The Royal Veil - King of the Ocean (2013)

https://www.facebook.com/theroyalveil

I saw them play this whole thing last night (August 9th, 2013), along with seeing Yes at Mystic Lake Casino in fact.

It slayed. Pretty much ballsy, intricate, dynamic, almost theatrical at-times stuff, that I while I wasn't surprised, still very impressed. They spent a long time making this debut record of theirs, and just guessing here, but I think that extra time, patience and effort may have made this album coming out all the better.

I'll try (of course time permitting) including more details about it soon in here, but I would hardly be surprised if this album is not only among, if not the best album to be released from any Minnesota band in 2013. But I also wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being 1 of my 2013 favorites overall, much like Brice Plays Drums from 2012 , Lehto & Wright in 2010, etc.

But, also it would come as no shock, if it finds only a fraction of the audience it deserves, But, that is what this blog is supposed to be for in some ways (failing, or not at that, lol). If they are my and some others little brilliant secret from Minnesota this year or however long after, it's not the end of the world, as I've seen this pattern far too many times before. It doesn't detract from the actual music and even the band continuing to make more regardless.

Maybe the most jaw-dropping part, seeing this whole album played live, was from "Into the Sun." There's a unison section that is just that, jaw-dropping, among other things.



1. The Waters 2:19
2. The Entity 4:15
3. A Circle of Violence 11:08
4. Wake 1:54
5. Tonic 4:42
6. Into the Sun 7:06
7. Battletoad 9:49
8. Entity ü 2:25

http://theroyalveil.bandcamp.com/

Read More

Imogen Heap: 2012 Recap

 8/9/13 11:58AM

I may try doing this. New album could be by the end of 2013 or early 2014?

http://www.imogenheap.com/2013/08/09/add-your-voice-to-the-listening-chair/

Add your voice to ‘The Listening Chair’

Posted on August 9, 2013

Imogen is a matter of days away from completing her new album and needs your help.
Finishing as she started, Immi is asking her fans to join her in the final piece of the puzzle and add their voices to ‘The Listening Chair’ song.

How to get involved?

1. What we need you to do is record yourself saying “Who Am I Now?”.
2. You can do this using your web browser at soundcloud.com/upload or use the Soundcloud app on your smartphone or tablet. Download it here: soundcloud.com/mobile
3. Upload your recording (you’ll need to create a free Soundcloud account) and then add it to the Soundcloud group.
***PLEASE MAKE YOUR FILES DOWNLOADABLE OTHERWISE IMOGEN WON’T BE ABLE TO USE THEM***
4. Add your name to the file name so we can credit you, otherwise we’ll credit your Soundcloud username.
5. All entries must be submitted to this group by 23:30 BST on Saturday 10th August, so be quick!!

Tips

We’ve added Imogen’s ‘master’ recording to the group so you can hear the speed we need you to talk at, you can listen to it here.




12/24/12 6:04PM
I just got this linked to her latest newsletter. I know she was busy in 2012, but not *this* busy, lol.

Including this information about Speak For Yourself as an Instrumental Version and a Deluxe Version. Now VINYL???

http://speakforyourself.imogenheap.com/album/speak-for-yourself-deluxe-version

http://www.imogenheap.com/2012/12/24/imogens-2012-recap/


Hello!!
Is it the end of the year already? Crazy! This has been an entirely mental year for me. Bouncing from one project to the next. As it turns out.. just the way I like it!
I wanted to also say a HUGE thank you to everyone here for another year of what I feel is unconditional support and encouragement for all things I get up to! I know I’m not the easiest person to follow what goes on and don’t always do what perhaps musically you hope of me but if I so appreciate you’re with me (even if you’re not, I feel like you are!).
I think a brief, one thing per month recap is in order before I attempt to do all my Christmas shopping in 3 hours! Album release hopefully May / June 2013 along with extremely fancy new exciting (long overdue) website!
January – The year kicked off with Xizi She Knows, the song that emerged from my 6 week residency in Hangzhou, China and the video to accompany it, featuring some of the many wonderful people I met during my stay there.

