VARIOUS BITS AND PIECES:










photograph by Andrew MacNaughtan

Canadian pop pioneers the Spoons have released their first album of new material in 23 years (first since 1988's 'Vertigo Tango') called 'Static In Transmission' (order here). The band consists of original members Gord Deppe and Sandy Horne along with recent additions Casey MQ on keyboards and Chris McNeil on drums. They've shot a video for the single 'You Light Up' in and around Toronto and are amping up the radio promotion in the coming weeks with a cross country tour in the works. The album is full of strong songs with potential future singles being 'Star Maps', 'Numb' and 'Words Will Smash Walls'. Two other new Spoons songs are available for download using clues from the album artwork.

Tim & Jean had their first album "Like What" (order here) released in Australia on April 1st and it is a solid album from start to finish. These guys create and produce some of the best feel-good electropop on the planet and the album entered the Australian album charts at the number 12 position. Included of course are the hit singles 'Come Around', 'Veronika' and the latest single 'I Can Show You' as well as future singles 'Don't Stop', 'Afrika' and 'Give It Up'.

Darren Hayes has announced that he has signed to Mercury Records Australia and that they will release his forthcoming album. I'm looking forward to hearing the album, especially the material Darren has worked with Phil Thornally on.

Howard Jones has made available the U.K. 12" remix of his hit 'Look Mama' available for fans to download here. He's also announced a project where people can remix some of his early material using downloaded original audio parts, the eventual result being an album release of the best reworked/remixed material.

I'm enjoying the new song 'In Your Blood' from Auckland New Zealand duo 'Computers Want Me Dead'. Check out the video for the song below.


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THOUGHTS ABOUT MY RECENT TRIP TO LONDON:
















I had an amazing eight days in London England, the highlight being a cool one off concert by Howard Jones at the Indig02 where he played his first two albums 'Human's Lib' and 'Dream Into Action' in their entirety (see my review below). I also managed to see Imogen Heap debut her score to a nature film and concert at The Royal Albert Hall (amazing venue) as well as seeing O.M.D. at the Hammersmith Apollo which was fun (met Paul Humphreys at the after show party which was cool).

I got to spend time with some of my U.K. family which was great and also looked around the fantastic city of London and also had a few super meals at Wagamama's. Had fun looking for cds, especially at the four locations of Music & Video Exchange that seem to still be thriving while many similar used cds stores have closed up shop. Below is a list of a few highlights and great cd buys I experienced on my trip:

Ultimate CD acquired: The new limited edition box set from Howard Jones of the digitally remastered 'Human's Lib' and 'Dream Into Action' albums with bonus disc of live material. I managed to get the set numbered 001 out of a 1000. I also got it signed in silver pen by Howard Jones, Rupert Hine, Stephen W. Tayler, Robbie Bronnimann, Steg and Jed Hoile (bonus points to you if you know the significance of each of these people in the production and release of this box set).

Best gift cd: The talented DJ and label executive Mark Jones from the cool Wall Of Sound label (who recently signed The Human League) gave me the 8 mix promo cd for the amazing new Penguin Prison single 'Golden Train'. Runner up goes to the Duncan Sheik 'Covers 80's' 5 track cd that he sold on his recent tour of the U.K., given to me by the always classy Glenn Kelly who runs Howard Jones' website.

Best cd deals: I picked up The Cure's 3 cd limited edition set of 'Disintegration' for 1 pound, along with the 2 cd version of Frankmusik's 'Complete Me' release for 50p. Both in excellent condition and found at a Salvation Army Charity store (also got the latest Courteneers cd Falcon (2 disc version) for a pound at the same shop).

Coolest rarity cd found: A two track early promo cd from Frankmusik that contains the songs 'In Step' and 'Done Done'. Also got neat rarities from Howard Jones (VIP cd from the concert), Starsmith, Bright Light Bright Light, Lo-Fi-Fnk, Veto Silver, and Leni Ward.

Only regret: Not going to see Fenech-Soler on the final stop of their U.K. tour at Heaven on Nov. 10th. This was going to be a late night and I had an early flight the next day so I decided against going.
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HOWARD JONES HUMAN'S LIB/DREAM INTO ACTION CONCERT REVIEW:

















Photo copyright KulPop



Wow, another amazing night with Howard Jones at the Indig02 in London England! I was lucky enough to attend both his 20th and 25th Anniversary gigs in London and last night’s Human’s Lib / Dream Into Action concert was right up there being one of the best HoJo gigs I’ve ever been to.

