Archive for the ‘CLASSIC ALBUMS’ Category

BILLY SQUIER – ” Don’t Say No ” Classic Albums Released on April 13th, 1981

Posted: September 30, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Billy Squier‘s 1981 second solo album “Don’t Say No” sold over three million copies because of songs “In the Dark”, “My Kinda Lover”, “Lonely Is the Night” and the big hit “The Stroke”. Billy Squier grew up in the Boston suburbs as an only child (“Life isn’t easy from the singular side” he sings in the opening to “In the Dark”), the son of an executive of the Converse Shoe Company. So in the Squier household growing up, it’s safe to assume that Buddy Holly shared star billing with Bob Cousey, Bill Russell and John Havilcek of the Boston Celtics.
Billy Squier was introduced to John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers at age 14, which introduced Billy to guitarist Eric Clapton, changing everything for the young adolescent American. Squier’s desire got him first to Boston University. Then his talent got him into the prestigious Berklee College of Music, but the first half of the Seventies were spent pretty much shuffling in and out of bands in Boston and New York City.
Then Billy Squier got his first taste of the record business, recording two albums on a major label fronting the band Piper in 1976 and 1977 before splitting up. Undeterred, Squier landed a lucrative solo deal and debuted with 1980’s The Tale of the Tape, containing “The Big Beat” which I played to great response on ROCK 103/ Memphis. So it was with eager anticipation that Don’t Say No was received in April 1981.

Intervention Records is thrilled to present Billy Squier’s 1981 rock anthem, “Don’t Say No” in a brilliantly remastered Artist-Approved Edition. The classic rock staple catapulted Squier’s career to new heights. His live shows became arena rock sensations and four tracks from this album became classic rock radio staples in heavy rotation today: “In the Dark,” “The Stroke,” “My Kind of Lover” and “Lonely is the Night.” The original LP art has been restored by IR’s Tom Vadakan to a beautiful single-pocket gatefold and the Old-Style, “Tip-On” LP jacket is film-laminated and printed by Stoughton.

Don’t Say No is the second album by Billy Squier, Released on April 13th, 1981. It stands as Squier’s biggest career album, including the hits “In the Dark”, “Lonely Is the Night”, “My Kinda Lover” and “The Stroke”. The album hit the Top Five on the Billboard album chart and remained on the chart for over two years (111 weeks)

“The Stroke” was the first single, reaching number 17 and an even bigger hit at rock radio, hitting number 3 on the Mainstream Rock chart. The song even dented the British Pop charts, rising to number 52. The video for “The Stroke” — as most of the music videos from both Don’t Say No and its follow-up, Emotions In Motion is a straight-ahead performance piece, featuring Squier on an arena stage. Billy’s many videos were staples on the then brand-new channel MTV Channel which brought him increased popularity.

The album is a near-perfect example of early-’80s melodic hard rock, and even less enduring (but hardly inferior rockers) such as “You Know What I Like” and “Lonely Is the Night” keep up the intensity. And Squier also finds time for the occasional ballad, like the disarmingly gentle “Nobody Knows.” Completists may want to review his mid-’90s double-disc anthology, but as far as studio albums are concerned, Don’t Say No is undoubtedly his best and a pure classic.

“In The Dark” followed “The Stroke” into the Top 10 of the Album Rock Tracks chart. “Lonely Is The Night” and many other tracks from the album were hugely popular on AOR (Album Oriented Rock) radio stations.

Don’t Say No belatedly received a Triple Platinum award in 1992, certifying sales of over 3 million US copies. In early 2018, Intervention Records reissued Don’t Say No on 180-gram vinyl .The reissue is Artist-Approved and according to Squier “arguably the best-sounding version ever.

MATTHEW SWEET – ” The Albums “

Posted: September 30, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Matthew Sweets Essential 90s Albums Artist-Approved Expanded Edition 180-Gram Vinyl Double LPs!

