Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Paul Weller Wins UNCUT Music Award!
Tuesday 30th November 2010
PAUL WELLER’S WAKE UP THE NATION WINS
UNCUT MUSIC AWARD 2010
Uncut magazine today announces Paul Weller’s Wake Up The Nation album winner of the Uncut Music Award 2010.Wake Up The Nation was chosen by judges from a long list of 25 albums, and then a shortlist of eight, as the most exciting, inspirational and rewarding album of the last 12 months.
Chaired by Uncut editor Allan Jones, the 10-strong judging panel included Hayden Thorpe, frontman of one of our favourite new British bands of recent years, Wild Beasts; eminent broadcasters Bob Harris, Danny Kelly and Christian O’Connell; Mark Cooper, BBC’s creative head of music entertainment; and Tony Wadsworth, chair of the BPI.
Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes (2008 winner) helped choose his successor, joining the judging panel this year alongside one of Britain’s finest guitarists and core member of Roxy Music, Phil Manzanera, and one of our most notable songwriters, Chris Difford of Squeeze.
“Thank you,” responded Weller, on tour in America when he heard the news. “I’m well surprised to get this award. Pleasantly surprised. A lot of the credit goes to Simon Dine (producer and co-writer on the album). The album came from him, really. He had these very rough backing track ideas, which he sent me. Once I heard them, I got excited too. I could see a whole new sound emerging out of them.”
And in an exclusive interview with Uncut, he explains: “If there’s one thing about getting older, it makes you realise how much you’ve got to get stuck in and do as much work as you can. You know, some people get to a certain age and feel they’re defined; this is who they are, and this is what they think. And it hasn’t got to be like that.
“There’s always more to learn. There’s always something else out there.”
The judges faced a tough task in choosing a winner from the list, which saw Wake Up The Nation face competition from Plastic Beach by Gorillaz (which was awarded second place) and Have One On Me by Joanna Newsom (third place) among others.
Allan Jones says: “At one point during the final judging session for the 2010 Uncut Music Award, four of the eight albums on our shortlist were in heated competition for this year's prize. Any one of them would have been an admirable choice. But the eventual winner, after an epic discussion, was an album that united both long-term fans among the judges and others of us who had previously been more sceptical. So congratulations to Paul Weller, whose brilliant Wake Up The Nation was the sound of a great artist in the form of his life, absolutely aflame with ideas.”
A full exclusive interview with winner Paul Weller appears in the new issue of Uncut, on sale today. And the full conversation amongst the judges will appear on www.uncut.co.uk over the next two weeks.
About the Uncut Music Award
Now in its third year, the Uncut Music Award is a quest to find the most inspiring and rewarding album of the past 12 months. The artists’ nationality, age and sales figures are completely irrelevant as a judging panel of industry figures and artists come together to decide on the winner.
The Uncut Music Award 2010 shortlist in full:
- Arcade Fire – Suburbs
- Beach House - Teen Dream
- The Coral: Butterfly House
- Deer Tick - The Black Dirt Sessions
- The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang
- Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
- Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me
- Paul Weller - Wake Up The Nation
Christian O’Connell: “Paul Weller is such a deserved winner, because he’s still pushing the envelope in terms of his talent and his creativity. He’s not afraid to explore unknown areas and collaborate with new artists, rather than rest on his back catalogue and laurels. This album is rich in surprises and quality. Fantastic stuff.”
Chris Difford: “Paul is a true original; both in terms of song writing and production, and this might just be the best record he’s ever made. He never follows trends; he just listens to his own voice. I think the relationship between him his father was the catalyst for this album; I think his dad’s passing has made him become more aware of his own vulnerability, and it’s manifested itself in some extraordinary songs.”
Bob Harris: “He’s an artist of such stature. He never stands still; he’s always moving forward and trying new things. There’s a body-of-work factor that comes in to play with someone who’s been around so long, and I believe this is one of the best albums of his career. It’s really heartfelt; it’s sonically very interesting and evokes so many earlier eras of music, especially the 60s, but without being stuck in the past. He’s his own man, he never compromises.”
Paul Weller In Bournmouth!
10:23am Monday 29th November 2010
By Nick Churchill
THERE are plenty of great performers and a fair few can still cut the mustard deep into middle age, but how many are making music every bit as vital and exciting – perhaps even more so – as they did as teenagers?
