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Watching The Comedian is a little like watching an old friend—in this case, Robert De Niro—make a horrible decision without having any way to stop them. No amount of pleading or appeals to reason can convince them that this thing they’re about to do is detrimental, potentially extremely, to their well-being, and they usually do it anyway, like that time I watched a friend jump from the roof of his house into a pool in 20 degree weather.

Of course, in the case above, I at least have a story to tell as an embarrassing anecdote during a wedding toast. We can laugh now, which isn’t something we can ever do with The Comedian. The line may be fine, but there’s a difference between a fond remembrance of past mistakes and outright cruelty. For the sake of civility, it would probably be better if we just agreed to never discuss The Comedian ever again.

The entirety of its nearly two hours is spent thrashing desperately, hoping beyond hope that it can eventually grasp anything even remotely resembling a point. In the process, it wastes an admittedly decent premise with a contrived plot that never finds its footing, mostly because there’s little ground on which to stand. It’s a front to back mistake, peppered with just enough decent ideas to show how it might’ve been good had anyone bothered to give a shit.

De Niro plays Jackie Burke, an insult comedian and former star of a beloved sitcom, who’s quickly aging into irrelevance. After an altercation with a heckler, Jackie spends a month in jail before starting community service. While volunteering at a homeless shelter, he meets Harmony (Leslie Mann) with whom he begins a whirlwind, only mildly creepy romance that’s put in jeopardy as her father (Harvey Keitel) implores her to move back to Florida to help the family business. Realizing he’s got nothing left to lose he tries to hold on to what might be his last chance at love and redemption.

There are about a million and one ways this plot could’ve worked, any number of which would’ve been fine. Instead, the script plods and meanders through a series of indie clichés left over from a pile of half-remembered C-list movies from Miramax’s late-90s roster. It’s the cinematic equivalent of a once popular band trying to rebrand themselves in the vein of the bubbling zeitgeist of the underground only to produce an album that not only misses the point but also fails to realize that there was even a point to miss.

Standup is, of course, a fascinating world worthy of narrative exploration. Comedy in its rawest, most pure form, far away from the pomp of sitcoms and the circumstance of slick specials, can be a kind of verbal jazz. There seems to be a kind of recognition of this throughout The Comedian, but authenticity—the cornerstone of any worthy art—is in woefully short supply. Scene after pointless scene is spent trying to establish credibility, but the end result comes off feeling like someone’s ill-informed idea of what comedy is like, rather than its reality.

Oh, I’m sure there were some superficial similarities between what’s on screen and what goes on at comedy clubs across the country, but you don’t get to call yourself a member of the club just because you’re wearing the uniform. While admittedly the script does seem to come from a place of reverence and respect, the stink of falsity can never be cleansed, not completely.

Even routines written by Jeffrey Ross—himself a well-known and talented insult comedian—are wasted by De Niro’s inability to perform them authentically. They tried, I’ll give them that, but the result is still akin to watching an amateur comedian bomb at amateur night, only worse because everyone ought to know better.

And those are the best parts of The Comedian. When it’s not focusing on life at comedy clubs, it tries like hell to convince us that Mann and De Niro are a couple we could ever care about, which they are not. Mann, God bless her, is as charming as ever, but the two have less chemistry than any romantic pairing in recent history. Their entire arc feels shoehorned and as unnatural as, well, De Niro on a comedian’s stage.

It’s sad, more than anything. Knowing that De Niro fought for years to make The Comedian forces one to wonder just what happened to the Bobby D. of yore, the one who was one of the greatest actors of all time and could do no wrong. This is the lowest in a string of low-notes that De Niro has been playing since Meet the Parents and Analyze This. We’ve been suspecting it for years, but it might be time to finally admit that the age of De Niro has finally passed. And that is something none of us ought to laugh at.

The Comedian is now playing in theaters everywhere.

The post ‘The Comedian’ Highlights De Niro’s Tragic Fall (FILM REVIEW) appeared first on Glide Magazine.

Punk favorites Anti-Flag have teamed up with ska band Reel Big Fish for a tour and on Wednesday that tour made its way to Austin, Texas for a show at Emo’s. Photos by Maggie Boyd.

The post Anti-Flag and Reel Big Fish Bring Treat Austin to a Night of Punk and Ska (PHOTOS) appeared first on Glide Magazine.

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Ron Gallo has a sick, twisted worldview, and that is what you’ll love about his new record Heavy Meta. Gallo has an undeniable talent and a penchant for the dark and weird side of things. His commentary can be such a bummer, perhaps because he often hits the nail on the head. But you’ll never have such a blast getting down in the dumps than to Gallo’s wily garage rock and breathless howl. We only caught a glimpse of this in his Toy Soldiers days, and now he’s come fully into his own.

Take “All the Punks are Domesticated”, a sign-of-the-times song that offers Gallo’s take on everything from aging rockstars to public health to cultural currency. It’s painfully on point when he sings, “Meanwhile the pop tarts climb the pop charts/The blood clots block your heart parts/And no one really has anything to say…I will be forgotten in two generations/What will have been my big mark?/A couple little tears dangling in the dark/An impressive collection of digital remarks.” Gallo sounds his most self-assured, and his fearless stare into the futuristic abyss is both inspiring and terrifying.

Heavy Meta is explosive and confident, interesting and thoughtful, and ideal for head-banging and ass-shaking. There’s a retro glam punk sound happening, with enough guitar shredding to melt your face. “Put the Kids to Bed” offers up the record’s catchiest chorus, despite its depressing subject matter: the numbness of being a cog. “When we were young/We said one day/Honey you and I/We’re gonna share a grave/I didn’t know it was so soon,” he sings, confronting the horrible feeling of stifling yourself and falling out of love to the point of being sickened by someone. “Just hiding my black holes/Beneath blankets of love gone cold,” he finishes.

The guitar riffs on Heavy Meta are electrifying and head-spinning – the perfect match for Gallo’s unhinged madman vocals. He plays with fuzziness and distortion like a giddy kid in a candy store, creating his own oddball world of sound that is totally intoxicating.

“Don’t Mind the Lion” and “Black Market Eyes” are the album’s lone soft spots, and they’re both sad and lovely. Love songs, Ron Gallo-style, they are moody and vivid and just a little dangerous, with a psychedelic drip that builds and builds until it melts completely.

The post Ron Gallo Unleashes Madman Vocals and Head-spinning Riffs On ‘Heavy Meta’ (ALBUM REVIEW) appeared first on Glide Magazine.

It’s been roughly a decade since Rick Astley skyrocketed back to popularity thanks to becoming an internet meme. Though “RickRolling,” the act of luring an unsuspecting victim into watching the video for Astley’s 1987 hit “Never Gonna Give You Up” with a misleading link, has died down over the years, Astley endures as an online celebrity for everything but his music. However, Astley can thank the meme for introducing a whole new generation of people to his one major hit, and likely for the ability to play shows to packed houses like the one at Emo’s in Austin last Thursday night.