Howard and band came on stage for the VIP sound check part of the night. Howard explained how the concert came about from the fans requesting it, and how they worked really hard to replicate the sounds from the original recordings. As they had the master tapes back from Warner Bros. for the remastering process they were able to access the multi-track recordings and get to the core of these complex recordings. Howard introduced the band for the evening: Robbie Bronnimann on electronics/sampling and Abelton and Jonathan Atkinson on electronic drums and explained how the set up was all connected together. Howard demonstrated the Roland Jupiter 8 and how it was connected into the Roland Fantom G8. The band then performed ‘Equality’ that was from the Top 3 songs chosen by the VIP voters. After someone shouted out that the backing vocals seemed too loud Howard disagreed and introduced the backing vocalists Lizzie Deane and John Gibbons. Howard explained how the Abelton was synced up with the visuals that were to be projected on the large screen on stage. Stephen W. Tayler who mixed and recorded the HL and DIA recordings is also a visual artist and he had created the visuals that would be featured during the concert (Howard's son Jasper created the visuals for 'Bounce Right Back'). Howard explained that they wouldn’t be performing the songs in the order that they appeared on the albums, but would be mixing them up. The band then performed ‘Hide And Seek’ from the songs voted on for the sound check. Howard then spent a few minutes running through some of his favourite sampled sounds from the first 2 albums that he would be using during the concert. He also explained that the reason for the MAC laptop on top of the Fantom G8 was an electronic crib sheet with lyrics from some of the songs he doesn’t normally perform as well as some musical info he needs. The whole sound check set lasted about 27 minutes and I think everyone felt they got a lot more from Howard during this time than what we expected.

The audience was then treated to a great DJ set by famous and very entertaining DJ Mark Jones who played lots of classic tracks from the 80’s as well as the new single from Penguin Prison.

At 8pm the concert began with Howard performing songs from his ‘Dream Into Action’ album (the complete set list is below). ‘Automaton’ was a great first song and 30 seconds into it I knew that I had made the right decision in spending the money on the trip over to London and it was going to be a magical night. During ‘Assault and Battery’ the video projected was a silhouette of Jed Hoile seated eating with a knife and fork, and at the end of the song his head had turned into a goat/cow like head. For ‘Look Mama’ Howard was joined by producer extraordinaire Rupert Hine on keyboards and backing vocals (he of course produced both Human’s Lib and Dream Into Action). It was a great treat to see Rupert on stage with Howard as I’ve been a big fan of his work for many years. For ‘Elegy” the band was joined by Vicky Matthews on cello (she also performed on the Ordinary Heroes record). ‘Speciality’ has always been a favourite song of mine and was one of the highlights of the evening for me. Before ‘Hunger For The Flesh’ Howard said ‘this song scares me’ and after a false start the song was performed perfectly. The crowd got into singing along during ‘No One Is To Blame’ and the audience loved it when Jed Hoile joined Howard on stage to perform their famous trench coat routine for ‘Bounce Right Back’. The set ended with ‘Like To Get To Know You Well’ and ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ which had Rob Hughes joining the band on stage on saxophone.

After about a 30 minute break the ‘Human’s Lib’ set started with ‘China Dance’ playing to an empty stage and the band came on stage and Howard watched the visuals in the screen behind him. Rob Hughes was back on stage playing sax on ‘Pearl In The Shell’. Howard commented several times during the night how much fun he was having performing a lot of the old songs live again. Robbie came out from behind his racks of gear near the end of 'Hunt The Self' and used a set of drum triggers to play the big tom drums. ‘Equality’ was accompanied by another video featuring Jed Hoile and the set ended with ‘What Is Love’ and ‘New Song’ with Howard playing the famous white Yamaha KX5 keyboard (as seen in the picture above). Howard thanked everyone and all the performers joined him on stage to a final bow and Howard was presented with a huge bouquet of flowers. The crowd started chanting the ‘Whoa Whoa Whoa’ refrain from ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ and after a couple of minutes Howard returned to the stage solo and performed a bit of ‘New Song’ on the Yamaha KX5 keyboard and the audience singing along with him.

