Monday, August 11, 2014

Vinyl Record News & Music Notes


great collectible vinyl available from our friends at NewOnVinyl

SOUNDTRACK (OST) - GAME OF THRONES SEASON 4 

The soundtrack was scored by German composer Ramin Djawadi, best known for his Grammy-nominated score for Iron Man, Pacific Rim, Clash Of The Titans and for the TV series Prison Break. The fourth season soundtrack also features a single “The Rains Of Castamere” by Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós. The band also appears in the second episode of the fourth season, as a group of musicians serenading the Royal Couple at their wedding reception.

Game of Thrones is the wildly successful fantasy drama television series created for HBO by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. It is an adaptation of A Song Of Ice And Fire, George R. R. Martin’s series of fantasy novels. Its fourth season premiered on HBO in April 2014, with already two more seasons in preparation. The series, set on the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos at the end of a decade-long summer, interweaves several plot lines. The first follows the members of several noble houses in a civil war for the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms; the second covers the rising threat of the impending winter and the mythical creatures of the North; the third chronicles the attempts of the exiled last scion of the realm’s deposed dynasty to reclaim the throne. The series explores issues of social hierarchy, religion, loyalty, corruption, civil war, crime, and punishment.

Limited edition on IRON THRONE Colored Vinyl. Double Lp. Only 2000 copies in this color

Get a copy at NewOnVinyl



SOUNDTRACK (OST) - DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes is the eighth theatrical film in the Apes franchise, released in 2014. Directed by Matt Reeves and starring Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Toby Kebbell, and Kodi Smit-McPhee, it’s the sequel to the 2011 film Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, which began 20th Century Fox’s reboot of the original Planet Of The Apes series. Upon theatrical release, the film was immediately met with critical acclaim, with critics praising its visual effects, story, direction, acting, and emotional depth.

Limited edition on SILVERBACK Colored Vinyl. Double Lp. Only 2000 copies in this color

Get a copy at NewOnVinyl



DINOSAUR JR - J. MASCIS LIVE AT CBGB’S

“My first ever acoustic performance, and I’m a little freaked out.” With those words, then-Dinosaur Jr. frontman J Mascis kicked off the show on this live set (recorded in December 1993), in which the man who’d made his name with bludgeoning volume and über-heavy electric guitar freakouts quietly stripped his songs down to their framework for an evening.

While Mascis would get more comfortable with such things over the passage of time, for a first-time gig in an unfamiliar format, Live At CBGB’s sounds surprisingly confident and coherent.

Limited edition on SILVER/BLACK MARBLED Colored Vinyl. Single Lp. Only 1500 copies in this color

Get a copy at NewOnVinyl



VARIOUS - DIGGIN’ DEEPER VOL.1: THE ROOTS OF ACID JAZZ

This first installment in the Diggin’ Deeper: The Roots of Acid Jazz series, which collects Funk, Jazz, Soul, Fusion, and Disco sides from the deep Columbia/Epic/Sony catalog, includes such gems as “Also Sprach Zarathustra” by Deodato, Ray Barreto – Pastime Paradise, Mongo Santamaria’s “Cloud Nine”, Bill Withers’ “Kissing My Love” and many more.

Whatever it is or isn’t, acid jazz is full of groove DNA and even when chilled, it makes the feet move. This set moves and grooves from end to end, and even listeners with little interest in the Acid Jazz movement that surfaced some two decades after most of these tracks were recorded will find a great little alternative dance album lurking here.

We’re giving the first pressing of Diggin’ Deeper: The Roots of Acid Jazz vol.1 a special run of 500 numbered copies on red/gold vinyl!

Get a copy at NewOnVinyl



VARIOUS - DIGGIN’ DEEPER VOL.2: THE ROOTS OF ACID JAZZ

The second installment in the Diggin’ Deeper: The Roots of Acid Jazz series, which collects Funk, Jazz, Soul, Fusion, and Disco sides from the deep Columbia/Epic/Sony catalog, includes such gems as “Use Me” by Esther Phillips, Ramsey Lewis’ cover version of “Living For The City”, Herbie Hancock’s “Just Around The Corner” and “Sugar Loaf Mountain” by George Duke.

Whatever it is or isn’t, acid jazz is full of groove DNA and even when chilled, it makes the feet move. This set moves and grooves from end to end, and even listeners with little interest in the Acid Jazz movement that surfaced some two decades after most of these tracks were recorded will find a great little alternative dance album lurking here.