Paul Weller is one such. He’s been up and down more times than a window cleaner’s chamois – sometimes hitting a sweet spot, other times missing by a mile, but always reaching just beyond his grasp.
He’s very definitely on an up at the moment. His last two albums, the sprawling 22 Dreams and this year’s pared-down Wake Up the Nation, have found him exercising his passion for a sometimes dizzying range of music.
Sunday night’s set drew on every stage of his career, including Art School from The Jam’s 1977 debut album, The Style Council’s Shout to the Top, an edgy trip hop reading of Wild Wood and a brand new song, That Dangerous Age, which channels The Who’s I Can’t Explain.
But the bulk of the two-hour show comes from his most recent output and, helped by a crisp sound mix, finds room for a Doors-ian excursion on Pieces of a Dream, audacious five-part song suite Trees, the rootsy Sea Spray, the dense psychedelia of 7&3 Is the Striker’s Name and Aim High’s invocation of the spirit of Curtis Mayfield.
Such musical plurality is the result of Weller’s open-hearted pursuit of modernist principles and is vindicated as the initially frosty audience warms to Jam gems like Strange Town, Start! and Pretty Green, but reserves equal enthusiasm for more recent hits No Tears To Cry and Come On/Let’s Go.
A barnstorming Town Called Malice sends us out into the cold night, but get this – what comes next could be even more exciting!
Paul Weller In Cardiff!
Nov 29 2010 David Owens, South Wales Echo
EVEN by his lofty standards 2010 has been a spectacular year for Paul Weller.
Wake Up The Nation lived up to the rallying cry of its title by doing just that - causing mighty ripples in the music buying populace. Widely revered as his best album for a decade by critics and fans alike it propelled him to the cool climes of a Mercury Music prize award nomination and the curious inquisition of a younger audience.
Right now the ever stylish 52-year-old modernist icon is at the height of his powers, mining a rich seam of creative inspiration. It’s a midas touch that has translated to his live shows.
There’s always a joyful sense of communion about a Weller gathering and his thousands of devoted acolytes turned this worshipful service into an occasion that transcended a normal gig. This was something special.
Opening up with the propulsive joys of Moonshine he then hurtled into the staccato strut of From The Floorboards Up before hitting his stride with 22 Dreams, Woodcutter’s Son and Eton Rifles, sending the middle-aged mods who bellowed out its stirring chorus into raptures.
As an opening salvo it was a potent statement of intent – a strident purpose that he maintained throughout an expansive career-tracing set.
On stage for close to two hours, highlights were many. Trees was a breathtaking sonic assault – innovative experimentation without the detriment of melody , No Tears To Cry illuminated the deliciously rich tones of Weller’s soulful voice, while the resurrection after 33 years of Art School dusted down from The Jam’s debut album was a thrilling surprise.
We’re treated to two encores and seven songs; Broken Stones and You Do Something To Me are especially rapturously received - while the gig spirals to a climax with the imperious blast of The Changingman, underlining just how much conviction and soul Weller puts into his rock n roll.
Right now, he’s a live performer without equal.
Paul Weller In Ireland!
Paul Weller – The Olympia, Dublin
By Philip Cummins on Monday, 22 November 2010
From The State
Swaggering on stage to a Northern Soul compilation, Paul Weller and his Merry Men open with ‘Aim High’, an energetic and soulful ballad from his latest record, Wake Up the Nation, which, along with it’s predecessor 22 Dreams, is universally considered a return to form for The Modfather. His streamlined band effortlessly injects so much rhythm and soul into the track without overloading on backup singers and unnecessary percussionists that it’s hard to believe that there are only five musicians on stage. From ‘Aim High’ right through to live staples ‘The Changing Man’, The Jam’s ‘That’s Entertainment’ and The Style Council’s ‘Shout to the Top!’ is a groove of songs that are ferocious and exhilarating, rendering Weller and his band as a force of nature. Weller moves from guitar to piano for the Dr. John-esque ‘Trees’ and the wary, late night feel of ‘Invisible’, which brings the tempo right down as the band take a breather.
