Thursday, March 3, 2011

Vinyl Record News & Music Notes

Soundgarden to Begin Recording Next Week

Bryan Wawzenek

After reuniting and playing a bunch of shows last year, Soundgarden said their goal for 2011 was to make a new album. According to frontman Chris Cornell, that process begins next week.

“We start recording in about a week in Seattle,” he told Spin.com. He said that Adam Kasper – who produced the band’s last studio album, 1996’s Down on the Upside – will return to helm this project.

Read the rest at Gibson.com

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Danzig Announces US Spring Tour

Danzig has announced the Deth Red Sabaoth Tour this Spring with special guests Devildriver and 2Cents. The month-long, 22-city trek beings in Las Vegas on April 29th, hitting all regions of the US, and ends May 28th in Tempe, AZ. This comes on the heels of Danzig's recent nomination for best vocalist at the 2011 Revolver Golden Gods Awards. Tickets go on sale to the general public this weekend, March 4-5th.

Read more at pluginmusic.com

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an interesting post about album cover art!

Best Power Metal Album Covers


Whether you're a seasoned listener or a heavy music neophyte, if you see some kind of mythological winged creature or a 'Masters of the Universe'-inspired landscape on an album cover, chances are it's from a power metal band. While this over-the-top brand of artwork is definitely an acquired taste (as is the genre itself), we hope you enjoy this list of our 10 favorite power metal album covers.

Read more at noisecreep.com













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More of the Monkees: U.S. Tour Announced

Andrew Vaughan

An Evening with The Monkees – The 45th Anniversary Tour will begin on June 4 at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Florida. The three Monkees – Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones and Peter Tork will play 27 cities before winding up the tour in Los Angeles in July.

Aside from the hits like “I’m a Believer,” “Last Train to Clarksville,” “Daydream Believer,” and “Pleasant Valley Sunday,” The Monkees will perform album tracks including songs from their cult movie, Head.

Read the rest at Gibson.com

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some of these I have already listed, here  but there are some new ones here and more info on some special Record Store Day releases:

Polyvinyl Records unveils eleven limited edition vinyl releases for Record Store Day 2011

This year Polyvinyl will be producing 11 limited edition records for sale on Record Store Day, the most ever on a single day in the label’s 15-year history. Here’s the line-up for Polyvinyl’s releases:

Deerhoof – Friend Opportunity (LP, with MP3)

Limited to 1000 copies and pressed on 180-gram translucent green vinyl. The album has been out of print on vinyl for years and is under exclusive license through Kill Rock Stars. In addition to the original album it includes ‘Makko Shobu’ and a new mix for ‘Matchbook Seeks Maniac’.

Mighty Clouds – Mighty Clouds (LP with MP3)

Limited to 500 on 180-gram black vinyl. Mighty Clouds is the new project from Fred Thomas (Saturday Looks Good to Me, City Center) and Betty Marie Barnes (SLGTM). Their self-titled debut is a split release between Polyvinyl and Life Like.

Owen – O, Evelyn (7″ with MP3)

Limited to 2000 on black vinyl. O, Evelyn is a new 7″ from Mike Kinsella (American Football, Cap’n Jazz) recorded and released specifically for Record Store Day and limited to 2000 copies. The A-side features the title track, while the B-side is a cover of The Smiths ‘Girlfriend in a Coma’.

of Montreal – The Past Is A Grotesque Animal (12″ with MP3)

Limited to 1,000 on 180-gram black vinyl. Packaged in a hand screenprinted jacket, the A-side features the album version of ‘The Past Is A Grotesque Animal’ from 2007′s Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? The B-side is a new version of ‘The Past Is A Grotesque Animal’ that was made for the Spike Jonze short film I’m Here, in which a fake robot band called The Lost Trees perform the song. The song was re-envisioned by of Montreal chief musician Kevin Barnes, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ guitarist Nick Zinner, and members of the Moonrats.

Architecture in Helsinki – Places Like This Special Edition (LP with MP3)

Architecture in Helsinki’s Places Like This is being reissued as a limited edition run of 500 copies on 180-gram pink vinyl. Places Like This is one of the the band’s highest selling albums to date and has been unavailable through retailers for close to a year.

Joan of Arc – Joan of Arc Presents: Don’t Mind Control Special Edition (LP with MP3)

Limited to 500 on 180-gram blue vinyl. Joan of Arc Presents: Don’t Mind Control features new songs by Tim Kinsella, Owen, Cale Parks (Aloha), Vacations (ex-Chin Up Chin Up), Ghosts and Vodka (ex-Cap’n Jazz), Euphone, The Cairo Gang, and many more. This release will be a super deluxe edition with 18×24 poster, gatefold jacket and bonus 24-song download of the soundboard recording of the Don’t Mind Control Variety Show.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – Broom Special Edition (LP with MP3)

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin’s debut album Broom is being reissued as a limited edition run of 500 copies on 180-gram white vinyl. Never before on colored vinyl, the super deluxe edition of this LP features three songs not found on the CD along with a download code that includes two digital bonus tracks. It also includes an exclusive poster.

Deerhoof / XIU XIU – Almost Xiu Xiu, Almost Deerhoof (Split 7″ with MP3)

Almost Xiu Xiu, Almost Deerhoof is the latest in a series of collaborative 7″ singles, featuring guest vocalists singing self-composed lyrics and vocal melodies over a Deerhoof instrumental track. Side-A features Xiu Xiu vocalist Jamie Stewart as well as added instrumentation on Deerhoof’s ‘Almost Everyone, Almost Always’, which is featured on Deerhoof’s latest album, Deerhoof vs. Evil. Side-B features Deerhoof drummer Greg Saunier returning the favor for a track that appears in its original state on Xiu Xiu’s Dear God, I Hate Myself.

Vivian Girls – I Heard You Say (7″ with MP3)

Limited to 2000 on black vinyl. Vivian Girls’ I Heard You Say 7″ features their brand new single on Side-A, taken from the upcoming full-length album and Polyvinyl debut, Share the Joy. Side-B, ‘I Won’t Be Long’, is exclusive to this release.

Mates of State – Team Boo Special Edition (LP with MP3)

Limited to 500 on 180-gram red vinyl. Team Boo is Mates of State’s classic 3rd full-length and one of their best selling to date. Team Boo was engineered by Jim Eno (of Spoon) and John Croslin (who recorded albums for Spoon, Guided By Voices, Beulah and countless others). This special Record Store Day edition includes five digital bonus tracks.

Busdriver – ATM (7″ with MP3)

Limited to 1,000 on baby blue vinyl. Ass to Mouth b/w ‘Colour Wheel’ is the first offering from Busdriver’s highly anticipated untitled full-length.


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NPR.com has a lengthy story about vinyl, well worth checking out!

Slow And Steady: Vinyl Survives

by Jacob Ganz

In recent years some headlines have cast an increase in sales for vinyl LPs — once considered a casualty of the CD era — as something like a beacon of hope for the struggling music industry. The reality isn't all that rosy. Though vinyl sales grew by 14% in 2010, according to Nielsen SoundScan, they still counted for less than one percent of the year's total album sales.

Read the rest of the article at npr.org




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a great story at boston.com about a medium that has been part of our music culture for many years

Post master

He may not be a rock star, but graphic artist Nate Duval gets to work closely with some of the best

By Christopher Muther

Artist Nate Duval could give any number of reasons for pursuing his current vocation, which involves creating limited edition posters for bands ranging from Phish to the Decemberists. He could explain that the business of making gig posters for bands has exploded in the past five years, or that, as a major music fan, this kind of work is a natural fit for him. He could also say it has opened several important doors for his career, and all of these explanations would be correct.

Read the rest of the interview at boston.com










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and in music history for today:

In 1931, the first jazz album to sell a million copies was recorded. It was "Minnie The Moocher" by Cab Calloway.



