Friday, November 11, 2011

Vinyl Record News & Music Notes

Portishead Set To Release Limited Edition Vinyl

Portishead are releasing a single called "Chase the Tear," with all earnings going towards Amnesty’s human rights work and all rights given to the organization. This five-minute track was previously only available as a download, but is set for a full international release on limited edition 12” vinyl on XL Recordings on November 14th. The vinyl comes backed with a new version of the song by Toronto band Doldrums (www.endlessdoldrums.com). The record will also come with a code to download the MP3 version. The vinyl release will be available to buy online from Rough Trade and Piccadilly Records as well as the usual record stores and at Portishead live shows.

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ALL THAT REMAINS And JASTA Split 7" Vinyl

ALL THAT REMAINS and Jamey Jasta are releasing a limited-edition split seven-inch blood-red vinyl available exclusively on Record Store Day's Black Friday event on November 25 at participating stores. The split seven-inch vinyl features two songs — "Some Of The People, All Of The Time" off ALL THAT REMAINS' latest album, "For We Are Many"; and "Mourn The Illusion" from Jasta's solo album, "Jasta". The record is limited to a pressing of only 1,000 copies available exclusively on Record Store Day's Black Friday.








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Firehorse Release New Album On Vinyl

Firehorse is the new project from singer/songwriter/instrumentalist Leah Siegel, and recently released the eclectic debut, 'and so they ran faster… ' via PledgeMusic Recordings on both vinyl and CD.  Produced by Geoff Stanfield (Mark Kozelek, Sun Kil Moon, Moby) and with Steve Elliot on guitar, the inimitable Tim Luntzel (Rosanne Cash, Loudon Wainwright III, and more) on bass, and Brian Wolfe (Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Diane Schuur, Joan Jett, and others) on drums, and 'so they ran faster...' explores the sonic possibilities and personal expression of an artist reaching for the next horizon.

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Katatonia's 'For Funerals to Come' Vinyl Reissue

Katatonia was formed in 1991 by Anders Nyström and Jonas Renkse. Their debut album, ‘Dance of December Souls’, was released in 1993, gaining the band recognition for their eclectic brand of gothic doom/death metal & joining acts such as Paradise Lot & My Dying Bride as one of the genre’s defining bands. On future albums a newer, sleeker Katatonia sound came to the fore, starting with a streamlined & structured collection of melodic dark rock songs that became third album ‘Discouraged Ones’; the main evolution point for modern day Katatonia.

‘For Funerals to Come’ is an incredibly rare piece of death/doom metal mastery from back in 1994, which was recorded following Katatonia’s debut album, ‘Dance of December Souls’. It was recorded with Dan Swanö at the famous Unisound Studios & contains the trademarks of early era Katatonia with the haunting guitar melodies & slow tempo combining with the tortured vocals of Jonas Renkse to create an aura of melancholy & gothic darkness.

This edition of ‘For Funerals to Come’ contains 2 extra tracks, ‘Black Erotica’ & ‘Love of the Swan’ (both also recorded at Unisound later in 1994), which had previously appeared on an obscure compilation. It is presented on black vinyl & limited to 1500 copies only, and contains new liner notes from co-founding member, writer & guitarist, Anders Nyström.

Buy it HERE

Tracklist:

SIDE A
Funeral Wedding
Shades of Emerald Fields
For Funerals to Come
Epistel

SIDE B
Black Erotica
Love of the Swan

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love this show, now we have the soundtrack! (and peggy bundy singing for us!)

Columbia Records, FX and Twentieth Century Fox Television Partner to Present Music from FX's Highest Rated Series "Sons of Anarchy"

Songs of Anarchy: Music from Sons of Anarchy Seasons 1-4 in Stores November 29

Features Four Recordings From Golden Globe® Winner Katey Sagal

NEW YORK, Nov. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Columbia Records in partnership with FX and Twentieth Century Fox Television proudly present the soundtrack to FX's highest rated series, Sons of Anarchy. The soundtrack, Songs of Anarchy: Music from Sons of Anarchy Seasons 1-4 , features a collection of fifteen new recordings, specifically for the show, of classic tunes such as "What A Wonderful World", "Forever Young" and "John The Revelator". Songs of Anarchy: Music from Sons of Anarchy Seasons 1-4 will be available in-stores Tuesday, November 29, 2011.

