Saturday, August 20, 2011

Vinyl Record News & Music Notes

this is a well known story..... for several years now. the collection is worth what somebody is willing to pay for it.......it would be nice to see a university or some rich ecentric buy the collection and preserve the records for decades to come:

When the price is not right: Why is a $50m record collection unable to sell for even a fraction of its value?

Sometimes unique items aren't worth what we think, discovers Phil Boucher

It's the summer of 1951 and 12-year-old Paul Mawhinney is walking out of the National Record Mart on 5th Avenue, Pittsburgh, clutching a 79 cent copy of "Jezebel" by Frankie Laine. It is his first record – a purchase that very few of us ever forget.

Fast forward 60 years and Mawhinney is still proud of his "Jezebel". But it has gained a few friends: around two million singles and one million albums to be more precise, plus an array of posters, books and other music memorabilia in a vinyl heap that's widely regarded as the largest record collection in the world. An appraisal from Andersen Consulting in 1999 estimated it to be worth $50.5m (£31.2m).

But here's the rub: Mawhinney turns 72 in September and is legally blind. While he continues to catalogue his vast collection on a daily basis, it is proving increasingly difficult (he still has 750,000 records to add to his database). So he's looking for a buyer. Any buyer. In fact, Mawhinney's been looking to offload his collection for the best part of 12 years. "I have shown it to potential owners many times, but the minute they see the size of my collection, they say 'I'd love to have it, but how the hell could I take on all this work?'" he explains.

Read the rest at independent.co.uk




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great story, in fact, these types of stories never get old!

Vinyl records make comeback in digital age

By ALYSE BACKUS for the Missoulian

An employee at Rockin Rudy's Record Heaven flips over a record. As soon as he places the needle on the worn black disc, blues music pops and crackles as nostalgia fills the air.

Vinyl records remind some of growing up in a time when real nitty-gritty rock 'n' roll reigned in the music industry. For others, records are the things that collect dust in their parents' garages as memories of yesteryear.

Vinyl is also a reminder that in a world of iPods and iTunes, music has lost its hands-on feeling.

Album artwork has become a lost art. Music doesn't sound the same anymore. Gone are the days of analog music in which the third cello in a symphony comes to life over the warm sounds of a record on a scratchy turntable.

There's a longing for old school, it's clear: Vintage-style concert T-shirts flood malls and retro sneakers have become go-to kicks for hipsters.

Records are no exception to this trend: What's old is new again.

In fact, vinyl has made its comeback

Read more at missoulian.com

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Brian Wilson Moves From Gershwin to Disney

Brian Wilson will followup his album of music written by George Gershwin with one that covers songs from Disney films. In the Key of Disney has been confirmed for a October 25 release as his second
record for the Disney Pearl label.

Wilson has worked with co-arranger Paul Von Mertens to give a Beach Boys-style spin to a number of Disney classics including Baby Mine (from Dumbo), I Just Can't Wait to Be King (The Lion King) and an instrumental take on Heigh-Ho and Whistle While You Work (Snow White and the Seven Dwarves).

Read more at our friends at vintagevinylnews.com



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generation x yoko wannabe gets creative with new album cover art:

Björk reveals Biophilia album cover

Avant-garde pop singer Björk took to Twitter and revealed the cover art for her upcoming album, 'Biophilia.' The album is scheduled for release on September 27, 2011.

























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colorful cover art!

Zechs Marquise Unveil New Album

Zechs Marquise have announced their sophomore full-length, ‘Getting Paid.’ The new record is set to feature keyboardist and trumpeter Rikardo Rodriguez-Lopez’s first recorded appearance with the band, and guest performances by Sonny Baker and RX Bandits’ Matt Embree.

“We started off recording percussion to sequencers and loops,” drummer Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez explained about the new album’s recording process. “I chopped those sounds up and arranged them. From there, were wrote the album with each of us coming in and playing on top of it. Kind of like a hip-hop song.”

