| 19th February 2008 03:37 PM |
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| Gazza |
FIRST ALBUM OF ALL NEW MATERIAL IN TWO YEARS
Released: UK 17 MARCH 2008 / USA 1 APRIL 2008
London – on March 17, Exile Productions/Polydor Records will proudly release Keep It Simple, the new album from Van Morrison.
Keep It Simple is Morrison’s first album of new material since 2005, and the first in several years in which he penned all 11 songs specifically for one album. In the interim the legendary artist had a year that may be unprecedented for any living artist, having released three separate collections of his hits, with the latest, Still On Top entering the UK charts at #2 and selling platinum, proving the ongoing appetite for his unrivaled work.
Van Morrison’s music has always incorporated the widely varied influences he heard and absorbed since his childhood days on the streets of Belfast - long before the bands of his youth and his initial breakthrough with Them. On Keep It Simple, Morrison honours all those varied influences - jazz, folk, blues, Celtic, country, soul and gospel - at times melding them all together at once in his own signature sound. “I felt I had something to say with these songs…” he explains. There is a definite theme that recurs throughout the album, especially in the title track.
In keeping with that idea, Keep It Simple does not boast the big horns or string arrangements of some of Morrison’s previous work. What it does feature are gorgeous songs rich with emotion, depth and beauty. As on the poignant “Soul,” where Morrison repeats the chorus, as if to subtly remind us that, “Soul is a feeling, a feeling deep within. Soul is not the colour of your skin.” Morrison explains his approach with the track “Entrainment” - “Entrainment is when you connect with the music… Entrainment is really what I’m getting at in the music…It’s kind of when you’re in the present moment – you’re here – with no past or future.”
Whether it’s the easy country gospel of “Song of Home” or the bluesy swing of “How Can A Poor Boy,” throughout Keep It Simple Morrison exudes a wisdom gained through five decades of making groundbreaking music. Few artists have successfully recorded in as many genres of music as Van Morrison, and even fewer have remained as relevant for as long (only Ray Charles, with whom Van collaborated, comes to mind). Morrison has done so by constantly moving forward and never sitting still. On the heels of a series of "Best Of" releases, this record starts fresh with what could well be a record full of all new classics.
Morrison's first set since 2006's 'Pay The Devil' and his first selection of entirely self-penned, cover-free, new material since 2003's 'What's Wrong With This Picture?', 'Keep It Simple' is the man's thirty-third album. As the title suggests, this is a stripped-back album devoid of the horns and/or strings-led production of yore - and instead the bare bones of Morrison's influences show through: Celtic folk, jazz, country music, blues and soul.
1. How Can A Poor Boy?
2. School Of Hard Knocks
3. That's Entrainment
4. Don't Go To Nightclubs Anymore
5. Lover Come Back
6. Keep It Simple
7. End Of The Land
8. Song Of Home
9. No Thing
10. Soul
11. Behind The Ritual
http://www.vanmorrison.com
[Edited by Gazza] |
| 19th February 2008 03:51 PM |
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| PartyDoll MEG |
Saw that earlier, Gazza. Good news!! New music from the Belfast Balladeer! |
| 19th February 2008 03:53 PM |
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| Starbuck |
so what is van's best work?
i have about four or five of his albums....not much more than a casual fan. however, astral weeks does make my top 25 favorite albums of all time list. |
| 19th February 2008 03:56 PM |
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| Jaxx |
i recently heard a cut off that new cd. it was terrific. the man does not dissapoint. |
| 19th February 2008 04:07 PM |
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| gypsy |
I love him. Can't wait to buy this! |
| 19th February 2008 04:07 PM |
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| PartyDoll MEG |
quote:
Starbuck wrote:
so what is van's best work?
i have about four or five of his albums....not much more than a casual fan. however, astral weeks does make my top 25 favorite albums of all time list.
Oh that is a loaded question, Bucky!!..because I can find at least 3-5 songs off of all his albums that I call "must haves."
