The Red Radio

2009, The Year In Morrissey

2009 was a wacky year for Moz, full of ups and downs, without a dull moment to spare.  Despite a bottle to the head, a rush to the hospital, and a slew of canceled shows, Mozzer soldiered on through the release of his ninth studio album, a b-sides collection, and hitting the big 5-0.  A recap, shall we?



Years Of Refusal hit shops February 16th in the UK and the 17th here in the U.S.  Fans spent endless hours debating the mysterious baby on the album's cover, with rumors flying that Moz had actually fathered a child?!?  Our favorite track?  The excellent, It's not Your Birthday Anymore.  The closest to old school Moz we've gotten in recent years. 

Singles included:

I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris (video)

The UK 7" release caused quite the stir as Moz and his band mates appeared naked in the inner sleeve, covering up their lower regions with 7" records.  Three formats (two CD singles and the 7") contained three separate b-sides; Because Of My Poor Education, Shame Is The Name (backing vocals by Chrissie Hynde), and a live version of Death Of A Disco Dancer. 



Something Is Squeezing My Skull (video)

Also released in three formats (two CD singles, one 7") containing three live b-sides taken from Morrissey's performance for BBC this past February.  Tracks include; This Charming Man, Best Friend On The Payroll and I Keep Mine Hidden. 

Morrissey was also all over our TV screens this year:

Granting a special show for BBC's Radio 2.  Set highlights include: Seasick, Yet Still Docked, Best Friend On The Payroll and Reader Meet Author.  Watch.  

Black Cloud live on Late Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.  Watch.

Mama Lay Softly On The Riverbed for the Kimmel audience. Watch.  Same show, Something Is Squeezing My Skull.  Watch. 

I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris and This Charming Man on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross.  Watch. 

Don't Make Fun Of Daddy's Voice live on Lopez Tonight.  Watch. 

In chat with Zane Lowe on MTV2 UK.  Watch. 

Outside of TV, Morrissey took the cover of Filter Magazine this year.  View. 

An older Moz shot appeared as the cover to Manchester, Looking For The Light In The Pouring Rain, a collection of photographs by Kevin Cummins.  Read about/view.  

Swords, a collection of b-sides from 2000 on, hit shelves in November via CD, 2-LP set, 2-CD special edition (second disc contains 8 live tracks), and digital of course.  Standout tracks? The excellent, excellent Friday Mourning, and the equally excellent, Ganglord.

Looking for a little reissue? 

Both Southpaw Grammar and Maladjusted got the reissue treatment in 09'.  Both releases were overseen by Morrissey directly. The Southpaw release featured three previously unreleased tracks; Fantastic Bird, Honey, You Know Where To Find Me and You Should Have Been Nice To Me.  Full details. 

And how about a quick re-cap of all the rest:

A bottle to the head.  View. 

Stage collapse and hospital visit. Read. 

The big 5-0 birthday bash. Photos. 

And finally, Morrissey closes out the year with a very respectable letter to his fans, leaving us all in mystery of what 2010 has in store. He also apologizes for the record label's handling of Swords, and names Pomona one of this favorites shows of the past year. 

View the letter on true-to-you.net.

Video: These New Puritans "We Want War"

Our favorite recent discovery has got to be the We Want War video from These New Puritans.  The song itself is one of the most interesting creations we've heard in a long time.  The video is pure art.  Amazing cinematography, resulting in a beautifully shot world.  The water scenes are stellar. Definitely worth a look and worth sticking through the 7:23 track. 

We've just purchased the single and are looking forward to the 10" vinyl release in January.  Also due in January is the band's sophomore album, Hidden.  We Want War is the fist single. 

Pre-order the 10" single here. 

And now, the video:

The Red Radio top 9 of 2009

Our favorite records of 2009, in no particular order, and all for various reasons. A pretty great year in music overall. 

