Vinyl Record Sales Up in 2011
Album sales in the United States rose in 2011 for the first time since 2004, partly reflecting cheaper album prices and special offers as well as a booming vinyl market, music industry analysts said Wednesday. For the first time since 2004, overall music sales are up. Album sales grew by 1.4 per cent, to 330.6 million units, in 2011, according to figures published in Billboard magazine, up from 326.2 million units in 2010.“Now that the final numbers are in, it’s official that the music industry has a significantly positive year in the record books for the first time in seven years,” said Jim Donio, president of music business association NARM, in an email. “This year’s results can be attributed to a variety of influences, including more aggressive marketing efforts and offers, availability and consumer adoption of legitimate digital commerce models, the power of social media, etc.”
The small increase in the world's biggest music market will be welcome news to the industry after years of declining revenues.
"This can partially be due to aggressive pricing of albums in the marketplace, which are being priced a lot more economical for consumers, addressing their concerns that $10 for an album may be too expensive," Keith Caulfield, associate director of charts at Billboard.com told Reuters.
Vinyl album sales soared to 3.9 million copies, vs. 2.8 million in 2010. Caulfield called the growth in vinyl albums "crazy," attributing it to an "untapped market."
"It's reaching two kinds of consumers – the older consumers who remember vinyls fondly and may even have turntables, and the younger consumers who can have a physical copy in hand and have that artwork to look at," he said.
2011 Top 10 Selling Vinyl Records:
1. Abbey Road - The Beatles
2. Helplessness Blues - Fleet Foxes
3. Bon Iver - Bon Iver
4. Sigh No More - Mumford & Sons
5. King of Limbs - Radiohead
6. 21 - Adele
7. For Emma Forever Ago - Bon Iver
8. Whole Love - Wilco
9. Brothers - Black Keys
10. El Camino - Black Keys
Amazing that the Beatles are still relevant in this day and age, a true testament to their legacy in music history.
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Pink Floyd 'Immersion' and 'Experience' Editions of 'The Wall' Including Original Demos and Work-in-Progress Versions
Release Date: February 28, 2012
LONDON, Jan. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- On February 28, EMI will release 'Immersion' and 'Experience' editions of Roger Waters' opus, Pink Floyd 'The Wall,' as the final installment of the recent 'Why Pink Floyd?' reissues and extended releases. 'The Wall' remains Pink Floyd's biggest-selling release after 1973's legendary 'The Dark Side Of The Moon.' Released in November 1979, 'The Wall' topped the album charts in the US, France, Germany, Sweden and Australia. "Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2" – Pink Floyd's first UK single since 1968 – became a Number 1 hit, selling more than one million copies within weeks of its release.
Between 1980 and 1981, Pink Floyd staged 31 performances of The Wall in the US, UK and Germany. It was a spectacular show that included a 40-foot wall, constructed, brick by brick, across the front of the stage during the performance. In 2010 and 2011 Roger Waters toured a new production of The Wall to huge international acclaim. He was joined onstage in May 2011 at London's 02 Arena by guitarist, David Gilmour and drummer, Nick Mason. He continues to tour in the Southern Hemisphere and North America in 2012.
'The Wall' 'Immersion' 7-disc edition includes a DVD featuring a film clip from the 1980 tour and a 'Behind The Wall' documentary, plus, for the first time, CDs of excerpts from Roger Waters' original demos and work-in-progress versions of songs on the final album. Additionally, among these previously unheard versions are David Gilmour's original demos of "Comfortably Numb" and "Run Like Hell." The Immersion set also includes The Wall Live, compiled from the 1980-1981 original tour.
Both 'The Wall' Immersion box set and Experience edition include a rare recording of "Another Brick In The Wall Part 1." A highlight for fans, this demo showcases the evolution of the final track. Additionally, "The Doctor" explores the origins of the landmark track "Comfortably Numb," giving further insight into Pink Floyd's early demo recordings.
Following on from the 'Immersion' and 'Experience' editions of 'The Dark Side Of The Moon' and 'Wish You Were Here,' these new versions of 'The Wall' offer listeners a unique insight into another hugely successful chapter in the Pink Floyd story.
In 1978, after finishing Pink Floyd's Animals stadium tour, Roger Waters devised the concept for the album 'The Wall.' The album is a partly autobiographical story about a fictional rock star named Pink looking back at his early life and reflecting on the nature of fame and success.
