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Elbow
ELBOW GO BACK TO THEIR ROOTS
ELBOW’s third album sees them return home and go back to basics after the traumatic recording of ‘CAST OF THOUSANDS’.
The band have recorded their new album in Manchester in an open plan space on the top floor of Salford’s Blueprint Studios. The band have produced the album themselves.
Singer Guy Garvey told NME.COM: “It’s very well documented that [making the second album] was really tough. And much as we all love the record, there wasn’t much joy involved in it. The actual experience was thoroughly fucking joyless to be honest.”
Determined to change the process, the band resolved to write on the road, and, refreshed, set about making the album without any outside influences.
The band have been joined by Mark Thomas from the Soup Collective, who alongside doing the visuals for Elbow, has made videos and animations for big-league pop stars Girls Aloud and Appleton.
Thomas is working on animations and visual ideas that grow at the same rate as the music that inspired them. But far from an Andy Warhol Factory vibe, bassist Pete Turner insists “it’s more like a youth club!”
“It’s brilliant though,” he continued, “because there’s artists coming in doing little sketches every day, people coming in and taking photographs.”
Mark’s works in progress are projected on a giant screen in front of the band as they write and record.
“It’s such a great vibe,” continued Guy. “We totally have control of what this environment looks like, feels like. It makes sense to have Mark up there, because [images] are so closely linked in the way people perceive stuff these days. And he makes a great cup of tea.”
Opening track ‘Station Approach’ describes coming home, taking its name from the road leading up to Piccadilly Train Station, while possible first single ‘Buddha With Mace’ describes a fat bouncer.
Guy added: “We’ve all really missed being at home. I spend a lot of time in the same few bars, but you fucking crave them when you’re away. It’s fucking great here, compared to how it was. It’s just getting better and better.”
The album, currently untitled, is due in May.
Flaming Lips
MYSTIC WARRIORS!
THE FLAMING LIPS have titled their new album 'AT WAR WITH THE MYSTICS'.
And frontman Wayne Coyne has revealed that he wants Cat Power to guest on the follow-up to 2002's 'Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots'.
The star told Entertainment Weekly: When in doubt, start with a title. 'At War With the Mystics'. If you think it's cool, it sounds good to me!''
Coyne said of the potential collaboration: ''Cat Power seems like she's willing to do a big range of things, and I'm always looking for some mystery element that lets us explore new territory.''
He added: ''We've been using more computers and gadgets, but trying to make them sound more organic and less electronic."
But whatever the record sounds like, Coyne is confident that things will go well - as long as the band stick to their guns.
''You're always gaining and losing your audience, so you gotta do what you love,'' said Coyne. ''And if The Flaming Lips can't do what they want, who can, you know?''
The record should be released later in 2005.
Coldplay
PLANE SPEAKING FROM COLDPLAY CHRIS
COLDPLAY frontman CHRIS MARTIN has revealed how a brush with death has made him more determined than ever to make "the best album of all time".
The singer claims that he nearly died when his plane hit a dust storm during a trip to a remote part of Africa.
Martin, who was on his way to Ghana with Oxfam to publicise fair trade issues, was coming into Tamale Airport when disaster struck.
"It was so terrifying, the plane was all over the place. Once a year, for a week, all this dust blows over from the Sahara Desert. You could not see a thing," he told today's (January 17) Sun newspaper .
He added: "I couldn’t see the ground and as it turns out, nor could the pilot. I found out we were about 200 metres up. The plane dropped off violently to the right then way over to the left it. It was lurching all over. But somehow the pilot pulled it off and landed. I don’t know how he did it. I was convinced he wasn’t going to. Did the pilot know Chris Martin was on board? I don’t think he gave a flying fuck."
The singer said the first thing that popped into his head during the traumatic affair in the 30-seater-twin propeller jet was his eight-month-old daughter Apple and finishing Coldplay’s forthcoming as-yet-untitled album.
"My mind was racing and I thought, ‘My daughter will have to get a stepdad.’ I also thought, ‘I’ve written a will. The band have finished the album but they know how I want to finish certain songs.'"
He added: "There is a Radiohead song called ‘Airbag’ which says that every time you get out of a car you should celebrate that you are alive. I felt that getting off the plane. But it fired me up for the trip. I thought, ‘I’m going to learn as much as I can and meet as many people as possible.’"
Martin revealed that the incident has made him more determined to make Coldplay’s next album their strongest yet.
"It’s always good at the beginning of a trip to remind yourself to be motivated. As we came so close to crashing I promised that when I got home I was going to make the best album of all time," he admitted.
During his five-day trip, the singer met peasant farmers, visited markets selling cheap food imported from the EU and US, and he campaigned against the global trade system which cripples millions of people in the Third World to poverty.
