Concord Music Group's reissue campaign of the Paul McCartney catalog continues on May 28 with 19762s triple live album, Wings Over America . This will be the fifth release in this series following Band On The Run (2010), McCartney and McCartney II (both 2011), and Ram (2012). All of those have featured excellent remastering and presentation. Bonus tracks have been a little skimpy, but the focus of these reissues seems to be presenting the official recordings with the best sound quality. Wings Over America is a [...]
Brudenell Social Club in Leeds is the old function room in a workingman's club that was used previously for bingo and cabaret style acts - it still has brass fittings and seats and tables at the back on the elevated section - while the dance floor in front of the stage is all standing. It still has another room adjacent which is full of some interesting local "characters" that you would not normally find at a gig. In keeping with it being a working men's club it still has dirt cheap drink prices. It is a regular on [...]
"It's funny how, as we grow old we cling to the past as we cling to the air, and feel nostalgia for things that were maybe never there." I loved that song when I was 19. I worshiped the Smiths in high school and followed Johnny Marr's career when he split the group. Pretenders, Talking Heads, Kirsty MacColl, even Andrew Berry and Stex . If I read about a Johnny Marr project in an imported copy of NME, I bought the 123 at my local record store. But The The's [...]
Okkervil River's Will Sheff posted a fantastic essay (picked up by Gawker ) on his "very-favorite-ever cinematic document of a rock and roll band" which happens to be "a 10-dollar import DVD of Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show doing a live-for-German-TV performance sometime in 1974." It's interesting timing, because just a couple months ago GLONO co-founder Derek Phillips, who I call Phil, turned me on to the glory that is video footage of Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show from the 70s. I knew "Cover of Rolling Stone" from classic rock radio, but didn't [...]
Hurray! Billboard has published the 2012 Soundscan numbers ! I love this data and I've been collecting it for years, looking up back issues of Billboard and scouring old news reports. It's fascinating to see how the numbers evolve over time as people's music purchasing habits change. Soundscan has been counting music sales since 1991, and I'd love to be able to fill in some of the missing data, especially total album sales from 1991-1995 and vinyl sales prior to 2006. So if you can hook a brother up, let me know. I may also add in [...]
When Chrysler busted out with the 2011 Super Bowl ad with Eminem, which gave rise to the whole “Imported from Detroit” theme, a theme that was green-lighted by Olivier Francois, a Parisian-born executive of Fiat, an Italian company (that owns Chrysler), people in Detroit at large got a good feeling. Yes, the people are tough and gritty, smooth and stylish. The car in question in the spot (a Chrysler 200) isn’t exactly the a car likely to make any publication’s Ten Best List, but as it is the only car that Chrysler produced in the Detroit Metro at the time [...]
John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John - This Christmas ( Universal ) The pairing is complete nostalgia. There is no other reason that John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John are together for a Christmas album aside from the fact that they were both cast together in a small little movie musical called Grease over thirty years ago. Grease has flourished since its first run on charm alone. How else can you explain the impossible plot of an Australian immigrant-who is hot off an innocent [...]
Roxy Music - Viva! Roxy Music ( Virgin ) During my first year of high school, I befriended an upperclassman who shared my obsession with rock and roll music. The two of us were also similar in trying to expand our collective musical knowledge by exploiting every opportunity that presented itself to us so that we could explore uncharted music together. For my friend, an opportunity presented itself at his job. He “babysat” the automated music playlist at the local FM radio EZ listening station on weekends during the [...]
Roxy Music - The Complete Studio Recordings 1972 - 1982 ( Virgin ) A few years ago , I named Bryan Ferry’s Olympia release as worthy enough to receive the Roxy Music moniker. The argument went that the Roxy personnel all took part in its creation (including Brian Eno) so why not just used the brand name? I had a chance to review that brand recently, thanks to the newly issued Roxy Music box set, The Complete Studio Recordings 1972 – 1982 . And while I [...]
Cat Power - Sun ( Matador ) The story goes that when Chan Marshall set off to begin the follow up to the very hard to follow up The Greatest , she presented her progress to a friend. She could tell that the new material didn’t grab her friend in quite the manner that she hoped, and after some additional probing, the friend declared that the new songs sounded pretty much like any other Car Power song. And Chan Marshall was tired of sounding like the “old” Cat [...]
