Demon Music Group has recently launched a new series of Half-Speed Master Editions, all cut from original stereo tapes at AIR Mastering and pressed on 180-gram vinyl. Today, we're looking at three of these titles. Demon has had a long history with The Yardbirds' Roger the Engineer (1966) including a 1986 expanded edition on CD, a single-LP vinyl reissue in 2019, a double-LP vinyl reissue in 2020 for Record Store Day, and a generous 2-LP/3-CD/1-7" single box set in 2021. Appropriately
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Grateful Dead, Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses): 50th Anniversary Edition (Grateful Dead/Rhino) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP Black Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Dead.net (B&W Vinyl) Rhino continues its series of 50th anniversary reissues for Grateful Dead with the band's 1971 self-titled live album with the famous "Skull and Roses" cover. The centerpiece of the reissue is more than hour of
Last Record Store Day Black Friday, Demon Music Group reissued The Yardbirds' Roger the Engineer as a 2-LP Expanded Edition. Now, the 1966 rock classic is getting even more expanded - this time, as a 2-LP/3-CD/1-7" single deluxe box set. Utilizing the original master tapes, the box (announced this morning) features new remastering by Phil Kinrade at Alchemy Mastering at AIR, overseen by original album producer Paul Samwell-Smith. Despite leaving behind a strong legacy of classic songs, The
Last year, Cherry Red's RPM imprint closed up shop after almost 30 years and some 600+ releases. But a new imprint was announced to pick up where RPM left off: Strawberry. Its inaugural collection, Halcyon Days: '60s Mod, R&B, Brit Soul, and Freakbeat Nuggets has proved an auspicious debut for the imprint with big shoes to fill. The 3-CD collection traces the development of '60s British soul and R&B from the mod period to the first flowering of psychedelia featuring a blend of names
2020 has been a bit of a rollercoaster and Record Store Day 2020 is no exception: once scheduled in April, it moved forward a few months, and is now spread out across three Saturdays in the summer and fall. The Record Store Day Drop in August proved a success and round two, set for tomorrow, September 26, is sure to please fans of all genres and eras. It's a diverse list full of exciting releases that you can only find through your local brick-and-mortar record store (or through their online
Tomorrow marks Record Store Day Drop 2. Recently, RSD U.K. announced 23 additions to their drop lists for September and October. While we know for sure that The Rolling Stones' upcoming Steel Wheels Live 10" picture disc will be a worldwide release, it's unclear at the time of writing whether all of the other releases will be distributed across the pond. Still, with so many retailers taking their business online given the COVID-19 pandemic, it's altogether possible that customers in the
By any estimation, 1966 was a pivotal year in rock. On one side of the Atlantic: Pet Sounds, Blonde on Blonde, Sounds of Silence. On the other: Revolver, Fresh Cream, Aftermath. Those albums merely represent the tip of the iceberg, however. 1966 was a year in which psychedelia emerged from the fringes and onto the charts via such artists as The Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, and yes, The Beatles with "Tomorrow Never Knows." The underground scene continued to grow and increasingly attract the
We're continuing our Record Store Day 2020 spotlights with a look at what Demon Music Group has on offer for RSD in the U.K. (with many titles available worldwide)! The label's 15 titles encompass classic rock and pop titles plus comedy, spoken-word, a lost Doctor Who series, and much more. Remember: releases are available while supplies last at your preferred brick-and-mortar record store on Saturday, April 18! The descriptions to follow have been provided by Demon. Bob Mould - Circle of
Ace's latest addition to its Songwriter Series, Listen People: The Graham Gouldman Songbook 1964-2005, appropriately enough begins with a track written by Gouldman, "That's How (It's Gonna Stay)." But the track is also significant in that it was performed by Gouldman, as well - as part of his early group The Mockingbirds. Throughout his career, he's worn many hats - as a songwriter, as a band member, as a solo artist - and all of them are touched upon on this fine celebration of a largely
Randy Newman once observed of his friend Harry Nilsson, "The records Harry made, and the first records I made, it was like The Rolling Stones never existed." Indeed, before his famously chronicled lifestyle as a Hollywood hellraiser threatened to overshadow his reputation as a talent nonpareil (and left his once-angelic voice in tatters), Nilsson had carved out an artful niche of wit and whimsy. He expressed his musical muse in gentle psychedelia, baroque pop, folk rock, vaudeville
What do Deep Purple, The Move, Hawkwind, Fleetwood Mac and The Yardbirds all have in common? Though each of those five bands carved out distinct musical identities, all incorporated elements of psychedelia in their early hard-rock explorations. A new 3-CD box set from Cherry Red's Grapefruit imprint offers an in-depth chronicle of the music that planted the seeds of progressive rock and metal. I'm a Freak, Baby is, as per its subtitle, A Journey Through the British Heavy Psych and Hard Rock