Archive for the ‘CLASSIC ALBUMS’ Category

BIG STAR – ” No#1 Record and Radio City ” Reissues on Craft Recordings

Posted: July 31, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
Tags: , , , , , , ,
0

Image may contain: one or more people

Originally released in 1972 and 1974, respectively, #1 Record and Radio City can still take your breath away with their bracing guitars, soaring melodies, emotionally-charged lyrics, and song structures that often zag when you’re expecting them to zig. Though the Fab Four are an audible influence on the albums, it’s generally more White Album–era Beatles being drawn upon than A Hard Day’s Night, along with such disparate elements as Led Zeppelin’s swaggering hard rock, Kinks leader Ray Davies’ brooding introspection, and the sweet soul music of Big Star’s Memphis hometown.

In rock and roll, there are moments when bands poised to break barriers and redefine an era are held back from their destiny because of logistics, promotional neglect, bandwidth, or all of the above. In the early 1970s there was no bigger victim of all three than the band Big Star. What began as a Memphis–based quartet soon became a power trio. They were a group who created a pop rock sound that would frame the musical future of bands like R.E.M. and The Replacements (It’s safe to say that Matthew Sweet’s 1991 hit record Girlfriend wouldn’t exist if it hadn’t been for Big Star). Even Paul Stanley of KISS has called them “an early influence.” Their moment was brief but lasting.

The Memphis band was formed in 1971 by singer-songwriters Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, drummer Jody Stephens and bassist Andy Hummel. Working with Ardent Records’ founder and engineer John Fry, Chilton laid down guitar and vocal tracks — often in one take, while Bell added polish with overdubs and harmonies to songs like “The Ballad of El Goodo,” “Thirteen” and “In The Street.” #1 Record was released to wide critical acclaim, yet distribution issues severely limited the album’s availability in stores. It would sell fewer than 10,000 copies. Things didn’t improve with the two releases that followed and the band quickly dissolved.

Since then, awareness of their music has only grown, widening the band’s base and spreading their influence. The music they made was expansive, ambitious and anchored in their love for the British Invasion of the 1960s. The bands that lead that charge can regularly be heard within the seams and between the folds of Big Star’s infectious production. They were never focused on fame or fortune. Instead, Big Star was a creative hot shop with boundless imagination and a drive to make music that aligned strictly to their personal vision.

Now, Craft Recordings is about to reissue Big Star’s first two albums on 180-gram vinyl. It’s a Memphis based affair. Jeff Powell at Memphis’ Take Out Vinyl conducted an all-analogue mastering, and manufacturing is being handled locally at Memphis Record Pressing. This is fitting for a band that is now part of the cultural fabric of Memphis.

Jody Stephens, the last surviving member and the rhythmic heart of Big Star, about this rerelease and what he thinks matters most about the band’s enduring legacy. We continue to build an audience. People continue to be into the music and it gives us a platform to do the “Big Star’s Third Live” performances. [Live performances of Big Star’s 3rd album.] It also gives a platform for Those Pretty Wrongs with Luther Russell. We released a new album in September with Burger Records. We also did seven dates in England and two in Scotland and it was really enabled by having been in Big Star. It’s great to just to continue to play these songs, play them for this community and feel connected. I never attach physical sales or anything to it. It would be awesome if it sold a lot so that Concord (Craft Recordings) will keep doing this and continue to make the music available. That keeps us relevant and maintains our profile.

Big Star's 180-gram vinyl reissues of #1 Record and Radio City via Craft Recordings.

LITTLE STEVEN – ” Voice Of America ” Features the Live at Rockpalast 1984 Concert (DVD)

Posted: July 31, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
Tags: , , , , ,
0

Little Steven’s sophomore album from 1984, featuring “Voice of America,” “Solidarity,” “Los Desaparecidos,” and “Among the Believers,” returns to CD in Bob Ludwig’s remaster previously available only on vinyl.  The CD edition gets even sweeter with the addition of the full Live at Rockpalast 1984 concert.  Voice of America was written, produced, and arranged by Little Steven who got support from The Disciples of Soul (including The Rascals’ Dino Danelli) and guest background vocalist Gary U.S. Bonds.  (The edition currently streaming features bonus tracks only on CD as part of Little Steven’s Rock ‘n Roll Rebel box set).