The collection kicks off with the Emmy nominated and ASCAP award winning series theme song "This Life" written by singer-songwriter Curtis Stigers, Velvet Revolver guitarist Dave Kushner, producer Bob Thiele and show creator Kurt Sutter, performed by Curtis Stigers & The Forest Rangers. Golden Globe® Award winning actress/singer Katey Sagal performs four tracks on the soundtrack including a standout performance of "Son Of A Preacher Man" with The Forest Rangers. Other notable tracks include "Someday Never Comes", "Hey Hey, My My" and the never before heard stunning recording of "House of the Rising Sun" which features Battleme & The Forest Rangers with Katey Sagal.

Sons of Anarchy was created by Kurt Sutter who also serves as Executive Producer along with John Linson, Art Linson and Paris Barclay. The series is produced by FX Productions and Fox 21. Four seasons in, Sons of Anarchy is recording its highest-rated season yet, delivering 5.46 million Total Viewers and 3.73 million Adults 18-49, respective gains of +24% and +21%. On a weekly multi-telecast basis, Sons is delivering 8.47 million Total Viewers and 5.7 million Adults 18-49. Starring Charlie Hunnam, Ron Perlman and Katey Sagal, Sons of Anarchy is having its best season yet from a ratings standpoint. It's currently the highest-rated series ever on FX, which sparked the network to add an extra episode to extend the current fourth season to 14 episodes.

Sons of Anarchy airs Tuesdays on FX with the season four finale airing Tuesday, December 6 at 10PM ET/PT.

The full track listing for Songs of Anarchy: Music from Sons of Anarchy Seasons 1-4 is as follows:

1. This Life – Curtis Stigers & The Forest Rangers
2. Son Of A Preacher Man – Katey Sagal & The Forest Rangers
3. Forever Young – Audra Mae & The Forest Rangers
4. John The Revelator – Curtis Stigers & The Forest Rangers
5. Fortunate Son – Lyle Workman & Bob Thiele
6. Slip Kid – Anvil featuring Franky Perez
7. Girl From The North Country – The Lions
8. Someday Never Comes – Billy Valentine & The Forest Rangers
9. Gimme Shelter – Paul Brady & The Forest Rangers
10. Bird On A Wire – Katey Sagal & The Forest Rangers
11. Hey Hey, My My – Battleme
12. What A Wonderful World – Alison Mosshart & The Forest Rangers
13. Los Tiempos Van Cambiando (The Times They Are A-Changin') – Franky Perez & Los Guardianes del Bosque
14. Strange Fruit – Katey Sagal & The Forest Rangers featuring Blake Mills
15. House Of The Rising Sun – Battleme & The Forest Rangers with Katey Sagal

SOURCE Columbia Records

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album cover art for the day, think this won't offend anyone?

Semargl Posts New Album Artwork

Semargl has recently posted the cover artwork for the band's upcoming album called 'Satanic Pop Metal.' Semargl also commented:

"Semargl presents cover of its new 5th album called 'Satanic Pop Metal,' which will be released under label Twilight-Vertrieb (DE) in the near future. Release date will be announced later, as well as the promo songs.

"The album will contain 13 tracks, including the song 'Tak, Kurwa' which had previously appeared as an Internet single free for download from the official website.

"'Satanic Pop Metal' means the evolution of Semargl's music, a new genre, in which the band performed their latest songs - a mix of different ideas and experiments."










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the huffingtonpost has a short article worth reading - the words are carefully chosen and well presented, hail vinyl!

The Day I Discovered Vinyl

Daniel Komanoff

After months of nagging my dad, he finally came home a week ago with a large cardboard box on the back of his bike. He had just returned from a repair store in Williamsburg and the box contained our newly fixed turntable.

For years, our record player had sat on top of our stereo, broken and despondent. Ancient as my dad himself, it collected dust and seemed to melt into the furniture. I spent many hours poring over my dad's hundreds of records, longing to play them and yet not having the chance. Although I could've easily downloaded everything in his collection from the internet and listened to it on my ipod, I wanted something more than that. I wanted something beyond the quickness and immediacy that my ipod presented me with. I wanted the experience of vinyl, of letting the needle drop and hearing the faint scratch signal the beginning of another tune.

