Saturday, October 11, 2008

Rome show


Setlist and show notes at COF.
Reviews: COF
Photos: COF / COF (Close Encounters) / TheCure.SK / Ale / Cherry Blossom G1rl / Andrea Ranalli

Videos:
MTV Italia on YouTube
Interview with Robert / Underneath The Stars / The Only One / The Reasons Why / Freakshow / Sirensong / The Real Snow White / The Hungry Ghost / Switch / The Perfect Boy / This. Here and Now. With You / Sleep When I'm Dead / The Scream / It's Over / Lullaby / Fascination Street / Wrong Number / The End of the World / The Walk / Lovesong / Friday I'm in Love / Inbetween Days / Just Like Heaven / Boys Don't Cry

The above clips as MP4 video files.
(Thanks AndytheCurefan)

Short clips
The Reasons Why / Freakshow / Switch

Audio:
MP3 (one mp3, all in one, 50mb, missing BDC)
MP3s (The above file split up into individual files.
Just 4:13 Dream. Thanks AndytheCurefan)
MP3s (The above file split up into individual files.
Just the encore. Thanks Mr. Pink Eyes)

Friday, October 10, 2008

Rome soundcheck videos

The Walk
Fascination Street
Friday I'm In Love
(Thanks Philippe)

Best of The Cure on Virgin 17

"On Virgin 17, Saturday evening and Sunday, there is a special Best of The Cure. This may be of interest to my fellow French and Europeans. I put the translation of the text in English .....

Four years after his last opus, The Cure is back in the bins with a thirteenth studio album called "4:13 Deam" whose output is expected for October 28. The opportunity for Olia and Jean-Louis to review the career of the new wave group through their best-known titles, "Boys Don't Cry," "Close to Me," "Just Like Heaven" or "High ". Robert Cure is the only remaining member of the original group." (Thanks Carole)

4:13 Dream promo items

Photos of a German promo poster and some buttons, have been added to the 4:13 Dream Promo Items gallery. (Thanks Wilco)

Rome soundcheck

The Cure have made it safely to Rome, and are doing a soundcheck. They have played Fascination St., The Walk, Friday I'm In Love, Lullaby, Wrong Number, and all of 4:13 Dream! Robert didn't sing with all of his potential, was saving his voice for tomorrow. (Thanks to Toberr and Secrets @ A Pink Dream)

All Kinds Of Stuff

Just wanted to clear out some stuff from the inbox, before things get really busy around here.

Check out Luke/NINCure's tattoos.

Some Cure covers:
Pictures of You by Chaos Borne
A Forest by Malakoff
2Late by Tomihira
The Figurehead by STROSZeK
The Drowning Man by None
(Thanks Dave, Emma, Dennis, Mike, RV)

Um, a pole dance to Lullaby. Yep, seen it all now. : )
(Thanks Dan)

4:13 Dream release parties in Germany

OFFICIAL THE CURE RECORD RELEASE PARTY
10:15 SATURDAY NIGHT - 11TH OKTOBER 2008
Have a click here for further information.
(Thanks Wilco)

Release Party in Krefeld/Germany November 1st
For details see: www.myspace.com/paintitblackparty
(Thanks Aline)

The Return of Boris

Boris Williams plays on the new Shelleyan Orphan album, 'We Have Everything We Need', due out on Oct. 13th/14th. It's their first album in 17 years. Welcome back Boris!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Charlotte on HDNet update

According to the schedule at HDNet, the Charlotte show will only be an hour long. Pretty safe to assume we won't be seeing the Faith encore. Maybe we'll get it on DVD and Blu-Ray?

Bernard Lenoir show

Just a reminder that Bernard Lenoir is supposed to play another new song from 4:13 Dream on his show today. You can listen to the live stream here (just click on Direct or the speaker icon). His show runs from 10-11pm in France.

Update: Bernard says no new Cure tonight. TMU is mad that UTS was posted online, so they will not let him play another new song.

Update 2: "Thought I'd explain a few things about tonight's debacle. From the start Lenoir and his guest (who specialises in old stuff, hence the Dylan and such ) joked about the fact that they couldn't play any more new songs - from the way they said it, it sounded like Robert was pissed off with them, but I think it's probably more universal. Nothing serious anyway. Lenoir's friendship with Rob goes back to the time when he wrote the instrumetnal for what was to become "just like heaven" for him.

The good news is that they said that the album, although no Disintegration, was not a disappointment. They meant to play "the hungry ghost", which was a favourite of theirs. They described "UTS" as sumptuous.

