November and December playlist

• LOMA—Loma (upcoming 2018)
• Steven Wilson—Last Day of June: OST (2017)
• U2—Songs of Experience (2017)
• Bjork—Utopia (2017)
• Sufjan Stevens—The Greatest Gift: Outtakes, Remixes + Demos from Carrie + Lowell (2017)
• Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds—Who Built the Moon? (2017)
• Courtney Swain—Growing Pains (2017)
• Marillion—The Gold (2017)
• The Yardbirds—Yardbirds '68 (2017 release)
• Tears for Fears—Rule the World: Greatest Hits (2017 release)
• Rush—A Farewell to Kings: 40th Anniversary edition (2017 release)
• Eno + Hyde—High Life (2014)
• Buddy and Julie Miller—White Chalk (2009)
• Fever Ray—Plunge (2017)
• Otis Taylor—White African (2000)
• Roland Orzabal—Tomcats Screaming Outside (2000)
• Shawn Colvin—Cover Girl (1994)
• Dead Can Dance—Into the Labyrinth (1993)
• Joni Mitchell—Wild Things Run Fast (1982)
• Peter Gabriel—Peter Gabriel 3 (1980)

Now on Newsstands (and airline seats)

I wrote a short, front of book piece in the November issue of American Way (the in-flight magazine for American Airlines) about an ambitious multimedia Leonard Cohen exhibition in Montreal. (You can read the piece on page 18 via this link.)

The Museum of Contemporary Art's Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything isn't a gaudy Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame-style memorabilia display—don't go looking for his famous blue raincoat or fedoras. Instead, curator John Zeppetelli invited 40 artists from across the world to channel Cohen's influence into new works.

Michael Putland

The troubadour’s words and melodies have been recontextualized in newly commissioned works that explore his recurring themes: love and lust, politics and war, religion and redemption.

“There was an endless, thwarted quest for happiness. But then also a kind of resignation. There is a crack in everything and that’s what allows the light to come in,” Mr. Zeppetelli, the museum director told me via a phone interview.

Visitors can enter a virtual, surround-sound concert room, whose four walls will display montages of Cohen performing hit songs such as “Suzanne” over several decades. Another listening space includes exclusive cover versions by musicians such as Moby, Julia Holter, and The National with Sufjan Stevens. Candice Breitz formed out an amateur choir of Cohen fans who recorded their own version of the artist's landmark album I'm Your Man. A video installation titled The Offerings explores Cohen’s philosophical outlook. There's also a Wurlitzer organ whose keys have each been programmed to trigger audio of the singer reading his own poems. Zach Richter created a virtual reality experience titled "Halleluljah." If, to quote a Cohen song, you want it darker, then spend some alone time in the Depression Box designed by Israeli filmmaker Ari Folman ("Waltz with Bashir).

The singer gave his blessing to the Museum of Contemporary Art to stage the exhibition A Crack in Everything, which includes items from his personal archives, including autobiographical sketches.

Planning for the exhibition was underway before the singer died in 2016. The exhibition took on a different tenor following his passing, Zeppetelli admitted.

“We were planning for almost two years and fantasizing about inviting Leonard to the opening and showing him around just to demonstrate to him how vital his work has been, not just to his fans and music lovers, but to all kinds of people. He was very chuffed about that, that he could be an influence to people outside of his area, not songwriters and fans, but to other artists in different disciplines.”

The exhibition at the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal runs through April 9, 2018.


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Also on newsstands: The new issue of Prog magazine includes an interview I did with renowned Washington Post politics reporter David Weigel.

In addition to the demanding beat of covering Donald Trump on the campaign trail, Weigel wrote The Show that Never Ends: The Rise and Fall of Prog Rock. The hardcover edition, published by W.W. Norton, has been such a success that it quickly sold out its first print run. During my piece about Weigel's love of progressive rock, he told me about how he got turned on to Yes and got turned down by Robert Fripp.

The magazine includes exclusive interviews with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush (both of whom I was honored to interview when I wrote the book The Art of Rush) as well as Peter Hammill, Brian Eno, Godley & Creme, and Tim Bowness.

October playlist

• Melanie De Biasio—Lillies (2017)
• LOMA—Loma (upcoming 2018)
• Fever Ray—Plunge (2017)
• Bass Communion—Sisters Oregon (2017)
• Robert Plant—Carry Fire (2017)
• St. Vincent—Masseduction (2017)
• Courtney Barnett+Kurt Vile—Lotta Sea Lice (2017)
• Wolf Alice—Visions of a Life (2017)
• Four Tet—New Energy (2017)
• Ibeyi—Ash (2017)
• David Gilmour—Live at Pompeii (2017)
• Black Country Communion—BCCIV (2017)
• Beach Fossils—Somersault (2017)
• Jeff Beck—Live at the Hollywood Bowl (2017)
• Jeremy Enigk—Ghosts (2017)
• Neil Finn—Out of Silence (2017)
• Broken Social Scene—Hug of Thunder (2017)
• Ghostpoet—Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam (2011)
• Funkadelic—Maggot Brain (1971)

I went to see a Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford movie for work...

