#imagine supersonic as your debut single

[suns-diary]

something about supersonic really itches my brain. everytime I listen to it i need to loop it for an hour At The Very Least

[junker-town]

The Nets barely have a team and just beat the Bucks for one of the biggest upsets ever

Photo by Ashley Landis-Pool/Getty Images

The zombie Nets were a 19-point underdog to Milwaukee. They won anyway.

The Milwaukee Bucks had the opportunity to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race on Tuesday afternoon at the NBA’s Disney bubble. All the Bucks had to do was beat a Brooklyn Nets team so compromised by injuries, opt-outs, and nine positive Covid-19 tests that it only had one player from its opening night rotation available for the game.

The Bucks were a 19-point favorite in most sports books. The Nets’ starters included the likes of Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot, Rodions Kurucs, and Lance Thomas. The most interesting thing about this game felt like the debut of Jamal Crawford, who signed with Brooklyn ahead the bubble as its roster began to disintegrate.

There was no way the Nets could win this game, right? Right?? Well, to steal an old marketing slogan, never forget that the NBA is where amazing happens.

FINAL SCORE THREAD Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot goes off for a career-high 26 PTS and buries 5 of the @BrooklynNets 21 triples! #WholeNewGame Garrett Temple: 19 PTS, 5 3PM pic.twitter.com/D48xYrRTCC

— NBA (@NBA) August 4, 2020

The Nets actually did it, beating the Bucks 119-116 while starting a lineup that consisted exclusively of veteran cast-offs, draft busts, and unproven youngsters. The Bucks will lock down their No. 1 seed eventually, but it wasn’t going to happen on Brooklyn’s watch.

This is one of the biggest upsets in NBA history

The Nets closed as 19-point underdogs and beat the Bucks 119-116. It is the 3rd-largest upset in the NBA in the last 30 seasons. pic.twitter.com/jJTCJWWUxl

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 4, 2020

There hasn’t been a bigger upset by point spread since the NBA since 1993, when the Dallas Mavericks knocked off the Seattle SuperSonics. Yeah, it’s been a while.

The Nets closed with moneyline odds of +1600. That means the chances of a Brooklyn victory weren’t just unlikely, they were basically incomprehensible. The Nets pulled it off anyway.

If you bet on the Nets — particularly the moneyline — in the this game, congrats. Now go buy a lottery ticket because it must be your lucky day.

How did the Nets pull the upset? By shooting lots and lots of threes

The final box score for this game is wild: Brooklyn went 21-of-57 from three-point range, good for 36.8 percent from downtown. That’s the ninth-most threes an NBA team has ever taken in regulation.

The Bucks were firing from deep all afternoon, too. Milwaukee finished 17-of-51 from behind the arc. It was enough to bring a tear to Daryl Morey’s eye:

I'm getting older & things are changing everyday & if I'm honest, not always for the better. Back in my day teams didn't both shoot 50+ 3pt shots - no sir. We took shots that gave us fewer points to show our skill at making hard shots and we liked it!https://t.co/neO6dXbuix pic.twitter.com/Aw9MiTjl3u

— Daryl Morey (@dmorey) August 4, 2020

Morey’s Houston Rockets teams are responsible for six of the seven most three-pointers ever attempted in a single game. The Nets didn’t quite get that high on the list, but it was a jarring outlet nonetheless.

Don’t worry about the Bucks

This game would have been different if Milwaukee was committed to playing its best players throughout. Giannis Antetokounmpo only played 16 minutes, and finished the game 7-of-8 from the field before the Bucks decided to rest him. Khris Middleton also only played 16 minutes, and Eric Bledsoe only played 18 minutes.

Even if this loss is nothing to fret over just yet, it did drop the Bucks to 1-2 in the bubble. That wouldn’t be so notable were it not for the Bucks’ incredible start to this season:

Bucks first 60 games: 52-8 Bucks last 8 games: 2-6 Giannis missing games and not having much to play for is part of it, but it also re-emphasizes how absurd their start to the season was. Getting Bled back ahead of MIA/DAL/TOR should make for good test of where they are now.

— Frank Madden (@fmaddenNBA) August 4, 2020

Did the Rockets tell the Nets the secret to beating Milwaukee?

Houston defeated the Bucks on Sunday. Do they know something the rest of the league, doesn’t?

Garrett Temple said the Nets saw the Rockets over by the pool yesterday. Told them they had the Bucks and apparently gave them some tips on how to beat the Bucks.

— Alex Schiffer (@Alex__Schiffer) August 4, 2020

Well, probably not, but it’s a fun to imagine pool secrets shifting the NBA’s title picture.

What happens in the bubble stays in the bubble, apparently.

[placetobenation]

“I need to be myself, I can’t be no one else…”

25 years ago, a band from Manchester took their first steps to taking over the world of music, and the lyrics above were the first words you hear on their first single and it tells you an important message immediately – Oasis were going to do it their way.

