The return of Mercury Rev

Mercury Rev
Photo: Alise Marie

Mercury Rev will return with their eighth album on September 18.

The Light In You will be released via Bella Union, and the band will also be touring Europe this autumn.

Mercury Rev album cover

The tracklisting for The Light In You is as follows:

1. The Queen Of Swans
2. Amelie
3. You’ve Gone With So Little For So Long
4. Central Park East
5. Emotional Freefall
6. Coming Up For Air
7. Autumn’s In The Air
8. Are You Ready?
9. Sunflower
10. Moth Light
11. Rainy Day Record

You can stream ‘The Queen Of Swans’ below:

The live dates are as follows:

Friday 18 September – TILBURG Incubate Festival
Sunday 4 October – LEEDS Brudenell Social Club
Monday 5 October – BRISTOL Trinity
Friday 6 November – COPENHAGEN DR Studio 2
Sunday 8 November – BRUSSELS Botanique Orangerie
Monday 9 November – COLOGNE Studio 672
Wednesday 11 November – BERLIN Postbahnhof
Friday 13 November – ZAGREB Lauba
Saturday 14 November – RAVENNA Bronson
Sunday 15 November – MUNICH Kranhalle
Monday 16 November – PARIS Alhambra
Tuesday 17 November – BRIGHTON Komedia
Thursday 19 November – GATESHEAD The Sage
Friday 20 November – GLASGOW Art School
Sunday 22 November– DUBLIN Button Factory
Monday 23 November – MANCHESTER RNCM
Tuesday 24 November – LONDON Oval Space

It’s Friday…so it’s covers time

crunchie

Utterly exhausted here.

Sorry for lack of posts over the last few days -yesterday evening I burned my hand and was more concerned with trying to make sure I was actually going to be able to get into work today.

There will be more reviews appearing here over the weekend – but for now enjoy these…

Ash -‘Does Your Mother Know? (Abba cover).’ mp3

Black Box Recorder -‘Seasons In the Sun (Terry Jacks cover).’ mp3

Teenage Fanclub -‘Like A Virgin (Madonna cover).’ mp3

Placebo -‘Johnny & Mary (Robert Palmer cover).’ mp3

Manic Street Preachers -‘Suicide Is Painless (Theme From M*A*S*H)( M*A*S*H cover).’ mp3

Siouxsie & the Banshees -‘The Passenger (Iggy Pop cover).’ mp3

Mercury Rev -‘I Don’t Want To Be A Soldier (John Lennon cover).’ mp3

Flying Saucer Attack -‘Outdoor Miner (Wire cover).’ mp3

Primal Scream -‘Know Your Rights (Clash cover).’ mp3

Sonic Youth -‘Hot Wire My Heart (Crime cover).’ mp3

More Peel, Vicar?

Just a quick post today, before watching Doctor Who on Catch-up TV. Mrs. 17 Seconds is watching Britain’s next Top Model and I am taking the opportunity to root around for stuff I still need to complete those Peel playlists. So with my emusic subscription renewed, why not share a few of the slightly more obscure tracks I’ve located?

Bongwater -‘Nick Cave Dolls.’ mp3 (1991 Festive Fifty no.50)

Buffalo Tom -‘Tail Lights Fade.’ mp3 (1992 Festive Fifty no.45)

Field Mice -‘Missing the Moon.’ mp3 (1991 Festive Fifty no.45)

Mercury Rev -‘Car Wash Hair.’ mp3 (1991 Festive Fifty no.49)

Therapy? -‘Teethgrinder.’ mp3 (1992 Festive Fifty no.33 )

Tuscadero -‘Angel In A Half Shirt.’ mp3 (1994 Festive Fifty no.49)

And as always, as I promised him I wouldn’t put him out of business, check out Teenage Kicks for Steve’s excellent insight into it all!

See you soon, Ed

Some Covers For Friday

Now that I have finally got the hang of how to get stuff from CD converted into mp3 (like everything; easy WHEN you know how!), I thought I would delve through my CD singles (I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of any more, even though I don’t play them very often) and post some covers. In the world of the mp3 blogs it seems that people often stick covers up on the weekend. Well, no time like the present.