February – I performed my 32 minute SeaShell and The Clergyman a cappella score at the Roundhouse Reverb Festival, London and the Sage Gateshead with the Holst Singers and The Sage choir.
March – An intense period of development for The Gloves, my dream composing, performance tool / instrument I’ve been developing with an ever growing fabulous team of people. This year I performed with the gloves at TED Global, Wired and AHRC.
April - I wrote and premièred ’Me The Machine’ via a live stream on Earth Day with the Gloves, powered by a solar, chip fat, and a bicycle powered set up in a field at the bottom of my garden! On Earth day, we also put up the Love The Earth film complete with my first attempt at an orchestral film score and it’s now up on Vimeo for all to see.
May – began The Listening Chair’s journey in Sydney where I performed at the Sydney Opera house an intimate piano, voice show of all the Heapsongs so far. The Listening Chair is a physical chair that collects messages from people who sit in it and from that wrote The A Cappella song so many of you suggested ideas for in answering the question ‘what is the song that still needs to be written’. Then premièred it at The Proms in August with Eric Whitacre with a massive choir! Woo! Every 7 years I’ll be writing another minute to the piece. It’s currently at 5 mins long as I’m 35 :).
June – Gathered ideas from lots of passers by via the Listening Chair on the Southbank for a song about the River Thames, before spending a night or two up in A Room For London, thanks to Artangel writing what then became You Know Where To Find Me...

July – performed at TED global with the Gloves and recorded pianos for You Know Where To Find me in 14 different locations mostly around peoples houses in Edinburgh, as seen in the video. Also this brilliant interactive map came out of it.
August - Deadmau5 released Telemiscommunications, the tune with wrote together that I love very much. We set up the animation competition this December that we’ll all see the fruits of in January next year! Also another collaboration began with the brilliant Dan Black that month. Hopefully to be on his new record next year.
September – started on the music for ‘The Happiest Place’ and helped, with many of you raise the money (and beyond!) for the film with their Kickstarter campaign. Connecting to the trek we made in the Himalayas, Bhutan last year.

I also released my first ringtone and if I don’t say so myself, a rather good one! ;)

October - I began working on my first music app, where I’m exploring for the first time writing generative and reactive music. The app / song is now called Run-Time’ and I’m working on it with my favourite music app developers, RJDJ. We began our collaboration starting with the Aldeburgh young musicians!
November – Honoured to present the Lovie Lifetime achievement award to Heinz Gerhauser of the Fraunhofer ISS where he and his team gave birth to the mighty mp3!

I also began curation on the  Reverb festival at the Roundhouse Camden happening in August 2014. Looking set to be a 5 day, 24 hour exploration in contemporary classical music complete with reactive and interactive ‘creatures’!
December – worked mainly on Run-Time and filmed the video for Run-Time on my birthday (9th December) with whoever fancied joining in last minute with people all around London! You can download the little scrapbook we’ve made with some short audio samples and explanations and follow the story so far here.
Also I arranged and released some sheet music for the first time ever! It’s for solo piano and voice (not the 14 pianos It was recorded on!) for the song You Know Where To Find Me, get it here.
In exciting further news! The Gloves are going to have their first National Television début on Dara O’Briain’s Science Club 30th December 2012, 8pm BBC2.
More news! I’d like to congratulate Thomas Ermacora and his organisation, Clearvillage.org on being awarded a major grant from the Big Lottery for The Walled Garden. With big thanks to the hardy heap fans who gave their green fingers during the garden angels lab for this project. This is where my song ‘Neglected Space’ grew from.

AND your wish has been granted! Speak for yourself is now available for the first time with its long awaited Instrumental versions as so many people have been requesting it! It comes complete with 3D virtual original artwork. Yay! I can’t wait for you to hear it. Also for all your audiophiles, it’s lossless! Sounds sweeet! Get it here.
If you’re cold… there’s some jumpers and things, heap merch style on sale now. Just use the code ‘XMAS50′ when you check out to get 50% off everything in your shopping basket.
In other completely unrelated news … I plucked my first grey hair from my right eyebrow the other day!
Phew! You made it! Have a great time over the holidays and I’ll be in touch in the new year with more madness. LOVE! xxx immi xxx Have a great start to 2013. I have a feeling it’s going to be a good’n! x

Read More

Shelter Red - The Split Sabre (2013)

8/9/13 4:51AM


1st single. Awe-some. This LP drops on September 3rd.