At the end of the original Planet of the Apes, Charlton Heston kneels in the sand, shakes his fist at the half-buried Statue of Liberty, and realizes that he’s doomed to live the rest of his life wearing just a loin-cloth.

As dystopian sci-fi movies go, that one's relatively cheerful. Nowadays, many science fiction books and movies depict a scorched-earth future in which life is nasty, brutish and short (well, unless there's a chance of a sequel). I wrote a newspaper article for The Christian Science Monitor about a debate within the science fiction community about the value of dystopian stories such as the newly released Blade Runner 2049.

In recent years, sci-fi writers such as Neal Stephenson, Cory Doctorow, Kim Stanley Robinson have been very vocal about how science fiction is fixated on apocalyptic scenarios for the future. They've largely displaced the hopeful visions of the future that were part of the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction until the mid-1960s.

Stephenson believes that these pessimistic stories, which arose out of the New Wave of science fiction, have had a knock-on effect among scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs because, he believes, it discourages them from thinking big and tackling daunting projects. But other sci-fi authors believe that dystopian tales not only serve a valuable and worthwhile purpose, but can also be just as inspirational. Daniel H. Wilson, the former robotics researcher who wrote the bestselling novel Robopocalypse, gave me a wonderful anecdotal example of the latter that I wasn't able to fit into my story.

“Having been a scientist and having lots and lots of friends who are scientists, I can tell you definitively that people are inspired by dystopias [and] they’re inspired by utopias,” Daniel told me. He cited an example of a former colleague at Carnegie Melon University who researched how to program robots to devise new methods of locomotion if they break a limb. His inspiration? The horrific scene in The Terminator in which the T-800 assassin robot (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) crawls out of a burning inferno with all its skin burned off and exposed as a mechanical being. As Daniel put it, his friend was sitting there watching and thinking, “Wow, he figured out how to move without his legs!”

Side note: I asked Daniel H. Wilson about Elon Musk’s loud claim that Artificial Intelligence will come to view humanity as an inferior species and destroy us...like the plot of the aforementioned movie. (Here’s hoping that the coming fleet of self-driving Teslas don’t develop a grudge against backseat drivers.) His response? If you can find a single robotics researched afraid of singularity, call me!

You can read my article via this link...

(Btw, I loved Blade Runner 2049. A truly immersive, transportive cinematic big-screen experience.)

September playlist

• Robert Plant—Holiday Carry Fire (upcoming 2017)
• The Weather Station—The Weather Station (2017)
• Four Tet—New Energy (2017)
• Neil Finn—Out of Silence (2017)
• Wolf Alice—Visions of a Life (2017)
• LCD Soundsystem—American Dream (2017)
• Nick Mulvey—Wave Up Now (2017)
• The Waterboys—Out of All this Blue (2017)
• Tim Bowness—Songs from the Ghost Light (2017)
• Gregg Allman—Southern Blood (2017)
• Mogwai—Every Country's Sun (2017)
• The War on Drugs—A Deeper Understanding (2017)
• Black Country Communion—BCCIV (2017)
• Gentle Giant—Three Piece Suite (2017 compilation with Steven Wilson remix)
• Lana Del Rey—Born to Die: Paradise Edition (2012)
• Nirvana—MTV: Unplugged (1994)
• PJ Harvey—Rid of Me (1993)
• The Vaughan Brothers—Family Style (1990)
• XTC—Black Sea (1980)

My Boston Globe interview with Jonathan Wilson

When 19-year-old Jonathan Wilson left North Carolina for Los Angeles, he discovered that the club across the street from his pad hosted musical improv sessions on Tuesday nights.

“It was a jam Harry Dean Stanton used to have,” Wilson told me. “It was basically his blues band that would jam over there. Joni [Mitchell] sit would in.” 

It was the beginning of a long love affair with the Golden State. He didn't settle there right away. Wilson drove a U-Haul across the USA several times over the next decade, trying to establish a music career. It took a while until he found a home both in California and in its music scene. (Fun fact: Shortly after the start of the millennium, Wilson even lived in a hippie commune consisting of 50 odd shacks and shanties that was bulldozed.)

I interviewed Wilson about his musical journey for tomorrow's edition of The Boston Globe. Read it here.