In 1956, Elvis Presley makes his first appearance on the Billboard charts when "Heartbreak Hotel" debuts at #68. Although many staff members at RCA Victor believed that the release was a mistake, the song would rise to #1 on the US Pop chart for 8 weeks and spend 17 weeks at the top of the Country chart. Many years later, "Heartbreak Hotel" would be ranked #45 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

In 1957, the head of the Catholic archdiocese of Chicago, Samuel Cardinal Strich, bans Rock and Roll from Catholic schools in his district.

In 1966, Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Richie Furay, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin created the group, Buffalo Springfield. Their stay on the Rock music scene would only last a couple of years before the group would fragment. Stills teamed up with David Crosby of The Byrds and Graham Nash of The Hollies to form Crosby, Stills and Nash, while Young released several solo projects before joining them. Furay got together with Jim Messina and Randy Meisner to create Poco in 1968. Palmer dropped out of the lime light while Martin toured as Buffalo Springfield with fill-in musicians.

In 1967, The Jeff Beck group, featuring a virtually unknown singer named Rod Stewart, along with bass player Ron Wood and drummer Aynsley Dunbar, make their debut in London, England.

In 1971, South African radio lifts its five-year ban on Beatles' music.

In 1980, London auction house Sotheby's holds its first ever auction of Rock memorabilia. Among the notable items sold were four US dollar bills signed by The Beatles that went for £220 ($528).

In 1983, a member of a motorcycle gang tells a US Senate Judiciary hearing that his friends have a contract out on The Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger and that two assassination attempts have already failed.

In 1984, one-hit wonders Nena start a three-week run on top of the U.K. singles chart with “99 Red Balloons.” Originally sung in their native German, “99 Luftballons” was re-recorded in English. The original version went on to become a #2 hit in the U.S.

In 2008, Norman Smith, who was the chief engineer on Beatles recording sessions between 1962-65, dies at the age of 85. Nicknamed “Normal Norman” by John Lennon, he recorded the early Pink Floyd. As Hurricane Smith he had unexpected Top 5 U.K. hits in 1971 with “Don’t Let It Die”and “Oh Babe, What Would You Say” the following year

If you see them, wish them a happy birthday today! Robyn Hitchcock (1953) and Jennifer Warnes (1947)

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Ask Mr. Music by Jerry Osborne

FOR THE WEEK OF FEBRUARY 28, 2011

DEAR JERRY: I know the peak time for quadraphonic albums is around 1975. However, the first quad LP I bought was “Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite,” the soundtrack of Elvis Presley's 1973 Honolulu concert.

Since this came out before quad's heyday, might it be the very first quad album?

I'll bet it is the top-selling quad release.

Also, did anyone ever make quad singles?
—Jeremy Norbert, Milwaukee


DEAR JEREMY: There are many firsts associated with “Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite,” such as:

This January 14, 1973 event is the first entertainment show of any type broadcast worldwide via satellite. Though not all countries caught it at the same time, over 1.5 billion — then about a third of the world's population — watched a 1973 first-run telecast. Since then, millions more viewed the DVDs and TV replays.

When the two-disc soundtrack album (RCA VPSX-6089) topped the nation's LP charts (May 5, 1973), it became the first quadraphonic album reaching No. 1.

With nearly six million units sold (platinum to the sixth degree) it remains history's top-selling quad LP, by a distance wider than from Honolulu to the mainland.

Noteworthy too is there was no set ticket price. Concert-goers simply made a donation, with 100% of the amount of ticket and souvenir sales going to the Kui Lee Cancer Fund. Elvis proudly announced the total raised as $75,000.

It is one of very few albums in general distribution made exclusively in the quad — RCA named it QuadraDisc — format, at least until 1976. By then, the industry began phasing out the quad experiment. This and other former quad product then came out in ordinary stereo.

Inexplicably, all 1973 versions of “Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite” made specifically for the RCA Record Club (RCA R2-213736) are standard two-channel stereo, not QuadraDisc.

In May 1974, RCA issued a special 7-inch EP (DTF0-2006) just for juke box operators. This oddity was not made in quad because they created it strictly for stereo juke boxes.

Meanwhile, back on the LP front, Columbia announced in November 1973 some early yet impressive numbers for quad album sales: “Abaraxas” (Santana) 90,000; “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (Simon & Garfunkel) 62,500; “Greatest Hits” (Sly and the Family Stone) 62,300; “Pearl” (Janis Joplin) 55,400; “Summer of '42” (Peter Nero) 40,200; and “Loggins & Messina” (Kenny Loggins & Jim Messina) 30,800.

Fueled by such encouraging sales, Columbia quickly began production of quad singles, the first of which was Art Garfunkel's Top 10 hit at the time, “All I Know” (Columbia 45926).

Made exclusively for radio stations, its custom sleeve explains itself:

SPECIAL NOTICE … COLUMBIA'S FIRST SQ QUADRAPHONIC SINGLE

Dear Broadcaster:

Because of the enormous demand for Quadraphonic sound, Columbia is proud to release its first SQ Quadraphonic single, featuring the renowned artist, Art Garfunkel.

If you transmit in FM-stereo, you may now broadcast Columbia SQ Quadraphonic discs, both singles and albums, or your own stereo tape cartridges recorded from these discs, with no modifications to your present equipment.

SQ, or Stereo Quadraphonic, is the matrix encoding technology developed by CBS in 1970. In December that year, “The Flame,” a self-titled collection of songs written by Flame co-founders Ricky Fataar and Blondie Chaplin, came out labeled as “Compatible Quadraphonic Sound.”

Produced by Carl Wilson, of the Beach Boys, and on their personal label (Brother BR-2500), “The Flame” is widely-regarded as the first quad LP.

SQ did have its audio shortcomings, so along came Japan's Sansui and their QS (Quadraphonic Stereo), an improved and competing technology.

In July 1972, at a London expo, RCA unveiled its QS encoded system, and promised about 15 QuadraDiscs by the end of the year.

Much like the famous Betamax vs. VHS video tape battle that lay ahead, SQ (Sony/CBS/Columbia) and QS (RCA/Sansui/JVC/Panasonic) were completely incompatible, creating a nightmare for consumers. No matter which decoder they owned, many fine quad LPs existed that their system could not properly play.

This boondoggle is the main reason cited for the death of quadraphonic recordings, although the basic four-channel system, with a center speaker added, returned successfully in the '80s as home theater, otherwise known as surround sound.


IZ ZAT SO? Quad devotees in the '70s wanted either long-playing albums or pre-recorded tapes, not singles. Accordingly, Columbia, and later other labels, produced quad singles for two purposes: first for FM radio, then for quadraphonic juke boxes.

In 1974, right after Columbia's first batch of quad singles for radio, Seeburg wanted in on the new craze. They modified their 80-disc STD-160 and came up with the SQS-160. Unfortunately, with CBS's SQ encoding, the result was a simulated version of quad.

Chances are the patrons in noisy bars and restaurants never knew the difference.


Jerry Osborne answers as many questions as possible through this column. Write Jerry at: Box 255, Port Townsend, WA 98368 E-mail: jpo@olympus.net  Visit his Web site: www.jerryosborne.com/

All values quoted in this column are for near-mint condition.

Copyright 2010 Osborne Enterprises- Reprinted By Permission



Vinyl Record News & Music Notes

I love this album cover art!

JAG PANZER: Another New Song Available For Streaming

"Overlord", a brand new song from Colorado power metallers JAG PANZER, can be streamed using the audio player below (courtesy of AOL's Noisecreep). The track comes off the band's new album, "Scourge Of The Light", which was released on February 28 in Europe (except in Germany, where it will arrive three days earlier) and will be made avaialble on March 8 in the U.S. via SPV/Steamhammer Records. In addition to the regular CD version, the effort will be made available as a double-vinyl set.

The cover artwork for "Scourge Of The Light" is available below. It was painted by Los Angeles artist Justin Yun.

Read more at Blabbermouth.com











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interesting cover art, eh?

HAARP Interviewed By FULL METAL ROCK (Video) 

Patrick of Full Metal Rock recently conducted an interview with the New Orleans heavy metal act HAARP. You can now watch the chat below.

