PAUL WELLER AND NOEL GALLAGHER.
PAUL WELLER AND NOEL GALLAGHER.-HERE COMES THE NICE.
PAUL WELLER AND NOEL GALLAGHER-TALK TONIGHT.THE WHITE ROOM.
NOEL GALLAGHER SINGS PAUL WELLER-TO BE SOMEONE.
PAUL WELLER-THATS ENTERTAINMENT WITH NOEL GALLAGHER.
THE MOJO FILTERS-COME TOGETHER.
Its Mathar “Indian Vibes”. Weller is credited on the cover as playing the electric sitar, acoustic and electric guitar.
PAUL WELLER-INDIAN VIBES.
PAUL WELLER-THE BUTTERFLY COLLECTOR-BBC4 SESSIONS.
NOEL GALLAGHER-WAITING FOR THE RAPTURE-@REDWIRE.
LUCKY JIM-LET IT COME DOWN.
THE MOONS-JULIA(BEATLES COVER)
NICK DRAKE-FROM THE MORNING.
GYPSY AND THE WOLF.
THE VERVE-THE DRUGS DONT WORK.
OASIS-LIVE FOREVER(MTV 1994)
ARCTIC MONKEYS-MARDY BUM.
DIRTY VEGAS-DAYS GO BY.
THE JAM-ENGLISH ROSE.
PAUL WELLER&STEVE CRADDOCK-SHADOW OF THE SUN.
PAUL WELLER AND SPECIAL GUEST BRUCE FOXTON-STRANGE TOWN.
STARDATE 2010,AND WHAT HAVE WE GOT,A COUNTRY UNDER THREAT A NEW GOVERNMENT ALBEIT THAT THE POLITICIANS ARE CUT FROM THE SAME(POORLY TAILORED)CLOTH AND TECHNOLOGY SO HARDWIRED INTO OUR SOCIAL LIVES THAT EVEN OUR INTELLECTUALS HAVE BEEN REDUCED TO SENSELESS SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES.
POP MUSIC,MEANWHILE,ONCE THE HEARTBEAT OF THE NATION,HAS BEEN REDUCED TO A RING-TONE PRODUCTION LINE,THE EQUIVALENT OF THE MACHINE WRITTEN SONGS FED TO THE MASSES IN OCEANIA IN GEORGE ORWELL’S 1984.SO WHAT TO DO?GET ANGRY?OR GET EVEN?IF YOUR PAUL WELLER,ITS NEITHER.JUST AS HE SANG IN 1982s “A TOWN CALLED MALICE”,BRITAINS GREATEST LIVING SONGWRITER WOULD SOON PUT SOME JOY BACK IN.
“THE TITLE TRACK OF THE NEW ALBUM IS A BIT OF A CLARION CALL FOR OUR NATION”HE EXPLAINS””ITS SAYING WE SHOULD RISE UP AGAINST THE SEA OF MEDIOCRITY AND GET SOME GREATNESS BACK INTO THE COUNTRY. WE’VE BEEN SIDETRACKED BY SITTING AT COMPUTERS ALL DAY.THERE ARE BENEFITS TO THEM,OF COURSE THERE ARE ,BUT THEY’RE DISTRACTIONS,REALLY,FROM THE REAL SHIT THAT’S GOING ON”.
SUCH CONCERNS HAVE INSPIRED PAUL THROUGHOUT HIS CAREER.FROM THE INFLUENCES OF SHELLEY’S MASK OF ANARCHY ON THE JAMS SOUND EFFECTS(“RISE LIKE LIONS AFTER THE SLUMBER/IN UNVANQUISHABLE NUMBER/SHAKE YOUR CHAINS TO EARTH LIKE DEW/WHICH IN SLEEP HAD FALLEN FOR YOU”)TO THE STYLE COUNCILS JERUSALEM FLICK TO 2005s BRILLIANT ANTI-WAR ANTHEM SAVAGES,HE HAS CHRONICLED LIFE IN ALBION WITH AN UNFLINCHING EYE.
AS ANY FAN WILL TELL YOU,WHEN PAUL IS IN THIS SORT OF MOOD,MUSICAL SPARKS FLY.FOLLOWING 2008s 22 DREAMS(A TALE OF PASTAL FIELDS IF THERE EVER WAS ONE),HIS TENTH SOLO ALBUM WAKE UP THE NATION LAYS DOWN A BLUPRINT FOR A GLEAMING MODERNIST FUTURE ,WITH MUSICAL INSPIRATION INSPIRED BY LONG TERM COLLABORATOR SIMON DINE.
