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Double Trouble Reggae Band: "Love Letter"
The song "Love Letter" was written by Ed Murray and Pad Anthony of the Double Trouble Reggae Band.
Roger O'Donnell, long known as the man behind the keys for legendary bands like the Cure and earlier for The Psychedelic Furs, steps out on his own with his beautiful new album The Truth in Me. A collection of songs composed and recorded using a single instrument, the Moog Voyager. An instrument with it's own cult following, the Moog is generally not known for the very warm and undeniably human sounds that become immediately apparent upon listening to this fascinating work. Always an artist of unique vision, Roger O'Donnell's playing and songwriting can be found on era defining records and he has performed on some of the biggest tours and festivals all over the world. His contributions have always had an amazing influence on the bands he played and wrote with. Following the inclusion of his song "Another Year Away" on the soundtrack for the Moog Documentary, Roger was encouraged by one of the film's producers to do an entire album orchestrated with a Moog Voyager. Since Roger had enjoyed working with the Voyager on the soundtrack, the idea appealed to him: "My initial idea (for the soundtrack) was to try and write a song and record it using only a Moog and that's what happened. I knew from my early days that I could orchestrate using mono analogue synths so in a way I was revisiting my roots." "Definitely not a concept album, more of an album concept, it was a re-visiting of my early days of composing using limited instrumentation. Consciously un-compromised or commercial, it's a mainly instrumental journey through my musical influences and where I am now (vocalist Erin Lang sings 3 songs). I was also inspired by Bjork's use of a single instrument, the voice, on her record Medulla. I found the Voyager really easy to work with and thought that maybe I had found my own voice and could do something that was entirely original. Finally, music that I am satisfied with and that satisfies me, The Truth In Me says what I have been trying to say for a long time." The Truth In Me has inspired a number of musicians to join Roger in his exploration. Remixes have already been done of a number of the album's tracks by such luminaries as Jimmy Tamborello of The Postal Service/Dntel/Figurine, Kieran Hebden of FourTet, The Notwist/Console, and Jimmy LaValle of The Album Leaf. Roger O'Donnell will be touring the US through the Fall of '06 and beyond with an appearance at this years CMJ festival in New York. "...a collection of songs that shows the sensuous and moody side of the Voyager." Electronic Musician
Conductor started as a collection of songs written in the winter of 2003 at house on the North Carolina coast. Cold winds blowing in from the Atlantic would often rustle palms and wind chimes on the porches of of empty beach houses. The steady noise made it a little easier for a string of break-ins to continue. Baffling local authorities. Although most of the houses were boarded up that winter, a few remained occupied. One of these, lit almost exclusively by candle light in the evening, housed a 4 track recorder, an acoustic guitar, a small city of wine bottles (both full and empty), and Andy Herod. At the end of a 2 year relationship and faced with having to find a new place to live in 6 weeks, the songs began to come out. Loss of love and identity and all that. Eventually each night he ended up on the couch watching the only movie that made sense or mattered, Dark City. Upon each viewing finding new meaning, symbolism and hope that seemed to apply directly to his own life. Some felt that this period may have gone on a bit long... At the end of the winter several cassette tapes where passed along to band mate Nicole Gehweiler as well as friend and producer Alan Weatherhead. A record was soon underway. Recorded at the Sound of Music studios in Richmond VA, Conductor ended up a swampy mix of pop and fuzzed-out rock songs. But when it came time to sequence the record, the band was stumped. Finally one smoky evening in the studio around 4 am, a story line began to reveal itself in the music they were hearing. Almost instantly, the track order fell into place and plans to animate the story began. Six weird months later came Conductor, a monument to the suicide of love erected by robots against a wintry sci-fi back drop of dark towers, moonlit skies and a cast of lost characters. Or perhaps it is just a break-up record. It is not yet known. What is known is that it's here, and it's massive.
