Archival Posts 2003 April 06-12

April 10, 2003

Hopefully, we have this transition finished with but you never know. Until one site quits and another takes over, we're still in iffy land. But...having said that, let's try to make up for lost territory.

MusicTAP enjoyed a huge discussion concerning my statements on April 8. We got such a wide cross section of discussion which ranged from 'record companies are at fault' to 'full agreement of needed involvement'. Some of you disagreed with my first thought choices (The Music and Interpol), while many of you offered up your own choices. Regardless, we'll have to come up with a way of connection; from assisting new bands signed and helping get the word across using the benefits of the internet as a beacon to pushpushpush. Continuing...

Well, we been gone from the normal stuff for the last two days. The news was slow and it allowed us to make needed changes. So, let's see what we can find now.

First, we have a bit of insider news to relay to you concerning the upcoming Led Zeppelin DVD. An 'Atlantic Records insider' gave me the scoop on what's to be expected. There is much to be excited about. Some of the performances seen on the DVD is a 1970 Royal Albert Hall show that highlighted earlier blusier work including "Dazed and Confused". The rumour is that the DVD will feature a 25 minute workout of "Dazed and Confused". Also in the DVD is a 1973 show at Madison Square Garden, which are alternates and outtakes from "The Song Remains The Same" that includes a "smokin' " performance, with emphasis on smokin' by Mr Atlantic, of "The Ocean". The immediate question was, "How did this get left out of the film?". "Misty Mountain Hop" from the film outtake is also in this package. A performance from a 1975 Earl's Court show feature "Going to California" with Jones on mandolin and Page on acoustic, (no Bonham), and "In My Time of Dying". There is also a performance from a 1979 Knebworth show with "Nobody's Fault but Mine" and "Kashmir".

Included in the already hefty package is footage from other venues including a bootleg video of "Immigrant Song" with professional quality audio. The picture quality ranges from good on older materials to excellent for the Madison Square Garden shows and beyond. There are also stills spliced in to fill space from where footage is unavailable due to limitations of time however, the general consensus is that it works very very well. The sound quality is excellent. There is no word on extras as of this time. But, as it's stated, "...many Zeppelin fans will be very happy at the end of May when this comes out." This 2DVD set is penciled for May 27 and will be joined by the release of the 3CD set, "How The West Was Won". Anxious yet?

The new Sugar Ray disc, "In The Pursuit of Leisure" will arrive in stores on June 3, preceded by the arrival for radio of their single, "Mr Bartender (It's So Easy)" next week.

Fans of White Stripes can tune into Late Night w Conan O'Brien beginning April 22 and for 4 consecutive nights, will get treated to a live performance of a new song from "Elephant", released April 1, one each night. Mark your calendars if you want to make sure to catch those performances. While on the subject of TV performances, Todd Rundgren will be on David Letterman, April 16. Moby will be on Carson Daly, April 18.

Can you believe that blues legend, John Mayall, is approaching his 70th birthday? Sanctuary Records, who have their hands in a lot of very cool material have a 2CD compilation coming out on May 6. In a career measured by decades, John Mayall has created timeless performances. And while never gaining commercial success (even though many of his sidemen went on to find that elusive success), Mayall managed to produce some of most enduring catalogue pieces. Sanctuary issues "Rockin' the Roadshow", a collection of live recordings culled from his "Rock The Blues Tonight" live LP, and a handful of studio gems from his rare, "Road Show Blues". This collection feature 'remastered from original masters' upgrades along with extensive liner notes additions.

Also from Sanctuary, an Eddie Money compilation, "Then and Now - Eddie Money", that features live renditions of his Columbia hits and filling the rest out with recent studio recordings. Personally, I enjoyed Eddie Money for all of his first two Columbia issues, after which his output seems (to me) to lack any quality punch. Even so, his bigger hits occurred after that period so what do I know. Nevertheless, for fans. This disc arrives on June 3.

Arista is penciling in a new Sarah McLachlan for a tentative November 4 date with title to be determined. We'll keep an eye out on that.

I promised that I would get back with you on the RCA release of the complete Lou Reed retrospective disc,"NYC Man - Lou Reed: The Collection". This is what I know. The disc streets on June 3. The 2CD album was compiled and mastered by Lou Reed himself. Lou stated that, "Anybody who's a fan of me or The Velvet Underground will be delighted to hear what this stuff sounds like - the way it's supposed to sound." Let me tell you, his involvement and track selection, which I'll list for you, already has me salivating heavily. Here's what we have: This is the first definitive set to have output from his years with Verve (Velvet Undergound), RCA, Arista, and WEA in one set. The album will also include exclusive content in a remixed "Walk on The Wild Side - 2003" and an unreleased alternate take from Reed's latest album, 2003's "The Raven", of the song, "Who Am I?". There is a concise, track by track commentary written by Lou Reed on each song in the collection. The set even includes unreleased live performances of some material including "Kill Your Sons" from the "Sally Can't Dance" period. Track listing follows:

