Showing posts with label New music releases. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New music releases. Show all posts

New Music Releases: Kacey Musgraves, Charles Lloyd, Mark Knopfler

Our picks this week. Click the links to order from Amazon.

The music on Deeper Well, the seven-time Grammy winner's fifth album, is almost chimeric. Rolling acoustic guitars, puffy clouds of strings and synth, warm bass punctuations, layered harmonies, moments of Celtic melody and plenty of room on the tracks for Musgraves' silvery vocals. 

On the bright, almost folky title track, the 30-something songstress surveys her life and priorities, recognizing what feeds her, drains her and even examines the childhood she's left behind on her way to now. 

Saturn returns, cardinals embody a dead friend, love is given and taken, streets rush by, belongings are packed and old chapters deserted, new love blooms, jade bracelets serve as talismans, deep lessons emerge, small details define everything, the woods are a refuge and New York City serves as the same gleaming beacon as Oz. 

This is a charitable recording of Mark Knopfler’s instrumental,‘Going Home (Theme From Local Hero)’, produced in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust and Teen Cancer America. The recording features the greatest and most iconic guitarists performing today, alongside an all-star band. 

Artists: Joan Armatrading, Jeff Beck, Richard Bennett, Joe Bonamassa, Joe Brown, James Burton, Jonathan Cain, Paul Carrack, Eric Clapton, Ry Cooder, Jim Cox, Steve Cropper, Danny Cummings, Duane Eddy, Sam Fender, Guy Fletcher, Peter Frampton, Audley Freed, Vince Gill, David Gilmour, Buddy Guy, Tony Iommi, John Jorgenson, Mark Knopfler, Joan Jett, Albert Lee, Greg Leisz, Hank Marvin, Brian May, Robbie McIntosh, John McLaughlin, Orianthi, Nile Rodgers, Mike Rutherford, Joe Satriani, John Sebastian, Connor Selby, Slash, Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr and Zak Starkey, Sting, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, Ian Thomas, Pete Townshend, Keith Urban, Steve Vai, Waddy Wachtel, Joe Louis Walker, Joe Walsh, Ronnie Wood, Glenn Worf and Zucchero. The cover art was created by Sir Peter Blake.

Charles Lloyd's new studio album features a newly assembled quartet of four distinctive voices with the legendary saxophonist joined by pianist Jason Moran, bassist Larry Grenadier, and drummer Brian Blade. 

Recorded around Lloyd's 85th birthday concert, The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow is a majestic body of work that presents Lloyd originals new and reimagined. The double-album finds one of the most significant musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries still at the peak of his powers.

New Music Releases: Norah Jones, Live Stones, Pete Ham Demos, 'Destination Jail'

Our picks this week. Click the links to order from Amazon.

Norah Jones - Visions
Norah Jones’ new album Visions is a vibrant and joyous 12-song set that finds Jones singing about feeling free, wanting to dance, making it right, and acceptance of what life brings. Visions is the yang to the yin that was Pick Me Up Off The Floor, Jones’ last album of new original songs which was released early in the pandemic lockdown of 2020 and foreshadowed many of the dark emotions of that period. 

Rolling Stones - Live At The Wiltern
In November 2002, the Stones arrived in Los Angeles to perform at a packed Wiltern Theatre, treating fans to a set heavy on rarities which feel right at home in such an intimate setting. While some of the hits are performed, this night at the Wiltern is for the rarely played classics, including "Stray Cat Blues," "No Expectations" and a cover of "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love," featuring a guest spot by the legendary Solomon Burke, who opened the show that night. Blu-ray/2 CD Softpak set with 12-page booklet included.

Pete Ham - Gwent Gardens
A new Pete Ham album of previously unreleased home demos. "Gwent Gardens" is being released with the support of the Pete Ham Estate and is full of the beautiful melodies and universal lyrics that Pete is well known for.

Composed on either guitar or piano/keyboards between 1966 and 1972, most of the 18 songs on this new collection have never been heard before by the public.

Ham is best known as the founding member of Badfinger, the first act signed to The Beatles' new label, Apple Records, back in 1968. Pete's classic songs include "Day After Day," "Baby Blue," "No Matter What" and the pop standard, "Without You," which was co-written by Badfinger's Tom Evans. 

Bear Family Records offers another intriguing collection of blues and rhythm & blues obscurities and classics from the '40s to the '60s about life behind bars.

It deals with the various elements of the US justice system: prison = county farm, chain gang; jail and penitentiary. 

Among the better-known highlights are Jailhouse Rock by Frankie Lymon, the heartbreaking Please Mr. Jailer by Wynona Carr, the Prisoner's Song by Fats Domino - in this case a classic from the Anglo-Celtic tradition - and the tongue-in-cheek Good Morning Judge by Wynonie Harris. 

Incarceration is a frequent theme in American roots music, especially in blues and rhythm & blues. African American life in the New World started in chains and endured slavery and segregation. 