Little Steven Van Zandt’s 1982 debut with his The Disciples of Soul, Men Without Women, remains a high watermark in the Jersey shore bar band sound with its fusion of classic rock and soul sounds.  Van Zandt was joined by members of The E Street Band, The Asbury Jukes, and The Miami Horns as well as pals like The Rascals’ Dino Danelli and Felix Cavaliere, and Gary U.S. Bonds.  This CD release, slightly delayed from last Friday, premieres Bob Ludwig’s remaster (previously available only on vinyl) on CD and adds a bonus DVD of Little Steven’s 1982 Rockpalast concert.  The edition that’s currently streaming has a number of bonus tracks only available on CD as part of Little Steven’s Rock ‘n Roll Rebel box set.

COLD BLOOD – ” Cold Blood “

Posted: July 31, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
Tags: , , , , ,
0

See the source image

Cold Blood is a long-standing R&B horn funk band founded by Larry Field in 1968 and was originally based in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Lydia Pence was the the lead singer of the Bay Area Funk Band, Cold Blood, has been delighting audiences for over 50 years. The group formed in 1968 found a mentor in Rock impresario Bill Graham who signed the band to a recording contract with his San Francisco Records after an audition in 1969. Pence, a powerhouse singer, is known for her soul stirring vocals on such barnburners as the cover of Sam & Dave’s “Hold on I’m Comin,’“ , Muddy Waters’ nugget “I Just Want to Make Love to You,” both from Cold Blood’s debut self-titled album from 1969, and her take take on Stax vocalist Mable John’s “Your Good Thing (Is About to End)” from the bands sophomore effort “Sisyphus,” with the Pointer Sisters joining in with some gospel laced backup vocals.

The band’s heyday was 1969-1976 during which time they released six albums and built up a faithful following opening for headlining acts at Winterland and Fillmore West such as Albert King (1969), Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (1969), Alice Cooper (1971) It’s a Beautiful Day (1973), and Montrose (1976). The combination of a horn heavy funk Band and Pence’s impassioned singing kept the band busy until it broke up in 1978. After a period of raising her daughter in the early 1980s, Pence and band members came together again in 1988 with some new personnel and have been funkin’ ever since. Pence may have been lost in Janis Joplin’s shadow because of similar styles and the fact that the Joplin reigned supreme in the late 1960s until her death in 1970.

No matter, Pence has continued to perform over the ensuing decades, earning nothing but raves from her loyal fans and new converts. Lydia Pence has stood the test of time and still does some mighty soul shouting in performance, Catch her and cold blood while you can. One of my favourite bands that featured an super horn section. Was totally taken in by the powerhouse vocals of Lydia Pense coupled with the great musicianship of the band. Their debut album was phenomenal and these two songs were a definite highlight.

The term “East Bay Grease” was been used to describe the San Francisco Bay Area’s brass horn heavy funk-rock sound of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, Cold Blood was one of the pioneer bands of this sound, Other bands include Tower of Power, Chicago, and Blood Sweat And Tears. The Tower of Power horn players have performed with Cold Blood on a regular basis since the early 1970s. Skip Mesquite and Mic Gillette have been members of both Tower of Power and Cold Blood.