FOR THOSE WHO HAVE TRAVELLED WITH PAUL ON HIS EXTRAORDINARY THIRTY YEAR VOYAGE THROUGH ROCK N ROLL,SUCH WILLINGNESS TO EXPERIMENT SHOULDN’T COME AS ANY SURPRISE.UNLIKE THE ROCK DINOSAURS OF THE SIXTIES OR THE EIGHTIES POP GENERATION-WHO SEEM HAPPY TO PLAY PACKAGE TOURS FOR THOSE NOSTALGIC FOR ESPADRILLES AND RA-RA SKIRTS-PAUL HAS ALWAYS ABOUT SEEKING NEW HORIZONS AND CHALLENGING THE STATUS QUO(AS WELL AS STATUS QUO).
NOT THAT WAKE UP THE NATION DOESN’T OCCASIONALLY FIND THE MODFATHER GOING BACK TO FIND THE FUTURE.LONG TERM FANS WILL DETECT NODS TO BOTH THE JAM (MOONSHINE) AND THE POP POLEMICS OF THE STYLE COUNCIL (7&3 IS THE STRIKERS NAME) WHILE THE LYRICS TO “UP THE DOSAGE” MEANWHILE (“TWO FLOWERS GROWING THROUGH THE PAVEMENT CRACK/WISH I WAS PURPLE BUT IM RED INSTEAD”)WILL STRIKE A CHORD WITH DEVOTEES OF THE CREATION AS WELL AS FANS OF LONG LOST POETRY FANZINE DECEMBER CHILD.THROW IN GUEST APPEARANCES FROM EVERYONE FROM MOVE DRUMMER BEV BEVAN TO MY BLOODY VALENTINES KEVIN SHIELDS AND YOU’VE GOT THE MOST ELECTIC ARRAY OF INFLUENCES SINCE HIS 1992 SOLO DEBUT.
THE SONG “SHE SPEAKS” WAS INSPIRED BY A POEM I SHOWED SIMON” EXPLAINS PAUL.”ITS ME GOING BACK TO THE IDEA OF THE SEA AS A METAPHOR FOR LIFE.YOU MIGHT WANT TO PLUNGE IN AND EXPLORE THE MURKY DEPTHS,BUT SOMETIMES YOU’VE JUST GOT TO SWIM WITH THE TIDE.ITS SAYING THAT SOMETIMES THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO IS GO AHEAD AND LIVE,AND NOT THINK TO MUCH ABOUT IT.
NEEDLESS TO SAY,THIS AMPED-UP LOOK AT LIFE,THE UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING HAS ALREADY HAD THE CRITICS IN A LATHER.”THE SOUND OF A MAN MAKING THE MOST DARINGLY MAGNIFICENT MUSIC OF HIS LIFE”SAID THE TIMES.”A STRIDENT CALL TO ARMS”SAID THE GUARDIAN.”BOISTEROUS,UP-TEMPO AND FAST PACED”SAID THE HALESOWN NEWS.
WHICH IS ALL VERY NICE,BUT IT STILL DOESN’T EXPLAIN THE TINGLE YOU GET DOWN YOUR SPINE WHEN THE LIGHTS GO DOWN AND THE ROAR GOES UP AT ONE OF PAULS SHOWS.HES ALWAYS DISPLAYED THE SAME INCREDIBLE ENERGY,VERVE AND TOTAL COMMITMENT TO THE MUSIC,WHETHER IT BE R&B,JAZZ,FUNK,HOUSE,PSYCH-ROCK.MAYBE,ON TOP OF EVERYTHING ELSE,ITS THIS QUESTING SPIRIT WHICH KEEPS US COMING BACK TOUR AFTER TOUR,YEAR AFTER YEAR.
BECAUSE JOBS,FRIENDS AND LOVERS MAY COME AND GO,BUT OVER THE LAST THIRTY YEARS PAUL WELLER AND HIS MUSIC HAVE REMAINED CONSTANT;AN EMOTIONAL COMPASS TO SOUNDTRACK BOTH THE GOOD TIMES AND THE BAD.ON A GOOD NIGHT(AND IVE NEVER SEEN HIM DO A BAD ONE YET),HES A FORCE OF NATURE.ON A GREAT ONE, YOU’LL LEAVE WITH YOUR CLOTHES SOAKING AND YOUR EARS RINGING AND YOU WILL SWEAR LIVE ROCK AND ROLL DOESN’T GET ANY BETTER.
BUT THEN,WHAT ELSE TO EXPECT FROM A MAN WHOSE CAREER REMAINS UNPARALLELED AND WHO STILL KEEPS GETTING BETTER?TIME TO RAISE A GLASS AND VOICE YOUR APPRECIATION,THEN,FOR THE BEST IN THE BUSINESS.
BECAUSE THIS IS ONE WAKE UP CALL YOU DONT WANT TO MISS.
ENJOY.
Keb Darge is a Scottish DJ of the genres of Northern Soul and Deep Funk music.
He began his career in local disco dance competitions (dancing in the “northern soul style”) in the North of Scotland, and made an appearance in the nationally televised 1979 UK disco dance finals. He was also a dancer for the Wigan Casino, whilst collecting Northern Soul records. Soon after, he was DJing in Wigan at a club next to the casino, and around Scotland as well with his record collection throughout the 1970s.
At the age of 22, Darge moved to London, ceasing to be a DJ. Music promoters from then approached him, asking him to come back to DJing. He obliged, and gave the Northern Soul phenomenon exposure in London through his performances, bringing in people from northern England to move to London who were previously associated with Wigan’s Northern Soul scene before it dissolved.
‘Wake Up The Nation’, the album is set to be released on April 19th and will be preceded by the double A-side single ‘Wake Up The Nation’/’No Tears To Cry’ on April 12th.
‘Wake Up The Nation’ was produced and co-written by Simon Dine at Paul’s Black Barn studios in Surrey.
Paul also re-unites with Bruce Foxton for the first time since The Jam split in 1982.
The result is intriguing: Weller’s voice is often less dominant, lower in the mix, with him playing around with the tone. On “Aim High”, he tries out a falsetto; on “Andromeda”, about a man leaving a dying planet, he sounds like David Bowie (unintentional, he says, though he’s a recent Dame David convert). And, from a man who has often mangled his lyrics, worked hard to get them to rhyme, or to reason (think of “no bonds can ever tempt me from she” from the Jam’s “English Rose”, or “I really like it when you speak like a child” from the Style Council’s “Speak Like a Child”), it’s surprising to hear the admission that “sometimes it’s nice, as a singer, just to sing words that have a flow and a rhythmic feel to them; they haven’t always got to make sense”. Which goes some way to explaining the anatomically and alcoholically puzzling: “Two fat ladies at my door/Over the hills and far much more/Seeking the teats of mother and child/Some marked bitter others mild” (“Two Fat Ladies”).
Though only four tracks of Wake Up the Nation’s 16 are over three minutes, there is a world of different types of music in there, many varied moods: “No Tears to Cry” is like Dusty Springfield; “Fast Car/Slow Traffic” is very Jam; “Moonshine” is Weller’s favoured driving R’n’B; “Pieces of a Dream” has cascading piano, Doors-style organ, rock riff guitar. There are flashes of Blur, Marvin Gaye, the Beatles, even prog; on “Trees”, there are five separate pieces of music underpinning a lyric – experimental prose, really – that has Weller assuming different characters, including a young woman and a mother.
Weller is not just your average 51 year old. He is in the 33rd year of a career as one of the most successful singer- songwriters Britain has ever produced. In that time he split up his first band, The Jam, in 1982 at the peak of their success to form The Style Council. With them he would continue to challenge the conventions of 80s pop music until their disbandment and the birth of Weller’s formidable solo career in the early 90s.with his release this month of wake up the nation wellers tenth studio album we ,hopefully will be treated to some great tunes.in this present climate of pop music thank god for paul weller.it just goes to show you cant keep a good mod down.so heres a trip down memory lane back to 93.paul wellers classic song sunflower from the equally classic album wild wood.
I DONT KNOW MUCH ABOUT THIS BAND ONLY THAT THIS IS A GREAT TUNE.ENJOY,YOU BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE.
PAUL WELLER.THE CHANGING MAN.
the right direction-the northern line. 