As soon as I helped my dad set up the record player, I selected a record from one of our many shelves and proceeded to carefully place it on the turntable.

Read the rest at huffingtonpost.com

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found this interesting:

Jimi Hendrix Postcard In 1966

At that time, Jimi Hendrix was just a struggling musician and was updating his father on recent activities via the mail. More than 40 years later, the postcard Jimi Hendrix sent to his dad, can be considered a historical document due to the guitarist pointing out two important developments that are among the most significant events in his solo career. In early 1966, Hendrix was still best known for his work as a sideman for the Isley Brothers and Little Richard. However, in October, 1966, very soon after forming The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Jimi Hendrix wrote the postcard to his father and filled him in on recent developments.

Two months later, the band's first single, "Hey Joe," was released. Their debut album, "Are You Experienced," soon followed; it is now considered by many to be one of the greatest albums of all time.



Transcript

Dear Dad –

Well...Although I lost the address, I feel I must write before I get too far away – We're in Munich, Germany now – We just left Paris and Nancy France – We're playing around london now. That's where I'm staying these days. I have my own group and will have a record out about 2 months named "Hey Joe" By the Jimi Hendrix EXPERIENCE

I hope you get this card – I'll write a decent letter – I think things are getting a little Better –
Your loving son

Jimi

cool!!

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Record Raid Expands to Three Venues and More Vendors

This Saturday, Record Raid, New Orleans’ local record fair, is returning to Siberia and the Hi-Ho Lounge and expanding across the street to the All-Ways Lounge.

“It’s essentially just a big music flea market,” says organizer Hunter King about the Record Raid. “It’s full of music media: vinyl, CDs, 45s, and cassettes. We’ve got a bunch of vendors from New Orleans and all across the gulf coast.”

The fair happens three times a year, summer, spring and fall, and this time around it’s slated to have the most vendors yet (disclaimer: OffBeat online editor Ben Berman is a vendor). “It’s worth mentioning that a lot of my usual big vendors couldn’t make it because of scheduling issues,” says King. “I usually have Domino Sound Record Shack, Euclid Records, and Skully’z Recordz. I’ve had Jim Russell Records a couple times too. This time, Skully’z is the only one who can make it, but it’s still my biggest vendor list so far. There are a whole lot of new vendors who I’m really looking forward to.”

Aside from browsing musical goods, King has highlights planned for patrons at each venue. “Siberia will have DJs—we tried that for the first time in July and it worked out well. Hi-Ho will have several listening stations set up, and All-Ways will have a swap table where people can bring in a box of records to swap and not have to pay a vendor fee. And of course there will be food too, available from the bars themselves.” The DJs will be playing a variety of music, all on vinyl of course, from punk and garage to soul and disco.

This isn’t just your everyday record fair, either. King runs the Record Raid as a non-profit and sometimes as a community fund-raiser. “The idea is to expose people to mountains of music and allow people to communicate with each other and come together through their music. I don’t think that there are too many places or festivals that celebrate recorded music, and so the fair, in that way, reveals to people new knowledge and New Orleans history. It’s a very local thing to me.”

The Record Raid starts at noon Saturday, November 12 and goes until 6:30 p.m. Entry is free. There is still space for more vendors. For more information on selling, email Hunter King at hunterking@inbox.com

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and in music history for today, november 11th:

In 1938, Kate Smith first sang Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" on network radio.

In 1954, Bill Haley's rendition of "Shake, Rattle and Roll" peaked at #7 during its US chart run of 27 weeks. He had dropped his cowboy image about a year and a half earlier, while renaming The Saddlemen to Bill Haley and His Comets. Producer Milt Gabler would later say that he "cleaned up" the lyrics from Joe Turner's original 1954 version in order to insure radio air-play.

In 1955, Billboard Magazine published the results of its annual disc jockey poll. The most played R&B single was Johnny Ace's "Pledging My Love," the most promising artist is Chuck Berry, the favorite R&B artist was Fats Domino and Elvis Presley was voted the most promising Country And Western artist.

In 1955, Billboard introduced "The Top 100" format, which will combine record sales with radio and jukebox play to arrive at the standings. The Four Aces "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing" has the distinction of being the first number one record using the new calculation method.

