Archival Posts 2004 July 11

July 14, 2004

Hello again, how are ya?

We have some things to attend to as it relates to TAP so we're going to make this a short one. We are getting more requests to provide reviews and therefore need to create a way that we can do as many as we can. Of course, that means more and more single and double paragraph reviews as opposed to larger, nore indepth reviews. The cost of fame, I guess. We will not shirk great albums that require large study. This is just a need to accommodate more albums.

I've forgotten this and should be shot but I've noticed..don't ask why it took so long, that BMG is now releasing SA-CDs. With BMG now releasing SA-CDs by the truckload, mostly classical, what is happening with DVD-Audios? Hmmm...

But still, we're going to leave you with my review of the just released Billy Ocean retrospective, Ultimate Collection.

We'll be back on Friday with reviews and Duane's Pit Stop. We'll see you then.

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.

Elektra Records and Rhino will team together to release an album celebrating the songs of Leonard Cohen as sung by Judy Collins. This album, Judy Collins sings Leonard Cohen: Democracy, will be available on August 31. The listings of songs are as follows:

Democracy - newly recorded
Suzanne
A Thousand Kisses Deep - newly recorded
Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye
Dress Rehearsal Rag
Priests
Night Comes On - newly recorded
Sisters of Mercy
Story of Isaac
Bird on the Wire
Famous Blue Raincoat
Joan of Arc
Take This Longing
Song of Bernadette (live)

I love this collection and can't wait to hear it. It does sadden me to see his "Dance Me to The End of Love" not recorded as much as it deserves. But the song is not ignored. Rounder will release an album by Madeleine Peyroux, her Careless Love, which will contain, as its first track, "Dance Me To The End of Love." That album will issue on September 14. And I'm still anxiously awaiting the moment when I can tell you people that Leonard's next album will release.

Reprise will release Dan Dyer's ...of What Lies Beneath on August 31.

Lava Records has Skindred's Babylon coming on August 31.

The 4 upcoming Kraftwerk albums have been delayed. The new date for the albums' release is now September 21. The earlier date was September 7 so you'll have to wait a few weeks longer. To recap, the albums are Trans Europe Express, Autobahn, The Man Machine, and Radio-Activity.

A Perfect Circle also gets a date change for their releases, the untiled CD, their remix CD, and their DVD in both jewel and amaray casings. They will move from November 2 to November 16.

SST Records will issue an album by The Chariot with title unnamed on November 16.

Virgin has listed an album by the S.O.S. Band for release on January 11. they will also issue an as yet untitled album by Massive Attack on January 11.

Here's a few waaayyy out there dates for you to tentatively look forward to:

Basement Jaxx - Best of - February 1
Chemical Brothers - Untitled - February 1
The Exies - Untitled - February 1
Fivespeed - Untitled - February 1
30 Seconds to Mars - February 15
Preseason (PA and Edited) - February 15
D'Angelo - Untitled - March 1
Dwele - Untitled - March 1
El Pus - Untitled - March 1
Juliet Richardson - Untitled - March 1

The Gorillaz' upcoming untitled release has been date changed from November 16 to January 11.

Verve Records announce an addition to the SA-CD schedule with a Chet Baker issue, The SA-CD is called Baker's Holiday: Plays and Sings the Billie Holliday Songbook. This SA-CD will be in stores on September 21.

Metallica has 4 DVDs coming to you fans on August 17. A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica, Part 1 & 2 and Cliff Em All, both of which will be issued in jewel casing while the other two titles, Cunning Stunts and S&M, will be issued in what are called SmartPaks.

Sarah Brightman's upcoming DVD release expected on September 21 gets a title assigned to it. It will be known as Sarah Brightman: Live in Las Vegas, and will be widely released.

July 13, 2004

We have a few items today before we get into the release schedules. The first is of particular interest to musicians who may be reading TAP. If you think that you have the wherewithal to be signed to a label, then you've been invited to send in your stuff to Evo Recordings. Here's the scoop: Send complete presskits and music to:

Evo Recordings
C/O Brad Diefer, President and Founder
1130 Situs Court, Suite 250
Raleigh, NC 27608

Good luck to anyone who sends something off to Evo. If you know of a band that can use this info, send it to them. Be sure to let Evo Recordings know where you found out about them.

Sirius Radio have announced a new channel that will feature a partnership with Eminem and Shady Records and Interscope. The scope is to present new and up and coming HipHop artists. Sirius Radio and Eminem fans can watch for this unique (and I hope, soon to be replicated) experience that will allow Shady Records to broadcast 24 hours of uninterrupted artist music from the roster including otherwise unavailable music.

We have reviews by John Dunphy and George Bennett today. The reviews are of Brave's latest EP, Passages and of The Wallflowers' Red Letter Days on SA-CD.

We'll be back tomorrow with date changes for the Kraftwerk CDs.

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.

Reader Review



Matt Dusk Two Shots

24-year old Matt Dusk may not be well known in the US, but he has had great success in his native Toronto. So where did this American hear of him? Matt Dusk is currently appearing on the Fox reality show, "The Casino". Matt was hired as a lounge singer for the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino. The new owners, (ex dot-com millionaires) want to bring all the glamour and glitz of old Las Vegas back to downtown. Matt Dusk was a perfect choice as, even at a young age, he understands and appreciates what singers like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin meant to the city in the 50s and 60s.