5/24/13 10:08PM

This record sounds awesome. Their Kickstarter campaign hopefully will succeed. $1,600 hardly seems like a longshot, but who knows. 1 month to raise another $1400+.

Hopefully this album will give me a little more than what the latest Long Distance Calling and some other instrumental records have thus far (although the new LDC isn't bad, and better than the previous one).

The video indicates a Summer release.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/303940776/shelter-red-the-split-sabre

It is difficult to write songs in 2013. Lots of songs have been written, and yet people expect you to write new ones. Against all odds, we did just that. And then we recorded those songs on our dime. Now the only challenge left to overcome is the financing of the CD's and the Merchandise to support this album. We need your help!

About us:

Shelter Red has been striking terror in Portland, Oregon since 2003. With a sound being described as quite technical and completely original. 2009's "Strike a mortal Terror" was the follow up to 2007’s mind-blowing debut release, “Masters of the Universe,” and "SAMT" was the 2nd release on Sound VS. Silence Records. Shelter Red doesn’t look to fit into any genre or style and doesn’t plan on conforming to any of the masses. While most instrumental albums usually seem to have a bit of a lull in them, SR seems to avoid that pitfall and actually relish in the fact that they don’t need voices to make phenomenal music. They have built a fan base from the ground up, which started in Portland and has worked its way nation wide, through talent, touring, and an astonishing live show. For fans of Don Caballero, ISIS, Tristeza, and Botch.

Read More

Midlake - Antiphon (2013)

More information is coming, but for now, we know the album title and it'll be released this Fall.

Also if you go there and sign-up for the email list, you receive a free download of 1 of the songs off the album (maybe the title track?, I haven't been able to download it yet anyway)

http://www.midlake.net/

hello friends. many days have passed since we saw you last. it’s been a couple years since we released any music, and it’s been months since we last performed live. the time passed has brought progression, changes, hope and joy. we are pleased to announce that our new album entitled Antiphon will be released this Fall. we are beyond excited to share this new record with everyone. since the departure of tim smith from midlake in November of last year, we’ve worked days and nights in the studio to write and record this album. we’ve pushed ourselves and challenged ourselves and feel that Antiphon represents an ultimate genesis both musically and spiritually.

We have so many great announcements and plans developing but more than anything, we are excited to perform these new songs along with our past favorites live for you. We look forward to seeing some of you in August and if we miss you then, we will see you in the months following. There are several tour dates brewing stateside and overseas so please check in frequently on this page as the updates will be coming often. onward!

edit:

Read More

The Orion Experience - Children of the Stars (2013)

I hopefully will be able to check this album out tomorrow. But before doing so, just thinking out loud, I wonder

Will this album be cheesy or actually be cool avoiding being too cheesy and melodramatic?

The band were cool enough to send me an Electronic Press Kit with a lot of info, images, quotes, descriptions, and much more. 

The NYC Girl EP is quite good, hopefully this record will include more music of that vein. Although for some reason, with the space element, I wonder if some of it may resemble Chrome Canyon, or dare I say, my beloved Apes and Androids (they do come across similarly, but, I would be frankly, SHOCKED if I ended up even half as a attached to this album as Blood Moon, although I sort of thought the same thing about Pepe Deluxe last year afterall).

Some of the stuff in the EPK makes a lot comparisons. some to bands like the Scissor Sisters, MGMT but also Queen, Muse and Prince among a few dozen others among the track list.

One other note I'm not fully clear on, about the info and press release saying this is being released on August 15th, yet it has been available for sale (digitally at least), since June 21st per both Amazon and CD Baby.

Maybe the CD goes on sale on the 15th? The Press release also mentioned it is/has been for sale at these largely dramatic spectacle shows, which Google reveals a Kickstarter link to, which explains why they have been able to make them Broadway-like productions in some ways it appears.

