Brendan Perry and Hope Sandoval kill it . . . again

Never underestimate the power of artists to hit you over the head with a brilliant record. I've had two this month. The first is Brendan Perry's sweeping epic Ark, which has been almost a decade in the making. And you can hear why when you listen to it . . . lush landscapes . . . a plethora of deep topics . . . everything that made a Brendan song in DCD far above anything else in the same genre. Here, he blends the deep waters of Eye of the Hunter with the epic sound of his best DCD work and it creates a CD not to be missed.


With the 2nd, unlike Brendan's disc, which I have been anticipating for the last two years, Hope Sandoval and her group The Warm Inventions, completely blindsided me with an album that rivals, if not surpasses, her best Mazzy Star work. Through The Devil Softly is EVERYTHING you wanted from Mazzy's whole career and then some. In some instances, like "Blanchard" and "Wild Roses", she dabbles into mellower Sundays and Cowboy Junkies territory with songs that flow around your ears and fill the room (with the right speakers). Other songs like "For the Rest of Your Life, " "Lady Jessica and Sam" and "Sets a Blaze" remind us what promise Mazzy Star had and why this collection is called Through the Devil Softly . . . very haunting and eerily beautiful.

I highly recommend both of these releases. Do pick them up if you have the inclination.

The Wonderful Return of Fiction Plane

So I was perusing the net a week ago, just checking up on things, and decided to see if Joe Sumner and the boys of Fiction Plane had finished their new album yet. Their last CD, Left Side of the Brain, was a truly remarkable piece of work and I was looking forward to their follow up. For those not in the know, Joe is the son of Sting and his heritage can be heard in Joe's voice . . . but FP go far beyond that to create a sound and a sense of energy, rhythm and melody that is sorely missed in music today.

So I found out that not only had they finished working on their new CD, Sparks, but that it was out in the UK! Of course, not being a fair-weather fan, I ordered it immediately and had it sent from the UK to my place in MI. I expected not to be disappointed (their releases have been getting better and better since their first one, Everything Will Never Be OK) and I wasn't. It's a sweet mix of their signature sound that they've perfected through 3 releases (EWNBOK, their EP Bitter Forces and Lame Race Horses, and Left Side) and some deliciously eclectic detours. All in all, some very adventourous stuff! Plus, I picked up the Deluxe Edition, which included 3 B-Sides. That, and, because I'm a real fan, I also put in to get a copy of another B-Side I was able to download from the FP site. So, all in all, I'm pleasantly grooving to 15 new tracks. Heaven for a collector and for a FP fan.

For those of you who haven't heard them, do yourself a favor and pick up Left Side of the Brain. Then pony up the money to buy the Deluxe Sparks Import (because that's the only way you're gonna get it in the US, if you're in the US, before the Fall . . . and you don't wanna go all Summer without this disc) and then Everything . . .

And please, for the love of all that is holy . . . someone PLEASE tell me where I can get my hands on a CD copy of Bitter Forces? It's been a constant source of frustration . . . as it's also very good.

OK . . . it's late and I need to go slip into a nice coma . . . so enjoy . . . and thank you Joao, for allowing me to spread some new music!!

http://www.fictionplane.com/

Civil Twilight - Civil Twilight (2009)

Yes, I am ressurecting this blog... Thanks for everyone who stopped by during this long hiatus and for the support of your messages. We are back now as a father of great twin boys!

And to start taking all the dust off, I am presenting to you guys this band that I just came randomly across - Civil Twilight. They are originally from Cape Town, South Africa, but their sound doesn't quite bring much of their african roots from what I could tell.

I found them on the weekly AOL Listening Party... I was very very surprise for their great sound and talent! Let's not make comparisons for now, just listen and take your own conclusions.

Grade: A+!
Listen to it here
Let me know what you thought...

Oasis - Two New Songs!

By judging these 2 new songs that leaked on the internet, the new Oasis album should be AWESOME!! It seems that the boys are certainly going back to their origins (first 2 albums - the best ones 4 me).

Let me know what you think...

+ Falling Down
+ The Shock of Lightning

BTW, thanks to Maybe Here Now for doing such great coverage!

Keane - Little Broken Words (2007) - REQUESTED!

Before you start wondering why you haven’t heard anything about Keane releasing a new album: this is a GREAT compilation of studio outtakes and B-sides made by a fan. It contains more of those ’slow’ emotional songs that you also found on the first album: it is more mellow than ‘Under the Iron Sea’! There are a lot of beautiful piano ballads and a lot of good covers: “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine” of The Walker Brothers, “What A Wonderful World” of Louis Armstrong and “Dinner At Eight” of Rufus Wainwright. It's gonna be a GReaT weekend listening to this new stuff by Keane!

