Recently, I was thinking about albums that have resonated with me for a lifetime, thus far. Many, if not most, of those all come from my younger years when I was most receptive to music in a much broader detail than I am right now (Mrs TAP would disagree with that statement as she thinks that I'm, in fact, obsessed...PERIOD). Many of us could go on and on about the albums that we have loved, still love, and will likely love forever. But what about any recent albums? Surely there HAS to be something that we've listened to over the last ten years that have had as much an impact as much of the early stuff that we grew up with. (If you're reading this and you're under the age of 35, chances are you're still in the "gathering" mode, meaning that you're still growing with the era that you're in, still becoming infatuated with songs and albums from certain bands that will stay with you for life.)

It seems as if many of us (not all of us, and certainly NOT the readers of TAP) over a certain age have dismantled our musical compass. We remember the best music from an era that meant the most to us, our years of discovery as we grew into adulthood. But every once in a while, we hear hear something that leads to a gem of an album. That album becomes an integrated part of your life, occasionally inserting a song or two into your head in the old "it just popped into my head" syndrome that we have all experienced from time to time.

Myself, I have a few albums that have surfaced over the last few years that are as meaningful to me as anything that I've grown up with. One of those is The Other Side of Time (2003) by October Project vocalist, Mary Fahl. Every song on this album is perfect and always comes to me in the strangest of times, all out of nowhere. It's one album that I return to quite frequently. All said, it holds as strong a position in my favorite albums collection as say, Houses of the Holy. Of course, there are a few more.

Having given thought about this, I am now curious as to what yours may be. What I'm most interested in are albums that have captured your interest in a consuming way, much like the early music of your life had, but have only been released since 2001 (or any album released in the last 10 years). In this latest quest to find more great potentials, I'm asking you to tell me of albums that have sutured themselves deeply within your hearts. Tell me about them.

Adam Jahnke has posted a new article over at his The Doctor Is In site, this one discussing Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska album. His writings are always excellent reads.

We have a review from Douglas Bice coming up next with one (or two) of my own around the corner.

I'd like to introduce to you a band from Austin, TX that approaches their music with feet firmly planted in the late '60s and the genre of psychedelia that hints of the bands from that era. Bands like The 13th Floor Elevators, Pink Floyd, Velvet Underground, but with a much darker, more current sound. In today's comparisons, you could say that The Black Angels are what Interpol should have evolved into. You would not be mistaken to say that there are similarities between the two bands.

The Black Angels explore the darkness of NYC's underground cornerstones of music as imagined by those many great NYC bands of the late '60s, Velvet Underground included. The adoration of Velvet Underground by The Black Angels is recognized in several nods. The band's name is extracted from the "The Black Angel's Death Song" from Velvet Underground & Nico (1967). In addition, their logo merges a contrasted view of Nico's tilted head. The Black Angels' music is nothing short of something special. They are everything you love about jam-extended, "smoke 'em" psychedelia that you have come to love if you harbor an infatuation for the psychedelic bands of the '60s, whether they came from San Francisco, London, or NYC.

On September 14 in the US and Canada (September 13 for Europe), The Black Angels will release their 3rd studio work, Phosphene Dream. It is preceded by a single release from the album, "Bad Vibrations." which is downloadable for free...somewhere, but I've lost the link. The other track, "Telephone," can be had here. The band begins a support tour, with Black Mountain, on October 28 at The Metro in Chicago, and concluding in Vancouver on November 30. But what really thrills me is the no-nonsense pre-order pricing of this release. The high-quality DD (FLAC, 320k MP3, Apple Lossless) of the entire album, the upcoming CD, plus the now-available high quality download of two tracks is only $9.99. Further, the above-mentioned DD AND the LP (180g), including the immediate DD of two tracks is only $19.99. Most amazing is the all-inclusive sale of DD, CD, LP, 2 bonus tracks, AND a signed lithograph poster, AND a band-branded hoodie sells for only $59.99 should you become a dedicated fan. This pricing scheme should become the standard for all music. If The Black Angels can do it, they can ALL do it.

If the single and their previous albums are any indicators, then I believe that fans of psychedelia will be very, very happy with the release of Phosphene Dream. Now, go check them out. Their MySpace, Facebook, Last FM, Twitter, etc links can be found at their site.

I want to alert TAP readers to the fact that I have finally put together a FaceBook fan page that you can access and join by clicking on the badge below.  What this offers is the exact same thing as my Twitter feeds provide and that is first buzz on upcoming releases and free offered downloads, many announcements  that beat our main post, sometimes by days.  We also provide a Google BUZZ page that expands on most of the Twitter/FB feeds. On Buzz, you can even hear the music stream if a stream is offered.  There are still things that I'm working on in the FB page, like calender notes as well as links to great sites like The Second Disc.  I invite you to join us at our FB page and bookmark it.  Visit it daily and you'll be rewarded with much news and info.  Of course, you'll still want to come to the main MusicTAP page for our noisy commentaries.  Remember, with our Twitter feeds, you can elect to receive the news bursts as text on your mobile phone keeping you effortlessly up to date with stuff.  Lots of choices.  Find one, or two, that fits.

MusicTAP

Promote Your Page Too 

I'm going to concentrate on the release notes section on something that's very exciting not only to me but to many of you as well. the subject of SACDs. Recently, Universal Japan (bless their hearts) has begun a campaign of releasing albums in the respected format of SACD that included Who's Next, Aja, Destroyer, Paranoid, and Blind Faith amongst a few more of the world's great Rock treasures. While Who's Next, Aja, etc will release on August 25, there is now a new batch of albums that are to be released on SHM-SACD via Universal Japan: Read them and get excited:

On October 27, you can expect the Limited Edition SHM-SACD releases of:

• Symphony Number 9 (Beethoven) - Seiji Ozawa (Saito Kinen Orchestra)
• Violin Concertos (JS Bach) - Hilary Hahn
• Le Sacre Du Printemps (Stravinsky) - Esa-Pekka Salonen
• Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section - Art Pepper
• Saxophone Colossus - Sonny Rollins
• Waltz For Debby - Bill Evans
• In the Land of Grey and Pink - Caravan
• Argus - Wishbone Ash
• Outlandos d'Amour - Police
• Smokin' - Humble Pie
• John Mayall and Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton
• Wheels of Fire - Cream
• Asia - Asia
• Long Live Rock 'n' Roll - Rainbow
• Gaucho - Steely Dan
• Beggars Banquet - Rolling Stones
• SA-CD SHM Sampler

I fully expect these SACD releases to continue. I'm completely convinced that a few of these DSD mixes were completed some years back when SACD were treated as a respected part of Universal's catalogue reissues but had been shelved when Universal - and other labels - gave up on the emerging format. Some of these titles have already seen release as SACDs some years back but have sold out of the existing While DVD-Audio can be mourned as a viable format that you could purchase, SACD seems to be resilient, holding on for life as it were.

I'm very anxious to see what new titles Universal Japan will come out with next in the SHM-SACD format. Pricey, yes...Priceless, hell yeah!

Get yours at CD Japan...or Amazon if you prefer (but it's more costly than CD Japan).