English rock group Led Zeppelin performing at the Empire Pool, Wembley, London, 23rd November 1971. Left to right: Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and John Bonham (1948 – 1980). (Photo by Michael Putland/Getty
“As a song, it was actually kind of punky,” John Paul Jones says.
“It’s a lot of fun to play”
Later this month, Led Zeppelin will release deluxe reissues of 1971’s Led Zeppelin IV and 1973’s Houses Of The Holy. The latest installments of their year-long archival campaign, both were remastered by Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and include a second disc of bonus, unreleased music.
Already we’ve heard a grittier version of Led Zeppelin IV‘s “Black Dog” and a stripped-down rendering of “The Rain Song” off Houses Of The Holy. Now, comes an alternate rendition of the Led Zeppelin IV track “Rock and Roll”. Here, a different mix of guitars evokes a somewhat softer, less dynamic tone. It doesn’t shift the song into a new direction per se, but this take certainly doesn’t wield the sweltering oomph of the final track we all know and love today.
Page spoke to Rolling Stone about the song’s undeniable exuberance, saying, “‘Rock and Roll’ has just got that cheeky energy about it. It’s a party. ‘It’s been a long time since I rock and rolled.’ It says it all, really. It’s great lyrics and it’s a great performance.”
Bassist John Paul Jones added, “As a song, it was actually kind of punky; pre-punk. It was really fast too, onstage anyway. It just got really quick, a lot of energy. It’s a lot of fun to play. The crowd loved it. We loved it.”
Listen in below.
Both reissues are due out on October 28th. The Led Zeppelin IV deluxe edition includes unreleased versions of every song appearing on the original album, including alternate mixes of “Misty Mountain Hop”, “Four Sticks”, “The Battle Of Evermore”, and “Stairway To Heaven”. Meanwhile, the companion disc for Houses Of The Holy includes rough and working mixes for “The Ocean” and “Dancing Days”, a guitar mix backing track for “Over The Hills And Far Away”, and a version of “The Rain Song” without piano.
Led Zeppelin IV Deluxe Reissue Tracklist:
Disc One:
01. Black Dog
02. Rock And Roll
03. The Battle of Evermore
04. Stairway To Heaven
05. Misty Mountain Hop
06. Four Sticks
07. Going To California
08. When The Levee Breaks
Disc Two:
01. Black Dog – Basic Track With Guitar Overdubs
02. Rock And Roll – Alternate Mix
03. The Battle Of Evermore – Mandolin/Guitar Mix From Headley Grange
04. Stairway To Heaven – Sunset Sound Mix
05. Misty Mountain Hop – Alternate Mix
06. Four Sticks – Alternate Mix
07. Going To California – Mandolin/Guitar Mix
08. When The Levee Breaks – Alternate UK Mix
Houses of the Holy Deluxe Reissue Tracklist:
Disc One:
01. The Song Remains The Same
02. The Rain Song
03. Over The Hills And Far Away
04. The Crunge
05. Dancing Days
06. D’yer Mak’er
07. No Quarter
08. The Ocean
Disc Two:
01. The Song Remains The Same – Guitar Overdub Reference Mix
02. The Rain Song – Mix Minus Piano
03. Over The Hills And Far Away – Guitar Mix Backing Track
04. The Crunge – Rough Mix – Keys Up
05. Dancing Days – Rough Mix With Vocal
06. No Quarter – Rough Mix With JPJ Keyboard Overdubs – No Vocal
07. The Ocean – Working Mix
alt-J : This is All Yours [new album]
This Is All Yours
Mercury-winning troupe alt-J lose a member and venture further out there.
Alt-J Will Debut New Album Live In New York
They’re simply my favorite band of the decade, so I’m thrilled that alt-J premiered a good chunk of its new album live for you to see and hear on September 2. That album, This Is All Yours, is another eclectic mix of English folk and art rock, with disturbing and intoxicating lyrics, rhythms and melodies that shift, fall apart and explode. It’s been looping endlessly in my head since I first heard it.
