Ceremony is the fifth studio album by The Cult, first released in September, 1991. The album was highly anticipated by both music critics and fans as a result of the band’s previous worldwide successes with their 1987 album Electric and its 1989 follow up Sonic Temple. Their album sales might have tapered off since then, but the best was yet to come, with Born into This (2007), Choice of Weapon (2012), and Hidden City (2016).
The Clash Concert Poster From Their Combat Rock Tour
Combat Rock is the fifth studio album by The Clash, and spent 23 weeks in the UK charts and 61 weeks on the chart in the US.
Patti Smith Lists Her Favorite Books Of All Time
Patti Smith gave out a list of her favorite books at the Melbourne International Arts Festival a few years ago. It’s an interesting blend of cult books, the expected Beat classics, and the complete Sebald.
“The Master & Margarita” by Mikhail Bulgakov
“Journey To The East” by Hermann Hesse
“The Glass Bead Game” by Hermann Hesse
“Heart Of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad
“Moby Dick” by Herman Melville
“Billy Budd” by Herman Melville
“Songs Of Innocence” by William Blake
“The Wild Boys” by William Burroughs
“Howl” by Allen Ginsburg
“A Season In Hell” by Arthur Rimbaud
“Illuminations” by Arthur Rimbaud
“Wittgenstein’s Poker” by David Edmonds & John Eidinow
“Villette” by Charlotte Bronte
“The Process” by Brion Gysin
“Cain’s Book” by Alexander Trocchi
“Coriolanus” by William Shakespeare
“The Happy Prince” by Oscar Wilde
“The Sheltering Sky” by Paul Bowles
“Against Interpretation” by Susan Sontag
“The Oblivian Seekers” by Isabelle Eberhardt
“Women Of Cairo” by Gerard de Nerval
“Under The Volcano” by Malcom Lowery
“Dead Souls” by Nikolai Gogol
“The Book Of Disquiet” by Fernando Pessoa
“Death Of Virgil” by Herman Broch
“Raise High The Roof Beams Carpenter/ Franny & Zooey” by J.D. Salinger
“The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne
“A Night Of Serious Drinking” by Rene Daumal
“Swann In Love” by Marcel Proust
“A Happy Death” by Albert Camus
“The First Man” by Albert Camus
“The Waves” by Virginia Woolf
“Big Sur” by Jack Kerouac
anything by H.P. Lovecraft
anything by W.G. Sebald
“The Thief’s Journal” or anything by Jean Genet
“The Arcades Project” or anything by Walter Benjamin
“A Poet In New York” by Garcia Lorca
“The Lost Honor Of Katharina Blum” by Heinrich Boll
“The Palm Wine Drinkard” by Amos Tutuola
“Ice” by Anna Kavan (or anything by her)
“The Divine Proportion” by H.E. Huntley
“Nadja” by Andre Breton
Francis Ford Coppola: “Death is on the back of everyone’s minds”
This interview was recorded on July 28, 1996 when Francis Ford Coppola was promoting the film, Jack, starring Robin Williams.
“Death is on the back of everyone’s minds whether they want to admit it or not. We move through life very fast and it’s not a matter of how long you live it’s a matter of how well you live. But that’s the theme sort of Camus’ The Happy Death. There are people who die young but they die happy because they’ve done a whole lifetime’s worth. Death is a funny thing and it’s obviously on the back of everyone’s minds or their psychology whether they want to admit it or not.”
Kurt Ballou of Converge’s Business Card Is A Distortion Pedal
Kurt Ballou, music producer and guitarist for the metal band Converge, made his business card a distortion pedal. Read that again. It’s a printed circuit board that can be used to build a working distortion pedal Ballou calls the “Brutalist Jr.” With around $40-50 in parts, he created his own unforgettable moment with proof you’ve met him. The only way to get the card is to see Ballou on the street or at a show.
Neil Young’s Never-Released Hitchhiker Album Will Be Out August 4
Neil Young will release a new studio album — which he originally recorded in 1976. The disc, dubbed Hitchhiker, is set for an August 4 release via Reprise Records and will be available on vinyl, CD and digitally.
The 10-track acoustic album was recorded live in the studio August 11, 1976, at Indigo Studios in Malibu, California. It contains some of Young’s best-loved songs plus two previously unreleased tracks.
