In 2007, after Pearl Jam’s 2006 tour had ended, the band members began recording demo material on their own while staying in occasional contact via e-mail. Guitarist Mike McCready revealed at the time that he had tested out some ideas with guitarist Stone Gossard and drummer Matt Cameron in separate sessions as well. Rolling Stone reported in May 2008 that Pearl Jam was in the early stages of working on its ninth studio album and had already had one session with O’Brien. McCready stated in 2008 that the album is “really in its infant stages right now” and that the band had “about five ideas that have been worked on.” After laying down some instrumental beds in 2008, additional demos were put to tape in December, and Ament, Cameron, Gossard, and McCready came up with another array of material during a trip to Ament’s home in Montana. Ament said, “It’s the first time since the first record that we’ve really rehearsed… instead of just going to the studio with a handful of ideas.”

Vedder proceeded to put rough vocals on about half of the material formulated in the December session, and also brought in his own material for the band members to work on.In February 2009, Pearl Jam went for a two-week session at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California with O’Brien. It was the first time the band spent a considerable amount of time recording outside of Seattle, Washington since the band’s 1996 album, No Code. McCready said, “When we got together with Ed and it really started getting more cohesive, we took that momentum down to Los Angeles with Brendan… It was a great idea to get us out of Seattle. You’ve gotta get outyour comfort zone, and we’ve talked about doing that for the past ten years and kind of haven’t, so we trusted Brendan’s judgment.” In April 2009, the band went for a two-week session to finish the album with O’Brien at his mixing facility at Southern Tracks in Atlanta, Georgia.

(text via wiki)

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BUY >> DAVID GRAY – DRAW THE LINE

Draw the Line is the eighth studio album by the English singer-songwriter David Gray, released on 14 September 2009 in Europe and 22 September in the US. The first single “Fugitive” was released on 7 September 2009.

Gray recorded the album, the first set of new songs since 2005′s Life in Slow Motion, in his own studio–The Church Studios–while un-signed to a record label. The studio previously belonged to the Eurythmics, and when Gray invited Annie Lennox to guest record the duet “Full Steam,” she reprimanded him for not changing the carpets. The track, described as “a broad political thing,” is one of two duets on the album.

The second duet, “Kathleen,” features Jolie Holland. Gray revealed in an interview that the original choice for “Kathleen” was Dolly Parton, to whom he wrote a letter with a demo of the song. Parton turned down the offer as she was busy.

Draw the Line is the first studio album with his new band after Gray parted with long-time collaborator Craig McClune in 2007. Gray said that he felt “the creative spark was sort of diminishing between the people who were involved.”  The album includes eleven new songs, with a new band to back him up: Neill MacColl on guitars, Robbie Malone on bass, and Keith Pryor on drums.

Gray told The Irish Times that these changes were part of the thinking behind the title: “It’s the end of one thing and the start of another. Because there was a chapter and it’s ended and now there’s a new one. But also it’s like, ‘don’t cross this line!’ It’s confrontational, which is intentional. That’s how I feel.”

David Gray – vocals, guitar, piano
* Neill MacColl – guitar, backing vocals
* Rob Malone – bass, backing vocals
* Keith Pryor – drums
* James Hallawell – keyboards
* Caroline Dale – Cello
* Iestyn Polson – Programming

(text via wiki)

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BUY >> MUSE – THE RESISTANCE

(text via wiki)
Pic via Muse.mu