Perhaps it shouldn't be surprising that Neptune sounds so much more polished and cohesive than the Duke Spirit's first album, Cuts Across the Land. After all, their debut was culled from years' worth of singles and EPs, while this album was recorded almost three years after Cuts Across the Land was ready for release. At any rate, it's a pleasant surprise: on Neptune, the Duke Spirit don't just focus their music, they expand on it, too. For the album's sessions, the band reunited with producer Chris Goss, who they worked with on "Mayday," their song for UNKLE's 2007 album, War Stories, and it's clear from the hymn-like opening track, "I Do Believe," that Neptune boasts more studiocraft than anything the Duke Spirit did before. Fans of the band's scuzzy, experimental side will miss the rawness that Cuts Across the Land had in spades, but chances are they won't miss it for long, because Neptune's songs are just as compelling as they are polished. "Send a Little Love Token" and "Into the Fold" show off the band's formidable rock, even if they're not as serrated as they would've been had they appeared on Cuts Across the Land, while "The Step and the Walk" shows how the album's polish sets off Liela Moss' tough but graceful singing. More than ever, her richly raspy vocals are the band's focal point: she's crisply self-assured even on the bluest songs, such as the lunging ballad "Dog Roses," and unsinkable on "This Ship Was Built to Last," a churning blues-rocker that sways to and fro between surging brass and slide guitar like a boat caught in a storm. The other bandmembers stretch to match Moss' newfound versatility, often with striking and unexpected results. The group's Sonic Youth fetish resurfaces with "You Really Wake Up the Love in Me," which ignites the sexy buzz of "Sugar Kane" with more hooks and passion as Moss wails "You always stir up the sea." Then they follow that song with the album's biggest surprise, "My Sunken Treasure," sweetly soulful pop with bouncy pianos straight out of Motown. For every tempest like "Lassoo" or "Neptune's Call," there's an unabashedly pretty moment like the almost serene "Wooden Heart" or "Sovereign," either of which would have been completely out of place on Cuts Across the Land -- but it's the depth, power, and flair of moves like these that make Neptune the real introduction to the Duke Spirit.
~Music: red buttons in post and comments area.~ The crowd: not too young, not too old, just fine. But I do wish there were more of us there. The Duke Spirit are a solid band of their kind, and they deserve more eyes and ears.~ The band:Noise delicious rock with a fantastic female voice to boot is a good recipe, but yet one that can go wrong on stage on many levels. Luckily, this is not the case...
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So, was listening to a new local station....RXP 101.9 here in the NY/NJ area. They plat stuff that's all over the map, which I love. Really interesting and good picks of just plain rocking tunes. Happened across a track by a band name The Duke Spirit - - The Step And The Walk. Really liked the track so I jumped on E-Music this afternoon to download the album - - Neptune.Do yourself a favor....
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Check out the rest of the photos of The Duke Spirit @ Download Festival on my Flickr Photostream.~~
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A lot of people get Londoners The Duke Spirit mixed up with dreadlocked Rufus Wainwright-a-like Duke Special, which must irk them, since they’ve been carving fairly idiosyncratic, blues-powered garage-rock for four years now.Their debut album, 2005’s Cuts Across The Land, clearly didn’t set many tills ringing because the foursome are releasing the follow-up, Neptune, without the major-label
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Just got home from seeing Chicago 10, which was pretty good, apart from the severe and somewhat annoying animation. Otherwise the documentary had some pretty cool archival footage from the anti-war protests of the 1968 democratic convention.. with Alan Ginsberg, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, bunch of other hippies.Random bit of Abbie Hoffman history:At Woodstock in 1969, Hoffman interrupted The W...
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~Music: red buttons in post and comments area.~ The crowd: not too young, not too old, just fine. But I do wish there were more of us there. The Duke Spirit are a solid band of their kind, and they deserve more eyes and ears.~ The band:Noise delicious rock with a fantastic female voice to boot is a good recipe, but yet one that can go wrong on stage on many levels. Luckily, this is not the case...
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I can't claim to have stumbled upon raucous, raving, borderline arty Brit alt-rockers The Duke Spirit on my own. Trusted MOGgers including Neill, Anna, goodmusiconly and gympumpkin have been on the case for ages - and they were my ticket in. But I did get majorly buzzed by the band's performance of the track "Lassoo" (from their second and most recent album Neptune) on "The Late Show with David...
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Another pearler from livedaily sessions...
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A lot of people get Londoners The Duke Spirit mixed up with dreadlocked Rufus Wainwright-a-like Duke Special, which must irk them, since they’ve been carving fairly idiosyncratic, blues-powered garage-rock for four years now.Their debut album, 2005’s Cuts Across The Land, clearly didn’t set many tills ringing because the foursome are releasing the follow-up, Neptune, without the major-label
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Ladyhawke, Noah And The Whale and The Duke Spirit have been added to the line up for this year's Little Noise Sessions. .. Damien Rice, Dan Black and Skint & Demoralised also join the bill for the forthcoming Mencap charity gigs which will take place in London's Union Chapel. Previously confirmed acts are Glasvegas, Kasabian and Razorlight who will headline the shows from November 8th onw
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Hey moggers ... it's been a busy summer at work, and tomorrow at long last I'll be embarking on a week of vacation, followed by two days at the All Points West Music and Arts Festival, and the New York City mog-meet on Sunday, August 10th (info here). If any of you are planning on going to the festival and want to hook up for a show on Friday or Saturday, drop me a mog mail (if I don't get ba...
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This kid rocks, and I am sure his parents rock more!!
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So I was perusing iTunes for some new music and getting frustrated because I didn't think there was anything worth shelling out the money for when I came across The Duke Spirit. I didn't buy it right away but something kept me going back to it. Lead vocalist Liela Moss has a voice that emulates Ari Up from the Slits as well as PJ Harvey and Emiliana Torrini -- but manages to be much easier to r...
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"without joy, joy, joy in the rain i could feel forever the same. without joy, joy, joy in the rain, yeah i could feel forever the same."loving this song tonight...
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I used to listen to music exclusively on my commute to and from work, but lately I've been listening to a lot of podcasts. While many of these podcasts aren't music related, a few are. It's always fun to discover new-to-me music on my way to work, including this song from today.
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HEY!!! The missing posts are slowly but surely making their way back up!The comments with them are missing still...wonder if they are lost or are going to make it back too.That has to be one hell of a job i'm thinkin'I have a hard enough time trying to figure out what it was i did wrong on this damn computin' device i have been running straight into hell via the route of DUH! So hats off to the...
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So, was listening to a new local station....RXP 101.9 here in the NY/NJ area. They plat stuff that's all over the map, which I love. Really interesting and good picks of just plain rocking tunes. Happened across a track by a band name The Duke Spirit - - The Step And The Walk. Really liked the track so I jumped on E-Music this afternoon to download the album - - Neptune.Do yourself a favor....
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havent seen a post on this song, love this band! What a banner year for the Duke Spirit hey? Let's give em a final applause!
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Seattle on tour with EoDM
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 I Do Believe |
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| 2 Send a Little Love Token |
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| 3 The Step and the Walk |
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| 4 Dog Roses |
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| 5 Into the Fold |
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| 6 This Ship Was Built to Last |
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| 7 Wooden Heart |
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| 8 You Really Wake Up the Love in Me |
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| 9 My Sunken Treasure |
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| 10 Lassoo |
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| 11 Neptune's Call |
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| 12 Sovereign |
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Click to purchase…
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 "Neptune")