So once again it was an amazing night that I will never forget. It was great meeting up with many of Howard’s fans from around the world who traveled to the concert. The good news for all of you who couldn’t make the trip is that Howard's manager David Stopps said the film of the night should be released on DVD in the future for everyone to enjoy.

Set List

Sound check:
Equality
Hide & Seek

Dream Into Action:
Automaton
Why Look For The Key
Is There A Difference?
Assault And Battery
Look Mama (joined by Rupert Hine)
Elegy
Specialty
Dream Into Action
Hunger For The Flesh
No One Is To Blame (DIA version)
Bounce Right Back (joined by Jed Hoile for trench coat routine)
Life In One Day
Like To Get To Know You Well
Things Can Only Get Better (joined by Rob Hughes on saxophone)

Human’s Lib:
China Dance
Conditioning
Pearl In The Shell
Natural
Hunt The Self
Don’t Always Look At The Rain
Equality
Hide & Seek
Human’s Lib
What Is Love?
New Song

Encore
New Song (Yamaha KX5 keyboard acoustic sing-a-long version)

VARIOUS BITS AND PIECES:





















Canadian pop music pioneers the Spoons have just joined Twitter, you can follow them here. They are also releasing a very limited edition 2 track cd in July with the new songs 'Imperfekt' and 'Breaking In'. The full-length album is expected to be released by the end of the summer. You can watch them performing 'Imperfekt' for the second time in concert at my recent posting on their gig at Dundas Square in Toronto.

According to a recent Tweet from Howard Jones it sounds like Duncan Sheik will be opening for Howard on his upcoming U.K. Acoustic tour in September.
















Irish band Two Door Cinema Club met Prince Charles at the Glastonbury Festival today. They return to Toronto for a concert at The Phoenix Concert Theatre on October 25th, 2010.

I'm really enjoying the following songs these days:

James Yuill - First In Line
The Delays - Unsung
HURTS - Unspoken (Fred Falke reMix)
Villa Nah - Ways To Be
Francis & The Lights - For Days
Kamp! - Distance Of The Modern Hearts
MadFox - No Surrender
:Kinema: - Recreation
The Chap - We Work In Bars
BAKER - Echo
Scissor Sisters - Fire With Fire
Kingz with Jonatha Brooke - Here We Go
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VARIOUS BITS AND PIECES:






Interior of Massey Hall







I am off to Toronto soon to visit with family and friends as well as see a-ha live in concert for the first time at the great Massey Hall venue. Also hoping to see Two Door Cinema Club at Wrong Bar if I can get a ticket. I recently discovered MillionYoung who is opening for them so it should be a great concert.

Really love the new demo from MadFox called "No Surrender", definitely a band to keep an eye on.

Howard Jones is touring in North America in October with dates in Florida, New York, Salt Lake City and Toronto (some dates still need to be confirmed). No word on whether it will be the Human's Lib/Dream Into Action albums in the entirety concert or not

Check out Addicted To Vinyl's post on Will Owsley who died recently (he played guitar for the likes of Amy Grant & Shania Twain as well as releasing two albums of his own). They have a great live recording of Will covering the Steely Dan song "My Old School" that is definitely worth getting.

Not sure if I liked the new series "Happy Town" Wednesday night's on ABC but plan to watch it and see how it moves along.
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HOWARD JONES PLANS CONCERT TO PERFORM 'HUMAN'S LIB' AND 'DREAM INTO ACTION' ALBUMS IN THEIR ENTIRETY:




















In a recent radio interview in the U.K. Howard Jones mentioned he has plans to do a concert later this year where he will perform his two classic albums - Human's Lib and Dream Into Action in their entirety. He has never done this and it will be an opportunity for fans to hear many songs live that they may never have seen Howard perform before. There will likely be some surprises, maybe Jed Holie will hit the stage for some mime as he did in the early days (and at Howard's 20th Anniversary gig).

No date has been announced, if it is a one off gig I would imagine it will be in the U.K., most likely London at the the O2's indigO2 or Shepherd's Bush Empire.
** UPDATE ** It looks like the concert will be held on November 6th, 2010.

In other Howard Jones news Howard has been re-recording three of his classic hits in the same style as his latest studio album "Ordinary Heroes" for inclusion as bonus tracks on the Japanese release of the cd, the songs are: New Song, What Is Love and Everlasting Love. Also 'Straight Ahead' will be the new single from the album Ordinary Heroes, it will be released as a single in the UK on March 22nd 2010.

