There might or might not be a new Lana Del Rey album arriving this week. It might or might not be called Chemtrails Over the Country Club. We’ll just have to wait and see. Thankfully, the rest of the week’s most-interesting albums (at least to me) aren’t nearly as mysterious. Here’s the rundown:
New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers
Volume 1
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Here’s the first volume of music from roots supergroup New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers: Charlie Musselwhite, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Jimbo Mathus, the late Jim Dickinson and North Mississippi Allstars members Luther Dickinson and Cody Dickinson. Recorded at the Zebra Ranch Recording Studio in Coldwater, Miss., the 10 blues-drenched tracks of sublime roots music on Volume 1 will be followed in the spring of 2021 by Volume 2. New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers originated back in November 2007, when musician brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson sat down for a guitar jam with ex-Squirrel Nut Zippers leader Jimbo Mathus, blues greats Charlie Musselwhite and Alvin Youngblood Hart and the late Memphis pianist, producer and all-around musical stylist Jim Dickinson. For more than 12 years, that recording’s existence was mentioned only obscurely in interviews, and referenced as a great old-school recording by those few witnesses. It was done live off the floor over several days, where the musicians all sat in one big circle in the studio and played quietly amongst the microphones, taking turns singing out in the room and improvising on the spot. Since Jim Dickinson’s passing in the summer of 2009, the album just hung out in the archives, waiting. When Stony Plain founder Holger Petersen heard about the sessions this year and expressed his enthusiasm to release it, Luther Dickinson and his partner/engineer Kevin Houston finished the production of the album It is a testament to the great experience and talent of these esteemed performers that they could casually conjure a recording of this quality out of the ether this way, sounding as if the listener is right there in the room with them, with between-song banter and commentary, the classic structures of the blues, being pulled together and teased apart by some of the most award-decorated members of the blues elite. This album crosses the generations of new blues-rockers and classic blues statesmen.”
The Rolling Stones
Goats Head Soup Deluxe Edition
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Another prized jewel in The Rolling Stones’ unmatched catalogue is restored to its full glory and more with the release of their 1973 classic Goats Head Soup. The box set and deluxe editions will all feature 10 bonus tracks, which include alternate versions, outtakes and no fewer than three previously unheard tracks. Stones devotees worldwide will be thrilled by the inclusion, on the box set and deluxe editions, of the previously unheard Scarlet, featuring guitar by Jimmy Page, and a newly unveiled song All The Rage. The layered guitar textures of Scarlet make for a track that’s as infectious and raunchy as anything the band cut in this hallowed era. As well as Jimmy Page guesting alongside Mick & Keith on the track it also features on bass Rick Grech of Blind Faith fame. All The Rage has a wild, post-Brown Sugar strut and the percussive Criss Cross rocks and swaggers as only the Stones can. The bonus disc of unreleased material also sheds new light on tracks such as 100 Years Ago and Hide Your Love, with further unissued mixes by Stones insider and acclaimed producer Glyn Johns. Their 11th U.K. studio album, recorded in Jamaica, Los Angeles and London as their last collaboration with producer Jimmy Miller, Goats Head Soup came in the wake of the Stones’ landmark 1972 double album Exile On Main St. Goats Head Soup, with its famous David Bailey sleeve, featured the Stones’ vintage 1969-1974 line-up of Jagger, Richards, Mick Taylor, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts, with the addition of some essential collaborators. On an album on which their trademark rocking sound was often augmented by more low-key, reflective material, there were no fewer than four featured piano players: Hopkins, Billy Preston, Ian ‘Stu’ Stewart and Jagger himself.”
Tricky
Fall To Pieces
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Before we get on to Tricky’s astonishing new album Fall To Pieces, there’s something he wants you to know. “I feel like I’m back,” he says, voice full of swagger. “I feel like I’m one of the best musicians England’s ever had, and it’s time for me to focus on music again, 100%, like how I used to do at the beginning. That competitive thing I used to have when I was younger, like, my music is on a different level – that’s how I feel again now.” Tricky might be over three decades deep into his music career but he’s currently on a creative roll. In the last year he’s put out an acclaimed autobiography, Hell Is Round The Corner, dropped the enchanting 20,20 EP and is on the verge of releasing his 14th studio album. Fall To Pieces was recorded in Tricky’s Berlin apartment, over the course of two or three months in late 2019. The tracks are often short, ending abruptly and moving on to the next without warning. Tricky’s music has always enlisted female vocalists to carry his ideas — back in the day he believed they were vocalising his mum’s creative energy from beyond the grave. The majority of tracks on Fall To Pieces rely on Marta Złakowska, the singer he discovered during a Polish tour when he was left without a vocalist on the opening night: the local promoter suggested a girl who worked in a nearby bar, and when she arrived she had already learned the chorus to Tricky’s song When We Die. She saved the tour from disaster and afterwards Tricky said to her: “Look, if you give me 12 months of your time, so I don’t have to look for a singer on tour, I will help you with your music afterwards and you can be on my album.”
Various Artists
AngelHeaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan and T. Rex
THE PRESS RELEASE: “The genius and pioneering influence of Marc Bolan’s T. Rex — 2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and one of the great rock musicians of all time — will be celebrated with AngelHeaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan and T. Rex. The collection features 26 songs culled from Bolan’s vast body of work released as T. Rex and Tyrannosaurus Rex from 1968-77. A wide-ranging cast of wizards and cosmic dancers have joined together to reimagine Bolan’s work — sometimes in radical fashion — resulting in a collection that is less tribute than bold new work. The tracklist includes Bolan’s greatest songs: Jeepster, Bang A Gong (Get It On), Ride A White Swan and beyond. AngelHeaded Hipster was lovingly created by the late Hal Willner, who passed away on April 7 from COVID-19. Says Rachel Fox, Supervising Producer of AngelHeaded Hipster and longtime Willner collaborator, “Hal had a unique vision of Marc Bolan’s music, and working on AngelHeaded Hipster brought him great joy. Speaking for those closest to him, we will forever be heartbroken at the untimely loss of our beloved friend and irreplaceable creative engine. Hal, who referred to AngelHeaded Hipster as his White Album, was eager for everyone to hear these beautiful songs and to start thinking about Bolan and T. Rex again. This album is a testament to Hal’s spirit.” Willner worked on AngelHeaded Hipster for several years, with sessions spanning continents, from New York, Los Angeles and New Orleans, to London, Paris and Berlin. The album features special guests Nick Cave, Joan Jett, Donald Fagen, Mike Garson, Bill Frisell, Wayne Kramer, Van Dyke Parks and Marc Ribot, with arrangements by Thomas Bartlett, Steven Bernstein, Eli Brueggemann, J.G. Thirlwell and Steve Weisberg.”