Original band members were founder Larry Field (lead guitar), Lydia Pense (vocals), Danny Hull (tenor saxophone and songwriter), Larry Jonutz (trumpet; born Mar 15 1947), Pat O’Hara (trombone; born May 25, 1946 (?), died August 1977 of an overdose), Raul Matute (Hammond organ, piano, arranger and songwriter, born Feb 19 1946), Jerry Jonutz (baritone, alto and tenor saxophone; born Mar 15 1947), David Padron (trumpet; born May 4, 1946), Rod Ellicott (bass), and Frank Davis, who was replaced on drums by Sandy McKee (real name Cecil James Stoltie, born 12 July 1945, died 15 October 1995) during the “Sisyphus” sessions.

The ROLLING STONES – ” Steel Wheels Live ” Limited Edition Blue / Orange 4LP

Posted: July 31, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
Tags: , , , , , ,
0

 

The Rolling Stones have unveiled plans to drop a previously unreleased concert film, “Steel Wheels Live”. The film documents the band’s 1989 show in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Having not hit the road for most of the 80s, The Steel Wheels Tour was an astounding return for the Rolling Stones, not least as it was the longest tour they had by that point undertaken. It was also to be their last with Bill Wyman. “Steel Wheels Live” was recorded towards the end of the band’s 60-date run through the stadiums of North America, in the second half of 1989.

The Steel Wheels Tour (later rebranded the Urban Jungle Tour) kicked off in August 1989 was in support of the band’s 19th studio album (in the UK) which was released the same month. It lasted a whole year and the North American leg finished at the Convention Centre in Atlantic City, New Jersey in December 1989.

The gate-busting ticket sales were one thing, but the stage and lighting design of The Steel Wheels Tour set the pace for superstar tours as we know them today. Special guest appearances from Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin, Eric Clapton and John Lee Hooker on this Atlantic City date make this an even more extraordinary document of the band’s return to touring. Guns N’ Roses’ Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin, who joined the stalwart rockers on stage for a performance of ‘Salt Of the Earth’. Eric Clapton popped up for a performance of ‘Little Red Roster’, who was then joined by blues icon John Lee Hooker on ‘Boogie Chillen’.

This evening bore witness to The Rolling Stones infamous backstage run-in with president Donald Trump. So it goes, The Stones’ tour producer Michael Cohl found a way to earn the band more money by staging the concert as a pay-per-view event, like UFC but with riffs.

In order to pull the feat off, Cohl needed to find a promoter who was willing to front the cost for the band to play. That promoter ended up being no other than Donald Trump.

The band were initially reluctant to be involved with Trump in any capacity. To help sweeten the deal, Cohl wrote up a contract that barred Trump from promoting the concert in one of his press conferences, and attending the concert.

“The Stones had such power in those days that the 6:40 p.m. slot on the national evening news was going to be an interview with the Stones to talk about and promote the pay-per-view,” Cohl explained in an interview . “At about 5:50 p.m. I get word that I have to come to the press room in the next building. I run to the press room in the next building and what do you think is happening? There’s Donald Trump giving a press conference, in our room!. “I give him the [come here gesture]. ‘Come on, Donald, what are you doing? A) You promised us you wouldn’t even be here and, B) you promised you would never do this.’ He says, ‘But they begged me to go up, Michael! They begged me to go up!’ I say, ‘Stop it. Stop it. This could be crazy. Do what you said you would. Don’t make a liar of yourself.’”

Unfortunately for Trump, Cohl had left his walkie-talkie in the dressing room, and The Rolling Stones overheard the altercation between the two. Keith Richards, in his infinite, unhinged glory, simply had enough, and subsequently pulled a knife on Trump.

“They call me back [into the dressing room],” Cohl explained. “At which point Keith pulls out his knife and slams it on the table and says, ‘What the hell do I have you for? Do I have to go over there and fire him myself? One of us is leaving the building – either him, or us.’ I said, ‘No. I’ll go do it. Don’t you worry.’”

