Week Ending 09/26/2009
1. LP - The Beatles "Please Please Me" Stereo Parlophone Gold UK First Press - $8,689.75
2. 45 - Larry Clinton "She's Wanted" / "If I Knew" Dynamo - $3,188.88
3. 45 - Bob Dylan "Like A Rolling Stone" / "Gates Of Eden" CBS Mayalysia w/ Picture Sleeve - $3,063.00
4. 45 - Elvis Presley "That's All Right" / "Blue Moon Of Kentucky" Sun 209 - $2,999.99
5. 45 - Slayer "25 Years Of Showing No Mercy" Fan Club Issue - $2,700.00
As always, a special thank you to Norm at http://ccdiscoveries.blogspot.com for this great data. Stop in and listen to their unique radio show Accidental Nostalgia with Norm & Jane On Radio Dentata Thursdays 4PM PDT/7PM EDT
Monday, September 28, 2009
Bird and Animal Names In Rock and Roll History-part thirty
Let’s continue our ongoing article series about ‘bird’ and ‘animal’ group names in rock and roll history, again picking up where we left off, exploring indie bands with the word ‘wolf’ in the title.
Portland punk-pop quartet Wolf Colonel began on the campus of Lewis and Clark College in the fall of 1996 as the solo acoustic project of singer/guitarist Jason Anderson. It was at a gig at the college where Anderson met K Records rep Calvin Johnson and he began sending self-released cassettes like "Sex Riot" and "This Is Compton" after adding bass and drums to the recordings. Johnson finally agreed to record a session at his Dub Narcotic studio, resulting in the early 1999 release of Wolf Colonel's self-titled debut EP.
For a subsequent spring tour, Anderson recruited rhythm guitarist Jake Longstreth, bassist Ryan Wise and drummer Adam Forkner; the full length "Vikings of Mint" followed in early 2000 and "Castle" was issued later that fall.
The band specialized in absolutely spot on lo-fi nuggets of beautifully observed pop and while Anderson may have had a singer-songwriter label attached to his name, his songs have more in common with the muscular rock power of Thin Lizzy - all wrapped up into two and a half minutes of power pop bliss. They recorded three albums for K between 99-2002, before Jay dropped the wolf colonel moniker and has gone on to record some more tersely infectious melodies, woozy harmonies, and careening guitars- smashing stuff that’s slightly more polished.
The Aussie band Wolfmother hails from Erskineville, Sydney, Australia and has since grown exponentially in popularity since their formation in 2000, making their way into the public spotlight in 2004 after "years of jamming and anonymity." Wolfmother took the initiative of recording a four-track self-titled EP in 2004 for the purpose of getting booked for shows. But the results were so astonishing that the band re-recorded it for official release via local Modular Records. A second EP, “Dimensions,” appeared in 2006 and Wolfmother made the jump to the majors in early 2006 courtesy of an American distribution deal for Modular through Interscope. Their self-titled album debut appeared in May and reached the Top 40 and "Woman," a single from the album, won the band their first Grammy Award, for Best Hard Rock Performance, in 2007.
Originally comprising of vocalist and guitarist Andrew Stockdale, bassist and keyboardist Chris Ross and drummer Myles Heskett, the band has released one studio album, Wolfmother (2005), which reached number three on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart.
NME dubbed them the “Best New Australian Band” and the UK’s Radio 1 presenter Zane Lowe featuring their new album as the “Best in the world!” Soon, as the music world started to hear more of the band, more comments about the band followed, some good, some not and the inevitable comparisons to Led Zeppelin worked against them in some ways. In fact, a Stylus Magazine review stated "everything there is to say about them is best said by immediate reference to another band and Wolfmother always come up short in the comparison." An Allmusic review of the band is more critical, calling their music "precious, inarticulate, [and] confused" when compared to that of their musical influences, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Cream and Black Sabbath. However, fellow musicians raved about the band's sound, Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke has stated that he is a fan of Wolfmother as is Lars Ulrich of Metallica. Alice Cooper has described Wolfmother's sound, stating they are "like a teenage Jimi Hendrix, Steppenwolf kind of band."
