Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! Frank Zappa, Zappa '75: Zagreb/Ljubljana (Zappa/UMe) (Zappa Official Store / Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Zappa '75: Zagreb/Ljubljana captures The Mothers' first and only concerts in Yugoslavia. Zappa referred to the dates as "The Mothers of Invention Yugoslavian Extravaganza," and the performances lived up to that mighty moniker. The shows were staged in Zagreb and
Welcome to The Weekend Stream, a relaxing weekly review of notable digital-only catalogue titles. There may be no CD or vinyl, but there's plenty of great new/old music to discover! This week is packed with a few digital-led campaigns for Leonard Cohen, Bob Marley and Avril Lavigne, plus batches of releases for fans of Gloria Estefan and country singer Gene Watson! Leonard Cohen, Hallelujah & Songs from His Albums (Columbia/Legacy) (iTunes / Amazon) It's getting to the point where
Soundtrack vinyl label Mondo offers a killer new expanded release this week that'll make even the staunchest opponent to selling, buying or processing anything reconsider their position: the stirring soundtrack to 1989 romantic comedy Say Anything... Already lauded for his teenaged work as a journalist for Rolling Stone (which inspired his 2000 film Almost Famous) and the book-turned-'80s film classic Fast Times At Ridgemont High, screenwriter Cameron Crowe made his directorial debut with
In their first-ever digital-only box set, the music lovers at Rhino have curated That's Aught: The '00s Pop Culture Box, a 150-song collection that celebrates the many sides of that decade of music. From pop and hip-hop, country, pop-punk, soul, dance, and underground music, the selections are as diverse as the decade was. The staff at Rhino have sequenced the selections in more-or-less chronological order, beginning with *NSYNC's "Bye Bye Bye" before continuing on to iconic hits from music
It only saw release a few years back, but hard-rock supergroup Chickenfoot is reissuing their out-of-print debut album with a nice amount of extra tracks. The incredible pedigree of the band - featuring former Van Halen members Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony on vocals and bass, respectively, along with guitarist Joe Satriani and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith - earned a heavy amount of media attention upon first release, particularly as Hagar and Anthony's former bandmates in Van
George Harrison, Living in the Material World / Early Takes Vol. 1 (Hip-O/UMe) The big release in the U.S. today: Martin Scorsese's documentary about the esteemed Beatle on DVD and Blu-Ray, and a 10-track disc of entirely unreleased demos and outtakes. The Beach Boys, 50th Anniversary Collection 'ZinePak (Capitol/EMI) A new compilation/mini-booklet, available exclusively at Walmart stores in America, that features classic Beach Boys singles alongside the first-ever album appearance of the
How do the Red Hot Chili Peppers celebrate their graduation to legend status per their recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction? They pay tribute to the ones that came before on a new digital EP that includes a handful of B-sides paying tribute to their favorite fellow inductees. We Salute You, to be released May 1, includes covers of Dion and The Belmonts, The Ramones, The Stooges, Neil Young, The Beach Boys and David Bowie, all of which can certainly be argued as influences for the
Believe it or not, Record Store Day is almost upon us. (It's April 21 - just over a month away!) We've been anxiously awaiting word from the labels on what's coming out this year, and it looks like Warner Music Group is one of the first to the scene. While there's not much in the way of unreleased goodies on the catalogue side of things - there are certainly plenty new or unearthed songs from current acts, which you can read about here - there are a couple of vintage and contemporary classics
Paul McCartney is not dead, but he is digital: a new beta version of his website, developed with Hewlett-Packard, brings his solo catalogue to fans through a cloud service, along with a host of interactive features. Fans can stream all of his studio albums (including collaboration projects like The Fireman and Twin Freaks) through a jukebox, and premium members can download that jukebox as a desktop app. Additionally, a new "Rude Studio" section of his site allows fans to play and mix
Now here's a surprise. iTunes, in concert with the major record labels, put together a 38-song compilation called Songs for Japan, the proceeds of which would go to relief funds for the ongoing crises in Japan following a massive earthquake and tsunami that left the country in a state of peril. And now, Amazon has a listing for the compilation on CD from Legacy. (This two-disc set actually omits some of the tracks heard on the iTunes version, namely tracks by Madonna and David Guetta.) While
The fearful question reissue enthusiasts have to ask - particularly those who might have a hand in putting them out for public consumption - is: when is the reissue wave going to crash? I don't pose the question in terms of when people will stop paying money for physical media, because I don't think that's a particularly relevant problem right now. As long as fans keep buying enough reissued CDs now and future generations take a moment to ponder the merits of sound quality, this isn't an issue.