Monday, August 05, 2013

Sights and Sounds: Amos Lee, Sparks, 'The World's End' Soundtrack

Having almost fully recovered from jet lag, I'm playing a major game of catch-up and posting a trio of notable media releases here to get the week going...

AMOS LEE ANNOUNCES FALL 2013 HEADLINE TOUR

LEE PERFORMS ON "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO" TONIGHT

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY PREMIERES HIS NEW SINGLE,
"THE MAN WHO WANTS YOU," TODAY

PRE-ORDER LAUNCHES FOR NEW ALBUM,
MOUNTAINS OF SORROW, RIVERS OF SONG, SET FOR OCTOBER 8 RELEASE

 
August 5, 2013 - New York, NY -Amos Lee will tour the U.S. this fall in support of his fifth studio album, Mountains Of Sorrow, Rivers Of Song, which will be released on October 8 by Blue Note Records. The headline run will kick off on November 5 at Riverside Theatre in Milwaukee, WI and include shows at the Chicago Theatre in Chicago (November 8), Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium (November 14) and the Beacon Theatre in New York City (November 22). See below for itinerary.

Tickets are available for the first time directly on Lee's website beginning Tuesday, August 6, at 10 AM.  Lee will donate $1 from each ticket sold for the November tour toMusicians On Call, a non-profit organization that brings live and recorded music to the bedsides of patients in healthcare facilities. In his ongoing effort to supportMusicians On CallLee will be running a donation-based contest to win an autographed guitar. For more information on the contest or to purchase tickets, visithttp://www.amoslee.com/tour.

Tonight Lee will perform "The Man Who Wants You," the first single from Mountains Of Sorrow, Rivers Of Song, on 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.' The track premiered on EW.com today and is streaming now. "The Man Who Wants You" impacts Triple A radio today, but over 50 stations added the song in advance, resulting in an early chart debut. This week it moves up to #27 on the Triple A radio chart.


Cover art for Mountains Of Sorrow, Rivers Of Song was recently revealed atTheBoot.com. The album can be pre-ordered now on iTunes and AmazonMountains Of Sorrow, Rivers Of Song finds Lee in new sonic territory, working with a broader palette of textures and instrumentation yet retaining the trenchant impact of the scenes, characters and stories that he is renowned for. Produced by Jay Joyce (Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Eric Church, Cage the Elephant), it is the first album ever recorded at Joyce's new studio, St. Charles, which is housed in a converted East Nashville church. For a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Mountains Of Sorrow, Rivers Of Song, click here.

Special guests on the album include vocalists Alison Krauss and Patty Griffin and instrumentalists Jerry Douglas (Alison Krauss & Union Station), Mickey Raphael (Willie Nelson and Family) and Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews Band). The album is the first to feature Lee's longtime touring band - comprising Freddie Berman, Zach Djanikian, Andy Keenan and Jaron Olevsky - which will be joining him on the road this fall. Lee will perform solo at Farm Aid (September 21) and the Life is Good Festival (September 22).

Mountains Of Sorrow, Rivers Of Song is the follow-up to 2011's Mission Bell, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and Billboard Rock Albums charts and contained the No. 1 Triple A radio hit "Windows Are Rolled Down." "His soulful singing charms throughout," said Entertainment Weekly and USA Today awarded the album four stars out of four. "Amos Lee has a honeyed singing voice - light amber, mildly sweet, a touch of grain," observed The New York Times while The Philadelphia Inquirer noted, "Lee hits his personal best."
  

Amos Lee - Fall 2013 U.S. Tour Dates
9/21 - Saratoga Springs, NY @ Farm Aid
9/22 - Canton, MA @ Prowse Farm - Life Is Good Festival
11/5 - Milwaukee, WI @ Riverside Theatre
11/6 - Minneapolis, MN @ State Theatre
11/8 - Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre
11/9 - Indianapolis, IN @ Old National Centre-Murat Theatre
11/10 - Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre
11/12 - Louisville, KY @ Louisville Palace
11/14 - Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
11/16 - North Charleston, SC @ North Charleston Performing Arts Center
11/18 - Durham, NC @ Durham Performing Arts Center
11/19 - Charlottesville, VA @ Paramount Theater
11/20 - Baltimore, MD @ The Lyric Opera House
11/22 - New York, NY @ The Beacon Theatre
11/24 - Westhampton Beach, NY @ Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center
11/26 - Washington, DC @ Warner Theatre
11/27 - Upper Darby, PA @ Tower Theatre                                            
11/29 - Atlanta, GA @ Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre
11/30 - Knoxville, TN @ Tennessee Theatre