At that time, the UK Singles Chart was dominated my cheesy pop and RnB songs, and the previous Christmas No. 1, one of the biggest accomplishments in British music, was won by Mr. Blobby, a TV character.

Mr Blobby to Britpop – quite the transition

Taking inspiration from bands like The Stone Roses, The Jam and most notably The Beatles, Noel Gallagher had a catalogue of songs written before he was even part of the band. The remaining members were touring to little success as The Rain (named after the Beatles song) whilst Noel was touring as a roadie for fellow Manchester band the Inspiral Carpets. When not on roadie duty, Noel would pen what would become masterpiece after masterpiece.

It was only when Noel came back home after a tour that younger brother Liam asked him to be in his band which Noel accepted, albeit only if he would be the main songwriter. Noel would later go on to say he had so many songs written that he had so many songs written that the best 12 went on this album, the next best 12 went on the next album (What’s the Story?) Morning Glory (which is arguably the better album), and so on.

In 1993, Oasis travelled to Glasgow in a minivan and were followed by an army of friends, family and fans looking to see them perform at the locally legendary bar/music venue King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut. However, thanks to some miscommunication, Oasis were not on the set list when they arrived. After speaking to the manager and promoter Oasis were accommodated to a slot to open up the proceedings that night. It was during this set the band were spotted by Alan McGee, owner of Creation Records, and the rest as they say is history. With one minor threat to a promoter, UK music was about to change, and Oasis were about to take on the world.

Oasis at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut

The Singles

The first single off of the album would be Supersonic, released April 11, 1994. This song was not actually part of Noel’s back catalogue but instead it was written during an album recording session. The band were at the studio to record Bring It On Down and were warming up with a jam session. When the outcome of the intended song didn’t come out as well as hoped, it was decided to work on something new based on the warm-up earlier in the day in the hope that it wouldn’t be a wasted journey to the studio.

And so, while the rest of the band were in the middle of their Chinese takeaway, Noel was hard at work trying to turn the jam session into a song worthy of the album and thus Supersonic was born and recorded in the small hours of the morning. Noel would later state that he always finds it unbelievable to hear fans signing back a song that he wrote at 3AM.

Next up was Shakermaker, release on 13th June. There are a million and one great “driving” songs but this must be one of the few great “walking” songs. It’s almost impossible, for me anyway, to not imagine Liam’s trademark swagger when this song comes on, and mimic it straight away.

The inspiration for the song comes from the world around Noel from growing up to the time of writing. Examples of these would be the title, the Shaker Maker was a popular toy when Noel was growing up in the 70s, Mr. Clean is the title to a song by one of Noel’s favourite bands The Jam, and Mr. Benn was a British cartoon character. The melody for the song was also based on I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing which was in a Coca-Cola advert when Noel was growing up. (in some live performances, Noel would even change one of the lines to “I’d like to buy you all a Coke” in a nod to the songs origin)

The ultimate example of using his surrounds happened in the taxi on the way to the studio for another recording session, however. The feeling was the song wasn’t fully complete and needed an extra verse and, to the shock of absolutely no one, Liam and Noel were at odds with each, with Liam pestering Noel to get the song finished.

While stopped at traffic lights, Noel looked out the window and saw Sifters, a record shop in which he used to go to as a teenager and in a light-bulb moment came up with the line “Mr. Sifter sold me songs when I was just sixteen”. All that was left to do was finish the verse and the song was complete.

The next release on August 8th is my one of my favourites song on the album, Live Forever. Originally written in 1991, it was intended to be the counter argument for grunge music which was still huge at the time. Noel has said that he remembered that there was a Nirvana song called I Hate Myself and I Want to Die, and his first reaction was “well, I’m not fucking having that… kids don’t need to hear that nonsense”. This song is more uplifting and optimistic than the last two singles with lyrics like “maybe I will never be; all the things I want to be; now is not the time to cry; now’s the time to find out why” and obviously “you and I are gonna live forever”.

Live Forever is a perennial crowd favourite and always gets the same reaction whenever its played – as soon as you hear the first bar of the song it turns into Oasis karaoke. If it was an internet meme it would be:

No one:……

Me: MAYBEEEEEEE! I DON’T REALLY WANNA KNOWWW…

The live performances were more often than not accompanied by a slideshow of deceased musicians that the band admired, most notably always finishing with John Lennon to universal approval from the crowd every time.

The US video for this song is the better of the two produced and somewhat mimics this theme where the band are in an office surrounded by pictures of people like Sid Vicious (the guitarist, not the master and ruler of the world), Kurt Cobain, John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix amongst others. Surrounded by legends and their heroes, Oasis were on a fast track to becoming revered in the same manner as these artists with this album.

The fourth single off of the album was the rough, punchy and downright loud Cigarettes and Alcohol. This is the song that put the Oasis attitude to the forefront and showed the 451,000 people who bought Do The Bartman 3 years before to put that song to NUMBER 1 in the UK charts for THREE WEEKS that they are not in Kansas anymore.

