Ben Folds' first proper album, 1995's Ben Folds Five, was named for his band. And although Alanis Morissette had her breakthrough hit that same year with "Ironic," I'll put money down that nobody was more ironic that year than Ben Folds. After all, there were only three members of this Ben Folds Five! The pianist/singer/songwriter wore his sensibilities on his sleeve, and that slightly skewed - and yes, ironic - worldview has served him well over the years. "Underground," off that first album,
Hip-O Select Brings DeBarge LPs Back in a Special Way
Before "Who's Johnny," before the heartbreaking string of legal troubles and before last year's subtle comeback album Second Chance, El DeBarge was the silver-tongued frontman of one of Motown's last great pop acts: DeBarge. The family unit - Eldra, Mark, Bunny, Randy and James - struck gold on the charts with self-penned jams like "Time Will Reveal" and "I Like It," plus gems from crack pop tunesmiths like David Foster ("Who's Holding Donna Now?") and Diane Warren (the smash "Rhythm of the
Soul Trane: Coltrane's Posthumous Impulse! Albums, Boxed
Though he passed away in 1967, the flame of saxophonist and composer John Coltrane burns brighter each year. Hailed for his early work in the bebop and hard bop idioms and finally as a groundbreaker in modal and free jazz forms, Coltrane has posthumously been awarded both a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys and a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation. Coltrane has even been canonized by the African Orthodox Church! Hip-o Select's Verve arm continues its ongoing series of box sets dedicated
Live From D23: When We Wish Upon A Star
Greetings from beautiful downtown Anaheim! Your catalogue correspondent is reporting from the D23 Expo, or "The Ultimate Disney Fan Event." Every arm of The Walt Disney Company is here on the packed show floor, with special panels, presentations, signings and giveaways pertaining to each aspect of the company: film, television, theme parks, animation, publishing, and of course, music. As I'm immersed in all things Disney this weekend, both Mike and I thought it would be the perfect time to
Review: Three From Dave Grusin, Cy Coleman and Henry Mancini
With hyperbole the norm, it's questionable just how many buyers took notice of a 1957 album on the Liberty label entitled The Versatile Henry Mancini. Yet fewer record titles have proven as apt. As frequent collaborator Blake Edwards noted, "Whether the situation is romantic, humorous, tragic, ironic or full of action, Mancini creates exactly the right musical mood." Mancini's breakthrough came two years after that LP's release, when Edwards enlisted him to provide the cool jazz-inflected
Ride That Train: Johnny Cash "Bootleg III" Takes the Live Route
“Ah, I’d love to wear a rainbow every day/And tell the world that everything’s okay. But I’ll try to carry a little darkness on my back/Till things are brighter, I’m the Man in Black.” And though Johnny Cash appeared as that Man in Black, immortalized in his song, he was in reality a man of many colors. His music reflected a crucial empathy that guided his career as he embraced the various strains of America itself, both its people and its music. Records preserve Cash walking with superstars
Review: Bobby Charles, "Bobby Charles: Rhino Handmade Edition"
Gumbo’s on the menu, and Rhino Handmade is serving. The self-titled Bearsville debut LP from Bobby Charles is a N’awlins stew of roots music, laid-back country, soul and pure rock-and-roll from the man who gave the world “See You Later, Alligator,” and Rhino Handmade has expanded the original 1972 LP with two discs of delicious bonus material (RHM2 52663, 2011), shipping today from the label. It’s somewhat ironic that Bobby Charles was recorded in Woodstock, New York, as the man born Robert
Johnny Mathis, Alfred Newman and Basil Poledouris Coming Soon From La-La Land
Let’s hope all of you film score fans out there have been saving your pennies! On Monday, Kritzerland will unveil its latest classic soundtrack release (watch this very space for that news!) and the very next day, La-La Land continues the musical bonanza with two unique offerings. Jean Neguelsco's 1958 film A Certain Smile starred Rosanno Brazzi (South Pacific) and Joan Fontaine (Rebecca). Adding to the luster, the soundtrack to the 20th Century Fox drama about a middle-aged man’s affair with
More Garland: First Hand Reveals "The London Studio Recordings 1957-1964"
