Sort of lost in the mix of
the Mexico City shows, but The Cure debuted another new song at the Oct.
22nd show, called 'Don't Say Anything'. If anyone has an mp3 or video,
please send it in. Here's the only info I have about it so far:
"On the new song, I have video of it,
which started running about 5 seconds late cause it completely took me
by surprise at that point in the set. Robert just sang, no guitar, very
odd song in my opinion, and very short."
Update: Here's
a link to it on Youtube.
Upon first listen, I think I like it. Wish I could hear the lyrics better.
(Thanks Makeiko and Alain)
Some links to various audio/video
versions of 'A Boy I Never Knew':
Next came a special issue of Dark magazine (in my humble opinion,
the best Goth-wise magazine in Mexico so far). Basically, it's a regular
Dark issue with Robert on the cover an a good article on The Cure (although
the article's author makes the point that The Cure is not a goth band,
mainly due to the pop side to their music, and Robert's unkempt appearance). http://revista-dark.blogspot.com/ http://www.myspace.com/revistadark
This Wednesday, I came across the special issue of rival Goth
magazine, Gótica. This one is actually a special issue, covering
the band’s career, discography, etc. As usual, Gótica is great
for large-sized pictures in over-sized paper, but typos and erroneous
information can be expected. And neither their official website nor their
myspace has been updated to include an image of the special issue’s cover. http://www.vanguardiaeditores.net/gotica/home/index.php http://www.myspace.com/revista_gotica
Getting reports that the London
show is now sold out.
(Thanks David and Christophe)
Cure cover:
"The Lovecats sung by Carolin Heiss is
part of the soundtrack of the new German comedy movie 'Stellungswechsel'
and listed on top of the music
credits. E.g.: http://www.indigo.de/unser_programm/titel/90612/
or just google >Stellungswechsel soundtrack Cure<"
Your old guitarist, Cure frontman Robert
Smith, is set to do a duet with Ashlee Simpson. Do you think he should
be killed for treason?
Who is Ashlee Simpson?
I love that you said that!
No, really, who is he?
It's a she. A bland, lip-syncing American pop singer. Sister of
Jessica Simpson.
Hmm, Jessica Simpson.
You don't know her, either, do you?
I really don't know. One of the benefits of living in France.
I'm totally out of touch. As far as Robert Smith, I mean, darling, really,
do you own a mirror?"
(Thanks Dennis)
"this monday, in France, on Canal + program
'le Grand Journal', during the 'petit journal people', they made
a 'trip around the world of the people's life during the 48 past hours
of the week-end in 48 seconds', and (it lasted thus only 3-5 seconds) they
shoed an image of robert MTV awards (in Mexico), and obviously tried
to be funny saying he still hasn't bought a hair brush. Unexpected
and always nice to see Robert though..."
(Thanks Fabien G)
"tonight on Canal + program 'Le Grand
Journal', Sharon Stone was invited, and when a few images of her appearance
at the Cannes cinema festival were shown, a few notes of lullaby (Accoustic
hits version) were played."
(Thanks Fabien G)
Oct. 22nd
What a great setlist in Mexico
last night! As I'm sure you heard, they debuted another new/old song,
'A Boy I Never Knew'. As most of you probably remember, that was one
of the unused songs recorded during 'The Cure' sessions. It has been rescued
from the vaults and will be included on the new album. You might also
remember that I posted the lyrics for the song (and 2 others) back on
Aug.
10th, 2006. The version performed last night had a few changes,
so here's a first attempt at the "live version" lyrics for 'A Boy I Never
Knew:
A BOY I NEVER KNEW
To have his arms around me, to sense his perfect trust
I’d give all I ever had…all I ever had…
I’d love to see him dream, I’d love to watch him sleep
To have his arms around me, ?
Held his arms in mine, sense his perfect trust
I’d give all I ever had for a moment of his love
He’s my heart and my soul
He’s my blood and my bones
He’s my prayers and my hope
My wishes and dreams
Seems so long ago, so long ago…
I’d love to watch him dream, love to see him sleep To have his arms around me,
feel him as he breathes
Hold his hands in mine, sense his perfect trust I’d give all I ever had for
a moment of his love
He’s my heart and my soul
He’s my blood and my bones
He’s my prayers and my hopes
My wishes and dreams
Seems so long ago…
He’s my blood and my bones He’s my heart and my soul
He’s my prayers and my hopes
My wishes and dreams
A boy I never knew
And the man I’ll never know
I’ll never know, I'll never know…
To have his arms around me, sense his perfect trust
I’d give all I ever had…
And again, here's what Robert had to
say about this song in an interview with Italian magazine Rockstar (Aug.
2004):
"I wrote many sad songs for this album
and Ross is sorry I did not include them. He believes they're the best
of them all. One is the saddest I've ever written. It's called "The boy
I never knew". I played it to everyone who came to the studio, and everyone
broke in to tears. Too much for me. I didn't feel like releasing it now,
but someday I will."
I have a wav file of the live version
from last night, but I don't have permission to post it. As soon as
I do, or someone else sends it, I'll try and get it posted somewhere.
And just for the record, I love it! A thousand times better than the
terrible 'Please Project'. And is that Porl playing keyboards??? Or
just a backing tape?
Oct. 19th
I actually forgot about this.
Here's a quick report about last night's Cure appearance at the MTV
Latin America awards:
"Cure plays 2 songs at MTV Awards Latinoamerica 2007 last
night at Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico DF
Friday and End of the World
They also received the Influencia 2007 award from Beto Cuevas
(La Ley). Robert said "Gracias" and a few words.