Moondance immediately comes to mind. But if I pull out Enlightenment or Poetic Champions Compose and listen to them clear through, I always think.."god what a genius." So to solve my dilemma, I have them all! |
| 19th February 2008 05:18 PM |
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| Gazza |
quote:
Starbuck wrote:
so what is van's best work?
i have about four or five of his albums....not much more than a casual fan. however, astral weeks does make my top 25 favorite albums of all time list.
Hmm..hard to say, depends on what 'style' you like, but try - Moondance, Astral Weeks, Into The Music, Beautiful Vision, Poetic Champions Compose and The Healing Game for starters.
Also worth throwing in the 1974 live album Its Too Late To Stop Now.
We're from the same neighbourhood and attended the same school (18 years apart, though!). It always bemuses me (in a good way) when I read how people thousands of miles away can get into him, especially when some of the local places and subjects he writes about dont strike me as something it would be natural to wax lyrical about.
Then again, if I grew up in Asbury Park, maybe I'd feel the same way about people on the other side of the world gushing over Springsteen. |
| 19th February 2008 05:21 PM |
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| Gazza |
quote:
Jaxx wrote:
i recently heard a cut off that new cd. it was terrific. the man does not dissapoint.
There ya go. You live 5,000 miles away and you're hearing it on the radio. I live in his hometown and this story I found today (via a Bob Dylan site) is the first I've heard of the record's existence, never mind the chances of hearing it somewhere! |
| 19th February 2008 05:42 PM |
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| fireontheplatter |
this better be good...otherwise it going in the new paltz landfill |
| 19th February 2008 05:58 PM |
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| Jaxx |
quote:
Gazza wrote:
There ya go. You live 5,000 miles away and you're hearing it on the radio. I live in his hometown and this story I found today (via a Bob Dylan site) is the first I've heard of the record's existence, never mind the chances of hearing it somewhere!
hell yeah. go figure. another one from the WTF Chronicals |
| 19th February 2008 06:31 PM |
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| Fiji Joe |
quote:
Starbuck wrote:
so what is van's best work?
i have about four or five of his albums....not much more than a casual fan. however, astral weeks does make my top 25 favorite albums of all time list.
I'd start with Tupelo Honey |
| 19th February 2008 07:26 PM |
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| glencar |
Tore Down A La Rimbaud is one of my favorite tunes. I really love Van & look forward to getting this soon. |
| 19th February 2008 11:45 PM |
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| Lethargy |
I sure wish the Stones would put two albums out of new material within two years. |
| 19th February 2008 11:53 PM |
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| Throwaway |
I wish the Stones could put two albums out in 5 years if they were as consistent as Van's work. Like Dylan and Neil Young, he put out albums all the way throughout the 80s and 90s that were solid to excellent. |
| 20th February 2008 02:44 AM |
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| TampabayStone |
I really like the song on the movie (Bring the Dead?) when Nick Cage was an ambulance driver. I got the soundtrack because of it.
Somebody give me a glass of water. |
| 20th February 2008 03:44 AM |
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| The Wick |
quote:
Gazza wrote:
Hmm..hard to say, depends on what 'style' you like, but try - Moondance, Astral Weeks, Into The Music, Beautiful Vision, Poetic Champions Compose and The Healing Game for starters.
Also worth throwing in the 1974 live album Its Too Late To Stop Now.
I'd add the Philosopher's Stone to that list. Maybe more for his fans, but if you give a few listens to both discs, it is a really deep record. |
| 20th February 2008 05:14 AM |
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| Ronnie Richards |
quote:
TampabayStone wrote:
I really like the song on the movie (Bring the Dead?) when Nick Cage was an ambulance driver. I got the soundtrack because of it.
Somebody give me a glass of water.
TB Sheets
Recorded 4o years ago... the man has been a genius for 40 years!! |
| 20th February 2008 05:16 AM |
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| Ronnie Richards |
quote:
Starbuck wrote:
so what is van's best work?
i have about four or five of his albums....not much more than a casual fan. however, astral weeks does make my top 25 favorite albums of all time list.
My choice would be It's Too Late To Stop Now. (Live 1973).
