Archive for the ‘CLASSIC ALBUMS’ Category

The LIVING PINS – ” Freaky Little Monster Children ” EP

Posted: April 15, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Last spotted on stage together in 1996, Austin duo The Living Pins have reunited on a mission to remind the city what being weird is all about. (In the meantime, frontwoman Carrie Clark served as a member of the alt-rock four-piece Sixteen Deluxe, while guitarist and bassist Pam Peltz has built a career as a photographer and music producer.) The pair’s reunion EP, “Freaky Little Monster Children”, was born in exquisitely scrappy fashion, recorded late at night in the empty lobby of an artists’ collective. And the sound of this four-song set—equal parts sinister and sunny, with a knack for sinewy guitar riffs—has a rough edge to it as well. “… the slow, psychedelic garage rock groove of “Raven”, a song that virtually lulls you into a trance with it’s droning, yet infectious hooks, and “Downtown” which musically throws in a bit of a Lou Reed / Velvet Underground vibe .

The Living Pins filter ’60s psychedelic grooves through the more straightforward sensibilities of ’90s alt-rock, a combination that’s both accessible and impossibly cool. Hearing Clark and Peltz harmonize over the garage-rock strut of opener “Raven,” or the sweet pop-rock hooks of “Jaguar,” you can see why Kim Deal of The Breeders counts herself as a fan. The self-described “glam-psych-guitar explosions” on these four songs manage to feel like old Austin while still sounding in-step with the 21st century. Here’s the track “Fish and Beads”:

Fresh from the @temple_plaza production cave–a new and totally psychedelic music video for “Fish and Beads” by The Living Pins. Carrie Clark (guitar/vocal), Pam Peltz (guitar/vocal) and Brian-the-Drum Machine invite you to make yourself a delicious cup of coffee, put on your favourite sunglasses, and let us know if you like the new song.

The Living Pins video for “Raven” is super fun and it tastes great, “This is the first video from the Freaky Little Monster Children EP by the Living Pins, now available on Bandcamp. Chess may have some well-known rules, but the tiny creatures in the mailbox of your mind leave their cocktails on the porch and their worries behind. If backed into a corner, video director @temple_plaza, will admit that she was influenced by Ingmar Bergman’s ‘The Seventh Seal’.”

LIZ PHAIR – ” Spanish Doors “

Posted: April 15, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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It’s nearly 30 years since “Exile in Guyville”, Liz Phair’s coming-of-age, being a woman of the 1990s, the “Supernova” singer is releasing her seventh album titled “Soberish”, out June 4th, a narrative on where she stands today, and her deeper musical roots, with the self-reflective track “Spanish Doors.”

Phair’s first release in 11 years, following Funstyle (2010), Soberish(Chrysalis Records), produced and engineered by longtime collaborator Brad Wood, who also helmed Exile In Guyville, and follow ups Whip-Smart(1994) and whitechocolatespaceegg(1998), finds Phair reverting back to her earlier musical blossoming and art school days at Oberlin. 

“I found my inspiration for Soberish by delving into an early era of my music development, my art school years spent listening to art rock and new wave music non-stop on my Walkman—The English Beat, The Specials, Madness, R.E.M.s ‘Automatic for the People,’ Yazoo, The Psychedelic Furs, Talking Heads, Velvet Underground, Laurie Anderson, and the Cars,” says Phair. “The city came alive for me as a young person, the bands in my headphones lending me the courage to explore.”

On opening track “Spanish Doors,” which she describes as “the fracturing of a beautiful life, when everything you counted on is suddenly thrown up for grabs,” Phair sings Locked up in the bathroom staring at the sink / I don’t want to see anybody I know / I don’t want to be anywhere you and I used to go. 

“I drew inspiration from a friend who was going through a divorce, but the actions in the lyrics are my own,” reveals Phair. “I relate to hiding out in the bathroom when everyone around you is having a good time but your life just fell apart. You look at yourself in the mirror and wonder who you are now, shadows of doubt creeping into your eyes. Just a few moments ago you were a whole, confident person and now you wonder how you’ll ever get the magic back.” 

Following up Phair’s other Soberish single “Hey Lou,” a tribute to Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson, and her revealing 2019 memoir Horror Stories, “Soberish” is about partying and all those self-delusions, whether chasing new loves or a returning to a constant state of escapism for a few moments of elation.