HAARP's new album, "The Filth", was released on November 23, 2010 via Housecore Records. Produced by Housecore owner Philip Anselmo (DOWN, PANTERA), the CD is described in a press release as "an ugly, oppressive journey into heavy metal." The album features cover artwork by famed artist and tattoo master Paul Booth.

Read more at Blabbermouth.com














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Def Leppard to Release Live Album 'Mirrorball' This Summer

This summer, the rockers are set to release a new live disc dubbed 'Mirrorball,' which will include three new studio songs alongside popular live cuts. The album will be packaged with a DVD of bonus performances and the obligatory backstage footage.

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A Day To Remember re-release albums on vinyl

Victory Records has announced that they will be re-releasing A Day To Remember's 'For Those Who Have A Heart' and 'Homesick' as well as 'Attack Of The Killer B-Sides' on vinyl.

The vinyl's are a limited edition release and all come with a mp3 download card. They are available to purchase at Victory Records

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great article from down under

Good grief emerges from pop punster Alex Gow Iain Shedden

A GOOD song can become a great one on the simple turn of a melody. So, too, can a songwriter of promise reach his or her potential by honing in on the things they do best.

Those were the thoughts going through Alex Gow's mind as he approached the recording of his band Oh Mercy's second album, Great Barrier Grief.

Much has changed since the Melbourne outfit broke ground with its album Privileged Woes in 2009, a debut that earned it critical acclaim, a small but devoted fan base and an Australian Music Prize nomination.

Read the rest at theaustralian.com

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feel good record store article in NY

Area Records: Reviving vinyl since 1977

By SUSAN CLARK PORTER Finger Lakes Times

GENEVA — In the music business, what goes around comes around ... literally.

In the front part of Area Records and Music on 74 Seneca St. is a vinyl records section, featuring new and used albums. Although downloadable music may be the medium of choice these days, there has been a resurgence in vinyl, said Area Records owner Mikel George. In fact, record sales increased about 15 percent nationally last year over 2009 figures.

Keeping pace with such music industry trends, remaining independent and diversification have worked well for George, who first opened Area Records in September 1977 at One Franklin Square. When he started the business, working alongside him selling records and stereo accessories were Al Liberio and Jeff Melito, who still works at the store today.

Read more at fltimes.com

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and in North Carolina, a record store is booming!

Break on through to the store next door

Harvest Records expands as market declines

by Dane Smith

In less than seven years, Harvest Records has grown from a struggling upstart to an Asheville music institution.

In addition to serving the region's music-buying public, owners Matt Schnable and Mark Capon have released a host of albums on their own Harvest Recordings imprint, brought dozens of national touring acts to Asheville and spearheaded a successful music festival. Harvest has managed to thrive — even as CD sales plummet and the overall economy tanks.

Read the rest at mountainx.com

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and in music history for today:

In 1955, Bo Diddley has his first recording session at Universal Recording Studio in Chicago, where he lays down "Bo Diddley", which will top the US R&B chart by the following June.

In 1963, the Cascades achieved their only Billboard Top 40 hit when "Rhythm Of The Rain" topped out at #3.

"Twist and Shout" by the Beatles was released in the U.S in 1964.

At the ninth annual Grammy Awards in 1967, Frank Sinatra wins Record of the Year for "Strangers in the Night" and Album Of The Year for "Sinatra, a Man and His Music". Song of the Year goes to John Lennon and Paul McCartney's "Michelle" and The New Vaudeville Band wins Best Contemporary Rock and Roll Recording for "Winchester Cathedral".

At the 11th Grammy Awards held in 1969, Glen Campbell is presented with Album Of The Year honors for "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" and Simon and Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson" is named Record Of The Year. Jose Feliciano is dubbed Best New Artist and the Bobby Russell composition "Little Green Apples" is given the nod as Song Of The Year. Mason Williams won Best Instrumental Performance for "Classical Gas" and Judy Collins takes home a statue for Best Folk Performance for "Both Sides Now".

In 1974, Terry Jacks, who had left The Poppy Family in 1970, had the top song in the US with "Season's In The Sun". The tune was originally written in French, titled "Le Moribund" ("The Dying Man") and recorded as an album cut by The Kingston Trio. It was recommended by Jacks to The Beach Boys, who did record it, but declined to release it. Their decision worked out well for Jacks, who sold over eleven and a half million copies of the record.

1975 - Los Angeles Police pull over Paul McCartney's Lincoln Continental for allegedly running a red light. They detect the smell of marijuana and arrest Linda McCartney for having six to eight ounces of the drug in her pocketbook. Paul was driving but is not charged with anything.

In 1983, Sony, Philips and Polygram introduce a revolutionary new digital audio system called a Compact Disc that contains up to 1 hour of music.

Paul Simon's "Graceland" is named Record Of The Year at the 30th Grammy Awards in 1988. "Bring On The Night" by Sting is awarded Best Pop Vocal Performance and George Michael and Aretha Franklin win Best R&B Performance for "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)".

In 1991, 21 years after its initial release, "All Right Now" by Free reached #2 on the UK singles chart when it was reissued to coincide with its use in a Wrigley's Chewing gum TV ad.


In 1999, Dusty Springfield died of breast cancer at the age of 59, after a five year battle. She would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame less than two weeks after she passed away.

In 2003, Hank Ballard, the writer and original performer of "The Twist", died at his Los Angeles home after suffering from throat cancer. His exact age is uncertain as most biographies say he was 66, but friends say he was actually 75. He originally released "The Twist" on the B-side of his 1959 tune "Teardrops On Your Letter", but after Chubby Checker took the song to number one, Ballard re-released his version and had a top 30 hit with it as well in 1960. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

2005 - The iTunes Music Store reached 300 million songs sold.

Among those celebrating birthdays today are Chris Martin of Coldplay (1977) and Mark Evans of AC/DC

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers to Re-Release Their First Two Albums on Colored Vinyl on Record Store Day (April 16)

Newly Re-Mastered Editions of "Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers" and "You're Gonna Get It!" Limited to 2,500 Copies in the US/Canada and 2,000 copies in Europe/Asia


BURBANK, CA--(Marketwire - March 2, 2011) - Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers will celebrate worldwide Record Store Day on April 16 by re-releasing in limited editions their first two albums on 120-gram colored vinyl. These special editions of "Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers" (on white vinyl) and "You're Gonna Get It!" (on blue vinyl) will be limited for sale at the 700 independently owned record stores in the USA and hundreds of similar stores internationally. The press run for each album will be 2,500 copies in the USA and Canada and 2,000 copies in Europe and Asia for a total press run of only 4,500 copies worldwide.

"Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers," the band's debut album, was originally released in 1976. The album is best known for introducing the world to the classic tracks "American Girl" and "Breakdown." Writing in the LA Times about the Heartbreakers during their first album campaign Robert Hilburn declared, "There's a purity in the group's music that combines the shadowy, late night compulsion of the Rolling Stones' 'Exile On Main Street' with the classic American immediacy that can be traced back to Elvis and Eddie Cochran."

"You're Gonna Get It!" Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers' second album was released in 1978. Building on the edgy yet always melodic sonic template created on their debut, this album features the hits "Listen To Her Heart" and "I Need To Know" which remain staples in the classic rock songbook. Other gems include the boogie "Too Much Ain't Enough" which showcases Mike Campbell's blistering guitar as well as the deep and groovy "Restless" and the wonderfully ominous opener "When The Time Comes." Reviewing "You're Gonna Get It!" Rolling Stone called the album "exciting (with) fresh hints of openness and expansion just beneath the surface. The rhythms are a bit looser, and there's a new emphasis on Petty's rough, driving, rock & roll guitar in the mix."

For information on where to find these special releases on Record Store Day (April 16) (http://www.recordstoreday.com/)

www.tompetty.com/

SOURCE: Reprise Records

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

New Vinyl Record Talk Today March 1st 8pm ET/ 5pm PT

Tune in to Vinyl Record Talk Today!