You definately need these Artist-Approved 180-gram vinyl double LP reissues*. Loaded with extra tracks 100% Analog Re-mastered from THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound. Packaged in “Old-Style” tip-on deluxe gatefold jackets printed by Stoughton featuring faithfully restored original album art!

“Altered Beast” is available in late August. “Girlfriend” and “Son of Altered Beast” are shipping in late autumn 2018. 100% Fun available now! ,*Son of Altered Beast is a single not double LP. All fully artist-Approved Expanded Editions. Intervention Records and Matthew Sweet are proud to introduce an amazing NEW Artist-Approved reissue series, Matthew Sweet 1991-1995!

In 2018 Intervention is releasing 2-LP Expanded Editions of Sweet’s 90’s power-pop classic Trilogy, Girlfriend, Altered Beast and 100% Fun, plus the Son of Altered Beast 7-song EP, which appears on vinyl for the very first time!

Each Expanded Edition double-LP set of the three classic studio albums is loaded with extra tracks. So many of these songs are either appearing on vinyl for the very first time or seeing official release for the very first time. And for Sweet completists, these LPs are the most extensive collection of extra tracks compiled and packaged with the studio albums the songs were recorded for!

The original 15-song repertoires for Girlfriend and Altered Beast are for the first time spread across three LPs sides for maximum sound quality and the ability to PLAY LOUD!

The jacket art for Matthew Sweet 1991-1995 has been faithfully restored by IR’s art director Tom Vadakan. The three Expanded Editions feature beautiful “Old Style” gatefolds printed onto heavy blanks and film laminated by the wizards at Stoughton Printing. Son of Altered Beast features a single-pocket “Old Style” GATEFOLD jacket by Stoughton as well.

With the wind in his sails stirred up by the success of his previous album Girlfriend, Matthew Sweet did what any young musician in his position would have with the follow up: he went for broke. He wrote more daring arrangements that brought in a country element to his power pop attack, dove deeper lyrically and, most importantly, roped in a bunch of his musical idols to join in the fun. The liner notes for Altered Beast read like a who’s who of the pop and post-punk universe with regular collaborators Ivan Julian and Richard Lloyd joined by Big Star’s Jody Stephens, Mick Fleetwood, pianist Nicky Hopkins and Elvis Costello’s drummer Pete Thomas.

Their collective work has never sounded better than it does on this remastered vinyl pressing from the ever-reliable Intervention Records. The album is wisely stretched out to a double LP, with the fourth side taken up by a batch of studio outtakes, some previously unavailable here in the States. They flesh out the story nicely, with even more of Sweet’s ‘70s rock acumen and ‘80s punk playfulness coming to the fore. It all sounds more remarkable than ever thanks to the work of mastering engineer Ryan K. Smith. Every song sounds like it is bursting out of its seams and ready to flatten a major metropolis.

TY SEGALL and WHITE FENCE – ” Joy “

Posted: September 30, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Ty Segall and White Fence: <i>Joy</i> Review

Once again, Ty Segall and White Fence‘s Tim Presley have slipped the madness of the straitjackets they were fitted for years ago, and made a record not just of songs, but of climactic essence – a stretch of sequential time organized for entertainment’s sake! Behold, Joy—their mind-meld complete, fizzy experimentations and sonorous bangers alike. Joy unrolls from within and in between them and electricity takes many forms, plunging from rock trips to acoustic strollers to poppy reveries to freak-downs at side’s end.
These sounds are too big to be confined just on some wax or your shitty headphones; Ty and Tim are also taking the show on the road! With select West Coast dates in the near future, total joy-ination is imminent. Fellow DC-ites The Peacers will be opening some gigs, as well, so you know it’s going to rule! Who knows what else the future holds?

So another month and another Ty Segall album. the prolific king of California psych/garage/punk-rock is arguably THEE most prolific major musician working right now, and the level of quality he achieves across his releases is incredibly high. The guy is quickly putting together an all-timer of a catalog in such a short time.

