Archival Posts 2003 May 01-03

May 2, 2003

Here we are again. We have a contest for you with some XRCD Steve Miller Band "The Joker" discs to give away. We're going to ask 5 questions. You answer 'em. The first 5 correct set of entries gets a disc. We'll run the contest until Friday, May 9 at 12:01a. Good luck to all of you.

Today is the next edition of Duane's Pit Stop notes. And, as usual, he gets his words in. Maybe if I don't humour him...? In any case, check his notes out.

We have a review for you of Warner/Rhino's "Punk Jazz", a 2CD anthology of Jaco Pastorius. It's a pretty spectacular set that has all the tracks on it remastered producing a great sounding album of Pastorius collaborations and originals.

BMG Heritage is putting out a 4CD collection for Elvis Presley, "Elvis - Close Up", on July 1. We have no available information on what this includes but we'll watch the title. Also from BMG/Heritage is a 2CD Nina Simone "Anthology" that will street on July 1.

The next wave of the series, Platinum & Gold Collection, from BMG, will arrive in stores on June 17. These collections feature 12 remastered tracks and contain extra goodies, all at a decent mid-line pricing scale. The following artists will be in this wave:

Angela Bofill

Taylor Dayne

Jefferson Starship

Willie Nelson

Tony Orlando and Dawn

Alan Parsons Project

The Real McCoy

Neil Sedaka

SWV

Carly Simon

I have track listings if anyone wishes to see them. Just drop me an email and I'll send the track listings to you.

I apologize for the quality of this artwork but it comes off a PDF so it ain't the best of show. But it does give you an idea of what you're getting. The other titles mentioned did not have artwork as of yet.

Capitol has a Dave Koz disc and a Van Hunt album scheduled for September 16. The titles are TBD. On August 5, Capitol is scheduling a Radiohead title, "7 Television Commercials". Folks, I don't know what this one is about as of yet but I'll get back to you. You can still expect their "Hail to the Thief" in both regular issue and Limited Edition on June 10. Jane's Addiction's "Hypersonic" title is now official. It releases on July 22 in two editions, the standard issue and a Limited Special Edition.

And now for the questions. For one of the questions, you'll have to dig around on XRCD's web site to attain the answer. With that said:

One of Steve Miller's childhood pals played with Miller in earlier incarnations of SMB. This individual went on to produce his own Top40 hits. Who is it?

What was Steve Miller's first Top40 album named?

aahmmdmsauaaubdam. Unscramble that song title.

What month and year did Steve Miller officially become The Space Cowboy. We're talking release date here. I don't want no splittin' hairs.

Which Two XRCD Releases reissued by JVC in the U.S. were originally "Grammy Award" winning regular CD Titles also released by JVC?

Ohhh...that last question. It can be found by looking through the US domestic catalogue of XRCD. It's not as hard as it appears.

We have 5 discs for giveaway thanks to Kevin Berg of XRCD/JVC.

We'll see you back here Monday. With that, have a great weekend.

May 1, 2003

Holy Smokes. We are officially in May now. I must say, it's a shock to see where we are already. But that's time for you; it never slows down.

I mentioned yesterday that Bill Hunt and Todd Doogan of The Digital Bits is putting out a consumer guide for DVD to be published by McGraw Hill. They investigate the whole spectrum including the 'must have' set of DVD titles, affordable home theatre, and even SACD/DVD-A. You can pre-order this title at only $17.99 from Amazon. The title is already burning up the charts and it's not even out yet. Just click the book art on the right to order.

OK...very short post today BUT we do have a review for you. The review is for classical fans and is by our John Nelson. He listens to an older title and, since its a great performance, gives us his professional opinion. The disc is a DVD-Audio title of "Ravel's Boléro/Daphnis et Chloé/La Valse" by Jean Martinon and The Orchestre de Paris.

We're going to concentrate on finishing up the Archival pages by the end of the weekend. And tomorrow, we'll have the Steve Miller Band/ XRCD contest. Be sure to come back for that. On top of all that, Mrs TAP has me flipping tiles from our floors to make room for new flooring while she peels strips of wallpaper to prepare for painting. I'll sure be glad when all that's complete. I have been accumulating your views on music and will be putting them together for a discussion that is probably sure to engender more discussion. Cool. We have all types that read MusicTAP so you never know who's reading.

If you happen to own a label or work for one, please bear in mind that we love new and breaking talent. We want to be a part of the changing landscape of music, even help to shape it. We are open to new talent and want to reveal new stuff for our growing readership. Judging by the quality of the email that we receive we have a very literate bunch that is open to reception of new talent. So, if you have new bands that need exposure, approach us.

We have some new releases information that made their way to our email box this morning. I think that you'll be pleased with the adds for this week. First up, I'm here to tell you that Neil Young's upcoming CD releases of "On The Beach"; "American Stars N Bars"; "Re-Ac-Tor"; and "Hawks and Doves" is still on the schedule for June 24. No time for despair...just prepare.

Adds from Warner this week are scheduled for the months of July, August, and September. On July 22, you can expect "Classic Hits of Jim Croce", and "Classic Hits of Seals & Crofts". On August 12, Julian Marley hit the racks with a title TBA while Mike Gordon with "Outside In/Inside Out" and T.I. with a PA/Edited "Trap Musik" album pencils in for release on August 26. Finally, Candi Staton releases a title TBD on September 16.

I was right to be a little skeptical on the title of Jeff Beck's upcoming. Reported yesterday as being called "Grease Monkey", it is now being listed as TBD-New LP.

That's it for today. We'll be back tomorrow for the weekend wrapup and more reviews. We'll also have the Steve Miller Band - "The Joker" limited edition XRCD, five of 'em, available for free. All you have to do is to answer some simple questions. The first 5 with the right answers get the discs. The disc is pretty incredible so be prepared with your Steve Miller knowledge. And be prepared for an XRCD experience. See you tomorrow.