Neil Young Archives
Per a recent Letter to the Editor on NYA, Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts 2025 Concert Tour will include USA dates, as well as Europe 2025 dates.
Also, NYA has discovered a set of recordings made at Castles studio in 1985. Neil plans to eventually release as an album.
Neil Young and The Chrome HeartsShangri-La Studio, Malibu, CA via John Hanlon | Instagram
(Click photo to enlarge)
(Click photo to enlarge)
In other news, Neil Young is announcing the title of the upcoming Chrome Hearts album: "Talkin to the Trees". (see IN THE STUDIO: Neil Young and The Chrome Hearts Recording New Album.)
This highlights one probable reason the Archives have taken so long to release: the ongoing rediscovery of lost or forgotten recordings. You think you have everything in order, then another missing link turns up. One imagines NY would’ve wanted this material for Vol 3, if possible. The online format, though, has potential to house an ever-expanding collection.
ReplyDeleteAs in literature of centuries past I like the tectonic structure of the monumental NYA. Layers, peaks and valleys , slipping and sliding, playing domino every time somebody nurtures the idea of "This is it!" Any "definite and final version" is as transient or preliminary as the version before. The constituents mirror each other and with every new component added the caleidoscope changes it's fractals. Horrible to say so, but this process will never end, because there will always another find lurking around the corner. That's why artistic bodies of work tend to live their own life, sometimes for generations.
ReplyDeleteDionys, the important point, in life as in art, is that there’s no singular predetermined or definite endpoint (that we know of). Depending upon one’s viewpoint, this can seem either frighteningly inconclusive or excitingly open-ended. Maybe a mixture of the two. No doubt some will read this as one of those comments that sounds like a fortune cookie masquerading as philosophy.)
ReplyDeleteBy chance I am also the founder of the United Church of Fortune Cookie (UCFC), a doomsday cult that promised our students that "afterwards" everything will be a lot better. Fortunately the cult was not successful. Our students did not believe that, let's say an orange clown (a great pumpkin?), falling from above, was going to improve their report cards. But we sold a lot of fortune cookies for 1,50€ a piece.
ReplyDeleteSuch is the ambiguity of art. But argueably it is the only objection that we can bring forward against our existence being limited. So NYA and the music will continue to be there, continously shapeshifting.
I am thrilled about the forgotten International Harvesters recordings. I do not yet own NYa3, tho the day is getting closer. I recall Neil talking about great other recordings of that band but it seemed to come up short on NYA3 when it came out. Well, now we can get it in 2025! I am happy to have more of that on the way, more Treasure. It’s so nice to have one’s music hero find another lost album! Neil Young’s “throwaways” are better than most bands best of albums!
ReplyDeleteHappy Holidays. May Peace reign. And when I am feeling angry about Trump and his transgressions I will remind myself that the Dems are corrupt as Hell also. Feeding the War machine: that is what the 2 US parties exist for. Controlled opposition. The US is about to turn into a 3rd world dictatorship, with families including US citizens being discarded across the border. The US is about to perpetrate a bunch of Evil shit that is counter productive and makes us all look like monsters. But the bombs will not stop dropping on Gaza regardless of leadership change.
Those who don’t care about society and its injustice problems can fuck off. If you don’t care, Neil would feel sad that you failed to comprehend his message of Love / Earth. If you don’t care, you might be a sociopath. Like Trump and Biden. Trump is so mean he had to hire Obama’s Deportation Czar! True fact. This guy is famous for separating families. Obama gave him an award for mass deportations well done. Obama deported more immigrants than George W Bush, and dropped more bombs, in more countries (7 his last year in office).
Yes, Trump is a monster. And Yes, our entire government is to blame, both Republicans and Dem. And it sucks to have 2 monsters to choose from when we vote in our “fair elections” in the Oligarchy of the US.
Pardon My Heart…. Oops. All done with pardons now.
Big Shift, save us from the horror of this world! Maybe we should give fortune cookie religion a chance. Because Jesus is carrying an assault weapon today. Stepping on the poor as he loads another train of immigrants to be deported (to face Hell on the other side). Are Humans really this Evil? Yes we are. But we can do a lot better, and we will! Love trumps Anger.
Your Brother Alan in Seattle
Did folks notice Neil's latest comment about the Castle recordings saying he's calling it Silver and Gold? Not sure what to make of that. Did he forget he already has an album called Silver and Gold? Is this just in an internal codename for the project, with a different title forthcoming? Did he mean he was calling it Silver and Gold back in 1985 (which would beg the question then of why he says "now")? Anywho, the mysteries of the Neilverse are limitless. As a friend of mine suggested, maybe he should call it Ag and Au. That'd be funny.
ReplyDeleteSilver & Gold? A momentary lapse of reason, maybe? It should be named "Trove"which is where you put both, Silver and Gold and A Treasure. Also a title like "Gems" comes to mind, also we already have "Troves" I, II and III. Etymologically "trove" would be adequate though because it is derived from French "trouver" I believe, which means "to find" and that's how Neil Young called it in the first mention of these tapes.
ReplyDeleteThanks all for the comments here. especially Brother Alan and his bottomless passion.
ReplyDeleteWe've been a bit overwhelemed and distracted on many fronts of late, so apolgies on our lack of updates, etc.
That sai, we did at last complete our annual Neil Year in Review @ Neil Young's 2024 Year in Review:Crazy Horse Fades Away and The Chrome Hearts Pump.
enjoy. Merry Christmas and see everyone in 2025!
peace & love,
thrasher & thrashette
In a podcast by Dan Hesse and "Shakey Howlin' Wolf" (to be watched via NYA) maybe the title of the recently found 1985 recordings is revealed by the latter: "Uncharacteristic". After the conflict with Geffen Records Neil Young must have suffered from a blind spot somehow, burying recordings that - as it turns out - should have been in NYA Vol. III. The podcast is fun to watch, although as in the patron calls in the past Neil Young moving back and forth before the camera makes me nervous. He makes me want to go out for a walk with the guy.
ReplyDeleteUncharacteristic would be apt. But, now there's a new note on the Music section of Times-Contrarian and he's saying he's now calling it Tennessee. In the same note he says Landing on Water was his last recording for Geffen, which, of course, it wasn't. That was Life.
ReplyDelete