fall for Ferry

While sipping a fruity cocktail on the veranda of our summer beach house, my aural senses were awakened to the distance sounds of "Don't Stop The Dance" by Bryan Ferry. It happens to be one of the finest singles among his breathtaking and extensive recorded works.

And, as if by magic, I was alerted to some juicy info regarding his forthcoming elpee which should finally hit the "shops" this fall on October 25.

"Olympia", Bryan Ferry’s thirteenth, solo longplayer and the follow-up to 2007's "Dylanesque", is a star-studded affair. The first single, "You Can Dance", has already been a club hit across Europe under the title "U Can Dance" as a collaboration with world renowned DJ, Hell. It will be released in the UK on August 2.

Further collabs include Scissor Sisters on a track called "Heartache By Numbers" and Groove Armada on "Shameless" which already appears on their album, "Black Light".

Also in attendance will be Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood, former Chic frontman Nile Rodgers, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd along with Flea and Mani, singularly named bassists with Red Hot Chili Peppers and Primal Scream, respectively. Impressive! N'est-ce pas?

As if that wasn’t enough, Mr. Ferry has wrangled in his Roxy Music bandmates Andy Mackay, Phil Manzanera and Brian Eno, as well.

The following is the tracklisting for "Olympia". It includes two covers, "Song To The Siren", originally recorded by Tim Buckley, and Traffic's "No Face, No Name, No Number".

1. You Can Dance
2. Alphaville
3. Heartache By Numbers
4. Me Oh My
5. Shameless
6. Song To The Siren
7. No Face, No Name, No Number
8. BF Bass (Ode To Olympia)
9. Reason Or Rhyme
10. Tender Is The Night

For those of you that have been following the very cool remix EPs from Roxy Music, the fourth in the series was released a few months ago. "Remixes (Blue)", which features reswizzled tracks from the "Avalon" era, is worth your time simply for Disco Pusher's gorgeous, slinky n' sultry remix of "To Turn You On". It's available now from all fine digital retailers.

don't stop the glamour

A video has finally been unveiled for the single edit of "U Can Dance", DJ Hell's collaboration with Bryan Ferry. It's swathed in the suave, urban sophistication typically associated with BF.

Nova Dando, currently cutting shapes and making waves for Lady Gaga and La Roux, is responsible for the styling of the video which features five, sultry and slightly subversive sirens. In typical, Ferry form, the ladies are some of the hottest faces in fashion today including Betty Adewole, Annie Hammill, Kate Ellery, Florence Brudenell-Bruce and Shannon Tillery.

The smoldering, nine minute version appears on Hell's current album, "Teufelswerk". The single for "U Can Dance" will be issued in January while Bryan Ferry's original version, from which Hell acquired all the vocals for his production, will appear on Bryan's forthcoming, thirteenth, solo longplayer.

Even though the single will feature a raft of remixes from top DJs including Simian Mobile Disco, Carl Craig, Tim Goldsworthy, Audiojack, Padded Cell and Kikumoto Allstars, I think the somewhat dark and sleazy original will probably remain my favorite version of them all.

While we're fawning over all things Ferry, I'm happy to report there are two very good reasons to purchase BF's recently released hits collection. It features two, new recordings. The first is Bryan's cover of "I Don't Want To Go On Without You", which was originally recorded by The Drifters and appeared as the b-side to their legendary single, "Under The Boardwalk", in 1964.

At one point it was going to feature on Bryan's next album. However, it was decided it was best for it to be included on "The Best Of Bryan Ferry". If you listen closely to the the track you'll hear his first use of the dreaded Antares Auto-Tune program!

The second new song is a recently recorded, stripped down version of "A Fool For Love" which appeared on "Frantic", Bryan's fabulous album which was released in 2002.