Regarded by many as the stand-out track on their current album, their 11th studio release in their seventeen year career, “Turbulence” is a soaring ballad that reminds the listener that everyone goes through tough times, but things can get better if we can ride through life’s trials and tribulations.

“I have always been a “life is short” guy, so anytime I have the chance to convey that everything is going to be alright – without actually saying it as that’s way overdone – I take it”,  says vocalist and songwriter Jaret Reddick.

The song’s theme was inspired be a conversation Jaret Reddick had with his neighbour, an airline pilot.

“I asked him if he got scared when he was going through a storm and all the passengers were freaking out.  He said it was just like driving a car and turbulence was just like the bumps in the road.”

The metaphor stayed with him and months later, during a ballad writing session with producer Linus of Hollywood, his collaborator mentioned a similar story.

“He said he’d been thinking about how cool it is that everyone on a plane feels turbulence at the same time and it’s something they all go through together, then they all go off and live their own lives when they land.   I said I’d been wanting to write that song for years!”

The track is already receiving praise from fans and music press alike, as well as keen interest in the band from BBC Radio 1 and mainstream media.

“Turbulence is a song you can imagine being sung in great big fields…..the band make a big impact when they are taking themselves more seriously” - Kerrang

After a hugely successful acoustic tour in April, the band return to the UK in June for Download Festival.    Already veterans of the legendary rock and metal festival, Bowling For Soup have become firm favourites with the festival crowd, and proved time and time again that their perennial and ever-growing appeal reaches from teenage pop-punk fans through to hardened metal afficionados as well as mainstream music fans.

Bowling For Soup’s popularity has earned them regular appearances on the main-stage since 2003 and this year they will be one of only a handful of acts playing sets on two stages over the weekend.   In addition to their main-stage set on Sunday June 12th, Jaret and Erik will be headlining the Jagermeister Acoustic Stage on Saturday June 11th.

The Beatles poster sold for £5,400 at auction

Ever wondered what your treasured signed Beatles LP is worth?  What about that original Rolling Stones tour poster you ripped off the wall in the 1970’s or that broken guitar Brian May gave to you?

Well, now’s your chance to find out at the very first pop & rock music Antiques Rockshow.

Brought to you by two giants of rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia, Hard Rock Cafe London and Bonhams auction house, the Antiques Rockshow will take place at the London cafe on Wednesday May 18th and will kick start the 40 Days That Rock – a celebration of 40 years of Hard Rock Cafe.

Two Bonhams specialists in the world of memorabilia, Stephanie Connell and Stephen Maycock, will be present at Hard Rock Cafe (150 Old Park Lane, W1) between 11am and 4pm and will give a valuation to any genuine piece of music history (Maximum 3 items per person).  If you like the price and are wishing to sell, then you will be able to add your item to the Entertainment Memorabilia Auction taking place at the Bonhams auction house in Knightsbridge on June 29th.

Bonhams have previously sold some of the most important rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia to appear on the market, including the Eric Clapton guitar and amp collection in March 2011 for $2.1 million.  Other past items include the original artwork for the Clash album London Calling (£72,000), Obi-Wan Kenobi’s cape from Star Wars (£60,000), an autographed copy of the Beatles Sergeant Pepper album (£16,500) and a Beatles autographed Liverpool Airport sign (£19,800). Stephanie Connell, Head of Entertainment Memorabilia at Bonhams is very excited about the Rockshow,

“With all of our amazing music memorabilia, Hard Rock is the ideal place to host the Antiques Rockshow,” added Calum MacPherson, Area Vice President of Operations for Hard Rock International.  “We’re sure that we’re going to see some very unique items at the event.  And who knows?  Maybe a few of them will be incredible enough to become part of our collection!”

The story of the birth of Hard Rock International’s memorabilia collection is itself a part of music history.  The collection was started when Eric Clapton, a regular customer at the original Hard Rock Cafe London, asked the staff if he could hang his guitar on the wall to mark his favorite bar stool as “his spot.”  They did, and one week later, a package from The Who’s Pete Townshend arrived with a guitar and a note bearing the message, “Mine’s as good as his!  Love, Pete.”  Today, Hard Rock owns the world’s largest collection of music memorabilia with more than 73,000 treasures!