In August 2008, co-founding members Ross and Heskett left the band due to "irreconcilable personal and musical differences," though Stockdale has stated that he would continue using the Wolfmother moniker with new members in the future. After a brief hiatus, Stockdale returned with three new musicians in the fold, bassist and keyboardist Ian Peres, guitarist Aidan Nemeth and drummer Dave Atkins. The new lineup's first album, "Cosmic Egg" is scheduled for release on October 13, 2009 and promises to bring more comparisons and critical acclaim to the psychedelic- metal band.
In the late-'90s Chris Manak, aka Peanut Butter Wolf began DJing as a teenager and became quite the entrepreneur at his San Jose, CA, high school, selling mix tapes of his turntable work.
He made his debut in 1989 with "You Can't Swing This" which was recorded with a smooth MC named Lyrical Prophecy and by the end of the year; he began working with MC Charizma. The pair was very successful and perfected their skills at block parties and shows with the likes of the Pharcyde, House of Pain, and Nas. However, right after the duo secured a record deal with Hollywood Basic in 1992, Charizma was shot and killed.
Peanut Butter Wolf carried on without his collaborator and began issuing instrumental tracks, including his first release called "Peanut Butter Breaks" (Heyday Records). Other tracks followed, including "Return of the DJ" which is known as the first all-DJ album, helping to launch the careers of turntablists such as DJ Q-bert, Cut Chemist, DJ Z-Trip, and others.
In 1996, Peanut Butter Wolf formed Stones Throw Records and released its first single, Charizma & Peanut Butter Wolf's "My World Premiere." Peanut Butter Wolf then released his own solo album on Stones Throw, "My Vinyl Weighs a Ton" in 1999 and in 2002 two excellent compilations, "The Best of Peanut Butter Wolf" and the Stones Throw 7" collection Jukebox 45's only fueled the budding label. In 2003 he released “Badmeaninggood, Vol. 3” and the next year he produced a compilation CD/DVD of his label's artists, “Stones Throw 101.” He continues to pour his efforts into the record label and occasionally performs, doing DJ gigs in Europe, Australia, Canada, Japan, and the US. Stones Throw Records is a major player in the genre with noted hip hop releases by Madlib's Quasimoto, Yesterdays New Quintet, Jaylib (J Dilla and Madlib) and Madvillain (MF Doom and Madlib) and the label has expanded their repertoire to include funk and hip hop re-issues as well as experimental jazz and electronic music. Peanut Butter Wolf is also a member of the L.A. hip-hop orchestra Breakestra.
In part thirty-one of our ongoing series, we will switch gears and move away from the ‘wolf’ names and continue our look at other bird and animal group names and people in rock and roll history.
Buy Wolf Colonel Music
Wolfmother Tidbits:
Thanks to the success of their album and singles, Wolfmother's music has been featured in many video games, films and commercials. "Love Train" featured in an iPod commercial; "Woman" was included on such video games as Guitar Hero II, MotorStorm, Pure, Saints Row 2, Tony Hawk's Project 8 and NHL 07; "Dimension" featured in the film School for Scoundrels and in video games FlatOut 2, and Rugby 06.
"Joker & the Thief" appeared in films Jackass Number Two, Shoot 'Em Up, Shrek the Third and The Hangover (2009 film) and video games Need for Speed: Carbon, Rock Band, and MLB 07: The Show, as well as commercials for both Mitsubishi and Peugeot cars.
The band performed at big-name local and international festivals in 2006, including SXSW, Big Day Out, Sasquatch! Music Festival, Roskilde Festival, Lowlands, Splendour in the Grass, Fuji Rock Festival, Lollapalooza, Reading and Leeds Festivals, V Festival, Download Festival and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival among many other tour stops.
Buy Wolfmother Music
Peanut Butter Wolf Tidbits:
In 2006, Peanut Butter Wolf served as presenter for Stones Throw & Adult Swim's “Chrome Children” CD/DVD.
Chris is married to clothing designer Violet Valen, owner of BUDDY by Violet Valen
Copyright 2009 Robert Benson www.collectingvinylrecords.com
Portland punk-pop quartet Wolf Colonel began on the campus of Lewis and Clark College in the fall of 1996 as the solo acoustic project of singer/guitarist Jason Anderson. It was at a gig at the college where Anderson met K Records rep Calvin Johnson and he began sending self-released cassettes like "Sex Riot" and "This Is Compton" after adding bass and drums to the recordings. Johnson finally agreed to record a session at his Dub Narcotic studio, resulting in the early 1999 release of Wolf Colonel's self-titled debut EP.