HOWARD JONES LIVE PRE-RELEASE PLAYBACK OF NEW STUDIO ALBUM 'ORDINARY HEROES':





















Howard Jones has been gearing up for the release of his 9th studio album titled 'Ordinary Heroes' on November 9th. This included a limited edition run of 500 copies of a 2 cd version with very special packaging, with the buyer getting a personal dedication as well as getting their name printed in the artwork. This version has sold out but a regular version can still be ordered here.

On November 2nd at 7pm (U.K. time) Howard will being hosting a pre-release cd playback event from his home studio on Livestream. This will be a great chance for fans to hear the new tracks as well as get first-hand anecdotal content as Howard pauses the playback in between tracks to talk his way through the inspirations and influences behind the album. By signing up to Livestream, users will also be able to interact with Howard during the live broadcast using a live ‘chat’ facility. The Howard Jones channel can be found here.

On a personal note Howard just Tweeted today that his Mum Thelma is in hospital, I wanted to wish her all the best for a speedy recovery.

VARIOUS BITS AND PIECES:







Both Ohh Crapp and Poster Girl have features on Troy This!, definitely worth checking out his funky pop music. Looking forward to buying his album, I will be playing "Back That Up!" and "American Dream" on my radio show this Monday.








Ben Lee starts his North American tour tonight in San Diego, promoting his latest and very good album "The Rebirth Of Venus", check out the dates here.

Howard Jones is set to play a trio of album premiere showcase gigs in the UK in November 2009. Taking in London, Manchester and Cardiff, each location has a special significance for Howard. The gigs will include a premiere of Howard's new "Ordinary Heroes" album in its entirety, performed by the artists used in the recording of the album and followed by a full electronic band set including his biggest hits. Special guests will also be included at the London and Cardiff shows. Special VIP tickets will be available at each venue with access to an exclusive after show party attended by Howard and the band. These tickets will be very limited and early purchase is advised. The dates are:

Friday 6th Nov 2009, Indigo2, Greenwich, London
A return to the venue which hosted the fabulous 25th Anniversary concert. Howard will be supported by the talented Nick Heyward.

Thursday 12th Nov 2009, Royal Northern College Of Music, Manchester.
A very special evening for Howard, as he returns for the first time to play a gig at the conservatoire where he studied music and piano before hitting the big time. This will be a very intimate gig with just 650 tickets available.

Friday 13th Nov 2009, St.Davids Hall Cardiff,Wales
In the city where Howard spent much of his childhood, he will perform a concert which promises to be a fantastic finale to the trio of gigs. Howard will be supported by the rousing 95 strong world famous Morriston Orpheus Choir, who will also accompany Howard during the performance of the new album.
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DUNCAN SHEIK TO RECORD AN ALBUM OF '80s SYNTHPOP/NEW WAVE COVERS:



















In an interview in U.S.A. Today Duncan Sheik mentions plans for his next album after the release of his latest work "Whisper House" on January 27th of this year (buy the cd here). He says he plans to record "covers of '80s synth-pop/new wave songs, but done with a completely different sonic palette." This also from a Paste Magazine article "The tour EP includes a rendition of the Psychedelic Furs' oft-covered "The Ghost In You," a hint of Sheik's upcoming covers album, which will also include music by Depeche Mode, Tears for Fears, The Smiths, New Order and the Thompson Twins. "It's all music from the '80s that was nominally kind of synth-pop, but it's recorded in these very, very kind of even more miserable, sad acoustic versions," Sheik said."

I wouldn't be surprised if he covers an '80s classic from his friend Howard Jones on the record and I wonder if the Depeche Mode track will be "Blasphemous Rumours" that he covered on his 1998 promo EP "Humming Along". Duncan is also touring in February/March with the amazing Holly Brook, check out his website for dates.
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VARIOUS BITS AND PIECES:













The Thompson Twins album 'Here's To Future Days' is getting the expanded 2 cd release treatment from Demon Music Group's Edsel label , due out in the U.K. on August 4th, 2008. From their website:

"Following the massive success of Edsel’s Deluxe 2CD Editions of “Quick Step & Side Kick” and “Into The Gap”, we now present the Deluxe 2CD Edition of the Thompson Twins’ 1985 chart-topping album “Here’s To Future Days”. This 2 CD release presents all the remixes from the bonus EP / cassette edition as well as the extended 12” mixes and the non-album b-sides, the majority of which appear on CD for the first time, and all mastered from the original mastertapes. All this adds up to 154 minutes of “Here’s To Future Days”! The attractive poster booklet features comprehensive annotation and all the 7” and 12” sleeves."