Cigarettes and Alcohol is how many people viewed life in 1990s Britain set to a riff which was “borrowed” from T-Rex’s Get It On and the band’s boss Alan McGee would claim the song was “one of the greatest social statements of the past 25 years”. Lines like “Is it worth the aggravation to find yourself a job when there’s nothing worth working for?” highlight the apathy and general sentiment of the UK in the mid-1990s, a feeling that is just as relevant in 2019 than it did 25 years ago.

Due to this apathy many peoples escapes were cigarettes, alcohol and drugs (“you might as well do the white line”) highlighted by the first line of the song “Is it my imagination, or have I finally found something worth living for?” – this is the original Trainspotting of songs. And herein lies the one of the secrets to Definitely Maybe’s success – they wrote and performed songs about what people were doing and thinking at the time.

The final single off of the album is the opening track, Rock ‘n’ Roll Star. This immediately became a fan favourite and remains as such to this day. There’s really not much to say about this song that the song itself doesn’t tell you. It’s loud, its brash and it gets across the dream of millions of people worldwide who want to be a rock star.

Noel would later say that everything he wanted say in his songs he put across in this song, Live Forever and Cigarettes & Alcohol and then everything else after that he was just repeating himself in a different way.

This is an excellent, shouty song which is always a favourite and volume raiser when it comes on in my morning karaoke session, eh, I mean morning commute.

One of the things I love the most about Oasis is that the b-sides and album songs are just as good as the singles. There are too many to go through but I want to give a special mention to Slide Away. This is such an epic song that it’s almost unbelievable that it wasn’t a proper single, but what most people don’t know is that it was actually meant to be one. Slide Away was tentatively scheduled to be the sixth single off of the debut album, until Noel that you couldn’t have that many singles coming off of your debut album.

This was a song written by Noel about his girlfriend at the time with whom he was having a troubled relationship. He noted that he sat down with a guitar sent to him by Johnny Marr of The Smiths and it “wrote itself”. This song is a fan favourite but was rarely played live by Oasis, however it has since become a staple of Liam’s solo shows.

The importance of Definitely Maybe cannot be understated. It helped usher in the Britpop era of the mid to late 90s and it put Oasis on the music map. Oasis would go on to inspire countless other bands such as Arctic Monkeys, The Killers, and even Coldplay.

The album is just as popular today as it was when it originally hit shelves, and over the years it has been re-released time and again. Definitely Maybe has been in the Top 50 in the charts in three different decades, reaching No. 1 in 1994 with the original release and again making the charts with the 2004 and 2014 anniversary releases. I wouldn’t put it past it charting again in the 2020’s for the 30 year anniversary in all honesty.

In July of last year I, and 50,000 other people, had the privilege of seeing Liam Gallagher live, and of the 17 songs in his set that night, 8 of them were either from this album or a b-side to one of the singles, and he had every single one of us in the palm of his hand during those songs.

Knebworth, 1996 – 250,000 people over 2 days in the palm of their hands

It’s because of this album that just over a year and another epic album later that 3.5m people applied for 1 of 250,000 tickets to see the band at Knebworth, and that both brothers can still play to festival crowds in 2019, and that you will still see people dressed in parkas, bucket hats and round tinted Lennon-esque sunglasses in most cities across the UK.

It might be cheesy to say, but for me and many many others, this album will indeed Live Forever.

[jessicakmatt]

The 9 Best Highlights From NAMM 2020

The 9 Best Highlights From NAMM 2020: via LANDR Blog

It’s the most wonderful time of the year—for music gear news and announcements.

The NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) 2020 trade show just concluded.

With every serious gear company in attendance, there was so much breaking news that it’s hard to keep track of every single juicy reveal and teaser.

That’s why we’re going through the top 9 most exciting NAMM highlights of 2020.

1. UAD LUNA

I’ll dive right in with one of the biggest and most surprising announcements of NAMM 2020. Universal Audio is building a DAW!—or something very close to it.

UAD LUNA is the groundbreaking new recording environment based on the respected analog-modelling technology in the Apollo series of interfaces.

UAD LUNA is the groundbreaking new recording environment based on the respected analog-modelling technology in the Apollo series of interfaces.

There aren’t too many details available yet, but LUNA will integrate deeply with the UAD Apollo hardware.

It will also have multi-track tape emulation and Neve-style summing built directly into the mixing environment.

And perhaps the most exciting reveal—virtual instruments! If UAD’s plugin expertise is anything to go on, their instrument plugins should be top notch.

2. Behringer synth reveals and releases

Behringer has been hard at work disrupting the synthesizer market in the last few cycles.

But this year’s showing was particularly mind-blowing. Behringer’s upcoming releases could put some of the most sought after electronic instruments of all time in your home studio.



