Archival Posts 2003 March 09-15

March 14, 2003

Welcome to the weekend edition. We have a few items of interest for you and then we're off to the big ole weekend where we'll sit behind our PCs building a better site.

We'd like to introduce our newest member of MusicTAP, John Nelson. John specializes in classical but will participate in other genres as well. We look forward to his contributions to TAP and we hope that you'll gain insights to better power your purchase decisions. Say hi to him at johnnelson@musictap.net

The first is SACD news. I've just become aware of a few new and upcoming SACD titles from Universal. The first is Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On", a title that I will stop at nothing to acquire and which is expected to appear May 20. The second is a John Hiatt title, "Bring The Family", due on May 13. The John Hiatt SACD is a hybrid disc while the Marvin Gaye disc is not.

Let's talk about some upcoming Mountain material. On April 8, Columbia/Legacy releases the amped up (remastered) Mountain classics, "Climbing!" and "Nantucket Sleighride" while "The Best of Mountain" comes out on April 15. "Climbing!" is the album that yielded the hit, "Mississipi Queen", and is digitally remastered from the original masters. It also contains a bonus in "For Yasgur's Farm" that is a previously unreleased live take. The booklet have new musings from members of the band. "Nantucket Sleighride" is the followup to "Climbing!" and contains a live bonus cut in "Travelin' in the Dark (To E.M.P.)". "The Best of Mountain- Expanded Edition" is a remastered version that expands the set with 4 bonus tracks. Warner/Lye Records have a DVD coming on March 18 that captures Mountain on their 2002 "Sea of Fire" tour. 75 minutes of concert footage, 30 minutes of documentary, and a 5.1 Dolby track as well as a DTS option. If you like Mountain, you're going to be rocked.

A new disc was added to the Nick Drake releases. The newly scheduled title is "Way To Blue: An Introduction to Nick Drake". We'll be listening to these discs...guaranteed.

On May 6 from EMI are live sets from Molly Hatchet and Commander Cody. No words on the upcoming discs.

I've received quite a few emails concerning speculation that Led Zeppelin is coming to DVD-Audio. I have not received any words on this issue but have some feelers out. If it's so, we'll let you know. We have also heard, from fan email, the possibility of Beatles discs getting hi-res but nothing official. Again, the feelers are out. Continuing...

We've been in contact with JVC concerning their format, XRCD. The juice is that this is a superior format that does not require specialized equipment to listen to. We've asked for a Steve Miller Band. "The Joker" XRCD and will give it a listen. We'll then let you know. They do have a set of discs coming out in the very near future:

McCoy Tyner - Echoes of a Friend
Carmen McRae - As Time Goes On
Sonny Rollins - In Japan
Art Pepper - Landscape
Salena Jones - My Love
Lee Ritenour - Gentle Thoughts

We hear from the company that a possible Jennifer Warnes XRCD is in the works. We'll be informing you very shortly of what XRCD is all about. Keep watching.

On May 20, Capitol issues a Duran Duran, "Singles Box Set: 1981-85". And on June 10, EMI follows suit with a Queensryche "Box Set".

On June 24, Capitol releases a remastered Don McLean "American Pie".

On an extended calendar page turn, Capitol releases Bonnie Raitt's "Greatest Hits" and Snoop Dogg gets a DVD.

We might sneak back in here over the weekend with a bit more. We're expecting some smooth info and may want to pass it along. Otherwise, have a spectacular weekend.

March 13, 2003

We've received a few emails concerning a stickering mistake made on one of The Police SACDs, "Synchronicity". The sticker in question leads the buyer to believe that the SACD disc he/she is about to purchase is a hybrid variety. This is not the case. The entire set of Police SACDs (excepting "Every Breath You Take", which is hybrid) are SACD only. This appears to be a pretty widespread problem. We've made Universal aware of the error although I'm sure they knew it. My copy of the disc was also stickered in this way. Thanks to Chris Cerny.

John Grace has turned in a review of Mark O'Connor's hoppin' new disc, "In Full Swing", featuring Wynton Marsalis and Jane Monheit. It's so good, it'll be reviewed twice as we have the SACD review of this title in the wings.

There are a few interesting WEA tidbits that you may find interesting. The first is from Rhino, whose favourite child is...can you guess it? In case you're stumped, that's The Monkees. Ahhh yes. The new disc, "The Best of The Monkees" streets on April 29 and is stuffed with 25 songs including, and I know you've been waiting for this, a bonus karaoke disc of five of our favourite Monkees songs. The disc features the usual remastering.

