It would be a mighty task to distill the career of Ray Parker, Jr. - singer, songwriter, guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, producer, arranger, and more - into one collection, but Big Break Records has boldly done just that with the enticing anthology entitled For Those Who Like to Groove: The Essential Ray Parker, Jr. and Raydio. The Cherry Red imprint has collected 32 hits and rarities on 2 CDs from the period of 1978-1987, proving there's a whole lot more to the artist than just his
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The dB's and Friends, Christmas Time Again! (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Omnivore revisits and revises the classic alt-rock Christmas compilation. Producer Chris Stamey has added new performances by Yo La Tengo & Jeff Tweedy, Marshall Crenshaw, Robyn Hitchcock, and Big Star's Third (featuring Mike Mills of R.E.M. taking lead vocals on Big Star's "Jesus Christ") to selected tracks from past editions of the album for a total of 22