1 In the Beginning    0:44

2 Children of the Stars    4:33

3 S.T.A.R. Child            3:40

4 Electric Moves            3:13

5 Made 4 You    3:16

6 The Eternal Connection 1:03

7 Heart in My Pocket    3:24

8 Dandy            3:03

9 The Deepest Darkness  1:03

10 Win It All    3:57

11 Heaven            4:16

12 The Cosmic Dawn    0:23

13 Love Saves the Day    3:55

Pop/Rock Band THE ORION EXPERIENCE
Announces the Release of New Electro-Pop Concept Album
CHILDREN OF THE STARS on August 15, 2013
THE ORION EXPERIENCE, An Intergalactic Theatrical Rock Concert Adventure
Constructed Around Music by the Band, to Play Off-Broadway at
XL Nightclub in NYC Beginning August 1

NEW YORK – July 18, 2013 – THE ORION EXPERIENCE is set to release their new electro-pop album
CHILDREN OF THE STARS on August 15, 2013. Inspired by the writings of famed astronomer Carl Sagan,
NYC-based THE ORION EXPERIENCE has created a mythical tale told through monologues with an
otherworldly resonance.

THE ORION EXPERIENCE lead singer Orion Simprini has always had an obsession with outer space, and
CHILDREN OF THE STARS is the musical love child of that infatuation. A departure from their previous
works, the largely electronic and synthesized music illustrates an inter-dimensional love story, a spiritual
awakening, and tales of heartbreak and hope, infused with a futuristic ambiance. Just as the concept takes
listeners on a journey, the music travels through the eras and styles that have influenced the band. This album
gives listeners a glimpse of what they will see when they attend the new Off-Broadway show THE ORION
EXPERIENCE. Beginning August 1 at XL Nightclub (512 West 42nd St.) in New York City, the immersive
intergalactic rock concert extravaganza is built around music by the band.
CHILDREN OF THE STARS truly draws musical influences from an array of different genres including pop,
rock, electronic, dance, disco, and Top 40. Simprini, along with co-writers, Linda Horwatt, and Reef Rox write
clever lyrics, with tricks up their sleeves at every juncture. Repeat listening reveals their subtleties. What is a
Star Child? Lyrical definitions of the acronym S.T.A.R. include: “Super-sonic Techno-tramp Androgynous
Renascent” and “Sensual Telepathy Alter my Reality.” THE ORION EXPERIENCE is also defined by intricate
vocal arrangements, never taking the easy way out by using typical pop harmonies, which further
demonstrates their musicality. Listeners are reminded that love trumps all – that in a time when chaos, war,
and disaster seem to cloud our lives, if “you believe in love, then love saves the day.”
According to Orion, named appropriately by his astronomer father, who grew up “the first time vinyl records
were cool,” albums once were listened to straight through. CHILDREN OF THE STARS strives to recreate
that experience for the listener. “While it is possible, of course, to buy the individual tracks on iTunes, we hope
listeners will treat this as a true concept album,” says Simprini. “We invite listeners to partake in the relaxation
method of their choice, and then consume the album in one sitting, as one whole piece.”
Songs featured on CHILDREN OF THE STARS that will be featured in the Off-Broadway production of THE
ORION EXPERIENCE include the tracks “Children of the Stars,” “S.T.A.R. Child,” “Electric Moves,” “Made 4
You,” “Heart In My Pocket,” “Win It All,” and “Love Saves the Day,” as well as songs from their three previous
albums, and a new track written for the show. Their music is enhanced by dancers, aerialists, a space ship, a
sassy talking computer, fog machines, space vampires, cocktails, and much more.
Hear two tracks from the album/show now!

“Love Saves the Day” – https://soundcloud.com/the-orion-experience/love-saves-the-day
“Children of the Stars” – https://soundcloud.com/the-orion-experience/children-of-the-stars

The band THE ORION EXPERIENCE is an explosion of high-energy disco pop. Superbly crafted pop
songwriting and irresistible hooks are their calling card. THE ORION EXPERIENCE is: Orion Simprini (lead
vocals/rhythm guitar), Linda Horwatt (vocals/keyboards), and Reef Rox (lead guitar/vocals, who also has a coproducer
credit on the album).
Digital copies of CHILDREN OF THE STARS are available now through iTunes. Physical CDs will be
available for purchase at the show THE ORION EXPERIENCE, and later (along with limited edition vinyl
records) on the band’s website.
Tickets to THE ORION EXPERIENCE at XL Nightclub (Directed by Travis Greisler and presented by Ryan
Bogner) are available at www.theorionexperience.com, by calling 212-352-3101, or at the venue.
For further information, please visit:
www.theorionexperience.com
www.facebook.com/theorionexperience
www.twitter.com/orionexperience
For press inquiries about the band and album, please contact:
Aly Mifa Solot
It’s Probably Music
aly@itsprobablymusic.com
215-605-4428
For press inquiries about the show, please contact:
Ryan Turrin / Alex Goldschmidt
The Karpel Group
rturrin@thekarpelgropu.com / agoldschmidt@thekarpelgroup.com
212-505-2900