There are a few 'The Essentials' series discs scheduled for April 22. The titles include:

The Essentials: Eddie Rabbitt

The Essentials: Travis Tritt

The Essentials: Gary Wright

These discs are nicely priced and can be a nice add on to your library if you're a casual fan.

The real meat from WEA is the upcoming 2CD set from Jaco Pastorius, "Punk Jazz: The Jaco Pastorius Anthology". This jazz title comes from Rhino and features a ton of great material, including three previously unreleased tracks. There are live cuts, home demo recordings, and the like including the badass "Birdland" from Weather Report's "Heavy Weather". This release is a 'must pickup' for jazz fans, Jaco fans, Weather Report fans, or fans that want a good foray into progressive jazz the like of which Jaco Pastorius was a part of. Expect this one on April 22.

Rhino continues on with their expansive look into the Chicago catalogue. This time bringing the finishing touches in their Remastered and Expanded series to "Chicago XIII", "Chicago XIV", and "Hot Streets", Rhino edges closer to completion of the Chicago sets. No info on what they're doing but as soon as we know, you'll know.

From Lava Records, The Blue Man Group does an album of rock n roll collaborations with the likes of Dave Matthews, Tracy Bonham, and others. The set, "The Complex", is an enhanced disc and features a video edit of their collaborative effort with Dave Matthews. The disc also includes a bonus hidden track, "Mandelbro7". This comes out on April 22.

Want more? How about a Flaming Lips EP? Titled "Fight Test", the set features live recordings of covers and a few new recordings. Certainly the Flaming Lips have achieved a strong level of success which make this EP a collector issue to acquire. This disc arrives on April 22.

Moving forward to April 29, Elektra releases a 2CD live set, "Plasma" by Trey Anastasio. Phish is hot right now after the end of their 2 year hiatus. This set includes 12 songs with 7 of them unreleased tunes and that make this a collectible. From Reprise and Martin L Gore (Depeche Mode), comes Martin's second covers disc, "counterfeit2". Some cool covers include David Essex's "Stardust", Eno's "By This River", Lou Reed's "Candy Says", and other, very interesting takes. On May 13, comes Third Eye Blind's "Out of the Vein". This disc comes from Elektra and is 3EB's latest, anticipated release.

On Friday night, The Ataris play on Conan O'Brien. If you're a fan, you'll want to see that.

I promised a reader that we would revisit the Mountain titles that are soon to be coming out. We'll look at those in some detail tomorrow.

Bad news for Byrds fans. The SACD of "Fifth Dimension" has been pushed back further. The new street date is June 10. Heyyy...I just report it. I have heard rumour of a Byrds DVD in the works but that's still in the 'I dunno' category. More on that as I dig.

We are going to start looking...and listening to XRCD material. I've been contacted by JVC who is graciously going to send us some material including Steve Miller's "The Joker". We'll make the inevitable comparisons and report back to you. I'm very interested in hearing the disc and the format myself.

Have a great day. We'll see you back tomorrow for the weekender edition.

A special hello to Patrick Ogle. Dude, we'll leave the light on for ya!!

March 12, 2003

We've got a big post for you today. We've a few CD reviews and lots of info. So sit back and enjoy.

The review for Bob Dylan's "Blonde on Blonde" SACD by Grey Cavitt is available as well as AC/DC enthusiast, Duane Leyva's account of Count the Stars' "Never Take Me Alive" from Victory Records. Check those out.

I'm looking at The Byrds' Essential title from Sony with a lot of interest. This title sits in the undefiled category concerning Essentials and therefore is a 2CD set. There are 33, career defining tracks with 2 singles edits and a live performance, all remastered. This project was overseen by Roger McGuinn and represents the first of promised upcoming Byrds projects. This album streets on April 22.

The Bearded Boys are back. The brand new album of 16 originals from ZZ Top and RCA Records is expected on April 15.

Sanctuary Records release the newest Widespread Panic, "Ball" on April 15. Also from Sanctuary are the following:

Bunny Wailer - Crucial Roots Classics - May 6
Bunny Wailer - Retrospective - May 6
Troubadours of Folk: The 60s Folk Explosion - April 1
Tangerine Dream - Poland - May 6
Tangerine Dream - Underwater Sunlight - May 6
Todd Rundgren - Nearly Human Tour: Japan '90 - 2CD - April 1
Alan Price and The Electric Blues Company - A Gigster's Life For Me - April 1
Pop Will Eat Itself - Box Frenzy - April 1
Pop Will Eat Itself - Now for a Feast - April 1
John Mayall - Rockin' The Roadshow - May 6

Sanctuary is also prepping a live disc featuring Foghat. The 2CD set contains 18 songs. The live sets are from three decades of Foghat material. The album includes an unreleased song in a Jimmy Reed song, "I Ain't Got You".