“It’s not self-destructive or out of control,” says Phair. “It’s as simple as the cycle of dreaming and waking up. That’s why I chose to symbolize ‘Soberish’ with a crossroads, with a street sign. It’s best described as a simple pivot of perspective.”

She adds, “When you meet your ‘ish’ self again after a period of sobriety, there’s a deep recognition and emotional relief that floods you, reminding you that there is more to life, more to reality and to your own soul than you are consciously aware of. But if you reach for too much of a good thing, or starve yourself with too little, you’ll lose that critical balance.”

We were supposed to get Soberish, Liz Phair’s first album since 2010’s Funstyle, last year, but the COVID-19 pandemic upended those plans. Phair gave us a peek of what’s to come back in 2019 with “Good Side” and she released second single “Hey Lou” (about Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson’s longstanding relationship) earlier this year. Now, we have a release date for Soberish.

Soberish finally arrives on June 4th, and a press release describes it as “a portrait of Phair in the present tense, taking all of the facets of her melodic output over the years and synthesizing them into a beautiful, perfect whole.” Digital liner notes mention that Phair’s forthcoming record is influenced by music she listened to during her art school years.

DAVID BOWIE – ” The Width Of A Circle “

Posted: April 15, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Parlophone Records will issue what they are calling a ‘companion piece’ to Metrobolist, last year’s Tony Visconti remix of David Bowie‘s 1970 album “The Man Who Sold The World”. This new collection is a two-CD set called “The Width of a Circle” and features a combination of Ryko-era bonus tracks, BBC live recordings and new mixes, all from 1970.

The first CD features 14 tracks performed by David Bowie and The Tony Visconti Trio (a.k.a. The Hype) for John Peel’s “The Sunday Show” in February 1970 (the label are claiming that six of these are unreleased) while the second disc is very much an ‘odds and sods’ collection of material. It includes some bonus material first heard on CD back in 1989/1990 when Rykodisc began their Bowie reissue campaign.

Such tracks include 1970 single A-side ‘Holy Holy’, the single mix of ‘The Prettiest Star’ (although it’s included here in unreleased alternate mix form – “created for promotion in the US market”), both mono and stereo mixes of ‘London Bye Ta-Ta’ and the A and B-side mixes of ‘Memory of A Free Festival’.

In addition, this CD offers five tracks from a play (“The Looking Glass Murders aka Pierrot in Turquoise”) and five 2020 stereo mixes of some of the non-album material remixed by Tony Visconti. Four of those five are also available on a special 10-inch single (also called The Width of a Circle).

Official lyric video for David Bowie’s ‘Holy Holy’ (2020 Mix). Remixed by Tony Visconti and part of ‘The Man Who Sold The World’ companion album ‘The Width of a Circle’

Last month saw the 50th anniversary of the original U.K. release of The Man Who Sold The World, David Bowie’s landmark entry into the 1970s. The album began the collaboration with guitarist Mick Ronson that would continue with such classics as Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane. The 2020 re-release of The Man Who Sold The World restored the album’s intended title Metrobolist, while featuring a new mix by original producer Tony Visconti. Taking its name from the album’s opening track, which was named after a painting by Bowie’s friend George Underwood, the new two-CD set The Width Of A Circle acts as a complementary piece to that album. Its 21 tracks feature non-album singles, a BBC In Concert session, music for a TV play and further Visconti remixes wrapping up David’s recordings from 1970 and revealing the first sonic steps toward Hunky Dory.”

The two-CD set of The Width of a Circle is presented as one of those DVD-sized, hardcover booksets – a format quite likes even if we can’t recall any David Bowie product being issued in this style before. The book contains 104 pages of content.

The JOY FORMIDABLE – ” A Balloon Called Moaning ” EP

Posted: April 15, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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The Joy Formidable are celebrating the 10th anniversary of their seminal debut EP ‘A Balloon Called Moaning’ with the release of a very special double vinyl edition which includes a re-master of the original plus a newly recorded acoustic version sung in Welsh. Plus, they have launched a video of ‘While The Flies’ – now titled ‘Tra B’or Gwybed’.

There will only be x1000 copies of the EP ‘A Balloon Called Moaning’  re-release being made available which they showcase at Islington Assembly Hall in London on Sunday 24th of November.

The Joy Formidable have recently hit back with their new single “Into The Blue,” their first new material since their 2018 album AAARTH.