What then follows is a cluster of songs that are a revision of Weller’s punk roots. Recent additions to his songbook, ‘Fast Car/Slow Traffic’, the state of the nation address of ‘Wake Up the Nation’ and ‘Come On, Let’s Go!’ fuse effectively with The Jam’s ‘Start!’ and, most notably, ‘Pretty Green’, The Jam’s angry, vitriolic riposte against consumerism, which more than strikes a chord with this Dublin audience.
An encore of the soulful, lilting ‘Broken Stones’, from 1995’s Stanley Road and the jazzy and chaotic ‘Pieces of a Dream’ offer respite and have the crowd swaying to Weller’s gentle and fluid playing on mellotron and piano, respectively. Weller returns to guitar for The Jam’s ‘Art School’, followed by an incredible version of The Jam’s ‘Scrape Away’. Its post-punk darkness and intensity feels like a summary of the encore. During the 2nd Encore, the archetypal solo-Weller song ‘Peacock Suit’ is followed by a sprawling and heady ‘Whirpool’s End’, a song which encapsulates Weller’s at times gruff, at times angry, at times soulful voice as the band harmonize, take advantage of the space to jam, tune in, tune out and elevate the show to unprecedented heights with a seemingly endless crescendo.
What becomes most clear, tonight, is what Weller does so well live: he shows you that anything he’s written recently can sit beside his previous work with The Jam and The Style Council, in terms of style and, sometimes, in terms of quality. Recent songs are meticulously placed against his wealth of previous material to reflect each other. Not only does he show you that, of late, he has written jazz-structured pop not unlike The Style Council, but that he is as angry on Wake Up the Nation as he was on In the City, Sound Effects or Setting Sons. Weller’s most impressive live achievement (topped only by Neil Young) is his ability to start working with the conventions of a song’s verse-chorus-verse structure, only to abandon those conventions mid-flow, disappear into a jam, loosen up the feel of the song, add interesting dimensions that may not be there on record, only to return full circle to the song as if nothing happened. That, unquestionably, is Paul Weller’s 23rd Dream.
Set List
Aim High
Into Tomorrow
Changing Man
Porcelain Gods
Moonshine
Andromeda
All I Wanna Do (is be with you)
That’s Entertainment
No Tears to Cry
Shout to the Top!
Trees
22 Dreams
Invisible
Empty Ring
Fast Car/Slow Traffic
Pretty Green
STaRt!
Wake Up the Nation
Come On, Let’s Go
Encore
Broken Stones
Pieces of a Dream
Art School
Scrape Away
2nd Encore
Peacock Suit
Whirpool’s End
Images By: Kieran Frost
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Set List & Image From Svenja!
Images By: Kieran Frost
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Set List & Image From Svenja!
Wednesday, 17 November 2010
Paul Weller On The Radio Wednesday November 17!
Listen up Weller fans, Paul will be taking over the airwaves tomorrow with two radio interviews.
The first will be broadcast on XFM's Breakfast show between 6:30-10am via 104.9FM in London plus on digital radio and online via http://www.xfm.co.uk
The second interview will be aired on Absolute Radio's drivetime show between 7-8pm, you can tune into that via http://www.absoluteradio.co.uk or on digital.
The first will be broadcast on XFM's Breakfast show between 6:30-10am via 104.9FM in London plus on digital radio and online via http://www.xfm.co.uk
The second interview will be aired on Absolute Radio's drivetime show between 7-8pm, you can tune into that via http://www.absoluteradio.co.uk or on digital.
Monday, 15 November 2010
Short Feature In The Irish Independent Ahead Of This Week's Dublin Concerts!
Paul Weller still has a fire burning in his belly, decades after his ballads woke up two nations, says Barry Egan
Sunday November 14, 2010
'PUT an end to all your doubts," he sings. "Has my fire really gone out?"
Profligate with the raw honesty, council estate balladeer Paul Weller still has a fire burning in his 52-year-old belly. At times he comes across like the gruff Victor Meldrew of his era -- with one Gucci brogue in the grave. But there's a universality to the Modfather's lyrics that resonates with just about everyone over 18 who realises Jedward are perhaps not the future. Weller has the real 'x factor'. In all in his four decades writing great moments of music, he has never erected a protective screen between his emotions and the listener.
