SummersRadio™ New Music/ Video! Jack White - 'High Ball Stepper' (Official Video)
Jack White has just released a new song and video online called 'High Ball Stepper'. 'High Ball Stepper' is an instrumental track from his forthcoming second solo album called 'Lazaretto', which will be released June 9th (U.K. & Europe)/ 10th (North America) on his own Third Man Records label.
White notes on Facebook that 'High Ball Stepper' is just an album track preview - and that the title track from 'Lazaretto' will be released as the album's first official single later this month. You can pre-order the album now on limited blue and white coloured vinyl here: http://thirdmanstore.com/vault/vault-subscriptions/tmr-vault-platinum-subscription
'High Ball Stepper' may not be a single proper, but the song has err... balls - and they've still made a rather cool video for it... Enjoy!
SummersRadio™ New Music! Jack White - 'Take Me With You When You Go'/ 'Weep Themselves To Sleep'
Jack White has released his debut solo album called 'Blunderbuss' today! The 13 track album is released on his own Third Man Records label and is his first release since officially disbanding the White Stripes in February 2011. We've already featured the first two singles from the album 'Love Interruption' and 'Sixteen Saltines', so today we have two of the album's other standout tracks.
Upon my first listen if there's one criticism I have of 'Blunderbuss' it's that it lacks some of the overall energy of his White Stripes output. Perhaps Meg White's drumming had more influence on their sound than one may have thought. It's well produced of course and mixes his usual styles of rock, country, blues, and folk - but on occasion it just ends up sounding a bit too middle of the road - and not in a cool Pretenders kind of way, just rather adult contemporary. That said I've chosen two tracks that I think still hold their own.
'Take Me With You When You Go' is the album's closing track and one of the album's most diverse production wise. The song begins with lead female vocals over a jazzy piano backdrop that pauses briefly around the two minute mark and transforms into a Zeppelin styled rocker with the two parts then melding together creating an epic reminiscent of Spiritualized... Enjoy!
'Weep Themselves To Sleep' is the seventh track on 'Blunderbuss' - I like the piano in this one... Enjoy!
SummersRadio™ New Music + Concert News! Jack White - 'Sixteen Saltines'
Jack White has just released his new single online today AND a new tour has been announced that will see him perform in Vancouver in May! 'Sixteen Saltines' is the second single released from White's forthcoming debut solo album 'Blunderbuss' which is set for release on April 23rd - and the follow up to the album's first single 'Love Interruption' which you can check out/ revisit here: http://summersradio.blogspot.ca/2012/01/summersradio-new-music-bonus-track-jack.html
The first dates of his spring/ summer tour have also just been announced - which includes a show here in Vancouver on May 27th at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre - tickets go on sale this Friday. Here are the other dates announced on the tour thus far:
5-15-16 Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
5-18 Gulf Shores, AL – Hangout Music Fest
5-19 Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel
5-21-22 New York, NY – Roseland Ballroom
5-24 Detroit, MI – Scottish Rite Theater
5-26 George, WA – Sasquatch! Music Festival
5-27 Vancouver, British Columbia – Queen Elizabeth Theatre
5-28 Eugene, OR – Hult Center for the Performing Arts (Silva Concert Hall)
5-30-31 Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern
6-22 London, England – Hammersmith Apollo
6-23-24 London, England – Radio 1′s Hackney Weekend
6-25 Amsterdam, Netherlands – Heineken Music Hall
6-26 Berlin, Germany – Tempodrom
6-27 Cologne, Germany – E-Werk
6-29 Werchter, Belgium – Rock Werchter
7-1 Belfort, France – Les Eurockeennes
7-2 Paris, France – L’Olympia
7-5 Hamburg, Germany – Docks
7-27-29 Niigata, Japan – Fuji Rock Festival
The new single 'Sixteen Saltines' is quite different from 'Love Interruption' - 'Love Interruption' was a pretty laid back affair - but this new single (available on itunes as of today) rocks in the typical White Stripes meets Led Zeppelin style... Enjoy!