Possibly the greatest live album ever released.. |
| 20th February 2008 06:31 AM |
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| Prodigal Son |
Well I hope this album is good. I can't say I've been knocked out by the samey-ness of his albums in this decade. He hasn't made a record better than Back On Top since he made that one. The Healing Game, the one before, stands as his last great album for me. His last masterpiece was Into the Music from '79- timeless (Beautiful Vision and Avalon Sunset came close but not quite). He makes being a born again Christian sound so wonderful musically speaking.
Wow, Van is a big pool to dive into. He's got tons of great stuff. Here's my view on it:
Masterpiece (A+): Astral Weeks (1968), Moondance (1970), St. Dominic's Preview (1972), Into the Music (1979)
Wonderful (A): It's Too Late to Stop Now (live disc-1973), Beautiful Vision (1982-underrated but I think this is such a peaceful and moving album)
Very Damn Good (A-): Tupelo Honey (1971), Veedon Fleece (1974), Poetic Champions Compose (1987), Avalon Sunset (1989), Hymns to the Silence (1991-double album that as a single CD this would've been a masterpiece- there are some amazing songs here), Too Long in Exile (1993-forgotten classic), The Healing Game (1997)
Good (B+): Blowin' Your Mind (1967), Wavelength (1978), No Guru No Method No Teacher (1986), Enlightenment (1990), How Long Has This Been Going on? (w/Georgie Fame-1996), The Philosopher's Stone (1997 unreleased vault collection) Back on Top (1999), Down the Road (2002), What's Wrong with This Picture? (2003), Pay the Devil (2006)
Okay (B): Hard Nose the Highway (1973), A Period of Transition (1977), Days Like This (1995), Magic Time (2005)
Average (B-): Common One (1980), Inarticulate Speech of the Heart (1983), A Sense of Wonder (1984), Irish Heartbeat (1988-w/The Chieftains)
This list omits some of his live work I haven't heard plus his many collaborations. Plus his awesome band Them from 64-67. So he really hasn't done a bad album in his career that I know of. His hit collections are good starters but you start with the A+ material and work your way down if you like what you hear.
[Edited by Prodigal Son] |
| 20th February 2008 07:11 AM |
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| TampabayStone |
quote:
Ronnie Richards wrote:
TB Sheets
Recorded 4o years ago... the man has been a genius for 40 years!!
That song is still fresh! |
| 21st February 2008 11:29 AM |
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| Gazza |
Van Morrison is to perform on the opening night of this year's South By Southwest Music conference in Austin, Texas.
Playing at the La Zona Rosa venue on March 12, Morrison will be previewing songs from his new album Keep It Simple.
The new eleven track album, is Van Morrison's first record of all new material since 2005's Magic Time, and is scheduled for release through Polydor records on March 17.
Morrison will also be playing a short tour of the US, playing the following venues:
Austin Music Hall, Austin (March 11)
La Zona Rosa/SXSW, Austin (12)
Ryman Auditorium, Nashville (13)
Wang Theatre, Boston (14)
United Palace, New York (15)
www.uncut.co.uk
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| 22nd February 2008 11:20 PM |
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| sweetcharmedlife |
Moondance would be a must for any music fan. And It Stoned me is my favorite Van song. Saw half of his opening set in Oakland for the Stones.(thanks to traffic). What I heard was good. He plays the bay area often but I still haven't seen him other than that. |
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| PartyDoll MEG |
You can hear sound clips from the new album here:
http://www.vanmorrison.co.uk/?m=Con...9d93ad908ac00e#
[Edited by PartyDoll MEG] |
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| PartyDoll MEG |
Guess the days of collecting Van shows are over...
http://www.themusicrambler.com/2008...he-man-req.html
Van The Man Requests File Sharing Ban
Van Morrison, one of the most heavily bootlegged performers in Rock & Roll history, seems to have had a change of attitude towards fans who record his concerts and disseminates them using concert file sharing sites. VTM, along with performers such as Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Bruce Springsteen, have had a uneasy and unofficially tolerated relationship with the hard core fans who seek out their live concert recordings and studio outtakes. However, the internet and digital recording devices have changed the way that this material is distributed. Recently, Morrison has taken unprecedented steps to curtail fans from recording and distributing his material.
