Even though I've been disappeared for a while in this blog, Tim never did it in my heart. I've come back reloaded with same the love I felt when I saw his face (in a picture :( hope someday in real life). Anyways, I wish all the good and loads of blessings and hugs for you, such a great Tim fan, and for your family!!!!
May your days be merry and white... and may all your Chritmases be white!!!! (8)
Tim says you gotta listen the song below!!
Btw, I found a post talking about Tim's equipment...really interesting! just click here =)
Our 2010 round-up continues, with Tim's highlights of the year.
1. Favourite album of 2010?
I think the two records that have really blown me away this year are the Arcade Fire album and the secondVampire Weekend album. Of the two I would pick Vampire Weekend as my favourite, just because it's so full of life and original sounds and ideas.
Again, probably Vampire Weekend. I was really blown away by the standard of musicianship and the energy from the band and the crowd was relentless. Very inspiring. Also it was at a fairly unusual venue - the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill - which I'm very fond of as we used to go there when I was a kid to watch panto and stuff like that. It's an amazing building and it's brilliant that they have rock bands playing there now.
4. Best gig you played?
I reckon Toronto in July. A hot night down by Lake Ontario. We were really fired up and played out of our skins.
5. Best film you saw?
Another Year is wonderful. It's funny how Mike Leigh just observing normal people living their lives is far more emotionally engaging than just about any film packed full of exciting story lines and big stars.
6. Best journey you made?
Probably getting the train to Italy. Needless to say there was a night train involved. Got to say, the Italian sleepers are not quite in the Deutsch Bahn league though.
7. Best TV show you watched?
Mad Men. It's rare to find a show that's as subtle and intelligent as this. Plus it looks really gorgeous.
8. Best meal you ate?
We had a great impromptu barbecue and party in the summer which is the kind of memory I really treasure. I'd rather eat burned BBQ food with some friends under a summer sky than any number of fancy restaurant meals.
9. Best book you read?
All Quiet On The Western Front. Hard to believe I hadn't read this before. It's just so powerful. And yet the human race still pays so little heed to its history.
10. Best thing you bought yourself?
The DVD of Runnin' Down A Dream - a documentary about Tom Petty that Peter Bogdanovich made a couple of years ago. It's about four hours long so you can really get stuck into it. I didn't even know very much about Tom Petty or his music, but I literally could not stop watching it. It's incredibly inspiring and emotional, totally compelling. It was recommended to me by John Roderick and is quite possibly the best thing I've ever watched.
11. Best thing someone else bought for you?
When I got back from our US tour in the summer, my wife had bought me a battered old Land Rover. I've always wanted one. It smells of oil, lets the rain in and sounds like a tractor - perfect.
12. Best website you visited?
Well, you can't argue with YouTube really. You can find just about anything on there. We were geeking out over the multitracks of Revolver the other day. Musicians are easily entertained by the many "shreds" videos on there, plus this sort of thing which we all loved. We're simple souls really.
13. Best thing that happened in 2010 for Keane?
There were lots of great moments, especially on the US tour in July/August. I have to say Night Train going to number 1 was so unexpected and meant a lot - that was a big deal for us.
14. Best thing that happened in 2010 for you?
Probably meeting Paul McCartney. We all went to see him play in Glasgow and had a bit of a chat backstage. Very exciting indeed.
15. Finally, what are you looking forward to in 2011?
So many things. Mainly the next album. The new record is still only in its very early stages but we're working harder than we ever have before to make it really amazing, so I'm very much looking forward to the day we have a finished record in our hands.
When Mt. Desolation were in America, they went along to the HQ of their label, Cherry Tree Records, to record a few songs. Click here to check out the session.
It started, as many ingenious ideas do: over a few, or maybe more than a few, drinks at a cozy bar—specifically, a Dublin pub. A little more than a year later, Tim Rice-Oxley and Jesse Quin, pianist and bassist respectively in Keane, had a new project, a new album, and a new tour on their hands.
Mt. Desolation take their name from the fictional mountain in Kerouac's The Dharma Bums, and the music reflects that nominal starting point, even if the American-style country it aims for often comes off (wonderfully) more Kinks than Cash—more Muswell Hillbilly than Virginia hillbilly. The self-titled album, made with members of Mumford and Sons, Noah and the Whale, and the Killers, is an understated gem, full of melody, brisk storytelling, and barely concealed excitement—no wonder Rice-Oxley was in such a pleasant mood when he spoke to Blender.
A couple of questions that I like from the interview...
What has the reaction to Mt. Desolation been from Tom [Chaplin] and Richard [Hughes] from Keane?
They've been lovely—really good, really encouraging. Jesse and I are very focused on Keane, and very excited about making the next Keane record. We've fit Mt. Desolation around Keane, so it's not like there's been a clash of schedules. And they love the music. Tom's been to quite a few Mt. Desolation gigs, even the first two tiny ones, just to support us, really. They've been brilliant about it; it hasn't caused any problems at all.
Both of those guys appreciate escaping from the Keane thing for a few weeks, getting back to normal life, which I think is very sensible, whereas Jesse and I are obsessives that need to be making music every moment that we're awake.
It might be too early to ask this, but what is the future of Mt. Desolation?