Speaking of the album’s artwork, bassist Marfred Rodriguez-Lopez said, “The album cover is a play on Blacksploitation soundtrack art and stuff like [Miles Davis'] ‘Bitches Brew’ cover. We wanted our own weird take on it.”

Tracklist:
1. Getting Paid
2. Lock Jaw Night Vision
3. Static Lovers
4. The Heat, The Drought, The Thirst, and The Insanity
5. Time Masters
6. Guajira
7. Everlasting Beacon of Light
8. Crushin’ It!
9. Mega Slap

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Sacred Oath Announced Vinyl Re-Release

Sacred Oath has announced the details for their an upcoming vinyl re-release of the band's 'Darkness Visible' album:

"Metalizer Records in Germany will release the second Sacred Oath album 'Darkness Visible' on vinyl along with a bonus 7" of Revolution/Burn Away (Loki's Song) on September 10th 2011. Metalizer released 'World On Fire' on deluxe double gatefold vinyl this past April."








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Metallica And Lou Reed Reveal New Album Release Date

Heavy metal vets Metallica and the legendary Lou Reed have recently announced that their upcoming collaboration album will be released on November 1st in North America, while it will hit the shelves in the rest of the world a day earlier on October 31st.

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www.audiofidelity.net  have just announced the re-release of two seminal albums James Taylor's Sweet Baby James and Heart'sGreatest Hits. Both will be available on August 30. Both were mastered by Steve Hoffman, so they will have the best sound possible!

Audio Fidelity 24K Gold CDs and 180g Vinyl LPs

James Taylor : Sweet Baby James
24 Karat Gold CD

James Taylor's second album, Sweet Baby James, released in early 1970, is the album that secured his spot among the most important songwriters of the 70s. The sweet, bluesy acoustic guitar and vocals on this album are authentic and interesting - this is a record that has everything from a blues inspired jam, packed with a big band horn section ("Steamroller Blues"); to a gospel revival-like track ("Lo And Behold"); to a traditional nursery rhyme made into a folk ballad ("Oh, Susannah"). And, of course, the album featured "Fire and Rain," which reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Country Road" was another Top 40 hit that struck a chord with music fans, especially because of its attractive mixture of folk, country, gospel, and blues elements, all of them carefully understated and distanced.

While Taylor gets help from some friends such as Carole King (piano) and future Eagles bassist Randy Meisner, its his stellar songwriting and heartfelt vocals that shot this album to #3 on the Billboard Album Charts and earned a 1971 Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. This recording launched not only Taylor's career - he's won more than 40 gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards as well as five GRAMMY® Awards and was inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame - but also propelled the entire singer/songwriter movement of the early '70s that included Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Jackson Browne, Cat Stevens, and others.

1 Sweet Baby James
2 Lo And Behold
3 Sunny Skies
4 Steamroller
5 Country Road
6 Oh, Susannah
7 Fire And Rain
8 Blossom
9 Anywhere Like Heaven
10 Oh Baby, Don't You Loose Your Lip On Me
11 Suite For 20G

Mastered by Steve Hoffman




Heart : Greatest Hits
24 Karat Gold CD

"...all of the essential songs from the band's most fruitful period - a must for every real hard rock collector ."

Greatest Hits is a retrospective of Heart's career from 1976-1983. The album features seventeen tracks mostly culled, chronologically, from the Dreamboat Annie, Little Queen, Dog & Butterfly, and Bebe Le Strange albums plus "Strong, Strong Wind," an all-new studio cut recorded in 1998 and a live cover of Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" from 1980 are included as bonus tracks.

"Crazy On You," "Magic Man," Barracuda,"Straight On,” “Even It Up,” “Kick It Out” are among a string of other chart-topping hits that showcase the sisters’ enormous talents as both musicians and singers.

Ann Wilson is undoubtedly THE powerhouse femme fatale vocalist of her generation and in the '70s along with her younger sister, Nancy Wilson showed the world that women can rock.

