Thursday, June 7, 2012

Vinyl Record News & Music Notes


this from our friends at nonesuch.com

Ry Cooder’s "Election Special" Due Out August 21 on Nonesuch/Perro Verde Records


Ry Cooder’s new album, Election Special, is due out on CD and vinyl from Nonesuch / Perro Verde Records on August 21, 2012; an exclusive pre-order offer will be available soon in the Nonesuch Store.

The record is a wake-up call as the United States heads into the fall election season.

“Howdy there neighbor—let me ask you something. Do you really think Charlie and Davy sit around on the couch with family and friends watching re-runs of Dancing with the Stars?," asks Cooder. "See, 'Wasting Away in Margaritaville' was a good song in its day, but we need a different kind of a song now if we’re going to make headway against the likes of Charlie and Dave. Those type of guys are plenty swift, they’re all deacons in the High Church of the Next Dollar. We need to get smarter, fast. The world is full of C and D students in high places and there’s more coming up all the time. Don’t be one.”

Cooder produced the album and wrote all of the songs. (“Take Your Hands off It” was co-written with Joachim Cooder). He sings and plays mandolin, guitar, and bass on the album, with Joachim on drums. Arnold McCuller sings harmony vocals on “Take Your Hands off It.”

An exclusive Nonesuch Store pre-order offer will be available soon.  Look for more details from the CVR Blog!!

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Yoko Ono, Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon Set To Release 10" Vinyl Record

Yoko Ono, Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon scheduled to release a limited edition, beautifully pressed on one-sided 10" vinyl called  "Early in the Morning" with an etching by Yoko on the flip side.  The one-off record will be available in stores in US June 19th and in Europe on July 3rd.  Profits will be donated to Ashinaga Rainbow House, which is building a Rainbow House in Tohoku to aid orphans of the 3.11 tsunami.

Available for pre-order now at www.sonicyouth.com








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for your information, not sure if i wrote about this (old age creepin' in!)

Official Record Store Shop Chart

UK Top 10 vinyl album sales of 2011

1. The King Of Limbs – Radiohead
2. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
3. 21 – Adele
4. Let England Shake – PJ Harvey
5. Suck It And See – Arctic Monkeys
6. Bon Iver – Bon Iver
7. Different Gear Still Speeding – Beady Eye
8. 50 Words For Snow – Kate Bush
9. Submarine (Original Soundtrack) – Alex Turner
10. The Dark Side Of The Moon – Pink Floyd

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in the land down under, a great article about the virtues and messiness of producing our beloved vinyl!

Just for the record, it's dirty work but someone has to do it

Glenn Mulcaster.

THE man who runs the last operating vinyl record factory in Australia is not sentimental or nostalgic about preserving old recordings in the face of the digital onslaught wiping out CD sales.

Zenith Records owner Chris Moss simply reproduces new music the old way - in the gatehouse and workshop of an abandoned flour mill in Sunshine. He said there was nothing romantic about it. ''It is filthy, dirty, disgusting, oily, messy and noisy,'' he said. ''It's a factory with stinking chemicals and petroleum products.''

Please read the rest of the article at smh.com.au

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fantastic write up from philly, read and enjoy!

Sound Trends: How Philadelphia-Area Independent Record Labels Remain Viable

Elliott Sharp

After a decade of radically declining revenues, Nielsen SoundScan reported a 1.3 percent increase in album sales in 2011. While the rise of the mp3 as the most popular mode of music consumption has cut into record label and artist profits -- namely due to the proliferation of illegal downloading -- last year showed a 19.5 percent increase in digital album sales. 

What this means for record labels, particularly independent labels, isn't quite clear. What is for certain, though, is that labels must constantly adapt to a wildly unpredictable economic landscape in order to remain viable. 

Siltbreeze and Relapse are two of Philadelphia's longest-running independent labels.

Read the rest at keystoneedge.com

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album cover art of the day:

King Of Asgard Reveals New Album Artwork

Swedish Viking metal act King of Asgard are set to release their new album ' ...to North' in Europe on July 27th/30th via Metal Blade Records.

Tracklist:
1. Intro
2. The Nine Worlds Burn
3. The Dispossessed
4. Gap of Ginnungs
5. Bound to Reunite
6. Nordvegr
7. Up on the Mountain
8. Plague-ridden Rebirth
9. Harvest (The End)
10. ...to North
11. Vinterskugge (Digi-CD bonus only!)











