Live Boots - Live At Emerald City 1981 is supposedly the first of a series of XTC recordings. This show has been circulating among collectors in rather bad sound quality, but none other than Andy Partridge has overseen the mastering for this Record Store Day release (April 18), so it will definitely be an upgrade. Did he sign off on the horrible artwork as well? 2500 copies of the 2LP are available worldwide.
English singer-songwriter Jonathan Spottiswoode has been a parent of a daughter now for quite some time, which made him reconsider his responsibilities as well as the undeniably fact that he is getting older. On his new album It Wasn't In The Script he can not help but wonder how much it has changed in his life, but now that he has adapted to this new reality, he actually quite likes it. He even went as far as to have his daughter singing backing vocals on most of the tracks. Being joined by your offspring is tricky - what if the little brat hasn't been gifted with the genes of the parent or, even worse tries to steal his thunder? It turns out that little Sophie actually can carry a tune (phew) and while she probably will hate her contributions once she hits puberty, she will come around eventually and cherish these moments in the recording studio.
As a songwriter and musician Spottiswoode alway has been on the fence between jazz and pop, both as a solo artist and fronting his ace band His Enemies, taking cues from both English folk and the less polished sound of off-broadway performances. While he has been spending most of his time in New York for longer than he cares to remember, the pull of London is always there, hence a heartfelt song about wanting his kid the sights of Camden town - "I'm a washed-up rock and roller, I played a season in hell Now I'm pushing a stroller along the Regents Canal // Couples grinning like they know who we are // But it's not me, it's my baby, she's the star" - in When I'm With You.
On August 6th, 2005 the reunited original line-up of the Pixies performed an acoustic set at the Newport Folk Festival, which was released on DVD in 2006. The performance will now be released as a 2LP, Live in Newport, for Record Store Day (April 18). 2500 copies worldwide. A 2CD version will hit the shops on April 25.
Life is a mixture of happiness and suffering. So, when you’re a musician or any artist for that matter, it’s difficult because it’s not a job, it’s a 24-hour a day neurosis of sort. Like when you lock your desk up or drive home from a gig or leave your job and you can just forget about everything; it’s very awful when you show up to do your job when you’re a musician, but there’s no creativity there – so you just wait. There’s that thing about you that drives you to be a player – it’s with you 24 hours a day. It’s always there. There is no holiday, no summer vacation, nothing. It is all consuming.
Joe Satriani
English rock trio The McHilson Project have made their debut album Insurrection available on vinyl and CD via Elastic Stage: "Lyrically they are all over the place. There is a song about the ritualistic suicide of a Japanese princess (Seppuku), they sing the praises of an establishment that serves fine drinks and music (Blues Cafe), and hand out an invitation to a place where kids dreams are still alive (Fantasy Fairground). The sheer of playing together after such a long time and finding out that the connection is still there makes it a joy to listen too. Recommended for rockers of all ages."