For a subsequent spring tour, Anderson recruited rhythm guitarist Jake Longstreth, bassist Ryan Wise and drummer Adam Forkner; the full length "Vikings of Mint" followed in early 2000 and "Castle" was issued later that fall.
The band specialized in absolutely spot on lo-fi nuggets of beautifully observed pop and while Anderson may have had a singer-songwriter label attached to his name, his songs have more in common with the muscular rock power of Thin Lizzy - all wrapped up into two and a half minutes of power pop bliss. They recorded three albums for K between 99-2002, before Jay dropped the wolf colonel moniker and has gone on to record some more tersely infectious melodies, woozy harmonies, and careening guitars- smashing stuff that’s slightly more polished.
The Aussie band Wolfmother hails from Erskineville, Sydney, Australia and has since grown exponentially in popularity since their formation in 2000, making their way into the public spotlight in 2004 after "years of jamming and anonymity." Wolfmother took the initiative of recording a four-track self-titled EP in 2004 for the purpose of getting booked for shows. But the results were so astonishing that the band re-recorded it for official release via local Modular Records. A second EP, “Dimensions,” appeared in 2006 and Wolfmother made the jump to the majors in early 2006 courtesy of an American distribution deal for Modular through Interscope. Their self-titled album debut appeared in May and reached the Top 40 and "Woman," a single from the album, won the band their first Grammy Award, for Best Hard Rock Performance, in 2007.
Originally comprising of vocalist and guitarist Andrew Stockdale, bassist and keyboardist Chris Ross and drummer Myles Heskett, the band has released one studio album, Wolfmother (2005), which reached number three on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart.
NME dubbed them the “Best New Australian Band” and the UK’s Radio 1 presenter Zane Lowe featuring their new album as the “Best in the world!” Soon, as the music world started to hear more of the band, more comments about the band followed, some good, some not and the inevitable comparisons to Led Zeppelin worked against them in some ways. In fact, a Stylus Magazine review stated "everything there is to say about them is best said by immediate reference to another band and Wolfmother always come up short in the comparison." An Allmusic review of the band is more critical, calling their music "precious, inarticulate, [and] confused" when compared to that of their musical influences, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Cream and Black Sabbath. However, fellow musicians raved about the band's sound, Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke has stated that he is a fan of Wolfmother as is Lars Ulrich of Metallica. Alice Cooper has described Wolfmother's sound, stating they are "like a teenage Jimi Hendrix, Steppenwolf kind of band."
In August 2008, co-founding members Ross and Heskett left the band due to "irreconcilable personal and musical differences," though Stockdale has stated that he would continue using the Wolfmother moniker with new members in the future. After a brief hiatus, Stockdale returned with three new musicians in the fold, bassist and keyboardist Ian Peres, guitarist Aidan Nemeth and drummer Dave Atkins. The new lineup's first album, "Cosmic Egg" is scheduled for release on October 13, 2009 and promises to bring more comparisons and critical acclaim to the psychedelic- metal band.
In the late-'90s Chris Manak, aka Peanut Butter Wolf began DJing as a teenager and became quite the entrepreneur at his San Jose, CA, high school, selling mix tapes of his turntable work.
He made his debut in 1989 with "You Can't Swing This" which was recorded with a smooth MC named Lyrical Prophecy and by the end of the year; he began working with MC Charizma. The pair was very successful and perfected their skills at block parties and shows with the likes of the Pharcyde, House of Pain, and Nas. However, right after the duo secured a record deal with Hollywood Basic in 1992, Charizma was shot and killed.
Peanut Butter Wolf carried on without his collaborator and began issuing instrumental tracks, including his first release called "Peanut Butter Breaks" (Heyday Records). Other tracks followed, including "Return of the DJ" which is known as the first all-DJ album, helping to launch the careers of turntablists such as DJ Q-bert, Cut Chemist, DJ Z-Trip, and others.