It was written in North Wales and later completed at their homes in Utah. The chugging anthemic track has their now trademark sound, with a mix of a slow-building rock sound that gradually transforms into something anthemic and life-affirming.

To celebrate, we’re releasing a special DOUBLE album edition of our first EP A Balloon Called Moaning. The double album will include the 2009 version (re-mastered for Vinyl) plus a newly recorded acoustic Welsh Language version Y Falŵ​n Drom and will be released November 1st. Limited to a 1000 copies, you can preorder it now here: https://smarturl.it/ABCM_10thAnniversary Thank you for all your support & for giving us a very memorable 1st decade of TJF Here’s Tra B’or Gwybed from Y Falŵ​n Drom.

AZURE RAY – ” Remedy “

Posted: April 15, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Longstanding dream-pop duo Azure Ray will return with their album Remedy on June 11th via Maria Taylor’s Flower Moon Records. It is the band’s first full-length album in 10 years and saw them work individually through the COVID-19 pandemic across three separate recording locations in southern California 

With the announcement came the release of new single and title track “Remedy.”  It’s the first taste of their goal of exploring new structural arrangements and sonic dynamics, providing Walters with both the creative direction and freedom to expand upon the band’s long-established ambient sound.”

Twenty years have passed since Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink released their self-titled debut record as Azure Ray. Those familiar with their work now know that it was the tragic death of Taylor’s then boyfriend which abruptly transformed the duo’s relationship to music – their alt-rock roots gave way to the now signature, dreamlike soundscapes that became known as “whisper core” with songs like “Sleep” & “Rise.” The influence of Taylor & Fink’s hushed & intimate, ASMR-like delivery combined with hypnotic atmospherics is unmistakably apparent in (and openly acknowledged by) today’s chart-topping songwriters. After 4 full length albums, multiple cities, 2 hiatuses, and one pandemic, their timeless, genre-defining sound returns with a bold new fortitude on June 11th with “Remedy”. 

Azure Ray’s first full length album in 10 years. With Remedy, Taylor and Fink sought to explore new structural arrangements and sonic dynamics, providing Walters with both the creative direction and freedom to expand upon the bands long-established ambient sound. Thematically, reoccurring themes of tragedy, chaos and anxiety present from the very first Azure Ray record (as a result of immense personal loss) reveal themselves with new meaning set against a world – not just their own lives – in turmoil. However impartial it sounds, the result is the best version of Azure Ray ever captured to tape (or computer). It’s the same Maria and Orenda who have lulled us through devastating agony and lifted our hearts over the last two decades, unchanged in their ability to find beauty in darkness, hope in desolation.

It’s an expansive and wholesome folk-themed dream pop offering that features lovely vocal work and arrangements that lift the spirit and provide some hope in a particularly dark time. There are traces of their old sound but also plenty of new direction to get excited about here as well.

From the forthcoming album, “Remedy,” out June 18th, 2021 on Flower Moon Records.

CROSBY STILLS NASH & YOUNG – ” Deja Vu Alternates “

Posted: April 15, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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‘Déjà Vu Alternates’ from Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, is a recreation of their immensely popular second album, Déjà Vu featuring alternate versions of songs which appeared on the original album. The iconic album which featured “Teach Your Children,” “Woodstock,” “Our House,” and “Helpless,” will showcase these alternate versions on vinyl for the first time and feature a cover that mirrors the original album with an alternate photo from the cover shoot. Pressed on 180 gram black vinyl and limited to 10,000 copies, get yours in stores starting July 17th as part of Record Store Day Drops. https://recordstoreday.com/

One year after its actual golden anniversary, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s Déjà Vu will be receiving a 50th Anniversary deluxe edition with hours of rare and unreleased studio recordings. The March 17th, 2021 announcement described the original as “the most-anticipated new album in America in 1970.” The album includes such legendary songs.  Rhino will be releasing an expansive 4-CD/1-LP collection on May 14th that includes a “pristine” version of the original album on both 180-gram vinyl and CD, plus hours of rare and unreleased studio recordings “that provide incredible insight into the making of the record.” 

You can also listen to the outtake “Ivory Tower” and the previously unreleased demo for “Birds,” recorded during the sessions. On the new edition, the March 11th, 1970 album’s original 10 tracks are joined by 38 more to add nearly two-and-a-half hours of music that includes demos, outtakes, and alternate takes – most of which are previously unreleased. Among them is “Know You Got to Run,” the first song the quartet recorded during its first session on July 15th at the house Stills was renting from Peter Tork in Studio City.

