Music That We Hear

I've been oblivious to the fact that Morcheeba have quietly continued their existence. Their last album "Charango" was released in mid-2002 and quickly went nowhere, at least in North America. I've always held them in high regards but unfortunately have always missed seeing them live in Toronto. "Big Calm" still remains a stupendous record full of enticing melodies, warm sounds, cool grooves, and sultry vocals. While their old website's been frozen in time(circa 1993), I recently found their new website through a bit of web surfing. Apparently, their new LP "The Antidote" was released yesterday May 9th(I'm assuming only in the UK; HMV.com is listing the release date for Canada as May 31, 2005). Also, the new record will be the first to NOT feature vocalist Skye Edwards. The band's new vocalist is Daisy Martey, formerly vocalist for the band Noonday Underground. An excerpt from the band's site describes "The Antidote":

"THE ANTIDOTE is the sound of a band challenging and reinventing themselves without losing touch with the history and sound that they innovated. It sees MORCHEEBA broaden their horizons beyond the downtempo sound with which they are associated and embraces a whole raft of different influences as diverse as Aphex Twin and Bonnie Prince Billy, cult leftfield guitar heroes like Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine, and further back to the likes of Fairport Convention, David Axelrod and Jimi Hendrix. It’s a more upbeat record that raises the tempo to match the rougher, edgier vocals that Daisy brings to the mix. It’s still Morcheeba, no doubt about it but coloured now by a more brazen acknowledgement of the band’s personal listening tastes."

So there you go. The new albums seems like a bold step forward and I hope it pans out for them in getting new fans while maintaining the old fanbase.

In other news, The Constantines have some new Canadian tour dates in August as follows:

-> Aug 06 - Wolfe Island, ON MUSICFEST
-> Aug 18 - Hamilton, ON THE UNDERGROUND
-> Aug 19 - Brantford, ON FORD PLANT
-> Aug 20 - Toronto, ON LEE'S PALACE

Soul Shine Magazine reports on Caribou, Junior Boys and The Russian Futurists tour that's taking them across Canada starting May 29th in Victoria. There's a show in Toronto at The Opera House on June 11th that I wasn't aware of that Caribou, Junior Boys and The Russian Futurists(along with Four Tet, Sunburned Hand of the Man, and Expensive Shit DJ) will be playing. It's a 19+ gig and tickets are $17.50.

chartattack reports on the new solo album by Tom Green. Yes, Tom Green. The guy that french kisses dead cow carcasses. The guy that dry humps people. So he used to be in short-lived early 90's rap outfit Organized Rhyme. "Check The O.R." was actually a pretty good song come to think of it. A short tour of southern Ontario is coming up in June with dates in London, Hamilton, Barrie, Kingston and Ottawa.

The Go-Betweens appeared live in session yesterday(May 6, 2005) on BBC 6 Music's Gideon Coe program. They played "Finding You" and "The Mountains Near Delray". Listen here. ...Upcoming Hub Sessions I'm looking forward to are Ben Folds on May 30th and St. Etienne on June 12th. Mark those calendars.

Ivy will appear on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic tomorrow May 11th. That is 11:15 am PST or 2:15 pm EST.

PopMatters staff reminisce about Coachella 2005. Soul Shine Magazine also gets in on the act.

Rolling Stone reports that Interpol and Arcade Fire have recorded new tracks for the upcoming Six Feet Under soundtrack entitled "Everything Ends" . The soundtrack will also include tracks by Coldplay, Radiohead, Death Cab For Cutie and Jem. [link from Kingblind]