In 1996, Peanut Butter Wolf formed Stones Throw Records and released its first single, Charizma & Peanut Butter Wolf's "My World Premiere." Peanut Butter Wolf then released his own solo album on Stones Throw, "My Vinyl Weighs a Ton" in 1999 and in 2002 two excellent compilations, "The Best of Peanut Butter Wolf" and the Stones Throw 7" collection Jukebox 45's only fueled the budding label. In 2003 he released “Badmeaninggood, Vol. 3” and the next year he produced a compilation CD/DVD of his label's artists, “Stones Throw 101.” He continues to pour his efforts into the record label and occasionally performs, doing DJ gigs in Europe, Australia, Canada, Japan, and the US. Stones Throw Records is a major player in the genre with noted hip hop releases by Madlib's Quasimoto, Yesterdays New Quintet, Jaylib (J Dilla and Madlib) and Madvillain (MF Doom and Madlib) and the label has expanded their repertoire to include funk and hip hop re-issues as well as experimental jazz and electronic music. Peanut Butter Wolf is also a member of the L.A. hip-hop orchestra Breakestra.
In part thirty-one of our ongoing series, we will switch gears and move away from the ‘wolf’ names and continue our look at other bird and animal group names and people in rock and roll history.
Buy Wolf Colonel Music
Wolfmother Tidbits:
Thanks to the success of their album and singles, Wolfmother's music has been featured in many video games, films and commercials. "Love Train" featured in an iPod commercial; "Woman" was included on such video games as Guitar Hero II, MotorStorm, Pure, Saints Row 2, Tony Hawk's Project 8 and NHL 07; "Dimension" featured in the film School for Scoundrels and in video games FlatOut 2, and Rugby 06.
"Joker & the Thief" appeared in films Jackass Number Two, Shoot 'Em Up, Shrek the Third and The Hangover (2009 film) and video games Need for Speed: Carbon, Rock Band, and MLB 07: The Show, as well as commercials for both Mitsubishi and Peugeot cars.
The band performed at big-name local and international festivals in 2006, including SXSW, Big Day Out, Sasquatch! Music Festival, Roskilde Festival, Lowlands, Splendour in the Grass, Fuji Rock Festival, Lollapalooza, Reading and Leeds Festivals, V Festival, Download Festival and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival among many other tour stops.
Buy Wolfmother Music
Peanut Butter Wolf Tidbits:
In 2006, Peanut Butter Wolf served as presenter for Stones Throw & Adult Swim's “Chrome Children” CD/DVD.
Chris is married to clothing designer Violet Valen, owner of BUDDY by Violet Valen
Copyright 2009 Robert Benson www.collectingvinylrecords.com
Music News & Notes
Heart Children's Book
Heart's Ann and Nancy Wilson are inseperable, joined at the hip within their musical adventures. Rock and roll ballads come easy for the talented sisters and now the two have collaborated on a children's book. The book, Dog & Butterfly and Nancy's new lullabies album Baby Guitars are set to be released October 6 exclusively on Amazon.com. The release also coincides with the 30th anniversary of Heart's legendary album Dog & Butterfly and a new version of the title cut has been recorded by the Wilson sisters and will be available as a free download with the purchase of the children's book.
Baby Guitars, Nancy explains, has been well "road-tested" on children. She wrote and recorded the songs with Heart guitarist Craig Bartock five years ago as a gift for a pregnant friend. Up until now, the recordings have been heard only by family and friends. (When Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes became parents in 2006, Nancy passed along a home-burned copy to his team for daughter Suri.)
Baby Guitars features "pure, innocent" sounds like acoustic guitars, mandolin, harp and Japanese koto. The tracks are instrumentals, recalling Nancy's work scoring Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous, written and directed by husband Cameron Crowe. Her 10-year-old twin sons, Billy and Curtis, drew the cover art, and Billy's beloved blanket inspired Nancy's favorite song on the album, Silky.
The book's illustrations were drawn by Ann and painted by Nancy, just one more collaboration between the sisters. They're on tour with Heart through October and at work on their next album, out in 2010.
=====================
YouTube & Warner Talking New Deal
Warner Music Group and YouTube have reportedly agreed on a new deal that will bring the major label’s videos — including work by artists like Madonna and Green Day — back to the video streaming Website. According to AdAge.com, while the two sides haven’t officially announced the new contract, WMG is also moving on to negotiations to possibly join Vevo, a video stream venture between YouTube, Sony and Universal.
