's Vault CEO Bill Sagan takes you through a meticulous collection of rock and roll's rarest memorabilia and discusses how it will be revealed for the first time in the digital era.

The Rapture: "Get Myself Into It"

The Rapture was formed in early 1998 by drummer Vito Roccoforte and guitarist/vocalist Luke Jenner. The whimsical indie group had extensive touring behind them by the time they recorded 1999's Mirror for Gravity. More touring ensued -- with the likes of Sunny Day Real Estate and Nuzzle -- and the band eventually relocated to New York City. They lost their original bassist and found a new one in Matt Safer, who had recently moved from Washington, D.C. After some more touring, the band recorded the six-song Out of the Races and Onto the Tracks EP and had it released by Sub Pop in 2001. Thanks to their sloppy brand of scratchy post-post-punk, the Rapture was hailed as a forerunner of the post-punk revival that was taking place in the early 2000s. Their profile increased significantly with 2002's "House of Jealous Lovers" 12"; that same year, they added multi-instrumentalist Gabriel Andruzzi to the fold. The full-length Echoes followed for Gary Gersh's Strummer label in late 2003. The follow-up, Pieces of the People We Love, was released three years later by Mercury.

The Sights: "Circus"

In the summer of 1998 ? brought together by a slew of disparate-yet-alluring musical reference points ? high school friends Eddie Baranek (vocals/guitar), Mike Trombley (drums), and Mark Leahey (bass/vocals) formed The Sights. The trio began playing around their hometown of Detroit shortly thereafter, around which time Trombley, founding drummer, headed to California for what would come to be a three-year respite from the band and also the impetus for a revolving door of drummers, bassist and keyboard players. Undaunted , The Sights took to the studio and began recording their debut album, Are You Green?, at Jim Diamond?s Ghetto Recorders in Detroit . Originally released in June of 1999, Are You Green? was picked up by L.A.-based Fall of Rome Records and re-released the following year. Never big on rest, The Sights went to work on their sophomore album, Got What We Want (released in 2002). With this, the band?s freakishly precocious ability to blend frenetic garage rock, Motown and 60?s pop into something equal parts classic and catchy got them noticed. Got What We Want was released in the U.K. a year later, garnering them some very nice words from both the British press ("Got What We Want is a revelation - a treasure trove of sparky and wildly immediate songwriting." --NME) and the not-so British press ("At last - a new Detroit-garage band that comes in colors." --Rolling Stone). The Sights hit the road for a year of touring both countries, including a 10-week stint sleeping inside the group?s 1991 Ford Econoline van and stealing bagels for sustenance. In the spring of 2004, The Sights - now including relative newbie Bobby Emmett as organist/bassist and Keith Fox as drummer- caught the ear of ex-Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha, who signed them to his own Scratchie Records ( an imprint of New Line Records). And with that, the band headed back to Ghetto Recorders to record their self-titled third LP, The Sights, due out in April 2005. No small feat, the album combines the unobtrusive honesty of The Band with slivers of influence from The Sights? own personal record collections: Ike & Tina, Solomon Burke, Everly Brothers , Bob Seger, Tim Hardin and all manner of raucous songwriting. The end result is an album that?s classic, not derivative?filled with swagger and deference?and ridiculously catchy. Really.

Digitizing music history

Music business revolutionary Bill Graham's archive is home to rare and never-before heard music from rock's most famous artists. Now, Wolfgang's Vault CEO Bill Sagan takes you through a meticulous collection of rock and roll's rarest memorabilia and how it will be revealed for the first time in the digital era.

Dave Gahan: "Kingdom"

There are few professions that force one to so constantly face down the march of time as that of the gloriously precarious job of rock stardom. And it is exactly that which makes the title of Dave Gahan's second solo album, Hourglass (Mute/Virgin Records), all the more poignant.

Digitizing music history

Music business revolutionary Bill Graham's archive is home to rare and never-before heard music from rock's most famous artists. Now, Wolfgang's Vault CEO Bill Sagan takes you through a meticulous collection of rock and roll's rarest memorabilia and how it will be revealed for the first time in the digital era.\r\n

Boom Boom Satellites: "Moment I Count"

Boom Boom Satellites first surfaced in Europe in 1997. They've taken Japan by storm many times, and have toured with Moby, Underworld, and remixed artists such as Garbage and Josh Wink. Philosophically pursuing the spiritual world, while at the same time having an energy that is physical and untamed, Boom Boom Satellites' sound is a blend between the roughness of rock and meticulously calculated programming. "FULL OF ELEVATING PLEASURES," their first US release in almost 7 years, is a gospel rock 'n roll album that moves beyond the traditional boundaries of electronic music. The throbbing 12-song track list includes "Dive for you," the theme song for the much talked about anime feature film "APPLESEED." It's an album that suggests the unveiling of a new chapter in the history of Boom Boom Satellites.