Here’s what Behringer announced or debuted at NAMM 2020

2600 (ARP 2600 clone!)

RD-6 (TR-606 clone)

System 55 Eurorack modules (Moog modular clones)

System 100 Eurorack modules (Roland modular clones)

The extremely low prices Behringer have achieved are raising some eyebrows. But there’s no doubt that their analog synthesis gear is the most accessible on the market.

The extremely low prices Behringer have achieved are raising some eyebrows.

Will Uli take over the world?

3. Great things from Korg

Korg has also been busy creating equipment with high expectations from the gear community.

The Korg Wavestate is a welcome update to the well-loved 90s era Wavetstation that promises even more powerful multi-timbral wavetable synthesis.

There are full-sized versions of the MS-20 coming in four different colours, intriguing DIY kits and even an update to the legendary Keytar!

But Korg’s most exciting news might be the no compromises reissue of the ARP 2600.

This beast of a monosynth packs all the enormous sound of the original into more practical package with modern conveniences.

But it’s certainly on the high end of the price range at a sticker shocking €3999.

With the announcement of a Behringer version at roughly the same time it will be interesting to see how Korg’s spot-on recreation that spares no expense will fare against a much cheaper edition.

Just when we thought it was all over Korg teased the Opsix, a brand new 6-operator FM synth that was only displayed behind glass—exciting!

Just when we thought it was all over Korg teased the Opsix, a brand new 6-operator FM synth that was only displayed behind glass.



4. Fender/Squier offsets, paranormals and alternate universe

It was a spectacular year for unlikely combos and non-standard configurations over in Fender-land.

CBS era Teles back with a 60s thinline with classic stylings and the smart looking 70s custom featuring an all new take on the Seth Lover Wide Range Humbucker pickup.

80s shredders are also seeing a resurgence with the retro-styled, Floyd Rose equipped Limited HM Strat.

The Parallel Universe line continued its convention defying weirdness with all sorts of unexpected mashups:

Spark-o-matic—Jazzmaster with Firebird vibes

Jazz Strats—odd looking combination of Stratocaster and Jazzmaster

Tele Magico—stylish 3-saddle Tele with Fender gold foil pickups.

Uptown Strat—aFender McCarty?

Troublemaker Teles—80s Les Paul stylings on a Tele

Maverick Dorado—Vintage 60s mojo



The affordable Player series revived the late 70’s “Lead” models in single coil and humbucker configurations, as well as some beloved short scale offsets like the Mustang and Duo-sonic.

Meanwhile, Squier’s own Paranormal 2020 series leaked, with product pages surfacing for P90 equipped baritone and thinline Cabronitas, offset Teles, dual humbucking Supersonics, Tornados and pastel Cyclone IIs.

If that weren’t enough, Squier Starcasters are on the way at a ridiculously affordable price-point—just $399 USD for the well-appointed Classic Vibe edition.

It was a spectacular year for unlikely combos and non-standard configurations over in Fender-land.

5. Antelope’s enormous converter

Antelope is pushing the channel count envelope again with an unprecedented 64 channels of AD/DA in a single converter unit.

The 2U behemoth Galaxy 64 is also the most powerful configuration of Antelope’s Synergy Core DSP platform yet, boasting 12 ARM chips for real time mix processing.

I can’t imagine too many workflows where all 64 channels would be in use simultaneously, but the technology is seriously impressive.

The Galaxy 64 also confirms another one of the most prevalent trends seen at NAMM this year and in the interface market in general—network capabilities.

Antelope’s flagship sports network connectivity over the Dante standard, something we’ve seen from Focusrite, Avid and others in the past.

6. The Eurorack boom continues

The Eurorack scene shows no signs of slowing down, despite persistent claims of a growing market bubble.

Behringer’s aggressive entry into the market may be shaking things up, but boutique manufacturers are still developing unique and great-sounding modules.

One of the most exciting developments came from the guitar pedal universe.

The Empress Zoia Euroburo edition brings all the power of the Canadian company’s semi-modular digital sandbox to the format.

Here are the Eurorack highlights from NAMM 2020

ElectroSmith Daisy

Animal Factory Orobas Tube VCA

Earthquaker Afterneath Module

WMD Performance Mixer

Bastl Instruments/Caspr Electronics Waver

Frap Tools Brenso

The Eurorack scene shows no signs of slowing down, despite persistent claims of a growing market bubble.

7. Pedal sized guitar amps

The recent boom in compact power amplifiers has resulted in lots of interesting gear, including the powerful pedal/lunchbox sized amps on display at NAMM 2020

Each promise big tone in tiny, easily giggable packages:

Orange Terror Stamp is the tiniest terror from Orange yet.

The Victory V4 Amp is a powered edition of the British boutique builder’s popular Victory preamp.

Bluguitar Amp X is a pedalboard amp designed to create great vintage guitar tones in a small and portable format.