DEATH VALLEY GIRLS – ” The Universe “

Posted: July 31, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
Tags: , , , ,
0

Image may contain: 5 people, people standing, tree, grass, child, plant, outdoor and nature

Psychedelic rock purveyors Death Valley Girls have anchored the Los Angeles scene for several years now – combining combustible, gazy proto-punk and desert-blasted metal with a witchy, occult-laced intensity. The Bonnie Bloomgarden-fronted band’s last album was 2018’s gloriously scuzzy and hyper-charged Darkness Rains. And now today, the group has shared the gazy and cosmic new track “The Universe,” the lead single off their newly-announced and highly-anticipated LP Under the Spell of Joy.

LA’s Death Valley Girls have made a name for themselves by churning out a desert-blasted blend of rowdy proto-punk and primitive heavy metal steeped in cosmic idealism and third-eye consciousness. Their first new offering since tearing a hole in the sky with their 2018 album “Darkness Rains”. Detouring slightly from their revved up, propulsive garage-psych stylings, “The Universe” is a slithery and marauding track full of experimental edges – trading in power chords for soaring saxophones and droning keyboards. It’s a spacey song that revels in every gritty sonic layer as Bloomgarden croons and serenades the cosmos in haunting, meditative fashion. It’s another hypnotizing track that demonstrates Death Valley Girls’ knack for pushing their sonic boundaries.

On the new LP, Bloomgarden shared: “The world is crazy right now and it feels like we should be doing more than just trying to perpetuate joy. I think music becomes a part of you. Like Black Sabbath’s first record is as much a part of me as my own music. I think you can listen to music or song to get lost in it, or you can listen to music to find something in your self or the world that either you never had or just went missing. I want people to sing to this record, make it their own, and focus on manifesting their dreams as much as they can!”

Under the Spell of Joy arrives on October 2nd via Suicide Squeeze.

SURFER BLOOD – ” Hard​-​Boiled ” 10” EP

Posted: July 31, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
Tags: , , , , , ,
0

Surfer Blood, one of the great lo-fi-tinged indie rock bands of the past decade, are gearing up to release their fifth LP “Carefree Theatre”. That arrives on September 25 via Kanine Records, and so far the John Paul Pitts-fronted group has teased us with the singles “Parkland (Into the Silence)” and “Karen.” Today they’re back with the latest taste of the album, a video for their breezy new single “Summer Trope.” The track ebbs and flows with lush reverb-soaked melodies and soaring choruses, another textbook Surfer Blood surf anthem. While the song recounts an Alcatraz prison escape gone wrong, its wondrous music video was crafted with rippling, sun-kissed visual aplomb by director David Hamzik. It follows Pitts as a castaway – dressed in a shaggy wig and beard – stranded and wandering a tropical coastline before being rescued and returned to land to finish up a live gig. It’s a weirdly giddy clip that’s got some pretty neat underwater camerawork on display.Carefree Theatre is the first album Surfer Blood recorded since Pitts moved back to South Florida, and it takes its name from the now-shuttered West Palm Beach DIY venue where he initially cut his teeth as a performer. According to Pitts, the record “is about coming full circle.”

“We’ve had our ups and downs as a band, plenty of changes through the years, but here we are back where we started. After a decade of touring and putting out records, we’re back with our first label just in time for the ten year anniversary of Astro Coast. For all the pushing ahead and not looking back, the past has caught up with us. I don’t mean that in a haunting way, but in the familiar way that warms you from the inside.”

Speaking of Astro Coast, that classic debut LP is getting a special 10th anniversary double vinyl reissue – dropping on August 29th via Kanine Records. 

Limited edition of 500 made. We were planning to sell these on our summer tour… which is unfortunately cancelled. Includes guest vocalists Pip Blom, Winter and Surfer Blood’s Lindsey Mills. Three per order maximum. International shipping available.
Releases August 7th, 2020

HEARTEYES – ” Rock Album “

Posted: July 31, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
Tags: , , , ,
0

hearteyes press shot

Australian producer/songwriter Maurice Santiago, who performs under the alias Hearteyes, is heralding a more genreless future with his latest release, even headbangers get the blues. The project, which dropped last month, is deeply introspective and marks Hearteyes‘ second release. Previously, Santiago performed house music as George Michelle and was a member of the post-punk outfit, Death Bells.

