Ferment contained the alternative rock hit ‘Black Metallic’ which has appeared on many “Top Alternative Songs of All-Time” lists.

Members of Interpol and Death Cab For Cutie have even credited The Catherine Wheel for influencing their musical careers.

” (Cherry Red) doesn’t tend to remix (or even remaster) much but just put out a “clean” version of what was originally released plus contemporaneous singles/b-sides. ”

“The guy who is managing this for Cherry Red seems to have contact with the band (I’m told that they choose the track listing and one or more of them will write sleeve notes) and aims to eventually rerelease the complete catalogue. Current target release date for Ferment is March but I’m sure that could slip by a while depending on how things come together; still, a reason to look forward to 2010 other than just the World Cup !

I’ll pass on any interesting news I get and will pester the label boss for the best possible release whenever I can – he is a fan so it really should be as good as they can make it.”

Yet there are consumers willing to pay top dollar for live music. Here are the top tours from 2008:

1. Madonna ($105 million)
2. Celine Dion ($94 million)
3. The Eagles ($73.4 million)
4. Kenny Chesney ($72.2 million)
5. Bon Jovi ($70.4 million)
6. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band ($69.3 million)
7. Neil Diamond ($59.8 million)
8. Rascal Flatts ($55.8)
9. The Police ($48 million)
10. Tina Turner ($47. 7 million)

What interested me is that another tour from 2008 grossed $35 million. The combined tour of Heart, Cheap Trick and Journey. Journey? The Steve Perry-less Journey? Obviously people are willing to pay top dollar for Journey even without their world-class frontman.

Another 1970-80s mega-band, Foreigner, is also still touring and charging $45 for a regular ticket or a whopping $129.50 for a “meet and greet – VIP Reception”.

Wait a minute. $130 for a meet and greet? This touring version of Foreigner only contains one original member, the guitarist. Everyone else is a hired hand from other somewhat famous bands. Are the fans aware of this? I’d like to poll these concert attendees afterwards to see if they knew that going in. If not, when did they realize it? (assuming they did figure it out) Perhaps they mention this during their set. Did they feel duped? Didn’t care and loved it anyway?

There is a Journey tribute band, called ‘Frontiers’, that charges $10 a ticket and plays at venues such as the House Of Blues in New Orleans.

Why are fans willing to cough up this kind of money? Is it for the sake of nostalgia? Years ago, around 1998, when I was working in San Rafael, California, we saw Night Ranger at the local bar with all 5 original members. We went because they were famous and because they were playing at a local small town bar for cheap. That’s special and nostalgic! Seeing a famous guitarist with a few semi-famous musicians from other bands isn’t the same. They didn’t write or record the songs. They can’t share meaningful stories about the old days and what the songs were about that warrant me sitting 100 yards back and paying for it.

I’m not saying these bands aren’t worth seeing at all. I just don’t understand the desire for anyone to pay premium prices when you can go see a local cover band for 1/10th the price that probably sounds just as good and stand 10 feet away. They would probably “meet and greet” with you for free and be delighted that you even showed up.

myspace.com/nightmareair

“History lesson”?! Yes, the lyrics from each song are based on early American history and Boston. Such as “Ballad of Winslow Homer”, based on the accomplished artist. Every verse is based on the title of one of Winslow Homer’s paintings.

Continuing to work with Engineer, Jeff Stuart Saltzman (Death Cab For Cutie, Decemberists), the band’s sophomore release is a continuation of historic themes that began on their previous full-length, The Silent Generation (2007) and continues on their early 2009 New England EP.

The Dimes – “Celia’s Garden”

The Dimes – “Ballad of Winslow Homer”

The Dimes – “Walden and the Willow Tree”

Their debut, The Silent Generation, garnered national attention from SPIN, Magnet, Under the Rader, NPS and USA Today.

I previously posted about The Dimes in 2007. Here is a song from that album which I love called ‘Jersey Kid’:

Recommended if you like:

Andrew Bird, The Shins, The French Kicks, Midlake, The Beatles

thedimes.com
myspace.com/thedimes
twitter.com/thedimes

Shoegazers Amusement Parks on Fire released the EP Young Fight via Filter on September 8th. This new EP precedes the February 2010 release of the Nottingham-based band’s third studio album and coincides with the start of their US tour opening for the Psychedelic Furs and the Happy Mondays. Young Fight features two previously unreleased B-sides and three tracks that appeared on earlier EPs and 12-inches.