This is a sensitive topic, and one might wonder how this compilation of African American popular music from the 40s to 60s fits into the lighter and novelty-laden 'Destination' Series. See and listen for yourself. This compilation offers various styles. It also presents multiple viewpoints - from gallows humor, the laughing-to-keep-from-crying approach, the cry for help, and the promise of redemption.

New Music Releases: The Who, Sean Ono Lennon, Glen Campbell, Yard Act, More

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The Who - "Live At Shea Stadium 1982" / The Who's 1982 tour, which was all in North America apart from two warm-up dates at the Birmingham NEC in England, was their last to feature Kenney Jones on drums and they wouldn't tour again until 1989. 

The tour promoted the recent "It's Hard" album, which had been released in June 1982, and the set list included a number of tracks from that album, some of which the band would only play live on this tour.

Liam Gallagher & John Squire / 2024 release of this collaboration between former Oasis vocalist Liam Gallagher and Stone Roses guitarist John Squire. The album was preceded by the singles "Just Another Rainbow" and "Mars to Liverpool".

Tzadik is proud to present Asterisms, a beautiful and exploratory instrumental project by Sean Ono Lennon, one of the most creative and versatile musician/composer/producer/songwriters working today. 

Sean has written countless songs, composed film scores, produced, and performed on dozens of albums—and here he steps out as the leader of an all-star band of Downtown luminaries. 

Years in the making, the music is powerful, trippy, and intensely imaginative, blending rock, electronics, jazz, and more into an exciting new musical soundscape. With driving rhythms, a stunning lyricism, and a brilliant sense of orchestration, this album is sure to surprise and delight music fans the world ’round.

 In late 1961, fifteen-year old Jimmy Webb was working as a farmhand in Oklahoma. Every day he would take his lunch to work in a paper bag and dangle a green plastic transistor radio inside the cab of his industrial-size tractor. 

One day a song came on the radio called 'Turn Around Look At Me' that blew Webb's mind. Losing concentration, Webb turned the wrong way and careered down the road, wrecking a $20,000 tractor and trashing his boss's front garden. He lost his job, but it made a great anecdote - this had been Jimmy Webb's memorable first encounter with the voice of Glen Campbell. 

The southern gothic hit trilogy of 'By The Time I Get to Phoenix' (1967), 'Wichita Lineman' (1968) and 'Galveston' (1969) wove Jimmy Webb's and Glen Campbell's careers together. It was a magical meeting of minds, with Campbell's rich expressive, melancholic voice a perfect match for Webb's widescreen lyrics and complex chord sequences. They would continue to meet up and record on-and-off over the decades. 

The results were often frankly beautiful. "I Am A Lineman For The County" pulls together every Jimmy Webb song recorded by Glen Campbell between 1967 and 1982.

At long last, a CD full of the falsetto pop king's wonderful Columbia recordings - including all the singles and 15 previously unreleased masters. 

Lou Christie's four-octave range is one of the most exciting and readily identifiable sounds of 1960s pop. Gypsy Bells uncovers a rather confusing and largely buried chunk of the Christie catalogue. His co-manager Stan Polley engineered a switch from MGM to Columbia at the peak of his fame, less than a year after 'Lightnin' Strikes' had been a US #1, and such a monster hit that it had pushed two cash-ins from Christie's previous labels into Billboard's Hot 100 in it's wake. 

No question, Lou Christie was hot at the start of 1967. It felt like Columbia couldn't really fail. They wisely kept on producer/arranger Charlie Calello - who, in 1967, was also working with the 4 Seasons, the Cyrkle and Laura Nyro - as he'd given 'Lightnin' Strikes' it's irresistible, dynamic energy. The label sat back and waited for more sparks to fly. 

The titles of Christie's Columbia singles alone spelled out a confidence in his unique vision: 'Back To The Days Of The Romans', 'Self Expression (The Kids On The Street Will Never Give In)', 'Shake Hands And Walk Away Cryin', 'Don't Stop Me (Jump Off The Edge Of Love)'. 

Commercially, though, the results of his time at Columbia would be a crushing disappointment. If either had done better, then there would have been a Lou Christie album released in late 1967. 

Focus On Nature is the new studio album from celebrated post-psyche singer songwriter Nick Saloman and his band The Bevis Frond. 

Seventy-five minutes of glorious melodies that span 60s psych, English folk, Seattle art-punks The Wipers, the buzzsaw pop of Dinosaur Jr and Hendrix-esque explorations. 

There’s always an element of playful Englishness to their music. Heavily influencing the likes of The Lemonheads, Teenage Fanclub, Elliot Smith, Pavement and Dinosaur Jr, the cult icons have produced another off-kilter mix of melodic piano-led melancholy, acoustic ruminations, scratchy garage rock with a punky edge and full-on guitar histrionics. 

Like its much-praised predecessor, ‘Little Eden’, the new record studies the world’s weariness but fills out a bigger canvas; fast food and global warming, broken hearts and long gone nights out, everyday immortality and being God’s gift all share space. 

Where's My Utopia? is the follow-up to the Leeds band's critically acclaimed debut record, The Overload. The new album is a co-production between Yard Act and Gorillaz member Remi Kabaka Jr. 