The gramophone was invented in the late 19th century. Does it seem at all odd that it is the object mounted on a pedestal for the Grammy Award? Yes, there is certainly something to be said for tradition, but arguably that would be akin to Motor Trend giving the winner of its Car of the Year Award a hand-crank trophy. The Recording Academy, which puts on the Grammy Awards, consists of musicians, songwriters, producers, engineers, recording professionals, and quite possibly historians. And the Academy is doing its damnedest to maintain [...]
We get it: You’re sick of it. You’re sick of all of the ads and the robocalls and people on Facebook telling you to vote. Yep, it’s annoying. Here’s what’s more annoying: Generations of people have fought for your right to vote. They have died for it. Their kids did not get to see them step off the plane and into welcoming arms. Their spouses did not get to finally have a morning where the doorbell ringing sent them into a panic. Their parents didn’t get to see them grow into the better versions of themselves. They died [...]
All I want for Christmas is for Rod Stewart to go away. Period. I didn’t want to have Andy Sheldon, executive vice president of Television, Live Events and Creative for HSN—that’s as in “Home Shopping Network”— describe one of my former musical favorites by saying, “Rod is the ultimate entertainer”—which is the sort of thing that might be applied to Wayne Newton—and then go on to explain, “and we congratulate him on another record-breaking debut on HSN.” Apparently, his new CD, Merry Christmas, Baby , shilled by the Mod himself on [...]
Sweet Billy Pilgrim - Crown And Treaty (EMI) Occasionally, an album arrives and upon first listen you get the sense that the music jumping out of the grooves wasn’t created in a sterile studio with too little daylight and too much attention to detail. With Sweet Billy Pilgrim's third release, Crown and Treaty , you get the sense that the recording studio is nothing more than a few rooms in a house with wires littering the floor and dirty dishes piling up in the kitchen sink. Fuck those chores, particularly if the [...]
Several years ago, while on a trip to London, a friend of mine decided that we had to go to the Hard Rock Café. While not being all that keen on it—as it was in December, pissing snow—we made our way through Green Park to the brightly lighted venue on Old Park Lane. And not surprisingly, the bar/restaurant was full of people like us, who were there because it was there, as we were. In addition to the crowds and the “Gee, isn’t that a pair of Townshend’s boots?” or whatever, I do recall the beers were pricy. But so [...]
Swans - The Seer ( Young God ) The cover art to Swans’ 12 th album-like the record itself-makes a credible argument that The Seer is probably better suited for a vinyl format. It features a painting of a dog, presumably a Yorkshire Terrier, a small breed of canine that is small in stature and originally bred to kill rats in the clothing mills of England. They bark a lot, which makes them excellent alarmist and they have a tendency to have dental problems throughout their [...]
I rarely watch live TV. Yes, I’ll turn on the news in the morning while I’m getting ready for work. But for the most part, it is watching via DVR. Which means that I can view what I want when it is convenient (generally in the evening, when, I suppose, most people watch TV) and get through it a bit more expeditiously than might otherwise be the case (yes, as in fast-forwarding through the. . . ). It has recently occurred to me that when I’m done watching the DVR and select the “View television” option on the [...]
Video: The Mountain Goats - "Cry for Judas" Looks like Merge Records gave the Mountain Goats a video budget! Peter Hughes plays the dad and he has two daughters, one with a bloody nose and one who worships Satan. His wife apparently once cheated on him in the garage with Jon Wurster, the very same garage where Hughes now helps his Satanic daughter fix her bike. Ultimately, Hughes murders John Darnielle in the very same garage. Or perhaps the [...]
Joyce Manor - Of All The Things I Will Soon Grow Tired ( Asian Man ) I guess I’m supposed to ignore the fact that Joyce Manor do little more than deliver a very competent blend of late 20 th Century punk rock and praise them for their “honesty” and “DIY ethos.” There’s a place for that, particularly when it’s been years since you’ve been away from such things, but to be completely honest, I’m having a hard time giving such a recommendation for something that I literally forgot about [...]
Glorious Noise
Lollapalooza has announced its 2013 lineup and has already sold out of three-day passes, individual day passes, and VIP passes. I've gone every year since it settled in Chicago and have consistently had a good time. Some years have been more fun than other, but there are always bands I'm excited to see and there are always a few surprises. It will be fun to see the Cure headline a big fest like this. I haven't seen them since the Curiosa Festival came to Tinley Park . I'm also super excited about seeing Father John Misty, but [...]
Boards of Canada – Reach For The Dead
Macklemore + Ryan Lewis – Can’t Hold Us (Major Lazer Remix)
L D R U – The Tropics
