Discounted CD new releases Aug. 17, 2010: Brian Wilson, Esperanza Spalding,

Click the pics to order discounted CDs from Amazon:

Vintage Rita Hayworth promotional photo

Vintage Clark Gable promotional photo

New release collects George Harrison-Ravi Shankar collaborations

From the press release:

Dark Horse Records announced today the October 19th release of a limited edition deluxe box set, entitled RAVI SHANKAR GEORGE HARRISON COLLABORATIONS. The release honors the sitar master’s 90th birthday.

Collaborations is a 3 CD and 1 DVD uniquely numbered limited edition box set. All compositions were composed by Ravi Shankar and produced by George Harrison over a period of 20 years.

The DVD is a rare concert performance of the Ravi Shankar’s Music Festival From India recorded at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 1974. The albums include the acclaimed Chants Of India (1997), The Ravi Shankar Music Festival From India (studio version 1976) and Shankar Family & Friends (1974). The 56-page book includes a foreword by Philip Glass, a history of George and Ravi “in their own words” and rare photographs from both family archives.

The personal and musical friendship between Ravi Shankar and George Harrison has been known and well documented for decades now. It was a friendship that was powerful enough to make an impact on the large, musical life of the late nineteen sixties and it reverberates, as clearly, even today.
– from the Foreword by Philip Glass

In 1973 George Harrison signed Ravi Shankar to his Dark Horse Records label. The first joint recording project between George Harrison and Ravi Shankar, Shankar Family & Friends brought together renown Indian classical musicians such as Ustad Alla Rakha, Lakshmi Shankar, and Shivkumar Sharma alongside Western jazz and rock musicians including George, Ringo Starr, Tom Scott, Klaus Voormann, Jim Keltner and Billy Preston. One half of the album comprises instrumentals and songs, while the second half is a thematic ballet to a yet un-staged performance.

Ravi Shankar’s Music Festival From India (live from the Royal Albert Hall) was the first artistic event organized and sponsored by George Harrison’s Material World Charitable Foundation; bringing together a 17-piece Indian classical ensemble as well as a solo sitar performance by Ravi Shankar accompanied on tabla by Alla Rakha.

In 1997 George Harrison and Ravi Shankar again collaborated on an album. This time Ravi created music for ancient Sanskrit chants with the challenge of maintaining the authenticity of the ancient verses. Released in 1997, Chants Of India are timeless, Vedic verses chanted for the well being of man and mankind.

Collaborations, is available on Dark Horse Records and distributed worldwide by Rhino Entertainment.

Trailer for history of DC Comics documentary

New Syd Barrett compilation on the way

An Introduction to Syd Barrett collects 18 of the original Pink Floyd singer's best:

01.    Arnold Layne (2010 Digital Remaster)
02.    See Emily Play (2010 Digital Remaster)
03.    Apples And Oranges (2010 Digital Remaster)
04.    Matilda Mother (Alternative Version) (2010 Mix)
05.    Chapter 24 (2010 Digital Remaster)
06.    Bike (2010 Digital Remaster)
07.    Terrapin (2010 Digital Remaster)
08.    Love You (2010 Digital Remaster)
09.    Dark Globe (2010 Digital Remaster)
10.    Here I Go (2010 Remix)
11.    Octopus (2010 Mix)
12.    She Took A Long Cool Look (2010 Mix)
13.    If It's In You (2010 Digital Remaster)
14.    Baby Lemonade (2010 Digital Remaster)
15.    Dominoes (2010 Mix)
16.    Gigolo Aunt (2010 Digital Remaster)
17.    Effervescing Elephant (2010 Digital Remaster)
18.    Bob Dylan Blues (2010 Digital Remaster)

Paperback cover parade: The Case of the Lucky Legs

New documentary charts history of DC Comics

From the press release:

Warner Bros. Pictures presents an enthralling examination of the creative forces behind the World’s Greatest Super Heroes in Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics, an all-new documentary that takes viewers behind the scenes of the iconic company with unprecedented access to the Warner Bros. and DC Comics archives. Narrated by Ryan Reynolds, Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics will be distributed by Warner Home Video on November 9, 2010 on DVD for $24.98 (SRP). Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics will also be available On Demand and for Download.

Behind the amazing tales of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and a host of other well-known characters is the equally impressive story of the challenges, creativity and triumphs of the company that brought those characters to life. Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics is both a celebration of the best writers and artists in comics and a thoughtful exploration of 75 years of DC Comics history.

Produced by the Academy Award ® -nominated team behind Spellbound (Feature Documentary), Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics combines excerpts from comics, films and television series with the insight of some of history’s most influential comic book creators and editors, among them Neal Adams, Karen Berger, Mike Carlin, Dan DiDio, Neil Gaiman, Geoff Johns, Jim Lee, Paul Levitz, Dwayne McDuffie, Grant Morrison, Dennis O’Neil, Paul Pope, Louise Simonson, Mark Waid, Len Wein, and Marv Wolfman.

Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics is written and directed by Mac Carter. Jeffrey Blitz (Spellbound, The Office) served as executive producer. Producer is Gregory Noveck and co-producer is Ivan Cohen. Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics is produced by Sean Welch and Janet Eckholm.

"From the bans to the breakthroughs, from humble pulp beginnings to the literary rise of the graphic novel, the story of DC Comics holds a mirror to an ever-evolving enterprise and the society reflected in its comic book pages," said Diane Nelson, President, DC Entertainment. "It’s a true American story – Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics is a riveting, exciting, surprising revelation of that fascinating history and the men and women who forged it."

Good news: DC to launch new Batman Brave and the Bold kid comic

Many people, myself included, were disappointed to see DC Comics scrap its roster of for-kids superhero comics a while back, but it looks as if at least one of those titles will continue in a new form.

Details:

This November, the comic book version of the much-loved BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD cartoon series gets a new look and creative team – and series.
THE ALL-NEW BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD, with the creative team of writer Sholly Fisch and artist Rick Burchett hits the ground running, with appearances by Superman and Shazam! in the first two issues, and that’s only the beginning, as the series promises to surround the Caped Crusader with an A-list cast of co-stars and surprise guests, in the same fun, energetic vein as the hit cartoon television program “Batman: The Brave and the Bold” from Warner Bros. Animation, airing Fridays at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT on Cartoon Network.

Pulp cover parade: Amazing Stories

Johnny Carson's Tonight Show digitized

From the Los Angeles Times:

Carson Entertainment Group, which owns the archive of the late-night host's 30 years on "The Tonight Show," is set to announce Wednesday that it has digitized all 3,300 hours of existing footage from the program and created a searchable online database for producers and researchers.

The library will initially be available just for professional clip-licensing purposes, but the company also plans to release 50 full-format shows on DVD and post a rotating series of historic clips for public viewing on http://www.johnnycarson.com.

New music I like: Jim Jones Revue

Machete promo pictures

From the upcoming flick.