SummersRadio™ New Music + Bonus Track! Jack White - 'Love Interruption'/ White Stripes - 'Blue Orchid' (Dirty Funker Blue Mix)
Jack White has just released his new solo single on itunes today! 'Love Interruption' is the first single from his forthcoming debut solo album called 'Blunderbuss' which is released on April 23rd on his own Third Man Records label. The itunes release is just one track, but the song will also be released on 7" vinyl on February 6th, featuring the non-album b-side 'Machine Gun Silhouette'.
White has described 'Blunderbuss' as 'an album I couldn't have released until now. I've put off making records under my own name for a long time but these songs feel like they could only be presented under my name. These songs were written from scratch, had nothing to do with anyone or anything else but my own expression, my own colors on my own canvas.'
Like much of his work with the White Stripes 'Love Interruption' has it's roots in both blues and country music, and features the lovely backing vocals of Nashville singer Ruby Amanfu... Enjoy!
Bonus Track! White Stripes - 'Blue Orchid' (Dirty Funker Blue Mix) 'Blue Orchid' was the first single released from the White Stripes 2005 album 'Get Behind Me Satan'. This is an excellent remix by London's Dirty Funker - I especially love the Led Zeppelin style drum breakdown that begins about 4:55 in... Enjoy!
SummersRadio™ Music News + Rare Remix! Brendan Benson - 'Metarie'/ 'Metarie' (Alpha's Dub Mix)/ 'Alternative To Love'/ 'Garbage Day'
Brendan Benson has announced that he's releasing his new studio album - his fifth - called 'What Kind Of World' on April 21st! The album is released on his own Readymade Music label - which was born in the 90's when Benson released his very first demos on 12" singles with The Wellfed Boys. This year the label goes worldwide with releases from both himself and other artists - including Young Hines - the first signed to the label. You can keep up with Brendan and his label develpments on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/brendanbensonmusic
Brendan is perhaps best known these days as the co-founder of The Raconteurs - with Jack White (of the White Stripes) - but I'm more partial to his solo work. There isn't any new music available from his forthcoming album just yet, so instead we'll feature a few of his finest songs released over the years - including a rare remix!
'Metarie' is the first Brendan Benson song I heard - and I fell in love with it instantly! Several different recordings of the song have been made, including some with different lyrics. There's the 'Wellfed Version' recorded with The Wellfed Boys in 2003, 'U.K. Version', 'Fred de Faye Mix', 'Demo Version', 'Alternative Version' and the rather rare 'Alpha's Dub Mix' (which I will feature below).
I think a couple of them might actually be the same version with a different name - there's so many that it can be a challenge to sort them all - but it's the version from his 2002 album 'Lapalco' that is most to my liking. I love the female backing vocals on this version, it has a warmer production feel to it than some of the others, and I think it flows more smoothly (perfectly in fact!) as well - but this might just be because it was the first version I heard.
This is the album version of 'Metarie'... Enjoy!
This is the rare 'Alpha's Dub Mix' by Alpha - which was included on the U.K. cd single for 'Metarie'. It's a dub mix not so much in a club remix sense - although it does feature fewer overall lyrics than the original, and it repeats a key line or two as many dub versions of club songs will do - but more dub sounding as in the reggae style. One might describe it as trip hop as well - with Alpha being from Bristol and all... Enjoy!
'Alternative To Love', a song about the neverending seach for true love, was first released as a b-side of the 'Metarie' EP/ single - but was later re-recorded and became the title track (sans 'The') of his 2005 album 'The Alternative To Love'. Brendan's sound is often described as power pop - with influences noted to include artists such as The Cars, Wings, E.L.O., and David Bowie. I like how the bass and occasional hihat give the song a danceable, almost (subtle) disco feel... Enjoy!
'Garbage Day' is a track from his previous most recent solo album (after releasing two albums with The Raconteurs) - 2009's 'My Old, Familiar Friend'. Any regular reader will likely know by now that I'm a fan of well used/ placed strings - as 'Garbage Day' has in abundance. You can certainly hear an E.L.O. influcence here - but it also has a nice Motown feel to it as well... Enjoy!