Lot 307.  15th December 2010.
A poster for the Beatles’ concerts at the Johanneshovs Isstadion, Stockholm,
Sold for £5,400

the charlatans - us and us only deluxe edition

The sixth album produced by The Charlatans and their first under the Island Records label, Us & Us Only marked a new chapter for the band in 1999, as well as being their first offering on the new label, it was also the first recording made without Rob Collins on keyboards, he had tragically died in a road accident in 1996.

The album was recorded at the band’s own Big Mushroom Studio’s in Cheshire with engineer and mixer Jim Spencer who had previously worked on Johnny Marr’s Electronica outfit. The album is still as popular today as it was on it’s release, debuting at No.2 in the charts, reached Gold status after a few days and went on to spend 10 weeks in the UK Top 40.

Regarded by fans and critics alike as The Charlatans most definitive work, Us & Us Only references everyone from Bob Dylan, through the Stones to Morricone and John Barry, through its original eleven tracks which find Tim Burgess at the top of his game as a songwriter.

Lyrically and musically this album is possibly the most enduring collection of songs that The Charlatans have ever produced and the Deluxe Edition comes complete with B sides and rare live music and radio sessions.

As well as the B-sides to Forever, My Beautiful Friend and Impossible, the bonus tracks on CD 2 include hard to find remixes by Lionrock and Jagz Kooner plus radio sessions from Mark Radcliffe and The Evening Session, a Later With Jools Holland version of A House Is Not A Home and a potent performance from 1999’s Reading Festival headlining show – the group opened up with a rousing version of Forever.

What this album and its extras reveal is a band, that despite having made music for 11 years, had lost none of their fire and drive, were very much in control and still at the top of their game. “We have a common goal,” said Tim Burgess that year. “We want to make music, music is everything to us, we live it, we love it, it’s what we do.”

CD One

1  Forever                                               Original Album
2  Good Witch, Bad Witch 1                               Original Album
3  Impossible                                            Original Album
4  The Blonde Waltz                                      Original Album
5  A House Is Not A Home                                 Original Album
6  Senses                                                Original Album
7  My Beautiful Friend                                   Original Album
8  I Don’t Care Where You Live                           Original Album
9  The Blind Stagger                                     Original Album
10 Good Witch, Bad Witch 2                               Original Album
11 Watching You                                          Original Album
12 Good Witch/Bad Witch 3                                Japanese Version
13 My Beautiful Friend (Jagz Kooner Remix)               B-side to My Beautiful Friend
14 My Beautiful Friend (Lionrock Mix)                    B-side to My Beautiful Friend
15 My Beautiful Friend (Lionrock Instrumental Mix)       B-side to My Beautiful Friend

CD 2 (Bonus Tracks)

1  Forever                                                      A-Side Single Edit
2  A Great Place To Leave                                       B-Side to Forever
3  When Your Ship Comes In                                      B-Side to Forev
4  Sleepy Little Sunshine Boy                                   B-Side to Forever
5  Scorched                                                     B-side to My Beautiful Friend
6  Your Precious Love                                           B-side to My Beautiful Friend
7  Don’t Go Giving It Up                                        B-Side to Impossible
8  You Got It, I Want It                                        B-Side to Impossible
9  Impossible                                                   Mark Radcliffe 15/10/99
10 Senses                                                       Evening Session Oct 99
11 My Beautiful Friend                                          Evening Session Oct 99
12 The Blind Stagger                                            Evening Session Oct 99
13 Forever                                                      Live Reading Festival 28/8/99
14 Senses                                                       Live Reading Festival 28/8/99
15 A House Is Not A Home                                        Later With Jools Holland 23/10/99

The Charlatans re issue the album Us & Us Only in Deluxe Edition on March 28th

Dana Jade

Already on Q Radio’s playlist and getting  a great reaction from music critics, Dana Jade releases her excellent double A sided single Galang/ Little Sister through her own label Priestess Records on April 4th.

