4.52am Issue: 061 The U2 Issue 30th Novemeber 2017
4.52am Issue: 061 The U2 Issue is NOW AVAILABLE This week in 4.52am we have: U2 Launching 'Songs of Experience' Learn to play, looks at The Edge and Linkin Park We finally finish 'The Last One', our Paisley TelemasterJr Music from, Thick Syrup Sonic Kharma, and Turbowolf Before La Contessa brings us, - Manfred Mann - Sad Cafe - The Smiths - The Beatles - Feist, and - Lawson
4.52am Issue: 061 The U2 Issue is NOW AVAILABLE
This week in 4.52am we have:
U2 Launching 'Songs of Experience'
Learn to play, looks at The Edge and Linkin Park
We finally finish 'The Last One', our Paisley TelemasterJr
Music from, Thick Syrup
Sonic Kharma, and
Turbowolf
Before La Contessa brings us,
- Manfred Mann
- Sad Cafe
- The Smiths
- The Beatles
- Feist, and
- Lawson
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T<br />
his week in <strong>4.52am</strong> we have a wee look at<br />
what is always a big story, the latest album<br />
from up-and-coming Irish rockers, <strong>U2</strong>.<br />
From there we take a moment to learn an Edge<br />
guitar part or two as well as checking out Linkin<br />
Park who are going to be sorely missed.<br />
We finally finish our Telemaster Jr project – “<strong>The</strong><br />
Last One” – before moving on to Thick Syrup and<br />
Sonic Kharma, then checking out some cool<br />
tunes from la Contessa.<br />
Next week we launch our end of year ‘Awards’<br />
which are pretty special, so more anon.<br />
Hope you enjoy it<br />
All at <strong>4.52am</strong>
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Contents<br />
<strong>U2</strong> .......................................................................................... 9<br />
Learn to Play: <strong>U2</strong> .................................................................. 17<br />
Learn to Play: Linkin Park ..................................................... 21<br />
<strong>The</strong> Last One ......................................................................... 25<br />
Thick Syrup ........................................................................... 35<br />
Sonic Kharma ........................................................................ 37<br />
La Contessa Presents… .......................................................... 39<br />
1960s: Manfred Mann ........................................................... 41<br />
1970s: Sad Cafe ..................................................................... 43<br />
1980s: <strong>The</strong> Smiths ................................................................. 45<br />
1990s: <strong>The</strong> Beatles ................................................................ 47<br />
2000s: Feist ........................................................................... 49<br />
2010s: Lawson ...................................................................... 51
<strong>U2</strong><br />
W<br />
hen <strong>U2</strong> released ‘Songs of Innocence’ what seems<br />
like aeons ago, giving it away must have seemed a<br />
fine idea. It was a good album – in fact a return to<br />
form in many ways – but whoever came-up with the idea of<br />
automatically adding it to everybody’s iTunes account went a<br />
step too far for the public, and it was seen as an imposition and<br />
people took offence as only people on social media can take it -<br />
with ladles.<br />
It must have been confusing for all concerned. Still the biggest<br />
band in the world, they give their work of years away and get<br />
totally flamed over it. And now we find the companion album,<br />
the delayed ‘Songs of Experience’ – as all you lovers of Blake will<br />
know – appearing this week. No sign of a giveaway, and in fact<br />
very little by the way of fanfare, but what we do get is a proper<br />
album, a really, really good album that perhaps many people<br />
would have thought was something that was long in the band’s<br />
past. A genuine step forward.
appear elsewhere.
In many ways, <strong>U2</strong> should be beyond this, in the same way that<br />
you don’t expect the Rolling Stones to make an album that is<br />
anything more than enough of a re-tread to keep the inevitable<br />
tour respectable. But to be fair, despite the grief the band –<br />
Bono – gets for speaking out as they have always done, in many<br />
ways it is a long time since they have taken any chances with<br />
their music, and if ‘Songs of Experience’ isn’t all the way there it<br />
is certainly a step in that direction, with some genuine risks<br />
being taken alongside a gentle recap of some of their finest<br />
moments.<br />
In many ways <strong>U2</strong>’s career has been one of phases – the early,<br />
raw days, the polish of the Unforgettable Fire and Joshua Tree<br />
years, the leap into the unknown with the My Bloody Valentine<br />
tinged Eurogenius that was Achtung Baby and Zooropa, being<br />
the highpoints. From there though the gaps between albums got<br />
longer and unlikely though the idea may be, it seemed as though<br />
a lack of confidence crept in, for whatever reason. Post Zooropa<br />
it was as though there were too many albums that artistically –<br />
visually – pushed the art and politics, but with the odd<br />
exception, even the best songs owed more to the band looking<br />
over their shoulders than it did to trying to ‘dream it all up again,<br />
and again.’<br />
In many ways then, ‘Songs of Experience’ is something<br />
completely different for a band that really doesn’t need to try<br />
too hard, and though it is an evolution from the definite promise<br />
of ‘Innocence’ in some ways it is that reimagining of themselves<br />
that this band more than any other was always so adept at.<br />
Yes, there are pointers to the past, but there is a definite
Joy to some of the songs that we haven’t heard in a long time.<br />
For me (as usual) it is the guitar sounds that define the change.<br />
Where ‘Innocence’ looked again at tones you’d recognise from<br />
Boy, October and War, ‘Experience’ works in parallel with that,<br />
mining what could have been if the Edge had put his pedal board<br />
away in 1984 and just bashed the fuck out of a Telecaster. Quite<br />
seriously, at times it could be Johnny Ramone, T.V Smith or Billy<br />
Bragg playing and there is a definite feeling of looseness and<br />
freedom through the majority of the tracks.<br />
Plenty of others will talk you through the songs themselves, and<br />
it is a glory box of a collection that any <strong>U2</strong> fan will love, but the<br />
important question is whether it will turn any heads that haven’t<br />
previously been converted. If it had been plonked into a billion<br />
iTunes accounts and people had actually listened, would it do<br />
enough to melt a few hearts?<br />
In truth, probably not as it is hard to preach to the disinterested<br />
at the best of times, but there is enough here to really please an<br />
old <strong>U2</strong> fan that looks forward to their albums with a hope born<br />
of feigned innocence rather than studied experience. And I have<br />
to say it is the best <strong>U2</strong> album, the freshest <strong>U2</strong> album since<br />
Zooropa, and my god I just hope they keep their nerve and<br />
against everybody’s expectations, give up trying to be Coldplay<br />
trying to be <strong>U2</strong> and remember that they are so much better than<br />
that and make the leap into something unique and important, a<br />
Deus ex Machina of an era that could prove to be their greatest<br />
achievement.<br />
You don’t need me to tell you where to buy the album.