Favorite tracks in the first listen:
05 - What a Wonderful World (a beautiful tribute to Louis Armstrong)
06 - Dinner At Eight
07 - Something in Me was Dying
10 - To The End of the Earth
14 - She Has No Time (Earlier Version)

+ Link fixed!
+ Mirror 2
+ Previous posts about Keane on this blog

Coldplay - Live from Brixton Academy - London, UK (06/16/08)

A live FM broadcast @ 192 kbps by BBC Radio 1 on 16th June 2008.
A free concert for fan club members sponsored by BBC radio.
SETLIST
01 - Intro (0:53)
02 - Life In Technicolour (2:25)
03 - Violet Hill (3:13)
04 - Clocks (5:09)
05 - In My Place (4:55)
06 - Viva La Vida (4:43)
07 - Chinese Sleep Chant (3:51)
08 - God Put A Smile Upon My Face (4:38)
09 - 42 (4:03)
10 - Square One (5:42)
11 - Trouble (4:32)
12 - Lost! (4:06)
13 - Strawberry Swing (4:11)
14 - (Interlude - band move upstairs to play) (1:38)
15 - Yellow (4:06)
16 - The Goldrush - Death Will Never Conquer (Will Champion on vocals) (1:31)
17 - Fix You (5:13)
18 - Lovers In Japan (4:05)

+ Part 1
+ Part 2

MIRROR
+ Part 1
+ Part 2

Thanks to T.U.B.E

John Mayer - Live from Palace of Auburn Hills (05-07-07)

After MANY requests, here's the re-upload of this GREAT concert!!
+ Link 1
+ Link 2
Password: onediedsimply.blogspot.com
Some videos that I've recorded:
- Slow Dancing in a Burning Room
- Out of My Mind (Blues in G Major)
- Neon

Coldplay - Life in Technicolor (video snippet)

Coldplay - More 2 new tracks (Life in Technicolour and Lost!)

Two more songs - a snippet of the opening track "Life in Technicolor" (just fantastic! I've read that it's just a teasing snippet with vocals coming later on...) and the b-side of Violet Hill's single in Europe entitled "Lost!"

Coldplay - Two unreleased tracks! (Viva la Vida + A Spell a Rebel Yell)

Violet Hill just came out last week. This week New Music Express released an exclusive b-side "A Spell a Rebel Yell" which has been suggested by some forums to have a marked U2

influence... Should we call it Brian Eno's signature sound?

Then iTunes just released today a new song - available for pre-order - "Viva la Vida" (I've found this link Googling it!)

+ Alternate link 1

+ Alternate link 2

+ Alternate link 3

Password: http://onediedsimply.blogspot.com

Lior - Corner of An Endless Road (2007)

I stumbled across Lior's music browsing some musical blog which I can't remember the name now... but I immediately connected to his music. What a great singer and songwriter! This guy has LOTS of talent!
Lior was born in Israel but moved to Australia at the age of 10. He music is a mix of his Middle Eastern roots flavored with the singing style of several songwriters/singers from the 60s and 70s such as Paul McCartney, Neil Young, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell (which he mentions as musical influences).
Corner of An Endless Road is actually his 2nd album and it's full of eastern-tinged folk songs with plenty of fingerpicked acoustic guitar. It has been playing constantly in my car's CD player. The album is a rare, wonderful piece of work. This kind of music is a breath of fresh air above a sea of bands who forgo melody in favour of simple riffs and lyrics that are blatantly written for an audience. Lior writes of his experiences in such a sincere and honest way that one cannot help but be carried away by the story. Imagine a mix of Beatles, Nick Drake, Rufus Wainwright, Duncan Sheik and Led Zeppelin altogether....

Grade: A+
Here's just a sample of this GREAT CD which you can get it on Amazon:
+ Lost In You (this one resembles stuff made by Nick Drake)
+ Jerusalem (a mix of Beatles and Beach Boys vocal harmonies)
+ Safety of Distance (one of the most beautiful songs I've heard this year! What a voice...)

Death Cab for Cutie - No Sunlight, Cath and Talking Bird (unreleased tracks!)

From the upcoming album - Narrow Stairs - to be released on 05/13/08

I've finally found a live recording of No Sunlight!

And two other new tracks: Cath and Talking Bird

Thanks for the correct information! It seems that I've got fooled with this April's fool joke! The band is actually called Velveteen, from Germany and the song is called "The Drummer Goes Berserk".