Read More

Brent Knopf (Ramona Falls) TED Talk

It may just be fanboy bias or something else, but every time any musician I like does one of these "Ted Talks" I find more reverence and appreciation for them. But then again, Brent Knopf is as creative and inventive a songwriter working today, so this point about wanting to "make mistakes" and having them be a key thing in how he writes songs, doesn't sound so surprising.

Also very cool way to hear "Melectric."

Read More

Ours - Ballet the Boxer 1 (2013)

8/5/13 5:27PM-8/6/13 9:21AM
The official video for "Devil" was finally put up today as it's posted now below:

I didn't realize, but it comes as very little surprise they used footage from the David Carradine short film Jimmy did (David Carradine's last work as it so happened to become as well), that was directed by Michael Maxxis who if I recall, directed some other videos for Ours and Jimmy's solo record?

Dark video, but still it captures the tune well. As far as the album, they keep releasing different versions of it (as Jimmy has said they would), most recently a 24-bit FLAC which I downloaded per the Pledemusic link, but haven't checked out. But some of the commnents on the fans forum are saying there's a distinct improvement in it sonically.

But, I guess I am still awaiting my package per the Pledgemusic campaign, but given I got the vinyl, they said it very likely would be 6-8 weeks, which probably means it'll not arrive until September sometime if not a little later. It also doesn't help the process the fact they are on tour right now as well. Too bad they aren't hitting my town, but I've known that a few months.

edit: there's an interview with Jimmy and Michael Maxxis posted just below the video that was linked in the latest newsletter.







5/30/13 5:51AM

I'll add more later, but the below portions of this interview add even more about this record and I would inmagine how Jimmy is feeling, reading some of the comments and reactions online about it.

He's rather outspoken and brutally honest, which I actually am glad to see. I just hope he's not feeling too hurt or overly sensitive. But the interview goes into that.

I do wish the question about the new version of "Murder" would have come up, but hopefully it will soon.

I did like how the interview asked about "more" music. I just hope the finances are feasible and if possible, the band won't require another fan-funding campaign. But that remains to be seen.

Link to a new, extensive interview with Jimmy Gnecco

It’s obvious the production of this album is different than your other ones. It just has a raw, live sound to it. Was that done on purpose?

That was definitely done on purpose. I played drums on the whole record except for the last song, “Fall into My Hands.” I’ve played drums in the past that we didn’t make a big deal about, but this time it was important for it to be right. I think it yielded something wild for us to tell you the truth. It’s a sound I’ve been chasing down for a long time in my head and I finally allowed that to happen.

We wanted to do a couple things differently than Mercy. We’d have around 20/30 guitar tracks to pick from for that album. Sometimes with all the different microphones and parts, we were using 15/16 guitar tracks at once. We just wanted to mainstream this record, not mainstream pop, but just streamline what it is we’re trying to do. We wanted one strong, defined guitar part as opposed to what we did on both Distorted Lullabies and Mercy which was to take multiple parts to make a sound. If you’re a guitarist or a drummer trying to learn one of those songs, you don’t even know what part to play. We wanted the intent to be different and clear with this record that it’s inspired by Michael Jackson or other Motown albums. You’re not wondering what’s making it sound this way by having all these different layers. There are still layers on this record, though.

You just have to listen closely for them.

Yeah, I don’t know if it’s because I played the drums, but I mixed them loud and mixed my voice low. I think it’s because we always wanted a record to sound that way. It’s always tricky because everybody has a different view on what they see as being right. Some people want to hear the band more and other people want to hear my voice the most. I thought on Mercy my voice was mixed really loud, so I wanted to make sure that when you turned this record up, everything came up. I didn’t let it get to the point where my voice was too loud before you felt what the drums were doing. So because of that you have to mix the voice down a little and in the band. I also got bored. I just did an album with 15 songs that were completely revolving around my voice. Everything was there to serve it and not get in the way of it, so I wanted the rhythm section to be pounding on this record.