“You came for the ’80s. I know that,” Astley admitted before launching into “Together Forever,” another noteworthy charting hit from his first album, Whenever You Need Somebody. The fact that “Together Forever” is almost a carbon copy of “Never Gonna Give You Up” is irrelevant. The songs are bubblegum pop that have endured because they’re flat out fun. Even Astley has said he feels the songs are “pretty naff,” but they’ve actually aged considerably well, to the point that many young fans crossed over from hearing “Never Gonna Give You Up” in a meme to paying upwards of $40 dollars to see Astley perform it live.

Not all of his material has lived up. Astley’s set hit a couple of lulls, particularly when he performed songs from the intervening albums between Whenever You Need Somebody and his latest, 50. There’s a reason his popularity dropped off for a time. However, whether because it’s his strongest material since he first started or because of the meme, 50 recently became Astley’s first #1 album in the UK since 1987. 50 is perhaps the most serious and impacting music Astley has ever written. Where “She Wants to Dance With Me” or “Whenever You Need Somebody” are silly, fun pop songs, Astley has embraced his rich voice and put it to more mature, serious songs like prime 50 cuts “Pray With Me” and “Keep Singing.”

Astley’s set was bolstered as well by a selection of fantastic cover songs including the Mark Ronson/Bruno Mars hit “Uptown Funk,” AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” (featuring Astley on drums as well as vocals), and “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” by the Temptations. Though inconsistent as a writer of his own songs up until 50‘s return to form, Astley’s voice has never faltered and his band pulled off all these songs in style. In particular, “Uptown Funk” might have been even better than the original.

Of course, it all goes back to that one “naff” hit from the ’80s. Astley is an intelligent man, and he knows where his bread is buttered. Though stellar performances of covers and 50 songs carried him through the night, there’s no way he would have gotten out of the building alive without singing the immortal “Never Gonna Give You Up.” Closing out the night with it, Astley and his band tore the house down with a full fledged singalong of his most famous song. He’ll never be able to live it down, and he seems content with that. After all, as he told the crowd, it bought his mum a house. It also made sure a new audience would have the pleasure of hearing Astley develop into a force of a performer and songwriter.

The post Rick Astley Rolls Into Austin With Pop Favorites (SHOW REVIEW) appeared first on Glide Magazine.

moe. visited the scene Penn’s Peak indoor venue in Jim Thorpe, PA ( Poconos) as part of their 2017 Winter Tour on 2/2/17. Highlights included the first “Cornflake Girl” in five years and a cover of David Bowie’s “Fame” among the usual moe. inventive originals. Photos by Paul Citone

The post moe. Lets Its All Fly at Penn’s Peak (PHOTOS) appeared first on Glide Magazine.

British folk rock band Bear’s Den played to a packed house Thursday night at the Underground Art’s in Philadelphia. The duo are touring in support of their newest album, Red Earth & Pouring Rain, released last July 22. Their setlist was a nice mix of both new and old that made for a very energetic set with their lush melodies and captivating harmonies. Photos by Cathy Poulton

The post Bear’s Den Brings Captivating Harmonies To Philadelphia’s Underground Arts (PHOTOS) appeared first on Glide Magazine.

Guitar genius Steve Hackett has been on a quest. After a lifetime of traveling the world and learning about new cultures, he has seen the changes that have befallen our nations. Today more than ever, he finds the distress amongst the people unsettling and sad. So much so, it has infiltrated into his new music. So while the world swirls chaotically around him, he has brought multinational musicians together and created beauty from the beast of turmoil and called this new album The Night Siren.

Hackett, guitarist for Genesis on some of their most beloved albums – including The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway and Foxtrot – has always been an explorer of sound. From his first solo recording, 1975’s Voyage of the Acolyte, to his last studio album, 2015’s Wolflight, Hackett has never ceased to channel new elements into his music. For The Night Siren, he uses mystical instruments like the oud and the Peruvian Charango to elicit moody, enchanting and electric pieces. And this is the very reason why Hackett continues to be an inspiration to both his peers and his fans.

Born in England, Hackett confessed during a 2013 interview with Glide that “I always wanted to be a blues player. Although I loved it, I don’t think I was particularly good at it.” So his multi-genre interests took him in a different direction. “I’d be listening to Bach and blues and I thought the twain would never meet. You either did one or the other.” But as the music scene began to change, Hackett found kindred souls. He joined Genesis and appeared on their third album, Nursery Cryme (also Phil Collins’ first Genesis album). He was there as Peter Gabriel expanded the meaning of a “rock show.” “Whereas I was being very workman-like at the time, just concentrating on my one little area and trying to make sure the band sounded as much like an orchestra as possible,” Gabriel was like “Nureyev or Nijinsky meets Iggy Pop onstage.”

Hackett’s last album with the band would be 1976’s Wind & Wuthering, which Hackett plans to celebrate its 40^th anniversary during his new tour, which begins on February 14^th in Nashville. The Night Siren officially releases on March 24^th.

So with some new material in his blood, he’s ready to go back out on the road and celebrate. Glide spoke with Hackett recently about what’s been on his mind and how it has manifested into his new music.

How are the rehearsals going?

Going very well and the band sounds wonderful, even though it’s only the second day of rehearsal. They sound really, really good so I’m really pleased. They’ve all done their homework (laughs).

On your new record, The Night Siren, you have all these wonderful international flavors, which is not really anything new for you, but how far back does your interest in this type of middle-eastern music really go?

I think it dates back to the 1960’s, really. I think when I first heard bands starting to use something that was outside the usual stuff. I think it started to creep into guitar players’ ideas and I think it’s guitarists that kicked it up. But then again, I think the Beatles had a tremendous amount to do with that and many players were influenced by what they heard, with middle-eastern singing as much as the instrumental work.

What did you like first about it?

There’s a kind of freedom about it. For instance, I just had dinner in an Indian restaurant tonight and I can’t help listening to the way the singers work. They’ve got tremendous control and kind of vocal pyrotechnics of it. Other than that, I think, also the rhythms. Arabic players playing drums like the darbuka and many other things, lovely instruments, and that whirling dervish aspect of it I liked very much. Some years ago I was in Cairo seeing everything from the Sphinx to the pyramids and the museum and I took a trip up the Nile and the entertainer on the boat was extraordinary, and the dancers and players, and I thought, this is incredible stuff. It’s influenced the flamenco players, which is another one of my interests. All that stuff kind of comes from the Arabic territories and all of those scales that I think are common to the Indian stuff and the Arabic stuff, I find it extraordinarily romantic and beautiful.

Did you know this record would be going in that direction?

Not when I started. I wasn’t planning to have as much of that influence as is on board on it but it started to grow as we started work on it.

Did you do a lot more tinkering this time in the studio to work more in the nature of these songs?

Well, I think every album is an experiment in a way but I tend not to use traditional setups. I tend to work with computer or with the virtual world rather than having an amp. When I’m playing live I’ve got Marshalls turned up pretty loud but when I record, I like to be able to have a conversation over the top of it and it can still sound very heavy and it can really scream away. So I didn’t feel the need to move air in the way that guitarists like to do traditionally. I like the difference in sound of one cabinet in another and a different amp and a different head and it’s all in the virtual world. I like that very much. I’m a kind of pedal man. I have pedals on the floor and amps in the computer and trying as many different setups and sounds as possible.