I first came across Jonathan when I heard his captivating 2013 album Fanfare. Its influenced by albums such as Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blue, Pink Floyd's Meddle and CSN and Y's Deja Vu but shot through with Wilson's personality. A new solo album is imminent.

In addition to co-producing Father John Misty's Pure Comedy this year, Jonathan Wilson also plays guitar on Roger Waters's Is This the Life We Really Want? and is now a member of Roger's touring band. He's produced albums for Conor Oberst, Dawes, Roy Harper and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. He's also written a number of yet-to-be-released songs with Lana Del Rey. (In the liner notes of Lust for Life, Lana thanked Jonathan, whom she roped in to play drums on her music video for "Love," by writing, "You're kind of too famous for us now that ur touring with Pink Floyd, but for a while you were throwing some pretty good mixtapes my way, so thanks for that.")

The lanky musician is one talented dude. He plays guitar, drums, bass, piano and horn. He also makes his own guitars which, apparently, are what he plays on the Roger Waters tour. And his studio is crammed with vintage gear he’s been collecting ever since he acquired his first TASCAM tape recorder at 13—long before it became fashionable to collect vintage gear and instruments. He's able to take apart and troubleshoot anything in the studio, from amplifiers to microphones to the recording console. Well, almost. “Unfortunately the hot tub is broken. That’s the one thing that I cannot fix,” Wilson joked.

But its his musical know-how as a songwriter and producer that has garnered him the respect of the likes of Jackson Browne, David Crosby and Graham Nash (who kindly sent me a comment for my article). One story I wasn't able to include in my article is that Crosby once retuned Wilson's guitar in an unusual tuning and handed it back to him.

"He does that from time to time with folks—he goes into their house and he tunes their guitar in a special Crosby way and then he challenges you to write a song, or two. He tuned it in one of his tunings and I think he said he found maybe five songs in that tuning. Me? I found two songs. One of them is on Fanfare."

Jonathan Wilson may be heavily indebted to the music of 1960s and 1970s, but he told me that he also listens to Kendrick Lamar and the electronic producer Haxan Cloak. But he feels that the studio technique and attention to high-fidelity of those golden-era sounds has often been neglected in today's world. He wants to carry flag planted by the likes of Browne, Crosby and Nash proud.

"I don’t want those guys to think that they have left a legacy to younger guys who can’t find their away around a tape machine or a studio," Wilson told me. "I do have a bit of a goal to be able to continue certain traditions."

July/August playlist

• Robert Plant—Holiday Carry Fire (upcoming 2017)
• The War on Drugs—A Deeper Understanding (2017)
• Queens of the Stone Age—Villains (2017)
• Nadine Shah—Holiday Destination (2017)
• Grizzly Bear—Painted Ruins (2017)
• Paul Draper—Spooky Action (2017)
• Lana Del Rey—Lust for Life (upcoming 2017)
• Land of Talk—Life After Youth (2017)
• Arcade Fire—Everything Now (2017)
• Carl Craig—Versus (2017)
• Moulettes—Preternatural (2017)
• Cigarettes after Sex—K (2017)
• Justin Adams (feat. Anneli Drecker)—Ribbons (2017)
• Algiers—The Underside of Power (2017)
• Steve Winwood—Greatest Hits Live (2017)
• The Big Moon—Love in the Fourth Dimension (2017)
• Four Tet—Morning/Evening (2015)
• The Beta Band—Hot Shots II (2001)
• Nine Inch Nails—The Downward Spiral (1994)
• The Allman Brothers Band—First Set (1992)
• Stevie Ray Vaughan—The Sky is Crying (1991)

Two-part interview with Steven Wilson

A little over a year ago, I was working on the sleeve notes for a Porcupine Tree vinyl box set when Steven Wilson, the leader of that band, casually asked me if I'd like to hear some of the songs he was writing for his fifth solo album.

I felt like an amateur stargazer who'd be invited to accompany an astronaut on a trip to the moon.

Over the course of many months, Steven sent me batches of demo recordings for my feedback—no exaggeration: his demos sound as polished and produced as many people's finished albums—and, later, various mixes of recorded versions. He asked for honest opinions on these nascent songs. I was surprised that he took some of my suggestions on board and tweaked some of the songs accordingly. It takes a degree of humility as an artist to be open to feedback. Who the hell am I to tell a songwriter, producer and mixer as accomplished as Steven Wilson what I think? I'm just a journalist who can't even play the fucking tambourine.

To the Bone was released today and I'm so excited for the world to hear it. I reckon it's a masterpiece. Even after a year, I get cravings to listen to the album, which is a testament to its durability. To the Bone has, unsurprisingly, received rave reviews from Mojo, Classic Rock, Planet Rock, and Q.

