The definitive Primus line-up – Les Claypool, guitarist Larry LaLonde, and drummer Tim Alexander - is back together and set to release their first full-length studio album in nearly 20 years, 'Primus & the Chocolate Factory,’ due out on ATO Records on 3rd November. "The idea was to combine the Frog Brigade and Primus, and do this record,’ says Claypool. “I think like a good portion of the planet, we were all pretty put off by the remake of the 'Willy Wonka' movie - the Tim Burton version. I really wanted to pay homage to a film [1971's 'Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,' starring Gene Wilder] that was very important to me as a kid and very influential to me musically. So that's what we did. And as opposed to just going in and recording the songs and playing them the way they are in the film, we twisted them up a bit…twisted them up a lot." Re-imagined classic track “Pure Imagination” recently premiered on Rolling Stone.
Things felt so good, in fact, that Claypool decided to take Primus into the studio to prepare the soundtrack for an album release. He admits that he’s always, “in some way, wanted to be Willy Wonka,” and, also, that he’s always wanted to work a cover of “The Candyman”, a memorable number from the film’s soundtrack, into Primus sets. “Hell, I’ve been doing the line from the boat ride on stage since the ‘80’s,” then Les sings, ”There’s no earthly way of knowing, which direction we are going…”
“The thought was that I wanted to take on some kind of sacred cow, and the whole Wonka thing was a massive part of my childhood,” Claypool explains. “It just seemed like the perfect project to take on, in part because those tunes are all so strong.”
“The recording is about my early perception of the original ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’ film,” says Claypool. “The notion wasn’t so much to go in and redo the soundtrack note for note as much as it was to utilise the classic elements of the music, yet try to reflect some of the darker undertones of the Roald Dahl books, because when you read those books, there is an eerie and somewhat menacing aspect implied.”
With the album scheduled for 3rd November, Primus plans to tour the Chocolate Factory. “We’re going to do some touring with it and we put together this pretty abstract stage production,” says Claypool, “We’re going to take it out there, around the planet, and see what happens. And, in light of the record business being gutted by the internet, we’ve made some PRIMUS brand chocolate bars to peddle as well.”
Of course, Claypool realised that it was risky business to adapt a cinematic classic that is so close to so many people’s hearts. And, naturally, he realised that it was dangerous waters to swim in the wake of Gene Wilder. The band pulls it off by making something that is truly their own without taking anything away from the movie. When asked about the fairly recent Tim Burton attempt at bringing the Roald Dahl story to the screen Claypool comments, “Look, I love me some Tim Burton, when he writes his own stuff, and I respect what Johnny Depp has done over the years. Hell, Ed Wood is one of my favourite films, but that (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) is just unwatchable and believe me I’ve tried…twice as a matter of fact,” Les continues, “Even my kids hated it”.
“Our project is an homage to Gene Wilder and David L. Wolper’s ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’ and the effect it had on me in my youth,” spouts Les, “Now we get to sell PRIMUS bars and hang out with demented Oompa Loompas. Plus to top it off, it gives me an excuse to wear a purple, velvet waistcoat and brown top hat for the next 18 months.”
Primus, Over the Electric Grapevine: Insight into Primus and the World of Les Claypool published by Akashic Books will be available on 16th Sept 2014.
Naming their duo in ode to Daniel Johnston’s song of the same named, Mahoney divulges, “I had always loved the song, and had been thinking of what such an edifice would contain when we were trying to name the project.” McNany continues, “Pat’s a sculptor, I’m a painter, we make music and museums are sacred spaces and love is an elusive thing.”
McNany did most of the songwriting as well as production and instrumentation, while Mahoney is on vocals and of course, drums, but Museum of Love was an entirely collaborative process as the two edited and arranged tracks in the studio. Mahoney says the process of collaboration was energizing, while McNany simply explains, “making the record was pure pleasure. Waiting for it to come out has been the hardest thing.”
Richard Kiel, who most famously played Jaws in two James Bond films starring Roger Moore, “The Spy Who Loved Me” and “Moonraker,” and also appeared in Adam Sandler comedy “Happy Gilmore,” died Wednesday afternoon in a hospital in Fresno, Calif., three days shy of his 75th birthday.
TMZ first reported the news.
The actor had broken his leg earlier in the week, but it is not clear whether that contributed to his death.
Kiel had lent his voice to a James Bond videogame in 2003 but more recently had voiced Vlad for the animated film “Tangled” in 2010.
Kiel’s villainous Jaws was so popular with movie audiences who saw “The Spy Who Loved Me” that the character was made sympathetic in follow-up “Moonraker.”
Before his appearances in the Bond film in the mid to late ’70s, Kiel was perhaps best known for his roles in Burt Reynolds prison football film “The Longest Yard” and for appearing in several episodes of “The Wild Wild West” as an assistant to super-villain Miguelito Loveless (the diminutive Michael Dunn).
Younger audiences knew him best from “Happy Gilmore,” in which he played a golf spectator who threatens the villainous Shooter McGavin.
Source: Variety
It’s not the first time you’ll read it, but still The Sopranos is the best series from last years!
This Christmas Warner will release lots of boxes on Blu-ray. We’ll keep you informed, of course! But why not start with the biggest one?
Soon out in an impressive Blu-ray box: all the six seasons from The Sopranos.
DUTCH VERSION
De betreurde James Gandolfini staat voor altijd in ons collectieve geheugen gegrift dankzij z’n indringende vertolking van Tony Soprano, de weergaloze pater familias uit cultreeks The Sopranos. Voor het eerst zijn alle zes seizoenen van deze unieke, met prijzen overladen reeks verkrijgbaar op Blu-ray™ in een prachtige verzamelbox! Laat jezelf 86 afleveringen lang meeslepen in de onderwereld van New Jersey, en geniet van de vele extra features, documentaires en interviews. Of zoals Tony het zelf zo mooi zou verwoorden: haal deze box in huis, or lose two teeth!
Coitus Int hailed from Utrecht, the Netherlands. The band started out as a typical schoolboys punkrock-band in the late 70s. They made their vinyl debut with a 7’’ ("Dead Excitement EP") released on the local Rock Against label in 1980. At that time many more p-bands appeared on the Utrecht scene, and Coitus Int. quickly changed their style to a slower, more radical and just as heavy sound, with a barracuda bass style what would be part of their trademark sound, all influenced by groups as Joy Division, Southern Death Cult, Gang of Four , The Stranglers (for the bass sound) and Pere Ubu (for the vocals). In the years to come three albums were released, all on their own independent (and nameless) label, and made with different drummers:
- Coitus Int, 1981
- Sex For The Wealthy, 1984
- Rules For making Love And Babies, 1991
‘’Sex For The Wealthy’’ is now reissued for the first time on vinyl 30 years after its original release.