Playing in San Francisco on Thursday 9/17 with The Psychedelic Furs.

Division Day

cafedunord bio of all 4 artists with links to music

Many people compare Interpol to Joy Division, which I’ve always called “sophomoric”. The only real similarity is the tone of the vocals. Musically I’ve always found that Interpol is closer to The Chameleons.

Hear it here on Fatcat Records

They are opening for Frightened Rabbit at the Independent in San Francisco on 9/18/09.

Recommended if you like: Joy Division, Editors, Glasvegas, British Sea Power, Amusement Parks On Fire, Deerhunter

Twilight Sad – “Reflection Of The Television”

Twilight Sad – “I Became A Prostitute”

“The Twilight Sad announce the details of their hugely anticipated sophomore ‘Forget The Night Ahead’ album. Already trailed by opener ‘Reflections Of The Television’ – which dropped on Pitchfork during May, and single ‘I Became A Prostitute’ on August 3rd, the new album will be released in the UK on 5th October.

The Kilsyth quartet have been busy previewing the new songs on both sides of the Atlantic with US dates supporting Mogwai, and a UK headline tour in May which included some heart-stoppingly intense – and intensely loud – performances at three Stag and Dagger events, and two Great Escape appearances. And this time around the band have an audience, as singer James Graham acknowledged, speaking to Pitchfork last month; “Now people know us, there’s a bit more pressure. Before there was no expectations. Now people want to come and see this band they really like, so you think, god, we’ve got to play really well tonight!”

In lyrical terms ‘Forget The Night Ahead’ is possibly a darker set even than it’s hallowed predecessor ‘Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters’, James Graham’s portentous knack for unsettling lines, forcefully delivered in his own Caledonian burr remaining very much on point. Speaking to The Skinny at the start of the year James cautioned; “We have definitely moved on from ‘Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters’, musically and lyrically. One thing that I can promise is that the lyrics are very dark, but you might have to look into them a bit to realise [that]. They are mainly based around things that have happened to me over the past two years, revolving mainly around losing people and being none too proud or happy with myself about my antics and situations I’ve found myself in.” Guitarist Andy MacFarlane concurs, “It is a step forward from the first record, the song writing and the sound of the band has moved on from that time, which is something we’ll always try and do, we don’t want to ever stand still and make records that sound like each other.”

Produced and mixed by ex-Delgados’ man Paul Savage and guitarist Andy MacFarlane at the legendary Chem19 Studios in Glasgow, musically too, the new record is no less tumultuous, MacFarelane’s distinctive tremelo’d guitar creating seismic shifts between melancholy introspection and explosive release, the cacophony broadening to accommodate the band’s most melodic and yet also most thrillingly discordant moments yet. Here the influence of artists like early 80’s Cure, Neu, Wire or even Shellac are just as prominent as longer-standing comparisons to MBV or Joy Division. The album also features the talents of ex-Aerogramme member, Dok, who also contributes guitar and keys to the live line-up, and My Latest Novel’s Laura McFarlane who plays violin on ‘The Room’ and ‘That Birthday Present’.

“The recording was approached differently this time”, says MacFarlane “We made a point of staying home to write. Writing on tour is a bad idea, so we stayed in Scotland for the full process. It let us go home after sessions – if we weren’t getting snowed-in the studio – and we had more time to experiment and develop the ideas we had. We’d make a lot of use of an old, half-working, Roland Space Echo that we’d plug the vocals, noise strings and piano through, that would get an out of tune effect, like some of the early krautrock recordings. All the reverbs are natural, which were done by mic’ing up inside the studio walls and rooms on the other side of the building to get the drum sound. Three bass heads were blown up [in the process]. There are no big, long delayed guitars, just a lot more noisy ones and there were a few songs that maxed out the desk because of the amount that’s on there!””

Turnstile Blues

Let It Be Broken

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/08/autolux-transit-interview/