On Hearteyes’ new album, which incorporates everything from acoustic fingerpicking to dark, electronic sounds and trap-inspired beats, Santiago is explicitly interested in challenging conventions of how music should be made. “Genre is no longer a boundary, but a malleable, cross-pollinating tool in helping to further articulate an artist’s story,” he says of wanting to make varied music. “Growing up I loved hardcore, nu-metal and punk. I got into so many different genres of music and artists. I wanted to make a project that was reflective of all my tastes.”

On his vulnerable third record “Rock Album” marks a turning point for Santiago where his transition from producer to artist is made clear. On tracks like the avant-garde opener ‘baby, i’m an angel’ to track six, ‘ny superstar’ where his rebellion against formulaic progressions is made clear, does away with genres and rails against norms – hence the ironic album title.

“Everything I write about is deeply personal; with the past two project I tried to dilute a lot of the storytelling with formulaic pop writing tropes, like repeating phrases and creating hooks, but I still felt so dissatisfied,” said Hearteyes. “Rock Album is where I have finally mustered the courage to put everything out there and felt comfortable doing so.”

Having previously served as a member of Death Bells, fans knew what Hearteyes was capable of when he shared his first mixtape last year. Now, with Rock Album serving as his latest record, it’s well within the realm of possibility to believe it might be his most accomplished work yet. Luscious melodies, intricate production, and heartfelt song writing combine to create this visceral document of music in the year 2020.

http://

Rock Album breaks all the rules. Hearteyes’ record is a tour de force in unceasing, boundary-pushing creativity. The Sydney producer has transcended seamlessly to a bona-fide artist. Extreme, chaotic and heartbreaking in equal measures — it cements Hearteyes as one of the most gripping, uncompromising artists in Australia’s pop music canon.

Hearteyes has found a growing fanbase within the last year, though if Maurice Santiago wasn’t a household name beforehand, Rock Album might help achieve that. A dizzying fusion of genres, the record if often disorientating, but its self-awareness and powerful song writing show that this is an album that needs to be listened to a few times before you truly understand everything going on.

Released July 24th, 2020

BLINKER the STAR – ” Cairo “

Posted: July 31, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Jordon Zadorozny has been releasing music as Blinker The Star since back in 1994. He has done almost everything an artist would want to do. He got a major label record deal. He’s written music with and for artists like Lindsey Buckingham, Chris Cornell, and Courtney Love. He’s played in some amazing venues and lived the rock and roll life.

You may think that over 25 years into his career, he might be satisfied with cranking out songs that sound like they were written in the mid-’90s. But that just isn’t the case. Jordon has been steadily writing and releasing fresh-sounding music for years. Case in point, Blinker’s new single “Cairo”,

The song has its influences in early ’80s Cure and New Order but with a grittier sound. That is partly Jordon’s writing, partly the people he collaborated with on the track. While Jordon does most of the heavy lifting, he gets some help from long time friends. Bob Wilcox plays the synths in the song, while Ken Stringfellow of The Posies sings backing vocals.

http://

The Band:
Jordon Zadorozny: Drums, bass, guitars, vocals
Chris Church: String arrangement, violin, viola, cello
Filippo Gaetani: Melotron
Jarek Leskiewizc: Ambient/drone guitars
Ken Stringfellow: Backing vocals
Bob Wilcox: Synthesizer and backing vocals

released July 31st, 2020

The VACANT LOTS – ” Fracture “

Posted: July 30, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
Tags: , , , , , ,
0

Having recently put out their third album, ‘Interzone’, Brooklyn duo The Vacant Lots are today sharing a new video for ‘Fracture’. The song’s hazy 80s synth-pop paired with visuals recorded by the band in isolation and directed/edited by Sam Quinn.