The latest entry in said catalog is Segall’s second collaborative album with veteran Los Angeles psych-pop experimenter White Fence, aka Tim Presley, formerly of The Nerve Agents and Darker My Love, and more recently Cate Le Bon’s partner in the project DRINKS. The two men joined forces in 2012 to produce a fun and fuzzed-out collection of songs called Hair, a “glorious mess of an album” .

Joy is a little more messy but almost as glorious. With track times mostly clocking in under 120 seconds, it’s a series of quick hits that are warped but relentlessly tuneful, like a Beatles LP that’s spent a blazing hot afternoon lying on a busy freeway. As songwriters, Segall and Presley complement each other nicely: Segall certainly knows his way around a catchy tune, but Presley’s a more natural melodicist, and while Presley definitely has his own rough edge, Segall’s a prodigious shredder. In the form of…the fucked-up pop song!

Highlights on Joy include “Body Behavior,” a pulsing acoustic rocker that snakes in the verses and sparkles in the chorus; “Other Way” a dead-eyed noise excavation that feels like it fell off the Incesticide tree of influence; and “A Nod,” another rhythmic strummer that may just boast the prettiest melody on the album. It also features one of the least abstract lyrics on Joy:

Tried to please my mother
Tried to please my father
Tried to please everyone but me
Bank says I need money
My friends say I need followers
But I want to believe in me
Me

There are other great songs here: the occasionally jazzy “Good Boy,” the beautiful and Neil Young-ish “My Friend,” and the propulsive “Do Your Hair,” which is powered by a bouncy bass line and uses its 95 seconds with impressive efficiency. The opposite is true for a couple of tracks that show up near the end of the album, “She Is Gold” and “Tommy’s Place,” two silly and/or stoney studio experiments that go nowhere, really. Joy would’ve been a tighter overall package if they’d been cut.

With Segall, though, it’s worth hearing a couple of clunkers if it means he’ll keep making music at his preferred dizzying pace, because his hit-to-miss ratio is so high. And collaborating with Presley doesn’t dent that ratio. In fact, it brings out good things in both men. Here’s hoping their next album isn’t another six years away.

PINEGROVE – ” Skylight “

Posted: September 29, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Pinegrove have released their new album Skylight through Bandcamp. The album is available in a pay-what-you-want format. All proceeds from the album will be split between three charities: Musicares, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the Voting Rights Project.

The album was announced on Wednesday as part of a Pitchfork profile on frontman Evan Stephens Hall, who was accused of “sexual coercion” in 2017. The Pitchfork piece delved into the accusation and resulting fallout, and gave Hall, as well as a mediator for the alleged victim, a chance to elaborate on what had happened.

Reactions to the piece were divided. Some were happy to see the band emerge from a murky, ill-defined situation, but others felt that the redemption was unearned. Near the end of the profile, Hall revealed the band’s plans to self-release Skylight, and that all Bandcamp profits would benefit charity.

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Released September 28th, 2018
Songs by Evan Stephens Hall 

Evan Stephens Hall – vocals, guitar, percussion
Zack Levine – drums, percussion
Adan Carlo – bass
Josh Marré – guitar, dobro, lap steel, vocals
Sam Skinner – guitar
Nick Levine – guitar, pedal steel
Nandi Rose Plunkett – synth, keyboard, vocals
Doug Hall – piano & vocals on Light On

All proceeds will be split evenly between Musicares, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and the Voting Rights Project.

NIGHT BEATS – ” Her Cold Cold Heart “

Posted: September 29, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Night Beats perform tracks from new album ‘Myth Of A Man’ Fronted by Texan native Danny Lee Backwell, Myth Of A Man is their fourth studio album, and their second for Heavenly Recordings following the release of Who Sold My Generation in 2016.

The band have shared the first track from the record ‘Her Cold Cold Heart’ that evokes the noxious feeling and hypnotic state of toxic love.