8. Innovative boutique pedals

Left field guitar pedals have been another fixture of the NAMMscape for years.

2020 is no different with innovators like Chass Bliss, Pigtronix, Walrus and Beetronics debuting exciting new offerings.



Here are my picks for the most interesting guitar pedals released this year at NAMM:

Chase Bliss and Meris collaborate on the CXM1978, a pedal version of the legendary Lexicon 224 digital reverb

Pigtronix offers its respected Infinity Looper technology in a compact form factor

Walrus debuts a super hi-fi digital delay

Rainger FX made a pedal that somehow creates overdrive by analyzing liquid (???)

Old Blood Noise Endeavours Visitor lets you explore modulation in parallel.

Beetronics releases an aggressive fuzzy overdrive with their signature (and bizarre) insect stylings.

Left field guitar pedals have been another fixture of the NAMMscape for years.

9. The return of the stage piano

The humble stage piano is getting a fresh lease on life with new models from Dexibell, Viscount, Roland, Yamaha and Korg.

The Yamaha YC61 looks especially exciting with its slider-style drawbar registration, sample based instruments and onboard realtime FM synthesis for classic DX tines.

The Viscount Legend 70s offers an interesting take on the format with an intriguing modular concept and retro styling.

Each piano will include a basic module, but expansions can be added later to create the perfect stage piano for your needs.

NAMMaste

NAMM is an exciting time of year for gear aficionados and music tech fans. With all the fresh releases and breaking news, it’s easy to get lost in the flow of new products.

Who knows, one of them will make it into your workflow in the coming year.

The post The 9 Best Highlights From NAMM 2020 appeared first on LANDR Blog.

from LANDR Blog https://blog.landr.com/namm/ via https://www.youtube.com/user/corporatethief/playlists from Steve Hart https://stevehartcom.tumblr.com/post/190427675059

[devils-gatemedia]

It’s almost like someone carefully planned that Steel Panther would hit these shores in January. A week or so until payday, bills from Christmas landing on the doormat, it is bloody freezing, and the country has ground to a halt. Judging by the warnings from the met office, the police, and the transport minister, venturing out after a certain time will result in apocalyptic scenarios rivalling ‘The Day After Tomorrow’. The crowd lining up outside the O2 Academy obviously didn’t get the message, as although it’s sub-zero, there’s a vast amount of naked flesh on display… and that’s just the male of the species. Lycra leggings, mullet wigs, crop tops, and beer bellies can only mean one thing; Steel Panther are in town, and for a few hours, the January blues are forgotten about. The added bonus of two much-touted up and coming UK rock acts is a master stroke, and the net result is a sold out venue.

The job of kicking off the evening fell to Wayward Sons, the new band featuring Toby Jepson, one of the most respected artists in the British rock scene over the last few decades. Jepson and Thunder being the two mainstays from the first coming of a new wave of British classic rock back in the late 80’s early 90’s. Ironic then that years later, Jepson and his fellow Wayward Sons have produced a debut album that gives the youngsters a run for their money. Much heavier than his most well known band, Little Angels, Wayward Sons play a infectious brand of hard rock that has the crowd bouncing from the off. They’ve also brought in some of their own fans as after the intro tape of ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ by Johnny Cash fades into opening track ‘Alive’. Heads are bobbing, arms are in the air, and more importantly, people are singing along. Jepson is sporting a rather nifty looking Flying V as he takes over the role of ring leader, cajoling those unfamiliar with Wayward Sons into clapping along and making some noise. The band are incredible too. Fellow guitarist Sam Wood looks every inch a guitar god in the making, and Nic Wastell plays his bass slung low like every punk wannabe from the good old days, difference being, he can play. Drummer Phil Martini is crucial to the sound as he puts in an almighty shift at the back, driving the likes of ‘Ghost’ and ‘Until The End’ along at a fair old pace. Clem Burke from Blondie is one of my favourite drummers, and I see a lot of Burke in this fella. Check out his intro to ‘Killing Time’… smashing, great, nice, super. Jepson is more experienced than most at this lark, and looks at home in front of a huge crowd. He knows how to work them, and he knows that a lot of those in tonight won’t be familiar with his previous work. His voice shows no sign of wear and tear from the last few decades, if anything it sounds stronger, hitting the high notes on ‘Killing Time’ with ease. After a short 30 minute set, Jepson announces that the band will be back on a headlining tour in April. With gems like ‘Crush’ and ‘Be Still’, you would be a fool to miss them.

