311 live stream their full show from Burgettstown, PA, in celebration of the release of VOYAGER!! 6 HD cameras will catch 311 rock the house. Tune in and spread the word!
Photo: Brian Bowen Smith
LINKS:
https://facebook.com/official311
https://twitter.com/311
https://instagram.com/311
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Musta Paraati – The Leader
Finnish post-punk legends Musta Paraati will be releasing their first new album in 34 years on October 2018, through Cleopatra Records. The ‘Black Parade’ LP features 11 tracks in English. 10 of these are new and ‘The Leader’ is a new English rendition of their song ‘Johtaja’, which released as a single in 1983. The band is previewing this track ahead of the album release.
This release follows Cleopatra Records’ 23-track deluxe reissue of their 1983 debut album ‘Peilitalossa’ on CD & digitally, also featuring bonus material from their 1984 sophomore album ‘Käärmeet’.
Highly regarded as Finland’s premier post-punk/goth rockers, Musta Paraati was making music before their countrymen Russian Love, Two Witches, and The 69 Eyes. With their own unique sound that is upbeat and with an old-school punk attitude, their music gained them cult status in their native Finland, their albums being considered prized contributions to record collections, and also led to touring with other cult bands like Lords of the New Church and Hanoi Rocks.
It is not surprising that Jyrki ’69’ Linnankivi from The 69 Eyes joined Musta Paraati members Sakari ‘Saku’ Paasiniemi (guitar), Pasi ‘Panda’ Nikander (bass), Yrjö ‘Ykä’ Knuuttila (drums) on this album. The band’s original vocalist was Jore Vastelin, who passed away in 1993.
“We started this project with Jyrki to make a couple of songs in English for our fans abroad, but it grew into a full album. We are really excited and proud of our new album ‘Black Parade’. It has pushed us to the next level and we are already working new material for the future releases,” says Yrjö.
“Since the material sounded virtually like the music Musta Paraati was making back in the 80’s, I took an imaginative journey back in time and studied everything I found from that era, including music, movies, and politics. I also kept the somewhat naive approach for lyrics and rock’n’roll to keep things simple,” comments Jyrki 69.
In 2015, Musta Paraati had a new lineup with vocalist Herra Ylppö, with whom they played a string of well-received shows and released the two-track EP ‘Uusi Musta/Uudet Juhlat’. Ylppö’s work with solo career and his band Maj Karma led to Musta Paraati guitarist Saku Paasiniemi sending some new tracks to Jyrki 69.
“Two hours after I sent the demos to Jyrki, I received three completed songs,” says Saku. “We didn’t really think of our collaboration marked the new coming of Musta Paraati at all – it was just another cool project!”
Following the re-release of ‘Peilitalossa’, Jyrki 69 shared the new demos with Cleopatra Records, the label signed on for a new album and Musta Paraati joined Jyrki 69 in the studio to record what would become the ‘Black Parade’ album.
The album cover for ‘Black Parade’ features photography by Stefan Bremer, the same photographer whose image features on the band’s debut album, taken at exactly the same location.
As of October 19, 2018, ‘Black Parade’ will be available from online stores and streaming platforms, such as Spotify. It can already be pre-ordered digitally via Bandcamp and on both CD and vinyl via Cleopatra Records. This Musta Paraati vinyl is a limited edition purple vinyl pressing. This album will be supported with a full-scale international tour starting in November 2018.
LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/mustaparaati
https://mustaparaati.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/musta-paraati
https://www.instagram.com/sakupaasiniemi -
Johnny Marr – Easy Money
The early 1980s weren’t the best of times to be an aspiring guitar player. Twenty years earlier, the head of Decca records, Dick Rowe, had made the biggest A&R gaff in pop history with the legendary clanger “Guitar groups are on their way out, Mr Epstein”. But in 1982, Rowe’s apocalyptic prophecy suddenly sounded frighteningly real. After the initial roar and storm of punk, British pop music had succumbed to a synthesizer-driven pursuit of new waves and new romanticism. In an age of Vienna’s, Tainted Love’s and Too Shy’s, the pure sound of six-stringed, melodic pop – be it as amorous as The Beatles, as lascivious as The Stones or as giddy as T.Rex – was fast becoming a lost cause with few willing to fight its corner.
That all changed with Johnny Marr.
Born in Manchester on Halloween 1963, of Irish heritage, Marr’s earliest musical memories are the get-togethers of his extended family, perhaps – as his early guitar idol Marc Bolan would sing – dancing himself out of the womb to the traditional strains of Black Velvet Band. As a child, he’d be spellbound by his parents’ record collection: the forlorn dramas of Del Shannon, the prison doldrums of Johnny Cash and the heart-popping bliss of his mother’s Four Tops singles. All these influences would linger at the back of the boy Marr’s brain, waiting for the command to attack his fingertips at a later date.
That date finally came during the early summer of 1982 when Marr, just 18 years-old, formed The Smiths after seeking out the reclusive and elusive Stretford poet, Morrissey. Musically, the sound of The Smiths was a guitar noise nostalgically familiar yet equally dumbfounding in its pristine newness. The tunes were giant, euphoric and instantaneous but woven together with such nimble flair it appeared as if the guitar was playing Marr instead of the other way round. Lost for words, early critics of the day undersold him with the words “jingle” and “jangle” when, had they tried, they might better have described the sound of Johnny Marr as that of Van Gogh’s Starry Night in angry animation. Or the echo of diamonds raining down upon zinc-plated cobblestones. Or the sound of kitchen cutlery bouncing off a gaffer-taped Telecaster (which, ridiculous as it sounds, is how Marr achieved some of the resonant clangs in This Charming Man.)
LINKS:
http://www.johnny-marr.com
http://www.facebook.com/officialjohnnymarr
http://www.twitter.com/johnny_marr
http://www.instagram.com/johnnymarrgram -
Arlo – Rivers
East London based soul/ pop artist ARLO recently revealed gorgeous new pop song, ” Rivers”. Having been featured by Spotify New Music Friday and gaining the acclaim of a variety of publications, ARLO has revealed a stunning Jackson Ducasse directed video for the track.
The past few months have seen the fast riser take big strides forward, with two London sellouts at Camden Assembly and The Waiting Room as well as Mick Jenkins collaboration “Changing” cementing ARLO as an artist to watch throughout 2019. Clocking up over a million Spotify streams as an independent artist and press support from the likes of Complex, Highsnobiety, Nylon, The Independent and more, ARLO has been putting together a stellar catalog of releases and will continue to do so this year. Add him to your ones to watch list.
You can catch ARLO headlining 02 Islington Assembly on June 5th, 2019. Grab your tickets HERE.
LINKS:
https://www.iamarlo.com
https://twitter.com/iam_arlo
https://www.facebook.com/iamarlomusic
https://www.instagram.com/Iam_arlo