Interzone is the third full-length album by New York’s electro post-punk duo The Vacant Lots, to be released on Fuzz Club Records, Friday, June 26th, 2020. A genre-blending synthesis of dance and psych, Interzone is made for secluded listeners and all night partygoers, meant for headphones and the club.

Uninhibited by the limitations of two people and continuing their mission of “minimal means maximum effect,” The Vacant Lots’ Jared Artaud and Brian MacFadyen create an industrial amalgam of icy electronics and cold beats with detached vocals and hard hitting guitars. Interzone’s trance-like opener ‘Endless Rain’ and the kinetic krautrock stomper ‘Into The Depths’ are followed by scintillating dark disco anthems ‘Rescue’ and ‘Exit’. Side 2 kicks off with 80’s synth-pop track ‘Fracture’ and haunting after-hours minimal wave ‘Payoff,’ while ‘Station’ and album closer ‘Party’s Over’ deal with disillusionment and conquering one’s indifference to make real change.

The album creates order from chaos and delves into escapism, isolation, relationship conflicts, and decay. With nods to William S. Burroughs and Joy Division’s song of the same name, “Interzone is like existing between two zones,” Jared says. “Interzone doesn’t mean one thing. It can mean different things to different people.

“Jared and I bounced ideas back and forth while working in seclusion on opposite coasts. We would just send files to each other until the songs were arranged. Then we met up at the studio in Brooklyn where we were fortunate enough to borrow Alan Vega’s Arp synth and finished recording with engineer Ted Young. We then worked with Maurizio Baggio to mix it,” recalls Brian. After the band finished producing Interzone, long term visual collaborator Ivan Liechti designed the album artwork.

The Vacant Lots have released singles with Mexican Summer and Reverberation Appreciation Society, collaborated on their debut album Departure with Spacemen 3’s Sonic Boom, their second album Endless Night with Alan Vega, and most recently on their two EPs, Berlin and Exit, with Brian Jonestown Massacre’s Anton Newcombe at his studio;s in Berlin.

released June 26th, 2020

BLUE ROSE CODE – ” With Healings Of The Deepest Kind “

Posted: July 30, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
Tags: , , , ,
0

Blue Rose Code is Edinburgh-born songwriter Ross Wilson. At the edge of contemporary alt-folk, Wilson’s music evokes a meeting of Van Morrison and a young John Martyn, both shipwrecked with a bunch of Motown records. The music of Blue Rose Code is not simply music to listen to… But music to engage with in an emotional transaction that will tear your heart out, dance on it, repair it, replace it and somehow leave you feeling richer for the experience. I was introduced to the soul stirring and joyous experience that is Blue Rose Code some years ago, I think after the second single and have followed his music since. Ross Wilson is an exceptional composer and musician, his songs invoke strong feelings of passion for home and the land, for loyalty and love.

Ross’ soft Scottish brogue combines with some of the most emotive music you are ever likely to hear, he doesn’t write songs, he creates moments of musical wonder and beauty. Ross Wilson has spent most of his musical life curating; he sculpts his band to every mood and temperament in order to create the perfect happening. I find it so hard this artist has not made it to the bigger echolons of the music scene.

Nine songs, nine stories, nine perfect moments frozen in time, ‘With Healings Of The Deepest Kind’ is, perhaps, Ross’ greatest creation yet. Each track will take your heart and soul an a wondrous musical journey and lead you to place of peace, calm and love.

The highlights for me are the lilting, laid back charm of opener You’re Here And Then You’re Gone, the absolute grace of The Wild Atlantic Way and Starlit, the humble bare charms of Red Kites and the folk/blues/americana humble wonder of closing track Riverstown.

When it comes to music that salves the soul and gives joy to the heart, this album has few peers. An utter musical joy and one that everyone should listen to at least once, it has an honesty and innocence that is rare in the music industry these days.

Released July 17th 2020

http://

Released July 17th, 2020

Older Entries
Newer Entries