I was going to say that your voice sounds buried on this album, but you also sing differently too. You’re in your higher register a lot which gives off this aggressive, angry tone to your voice. You don’t do those classic Gnecco screams like we just heard you sing in “Murder.” There’s still falsetto but it’s a lot less. So was that a conscious decision to sing that way too?

Yeah, I think it’s important to not become a parody of yourself. I don’t want to do a scream just to do it. I don’t want to sing falsetto unless the song calls for it. It was a conscious decision to lean toward more songs where I wasn’t singing falsetto for this record. Like you said, a lot of the songs are in a higher register in my voice. It’s actually a difficult album to sing.

On top of that, I got extremely sick during my small window. I had about two and a half weeks to get my vocals done because we had set the May 7 deadline and we were not going to go back on it. During that time, I unfortunately got sick and lost my voice. I was just struggling to have it at all, so that’s me pushing through it. I knew the sound of my voice would be different than ever before, so in that sense I tried to use it to my advantage. There are times when I just don’t have any control of it like I normally would. I took advantage of that because I think sometimes controlling the voice too much can take away some of the reckless abandonment. I tried to support it properly as a singer as much as I could, but still allow it to go where it wanted due to me being sick. I could barely breathe for most of the process. It just felt like somebody was standing on my chest the whole time that I was singing. You then get stressed out about being sick and it’s a constant cycle. It’s a miracle that we even got it done.

I shouldn’t even have to say this because this should just be a given with all records that are made, but I didn’t tune a single vocal. That’s not part of our set up. I wouldn’t know how and I’m not interested in doing it. So it wasn’t a matter of putting my voice down and tuning it all up. I hear tuned vocals on rock records and it does not please me at all. It’s depressing and disappointing to me, so we tried to leave it real.

5/22/13 11:36PM

This is probably worth adding, as it sheds more light or explanation about how the album is how it is. Credit the user Feverdown from the Fans Forum in the Topic about the album on pg 12

I get even more why the album is how it is.That being said, I have not played it too much over the last week and change just due to wanting to hear other stuff. Also I want to hear it on cd. They did just email the Pledgemusic backers FLAC version of the album, but I don't use an mp3 player of course. And burning the wav files seems kind of silly, But they may be worth checking out for now just to stream.


So I was listening to the boot of the Jimmy show at Mexicali Live from back in 2010 today, which I attended, and it has a long monologue where he talks about the next Ours record. 

I've transcribed it below if anyone is interested. Maybe it will take the place of interviews right now :) 

The TL;DR is that he says that when they made the record he wanted to go back to the feeling of being in the band during the Sour era. He also said that these were songs written for Velvet Revolver with the intention of making something that would sound like a follow up to Appetite for Destruction. I thought that was fascinating and I can't believe I forgot all about it.

Quote:

So the next Ours record...after doing this acoustic record...I get antsy. I do one thing and then I want to do something completely different. So, I've been having these feelings, I mean, when I was a little younger...maybe... [mumbles comically] years ago, we had something going on with our band where we kind of...I wouldn't say that we lost it over the years, you know, we changed, and I don't ever like to do the same thing over and over. There's lots of great bands who do that. AC/DC's one of em, they always make the same record and it's great each time. But I just wanted to do something new each time and grow. So the thing was by the time I made the first record, we never really made that record with the sound of the band that we had when I was younger, We never really made that record. And it was a fun band to be in at that time. Because, we uh, at a time where it was a...a bit of a hair band thing going on, which definitely with some great bands at the time. Some great singers, some great songs, which I felt actually deteriorated through the 90's with people who pretended like it was cool to not play. But um, we had a fun thing cuz we had this thing where we'd go into any little dingy bar and really just lay it out and really just kick ass. And I've been dying to do that again lately. I have a bunch of songs that I've written that are just gonna be, I don't know how to describe them, but I'd imagine that it's going to be close to that feeling that we had when we were younger. And I am really looking forward to doing that. I'm not going to play any of them yet tonight because for once I wanna surprise everybody with a record full of songs that you haven't heard. Rather than letting you hear it for five years and then recording it...and then wondering, "Why isn't anyone coming to the shows anymore? Because they've heard these songs for the last 20 years."