Any band that takes to the stage using the theme tune to the classic TV show ‘Superstars’ is fine by me. Laying down a marker that says they are ‘superstars’ in waiting, or a tongue in cheek response to those that hail them as ‘the next big thing’? You decide. Either way, it did raise a wry smile from those who remember Kevin Keegan tumbling from his bike back in the ‘70’s, none of that health & safety malarkey back in them days. After the band take to the stage, the larger than life figure of frontman Nathan James ambles on. It’s hard to miss him really, he’s the one with a mane of long blonde hair and wearing the glittering jacket. Shy and retiring are two words never to be used when describing Nathan James. Frontmen should be confident  by nature, but James takes it to the next level. Thankfully, he has the voice to match his persona. He knows that Inglorious are onto something, and the response from the crowd shows they agree. Possibly the best reception that I’ve witnessed a support band receive in quite some time. Set wise, it’s a great mix from both acclaimed albums, the self-titled debut and last years follow up, ‘Inglorious II’. ‘Read All About It’ has a killer groove to it thanks to the powerhouse drumming. Phil Beaver is truly a beast behind the kit, and along with bassist Colin Parkinson, provides a fantastic foundation for the guys upfront to do their thing. The faster paced ‘Taking The Blame’ has the dandruff flying in the crowd, and a few pints can be seen flying up in the air. It must’ve been the free tap water, as no ‘sweaty’ would waste a pint at these prices, trust me. ‘I Don’t Need Your Loving’ just makes you want to bounce, the beat and the groove is perfect for bouncing, and if you time the bounces correctly, then by the time it finishes you’ve made your way to the barrier! One of the stand out tracks from the debut was ‘Holy Water’. The slower, bluesier side to Inglorious showcases their talent as players, and live it only amplifies this statement. The guitar work from Andreas Eriksson and Drew Lowe is, at times, staggering. Next step for Inglorious? Opening arenas for an act like Whitesnake, or the recently announced Def Leppard/Cheap Trick tour. They’ve got the fanbase in place, someone just needs to take the risk that Inglorious won’t blow them off the stage.

The fact that Steel Panther have been doing their exaggerated comedy-glam-metal-mashup since the early 2000’s, and are still pulling in quite a crowd, is amazing. Even more amazing is that they can still, in current times of various hashtags, the ‘snowflake’, and basically an age when it’s actually harder not to offend anyone than it is to rankle someone… but then again, we do live in a time when Michael McIntyre can sell out multiple nights in arenas up and down the country, so go figure. Maybe the appeal of Steel Panther is that perhaps people are sick of being told what is offensive or not, and sick of not a day going by where someone is on social media apologising for offending someone somewhere. Steel Panther are offensive if you want them to be, but thankfully they don’t apologise. It’s hard to imagine that anyone takes their schtick seriously in 2018, but I’m sure that there are people out there who would baulk if they heard ‘Asian Hooker’ or ‘17 Girls In A Row’. Did anyone ever find out what Tiger Woods thought of their tribute? So, when you walk through the door at a Steel Panther gig, best leave the PC button switched off. You’ll laugh at jokes you probably shouldn’t, but then again you will laugh, and if you go with the flow, you’ll also enjoy some well crafted cheesy hair metal.

Before ‘Supersonic Sex Machine’ opens the show, frontman Michael Starr is over in the wings making hand gestures at someone on the other side. It looks like it’s guitarist Satchel that is on the receiving end of some banter, and that really sets the tone for the show; four guys taking the piss out of each other in the way that only guys can. The crowd are also in for some abuse as well. In the same way that someone sitting in the front row at a comedy gig knows that they will be picked on, if you sit on someone’s shoulders at a Steel Panther gig, you know that you will be singled out. Like the person that Starr points out by saying “Shit, look at the tits on that bitch in the white… fuck!… it’s a guy!” Then said guy lifts his shirt, and wobbles like a human lava lamp. Bassist Lexxi Foxx is the usual butt of most jokes from Starr and Satchel, mainly because of his pout and his habit of checking himself in the mirror. Drummer Stix Zandinia sits atop his riser taking in all the madness that surrounds him. In between all this banter back and forth, Steel Panther actually play some music. ‘Asian Hooker’ and ‘Death To All But Metal’ are still hard to beat, but ‘Tomorrow Night’, ‘Poontang Boomerang’, ‘That’s When You Came In’ (love the acoustic intro), and the mass sing-a-long that is ‘Community Property’ are all special moments. It isn’t a Steel Panther gig until the stage is filled with girls from the crowd for ‘17 Girls In a Row’, and I’m sure that on this occasion I saw someone who looked like Wee Jimmy Krankie in a red wig up there?! It’s not all bawdy lyrics and crowd participation though, Satchel gets his moment in the limelight as he tears through some metal classics during his guitar solo. Satchel played with Rob Halford in Fight, enough said. If he’s good enough for the metal god…

It’s not often that you go to a gig and the entire audience is howling with laughter… unless the band really sucks. Steel Panther do not suck. They are however on tour throughout Europe until mid February. Turn up and let yourself go. Leave the inhibitions at the door, though.

Review: Dave Stott

Images: Dave Jamieson

Live review: Steel Panther – O2 Academy, Glasgow It’s almost like someone carefully planned that Steel Panther would hit these shores in January. A week or so until payday, bills from Christmas landing on the doormat, it is bloody freezing, and the country has ground to a halt.

