Winter is late this year but who cares. Adequate song for today is All About Eve's "December", my all-time favourite track from their album "Scarlet And Other Stories" (Mercury 838 965-2, 1989). The enchanting voice of Julianne Regan makes this song truly magical.
It's hard to say that the best for Spear Of Destiny is yet to come. Years 1984 - 1988 were their best time when they achieved quite a big chart success with hit singles like "Never Take Me Alive" (10 Records, TENT 162) peaked at number 14 on UK Singles Chart in 1987. In this period they also released five studio albums which all were well received by music press and fans : "Grapes Of Wrath" (Epic EPC 25318, 1983), "One Eyed Jacks" (Epic EPC 25836, 1984), "World Service" (Epic EPC 26514, 1985), "Outland" (10 Records DIX 59, 1987), "The Price You Pay" (Virgin 2549, 1988). But when the ultimate breakthrough proceeding them to world star status was inevitably close it came the health problems of Kirk Brandon, band's leader and frequent changes in band's line-up which held their progress. The band survived for next twenty five years til nowadays, mainly around Kirk Brandon, the only ever present band's member, releasing albums and playing gigs in the UK and Europe. Their last work was a studio album "Omega Point" (EasterSnow Recording Company, ESRCLP 010) from 2010 recording by Kirk Brandon (guitar, vocals) and three experienced fellow musicians : Craig Adams (bass, ex-The Sisters Of Mercy, then member of The Mission, The Cult, The Alarm), Adrian Portas (guitar, ex-The New Model Army, ex-Sex Gang Children) and Mike Kelly (drums, The Mission). It was announced that the next Spear Of Destiny's album is due to release in 2014 and it will be titled "Thirty One".
This song was chosen for today's post because it's melancholic enough to suit the sad moods which were spreading around in last few days. It was taken from Nico's live album titled "Behind The Iron Curtain" (Dojo, DOJO LP27) recorded during her concerts in Prague, Budapest and Warsaw in autumn 1986.
Chvrches is one of the new young bands which should achieve a worldwide success in a very short period of time. Formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 2011by Iain Cook (synthesizers, guitar, bass, vocals) and Martin Doherty (synthesizers, samplers, vocals) and joined by Lauren Mayberry (lead vocals, synthesizers) the band spent next seven or eight months in their basement studio writing their new songs for their first records, a single "Lies" which was available in May 2012 as a free download from the blog of the Neon Gold label and an official debut single "The Mother We Share" (National Anthem Records) released in November 2012. Thanks to these highly acclaimed by music critics issues Chvrches was ranked fifth on the BBC's Sound of 2013 list of the most promising new music talents. The big step forward for the band was signing the contract with an independent record label Glassnote Records. Their next EPs titled "Recover", "Gun" and re-issued "The Mother We Share" entered on the UK Singles Chart peaking respectively at numbers 91, 55 and 38. On 20th September 2013 Chvrches released their debut studio album "The Bones Of What You Believe" which peaked at number 9 the UK Album Chart. Throughout the whole year 2013 the band toured extensively all over Europe. They also supported Depeche Mode during their The Delta Machine Tour in Nimes (July 16th), Milan (July 18th), Prague (July 23th) and Warsaw (July 25th). Personally I think that Chvrches are enormously good when performing live, much better than they work in studio. A classic example is live version their first single "Lies".
Rossetti's Compass is a music project which was founded in 2010 by Mark Warner, a former member of Sudeten Creche and current member of Touching The Void, both bands playing dark electronic music. In a year 2013 he was joined by next two musicians : Per Aksel Lundgreen and Martin Bowes and working together they released two EPs : "Tear Garden" (No Emb Blanc, NEB012) and "My Beloved" (Sub Culture Records, SUBCULTURE 012). On October 14th 2013 during live session in the Cage Studios (owned by Martin Bowes) they recorded four new songs which are due to release on November 5th 2013 as their next EP "The Cage Sessions, Session 01". The band will donate all profits from this release to The Cancer Research Charity. The preview is available here : http://thecagestudios.bandcamp.com/album/the-cage-sessions-01
Gerry Rafferty is the author of the one of the most recognizable songs in rock music history. This song titled "Baker Street" (United Artists Records, UP 36346) was originally released as a single in 1978 and peaked on Number 3 on the UK Singles Chart and Number 2 on Billboard US Hot 100. Composed and written all by Rafferty himself this song has got true magical sound strenghtened by distinctive saxophone solo.