Songs like Town Called Malice, That's Entertainment, My Ever Changing Moods, A Man of Great Promise, Changing Man, You Do Something to Me, Pebbles on a Beach , Out of the Sinking and Has My Fire Really Gone Out? mark Weller down as one of the greatest English songwriters since John Lennon, Ray Davies or Pete Townshend. He has inspired Blur, Oasis, the Arctic Monkeys, Amy Winehouse and a million other young bands with dodgy, ironed-straight coiffures.
As a reporter in The Observer wrote recently: "Everyone knows Weller. He's a pop music constant, with his undying stylishness, his unfading anger, his never-ending devotion to what he deems "proper" music. And yet his career has seen him flicker in and out of favour, mostly through his own wilful refusal to dig the same musical furrow." This is the young Surrey lad, lest we forget, who broke up Britain's most popular band The Jam to form a jazz-soul combo called The Style Council.
We still love the fact that all those years on from when he wrote Town Called Malice he has never lost his anger. He lashed David Cameron when he said he was a huge fan of Eton Rifles by Weller's old band The Jam. He turned down a CBE and refused to let New Labour use The Changing Man as a campaign tune in 1997. His new album Wake Up the Nation is his most intriguing record in years -- almost as intriguing and innovative as its predecessor, 22 Dreams, released in 2008.
Wake Up the Nation has Weller, like King Canute, trying to hold back the wave of modernity. He lashes the Facebook nations, instructing everyone to get their face off Facebook and get on to the streets. He is a god to many and as such I am surprised that he is playing only five nights at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin this week.
From The Sunday Independent
Saturday, 13 November 2010
Paul Weller Session For WNYC In New York City!
Session Info:
01. Intro
02. Aim High
03. Interview
04. Andromeda
05. Interview
06. All On Misty Morning
07. Outro
Friday, 12 November 2010
Paul Weller Designed MINI To Be Auctioned For Charity!
MINI has teamed-up with mod rock legend Paul Weller to give birth to a one off vehicle that will be auctioned at a live event, with all the proceeds set to go to charity.
The project follows Weller’s headline performance at MINI’s 50th Birthday party at Silverstone in 2009.
We are talking about a unique MINI Cooper, which was designed by the artist, built in Oxford, and hand-painted by MINI specialists. The car will be auctioned for one month from November 11, in order to raise money for charities Nordoff Robins and War Child.
The car will be showcased in MINI’s flagship showroom on Park Lane, London for the duration of the auction. You can place your bids here.
“Both MINI and Paul Weller are synonymous with the quintessential British mod scene. That’s why we were the ideal match to create this unique car,” said MINI UK’s Director, Jochen Goller.
Walter’s vision, which comes with pink and brown stripes across the vehicle’s body and also includes a silver line running up the bonnet and over the roof, was inspired by the colors in a Ben Sherman shirt he designed for the brand in the past.
“I've always loved and driven MINIs so when I was given the opportunity to design a bespoke Mini Cooper I wanted to create something that reflected the mood and colours associated with the Mod era, which was also the classic Mini’s hey day. I’d already expressed these colours in a shirt I designed for Ben Sherman a few years ago, so it made sense to me to continue the theme using a MINI Cooper as a palate,” said Weller.
Even More Paul Weller In New York City!
There will be a special in NME next week (Nov 17) documenting 48 hours in New York City with Paul Weller.
Got a bunch of pics in the past few days.
HUGE thanks to everyone sending them in to share with our readers!
Images Courtesy Of Ginny!
"Thank you Paul for taking time to say hi!" from Tyler
and Ginny
Images Courtesy Of Ryan aka changingman72!
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
Paul Weller Set List From The Best Buy Theater In NYC!
Image From Tessy Schulz
Set List Provided By Ryan aka Changingman 72!
Cheers!!!
Peacock Suit
7 & 3 Is the Striker's Name
Moonshine
From The Floorboards Up
Pretty Green
22 Dreams
Andromeda
Aim High
No Tears To Cry
Up the Dosage
Shout to the Top!
Trees
Empty Ring
Let It Be Me
One Bright Star
Pieces of a Dream
Strange Town
Woodcutter's Son
That Dangerous Age
STaRt!
