Friday, April 26, 2013

Vinyl Record News & Music Notes


AudioFidelity Blade Runner Vinyl Contest  still open, get your entry in today!

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Record Store Day Vinyl Sales


A total of 244,000 vinyl LPs were sold in the week ending April 21, according to Nielsen SoundScan -- the largest one-week sum for vinyl albums since SoundScan started tracking sales in 1991.

This past week's vinyl album haul surpasses the previous one-week record, set just last December. In the week ending Dec. 23, 2012, 213,000 vinyl albums were sold.

Read more and get more facts and figures HERE

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Vinyl Releases Help Boost Record Store Day







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 Vinyl fights back: Record Store Day brings awareness to a growing trend


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from the other side of the world:

Sweet music is made of disc






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The Eternal Crate Digger: Why the Vinyl Record Lives







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Chrome Releasing 'Lost Chrome Tracks' in June

Seminal avant-punk psychedelic outfit Chrome will be releasing a full album (1 CD or 2 LPs) of previously unreleased material from 1979/80 on King of Spades Records this coming June. The album is titled: Half Machine from the Sun, The Lost Chrome Tracks from '79-'80.

Guitarist Helios Creed explains: "Damon Edge & I made these 'Lost Chrome Tracks' during recording sessions for Half Machine Lip Moves & Red Exposure. We had so much material, good tracks went unused. I didn't even realize the tapes were lost (and sold) due to an unpaid bill! I forgot about them until they were played for me recently, some 30 years later, but listening to the work I was brought right back in time where we had left off. I remembered for instance that I felt 'Something Rhythmic' was a special track, maybe even a hit. I guess it wasn't time to complete these tracks then, because now is their time."

Known for their experimental, de/re-construction of rock and roll, many of these Lost Chrome Tracks have a tendency towards catchy melodies and strong hooks, while still maintaining chrome's signature innovation, weirdness and pile-driver rhythm. Other numbers are pure experimental noise. In all, this double album opens a window into the diverse sounds of this groundbreaking band and this groundbreaking era in rock and roll.

Chrome's blend of raw energy and mind-bending audio manipulation influenced a wide range of musical genres, from the avant-rock of Sonic Youth and the Flaming Lips to Industrial rockers like Nine Inch Nails and Ministry. Theirs was "a Cyber-Punk vision of the future that came a decade before the term was coined," as psychedelic connoisseur Julian Cope put it.

Chrome was founded by vocalist/drummer Damon Edge in 1975, inspired by proto-punk pioneers the Stooges as well as the radical experimentation of John Cage. After releasing their debut album The Visitation on Edge's own Siren label, guitarist and vocalist Helios Creed joined Chrome, replacing their original guitarist. He played bass as well as guitar, sang and composed songs with Edge, coming in to make their commercial and artistic breakthrough Alien Soundtracks Chrome's 2nd album -- an immediate underground hit. Creed's guitar work "exploded the possibilities of what psychedelic, punk, new wave and industrial rock could sound like" claims Examiner.com's Andrew Stecz. 

Creed and Edge comprised the main creative force behind their next album, Half Machine Lip Moves, as another founding member left. "Nobody ever started an album with as much fire as Chrome did with the opening of Half Machine Lip Moves" proclaims Cope. "[it] remains my favorite beginning to any rock n' roll record, surpassing even Iggy and the Stooges' Raw Power." Chrome continued Alien Soundtracks' Sci-Fi-Punk, collage of searing rock with noise, sound-bites, scrap-metal percussion and unusual manipulations of their instruments and amplifiers, but done heavier with Creed's guitar feedback and Edge's powerful drumming to the fore. 

Chrome signed to the UK's Beggar's Banquet label for their fourth album Red Exposure and Third From the Sun, their fifth which included contributions from Edge's new wife Fabienne Shine (of French punk sensations Shaking Street). They also released 5 EPs and singles on various labels from '79-'82. Afterwards Creed left the band and established himself as unique and powerful solo artist, touring extensively and recording prolifically. He continued to be a influence through the grunge and noise rock indie scenes and he toured with Nik Turner's (Hawkwind) band "Space Ritual." Creed turned out 21 solo albums and several singles in his own right, from 1985 to 2011. After Edge's death in 1997, Creed took the helm of Chrome on stage and in the studio, making four more Chrome albums, completing one Edge had started before his passing, Angel of the Clouds, released in 2002 (and re-released by King of Spades Records this year). 