That must keep you excited about making new music because you have all of these things you can play with.

Yeah, I think that music is thrilling and it’s always surprising and I think these days the studio is really the size of your computer. You don’t really need anything larger than that. But it starts in the brain. The most important instrument is the brain. I like to have conversations with the people that I work with so it’s really a three person writing team – it’s myself, my wife Jo and Roger King, who plays keyboards and engineers and co-produces with me. Then once we get a framework, we send it out to other players or we get them in or I go and visit them. So there’s a lot of on location work that happens. Some stuff was recorded in Sardinia, some stuff recorded in Hungary. We might work with a musician or two from Iceland and from Azerbaijan and from Israel and Palestine working together side by side, which is an absolute thrill, just proving that it is possible for people not to just coexist in peace but also do something extraordinary artistically together. Both Kobi Farhi and Mira Awad are from Israel and Palestine, as well as the regular people that I work with who happen to be stunning players.

And that is all over this record

I’m really thrilled with the way it sounds. We’ve visited Peru a couple of times, both as tourists and as a player, and I came back with some Peruvian instruments, the charango, the stringed charango, and there is a track on the album that has a Peruvian flavor. And then the Icelandic thing, Gulli Breim, a wonderful drummer from Iceland, is on a couple of tracks. Guys recorded in Hungary, a trumpeter called Ferenc Kovács and his daughter playing the didgeridoo, both together, which is on a track called “50 Miles From The North Pole,” which is a reference to my time in Iceland when I was playing a couple of shows out there. So it’s really a kind of world music.

We are world travelers and we’ve made friends all over and sometimes we work with a player or sometimes it will be an instrument or two you hear in some of these places. I’ve got the Arabian Oud as well. I’ve got an Iraqi one that I played on at least one of the tracks on this album. Sitar guitar as well as sitar samples. We have as many real instruments as we can. We have a violinist and viola player named Christine Townsend. We’ve got an orchestra’s worth of people, a choir’s worth of people, and on one song we might have in excess of two hundred tracks going. So we put together about three symphony orchestras going on some of these tracks.

What’s an example?

I would think the opening track, “Behind The Smoke,” has got a lot of that. Another one of the tracks, “West To East,” has got orchestral and choral work on it as well as rock sensibilities. There’s a fair amount of classical stuff. I’m a bit of a classical groupie and funny enough, I’m going to work at the end of the American tour coming up with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. We’re going to do one show around the Buffalo area with that and that’s going to be very interesting.

And your brother John is playing his flute

Yep, brother John is on flute on a couple of tracks. It’s really as part of the orchestral setup on this thing, so it’s not so much solo but it’s a gorgeous sound.

For you as a musician, which song on this record was the most complicated to finish because of all it’s intricacies?

Well, there’s a track called “Anything But Love,” which starts out with flamenco guitar work using the body of the guitar to create percussion on. Then it becomes a rock song and then it goes out with an electric solo. But they are all very different atmospheres and stitching these things together is quite demanding. I can’t say that any one track was more demanding than any other but it’s all been fun and I didn’t feel I was rushed this time, although most of it was done within one year. They all had their complications but it’s a big huge sonic adventure and I don’t get tired of it. I don’t think I ever will.

Are you maybe a little nervous about playing any of these songs live?

You know, I want to be able to give it my best so I’ve been in intensive rehearsals doing these things for quite some time now, just myself. But then I started with the band yesterday and already the band is starting to do extraordinary versions of these things. So I have to say I do feel very confident about the band and there are certain tunes that we’ve not done live but you get a glimpse of what it’s going to be like live. Imagine if it sounded like that on the first day of rehearsal what it’s going to be like when the band really knows it. It’s terribly exciting and yeah, I get very nervous about it. I mean, I’m rehearsing at three in the morning sometimes to try and get it in my brain because I figure if I can do it when I’m really, really tired because of jetlag and exhaustion on tour, which is part and parcel of it of course, even when you were a twenty-one year old player, if I can do it then with muscle memory then I know it’s going to be really, really good. I don’t want it to fall below a certain standard.

You co-wrote most of these songs with your wife and Roger, so what would you consider the most important line or lyric on this record?

Oh now that’s a very interesting question. There were two tracks. One of them happens at the beginning, “Behind The Smoke,” which is really about refugees; then the other track is called “West To East” and in a way one is a continuation of the other and there’s a musical theme that’s played on guitar first of all, on the first track. Now that same music comes up in a more stately way later on and the orchestra take it. So I took the guitar out of it just to make it sound more expansive.

But lyrically, which is what you asked me about, I think that first track, and it was my wife who came up with the lyric about, “behind the smoke is black.” And I said, “I presume you are talking about the refugees fleeing a war torn situation,” and we kicked the ball around between us. She would add a line, I would add a line, she would add a line, I would add another one and I wanted to make sure she was happy with it. She was desperately keen that I should be happy with the lyrics. I think on that first track, even though it’s very strong, pungent stuff, I think it’s saying something and there’s an awful lot of fear in it, fear in the plight of the refugees. It’s a very honest lyric. We’re not pulling our punches on it so I think that line, “behind the smoke is black,” is really, really strong. It sets the whole tone of what the album is all about.

Are you worried about the world today?

I am, yeah. I think that anyone who’s got any intelligence or any compassion is worried about the state of the world today. I’m starting to see the world as this very fragile little family that’s in danger of just falling apart and breaking up. I’m worried about all the individuals, cause really you can say the world is millions of people but actually all of those people, the reality is actually multiplied singularities. So it’s about your life and it’s about my life and the state of the world.

The idea that war is still the answer, war is never the answer. I don’t think the idea of adopting a fortress mentality and keeping people out is going to help the world. We’ve got to try and discourage terrorism by meeting our neighbors, letting them in. I think borders are overrated. You could even say they were a way of inflicting violence on poor people. A terrible amount of people are amassing on the Hungarian border right now and terrible conditions of winter and children dying, children drowning. Escaping war torn countries, yeah, it’s a terrible thing. And to interfere in the politics of those nations and have proxy wars from the comfort of your own home I think is reprehensible. We’ve got to be better than that. We’ve got to somehow get back to the idea of compassion and friendship, fellowship, don’t fear the foreigner. Multi-culture diversity is what this album is about and I think that multi-cultural diversity helps everything. I’d like to think the similarities between people are greater than the differences. So flying in the face of this sort of fortress mentality is the album that I’ve done to show that people from all over the world can come together and not just work together and hold hands but do something extraordinary, do an extraordinary piece of work. That was the plan.

I understand on the tour you’re going to be resurrecting songs from the Wind & Wuthering album.

That’s right, yes. Its forty years since I did that album with Genesis and we’re celebrating that. We’re playing most of that album live. We’ll be doing “Eleventh Earl Of Mar,” “One For The Vine;” both of those are epics. We’ll also be doing “Blood On The Rooftops,” “In That Quiet Earth,” “Afterglow,” and another track that didn’t make it onto the album but I think is such a very pretty tune that we were rehearsing for the first time today with the band and it sounded absolutely wonderful doing it, and that’s “Inside & Out,” which was on the EP [Spot The Pigeon] along with two other tracks. So I’m doing work considered to be the best of that album and really celebrating it.