Judas Priest will be releasing a 2CD live set on SPV Records on April 8. The 25 song live set, "Live in London", is tied into last year's DVD release but with more songs.

A few more titles before we hitch off to the reviews. But we'll be back tomorrow with more news. Some interesting stuff too. I haven't had much of a chance to sort through it all. But we'll get there.

Annie Lennox is releasing her next album, "Bare" on June 3 for J Records. On May 6, RCA Victor readies an impressive set for Leadbelly. The collection is entitled "Take This Hammer: The Complete RCA Victor Recordings". The set contains 26 songs, including "The Midnight Special".

For DVD releases, we have the following titles:

Phil Collins - A Life Less Ordinary - May 20 - Sanctuary
Avril Lavigne - Title TBD - Date TBA - Arista
Donnie McClurkin - Donnie McClurkin...again - May 6 - Verity
Busta Rhymes - Title TBD - Date TBA - J Records
Henry Rollins - I Am Spazticus - Date TBA - Sanctuary
Third Day - Live in Concert: The Come Together Tour - April 1 - Essential
Justin Timberlake - Justified: The Videos - May 6 - Jive
Brian Wilson - On Tour - April 1 - Sanctuary

Congratulations to the Hall of Fame inductees, once again. The Clash, the Police, AC/DC, The Righteous Brothers, and Elvis Costello.

We'll check back with you tomorrow.

March 11, 2003

I forgot to acknowledge Tommy Gamard for the 'heads up' on the Led Zeppelin news yesterday. Tommy, consider this top billing for the oversite.

Preliminary reports from Acoustic Sounds and their affiliation with AcousTech in Camarillo CA say that the remastering of Pink Floyd's "DSotM" is superior in every way. Now, that date couldn't get here soon enough. We here at MusicTAP, really hope that this title, combined with The Police, Peter Gabriel, Who, and Rolling Stones, goes a long way to advancing the forward movement of SACD. We're hoping for a similar Warner push for DVD-A.

Sony has just released info for a new Keiko Matsui disc to street on May 6. The album is called "Solo Piano".

The street date for the upcoming Blue Note SACDs is April 22. The anticipated titles include Norah Jones' "Come Away With Me", John Coltrane's "Blue Train", Bill Charlap's "Stardust", Bob Belden's "Black Dahlia", and Dianne Reeves' "The Calling". These discs have bounced around on the radar for awhile, shuffling their release dates around. But their release now looks to be imminent.

The Rock Music Hall of Fame was last night. Don't forget to tune in and watch the reunion of The Police. The broadcast is March 16 on VH1.

Ahhh, Jimmy Buffett fans get the goods on this release. This 2CD set contains two brand new songs, 6 alternate versions, and 4 live recordings, 38 songs in all. Included will be a 32 page booklet insert with new notes by JB himself. The album, "Meet Me in Margaritaville: Jimmy Buffett - The Ultimate Collection". The discs will provide access to an exclusive internet site that will provide exclusive content:

Tracks

DISC ONE
Margaritaville
Migration
Growing Older But Not Up
Holiday (new live recording)
Come Monday
Fruitcakes
We Are The People Our Parents Warned Us About
Cheeseburger In Paradise
Jolly Mon Sing
The Pascagoula Run (new live recording)
Tin Cup Chalice
Pencil Thin Moustache
Grapefruit/Juicy Fruit
Coconut Telegraph
Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes
Last Mango In Paris
Fins
Why Don’t We Get Drunk
Brown Eyed Girl
One Particular Harbour

DISC TWO
School Boy Heart
Everybody’s Talkin’ (brand new recording)
Volcano
Son Of A Son Of A Sailor (alternate version)
Take Another Road
Knees Of My Heart (alternate version)
In The Shelter (alternate version)
Havana Daydreamin’
Desperation Samba (new live recording)
Barefoot Children
Saxophones (alternate version)
Cowboy In The Jungle
He Went To Paris (alternate version)
Creola
Bob Roberts Society Band
A Pirate Looks At Forty (new live recording)
Sail On Sailor (brand new recording)
Captain And The Kid (alternate version)

I've posted the track listings because I know that you Parrotheads are gonna ask me for 'em.