Yeah so there were some songs that I...I got a call to go down and sing with the guys from Velvet Revolver--a couple of times. The first time before Scott Weiland was in the band and then again after he was gone. I did jam with Slash a couple years ago, a show that we did in New York. It was horrible for me because I had lost my voice for about 6 months, 8 months. And I was just getting it back, that day oddly enough. I didn't know that I was getting it back. So I was terrified to go up and sing and I was like, "You gotta be kidding me." All those years of living like a compete...just trying to live like a Buddhist, with my, just everything. And the one night where I'm actually going to go up and play with some of my heroes and my voice wasn't working. So I did go up though and sing badly and...the one of the guys in the band gave me to wrong cue, so the funny thing about is if you find some of the footage on YouTube you'll see me going to sing and you'll see Slash going like this [makes a hand motion to his throat indicating for him not to go up? I don't remember what motion he mimed]. Great moment with Slash. Anyway the next day they called me and asked me to come to California and jam with them. And um...with the idea of that I started to write these songs about how I felt we could possibly make...Guns N' Roses, Appetite for Destruction was such a great record, and...I wasn't always into rock during that time growing up. I liked some of the bands like I was saying, but Guns N' Roses, that record was a great record and I thought if we were going to do anything, we had to...kind of make the next record that that great band would have made. So a bunch of the songs I started to write, and I guess maybe that's what the next record that we make as a band will be. I'm looking really forward to that, I'm not sure when it will be but...again I'm not going to play any of those right now. Maybe one...maybe one or two.

Anyway, just to give you an idea, this is the last thing I'll say about it. They spoke to the manager that we had at the time and he said to them, "What's in it for me if I have Jimmy come down to you?" That's the kind of management that we've had over the years. Just so you guys know that's what we deal with. "What's in it for me if I have Jimmy come down?" Awesome. So anyway, I sent them a letter myself and I said listen, "Let's get Slash, let's get Duff, let's find a drummer with a big, fat, back beat and a lot of soul...and where is Izzy Stradlin? They didn't like that email. So we're gonna keep all those songs that I was writing and hopefully it will come out [soon?].

5/10/13 3:05PM

I'm frankly, rather SHOCKED to see the enormous page-view count (850 this week?, LOL) for this entry. Where were all those google searches for Jimmy's solo record(s) the last few years?

Anyway, I could and should add more, but my posts this past week about this record I posted on the Ours fans forum are probably worth sharing for now.


5-11-13 7:22AM
1 thought could be Ballet the Boxer 2 could be THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE in terms of the style of songs and production. It might make for a nice contrast. Although if that does happen, I would think Jimmy and the band would say something soon about that.

But after putting it off all week given I just started a brand new job on Monday and listened to very little music until today, I finally got around to hearing this album with headphones.

I think some folks could be overreacting a little on this album. The production I'd say, for nearly every track varies from tolerable to at least acceptable. In fact I find a couple of songs reminding me of the production style of The Heart.

Songwriting-wise, this record maybe doesn't vary quite as much as Mercy or DL, but I think it does resemble much of Precious both approach and how the overall sound carries throughout.

My maybe biggest knock on it is there aren't many energetic/upbeat tunes. Sing and Get Em Out really are the only tracks that have a more uptempo feel. And they are towards the end.

That being the case, I think the best track or my favorite may end up being Falling Into My Hands. Very epic, much in the tradition of other Ours closing songs.

I gotta give this more time, but while this album may still end up being my least favorite or even least played over time, I am not having much issue with the production really. Really not much more than I might with Precious. A few moments the reverb is too hot, but at least very little to no cymbals seemed to clip which often with any production or mixing issues is my biggest concern for wanting or not wanting to listen to an album multiple times.


 5-5-13 11:01AM
people may not be familiar with the progressive metal band Pain of Salvation, but for those who may, the production and mixing approach to this record almost reminds me of Pain of Salvation's "Road Salt 1" (or maybe "Road Salt 2" as well).

Intentionally stripped-down and organic.

Not that the analogy could and will be the same, but for the most part, the fans of Pain of Salvation hated Road Salt 1 and RS 2 as well. I'm not sure if that dramatic of a production/mixing approach to an album will be received too well.