"Two Shots", Matt's major-label debut is highlighted by the title track, "Two Shots Of Happy, One Shot Of Sad". When you first hear this song, you swear it's an old Sinatra song. Well, it almost was. Bond and The Edge of U2 wrote the song for Frank Sinatra, but he was unable to record it before he passed away. U2 did release it as a B-side, but thankfully, Matt Dusk has saved this amazing song from obscurity. Everything from the lyrics to the arrangement are pure Sinatra. Matt recorded the track as an homage to one of his greatest influences. The rest of the album is comprised of cover tunes (including an interesting version of The Beatles' "Please Please Me"), as well as several original tunes. All songs tend to stay in the "lounge" genre, with classic jazz arrangements and just a hint of modern flourishes.

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra back Matt on many of the tracks. A special "Hot Nugget Remix" of the Title track was created as the show's theme song, and appears on the disc as a bonus track. - Galley [07/12]

www.mattdusk.com

Sanctuary Records' upcoming Big Head Todd and The Monsters live 2CD set, Live at the Fillmore, is expected to arrive on September 14. This live set will contain 17 songs.

Sanctuary will also issue a Blondie album and DVD on September 14. The set, named the same, sold separately is Blondie: Live by Request.

Sanctuary also has scheduled a Dio album, Master of the Moon, which whould be ready on August 31.

Sanctuary sure has a lot in the pipeline today. They have also alerted us to an album by John Hermann called Just Ain't Right. Just Ain't Right is on the list for September 14. Also being released on September 14 are albums by Meatloaf and Megadeth. The Meatloaf album is called Bat Out of Hell: Live With the Melbourne Symphony. This CD release will be accompanied by, but sold separately, a DVD issue of the same name. The Megadeth album is called The System Has Failed.

Shout! Factory's upcoming Joni Mitchell DVD, Refuge of the Road, expected on August 24, will be enhanced from its 1989 VHS release with DD 5.1 surround and will contain behind the scenes footage from her 1983 tour which comprise this video release. This set will retail for US $14.98. This 13-song performance release will contain:

Wild Things Run Fast
Raised on Robbery
Refuge of the Road
Sweet Bird of Youth
Banquet
You're So Square (Baby, I Don't Care)
Solid Love
God Must Be a Boogie Man
For Free (AKA He Played)
You Dream Flat Tires
Chinese Cafe
Underneath the Streetlight
Woodstock

Polydor lists a new upcoming DVD, Last Video, by Abba. This DVD will release on August 31.

Rhino announces a Who DVD for September 14. The DVD will be called Live in Boston. This 21-song set will also feature interviews with Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, an art gallery of John Entwhistle drawings, and 5.1 Surround.

July 12, 2004

Fair Time in the summer. It's refreshing even though I do not go all the time. But its proximity to my house leaves me literally awash in a strong, very happy atmosphere. You can hear the crowds, the music, see the lights, and know that fun is being had. It's quite an intoxicating affair and I don't even have to be there physically to enjoy it. I also have an absolute sense of departure when the whole thing folds up. But for now, it's just beginning.

I've just read that, for the first time, movie downloads have surpassed music downloads as the thing to do. Hmmm, wonder what that means. Frankly, the whole thing is perplexing to me. While I love the concept of transportable music, I more so love the acquisition of packaged music. You can chalk that up to age as my generation grew up with great LP art. We revelled in it. It becomes a sad thing, much like the departure of the fair that I spoke about above, when we watch an industry slip to the point that we don't get half of what we used to get. Now, before a lot of you become indignant concerning the greed of the labels, let me remind you that much of the music that is widely accepted still comes from the labels. There are vast arrays of musical awareness with the internet being the vehicle but we, as the buying public largely ignore them. MP3.com was positioned, at one time, to be the major dispenser of cheap music with massive profits reverting back to the artist but we all know what happened to that. Why? We killed it. Imagine Norah Jones signing with MP3.com and selling 5 million copies for about US $8 a pop and retaining about 4-5 bucks per. The music would have been instantly downloadable with, perhaps a purchaseable booklet for another US $.75 or $1.00. But we're still tied to music in the stores with a large segment of us staisfied with inferior sounding downloads.

The recap? We've changed even though the engine that drives the industry is intrinsically the same. Radio still exists but with too much specificity, and not enough diversity. Labels still exists but with too much caution and not enough experimentation and hipness. Consumers of music still exists but with much confusion over qualities and the overall package. It could still be fixed but not without patience and time, commodities that, unfortunately, could spell death to some of those companies who need reasons to exist NOW. I know that I popped in and out of the real issue here and I apologize for that. But once it got started...well, I ramble. But I'm a fair guy...got something to beat me over the head with? Do it here. See...I don't hide.

We have an interview with Peccatum that was conducted by John Dunphy that is a great indepth look at the band. We're trying a new thing today by putting a reader review on the front page. Reader Galley has offered up one for Matt Dusk and his Two Shots album. We haven't seen many but we're still looking for them. In addition, I've reviewed two very well done Retrospective titles from Abkco Records. These separate Retrospective titles are for Herman's Hermits and The Animals. They're SA-CD hybrid issues and, as such, make great music better by the way it sounds. Check those out.

On Tuesday, we'll have a review of Brave's Passages EP and Fear Factory's Archetype, both by John Dunphy. We also have the latest Heart reissues coming soon from Lindsay Planer. And more reviews coming all the time.

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.

Reader Review



Matt Dusk Two Shots