Waters presented his band mates David Gilmour, Richard Wright and Nick Mason with an extensive demo of songs. Pink Floyd recorded their eleventh album 'The Wall' throughout 1979 in France, New York and Los Angeles, assisted by co-producer, Bob Ezrin and engineer, James Guthrie.
An adjunct to the sessions was the famous addition of a group of pupils from London's Islington Green School, who recorded their backing vocals ("We don't need no education…") on "Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2" at Pink Floyd's own Britannia Row Studios in London. This became the world's introduction to the album with the release of its first single, an instant success, accompanied by a promotional film which included several of the groundbreaking images from the story, including Gerald Scarfe's brilliantly realized marching hammers.
Pink Floyd: 'The Wall' Immersion box set, Experience edition and Collectors 180g 2LP Vinyl edition will be released February 28, 2012 through EMI. The 2CD remastered Discovery edition is out now.
pinkfloyd.com / facebook.com/pinkfloyd
Pink Floyd ‘The Wall’ Immersion Edition Tracklist:
DISCS 1 & 2 (CDs )
The Wall digitally remastered by James Guthrie, 2011
DISCS 3 & 4 (CDs)
Is There Anybody Out There: The Wall Live 1980-81 – digitally remastered in 2011 by James Guthrie
DISC 5 (CD)
The Wall Work In Progress Part 1, 1979
- Programme 1, Excerpts from Roger Waters Original Demo
Prelude (Vera Lynn)
Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2
Mother
Young Lust
Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2
Empty Spaces
Mother
Backs To The Wall
Don’t Leave Me Now
Goodbye Blue Sky
Don’t Leave Me Now
Another Brick In The Wall, Part 3
Goodbye Cruel World
Hey You
Is There Anybody Out There?
Vera
Bring The Boys Back Home
The Show Must Go On
Waiting For The Worms
Run Like Hell
The Trial
Outside The Wall
- Programme 2, Roger Waters Original Demo And Band Demos
Prelude (Vera Lynn) – Roger Waters Original Demo
Another Brick In The Wall, Part 1 – Band Demo
The Thin Ice – Band Demo
Goodbye Blue Sky – Band Demo
Teacher, Teacher – Band Demo
Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2 – Band Demo
Empty Spaces – Band Demo
Young Lust – Band Demo
Mother – Band Demo
Don’t Leave Me Now – Band Demo
Sexual Revolution – Band Demo
Another Brick In The Wall, Part 3 – Band Demo
Goodbye Cruel World – Band Demo
- Programme 3, Band Demos
In The Flesh? – Band Demo
The Thin Ice – Band Demo
Another Brick In The Wall, Part 1 – Band Demo
The Happiest Days Of Our Lives – Band Demo
Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2 – Band Demo
Mother – Band Demo
DISC 6 (CD)
The Wall Work In Progress Part 2, 1979
- Programme 1, Roger Waters Original Demos And Band Demos
Is There Anybody Out There? – Roger Waters Original Demo
Vera – Roger Waters Original Demo
Bring The Boys Back Home – Roger Waters Original Demo
Hey You – Band Demo
The Doctor (Comfortably Numb) – Band Demo
In The Flesh – Band Demo
Run Like Hell – Band Demo
Waiting For The Worms – Band Demo
The Trial – Band Demo
The Show Must Go On – Band Demo
Outside The Wall – Band Demo
The Thin Ice Reprise – Band Demo
- Programme 2, Band Demos
Outside The Wall – Band Demo
It’s Never Too Late – Band Demo
The Doctor (Comfortably Numb) – Band Demo
- Programme 3, Band Demos
One Of My Turns – Band Demo
Don’t Leave Me Now – Band Demo
Empty Spaces – Band Demo
Backs To The Wall – Band Demo
Another Brick In The Wall, Part 3 – Band Demo
Goodbye Cruel World – Band Demo
- Programme 4, David Gilmour Original Demos
Comfortably Numb – David Gilmour Original Demo
Run Like Hell – David Gilmour Original Demo
DISC 7 (DVD, AUDIO VISUAL)
The Happiest Days Of Our Lives
Pink Floyd The Wall – Earls Court, 1980
Film archive courtesy of Roger Waters
Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2 promotional video restored in 2011
Behind The Wall Documentary
Gerald Scarfe Interview
SOURCE EMI Music
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Columbia/Legacy Recordings Releasing the First of "Bear's Sonic Journals": Big Brother & the Holding Company Featuring Janis Joplin Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968, Recorded & Produced by Owsley Stanley ("Bear")
Long Awaited Release of Seminal Concert Recording from Mythic Soundman's "Sonic Journals" Available Tuesday, March 13, 2012
NEW YORK, Jan. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Columbia/Legacy Recordings is proud to announce the release of Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968, a previously unavailable live concert recording of Big Brother and the Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin, recorded June 23, 1968 by legendary soundman Owsley Stanley, a/k/a "Bear," who supervised the mastering of this release before his fatal car accident on March 12, 2011, in his adopted homeland of Australia. The release of the album marks the one-year anniversary of his passing and is dedicated to Bear."Care was taken to preserve and ensure the integrity of the music as well as to present an accurate snapshot of the masterful talent of one of the greatest singers of her generation and one of the hottest live bands in the San Francisco scene," wrote Bear's widow, Sheilah Stanley, in her dedication to Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968. "This is Bear's vision -- how he heard the band live, and how he wanted to transmit that to you... this truly is Bear's presentation of this phenomenal band and inspirational music."
