New music out today: Freakbeat Nuggets; M. Ward's Billie Holiday tribute; 50th anniversary edition of Neil Young's After the Gold Rush; Sturgill Simpson's bluegrass album

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UK three CD set. Halcyon Days charts the development of mod friendly beat music across three CDs from the jazzy R&B of Chris Farlowe, Duffy Power with Graham Bond and Zoot Money that opens disc one through horn laden Brit soul from Jimmy James, Geno Washington and The Richard Kent Style, ska from Mickey Finn & The Blue Men, girl group pop from The Chantelles and fuzz drenched freakbeat from The Pretty Things and The Worrying Kynde. Producer Mike Hurst opens his archives allowing us to include freakbeat nuggets from The Australian Playboys, The Human Instinct, The Favourite Sons, Double Feature and The Oscar Bicycle plus orchestrated pop gems from the soulful Truly Smith, psychedelic The Alan Bown!, Swedish mods The Tages and dramatic singing twins Paul & Barry Ryan. First time on CD rarities include British R&B, soul and mod beat tracks from The Athenians, The Fingers, The Candy Dates, Barney J. Barnes & The Intro, Kevin 'King' Lear, Dorian Gray, Barry St. John.

2020 release. "I first heard Lady In Satin in a mega-shopping mall somewhere in San Francisco. I was about 20 years old and didn't know much about Billie's records or her life or how her voice changed over the years. Anyway, the sound was coming from the other side of the mall and I remember mistaking her voice for a beautiful perfectly distorted electric guitar - some other-world thing floating there on this strange mournful ocean of strings and I was hooked for life. Ten years later in 2006 I recorded an electric guitar instrumental version of "I'm A Fool To Want You" for my album Post-War. In 2018 I performed a concert in LA. Of all the songs from Lady In Satin as a quintet and began preparing guitar arrangements for the recordings compiled on this record - Think of Spring. The title comes from a poem written in 1924 by Jane Brown-Thompson that eventually became "I Get Along Without You Very Well" in 1938 - the first song here. The conceit of Think of Spring is to filter the songs and strings from Lady In Satin through a single acoustic guitar using various alternate tunings and a minimal amount of textures and studio manipulation. #most of the songs were recorded on an analog Tascam four track. Think of Spring is inspired by Billie Holiday, Ray Ellis, J.J. Johnson, John Fahey and Robert Johnson. Proceeds from this record will benefit Inner-City Arts & Donors Choose via PLUS1 for Black Lives Fund." - M. Ward.

Neil Young and Reprise Records are pleased to announce the 50th Anniversary Edition of Young’s classic record After the Gold Rush, which will arrive on CD on December 11. The deluxe vinyl box set will follow on March 19. Originally released September 19, 1970, After the Gold Rushis cemented in the annals of music history—the album has often been rightly recognized as one of the finest ever made. The collection combined Young’s poetic lyricism and wistful melodies, driven by both dreamy folk arrangements and ferocious rock ‘n’ roll, and in the decades since has been certified double platinum in both the U.S. and the U.K.The 50th Anniversary Edition vinyl boxset features a variant of the artwork, originally created by Neil’s long-time art directorGary Burden, made in collaboration with Grammy Award-winning artistJenice Heo. The set also includes a 7” single in a picture sleeve with two versions of album outtake “Wonderin’.” Side A, originally included inThe Archives Vol. 1: 1963-1972, was recorded in Topanga, California, in March 1970, and Side B is a previously unreleased version recorded at Sunset Sound in Hollywood in August 1969. A litho print of the album’s front cover is exclusively included in this vinyl box set. The CD format of the 50th Anniversary Edition includes the new artwork and both versions of“Wonderin’.”

20 Sturgill Simpson originals reimagined in bluegrass form.

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