Do you look back on making that album with fond memories since there are all these rumors of tensions during that time?

Yes, absolutely. You know, I loved the album even though it was the album I left the band after because I really needed to do my own stuff. I was starting to make solo albums and they were taking off while I was still in the band. It created tensions, shall we say. Sometimes even if you’re in a great band you feel that it’s time to move on and work with other people, can’t stand being restricted. But music is the master that I serve. That’s what I do.

For you, what was your first I can’t believe I’m here moment?

It’s hard to come up with a single moment. I think meeting my wife and frankly every day that I spend with her is a huge bonus, working with my wife Jo. I think working, living, loving, all of those things is so important. Other than that, I think I was very lucky to meet Genesis and had many wonderful times. I think working on that first album, Nursery Cryme, with Genesis was a wonderful moment. We’ll be doing at least one song from that album. That was a big deal for me, at age twenty-one, working with them. It was a fulfillment of a lot of musical dreams. I wanted to work with a band that loved classical music as well as rock music. I loved working with the mellotron. I loved the fact that we sounded like a rock band or folk acoustic outfit and the next we sounded like an orchestra. That was hugely important to me, the fact that the band could turn on a dime, become this other thing, and that rock shoulders could be broad enough to absorb and use those influences.

I understand that you injured your hand in the early seventies. Did you panic about your future as a guitar player after that happened? Was it that bad of an injury?

Yes, it was a bad injury. I severed a tendon and a nerve in my thumb and I had reconstructive surgery to make the thumb work. The damage made for a very difficult time. In fact, by the time we were touring Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, I was having physical therapy every day. I was visiting hospitals and having electric currents pass through my hand. We were out doing gigs and I knew that the grip on that hand was very weak so I was learning to play without incorporating the thumb on the left hand, which is kind of tricky for guitarists. But I’ve learnt to reposition the hand in terms of the support but it was a tricky moment. But absolutely I was worried about that. Let’s put it this way, I went into training to get my hand as strong as possible after that because I knew that it was weakened. But I found I could make it work and I realize now I’m a better player than I was before I had the injury just cause I worked so bloody hard on it. There are things I can do now that I couldn’t do before.

When you first started playing guitar, what was the most difficult thing for you to get the hang of? You didn’t become THE Steve Hackett overnight.

(laughs) That’s right but I think progress is in increments. You inch your way forward. But I will tell you what was difficult. I had this guitar, which I’d inherited from my father, and it had a brutal action; the strings were really high off the fretboard. It had heavy gauge strings so I started playing and my dad said to me, “You know you’ll have calluses in a while.” And the calluses never came. I just had open wounds for about six months. Then a friend had a nylon guitar and I touched it and I thought, this isn’t really playing, this is cheating (laughs). My guitar feels like barbwire compared to this. But it gave me a whole different outlook on what guitars are capable of. So actually I developed a really strong left hand as a result of that early playing. So it was the very early days that were the toughest I think because of the difficulty of the instrument that I had. Now I know I’m not the only one who had that kind of thing. I know Robert Fripp told a similar story about the first guitar he had. It had a brutal action. I know all about fighting through the pain, yes.

Can we assume that in 2017 you will be doing a lot of touring?

Oh yeah, I’m doing a hell of a lot of touring. I’m playing places I’ve not done before: Australia and Jakarta and New Zealand and Hong Kong. All of those places I’ve not been to before so I am looking forward to that as well as the American dates and the English and European dates. So yeah, the dates are increasing daily.

Live photos by Cathy Poulton

The post Steve Hackett Talks New LP ‘The Night Siren’ & Revisiting ‘Wind & Wuthering’ (INTERVIEW) appeared first on Glide Magazine.

Brooklyn soul-funk artist Tomás Doncker may be best known for the decades he has spent playing guitar with “No Wave” pioneers James Chance & The Contortions. Doncker has also worked with legendary acts like Bootsy Collins, Yoko Ono, Madonna, and Bonnie Raitt among other. These days the guitarist and songwriter splits his time between playing with James Chance and leading his own project the True Groove All-Stars. On February 17th Tomás Doncker & The True Groove All-Stars will release the deluxe edition of his acclaimed LP The Mess We Made via his own label, True Groove Records. As one can tell from the title or the especially hard-hitting imagery of the album cover, The Mess We Made is filled with jolting commentary on a time of deep division in America where issues of race are something that we are reminded of all too frequently and in the worst ways.

Channeling his anger and frustration after the Charleston Church Massacre and the highly publicized deaths of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, and Michael Brown, the politically charged album combines afrobeat and other world music genres with ’60s and ’70s funk and soul to create a unique sound Doncker calls “global soul.” The deluxe edition of The Mess We Made features rerecorded versions of original album tracks as well as five new songs and a live acoustic performance of “Time Will Tell.”

Today Glide Magazine is excited to premiere the revamped single “Some Ol’ Dolls 2017″. The new version of the song is a downtempo jam brimming with punchy horns, phased-out guitars, and Doncker’s smooth vocal melodies. The song even features the banjo riff from Deliverance, hammering home the backwards views of much of the country’s population as Doncker sings “being brown is like being a moving target” before questioning, “Is this what it means to be free?” The commentary hits even harder with a soundtrack of down and dirty funk, letting us know that Doncker is a lyrical and musical force to be reckoned with. 

LISTEN:

Tomás Doncker & The True Groove All-Stars release The Mess We Made on February 17. For more music and info check them out online:

The post SONG PREMIERE: Tomás Doncker & The True Groove All-Stars Share Timely Soul-Funk On “Some Ol’ Dolls 2017″ appeared first on Glide Magazine.

Guitarist Nels Cline (Wilco) will be presenting the music from his acclaimed new Blue Note album Lovers live this Spring with a pair of West coast performances in Los Angeles (Royce Hall, April 8) and San Francisco (SFJAZZ, April 9). Visit nelscline.com/shows for ticket information, and stay tuned for announcements about further 2017 performances of Lovers to follow.

“I feel so lucky to be able to come to my home state of California and play this music from Lovers with many of my most cherished West Coast comrades as well as with treasured East Coast representatives! And yes – art and beauty still matter. It is an honor to participate in endeavors such as this,” says Cline.

Check below  watch the new visual companion to the song “Glad To Be Unhappy.” Lovers was released in August to rave reviews, and was named one of the Best Jazz Albums of 2016 by NPR Music, Boston Globe, and others.