Cited by San Francisco rock scribe Joel Selvin as "truly one of the fathers of today's concert sound systems," Owsley Bear Stanley "supervised the sound at the Carousel Ballroom, a former big band dance palace at the corner of Market and Van Ness in downtown San Francisco that, for a few brief, glorious months in 1968 was operated by a collective formed by the Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Big Brother and the Holding Company, a social/musical laboratory experiment akin to inmates running asylums, whose six-month run may well have corresponded with the height of the whole '60s Haight-Ashbury/San Francisco thing...."
An essential and pivotal figure in the San Francisco counter-cultural scene, from beatniks to hippies to beyond, Bear began mixing live sound with the Grateful Dead in 1966 and ran the sound system for the Carousel until Bill Graham took over and rechristened it the Fillmore West in the autumn of 1968. From his first days with the Dead, Bear would record the shows he was involved with as a way to improve his live system set-ups. Bear's "sonic journals" are generally regarded as the gold standard for live concerts from the psychedelic era.
"What is key about these moments captured by Owsley is that they're a true representation of what this mythic band really sounded like live," notes rock scribe Jaan Uhelszki in her essay on Janis and Big Brother's enduring ability to astound and surprise. "The rough magic, the explosive synergy, the dangerous frisson of boundaries being demolished between artist and audience....these 14 songs are a testament to what a force of nature Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company was during these two nights at the Carousel Ballroom. Showing them at the zenith of their considerable power, it is so fortunate that this recording was ever made -- only two months before their break up. This is one of the few living documents of that propitious and monumental pairing."
"He viewed these recordings as windows into the past," wrote Bear's son, Starfinder Stanley, in his notes for Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968. "So this is not just a live recording of Janis Joplin singing with Big Brother and the Holding Company. This is an auditory portal that...can transport you back to the short-lived but incredible world of the Carousel Ballroom in 1968."
BIG BROTHER AND THE HOLDING COMPANY FEATURING JANIS JOPLIN - LIVE AT THE CAROUSEL BALLROOM 1968
Tracklist:
1. Combination Of The Two
2. I Need A Man To Love
3. Flower In The Sun
4. Light Is Faster Than Sound
5. Summertime
6. Catch Me Daddy
7. It's A Deal
8. Call On Me
9. Jam - I'm Mad
10. Piece Of My Heart
11. Coo Coo
12. Ball & Chain
13. Down On Me
Bonus Track:
14. Call On Me (Saturday Show - June 22, 1968)
SOURCE Columbia/Legacy Recordings
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Rick Nelson and Mark Lindsay Lead Real Gone Music Reissues
Real Gone Music have announced their reissue campaign for next month will include releases from Ricky Nelson, Mark Lindsay, Sean Bonniwell, Hank Thompson, McGough & McGear (from Scaffold), funk star Eddie Hazel and Red Bird Records girl groups.
Conqueroo sent over these details: Rick Nelson's The Complete Epic Recordings and Mark Lindsay's The Complete Columbia Singles headline the February release schedule for Real Gone Music, the new indie label helmed by reissue veterans Gordon Anderson and Gabby Castellana. The February rollout will include the late Sean Bonniwell's only solo album, Close (recorded under the name T.S. Bonniwell) and Hank Thompson's classic Songs for Rounders on 160-gram vinyl, plus CDs by Eddie Hazel and McGough & McGear. Also in February is the anthology The Red Bird Girls: Very First Time in True Stereo, a collection of early '60s girl group recordings from Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's label.