This second set of songs from the Leeds, England group (now a trio) is every bit as quirky and mysterious the one we heard on its 2012 debut, An Awesome Wave, which was my favorite album of 2012. This Is All Yours will be out Sept. 22, but three weeks before the release the band will play these songs at (Le) Poisson Rouge in New York City. Audio and video of the entire show will be broadcast live on at NPR Music, beginning at 9 p.m. ET on Sept. 2 (and on WFUV as well).
Alt-J Full Performance at Le Poisson Rouge 9.2.2014 [Official NPR YouTube Video]
September 02, 2014 • Nothing was ordinary about this alt-J show — not that anything is ever ordinary from the artful British band.
But on at (Le) Poisson Rouge in New York City, alt-J played its first concert in eight months: its first without departed friend and bassist/guitarist Gwil Sainsbury, its first with touring member Cameron Knight, and its first playing songs from the upcoming album This Is All Yours.
The new songs have all the power of the old ones, flush with textured sounds from Gus Unger-Hamilton’s electronic horns, steel drums, voices, and dense washes of grit. Lyrically, the new songs are equal parts creepy, lovely, puzzling, and expressive. In that expression is precision; you can see it in drummer Thom Green (watch his left hand) and you can hear it in the guitar dynamics and vocal phrasing of Joe Newman. This isn’t a band of pyrotechnic wizards, but alt-J’s technical prowess helped make this performance a deep pleasure on an extraordinary evening.
Briefly rocked by the departure of reluctant tour guitarist Gwil Sainsbury, the now three-piece alt-J show no signs of suffering creative jitters on this assured and strange second album. Leading on from the odd, compelling barber-shop trip-hop of 2012’s An Awesome Wave, the trio stretch their idiosyncratic range to include spooked neo-R&B (the Miley Cyrus-sampling Hunger Of The Pine), head-nodding Odelay-era Beck sonic collages (Left Hand Free) and, most effective of all, spectral balladry in Choice Kingdom and Pusher. There’s lyrical playfulness throughout – not least singer Joe Newman’s desire in the lightly lascivious Every Other Freckle to “turn you inside out and lick you like a crisp packet”. It’s one of many indications here that you can never quite predict what’s around the turn with this highly intriguing and inventive outfit.
Watch the video for “lightly lascivious” Every Other Freckle:
alt-J – Every Other Freckle (Official Video – Girl) From the forthcoming album ‘This Is All Yours’
Alt-J – Hunger of The Pine Official Video
Set List for premiere of the album in NYC
Set List
- “Hunger Of The Pine”
- “Fitzpleasure”
- “Something Good”
- “Left Hand Free”
- “Dissolve Me”
- “Matilda”
- “Bloodflood Pt. 2”
- “Tessellate”
- “Every Other Freckle”
- “Taro”
- “Warm Foothills”
- “The Gospel Of John Hurt”
- “Nara/Leaving Nara”
- “Breezeblocks”
Producers: Mito Habe-Evans, Otis Hart; Event Producer: Saidah Blount; Hosts: Bob Boilen, Russ Borris; Videographers: Mito Habe-Evans, Colin Marshall, Maia Stern, A.J. Wilhelm; Audio Engineer: Kevin Wait; Additional Editing: Colin Marshall; Special Thanks: (Le) Poisson Rouge; Executive Producer: Anya Grundmann
Love Inks – Watch The Beautifully Trippy Video For ‘Sky Machine’
Led Zeppelin premiere new video for ‘Whole Lotta Love’
A new version of classic 1969 track features on expanded version of ‘Led Zeppelin II’
Published on May 27, 2014
From Led Zeppelin II (Deluxe Edition) – Led Zeppelin’s remastered second album will include additional companion audio with unreleased studio outtakes To be released on multiple CD, vinyl, and digital formats as well as a Limited Edition Super Deluxe Box. Details on all formats are here: http://www.ledzeppelin.com.
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The official music video for Led Zeppelin – “Whole Lotta Love (Rough Mix With Vocal)”
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Website – http://www.ledzeppelin.com
London Grammar – Sights (Tourist Version)
London Grammar
London Grammar is a British trip-hop trio formed by Hannah Reid, Dan Rothman and Dominic ‘Dot’ Major. Their début EP, Metal & Dust, was released in February 2013 by Metal & Dust Recordings Ltd. Their debut album, If You Wait, was released on 9 September 2013 and set platinum certification by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) association.