"They grow cheap tomatoes in Ghana," Martin said. "But I saw market stalls stacked high with cheap tinned tomatoes shipped in from Italy. If Ghana tries to export to Italy they are whacked with tariffs. It doesn’t make any sense. We are making money out of these people and they can’t afford to send their kids to school.
"We’ve got to keep banging on about fair trade. If people knew what misery these trade laws created they would be shocked."
Coldplay’s forthcoming album is due out of the spring.
"I’m inspired by everything at the moment – life is tremendously short," he added.
Morrissey
FEAST OF STEVEN
MORRISSEY is set to release a new live album and separate live DVD this Spring.
The singer is aiming to put out his first concert LP in over a decade - ’Live From Earl’s Court’ - along with a separate DVD ’Who Put The ‘M’ In Manchester’, which will chronicle his 2004 tour in support of his latest album, ’You Are The Quarry’.
The tracklisting for ’Live At Earl’s Court’ is still to be finalised.
Filmed at his May 22 homecoming show at the Manchester MEN Arena, ’Who Put The ‘M’ Manchester’ will feature a mix of solo tracks as well as Smiths songs.
The setlist on the night ran:
* ‘First Of The Gang To Die’
* ‘Hairdresser On Fire’
* ‘Irish Blood, English Heart'
* ‘The Headmaster Ritual’
* ‘Everyday Is Like Sunday’
* ’I Have Forgiven Jesus’
* ‘I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday’
* ’How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?’
* ’Rubber Ring’
* ‘Such A Little Thing’
* ‘Don't Make Fun Of Daddy's Voice’
* ‘The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores’
* ‘Let Me Kiss You’
* ‘No One Can Hold A Candle To You’
* ‘Jack The Ripper’
* ‘A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours’
* ‘I'm Not Sorry’
* ‘Shoplifters Of The World Unite’
* ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’
According to Billboard, the DVD was filmed by Bucky Fukumoto, who shot the three of the music videos for singles taken from ’You Are The Quarry’ – which will also be included on the DVD release.
Ikara Colt
IKARA COLT CALL IT A DAY
IKARA COLT have split up.
The band, who released their second album ‘Modern Apprentice’ last year, have called it a day after a five-year career.
Singer Paul Resende said: "The band has taken the group decision to split up. From the start we were always going to break up after 5 years… that 5 years is now up."
He added: "The band would like to thank everyone that has supported us over the years, you know who you are."
British Sea Power
BSP SET SAIL AGAIN!
BRITISH SEA POWER are to return with a new album, tour and "the band's first major museum retrospectives" in the spring.
'Open Season', the follow up to the 2003 debut 'The Decline Of British Sea Power', is released on 21 March. An as-yet-unconfirmed single will precede the LP's release on March 7.
British Sea Power guitarist Noble said of the new record: "It is different to the first album. We reckon you could play this album all the way through without falling off your bike."
Mr. John Lennon
JUST IMAGINE...
JOHN LENNON almost gave up playing the guitar after just two lessons as he found the instrument too difficult, a former bandmate has revealed.
Drummer Colin Hanton, who played with the Beatle in school band The Quarrymen, has said that the legend tried lessons but "decided it was going to take forever to play music properly".
However, Lennon changed his mind after seeing skiffle artist Lonnie Donegan, according to Hanton.
He told the BBC World Service: "Once Eric (Griffiths, guitarist) and John Lennon actually tried to learn to play guitar properly, they went to a music teacher for two lessons - and decided it was going to take forever to play music properly."
"But then Lonnie Donegan came on the scene and said 'All you need is three chords and something you can bang' - a rhythm section or whatever - so overnight everybody joined a skiffle group," he added. "They realised you didn't have to be particularly musical or talented, as long as you could keep a tune."
Lennon founded The Quarrymen with Griffiths and Pete Shotton in 1957 at Quarry Bank School in Liverpool.
Paul McCartney saw the band at a church fete and soon joined, followed by George Harrison.
Rod Davies, banjo player in the band, remembers: "I was actually playing a banjo, so I was allowed to play banjo chords, but John and Eric played guitars tuned like banjos. When Paul turned up, he eventually taught them how to play guitar chords. That was a great improvement to the sound."
After the founding members started to drift away from the group, Lennon, McCartney and Harrison briefly became Johnny and The Moondogs before turning into The Beatles.
The Quarrymen will release their first studio album, ’Songs We Remember’ on Monday (January 17). The band have only previously recorded one single, in the late 1950s – a cover of Buddy Holly’s ’That’ll Be The Day’ and the Lennon/McCartney penned, ’In Spite Of All The Danger’.
Copyright NME (Of course)
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