Read more about the reissues at antimusic.com
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great article out of the uk:
The Week In Radio: The stylus gurus know how to spin a good yarn
Fiona Sturges
Being a radio DJ is a cinch nowadays. Where once upon a time a DJ had to haul crates of records into work, now they can simply take in their iPod, set it to shuffle and then lie down for an executive nap.At the risk of sounding like I was born before the Industrial Revolution, this would explain why music radio has lost its magic. Not only has new technology deprived us of the warm hiss of a stylus hitting vinyl, it has removed the DJ's requirement to thumb through their record collection and come up with a set list. This certainly accounts for why they're now called presenters rather than DJs, and why musical passion is often in short supply.
We needn't despair, though, as a fresh wind has been blowing across BBC 6 Music. Vinyl has crept back on the airwaves well over a decade after it was phased out, and its principal champion is the music journalist Pete Paphides, whose love of this endangered format crackles out of the radio as powerfully as his own vast record collection.
Read the rest at independent.co.uk
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Bonnie Raitt Releasing New Album
Singer Bonnie Raitt recently announced that she will be releasing her first new album in 7+ years. The album is called 'Slipstorm' and it is scheduled for release on April 10, 2012. The new album follows a 7-year break following the deaths of her parents, brother and best friend. According to the Washington Post, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer said: "I hadn't stopped in a long, long time, so I really wanted to take a beak and not concentrate on making a new record or wait I was going to do next. I waited until I was really ready to come back."
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this from our friends at soundstagedirect.com
This Week's Top 5 Best Selling Vinyl Records
1. Blue Album (Pre-Order) by WeezerAs one of the most popular groups to emerge in the post-grunge alternative rock aftermath, Weezer received equal amounts of criticism and praise for their hook-heavy guitar pop. This, the quartet's 1994 debut album, features all the foundations that have sustained the band, including catchy, bone-crunching riffs, chiming vocal harmonies, smart pop sensibilities, and an intangible charm and tounge-in-cheek approach. Classic!
Buy at SoundStageDirect
Track Listing:
1. My Name Is Jonas
2. No One Else
3. The World Has Turned And Left Me Here
4. Buddy Holly
5. Undone-The Sweater Song
6. Surf Wax America
7. Say It Ain't So
8. In The Garage
9. Holiday
10. Only In Dreams
2. Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink FloydPink Floyd's most successful and singularly defining album is here to stay. The Dark Side of the Moon has sold over 40 million copies worldwide since its release in 1973, and it shows no signs of letting up. With lush, immaculate production and sweeping instrumentals, The Dark Side of the Moon is unrivaled in sonic brilliance. The complex textures found within have captivated audiophiles for over thirty years.
With lyrics about seemingly mundane details set against dreamy, atmospheric backdrops, the songs on The Dark Side of the Moon achieve a truly emotional response. Performances are not virtuosic, but they are brilliant nonetheless and were likewise brilliantly recorded. Abbey Road Studios engineer Alan Parsons and Pink Floyd made use of some of the most advanced techniques available at the time to craft a sound that was innovative yet entirely classic, by any sense of the word. Swirling organs, mellow drums, and spacious guitars are signature sounds that have been inextricably linked with Pink Floyd's magnificent songwriting.
The Dark Side of the Moon is a peerless entry in the annals of classic rock history. No record collection should be without this multi-platinum masterpiece.
Remastered by James Guthrie, and artwork by Storm Thorgerson.
Buy at SoundStageDirect
Track Listing:
1. Speak to Me
2. Breathe in the Air
3. On the Run
4. Time
5. The Great Gig in the Sky
6. Money
7. Us and Them
8. Any Colour You Like
9. Brain Damage
10. Eclipse
3. Wish You Were Here by Pink FloydOn its release in 1975 Wish You Were here topped the album charts in both the UK and the US. Reflecting the band's thoughts of the time on the music business, and exploring themes of absence, Wish You Were Here contains the classic cut Shine On You Crazy Diamond, a tribute to founder member Syd Barrett.
