In the late 70s and early 80s, the BBC had a series of programmes called ‘Sight and Sound In Concert’. These specially filmed gigs were simultaneously broadcast on BBC TV and radio. A few are available commercially – as is the case with the excellent Thin Lizzy performance from the Hitchin Regal in 1983 – but sadly, many are not. Thankfully, due to repeat showings, many fans have pristine off-airs of shows by Camel, Gentle Giant, Renaissance and others.
Napalm Death to visit Australia in April
Grindcore/extreme metal legends Napalm Death will play four shows in Australia in April. Joined by Carcass and Extortion at all four dates, these gigs are part of the ongoing promotion for ND’s fifth studio album ‘Apex Predator – Easy Meat’ which was recorded in 2014 and subsequently released in January 2015 on Century Media Records.
Led Zeppelin: Poll results & video gallery
For the past week, Real Gone has been running a Led Zeppelin poll. A huge poll containing each of the Zep studio recordings, rather than just letting fans come and choose their favourites, we structured things slightly differently. Voters were given nine votes and only allowed to pick one track from each of the albums.
A few people claimed this to be unfair – after all, when faced with an album as strong as Led Zeppelin’s fourth, how could you possibly choose ‘Stairway To Heaven’ over ‘The Battle of Evermore’, or even ‘When The Levee Breaks’ over the mighty ‘Black Dog’ with its huge riffs? How could only one vote be allocated to ‘Physical Graffiti’ – a sprawling double album featuring fifteen songs and at least seven cast iron classics? Therein lied the big challenge.
KURT BAKER – Brand New B-Sides
Following several EPs, new-wave revivalist Kurt Baker released his first full-length LP ‘Brand New Beat’ at the tail-end of 2012. It’s half hour of tunes recalled strong links with Joe Jackson, Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello and often felt musically familiar, but was not any the less enjoyable for wearing its influences so obviously. The sessions also yielded a truckload of extra material; ‘Want You Around’, an upbeat number featuring Dan Vapid, provided the lead track of a 7” EP (and also appeared as a bonus track on the French CD pressing of ‘Brand New Beat’), backed with three cover tunes, including a spot-on version of Billy Joel’s ‘Sleeping With The Television On’. Discounting these four recordings, Baker was still in possession of an album’s worth of other tunes, most of which were collected on this 2014 release.
Teenage Bottlerocket Euro tour dates
US punkers return to Europe in April for a short run of live dates supported by Masked Intruder. Recording has now begun on a new TB album for release in 2015.