“Ivory Tower” was one of Stills’ contributions to the Déjà Vu sessions that was ultimately left off of the final album. The song morphed and changed over the years, and was eventually released on a later Stills’ solo project as “Little Miss Bright Eyes.”

Other unreleased highlights include the demo for Crosby’s “Almost Cut My Hair”; Stills’ outtake for “Bluebird Revisited”; and Young’s alternate version of “Helpless” featuring harmonica. Also making its debut on the set is a delightful version of “Our House” that features Nash singing with the song’s inspiration, Joni Mitchell.

This ad for the “Woodstock” single appeared in the March 28th, 1970, issue of Record World

See the source image

From the announcement: Déjà Vu: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition will be presented in a 12 x 12 hardcover book. The collection comes illustrated with rarely seen photos from the era and annotated by writer/filmmaker Cameron Crowe, whose revealing liner notes recount the making of the album through stories told by the people who were there, including David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, and Neil Young. On the same day, a deluxe vinyl version will also be available with the full content across 5 LPs of 180-gram vinyl. Crowe recalls in the liner notes that “Déjà Vu caught the zeitgeist perfectly” and “might just be the legendary band’s most accurate portrait of their fiery individualism.” Of this new Deluxe Edition, Crowe says: “50 years later, with the sonic aperture fully opened, it’s a wide-screen look at the big picture of Déjà Vu, with more music, including a batch of surprises, unseen photos, and a lot more clarity.”

In 2020, Nash, CSNY’s de facto archivist, said, “it will have a lot of stuff that people have never heard before. We found that the master tapes… are still fresh.”

Déjà Vu Alternates from Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young is a recreation of their immensely popular second album,Déjà Vu, featuring alternate versions of songs which appeared on the original album.  The iconic album which featured “Teach Your Children,” “Woodstock,” “Our House” and “Helpless” will showcase these alternate versions on vinyl for the first time after appearing on CD as part of the box set due in May. It will also feature a cover that mirrors the original album with an alternate photo from the cover shoot.

FIGHTMILK – ” Contender “

Posted: April 15, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Extremely loud and incredibly gross. Fightmilk’s second album “Contender” out May 14th 2021 on Reckless Yes.

We can’t believe it either. It’s only their second album! Recorded over four weekends between late 2019 and late 2020, it’s the sound of Fightmilk getting louder, quieter, stupider and more serious over the course of a ferocious forty-five minutes. Grab the album on your pick of vinyl or CD, or choose from our range of pretty sweet merch bundles, even if we do say so ourselves…

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All songs written by Fightmilk.

Lead vox/guitar/keys – Lily
Lead guitar/vox/keys – Alex
Bass/vox – Healey
Drums/vox/keys/programming/percussion – Nick
Guest vox on ‘You Are Not the Universe’ – Michael Physics

Releases May 14th, 2021

The BLACK KEYS – ” Delta Kream “

Posted: April 13, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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the black keys delta kream new covers album artwork

The Black Keys are returning to their roots with a new blues covers album titled “Delta Kream”, out May 14th via Nonesuch Records. Auerbach and Carney’s interpretation of John Lee Hooker’s ‘Crawling Kingsnake’ is now available to stream by signing up to The Black Keys’ online fan club here. Teasing their new project, the pair tweeted a link to the old version of the song last week 

The announcement (via Reddit) was made through the band’s Lonely Boys & Girls fan club. The 11-track collection honours Mississippi Hill Country blues artists who inspired The Black Keys, including John Lee Hooker, R. L. Burnside, and David “Junior” Kimbrough. 

The lead single, “Crawling Kingsnake”, is a John Lee Hooker cover. It is currently available as a fan club exclusive and will hit streaming services on Thursday. Delta Kream marks The Black Keys’ follow-up to 2019’s “Let’s Rock”. Earlier this year, they released a 10th anniversary deluxe edition of “Brothers”. The Black Keys marked the 10th anniversary of their acclaimed sixth album ‘Brothers’ with a special deluxe edition in January. Originally released in 2010, the LP contains the songs ‘Next Girl’, ‘Howlin’ For You’, ‘Everlasting Light’ and ‘Tighten Up’.