The original session was produced by Young’s longtime studio collaborator David Brings with new post production by John Hanlon, who has worked with Young since 1990 and produced his most recent works, including Peace Trail, Earth, The Monsanto Years, etc.
As these songs were recorded in a single session, the resultant performances are breathtaking and passionate. The simplicity of a single voice and guitar captured here are as pure and powerful as the creator intended with only Young and Briggs in the room at the time of recording.
Many of the songs would not appear on vinyl until years later. The title track, for example, did not officially appear until 2010’s Le Noise and naturally sounds worlds apart from the original. The version herein of Captain Kennedy has certain raw spontaneity compared to the slightly gentler version that would eventually surface on Hawks & Doves in 1980.
Perhaps the most noticeable jewels in the crown of Hitchhiker are the two previously unreleased tracks that have remained in the vaults since 1976: Hawaii, a soaring ballad and unlike anything else Young had recorded at the time. Side one closes out with Give Me Strength, which would be occasionally performed live in the mid-Seventies but now available here for the first time and may well be considered one of Young’s best long lost gems.
Hitchhiker Track Listing
1. Pocahontas
2. Powderfinger
3. Captain Kennedy
4. Hawaii
5. Give Me Strength
6. Ride My Llama
7. Hitchhiker
8. Campaigner
9. Human Highway
10. The Old Country Waltz
CBC Perfectly Parodies A Social Media Family Of Influencers And Thought Leaders
In a hilarious spoof (but think it’s going to hit home to a lot of people I know, including my own family) by the CBC comedy series This Is That, the comedy troupe details a family and their money making abilities as Social Media Influencers and Thought Leaders. Last year, they made about $1.3 million through sponsored content and collectively have over seven million followers. AJ, the self-proclaimed “man of three accounts,” operates all of his channels under the umbrella of a personal brand that he calls Try. At the moment, he’s hoping to secure a strategic partnership with Starbucks. Brit and AJ are trying for a third child. AJ hopes that the pregnancy will bring “nine months of pretty solid content.”
Ringo Starr Celebrates His Birthday With Revealing New Album “Give More Love,” Available September 15
Today Ringo Starr celebrates his birthday at Capitol Records. Family, friends and fans will join Starr in front of the Capitol Records Tower in a noon “Peace & Love” salute, while satellite salutes and events are happening all over the world.
Ringo also reveals details of his 19th solo album, Give More Love, which will be released on digital and CD format on September 15, with vinyl to follow on September 22.
Recorded at his home studio in Los Angeles, Give More Love has 10 new tracks featuring collaborations with friends including We’re On The Road Again featuring Paul McCartney, Joe Walsh, Edgar Winter, Steve Lukather; Laughable co-written and performed with Peter Frampton as well as Benmont Tench, Timothy B Schmidt, Richard Page and Amy Keys; Show Me The Way co-written and performed with Steve Lukather and with Paul McCartney; Speed of Sound co-written with Richard Marx and featuring Steve Lukather, Peter Frampton and Nathan East; Standing Still co- written with Gary Burr; King of the Kingdom including performances by Dave Stewart and Edgar Winter; Electricity co-written with Glen Ballard and featuring Joe Walsh and Don Was; So Wrong For So Long co written and performed with Dave Stewart; Shake It Up co written and performed with Gary Nicholson and including Don Was and Edgar Winter; and Give More Love co-written with Gary Nicholson including Timothy B Schmidt and All Starrs Richard Page and Gregg Bissonette.
Give More Love also has 4 bonus tracks, Back Off Boogaloo, You Can’t Fight Lightning, Photograph and Don’t Pass Me By. This version of Back Off Booglaloo is based on the original recording Ringo made when he wrote the song, having recently discovered the tape when moving houses. The other three bonus tracks are collaborations based on performances from Starr’s 2016 Peace & Love Birthday event. Alberta Cross performed You Can’t Fight Lightning and Vandaveer performed Photograph and Don’t Pass Me By. Starr loved their renditions and asked them to each record them for his new album, also adding his own vocals.
In October, Starr will hit the road in the US with his All Starrs, the same beloved line up he has performed with since 2012: Steve Lukather, Todd Rundgren, Gregg Rolie, Richard Page, Warren Hamm and Gregg Bissonette. No Canadian dates have been announced.