Note: This
post was corrected to show that the band played 'End of the World', not
'alt.end'. Thanks to everyone who sent in the correction.
And corrected again to 'End of the World', not 'Out of this
World'.
Update:
You can see some photos and video of The Cure at the awards here.
There are reports that the
Oslo show on Feb. 11th is completly sold out.
(Thanks Boris, Roger, David and
Tormod)
Curespotting:
"Just been to see "Control", the
Ian Curtis/Joy Division movie..What a great film, i thoroughly recommend
it...For the attentive Cure fans out
there...there's a scene where Curtis collapses whilst playing
a live gig and is taken backstage to the changing room...While he's
lying on a couch you can see,by the door, a small poster/flyer for The
Cure's Future pastime tour (baby in white hat picture)."
"On italian magazine "Magazine"
there was a mini interview with a member of the italian pop punk
band Finley which had this question
Q:Which song you wish you wrote?
A:Boys don't cry by The Cure"
(Thanks Pietro)
Oct. 10th
According to Pitchfork,
a live version of 'The Walk' will be included on the Darfur benefit
cd 'Causes 1'. Here's the track list:
Causes 1 (not final sequence):
Animal Collective: Safer (Live) [exclusive]
The Black Keys: Stay All Night (Chulahoma Session) [exclusive]
Bloc Party: Rhododendrons
Bright Eyes: Coat Check Dream Song (Live) [exclusive]
Cornelius: Wataridori (Piano Version) [exclusive]
The Cure: The Walk (Live)
David Sylvian: Late Night Shopping (Chris Vrenna Remix)
[exclusive]
Death Cab for Cutie: World Shut Your Mouth (Julian Cope
cover)
(International) Noise Conspiracy: Washington Bullets
The Shins: Turn on Me (Clint Mansell Remix) [exclusive]
Spoon: Rhthm & Soul (Middle Version) [exclusive]
Teargas & Plateglass: One Day Across the Valley
Thievery Corporation: Passing the Stars
Travis: Gimme Some Truth (John Lennon cover) [exclusive]
The album will be out on Nov.
27th, and will be available for 90 days on iTunes or as a limited
edition cd (sign up here for
details).
(Thanks Greg)
Robert interview on RTRFM:
"Thought some of your readers
might like to know that RTRFM recently broadcast an interview with
Robert Smith and you can now listen to it
online. RTRFM is a small community radio station here in
Western Australia that is run by volunteers and funded by subscribers,
so to score Robert's only interview in Western Australia is a bit
of a coup. The interview isn't ground breaking but Robert sounds like
he's in good spirits before their first Australian show. http://www.rtrfm.com.au/stories/type/interviews/category/music/126"
Unconfirmed report that the
March 18th show in Rotterdam is sold out. Can anyone else confirm
this? Thanks.
Update:
Confirmed to be 100% sold out.
(Thanks Mark and Kimmo)
The Cure have placed some
songs in various "best of" lists:
"The listeners of STUDIO BRUSSEL,
the best belgian radiostation, voted their NEW WAVE TOP 40.
A forest #1 and Charlotte Sometimes # 17.
You can re-listen the 3 hour broadcast on http://www.stubru.be/node/28415"
The TOP 40
1 The Cure - A forest
2 Anne Clark - Our darkness
3 Sisters of Mercy - Alice
4 Neon Judgement - Tv treated
5 Joy Division - Love will tear us apart
6 Depeche Mode - Just can't get enough
7 New Order - Blue monday
8 Red Zebra - Can't live in a living room
9 Human League - Being boiled
10 John Foxx - Underpass
11 Sisters of Mercy - Temple of love
12 Joy Division - Atmosphere
13 Anne Clark - Sleeper in metropolis
14 Bauhaus - She's in parties
15 Fad Gadget - Back to nature
16 The Sound - Winning
17 The Cure - Charlotte sometimes
18 Front 242 - U men
19 Talk Talk - Talk Talk
20 Nacht & Nebel - Beats of love
21 Talking Heads - Once in a lifetime
22 Departement S - Is vic there
23 Front 242 - Headhunter
24 Dave Ball - In strict tempo
25 Kraftwerk - The model
26 Tubeway Army - Are friends electric
27 Fad Gadget - Ladyshave
28 Killing Joke - Love like blood
29 Fad Gadget - Collapsing new people
30 Soft Cell - Tainted love
31 Visage - Fade to grey
32 Cabaret Voltaire - Nag nag nag
33 Daf - Der mussolini
34 Grauzone - Eisbaer
35 Jah Wobble - How much are they
36 The Virgin Prunes - Baby turns blue
37 Luc Van Acker - Zanna
38 The Smiths - There's a light that never goes out
39 Reingold - 3klangsdimensionen
40 Liaisons Dangereuses - Los ninos del parque
"Just wanted to let you know that this weekend ( Labor
Day 9/3) Fred XM 44 radio had a 2,000 song count down and the #1 song
was The Cure "Just Like Heaven". I had to let you know!"
(Thanks Mike)
Lol's band Levinhurst will
be playing Los Angeles on Oct. 11th:
"hi! levinhurst are also performing
this thursday in l.a.:
thursday october 11 at
club good hurt
12249 venice blvd.
west l.a. CA 90066
levinhurst show at 9:30 (according to good hurt's website)
i'll send pix of us with lol taken saturday night (sunday
morning) later. levinhurst played a strategically billed show at midnight
after the mountainview show in a small tavern in san francisco (35
miles away from the download fest). only 3 cure fans showed up (me
and the two friends i brought with)! the other patrons were 10 drunken
frat kids having beers at the bar. the set was very dreamy, sweet, melodic.
cindy's voice is like thick honey dripping evenly down lol's electronic
beats and loops. they closed up their set with 'a forest'. i also picked
up their 2 CD's: hypnotically soothing, non-evasive music for a long
drive back home. best part was being able to sit and talk with cindy and
lol after they hopped off stage. they're both extremely down to earth
and friendly. hope there's more LOL love this thursday in los angeles...we'll
definitely be there again! SUPPORT A CURE!"
