Muse have been in the studio, with several tracks already written for a new album. The band started work on the follow up to 2006’s ‘Black Holes and Revelations‘ earlier this year.
Drummer, Dominic Howard explains, “We’re working on new stuff and we’re gonna have a couple of weeks off and then in about two weeks time we’re back out to Italy to start writing again. We’ve already done a few tracks and it sounds great, so we’re just working towards the future.”
Ever since The Pixies reunited for a world tour and download-only single, ‘Bam Thwok‘, in 2004, the possibility of a new full length caused quite a stir.
Black Francis, frontman of the legendary group explains that he has not ruled out the possibility for a full length, which would be their first since ‘Tromp Le Monde‘ in 1991.
“It’s just a waiting game right now,” explains Francis. “Whatever we do in the future is gonna have to be fresh…I have to see if the band as a whole wants to go into the recording studio for a new record. That makes sense on some level. For us, there’s gotta be an angle. It can’t be just playing our old songs over and over.”
So Finch are back after a hefty hiatus which no doubt saw them work menial jobs and realize what they were missing out on having jacked it all in. The band played a couple of explosive sets when in the UK for Give It A Name and seem to ease between the material from each of their vastly different two albums these days where there was a definite separation between the albums in days gone by.
‘Daylight‘ from the band’s new digital EP is the best of both worlds from a band that struggled with a change in identity between their first and second albums. The crucial melody of the song is vital and gripping, whilst a gritty rawness still underlies the sound and permeates Nate’s vocals with an occasional slight gruffness. I would say that this is an admirable return to form but they never really lost their form, just had a bit of a break. It seems that this break has given them a chance to reflect, come back afresh and write some killer new material.
Winegums
The very idea of Bad Religion releasing a ‘Deluxe Edition‘ CD is ridiculous enough in the first place, let alone that the album was originally released a year ago, and now fans are being enticed to shell out their hard money again. Why not give people the option first time around to make their decision… regular or… deluxe! But I’m no businessman, and in these rocky times for the music industry clearly record companies have got to do what they can to shift those all important units.
Tagged on to the 16 tracks from ‘New Maps of Hell‘ there are now 7 acoustic tracks performed by Greg Graffin and Brett Gurewitz, consisting 3 brand new compositions and 4 unplugged versions of established Bad Religion songs, including “Skyscraper” which goes all the way back to ’93’s ‘Recipe for Hate‘ album. Jeez, these boys haven’t gotten this mellow since ’83 and the now long forgotten “Every Day” and “Waiting for the Fire” appeared on the Mystic Records compilation “The Sound of Hollywood (Vol 2)“. There is also a DVD disc with a Greg ‘n Brett interview where they talk about the acoustic tracks, videos for the excellent “New Dark Ages” and the appalling “Honest Goodbye“, and then concert footage of the band live in Las Vegas, with their full six-piece line up, tearing through 60+ minutes of classics from their extensive back catalogue. Shot on multi-cameras, it looks and sounds great. Would have been a good show to be at…
To complete the package, both discs are parked in a chunky sleeve and accompanied by the original ‘NMOH‘ lyric booklet, two BR posters, and a very neat collection of black and white photos of Los Angeles by photographer Dave Bullock.
It’s Bad Religion Jim, but just not as we’ve known it.
Pete Craven
By Paul Stenning
Published by Independent Music Press
I definitely learnt a lot from this book. As well as containing a wealth of information about the infamous Rage Against The Machine‘s journey thus far, I was bombarded with more history of racial conflict and politics than was ever even alluded to at school. ‘Stage Fighters‘ is a book that chronicles how this seminal band came into being and what has fuelled them over the years to make their music and their various choices ie. the major label signing, the naked on-stage protest against censorship, the unwitting incitement of police rioting outside the Democrat Convention Center… I could go on. It is obvious that there were certain struggles within the band but unfortunately we don’t get a whole lot of inside information apart from what is quoted from an interview between the band and Ben Myers. Considering this is an unauthorized biography, quotation was certainly necessary to keep this book informative and full of fact.
The sections where the book perhaps loses the plot a bit are the more descriptive passages that are clearly personal observations. Whilst sometimes these are insightful and help the reader to connect with what might have been going on with Rage at the times being spoken of, often they are superfluous and I found my eyes skipping forward to read about the next horrendous miscarriage of justice that the band were intent on drawing public attention to. What certainly does come to light is the differences in outlook between each member of the band. Whilst every one of them was politically motivated, it was Zack who really carried most of the political weight and was most pro-active. Morello also felt passionately about certain matters but sometimes they didn’t always agree on what was the most important thing to be focusing their energies on. However, they were united in many things and this book will be a joy for any fan to read and a revelation for those not knowing to much about Rage Against The Machine to begin with.
Winegums
Volcom Stone will be hitting up Skegness’ X-Site Skatepark THIS WEEKEND (Saturday 30th August) and holding a free competition for all ages.
Registration starts at 11:30am for both the Under 15 and 16+ comps with the action getting started at 1pm. The top three from each category will advance to the European Wild In The Parks Championships in Amsterdam.
The entire event is free of charge, there will be free food, free drinks and a mass giveaway session at the end too! Get on it!
DC Shoe Co has undergone a re-construction and have unveiled their new-look website today.
The site will be serving as a dynamic content hub for all of it’s team riders and to showcase ‘Special Project‘ collaborations. As the ball gets rolling the new site will act as a canvas that will soon be booming with content, including a photo gallery with images from renowned photographers, exclusive videos and in-depth interviews with riders.
Head over to www.dcshoes.com to see for yourself.
There’s a huge sale going down at Suburban Bliss on Saturday 6th September.
London heads, get yourselves down for some cheap threads and a happy face.
The store opens from 10am-7pm and can be found lurking down Orsman Road, off Kingsland.
A blogger was arrested on the 27th August under the suspicion of leaking tracks from Guns ‘N’ Roses forthcoming album, Chinese Democracy.
Kevin Cogill, 27, was taken into custody by FBI agents on suspicion of violating federal copyright laws. He has admitted to posting nine unreleased songs on his website in June.
A preliminary hearing will take place on 17th September; prosecutors have claimed that the leak may have caused ‘significant’ financial losses for the band.
Crawley Freestyle Association have organised a skate comp open to everyone on the 6th September at Crawley skatepark, located in Southgate playing fields.
Registration starts at 1pm, with the U12 and U16s comps starting at 2:30pm and the Open/Sponsored taking place until 8pm with live music, guest DJs/MCs and street dancers.
The event is sponsored by SS20 and The Drawing Boards.
For more information visit www.crawleyfreestyle.co.uk