=====================
REO Holiday LP
REO Speedwagon is jumping on the holiday bandwagon and releasing a Christmas album. Not So Silent Night… Christmas With REO Speedwagon will be released October 27 on Sony Legacy and will include numerous classics like The First Noel, Winter Wonderland, Deck the Halls, Little Drummer Boy and Joy to the World.
=====================
Vinyl Collective Top 10 Sales of the past week
Virgil has posted the top sellers for the week, stop by www.vinylcollective.com and pick up some great vinyl!
1 WHATEVER 64 copies
2 THE SWELLERS “Welcome Back Riders” 7″ black vinyl 49 copies
3 FRANK TURNER “The First Three Years” dbl LP red w/ white splatter vinyl 31 copies
4 MURDER BY DEATH “Finch: Instrumental Album” 10″green vinyl 25 copies
5 CHUCK RAGAN/ BRIAN FALLON “Gospel Songs” 7″ white vinyl 23 copies
6 CHUCK RAGAN/ BRIAN FALLON “Gospel Songs” 7″ brown vinyl VC exclusive color 14 copies
6 THE SWELLERS “Welcome Back Riders” 7″ pink w/ blue splatter vinyl 14 copies
6 HEAVY HEARTED “S/T” 7″ mixed color vinyl 14 copies
9 HEAVY HEAVY LOW LOW “Turtle Nipple…” LP brown/pink 13 copies
10 CHUCK RAGAN “Gold Country” LP black vinyl 11 copies
10 LIZZIE HUFFMAN AND HER BROTHER BAND “S/T” 10″ red/burgandy vinyl 11 copies
=====================
New Morrissey B-Sides On The Way
2009 has been quite a year for Morrissey. He's toured relentlessly, performing to sold-out audiences around the world. His 9th studio album, "Years Of Refusal," saw Morrissey tie his highest US chart debut on the Billboard 200, and he's overseen upgraded and remastered versions of his ‘90s works Southpaw Grammar and Maladjusted. Crowning what is undoubtedly his most productive year since his solo career began in 1988, "Swords" compiles 18 select songs released as b-sides of his 13 hit singles from his last four albums.
As an artist who has always ensured his b-sides are of as outstanding quality as his singles and album tracks, "Swords" features some of Morrissey's finest material. 12 songs are collaborations with guitarist Alain Whyte, the rest co-written with guitarists Boz Boorer and Jesse Tobias, and former keyboardist Michael Farrell. In keeping with the three remarkable studio albums covered in his period - 2004's "You Are The Quarry," 2006's "Ringleader Of The Tormentors" and "Years Of Refusal" - the music is powerful and adventurous. The richness and expression of Morrissey's voice has never been greater. With unmatchable style, wit and insight, truths beneath the surface are laid bare. There are moments of personal reflection; "Munich Air Disaster 1958," for example, is a heartrending lament for the Manchester United players who died in the infamous plane crash, and for those who were left behind. The live cover version of David Bowie's 1973 song "Drive-In Saturday" reveals a little more of Morrissey's own teenage self, with its lyrics of amorous confusion modified to rhapsodize over The New York Dolls rather than the Rolling Stones. Chrissie Hynde makes a rare appearance, singing backing vocals on "Shame is the Name."
The album was compiled by Morrissey who is surely in the rudest of creative health. They're subtly assembled and sequenced -the feeling of approaching extinction in the beautiful "The Never-Played Symphonies" followed by a promise of a reunion in the afterlife on "Sweetie-Pie." As Morrissey said of the Tour Of Refusal in March, "all of our answers will be in our songs."
Initial quantities of "Swords" will come with a bonus disc featuring eight superb live performances recorded in Warsaw in July this year. This will include songs from Morrissey's last two albums and 1994's "Vauxhall And I," plus The Smiths' "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby," first heard on the group's 1986 b-side collection "The World Won't Listen." In October and November Morrissey and his band will also tour the UK and Europe, with new American dates scheduled for later in the year.
"Swords" will be released in the UK on October 26th and November 3rd in the US.
=====================
The Prodigy Ready New Single
The Prodigy release the third single "Take Me To The Hospital" on October 20th. Still riding high in the UK charts, their album ‘Invaders Must Die' is among the top five selling albums of 2009 and has reaffirmed the band's status as true legends of both dance and rock.