SummersRadio™ New Music! Jack White - 'Love Is Blindness' In yesterday's bonus track we featured Jack White in his collaboration with Electric Six - today we have a brand new Jack White track - a cover of U2's 'Love Is Blindness'! This month marks the 25th Anniversary of Q - the British music magazine. As part of their celebrations, the December issue of the magazine - which hits the stands this Wednesday the 26th - will come with a new exclusive U2 covers album - specifically an Achtung Baby tribute album! It also just happens to be the 20th anniversary of U2's 'Achtung Baby' next month - and the 12 track bonus disc is called 'Ahk-toong Bay-bi Covered'.
*update* If you were frustrated that you'd miss out on this release because you can't buy Q in your area, 'Ahk-toong Bay-bi Covered' is going to be released on itunes on November 15th!
Here's the complete tracklisting and cover art:
1. Nine Inch Nails - Zoo Station
2. U2 - Even Better Than the Real Thing (Jacques Lu Cont Mix)
3. Damien Rice - One
4. Patti Smith - Until The End Of The World
5. Garbage - Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
6. Depeche Mode - So Cruel
7. Snow Patrol - Mysterious Ways
8. The Fray - Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World
9. Gavin Friday - The Fly
10. The Killers - Ultraviolet (Light My Way) 11. Glasvegas - Acrobat
12. Jack White - Love Is Blindness
Despite beings a critics favorite 'Achtung Baby' is hardly my favorite U2 album - although it certainly has a few classic U2 songs on it. None of the tracks I'm still most curious to hear are posted anywhere just yet - the NIN, Depeche Mode or Snow Patrol covers - however they have released three songs online thus far. One is Garbage's 'Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses' - Shirley Manson's vocals are seductively lovely as always, but the song loses it appeal for me when the sludgy chorus kicks in. I didn't find it completely postworthy but you can check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFJnzab8sng
They've also released the Damien Rice cover of 'One' - which just seems wrong to me - and Jack White's explosive cover of 'Love Is Blindness' - most certainly the stand out of these initial three offerings. As is the case with some of his own White Stripes material - Jack White manages to turn the U2 track into a full on Led Zeppelin styled freak out! It's gutsier, bluesier, and as Bono says on the magazine cover 'some of these versions are better than our own' - I just might be inclined to agree on this one... Enjoy!
SummersRadio™ New Music! Peter Horrevorts - 'Fire In The Disco' The Netherlands Peter Horrevorts has released a new EP on Germany's Kanzleramt label called 'Fire In The Disco'! It features two tracks - 'Fire In The Disco' and 'Smoke In The Club'.
'Fire In The Disco' mixes an array of genres together - it's mostly tech house but with sprinkles of reggae and ska, techno, and disco - with some great production - featuring plenty of keyboard effects... Enjoy!
Bonus Track! Well I could hardly post a song called 'Fire In The Disco' without thinking of Electric Six's classic 'Danger! High Voltage'! Electric Six just released their eighth studio album called 'Heartbeats And Brainwaves' earlier this month on Metropolis Records, but they achieved their first major success with this song in 2003 - fueled in part by the fact that it featured the White Stripes Jack White on backing vocals (under the psuedonym John S O'Leary) - as both bands were part of the Detroit garage rock scene.
This is the Les Rhythmes Digitalis (aka Stuart Price) 'Thin White Duke Mix' of 'Danger! High Voltage'... Enjoy!
SummersRadio™ New Music! Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi featuring Jack White - 'Two Against One' Since 2005 producer extraordinaire Brian Joseph Burton aka Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi have been composing a spaghetti western album! Jack White and Norah Jones are the main vocalists on the album that also features musicians who played on the original Ennio Morricone scores from the 60's. If you didn't know, a spaghetti western is a sub-genre of western films that were dubbed as such because the films were largely produced and directed by Italians - and originally filmed and released with Italian dialogue.
The album is called 'Rome' and is released on May 16th. The first single 'Two Against One' will be a limited (1,000 copies) 7" release in the U.K. to coincide with Record Store Day - which is April 16th! Despite being a spaghetti western composition, Jack White's vocals makes 'Two Against One' sound very much like it could be from a White Stripes album - but then they always had a western look and feel to a lot of their music, so it's a great fit... Enjoy!