[heardnotherd1]

THIS ISN’T A GAME

We Came From Wolves have never been far from my ears for about the last 3 years.  From the thumping jaggy sounds of their “Paradise Place” EP to their supersonic self titles debut LP and up to now with the release of their 5 track EP “Haunt Me”

This band holds a special place in my musical heart, the plentiful number of gigs during 2015/2016 showed me what a hard working, determined and passionate rock band they are.  I loved listening to their guitars, their beats, their bass, their voices and gluing all that together was Kyle Burgess’ very honest words, clearly drawn, pulled and set free from brain to voice to record.  If the words on Paradise Place talked of cathartic scripture, the words on their debut LP WAS the cathartic scripture and now on “Haunt Me” they have given everything to create the 5 songs.

The opener “Falling” creeps in and crashes into a frantic paced stormer leading into a crowd pleasing sing-a-long chorus and a lad-chant that WCFW have always been good at (most notably on “An Eagle For A Fish” and “Butterflies”).. Recent single “The Peak Beneath The Sea” nestles in perfectly at Track 2, with it’s killer chorus, demon drums.  Title track “Haunt Me” slows the pace down a notch, to wonderful effect, it’s softer yet still powerful chorus is a future audience arm waver, the kind of song you’d expect to hear in a montage at the end of a movie.  Another recent single “Places Unfamiliar” storms in to it’s relentless rhythmic beats, verses and empowered chorus.  Closer “This Never Gets Easy” begins with a lad chant before a harmonious verse and one of the passionate chorus belt-outs you’ll ever hear.  From then on every last drop of Wolf is poured onto the listener, enough to imagine singer Kyle collapsed in a heap on the studio floor.  This EP is essential listening, whatever your listening for you’ll hear it here.  We Came From Wolves career trajectory will soon be likened to that of bands such a Twin Atlantic, their upcoming tour of Euro dates will garner a whole new set of fans, and deservedly so.

Stream and download “Haunt Me” https://wecamefromwolves.bandcamp.com/album/haunt-me

[andimallouttabubblegum]

It was 20 years ago today…

Album: Be Here Now Band: Oasis Release Date: 21st August 1997 Produced by: Owen Morris and Noel Gallagher Label: Creation

Track Listing: 1.  D’You Know What I Mean? (7:42) 2.  My Big Mouth (5:02) 3.  Magic Pie (7:19) 4.  Stand By Me (5:56) 5.  I Hope, I Think, I Know (4:22) 6.  The Girl In The Dirty Shirt (5:49) 7.  Fade In-Out (6:52) 8.  Don’t Go Away (4:48) 9.  Be Here Now (5:13) 10.  All Around The World (9:21) 11.  It’s Gettin’ Better Man(!!) (7:00) 12.  All Around The World (Reprise) (2:08)

What’s the most hyped you’ve ever been for something? Did you binge watch 6 seasons of Game of Thrones for the new episodes? Perhaps you watched The Avengers a dozen times in the cinema because your favourite Marvel heroes were actually on the big screen together? Or maybe you queued up for the midnight release of one of the latter Harry Potters or Call of Dutys. Well, add all of that together and you get some idea of how much a young James was looking forward to Be Here Now in 1997. So, on the twentieth anniversary of its release, I’ve decided to give it another listen, and to give you my thoughts.

First, just a little bit of background first for those who didn’t experience Britpop in the flesh. I’m not going to do the full history of Oasis or 90s British music, but the release of Definitely Maybe in 1994 had marked out Oasis as something very special, becoming the biggest selling debut album in the UK. Anthemic songs like “Supersonic”, “Cigarettes and Alcohol” and “Live Forever” crossed over to capture a bunch of fans who connected with the Gallagher brothers and the motley crew of Mancunians – if that isn’t too patronising to say! Then, a “feud” with Blur caught the imagination of parts of the media, and the release of (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? moved them into the mainstream, going to number 1 in the album charts for 10 full weeks. Although the music press didn’t particularly like it, as Paolo Hewitt said in the sleeve notes “In this town the jury is always rigged but the people know. They always know the truth. Believe. Belief. Beyond. Their morning glory.” This was an album of the people.

The Gallagher boys’ rock star antics (Noel quiting the band and Liam missing the start of an American to buy a house with Patsy Kensit)  just built Oasis’ popularity, and a couple of concerts at Knebworth saw them play to 250,000 fans over 2 days in August 1996. So when it came to the release of Oasis’ third album, Be Here Now, anticipation was at fever pitch. Songs like “Don’t Look Back In Anger” and “Wonderwall” had become instant classics (still being played by annoying guys at parties to this day), but what could Noel Gallagher produce this time?

The first single from Be Here Now was “D’You Know What I Mean?”, released on 7th July 1997, was a huge number 1, selling 370,000 copies in its first week, one of which was to me. That’s right, this was the first single I ever bought.