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Odd Jobs: Turning Your Ashes Into a Vinyl Record

By Eric Spitznagel

Jason Leach is just 41 and in good health, but he’s already made arrangements for his cremains. Part of it has to do with his family history. “I’ve heard stories about my father trying to scatter his
grandfather’s ashes from a boat,” Leach says. “It went terribly wrong, and they ended up sweeping him off the deck.” Things didn’t turn out much better at his own grandfather’s memorial service.

“There was a strong breeze,” he remembers, grimacing. “And the ashes blew right into my face.” When his time comes, Leach, who lives in Scarborough, on the northeast coast of England, wants a more dignified ending. So he’s having his ashes pressed into a vinyl record.

Read the rest of this crazy article at businessweek.com

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from our friends at mute.com

RICHARD HAWLEY - Standing At The Sky’s Edge THE NEW ALBUM  DIGITAL DOWNLOAD AVAILABLE JUNE 12th  CD & LP AVAILABLE AUGUST 28th

“A churning, glowering, tumultuous noise…Hawley makes a masterpiece.."5/5 -The Guardian 

“…a beautiful storm of brimstone."  8/10” -NME

“Hawley’s most compelling work.” 4/5  -The Fly

Following the success of his award-winning, critically acclaimed 2009 album Truelove’s Gutter, Richard Hawley will release his seventh studio album, Standing At The Sky’s Edge digitally in the US on June 12th, 2012 with physical release to follow on August 28th.

Recorded in his beloved Sheffield at Yellow Arch Studio in 2011, Standing At The Sky’s Edge marks a seismic shift in direction for Richard. Mirroring the blasted industrial sunsets of Sheffield, Hawley partners his distinctive fluid snarl with blazing electric guitar, spray-painting his audiences senses with a new sound, embracing the ever-changing landscape around him. The overall effect is hypnotic and psychedelic, casting a euphoric stage for Hawley to unleash some of his most tender moments to date.

Exploring lyrical themes of love, loss, redemption and darker areas of the human condition, it is an album of ominous storytelling and cosmic exploration.

Standing At The Sky's Edge sets the stage to establish Hawley as one of the greatest contemporary guitarists to hail from the UK. Recently he appeared on Jools Holland performing a few tracks including “Leave Your Body Behind You.” Mourning the passing of friends and contemplating his place in the universe, Hawley urges us to accept how tiny we are and embrace the time we are given. Hawley says of the song, “If we could just allow ourselves to be liberated by the fact that this is our only time here, we could just get on with what really matters.”

Soundcloud link to download “Leave Your Body Behind You”

Recorded in Sheffield, with inspired involvement from Alan Moulder, Standing At The Sky’s Edge is simultaneously an embrace and a release. Holding you closer than he ever has before, Hawley is bare and unburdened, sharing what is deepest in his heart while electrifying you with a record that conquers the cosmos and takes you on a lavish and exotic ride.

Hawley says of the album, “I wanted to get away from the orchestration of my previous records and make a live album with two guitars, bass, drums and rocket noises!”

Tracklist
She Brings The Sunlight
Standing At The Sky’s Edge
Time Will Bring You Winter
Down In The Woods
Seek It
Don’t Stare At The Sun
The Wood Collier’s Grave
Leave Your Body Behind You
Before


Visit the richard hawley forum richardhawleyforum.co.uk

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our friends at VintageVinylNews have this great review of a stellar work!

Review: Ram - Paul and Linda McCartney

Let's give Ram its due.

The second solo album from Paul McCartney (and the only one attributed to Paul and Linda McCartney) is really much, much better than what was portrayed during its original release and the new remastered version is really a joy to behold. The sound is far superior to any prior version, allowing the brilliance of the album to shine through.

Read the rest of the review at VintageVinylNews






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Roger Waters Plans New Solo Album, Live DVD from ‘Wall’ Tour

by: Matt Wardlaw

While he might be currently looking in the rear view mirror, celebrating the legacy of Pink Floyd’s classic ‘The Wall’ album, the experience has put Roger Waters in the planning mode for a new solo album, which would be his first proper solo release since 1990’s ‘Amused to Death.’

Read the rest at ultimateclassicrock.com

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Herb Reed, founder of the Platters, dies at 83

Los Angeles Times

Herb Reed was in his 20s when he founded the Platters in Los Angeles in 1953, naming his vocal group after the term used by radio DJs for the vinyl records of the day

Read the rest at heraldnet.com

We have a Winner in the "Win A Vinyl Copy Of George Harrison's 'George Harrison: Living in the Material World & Early Takes Volume 1' contest from Sneak Attack Media"




Special thanks to Elliot Fox from Sneak Attack Media  for the copy and hopefully we can do some more giveaways very soon!

The lucky winner is Jim from Batavia IL 

I want to thank everyone who entered!!