The British Film Institute describes Ronald Neame’s 1963 film I Could Go on Singing as a “made-to-measure portrait of a singer grappling with her many demons before a London Palladium concert.” With the singer in question portrayed by the incandescent Judy Garland in what would turn out to be her final film role, it’s only natural to wonder just how much of the film was art imitating life. Or was it the other way around? Garland herself had performed triumphantly on the famed London stage as
You Gotta Have Heart: Audio Fidelity Preps Gold Heart, "Sweet Baby James"
Audiophile specialty label Audio Fidelity continues to revisit familiar titles in 24k Gold CD editions with its two latest releases, both due August 23: James Taylor's 1970 breakthrough Sweet Baby James, and Heart's 1998 retrospective Greatest Hits. In the documentary film Troubadours, Carole King comments that due to the "generational and cultural turbulence...there was a hunger for the intimacy of what we did." And as 1970 began, listeners certainly did hunger for James Taylor. After the
Release Round-Up: Week of August 9
GQ, Two (Funkytowngrooves) GQ's 1980 Arista album gets the remastered treatment. (Amazon) Jefferson Airplane, Red Octopus (Friday Music) The 1975 effort from Paul Kantner, Marty Balin, Grace Slick and co. arrives on 180-gram vinyl with the mega-hit "Miracles" a highlight! (Official site) Evelyn "Champagne" King, Music Box (Funkytowngrooves) King teams with T-Life for this groove-laden RCA set from 1979! (Amazon) The Motels, Apocalypso (Omnivore) The Motels' lost album from 1981 finally
Collectors' New Choice: Gordon Anderson Launches New Label
Eagle-eyed crate diggers might have noticed a major disappearing act of late. Collectors’ Choice Music, long renowned for its diverse and eclectic line-up of releases by artists ranging from Bing Crosby to Jefferson Airplane, has quietly been allowing its label’s releases to go out-of-print. In fact, many of those titles are already commanding high prices on the second-hand market. (The beginning of the end of the Collectors’ Choice label can be read here.) Though the company’s famed
Love Hurts, But This Nazareth Box Looks Painless
Madness isn't the only artist getting a career box set from Salvo Music this year. The U.K. label is affording the same treatment to Scottish rockers Nazareth. While the band had only fleeting chart success in either the U.K. or the U.S. (enjoying early success at home with Top 10 hits "Broken Down Angel" and "Bad Bad Boy," as well as high-charting tunes like their rocking takes on Joni Mitchell's "This Flight Tonight" and Tomorrow's "My White Bicycle," and having one brief Top 10 in the U.S.
FINAL UPDATE 8/4: "Phil Spector Presents the Philles Album Collection" and "Essential Phil Spector" Due From Legacy
Well, get a load of that! This is the photo I've been waiting for - and if you're reading this, chances are you've been waiting with bated breath, too! As of August 4, we have official confirmation that Legacy's Phil Spector Presents the Philles Album Collection is, indeed, coming on October 18, along with a two-disc retrospective as part of the label's long-running Essential series. Most purchasers of Legacy's first wave of Philles Records reissues last February took immediate notice of a
Review: The Beau Brummels, "Bradley's Barn: Expanded Edition"
Before Abbey Road or Caribou, The Beau Brummels immortalized a famous recording studio as the title of Bradley’s Barn, their 1968 album for Warner Bros. Records. The San Francisco pop-rock outfit had travelled to Nashville, Tennessee to record at Owen Bradley’s storied venue at roughly the same time their contemporaries, The Byrds, were on the other side of town cutting Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Though the “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Turn! Turn! Turn!” hitmakers beat the Brummels to the punch
Sit Down I Think It's Van Dyke Parks: Music Man's "Arrangements" Arrive on CD
Forgive the hyperbole, but there’s nobody quite like Van Dyke Parks. Composer, arranger, producer, singer, musician, actor, author, raconteur, Parks is one-of-a-kind. Known for his dazzling, sometimes oblique wordplay, and sheer musical invention, Parks has contributed production, arrangements and songs to an incredible number of renowned artists over the years, often blazing new trails while harnessing his vast knowledge of popular music. For the first time, the renaissance man's work as a
Elton, Orbison, Plant, Mellencamp, Allman Salute "The Producer" On New T Bone Burnett Comp
T Bone Burnett epitomizes cool. The former Joseph Henry Burnett, with his omnipresent sunglasses, is so cool, in fact, that he makes the name “T Bone” sound hip! He’s the producer as rock star, an artist whom superstars and fresh-faced talents alike seek out for a shot in the arm. He’s also the man who made bluegrass trendy. And lest his cool credentials be in doubt, the man toured with Bob Dylan on the Rolling Thunder Revue! Raised in Texas, by way of Missouri, Burnett relocated to