For almost 60 years Earl Young has been the heartbeat and pulsebeat of soul music in Philadelphia - the drummer on literally hundreds of sessions dating back as far as 1964, and the man who has propelled so much of the City Of Brotherly Love's hit list in that time. 

As well as being the drummer for the band that eventually became MFSB Mk. 1 and, subsequently, the Salsoul Orchestra, Earl has also led the Trammps since they came together as the Volcanoes in the mid-60s, and is still leading the group in 2023 (and playing several dozen shows a year) as their bass vocalist. 

It's fair to say that the classic 70s Sound Of Philadelphia as soul fans know it could not have existed without Earl Young behind the drum-kit on so many defining sessions. His 'four on the floor' style essentially shaped the sound of dance music as it evolved through the middle of the decade and particularly during the peak years of Disco. 

To honour his lifetime of musical achievement, Kent presents "Groove Machine - The Earl Young Drum Sessions" a representative but also all-encompassing selection of Earl's studio work as a drummer and singer from the mid-60s to the late 70s with the emphasis on the up-tempo. 

A single CD can do no more than scratch the surface of such an immense discography as Earl's, but we have tried to balance hits that essentially chose themselves with longtime fan favourites and classy obscurities that will please anyone and everyone who has ever danced to any record that Earl played on. 
Premium quality black American music from the Golden Age Of Soul, all of it driven by a true living legend and an undisputed master of his percussive craft. Whether you know these records backwards or are coming to many of them for the first time, there's so much to savour here!

Daniel Romano returns with his first new music since the release of the massive, singular, La Luna in those long ago days of autumn 2022.

Too Hot To Sleep is simultaneously a transcendent document of the spirit, and a swaggering, street level blast of power-pop and Stone’s derived rock ‘n’ roll; a surprisingly direct shout down of the corrupt politicians and techno fascists that police our bodies, pollute our world, assault our connections.

New Music Releases: John Williams, Neil Young, Classic Jazz

Our picks this week. Click the links to order items from Amazon.

The most expansive set ever dedicated to JOHN WILLIAMS, the most famous American composer in the world, a monumental new collection as part of the "Écoutez le Cinéma" series. 

The 20-CD collection presents an overview of Maestro Williams' career, spanning over six decades, from his earliest works of the 1960s to the most recent works and collaborations, including original soundtracks for STEVEN SPIELBERG (Jaws, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Schindler's List), GEORGE LUCAS (Star Wars), ALFRED HITCHCOCK, CLINT EASTWOOD, BRIAN DE PALMA, OLIVER STONE, MARK RYDELL, SYDNEY POLLACK, and RON HOWARD. 

Content CDs 1 & 2: BOSTON POPS HIGHLIGHTS Including music from: Star Wars; Superman; Close Encounters Of The Third Kind; The Mission Theme (NBC News); Jane Eyre; Liberty Fanfare; Olympic Fanfare and Theme; Home Alone CD 3: EARLY SCORES Checkmate; How To Steal A Million; Penelope; Not With My Wife, You Don't!; Fitzwilly; Heidi CD 4: MARK RYDELL Cinderella Liberty; The River CD 5: THE DISASTER MOVIE TRILOGY Earthquake; The Poseidon Adventure; The Towering Inferno CD 6: CLINT EASTWOOD + ROBERT ALTMAN The Eiger Sanction; The Long Goodbye; Images CD 7: WESTERN The Cowboys; The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing; The Missouri Breaks CD 8: JAWS I & II CD 9: STEVEN SPIELBERG: E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL + ALWAYS + HOOK CD 10: STEVEN SPIELBERG: JURASSIC PARK + MINORITY REPORT CD 11: STEVEN SPIELBERG: SCHINDLER'S LIST CD 12: STEVEN SPIELBERG: INDIANA JONES Raiders Of The Lost Ark; Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom; Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade; Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull CD 13: THE OLIVER STONE AMERICAN TRIPTYCH Born On The Fourth Of July; JFK; Nixon CD 14: RON HOWARD Far And Away CD 15: SYDNEY POLLACK + MARTIN RITT Sabrina*; Pete 'n' Tillie; Stanley & Iris *w/ Sting CD 16: JOHN BADHAM + BRIAN DE PALMA Dracula; The Fury CD 17: SINGLE FILM COLLABORATIONS Family Plot; Black Sunday; Monsignor; Sleepers; Seven Years In Tibet; Angela's Ashes CD 18: ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER & JOHN WILLIAMS: ACROSS THE STARS w/ Anne-Sophie Mutter, The Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles, John Williams CD 19: CONCERT WORKS Prelude and Fuge; Sinfonietta for Wind Ensemble; Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1; Elegy for Cello and Orchestra w/ The Los Angeles Neophonic Orchestra; Eastman Wind Ensemble; Boston Symphony Orchestra; Berliner Philharmoniker CD 20: SONGS, COVERS, & NEW READINGS w/ André Previn; Ella Fitzgerald; Count Basie; Frank Sinatra; Alan Bergman; Henry Mancini; Lou Donaldson; Luciano Pavarotti; and more.

