Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Real Gone’s end of year round up: 2011

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Time goes so quickly, doesn’t it? It seems only a few weeks ago we were here last, looking at the year’s best music. 2010 was pretty good, but 2011 has been much better. So many great records, but Real Gone’s favourite was without a shadow of doubt the big studio comeback from prog-rock legends Yes.

YES – Fly From Here

Their first new studio material in a decade, it was so good to have Yes back. The album featured some of their best recordings since 1994’s ‘Talk’, while frontman Benoit David proved you don’t need Jon Anderson on board to make a decent Yes record. The whole of ‘Fly From Here’ stomps over the band’s last three studio records featuring Anderson…and then some. And to think another reviewer said the band were bereft of ideas and had to resort to scraping the bottom of the barrel with Buggles leftovers. About 50% of ‘Fly From Here’ had roots in some unfinished business, ‘tis true enough, but neither Yes nor Buggles could find a suitable use for those pieces of music back then. Now, it’s a different story: now the fit together wonderfully and surprisingly naturally. In short, ‘Fly From Here’ is bloody superb. [Review here]

DEAD EXS – Ressurection

Discovered absolutely by accident. The debut release by New York garage-blues duo The Dead Exs is raw, fairly raucous and comes with absolutely no pretence. Recorded live in the studio with a couple of microphones, the energy in the duo’s material really comes across. If you have a liking for garage-based noises, you could do a whole lot worse than buy this record. If you haven’t already, go and do it now. [Review here]

DEVIN TOWNSEND – Ghost

You never know what you’re getting with Devin Townsend. You’re just as likely to get a complex progressive metal release – or something atmospheric – as you are to spend an hour with him shouting over pneumatic sounding extremities. However, despite his liking of progressive metal and rock, he’s never delved into atmospheric music to such levels as this before. ‘Ghost’ – the fourth album from the Devin Townsend Project – revels in acoustic guitars, flutes and soft voices, creating a new age/prog masterpiece. The album would have almost certainly found a spot in Real Gone’s end of year favourites, but after an absolutely gorgeous live show at London’s Union Chapel, there was no questioning ‘Ghost’s absolute brilliance. [Review here]

POWERMAN 5000 – Copies, Clones & Replicants

Poor Powerman 5000 seem to find it difficult getting good press. The band – fronted by Rob Zombie’s little bro, Spider One – often seem dogged by lacklustre reviews. Their 2011 release ‘Copies, Clones and Replicants’ didn’t break the trend and gathered some particularly scathing comments online. Ignore them: this album is fabulous! Spider One and his crew turn their hand to the covers album with ease, putting their own stamp on tunes by Devo, M, INXS, The Cars and more, with brilliant results. Should a covers album deserve a place among the year’s best musical achievements? If it’s as good as this…absolutely. [Review here]

MUTINY MUTINY – Constellation

Grinding. More grinding. Discordant guitars. Throbbing basslines. Ever wondered what would happen if a band took the best elements of Melvins, Slint and Sonic Youth and then dished them back up with a bit of their own style? Wonder no more! While most of the alternative press were busy fawning over Yuck throughout 2011, Seattle’s Mutiny Mutiny were the year’s true heroes with regard to nineties revivalism. For those who still hanker after the spirit of the nineties festival circuit, ‘Constellation’ is not to be missed. [Review here]

Okay, those were the five unmissable albums, but naturally, there was a truckload of other great releases throughout the year. After a six year hiatus, Jane’s Addiction returned with ‘The Great Escape Artist’, a record which was disappointing at first, but repeated listens uncovered subtle depths. Although the album was severly lacking Dave Navarro’s huge overdriven guitars, the album was still much better than most alternative bands could hope for… New Jane’s Addiction material is always welcome, no matter how long it takes. French punks The Black Stout released their debut EP, which combined the sounds of Rancid, The Distillers and a couple of other disctinctive influences, resulting in something special. A second release – an eight song vinyl – is promised for 2012. Another covers album, the appropriately titled ‘Covers’ by Holmes showcased some great musical taste and a sense for reinvention, while Scandinavians Team Me released an absolutely fantastic EP full of songs which showed a strong love of The Flaming Lips and Polyphonic Spree. Since old-school rock and AOR is very important to Real Gone, there have been various melodic rock discs reviewed, but none were as fine as the 2011 release from ex-Virginia wolf man Chris Ousey. While 98% of the best AOR/melodic rock was released in 1985/1987-89, this was a release which proved there’s still some great stuff out there…

