by Kirsten Becker
2014 was an incredible year of great rock and roll music. Here are some of my favorite albums, in kind of an order, but not really.*~~
Tag: Temples
Top Played Artists 3/11-3/17
1 ST. VINCENT – St. Vincent
2 REAL ESTATE – Atlas
3 GARDENS AND VILLA – Dunes
4 GUIDED BY VOICES – Motivational Jumpsuit
5 BLACK LIPS – Underneath The Rainbow
6 AVA LUNA – Electric Balloon
7 WARPAINT – Warpaint
8 DUM DUM GIRLS – Too True
9 HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF – Small Town Heroes
10 TEMPLES – Sun Structures
11 SNOWMINE – Dialects
12 JUAN WAUTERS – N.A.P. North American Poetry
13 TOGETHER PANGEA – Badillac
14 TOY – Join The Dots
15 PYPY – Pagan Day
16 CHERRY GLAZERR – Haxel Princess
17 MODERN BASEBALL – You’re Gonna Miss It All
18 NATURAL CHILD – Dancin’ With Wolves
19 SLEEPY SUN – Maui Tears
20 TACOCAT – NVM
21 WARM SODA – Young Reckless Hearts
22 DEVIL MAKES THREE – I’m A Stranger Here
23 DISTRICTS – The Districts [EP]
24 SKATERS – Manhattan
25 MARK MCGUIRE – Along The Way
26 CASKET GIRLS – True Love Kills The Fairy Tale
27 NOTHING – Guilty Of Everything
28 ETERNAL SUMMERS -The Drop Beneath
29 DAMAGED BUG – Hubba Bubba
30 PAUL RUSKE – Uncertain Times
Top Played Artists 3/4-3/10
1 REAL ESTATE – Atlas
2 BLEEDING RAINBOW – Interrupt
3 GUIDED BY VOICES – Motivational Jumpsuit
4 SNOWMINE – Dialects
5 TEMPLES – Sun Structures
6 WARPAINT – Warpaint
7 TOY – Join The Dots
8 ST. VINCENT – St. Vincent
9 YELLOW OSTRICH – Cosmos
10 MODERN BASEBALL – You’re Gonna Miss It All
11 DEVIL MAKES THREE – I’m A Stranger Here
12 HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF – Small Town Heroes
13 GARDENS AND VILLA – Dunes
14 SKATERS – Manhattan
15 DISTRICTS – The Districts [EP]
16 JUAN WAUTERS – N.A.P. North American Poetry
17 TACOCAT NVM
18 BOY AND BEAR – Harlequin Dream
19 JAKE BUGG – Shangri-la
20 PAUL RUSKE – Uncertain Times
21 TOGETHER PANGEA – Badillac
22 NATURAL CHILD – Dancin’ With Wolves
23 HOSPITALITY – Trouble
24 DUM DUM GIRLS – Too True
25 SLOTHRUST – Of Course You Do
26 BAND OF HORSES – Acoustic At The Ryman
27 MOZES AND THE FIRSTBORN – Mozes And The Firstborn
28 ANGEL OLSEN – Burn Your Fire For No Witness
29 BLONDFIRE – Young Heart
30 EAGULLS – Eagulls
Top Played Artists 2/25-3/3
1 TEMPLES – Sun Structures
2 WARPAINT – Warpaint
3 BLEEDING RAINBOW – Interrupt
4 SNOWMINE – Dialects
5 GUIDED BY VOICES – Motivational Jumpsuit
6 BAND OF HORSES – Acoustic At The Ryman
7 MODERN BASEBALL – You’re Gonna Miss It All
8 TOY – Join The Dots
9 DISTRICTS – The Districts [EP]
10 JUAN WAUTERS – N.A.P. North American Poetry
11 JAKE BUGG – Shangri-la
12 YELLOW OSTRICH – Cosmos
13 STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS – Wig Out At Jagbags
14 TOGETHER PANGEA – Badillac
15 NATURAL CHILD – Dancin’ With Wolves
16 SLOTHRUST – Of Course You Do
17 PAINTED PALMS – Forever
18 SOLIDS – Blame Confusion
19 ANGEL OLSEN – Burn Your Fire For No Witness
20 HOSPITALITY – Trouble
21 DEVIL MAKES THREE – I’m A Stranger Here
22 GARDENS AND VILLA – Dunes
23 TINARIWEN – Emmaar
24 CIBO MATTO – Hotel Valentine
25 SPEEDY ORTIZ – Real Hair [EP]
26 BLONDFIRE – Young Heart
27 MARK MCGUIRE – Along The Way
28 BROKEN BELLS – After The Disco
29 PYPY – Pagan Day
30 CASKET GIRLS – True Love Kills The Fairy Tale
Top Played Artists 2/18-2/24
1 DUM DUM GIRLS – Too True
2 SNOWMINE – Dialects
3 GUIDED BY VOICES – Motivational Jumpsuit
4 JUAN WAUTERS – N.A.P. North American Poetry
5 WARPAINT – Warpaint
6 TEMPLES – Sun Structures
7 TOY – Join The Dots
8 DISTRICTS – The Districts [EP]
9 SPEEDY ORTIZ – Real Hair [EP]
10 TOGETHER PANGEA – Badillac
11 SLOTHRUST – Of Course You Do
12 PAINTED PALMS – Forever
13 SOLIDS – Blame Confusion
14 BLEEDING RAINBOW – Interrupt
15 CHEATAHS – Cheatahs
16 HOSPITALITY – Trouble
17 HOLY WAVE – Relax
18 ANGEL OLSEN – Burn Your Fire For No Witness
19 YELLOW OSTRICH – Cosmos
20 JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW – Post Tropical
21 TINARIWEN – Emmaar
22 STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS – Wig Out At Jagbags
23 SKATERS – Manhattan
24 EL TEN ELEVEN – For Emily [EP]
25 EAGULLS – Eagulls
26 CASKET GIRLS – True Love Kills The Fairy Tale
27 PYPY – Pagan Day
28 DAMIEN JURADO – Brothers And Sisters Of The Eternal Son
29 ADVENTURE GALLEY – Anywhere That’s Wild
30 QUILT – Held In Splendor
Interview with Temples
By Victoria Powell
We had the chance to speak with Thomas Warmsley, the bass player and co-founding member of what has been called the best new band in England. Temples have left their home in Kettering, England to come tour the U.S. and they recently played here at Kung Fu Necktie on November 3rd.