Heart was the first major hard rock band to be led by women. Their success helped open the door for future female artists who held up Ann and Nancy Wilson as influential role models. Along the way, Heart sold more than 30 million records, had 21 top 40 hits, sold out arenas worldwide, and had a profound influence on rock music.

1. Strong, Strong Wind
2. Magic Man
3. Crazy on You
4. Dreamboat Annie
5. Barracuda
6. Little Queen
7. Kick It Out
8. Love Alive
9. Heartless
10. Straight On
11. Dog and Butterfly
12. Even It Up
13. Bebe le Strange
14. Tell It Like It Is
15. This Man Is Mine
16. How Can I Refuse
17. Rock and Roll

Mastered by Steve Hoffman

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lovely cover....

GRAVEWORM New Album Details

Italian dark metal outfit GRAVEWORM new album will be called 'Fragments Of Death' and is set for release on October 14 via Nuclear Blast Records. The album was recorded in July at the Dream Sound Studios in Munich, Germany and was mastered by Jan Vacik.

"The songs are about the death in its thousand faces, which is also reflected in the album title and cover art. Musically, the album can be seen as a mixture of the best of the last four records, with some old-school roots and definitive darker than its predecessors."

Commented vocalist Stefano Fiori: "We are very excited about our new album. It was a really hard work we have done but now we are happy with the result, and we cannot wait to play the songs live for our fans."











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love this cover for some reason....

Russian Circles Reveal New LP Details

Chicago-based trio Russian Circles have revealed the title, album cover art, the tracklist as well as the release date for their new album. It's titled 'Empros' and will be available worldwide via Sargent House on October 25th. Empros is Russian Circles' first full-length to be released worldwide exclusively via Sargent House, the band's longtime management company and record label that had previously released only the vinyl editions of its three prior albums. It will be available everywhere on vinyl, CD and Digital Download on October 25th, 2011.














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Sympathy For The Record Industry Releases Limited Edition Vinyl of The Ettes’ New Album Wicked Will After a 4-Year Retirement


Praise for The Ettes

“…equal parts bristling and sexy.” – SPIN

"Lead singer Coco channels some of the best bouffanted singers of the '60s while adding a sleek punk edge." – NPR

“…dirty garage rock with just as much howl and bite as anyone.” – TimeMagazine.com

“Bluesy vocals, swinging drums, and electric guitar topped with punk gal chants—exactly our idea of killer tunes…an impossibly cool explosion of rockabilly retro punk style, done just right…” Lucky Magazine

“…an impressively cool sounding record…” – Paste Magazine

“…it’s hard to deny the Nashville charm of The Ettes…as they drive you down a back road with their blues-tinged rock, gliding as smoothly as Southern moonlight.” – Under The Radar

“…heavy, foreboding, cinematic…Hames sings like she’s got a heart wrapped in leather and a switchblade hidden in her beehive.” – Cowbell

With their short, simple fuzz-poppy attack, the Ettes play music that sounds like garage rock with an undeniably catchy immediacy that's primal and eternal. The Ettes can't help being groovy… - LA Weekly

The legendary label Sympathy For The Record Industry has come out of a four-year retirement this week to release the limited edition collector’s vinyl of The Ettes’ brand new fourth studio album Wicked Will.

Additionally, there are three limited edition 7” singles for the album’s closing track “The Worst There Is.” Each of the three 7” features cover art of each band member, with their b-side of choice. Sassy frontwoman Coco Hames’ b-side is “Randy Scouse Git,” a Monkees cover. Poni Silver chose “Eat The Night,” the first song that The Ettes ever wrote and recorded, and Jem Cohen’s b-side is “Colours” by Donovan.

On August 2nd, the physical and digital version of Wicked Will was released to critical acclaim via Krian Music Group/Fond Object. Listen to lead single “Excuse” here. Go to www.TheEttes.com  for The Ettes’ current tour dates – catch them now in a city near you!