Limited double vinyl LP pressing. Includes litho of the front cover. Dume is a 16-song album (2 LPs) by Neil Young with Crazy Horse from 1975, recorded during the Zuma recording sessions. It includes tracks and outtakes from Zuma. 

This album is included as CD #8 CD in Neil Young's Archives Volume II. This is the debut release on vinyl.
Stan Getz and Bill Evans are about as close as musicians can get in terms of artistry, musical philosophy and technique. 

These sessions, recorded in 1963 with drummer Elvin Jones and bassists Ron Carter (Side A) and Richard Davis (Side B), perfectly blend their strong individual styles and collaborative sensibilities, with both artists at the peak of their creative powers. 

Verve Acoustic Sounds Series features transfers from analog tapes and remastered on 180g vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging.

Saxophonist Art Pepper was considered one of the best altos of his time, just behind Charlie Parker. 

This 1960 recording, whose album's title presages the addiction that would soon offline the self-taught musician's career, features compositions written by fellow saxophonists (including Ornette Coleman's "Tears Inside" and Buddy Collette's "A Bit of Basie"). 

Finding Pepper at his finest, most limber form, his own composition "Las Cuevas de Mario" is a particular standout in 5/4 time and would pop up on his set lists in subsequent years. 

This new edition is released as part of the Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds series on 180-gram vinyl pressed at QRP with (AAA) lacquers cut from the original tapes by Bernie Grundman and is presented in a Stoughton Printing tip-on jacket.

This 1960 album's inventive Richard Weiss arrangements combine with Carter's uniquely masterful - and modern - vocals for fresh takes on standards. Highlights include a lively run through "What A Little Moonlight Can Do", inspired scatting on "On The Alamo" and a beautifully tender take on "There's No You". The Verve By Request Series features 180-gram vinyl, pressed at Third Man in Detroit.

New Music Releases: Davy Jones, Garage Rock, Prog '74, Blue Note Jazz, More

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75 track clamshell box concentrating on the Power Pop boom of 1978-82. Features hits by The Jam, Boomtown Rats, Elvis Costello, Buzzcocks, The Undertones and Squeeze. Also includes other name acts including the Rich Kids, Eddie & The Hot Rods, The Vapors, The Motors and Stiff Little Fingers. Collectors will delight in many of the obscurities that are appearing here on CD for the first time - from artists including Tonight, The Deaf Aids, The Covers, Filmstars, Zoot Alors and The Kraze. With a 36-page booklet containing notes on each track with relevant sleeve illustrations.

A lavish reissue of Davy Jones' self-titled album remastered with 6 bonus tracks. The CD version comes with a big 36 page colour booklet, extensive liner notes from Monkees historian Mark Kleiner and rare and previously unseen pictures. 

This reissue gives fans the opportunity to reassess an album that was unfairly neglected by record buyers at the time of it's initial release in the fall of 1971. 

Prior to entering the studio with producer Jackie Mills, Jones had recorded a batch of more somber and adult contemporary-sounding demos than the eventual Bell recordings of big band sunshine pop. While the latter played quite squarely into Jones' established image; the former suggested another path that may (or may not) have launched Jones into a more fecund musical and commercial direction. Who can say? 

At the end of the day, we have these recordings and their manifold (and for too long overlooked) pleasures to enjoy, a worthy entry in the broad category of early seventies sunshine pop and in the specific canon of Davy Jones and Monkees-related recordings. Here is primetime Davy Jones, singing like an angel, and pointing to a love that leads to joy for all mankind.

Two months after recording what would become his hit record The Sidewinder, trumpeter Lee Morgan returned to Van Gelder Studio in February 1964 to create his masterful album Search for the New Land. 

For the session, Morgan assembled a sextet consisting of several young stars of the Blue Note roster including Herbie Hancock on piano, Grant Green on guitar, and Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, along with the dynamic rhythm team of bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Billy Higgins. 

The album opens with the expansive 16-minute title track, a musical odyssey that alternates a shimmering rubato theme with a loping exploration by each soloist. Four more indelible Morgan originals follow including jaunty numbers such as "The Joker" and "Morgan the Pirate," as well as the plaintive ballad "Melancholee."

Tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson capped off his run of five sublime 1960s Blue Note leader dates with his 1966 classic Mode for Joe, an album bursting with vigor and vitality that found Henderson expanding his palette with a septet of colorful figures including Lee Morgan on trumpet, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Bobby Hutcherson on vibraphone, Cedar Walton on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Joe Chambers on drums. 

The band delivers six powerful performances, playing with white-hot intensity on Henderson's originals "A Shade of Jade," Caribbean Fire Dance," and "Granted," as well as Morgan's swinger "Free Wheelin'." But it's the remarkable title track by Walton that emerges as the standout of the set, a modal masterpiece where the leader summons one of his most transcendent and visceral solo statements.

Originally released in 1962, jazz multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef's album, Eastern Sounds, fuses hard bop with middle eastern music as he is joined by Barry Harris on piano alongside Ernie Farrow (double bass/rabaab) and Lex Humphries (drums). Original Jazz Classics Series is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI with all-analog mastering from the original tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and presented in a tip-on jacket.

