Record Store Day Releases

Soundgarden Reissue Sub Pop Debut Single - Hold Steady To Release Limited Edition Album Vinyl For Record Store Day

To go along with all the joy surrounding the Soundgarden reunion, Sub-Pop Records is going to offer a limited edition, orange vinyl 7″ reissue of the band’s Sub-Pop debut single, “Hunted Down,” with “Nothing To Say” on the B-side.

Sub-Pop’s special vinyl release will be available at select retailers as part of Record Store Day on April 17. The Hold Steady are to release a limited edition run of their new album on vinyl to mark Record Store Day. Each special edition of 'Heaven Is Whenever' will feature custom screen printed artwork. The “highly limited” copies will only be available in independent record stores participating in Record Store Day, which takes place on April 17. 'Heaven Is Whenever' was produced by Dean Baltulonis, who also engineered the band's 2004 debut 'Almost Killed Me'.

Here's a sneak peak at some of the exciting releases coming our way for Record Store Day(April 17th this year).

Elvis Costello Live At Hollywood High 7" Vinyl (3 cuts)
Godsmack Godsmack 7" Vinyl
La Roux Bulletproof Live & Remixed 7" Vinyl
Owl City Owl City 7" Vinyl
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals Live In Skowhegan CD
Queens Of The Stone Age Feel Good Hit Of The Summer 10" Pic. Disc
R.E.M. Chronic Town 12" Vinyl
Sonic Youth Hits Are For Squares 2 LP
Them Crooked Vultures Mind Eraser, No Chaser LP
TV On The Radio Dear Science LP w/d.load card
Weezer … Raditude Happy RSD CD
White Lies The Remix EP CD
Yeah Yeah Yeahs Skeletons 7" Vinyl


Very Limited Supplies!

1. Soundgarden “Hunted Down” 7” vinyl—STREET: RECORD STORE DAY! (LIMITED! FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED!!)

2. Mason Jennings “Live at Fingerprints” CD---STREET: RECORD STORE DAY! (LIMITED! FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED!!)

3. Get Up Kids “Simple Science” CD---STREET: 4/13/10 (RECORD STORE DAY WEEK RELEASE)

4. Royce Da 5’9” “Street Hop” 12” vinyl---STREET: RECORD STORE DAY!

5. Ani Difranco “Live at Bull Moose” CD---STREET: RECORD STORE DAY! (LIMITED!! FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED!!)

6. Rodriguez “Inner City Blues” 7” vinyl---STREET: RECORD STORE DAY! (LIMITED! FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED!!)

7. Dios “We Are Dios” CD---STREET: RECORD STORE DAY!

8. Phoenix “Fences” 12” vinyl single---Street: RECORD STORE DAY! (LIMITED!! FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED)

9. Drive By Truckers “Your Woman is a Living Thing” 7” vinyl---Street: RECORD STORE DAY! (LIMITED, FIRST COME…)

10. Cage the Elephant “Live at Grimey’s” CD/EP---Street: RECORD STORE DAY! (LIMITED, FIRST COME…)

11. Shooter Jennings & Hierophant “Don’t Feed the Animals” CD/EP---Street: RECORD STORE DAY! (LIMITED, FIRST COME…)

12. White Rabbits & Antlers “Live from Daytrotter” 7” vinyl---Street: RECORD STORE DAY! (LIMITED, FIRST COME…)

13. Asteroids Galaxy Tour “Fruit” 12” vinyl---Street: RECORD STORE DAY! (LIMITED, FIRST COME…)

14. Fela Kuti 10” vinyl EP---Street: RECORD STORE DAY! (LIMITED, FIRST COME…)

15. Infected Mushroom “Killing Time Remix” 12” vinyl---Street: RECORD STORE DAY! (LIMITED, FIRST COME…)

16. Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey “The Sensation of Seeing Light” 7” vinyl---Street: RECORD STORE DAY! (LIMITED, FIRST COME…)

17. Nonpoint “Miracle” DVD Single---Street: RECORD STORE DAY! (LIMITED! FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED!!)

Music News & Notes

Taproot: New Album Artwork Unveiled

Michigan-based hard rock quartet Taproot will release its fifth album, "Plead The Fifth", on April 13 via Victory Records. The CD was recorded on farm in Sullivan, Michigan with producer Tim Patalan.

Taproot guitarist Mike DeWolf recently told AOL's Noisecreep that "Plead The Fifth" will sound closer to the band's 2000 debut, "Gift", than 2008's "Our Long Road Home", which was progressive in nature.