THE BLACK KEYS, the most famous blues-rock tandem, for the past few years – before them the White Stripes ruled the world – go back to the roots that inspired their sound and spirit. They canned an album of covers, titled
DELTA KREAM, out next month, 14th May. It’s a collection honouring their heroes of the Mississippi Hill country blues. artists like John Lee Hooker, Big Joe Williams, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Junior Kimbrough
and Ranie Burnette.

One of the pearls is The Keys cover version of “Going Down South” by R.L Burnside.

Let that guitar slide…

“Delta Kream” is released 14th May.

DOWNHAUL – ” Standing Water “

Posted: April 13, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Downhaul - PROOF

Downhaul returns with their sophomore album, “Proof”, this May. Listen to the new single, “Standing Water”, out now on all music and streaming services. 

Downhaul‘s new album Proof is a definitive step towards a sound tangled in the dense mystery of the South. It’s unabashed, dense, and jarringly honest. No bullshit, the opener is seven minutes long and the tracks are surrounded by atmospheric, blurry transitions fine-tuned by producer/mixer/engineer Chris Teti (TWIABP, Fiddlehead). An album that truly exists in its own universe, Proof comes out on May 21st. 

Today the band shares a new song called “Standing Water,” and it works as a sort of map through the very environment that bred these songs. Visions of college in a harbour-side Virginia town are woven throughout the verses, just detailed enough to sketch the base of a portrait, but leaving you to fill in your own details. “Memories are vignettes—the corners darken first,” vocalist/guitarist Gordon Phillips explains. “Supporting details or peripheral elements of lived experiences are hard to hold onto as time passes, but the stuff in the middle of the picture hangs around awhile, for better or for worse.”

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Wanting to preserve what the song meant for him, he drove the hour from the band’s new base in Richmond, back to the place where the “water doesn’t go anywhere. It stands.”

Built brick by brick with soaring synths, drawling guitars tones, rumbling bass, and topped by Gordon’s southeast born and bred accent slinging witty cynicisms, Proof is Downhaul embracing the weight they always toyed with. They’re putting their foot down. All gas, no brakes.

Andrew Seymour – drums, percussion, vocals
Patrick Davis – bass guitar, vocals
Robbie Ludvigsen – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, programming, vocals
Gordon Phillips – vocals, baritone guitar

Evan King – vocals on The Ladder
Maxwell Stern – lap steel on Bury, The Ladder, Interlude, About Leaving

Releases May 21st, 2021

RONNIE LANE SLIM CHANCE – ” Anymore For Anymore ” Reissue

Posted: April 13, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Ronnie Lane: Anymore For Anymore

To commemorate what would have been Ronnie Lane’s 75th birthday (April 1st 1946), UMC has announced the reissue of Lane’s seminal 1974 debut solo album, “Anymore For Anymore“, on May 7th. The album will be available on vinyl for the first time in more than 30 years.

Anymore For Anymore has been newly mastered at Abbey Road Studios, pressed on 180gm vinyl and is housed in a sleeve reproducing the original distinctive artwork. A new inner sleeve features rare photos and the lyrics to Ronnie’s original songs and the package includes a reproduction of the original album promo poster along with a download code.

Many fans know Ronnie Lane for his celebrated songwriter with both his previous bands the Small Faces and The Faces. He’s the genius behind such iconic songs such as “Ooh La La,” “Itchycoo Park,” “All Or Nothing,” “Tin Soldier,” “Annie” and “Debris.” However, after tiring of the rock and roll world that had come to engulf and consume both bands, Lane decided to go solo, leaving behind London’s East End and taking his family and musician friends with him for a new life in the country.

Originally released in July 1974 and recorded at his newly acquired ‘Fishpool’ farm in Wales, “Anymore For Anymore” saw Ronnie’s music embrace country, folk, bluegrass, music hall, soul and rhythm & blues to spellbinding effect. The album reached No.48 on the UK album chart, while single “The Poacher” peaked at No.36. Despite the modest chart position, the album has grown in stature since release.

Widely considered his best solo outing, and championed by the likes of Pete Townshend, Noel & Liam Gallagher, Paul Weller, and Jimmy Page, it’s an album now established as a “must-have” for any serious music lover, recognized as one of the great artistic records of the 1970s.

“Anymore For Anymore” is out on May 7th.

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