Double LP on blue/black vinyl. Limited edition with only 500 copies.

Get a copy at NewOnVinyl

=============

Montrose - Montrose (180 Gram Audiophile Vinyl/Limited Edition)

In 1973, Montrose set the world on fire with their debut self-titled album. Ronnie Montrose's guitar work was that of legendary proportions even that early on. What the band also brought to the game was future superstar Sammy Hagar. With heavy pile drivers like Bad Motor Scooter and Rock The Nation, both the album and the band Montrose rose to fame quickly and became trailblazers for many others.Friday Music is proud to announce the 180 Gram Audiophile Vinyl first time release of MONTROSE. Mastered impeccably by Joe Reagoso.

Order at FridayMusic


Grateful Dead - Birth Of The Grateful Dead Volume One-The Studio Sides (180 Gram Audiophile Vinyl/Limited Edition)

With their very first gigs and studio recordings when they were known as The Warlocks, the historical importance of these debut sessions would soon become a blueprint for the music world as the Grateful Dead would become one of the biggest names in music as well as one of the biggest concert attractions of all time. The Grateful Dead unearthed 17 super rare studio recordings from 1965-67, nearly all these tracks have never been on vinyl! Gatefold packaging includes several unearthed photos from the lens of the legendary Herb Greene and are some of the first photos ever taken of the band.

Order at FridayMusic


=============

The Laze - The Phantom Of The Opera (1925 Motion Picture Soundtrack)

The Phantom of the Opera is perhaps one of the most iconic horror films in history. Directed by Rupert Julian in 1925, this silent movie starred Lon Chaney in the lead role of the deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House causing murder and mayhem in an attempt to make the woman he loves a star.

As legendary as its many adaptations on the silver screen and on stage is its history of fitting soundtracks. Throughout the decades that followed many composers and artists worldwide took up the task to write fresh new scores for this iconic picture. One Way Static Records proudly presents the latest installment in this tradition with a brand new modern re-score composed & performed by UK septet THE LAZE.

The Laze have developed quite a reputation across the UK for their spine-tingling live performances and expansive soundscapes. Influenced by a history of horror soundtracks, from Bernard Hermann & Angelo Badalamenti to Goblin & John Carpenter, The Laze implemented elements of Progressive Rock, Classical, Jazz, Heavy Metal & Electronica in their score. The original soundtrack will be the group’s fourth long-player. The band’s last release was 2010’s Spacetime Fabric Conditioner, a Sci-Fi concept album; which went on to be remixed by Steve Moore (Zombi), Forest Swords and Brontt Industries Kapital.

The band premiered their live soundtrack at Liverpool’s Picturehouse cinema, in the arts hub of FACT, on Halloween 2010. The sold-out, one-night-only performance led to further performances in UK cinemas, which concluded with a sold-out tour of selected Picturehouse Cinemas for Halloween 2011. Now they are bringing the Phantom into your home.

This new sonic adaptation comes on deluxe tip-on gatefold packed vinyl editions, compact disc & cassette. Featuring original black and silver artworks by LUKE INSECT (The Human League, A field In England, DeathWaltz Records,…)

•LP Limited edition color vinyl (2 variants) with foil numbering /500 copies
•LP Limited edition color vinyl comes with a free streaming code to watch the full 1925 movie with updated soundtrack
•LP Black vinyl limited to 1000 copies worldwide

Vinyl versions are packaged in a deluxe tip-on jacket with artworks in black & silver by Luke Insect (A Field In England, Deathwaltz Records,…)

Order at LightInTheAttic

=============

Lynyrd Skynyrd Street Survivors on Limited Edition LP Silver Series

1977 Smash Remains Southern Rock Legends’ Finest Hour: Includes “What’s Your Name,” "I Know a Little," and “That Smell”

Street Survivors remains Lynyrd Skynyrd’s finest hour, and for many reasons. The last album recorded with original vocalist Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Steve Gaines, who passed away in a tragic plane accident three days after its release, the 1977 set is both mythical for its historical significance as well as infallible songwriting quality. Then there’s the triple-guitar front of Allen Collins, Gary Rossington, and Gaines, which, together, comprise the most formidable combination of lead six-string players assembled on an original album. Add in freshly inspired performances and classic Muscle Shoals production, and you have a timeless work of art.

