It's been nearly two years since beloved drummer Charlie Watts passed away and while he'll always be remembered for being the backbone of the world's greatest Rock n' Roll band (no, not Nickelback) Watts was also an accomplished jazz drummer.
Sony BMG is releasing a compilation of some of his best recordings in that genre and it'll be available tomorrow Friday, June 30th, 2023. You can pre-save the album in your Apple Music library or stream it when it becomes available in the embedded player below.
I've always had a rather complicated relationship with Depeche Mode. For a while, I absolutely hated them because I associated them with Just Can't get Enough, which I thought was the epitome of terrible music. A bouncy synth, an electronic disco beat, a happy singalong melody... I just couldn't stand it and I lumped them in the same bag as atrocities like Bros or Bronski Beat. Then when they released Violator, I realized that their dark aesthetic was deeper, more complex and more musical than what that early single let on. And then in 2001 a friend took me to see them live on the Exciter tour (it was the concert that ended up being released as One Night In Paris) and I absolutely loved it.
Today is Jeff Beck's first birthday since his shocking passing last January. It's hard to believe the man would have turned 79 had a bout with meningitis not abruptly ended his life: he always seemed so youthful and vibrant. That's probably because musically, unlike a lot of his contemporaries, he never stopped exploring, he never stopped advancing and he never stopped being curious. Never one to be pigeonholed or stuck in one genre, Beck was on a seemingly never-ending quest for emotion, expression and tone. Not only did he change stylistically, he also regularly altered his approach to playing the guitar... Yet somehow he was always recognizable by his phrasing and by his touch.
For a long time, between the late sixties to the mid-seventies, The Who was the best live band on the planet. Better than the Stones, better than Zeppelin, and yes, even better than your favorite band. Now, I'm too young to know this from experience: I've had to learn it second-hand through many (many!) live albums, bootlegs, concert movies and various documents. But the excitement, the power, the insanity, the musicality of a Who show was unmatched, unrivaled, unequaled. That was in large parts thanks to the manic drumming of Keith Moon and the virtuosic bass playing of John Entwistle, whose endless creativity and astounding chemistry turned their rhythm section into a lead instrument of sorts.
Chrissie Hynde and her band have announced two dates in the small Parisian club La Maroquinerie. Don't miss the rare opportunity to see the band up close and personal in a tiny venue! Tickets at the link below.
Rhiannon Giddens has announced a handful of European tour dates and she'll be performing in Créteil near Paris in February for the Sons D'Hiver Festival. .Check out the details in the embedded tweet below.
Comprised of guitar hero Jeff Beck and Vanilla Fudge/Cactus rhythm section Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice, Beck, Bogert & Appice was a short-lived Hard Rock supergroup that released only one studio album in 1973, between the collapse of the second Jeff Beck Group, which was primarily a Soul/Rock outfit, and the guitarist's reinvention as an instrumental Jazz Fusion musician with the blockbuster album Blow By Blow.
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| Eugene Hütz on stage with Gogol Bordello in 2017 |
Cannibal Corpse has just released surprise new single Blood Blind, the first taste of their upcoming new album Chaos Horrific, which is due on September 22nd. Fans of the band can their usual trademark sound of delicate melodies, subtle grooves and poetic lyrics of love and hope, and maybe even an accordion solo or two. You can pre-save the album and listen to the song in the embedded Apple Music player below, or in the YouTube video at the bottom of the page.
A Gogol Bordello show is one of the rowdiest, most intense event you can experience in rock n' roll. The term absolute insanity doesn't even begin to describe the atmosphere, on the stage or in the crowd, and this show was no exception, like if the Clash, Goran Bregovic, Mano Negra and Bob Marley all got hammered on red wine and started an orgy. Simply put, this was one of the best show we've seen this year, and we've seen a lot.