"We're definitely making it as heavy as possible and aggressive while still keeping a lot of the beautiful melodies and just the general beauty of things in it," he said of the forthcoming disc. "We're using a lot more of our baritone guitars, which was sort of the signature of the 'Gift' and 'Welcome' [2002] years, so that immediately makes things a lot heavier."




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GOD.FEAR.NONE: 'Over Black Clouds' Artwork Revealed

Greek death metallers GOD.FEAR.NONE will release their new album, "Over Black Clouds", later in the year. The CD contains 11 new songs of technical and melodic death metal, plus three re-recordings of songs taken from the "Vultures" album, which was released in 2007 (available only through iTunes and Uppercut Music). For more information, visit www.myspace.com/godfearnone.








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Rare Brazilian Psychedelic 45s Released on New CD

'Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas: Tropicalia Psychedelic Masterpieces 1967-1976' is the title of a newly issued compilation CD containing 16 extremely rare recordings from the heyday of early heavy Brazilian rock. Released on Tropicalia in Furs Records, the collection, compiled by Joel Stones, includes what is described in a press release as "some of the rarest and best examples of fuzzy, funky Brazilian psychedelia," all of it previously un-reissued and newly remastered.

The package also includes a 36-page full-color booklet stuffed with detailed annotation (in both English and Portuguese) and vivid images. In addition, also included is an enhanced CD, 'What are Fuzz Bananas?,' a documentary on the making of the album. A vinyl two-LP gatefold edition includes a 48-page booklet and 3-D glasses. Examples of the artwork can be found here and the album in either configuration can be purchased here. (http://www.stonesthrow.com/store/album/various/brazilian-guitar-fuzz-bananas)

The gatefold 2LP comes with an oversized 12x12” full color booklet with all of the liner notes and photos from the CD and contains original artwork on the inside (3D glasses included in the first pressing).

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SEVENDUST: 'Cold Day Memory' Artwork Unveiled

Atlanta, Georgia's SEVENDUST will release its new album, "Cold Day Memory", on April 20 via the band's own 7Bros. Records through Warner Music Group's Independent Label Group. The CD was recorded at Groovemaster Studios in Chicago, Illinois with producer Johnny K (DISTURBED, STAIND, MACHINE HEAD). "Cold Day Memory" marks SEVENDUST's first studio recording with the band's original lineup since 2003's "Seasons".

SEVENDUST's new single, "Unraveling", was released via iTunes on March 2 and is available to stream on the the band's MySpace page. (http://www.myspace.com/sevendust)











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Harvey Milk Ready New Album

Athens scuzz-rock survivors Harvey Milk cranked out Life... The Best Game in Town in 2008, which was a crushing slab of bottom-heavy, generally unfriendly metal that landed them Pitchfork's Best New Music section. On May 18, they'll follow that late-career triumph with a new full-length, A Small Turn of Human Kindness, via Hydra Head.

That ominous-looking photo above is the album's cover art, and below, you'll find a list of the album's seven songs, arranged sequentially. And yes, the album really does lead off with a song called "*"; that's not a typo. The other titles read something like a very sad short story.

Harvey Milk will spend their spring touring North America with fellow eardrum-abusing veterans like Converge and Coalesce.










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Nada Surf Covers LP

Nada Surf have a new covers album called If I Had a Hi-Fi. On June 8, Nada Surf's own Mardev Records will release the album, which includes their takes on tracks from Spoon, Kate Bush, Depeche Mode, and more. Until then, you'll only be able to buy it at the band's shows. Holly Miranda and Calexico's Martin Wenk make guest appearances.

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Rolling Stones To Record New Material 'This Year'

Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has said he expects that the band will record new material before the end of 2010. The band's future has been uncertain since they completed their Bigger Bang world tour in 2007.

But in an interview with Rolling Stone, Richards said: “There’s no definite plans, but I can’t see any of them stopping.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we did some recording later this year.”

However, Richards, who is currently writing his autobiography, cast doubt over the Rolling Stones' future as a live act.  He said the group may consider scaling down any future concerts, despite the success of recent stadium tours.

“Maybe we’ll search for a different way for the Stones to go back on the road,” Richard said.

“Maybe not the football stadiums anymore. Maybe something different. You can’t go around there in lemon-yellow tights forever.”

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Sean Lennon Defends Yoko Over Controversial Advertisement

Sean Lennon came to the defense of his mother, Yoko Ono, over her perceived "selling out" of John Lennon's memory by licensing old footage for a Citroen D3 advertisement.

Lennon took to Twitter even before he had viewed the commercial, writing "She did not do it for money. Has to do w hoping to keep dad in public consciousness. No new LPs, so TV ad is exposure to young."