The ensemble for the April performances of Lovers is as follows:

STEVEN BERNSTEIN – trumpet
NELS CLINE – electric guitar
ALEX CLINE – drums
DAN CLUCAS – trumpet
MICHAEL DESSEN – trombone
BRAD DUTZ – vibraphone, marimba, percussion
JEFF GAUTHIER – violin
BEN GOLDBERG – contra-alto clarinet, Bb clarinet
VINNY GOLIA – woodwinds
DEVIN HOFF – bass
YUKA C HONDA – celeste, synth
JULIAN LAGE – electric & acoustic guitar, Dobro
MICHAEL LEONHART – conductor, trumpet, flugelhorn
ZEENA PARKINS – harp
MAGGIE PARKINS – cello
SARA SCHOENBECK – bassoon
GAVIN TEMPLETON – Bb clarinet

The post Nels Cline Performing New Blue Note LP ‘Lovers’ Live in LA & San Fran appeared first on Glide Magazine.

For movie nerds, the Super Bowl means one thing and one thing only: New trailers. This year offered a wide array of fresh adverts for tomorrow’s blockbusters, all of which polished with a clean shine befitting the largest TV day of the year. This year’s batch covers the gamut of modern cinema, from high octane sequels to potential remakes to potentially groundbreaking originals. Mostly sequels though, because that’s the only thing making money these days. Hey, you get what you pay for, right? Nowhere is this more true than at the movies.

John Wick Chapter 2-February 10

I could watch Keanu Reeves’s hardcore assassin 24/7, which is about the rate I’ve been watching and rewatching all the trailers leading up to its release. All of them tell me one thing: It’s gonna be John Wick as fuck. That is a beautiful thing.

A Cure for Wellness-February 17

Gore Verbinski’s neo-gothic drama is either going to be the sleeper hit of dump month or will fall with a thud so fantastic it’ll resonate throughout the rest of the year. There’s not going to be a lot of in between on this one, but I’m half in already.

Logan-March 3

Oh, God, another X-Men movie. The run up is always the same: The previews look amazing, they make you think they’ve finally got the formula right, excitement runs high, and then you see it and realize it’s the same bullshit they’ve been making since 2000. This one is different though. It’s rated R. That means it’s good. Right? RIGHT?!

Life-March 24

I, also, enjoy the Alien movies.

Ghost in the Shell-March 31

The story that legitimized anime gets an unnecessary live action remake that also happens to look kind of badass, but will probably be disappointing. Boy, if that’s not ever a metaphor for these times of ours.

The Fate of the Furious-April 14

So, I haven’t seen a single one of these movies since the original, and I’m starting to think I’ve missed some plot points along the way. Is that a fucking submarine?! Are they racing a submarine?! Street racing has changed, man.

The Handmaid’s Tale­-April 26 (Hulu)

I’m glad that 1984 has sold out in the last couple of weeks since the inauguration, but Margaret Atwood’s horrifying dystopia is the book we really should be reading. Hopefully this series sparks a new interest in the novel, and maybe we can all work on trying to prevent this from actually happening.

Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2-May 5

We. Are. Groot.

Baywatch-May 26

I didn’t not giggle at, “Freedom”? I still can’t tell what this movie is trying to be, but that might be my own stubborn insistence on ignoring the fact this is movie is happening and there’s nothing I can do about it. Also, between this and The Fate of the Furious, apparently the real winner of the Super Bowl was The Rock.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales-May 26

Is this really the world we live in?

Transformers: The Last Knight-June 23

Apparently, yes.

Stranger Things season 2­-October 31 (Netflix)

I can’t tell if I’m more excited about the second season of this amazing series or about the inevitable hot takes from people who are going to insist that everything awesome is actually awful and that we should hate all that is beautiful in this world. Who wants waffles?

The post Super Bowl Trailer Round Up: ‘Stranger Things’; ‘Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2′; ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’; and More appeared first on Glide Magazine.

Even if you’re not a devoted watcher of Saturday Night Live like I am (to the confusion of many of my peers, including co-workers here at Glide Magazine), chances are all you heard about Sunday when you woke up was Melissa McCarthy’s surprise appearance, where she played current White House Press Secretary and Dippin’ Dots hater Sean Spicer. Storming onto the stage completely out of nowhere, McCarthy slipped into Spicer’s ill-fitting suit and barreled through the sketch’s eight-minute runtime like a flaming cannonball full of dynamite.

While it was easily the best sketch (political or otherwise) that SNL’s tabled up since Tom Hanks’ Trump supporter was a contestant on Black Jeopardy, (which was confoundedly overshadowed by David S. Pumpkins that same night), it’s worth pointing out exactly why history was being made on live television.

Dialing back the clock a couple election seasons, back when Sarah Palin was the most rambling, gaffe-prone politician in the national spotlight, you’ll remember her most attributed quote is “I can see Russia from my house!”

Thing is, though, Palin never said that. Tina Fey did during her first scene-stealing impression as the then-Vice Presidential candidate. Fey’s Palin was an obvious classic less than four seconds into that sketch, a nuanced, detailed sendup that repurposed a dozen or so soundbites and retrofit them into workable punchlines. It was so uncannily good and frighteningly close to reality that Fey’s infamous line just got lumped in alongside every other shrill, folksy word sandwich she managed to regurgitate.

That’s what McCarthy’s impression is cementing here: An impression so unshakably good that it’ll be impossible to not replay it back in your brain the next time Spicer turns up at a televised press conference to yell at the fourth estate for not aptly coddling the man-child currently working out of the Oval Office.

Even Spicer himself seemed to take it in stride (relatively speaking), and only said that McCarthy “could dial back” her impression, which shows that he doesn’t understand how impressions work (or satire, but we already knew that). While it seems likely that McCarthy will get another crack at playing the rage-filled Spicer, especially given the endless material this administration keeps cranking out, it’s unlikely that we’ll get anything as close to perfection as what we got last weekend.

The post A Few Words About Melissa McCarthy’s Surprise ‘SNL’ Appearance Over The Weekend appeared first on Glide Magazine.

The Black Lips have kept a fairly low profile as of late. It’s been three years since their last release, Underneath the Rainbow, and tours have been done in small bursts of dates. Maybe it’s OK that the Atlanta band is resting on their laurels after non-stop touring, recording, and partying pretty much since the turn of this century. That being said, when the Lips made their way to Portland on February 4^th they were anything but rusty.

The band’s appearance was part of a two-day blowout at the Crystal Ballroom called Sabertooth Microfest featuring a slew of psych-oriented acts. Also on the bill this night was Ezra Furman who, in his signature dress, gave the audience a set of blistering rock and roll. Furman’s quick set with his band the Boyfriends dwelled heavily on the albums Day of the Dog and Perpetual Motion People. Onstage Furman described his music as “pure intractable frustration” – an accurate description in the best kind of way. The songs played were fast, unforgiving, and a whole lot of fun, with the presence of a saxophone adding an E Street Band touch to a feisty garage glam rock sound. This was hammered home with the closer of “Teddy I’m Reddy”, a catchy sax-laden tune that brought to mind the Rolling Stones’ “No Expectations”.

The much buzzed about Brazilian band Boogarins hit next with a set based around slowly percolating sonic landscapes. With a massive sound that is both poppy and psychedelic, the Portuguese-speaking group tore through a set that brought to mind modern psych acts like Tame Impala as well as legends like Pink Floyd circa Ummagumma. The band’s sound often switched tempos at the drop of a dime even while maintaining a perpetual dance groove. Even though they rarely sing in English, Boogarins showed Portland that their songs are universal, and for this reason they are an act on the verge of much larger audiences.