I don't know. We're very lucky that we don't feel the pressure to push it for all it's worth. Our plan is to do this tour and then go back to the UK and start making the next Keane album straight away... and I'm sure that will take up the next two years of our lives!
We have a very strong sense of wanting to continue Mt. Desolation, but it's hard to know yet when or how we will continue. But it's nice to put it aside while there's still a hunger to do more. We really enjoyed making the record, which is important. It's been so fun making it, so fun being on tour. We just did three weeks in the UK, and now we're living the dream bringing the tour to the States. It's been amazing, and I've learned so much from it. I would love to do it again, and I'm very excited to take everything I've learned back to writing for Keane. It's been a real education to me—a real eye-opener.
In case you don't know the lyrics here they are...
BITTER PILL
It seemed so easy at the start When I left my heart Sitting on the roof of the car And drove off
And I rushed to leave the past behind Forgot that heart was mine I didn't even know at the time I had one
I put the pedal to the floor Heading for the western shore Thinking only of high times I had there
Oh I was cruel, cruel, cruel I thought I'd fly too high to fall But I never flew Never left the ground at all
Greedy to get on the way I made that old mistake Of sneering at familiar streets And faces
Did you marry someone good From our neighbourhood Or are you on the other side of the world Still searching
Oh I was cruel, cruel, cruel I thought I'd fly too high to fall But I never flew Never left the ground at all, at all So next time, time, time I'll dream in days or on your mind Look me up, 'cause I Never left those days behind, behind
I've done some things I never should have done Now I've come down, don't tell me that I'm out of time Turn back your love upon a pie-eyed fool Forget the things I did
When I was cruel, cruel, cruel I thought I'd fly too high to fall 'Cause I never flew Never left the ground at all, at all So next time, time, time I'll dream in days or on your mind Look me up, 'cause I Never left those days behind, behind
The wait is over – you can now buy Mt. Desolation’s self-titled debut album from all good music retailers. Click here to choose where you would like to get your copy.
I just found this photo from our UK tour. We stopped for lunch at a pub in the middle of nowhere in the highlands of Scotland. They had loads of instruments so we had a little play.
Ahead of Mt.D’s North American tour dates in October, the band have released a track from the album, Bitter Pill, as a single in the US and Canada. Click the links below to get your copy:
Hey. The tour’s been really good so far. Thanks to everyone who came to the show in Dublin. It was really fun. Here’s a few photos from our rehearsal on the day before we left.
Tim and I spent the day doing interviews to promote the album. Neither of us are particularly charming, funny or interesting at the best of times. So it was a long day.
In the evening Tim went home and I went to watch Thomas J Speight at The Lexington. He was really good.
As you know, Mt.Desolation has a new site which is incredible. I've just seen the bio section and found some great pics an of course the biography. Click here to read it directly from their site or click below to see the images.
Here's another really good interview which the band did on the recent North American jaunt - this time featuring Tom and Tim chatting about NIght Train and plans for the next album. (Best backdrop to a video interview ever?)
As many of you will already know, this October sees the global release of the rather lovely self-titled debut album by Mt. Desolation, the new alt-country side project from Tim and Jesse Quin. The album is out on October 18th, and you can hear one of its songs above (with Tim on lead vocals). There's also another in the Music section at the brand new mtdesolation.com website (ch-check it out for more info, pictures etc).
Mt. Desolation have also announced a 15-date tour of the UK and Ireland, taking in the following extremely intimate venues:
10 Sept - Dublin, Whelans 12 Sept - Nottingham, Bodega 14 Sept - Newcastle, Academy 2 15 Sept - Glasgow, King Tuts Wah Wah Hut 16 Sept - Inverness, Hootanannys 17 Sept - Stornoway, Woodlands Centre 18 Sept - Ullapool, Loopallu (festival show) 19 Sept - Fort William, Watercolour Studio 21 Sept - Isle of Mull, An Tobar 22 Sept - Dundee, Fat Sams 23 Sept - Aberdeen, The Tunnels 24 Sept - Leeds, Brudenell Social Club 25 Sept - Manchester, Deaf Institute 27 Sept - London, Scala 28 Sept - Brighton, Ballroom
we've been asked a few times for the lyrics for Night Train, so we've put together this funky digital booklet with a few of my photographs from the Perfect Symmetry tour. hope you all enjoy looking and reading through it.
You might remember that, in 2007, keanemusic.com was crowned Best Official Website at the BT Digital Music Awards. The following year, we narrowly missed out on winning it again, finishing second. And we couldn't have done it without your votes.
Now, after a break in 2009, the award is back - and we'd very much appreciate your help in trying to win it again.
If you like what we do with the official site (and our social sites and the KWN etc) then we'd be very grateful if you'd vote for us to win, and help us regain our title! You can vote once a day, if you'd like to.
During the American tour, the band found time to head into Last.fm's studio to chat about Night Train and record some exclusive acoustic performances. You can now watch the videos and hear the interview clips as part of Last.fm's Artist of the Week feature by clicking here.
Hi, my name is Isa. I'm a massive Tim Rice-Oxley fan, dunno who's him? Keane's pianist, of course!! The reason I created this blog is because I want to share more about our talented and genius Timmy, the man who stole my heart without knowing who I am.
Welcome and feel free to comment! :D
.jpg)
Posts