"I've created new music for close to 40 years now," states Creed." This 'Lost Chrome Tracks' release & a new Chrome album I've been recording this year, will be my 37th & 38th albums."

helioschrome.com
facebook.com/chromechronicles 
pledgemusic.com/chrome

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A Band Called Death

Before Bad Brains, the Sex Pistols or even the Ramones, there was a band called Death.  Punk before punk existed, three teenage brothers in the early '70s formed a band in their spare bedroom, began playing a few local gigs and even pressed a single in the hopes of getting signed.  But this was the era of Motown and emerging disco.  Record companies found Death's music - and band name - too intimidating, and the group were never given a fair shot, disbanding before they even completed one album.  Equal parts electrifying rockumentary and epic family love story, A Band Called Death chronicles the incredible fairy-tale journey of what happened almost three decades later, when a dusty 1974 demo tape made its way out of the attic and found an audience several generations younger.  Playing music impossibly ahead of its time, Death is now being credited as the first black punk band (hell...the first punk band!), and are finally receiving their long overdue recognition as true rock pioneers.

Title: A BAND CALLED DEATH
Directors: JEFF HOWLETT & MARK COVINO
Distributor: DRAFTHOUSE FILMS
Run Time: 96 MINS
Rating: NR
Theatrical Release Date: JUNE 28, 2013
VOD Release Date: MARCH 24, 2013




Websites/Links:   
http://drafthousefilms.com/film/a-band-called-death
www.drafthousefilms.com
twitter.com/Drafthousefilms
facebook.com/drafthousefilms
youtube.com/Drafthousefilms

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LOCRIAN: Announce New Album Details - Return To Annihilation coming June 25th via Relapse Records

Esoteric, experimental artisan’s Locrian have revealed the details behind their highly anticipated Relapse Records full-length debut entitled 'Return To Annihilation.'  The album was recorded by Greg Norman (Pelican, Russian, Circles, Serena Maneesh) at Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio Studios in Chicago, IL and mastered by Jason Ward at Chicago Mastering Service.  The album will be released as CD, 2xLP, and digital formats on June 25th in North America, June 21st in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux, and Finland, and June 24th in the UK and rest of the world. 

A two-part concept album inspired by the band’s love for prog-rock progenitors Genesis, Yes & King Crimson, Return To Annihilation is sure to be the group’s most ambitious recordings to date.

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Is music artwork dead? - Are album/single covers still important?






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 The Death Knell Sounds Again: The History of Music Industry Whining





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Lynyrd Skynyrd Provide New Theme Song for ‘Pawn Stars’







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First Two They Might Be Giants Albums to Be Reissued in Australia











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album cover art of the day:


White Wizzard Unveils Artwork For New Album "The Devils Cut"

















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from grimeys.com

Vinyl Best Sellers (all are RSD releases except *)

1. Paramore - Holiday Sessions 7"
2. The White Stripes - Elephant
3. The Features - The Features*
4. The Black Keys/The Stooges - No Fun 7"
5. PUJOL - Deep Cuts 7"
6. Justin Townes Earle - Yuma 10"
7. The Avett Brothers/Randy Travis - CMT Crossroads 7"
8. Tame Impala - Tame Impala
9. Grateful Dead - Rare Cuts & Oddities
10. Phish - Lawn Boy
11. Big Star - Nothing Can Hurt Me OST
12. Phoenix - Entertainment 7"
13. The Rolling Stones - Five By Five 7"
14. The Band - The Last Waltz
15. Pink Floyd - See Emily Play 7"
16. Mystery Side By Side 7" (Grateful Dead/Dr. John/Dixie Cups - 'Iko Iko')
17. Frightened Rabbit/Manchester Orch/Grouplove - Make It To Me 12"
18. Blind Melon - Blind Melon
19. Gram Parsons - Heider Session 1971 7"
20. Willie Nelson - Roll Me Up & Smoke Me 7"
21. Bob Dylan - Wigwam 7"
22. Misfits/Lemonheads - Skulls 7"
23. Paramore - Paramore*
24. Stephen Malkmus - Can's Ege Bamyasi
25. David Bowie - Stars Are Out Tonight 7"
26. The Cure - Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
27. Notorious BIG - Ready To Die
28. Doors/X - Soul Kitchen 7"
29. At The Drive-In - Relationship Of Command
30. Wings - Maybe I'm Amazed 12"
31. David Bowie - Drive-In Saturday 7"
32. Various - Dazed & Confused OST
33. Frank Zappa - I'm The Slime 7"
34. Jimmy Eat World - Damage 7"
35. Eric Church - Caught In The Act
36. Jimi Hendrix - Hey Joe 7"
37. The Flaming Lips - Zaireeka
38. Best Coast - Fear Of My Identity 7"
39. The XX - Jamie XX Edits 12"
40. Dave Brubeck - Distinctive Rhythm Instrumentals
41. Gary Clark Jr - Hwul Raw Cuts V. II
42. Public Image Ltd - Public Image 7"
43. Built To Spill - Live
44. Various - No Alternative
45. Brendan Benson - Diamond 7"
46. Iron & Wine - Next To Paradise 7"
47. Mad Season - Above
48. The Flaming Lips - The Terror*
49. The Postal Service - Give Up (expanded reissue)*
50. Dawes - Stories Don't End*
 

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