(Thanks Veronika)
Oct. 8th
This
website claims that The Cure are confirmed for the following
dates in South America:
2 de Abril - Santiago, Chile
5 de Abril - Buenos Aires, Argentina
8 de Abril - Porto Alegre, Brasil
10 de Abril - Sao Paulo, Brasil
11 de Abril - Sao Paulo, Brasil
13 de Abril - Bogota, Colombia
15 de Abril - Caracas, Venezuela
(Thanks Pablo)
A couple of more options to
hear 'Please Project':
FLAC (link is only
good for 200 downloads) OGG MP3
YouTube
So that's what happens when 'High' and 'Mint Car' enter
a Japanese love hotel, forget the birth control and end up with
a bastard child. : )
No surprise, but I really don't like it.
(Thanks Mark, Andreas, Wilco
and Andrew)
And here's a first try at
the 'Please Project' lyrics:
Please Project
Oh I love, oh I love, oh I love
What you do to my head (hair?)
When you push me upstairs
And you pull me into bed
I love what you do to my head (hair?)
It’s a mess up there!
Oh I love, oh I love, oh I love
What you do to my heart
When you push me back down
And it pulls me apart
I love what you do to my heart
It’s the best, oh yeah!
You’re the only woman I’d try for
Yeah, the only one I’d (die to pray for?)
You’re the only woman I’d sigh for
Yeah, the only one I’d try to be clear
And it gets better everyday, I say
With you it’s (so extreme?)
Yeah it gets better everyday, I say
With you it’s so real
It gets better everyday, I say
With you it’s such a dream!
Oh I love, oh I love, oh I love
What you do to my lips
When you pull me outside
And I ? you like this
I love what you do to my lips
It’s a (sin for me?) (symphony?)
Oh I love, love, love, love
What you do to my hips
When you throw me outside
And insult me like this
I love what you do to my hips
It’s the best, oh yeah!
You’re the only woman I’d try for
Yeah, the only one I’ve time for ?
The only woman I’d sigh for
Yeah, the only one I’d die to ?
And it gets better everyday, I say
With you it’s so ?
And it gets better everyday, I say
With you it’s extreme
It gets better everyday, I say
With you it’s like a dream !
I love, oh I love, oh I love
What you do to me!
(Thanks to Baco, Amanda, Joe
and Wilco for providing a starting point)
Here's a video from the Download
Festival of the new song 'Please Project':
"I managed to get the whole
new song on video, unfortunately it was through my little digital
cam which hasn't the best microphone in the world.
We were also right in front of the speaker stacks
so that adds to the decrease in quality. Still, you can kind of
get a feel for what the song is like and since I haven't seen anything
else come in for that song, I thought I'd forward this on until a better
quality recording is available.
I'm also currently uploading the full "quality"
file on google video, it was too big for youtube, and I"ll send
you the link for that too if you like.
I loved the show, utterly loved it, they did a great
job and they were so energetic and it looked to me like they were
having a blast. Robert was very animated through most of the songs
and all in all it was a wonderful night!"
Quick note about 'Please Project',
a couple of fans talked to Jason about it, and he mentioned that
this was one of Simon's songs.
DigiDesign
has an excellent article about the audio production for the Australian
tour:
The Cure on VENUE in Australia
27/08/07 Stephen Bruel
Performing for three hours from a back catalogue
of material spanning almost 30 years to an appreciative expectant
audience packed into Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena on a Sunday night
- mixing The Cure is a major gig. For FOH engineer Michael Brennan,
the decision to use a Digidesign® VENUE D-Show® system for
the show, and indeed the whole tour, was based simply upon constantly
striving to improve the mix within a comfortable simplified framework.
“It’s brilliant. I can go wherever I need to go,
hire a VENUE board, load up my mix and I don’t need any external
gear as everything I need is on board, and away I go,” Michael said.
“Therefore each night the mix is constantly improving as I add more
and more to the sound within Robert’s (Smith) parameters, smoothing
and massaging the sound.”
Michael said The Cure have 77 rehearsed songs for
the tour, which they can call upon on any given night, spanning
their entire career from 10:15 Saturday Night right through to modern
releases such as alt.end. With such a diverse range of material
incorporating elements of three vastly different musical decades,
Michael used the VENUE system in attempt to try to emulate the tonal
qualities of their recordings.
“I try and match the tonal qualities of recordings,
particularly the early ones, as I first heard them on my stereo,
as that’s what the crowd wants,” Michael said. “With the onboard
effects, scene recall and using pro tools (Digidesign® Pro Tools)
as a guide I was able to achieve this, and more.”
Michael spent two weeks on pre-production with The
Cure in a film studio in London working through the show. Each
day Cure frontman Robert Smith wrote up a set list with information
regarding beats per minute (bpms), instrumentation and general pointers
and highlights he thought was important in each song.
"You need to figure out what is driving the song,
whether it be the bass, digital drums, guitar melodies or vocal
melodies,” Michael said. “Once this feature is identified you need
to then underline this with a good quality mix so the main hooks can
be heard.”
The band would then work through the material with
Michael, constantly tweaking the sounds until they were happy.