Reissue Theory: Bruce Hornsby and The Range, "The Way It Is"
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we look back at notable albums and the reissues they could someday see. Exactly 25 years ago today, a classic pop album was released, with a sound that was totally different from what was the norm at that time. Now, we look back at the debut of Bruce Hornsby, and why a deluxe version would be a good idea. There were plenty of great songs to top the Billboard charts in 1986, but only one had any sort of conscious reflection behind it. Only
Reissue Theory: The Time, "All-Time Greatest"
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we focus on notable albums and the reissues they could someday see. On the 30th anniversary of the first album by one of Prince's most notable associated acts, we picture a release that's never happened: a career-spanning compilation for The Time. Thirty years ago, a major musical milestone occurred: Prince started transforming from a freaky, funk-rock gem of the Minneapolis music scene into an all-consuming musical entity. The conduit
Reach Out For Them: New 2-CD Comps Coming In September For Dionne, Chicago
Following collections devoted to Foreigner, Christopher Cross, Otis Redding and Yes, the U.K.’s Music Club Deluxe label (a member of the Demon Music Group family) continues its exploration of the Warner Music Group catalogue with new compilations focusing on the long, diverse careers of Dionne Warwick and Chicago. Either of these esteemed acts would be solid candidates for our Greater Hits feature, in which we compare an artist’s “greatest hits” output. Both certainly have been the subjects of
A Box Set for a Brand New Day: Sting Compiled on 3 CD/1 DVD Set
Twenty-six years ago, Sting firmly established himself as a solo artist away from The Police with the jazzy The Dream of the Blue Turtles. Yesterday, Universal announced the first-ever career-spanning box set for the iconic singer, entitled 25 Years. Okay, so music geeks aren't good at math. But what Universal did do a pretty decent job at was chronicling Sting's greatest moments over a wildly varied career - one that plumbed personal depths for great artistic effect in the late '80s and early
Smells Like More Details on 20th Anniversary "Nevermind" (UPDATED WITH TRACK LIST)
UPDATE: The track listing is now at the bottom of the post, courtesy of the NME! Original post: Back on June 22, we reported on Geffen Records/Universal Music Enterprises' plans for a 20th anniversary edition of Nirvana's 1991 Nevermind, originally released on September 24 of that year. New details have been released on the set which will arrive in stores on September 27, just three days after the exact anniversary. Universal has stopped short of providing a complete track listing, but one
What The World Needs Now Is Rockbeat Records
Billy Vera, Alberta Hunter and Jackie DeShannon may not have terribly much in common at first glance. But they're just a few of the artists coming your way thanks to Rockbeat Records. Yes, there's a new player in the catalogue field, and their slate of reissues proves that they're ready to make a big impression! Founded by Arny Schorr of S'more Entertainment and distributed by eOne, Rockbeat counts among its team an alumnus of Rhino Records. James Austin, the former Vice President of A&R
Harrison and Shankar's "Concert For Bangladesh" Goes Digital
“It was such a unique thing. Everybody was so moved and touched. It had a special feeling apart from just a performance. Overnight everybody knew the name of Bangladesh all over the world.” So said Ravi Shankar about The Concert For Bangladesh, the 1971 performances he organized with George Harrison at New York’s Madison Square Garden that set the standard for all-star benefits to come. Monday, August 1, marks the 40th anniversary of The Concert, and in commemoration, Apple and EMI have
The Adventure Begins With Safan's "Remo Williams" and Mancini's "Moneychangers"
Raise your hand if you remember the golden age of the television miniseries! Once upon a time, the miniseries was king: Rich Man, Poor Man, QB VII, North and South, Roots, The Thorn Birds. Sprawling novels were translated into multiple evenings of rich, dramatic television, with the small screen taking advantage of a length that even big screen fare couldn’t offer. One such miniseries was 1976’s The Moneychangers, based on a novel by Arthur Hailey (Hotel, Airport) and scored by the same man
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 110
- 111
- 112
- 113
- 114
- …
- 128
- Next Page »