Dana Jade shares her time between lending her distinctive Caribbean lilted voice to the 22 strong all girl choir Gaggle and her own project, banging mean blues styled rock sounds out of her red Fender Strat alongside producer/drummer Ian McKenzie and bassist John McKenzie.

Growing up amongst the soca and reggae of Trinidad, Dana spent her summers soaking up the more in yer face sounds of riot grrrl and grunge in New York, and now relocated in London the smouldering fusion of sounds in her head is about to explode onto record.

Remaking a classic track like M.I.A’s Galang is a gutsy start for Dana Jade, but her version of the track will hit you like a freight train, a swaggering and powerful performance that is however, delivered with reverence and suitable respect to the original from 2005.

Little Sister is a dirty, gritty and dark track with excellent riffing and superb snarling vocals reminiscent of early Chrissie Hynde while she still had something to be angry about.

While there are plenty of forward thinking female artists toting their electro fused or folky wares across the airwaves, Dana Jade could just be the female rock/pop siren that we have all been waiting for.

Catch Dana live when she plays the following South London gig :
Mar 11th
Club Mofo @ Corsica Studio’s, 4 Elephant Rd, London, SE17 1LB

Status Quo BBC CD Box cover

The assocaition between the BBC and Status Quo stretches back almost 45 years beginning with some recordings of The Spectres in 1966 before the band changed their name to Status Quo.

It was two years later when Status Quo peformed their psychedelic inspired Pictures Of Matchstick Men at the beeb in 1968 for The Dave Symonds Show, that the band tasted their first taste of success.

Status Quo Live At The BBC is a collection of live recordings made by the band between the years of 1966 and 2005, collated from all of the BBC owned recordings that still exist.

The BBC were famous for saving money by wiping and re-using tapes during the sixties and some of the recordings have been lost forever, but thanks to ‘home recordings’ by fans a couple of gems have been unearthed for this set.

Sessions for shows by DJs David Symonds, Dave Lee Travis, Steve Wright and Ken Bruce are all included and there is even some recordings from the John Peel sessions of the early seventies.

Status Quo Live At The BBC comes in a choice of packages, the 2CD ‘Best Of ‘Collection a DVD/4CD boxed set and the complete works as a limited edition 8 disc complete boxed set.

The double CD collection contains the basic highlights from the full boxed sets and kicks off with two recordings as The Spectres, performing covers of the hit songs Gloria and perversely I (Who Have Nothing) from 1966.

In the guise of Traffic Jam the band return in 1967 to play the song Almost But Not Quite There on the Saturday Club. Perhaps a prophecy as the next time the band arrive at the BBC in 1968 they have changed their name to Status Quo and they perform first Judy In Disguise for Saturday Club followed by Pictures of Matchstick Men for the David Symonds show.

Their follow up single Black Veils of Melancholy, an almost exact replica of Matchstick Men with different lyrics was also performed at this time, with Ice In The Sun being performed in 1969 on the same show.

Down the Dustpipe (1970) and Paper Plane (1972)  are the standout tracks on the first CD, while there are recordings from 2005 on the Ken Bruce Show of Caroline, Whatever You Want and Rockin’ All Over The World.

While catching the band in jocular mood jamming, the snippets taken from the Steve Wright Show in 1989, From A Jack To A King and Railroad hardly seem relevant and are a surprising addition on this set.

Disc Two is given over to Status Quo doing what they are best at, playing live in concert, with recordings from four such shows making up the entire content of the second disc.

The celebrated often boot legged BBC in Concert from Paris Theatre in 1973 catches the band at their best with five tracks that include fans favourite Juniors Wailing, In My Chair, Don’t Waste My Time, Paper Plane and Bye Bye Johnny.

There are further concert excerpts from Wembley Arena in 1988, Party In The Park 1992 and Brighton Centre 1996.