I had promised several reviews but had technical difficulties in several areas. So, I must apologize. However, tomorrow will be a banner day. You can bet on that. We have a Bob Dylan - "Blonde on Blonde" SACD review from our newest member of TAP, Grey Cavitt as well as Victory Records' Count The Stars' debut, "Never Be Taken Alive" by Duane Leyva. Plus we have a few more in store, including The Jam, Mark O'Connor, The Strawbs and The Police SACDs.

Tomorrow...

March 10, 2003

Let me start the day off right with a few announcements. The very important one, of course, would be me wishing Mrs TAP a very happy birthday, so...Happy Birthday, Mrs TAP.

The second would be to welcome our newest member of the TAP clan, Grey Cavitt. Grey will be providing us with expert insight on new and upcoming discs. If you want to to chat with him, leave him an email at gcavitt@musictap.net.

What am I...nuts? I had my hands on a Led Zeppelin newsbit and I forgot to post it. Here's the meat:

On May 27 comes the long sought after and simultaneous release of the 2 DVD set of "Led Zeppelin DVD" and the 3 CD set of "How The West Was Won". There is no overlap of material on the two releases so that each are unique. Pencil your calendar for these releases.

Folks, we are in a lull here. There is very little in the way of interesting release info aside from what you have already heard. But we're not totally empty. We have a few pieces and some art. Additionally, we have the new JazzNotes by John Grace.

On April 8, the darlings of big name musicians, Delaney & Bonnie, get a remastered and expanded workout for their final album together. Released in 1972, the year that D&B split as a couple, this album explored several genres with the biggest names in the business. This is the first time that this album is being released on CD and it gets done right. Remastered from the original masters, this disc gets the bonus of six additional tracks. The project was worked on by Delaney Bramlett and includes a new booklet with photos and the works.

On April 1 and left off of my list due to no art or info, is The Essential Willie Nelson. The beauty of this disc is that it is not a part of Columbia's attempt to pare down the Essential series to a more manageable single disc (a crime). Imagine Leonard Cohen's Essential title being only a single disc. I didn't think so. In any case, The Essential Willie Nelson is a 2 CD affair that presents 40 songs. This set is in honour of Willie's upcoming 70th birthday on April 30. This set also features the newest Nelson collaboration with Aerosmith...yeah, that's right, Aerosmith. The set is digitally remastered and covers over 50 years of recording. Packaged in a brilliant box, this set is the one to get if you're a Willie Nelson fan. It's also available for a limited time only. Grab!!

There is no info on the Lisa Marie Presley disc but as my nephew would say..."ooommm tasty". Don't she look good? Too bad, Michael. You really blew that one.

--JazzNotes--

John Grace

Here's a phrase that almost always seems to inspire head-shaking: time travel. H.G. Wells and ABC's "Time Tunnel" notwithstanding, it's still not possible. There are, of course, several other ways to remember the past, including archival recordings. Most have been digitally restored to remove the "defects" of older technology. The hisses, pops, and scratches associated with vinyl discs, especially 78s, are mostly a memory. One German company, however, was recently inspired to release vintage jazz recordings, defects and all. Phonodor/SPV has released five discs of jazz legends, each a slightly scratchy, low-tech sounding affair. As a jazz lover, I'm thrilled by the idea. Let's face it, how often can you travel back to the 1940's and hear the music that inspired generations past?

The Phonodor/SPV releases include:

Charlie Parker "Records 1944-1948"
Duke Ellington "Records 1928-1945"
Tommy Dorsey "Records 1935-1939"
Gene Krupa "Records 1935-1945"
Teddy Stauffer "Records 1936-1937"

Of the five, I'm most fond of the Parker disc. The selection of songs is pretty safe, including such hits as "A Night in Tunisia," the classic Dizzy tune. Don't expect much in the way of liner notes; it's quite obvious the text has been translated. Also, don't think stellar engineering and mastering; the intent here is to recreate what was, not what might've been. It's doubtful many of you have shellac 78's in your media library. Eh, try the next best thing. For the true jazz collector, the Phonodor releases are definitely worth a listen.

Special thanks to Michael Mazur and the kind folks at Mazur Public Relations for supplying review copies. Any organization supporting vintage jazz is alright in my book.

Finally, for those of you interested in new releases, here's what's coming, courtesy of Billboard.com: http://www.billboard.com/billboard/releases/week_8/jazz.jsp

That's it for Monday. We'll be back here tomorrow with some more including reviews.