The cult jazz fusion band played The O2 as part of Bluesfest
Steely Dan have played their first UK show since the death of founder member Walter Becker, who passed away last month at the age of 67. A symbolic empty mic stand sat in the middle of the stage for the duration of the show on Sunday night (October 29), which took place at The O2 in London as part of Bluesfest. Becker’s musical partner Donald Fagen paid tribute to him during the gig, commenting: “We’re a little different than we were a few a months ago but I gotta live with that.” The New York-born Becker played both guitar and bass in Steely Dan, while also contributing backing vocals. Along with lead vocalist and keyboardist Fagen, the two remained Steely Dan’s only core members throughout their career. The 12 piece band played a groove-ridden set that drew upon the band’s classic albums from the 1970s, including ‘Rikki Don’t Lose That Number’, ‘Bodhisattva’, ‘My Old School’ and ‘Peg’ as well as ‘Hey Nineteen’ and ‘Babylon Sisters’ from 1980’s ‘Gaucho’. Backing vocals came from the three ‘Danettes’ “We don’t get here so often, so it’s fantastic that you’re here,” said Fagen to the crowd, referencing the band’s rare UK appearance at Bluefest, which saw them supported by classic American rock band The Doobie Brothers. Steely Dan, who became a studio-only outfit after retiring from touring in 1974 split in 1981. Fagen and Becker reunited in 1993 to resurrect Steely Dan, and released two more albums – the most recent being 2003’s ‘Everything Must Go’ – while also resuming touring duties in recent years. Steely Dan played:‘Bodhisattva’ ‘Black Cow’ ‘Hey Nineteen’ ‘New Frontier’ ‘Aja’ ‘Black Friday’ ‘Babylon Sisters’ ‘Dirty Work’ ‘Peg’ ‘Time Out Of Mind’ ‘I Want To (Do Everything For You)’ ‘Josie’ ‘My Old School’ ‘Kid Charlemagne’ ‘Reelin’ In The Years’ ‘The Untouchables’ ByLeonie Cooper
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Cryptic social media posts and adverts suggest the iconic rap group are staging a comeback
It looks like N.E.R.D. may be about to announce their first new album in seven years. The Pharrell Williams-led group announced their first live shows in three years earlier this summer, and Williams himself has dropped numerous confirmations that a fifth album is incoming. Now, new adverts at Tyler, The Creator‘s Flog Gnaw festival (which took place this weekend), and a series of cryptic social media posts, seem to suggest that N.E.R.D. are about to stage their return. Displaying the message “No_one Ever Really Dies” – itself a play on the N.E.R.D. acronym – the artwork can be found across the band’s website, and social media pages, as well as on billboards across the globe. Check out some shots of the new N.E.R.D. album teasers below. Pharrell Williams confirmed that N.E.R.D. were working on a new album way back in 2015, before further confirmed their new album plans after the live recording of his Beats 1 show OTHERtone at ComplexCon in Long Beach, California in November. During an audience Q&A following the recording, Pharrell was asked again if there would be another N.E.R.D album. “The answer is yes,” Pharrell replied, before, as Complex reports, “comparing the creative process around that upcoming project to making wine.” He then added the album would arrive “when it’s time.” In a BBC interview in February of this year, the star stated that the comeback is still underway, and “it’s feeling really good, really special.” By Tom Connick
Georgia rapper is signed to West's GOOD Music label
Kanye West features on a new track by CyHi The Prynce. Scroll below to hear ‘Dat Side’. Georgia rapper CyHi The Prynce is signed to West’s GOOD Music label. He’s worked with Kanye on numerous occasions in the past, including a guest verse on ‘So Appalled’ from ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’. He also has 11 credits on West’s latest album ‘The Life Of Pablo’. Kanye executive-produced the rapper’s ‘Black Hystori Project’ mixtape in 2014 and its 2015 follow-up ‘Black Hystori Project 2: N.A.A.C.P’. Listen to this latest collaboration between the pair, ‘Dat Side’, beneath. It sees Kanye rap the lines: “Moved into a neighbourhood where I’m the only black guy / Neighbours said they think I gave the neighbourhood a black eye”.
Meanwhile, it was recently reported that Beck and Kanye could work together in the future, with Beck revealing that he has “reached out” to West with the offer to collaborate on music together.
The pair made headlines when West caused a scene by following Beck on stage at the 2015 GRAMMY Awards – claiming that he should “respect artistry” after he picked up the award for ‘Best Album’ for ‘Morning Phase‘ ahead of Beyonce. Now Beck, who just released his acclaimed new album ‘Colors‘, has said that he is open to working with the rapper Asked if he’d since had any contact with West, Beck told NME: “I haven’t, no! I’ve never met him.” “I’ve actually reached out to him to see if he would work on music with me. Even when I started this record, which was two years before the Grammys happened, I asked him to work on it. He was busy or not interested, I don’t know, I never got a direct answer from him.” By Luke Morgan Britton
A surprise new one from Albarn and co
Gorillaz have unveiled a surprise track ‘Garage Palace’, their new single with Little Simz. Check it out below. The track premiered on Apple Music on Zane Lowe’s Beats 1 show today. ‘Garage Palace’ is a trance-driven rush of beats and synth beneath Simz’ machine-gun flow, and is likely to be performed on the band’s upcoming tour dates. “I just was really struck by her kind of individualism,” frontman Damon Albarn told Lowe of Simz. “She’s just not part of a scene, which is great for her.”
While the band are currently on a world tour in support of their acclaimed 2017 album ‘Humanz‘, Albarn is already planning out their next record – and says it could well be a surprise release. In December 2010, Gorillaz fourth album ‘The Fall‘ was released with just five days notice as a free download. Now, it looks like they could catch their fans off guard once again – could ‘Garage Palace’ feature?
“I really like the idea of making new music and playing it live almost simultaneously,” said Albarn. “It will be a more complete record than ‘The Fall’, but hopefully have that spontaneity.” Today also saw Albarn give an update on the long-awaited new album from The Good, The Bad And The Queen. Gorillaz tour and ticketsThe band’s upcoming 2017 UK and Ireland arena tour dates are below. For tickets and more information, visit here. November 2017 27 Brighton Centre, Brighton 29 – The SSE Hydro, Glasgow December 1 – Manchester Arena, Manchester 2 – Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham 3 – o2 Arena, London 4 – O2 Arena, London ByAndrew TrendellOct 31, 2017 |
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