Our Silver Series' limited edition LP presents Skynyrd’s landmark effort in a dynamic, organic, soulful, and balanced sound that puts the musicians on a wide soundstage that will make you think they are standing on a stage in your room. In particular, Van Zant’s reenergized singing comes through with utmost clarity and verve. The complex web of guitars is now unraveled, with each of the instrumentalists possessing their own space, allowing their contributions to assume a transparency that further lends to the music’s impact. Background vocals, too, rise up above what had heretofore been an artificial ceiling.

Produced by iconic producer Tom Dowd, Street Survivors is drenched in earthy vibes and live-from-the-floor rawness, the sense of spontaneity and interplay underlining the group’s taut albeit loose material.

Skynyrd comes out firing, after 1975’s solid Nuthin’ Fancy and the following year’s equally hot Gimme Back My Bullets, on Street Survivors and never let up. The septet’s nucleus was never better—it’s lamentable that this stands as the lineup’s only studio record together, but the music here makes you all the more thankful for the chance to at least hear them reach their potential.

Gaines’ incredible abilities spur on his mates, which respond with strong ideas and even stronger performances. Melodies are sharp, hooks are abundant, rhythms in command. A miasma of blues, rock, country, gospel, and soul informs the arrangements, and those three guitarists play as if their lives depended on getting everything just right. Songs flow with an effortless ease, and whether it’s the slithering organ-backed rollick of “I Never Dreamed,” swampy drug-abuse warning “That Smell,” or autobiographical honky-tonk “Ain’t No Good Life,” Skynryd clicks on all cylinders. Swagger, swing, and strut. What an album.

Order at MOFI



Dead Can Dance - Spiritchaser Silver Label™ 2LP

The sonic equivalent of an engaging journey down the Nile River, Spiritchaser is Dead Can Dance’s unforgettable swan song. The percussive-based 1996 set finds the world-fusion group fashioning thematic songs around rhythmic structures and tribal beats, creating atmospheric soundscapes that take the listener through Africa, South America, England, and Europe—sometimes within the same movement.

Blurring the lines between styles and genres so that they become irrelevant, Dead Can Dance members Lisa Gerrard and Gerald Perry generate the illusion of being lost amidst a peaceful rain forest that’s yet to be discovered by man. Spiritchaser is the sound of a lost culture, where ethereal singing, overlapping harmonies, and trance-like tempos serve to calm, relax, and enchant. Gerrard’s phonetic singing—often taking the form of prayer—is grand albeit understated, as much spiritual as it is natural. Just like the music itself.

Exotic instrumentation abounds, but nothing seems out of place. A Turkish clarinet, finger cymbals, and a borrowed melody from the Beatles’ “Within You Without You” informs the mystery of tracks such as “Niereka,” which epitomizes Dead Can Dance’s incomparable blend of ancient and modern, alien and familiar, spooky and freeing, serene and intense. Throughout,Spiritchaser strives for a transcendental sense in which music speaks to a higher power and greater purpose than most artists would like to believe—or dare capture. Dead Can Dance’s ambition extended to the production.

Consider what 4AD record label founder Ivo Watts-Russell had to say about the band’s late-period albums and approach to sonics: “They were both extreme perfectionists and it was the ability to record things better, the ability to understand acoustics and the environment, to get things down onto tape in a really top-notch way, that probably influenced the sound and direction of their records as much as what they were thinking about musically.”

Watts-Russell’s observations can be experienced first-hand like never before on Silver Series' numbered limited-edition 2LP set. Mastered on Mobile Fidelity's world-renowned mastering system and pressed at RTI (America's best pressing plant), this pristine vinyl version presents Dead Can Dance’s farewell statement in stunning detail. Recorded at Quivvy Church in Ireland, Perry’s home studio, every note floats and naturally decays, voices carry, guitars shimmer, and the percussive imaging is focused and constant. You’ve never heard Dead Can Dance sound this good! The intricacies that have been uncovered will pull you in as if you’re in the studio.

Numbered Limited-Edition LP

Order at MOFI

=============


Portishead to reissue Dummy on vinyl






=============

neat story of a new, small town record store from the great state of ny:


For the Record: Sound Shack Insists ‘Vinyl is Final’











=============

more great things being done in small town, america, this from the great state of washington:


Dayton music venue offers a new groove






=============

mono or stereo, which one do you like?


The joys of monomania






=============

and in hong kong, new vinyl getting pressed:


HK's newfound love for vinyl