Gone are the days of the hard-partying band from Atlanta. Yes, the Black Lips have grown up. Lucky for us, there is a rowdiness ingrained in these boys and it was onstage in Portland. Accompanied by a mysterious female saxophone player known simply as Zumi, the band charged through a handful of tunes like “Family Tree”, “Justice After All”, the Velvet Underground-meets-the-trailer-park “Dirty Hands”, and “Raw Meat”. They also busted out new songs off a supposedly upcoming album. Though the album hasn’t been officially announced, the new songs were hard-hitting numbers veering from punk to blues and winning over a crowd determined to dance hard to every moment.

The Black Lips may have kept their set short – playing for exactly an hour – but they kept it tight and on point. Compared to the unpredictable, loose cannon Black Lips of yore, this was a band grown up and professional. That being said, their set in Portland showed that even if they’ve matured, their special brand of sleazy psychedelic rock and roll always retains its charm. Plus, they got more than a few people in the audience excited about the prospect of a new album…perhaps this year?

The post The Black Lips, Boogarins, and Ezra Furman Rock Portland (SHOW REVIEW) appeared first on Glide Magazine.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Known primarily as a reliable session hand heralded for both his guitar playing and his behind the boards prowess, Gurf Morlix is also a seasoned solo artist whose no-nonsense approach has made him one of Austin’s most reliable practitioners. The Soul & The Heal is a fine example of that signature sound, a tattered series of ten songs that finds Gurf expressing his well-worn sentiments. By the second song in the set, “Love Remains Unbroken,” he’s established the basic premise for the record and a larger mantra as well:

“The prophets said it
The poets said it
The preachers said it
The philosophers said it
It’s in all the great art
It’s is in everyone’s heart
It’s in every great thought awoken

True love remains unbroken promise ever spoken.”

Granted, Gurf can be gruff, and on tracks like “Bad Things” and “Deeper Down,” his dark delivery creates the impression he’s a troubled troubadour still sowing the dark underbelly of a life best lamented. Yet, that dusty stance only adds to his credence and credibility, his frayed view of the world being the perfect accouterment for an intrepid guitar-slinger like himself. There’s little here in the way of sweetening, but the gritty happenstance is all the more reason to appreciate his tack. Indeed, on songs such as “Cold Here Too, “I’m Bruised, I’m Bleedin’ and “My Chainsaw,” Morlix is unabashedly honest about the less than ideal circumstances in which many of us find ourselves. And yet, he soldiers on — rugged, defiant, and always unbowed.

Given his service to Lucinda Williams, Mary Gauthier, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Slaid Cleaves among the many, Morlix could easily be considered the equivalent of an MVP; after all, his ability to multitask on guitar, bass, drums, banjo, harmonica, dobro, pedal steel and mandolin has made him an invaluable part of many an artist’s instrumental arsenal. Given that Morlix is rarely prone to show any great degree of exuberance or exhilaration, one has to wonder why his work is so consistently downtrodden. No worry though; as The Soul & The Heal obviously indicates, he’s working through his tribulations just like the rest of us, providing some prudent philosophy along the way. Listen to the songs “Move Someone” and “The Best We Can” as examples of understated optimism. Then enjoy the music that serves as the soundtrack.

The post Renowned Sideman Gurf Morlix Offers Tattered Well Worn Sentiments With ‘The Soul & The Heal’ (ALBUM REVIEW) appeared first on Glide Magazine.

New York City-based singer-songwriter Kate Grom explored music in performance and application through more formal outlets like church choir, chamber choir, and women’s choir, and later studied formally at Belmont University in Nashville. Ultimately though, she ended up pursuing a path on her own terms and well outside the confines of formality. Her aesthetic encompasses Americana traditions such as folk, bluegrass, and country, as well as the reflective and literate traditions of contemporary and classic singer-songwriters. Her influences include Stevie Nicks, Loretta Lynn, Bob Dylan, America, Patsy Cline, Emmylou Harris, Simon & Garfunkel, and Gillian Welch, among others. Her vocals exhibit a fragile power — filled with longing and a soulful melancholy that’s both stirring and comforting.

All of this can be heard on Grom’s new album Heroine, which is due out on February 24th. The collection of songs is rustic and refined, full of introspection and empowerment: both things Grom found while on her path to becoming an independent woman. It’s a product of a transformative time in her life while she found her musical voice. Over the course of the album Grom breaks out of her comfort zone, emerging as a promising talent.

Today Glide Magazine is premiering one of the standout songs on Heroine, “Whiskey Eyes”. The country-tinged tune shows off Grom’s vocal prowess as she sings of the intoxicating feeling of connecting with someone. It’s a soft tune that has a subtle power and manages to pull your heartstrings.

“Ever met someone whose kisses were intoxicating? Whose eyes could mesmerize you right over the edge? I have. And it’s like looking at a glass of whiskey dancing in sunlight,” says Grom when reflecting on the inspiration behind the song.

LISTEN:

Kate Grom releases Heroine on February 24th. For more music and info visit kategrom.com. 

The post SONG PREMIERE: Kate Grom Shares Country-Tinged “Whiskey Eyes” appeared first on Glide Magazine.

The young singer-songwriter Garrett Owen may not be known to many yet, but in the Dallas-Fort Worth area he calls home there is already a considerable buzz with local outlets like the Dallas Observer describing him as an “agile, intricate, accomplished guitar player who sings honey-dipped melodies about devastating turns of events.” Indeed, Owen often turns to sadder subject matter for his songs. But though there is melancholy laced throughout much of his songwriting, there is also something sweet and comforting about Owen’s voice that lets you know things just may work out alright. The ability to strike this balance is front and center on Owen’s new EP Sad Eyed Son, which comes out on February 17th. The album finds Owen embracing the rich tradition of Texas songwriters while forging his own path with poignant emotional narratives.

Today Glide Magazine is excited to premiere the song “Good Luck”. The soft song feels delicate and folky with a catchy chorus that drifts into power pop territory. Owen’s shyness, tendency for introspection, and streaks of perfectionism all shine through in the song.

Offering his own thoughts on the song, Owen has this to say:

“‘Good Luck’ was one of the first songs I wrote after nearly 4 years of writer’s block. In ‘Good Luck’, coming back to playing and writing is in there… ‘I want it back, my place in the light…’ is about getting back to performing. I was really drawing a lot of influence from The Beatles and Elliott Smith for the chord progression, but lyrically I was being honest with myself about the desire to get back on stage. The line ‘goodbye you Post Oak trees you can learn to be alone like me’ is about the urge to get out of my comfort zone. When I started to write the lyrics for ‘Good Luck’, I just went into a spare room, turned the lights off, and started singing and playing, and it came naturally. I usually play acoustic guitar, but when we went to record this my producer Taylor Tatsch handed me a Gibson ES 335, and it just feels right for this song.” 

LISTEN:

Garrett Owen releases Sad Eyed Son on February 17th. For more music and info visit garrett-owen.com.

The post SONG PREMIERE: Garrett Owen Keeps It Honest and Catchy on “Good Luck” appeared first on Glide Magazine.