VP: Are you having fun in America? Have you been here before?
TW: Yea, it’s the first time any of us have played music in America. In England it’s quite a landmark thing to come over to the states and play. Yea, it’s been quite a special trip, I guess, to come out here and do that. I think every venue has its own atmosphere and every country has its own kind of way of doing things, and different audiences. It’s really exciting and we’re having a great time; taking it all in.
VP: What do you miss about your home?
TW: I don’t know, I mean when you go on tour you kind of expect to leave all of your home comforts behind. I think we all enjoy the fact that we’re not home in Kettering, where we all live. It’s kind of like a world away from where we’re from. I think we kind of embrace the fact that it’s a little bit alien and different. It’s all part of the trip really.
VP: Who is your all time favorite producer and why?
TW: (laughs) Tricky question, because we have so many… I don’t know, I mean Phil Spector for us is such a big name and his whole style and way of doing things in the studio is kind of a real institution. He has such a signature sound – signature meaning the reverb and other elements. It kind of takes it away from being familiar, in terms of sound.
Jack Nitzsche as well, I guess he falls under the Phil Spector umbrella. I think between the two of them, they had something really special.
He worked with The Rolling Stones, the orchestrations on there and their records. He always worked very closely with the artists he was recording with. He played on the record as well and having that kind of involvement blurs the line between artist and producer. Most of us in Temples think it’s very important to embrace both because we are fans of producers as well as bands and artists.
VP: What artists have you been listening to lately?
TW: Umm, yea well we listen to quite a lot.
VP: Well what about in the past few days?
TW: We’ve been listening to Atom Heart Mother, the Pink Floyd album, if you know that one. And there’s a band that just released a single, they’re called Telegram. We’ve been touring with them in England and they have a song called “Follow,” which is their debut single. Since we’ve toured with them we’ve had the pleasure of getting to listen to them every night. We’re really big fans of what they’re doing. So I guess that’s one old and one new?
VP: What is your musical guilty pleasure?
TW: I guess, film soundtracks are always a strange one that people either love or hate. We really enjoy listening to some kind of more cinematic sounding music. We try to play our music so that it kind of transposes visually. And like, Ennio Morricone, he does soundtracks. Oh and like Goblin, as well, they’re like an Italian prog band that did some soundtracks in the seventies as well. It’s kind of slightly weird and you know that’s a little bit different from your normal rock band.
VP: Who would be your dream collaboration?
TW: Well we’re from the Midlands and not too far away in a place called Rugby is where Sonic Boom from Spacemen 3 is based. And yea, we’re all really big fans of Spacemen 3 and Spectrum. He has his own studio as well. He creates some really interesting sounds in the studio and we’d like to, one day, perhaps, collaborate with him. Peter Kember is his name, but his nickname is Sonic Boom. But yea, really spacey and almost like soundscape and noise. There’s something quite simple and charming about his recordings.
VP: In your song “Shelter Song,” the lyrics mention reading poetry aloud; who are your favorite poets?
TW: James wrote the lyrics… but yea William Blake is great, if you like reading and stuff. I think it is part of your admission into music that deals with consciousness, that you read, “The Doors of Perception” and “Heaven and Hell”.
VP: How do you prepare yourself for a live show? Any weird rituals?
TW: (laughs) Not especially. I’m kind of torn between just saying anything; making something up, and just being honest. We always sing as much possible and do three part harmonies. We like to sing some songs by The Byrds and we usually fight over who sings David Crosby’s harmony. That’s always the best.
VP: I was wondering just now, have you ever tried meditation?
TW: Um, not yet. I think we all kind of meditate in our own way. That’s not meditating explicitly but yea. I think you have to be in the right mindset when you go on stage and stuff, so I think everyone has their own way, perhaps, of meditating.
VP: What’s coming up in the future for Temples?
TW: We just announced that we will be releasing our album, Sun Structures, in February. I think it’s February the 10th. We announced it online yesterday actually, so it’s really excited for us. All this year we’ve been recording in between touring, and it’s great to finally have a record. So that’s in February. And I think we’re coming back over to the states again in like March or April as well, so we’re really looking forward to coming back over here once the album’s been released. We can’t wait for everyone to hear it, since everyone’s only heard the singles and what’s online. It will be great for everyone to hear the full spectrum of music that we play.
Check out Temples on Facebook here.