Fast Car/Slow Traffic
Echoes Round the Sun
Wild Wood
- - -
Broken Stones
Wake Up The Nation
Art School
Come On/Let's Go
- - -
The Changingman
Porcelain Gods
That's Entertainment
Paul Weller At The Apollo! By: James From The Freethinking Movement
A Creative Peak?
By: James Poole
TheFreeThinkingMovement
“Paul Weller was at his most interesting and rewarding with the Style Council, wasn’t he?”
So wrote a friend of mine on his facebook wall a few weeks back. It’s a statement which would probably have many a Weller fan up in arms; demanding that the entire period that Weller spent flanked by Mick Talbot, D. C. Lee & Steve White was a dark time, and should be erased from memory. This was a time of Red Wedge, of videos containing Paul & Mick all but relaxing the gentleman’s way together while punting, of (would you believe it?) chart-friendly pop.
But, let’s be honest, my mate has a point. This was also the time of Weller embracing soul, of Weller dipping his toe into new genres (Hip-hop! House!), and of chart-friendly pop which still stands up today. ‘Speak Like A Child’ should win the argument alone.
Yes, The Style Council were bang on. As I write this post, I’m reacquainting myself with some of the tracks I’ve just not taken the time to listen to in years: the funk of ‘Fairy Tales’ from ‘The Cost Of Loving’, the minimalist sweep of ‘A Stones Throw Away’ from ‘Our Favourite Shop’, the laid-back jazz of ‘Changing Of The Guard’ from ‘Confessions of a Pop Group’. Throwaway album tracks, or signs of a band that were brimming with ideas? I know where I stand on this.
There were times when the innovation mis-fired (the aforementioned ‘hip-hop’ experiment was less than effective, in my opinion – and as for ‘A Gospel’ from ‘Café Bleu’, the less said, the better). But – I’ll give you three arguments as to why I’d still embrace the entire catalogue:
1) The share of mis-fires is relatively low. Six albums, and only a handful of tunes that I would hold up as being rough around the edges? Not a bad hit rate, that.
2) Weller was tyring – this wasn’t lazy music. More often than not, the mis-fire is purely as a result of creative juices clearly operating at full-tilt. All that was missing was a filter – and this was only a few times.
3) It’s Weller. He earned the right to do whatever the hell he wanted to.
So this final point really hits to the centre of the point that I made on my mate’s facebook wall. Afer careful consideration, the full weight of my argument was: ‘Weller could fart in a jar, and I’d be happy’. I know I am unable to really apply a critical eye to Weller. He’s just good.
The conviction I hold for my ability to enjoy the sound of Weller farting in a jar was put to the test this weekend. It was put to the test by the piss-poor sound system of ‘The World Famous’ Apollo Theatre in New York. I’m not the person to provide a balanced view of the concert. I will say that it was great. Maybe not the heights of the performances he was cranking out around the time of ‘Stanley Road’ – but when Weller kicks off, you just know that there’s not another concert taking place right at that moment where you’d rather be. For a more subjective opinion, I’ll relay the thoughts of a friend who came to the concert with me. Now, I need to put into context that he’s not a Weller fan (I even think that he may have said that Weller was ‘like Phil Collins’ – though I may be doing my mate a disservice my mis-quoting him completely). He came to the concert largely to experience ‘The World Famous’ Apollo Theatre. He loved the show. Genuinely. It’s about as big a positive vote as you can get: a non-Weller fan – someone who stated bemusement at the levels to which people hold Weller aloft with God-like status – liked it. He liked it a lot.
With a set spanning his entire career, it was also a great opportunity to weigh up the merits the facebook missive which kicked this post off. We had ‘Pretty Green’ and ‘Start!’ from The Jam, ‘Shout To The Top’ from The Style Council, ‘Into Tomorrow’ from early solo Weller (The Paul Weller Movement, if you will), and ‘Aim High’ kicking off the proceedings from ‘Wake Up The Nation’. We even had a nod to the venue, with Weller knocking out an outstanding rendition of ‘How Sweet It Is’ in honour of Marvin Gaye. It all went down well. Even the lesser-known tracks were well received. But then, a packed audience of Weller enthusiasts are hardly going to be the most challenging to win over. In among all of this, for me there was one clear highlight.
“Paul Weller was at his most interesting and rewarding with the Style Council, wasn’t he?”
Yes. ‘Shout To The Top’ was bloody marvelous.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)