Since 1967 Pink Floyd have produced one of the most outstanding and enduring catalogues in the history of recorded music. The albums have been painstakingly remastered by James Guthrie (co-producer of The Wall). Artwork designed by long-time artwork collaborator Storm Thorgerson. As a part of their "Why Pink Floyd?" campaign, EMI has chosen to release three titles on collector's vinyl LP (throughout the year 2011 and into early 2012) including The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall. Look for more details to come!
Buy at SoundStageDirect
Track Listing:
1. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Part One)
2. Welcome To The Machine
3. Have A Cigar
4. Wish You Were Here
5. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Part Two)
4. Abbey Road by The BeatlesThe Beatles - Abbey Road on a domestic pressing at a good price! George came into his own as a writer with "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something." The sessions proved to be the last for the Beatles. The cassette version of Abbey Road has "Come Together" and "Here Comes the Sun" switched on the track list, and the UK version does not list "Her Majesty" on the back cover, whereas some US copies feature one or the other, or both. Rumors circulated for some time that Paul was not wearing pants for the cover photo and they were airbrushed on, but photo outtakes from the same session have proven this false.
Abbey Road won the 1969 Grammy for Best Engineered (Non-Classical) Recording. Nominated for Album Of The Year and Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Group.
Buy at SoundStageDirect
Track Listing:
Come Together
Something
Maxwell's Silver Hammer
Oh! Darling
Octopus's Garden
I Want You (She's So Heavy)
Here Comes the Sun
Because
You Never Give Me Your Money
Sun King
Mean Mr. Mustard
Polythene Pam
She Came in Through the Bathroom Window
Golden Slumbers
Carry That Weight
End
Her Majesty
5. Live Dead by Grateful DeadNumbered Limited Edition 180g 2LP Set
Precedent-Setting 1969 Release One of the Five Best Live Albums Ever Recorded
Half-Speed Mastered from the Original Master Tapes: Invite the Dead Into Your Living Room—You Won’t Believe How Good This Pressing Sounds
Pinnacle First-Era Grateful Dead Record Captures Best of Both Worlds: Band’s Improvisational and R&B-Based Blues Sides on Display
Ranks #244 on Rolling Stone’s List of the 500 Greatest Records of All-Time
Part of Mobile Fidelity’s Amazing Grateful Dead Reissue Series: Skull and Roses, From the Mars Hotel, Wake of the Flood, and In the Dark Also Available on 180g LP
If you want to experience why on any given night the Grateful Dead was the best live band going in 1969, you need to hear Live/Dead. If you want to understand how personal chemistry, symbiotic interplay, and otherworldly energy can lead to a near-extinct onstage combination of soulfulness, surprise, and suspense, you need to hear Live/Dead. Ranked by Rolling Stone on the magazine’s list of the 500 Greatest Records of All Time. Universally acclaimed by both Deadheads and non-devotees alike. The perfect synthesis of the legendary group’s first-era vital characteristics and cosmic faculties. A gorgeously recorded sonic artifact and more, Live/Dead is outright essential.
Half-speed mastered from the original master tapes with the utmost care, and part of Mobile Fidelity’s unprecedented Grateful Dead reissue series, this numbered limited edition 180g 2LP version of Live/Dead raises the iconic album’s lofty prestige even higher. Recorded at three San Francisco concerts in early 1969 with a mobile 16-track studio, the 7-song set has always possessed excellent fidelity in large part because of a mic splitter—specially created for the project—that fed both into the PA system and record inputs, allowing the engineers to capture the shows without any loss in quality.
Seldom have venue dimensions, acoustic properties, spatial characteristics, low-frequency resonances, amplifier tonalities, soundstage balances, and vocal timbres been so faithfully reproduced—or enhanced. Mobile Fidelity’s version elevates Live/Dead into the revered pantheon of the most respected reference audiophile LPs. Close your eyes and you’re dead center, ten rows back in two of the Bay Area’s most beloved halls: Fillmore West and Avalon Ballroom. The degrees of realism are utterly staggering; no, you don’t need any, ahem, chemical assistance to facilitate the transcendent experience.