The latest instalment of Grapefruit's popular year-by-year overview of the British rock/pop scenes of the 70s. Featuring big hits, intriguing misses and key album tracks from 1974 as well as a clutch of alternative versions and unissued-at-the-time gems. 

Although 1974 was dominated by the country's crippling economic woes, the British rock and pop scene continued to flourish. The more creative element of the glam rock spectrum inspired a host of new bands, with Cockney Rebel, Be-Bop Deluxe and Sparks coming through to establish themselves alongside genre heavyweights Roxy Music, T. Rex and Slade. 

London's pub rock circuit saw stalwarts Brinsley Schwarz joined by early Ian Dury outfit Kilburn & The High Roads, Ace (who scored a hit single with the timeless 'How Long') and Dr. Feelgood, whose aggressive attitude and slashing, guitar-based brand of tough R&B influenced a whole new generation of musicians. 

Ace and fellow classic one-hit wonders Brian Protheroe and Splinter took their place in the singles chart alongside Rod Stewart, Status Quo and Bryan Ferry, while there were inexplicable misses for Ronnie Lane and former Bowie sideman Mick Ronson. 

Many rock bands eschewed the self-indulgences of early 70s prog-rock to adopt a more streamlined sound, exemplified by vital albums from Thin Lizzy, Man and The Sensational Alex Harvey Band. Established mavericks Peter Hammill and Kevin Coyne continued to attract a cult following, Lesley Duncan and Bridget St. John represented the distaff side of the singer/songwriter scene, while Richard And Linda Thompson released the classic folk-rock album 'I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight'.

New Music Releases: Paul McCartney and Wings, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Post-Punk Techno, More

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To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Band On The Run, this special 2CD edition features the original album and a second disc of previously unreleased “underdubbed” mixes of the songs. CD1 mirrors the US release which includes the song “Helen Wheels”. The set also includes a double-sided fold-out Polaroid poster taken by Linda McCartney.

Quadrophenia is the sixth studio album by The Who, released in October 1973. The band's second rock opera is often regarded by many as their best album. Delve into the intricate story of Jimmy, a mod coming to terms with life head on. 

Quadrophenia is now available on black 2-LP as a superior vinyl cut half-speed master. Engineered at Abbey Road Studios by Miles Showell from tapes prepared by Jon Astley and packaged in original sleeve with obi stripe and certificate of authenticity.

The Who By Numbers is their seventh studio album produced by Glynn Johns and released in October 1975. 

A powerhouse record the album reached Top 10 on both side of the Atlantic. It contains the standout tracks "Slip Kid," "Substitute" and "Squeeze Box." 

The Who By Numbers is now available on black LP as a superior vinyl half cut master. Engineered at Abbey Road Studios by Miles Showell from tapes prepared by Jon Astley and packaged in original sleeve with obi stripe and certificate of authenticity. 

A comprehensive, chronological overview of The Rolling Stones’ early career as pop chart hitmakers. The Rolling Stones Singles 1966-1971 contains 18 vinyl 7” 45 RPM singles and EPs in original picture sleeves, a 32-page book with liner notes by Stones authority Nigel Williamson, plus a set of 5 photo cards and a color poster, all housed in a hard-shell box. Limited Edition.

Jon Savage serves us up another of his spectacular insights into popular culture, this time for the years 1983 to 1985. 

Born out of the ashes of post-punk, there were plenty of experimental singles during the early part of this period: Siouxsie's 'Swimming Horses', Shriekback's 'Lined Up', Soft Cell's 'Heat', Echo & The Bunnymen's 'Gods Will Be Gods', and the Smiths' 'Girl Afraid' - a perfect kitchen sink scenario. 

Pete Shelley and Scritti Politti went the electronic route to great effect, while the Special AKA delivered the perfect riposte to 'Hard Times' and having fun on the dole with the under-appreciated 'Bright Lights'. 

But by the end of 1984, the true action throughout this period was to be found in electronic, black American and club music: whether the metal beat of Section 25's 'Looking From A Hilltop', Trans-X's daffy hi-NRG Eurobelter 'Living On Video', Shalamar's pure electro 'Disappearing Act', or the new music coming out of Sugarhill and Tommy Boy - Grandmaster Flash, Double Dee and Steinski, and the sampled Malcolm X. 

By the turn of the 80s, the impact of David Bowie's ground-breaking Berlin recordings - the synths, the alienation, the drily futuristic production - was being felt on music across Europe. 

What's more, the records being made were reflecting back and influencing Bowie's own work - 1979's "Lodger" and 1980's "Scary Monsters" owed a debt to strands of German kosmische (Holger Czukay), new electronica (Patrick Cowley, Harald Grosskopf), and the latest works from old friends and rivals like Robert Fripp, Peter Gabriel and Scott Walker, all of whom had been re-energised by the fizz of 1977. 