Michael said once a song or element of a song was completed the settings
were stored as a scene to be recalled later, and they moved onto the
next song.
The VENUE is so versatile as you can change anything
at any given time with a scene recall,” Michael said. “By the
time the tour started we had 80-90% of all the mixes down.”
Michael said Robert is heavily involved in the production
process at all levels, is very professional and has a great set
of ears. Monitor engineer for the tour Rob Elliott confirms this.
“Robert is very hand on and has great ears,” Rob
said. “He sometimes comes over to the monitoring board and adjusts
the EQ on his vocals during sound check.”
Another feature important for Michael was the seamless
integration with Digidesign Pro Tools. While in pre-production,
Michael would record everything into Pro Tools for Robert to listen
to. Michael said this was an invaluable tool to help Robert and himself
tweak and attain the sounds they were after.
“We got sound up on the board and recorded straight
into Pro Tools,” Michael said. “I would tweak things on my laptop
later, or in front of Robert there and then so he could hear it. We
would then arrive at a sound Robert was happy with and we would create
the scenes.”
Pro Tools is also used at each live gig. Michael
said he records the FOH mix of each show in Pro Tools every night
then hands a CD of the show to Robert each night to listen to and
they discuss possible improvements.
Michael said the comprehensive range of plug in effects
available on the VENUE was very helpful in running such a big show.
For example, Michael set up 4 bass lines and ran Joe Meek plug
in compressors across all 4 lines.
“I found the compressors available on board sound
fantastic,” Michael said. “I’ve tried a lot of external compressors
while on tour and they all do nice things but there is no point as
I get everything I need on board.”
Spotted by Robert while mixing a Mogwai gig six months
ago, Michael has come along way with the band in a relatively
short time with the VENUE system.
(Thanks Andrew)
Cure covers:
"Thought you may be interested
to know, if you haven't heard already, that Phil Wilson, ex-singer/songwriter
for the band The June Brides, has
posted an acoustic cover he did of The Cure song
"Boys Don't Cry" over on his MySpace page. Not sure how
long it's gonna be up for download.
Grab it while you can.
The Cure Night in Tokyo Japan
October 21 2007
club ＡＣＩＤ （Shinjyukuku shinjyuku2-3-12 tel 03-3352-3338
club ACID website: http://www.acid.jp/
admission： 2000
From the Onion AV Club's "Don't Blow It: 10 Great
Songs Nearly Ruined By Saxophone"
2. The Cure, "A Night Like This"
Robert Smith has been known to overstretch, but nearly
all of The Cure's 1985 classic The Head On The Door is pretty
untouchable. Until, that is,
the lovely lament "A Night Like This" heads into
its final 90 seconds. A sax solo straight out of a rainy movie
interrupts the weeping, adding purely fake emotion and an ugly
air of professionalism to a song that didn't need it. Only the sax's
final bleat—which sounds a bit like an accident—makes sense in this
context. In the song's video, the sax player doesn't even show up,
and the band looks uncomfortable.
Robert Smith fans did not take kindly to the news
that The Cure frontman would be working with Ashlee Simpson. And
Ashlee, a fan herself, was
among the horrified. "I was like, 'Oh my God, that
is so not true and so embarrassing,'" she says. "I am a huge fan,
but would never expect to
write with Robert Smith from the Cure. I mean, that
would be a dream, but nothing that I would ever say. I was dying
when I read that. I was like, 'No! He's gonna think I'm crazy.'"
(Thanks Greg)
"Hello ! Cure spotting .
I just got a Hear Music cd from starbucks called Senses Working
Overtime (Circa 80) ,and Robert is on the cover. old shot of him. the
cd is a great mix. It has All Cats Are Grey on it.
(Thanks Robert)
"It's because of this guy that I listen (and many
many more Washington DC area Fans) to The Cure......article mentions
The cure
Jake Einstein, 90; Took Area Radio From Pop to Rock
By Matt Schudel
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 16, 2007; Page C07
Jake Einstein, a colorful radio innovator who launched
the Washington area's first alternative rock station, WHFS-FM,
which left a lasting mark on the region's music scene in the 1970s
and 1980s, died Sept. 12 at his home in Potomac from emphysema and
complications from an aneurysm. He was 90.
Mr. Einstein had been a newspaper columnist, speechwriter
and advertising salesman before becoming general manager and part-owner
of the low-rated 2,300-watt Bethesda station in 1967. Within a year,
he introduced rock-and-roll to a staid musical lineup, and the station's
fortunes began to rise.
It was the first local station to play such bands
as REM, U2, Simple Minds, Depeche Mode and the Cure. It furthered
the careers of then-undiscovered stars Bruce Springsteen, George
Thorogood and Emmylou Harris, who sometimes showed up at the studio.
WHFS played the records of many local groups as well, including Tru
Fax & the Insaniacs, the Bad Brains and Root Boy Slim and the Sex
Change Band.
"After a rugby match last
sunday (as part of the World Championship taking place in France
and UK at the moment), the TV channel Eurosport
played the intro of "Shake dog Shake" in loop to
illustrate the best moments of the game. A strange, instrumental,
but quite nice "unauthorized" remix."
(Thanks Muriel)
"this sunday evening, on
french tv channel M6, in the program Capital there was a report
about Dyson (the creator of the Dyson 'hoover'), and as background
music they played a little bit of 'lullaby', and a minute later,
in the same subject, they also played a bit of 'the lovecats'. I don't
know if they used another cure song later on because I didn't see the
end of this report."