But I sort of see this possibly like dredg's Chuckles record, I like it, it still sounds enough like them to not wonder, but it also is different enough to at least credit them for trying to do something different.

However, I also don't find it to be as good or addictive as any of their others. But I also don't question that the band will make more music that I love down the road.

5-5-13 2:56AM

I'm streaming some of it right now, and I follow many of the comments, although I'm not feeling the songs themselves are bad. They do sound much like Ours still in a lot of ways.

The production on the other hand, I guess I hope a better more cleanly mastered version becomes available either per download or on a hardcopy. Because if these are in fact the final versions, I almost wonder how or why Jimmy would be happy with them. Unless the low-fi grainy tone of them was intentional? Perhaps Jimmy wanted to have a different kind of production to this album compared to The Heart and Mercy? It still would be puzzling why that would be though.



5/4/13 6:55PM

This new album was sent to the people pledged at the level that included it. I'm just about to head out to see Steven Wilson, but I can't wait to hear this thing!




1 Pretty Pain 5:12
2 Emergency 2:29
3 Coming for You 4:01
4 Devil 4:24
5 Been Down 5:54
6 Stand 3:49
7 Boxer 4:33
8 Sing 3:20
9 Get Em Out 3:14
10 Falling Into My Hands 6:11

really surprised "Autumn" wasn't included. And perhaps the new rearranged version of "Murder" which a clip of was included in the film Zero Dark Thirty. Also the album title it seems includes a "1" on the end, like it may be a part 1 of more than one part, with more to come soon. 


3/25/13 5:10PM

A bit of an update, mainly for the Pledgemusic Backers. It sounds like it won't be coming next week as originally planned, but likely sometime this Spring. If I had to guess, Mid-May, with some of the better tunes shared leading-up to it's release.

Good to get more info.

From the Backer Email Update:


Hi Everyone,
Update for you. We are just about finished with the record, and it should be out to you real soon. There just hasn’t been enough time in the day to actually get it done by the original date that was projected, but we will have it out to you as soon as we think it’s great. We will also be streaming some songs before the release for you to get an early listen!
Again, we can’t thank you enough for your support on this.
Our love to you all.
Ours


3/16/13 9:30AM

Edit::

Here's likely a song that will be included on Ballet the Boxer "Devil" (I don't believe it'll be titled "The Devil in Me" as the video says)


3/15/13 2:18PM
I'm sure a lot more details will be coming rather soon. But it was initially announced, this new record from Ours would be released, at least to the Pledgemusic Campaign supporters, around late March or the 1st week of April (April 1st/2nd?).

Now, some comments about that have shyed away a bit. A friend of mine of Facebook mentioned Jimmy Gnecco posted something about the record taking a little more time to finish than expected.

But, the fact the title was just announced, and that tour is coming up, it seems like a reasonable guess it'll be out pretty soon.

Can't friggin wait.

As far as the tour, unfortunately, no Minnesota, or Upper Midwest dates at all. But hopefully if not on this tour, sometime this Summer or Fall to support the new album.

latest Ours newsletter:

OURS Announce Upcoming Tour for their New Record 'Ballet the Boxer'


OURS will support select dates of PETER MURPHY'S Mr. Moonlight Tour Celebrating 35 Years of Bauhaus
5/4 U-Street Music Hall Washington DC
5/5 Paradise Rock Club Boston, MA
5/7 Webster Hall New York, NY
5/9 Trocadero Philadephia, PA
5/10 Lee's Palace Toronto, ONT
5/11 Town Ballroom Buffalo, NY
5/12 Mr. Smalls Theatre Pittsburgh, PA

OURS HEADLINING SHOWS:

5/28 High Watt Nashville, TN
5/29 Drunken Unicorn Atlanta, GA
5/31 The Social Orlando, FL
6/3 Jack Rabbits Jacksonville, FL
6/4 Milestone Charlotte, NC
6/6 DC9 Nightclub Washington DC
6/7 Milk Boy Philly Philadephia, PA
6/12 Bowery Ballroom New York, NY
6/15 Nietzsche's Buffalo, NY

*OURS will support select dates of PETER MURPHY'S Mr. Moonlight Tour in July, stay tuned for details

Read More