Song of the Week - 06/06/13 - Queens Of The Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork

Queens of the Stone Age  ...Like Clockwork

This is the first new QOTSA album since 2007's Era Vulgaris. Since then the band had been on hiatus, from 2009 to 2011 working on side projects and new bands, Josh Homme with Them Crooked Vultures and Dean Fertita with Jack White's The Dead Weather. The band has seen a change in lineup with drummer Joey Castillo having left meaning that Dave Grohl returns to play drums on the majority of the album reprising the role he played on Songs for the Deaf. 

The album also features a number of guest appearances by the likes of Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys, NIN's Trent Reznor, UNKLE's James Lavelle and goddamn Sir Elton John! According to Wikipedia Sir John got in touch with Homme saying he needed an "actual queen" on the album. Here's the full list of appearances plus the corresponding track list (from wikipedia):

Guest appearances (tracks they appear on): 

Dave Grohl – drums, percussion (3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9)  

Joey Castillo – drums, percussion (1, 2, 3, 6)   

Jon Theodore – drums, percussion (10) 

Nick Oliveri – vocals (4, 7) 

Mark Lanegan – vocals (4, 7) , lyrics (7)  

Alex Turner – vocals, guitar (4) , lyrics (6) 

Trent Reznor – vocals (6, 7) 

Jake Shears - vocals (1) 

Elton John – piano, vocals (7)

Brody Dalle – vocals 

Alain Johannes 

Tracklist: 

1."Keep Your Eyes Peeled"
2."I Sat by the Ocean"
3."The Vampyre of Time and Memory"
4."If I Had a Tail"
5."My God Is the Sun"
6."Kalopsia"
7."Fairweather Friends"
8."Smooth Sailing"
9."I Appear Missing"
10."…Like Clockwork"  

These brilliant yet kind of eerie animated music video promos created by Boneface and Liam Brazier were released early last month in anticipation of the new album. Viewed as one complete short film (as below) they tell the story of four so far nameless characters and feature excerpts of 4 tracks from the album plus the entirety of the single My God is the Sun. Think the Gorillaz but with blood and violence. (Be sure to watch it in HD!)

If I had to pick one song for my song of the week as the title of the blog stipulates then it would probably have to be I Appear Missing, with its hauntingly beautiful vocals and a vintage QOTSA catchy chorus.

"Calling all comas, prisoner on the loose, description:
The spitting image of me,
‘Cept for the heart shaped hole where the hope runs out
Shock me awake, tear me apart
Pinned like a note in a hospital gown
Prison of sleep, deeper down
The rabbit hole never to be found... "

The lyrics seem to tell the story of Josh Homme's anguish at being bedridden for some four months due to complications following routine knee surgery in 2010. Homme is said to have gone into a deep depression and this dark mood can certainly be seen in the ...Like Clockwork album.

It may be too early to tell but I would rate this album as one of the my favourites of 2013 so far. You can judge that for yourself...

[Sources - Wikipedia, Youtube, Spotify, Google]

Wayne's World Musical Interlude

So I watched Wayne's World for the first time the other day and this post is inspired by this film and its music.

First off, the film was pretty good. Despite being fairly old now (made in '92) it seems to have stood the test of time.

Apparently coming from a Saturday Night Live sketch you can clearly see the now classic Mike Myers humour in there and where it has come from. Like the subtitles seen that must have developed into the Austin Powers 'massive rodent problem' scene in Goldmember.

As for the music I first felt compelled to watch Wayne's World after seeing the advert featuring the Bohemian Rhapsody scene and realising I had never seen this film before! It makes me want to buy an old car that still has a cassette player so I can listen to Queen and live out this scene. My favourite part is when they pick up their 'partied out' friend who looks like he's about to hurl the whole way through the film, oh and Queen of course.

If that wasn't enough there is also this little scene with Garth singing Jimi Hendrix's Foxy Lady which I also enjoy a lot! [Please ignore the French before/after the clip, all the English versions of youtube seem to be terrible quality.]

Song of the Week - 01/06/13 - Deap Vally - Baby I Call Hell

Deap Vally - Baby I Call Hell

I came across this song last night on the Jools Holland show. It was completely by chance, since it was a show line-up that I wasn't too optimistic about and hadn't really intended to watch. But nonetheless I caught the second half of the show on the off chance and I was really impressed by this group in particular.

They combine a rich bluesy sound with a deep bass guitar and vintage rock  Iggy Pop-esque vocals. There are similarities with the vocalist Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the overall sound the duo is very reminiscent of The White Stripes.

This is one band that definitely surprised me and is one up and coming artist to watch. Check them out if you are going to Reading or Leeds Festival this year.

Check out some clips from their appearance on Later... here
BBC Two - Later... with Jools Holland, Series 42, Episode 7, Deap Vally - Gonna Make My Own Money 
BBC Two - Later... with Jools Holland, Series 42 Live, Episode 7, Deap Vally - Baby I Call Hell  

[Sources - Wikipedia, Youtube, Spotify, Last.fm]