We have a very rare Sunny and the Sunliners 45 that almost never surfaces, "I'm A Practical Guy" / "The One Who's Hurtin' Is You", and we'll play both sides. There's more soul from Syl Johnson and Joe Simon.



Plus, 60's psych from Brass Buttons and The Underground.


News this week about artist Daniel Edlen  and his work for the David Lynch Foundation.



Turns out your Mom was right. Baby boomers are going deaf at an alarming rate. One doctor blames years of rock n roll in the news. And then there's this week Top 5 vinyl auction sales.

Turn your computer dial to Vinyl Record Talk Should be a very interesting show!

The Crystals - Da Doo Ron Ron: The Very Best of the Crystals

The Crystals - Da Doo Ron Ron: The Very Best of the Crystals - Phil Spector Records/Sony Legacy

They’re sweet and intense and over quick, much like a cherry cordial or an Atomic Fireball.

Published on February 20, 2011

The Crystals - Da Doo Ron Ron: The Very Best of the Crystals - Phil Spector Records/Sony Legacy 88697 61288 2 ****:

Now I remember what happened to all the money I earned from mowing lawns. It went to buy 45 rpm records by The Crystals (and the Ronettes). I liked that they didn’t sing about dances like the Twist and the Locomotion (which I couldn’t do), but rather about teen angst and yearning (of which I had plenty). Da Doo Ron Ron: The Very Best of the Crystals contains every hit they ever produced and more. So what more could you want by these teenaged chart busters of the early Sixties? There are the slow dance gems like “There’s No Other Like My Baby” “and “What a Nice Way to Turn 17.” (My wife calls them “girl sex songs.”) But it was probably for their peppy rhythmic numbers like “Uptown” and “He’s a Rebel” that the Crystals earned a place in the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame (2004) and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame (2006). They’re sweet and intense and over quick, much like a cherry cordial or an Atomic Fireball.

“He’s a Rebel,” penned by Gene Pitney, was actually recorded by Darlene Love when The Crystals were out of town. Phil Spector wanted to steal a march on Vicki Carr, whom he overheard recording the song in a booth. It worked. The song tapped so deeply into teen urges of independence and defiance that it charted No. 1 in the fall of ’62. For this and other songs Spector use his “Wall of Sound” technique. As a reverberant sound mixture, it reproduced well on AM radio and jukeboxes. Spector had electric and acoustic guitarists play the same parts in unison, then added musical arrangement the size of orchestras. Sometimes he even recorded using an echo chamber (“Little Boy” and Da Doo Ron Ron”).

He called his songs “little symphonies for the kids.” Not all of them reach the same level of feel-good dynamics as “Then He Kissed Me.” Some are quite disturbing by today’s standards, like the flip side of “He’s a Rebel.” The title says it all: “He Hit Me (and It Felt Like a Kiss).” Listeners may wonder how much that dark song and “Please Hurt Me” reflected Spector’s own attitudes towards women.

By the time the British invasion happened in 1964 the brief reign of The Crystals was over (even though they didn’t disband until 1967). Note that this collection has the previously unreleased “Woman in Love.” It’s a nice number, but has nowhere near the breathless energy of “He’s Sure the Boy I Love.”

-- Peter Bates


Special thanks to John at www.audaud.com  for the exclusive rights to reprint this material.

AUDIOPHILE AUDITION focuses on recordings of interest to audiophiles and collectors, with an accent on surround sound for music, and on all hi-res disc formats. Over 100 SACD, DVD Video/Audio and standard CD reviews are published during each month, and our archives go back to January 2001.


Vinyl Record News & Music Notes

Sandy Denny Seven Inch Record Due

fans vote on which tracks to release

by Robin Murray

A new seven inch single has been confirmed, featuring Sandy Denny tracks chosen by fans.

One of the foremost female vocalists of her generation, Sandy Denny's output with Fairport Convention has received renewed appreciation in recent years. The band's counter culture take on traditional music fits neatly with the rise of modern wyrd folk, turning Denny into an icon all over again.

Read more about this Record Store Day release at Clashmusic.com

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KikaxeMusic.com has this tidbit:

BELIEVER debut cover art and tracklisting for April 12 Metal Blade release, TRANSHUMAN

Metal Blade Records has issued the cover artwork and tracklisting for TRANSHUMAN, the April 12 full-length from BELIEVER. In addition to the reveal, the label has begun pre-orders for the album by itself or in a merch bundle.

Read more and get the tracjlist at KikAxeMusic.com



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Suze Rotolo dies at 67; Bob Dylan's girlfriend was on iconic album cover

She dated the folk singer for 4 transformative years and wrote an acclaimed book about Greenwich Village in the '60s. The cover of 'The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan' shows the couple walking arm-in-arm.

By Dennis McLellan, Los Angeles Times

Suze Rotolo, Bob Dylan's former girlfriend in Greenwich Village in the early 1960s, who appeared walking arm-in-arm with him on the iconic cover of his album "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan," has died. She was 67.

Rotolo, who played a role in the young Dylan's evolution as a singer-songwriter and later had a career as an artist, died of cancer Friday at home in Greenwich Village, said her son, Luca Bartoccioli.

Read more at the LATimes.com






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Melvins' "Sugar Daddy Live" Set For May 31 Release

The Melvins' latest offering "Sugar Daddy Live," a thirteen-track live recording, will see a May 31 release on Ipecac Recordings. Recorded at The Busta-Guts Club in Downey, Calif. the album features fan favorites such as "Boris," "A History of Bad Men" and "The Kicking Machine."

Read more at pluginmusic.com

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BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME: New Album Details Revealed

Raleigh, North Carolina-based progressive rock/cutting-edge metal band BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME will release its new album, "The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues", on April 12 via Metal Blade Records. The three-song, 30-minute tour de force was recorded at Canada's Metalworks Studios and Rattlebox Studios and helmed by the Grammy award–winning producer David Bottrill (TOOL, MUSE, KING CRIMSON, DREAM THEATER).

Read more at Blabbermouth.com






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Is this where lady gaga's egg went to?

AMORPHIS: New Album Details Revealed

Finnish metallers AMORPHIS have set "The Beginning Of Times" as the title of their new album, due at the end of May via Nuclear Blast Records. A single, "You I Need", will precede the full-length CD in April.

"The Beginning Of Times" is described as "the most challenging AMORPHIS album so far in terms of both music and lyrics."

Read more at Blabbermouth.com







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Rusty Eye Release New Live Album

by Gregory Burkart

One of our all-time fave horror-metal bands is not only still going strong after fifteen years, but they've managed to carve their names in music history (with a blood-encrusted scalpel, naturally), thanks to the release of their second live album, Rusty Eye: Live at the Rainbow MMX. The talented trio of Miss Randall, Mr. Rust and Baron Murtland became the first band ever to record a live set at the legendary LA club, and this so-called “sonic documentary” is now available for your listening pleasure.
re_live_bow_cover

Read the rest at  fearnet.com

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Third Man Records lead way to record industry salvation?

By Stephen M.H. Braitman

Controversy erupted when Jack White’s Third Man Records placed five limited-edition White Stripes LPs on eBay and let auction bidding determine their sale prices. Howls from fans and collectors erupted over the label’s action, and Third Man’s Ben Swank delivered a cogent yet inflammatory blog response in The Guardian (U.K.) online newspaper.

Read more: Third Man Records lead way to record industry salvation? | Goldmine Magazine

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And in music history for today:

In 1951, Sam Phillips launched his label Sun Records by releasing “Drivin’ Slow” by saxophonist Johnny London.

In 1967, at EMI Studios, Abbey Road, London, The Beatles started recording a John Lennon song, “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.”

In 1969 - Jim Morrison (Doors) was arrested and officially charged with lewd and lascivious behavior, indecent behavior, open profanity and public drunkenness in Miami. Morrison was later sentenced. Morrison died while the sentence was under appeal.


The Charles Manson album "Lie" was released in 1970. The profits went to Manson's defense.

In 1975, winners at this year’s Grammy Awards ceremony included Paul McCartney for Best Pop Vocal on “Band On The Run,” Olivia Newton-John (Record Of The Year with “I Honestly Love You” and Stevie Wonder won Album Of The Year for Fulfillingness’ First Finale.