Bootleg recordings have been a prominent and colorful part of the rock music scene since the early sixties, when collectors started recording Bob Dylan's every twitch, and expanded to include every major act of the classic rock era and beyond. Live concert recordings were once made on bulky cassette players that invariably had the fidelity of a transistor radio playing at the end of a railroad tunnel. Pressed to vinyl, these records would be kept behind record store counters and sold to true believers willing to tolerate the atrocious sound quality.
Bittorent file sharing sites and easily concealed digital recording devices have changed the underground ethos that bootleg collectors once shared. Looking at how recent Van Morrison concerts have made the rounds of his fans is an instructive way to observe the new paradigm. Morrison has kept an active live performance schedule, playing on average, six concerts a month, mostly in the U.K., Europe, and the U.S. Before bittorent, networks of fans would trade concert cassettes and later CD's by mail, a practice that Van had long ignored. But with the advent of file sharing, it is no longer just his most dedicated fans obtaining this material, it is readily available to anyone remotely curious with a fast internet connection. Today, it is not uncommon to find recent Morrison performances available at file sharing sites within hours of their conclusion in high quality digital sound.
Dimeadozen is one of the most prominent of these legally questionable concert sharing sites. Unlike pirate websites that will allow anyone to post anything, dimeadozen has a strict policy of not allowing any officially released material, only permitting live concerts and unreleased studio recordings from artists who do not expressly prohibit their distribution. Once an artist or their representatives inform the moderators that they no longer want their music on the site, it is prohibited. Until now, this is a action that relatively few artists have taken.
Recently, representatives of Van Morrison have requested dimedozen to crease allowing his material on the site and they have complied. This isn't the only step he has taken. Morrison will be performing at the Austin Music Hall during the SXSW festival and the GetTix website has this loud and prominent warning to any potential bootleggers:
Filming,Recording & Photography
are Prohibited!!!
*Violators Will Be Subject To Ejection
And Confiscation of Equipment*
Whether these actions will have any effect on the distribution of concert material is highly doubtful. There are few roadblocks preventing fans from setting up websites like RustRadio, a Neil Young fan site that starts broadcasting his concerts almost as soon as the last note has sounded. A much better solution that allows artists to be compensated for their creativity and fans to quickly and cheaply obtain concert recordings is for artists to make them available at their own websites or on itunes. This will certainly not stop the bootlegging of concerts but it offers some benefits to both artist and fan. One thing that is certain: the file sharing horse has left the barn and will not be coming back.
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| andrews27 |
The blue-tone cover photo gives me hope that it might be another comeback record like "Into the Music," perhaps the last Van album to truly matter. In 1979. I love Van and have a lot of him, good, bad, indifferent - but things have been too simple for a long time, and God knows they get less interesting when he complicates them. Rock on, Van. |
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| stonedinaustralia |
I like his reputation for being the grumpiest man in rock and roll. |
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| padre |
The clips sounded pretty good. Nothing spectacular, but not bad at all either. Van knows what he does best and delivers that with ease. Hearing new Morrison records are like seeing old friends after a while. It's good that some things don't change.
I wish The Stones would've realized this too, at their age they don't need to flirt with fresh and hot producers (like in Bridges) or do controversial lyrics (Sweet Neocon). Just keep it simple and do what you do best.
Glad to have you with us Van. Hold on to that sweet jelly roll. |
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| Martha |
quote:
Gazza wrote:
There ya go. You live 5,000 miles away and you're hearing it on the radio. I live in his hometown and this story I found today (via a Bob Dylan site) is the first I've heard of the record's existence, never mind the chances of hearing it somewhere!
I heard track 3 yesterday on XM40. I so want to see Van live. Never have. |
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| PartyDoll MEG |
quote:
Martha wrote:
I so want to see Van live. Never have.
Same here, Martha.. He never comes close to Cowtown! Guess I'll have to road trip if I am ever gonna see him! |
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| Ade |
come to the UK! |