Conductor started as a collection of songs written in the winter of 2003 at house on the North Carolina coast. Cold winds blowing in from the Atlantic would often rustle palms and wind chimes on the porches of of empty beach houses. The steady noise made it a little easier for a string of break-ins to continue. Baffling local authorities. Although most of the houses were boarded up that winter, a few remained occupied. One of these, lit almost exclusively by candle light in the evening, housed a 4 track recorder, an acoustic guitar, a small city of wine bottles (both full and empty), and Andy Herod. At the end of a 2 year relationship and faced with having to find a new place to live in 6 weeks, the songs began to come out. Loss of love and identity and all that. Eventually each night he ended up on the couch watching the only movie that made sense or mattered, Dark City. Upon each viewing finding new meaning, symbolism and hope that seemed to apply directly to his own life. Some felt that this period may have gone on a bit long... At the end of the winter several cassette tapes where passed along to band mate Nicole Gehweiler as well as friend and producer Alan Weatherhead. A record was soon underway. Recorded at the Sound of Music studios in Richmond VA, Conductor ended up a swampy mix of pop and fuzzed-out rock songs. But when it came time to sequence the record, the band was stumped. Finally one smoky evening in the studio around 4 am, a story line began to reveal itself in the music they were hearing. Almost instantly, the track order fell into place and plans to animate the story began. Six weird months later came Conductor, a monument to the suicide of love erected by robots against a wintry sci-fi back drop of dark towers, moonlit skies and a cast of lost characters. Or perhaps it is just a break-up record. It is not yet known. What is known is that it's here, and it's massive.
Toots and the Maytals (featuring Shaggy): "Bam Bam"
Toots is one of the true architects of reggae - so much so that "Do the Reggay," a 1968 single by Toots and his group, the Maytals, is credited with giving the genre its name. Classic songs written and recorded by Toots and the Maytals have been covered by the likes of the Clash and the Specials, and the group was featured in reggae's greatest breakthrough event - "The Harder They Come," the 1972 film that became an international sensation. The all-star guests on TRUE LOVE range from legends like Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, and Bonnie Raitt to younger stars including No Doubt, the Roots, and Phish's Trey Anastasio. The caliber of these collaborators reveals the impact that Toots has had on several generations of rockers and rappers, while appearances from reggae icons Bunny Wailer and Marcia Griffiths show the respect granted to the man who might be the music's greatest living vocalist. At the heart of it all is that voice - drenched in soul, rooted in gospel, and still breathtakingly powerful after almost four decades in the spotlight.
Toots and the Maytals: "Get Up, Stand Up: Live"
Toots is one of the true architects of reggae - so much so that "Do the Reggay," a 1968 single by Toots and his group, the Maytals, is credited with giving the genre its name. Classic songs written and recorded by Toots and the Maytals have been covered by the likes of the Clash and the Specials, and the group was featured in reggae's greatest breakthrough event - "The Harder They Come," the 1972 film that became an international sensation. The all-star guests on TRUE LOVE range from legends like Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, and Bonnie Raitt to younger stars including No Doubt, the Roots, and Phish's Trey Anastasio. The caliber of these collaborators reveals the impact that Toots has had on several generations of rockers and rappers, while appearances from reggae icons Bunny Wailer and Marcia Griffiths show the respect granted to the man who might be the music's greatest living vocalist. At the heart of it all is that voice - drenched in soul, rooted in gospel, and still breathtakingly powerful after almost four decades in the spotlight.
Yep Roc is proud to introduce The Moaners, a female rock duo that manages to capture the unapologetic sexuality of Polly Jean Harvey with the raw amplified blues of the Fat Possum crowd. Featuring former Trailer Bride front woman Melissa Swingle and transplanted Baltimore punk drummer Laura King, The Moaners unleash a batch of hard love songs on their debut, Dark Snack. From the opening yowl of feedback that precedes the albums pounding opener,"Heart Attack,"to the sense of longing on "Talk About It" ("I know you dont want to talk about it theres too much to say"), this album is an exuberant expression of freedom and sexual emancipation from a distinctly female perspective. Whereas Swingles previous band, Trailer Bride, conjured visions of dark, Flannery OConnor-esque tales, moss-covered trees and mournful secrets, The Moaners are a rock band that are as comfortable invoking the spirit of Chapel Hill-born folk blues legend Elizabeth Cotton as doing their own reworking of "House of the Rising Sun" with lyrics inspired by a local rural joint, the Paradise Club. Swingles Mississippi-bred drawl wraps around the lyrics like a warm wind an instantly recognizable voice that can go from honeydrip sweet to searing in seconds flat. Check out the track "Terrier," where an exasperated Swingle snarls, "But you know, you aint no Great Dane?" It's the best dismissal of a pushy sort of, uh, overcompensating man you?ll ever hear. The