The beautiful and defiant new album Wicked Will reunites The Ettes with producer Liam Watson (The Kills, White Stripes), who helmed their debut Shake the Dust. The Ettes put their fuzzy bass runs, 60s girl group haze, primal drums beats and searing guitars front and center for their most varied album to date. Coco, along with Ettes co-founder Poni Silver and Jem Cohen, have created an album oozing with vulnerability and attitude – all adding to the one-and-only mystique that makes The Ettes one of today’s most exciting rock bands.

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Karmacoda Release New Album 'Eternal'

San Francisco Electronic Pop group releases their fourth studio album to critical acclaim.

San Francisco’s electronica, pop/rock hybrid band Karmacoda announces the release of their new album Eternal on Sola Musa Music. The album features 12 new songs that span the emotional range from upbeat summer sing-alongs (“If You Give it To Me – Our Summer of Love”) to powerful emotional ballads (“I Am Just Not Listening Any Longer”).

The album will also be made available as a limited edition, audiophile grade 192g, blue vinyl LP on August 9th.

MORE ON KARMACODA

As a total DIY band that self-produces all of their music, Karmacoda has created a sound where the production and recording are just as important as the writing and performing. Lead male vocalist, pianist and guitarist B. (Brett Crockett) also acts as the band’s engineer, producer, arranger and mixer. “We all have strong jazz backgrounds and the use of improvisation is key to how we write, record and perform music. In many cases all of the parts that you hear are written but performed in an improvisational manner. Then I take the best parts of those performances and create the final song,” says B. “Most people don’t think that electronically oriented bands would write, record and perform with that mindset but it’s key to our vibe.”

Eternal follows Karmacoda’s successful 2007 release Illuminate and marks the band’s seventh release. It was recorded in San Francisco at both “The Briefing Room,” the band’s large personal rehearsal space and recording studio located on Treasure Island where they recorded drums, bass, guitar and other louder parts, and at “The Amsterdam Room,” B.’s home studio where they did overdubs, tracked vocals and all mixing. In addition to B., Eric Matsuno, and Karmacoda’s lead vocalist Heather Pierce, Eternal features additional musicians including some of the West Coast’s best like Paul Johnson (guitar), Andy Korn (drums), Paul Dorr (jazz piano), Anji Bee (vocals), Beth Hirsch (vocals), Eamonn Flynn (piano), Ryan Lum (guitar), Neil Smith (guitar), Bill Schupp (drums) and Cheri Chuang (piano). The album was mastered by Andy VanDette (Metric, David Bowie) at Masterdisk in New York City.

TOUR DATES
08.26 San Francisco, CA @ Hotel Utah

**more dates TBA soon

www.karmacoda.com

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great story from the UK, a new vinyl record store!!!

New record shop is treasure trove for fans

DEREK Brown isn’t the first person to start a vinyl record shop in Swindon, but he’s the only one currently operating and he’s planning to stick around.

We live in an era when vast libraries of scratch-free, jump-free and snap-crackle-and-pop-free music can be carried in a device smaller than a packet of cigarettes – and that’s 10 cigarettes, not 20.

A run-of-the mill iPod can hold enough tracks to fill a van with CDs, a truck with vinyl singles and albums or a fleet of barges with antique 78s, and it’ll still have enough memory left over for a few dozen photos of your cat.

Read the rest at swindonadvertiser.co.uk

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Good News For Old Bands?

by Frank Serafine

Let’s go back to 1978: Black Sabbath released “Never Say Die!” in September of that year. There’s another thing that happened in the world that wasn't nearly as unconventionally cool, but that Black Sabbath might find really cool 35 years later. In the United States, a massive piece of government legislation went into effect called the Copyright Act of 1976. Before I tell you why that has any meaning at all to the godfathers of heavy metal and other bands from 1978 on, I’ll give you a rundown of what copyrights are.