It was an honor to be entrusted to write the liner notes for the deluxe box set edition of To the Bone. Rather than just write a straight-up essay like my liner notes for the two Porcupine Tree box sets, SW encouraged me to instead write a journal from my own perspective. Steven's inspiration for that approach? Paul Gambaccini's diary-like sleeve notes to Godley and Creme's L.

Although I wrote 12,000 word sleeve notes, I still had reams of unused material from the many interviews I did with Steven about the album. I've compiled those leftovers into a two-part interview in which SW discusses each track of the album. Here's part 1 and part 2.

June Playlist

• Shearwater—The Sky is a Blank Screen (2017)
• Public Service Broadcasting—Every Valley (upcoming 2017)
• Nadine Shah—Holiday Destination (upcoming 2017)
• Songhoy Blues—Résistance (2017)
• Floating Points—Reflections-Mojave Desert (2017)
• Shelby Lynne and Allison Moorer—Not Dark Yet  (upcoming 2017)
• Radiohead—OKNOTOK (OK Computer re-release) (2017)
• Bent Knee—Land Animal (2017)
• Roger Waters—Is this the Life We Really Want? (2017)
• Fleet Foxes—Crack-Up (2017)
• Forest Swords—Compassion (2017)
• Iron and Wine—Beast Epic (upcoming 2017)
• Steve Hogarth with Ranestrane—Friends, Romans (2017)
• Mappe Of—A Northern Star, A Perfect Stone (upcoming 2017)
• Joseph Arthur—Redemption's Son, 15th Anniversary edition (2017)
• Squarepusher—Ultravisitor (2003)
• The Cure—Staring at the Sea (1986)
• YES—Yessongs (1993)

Songs from most of these albums (and other imminent albums that have yet to be released) can be heard in my new wide-ranging and eclectic Spotify playlist: Best new songs of June:

Now on Newsstands

The new issue of Prog magazine hits newsstands in the UK today and will soon make its way to US newsstands such as your local Barnes & Noble. Better yet, try a monthly subscription at $4.99 to the online version at teamrock.com to access the magazine as well as other Team Rock magazines (and archives) such as Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Blues.

In addition to stories about YES and Amplifier—I adore both bands and own their entire catalogs—the issue also includes a lengthy feature I wrote about Bent Knee.

Bent Knee, a six piece that formed at the Berklee School of Music, has developed a sizable following for music that they describe as existing in the "nooks and crannies just outside the mainstream."

What I love about Bent Knee, whose influences span from Sufjan Stevens to Kendrick Lamar, is that they don't sound like anyone else. That includes powerhouse singer Courtney Swain. These mid-twenties musicians don't sound derivative. A Wall Street Journal feature on the band praised their silo-smashing sound which "taps into cabaret, ’70s piano-based folk, chamber pop, industrial rock, metal and prog rock—with the snap of funk and hip-hop in some of its rhythms."

They've just signed to a Sony label and their album Land Animal is released now out. (Hear it now on Spotify or, better yet, order a physical copy.) It's excellent and should be a breakthrough for them—check out songs such as "Insides In," "These Hands," "Time Deer" and "Boxes." The hard-working band's burgeoning success is well-deserved as they're such lovely people.

Bent Knee already have a good-sized fanbase thanks to constant touring across the US. The song "Terror Bird" from the album, below, will give you an inkling of how good they are in concert. Catch them on a US tour in July and August. Dates below and more details at www.bentkneemusic.com:

7/14       Northampton, MA @ Iron Horse
7/15       Nashua, NH @ Riverwalk
7/18       Ferndale, MI @ The Loving Touch
7/20       Madison, WI @ Frequency
7/24       Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
7/25       Lawrence, KS @ Bottleneck
7/27       Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
7/31       Seattle, WA @ Barboza
8/1         Portland, OR @Analog Cafe
8/2         Bend, OR @Volcanic Theatre
8/4         San Francisco, CA @cafe Du Nord
8/7         San Diego, CA @Soda Bar

 
 

May Playlist

• Slowdive—Slowdive (2017)
• Jane Weaver—Kosmology (2017)
• Forest Swords—Compassion (2017)
• Bent Knee—Land Animal (2017)
• Marika Hackman—l'm not Your Man (2017)
• Steve Hogarth and Ranestrane—Romans, Friends (2017)
• Kurt Vile—Believe I'm Goin' Down (2016)
• Gregg Allman—Low Country Blues (2011)
• Ryan Adams—Love is Hell (2004)
• Soundgarden—A-Sides (1997)
• Tears for Fears—Elemental (1993)
• Allman Brothers Band—Legendary Hits (1994), Back Where It Begins (1994), 1st Set (1991)
• Stevie Ray Vaughan—The Sky is Crying (1991)
• XTC—Black Sea (1980)
• Alice Coltrane—Ptah the El Daoud (1970)