While older music fans like me will remember Status Quo looking uncomfortably dressed as mods on TOTP playing Pictures Of Matchstick Men in 1968 it was when they relaunched themselves in the early seventies as an out and out rock band that they were at their best.

Status Quo managed to create their own genre at this time uniting pop and rock fans with those of heavy metal tastes, creating a riotous following who would ensure their rise to fame throughout the decade.

I was  fortunate enough to see Status Quo in a small Victorian theatre in Southampton around 1976 when the band were at their peak of their power and the memory of the the huge noise from both band and fans causing the whole building to shake around me will last forever.

Their best work was produced during this time and although they would go on to sell out stadiums around the world, they would never manage to capture the magic of that decade again.

It is fair to say that most of the ‘hits’ are included on the double CD in one way or another, but I doubt that this is the package of choice for die-hard Quo fans and collectors. The double CD serves more as a taster of whats included on the other packages and isn’t fulfilling enough in my opinion, it will suffice but you will probably be wishing you had paid out a bit more and bought the full collection.

After all if you are that big a Quo fan you will want the whole package, seven audio CDs and video’s of the Quo performing on Top of the Pops and the like  in a limited edition boxed set.

Make a wish for Christmas.

Status Quo Live At The BBC is released today, October 25th in the following formats:

2CD ‘best of’ collection (Reviewed)

DVD/4CD box set

Limited Edition collectors 8 Disc Complete set

ocean colour scene - 21

Paul Weller disciples Ocean Colour Scene celebrate 21 years in the music industry this year and to mark the occasion they will be releasing a magnificent 4 CD deluxe boxed set featuring previously unreleased material along with all their hits.

The band have also included a brand new track which is appropriately entitled 21, the name also chosen for the boxed set.

In their 21 year existence Ocean Colour Scene have notched up nine albums, three of which went Top 5 – 1996’s Moseley Shoals, 1997’s Marchin’ Already and 1999’s One From The Modern – and a run of nine successive Top 20 hit singles commencing with 1996’s The Riverboat Song. They supported Oasis at their massive Knebworth shows that same year, and two years later headlined the biggest arena tour of any UK band to date.

Having headlined at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall last night, Ocean Colour Scene prove that they can still fill the biggest and best venues even at this stage in their career. Their achievements have indeed been phenomenal.

From their days as Breton-shirt wearing disciples of The Stone Roses (debut single ‘Sway’) to million selling Britpop superstars (‘Marchin’ Already’ bumped Oasis’ ‘Whats the Story’ from the top spot in 1997) to long-term touring allies with Paul Weller, their story is inseparable from the greats of modern British rock.

To mark this 21 year anniversary Universal Records release “21” a beautifully packaged boxed set of 4 CDs featuring previously unreleased tracks and a brand new song entitled “21”.  The box set will be released on 11th October.  There will also be a 1CD cut down of the box set which will be a new ‘Best Of’.

“21” track-listing goes like this:

CD1 – 1992-96
1     One of Those Days
2     Sway (Version 2) – Previously Unreleased
3     Yesterday Today (Out-Take) – Previously Unreleased
4     Another Girl’s Name
5     Fly Me – Previously Unreleased
6     Giving It All Away
7     Do Yourself A Favour
8     Flowers
9     Vanishing Trick (Live) – Previously Unreleased – Unreleased Song
10   Dreams (Demo) – Previously Unreleased – Unreleased Song
11   The Riverboat Song
12   The Day We Caught The Train
13   I Need A Love Song
14   The Circle
15   Huckleberry Grove
16   You’ve Got It Bad (Demo)
17   Policeman & Pirates
18   40 Past Midnight (w/Paul Weller, Rico & Jools Holland) – Previously Unreleased
19   One For the Road (Single Mix) – Previously Unreleased
20   Get Away (Live In Southampton 15/10/96) – Previously Unreleased