About Musicians On Call
Musicians On Call is a non-profit organization (founded in 1999) that brings live and recorded music to the bedsides of patients in healthcare facilities, in order to complement the healing process for patients, families, and caregivers.  To date, its volunteers have played for over 350,000 individuals nationwide. Musicians On Call continues its mission through room-to-room hospital performances by both local and internationally renowned musicians as well as the Music Pharmacy Program.  42 weekly Bedside Programs are currently provided in New York, Los Angeles, Nashville, Miami, Philadelphia, and Washington DC. www.musiciansoncall.org/amos


Sparks Announce New North American Tour Dates
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Ron and Russell Mael Return forThe Revenge of Two Hands One Mouth Tour This Fall
Brothers Ron and Russell Mael rose from Los Angeles as masterminds of a theatrical sound that rolls playfully from pop to hard-edge rock to disco-era electronic tunes with Giorgio Moroder ("No. 1 in Heaven").” – Rolling Stone
Sparks, the long-running collaboration of the brothers Ron and Russell Mael, spins elaborate, keyboard-happy constructions around clever conceits.”– The New York Times

"In any sane universe Sparks are big. It’s pop that got small.”
 – The Independent
In response to the overwhelming reception of Sparks’ last North American tour — not to mention the band’s recent Coachella debut — L.A.’s pop provocateurs Sparks are excited to announce a brand new fall tour. Returning to North America with The Revenge Of Two Hands One Mouth Tour, brothers Ron and Russell Mael have crafted new sets of material drawn from the band’s extensive discography and back catalogue. With no band and no computers, Ron (two hands . . . on keyboards) and Russell (one mouth . . . on vocals) will present the very essence of Sparks and their impressive catalogue in a show of impact, energy and aggression.
For those who saw the tour in its first incarnation, we promise to keep the intensity up, the two-hands, one-mouthiness up, the no-computeriness up, and also perform a bunch of tunes not played on the original tour,” says Russell Mael. Full tour dates below.
Over the band’s four decades of existence, Sparks has consistently proved to be ten steps ahead of their peers, pioneering and transforming in ways few would’ve ever predicted. Enigmatic and shape-shifting, Sparks has defined numerous genres, ranging from the psychedelic rock of 1972’sA Woofer In Tweeters Clothing to 1979’s landmark Giorgio Moroder collaboration No. 1 In Heaven. They’ve written a Swedish rock opera (The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman), synth-pop opuses (Gratuitous Sax and Senseless Violins), and even helped define the sound of U.K. glam (Kimono My House) — nevermind that the duo hail from Los Angeles. The band’s recent work found Sparks exploring the depths of baroque pop, a sound defined by their album trilogy of Lil BeethovenHello Young Lovers, and Exotic Creatures of The Deep, the first of which was hailed by the New York Times as “the most ambitious album [Sparks] have made.”
Having inspired musicians and delighted fans throughout the years with their extraordinary songwriting and inimitable style, Sparks’ live shows have become increasingly spectacular. In 2008, they performed all 21 albums in 21 nights in London. In 2011, the band’s 22nd record, The Seduction Of Ingmar Bergman, was performed as a live musical at the Los Angeles Film Festival. Now, having stripped away the band, the computers and any lavish production, their whipsmart, penetrating lyrics and those incomparable melodies are once again presented in this scintillating, intimate format.
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The Revenge of Two Hands One Mouth Tour Dates
10/23: Atlanta, GA @ The Variety Playhouse
10/25: Asheville, NC @ Mountain Oasis Festival
10/27: Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
10/28: New York, NY @ Webster Hall
10/30: Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
11/1: Montreal, QC @ Le National
11/2: Toronto, ON @Lee's Palace
11/4: Detroit/Pontiac, MI @ Crofoot Ballroom
11/6: Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
11/7: Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
11/8-11/10: Austin, TX @ Fun Fun Fun Fest
11/11: Los Angeles, CA @ Fonda Theatre


THE WORLD’S END SOUNDTRACK COMING FROM ABKCO AUGUST 20
MUSIC-RICH NEW MOVIE FROM CREATORS OF SHAUN OF THE DEAD AND HOT FUZZ  INCLUDES HITS FROM PRIMAL SCREAM, THE SOUP DRAGONS, STONE ROSES, BLUR, PULP, SUEDE, AND MORE…
ABKCO Records will release The World’s End – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack on Tuesday August 20th, available both on CD and through digital retail outlets. The film is a Focus Features Presentation in association with Relativity Media of a Working Title production in association with Big Talk Pictures. Focus Features releases the “Barmageddon” comedy nationwide on Friday, August 23rd.