In 1985 - A Beatles song was used for the first time in a U.S. TV commercial. Lincoln-Mercury used the song, "HELP!"   What a crock of shit if you ask me.....

In 1990, Janet Jackson played the first night of a 120-date Rhythm Nation 1814 World tour at the Miami Arena, Florida. As part of the show Jackson has a live panther on stage, but after concerns are raised over safety and several incidents of the animal urinating on stage the panther was returned to its cage.

In 1994, Nirvana played their final concert at the 3,000 capacity Terminal Einz, a small airport hanger in Munich, Germany.

And in 1997, a Motley Crüe fan, Clifford Goldberg, who claimed his hearing had been irreparably damaged after a show in New Jersey, had his lawsuit thrown out of court. The judge decreed that Goldberg knew the risk he was taking by sitting near the front of the stage.  Ya think?

Birthday wishes to Roger Daltrey (1944)

Monday, February 28, 2011

New Music & Vinyl Record Releases ~ March 1, 2011


.38 Special - Icon
Aaron Lewis - Town Line (EP)
Acrylics - Lives and Treasure
Alexander - Alexander
Alexis Jordan - Alexis Jordan
Amede Ardoin - Mama, I'll Be Long Gone: The Complete Recordings of Amede Ardoin, 1929-1934
American Heritage - Sedentary
Anna Calvi - Anna Calvi
Antigone Rising - 23 Red
Arbouretum - The Gathering
Ari Hest - Sunset Over Hope Street
Autolux - The Bouncing Wall / Census (EP)
Be Good Tanyas - Blue Horse (reissue)
Beady Eye - Different Gear, Still Speeding
Bearsuit - The Phantom Forest
Betrayal - Abandonment
Big Head Blues Club - 100 Years of Robert Johnson
Billy Joel - Live at Shea Stadium 2 CDs/1 DVD
Blessid Union of Souls - Mission Field
Blood Ceremony - Living With the Ancients
Boats - Cannonballs, Cannonballs
Boy George - Ordinary Alien 2 CDs
Britney Spears - Hold It Against Me
Buddy Holly - Icon
Buddy Miller - Majestic Silver Strings
Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, more - The Bristol Sessions, 1927-1928: The Big Bang of Country Music 5 CDs
Cat’s Eye - Broken Glass (EP)
Chamberlin - Bitter Blood
Chuck Berry - Icon
Clare Maguire - Light After Dark
Columboid - We Were One
Cosmetics - Cosmetics
David Foster - Hit Man Returns: David Foster & Friends
Davila 666 - Tan Bajo
DeVotchKa - 100 Lovers
Delicate Steve - Wondervisions
Dignan Porch - TBA 12'' (EP)
Discodeine - Discodeine
Dropkick Murphys - Going Out in Style
Dum Dum Girls - He Gets Me High (EP)
Dustin O'Halloran - Lumiere
Dynamites - Young Sound R&B
Earth - Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light 1
Earth Girl Helen Brown - Story of an Earth Girl (EP)
Easter Island - Better Things
Eisley - The Valley
Emotions - Sunshine
Essie Jain - Until the Light of Morning
Everyone Dies In Utah - Seeing Clearly
Evil Madness - Super Great Love (vinyl)
Faust - Something Dirty
Firebird - Double Diamond
Forever The Sickest Kids - Forever The Sickest Kids
Four Tops - Icon
Francesca Battistelli - Hundred More Years
Gap Band - Icon
Gene Pitney - I'm Back & I'm Proud
Gene Pitney - Sings Just for You / World Wide Winners
Gideon - Costs
Go Radio - Lucky Street
Harald Grosskopf - Sythesist
Harry Connick, Jr. - In Concert on Broadway
Heaven 17 - So80s Presents Heaven 17
Isaac Hayes - U Turn
James Brown Singles 10 - 1975-1979 2 CDs
Jesse J - Who You Are
John Berry - Beat Girl
John Popper - John Popper & The Duskray Troubadours
Kajagoogoo - So80s Presents Kajagoogoo
Kitsune - Kitsune Parisian
Kopek - White Collar Lies
Left Lane Cruiser - Junkyard Speed Ball
Linda Eder - Now
Loretta Lynn - Icon
Louise Cordet - Sweet Beat of Louise Cordet: Complete UK Decca Records
Lucinda Williams - Blessed 2 LPs (vinyl)
Lumerians - Transmalinnia
Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
Marianne Faithfull - Horses & High Heels
Mark Ballas - HurtLoveBox
Marsha Ambrosius - Late Nights, Early Mornings
Matt Duke - One Day Die
Metallica Garage Inc 3 LPs @ 33-1/3 RPM (vinyl)
Metallica Garage Inc 6 LPs @ 45 RPM (vinyl)
Middle Brother (featuring members of Deer Tick, Dawes, and Delta Spirit) - Middle Brother
Mike Posner - 31 Minutes To Takeoff
Mike Watt - Hyphenated-Man (vinyl)
Mirrors - Lights And Offerings
Monotonix - Not Yet
Neil Diamond - The Bang Years
Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? (2-LP & mp3 with bonus tracks) (vinyl)
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - So80s Presents
Outsiders - CQ Import (vinyl)
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake (vinyl)
Papercuts - Fading Parade
Parliament - Icon
Peter Frampton - Icon
Portugal. The Man - American Ghetto (reissue) (vinyl)
Portugal. The Man - Censored Colors (reissue) (vinyl)
Portugal. The Man - Satanic Satanist (reissue) (vinyl)
Queens of the Stone Age - Queens of the Stone Age (reissue)
Rainbow Arabia - Boys and Diamonds
Ron Sexsmith - Long Player, Late Bloomer
Rural Alberta Advantage - Departing
Salt-N-Pepa - Icon
Scale The Summit - The Collective
Serj Tankian - Imperfect Remixes (EP)
Siriusmo- Mosaik
Sonic Youth - SYR9: Simon Werner a Disparu soundtrack (vinyl)
T. Rex - Tanx (reissue)
Tapes 'n Tapes - Outside
The Baseball Project - Vol 2: High & Inside
The Bellrays - Black Lightning
The Black Keys - The Big Come Up (reissue)(vinyl)
The Boxer Rebellion - The Cold Still
The Death Set - Michel Poicard
The Get Up Kids - There Are Rules
The Go! Team - Rolling Blackouts (vinyl)
The Idle Hands - Life Is Beautiful (EP)
The Rural Alberta Advantage - Departing
The Strokes - Under Cover of Darkness (vinyl)
The Tellers - Close The Evil Eye
Thin Lizzy - Bad Reputation Import (vinyl)
Thin Lizzy - Black Rose Import (vinyl)
Thin Lizzy - Chinatown Import (vinyl)
Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak Import (vinyl)
Thin Lizzy - Johnny the Fox Import (vinyl)
Thin Lizzy - Live & Dangerous 2 LPs, Import (vinyl)
Thin Lizzy - Renegade Import (vinyl)
Thin Lizzy - Thunder & Lightning Import (vinyl)
This Mortal Coil - It'll End in Tears (reissue) (vinyl)
Those Dancing Days - Daydreamers And Nightmares
Tiger Bones - Go Over Here (EP)
Tony! Toni! Tone! - Icon
Trap Them - Darker Handcraft
Turisas - Stand Up And Fight
Ultravox - So80s Presents Ultravox
Vanity Theft - Get What You Came For
Various Artists - Crusin' the Beats Import, 2 CDs
Various Artists - Biutiful & Almost Biutiful (soundtrack)
Various Artists - Cartagena
Various Artists - Le Pop 6
War - Icon 2 CDs
Weedeater - Jason... The Dragon
Withered Hand - Good News

New Jazz Releases

Remember, if you are a record company and have new releases or know of any I missed (especially vinyl), please email me and I will add your music to the list. I also do reviews of new vinyl, email me for more information.