CD2 – 1997-99
1     Hundred Mile High City
2     Expensive Chair
3     Spark and Cindy (BBC Session 19/6/97) – Previously Unreleased
4     Traveller’s Tune (with PP Arnold) (BBC Session 19/6/97) – Previously Unreleased
5     Half A Dream Away
6     On The Way Home
7     Better Day
8     Big Star
9     Get Blown Away (Later With Jools Holland) – Previously Unreleased
10   It’s A Beautiful Thing (with PP Arnold) (Manchester Apollo 22/2/98) – Previously Unreleased
11   Song of A Baker
12   July (Single Version)
13   I Am The News (New Version)
14   So Low
15   Hoping You’re Making It Too
16   Step By Step
17   Profit in Peace (Single Edit)
18   This Understanding (Live at Stirling Castle)
19   The Waves
20   Soul Driver (Live at Birmingham NIA 28/10/99) – Previously Unreleased
21   All Or Nothing (Live at Birmingham NIA 28/10/99) – Previously Unreleased

China Soul - Secrets & Words

‘The writing of a song enables me to realize
what it is that I am feeling. These moments of
honesty, my secrets and words, springing forth
from that timy voice deep within, are my own way
of making sense of this mortal coil.’ – China Soul

After establishing herself as one of the most promising up and coming singer songwriters in the acoustic music scene, China Soul is set to release her much-anticipated new album Secrets & Words.

Originally born in Tampa, Florida and raised in Los Angeles, China soul daughter of Starsky and Hutch star David Soul, has performed at various venues throughout LA and built up a steady fan base within the acoustic music scene.

Since moving to London, she has continued to build an outstanding live reputation and made appearances on the Jools Holland BBC Radio 2 show that have cemented her reputation as a real name to look out for.

The tracks on Secrets & Words showcase China Soul’s richly expressive and distinctively soulful voice and the album is steeped in the sound of West-Coast 1970’s folk-rock while still managing to feel vibrant and contemporary.

Co-written with Ian Dury & the Blockheads’ Chaz Jankel, Secrets & Words draws on China’s inspiration from such artists as Bob Dylan, Ray Charles and Tracey Chapman while feeling uniquely personal to her and Secrets and Words heralds the arrival of a special new talent on a record that is soulful to its very core.

Secrets & Words by China Soul is released on 18th October 2010.

Scott Pilgrm vs. The World OST

Universal Music have announced the release date of the soundtrack to the highly anticipated Edgar Wright film Scott Pilgrm vs. The World staring Michael Cera.

The album will be released on August 23rd ahead of the movie which opens across the UK on August 25th. The soundtrack is an audio manifestation of the exploits seen in the action-comedy directed by genre-smashing filmmaker Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) and starring Michael Cera (Juno, Superbad).

About the movie:
Meet charming and jobless Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera).  A bass guitarist for totally average garage band Sex Bob-Omb, the 22-year-old has just met the girl of his dreams…literally.  The only catch to winning Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is battling her seven evil exes that are coming to kill him.   Wright tells the amazing story of one romantic slacker’s quest to power up with love in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

Scott Pilgrim has never had a problem getting a girlfriend.  It’s getting rid of them that proves difficult.  From the girl who kicked his heart’s ass—and now is back in town—to the teenage distraction he’s trying to shake when Ramona rollerblades into his world, love hasn’t been easy.  He soon discovers his new crush has the most unusual baggage of all: a nefarious league of exes controls her love life and will do whatever it takes to eliminate him as a suitor.

As Scott gets closer to Ramona, he must face an increasingly vicious rogues’ gallery from her past—from infamous skateboarders to vegan rock stars and fearsomely identical twins.  And if Scott Pilgrim hopes to win his true love, he must vanquish them all before it really is game over.

About the soundtrack:
Edgar Wright noted, “Music is such an integral part of the Scott Pilgrim books that myself and Nigel have been working on the soundtrack for nearly two years. This collection of songs represents an amazing span of artists. Some inspired Bryan Lee O’Malley in the creation of the comic, some ‘soundtracked’ our lives while making the movie and most excitingly, some of our favourite artists contributed new songs that are performed in the movie. It was a thrill to work with Beck, Metric and Broken Social Scene on the original soundtrack and I think you will enjoy the loud fruits of this collaboration.”