As always, as well as discovering lots of new bands and music, there have been the omnipresent old favourites as well as the reappearance of things from the past. With the amount of good power pop circulating this year, we’ve also found ourselves enjoying ELO. Since an increased tolerance of bearded Brummies wasn’t actually that high on the agenda, this comes a surprise. It’s either the fault of Daniel Tashian and The Silver Seas, or those guys from Farrah. Either way, ‘Out of The Blue’ has found its way back on the semi-regular playlist for the first time since the early 80s.

Aside from lots of great music, 2011 saw big changes at Real Gone, as we moved from being a regular blog to a fully-fledged website. With the move came two important changes: the addition of a news column and a live archive. The news column is important and somewhat of a necessity, but the live archive is just a bit of fun… There are so many great live shows uploaded to YouTube and the like, it seemed to make sense to try and round a few of them up. Y’know, Real Gone does the leg-work, so you don’t have to…or something. The beginning of the year also saw Real Gone being quoted in Classic Rock Magazine, so here’s hoping for more – and greater recognition – in 2012!

A big thank you goes out to the various bands who’ve found Real Gone this year and sent us stuff for review, with a particular shout out for The Dead Exs who helped Real Gone host our first ever prize giveaway. Thanks also to the various labels who’ve sent stuff out and the promotions companies who tirelessly plug away – the guys at Planetary have pointed more than a few interesting bits this way over the course of 2011. Thanks also to the various Twitter folk who’ve helped spread the word by re-tweeting various links and stuff – a quick tweet can sometimes go a very long way! Lastly, a huge thank you to Colin at InkaDesign who provided invaluable help with the big move and various changes this year.

“LET IT ROLL…”: an absolutely free album-length sampler from Real Gone!

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To celebrate the work of lots of independent and DIY bands appearing at Real Gone, it’s time to end the year with something special.

With the co-operation of sixteen different artists, we are able to bring you “Let It Roll…”, the first ever Real Gone sampler. The name comes from a Dead Exs line, and it was good enough a title for George Harrison too, so…
[It was almost called “Now That’s What I Call Don’t Say We Don’t Ever Give You Nuffin’“, but in lots of ways, the name is unimportant].

Here’s hoping you find something to enjoy. If you do, please get in touch with the musicians to tell them and make sure you check out their full releases! If you’ve downloaded it, please link back to this page on twitter and facebook – help make this a major exercise in spreading the word…

All tracks were used legally with the help of the respective artists.

This download has now been removed from our server.  Should you still wish to download it, please email us via the contact section on this website and we’ll send you a zip file of the contents.

Tracks included:

01 KURT SHANKS Seven Flights Up
02 GUSTAV NILSSON Paper Cuts
03 MUTINY MUTINY A Movie With No Plot
04 THE BLACK STOUT Voices of Generation
05 MISHKIN Good Day To Die
06 THE GENUINE FAKES Time Is Slight
07 DANIEL TASHIAN Anna
08 STATE COWS Hard Goodbye*
09 THE DEAD EXS Come Down Easy
10 MICK TERRY Comets
11 PROSPEKT Dissident Priest
12 NATHAN EDWARDS Be OK
13 RABBIT IN THE BLOOD Back To The Sea**
14 DOM LIBERATI Won’t Let You Down (live)**
15 PALE AUTUMN The Tides Return
16 SHARKS TOOK THE REST Restaurant

* Non-album track
** Previously unreleased

Real Gone would like to extend their thanks to everyone who took part. You can find various links back to the band’s products and websites scattered around this website, as well as reviews for everyone. There are a couple of notable absences due to missed deadlines or Ts&Cs… Here’s hoping they can be a part of it all at the end of 2012.

Merry Christmas.