two women cut a striking image on stage. Both brunettes, Swingle is tall and willow thin, usually sporting a huge pair of 70s-era Jackie O. shades, maintaining a sultry onstage aura of cool but all the while seeming like a kettle about to boil. Playing a tuned down hollow-body guitar and using loops and delays, her guitar sound is full and visceral the kind volume you can feel pulsing under your ribcage. Drummer King, whos been playing since age 11 (shes a vet of Baltimore bands Pedge, Headless and others), is a muscular, hard-hitting drummer who beats the hell out of her clear Vistalite bicentennial kit. They met when their former bands played a gig together King was playing in Grand National, a rock trio featuring fIREHOSEs Ed Crawford on guitar. Swingle was going through the dissolution of her marriage. "I was blown away by her drumming, Swingle recalls. I started writing songs to fit her drumming, which is very rock and roll. Basically, once we started playing, our styles collided and it became what it is. Were both self-taught, so its like a real natural feel. It was like, Forget the sad songs, its time to rock and roar." A collaborative effort fueled by estrogen and Sparks (a caffeinated malt liquor beverage the two started drinking during the recording of the album), King adds backing vocals and contributes lyrics; Swingle, also an accomplished artist, contributes to the visuals. The two make their own buttons and T-shirts and have already hit the road with everyone from pals the Drive-By Truckers to Wanda Jackson, as well as making a splash at Chicagos Estrojam festival. The sky is the limit, the road is truly their lady, and the chemistry is audible. There is nothing mournful about this music, Swingle says. This is music to crank up and drive around to!! These are the most rockin love songs Ive ever written not sweet ones. A lot of Trailer Bride was minor key, depressing music. Im happy with what weve got!
My friend gave me a tarot card reading over the phone one night as I was watching TV with a guitar in my lap. "I've drawn a mountain," she said. "I'm a mountain," I said. So begins a song that became the title track of my new record. Most of these songs have been milling about in my mind for a while now. Some I started writing back when I put down the electric guitar and ding-digga-dinged my way through summer on the back porch. All of them live in the same wide frame and seem to belong together. "I am Aglow," "The Ring," and "I'm a Mountain," are tunes inspired by country music and bluegrass bands, singing for the joy of it, and telling new versions of old stories in song. "The Phoenix" builds on the themes of courage and regeneration and the inspirational "How Deep in the Valley" came from somewhere deep in the hymnbook of my memory. Down low in the picture frame (under a log) is "Salamandre," a children's song written by my friends Kate Fenner and Chris Brown. I am thrilled this modern classic can be part of this collection as it expresses my own love for the magical and precious amphibian and the time-honored relationship between nature and imagination. "Luther's Got the Blues" is my old pal Luther Wright's enduring, scruffy sidewalk lament, and Dolly Parton's "Will He Be Waiting For Me" lives in the world of lost love and yearning that I, too, know something about. I wrote "Goin' Out for an AIDS Vigil," and I am so happy to have my dad singing it with me. He also lends his warm and wise timbre to "Oleander." And finally, casting its glow over the entire record is the new folk song "Escarpment Blues," which tells the story of a current land-use conflict in Southern Ontario on the Niagara Escarpment, a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. I grew up on the escarpment on the farm where my family still lives, within a long green corridor prized for its fresh water resources, its endangered species habitats, its prime agricultural soils, and its wetlands and forests. These lands are under serious threat from the aggregate (sand, gravel, and shale) industry. The problem is large multinational companies want to open new quarries on top of the escarpment and extract the rock below these ecosystems, thereby removing and destroying them. So, after writing the song, I got the idea for the "I Love the Escarpment" Tour and set out in June 2005 with some of my best musical mates to hike the escarpment and make music along the way. Julie Fader (vocals, keys), Jason Euringer (vocals, stand-up bass), Spencer Evans (clarinet, accordion), Joey Wright (mandolin, guitar), and I hit the Bruce Trail (the continuous hiking trail that goes from one end of the escarpment to the other) and spent two weeks rock climbing, caving, hiking, and performing in theaters and community halls along Southern Ontario's spine. All proceeds of the tour went to help finance the research and advocacy work of Protecting Escarpment Rural Land (PERL), a volunteer organization I helped form last winter when the new quarry proposal came to light in my old stomping grounds of North Burlington. After a wonderful tour we put away our hiking boots and went into Reaction Studio in Toronto to capture these songs, all wrapped in up our camaraderie. This record was made for everyone, everywhere. Like the smiles we had on our faces when we made it, we hope it spreads far and wide.
A Pink Floyd reissue and new songs from DJ/vocalist Colette and Dirty South MC Chamillionaire top the Download.com Music crew's picks this week.
This video for DJ FastTrack's "Hello" has been highly acclaimed for its energy and upbeat feel. Raver jock on the loose?