Learn to Play:<br />
<strong>U2</strong><br />
I<br />
don’t know why it is that the Edge has never really got the<br />
credit for what he creates ‘sonically’, although I would guess<br />
that it has something to do with him not getting ‘Olympic’ in<br />
the ‘80s with Yngwie and Eddie and the rest of the boys, but<br />
then I can’t remember any of their songs and I’m rather partial<br />
to <strong>U2</strong>’s.<br />
Regardless of that, if you think his work is just a case of setting<br />
your Boss Delay to the right setting, you haven’t really got to<br />
grips with the man’s work yet, so here we are, fill your filthy<br />
boots.
Learn to Play:<br />
Linkin Park<br />
I<br />
wrote a book that had Linkin Park as the trigger for all kinds<br />
of mayhem in it, quite a few years ago, and I must have made<br />
at least a tenner off it, so I have always looked at them with<br />
some fondness.<br />
Needless to say, the recent tragedy was horrendous, and whilst<br />
in some sorry way it makes you re-evaluate just how good they<br />
have been, perhaps it should never have been in question. Top<br />
band, sadly..well, just sadly.
<strong>The</strong> Last One<br />
I<br />
t has been a while since we started our Telemaster Junior<br />
project, but circumstances meant that it is only recently that<br />
we have finished it, and I thought I should share it with the<br />
group.<br />
As you can see, out Telemaster features the final Jooky paisley<br />
finish – is the final Jooky guitar, in fact – and a quite lovely club<br />
of a neck. <strong>The</strong> pickup from Ben at Fletcher Pickups is gorgeous,<br />
we should have a video next week – and all in all it ended-up<br />
tuned A-A and sounding immense.<br />
I’d like to thank all the chaps that joined in, it was fun…
Thick Syrup<br />
G<br />
ord I love Thick Syrup and am all manner of pleased to<br />
hear that they have a new album on the way next<br />
February. As is customary, there is a single to celebrate<br />
such news in the shape of ‘Jennifer’ which comes with a rather<br />
cool homage to Star Trek’s Data.<br />
Made by Glasgow film maker Jimmy Gage, the video catches<br />
Data's journey into humanity on camera. <strong>The</strong> band say of it,<br />
"Emerging from a bush in a garden in Ibrox, Glasgow, Data tries<br />
to make sense of his new situation. He discovers that the<br />
tricorder malfunction triggered a series of sub space jumps that<br />
resulted in him being flung to the northern hemisphere of 21st<br />
century earth. As he tries to adapt to local customs and<br />
familiarise himself with the flora and fauna of the area he is<br />
surprised to experience an unusual sensation. An emotion is<br />
passing over him. What it is he does not know."<br />
Facebook Bandcamp Pre-Order
Sonic Kharma<br />
A<br />
nother great Swedish Rock band is Sonic Kharma who<br />
released a rather brilliant album back in September in<br />
the shape of, ‘Too Much Is Just Enough’ and are backing<br />
it up quite nicely with a fine track, ‘New Day’,<br />
Henrik “Henk Moody” Braennlund tells us more,<br />
"I was inspired to write the lyrics for New Day instantly when I<br />
first heard the instrumental naked version. <strong>The</strong> song melody was<br />
played over and over in my head from the first chord and I had<br />
to translate what I heard to what I felt the song melody could<br />
mean. And often when you do that it translate into something<br />
that you feel at that point in time. I was stuck in a rut, not<br />
necessarily all about love (which is easy to translate everything<br />
into), and I heard that this song definitely had to do with<br />
empowerment! To break free from any negativity that is going<br />
on right now. <strong>The</strong>re´s a New Day dawning and it can be<br />
whatever you want it to be. So I hope you find the negativity<br />
vanish in your life when you hear this song and that you like it<br />
and want to listen to more of our music! Follow your passion,<br />
people! :D".<br />
Find out more,<br />
Facebook Twitter YouTube
La Contessa Presents…<br />
A<br />
nother week may have passed, Christmas lights seem to<br />
be spreading like mould across the country and I have to<br />
say, La Contessa is spending some time getting ready for<br />
the big vote we launch next week for her song of the year.<br />
Which as you can imagine is going to be something rather<br />
special.<br />
This week though, she hasn’t let the distractions, well, distract<br />
her too much and she has delivered her usual selection of<br />
brilliantly well observed tunes for your delectation. In many<br />
ways this week matters a little more than most as it has been<br />
pizza, if not nail-biting, so this is for Dido and all who may sail in<br />
her.<br />
Enjoy!
1960s: Manfred Mann
1970s: Sad Cafe
1980s: <strong>The</strong> Smiths
1990s: <strong>The</strong> Beatles
2000s: Feist
2010s: Lawson