Georgia’s favourite sons, R.E.M. are giving the finishing touches to the fifteenth studio album of their long and successful career. After years of tepidly received records, first signs of ‘Collapse Into Now’ indicate a welcome return to form. The video trailer which previews a few of the songs – see above – is no short of promise. Produced by long-time regular Jacknife Lee and the band themselves; the record features guest appearances by Peaches; Eddie Vedder; Lenny Kaye and Patti Smith, who repeats collaboration with the trio years after their classic single ‘Drive’.
The tracklisting has also been announced:
1. Discoverer 2. All The Best 3. Überlin 4. Oh My Heart 5. It Happened Today 6. Every Day Is Yours To Win 7. Mine Smell Like Honey 8. Walk It Back 9. Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter 10. That Someone Is You 11. Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I 12. Blue
As a first taster, its opening track ‘Discoverer’ is available for free download here.
‘Collapse Into Now’ will be released by Warner Bros on March The 8th in the States and one day earlier in Europe . The album is already available for pre-order at iTunes, with the added bonus of the immediate free download of first single ‘It Happened Today’, which features Eddie Vedder.
Roberto Gonzalez News R.E.M
For fans of hip-hop, an artist like Q-Tip needs no introduction. After forming A Tribe Called Quest in 1985 with fellow rapper Phife Dawg and producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad, the group found massive success and acclaim throughout the nineties. Along with fellow New York natives De La Soul, the band developed a style of hip-hop that shied away from the masculine, gangster bravado that was associated with the genre at the time. Their intelligent lyrics and jazz infused beats were, and still continue to be, an inspiration for many. From their debut ‘People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm’ – including the well known singles ‘Can I Kick It’ and ‘Bonita Applebum’ – through to their final long player ‘The Love Movement’, A Tribe Called Quest pushed the boundaries of hip hop and paved the way for artists such as KanYe West, Common, The Roots and Pharcyde to name just a few.
After A Tribe Called Quest split up in the late Nineties, Q-Tip delivered his debut album ‘Amplified’. While it could be argued tracks such as ‘Breathe & Stop’ and ‘Vivrant Thing’ were more commercial than anything that Tribe had released, the album was by no means a feckless attempt at mainstream success. After this fans were forced to wait until 2008 for its official follow up, ‘The Renaissance’, an album that was again greeted extatically by critics and fans. But fans of the rapper knew that the hiatus of new music was not down to the man himself, but record company wrangling.
‘Kamaal The Abstract’ was originally set for release in 2001, but his label at the time refused to release it. Deemed too ahead of its time, the record now draws comparisons with Gnarls Barkley, Andre 3000 and N*E*R*D, artists who have all found success since ‘Kamaal’ was originally set for release. After much delay the album has finally been released on RCA , although now in a remixed and re-mastered state. We were lucky enough to grab an interview with the legendary MC and get his thoughts on the album’s release, his plans for the future and chat about the forthcoming A Tribe Called Quest movie.
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Jon Davies Interviews, News A Tribe Called Quest, KanYe West, Korn, Nas, Norah Jones, Q-Tip, R.E.M