Have new music for the list? Email me at rbenson30@wi.rr.com  

Top 5 eBay Vinyl Record Sales ~ Week Ending 02/26/2011

I feel like Indiana Jones in the grail room. My favorite holy grail gets the top spot this week, Mixed Feelings' "Sha-la-la", and the Zeppelinesque Leaf Hound record also goes above $4k for the #2 spot. The two most sought after Beatles records make the list (also providing further confirmation that "Please Please Me" has supplanted the Butcher cover as the prime Beatles collectible). And Robert Johnson's legendary deal-with-the-devil 78 makes a showing.




1. 45 - Mixed Feelings "Sha-la-la" / "Love Will Find A Way" United - $4500.00

2. LP - Leaf Hound "Growers Of Mushrooms" Decca UK - $4,300.00

3. LP - The Beatles "Please Please Me" Parlophone UK Gold Black label 1st Stereo - $3,535.84

4. 78 - Robert Johnson "Me And The Devil Blues" / "Little Queen Of Spades" Vocalion 04180 - $3,304.00

5. LP - The Beatles "Yesterday And Today" Butcher 2nd State Mono Paste-Over Sealed - $3,150.00


More on this week's top 5 on Vinyl Record Talk, Tuesday 8:00PM Eastern / 5:00PM Pacific on Radio Dentata.

Vinyl Record News & Music Notes

CYNTHESIS - New Album Details Released; Cover Art Unveiled


CYNTHESIS has announced their upcoming full length album, DeEvolution, is set for worldwide release on April 19th via Sensory Records.

According to a press release: “DeEvolution tells the story of an elite group of leaders from a heavily industrialized city who find, brainwash and then exploit an indigenous tribes' shaman, believing he would be the perfect supreme leader. By propping him up as possessing all the answers to society's ills, the elites use him in order to gain and keep more control over the masses in order to influence the masses via religion, media, consumerism and government.”

DeEvolution cover artwork was created by Dennis "Damn Engine" Sibeijn (EXODUS, DRAGONFORCE, LAMB OF GOD, HIM)



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Lovely cover art, eh?

HAEMORRHAGE: Unveil Album Details For ‘Hospital Carnage’

HAEMORRHAGE has completed work on their new full-length album and follow-up to 2006’s Apology For Pathology. The new album, titled Hospital Carnage, is set for a May 24th North American release date (May 30th internationally) and is available for pre-order at this location. Hospital Carnage will be available on CD, LP and digitally. The album art, as designed by the band’s guitarist / vocalist Luisma, can be viewed here.

HAEMORRHAGE recorded Hospital Carnage at VRS Studios with Samuel Ruiz. The album was mastered by Scott Hull at Visceral Sound. Advance song titled include “Traumaggedon”, “Fomite Fetish”, “Hospital Thieves”, “Hypochondriac”, Necronatology”, and “Tumour Doner”. HAEMORRHAGE recently shot a video for “Traumaggedon”, video stills and a premiere date will be announced shortly.

Spanish splatter stalwarts HAEMORRHAGE emerge as leaders from the nefarious goregrind ranks with their newest slab Hospital Carnage. Hospital Carnage features fifteen ferocious new tracks of murderous death metal, replete with guttural vocals, meaty riffs, and powerful blast beats that convey the primordial spirit of the genre's early days.





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THE RECORD: CONTEMPORARY ART AND VINYL OPENS APRIL 15 AT ICA/BOSTON

FIRST MUSEUM EXHIBITION TO EXPLORE INFLUENCE OF VINYL RECORD ON VISUAL ART

Boston, Mass.—This spring, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston opens The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl, the first museum exhibition to explore the culture of vinyl records within the history of contemporary art. Bringing together artists from around the world who have worked with records as their subject or medium, this groundbreaking exhibition examines the record’s transformative power from the 1960s to the present. Through sculpture, installation, drawing, painting, photography, sound work, video and performance, The Record combines contemporary art with outsider art, audio with visual, and fine art with popular culture. On view at the ICA from April 15 through Sept. 5, the exhibition features 99 works by 41 artists, including Jasper Johns, Ed Ruscha, Laurie Anderson, Christian Marclay and Carrie Mae Weems. The Record was organized by the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University and is accompanied by a 240-page color catalogue.

“In today’s era of digital, downloadable music, the vinyl record—powerfully marked with history and nostalgia—has become a meaningful vehicle of expression for visual artists,” says Jill Medvedow, director of the ICA. “The Record presents some of the best, rarest and most unexpected examples of artists whose work has been influenced by music and vinyl. We are thrilled to present this exhibition in Boston, giving art and music lovers alike the opportunity to discover, or re-discover, the tremendous artistic response the record has inspired.”

“For many contemporary artists, the vinyl record looms large, taking on a significance that moves well beyond the medium’s traditional use, and thoroughly into a space of innovative artistic production,” says Senior Curator Jenelle Porter, who coordinated the exhibition for the ICA. “In the hands of visual artists, the vinyl record is used as a metaphor, archive, artifact, icon, or portrait. The exhibition explores the impact of the record on both art and popular culture and the ways in which vinyl has been manipulated, preserved and transformed through art.”

The exhibition includes a broad range of works, such as a hybrid violin and record player, Viophonograph, a seminal work by Laurie Anderson; David Byrne's original life-sized Polaroid photomontage used for the cover of the 1978 Talking Heads album More Songs About Buildings and Food; a monumental column of vinyl records by William Cordova; and an important early work by Dario Robleto, who transformed Billie Holiday records in an alchemic process to create hand-painted buttons. Works by Christian Marclay, who has made art with records for 30 years, include his early and rarely seen Recycled Records as well as his most recent record video, Looking for Love.

Accompanying the exhibition is Cover to Cover—an installation of ten listening stations located in the Poss Family Mediatheque. For the installation, 10 artists and musicians were commissioned to create a new visual narrative based on the cover art of 20 albums of their choosing. Each artist’s theme and “story’ can be discovered by thumbing through bins containing original albums, examining the covers and playing the records.

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Dum Dum Girls blend grit, grace, and garage

From left: Sandy, Jules, Dee Dee, and Bambi make up Dum Dum Girls, a group that rode a wave of garage-rock revival to prominence last year. (Tyson Wirtzfield)

By James Reed
Globe Staff / February 27, 2011

In the same breath that she mentions the Mamas & the Papas, the woman who started Dum Dum Girls also professes her love for Patti Smith, Motown, and the Jesus and Mary Chain. Dee Dee Penny — she of the cherry-red lips and Ronnie Spector’s love of eyeliner — is the lead singer and songwriter of Dum Dum Girls, an all-female rock quartet that distills the essence of those artists into a sound both tough and tender.

Read the rest at Boston.com

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a very sad story from the NYTimes Blog

Joe Long, the owner of Birdel’s Records, is retiring, and closing the store that opened in 1944. Though he has CDs, his inventory is dominated by vinyl 45s and LPs

The Last Days for a Music Store Where Vinyl Has Respect

By TIM STELLOH

Joe Long has tried closing his legendary Brooklyn music shop, Birdel’s Records, before.

Two years ago, Mr. Long posted a going-out-of-business sign in the windows of his Bedford-Stuyvesant storefront, which opened in 1944. With the decline of the music industry and of his profits, and the fact that no family member wanted to take over, he’d had enough.

Read the rest at cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com

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This from our friends in Michigan, where vinyl gets a boost with a new record store:


Plymouth Rocks Again at Cousins Vinyl

Replay your past with classic LPs, EPs and 45’s.

By Chip Karnish

As a kid, my older cousin John used to take me to local music stores like Sam’s Jams, Off the Record, Peaches and that one next to the Penn Theater (before Repeat the Beat moved in). We’d spend hours flipping through rows of albums searching racks of the latest U.S. bootlegs, U.K. new wave and European import records. Though the music of that era still lives on, those places to shop unfortunately do not.

But now I find Plymouth is bringing that nostalgic soundtrack back with, appropriately enough, Cousins Vinyl.

Read the rest at plymouth-mi.patch.com

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The LATimesblog is promoting our beloved vinyl with a feel good vinyl story!