Renowned for contagious communication between its members, the Dead operates on a interstellar plane throughout Live/Dead. Witnessing the ebb-and-flow manners in which guitarist Jerry Garcia, bassist Phil Lesh, and drummer Billy Kreutzmann respond to one another’s passages and blur the lines between jazz, psychedelia, and rock disciplines. Meandering jamming this is not. Solos burn, rhythms thunder, bass lines roll, melodies twist. “Dark Star” remains the touchstone for what’s possible in epic frameworks, with notes climbing, darting, and skittering amidst a dark canvas seared with mystic vibes and punctuated with blossoming instrumentals. Along with the inseparable pairing of “St. Stephen” and “The Eleven—a sequence that highlights the raw gospel beauty of Garcia, Lesh, and Bob Weir’s harmonies as well as breathtaking tightrope segues—the explorative excursion epitomizes the Dead’s progressive inclination, cohesion, and ability.
Live/Dead isn’t all about the art of the improvisation. R&B-driven electric blues comes courtesy of organist/vocalist Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, still in excellent health, and pianist Tom Constanten, who departed the band shortly after these shows occurred. The latter’s counterpoint playing and spiritual accents shadow the shivering ballad “Death Don’t Have No Mercy” and underscore a rousing, percussive-laden marathon take of “Turn on Your Love Light.” Call-and-response segments, spontaneous exchanges, and joyous merry-making doesn’t come any better. Live/Dead is a landmark in every sense; it remains the first 16-track album released. Its impact is still felt today.
From the illustrative cover art (hint: the word “Dead” subtly spells out “Acid” on the back cover) to the gatefold graphics and the extraordinary sonics, Mobile Fidelity’s 180g 2LP edition ranks among the label’s best releases. Ever. Secure your lowest-numbered edition by ordering now!
Buy at SoundStageDirect
Track Listing:
Side 1
1. Dark Star
Side 2
1. St. Stephen
2. The Eleven
Side 3
1. Turn On Your Love Light
Side 4
1. Death Don't Have No Mercy
2. Feedback
3. And We Bid You Goodnight
remember to add the code "CVR" at check out and get 5% off your order!
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this from our friends at www.vinylcollective.com
New Victory Vinyl Represses
Victory Records have announced a few new vinyl represses. Here are the titles now available on new, limited colored pressings:
Bayside – The Walking Wounded LP
Blood For Blood – Spit My Last Breath LP
Blood for Blood – Revenge on Society LP
A Day To Remember – What Separates Me From You LP
Hatebreed – Satisfaction Is The Death Of Desire LP
Deathwish Presses Converge – Unloved and Weeded Out
Deathwish have pressed Converge’s “Unloved and Weeded Out” on a transparent red and transparent green which are available now. The album has been out of print for several years and was previously pressed by Reflection Records in Europe onlyThe previous Reflection Records version (available in Europe only) of this 12"LP has been out of print for years.
Converge are the underground's proven aggressive music pioneers. They fuse the most exciting elements of hardcore, metal, and punk rock together into ademented, non-definable hybrid. Their trademark approach is unmistakable, making them one of the most important bands active within the independent music scene today.
"Unloved and Weeded Out", is a collection of 14 rare, out of print and highly sought after early tracks from the band. All of the songs were remixed and remastered by acclaimed producer and member Kurt Ballou at Godcity Studios. Clocking in at just over 40 minutes, this rare material is essential to the ever growing Converge catalog.
Order Your Copy HERE
Tracklist:
Downpour
Flowers and Razorwire
Tremor
Home Song
For You
Jacob's Ladder
Undo
Towing Jehovah (Demo)
The High Cost Of Playing God (Demo)
When Forever Comes Crashing (Demo)
The Year Of The Swine (Demo)
Letterbomb (Demo)
Locust Reign (Live In California)
This Is Mine (Live In California)
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love this album cover art!
Suspyre Reveal Album Artwork
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album cover art of the day:
Derelict Earth's New Album Cover Art Revealed
The album artwork for French extreme prog project Derelict Earth's upcoming album 'Below The Empty Skies' has been revealed. The artwork was created by Greek artist Manthos Lappas while the textwork was done by Dominique Stainer.=============
and in music history for today, january 5th:
(a correction - yesterday i listed that ex-beatles roadie Mal Evans died on the 4th, it was today)
Sam Phillips (Sun Records) was born in 1923 (died 2003)
In 1955, Elvis Presley, backed by Scotty Moore and Bill Black, kick off a three date tour in San Angelo, Texas as a backing act for headliner Billy Walker. The trio's pay for the night was $150.
In 1958, Coral Records releases what proves to be Buddy Holly's last record before his death, "It Doesn't Matter Anymore", which was one of the few songs that Buddy recorded that he didn't write. It was penned by Paul Anka and peaked at #13 two months after Holly was killed. It featured the orchestral backing of Dick Jacobs and was also successful in the United Kingdom.