PRIMUS: Pro-shot footage of complete 60 minute SWU slot

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2011 was a big year for Primus. Following their 2001 hiatus to persue other projects, there have been sporadic reunions, but nothing long-term. In September 2011, they released ‘Green Naugahyde’, their first full studio album in a decade. Not only that, but the band also visited the UK and various other European territories for the first time since the ‘Antipop’ tour.

Every show in Europe was sold out. At the two UK shows (London and Manchester), Les Claypool, Ler Lalonde and original Primus drummer Jay Lane were given a heroes welcome. Unsurprisingly, UK shows for the first quarter of 2012 were announced almost immediately.

At the end of 2011, Primus appeared at the Brazilian SWU Festival. The set was filmed by a professional crew for a TV broadcast. If you weren’t lucky enough to catch any of the ‘Green Naugahyde’ shows, hopefully this will provide a small consolation.

KORN: Pro-shot footage of complete 90 minute ‘Path of Totality’ launch show

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Throughout the second half of 2011, the build-up to the release of Korn’s tenth studio album was loaded with tension. The band’s previous three albums ‘See You On The Other Side’, ‘Untitled’ and ‘Korn III: Remember Who You Are’ had not equalled the sales figures of Korn’s earlier works.  Each of those albums, too, had experienced a decline in sales figures compared to its immediate predecessor.

For that tenth album, entitled ‘The Path of Totality’, the nu-metal heroes looked to other influences and collaborators, teaming up with a bunch of dubstep producers to lend the Korn sound a much-needed new slant.  Fans were sceptical, the press intrigued. As far as collaborations are concerned, it’s certainly more accessible than the Lou Reed & Metallica animal. Even long-time metal haters NME conceded ‘The Path To Totality’ was an artistic success.

‘The Path To Totality’ was released in the UK on Monday December 5th and one day later in the US.  Below, you can enjoy the full 90 minute show from the Hollywood Palladium, celebrating the launch of the album.

ALICE IN CHAINS: Pro-shot footage of complete Maquinaria 2011 performance

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After the release of their self-titled album in 1995 Alice In Chains effectively retired from live performance. After choosing not to tour the album, rumours circulated that all was not well within the band. Alice In Chains made only one more live appearance with original frontman Layne Staley, for MTV’s Unplugged show.

The first phase of the band’s career ground to a halt. Chief songwriter/guitarist Jerry Cantrell and vocalist Layne Staley drifted apart. In April 2002, Layne Staley was found dead. Only a couple of weeks before, in an interview, Cantrell had said he hadn’t ruled out working with Staley again… It was a bittersweet time: Cantrell’s second album ‘Degradation Trip’ was completed, ready for a June release. It sounded more like Alice In Chains than his first, with the spirit of the recently deceased Staley cutting through various tracks, especially ‘Bargain Basement Howard Hughes’.

In 2005, the almost unthinkable happened. Jerry Cantrell teamed up with his old Alice In Chains bandmates, bassist Mike Inez and drummer Sean Kinney and resurrected the Alice In Chains name. After a benefit show with guest vocalists, they drafted in Cantrell’s buddy William DuVall and played sporadic live shows, to enthusiastic audiences.

…And in 2009, the band released ‘Black Gives Way To Blue’, a new studio album featuring DuVall as a permanent band member. Some fans were skeptical, claiming Layne was vital to Alice In Chains. These fans missed something almost as vital: Layne Staley’s input to 2005’s ‘Alice In Chains’ album was bordering on minimal. Not only had Cantrell taken on the mantle of being the band’s principal song writer, he also stepped up his vocal contributions, having a hefty presence on huge chunks of the release. If Alice In Chains were anything at all by the time of their hiatus, it was Jerry Cantrell’s show. If he wanted to write new songs and keep the spirit of AIC alive, then there shouldn’t be any reason why not. …Especially when, as with ‘Bargain Basement Howard Hughes’ some of the new songs almost sounded as if Layne was still present.

In November 2011, they performed a set at the Maquinaria Festival in Chile featuring a host of classic tracks from their back catalogue alongside a couple of numbers from the still recent ‘Black Gives Way To Blue’. Despite the band having returned to the recording studio in the summer, the set contained no new material. The complete show was filmed professionally and can be enjoyed below.