Fingerprints record store: Thriving despite music industry woes

In a sun-filled 7,200-square-foot space in the arts district east of downtown Long Beach, something extraordinary is unfolding: The record business is growing. Boxes long confined to dark storage see the light again. Bins brim with new and used CDs. Jazz swings in its own room. So does vinyl. Books too.

Someone apparently forgot to tell store owner Rand Foster that people pluck their music from the clouds now, rather than exchange cash for it in bricks-and-mortar emporiums such as Fingerprints. Not only has Foster's indie venture survived 18 years of a drastically changing retail environment, but the soft-spoken entrepreneur also just doubled Fingerprints' footprint, moving to this space two times bigger than its longtime Belmont Shores home. His key? Making the store a destination for a devoted clientele.

"It's not memorable where you buy the record on top of the charts," Foster says. "When you buy something you've never heard of that becomes a favorite record, or you buy a record you've been looking for 10 years, you remember that store."

Read the rest of this interesting article at latimesblogs.latimes.com

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Vinyl in Virginia:

Vinyl records are a hit again, even with people in their 20s and younger

By Stephanie M. Mangino
The Winchester Star

Maybe it's just Tracee Wink's particular quirk or wish - but when she turns on her record player, she hears music that doesn't come through an iPod.

"Maybe it's not," she said. "Maybe it's me."

It's not just Wink. She is part of a wave of people who listen to vinyl records, some old and some new.

Read more at winchesterstar.com

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Sundazed Announces A Hollies “Ten Singles Box Set”

The Hollies – Lost Recordings And Beat Rarities!

According to Sundazed, this new boxset will collect 20 long-buried Hollies’ recordings across TEN seven inch vinyl singles, each with a gorgeous period-label and picture sleeve! The tracks range from hard-to-find U.S. and British singles and EP’s to songs previously unissued on vinyl. Follow the group from their first single (released May of 1963), the savage “(Ain’t That) Just Like Me” b/w “Hey What’s Wrong With Me,” through their discotheque dance-floor raves: “Come On Back,” “What Kind of Love” and “She Said Yeah.” Swoon to their swingin’ ballad “Yes I Will,” groove with their jazzy “Honey And Wine” and float to outer space with “All the World Is Love.” Discover an impossible-to-find, spy-styled double-sider the Hollies did for a 1967 Italian movie, and groove to unreleased tracks cut while on tour in New York City in 1965, then marvel at an extremely scarce cover of the Beatles’ “If I Needed Someone,” tracked at Abbey Road, revered recording home to both groups.

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NPR.org is set to stream R.E.M.’s ‘Collapse Into Now’ on March 1

At 2 p.m. ET on March 1, NPR.org will be the host of the U.S. online premiere of R.E.M.’s new studio album, “Collapse Into Now,” which is due in stores March 8 on the Warner Bros. label.

On March 2, the album will be featured as part of NPR’s “First Listen” series.

In other R.E.M. news, look for singer Michael Stipe to appear on “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” on March 3. That same day, Stipe is scheduled to perform as part of the Tibet House Benefit Concert taking place at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan.

Read more: NPR.org is set to stream R.E.M.’s ‘Collapse Into Now’ on March 1 | Goldmine Magazine

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R.E.M.'s Mike Mills Talks About Collapse Into Now

R.E.M.'s fifteenth studio album, Collapse Into Now, will be in stores a week from Tuesday (March 8) and bassist Mike Mills recently talked to Billboard about the album and how it differs from 2009's Accelerate.

Read more at VintageVinylNews.com


Video: R.E.M., ‘Mine Smell Like Honey’ played live at Berlin’s Hansa Tonstudios



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"Dandy" from 1967 was the hit on this iconic French EP by the Kinks.

Collecting the British Invasion, from the Beatles to the Sex Pistols: An Interview with Stephen M. H. Braitman

By Dean Schaffer

Stephen M. H. Braitman has had a lifelong love affair with music, and has more than 20,000 vinyl records to prove it. In this interview, he discusses the British Invasion from a collector’s perspective, and explores the evolution of the technology behind the tunes—from 78s to 45s to LPs, from mono to stereo to quadrophonic. Braitman, who is both a music appraiser and collector, can be reached via his website, www.MusicAppraisals.com.

I was a Hollywood kid. My father was a TV and radio editor in the San Fernando Valley, and he allowed me to do my first writing to review concerts and shows for the newspaper. By 16 I was going to the Troubadour every week and reviewing all the acts—Joni Mitchell, Poco, Neil Young, Pentangle, Tim Buckley, all of them. I had a lot of friends in high school who really appreciated my being able to take them to the clubs for free.

But as a younger kid, I really hated rock ’n’ roll music and pop music, and I disliked the Beatles and all that. I have a younger sister who was a total Beatlemaniac. She started getting into the ’60s scene, but I was more influenced at that time by my father’s interest in classical music.

Read more at collectorsweekly.com

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Vinyl Records Video



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and in music history today:

In 1966, the original Cavern Club in Liverpool, England, the home of many of the Beatles' early performances, closes its doors for the final time because of mounting debt. Police were called when over a 100 fans barricaded themselves inside the club to protest.

In 1968, 25 year-old Frankie Lymon, lead singer of The Teenagers, died of a heroin overdose in his grandmother's New York home. Lymon was on leave from a Georgia army post at the time and was scheduled to record for Roulette Records the next day. He first hit the national charts in 1956 when he was just 13 with "Why Do Fools Fall in Love".

In 1970, after the family of the late Ferdinand von Zeppelin threatened a lawsuit, Led Zeppelin performs in Copenhagen, Denmark as The Nobs.

Also in 1970, "Bridge Over Troubled Water" becomes Simon and Garfunkel's third US number one hit. The piano player on the track is Larry Knechtel, who also played for the soft-rock group, Bread.



In 1974, 28 year-old Bobby Bloom, who is best remembered for his #8, 1970 hit "Montego Bay", dies of a gunshot wound to the head. His death was originally thought to be suicide, but is now considered accidental.

In 1976, Paul Simon's "Still Crazy After All These Years" in named Best Pop Vocal Performance and Album Of The Year at the 18th annual Grammy Awards. In his acceptance speech, Simon tells the audience "I'd like to thank Stevie Wonder for not releasing an album this year."

Also in 1976, the theme from the ABC-TV program S.W.A.T. became the first television theme song to top the Billboard Hot 100. The theme from Hawaii 5-0 made it to number 4.

In 1981, Country music star Eddie Rabbitt crossed over to the Pop chart to score a US number one hit with "I Love a Rainy Night". It made #53 in the UK. He had earlier written the Elvis Presley smash "Kentucky Rain" before having a number five record with "Drivin' My Life Away". Although it sounds like he made up a stage name, his real name is Edward Thomas Rabbitt.

In 1984, John Denver hosted the Grammy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. Michael Jackson wins 8 statues, including Best Album for "Thriller" and Best Record for "Beat It". The Police's "Every Breath You Take" wins Best Song and Culture Club wins Best New Artist.

In 1985, David Byron, vocalist and co-founder of the British Rock band Uriah Heep, suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 38.

In 2008, Mike Smith, keyboard player and lead vocalist for The Dave Clark Five died of pneumonia less than two weeks before the band was to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was 64.

Also in 2008, drummer Buddy Miles, who played with Jimi Hendrix in his last regular group, Band of Gypsys, died at age 60 at his home in Austin, Texas, after struggling with a long-term illness. Born George Allen Miles in Omaha, Nebraska, Buddy’s nickname was a tribute to his idol, jazz drummer Buddy Rich. Miles also played with The Delfonics, The Ink Spots, Wilson Pickett, Electric Flag, Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, Muddy Waters and Barry White. In the 1980s, he achieved a certain amount of notoriety in the U.S. as the vocalist on the celebrated Claymation California Raisins commercials.

And in 2010, Neil Young made a surprise appearance at the closing of the Vancouver Olympic Games where he sang "Long May You Run" as the Olympic flame was extinguished.