“D’You Know What I Mean” is a very good song… that is about three and a half minutes long. It sounds very different from anything that Oasis had done before, yet still had the familiar hallmarks of a big chorus and Beatles references. But mainly, it had an ambition which further fueled my excitement for the upcoming album, which arrived on Thursday 21st August 1997 and was bought by yours truly at about 10am on that day, which for me, in the middle of the school holidays, was a huge achievement.

Obviously, 14 year old me loved the album. I didn’t listen to anything else for weeks. I taped it on cassette to listen to it on my Walkman (look it up in a museum). I learned all words, tried work out which bit of guitar was Johnny Depp (I didn’t know what “slide guitar” was), and bought the follow up singles. I read every review I could find – which were mostly incredibly positive – and couldn’t comprehend why anyone didn’t think it was the best album ever. But…

Over the coming months, I realised there was other music outside Oasis. Actually listening to Blur’s album Blur (released earlier that year) showed that they were never really competing with Oasis, they were on totally different musical levels. I’d originally ignored the Manic Street Preacher’s Everything Must Go even when it won best album at the ’97 Brits, but when I did, it was a revelation. And although I can’t remember for sure, I think it was Urban Hymns, Richard Ashcroft’s masterpiece return with The Verve, that was the first album I listened to after Be Here Now. And although I would argue that each of these contemporary albums are better, the thing that I learned most from listening to them is that an album, even an ambitious one, shouldn’t be 71 minutes long.

It was a strange thing to learn at fourteen that sometimes less is more. Take the second single ���Stand By Me”:

Again, it is a very good song. But it is nearly 6 minutes long. And when you are listening to it on the album, you are TWENTY MINUTES into Be Here Now despite it being only the fourth song. There was simply no-one to rein-in the band’s, and specifically Noel Gallagher’s, excesses. There are just loads and loads of guitar laid on top of simple acoustic songs, with no-one in the Oasis camp able (or willing) to tell Noel to ease off. The lyrical content is more meaningless than ever, but that was never really an issue for Oasis, it’s just that the songs collapse with the layers of guitar tracks piled on them. Liam Gallagher does his best on vocals, but it is buried in the mix – although the 2016 remastered version does treat him a bit better. Allegedly “My Big Mouth” has 30 guitar tracks on it. No song should have 30 tracks of anything unless you are making something cosmically groundbreaking. “My Big Mouth” is just a very average rock song.

For a band who had been so Mancunian, so Northern, so British, all of a sudden the tracks are from a different era. While in the past he nicked riffs from bands in the past, it was still in an Oasis style. Now Noel Gallagher’s output sounded like bland, middle of the road soft rock. “Don’t Go Away” is a ballad that owes more to the dreaded American “AoR” radio than their first two, vital-sounding albums. Listening to it now feels very strange, especially when Noel Gallagher’s solo output sounds so different to what he produced on Be Here Now.

And there was just no, for want of a better word, editing. Song after song repeat their choruses and bridges over and over, leading into noodlely guitar outros. “Be Here Now” should be a 2 and half minute punky blast… instead it is over twice that. “The Girl in the Dirty Shirt” should be a brief love song like “Married With Children” from Definitely Maybe or “She Is Love” on Heathen Chemistry. “I Hope, I Think, I Know” is the closest to a normal length song, yet it comes in at 4:22. That first single, “D’You Know What I Mean?” – Noel himself thought that someone would tell him to take two minutes off it. No-one did, so there’s a long intro then a needless backwards bit at the end. It was the first song on the album! It doesn’t need that much of an outro!

And take the second last (proper) song on the album is “All Around The World”, which was the third and final single, is over 9 minutes long. It’s a song that makes “Champagne Supernova” sound restrained and focused.

And then it has a two minute reprise as the last track. For me, “All Around The World” proved that Oasis weren’t The Beatles, they were just a band that sometimes wanted to sound like The Beatles. There’s nothing wrong with that, but there’s a quote from Noel: “imagine how much better “Hey Jude” would have been with three key changes towards the end.” Oasis genuinely thought they were making an album to put them in with the all-time greats. Instead we got a very long, overblown, overloaded mess of an album. Buried somewhere in there is a 45 minute classic – I think the songs are better than the hungover Standing on the Shoulder of Giants – and if you pick single songs out of it, there are enjoyable to listen to.

But in 2017, as a whole, listening to Be Here Now is a tiring, head battering affair. It’s a testament to excess and… there’s just too much guitar. And coming from me – that is saying something.

(In case anyone thinks for whatever reason I am lying about my love for Oasis and this album on its release, here are my well-worn copies of the album and singles. I genuinely did love it, but it really doesn’t stand up now. It will always have a special meaning for me – like any first love – but the memory is better than reality, like most teenage obsessions!)

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Oasis: Be Here Now Review It was 20 years ago today...