Compiled by Saint Etienne's Bob Stanley and the BFI's Jason Wood, "Fantastic Voyage" is the companion album to their hugely successful "Café Exil" collection, which imagined the soundtrack to David Bowie and Iggy Pop's trans-European train journeys in the mid-to-late seventies. 

"Fantastic Voyage" is what happened next. Bowie's influences and Bowie's own influence were rebounding off each other as the 70s ended and the 80s began, notably in the emergent synthpop and new romantic scenes as well as through the music of enigmatic acts like the Associates and post-punk pioneers such as Cabaret Voltaire. 

Like "Low" and "Heroes", some of the tracks on "Fantastic Voyage" are spiked with tension (Grauzone's 'Eisbär') while some share those albums' sense of travel (Simple Minds' 'Theme for Great Cities', Ryuichi Sakamoto's 'Riot in Lagos') and others find common ground with "Lodger's" dark, subtle humour (Thomas Leer's 'Tight as a Drum', Fripp's 'Exposure'). 

This is the thrilling, adventurous sound of European music before the watershed moment when Bowie would abandon art-pop for America and the emerging world of MTV with "Let's Dance" in 1983. "Fantastic Voyage" soundtracks the few brief years when the echo chamber of Bowie, his inspirations, and his followers created an exciting, borderless music that was ready to challenge Anglo American influences.

Miami-born trumpeter Blue Mitchell had a soulful, swinging style that was equally at home in jazz, R&B, and funk settings. Mitchell was a sideman on Blue Note sessions led by Lou Donaldson, Jimmy Smith, Jackie McLean and appeared on numerous classics as a member of the Horace Silver Quintet before he began recording his own Blue Note leader albums.

For his 1965 date, Down With It!, the trumpeter reconvened the same dynamic quintet that had recorded his label debut The Thing To Do the year before, including his Silver bandmates Junior Cook on tenor saxophone and Gene Taylor on bass along with a 24-year-old Chick Corea on piano and 22-year-old Al Foster on drums. 

The band comes flying out of the gate on the boogaloo grooved opener "Hi-Heel Sneakers" with other highlights of the set including the high-spirited "March On Selma" and the gorgeous ballad "Alone, Alone, Alone."

New Music Releases: The Smile, Ty Segall, Philip Glass, More

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The Smile’s new album was recorded between Oxford and Abbey Road Studios, and is produced and mixed Sam Petts-Davies. It features string arrangements by the London Contemporary Orchestra. 

A collection of Glass performing some of his most enduring and beloved piano works. 

Recorded during the outset of the pandemic, the storied musician dedicated his new found time to revisiting some of his older piano music, occasionally reacquainting himself with these old friends, playing them for an audience of one in his home studio in New York.

Soulville is quintessential Ben Webster: intimate, tender, endlessly expressive. 

Webster was internationally recognized as one of jazz's elder statesman when he recorded this album in 1957, but the youthful fire that had marked his playing with the Duke Ellington Orchestra two decades earlier was undiminished. 

Soulville is easily the best of his albums for Verve, with Webster's breathy tones given a fitting accompaniment by Oscar Peterson and his group, then including bassist Ray Brown, guitarist Herb Ellis, and understated drummer Stan Levy. 

Leading this stellar combo through a program consisting mostly of vintage pop tunes, the great tenor saxophonist is at his peak. Versions of "Lover Come Back To Me" and "Makin' Whoopee" sound excellent, but bluesy originals such as "Last Date" and the title track are truly outstanding. 

A quality set from start to finish. Seeking to offer definitive audiophile grade versions of some of the most historic and best jazz records ever recorded, Verve Label Group and Universal Music Enterprises' audiophile Acoustic Sounds vinyl reissue series utilizes the skills of top mastering engineers and the unsurpassed production craft of Quality Record Pressings.

A 15-song cycle that takes a journey to the center of the self. Ty’s been on this kind of trip before, so he’s souped up a vehicle that’s all his own – a sophisticated machine – to take us there this time. 

The conception of Three Bells arcs, rainbow-like, into a land nearly beyond songs – but inside of them, Ty relentlessly pushes the walls further and further in his writing and playing to cast light into the most opaque depths.

New Music Releases: Rolling Stones, Sleater-Kinney, American Garage Punk, More

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This special 2 CD set of Hackney Diamonds includes Live at Racket NYC, featuring 7 tracks the band performed at the intimate launch event in New York City on October 19, 2023, with debut live performances of “Angry,” “Bite My Head Off,” “Whole Wide World,” and “Sweet Sounds of Heaven,” with Lady Gaga. The 24-page booklet includes photos from the performance by Kevin Mazur.

Sleater-Kinney returns with one of the finest, most delicately layered records in the band's 30-year career.

This is raw, exciting music with tons of attitude - fuzz guitars, swirling organs, wailing harmonicas, thumping drums and tough vocals are plentiful. 

In the mid 1960s, teenage rock 'n' roll groups proliferated throughout the USA, often inspired by 'British Invasion' bands such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Yardbirds as well as US styles including surf, blues and folk rock. 

Most towns and cities had local scenes revolving around dance parties, clubs and 'battle of the bands' contests and many of the bands here were regional royalty but never broke nationally. 