The World’s End (www.TheWorldsEndMovie.com) reunites the dynamic team of director/screenwriter Edgar Wright, actor/screenwriter Simon Pegg, and actor Nick Frost. Their previous movies together were the fan favorites Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. ABKCO and Edgar Wright last collaborated on the hit soundtrack to his 2010 film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

A signature brew of camaraderie, knockabout humor, excessive quaffing, questionable life choices, hand-to-hand combat and explosive surprises, The World’s End’s eclectic soundtrack channels the songs the five main characters heard over 20 years ago when they first attempted an epic pub crawl. Primal Scream’s “Loaded” is something of a theme for the action in The World’s End, and is featured along with high-profile tracks from Blur, The Soup Dragons, Pulp, Suede, Teenage Fanclub, Stone Roses, Sisters of Mercy (whose t-shirt Simon Pegg’s character Gary King wears throughout the film) – and even The Doors’ iconic take on Brecht and Weill’s “Alabama Song (Whisky Bar).”  The physical album totals 18 selections (see Tracklist below).

Director/screenwriter Wright notes, “My new film with Simon Pegg revolves around a man that wants his teens to go on forever. I think many can sympathize with that. This is as much a soundtrack to our school and college days as it is to the film. When I listen to songs from my teens it triggers all sorts of sights, sounds, and abstract memories of the radio and the television, of watching vinyl spin and of making endless compilation tapes. When Simon Pegg and myself wrote the screenplay for the film, we listened to a 300-strong playlist of songs, mainly from 1988 to 1993. Big pop hits, groundbreaking dance smashes, and all the indie gold of our youth. We never, ever tired of them. It powered our writing as much as it powers Gary’s quest.”

Tracklist:
1
Loaded – Primal Scream

2
There's No Other Way - Blur

3
I Put This On A Tape For You – Simon Pegg, Paddy Considine

4
I'm Free – The Soup Dragons
 
5
So Young - Suede
 
6
Do You Remember The First Time? – Pulp
 
7
Welcome – Simon Pegg

8
What You Do To Me – Teenage Fanclub

9
Fools Gold – The Stone Roses

10
We Have Changed – Nick Frost
 
11
Get A Life – Soul II Soul
 
12
Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar) – The Doors

13
Wear Your Love Like Heaven – Definition of Sound

14
I Hate This Town – Nick Frost

15
20 Seconds To Comply (World's End Bomb Squad Mix Re-Edit) – Silver Bullet

16
This Corrosion – Sisters of Mercy

17
Happy Hour – The Housemartins

18
Let's Boo Boo – Simon Pegg, Paddy Considine


Pre-Order the Album: http://bit.ly/WorldsEndSoundtrack

ABOUT ABKCO - ABKCO Music & Records, founded over 50 years ago by Allen Klein, is one of the world’s leading independent entertainment companies.  It is home to iconic catalog assets that include compositions and recordings by Sam Cooke, The Rolling Stones, Bobby Womack, Eric Burdon, The Animals, Herman’s Hermits, Marianne Faithfull, The Kinks as well as the Cameo Parkway masters by such artists as Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell, Clint Eastwood, The Orlons, The Dovells, ? & The Mysterians, Charlie Gracie, The Tymes and Dee Dee Sharp. Soundtrack releases include Wes Anderson’s  Academy Award®-nominated Moonrise Kingdom, The Darjeeling Limited, and the Academy Award®-nominated Fantastic Mr. FoxIndependent Spirit Award® winner Safety Not GuaranteedOur Idiot Brother; the international blockbuster Fast Five; Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the WorldPercy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief; The Men Who Stare At Goats; Boardwalk Empire Volume 2: Music from the HBO® Original Seriesand the soundtrack to the first season of the hit Showtime® series Californication.  ABKCO is active on many fronts including the release of critically lauded compilations and reissues from its catalog, film and commercial placement of its master recordings and music publishing properties in all media.   ABKCO Films most recent release is The Rolling Stones Charlie Is My Darling – Ireland 1965.  It has been involved with many successful movies including The Greek Tycoon starring Anthony Quinn and Jacqueline Bisset; La Grande Bouffe, winner of the International Critics prize at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival; and The Concert for Bangladesh featuring Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, and Ringo Starr.  Renowned cult director Alejandro Jodorowsky’s classics El Topo and The Holy Mountain, fully restored and remastered to HD, were shown at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival (Classics section) and at the prestigious 44th New York Film Festival. In 2003 ABKCO won a Grammy for the DVD release of Sam Cooke – Legend and the following year released the DVD of The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus to universal acclaim. Upcoming releases include a restoration of the Spaghetti Western Blindman starring Ringo Starr.  ABKCO Films is in pre-production on a biopic on the life of Sam Cooke.
www.abkco.com                www.facebook.com/abkco                                www.twitter.com/abkco

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