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) includes a number of original songs composed by alternative/modern rock kingpin Beck.  They are performed in the film by Sex Bob-Omb, the group featuring Scott Pilgrim (Cera) on bass, Stephen Stills (Mark Webber) on lead vocals and guitar and Kim Pine (Alison Pill) on drums.

Cast members perform the band’s vocals, with multi-platinum and Grammy Award winner Beck providing instrumentation – a unique collaboration unprecedented in the annals of soundtrack albums.  Beck’s Sex Bob- Omb songs, including the grunge-infused ‘Garbage Truck’ and the alternative-themed ‘Summertime,’ are woven seamlessly into the film.  Both the film and album feature four Sex Bob-Omb tracks, as well as ‘Ramona,’ a Beck (only) song featured here in both acoustic and lush orchestral arrangements.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) track listing:
We Are Sex Bob-Omb – Sex Bob-Omb
Scott Pilgrim – Plumtree
I Heard Ramona Sing – Frank Black
By Your Side – Beachwood Sparks
O Katrina! – Black Lips
I’m So Sad, So Very, Very Sad – Crash and the Boys
We Hate You Please Die – Crash and the Boys
Garbage Truck – Sex Bob-Omb
Teenage Dream – T. Rex
Sleazy Bed Track – The Bluetones
It’s Getting Boring By The Sea – Blood Red Shoes
Black Sheep – Metric
Threshold – Sex Bob-Omb
Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl – Broken Social Scene
Under My Thumb – The Rolling Stones
Ramona (Acoustic) – Beck
Ramona – Beck
Summertime – Sex Bob-Omb
Threshold 8 bit – Brian LeBarton

After the controversy surrounding Jay-Z’s appearance as the first rapper to headline Glastonbury in 2008, fuelled by outspoken comments by Noel Gallagher and ending with Jay-Z having the last laugh as he entered the stage playing Wonderwall.

Following that amazing performance Jay-Z crossed over from rap success to UK commercial success with the release of The Blueprint III, the album that spawned the hit singles D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune), Run This Town (featuring Kayne West & Rihanna), On to the Next One (featuring Swizz Beatz), Young Forever (featuring Mr Hudson) and the classic track Empire State of Mind (featuring Alicia Keys) a song I still can’t stop playing.

Jay-Z has sold over 40 million worldwide and had more number one albums in the US Billboard charts than any other solo artist, surpassing Elvis Presley with The Blueprint III, his eleventh number one album.

Isle of Wight is the first of the big UK music festivals and this year takes place on 11th, 12th & 13th June at Seaclose Park. This year’s headline acts are Jay-Z (Friday), The Strokes (Saturday) and Paul McCartney (Sunday). Supporting acts include Florence & the Machine, Doves, Mr Hudson, Vampire Weekend, Blondie, Pink, Editors & Friendly Fires.

Isle of Wight Music Festival Tickets

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Pearl Jam, Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney headline the Main Stage on Friday 25th, Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th June respectively. While the more intimate Pepsi Max Stage has headline performances from The Hives, Melissa Etheridge and Joshua Radin.

Even with so many summer music festivals in the UK it is still difficult to get concert tickets, especially when artists are only playing a select few shows.

Friday is certainly going to be the loudest ‘hard rock’ of the three days as Pearl Jam return to the UK for what promises to be a special show.  Hailing from Seattle and part of grunge movement of the early 1990’s along with bands like Nirvana and Soundgarden. Last year they released their ninth studio album, Backspacer.  They will be supported by the likes of Wolfmother, Gaslight Anthem and Ben Harper.

Supporting Stevie Wonder for a much more of a soulful line up will be the original space cowboy Jamiroquai, James Morrison and Corrie Bailey Rae.

Following an appearance at the Isle Of Wight Festival, Paul McCartney will no doubt be playing a selection of festival crowd pleasers including songs from The Beatles, Wings and his solo career; and will be ably supported by Elvis Costello, Crosby Stills & Nash, and Crowded House.

Hard Rock Calling @ Hyde Park Tickets

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