Please note: all the singles I refer to here are the UK releases. If iTunes cannot help you, try ebay

This track was originally on the ‘Carnival’ single in 1995. Whilst some of their later releases could be rockier, does anyone else think The Cardigans sounded quite ‘twee’ circa the Life album? Check that name for starters. Though not many twee indiepop bands tended to cover Ozzy Osbourne. As far as I know.

Cardigans – ‘Mr. Crowley (Ozzy Osbourne cover).’ mp3

This track was originally recorded for the Leonard Cohen tribute album I’m Your Fan (ouch!), and also turned up on the CD single to ‘Drive’ in 1992.

REM -‘First We Take Manhattan (Leonard Cohen cover).’ mp3

This track was on the ‘Kowalski’ single in 1997, a cover of the track from the Clash’s Combat Rock album.

Primal Scream -‘Know Your Rights (Clash cover).’ mp3

I cannot say I was ever a huge Robert Palmer fan, and the album this song originally was on, Clues, did little to alter that. This track, though, is a classic and was used for numerous years to advertise Vauxhall cars in the UK (Opel to any any European readers). Placebo’s cover appeared on one of the CD singles of ‘Taste In Men.’

Placebo -‘Johnny And Mary (Robert Palmer cover).’ mp3

John Lennon’s anti-war activities unnerved Richard Nixon. Rather like upsetting the Daily Mail (a UK newspaper that is just poison on paper and reminds you of the downsides of free speech) this is probably A GOOD THING. This cover, by Mercury Rev, appeared on the re-issue of ‘Goddess on A Hiway’ in 1999.

Mercury Rev-‘I Don’t Want To Be A Soldier (John Lennon cover).’ mp3

I was really tempted to post Johnny Cash’s version of ‘Hurt,’ because it is so good, but then it occured to me that the song has been posted a hell of a lot. So, why not post his cover of Glen Campbell’s ‘Wichita Lineman,’ which was recorded for American IV: The Man Comes Around, but is only on the vinyl version of the album and the ‘Hurt/Personal Jesus’ CD single.

Johnny Cash -‘Wichita Lineman (Glen Campbell cover).’ mp3

Gang Of Four’s Entertainment! has really come back into vogue with all those bands showing ‘post-punk’ influences. Apparently not a single, but this was covered by Idlewild on their ‘Live In A Hiding Place’ single.

Idlewild -‘I Found That Essence Rare (Gang Of Four cover).’ mp3

Michael Jackson, whatever the problems he has had (and I really can’t be bothered to go into it all here), has been responsible for some fantastic music. Ian Brown is a man who knows this, and told us via his ‘Dolphins Were Monkeys’ single.

Ian Brown -‘Dolphins Were Monkeys (Michael Jackson cover).’ mp3

One of my claims to fame is that in 1991, I was in the audience at the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party when Philip Schofield took the mick out of Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine for their name – and guitarist Fruitbat decked him. On Live Television. Considering what a ‘family-orientated’ show it was (Salt ‘n’ Pepa couldn’t perform
‘ Let’s Talk About Sex’ because it mentioned sex, and performed a far inferior tune instead), Carter were performing ‘After The Watershed,’ which dealt with the issue of child abuse. The single contained their cover of the Inspiral Carpets ‘This Is How It Feels’, and my brother and I have always felt it superior. My brother recently got the chance to meet Jim Bob, the other Carter guy, who is by all accounts, a thoroughly decent bloke.

Carter USM -‘This Is How It Feels (Inspiral Carpets cover).’ mp3

Teenage Fanclub. A legendary Scottish band who covered a Bevis Frond song and according to Nick Salmond of the Frond, earned him more money than anything else. BMX Bandits. A legendary Scottish band who covered a Teenage Fanclub song which featured a Kylie lookalike in the video. Singer Duglas T. Stewart once (*allegedly) tried to copy the K Foundation by burning all the profits from his career on the radio. Predictably, the 50p piece failed to catch alight.

BMX Bandits -‘Kylie’s Got A Crush On Us (Teenage Fanclub cover).’ mp3

OK, you should know the drill by now. These covers will be up here for one week only. If you like them, support the artists involved, and with covers, make sure you also investigate the original if you haven’t already.

Have a good one, Ed x