No Sunlight
The Drummer Goes Berserk

Coldplay - Violet Hill (download new single!), Album Cover and Setlist

Violet Hill is the first officially released single from Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends - Coldplay's 4th album to be released on June 17th.

Here's the confirmed set of songs

Stereogum's first perspective on Violet Hill: "Don't let the atmospheric and ambient noise swell out front scare you too much, "Violet Hill" is a rocker's march, with Brian Eno dialing Buckland's guitars into a more biting/less delayed crunch than A Rush Of Blood and X&Y (check the alarm siren bends, etc.). On the other hand, it looks like Brian's still OK with Mr. Martin's favored outro trick of gentle voice/piano chorus reprise. A few more notes to that guitar solo might've helped."

Enjoy it!

+ Link 1
+ Link 2

John Legend - Pride (In the Name of Love)

Some of you might have seen this before. Beautiful in its simplicity, John Legend covered the track for 'KING' a two hour TV special marking the fortieth anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King which aired on the History Channel.

Billy Corgan - Half of Us (interview)

Great interview with Billy Corgan sharing intimate confessions about his life - difficulties his father, child abuse, growing up and the repercussions with Smashing Pumpkins success... Very interesting!
+ Check it out

Live - MTV Unplugged (1995)

Do you guys remember this? Boy, it's been such a long time since I've heard it... but there were so many good songs... Enjoy it!
+ Link 1

Thanks to Rock and Blues

Interpol - Live from Chile - 03/06/08

Interpol @ Teatro Caupolicán
Santiago, Chile
06.03.2008

01.Intro
02.Pioneer to the falls
03.Obstacle #1
04.NARC
05.C´mere
06.The scale
07.Say hello to angels
08.Mammoth
09.No i in threesome
10.Hands away
11.Slow hands
12.Rest my chemestry
13.Lighthouse
14.Evil
15.The Heinrich manouver
16.Not even Jail
17.Encore
18.Untitled
19.NYC
20.Improv
21.PDA

+ Part 1
+ Part 2

Thanks to mundomp3 Brasil

Foo Fighters - Live from Oracle Arena (Oakland, Ca - 02/02/08)

This was a 2 and 1/2 hour long show just with the Foo Fighters playing!!! Another fantastic Foo Fighters gig! Dave and the guys always put 100% into every show.

When () around song represents Acoustic Song

Set List:
Let it Die
The Pretender
Times Like These
Breakout
Learn to Fly
Cheer up Boys (Your make-up is running)
This is a Call
Guitar Battle!!
Stacked Actors
Taylor Hawkins solo
(Skin and Bones)
(Marigold)
(My Hero)
Band Member Intro's
(Cold day in the Sun)
(But, Honestly)
(Everlong [Starts acoustic])
Monkey Wrench
All My Life
Big Me
Long Road to Ruin
Best of you

++ Part 1
++ Part 2

Coldplay - Castles (B-Sides and Rarities Collection!)

Despite reports stating otherwise, their new album will not be called 'Prospekt'. Well, while the untitled new album gets into its the final mixing process, I share here a compillation of B-sides and rarities for all of us - true Coldplay fans. Enjoy it!
+ Get it here

Stone Temple Pilots - Live from Hammerstein Ballroom (NYC, April 23rd 2002)

As you might have heard, they are back!! In the meantime, let's share this GREAT concert NYC from the Shangri-La Dee Da tour. It includes covers from Pink Floyd to Led Zeppelin. Great recording makes this a must not only for fans but those that appreciate STP. Just listen to the crowd singing with Scott on Trippin' to understand what I'm talking about!

Courtesy of Below Empty

SETLIST
* Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Pink Floyd Cover)
* Vasoline
* Crackerman
* Hollywood Bitch
* Big Empty
* Dead And Bloated
* Atlanta (Acoustic)
* Sour Girl (Acoustic)
* Wonderful (Acoustic)
* Creep (Acoustic)
* Lounge Fly
* Too Cool Queenie
* Big Bang Baby
* Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart
* Interstate Love Song
* Nobody's Fault But Mine (Led Zeppelin Cover, Partial)
* Plush
* Down (with Army Ants Intro)
* Kitchenware and Candybars
* Sex Type Thing
++ Link 1
++ Link 2 (coming soon!)

Why One Died Simply...

I've got a few emails this week asking "why the name One Died Simply!?". The reason comes from the name of the EP I recorded with my friends back in Brazil in 2003, right before coming to live in USA. It was a great way to document forever those songs that meant I lot to me. There are 3 songs in portuguese and 5 in english. Lyrics are enclosed.
+ Click here for the full album