Mark Lanegan

Definitely in my top 5 of favorite singer-songwriters, the best way i can describe the mysterious Mark Lanegan's voice is as the bastard child of Jim Morrison and Tom Waits. I first discovered Lanegan listening to Queens of the Stone Age, although he only sings on a few songs on each album, they also tend to be among the best songs on their albums, such as: Song for the Dead, In the Fade, and This Lullaby. Lanegan's music career began in 1985 as the lead singer for the Seattle grunge band The Screaming Trees. In 1992 the band released their 'breakout' album "Sweet Oblivion" which had the single "Nearly Lost You" peak at number 5 on the Charts. It was during his stint with the Trees that Lanegan began his solo career, his first solo album the "The Winding Sheet" was actually recorded after an incomplete collaborative project with Kurt Cobain aiming at being a tribute album to Leadbelly. The aborted project's recording of 'Where did you Sleep Last Night' was included on the album and was the basis for Nirvana's cover of the song for their MTV unplugged performance. Lanegan continued to record solo albums throughout the 90s and despite the rareness of Lanegan performing his solo songs, he gained a growing cult following and increased critical acclaim as the years progressed. After recording "Songs For the Deaf" in 2003 with QOTSA, the newly formed The Mark Lanegan Band released "Here Comes That Weird Chill", an ep which was followed by his biggest comerical and critical success "Bubblegum". Since then Lanegan has been taken part in numerous collaborations including: The Gutter Twins with Afghan Whig's lead singer Greg Dullhi, an electronic gospel group the Soulsavers, and a trifecta of albums with Belle and Sebation's Isobel Campbell, along with maaaany others.

If you're unfamiliar with Mark Lanegan, all his solo albums and collaborations are favorites of mine but if you want a reccomendation start off with Bubblegum because it contains a variety of his different styles of songs while fitting together perfectly. All three of his albums with Isobel Campbell are just beautiful and if you're into gospel I would check out the Soulsavers' album "It's not how far you fall, It's the way you land". Regardless of where you start though, you'll get hooked.




So here I give you a trifecta of live Mark Lanegan performances, the last being from his recent tour with Isobel Campbell. Enjoy!!!

Download:


Mark Lanegan Band - Live in Brussels 2003 (password: mundoeleven.blogspot.com)

Mark Lanegan live in Brussels, 6/5/10

Mark Lanegan and Isobel Campbell - live at the Barbican in London 2010