(Thanks Fabien G)
From MTV Awards Show:
Cee-Lo delivered a rocking version of Prince's naughty
classic "Darling Nikki" in the smoky Foo Fighters suite (where
a beer bong was in operation as Dave Grohl danced, sang Cure songs,
played air drums and posed for snapshots); Soulja Boy was showing Kanye
West his "Crank That" dance in West's suite.
"On BBC's CBBC channel on
the programme "Best Of Friends" they played Hot Hot Hot on an
interlude bit."
(Thanks Aaron)
"this week, on french-german
tv channel ARTE program Tracks (which is about music and underground
culture), there was a report about the
'grindie' movement (which it seems to be top of the
underground hype these days in London), and they showed a few seconds
of a video from a band called 'Scroobius Pip', in which (like in
the famous Bob Dylan video in a way) a guy drops one LP cover after
another while saying each time something like "forget about The Smiths,
forget about The Cure, forget about The Clash...", and so on and so
on...."
(Thanks Fabien G)
Oct. 6th
Ok, I'm back. Hope
everyone going to Download today has a great time! And YES I
still want any reviews, setlist, photos, audio, video, etc. you
want to send in. And I promise to get them posted asap. Thanks
and enjoy the show!
I have over 260 emails to go through, so it
will take awhile to get caught up. Priority goes to Download
stuff but I hope to get all of the European and North American tour
dates updated in the next couple of days. Thank you for being so
patient!
Some info from the Download
festival:
"The schedule posted
here is the second one (with The Cure playing at 8:15).
Among the merchandise, a 4Tour t-shirt with the
4 October dates listed for $25, a set of four badges for $10
and the regular tour program for $20 (see pictures later)."
If all goes well, Olivier
should be sending in the setlist as it happens. I'll be here
as soon as the LSU vs. Florida game is over, so there might be a
slight delay in getting the first few songs posted.
Update:
Tigers win, USC loses, what a great night! Now The Cure needs
to cap it off with the debut of a new song or 2. And just a reminder,
the setlist is being posted on the Download page,
not in the news.
(Thanks Olivier)
Here's the main stage schedule
according to Live105:
3:15 - 4pm - 65 Days
of Static
4:30 - 5:15pm - She Wants Revenge
5:45 - 6:45pm - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
7:15 - 8:15pm - A.F.I.
8:45 - 11:15pm - The Cure
All times subject to change
3 - 3:30pm - 65 Days
of Static
3:45 - 4:30pm - She Wants Revenge
5:15 - 6:15pm - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
6:45 - 7:45pm - A.F.I.
8:15 - 10:45pm - The Cure
All times subject to change
Not sure which is correct,
so just go with the earlier times to play it safe.
Going against the tide
of such prankery is UK goth pop vet Robert Smith of the Cure, famous
for his singles-chart cri de coeur "Boys Don't Cry." I've never
been a rabid Cure fan, but I must admit that the voluble, down-to-earth
Smith won me over with his earnest intelligence in a call from his
studio outside Brighton, where the band is embroiled in its forthcoming
double album. Making further inroads against fakery, Smith told me
he's been writing more "socially aware lyrics" than he normally pens.
"Obviously I live in the real world, contrary to what a lot of people
think," he said. "I get angry about things, and I thought it was time
for me to put those things into songs."
"It's just kind of insane," he continued. "The
world seems to be reverting almost to the Middle Ages, with
the rise of the idiocy of religion. The whole policing of thought
and action is anathema to any artist. Any artist has to react!" He
described "Us or Them," off the band's last self-titled LP (Geffen,
2004), as the closest he's gotten to writing a song protesting "childish,
black-and-white portrayals of the world — that isn't a world I want
to live in!"
It's just been a matter of fitting the words
to the right music; otherwise, Smith said, "it sounds like I'm
singing, quite literally, from a different hymn book." The band
recorded more than 25 songs two years ago, rerecorded them last
year, and is back at work on them, although the Cure will take a brief
break to play the Download Festival in the Bay Area despite pushing
the rest of their North American tour to next year. "We can postpone
27 shows, but we can't postpone Download Festival," he said. "So we're
just doin' it! We're coming over on the Friday, playing that Saturday,
and then home on Sunday and going back to the studio.
So it's quite a bizarre weekend for us, but good
fun."
The return of on-off guitarist Porl Thompson
seems to have inspired the Cure's latest surge in creativity,
though the shock-headed vocalist's involvement in the band's recent
live DVD, The Cure: Festival 2005, interrupted progress on the
double album, which Smith said he will mix and Geffen will release
at the same price as the single-album version, which someone else
will mix. Smith is wagering most listeners will want to buy the double
CD for the price of one. "The difficulty now is to get the digital domain
to accede to our wishes and price two songs at the price of one," he
said, though ultimately he's not worried. "I'm at the stage now — well,
I've always been at the stage — of making music primarily for myself,
that I enjoy, and then for Cure fans. So whether or not it's commercial
is not a great concern."
The plan so far is to release three singles,
he said. "One is a very heavy, dark single, one is an incredibly
upbeat, stupid pop single, and one is out-and-out dance, so that shows
you the variety of stuff on the record."
Stupid? How can anyone as obviously smart as
Smith go for that? "I'm saying that most good pop singles are
stupid — otherwise they're not good pop singles," he demurred.
"I'm from an age when disposable wasn't necessarily a bad thing."