He then evidently viewed the actual commercial (see below) and added "Having just seen ad I realize why people are mad. But intention was not financial, was simply wanting to keep him out there in the world."

I agree to disagree here, Lennon would have never thought that this would be a way to keep him relevant. You would think that his music would be enough......Any other thoughts?

Riding the vinyl wave of retro chic

This from across the pond at http://www.buckinghamshireadvertiser.co.uk

Mar 3 2010 Buckinghamshire Advertiser

Tucked away on an anonymous industrial estate sits perhaps one of the most important relics of the British music industry. The old EMI manufacturing plant has been pressing records since the turn of the last century. JACK GRIFFITH went to visit the plant, to discover it has a new lease of life.

AT A time when music is readily available for next to nothing to anyone with a computer or even a mobile phone, you could be forgiven for thinking that vinyl, a relatively expensive, cumbersome and outdated format, had died a death, gone the way of the Betamax video casette or 8mm home movie camera.

But The Vinyl Factory (TVF) has seen good times since its acquisition of the plant from EMI in 2001.

"EMI didn't believe there was much of a future for vinyl and sold its manufacturing arm to us," said Vinyl Factory creative director Sean Bidder.

"It became clear that digital music would take over but we also believed that there was a market for the 'physical form' of the music.

"There will always be collectors and enthusiasts who would make more of the artwork and the product.

"People want to own music when they hear something that strikes a chord, and they are prepared to pay a little bit extra for something special."

The factory, in Blyth Road, Hayes, first opened in 1907, making the relatively new gramophone records which were just then beginning to over-take the phonograph cylinder in popularity.

By 1939, vinyl, that was to become the standard, was starting to make an appearance, and EMI was busy experimenting with stereophonic sound.

Everything went on to the back burner for the duration of the Second World War, as EMI did its bit developing radar equipment and ammunition.

So it was not until the 1950s that the company developed the first automatic pressing machines, and it is the descendants of these revolutionary bits of kit - still bearing rusted EMI stamps - that remain in the factory to this day.

Back in 1931, EMI had opened a recording studio in a quiet corner of St John's Wood. Abbey Road was to become one of the most important and iconic locations of modern popular music.

The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Cliff Richard - it is pointless trying to list the names of all the great performers who have recorded here. EMI Studios, as it was known until 1970, has seen so many, and their carefully-crafted output would quickly find its way to Hayes for pressing.

Buried in the endless shelves of records that line the plant are the priceless master discs of some of British music's most celebrated artists of the 20th century.

Roy Matthews, head of production at the plant and a loyal EMI employee of more than 40 years, who also played a part in the development of the pressing machinery, said not a lot had changed in the way records are produced.

Cutting-edge technology and formats may have moved on, but if you want something from a bygone era then it has to be made in the same old-fashioned way.

TVF is happily riding the wave of the wave of retro chic and rarity, manufacturing limited edition box sets for clients - the Antiques Roadshow 'finds' of the late 21st century.

For example, the recent release of One Life Stand by the dance group Hot Chip was first published digitally (a computer file), then in CD format and finally as a limited edition, 12in disc with accompanying gatefold sleeve - remember those? - and 'exclusive artwork' courtesy of TVF.

According to the band's website, it is limited to 1,000 hand-numbered editions of two 200g vinyl records, and is tipped to become 'an instant collectors' item'. Indeed, some of the special editions released by TVF have already proved to be shrewd investments.

The special edition box set of The Pet Shop Boys'Yes LP, voted the most collectible product of the 21st century by Record Collector magazine, recently fetched more than £3,000 at auction - 10 times its original price.

Over the last decade, TVF has developed into a profitable business that has rejuvenated the vinyl market. But despite the commercial success, TVF continues to be committed to the preservation of the original factory.

Mr Bidder said: "We were very much interested in the heritage of the site. This plant tells the history of British music; its legacy still lives on today and we are committed to preserving the unique history and character of the factory itself."

Mr Matthews said: "We don't get many visitors but when people do come to have a look they are often interested and surprised that something like this still exists. It's a reminder of how industry once was."

Heavyweight machinery, silver pipes and stacked records dominate the 30,000sq ft of the factory floor. Front and centre are the EMI Type 1400 presses.

Any preconceptions of a computerised production line churning out records at a rate of knots are quickly dashed. An ultra-clean, hermetically sealed CD factory this is not.

It is an arduous, complicated and time-consuming process that is nevertheless seeing something of a resurgence thanks to the repopularisation of the format among music lovers who want more than just an MP3 file - something to touch, something to smell, something to put a needle on.