In 1957, Dance Teacher magazine denounced England's Princess Margaret for endorsing Rock 'n' Roll, and in doing so, hastening the demise of Ballroom dancing. The article went on to say that "Rock 'n' Roll should be discouraged."

In 1958, Hank Ballard And The Midnighters recorded their original version of "The Twist." It was issued as the B side of the Gospel style ballad "Teardrops On Your Letter" and although it reached #16 on the R&B chart, Ballard's version of "The Twist" wouldn't appear on the Billboard Pop chart until just after Chubby Checker's version took off two years later.

In 1961, Joan Baez played her first major concert at a sold out Town Hall in New York.

In 1964, 24-year-old Tom Jones recorded "It's Not Unusual" for Britain's Decca Records. Jones recorded what was intended to be a demo for Shaw, but when she heard it she was so impressed with Jones' delivery that she declined the song and recommended that Jones release it himself. The record was the second Decca single Jones released, reaching number one in the UK charts in 1965. It was also the first hit for Jones in the US, peaking at #10 in May of that year. The single was released in the US on the Parrot label and also reached #3 on Billboard's easy listening chart. Jones used this song as the theme for his late 1960s-early 1970s musical variety series This Is Tom Jones. It has since become Jones' musical signature.

In 1965, the final recording session for the Beatles’ Rubber Soul album took place, at Abbey Road, London. They needed three new songs to finish the album so an old song “Wait” is pulled off the shelf and the group recorded two new songs “You Won't See Me” and “Girl,” the basic tracks for both songs being completed in two takes.

In 1965, Velvet Underground made its performance debut at a high school dance in Summit, NJ.

In 1967, Van Morrison performed his current US #10 hit, "Brown Eyed Girl" on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. Although the song has become a staple on US Oldies radio, it was not a hit in the UK.



In 1969, the FBI in Phoenix, Arizona arrested Jim Morrison for "interfering with the flight of an intercontinental aircraft and public drunkenness"aboard a plane. The Doors singer who was on his way to a Rolling Stones concert with actor Tom Baker had been drinking and annoying the stewardesses. The charges were eventually dropped.

In 1972, a little over a year after the Allman Brothers Band lost Duane Allman in a motorcycle accident, their bassist, 24 year old Berry Oakley was killed when his motorcycle hit a bus, just three blocks away from the site that claimed Allman. At first, Oakley seemed all right, but died twenty minutes after being brought to the hospital.

In 1973, thirty radio stations across the United States broadcast what it billed as a "live" show by Mott the Hoople. It was really nothing more than Hoople's studio tracks with dubbed-in applause.

KISS released the album 'Rock and Roll Over' in 1976.

In 1978, Donna Summer's Disco version of "MacArthur Park" rose to the top of the Billboard chart, besting Richard Harris' 1968 rendition by one spot. It would be the first of four number one singles for Summer. Songwriter Jimmy Webb would later explain that the mysterious lyrics about the cake melting in the rain is simply a metaphor for a love affair ending.

In 1982, Marvin Gaye's first release since leaving Motown Records earlier in the year, "Sexual Healing", becomes his 13th and final #1 on the Billboard R&B chart. The song will reach #3 on the Pop chart and #4 in the UK early next year.

In 1989, Melissa Etheridge and Joe Cocker entertained Germans that were celebrating the newly tumbled Berlin Wall.

In 1997, Metallica played a free concert in Philadelphia, PA.

In 2000, Bobby Sheen, the male vocalist of Bob B. Soxx And The Blue Jeans on their 1963, US #8 hit "Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah", died of pneumonia at the age of 58. That song originally appeared in the 1946 Disney live action and animated movie Song of the South.

In 2002, British Phonographic industry data showed that sales of singles were at their lowest level in 25 years, making up less than 10% of all music sold.

In 2006, Grammy-nominated R&B star Gerald Levert died of a heart attack aged 40. The singer who was the son of O'Jays vocalist Eddie Levert, first found fame with the R&B trio LeVert, and scored a U.K. top 10 single with Casanova in 1987.

birthdays today include (among others): Gary Powell (Libertines) (42), Andy Partridge (XTC) (58), Chris Dreja (Yardbirds) (66), Jesse Colin Young (Youngbloods) (70), Vince Martell (Vanilla Fudge) (66) and Jim Peterik (Ides of March) (61)