(Thanks Tempest)
The San
Jose Mercury News has a new Robert interview ahead of tonight's
show at the Download Festival:
A rare appearance by
the Cure
RECONFIGURED ENGLISH BAND PLAYS THE DOWNLOAD
FESTIVAL
By Shay Quillen
Mercury News
Article Launched: 10/04/2007 01:38:29 AM PDT
Over three decades and 12 studio albums, through
buoyant alt-rock hits and some of the gloomiest music ever put
to tape, there has been one constant in the Cure: singer, lyricist
and goth icon Robert Smith.
"If I want to do something and someone in the
band doesn't want to do it - if they absolutely will not do it
- then they leave the band," Smith says matter-of-factly. "It's
not harsh. It's just that I can't compromise in certain areas,
and I don't see the point."
The Cure will make its only U.S. appearance
of the season Saturday, headlining the Download Festival at
Shoreline Amphitheatre. But it won't be the same lineup fans have
seen over the past decade. Since the band's last visit to the Bay
Area in 2004, Smith has fired two members and brought back guitarist
Porl Thompson - also Smith's brother-in-law - for his third stint
in the band.
"If I want to do something one way and someone
wants to do it another way, their way is just as valid," says
Smith, whose unkempt hair and red-white-and-black visage have become
as iconic for Generation Xers as Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp was
for the Lost Generation. "But my way is the way that I want to do it."
Despite his gloomy reputation, Smith is upbeat,
down-to-earth and quick to laugh as he calls from the South
Coast of England, where the band is in the studio finishing up
an ambitious double album. So ambitious, in fact, that a North American
tour slated to start Sept. 13 had to be pushed back to
the spring so the band could finish it.
Smith pledges that the band will put the as-yet-untitled
album to bed by the end of the year. At the record company's
insistence, it will also be available as a truncated one-disc version.
"I could keep doing it till next Christmas,
because it's fun to do, so I'm imposing this deadline," Smith
says, adding, "the others are also getting a little bit tetchy."
Smith credits the band's creative burst to the
return of Thompson, who performed on such Cure classics as "Just
Like Heaven," "Lovesong" and "Friday I'm in Love" before leaving
after the band's most popular album, 1993's "Wish." The current lineup
also includes longtime bassist Simon Gallup and 12-year veteran Jason
Cooper on drums.
"I think with Porl coming back, and the dynamic
changing in the group, the whole mood in the studio was so different,"
Smith says. "I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt so happy
in the studio. I wanted to go in each day, and I couldn't wait to
start. I think it was the same for everyone."
Smith says the album contains both "weird, upbeat
songs" and "very sad songs."
"We're all at an age where people are dying
around us, basically," says Smith, 48. Given that fact, "there's
a somber kind of feel to some of the songs. But there's also
a great deal of madness going on, because Porl coming back into
the group has really had an effect on the three of us."
Smith, who sang the line "It doesn't matter
if we all die" on the band's pitch-black 1982 LP "Pornography,"
says he believes depressing music can serve an important purpose.
"When I was in my teens, if I listened to Nick
Drake, for example, I felt soothed," he says. "When I first heard
Joy Division, when I first heard Ian Curtis sing, it touched me
in a way that I felt connected."
And Smith doesn't see angst as a purely teenage
phenomenon.
"I don't believe that anyone ever really gets
beyond angst, unless of course you find Jesus or your own personal
god - in which case, of course, life's a blast," he says. "But if
you don't, there's always that kind of nagging feeling that tends
to undermine everything one does.
"I think a lot of depression comes from that,
that kind of feeling of alienation, that feeling of being alone.
Occasionally Cure songs stray into that territory, because I
still have those feelings from time to time - obviously not all
the time, and thankfully a lot less often than I used to. But I've
never worried about it. At the same time I can get on stage and sing
'Lovecats,' " he says, referring to the band's jaunty U.K. hit single
from 1983.
Smith has talked about breaking up the band
for a quarter-century now, and he still says he'll pull the
plug when the time is right.
"Every time we do anything as a band, whoever
is in the band, I always say it's my mantra that you should
treat this as if it's the last time you'll ever do it, because
one day it will be," Smith says. "It sounds kind of hippie-ish and
trite," he says with a small laugh, "but it's genuine."
Download Festival
With the Cure, AFI, Kings of Leon, Black Rebel
Motorcycle Club, She Wants Revenge, Metric, the Black Angels,
65 Days of Static and Vau de Vire Society
Where: Shoreline Amphitheatre, One Amphitheatre
Parkway, Mountain View
When: 3 p.m. Saturday
Tickets: $29.50-$75 (lawn four-packs available
for $89)
And they also got Robert's
thoughts on some of the other bands playing Download:
Smith's
top festival picks
Article Launched: 10/04/2007 05:05:30 AM PDT
When Robert Smith goes to an event such as the
Download Festival to perform with the Cure, he also goes as a
music fan. "At a festival like that, I want to see most of the bands
on the bill," Smith says. Rather than schmoozing backstage, he says,
"I would like to experience other people playing music." He shared
his thoughts on some of the other bands on the Download lineup:
AFI
"MTV did a thing for us, an 'Icon' show, and
I asked if they would come and play a song for it. I love what
Davey [Havok] does with the band. I think it's really cool. It's
going to be very difficult following AFI, to be honest . . . , but
it's good. It's a nice challenge."
Kings of Leon
"We saw them at the Fuji festival a couple months
back when they were playing there. Really good."
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
"Met them in the toilets backstage at the Oxygen
Festival in Ireland [laughing]. I didn't actually get to see
them - they were playing the next day - so I'm looking forward to
seeing them."
She Wants Revenge
"I haven't seen them either, but lots of my
nephews and nieces are bugging me to video that part of the
show."
The Black Angels
"Black Angels are our label mates. I haven't
seen them, but they sound great. I've heard quite a few live
bootlegs of them. They sound amazing live."