Read the rest at metalunderground.com

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this from our friends at www.vinylcollective.com

Top 10 Albums – August 15, 2011

Here are the Top 10 Albums sold at Shop Radio Cast for the week of August 8 – August 15, 2011:

1. Thrice – Major/Minor
2. Transit – Listen and Forgive
3. Gregory Alan Isakov – That Sea, The Gambler LP
4. Minus The Bear – This Is What I know About Being Gigantic LP
5. Minus The Bear – Highly Refind Pirates LP
6. Yellowcard – Ocean Avenue LP
7. The Horrible Crowes – Elsie
8. Andrew Jackson Jihad – Knife Man
9. Chuck Ragan – Covering Ground LP (w/ Free Coozie & Coasters)
10. Devil Wears Prada – Plagues LP

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Vinyl records making a comeback



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and in music history for today, August 20th:

In 1920, America's first commercial radio station began operations in Detroit, Michigan. They were assigned the call letters 8MK by the United States Department of Commerce Bureau of Navigation. In 1922, the call letters were changed to WWJ and today the station's listenership ranks as one of the highest in its market.

In 1965, the Rolling Stones’ manager Andrew Loog Oldham and his partner Tony Calder launched Immediate records. Their first release was The McCoy’s “Hang On Sloopy,” and Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton and Nico (later to join Velvet Underground), all attended the launch party. The label became the home of Small Faces, Nice, Amen Corner and Chris Farlowe and a young producer - guitarist Jimmy Page.

In 1966, the Beatles, touring America for the last time, were forced to cancel and reschedule their performance in Cincinnati's open-air stadium, Crosley Field. Heavy rain (and no cover provided) made electrocution a virtual certainty if The Beatles had attempted to perform.

Also in 1966, 14,000 fans crowded into the Forest Hills Music Festival in Queens, New York to hear The Supremes, Stevie Wonder and The Temptations.

In 1967, the New York Times reported about a noise reduction system for album and tape recording developed by technicians R. and D.W. Dolby. Elektra Record's subsidiary, Checkmate Records became the first label to use the new Dolby process in its recordings.

In 1968, the director of the University of Tennessee's audio lab, Dr. David M. Lipscomb, reported that a guinea pig subjected over a three month period to 88 hours of Rock music recorded at a Knoxville disco at 120 decibels suffered acute damage to the inner ears. they should have known, guinea pigs prefer classical stuff......

In 1969, the Beatles recorded "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," which was their final studio session. how freaking sad......

Also in 1969, Frank Zappa disbanded the Mothers of Invention right after an eight-day tour in Canada. Zappa said that he was "tired of playing for people who clap for all the wrong reasons."

In 1970, Creedence Clearwater Revival's album "Cosmo's Factory" reaches #1 on the Billboard Hot 200, a position it would hold for 9 weeks.

In 1973, the Rolling Stones release "Angie", a Mick Jagger composition that is rumored to be written about David Bowie's wife, Angela Barnett.   not the biggest fan of the stones (i love their early work), but this is about as close as you can get to a classic rock song if there ever was one.....



In 1980, John Lennon begins recording his final album, 'Double Fantasy.' It would be released on November 17th by the newly-formed Geffen Records and would win the 1982 Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

In 1991, the movie 'Harley Davidson and The Marlboro Man' debuted in US theatres. The film featured a song called "The Bigger They Come," by Peter Frampton and Steve Marriott, which was their first work together since their days in Humble Pie, 20 years earlier.

In 2000, the last show was played in London's original Wembley Stadium by Bon Jovi.

In 2003, in Rhode Island, OSHA fined Derco LLC, which operated The Station club, $85,200 for one "willful" violation and six serious violations related to the February 20 fire that killed 100 and injured almost 200. Great White was fined $7,000 for failing to protect employees from fire hazards.

Also in 2003, Madame Tussauds in London opened an interactive Pop Idol display with a speaking waxwork of judge Simon Cowell. The waxwork made comments such as: “That was extraordinary. Unfortunately extraordinarily bad.” “Do you really think that you could become a Pop Idol? Well then you're deaf.” “Thank you. Goodbye and That was the worst performance I've ever seen.”

birthdays today (among others) include Ralf Hütter (Kraftwerk) (65), James Pankow (Chicago) (64), Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit) (41), and the peerless Robert Plant (63)