‘Her Cold Cold Heart’ is from the Night Beats upcoming fourth studio album “Myth Of A Man,” out January 18th, 2019 via Heavenly Recordings / [PIAS] Recordings

CHEERBLEEDERZ – ” Faceplant ” EP

Posted: September 29, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Something of a lo-fi underground super-group, Cheerbleederz have this week put out their debut EP, Faceplant, on the ever reliable Alcopop! Records. The London-based trio, comprising members of Fresh, Happy Accidents and Finish Flag,  bonded over a shared experience of being, “the only women in our main bands”, and formed Cheerbleederz, “to make a band that explores being women together”.

Ahead of the EP’s release the band shared the first single from it, Cabin Fever. A reflection on, “being unable to tell someone how you feel, and in turn feeling trapped by that situation”, Cabin Fever is an emotive blast of harmonies, pulsating bass and clattering guitars. The whole things builds to a wonderfully melancholic outro as the members chime in unison, “I think that we’re all doomed”, in disarmingly harmonic unison. On their debut EP, Cheerbleederz seem to have hit on something hugely promising; at once reminiscent of their other projects, yet different enough to sound fresh and exciting, it’s a hugely promising place to start.

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Faceplant is out now via Alcopop! Records.

FERRIS and SYLVESTER – ” Sometimes “

Posted: September 29, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Folk/alt-country duo Ferris & Sylvester are a London-based band preparing to release their debut EP The Yellow Line. Ferris & Sylvester are songwriters – With clear references in their catchy setup to the mid-60s sounds of Greenwich Village combined with their meatier blues tones, Ferris & Sylvester sit somewhere between Jack White and First Aid Kit. Their clever combination of blues, folk and rock n roll has created a distinctive genre of their own.

The London-based pair met two and a half years ago and have since won over the capital with their ever-growing live presence and songwriting. This year, the duo released their highly anticipated EP ‘Made In Streatham’ which they self-produced in their South London flat. Released through their own label ‘Archtop Records’, the EP has clocked up over 2 million Spotify streams, rose to No.1 on the iTunes Singer-Songwriter chart and received widespread praise across the board.

They’re the first signing to legendary producer Youth [Killing Joke, Crowded House, Paul McCartney, The Verve]’s new publishing company Painted Word Music, and recorded their EP at his Space Mountain Studios in Spain.

The Video featurs a stunning animation of ‘Sometimes’ by Neil Pymer & Shinyeye

We’re also premiering the beautiful video for their new single ‘Berlin’ which was filmed at Battersea Arts Centre in London

Band Members
Issy Ferris and Archie Sylvester

EMMA LOUISE – ” Lilac Everything ” Best Albums Of 2018

Posted: September 29, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Across her first two albums, Emma Louise mainly sang in her own voice, a clear soprano offered up without much overt processing. While this Australian singer/songwriter was in the studio making her debut record, 2013’s Vs. Head Vs. Heart, she heard a snippet of her backing vocals slowed and pitched down to a tenor range. A new character named Joseph was born in her mind and, five years later, she’s released the first single off an album in which Joseph sings lead.

This is from the new album, Lilac Everything; A Project by Emma Louise. She tells us, “Just The Way I Am” is my favourite song from the album, and it means the most to me. I wrote it after having a falling out with a friend and I came to realise how special it is to have people in your life who love absolutely everything about you.”

“Wish You Well,” taken off the album “Lilac Everything”, is a straightforward and mournful piano ballad that makes creative use of the “audio drag” technique pioneered by sound artist Laurie Anderson in the 1980s. “Lie to me/Say there’s still some place we can meet/But if not/I wish you well,” Louise sings as Joseph. She sounds different not just because her voice is lower and shrouded in woozy effects, but because she’s adopted new, slightly more masculine vocal tics, like repeated “woah-ohs” and notes that trail off half a beat early.