Key bands featured include The Seeds, The Sonics, The Standells, The Shadows Of Knight, The Thirteenth Floor Elevators, Love, The Electric Prunes, Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, We The People and ? & The Mysterians. 

There are national US Billboard Hot 100 hits from Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs - 'Wooly Bully' (#2), The Strangeloves - 'I Want Candy' (#11), The Castaways - 'Liar, Liar' (#12), The Beau Brummels - 'Just A Little' (#15), The McCoys - 'Fever' (#7), The Bobby Fuller Four - 'I Fought The Law' (#9), Paul Revere & The Raiders - 'Just Like Me' (#11), The Barbarians - 'Are You A Boy Or Are You A Girl' (#55), Love - 'My Little Red Book' (#54), The Knickerbockers - 'One Track Mind' (#46) and The Seeds - 'Pushin' Too Hard' (#36) presented here in a longer unedited version. Rarities from The Blue Beats, The Dirty Wurds, The Apparitions, The Bedlam Four and The Jackals are released here on CD for the first time.

A cornucopia of club-friendly mod R&B/soul, era-defining pop hits and cult TV/film themes as England swung like a pendulum do. 

In April 1966, American magazine Time ran a front-page feature, captioned "You Can Walk Across It On The Grass", that proclaimed London to be the most swinging city in the world and leader of contemporary pop culture. 

The concept of Swinging London - a zeitgeist-capturing collision of the most daring fashions, the coolest actors/models, the grooviest pop music - had already been fermenting for a year or two, but Time's feature propelled it from well-kept local secret to internationally-acknowledged phenomenon. 

Over four hours and three CDs, 'You Can Walk Across It On The Grass: The Boutique Sounds of Swinging London' documents a scene that, 60 years later, still grips the public's imagination. From the notorious Profumo affair that brought down the Government and ended the age of deference to Bobby Moore accepting a still-gleaming Jules Rimet Trophy from Queen Elizabeth in the high summer of 1966.

'You Can Walk Across It On The Grass' celebrates a period in which Carnaby Street and the King's Road seemed to be the centre of the universe. Era-defining hit singles from The Kinks, The Who, Small Faces, Manfred Mann and The Troggs are joined by solo performers (Tom Jones, Dusty Springfield etc) and a plethora of groups that played their brand of R&B/soul/jazz at such clubs as The Flamingo, The Cromwellian, The Scotch of St. James and, of course, The Marquee. 

In addition to various young mods-about-town (The Action, The Creation, David Bowie), we feature cheeky, kinky singles from such names as Avengers pair Honor Blackman and Patrick Macnee, Twiggy and Mandy Rice-Davies, and a clutch of instrumentals that were hits in their own right ('I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman') or gained popularity as TV/radio themes (The Avengers, Man In A Suitcase). With a 48-page booklet that features some fabulous Swinging London images, 'You Can Walk Across It On The Grass' is a nostalgia-inducing time capsule of the original Cool Brittania era. Climb aboard for the ride but, in the words of Dave Dee and his pals, "Hold tight!"

The incomparable trumpeter Clifford Brown recorded two leader sessions for Blue Note in 1953 (a co-led quintet date with Lou Donaldson and his own sextet date) that were compiled on the Memorial Album shortly after his tragic death in 1956. Brownie's star burns bright from the blistering "Cherokee" to the stunning ballad "Easy Living." Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180gram vinyl.

The amazing bebop piano genius Bud Powell made his most enduring recordings as a leader for Blue Note. Powell's 1949 and 1951 sessions were compiled in 1955 on The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 1. Featuring the pianist with the likes of Sonny Rollins, Fats Navarro, Roy Haynes and Max Roach on bebop classics including "Un Poco Loco" and "Bouncing with Bud." Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl.

Coming Up: 'I See You Live On Love Street – Music From Laurel Canyon 1967-1975' 3-CD Box Set


Out March 22 from Cherry Red Records.

Details:

By the end of the 60s, the international music world’s nexus had shifted from such previous hotspots as Liverpool, London and San Francisco to Laurel Canyon, a rural oasis in the midst of the bustle of Los Angeles.

Just minutes from Hollywood, the Sunset Strip and the LA record companies/studios, Laurel Canyon became home to a folk, country, rock and pop hybrid that encompassed everyone from early players The Byrds and Buffalo Springfield to The Doors, Frank Zappa, Glen Campbell and manufactured pop kingpins The Monkees.

The canyon’s rustic charms and the proximity of leading folk den The Troubadour attracted a phalanx of singer/songwriters while also giving birth to the country-rock movement, kickstarted by various Byrds/Springfield spin-offs (Dillard & Clark, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Poco) and former teen idol Ricky Nelson.

Highly incestuous, the Laurel Canyon family featured some unlikely bedfellows: The Monkees worked with Frank Zappa, The Turtles sponsored Judee Sill and hung out with The Doors, Kim Fowley collaborated with both Steppenwolf and Warren Zevon, and the individual members of CSNY appeared on each other’s solo records as well as everyone else’s.