Warner Bros. Records and Affiliated Labels Announce Exclusive Vinyl Releases for Record Store Day on Saturday, April 16th, 2011

PRESS RELEASE:

Warner Bros. Records and Affiliated Labels Announce Exclusive Vinyl Releases for Record Store Day on Saturday, April 16th, 2011

BURBANK, CA -- (MARKETWIRE) -- 02/28/11 --

Warner Bros. Records has announced that it will make a series of vinyl albums and singles available on April 16th exclusively in honor of Record Store Day -- a celebration of the unique culture surrounding over 700 independently owned record stores in the USA, and hundreds of similar stores internationally. Warner Bros. Records is not only a partner in Record Store Day, but readies more vinyl for release than any other label. This year, we are outdoing ourselves with even more special releases to meet the demands of vinyl enthusiasts nationally and internationally as well. All items are available in very limited quantities and are sure to sell out fast, so don't delay!

These very special exclusive releases (in alphabetical order) are as follows:

Bad Brains: God Of Love + bonus 7" (vinyl LP + two song 7" single) For God Of Love, Bad Brains' first album for Madonna's label Maverick, the original lineup of the group reunited. Ric Ocasek, the producer of their breakthrough Rock For Light, also returned to produce the record. This release includes two previously unreleased demo tracks: "Let's Make Love" and "It's Agreeable" on a bonus 7" vinyl.

The Belle Brigade: The Belle Brigade (vinyl LP) A chance to get an early copy of the self-titled debut album from brother and sister duo The Belle Brigade, fronted by Barbara and Ethan Gruska, before it's released digitally and on CD by Reprise Records on April 19th. Click on the provided link to hear "Sweet Louise" right now! http://sweetlouise.thebellebrigade.com/

Built To Spill: "Ripple" (7" picture disc) Very limited collector's edition is a picture disc and features only one track; a previously unreleased live version of the Grateful dead classic recorded live on October 11, 2010 in Charlotte, NC.

Eric Clapton: Unplugged (Two-disc set on 180-gram vinyl; Bernie Grundman Mastering) Eric Clapton's Unplugged was responsible for making acoustic-based music, and "unplugged" albums in particular, a hot trend in the early '90s. Clapton's concert was not only one of the finest Unplugged episodes, but was also some of the most genuine, heartfelt music the guitarist has ever committed to tape. And some of his most popular: The album sold more than 10 million copies in the U.S. and won several Grammy Awards, including "Album Of The Year."

Deftones: Covers (vinyl LP) Truly a unique and eclectic collection of rare cover songs spanning multiple genres, none of which has ever been available on vinyl before and a fan essential. Side A: Drive (The Cars) Caress (Drive Like Jehu) Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want (The Smiths) No Ordinary Love (Sade) Savory (Jawbox) Do You Believe (The Cardigans) Side B: Simple Man (Lynyrd Skynyrd) Ghosts (Japan) The Chauffeur (Duran Duran) If Only Tonight We Could Sleep (Live) (The Cure) Sleep Walk (Santo & Johnny)

The Flaming Lips: Heady Nuggs: The First 5 Warner Bros. Records 1992-2002 (5 vinyl LP's - Bernie Grundman Mastering) (1992) Hit To Death In The Future Head (Single Disc) (1993) Transmissions From The Satellite Heart (Single Disc) ( 1995) Clouds Taste Metallic (Single Disc) (1999) The Soft Bulletin (Two Disc) (2002) Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (Single Disc) All titles, with the exception of The Soft Bulletin have been out of print and unavailable on vinyl for a decade. Each box will be limited and numbered to create the ultimate LIPS collectors item.

Fleetwood Mac: Rumours - Standard and Deluxe Editions (Bernie Grundman Mastering) The Diamond Award Winning, Grammy "Album Of The Year" masterpiece from Fleetwood Mac is available as an Audiophile Deluxe Version pressed on 2- Disc 45 RPM, 180 gram vinyl (pressed At Pallas), as well as a standard 33 1/3 single disc.

Glassjaw: Worship And Tribute -- considered a hardcore masterpiece, this long sought-after pressing will be available on vinyl for the first time ever vinyl pressing in a limited edition.

Jimmy Eat World: Bleed American -- A special 10th Anniversary Limited edition 3-disc reissue of this seminal album featuring a disc of rarities and b-sides pressed on 140 gram vinyl (each one will be hand numbered with a gold foil stamp). There will also be a special run of colored vinyl made exclusive for the Zia Record Store Day tent at Coachella in support of their appearance at the festival.

Mastodon: Live At The Aragon (Deluxe 2-disc set on 180-gram vinyl + DVD; Bernie Grundman Mastering) -- Vinyl edition of the first-ever live experience package from heavy rock innovators Mastodon captures the band's sonic assault recorded and filmed live in October 2009 at Chicago's Aragon Ballroom while the band was touring in support of Crack The Skye.

My Chemical Romance: "Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)" (7" picture disc) The first single from the band's current album Danger Days: The True Lives of The Fabulous Killjoys, includes the previously unreleased "Zero Percent," on the B-side.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (Limited Edition white vinyl, You're Gonna Get It! (Limited Edition blue vinyl; both Bernie Grundman Mastering). "Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers," the band's debut album, was originally released in 1976. The album is best known for introducing the world to the classic tracks "American Girl" and "Breakdown." "You're Gonna Get It!" Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers' second album was released in 1978. Building on the edgy yet always melodic sonic template created on their debut, this album features the hits "Listen To Her Heart" and "I Need To Know" which remain staples in the classic rock songbook.

R.E.M.: Three (3 - 7" single 45 RPM discs, first three singles from their new album, Collapse Into Now, each in individual art gatefold sleeves. All B-sides are previously unreleased. Bernie Grundman Mastering) Disc 1. Mine Smell Like Honey/ Supernatural Superserious (live in Raleigh, NC) Disc 2. Oh My Heart/ Harborcoat (live in Riga, Latvia) Disc 3. UeBerlin/ What's the Frequency, Kenneth? (live in Oslo, Norway)

Regina Spektor: Four From Far (Limited Edition 7" 33 1/3 RPM EP on powder-blue vinyl) Three previously unreleased tracks taken from 2009's Far recording sessions, none of which have ever been available on vinyl, until now. "Eet" from Live in London is also included here. Side A: "Riot Gear," "The Sword & The Pen" Side B: "Time Is All Around," "Eet" (Live In London)

Warner Bros. Records is also pleased to announce the launch of "Side By Side" -- a series of extremely limited-edition 7" vinyl singles featuring iconic WB artists covering other historic and personally influential iconic WB family artists. Each title will be uniquely colored, and 100 of each pressing will be randomly available on clear vinyl. The first four singles listed below will be released on Record Store Day with more singles to be announced soon.

"Havana Affair" (Red Vinyl) The Ramones Red Hot Chili Peppers

"Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely" (Orange Vinyl) Huesker Due Green Day

"Just Got Paid" (Yellow Vinyl) ZZ Top Mastodon

"Love Hurts" (Light-Blue Vinyl) Gram Parsons & The Fallen Angels Featuring Emmylou Harris Jenny And Johnny

About Record Store Day: Record Store Day is managed by the Music Monitor Network and is organized in partnership with the Alliance of Independent Media Stores (AIMS), the Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS) and celebrates the culture of independent record stores by playing host to in-store events/ performances, signings and special product releases on a global scale on Saturday, April 16, 2011.

Record Store Day Contact: Perry Serpa at Good Cop Public Relations, (718) 846- 0518 / perry@goodcoppr.com  or Cristina Parker at NoiseNY Public Relations: (917) 684-0452 / email: cristina@noiseny.com

About ORG Music: ORG is an independent special projects label dedicated to the record collector experience. High quality and restored vinyl reissues from the best catalogs in the world. Focusing on classic alternative, rock, pop and jazz. Distributed by WBR available on Becausesoundmatters.com For further information, go to: http://www.orgmusic.com/

For more about National Record Store Day, please visit http://www.recordstoreday.com/

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