Marc Almond and Chuck Palahniuk, But Not Together
The August Mojo provides short previews of a few new albums, including The Healers' Reign Down The New Days (which Johnny Marr, now also a member of Modest Mouse, is producing. He calls the new albu "upbeat guitar pop built from the studio floor" and says "it features Rickenbackers and other electric guitars."
There's also a slightly longer look at Marc Almond's return to the studio to record My Life, his first album since he was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident in October 2004. Almond says he was "in a very dark place" afterward. "I just couldn't write. I couldn't even listen to music as my ears were punctured." He "didn't want to release an album of morbid songs" so he needed to emerge from that dark place first... Almond also decided to make a covers album, "but to make things autobiographical." He calls the songs "my journey through music; the things that led me to performing and singing, and musically inspired me."
The album opens with a cover of Dusty Springfield's "I Close My Eyes And Count To Ten", sung with Sarah Cracknell of Saint Etienne. Almond will also cover David Bowie's "The London Boys", Third World War's "Stardom Road", Fran Landesman and Thomas Wolf's "Ballad Of The Sad Young Men", and Antony and the Johnsons' "River Of Sorrow".
My Life includes one new song, "Beauty Will Redeem Me", which was co-written with the album's producer, Marius de Vries.
Dusty Springfield - I Close My Eyes And Count To Ten (available on The Very Best of Dusty Springfield)
Marc Almond - Tears Run Rings (available on Memorabilia: Singles)
In another feature in Mojo, a few people are quizzed about their musical tastes. Chuck Palahniuk says he's currently (as of the interview, anyway) listening to The Smiths' Singles, "downbeat Mozart, like the Requiem", a Philip Glass compilation, as well as his soundtracks to Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi, "and the third one which I can't pronounce" [the magazine helpfully supplies the name: Naqoyqatsi.
His absolute favorite album is Pablo Honey by Radiohead. He says, "It's got two versions of 'Creep' on it and a couple of other pieces like 'Thinking About You' that give a real variation to the album. They make a sentiment palatable and acknowledge a massochism, almost, or a self-deprecation."
If Palahniuk could be any musician, it would be Trent Reznor. "He seems like a really relaxed, centred sort of guy who has a genuine talent, work ethic and a curiosity not just about music but noises, sounds in the world."
The B-52's first, eponymous album is his favorite "Saturday night record"; he calls it "almost like children's music for adults."
Palahniuk says he doesn't sing in the shower anymore because once when he "was little", "one of my sisters started applauding and cheering outside the bathroom door."
Sam Moore and Lily Allen also discuss their shower-singing habits, their favorite Saturday night and Sunday morning albums, and answer other questions about their musical preferences in this isue.
The Smiths - Shakespeare's Sister (available on Singles)
Radiohead - Thinking About You (available on Pablo Honey)
The B-52's - Dance This Mess Around (available on The B-52's)
There's also a slightly longer look at Marc Almond's return to the studio to record My Life, his first album since he was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident in October 2004. Almond says he was "in a very dark place" afterward. "I just couldn't write. I couldn't even listen to music as my ears were punctured." He "didn't want to release an album of morbid songs" so he needed to emerge from that dark place first... Almond also decided to make a covers album, "but to make things autobiographical." He calls the songs "my journey through music; the things that led me to performing and singing, and musically inspired me."
The album opens with a cover of Dusty Springfield's "I Close My Eyes And Count To Ten", sung with Sarah Cracknell of Saint Etienne. Almond will also cover David Bowie's "The London Boys", Third World War's "Stardom Road", Fran Landesman and Thomas Wolf's "Ballad Of The Sad Young Men", and Antony and the Johnsons' "River Of Sorrow".
My Life includes one new song, "Beauty Will Redeem Me", which was co-written with the album's producer, Marius de Vries.
Dusty Springfield - I Close My Eyes And Count To Ten (available on The Very Best of Dusty Springfield)
Marc Almond - Tears Run Rings (available on Memorabilia: Singles)
In another feature in Mojo, a few people are quizzed about their musical tastes. Chuck Palahniuk says he's currently (as of the interview, anyway) listening to The Smiths' Singles, "downbeat Mozart, like the Requiem", a Philip Glass compilation, as well as his soundtracks to Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi, "and the third one which I can't pronounce" [the magazine helpfully supplies the name: Naqoyqatsi.
His absolute favorite album is Pablo Honey by Radiohead. He says, "It's got two versions of 'Creep' on it and a couple of other pieces like 'Thinking About You' that give a real variation to the album. They make a sentiment palatable and acknowledge a massochism, almost, or a self-deprecation."
If Palahniuk could be any musician, it would be Trent Reznor. "He seems like a really relaxed, centred sort of guy who has a genuine talent, work ethic and a curiosity not just about music but noises, sounds in the world."
The B-52's first, eponymous album is his favorite "Saturday night record"; he calls it "almost like children's music for adults."
Palahniuk says he doesn't sing in the shower anymore because once when he "was little", "one of my sisters started applauding and cheering outside the bathroom door."
Sam Moore and Lily Allen also discuss their shower-singing habits, their favorite Saturday night and Sunday morning albums, and answer other questions about their musical preferences in this isue.
The Smiths - Shakespeare's Sister (available on Singles)
Radiohead - Thinking About You (available on Pablo Honey)
The B-52's - Dance This Mess Around (available on The B-52's)
posted by trill42 | 11:50 PM
2 Comments:
I am a big Marc Almond fan so am much enthused about the new CD, which I had heard very little about until your post! I hear it's been delayed until the new year.
Have you seen that he is working on a new CD called "Dining With Panthers" which is "in the style of Dickensian and Victorian electronica" - I know that electronica huge with Oscar Wilde's set.
I think he's great. I hadn't heard about the delay, but I had forgotten to put that Mojo listed the release date as Sept.
Also had not heard about "Dining With Panthers", "Dickensian and Victorian electronica" sounds very intriguing. I picture a DJ dressed in Victorian garb scratching on a victrola, as people dressed in ornate garments... well, they do something. That's as far as my imagination's gotten.
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