‘Sights’ is their new single taken from their debut album ‘If You Wait’. Out June 1st
Their debut album ‘If You Wait’ is out now.
| London Grammar | |
|---|---|
London Grammar on 27 September 2013, at Rickshaw Stop, San Francisco, California, USA.
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Nottingham, England, United Kingdom |
| Genres | Electronica, trip-hop, indie pop |
| Years active | 2012–present |
| Labels | Metal & Dust Recordings, Ministry of Sound, Warner/Chappell, Columbia Records |
| Website | LondonGrammar.com |
| Members |
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Damon Albarn Solo LP ‘Everyday Robots’ Inspired by Elephants, Eno.
Damon Albarn
Courtesy of Nasty Little Man
Blur leader breaks down influences on haunting, personal 12-track album
“It was very cathartic,” Damon Albarn says of his solo album Everyday Robots, slated for release on April 29th. Away from his various bands, including Blur and Gorillaz, Albarn cut 12 tracks that explore a range of his influences, from early childhood to the pitfalls of modern technology. It’s a haunting, hypnotic collection of songs, floating through the ether of memory. Albarn called us from his London studio to talk about it.
Does it feel different doing a solo album?
It’s got my name on it and I wrote the songs, but Richard Russell [producer and head of XL Recordings] was a fantastic editor and did a lot of the atmospheric stuff, so in a sense it’s not entirely my record. It is my narrative, and my voice and my songs.
I started off giving Richard a lot of songs, 60 or 60-plus — he had the editorship. Hence a song like “Mr. Tembo,” which I never would have considered recording, because I put that in my “songs I write for other things,” like for kids’ birthdays, or in this case, it was for a baby elephant I met in a place called Mkomazi, in Tanzania. It was recently orphaned and walked onto this aerodrome; the people I know took it in and called it Mr. Tembo. I was there, and I met this little elephant, and he was very sweet. I sang it to him. It was recorded on a phone, and in a light-hearted moment, I put it on a list for Richard. He said, “I’d really like you to try that,” so I did.
Did the elephant seem appreciative?
To be honest to you, when I sang it to the elephant, it shat itself. Because it was on milk, it was white elephant baby poo, if you can imagine that. It’s quite something at close vicinity.
Who else appears on the album?
Natasha Khan of Bat for Lashes sings a ghostly echo of my voice on the song “Selfish Giant.” And Brian Eno sings a verse on the last song. He’s a neighbor: I used to go to a health club that he goes to as well, but he always did much more interesting things than I did. I’d be on a mind-numbing running machine, and he took water aerobics classes. He was very Eno about it.
Back in Leytonstone, there was a Pentecostal Church at the end of my road that belonged to the city mission. I remember standing outside with my bicycle listening to the singing, but never being able to find an entry point. But it was a very strong childhood memory that I’ve carried with me. I got in contact with that church, and they’ve still got a small choir, so they very kindly agreed to sing on the record a bit.
When you go back to one of your older songs, are you still the same guy?
I don’t know. Obviously, I’ve matured, because I’m a lot older. It’s funny. I was playing in Japan — what day is it now? — on Tuesday, I played at the Budokan with Blur. There’s one song called “To the End,” and it’s the end of that period, and it’s the last gig we were planning to do together for the foreseeable future. I was singing this song that I wrote 20-odd years ago, with a sense of my own situation at the time, but also a slightly cinematic third-person feel to it. Then, singing it on Tuesday night, it felt like I was singing about what was taking place that evening. I got quite carried away with the moment. I was standing there in front of God knows how many people, arms aloft in the moment of rapture. And typically, as soon as that happened, I forgot a verse. It’s a nice grounding experience: Never get too carried away with yourself.
What do you have planned for this year?
Well, I’m going to be promoting this record, I suppose, in one form or another. I don’t know how that will completely manifest itself, but I’m looking forward to that. Some more theater-based work, maybe a film score, something like that. I’ll be quite busy, anyway. I work from 10 in the morning to 5:30 or 6, five days a week. I don’t really think about it — I just get on with it. I do have holidays and weekends.