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On March 17th, 2017 Tedeschi Trucks Band will release their second live album and first ever concert film, ‘Live From The Fox Oakland’ on Fantasy Records. Led by the husband-and-wife duo of guitar master Derek Trucks and singer-guitarist Susan Tedeschi, the 12-piece ensemble’s breathtaking live show is captured here over 15 blistering tracks.

Filmed and recorded in a single night, September 9th, 2016, at Oakland, CA’s gorgeous Fox Theater, the concert film and audio were mixed using a vintage Neve console to achieve an exquisitely immersive sound experience, and mastering guru Bob Ludwig added his craft to the full 5.1 surround sound mix and album audio. The film was produced and directed by Jesse Lauter (Bob Dylan In The 80s: Volume One) and Grant James (Father John Misty) with Trucks continuing in his role as producer on all music elements.

‘Live From The Fox Oakland’ will be released in multiple formats including vinyl, DVD and Blu-ray. The collection includes cuts from Tedeschi Trucks Band’s 2016 album ‘Let Me Get By’ as well as TTB’s own interpretations of Leonard Cohen’s “Bird on the Wire” and Bobby “Blue” Bland’s “I Pity the Fool,” two songs which feature the full range and power of Tedeschi’s vocals. On Derek and the Dominos’ “Keep On Growing” it’s Trucks’ guitar work that grabs the spotlight for a stunning extended solo. Watch the full 10-minute powerhouse performance below..

In another memorable segment, sarod master Alam Khan joins TTB onstage for the first time on their original song “These Walls.” This genre-defying moment reveals TTB’s classical Indian influences and proves the 12-piece ensemble can drop their sound down to a whisper when it serves the song.

For a band that spends hundreds of days on the road a year, it was important to choose the right time for their second live album. As Trucks explains, “we’ve been wanting to properly document the progress of this band for a while and it really felt like we were hitting our stride and firing on all cylinders last fall.” Tedeschi adds, “it was special capturing the live performance from Oakland. The audience was great and the band played with passion. I am thankful we captured the band at this moment in time.”

Trucks and Tedeschi’s full commitment to making the best sounding live recording possible was evident from start to finish. “Our engineers Bobby Tis and Brian Speiser have been tweaking our recording setup on the road over the last year so we can really capture the sound of being in the room,” says Trucks. “The three of us spent countless hours in our studio after the recording to bring the tracks to life and make sure you can hear all the energy and nuances, which isn’t easy with a 12 piece band. We put a lot of work in to make sure the mixing/mastering was a notch above and I think our fans and music deserve the extra effort.”

Tedeschi Trucks Band will kick off a string of tour dates in February, including three consecutive nights at both Washington DC’s Warner Theater and Nashville’s storied Ryman Auditorium. The three night stands continue in June with a run at the Merriam Theater in Philadelphia. On July 1 they will launch their third annual Wheels of Soul tour, this year featuring like-minded roots-rockers The Wood Brothers and bonafide rock legends Hot Tuna. All tour dates for this burgeoning summer tradition are listed below..

Album Track List
1. Don’t Know What It Means
2. Keep On Growing
3. Bird On The Wire
4. Within You, Without You
5. Just As Strange
6. Crying Over You
7. These Walls (featuring Alam Khan)
8. Anyhow
9. Right On Time
10. Leavin’ Trunk
11. Don’t Drift Away
12. I Want More (Soul Sacrifice outro)
13. I Pity The Fool
14. Ali
15. Let Me Get By

Film Track List
Don’t Know What It Means
Keep On Growing
Bird On The Wire
Within You, Without You
Just As Strange
Crying Over You
Color Of The Blues
These Walls (featuring Alam Khan)
Leavin’ Trunk
I Pity The Fool
I Want More (Soul Sacrifice outro)
Let Me Get By
You Ain’t Going Nowherer

Tour Dates
Feb 23 – Washington, DC – Warner Theater +
Feb 24 – Washington, DC – Warner Theater
Feb 25 – Washington, DC – Warner Theater
Feb 28 – Charleston, WV – Charleston Municipal Auditorium ^
Mar 2 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium ^
Mar 3 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
Mar 4 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
Mar 17 – Munich, DEU – TonHalle Munchen
Mar 18 – Zurich, CHE – Kongresshaus Zurich
Mar 19 – Milano, ITA – Alcatraz
Mar 22 – Koln, DEU – E-Werk
Mar 24 – Berlin, DEU – Tempodrom
Mar 25 – Nurnberg, DEU – Bluesdays
Mar 26 – Karlsruhe, DEU – Tollhaus
Mar 30 – Brussels, BEL – Cirque Royal
Mar 31 – Amsterdam, NLD – Heineken Music Hall
Apr 3 – Frankfurt, DEU – Batschkapp
Apr 4 – Tuttlingen, DEU – Stadthalle
Apr 5 – Stuttgart, DEU – Longhorn oder Theaterhaus
Apr 7 – Copenhagen, DNK – Amagar Bio
Apr 8 – Randers, DNK – Vaerket
May 27 – Jacksonville, FL – Daily’s Place Amphitheater
May 28 – Orlando, FL – Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts
June 8 – Philadelphia, PA – Merriam Theater
June 9 – Philadelphia, PA – Merriam Theater
June 10 – Philadelphia, PA – Merriam Theater

Wheels of Soul Tour (ft. The Wood Brothers & Hot Tuna)
July 1 – Gilford, NH – Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion *
July 2 – Essex, VT (Burlington) – Midway Lawn at Champlain Valley Exposition *
July 3 – Saratoga, NY – Saratoga Performing Arts Center *
July 5 – Vienna, VA (DC) -Wolf Trap *
July 8 – Rochester, NY – Highland Bowl *
July 9 – Simsbury, CT – Simsbury Meadows Performing Arts Center *
July 12 – Virginia Beach, VA – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater *%
July 14 – Raleigh, NC – Red Hat Amphitheater *%
July 15 – Atlanta, GA – Fox Theatre *
July 16 – Charlotte, NC – Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre *%
July 19 – Indianapolis, IN – Farm Bureau Insurance Lawn *
July 21 – Cincinnati, OH – PNC Pavilion at Riverbend Music Center *
July 22 – Huber Heights, OH (Dayton) – Rose Music Center *
July 23 – Rochester, MI (Detroit) – Meadow Brook Amphitheatre *
July 25 – Rogers, AR – Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion *
July 27 – Albuquerque, NM – Sandia Casino *
July 29 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre *
July 30 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre *

+with Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett (of Little Feat)
^with Jorma Kaukonen
* with The Wood Brothers and Hot Tuna
% Tickets on sale Feb 7 at 10am

More Info

http://tedeschitrucksband.com

http://shorefire.com/client/tedeschi-trucks-band

https://www.facebook.com/DerekAndSusan

https://twitter.com/derekandsusan

https://www.instagram.com/derekandsusan

https://www.youtube.com/TTBFromTheRoad

###

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Heavenly Recordings has announced the release of Gargoyle, the new album from Mark Lanegan Band on April 28th. The 10-track LP features guest appearances from long-time collaborators Josh Homme, Greg Dulli and Duke Garwood. Lead track ‘Nocturne’ can be heard below…

Early in 2016, Mark was at home in LA, working on some ideas for what might turn into his next album when he got an email from a friend, an English musician named Rob Marshall, thanking Mark for contributing to a new project he was putting together, Humanist. The pair first met in 2008, when Marshall’s former band Exit Calm supported Soulsavers, who Mark was singing with at the time. Now Rob was offering to write Mark some music to return the favor: “I was like, Hey man, I’m getting ready to make a record, if you’ve got anything?’” Mark recalls. “Three days later he sent me *10 things… !”