In 1960, Marty Robbins' Country-Crossover tune "El Paso" tops the Billboard Hot 100. At 4:38 long, Columbia Records had initially refused to issue the song as a single, but did include it on Robbins' "Gunfighter Ballads And Trail Songs" LP. The track proved so popular, Columbia changed its mind and the song would go on to win a Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording.
In 1961, the Beatles appeared at Litherland Town Hall, Liverpool. In the audience are two members of Rory Storm And The Hurricanes: Johnny Guitar and Ringo Starr, who have just returned from Hamburg, Germany.
In 1963, Leonard Chess, co-founder of Chess records, told Billboard magazine, "As it stands today, there's virtually no difference between rock 'n' roll, pop, and rhythm & blues. The music has completely overlapped."
In 1965, the Supremes recorded "Stop! In the Name of Love." After additional work on the track January 7, it was completed on January 11. The song was included on the Supremes' sixth album, 'More Hits by The Supremes,' and was nominated for the 1966 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Rock & Roll Group Vocal Performance, losing to "Flowers on the Wall" by the Statler Brothers. The song was also honored by inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's permanent collection of the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.The Supremes' choreography for this song, with one hand on the hip and the other outstretched in a "stop" gesture, is equally legendary. Paul Williams and Melvin Franklin of The Temptations taught the girls the routine backstage in London, before the Supremes' first televised performance of the single on the Ready Steady Go! special "The Sound of Motown," hosted by Motown enthusiast Dusty Springfield. They also performed the song on an episode of the ABC variety program Shindig! which aired on Wednesday, February 25, 1965
In 1968, "Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits" goes Gold just nine months after its release. The LP contains every Top 40 single Dylan enjoyed through 1967 and has since been certified five times Platinum. It peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 200 and went to #3 on the UK album chart.
Also in 1968, in Stockholm, Sweden, Jimi Hendrix was jailed for one day on drunk and disorderly charges after "going berserk" and destroying everything in his hotel room.
In 1973, Bruce Springsteen released his first studio album "Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ." It was recorded in a single week at lower-priced 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, New York to save as much money as possible from the advance given by Columbia Records. It sold about 25,000 copies in the first year of issue. Two tracks from the album, "Blinded By The Light" and "Spirit In The Night," were released as singles but neither made a dent in the charts.
In 1976, 40 year old Mal Evans, a former roadie and bodyguard of The Beatles, is shot to death by police at his Los Angeles apartment. His girlfriend, Fran Hughes, found him upset and despondent and when friends couldn't get Evans to release the unloaded rifle he was holding, they called police. Evans supposedly pointed the gun at police and they opened fire. The Sex Pistols' U.S. concert debut took place in 1978.
In 1978, Prince made his solo performance debut in Minneapolis, MN.
In 1979, jazz bassist/composer/bandleader Charles Mingus died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease) at the age of 56.
In 1980, the first number one song of the eighties belonged to KC and The Sunshine Band for "Please Don't Go." It was their fifth and final US chart topper.
"The Wiz" opened on Broadway in 1975. In 1984, the Police, announced a farewell concert for March 2 in Australia. The group had been together for 9 years.
In 1991, Iron Maiden topped the UK singles chart with "Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter," however, with sales of only 42,000 copies during its first week, the record became the lowest selling UK number one in over thirty years.
In 1998, Sonny Bono suffered fatal head and neck injuries while skiing at the Heavenly Ski Resort in Nevada. The 62 year old Bono was apparently skiing alone, late in the day when he crashed into a tree. After leaving show business, Sonny was elected Mayor of Palm Springs, California in 1988 and in 1994 was elected to the US congress and re-elected in 1996.
In 2004, Kinks singer Ray Davies was shot in the leg while on holiday in New Orleans. The 59-year-old singer-songwriter was shot when running after two men who stole his girlfriend’s purse at gunpoint. Davies was admitted to the Medical Center of Louisiana but his injuries were not considered serious. New Orleans police said one person had been arrested, and police were still searching for the second.
birthdays today include (among others): Chris Stein (Blondie) (62), Grant Young (Soul Asylum) (49), Kate Schellenbach (Luscious Jackson, Beastie Boys) (46), Marilyn Manson (born Brian Warner) (43) and Bryan Hitt (REO Speedwagon) (58)
