The time is here. I'm off for a little o'er a week and well...it may have come at just the right time. The labels have taken a break of their own or so it seems.
I received an email from a reader who had been doing some calendaring. and that's great because it's part of why we're here, to give you some music to look forward to. Of course, it's all about hope and that's a cool thing...but sometimes those announcements yield up empty air. And I don't see that unless it jumps out at me. So, as a public service, I've done a little research for the following titles for you.
- Cream - Disraeli Gears Deluxe Edition - Never released although I still have hope that it'll be on the calendar again eventually
- Kraftwerk - Remastered Autobahn, The Man Machine, Radioactivity, Trans World Express - Again, lost in the shuffle. The titles are deleted from the catalog which lends me hope that they are anticipated to be released in the near future.
- Tears For Fears - Everyone Loves a Happy Ending - This one is still on the schedules although as an opportunity release. This means that once certain issues get worked out, a suitable date will be attached to the title. This one is still coming.
- High Speed Scene - This one seems to have disappeared altogether.
- Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - The Essential Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes. On hold for now but this R&B band hasn't been ignored. Legacy released some reissues a few months back.
- Bonnie McKee - Trouble - I thought for sure that Reprise had this on the list for April 6 but it has seemingly disappeared.
I'll keep an eye peeled for all of these. Thanks to reader Joey Sharar for his list. And for keeping me on my toes.
Our Marco Passarelli has crafted up an article on singer Anya Singleton. This article will be the first installment in a column that will be known as 15 Minutes with... It's a brief but good read on this artist who has been seen in films like Mona Lisa Smile and series like Sex and the City but has her love grounded in jazz and blues music.
We also have a few reviews for you. I've spent a little time with King Crimson and their last DVD called Eyes Wide Open and have provided my opinion on the set. Also, George Bennett has provided a retro review for the SACD of Billy Joel's The Stranger. And here's that third review...George Bennett's quick look at the new Jackson Browne best of, The Very Best of Jackson Browne, over in our Capsule Reviews.
We'd like to take a moment to offer Duane our condolences. His brother passed away last weekend. Duane, we feel your sorrow. And we're with you, the whole lot of TAP and its readers. Needless to say, Duane will not have an issue of Pit Stop for the next few weeks. Would you take a minute and send Duane a sentence or two to let him know we're thinking of him.
And now I'm done for a while. Don't forget what we look like.
Don't forget that we'll be dark for the period of April 12 - 19. But, like great music, we'll be back on April 20.
Don't forget the reader reviews. If you have a single paragraph about a favourite current album that you have, share it with the world. Write me here and use READER REVIEW in the subject line.
Warner is preparing a release for Cool Hand Luke and their 2nd Warner/Floodgates release called The Fires of Life for a May 25 release. Their first, Wake Up O' Sleeper, was a nice album.
Somebody prop me up. Warner informs me that Rhino will release a 3CD live set for The Grateful Dead called Rockin' The Rhein With The Grateful Dead. This 3CD Digipak will release on May 25. And now what am I gonna do until then?
Atlantic Records will release the next album for The Corrs entitled Borrowed Heaven, also on May 25. Atlantic will also release the Harry Potter soundtrack to The Prisoner of Azkaban on this date.
Rhino will also release The Best of Hothouse Flowers on May 25. Rhino along with Warner Bros will issue Fourth World by Kara's Flowers...same date.
 
Buddy & Julie Miller will get their next release in the queue for May 25. The album will be called Love Snuck Up.
And who remembers 80s' Mr Big? If you were hangin' on for a best of from this band..well, your boat has docked. Mr Big - Greatest Hits will hit stores on May 25.
Reprise will release an EP for Jonathan Rice on May 25.
Lava Records will release Skillet's Collide on May 25. Lava will also release PA and Edited versions of Demonophonic Blues by Tony C and The Truth.
As if Al Stewart fans weren't already lucky enough with the upcoming Expanded and Remastered reissues of his Year of the Cat and Time Passages on April 27. On May 25 (did you think another date by now?), Rhino will release Al Stewart's Greates Hits. On my calendar.
Now we're moving further into the calendar for news about Rounder Records re-releases of some Leon Redbone titles. Always a treat, the titles being reissued are No Regrets (1988), Red to Blue (1985), and Whistling in the Wind (1994). These are coming on July 20. Also on the Rounder slate is The Essential Collection of Bill Morrissey expected on June 15.
Geffen Records will release Bumblebeez 81's Remixed on May 11.
I'm putting up the cover art for Alanis Morissette's upcoming So-Called Chaos. This Maverick release is scheduled for April 27.
Rhino Records have two new DVD-Audios on the board for The Greatest Hits of Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel and The Furious 5 and The Best of The Sugarhill Gang. These are scheduled for May 25.
April 07, 2004
It's quite miserable in release land as we move into the 2nd quarter. We're barely getting a trickle but, like the XMas holidays, we make do even when the noise is softened. I'm just hoping to get something of substance up before I disappear for nearly two weeks.
We have 2 reviews, one a new style review for MusicTAP. The first is for The Allman Brothers Band and their outstanding Live at The Beacon Theatre DVD released back in September '03. The second is a retro CD review by Dw Dunphy. The album is Compact Disc and is by Public Image, LTD. It was last released in 1990. Dw says: In an ongoing effort to present our readership with releases they might not have known of, MusicTAP presents another retro-review, featuring a release you might be able to find really cheaply if you look hard enough. I'll go one better. I've checked Amazon, that bastion and towering pillar of merchandise, and they only have 3 copies left. That's 3 copies left...meaning that this album is more than on its way to becoming OOP (Out of Print or Oops, I didn't snag a copy and now I can't.) The purchase link is found in the review.
I have a very warm memory of Johnny Lydon bucking the system in a performance on Dick Clark's American Bandstand where he not only "sang" out of sync but he also started grabbing people out of the audience and pushing them onstage. All this happened to the consternation of Dick Clark who was visably upset and looking for a way to stop it. Purity. Anyone else remember this?
We'll be back on Friday with the final post for a week and another review, maybe two...maybe three.
The music release noise is quite a bit toned down as there is little to report as we move into the second quarter.
Reprise Records has announced a live Guster album, Guster on Ice: Live From Portland Maine, to be released on May 18. Reprise will also release The Secret Machines' Now Here is Nowhere, also to be released on May 18.
Maverick Records has a new Alanis Morissette album on the slate for May 18.
April 06, 2004
It's been a rough one today but I do have a bit of news for you. But I'm afraid I'm a bit low on personal noise. Additionally, I'm a bit spent so I haven't pieced together any reviews for today. Forgive?
A reader sent me a link to an article detailing a wrench in the works concerning the MC5 DVD that we reported on last week. So it appears that A True Testimonial will be delayed. We can only hope that this delay is temporary.
Capitol Records adds a new title from The F-ups with an as yet un-named album to be released on July 13. Yesterday, we mentioned a release date for I-20 with their enhanced album, Self Explanatory. The date, June 1 now switches to July 13. This is also true of the upcoming Dr John album that switches from June 29 to July 13. That album is called N'Awlinz: Dis, Dat, or D'udda.
By way of reminder, July 13 is also the date for the huge batch of Megadeth reissues. The titles are:
- Craving
- Countdown to Extinction
- Peace Sells But Who's Buying
- Rust in Peace
- So Far So Good..So What?
- Youthanasia
- Cryptic Writings
- Risk
We also mentioned that Skye Sweetnam's Noise From The Basement would release on June 1. That date is now moved to August 10.
The BIG news out of Capitol is a Paul McCartney title (title to be determined) scheduled for now on September 21.
Epic Records announces an album and DVD for Eighteen Visions called Obsession and is expected for June 1. Epic also announces a new George Michael album called Patience to be released on June 1. They will issue the first single from the album on May 11 called "Amazing."
Epic will release an album for Hazen Street, their self-titled debut to be expected on June 1.
Columbia Records and Legacy will issue Spread Your Wings and Fly:Live at the Fillmore East on June 1. This Laura Nyro title is sure to be a nice addition to Nyro libraries.
ECM will release a Carla Bley title called The Lost Chords on June 15.
Scampering over to August, Hollywood Records will issue a 7 song EP, title undetermined at this time, by Los Lobos. This EP will street July 20.
April 05, 2004
And we're back from a weekend that sees the opening of Hellboy and sends Mrs TAP to Toronto for a business trip leaving poor ole me all by my lonesome. I'll have to depend on the young TAPs to provide me sustenance as I pound out the words for the dailies. But it's all in the story. Now...
I promised pics of Wishbone Ash from their latest Chicago pass through. These pics are courtesy of photographer, Ralph Sieber of Glenview, IL. While on the subject of Wishbone Ash, their Lost Pearls album featuring demos and test recordings from the Just Testing and No Smoke Without Fire sessions, recorded between January 1978 and August 1979 is now available for purchase. See below in the CD section for more. Also, check the SACD section for news of a Wishbone Ash SACD.
 
We have a few reviews for you today. Today is George Bennett's review of the classic Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys on DVD-Audio while I listen to Roxy Music's SACD re-issue of Avalon. Both are unique experiences and not to be missed. And there are more reviews around the corner. In the few days left before our week-long departure, we'll be instituting DVD reviews of music titles. These DVD reviews will be the long versions. With the deluge of DVD titles out there in the market place, we will ONLY be reviewing those that we feel deserve your attention. On the other hand, I will be providing The Digital Bits with a more compact overview of additional DVDs, especially those that defy lengthy review but that are notable nonetheless. Watch for those. The first DVD reviews that are coming up will be The Allman Brothers Band with their Live at The Beacon Theatre and King Crimson's Eyes Wide Open.
Tomorrow, Dw will have a retro review for you of an old classic by PIL (Public Image Limited). That's Johnny Lydon (Sex Pistols) and his band after the Pistols. The review is of 1985's Compact Disc or, before know as Album or Cassette depending on what format you purchased it on. And more.
Well...I found Duane in a quite frequented alleyway amid some garbage...passed out with a half finished PitStop in his wine-soaked hands. Being the editor that I am, I administered lots of coffee and human kindness thus reinvigorating the bastard long enough to slur out the rest of the weekly. And so we now have the latest edition of Duane's Pit Stop.
Don't forget that we'll be dark for the period of April 12 - 19. But, like great music, we'll be back on April 20.
But we'll be back tomorrow. We will.
Don't forget the reader reviews. If you have a single paragraph about a favourite current album that you have, share it with the world. Write me here and use READER REVIEW in the subject line.
Steriogram's upcoming Schmak!, expected on May 4 is now moved to May 18. Mark your calendars if you're waiting for this one.
 Added to the June 1 release date, keeping company with I-20's Self Explanatory; Squad Five-O's Late Breaking News; Skye Sweetnam's Noise From The Basement; Dean Martin's The Essential Dean; and Poison's Swallow This Live: Limited Edition, is a small run of a remastered and expanded Waterboys title, This is the Sea. This album is a 2CD re-issue that contains an extra disc with previously unheard music recorded during the This Is The Sea sessions. Disc 2 will yield 14 tracks including a full length version of "Medicine Bow" and "Spirit" along with a live track of "This is the Sea". The set will also contain all the lyrics as well as new photos. "I saw the crescent..you saw the whole of the moon..." BTW, this expanded and remastered set is already available in Europe (for those who can't wait).
As a reminder, David Bowie's 30th Anniversary Edition of Diamond Dogs (yeahhh) will be released on June 15. Also on the 15th are multiple editions of The Beastie Boys' as yet untitled new album and The Beach Boys' CD/DVD of Sights and Sounds of Summer.
Pillar's album, Where Do We Go From Here, is to be released on June 15. Added to that date is The Revenge of The Supertones by The Supertones.
Angel has two Count Basie albums coming in the late summer. The albums are The Count Basie Story and Count Basie and Friends.
In early Fall, Virgin has a debut for Guerilla Black on the calendar as well as resurrected titles by Gang Starr including a DVD set.
Wishbone Ash's new album of newly found old tunes is aptly called Lost Pearls and represents tunes that were recorded back in the late 70s during No Smoke Without Fire and Just Testing. This album was digitally mastered by Martin Turner who remastered the Argus album a few years back. Click on this link to purchase this rare gem. You'll have to go to Merchandise to get an Andy Powell autographed issue. Otherwise, click on the Amazon link below.
The SACD of Wishbone Ash's Almighty Blues is now available for WBA fans. This 5.1 live album is from Classic Rock Productions.
Triumph fans will rejoice for the news of an upcoming DVD release, A Night of Triumph Live. While we don't have a date as of yet, I thought that you'd like the skinny on this DVD. The DVD will be of their 1987 sold out show in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It will be presented in full screen and will contain Dolby Digital 2.0; Dolby Digital 5.1, and DTS 5.1. this set will also contain a behind the scenes feature, Backstage at the Spectrum, as well as a photo gallery and 2 bonus videos of "When The Lights Go Down" and "Just One Night."
Neil Young's movie version of his Greendale will be released on DVD (changed from May 18 to June 22.) In addition to the movie, bonus features will include The Making of Greendale which will contain new interviews with Neil and members of the cast, 3 live performances of Greendale songs, lyrics, and a complete discography.
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