65 Days of Static
"They're coming out with us for support for
the North American shows next year."
Also on the bill: Metric, Vau de Vire Society
- Shay Quillen
(Thanks Tempest and Grumpy)
And here's what appears to
be one of those "stitched together from other sources" type
interviews from Metro
Active:
Word Smith
Whether his band likes it or not, the Cure's
Robert Smith is still a perfectionist.
By Gelu Sulugiuc
AT 48 YEARS OLD, the Cure's Robert Smith says
he's not too old to be wearing eyeliner and lipstick and play
three-hour gigs all over the world. "My makeup is pretty '80s,
isn't it?" he says with a chuckle. "My appearance is preposterous
anyway, so it doesn't matter how old I am. It puzzles me why such
a big deal is made about it. It's part of the ritual of going onstage
and performing. It doesn't come that naturally to me even though
I've done it for years."
Drinking heavily before performing also used
to be part of Smith's ritual, but he cut down considerably in
recent years.
"I always knew when we were playing stadiums
that I was too drunk to be good, but it didn't seem to matter
that much to people," he says. "I am keenly aware of how old I am,
and I've always maintained that there's something reasonably charming
about seeing a 17-year-old fall over after one beer too many and
very far from charming seeing a 47-year-old keel over after one beer
too many."
When guitarist Perry Bamonte and keyboardist
Roger O'Donnell left the Cure in 2005, perhaps the biggest surprise
was that they lasted that long. It had been 10 years since the last
lineup change in a band notorious for a volatility its leader admits
may spring from his own unwillingness to compromise.
"I'm always the driving force of the band, and
if everyone's happy with what I want to do it's a happy band,
if they're not it's not," says Smith, the Cure's singer, guitarist
and main creative force. "I find it ridiculous to do something
I don't want to do, so it leaves everyone only one option, to leave.
It's very hard to leave a successful group. Sometimes it takes a little
cajoling and a little nod to make people realize they're not happy
in what they're doing and holding everyone else back."
With founding member and brother-in-law Porl
Thompson back on guitars after 13 years, Smith set out to make
the Cure's 14th studio album. "Porl's brought back a sense of urgency,
we've got a rock edge again," says Smith. "There's no need (for
keyboards) when you've got someone like Porl playing guitar.
He can pretty much create any sounds you want."
The problem now is that Smith himself is not
happy with what he's doing. He wrote 33 new songs, aiming toward
a record in the vein of his 1987 masterpiece Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss
Me, which melded radically different styles and moods. But he
is constantly trying to improve the songs, postponing the album's
release twice so far. Still without a title, it is now tentatively
scheduled for April or May next year.
"As usual, I'm holding it up because I can't
get the words how I want them," Smith says. "I find myself stopping
short and thinking I've done this before better, so it's hard to
find subject matter that really matters to me, things that I really
want to sing. I just don't want to make a record because we're
in a group. That flies in the face of what I've always wanted the
Cure to be. It frustrates the others a lot I think, but there's not
much anyone can do about it. The last four Cure albums have really
stalled on my lyric writing. I think it's worthwhile because they end
up better than they otherwise would have been. I never worry about writer's
block, I figure if I don't have anything to write about I shouldn't be
writing."
To finish the double album, the Cure canceled
almost all dates on its U.S. tour this fall—one of the few exceptions
being its Bay Area Download Festival appearance. The other shows
have been rescheduled for May and June of next year.
By then, the new album should be on store shelves.
Smith is producing it himself, recording the band with minimal
overdubs in an attempt to capture the vibrancy and brink-of-disaster
excitement of a demo tape. "It kind of teeters on the edge; everyone's
concentrating and trying hard to get it right," he says. The band members
spent one day per song, playing until they got the right take. Then
Smith wrote words to fit the recording, an approach he hadn't used since
Pornography in 1982.
"It has more color, more style," he says. "There
are no overdubs. Some songs have what one might call mistakes
in them, but they sound great and that pushed me to this idea of
not trying to refine everything all the time. It's incredibly varied
at the moment. Everyone has contributed so there are some very different
styles. I like the idea of it being more in the style of the Kiss
Me album with different things happening. But the art of that is to
get it to all hang together, which is quite difficult as well."
Smith credits his friends and fans with keeping
him from his retirement dream of growing a beard and writing
film soundtracks. But as his ambition pushes him to constantly
refine his new album and improve his live show, he finds himself
thinking about his legacy.
"I'm genuinely surprised at the people's reaction
when we play shows, it's hard to ignore it," he says. "It's gratifying
to know that people still want the Cure to exist. The best thing
about playing live is that we're an old band playing to a young audience.
As long as I still enjoy it I should keep doing it. I find it slightly
upsetting to see seriously old people performing contemporary music.
I haven't quite reached that stage, but I'm aware that time is moving
on. Once I won't be able to sing for three hours and also mentally wanting
to do it, that's when I'll stop. I don't want the Cure to fizzle out
doing 45-minute shows of greatest hits. It would be an awful way to
end the legacy of the Cure."
THE CURE performs on Saturday (Oct. 6) at the
DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL, also featuring A.F.I., KINGS OF LEON, BLACK
REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB, SHE WANTS REVENGE, METRIC, THE BLACK ANGEL,
65 DAYS OF STATIC, VAU DE VIRE SOCIETY and more, at 2pm at Shoreline
Amphitheatre, 1 Amphitheatre Pkwy., Mountain View. Tickets are $29.50–$75.