Also, the guest, Hugo, writes reviews in a arty paper (telerama) that sells very well here in France, and Lenoir asked him if they planned on interviewing robert. He replied he'd be delighted but Robert has told them he doesn't want to do any interviews right now.

Shame about tonight. They did say they'd cheat again and play some more before the 27th."

(Thanks Sylvain)

4:13 Dream review

From the Phantom of the Friend of COF:

"First off, let me preface by saying that this is an album that I find to be best listened to as a cohesive piece of music…i.e. play the whole thing start to finish…don’t skip around cause you know certain songs or have heard things on youtube or the web…press start, dim the lights, crank it up (as the mix sounds great loud) and GO!...and don’t stop for like 54 minutes…it is well worth it…and the more you listen to it, the more it will immediately grow on you each time…then you can pick your favorites…and the coolest part to me is the total dichotomy of the peacefulness of UTS starting the album to the frantic last two songs…Robert picked a great running order…

-As far as the guys, Robert sounds the best he ever has…Vocals and lyrics are top notch, and presentation (i.e. effects) and where vocals balance in the mix is just perfect…Second, Simon is the driver of many, if not all, of these songs…This is nothing new to long time fans, but wows me every time…His bass is so beyond “normal” bass playing of supporting the drums and rhythm guitar…he plays so many lines and notes it really gets the song moving…He has it downtuned to D in a few of the songs so the bass is nice and thick/low…Third, Porl…Dear lord he is rocking out all over and the injection of his playing really defines a lot of this album (this is of course me guessing what he has played in terms of actual record parts)…But needless to say his style is appreciated…And last but not least, Jason fully completes the circle…great drumming on this one and the selections of rhythms work so right on each individual piece of music…This is a BAND…and they certainly sound like it…I am a 22 year Cure fan…So I grew up on the “early stuff”…and as much as I would say Disintegration is my fav cause of the time in my life it effected me, it is the NOW of this band that excites me…and I think will excite you as well…

Note that the singles are similar to what we all have already over the last few months added to our collections…for the causal listener you might not pick up on changes…but there are definitely different vocal effects, background noises and such going on in the songs…SWID to me is way more ambient on the album and i love this “mix”…I threw some notes in below as Craig has requested it and as a long time COF anonymous contributor, I don’t want to let you guys down!…still, I don’t want to give it all away as I still hate the internet for giving things up early (it steals the mystery out of most things these days); but I figure a few small thoughts from my mind wont hurt…so this is just a quick commentary on the songs…you will most likely hear via web or live or MTV or something the actual pieces of work this weekend from the Rome show…so enjoy…and look forward to this…and buy the musicdon’t file share and all that crap…actually support a great band who made a great piece of work that I know we have all been waiting for…

Times approx
01 UNDERNEATH THE STARS (6:17)- I think most of us know this one already as a live favorite unless you have been living under a rock…album version is solid and doesn’t really stray from the live one…lots of 6 string bass, and beautiful guitar parts…lots of chimes too

02 THE ONLY ONE (3:57)- pretty close to single; just a bit of a different mix sonically

03 THE REASONS WHY (4:35)- Starts with a subtle guitar line and builds into a 6 string bass part (not like what we are used to in sound) and adds more guitars and bass as it grows…Great chorus to this song and Robert’s vocal effect is super cool…

04 FREAKSHOW (2:30)- see The Only One…

05 SIRENSONG (2:22)- think very layered slide guitar a la the Cocteau Twins with a great song and melody and subtle piano…Not a long song but a beautiful song…

06 THE REAL SNOW WHITE (4:43)- This is a rocker…I can hear a number of influences here…Hendrix, Beatles and bands of that era…”You got what I need”…

07 THE HUNGRY GHOST (4:29)- one of my favorites on the album…Builds with a guitar line that reminds me of the beginning of “It’s Not You” and then leads into a GREAT chorus with solid guitar sounds…”We’ll never satisfy the hungry ghost”…

08 SWITCH (3:44)- Super rocker…pure chaotic wah at beginning…love it…

09 THE PERFECT BOY (3:21)- see The Only One…This is a gorgeous song no matter who mixes it!...

10 THIS. HERE AND NOW. WITH YOU (4:05)- Excellent song the whole way through…one of my other favs on the album…Really driven by Simon’s bass and featuring some wild guitar/keyboard sounds with an underwater effect to them…Very magical song I think…If there was such a thing as a next single, I would pick this song…”I don’t remember getting here”…

