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The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project, which sees the late Gun Club singers' friends, former band members and fans paying tribute to his extraordinary genius, is releasing its third and penultimate outing. Axels and Sockets features many names from the first two volumes, including Nick Cave, Debbie Harry, Mark Lanegan, Lydia Lunch, Warren Ellis, Mick Harvey and Kid Congo Powers, along with new additions to the collaborative fold in the form of Iggy Pop, Mark Stewart, Thurston Moore, Jim Sclavunos, Primal Scream and Andrew Weatherall. Co-ordinated by Pierce's later musical partner Cypress Grove, the Project again strives to pay homage by avoiding the clichés of the conventional tribute record, creating fierce, iconoclastic new music out of song-sketches, demo recordings, scribbled lyrics and leftover riffs Jeffrey tragically didn't live to complete, while some put their own spin on personal favorites from his esteemed catalog. Axels and Sockets casts the Project's net wider than ever, kicking off with Iggy Pop making his debut appearance dueting with Nick Cave on "Nobody's City" before Debbie Harry invokes the early punk-pop Blondie sound with the Amber Lights (Mick Harvey and JP Shilo) on "Kisses for My President," which Jeffrey wrote about her before she knew he existed (He was president of the Blondie fan club). Cave also completes his trilogy of duets with Debbie on "Into the Fire." Returning too are Mark Lanegan, along with Bertrand Cantat, Crippled Black Phoenix, Gallon Drunk's James Johnston and Cypress Grove. Also making their debut are Mark Stewart and Thurston Moore (their take on "Shame and Pain" marking the first time Jeffrey's vocals have appeared on the set), Primal Scream, whose version of "Goodbye Johnny" is remixed into smoky hoodoo noir by Andrew Weatherall, KatieJane Garside and Andrea Schroeder. The set also introduces younger bands with Leeds' Black Moth, who are produced by Bad Seeds drummer and project co-coordinator Jim Sclavunos and Cornwall's Honey, helmed by Jeffrey's old partner-in-crime Kris Needs. With only Volume 4's grand finale to come, the Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project continues to loom as a towering statement in preserving and immortalizing his fearsome legacy.
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