Editors In This Light And On This Evening

Nitzer Ebb Industrial Complex

Bat For Lashes Two Suns

Bertie Blackman Secrets & Lies

Depeche Mode Sounds Of The Universe

The Rumble Strips Welcome To The Walk Alone

 

Morrisey Years Of Refusal

a-ha Foot Of The Mountain

The Thermals Now We Can See 

Other favorites:

Empire Of The Sun Walking On A Dream
The Temper Trap Conditions
VNV Nation Of Faith, Power and Glory

Paul Banks chats new Interpol

Mr. Banks is shedding some light on the upcoming Interpol record.  Banks spoke to BBC's 6Music, calling the new album "elegant orchestral". 

An excerpt:

"Carlos [bassist] has gone to total new levels of crazy sophisticated orchestration," he said about work on the follow-up to 2007's Our Love To Admire.

In between albums, Carlos Dengler has written film scores while Banks released a solo album as Julian Plenti.

The band are currently in the studio, with a view to release a record in early 2010, and the singer revealed: "There's some really classical stuff going on."

Read the full article here.

Vampire Weekend get intimate in Los Angeles

We've been jumping around the country, switching up computers, and bouncing around all over the place.  It's time to catch up a bit on what we've been missing in the music world. 

For one, Vampire Weekend will play an intimate (as they call it on their official site) record release show on January 12th, release date for Contra.  How awesome would it be if they were serving shots of Horchata? Tix can be had here.  Check the vid. for Cousins below:

Photograph of the week: Madonna, Danceteria, 1983

This post is really to show off this amazing Polaroid of Madonna taken back in 1983 by her original stylist, Maripol. 

Those of you who read this site know that we've got a thing for music photography and old (very old) school Madonna.  This photo sums it up - early days, feeds our obsession with 1980's New York, and was taken at the infamous (and now sadly obsolete) Danceteria. 

Image source (Madonna Scrapbook via Rolling Stone)

I think we feel a iconic photo of the week feature coming on. 

The Church, "Operetta" EP due next week

The Church will release the Operetta Australian EP next week on the 15th.  The tracks were recorded during the band's Untitled #23 sessions, but never included on the album. One of the four tracks, Particles Matters, is a 34 minute jam - damn. 

We really dig the cover art. 

Track list:

Operetta
Silhouette In Meltdown
Moon Hangs In Black

Particles Matter

Editors in Los Angeles, mark your calendars

We've been waiting and waiting on the U.S. dates for the Editors upcoming tour and they are finally here.

Los Angeles, block out February 11th for the guys will once again rock The Wiltern.

The rest of the schedule plays out like this:

Feb 05 || Seattle, WA || Showbox at the Market
Feb 06 || Vancouver, BC || Commodore Ballroom
Feb 08 || San Francisco, CA || The Warfield Theatre
Feb 09 || San Diego, CA || House of Blues
Feb 11 || Los Angeles, CA || The Wiltern
Feb 13 || Denver, CO || Ogden Theatre
Feb 15 || Chicago, IL || The Vic Theatre
Feb 16 || Toronto, ON || Phoenix Concert Theatre
Feb 18 || Boston, MA || House of Blues
Feb 19 || New York, NY || Terminal 5
Feb 20 || Philadelphia, PA || Trocadero
Feb 21 || Washington, DC || 9:30 Club

Pre-sale tickets tomorrow, December 10th.  General on sale hits December 12th.  

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Morrissey live on "Lopez Tonight"

Moz performed Don't Make Fun Of Daddy's Voice on Lopez Tonight this evening.  Recording took place earlier this afternoon here in Los Angeles.  We had an in and almost went, but the day job got in the way. 

Moz performs at the Gibson Amphitheater tomorrow night. He will close out the U.S. Swords Tour with a final show at the Ventura Theater on Friday. 

Monday night's show in Pomona was fantastic.  A big thumbs up on the Fox Theater - our new favorite venue.

Check the perfromance below, the first video to appear online - note - shot directly from a TV, but still worth a look: