Archival Posts 2003 April 20-26

April 25,2003

I'm just sticking my head in here for a bit. I thought that I would be able to do even just a little but that's been pretty tough. I promise that we'll have a regular post on Monday with a few reviews thrown in there. Duane's pretty disgusted with me but I threatened to take his medication away and he clammed up real quick. Nothing like the shake of a bottle.

However, I thought that I'd provide you with this bit of cool info concerning Jane's Addiction's upcoming disc ("Hypersonic"?). We, as fans, have waited for this one for some time. Many of us didn't think that we'd ever see another album from the band. The new disc streets on June 24 and it looks as if the title might be changed, hence the question mark earlier. We'll keep you up on that news.

Hang in there. We'll see you back on Monday.

April 23, 2003

Thanks to a whole lot of you who wrote in to express your feelings about formats, music today, etc. It's heartening to read that there is an army of you out there and that you care about music. On discussion for whether we are ready for high resolution formats or not, again, you had something to say. I'm going to piece these together for a future post and I promise not to reveal email information. You people are great.

I've posted my review of Mercury Records issue of a 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection series title, "The Best of New York Dolls - 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection". Read why I think New York Dolls deserve to be Hall of Famers. Now that I have your attention...burn up the wires.

We have some very exciting news for many of you. There are some serious music titles coming from Warner. And I'm here to let you in on the info. But where to start?

On July 1, a 2CD set, "Greatest Hits" will hit the streets for WAR. Also added to the schedule is "Classic Hits of Harry Chapin" which will street on July 22. Since we're on Greatest Hits packages, "The Best of Coolio" will release on August 12. Finally, "The Best of The House of Pain" issues on September 9.

Now, are you sitting? WEA has a whole batch of DVD-Audio discs that should get some motors revving. Here they are.

You've asked for more R.E.M. and you're gonna get them. On September 23, Warner releases "Green", "New Adventures in Hi-Fi", "Monster", "Up", and "Out of Time". But REM isn't the only band getting releases on DVD-Audio. On September 9, Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk" will see the light of day. Still want more? Ok..how about The Cars first album, "The Cars"? Add all those with the already mentioned Steely Dan's "Everything Must Go" (6/10); Staind's "14 Shades of Grey" (6/17); Chicago's "Chicago II" (6/24) and "Chicago V" (7/22); Donald Fagen's "Kamakiriad" (6/24)...insert pause for air here...Flaming Lips' "Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots" (7/22); and Jackson Browne's "Running On Empty" and "The Naked Ride Home", both on (7/22). There is also a Frank Sinatra title, "At The Sands", scheduled for September 23.

In CD news:

On August 12, Rhino gets back to work on the Elvis Costello catalogue, arriving with "Punch The Clock", "Trust", and "Get Happy".

There is an upcoming John Michael Montgomery disc scheduled for August 12. We told you a few weeks back that Rhino is readying more Expanded and Remastered Yes titles with "Close to the Edge", "Relayer", and "Tales From Topographic Oceans". Not only will these titles be coming out expected for August 12 BUT they will now be joined by "90125", "Tormato", and "Drama". For Yes fans, a 3CD live box set scheduled for September 23 will be released with title TBA.

Warner is also readying a Smiths 4CD Box Set for September 9, title TBA. This date will also see the issue of a compilation for Dwight Yoakum, also title TBA.

Now that's a lot of news.

In SACD news, Mercury Records has scheduled Roger Waters' "The Wall - Berlin 1990" for a June 24 release date.

Since I brought up a cool label (Wounded Bird) that was releasing thought to be lost material, I got a mountain of email. The one new label that was written about the most was one called Sundazed. So I did some snooping around and liked what I saw. For those who do not yet know about Sundazed, you can check them out here.

That's gonna be it for today. Remember, posts will be very small and virtually non-existent through the rest of this week. We have activities coming up that will keep me from my appointed tasks. Call it a break...a small one.

April 22, 2003

I've received many thoughtful and intelligent emails concerning my discussions over the last few days. I believe that I'll share some of them over the next few days to further topic discussion of not only the state of music but SACD/DVD-A accessibility and what might help to further it's advancement. I still believe that pro marketing beyond what the companies are presently doing will help to maximize their visibility. Additionally, I still believe that hybrid capability is the way to progress. Continuing ----

The first thing today is to bow our heads to the loss of Jazz great Nina Simone, who passed away today at the age of 70. NSimone has done much to advance the styles that she played. Much of today's music owes a tremendous debt to her. With that, a moment of silence...

We have a few reviews for you today. I've listened to the extraordinary disc, "Voirshn" by lovesliescrushing from Projekt Records. The disc is not for everyone. But it is a fantastic disc that delves into an arena that many do not care to traverse. It's a pick of mine but will not be for everyone. Read the review and make your own judgement.

The second review comes from John Nelson, The Ahn Trio's "Groovebox" from EMI Classics. John is working on more reviews as well.

We have some popular new releases that will soon grace our pages. Titles like Cream's "BBC Sessions"; Sonic Youth's "Dirty - Deluxe Edition"; Black Tape for a Blue Girl's upcoming 2CD limited edition and retrospective,"with a million tear-stained memories"; a trio of Parliament reissues, "Chocolate City", "Up For The Down Stroke", "Mothership Connection"; Chandeen's "Echoes"; New York Dolls - "Best of"; Howlin Wolf's "London Sessions - Deluxe Edition"; Bing Crosby's "A Centennial Anthology of his Decca Recordings"; and much much more. Plus we have a ton of Classical and Jazz reviews upcoming. I can go on and on.

Our posts will be somewhat smaller on Thursday and Friday due to intense activities by myself. I wanted to alert you to that before we get there.

Let's see what's showing up on the radar for releases:

If you're a Phish fan, Warner/Elektra has the next 4 "Live Phish" sets to continue their series. The sets, "Live Phish 17" (3CD), "Live Phish 18" (3CD), "Live Phish 19" (2CD), "Live Phish 20" (2CD). As with the previous sets, these discs are modeled after the way fans organize and collect the recordings with premium slipcases and vinyl inner sleeves. Additionally, the sleeves can be removed and folded to be placed into a purchasable 3 ring binder. Some fans are so obsessive. These discs release on May 20.

Warner is also releasing a Dio Anthology 2CD set available May 27 from Rhino Records. This anthology covers the space of time from Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, to his solo years in Dio. The release of this collection coincides with the release of EagleVision's DVD of "Dio's Evil or Divine", due May 20. The Dio Anthology, "Stand Up and Shout" contains over 2 1/2 hours of music with 29 songs, some live.

Sanctuary's upcoming 2CD Foghat set, "Decades Live" is bumped to July 22.

I've discovered a very cool label that is releasing some very hot, VERY HOT, original titles. You will be taking a literal trip down memory lane and will no doubt pant after the release of some of these titles. I'm particularly interested in the Back Street Crawler original releases, "The Band Plays On" and "Second Street". Also, in this collection of upcoming discs is original SwanSong artist, Detective, with Michael Des Barres and Tony Kaye and their excellent "Detective" and "It Takes One to Know One". The list goes on. I have included it here for your perusal and as a Pavlovian experimentation. How many drooled?

Henry Paul Band - Anytime
Henry Paul Band - Feel The Heat
Henry Paul Band - Grey Ghost
Henry Paul Band - Henry Paul
Seatrain - Watch
Miroslav Vitous - Magical Shepherd
Jerry Jeff Walker - Too Old To Change/Jerry Jeff (2 on 1)
Commander Cody - Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen
Commander Cody - Tales From The Ozone
Crazy Horse - Crazy Horse At Crooked Lake
Randy Meisner - Randy Meisner (1982)
Nantucket - Nantucket
Romeo Void - Instincts (1 bonus track)
Southern Pacific - Killbilly Hill/County Line (2 on 1)
Southern Pacific - Southern Pacific/Zuma (2 on 1)
Airrace (featuring Jason Bonham) - Shaft Of Light
Roy Buchanan - Loading Zone
Holland - Little Monsters
Loudness- Thunder In The East
Loudness - On The Prowl
Urban Verbs - Urban Verbs
Virginia Wolf (featuring Jason Bonham) - Push
Virginia Wolf (featuring Jason Bonham) -Virginia Wolf
Back Street Crawler - Second Street
Back Street Crawler -The Band Plays On
Detective - Detective
Detective - It Takes One To Know One
Blood, Sweat & Tears - More Than Ever
Firefall - Break Of Dawn/Mirror Of The World (2 on 1)
Firefall -Undertow/Clouds Across The Sun (2 on 1)
Ramatam - Ramatam
Steve Hunter - Swept Away
Adrian Belew - Inner Revolution
Buck Dharma - Flat Out
Fiona - Fiona/Beyond The Pale (2 on 1)
James Gang - Newborn/Jesse Come Home (2 on 1)
Jim Capaldi - Fierce Heart/One Man Mission (2 on 1)
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band -Plain Dirt Fashion/Partners, Brothers & Friends (2 on1)
Robin Trower -Take What You Need/In The Line Of Fire (2 on 1)
The Kings - The Kings Are Here/Amazon Beach (2 on 1)
Alan Vega - Saturn Ship/Just A Million Dreams (2 on 1)

The Urban Verbs were a band that issued two albums, one of the members, a cousin to Chris Fransz of The Talking Heads. The Urban Verbs were very good and is recommended to anyone enjoying the Talking Heads. This list of upcoming releases is just way too tasty to ignore. You can pre-order the upcoming titles and purchase stock items at the label's site, Wounded Bird. Wait til you see their present catalogue.

That's it for today. Come back and see us tomorrow for more.

April 21, 2003

Here comes the new week. And with that, more reviews, news, and other stuff. I thought that I would start it off with a response to some comments made in the latest issue of Stereophile magazine concerning SACD and DVD-Audio. The article, "As We See It", written by Barry Willis, talks about the long mountainous climb that is ahead for SACD/DVD-Audio. There isn't a single soul that reads this column, who doesn't read this column, or myself and staff that do not agree with this assumption. However, I'm not sure that he has hit upon the right nail.

He addresses the climb in several ways. The first assumption is that people, by and large, are somewhat comatose to the hi resolution quality, preferring to listen to music as background. I think that's true to a certain extent but I feel that people are more attentive to sound than we give them credit for. In the article, Willis states that it's very easy to sell a visual component simply by showing it. And that's a no-brainer. But he says that it's not so easy to sell an audio component in the same way, suggesting that consumers are more visually oriented and take sound like a cherry in a drink.

He goes on to state that SACD/DVD-Audio aren't as impressive with lesser equipment and that they phase out in quality as the cost of equipment slides down the scale. True but unfair.

Here's my take. SACD and DVD-Audio offer incredible differences that are immediately discernible on any system. Of course, if I can afford to playback on a $100,000 stereo outfit, yeah, it's gonna rock better. But most people do not have that kind of money so they settle for the level that makes them comfortable on an economic scale. I don't know about Barry Willis, but I've heard SACD/DVD-Audio on low end and high end hi rez machinery and it rocks either way. More so than conventional CD.

Although I've more to say on the subject, I'm going to collect all my thoughts together and address the SACD/DVD-Audio issues in one place at one time. To summarize, I believe that the masses are closer to accepting the formats than Mr Willis would have us think. If marketed correctly, the younger generation would flock to these formats and make of them standards. And all of the genres would benefit greatly from even just a hi-res stereo disc. Rap would benefit as jazz and classical already does. Today's alternative would benefit as old school rock already does. Give the buying public an awareness and I say that they move in that direction. Continuing--

Universal/MCA is gearing a BB King issue, "Reflections", to be released on June 10 for the SACD format. Remember, your long awaited Peter Gabriel SACD releases, with the exception of "Up" is coming out on the 29th of April. If you haven't penciled in a visit to your favourite music haunt, do it now. "Up" comes on on June 3.

Mercury will release The Allman Brothers Band's "Blues" on June 24. No details exist as of yet. There are two James Brown titles getting the remastered treatment, "In the Jungle Groove", and "Motherlode". These titles will street on June 17 from Polydor Records. On June 24, from Motown, come The Temptations with an Essentials disc, "Psychedelic Soul/ Motown Funk Essentials" and The Undisputed Truth with "Motown Funk Essentials" (no sub-title yet).

Universal releases a Night Ranger live album reissue, the 1990 "Live in Japan" on May 20. The material is remastered. For July 29, Island issues a 20th Century Masters: Millennium Collection title for Paul Weller, mainstay of The Jam and Style Council. Do I need to say remastered here? That phrase is starting to wear thin. I can just hear you say, Of course it's remastered. Otherwise, why reissue it? Hmmm... Anyway.

We have a special contest giveaway coming up in the next few days. We're whipping something up to make you work for the CDs. The title is "The Joker" from Steve Miller Band. The reissue is a special one, however. They are released by JVC on their XRCD brand and featuring an extraordinary sound using standard CD equipment. We will be preparing a review of this title on XRCD. We have five discs that are book styled and nicely presented. Watch for that as the days move along here, hopefully by Wednesday or Thursday. These discs are provided courtesy of JVC/XRCD. Thanks to Kevin Berg of JVC for working with us.

I've updated Greg Warner's review of The Who's "Who Next: Deluxe Edition". He tells you about the actual packaging as an update.

I have cover art for the upcoming and anticipated Nick Drake catalogue from Island Records on May 6 and the final album cover for Marilyn Manson's "The Golden Age of Grotesque" from nothing Records on May 13.

We'll be back with more tomorrow.