=====================
Rhino Suffering In The Digital Age
In the latest indication of the shrinking market for compact discs, Warner Music Group's catalog arm Rhino Records laid off between 30 and 40 staffers last week. Job losses came in all departments, including A&R, marketing, promotion and publicity.
A statement from Rhino cited a "fundamental transformation of the physical new release and catalog business" as a reason for the cuts.
Rhino founder Richard Foos, speaking in dejected tones, said that it "had become very apparent that it was too difficult to go on." The store's lease expired and Foos opted to lock the doors. The store plans a Jan. 21 parking-lot sale that will be part wake, part fire sale.
"But we are hoping now for a white knight to show up and buy the inventory and the name and hopefully carry on the tradition," he said. "It was a very emotional decision but this is where it's at. Now in Westwood you have no free-standing record stores. You have one of the largest colleges in the country and no independent record store. That says a lot."
Rhino will evolve into an entity that "handles WMG's global digital catalog initiatives, film, TV, vidgame and commercial licensing, and name and likeness representation for legendary artists." Rhino has long been considered the industry standard for boxed set retrospectives, but demand for such high-ticket items has been strangled by the music market slump and shift to digital sales.
Heart's Ann and Nancy Wilson are inseperable, joined at the hip within their musical adventures. Rock and roll ballads come easy for the talented sisters and now the two have collaborated on a children's book. The book, Dog & Butterfly and Nancy's new lullabies album Baby Guitars are set to be released October 6 exclusively on Amazon.com. The release also coincides with the 30th anniversary of Heart's legendary album Dog & Butterfly and a new version of the title cut has been recorded by the Wilson sisters and will be available as a free download with the purchase of the children's book.
Baby Guitars, Nancy explains, has been well "road-tested" on children. She wrote and recorded the songs with Heart guitarist Craig Bartock five years ago as a gift for a pregnant friend. Up until now, the recordings have been heard only by family and friends. (When Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes became parents in 2006, Nancy passed along a home-burned copy to his team for daughter Suri.)
Baby Guitars features "pure, innocent" sounds like acoustic guitars, mandolin, harp and Japanese koto. The tracks are instrumentals, recalling Nancy's work scoring Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous, written and directed by husband Cameron Crowe. Her 10-year-old twin sons, Billy and Curtis, drew the cover art, and Billy's beloved blanket inspired Nancy's favorite song on the album, Silky.
The book's illustrations were drawn by Ann and painted by Nancy, just one more collaboration between the sisters. They're on tour with Heart through October and at work on their next album, out in 2010.
=====================
YouTube & Warner Talking New Deal
Warner Music Group and YouTube have reportedly agreed on a new deal that will bring the major label’s videos — including work by artists like Madonna and Green Day — back to the video streaming Website. According to AdAge.com, while the two sides haven’t officially announced the new contract, WMG is also moving on to negotiations to possibly join Vevo, a video stream venture between YouTube, Sony and Universal.
=====================
REO Holiday LP
REO Speedwagon is jumping on the holiday bandwagon and releasing a Christmas album. Not So Silent Night… Christmas With REO Speedwagon will be released October 27 on Sony Legacy and will include numerous classics like The First Noel, Winter Wonderland, Deck the Halls, Little Drummer Boy and Joy to the World.
=====================
Vinyl Collective Top 10 Sales of the past week
Virgil has posted the top sellers for the week, stop by www.vinylcollective.com and pick up some great vinyl!
