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f you’re a fan of alternative rock, you’ve heard Alain Johannes. The multi-instrumentalist has played, produced, mixed and engineered albums by Queens of the Stone Age, Mark Lanegan, Arctic Monkeys, PJ Harvey and Chris Cornell, not to mention his influential work with his art-rock project Eleven with late wife Natasha Schenider. With a forthcoming album out this summer, we checked in with Johannes (feature on page 20), and compiled this playlist of hits and deep cuts from his storied career.
by CAITLIN ROCKETT
HEAVY ROTATION: Alain Johannes
EVENTS from Page 23
“HUM,” BY ALAIN JOHANNES
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he first single from Johannes’ forthcoming album sets the meditative tone of the record. “When you stop and listen to silence in nature, the hum is underneath the threshold of hearing,” Johannes said in a statement about the album. “It’s a mysterious and magical sense of something existing, beautiful and alive. It’s a blanket word for the sound of the ether — something that’s always been there, always will be there, and everything comes from it. It’s the common connection to everything.”
“CREOSOTE,” BY DESERT SESSIONS
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ohannes has joined in Josh Homme’s (Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures) musical collective, Desert Sessions, twice now, allegedly writing this number with Dean Ween on the front porch of Rancho de la Luna in Joshua Tree within four minutes of meeting each other. A creosote, if you (like us) don’t know, is a dark brown oil distilled from coal tar and used as a wood preservative. You can almost smell it as you listen.
and center. It could easily find a home on Johannes’ forthcoming album.
“WHEN I’M DOWN,” BY CHRIS CORNELL
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ohannes and his late wife, Natasha Schneider, were close friends with the late Soundgarden singer, cowriting, producing and performing on Cornell’s first solo record, Euphoria Morning. After Canadian record producer Daniel Lanois pulled out of the project, Cornell asked his friends if they’d be interested. With Johannes and Schneider lending their art-rock sensibilities to the collection, Cornell shunned the Seattle grunge sound in favor of gentler, more eclectic melodies. Schnieder plays the piano that opens this track. After Schneider succumbed to cancer in 2008, Cornell would often dedicate live versions of “When I’m Down” to her, playing a recording of her original piano accompaniment.
“ANTES DE LA NADA,” BY HIFIKLUB, ALAIN JOHANNES
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he French quartet Hifiklub boasts collaborations with some 150 artists, including Johannes, who recorded the album Plans Make Gods Laugh with the band in 2014. The album is actually a soundtrack, accompanying a short film of the same name that chronicles Johannes’ epic — and at times deeply tragic — life. Like much of Johannes’ work, these tracks evoke images of the California desert, where Johannes and other notable musicians of the Palm Desert Scene cut their teeth.
“CENTIPEDE,” BY SOUTH CITY PLAYERS (JOSH HOMME, CHRIS GOSS, DAVE GHROL, ALAIN JOHANNES) “ENDLESS EYES,” BY ALAIN JOHANNES ave Grohl formed the Sound City Players
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with many of the musicians who appeared in his documentary Sound City about the shuttered Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California. The lineup was an ubersupergroup: Paul McCartney, Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails), Rich Nielson (Cheap Trick) Stevie Nicks, Corey Taylor (Slipknot, Stone Sour) and many more. This track features Homme on vocals and Johannes on guitar, his accomplished fingerpicking front
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MAY 7, 2020
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he first track off Johannes’ first solo album, Spark (2010). A tribute to Schneider two years after her passing, Spark searches for transcendence in the wake of tragedy — and finds it. The track is both powerful and soft, opening with a driving acoustic guitar riff that mimics the desperation Johannes feels in a world without his soulmate. “We used to joke that we made one big, awesome person,” Johannes told BW in a recent interview.
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“HEAVY,” BY ELEVEN
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ohannes and Schneider formed the art-rock band Eleven in 1990 with drummer Jack Irons (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam). While the band only had one single breach the charts (“Reach Out”), their influence on other bands of the day was evident. “They made me a better musician,” Josh Homme said in the 2018 documentary Unfinished Plan: The Path of Alain Johannes. This track highlights Eleven’s proclivity for darkly whimsical melodies that often took prog rock-esque turns. Schneider’s organ work is transcendent.
“LITTLE SISTER,” BY QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
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ohannes and Schneider joined Queens of the Stone Age as part of their touring line-up in support of the band’s 2005 album, Lullabies to Paralyze. Johannes contributed performances to the studio recordings, including this track, which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Performance.
“THE WHEEL,” BY PJ HARVEY
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arvey’s album The Hope Six Demolition Project is based on her travels to Kosovo, Afghanistan and Washington D.C. with photographer/filmmaker Seamus Murphy between 2011 and 2014. Its title is a reference to the Hope IV program in the United States, which was intended to revitalize decrepit public housing complexes across the country. Many people, like Harvey, saw the program as a sophisticated form of gentrification. “The Wheel” talks about the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, with a fairground wheel near the capital Pristina as a reference point. Johannes contributes backing vocals and guitar (and handclaps) to this haunting and defiantly lively track.
BONUS: “LUNA A SOL,” BY ALAIN JOHANNES TRIO (FEATURING MIKE PATTON)
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ho doesn’t want to hear Mike Patton sing in Spanish? The Faith No More singer lends his six-octave range to this debut single from Johannes’ Chilean-based trio.
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