(408.998.TIXS)
(Thanks Tempest)
An unofficial Cure Download
party in San Jose tonight:
The Blank Club
44 S. Almaden Ave, downtown San Jose http://www.theblankclub.com/index.html
Saturday October 6
Doors 9pm $10
CURE AFTER PARTY!
CLUB SATORI with host DJ's Vitus and Kevin
Goth, Death Rock & New Wave
special live performance from
THE CURED
(Cure tribute band, San Diego)
Legendary Music Celebrities
Team Up With Record Label Executives To Judge The International
Songwriting Competition
Nelly Furtado, Jerry Lee Lewis, Loretta Lynn,
Ray Davies (The Kinks), Julian Casablancas (The Strokes), Tom
Waits, Sean Paul, Robert Smith
(The Cure), Cassandra Wilson, And Many More
Celebrities Team Up With Top Music Industry Executives To Choose
This Year's ISC Winners
I cannot tell you what an amazing feeling of
validation it has given me. When I wrote this song I knew it
was important, but I never imagined it
would mean something like this for me. Thank
you for believing in 'songs.' <http://www.songwritingcompetition.com/>
October 1, 2007 -- The deadline for songwriters
to enter the International Songwriting Competition (ISC) is
fast approaching. Many of the music industry's top celebrities
and record label executives have joined together to judge this
year's competition, one of the largest and most prestigious songwriting
and music competitions in the world. Judging ISC provides a unique
vehicle for celebrities to give back to their fans and offer encouragement
and support to aspiring songwriters all over the world. It also offers
the unprecedented opportunity for up-and-coming artists to have their
music heard by the music industry's top recording artists and record
label executives.
Scott Leger, Grand Prize Winner of ISC 2006,
says about the competition, "I cannot tell you what an amazing
feeling of validation it has given me. When I wrote this song I
knew it was important, but I never imagined it would mean something
like this for me. Thank you for believing in 'songs.'" His manager,
Mike Regan, adds, "winning the Grand Prize for the ISC can best be described
as 'career changing' for an artist."
ISC gives away over $150,000 in cash and prizes
each year, including an Overall Grand Prize package of $25,000
(US) in cash and over $20,000 in
merchandise, unmatched by any other songwriting
competition. ISC is open to musicians, artists, and songwriters
at every level from amateur to
professional, and offers 19 categories, covering
all genres of contemporary music. In addition to the regular
prizes, the winner of the Teen category receives a full scholarship
to Berklee College of Music's Summer Performance Program.
The complete ISC judging panel includes: Nelly
Furtado; Jerry Lee Lewis; Loretta Lynn; Ray Davies (The Kinks);
Hinder; Julian Casablancas (The
Strokes); Tom Waits; Kenny Wayne Shepherd; Ornette
Coleman; Youssou N'Dour; Sean Paul; "Weird Al" Yankovic; Frank
Black (Pixies); Robert
Smith (The Cure); Cassandra Wilson; David
Cross (FOX-TV's Arrested Development); Craig Morgan; John Mayall;
Joe Satriani; Toby Mac; Michael W. Smith; Chris Hillman (The Byrds);
John Scofield; Amy Ray (Indigo Girls); Cheech Marin (Cheech &
Chong); Darryl McDaniels (Run DMC); Macy Gray; Peter Hook (New Order);
Paulina Rubio; and Tiesto
Also judging will be music industry executives
Charlie Walk (President, Epic Records); Monte Lipman (President,
Universal Records); Mona Scott-Young (President, Violator Records);
Cameron Strang (President, New West Records); Steve Lillywhite
(Producer - credits include U2, The
Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Peter
Gabriel, and more); Bruce Iglauer (Founder/President, Alligator
Records); Cory Robbins (Founder/President, Robbins Entertainment);
Betty Pino (DJ, WAMR Miami); Angel Carrasco (President, 605 Discos
and Sr. VP A&R, Sony BMG Latin America); Thomas Brooman (Co-Founder/Artistic
Director, WOMAD); Dan Storper (President, Putumayo World Music);
Nancy Wolpert (VP Home Entertainment and Nick Records, Nickelodeon/BMG);
Leib Ostrow (CEO, Music For Little People); and Paul Majors (CEO/Founder
Majors Music)
ISC is sponsored by Electro-Voice, ASCAP, Berklee
College Of Music, Cakewalk, Shure, D'Addario, Thayers, Hear
Technologies, Disc Makers,
Sonicbids, Musician's Atlas, Sibelius, Karian
Studios, OnlineGigs, The Music Business Registry, Mediaguide,
ArtistMonitor, Platinum Blue Music
Intelligence, Alphabet Arm Design, George Stein,
Esq., SongU, The Indie Venue Bible, Shari's Berries, and Taxi
"I was buying a CD
today from the german female songwriter Nena which is called
"Cover Me". On this double CD she covers german and international
songs, to which, as track 5 on CD 2, also Friday I'm In Love is belonging.
The cover is a pretty good interpretation, not sticking too
much to the original, but still nice to hear
at. She even has a double page in the inlay of that CD with a
quote of the hook line. The CD was released by Warner Music Group
Germany and is available as a normal CD or as a digipack. Here are
the links to Amazon Germany
"I just saw an german article about that austrian
band called whispers in the shadow (they are very well known
within cure fans in europe, sound a bit like pronography period
cure meets interpol) the will re-release there first two records...laudanum
and november ..on the laudanum record will be a
A Forest Coverversion...as an bonus track...releaedate
will be sometime around november they said..."
(Thanks Alice)
Sept. 26th
I'll be back very
soon. If not this week, then in time for the Download Festival.
Everything is good, and COF is not closed.