CD 1 Track Listing:

1                 Don't Mess With Doctor Dream
2                 Lay Your Hands On Me
3                 Future Days
4                 Roll Over
5                 Revolution
6                 King For A Day
7                 Love Is The Law
8                 Emperor's Clothes
9                 Tokyo
10               You Killed The Clown
11               Breakaway
12               Roll Over (Bonus Track)
The Cassette/EP Mixes

13               Shoot Out (Don't Mess With Doctor Dream)
14               Alice (Lay Your Hands On Me)
15               Heavens Above! (Future Days)
16               The Kiss (Tokyo)
17               Desert Dancers (Breakaway)

CD 2 Track Listing

1                 Lay You Hands On Me (Original Remix)
2                 The Lewis Carol (Adventures In Wonderland)
3                 Lay Your Hands On Me (US Remix)
4                 Lay Your Hands On Me (Extended Version)
5                 Roll Over Again
6                 Fools In Paradise
7                 Don't Mess With Doctor Dream (Smackattack!)
8                 Very Big Business (12")
9                 King For A Day (Extended Mix)
10               Rollunder
11               King For A Day (US Remix)
12               The Fourth Sunday
13               Revolution (12" Remix)


Came across a couple of Howard Jones related songs, first up from a recent 80's covers cd release is the band Saint Bernadette doing a song called "Owner Things" which melds "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" by Yes with Howard's "Things Can Only Get Better", MP3 available here.

Also a mashup of Howard's "Things Can Only Get Better" and Lily Allen's "Smile" available at this website for download.
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IDOL THOUGHTS & VARIOUS BITS AND PIECES:







- Was disappointed to see Danny Noriega eliminated last week (it looks like he was in the audience last night as Ramiele Malubay's 'Bestfriend'). See his appearance on The Ellen Show here.
- I enjoyed Brooke White's version of "Love Is A Battlefield" last week also.
- David Archuletta was feeling the pressure this week, hopefully he won't mess up big time and get voted off as most people have him pegged to win the whole thing.









- Howard Jones has just created an electronic duo stage show that means he can bring his electronic gigs to America with greater ease (recently he's been performing mostly acoustic shows with guitarist Robin Boult.) He has got four dates in America in July with this new set up and they should be cool shows. If you go to his website and listen to his latest podcast you can hear some of the samples that his can create with the new Roland Fantom X-8 keyboard that he is using (along with keyboard and electronics wizard Robbie Bronnimann) on this tour and they sound fantastic. Hoping that a Vancouver show can be arranged since he will be close by in California already.

- Update - See Howard performing with Robbie in the new electronic duo set up at The Roland Electro-Pop Night 2008 by clicking here.

- Martin Fry recently played some concerts in Ontario Canada with a full orchestra, click here for a review of the show. Still no exact release date for ABC's new cd titled 'Traffic', website is still saying in March.

- You can listen to Imogen Heap talking about Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' album here.

- Check out an interview with Teitur here, still no Vancouver tour date.

- Nick Heyward's son Oliver has a MySpace site with some of his musical compositions available to listen to.

- Cinnamon Melts amazing, Vanilla Frosty not so good.

KAJAGOOGOO - ORIGINAL LINE UP BACK TOGETHER:

















KajaGooGoo are back with their original 5 piece line up. Limahl, Nick Beggs, Jez Strode, Stuart Neale & Steve Askew are back together for the first time in 25 years. The band are currently in rehearsals for several festivals and gigs around the world, as well as planning a new album. KajaGooGoo (MySpace) will be performing at festivals in Denmark, Slovakia and again at Retrofest '08. 2008 will also see the band writing new material for a new album. It was also recently announced that Nick Beggs has rejoined Howard Jones electronic band and will be playing the occasional gig with Howard. The photo of Kajagoogoo above was taken just in the last few days.