11 SLEEP WHEN I’M DEAD (3:51)- this mix feels more ambient than the single we all have…this is an incredible song…and I like the album version much better…the subtle background keys and lines really give this song color…

12 THE SCREAM (4:35)- ok these last 2 songs are the barnburners…this is where we end with some serious rock and if it was me playing at least one smashed guitar if this was live…This one starts slow…Middle Eastern feel a la “The Blood” although not acoustic…Something about this song makes me feel like it could have fit into the Top era…So the song builds up and then Robert let’s out this banshee scream of death…If you have headphones on or your stereo up you will actually get distortion which I think is perfectly fitting (for those who record, think needle well past the red line)!!!...Once the scream dies out it is time to kick the walls down and rock out…just builds into chaos and then dies out leading into…

13 IT’S OVER (4:16)- leading into this song which we all know and some saw live as Baby Rag Dog Book…this sounds incredible on the album…Starts with thumping Simon bass and Jason drums…and just kicks in and goes!...i thought it was cool live from what I saw (yes in person), but to hear it sonically recorded is great cause it matches the intensity of the live version and they captured the sound and feel…"

Thank you Phantom of Friend of COF for taking the time to review this for us!

Buy Porl's Corsair Bigsby guitar

Porl's signature Corsair Bigsby guitar will be available at Musician's Friend on Oct. 31st. (Thanks Sarab)

And Robert's UltraCure is still available, too.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

UTS airs in France!

The album version of Underneath The Stars has just aired on the Bernard Lenoir show on France Inter radio! He says he will air more new songs on his show tomorrow (10-11pm in France). That will be 1-2pm pacific, 2-3pm mountain, 3-4pm central, 4-5pm eastern. Anyone up for a listening party?
(Thanks VincentD18 and wrongnumber)

Listen to it here (13:30 mark). Absolutely brilliant! Serious chills just listening to a mono version! Best Cure song in a decade...at least. (Thanks to Toberr@A Pink Dream)

Get the MP3 at TheCureRarities. (Thanks Ariel)

Listen to it on YouTube. (Thanks Eric) Too late, removed by TMU.

It's Over / Baby Rag Dog Book

I now have a 100% confirmation that 'It's Over' is the new title of 'Baby Rag Dog Book'. (Thanks Friend of COF)

Charts update

Hypnagogic States
Spain - down to #2 from #1 (3rd week; 2nd week was also at #1)
France - down to #44 from #39 (2nd week)
Europe - down to #71 from #68 (2nd week)
(Thanks Pietro)

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

4:13 Dream release dates

Nothing really new here, but with the Play.com confusion, thought it might be a good idea to post the release dates that are listed at the various branches of "The Mighty U":

Oct. 24th - Italy, Germany
Oct. 27th - Europe
Oct. 28th - North America
Nov. 5th - Japan

(Thanks to Junko, Matteo, Anonymous, and Friend of COF)

Monday, October 6, 2008

Mode announces Tour of the Universe

While we wait for more Cure info to come to light, Depeche Mode has announced their Tour of the Universe 2009.

German commercial for the tour.

The new album will be released on April 20th in Europe, and on April 21st in the US.

4:13 Dream delayed? No, it's not!

Play.com has updated their release date for 4:13 Dream, and now have it scheduled for Nov. 24th. Big mistake? Or another delay? I'm sure Robert will give us the answer soon. : ) (Thanks Chris)

Update: All of the other stores I checked, still have the Oct. 27th/28th release date.

Update 2: Everyone I've checked with says the album is still listed for late October.

Update 3: Play has changed their date back to Oct. 27th. Thanks for the needless worries, Play. : )

Cure live on MTV Italy

MTV COCA-COLA LIVE
SATURDAY
20.30 - 21.00 "WARM UP"
21.00 - 0.05 THE SHOW
in direct for MTV ITALY.
(Thanks Matteo)

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Roger plays London on Oct. 18th

Roger and Erin will be playing in London on Oct. 18th. More info from Roger's website: "I am playing a show on the 18th of October at the Concrete Cafe which is part of the Hayward Gallery one of my favourite places in the world. Its part of the South Bank complex on the Thames in London. I have written a new piece of music for it and Erin is going to perform a special set before,
it should be an amazing evening and its free!"

Roger's new album, Songs From the Silver Box, is scheduled for release on Jan. 20th, 2009. For more info on all of Roger's projects, check out his newly redesigned website. Very nice!

Just Like Heaven tribute album streaming

You can listen to the new tribute album, Just Like Heaven, right here. (Thanks Josh)

The album is available for pre-ordering at American Laundromat Records.