REVIEW: Noah and The Whale - Further Listening

Following our lengthy chat with Charlie and Tom of Noah and The Whale (read our full interview) we were subsequently bombarded with film and music recommendations from the pair, all of which inspired the third Noah and The Whale album Last Night On Earth (read our full review).

Never keen to ignore a new idea, we have collated their recommendations here, marking the start of a new feature series on I Like Music: Further Listening.

1. Tom Waits - Bone Machine

Tom Wait's Bone Machine, he has that amazing ability to have a phrase that implies so much. Even just the phrase a little rain never hurt no-one, in the context of that song, that lyric means everything. Charlie Fink

Released in 1992, Bone Machine was recorded and produced at the Prairie Sun Recording Studios, California, in Studio C - now renamed 'the Waits Room.' Speaking of the space, the legendary American musician said; I found a great room to work in, it's just a cement floor and a hot water heater. Okay, we'll do it here. It's got some good echo.

The sixteen track album features Rolling Stones' Keith Richards on final track That Feel and a cover photo of Waits taken by Jesse Dylan (son of Bob...). The album has spurred various cover versions; Track 10 - Goin' Out West has been covered by Queens of the Stone Age, Gomez, Widespread Panic, Gov't Mule and blues guitarist Ash Grunwald, while Track 14 - I Don't Wanna Grow Up has been covered by Petra Haden and Bill Frisell, Scarlett Johansson and The Ramones - featuring on their fourteenth and final album Adios Amigos (1995).

2. Arthur Russel

Following his death in 1992 aged 40, the work of American cellist, composer and singer Arthur Russell has gone on to reach far wider audiences via re-issues and compilations, significantly raising his profile. As former music director of avant-garde New York performance space The Kitchen, Russell caused controversy through his booking of Modern Lovers and Talking Heads, programmed to demonstrate that minimalism could be discovered outside of compositional music. With his orchestral works, brief stint in power-pop quartet The Necessities and exploration of minimalist disco (amongst many other projects), Arthur Russell made a significant impact upon contemporary music.

3. The Last Waltz

Directed by Martin Scorsese, 1978 documentary The Last Waltz is a film account and presentation of the final concert of The Band. Taking place on Thanksgiving Day 1976, the concert included a dinner for 5000 attendees, ballroom dancing and the stage set for La Traviata borrowed from the San Francisco Opera. Highly acclaimed in their own right, The Band also found fame supporting Bob Dylan on his U.S. tour in 1965 and world tour in 1966, joining him on informal recordings that later became The Basement Tapes. The Last Waltz was accompanied by The Band's thirteenth album of the same name.

4. The Promise: The Making of The Darkness on The Edge of Town

The 2010 documentary enters into the studio with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band for the recording of their fourth album The Darkness On The Edge of Town. Originally released in 1978, the album followed the huge commercial success of Springsteen's third album Born To Run.

5. Lou Reed - Berlin

A rock-opera centred on a doomed couple, Reed's third solo album Berlin was the follow-up to the acclaimed Transformer (produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson). Having studied journalism and creative writing, Reed's first forray into music came via his late night radio show titled 'Excursions On A Wobbly Rail.' Finding fame as principal songwriter for The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed has gone on to achieve notoriety and is widely regarded as an elder statesman of rock n' roll.

Poor sales of Berlin forced Reed and producer Bob Ezrin to shelve initial ideas of a stage adaptation. However, 2007 saw Reed fulfill these original hopes, touring the album with a 30-piece band and 12 choristers. Director Julian Schnabel filmed the concert, releasing the film Lou Reed's Berlin in 2008.

6. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin' Down A Dream

Directed by Peter Bogdanovich, the 4-hour documentary chronicles the history of the band from their inception as Mudcrutch, Petty's solo career, his time with The Traveling Wilburys and the 30th anniversary Heartbreakers' concert in Petty's home town of Gainesville, Florida. Featuring interviews with George Harrison, Eddie Vedder, Stevie Nicks, Dave Grohl, Jeff Lynne, Rick Rubin, Johnny Depp, Jackson Browne and more, the film documents the huge success of Tom Petty, who throughout his career, has sold over 60 million albums.

7. John Cale - Barracuda

I'm obsessed with John Cale at the moment, we've been playing Barracuda as a cover recently in rehearsals... Charlie Fink.