A follow-up to Grapefruit’s acclaimed 2022 compilation ‘Heroes & Villains: The Sound of Los Angeles 1965-1968’, the painstakingly-assembled ‘I See You Live On Love Street: Music From Laurel Canyon 1967-1975’ charts the scene’s birth and gradual development until a revitalised, relocated Fleetwood Mac spearheaded a new, sleeker Laurel Canyon sound to go stratospheric in the mid-70s.

Housed in a clamshell box that includes a heavily annotated and illustrated 48-page booklet, ‘I See You Live On Love Street’ features many of the biggest names in the canyon community alongside acts who failed to find success at the time but went on to achieve cult status.

TRACK LISTING

DISC ONE

Young Girls Are Coming To The Canyon (1967-1968)

1 COME ON IN – The Association

2 TIGHTER – Paul Revere & The Raiders

3 THE GOOD HUMOR MAN, HE SEES EVERYTHING LIKE THIS – Love

4 AS WE GO ALONG – The Monkees

5 HOLDING – The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

6 SMILE, LET YOUR LIFE BEGIN – The Factory

7 OUR NATIONAL ANTHEM – The Gentle Soul

8 I’VE GOT TO KNOW -The Stone Poneys

9 LOVE STREET – The Doors

10 HOW MANY NIGHTS HAVE PASSED – Clear Light

11 FLOATING DREAM – The Peanut Butter Conspiracy

12 MONTAGE MIRROR – Smokey Roberds with Roger Nichols Trio

13 HALFWAY THERE – Ruthann Friedman

14 WILDFLOWERS – The Holy Mackerel

15 SECRET SAUCER MAN – Barry McGuire

16 MANSIONS – The Mamas & The Papas

17 I NEED YOU – The Sunshine Company

18 THELVE THIRTY – Scott McKenzie

19 A CHILD’S CLAIM TO FAME – Buffalo Springfield

20 TRAIN LEAVES HERE THIS MORNIN’ – Dillard & Clark

21 BLIGHT – The Millennium

22 CALL ON ME – Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band

23 TWILIGHT SANCTUARY – The Leaves

24 YOU DON’T MISS YOUR WATER – The Byrds

25 I HAD A DREAM LAST NIGHT – The M.F.Q. (Modern Folk Quartet)

26 SHADOW DREAM SONG – Steve Noonan

27 HELLO, HOORAY – Judy Collins


DISC TWO

Going Home To California (1969-1971)

1 LOVE THE ONE YOU’RE WITH – Stephen Stills

2 PICKIN’ UP THE PIECES – Poco

3 BUZZIN’ FLY – Tim Buckley

4 KINGSWOOD HILLS – Hoyt Axton

5 CHRISTINE’S TUNE – The Flying Burrito Brothers

6 MAMA TOLD ME (NOT TO COME) – Three Dog Night

7 LADY-O – The Turtles

8 CALIFORNIA – Rick Nelson & The Stone Canyon Band

9 P. F. SLOAN – Jimmy Webb

10 WHERE’S THE PLAYGROUND SUSIE – Glen Campbell

11 BLUEBIRD – Susan Carter

12 I STILL WONDER – Love

13 LET’S WORK TOGETHER – Canned Heat

14 IT’S NEVER TOO LATE – Steppenwolf

15 PEACHES EN REGALIA – Frank Zappa

16 WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE – Warren Zevon

17 BORN TO MAKE YOU CRY – Kim Fowley

18 I AM THE BREEZE – Essra Mohawk

19 WHITE LIGHT – Gene Clark

20 TRACTION IN THE RAIN – David Crosby

21 BROTHER SPEED – Russ Giguere

22 OUTLAW – Grin

23 TOO MUCH TRUTH, TOO MUCH LOVE – Dave Mason & Cass Elliot


DISC THREE

Postcards From Hollywood (1971-1975)

1 SOME PEOPLE CALL IT MUSIC – J. D. Souther

2 EASY TO SLIP – Little Feat

3 BIRDS – Linda Ronstadt

4 CRAYON ANGELS – Judee Sill

5 DRIVING ALONG – Nilsson

6 WE HAVE NO SECRET – Carly Simon

7 I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT – Crazy Horse

8 BACK ON THE STREET AGAIN – Jo Mama

9 DANNY’S SONG – Kenny Loggins with Jim Messina

10 HOW MUCH I’VE LIED – Gram Parsons

11 FLYING TO MORNING – Rosebud

12 JOURNEY THRU THE PAST – Rita Coolidge

13 I THINK HE’S HIDING – Cyrus Faryar

14 PAPER TO WRITE ON – Crabby Appleton

15 TIGHT ROPE – Leon Russell

16 ANYWAY I LOVE YOU – Dan Fogelberg

17 POSTCARDS FROM HOLLYWOOD – Ned Doheny

18 OUTLAW MAN – David Blue

19 FOR FREE – Morning

20 FALLIN’ IN LOVE – Souther Hillman Furay Band

21 COOK WITH HONEY – Howdy Moon

22 SAY YOU LOVE ME – Fleetwood Mac