1 WHATEVER 64 copies
2 THE SWELLERS “Welcome Back Riders” 7″ black vinyl 49 copies
3 FRANK TURNER “The First Three Years” dbl LP red w/ white splatter vinyl 31 copies
4 MURDER BY DEATH “Finch: Instrumental Album” 10″green vinyl 25 copies
5 CHUCK RAGAN/ BRIAN FALLON “Gospel Songs” 7″ white vinyl 23 copies
6 CHUCK RAGAN/ BRIAN FALLON “Gospel Songs” 7″ brown vinyl VC exclusive color 14 copies
6 THE SWELLERS “Welcome Back Riders” 7″ pink w/ blue splatter vinyl 14 copies
6 HEAVY HEARTED “S/T” 7″ mixed color vinyl 14 copies
9 HEAVY HEAVY LOW LOW “Turtle Nipple…” LP brown/pink 13 copies
10 CHUCK RAGAN “Gold Country” LP black vinyl 11 copies
10 LIZZIE HUFFMAN AND HER BROTHER BAND “S/T” 10″ red/burgandy vinyl 11 copies
=====================
New Morrissey B-Sides On The Way
2009 has been quite a year for Morrissey. He's toured relentlessly, performing to sold-out audiences around the world. His 9th studio album, "Years Of Refusal," saw Morrissey tie his highest US chart debut on the Billboard 200, and he's overseen upgraded and remastered versions of his ‘90s works Southpaw Grammar and Maladjusted. Crowning what is undoubtedly his most productive year since his solo career began in 1988, "Swords" compiles 18 select songs released as b-sides of his 13 hit singles from his last four albums.As an artist who has always ensured his b-sides are of as outstanding quality as his singles and album tracks, "Swords" features some of Morrissey's finest material. 12 songs are collaborations with guitarist Alain Whyte, the rest co-written with guitarists Boz Boorer and Jesse Tobias, and former keyboardist Michael Farrell. In keeping with the three remarkable studio albums covered in his period - 2004's "You Are The Quarry," 2006's "Ringleader Of The Tormentors" and "Years Of Refusal" - the music is powerful and adventurous. The richness and expression of Morrissey's voice has never been greater. With unmatchable style, wit and insight, truths beneath the surface are laid bare. There are moments of personal reflection; "Munich Air Disaster 1958," for example, is a heartrending lament for the Manchester United players who died in the infamous plane crash, and for those who were left behind. The live cover version of David Bowie's 1973 song "Drive-In Saturday" reveals a little more of Morrissey's own teenage self, with its lyrics of amorous confusion modified to rhapsodize over The New York Dolls rather than the Rolling Stones. Chrissie Hynde makes a rare appearance, singing backing vocals on "Shame is the Name."
The album was compiled by Morrissey who is surely in the rudest of creative health. They're subtly assembled and sequenced -the feeling of approaching extinction in the beautiful "The Never-Played Symphonies" followed by a promise of a reunion in the afterlife on "Sweetie-Pie." As Morrissey said of the Tour Of Refusal in March, "all of our answers will be in our songs."
Initial quantities of "Swords" will come with a bonus disc featuring eight superb live performances recorded in Warsaw in July this year. This will include songs from Morrissey's last two albums and 1994's "Vauxhall And I," plus The Smiths' "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby," first heard on the group's 1986 b-side collection "The World Won't Listen." In October and November Morrissey and his band will also tour the UK and Europe, with new American dates scheduled for later in the year.
"Swords" will be released in the UK on October 26th and November 3rd in the US.
=====================
The Prodigy Ready New Single
The Prodigy release the third single "Take Me To The Hospital" on October 20th. Still riding high in the UK charts, their album ‘Invaders Must Die' is among the top five selling albums of 2009 and has reaffirmed the band's status as true legends of both dance and rock.
=====================
Rhino Suffering In The Digital Age
In the latest indication of the shrinking market for compact discs, Warner Music Group's catalog arm Rhino Records laid off between 30 and 40 staffers last week. Job losses came in all departments, including A&R, marketing, promotion and publicity.
A statement from Rhino cited a "fundamental transformation of the physical new release and catalog business" as a reason for the cuts.
Rhino founder Richard Foos, speaking in dejected tones, said that it "had become very apparent that it was too difficult to go on." The store's lease expired and Foos opted to lock the doors. The store plans a Jan. 21 parking-lot sale that will be part wake, part fire sale.
"But we are hoping now for a white knight to show up and buy the inventory and the name and hopefully carry on the tradition," he said. "It was a very emotional decision but this is where it's at. Now in Westwood you have no free-standing record stores. You have one of the largest colleges in the country and no independent record store. That says a lot."
Rhino will evolve into an entity that "handles WMG's global digital catalog initiatives, film, TV, vidgame and commercial licensing, and name and likeness representation for legendary artists." Rhino has long been considered the industry standard for boxed set retrospectives, but demand for such high-ticket items has been strangled by the music market slump and shift to digital sales.
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