In the meantime, Mark had written ‘Blue Blue Sea’, a rippling mood piece that he thought might be a more fruitful direction for his new record. “It’s almost always how my records start,” he explains. “I let the first couple of songs tell me what the next couple should sound like, and it’s really the same process when I’m writing words. Whatever my first couple of lines are tell me what the next couple should be. I’ve always built things like that, sort of like making a sculpture I guess.”

Within an hour, Mark had written words and vocal lines for two of the pieces Rob had cooked up at Mount Sion Studios in Kent and pinged through the virtual clouds to California. Rob’s music fitted perfectly with the direction Mark had been pondering: in essence, a more expansive progression from the moody Krautrock-influenced electronica textures of his two previous albums, ‘Blues Funeral’ and ‘Phantom Radio’. Eventually, Rob Marshall would co-write six of the songs on the new Mark Lanegan Band album. “I was very thankful to become reacquainted with him,” Mark deadpans.

The remainder of the album was written, recorded and produced by Lanegan’s longtime musical amanuensis Alain Johannes at his 11 AD base in West Hollywood. Everything was done and dusted within a month, unusually fast by Lanegan’s recent standards. “I definitely feel like I’m a better songwriting than I was 15 years ago,” he says. “I don’t know if I’m just kidding myself or what, but it’s definitely easier now to make something that is satisfying to me. Maybe I’m just easier on myself these days, but it’s definitely not as painful a process, and therefore I feel I’m better at it now. But part of the way that I stay interested in making music is by collaborating with other people. When I see things through somebody else’s perspective it’s more exciting than if I’m left to my own devices.” 

While sharing roots with its two predecessors, on Gargoyle there’s a significant up-shift in the swaggering powerlode of such keynote songs as Nocturne and Beehive, while the lyrics’ tonal palette is more varied. The album title comes from a lyric in Blue Blue Sea – “Gargoyle perched on gothic spire” – and was chosen for its hint of self-deprecation. “I’m most proud of the songs that are atypical to stuff that I’ve done in the past” says Mark. “So I really like Old Swan, because it’s an expression of positivity, which is completely anti-anything I’ve done before!” He laughs. “Y’know, I haven’t played this record for too many people yet. I played it for Greg Dulli, who played on some of it, and he was like, ‘Wow, I had to listen to it twice – it sounds like he’s having a good time…’

The post Mark Lanegan Band Reveal New Album ‘Gargoyle’ Out 4/28 – Guests Inc. Homme, Dulli, Garwood appeared first on Glide Magazine.

‘Iron Fist’ Second Trailer Shows Off More of Netflix’s Latest

The Defenders is just around the corner, but we’ve still got one more character to meet. Enter Iron Fist. Netflix dropped the second full length trailer for the latest Marvel series today, giving us more insight into the last hero set to join the crossover team. Finn Jones (Game of Thrones) stars as the titular hero, a billionaire heir thought dead after his parents died in a plane crash ten years ago. Now, he’s a mystical Kung Fu master seeking to destroy evil, because of course. Netflix has yet to let us down with their Marvel series, and this looks like another solid outing. If nothing else, Rosario Dawson returns as Claire Temple. Iron Fist premieres March 24 on Netflix.

(Netflix)

‘Snatched’ Certainly Looks Like an Amy Schumer Movie

Amy Schumer, one of the current leading ladies of comedy, returns in a mother/daughter adventure co-starring the one and only Goldie Hawn in Snatched. The two star as two tourists who are kidnapped while in a Latin American country. It seems perfect for Schumer’s brand of lowest common denominator humor, which is never as impressive as it needs to be or thinks it is. But seeing Hawn is always a treat, and she has a way of elevating the lowest common denominator to something resembling merit, so there’s that. Snatched hits theaters on May 12.

(20^th Century Fox)

‘Friday the 13th’ Reboot and ‘World War Z 2′ Pulled From Schedule

Paramount Pictures pulled a planned reboot of Friday the 13^th, previously scheduled for release October 13, off its schedule completely. At the same time, Paramount also pulled World War Z 2, the sequel to Brad Pitt’s zombie epic from 2013, from this year’s schedule, owing to the loss of their director late last year. While the chances for WWZ2 being released at some point still remain high, who knows what this means for Jason Vorhees and the Friday the 13^th trailer. Apparently, the poor showing for Rings, Paramount’s attempt to reboot The Ring frightened them off of pursuing yet another reboot, which is probably a good thing. The slasher maniacs of yesterday had their fun in the sun, but now it’s time to move forward. Perhaps now we can start seeing some original franchises once again.

(The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter)

The post Film Bits: ‘Iron Fist’ Unveils New Trailer; ‘Friday the 13th’ Reboot Pulled from Release Schedule appeared first on Glide Magazine.

Jamtronica favorites The Disco Biscuits played a three-night run at the Fillmore in their hometown of Philadelphia, PA. They were joined by Aqueous. Check out photos from the first night of the run, Thursday, February 2nd. Setlists for all three nights below gallery.

Thursday, February 2, 2017 – The Fillmore Philadelphia – Philadelphia, PA
I: Coming Home-> I-Man-> Vassillios-> Abraxas-> Run Like Hell-> Coming Home
II: The Overture-> Portal to an Empty Head-> The Overture, Highwire-> I Remember When, Magellan-> I-Man
E: Wet-> Run Like Hell

Friday, February 3, 2017 – The Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
I: Bernstein & Chasnoff-> Voices Insane-> Bernstein & Chasnoff, The Very Moon-> Give it to Me (with Swift Technique Horns)-> Morph Dusseldorf (ending only)
II: King of the World (with ST Horns)-> Let’s Dance (with ST Horns)-> Humuhumunukunukuapua’a (inverted)-> Astronaut-> Down to the Bottom (inverted)-> Confrontation (ending)
E: On Time

Saturday, February 4, 2017 – The Fillmore Philadelphia – Philadelphia, PA
I: Morph Dusseldorf-> Spaga, And the Ladies Were the Rest of the Night-> Magellan-> Exodus (w/ Tom Hamilton’s)-> Astronaut (w/ Tom Hamilton)
II: Mindless Dribble-> Crickets (inverted)-> Basis for a Day (ending), Spectacle, Basis for a Day-> And the Ladies Were The Rest of the Night
E: Hope

The post The Disco Biscuits Play To Hometown Crowd At Fillmore In Philly (PHOTOS/SETLIST) appeared first on Glide Magazine.