Sad news this morning that rock musician Chris Cornell has died, aged 52. Cornell was lead singer of Soundgarden (think Black Hole Sun) and Audioslave (think Cochise).
Look, I’m not pretending that I was a die-hard fan, but I liked his stuff, I appreciated his talent, and I enjoyed his (somewhat restrained) set at My CokeFest in 2008.
But his – their – best work for me? This one:
Unapologetically heavy, unapologetically non-conformist, unapologetically unapologetic.
Even for destroying that beautiful Dodge Challenger.
Stuff would rust here in Cape Town if it ever got wet. Which it doesn’t.
Herewith the video for Doves Kingdom of Rust:
A bit of Wild West, a hint of country, a touch of folk all topped off with plenty of Indie. They were Kasabian before Kasabian were Kasabian.
I heard this on the radio yesterday morning and had to share it. I didn’t realise quite how poignant the video was, but… well.. it is. Looking or waiting for some confirmation that some of it was filmed close to Sheffield, although that doesn’t fit with the M6/Blackpool narrative.
New single from Public Service Broadcasting. Progress.
And, ahead of the upcoming new album, is this a teaser that we should expect something a bit different from PSB?
These men look the same as they have always looked
They talk as they have always talked
But before your eyes, they are changing…
Look, if ever there was a band that relied on a single (albeit pretty much unique) formula, PSB are it. I doubt there’s going to be a radical departure from that. And look again – I’d be right.
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was chasing the new Future Islands album. I caught it just before we left for Namibia, but there wasn’t much time to give it a good listen on the Orange River. And when I did get around to it, it was actually rather disappointing. The new Elbow album wasn’t like that – it was instantly captivating. But sometimes you need to hear things a couple of times before they grab you.
Patience, grasshopper.
Now I’ve heard it a bit more, I’m there. Right with it. Singing along, loving it. And then there was this:
Sam Herring emulating his infamous Letterman appearance – at least in part – live on stage in California last weekend. For the record, the latest single, Ran, is also available on the Coachella channel. There’s some good Radiohead too, but that’s not what this post is about. UPDATE: This channel has since disappeared. Weird.
As for the album, from a slow start, it’s become a very real contender for the coveted 6000 miles… Album of the Year award. I’m really intrigued to see what gets released from it too. I have my favourites (spoiler: they’re Ancient Waters and Cave), but let’s wait and see if the band/record label agrees.
As predicted, today has been busy. But don’t panic – I’ve got us covered with a gentle melody from [wince] 25 years ago. Yes, it’s the gentle harmonies of The Beautiful South with Bell Bottomed Tear. And I’ve chosen the live version because it features Paul Heaton, Sheffield United fan and ex-pupil at my Infant school*.
Taken from their 1992 album, 0898 Beautiful South (the dialling code representing premium rate phone calls – mainly sex lines – at the time), this was TBS at their peak – the third of their seven Top 10 studio albums, and also featured 36D, We Are Each Other and the brilliant Old Red Eyes Is Back.
At the end of the original video, our selfish male protagonist finds himself on a Mediterranean beach, faced with a number of angry women brandishing baseball bats. Baseballbatophobes will be pleased to hear that there’s no such nastiness in this live version.
* when I say this, I mean that we went to the same infant school. I don’t actually own an infant school or anything.
