The return of Muse!

muse

So, Muse are shortly to return with their sixth album, The 2nd Law. There were rumours they were going to go dubstep, but the first track to do the rounds ‘Survival’ is classic Muse, in their own gloriously OTT way.

Not only that, but it’s the official theme of the 2012 Olympic Games, which (unless you’ve been under a rock since July 2005) is being held in London this year.

If you don’t like Muse (or Queen, for that matter), this will not change your mind. If you are of the opinion that they went downhill (or in the wrong direction) after Showbiz, their debut, this won’t change your mind either.

But if you like or even LOVE Muse for being Muse, with all that that entails, you should enjoy this:

The return of Muse

muse

Muse will return with their fifth studio album, The Resistance, in September.

Ten years since their debut Showbiz, the bits that have surfaced on the internet so far suggest that they are continuing to evolve and progress. Two tracks currently doing the rounds are album opener ‘Uprising’ which evokes ‘Atlas’ by Battles, and ‘United States Of Eurasia’ which has Queen-type harmonies and backing vocals.

The tracklisting (for those of you who haven’t seen it already!) is as follows:

‘Uprising’
‘Resistance’
‘Undisclosed Desires’
‘United States Of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage)’
‘Guiding Light’
‘Unnatural Selection’
‘MK Ultra’
‘I Belong To You (+Mon Coeur S’Ouvre A Ta Voix)’
‘Exogenesis: Symphony Part I (Overture)’
‘Exogenesis: Symphony Part II (Cross Pollination)’
‘Exogenesis Part III (Redemption)’

Yup, a three-part symphony makes up the final three tracks of the album. Normally, this would ring alarm bells for me, but on the strength of Muse’s first four studio albums, I’m intrigued.

These have surfaced on YouTube. (Oh, and ‘click carefully’ (wink! Wink!)

Muse -‘Uprising.’

Muse -‘United States Of Eurasia.’

The Resistance will be released on September 14.

Muse’s website/Muse’s myspace

Some Covers For Thursday


(it’s really not far off this in Scotland now)

OK, don’t know how much I’m going to be able to post over the next few days, so here are seven covers for today. No linking theme, but hope you like them:

Muse -‘House Of the Rising Sun (The Animals cover).’ mp3

Big Star -‘Femme Fetale (Velvet Underground cover).’ mp3

The Pretenders -‘I Go To Sleep (The Kinks cover).’ mp3

Madness -‘It Must be Love (Labi Siffre cover).’ mp3

The Wedding Present -‘Felicity (Orange Juice cover).’ mp3

Slowdive -‘Some Velvet Morning (Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra cover).’ mp3

Big Black -‘The Model (Kraftwerk cover).’ mp3

I am the owner of a USB turntable!!

(The Killers)

One of the wedding presents Mrs. 17 Seconds and I received was a USB turntable, which as you might imagine, is already getting a fair bit of use, not least for all the stuff I want to put on my iPod. Here for your listening pleasure are five 12″ mixes – Dance? Indie? Electronica?!? You decide, but hey…

First up, this came out in early 2005, just as Mylo and the Killers were starting to get big not only critically but commercially in the UK. This is from the 12″:

The Killers-‘Somebody Told Me (Mylo mix).’ mp3

I said there would be more Arab Strap soon, and I was not kidding. Here, from the 2001 12″ of Turbulence mixes (original version on ‘The Red Thread’ album) is the song remixed by Bis (who subsequently split, but have since reformed):

Arab Strap -‘Turbulence (Bis mix).’ mp3

Also from 2001, orginally from their ‘Origin of Symmetry’ album, here is Muse’s ‘Newborn’ remixed by Paul Oakenfold, who transforms it from a mini-prog masterpiece, into a trance masterpiece (Glowsticks optional):

Muse-‘Newborn (Paul Oakenfold’s Perfecto remix).’ mp3

Trevor Jackson’s Playgroup act must have put out numerous 12″s of remixes of this track (I own at least four 12″s of this) but here is the original extended mix in all it’s nine minute glory. Altogether now: ‘I can see it in your eyes…I can see it in your face…MAKE IT HAPPEN.’

Playgroup -‘Make It Happen (extended mix).’

Finally, from 2003, Electrix Six promised much, were great in their briefly lived original line-up, then ultimately delivered little, but this track is still fab. (Can you tell what track was an influence on this?!)

Electrix Six -‘Danger! High Voltage (Soulchild 12″ Blitz mix).’ mp3

You know the score. The tracks will be up for a week. If you like what you hear, support the artists involved. If you cannot find these tracks in your local independent record shop, or even your local capitalist chain, then try Amazon or ebay. There are many, many more where these came from…