She gets to explore a new kind of confidence and play out romantic dramas in a fantasy space, relieving her of the notion that singers—especially female singers—must always be writing in the confessional mode about things that have happened to them. By inhabiting this character, Louise is free to explore a whole new side to her craft, and “Wish You Well” proves it to be an exciting one.

BODY TYPE – ” Palms “

Posted: September 29, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Image may contain: 4 people, people sitting and outdoor

Continuing the recent glut of exciting new Australian bands is Body Type, the only surprise is that they’re from Sydney rather than the musical hot-bed of Melbourne. The debut Body Type EP is out next month, and ahead of its release the band have this week shared their latest single, Palms.

Lead vocalist, Sophie McComish explains the idea behind the track, “Palms comes from observing moments of concatenation, when everything in your life lines up in a way that feels like the universe is trying to tell you something”. Musically, there’s a winning blend of dream-pop haze and garage energy, the whole track bounces on one of the year’s most thrilling drum beats, pounding out as guitars and vocal melodies entwine and dance together. It might be a track about fate, yet listening to Body Type their destiny is surely in their own hands: this is a band on the verge of something very special.

This video was filmed in the Blue Mountains region. Body Type would like to acknowledge the Darug and Gundungurra people, who are the Traditional Custodians of this land. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and acknowledge that sovereignty has never been ceded

Band Members
Sophie Mccomish (guitar + vox) Annabel Blackman (guitar + vox) Georgia Wilkinson-Derums (bass + vox)  Cecil Coleman (drums)

Body Type EP is out October 19th via Partisan Records.

thanks fortherabbits.

GOGGS – ” Pre Strike Sweep “

Posted: September 29, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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GØGGS: <i>Pre-Strike Sweep</i> Review

Ty Segall’s record as a rocker is nearly unimpeachable. The guy makes tons of great music, seemingly for the right reasons. He is, by all accounts, a good dude who just happens to eat, sleep and breathe psychedelic garage rock. He is almost universally beloved. He is a giant of the underground scene. It is easy, however, to imagine his band GØGGS as the answer to the question: “What would Too Much Ty Segall sound like?”

GØGGS—founded by Segall and throaty Ex-Cult vocalist Chris Shaw is a good band, and Pre Strike Sweep is a solid, bracing blast of adventurous punk rock.

Indeed, there are a lot of things to like here. Throughout, Segall needs only six strings and some electricity to conjure up killer guitar sounds, from the subterranean riffs that power “Killing Time” to the prickly noise that permeates the title track to the whiplash thrash of “Space Rinse.” His lead lines are menacing and deliberate on “Vanity,” but bright and razor-sharp on “Morning Reaper.” You get the sense that he could do this in his sleep, though it never sounds like he’s sleepwalking through a session.

GØGGS’ rhythm section include bassist Michael Anderson and drummer Charles Moothart handles its business across Pre Strike Sweep, whether that means driving the song melodically (“Still Feeding”), locking into a groove (“Ruptured Line”) or simply playing the role of anchor (“Burned Entrance”) and letting Segall soar and Shaw do what he does best.

In the end, it’s Shaw’s vocals that distinguish GØGGS from other garage/punk acts, just as they do in Ex-Cult. He is limited melodically, but has a gift for using his voice as a battering ram, whether he’s speak-singing, as in “CTA,” or howling through a throat full of gravel, as he does on “Disappear.” He’s a terrific frontman, and his style provides a perfect contrast to Segall’s feedback squalls and squiddly-diddly-diddly proclivities.

Add up the last three paragraphs and you’ll almost certainly come to the conclusion that this is a positive review of a pretty good record. And again, it is. But it’s also the third Segall-related album review of the year.

So there’s a lot of competition and comparison that can happen when it comes time to assess one of his records, and very little from Pre Strike Sweep leaps from the speakers. It shred and stomps ably, but it doesn’t feel special. Instead, it roars by for a half-hour and then it’s gone, and whatever thrills it delivers dissipate quickly.

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