drums

The Strokes were ‘resistant’ to using synthesisers and drum machines on new album

The Strokes

The Strokes’ Nick Valensi was ‘resistant’ to using synthesisers and drum machines on the band’s new album. The guitarist admits he was unsure of stepping out of his comfort zone when making ‘Angles’, and worried about how the group would then present the album live. Speaking of the track ‘Games’, he said: ‘ think I was most comfortable working within the limitations of two guitars, bass, drums and vocal. There are some new sonic elements, which maybe I was resistant to at first. “I can stress out about how we’re going to do stuff live. Are we going to get a keyboard player? I don’t know if I want to be in that band.”

The group has previously spoken about the difficulties of recording ‘Angles’, with singer Julian Casablancas absent for parts of the recording process, and also said they plan to follow up the album quickly, with plans to start recording as early as April – a move Nick supports.

He told our source: ‘We started in January 2010. We were in a big, expensive studio for two and a half months. We spent a lot of money and recorded an album, but we kind of scrapped it and started over by ourselves.

‘n future I’d like to make albums faster.”

Robert Plant has confirmed a 12-date North American tour.

Beginning April 8 in Louisville, KY, this will be the third leg of touring on these shores in support of the triumphant release of his latest album, Band of Joy, which Rolling Stone magazine in its four-star review called “sweet, elegant folk that still swings like Satan’s barn door.” The touring band is the same that made the record and that is currently touring the States: Patty Griffin, vocals; Darrell Scott, multi-nstrumentalist/vocals; Byron House, bass/vocals; Marco Giovino, drums and percussion/vocals, and co-producer Buddy Miller, guitar/vocals. See below for a free download of the Band of Joy song, “Central Two-0-Nine”.

The tour dates are below:

April 8 – Louisville, KY – The Palace
April 9: – Chicago, IL – The Auditorium Theatre
April 11 – Milwaukee, WI – The Riverside Ballroom
April 12 – Minneapolis, MN – The State Theatre
April 15 – Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live Arena
April 17 – Vancouver, BC – The Queen Elizabeth Theater
April 19 – Portland, OR – The Schnitzer
April 20: – Seattle, WA – The Paramount
April 22 – Berkeley, CA – The Greek
April 23 – Los Angeles, CA – The Greek
April 25 – Santa Barbara, CA – The Santa Barbara Bowl
April 27 – Denver, CO – The Fillmore

Phoenix look for remixers to remix latest album

Phoenix look for remixers to remix latest album. French sensations Phoenix have offered up their last album for amateur remixers. Fans can download the complete multi-track recordings of their breakthrough album Wolfganag Amadeus Pheonix, drums, bass, guitar, vocals and the rest, to tinker with. The message accompanying the downloads reads thusly: ‘We want to thank you with a few presents before our last shows in the U.S. for a while. (You never know how long we’ll take to record the next album.)’ As Pitchfork notes, the album has already been heavily remixed by pros, so-much-so that their record label Loyaute collected them all and released them as, unsurprisingly Wolfganag Amadeus Pheonix (Remix Collection) in 2009. If you’re a bedroom composer, head over to their website, to download the bits and pieces.