Disc One

Who Am I? (Raven)
Sweet Jane (Loaded)
Rock and Roll (Loaded)
I'm Waiting for The Man (VU w/ Nico)
White Light/White Heat (Rock n Roll Animal)
Street Hassle (Street Hassle)
Berlin (Berlin)
Caroline Says (Berlin)
The Kids (Berlin)
Walk on the Wild Side (Transformer)
Kill Your Sons (Live in Italy) Unreleased in USA
Vicious (Transformer)
The Blue Mask (Blue Mask)
I'll Be Your Mirror (Perfect Night: Live in London)
Magic and Loss (Magic and Loss)
Ecstasy (Ecstasy)

Disc Two

I Wanna Be Black (Take No Prisoners)
Temporary Thing (Rock n Roll Heart)
Shooting Star (Street Hassle)
Legendary Hearts (Legendary Hearts)
Heroin (Live in Italy) Previously Unreleased in USA
Coney Island Baby (Coney Island Baby)
The Bells (The Bells)
Perfect Day (Transformer)
Sally Can't Dance (Sally Can't Dance)
Satellite of Love (Transformer)
NYC Man (Set The Twilight Reeling)
Dirty Blvd (New York)
Rock Minuet (Ecstasy)
Pale Blue Eyes (Velvet Underground)
Walk on the Wild Side 2003 remix by 7 Aurelius

Retail list for this package is 24.98. Watch for our review on this title.

Another few remasters from Sanctuary Records are two titles from Tangerine Dream, "Underwater Sunlight" and "Poland". You can expect those titles to roll into stores on May 6.

We have a few reviews today for you. The first up is Ani Difranco's latest, "Evolve". The second review is James Taylor 'Best Of' package from Warner Brothers. Upcoming reviews are "voirshn" by Projekt's loveliescrushing, Chandeen's latest, "Echoes"; Rhino's "Europe '72" by The Grateful Dead; Angel Air's Crawler offerings, "Live at the Agora Club, Ohio 1978" and "Demo Anthology"; The Deluxe Edition of Howlin' Wolf's "London Sessions"; and Police catalogue SACDs. And more. Marco Passarelli has BMG's "Flying Funk" and the new Robbie Williams, "Escapeology". John Nelson has a batch of Telarc titles in the works, amongst other titles. Grey and Dan will be back with new material soon as well. We'll be featuring Scott Watkins reviews soon as well as Duane Leyva and Greg Warner. We have stuff on tap for the next few weeks. So come back.

April 8, 2003

Although it may seem that I'm loud about nothing, I am a little concerned for the recognition and proliferation of good music. Here's my problem. In this world of 'me too', it seems as if the potentially great bands get overlooked. For every U2, there are 20 that, while every bit as good as a U2, simply fall by the wayside. The reasons are anybody's guess but let me attempt one anyway. Recently, there were several great bands that were primarily ignored by the music buying public. One of those bands, The Music, had a brief flash and then fell from the light...far too quickly. Another, Interpol, while garnering a little radio play, has been largely ignored.

Quite frankly, I'm perplexed. I've hyped these bands...and hyped. And as great as the music from these band's debuts were, I've heard virtually nothing.

Radio is still a powerful force in breaking new bands. The internet is still miles behind for the simple reason of time. No one gets onto the internet to hunt for new bands. It's just not a practical way to spend time. Radio, on the other hand, is a thing we listen to when we have no other means of entertainment at hand, such as driving. And that is severely curtailed by the ability to listen to CDs. Frankly, I mourn the 'old days' when there were no other means of discovery other than the radio. I miss those REAL Top 40 radio stations that broadcast every popular song, not the isolated, genre specific garbage stations that we have today.

Oh my...I've slipped off into a rant. The point of all this is just how do we promote and get across excellent bands starting out without having them fade away. I can see The Music (the band) becoming our next big thing like U2. Will it happen? I hope so...but it's unlikely. In fact, I've yet to hear one single song on the radio from this band...and I live smack dab in the heart of LA radio.

Magazines? Well...back in the day, we had Crawdaddy, Rolling Stone (when it meant something and not the MTV-like publication it's become), Trouser Press, Creem, and to lesser extent, Circus. They helped break new bands as well. Those types of publications are few and far too minimal and obscure to make a difference to the MTV crowd. What we have that are viable, (Dirty Linen, etc.) are far too genre specific to do any real good.

And since we're going nowhere fast other than to allow an old man to blow off steam, I'm going to propose that I do my part. And I invite record companies of all types to join in and help to make a difference. Here's the deal. Record Companies, you need to alert me to brand new bands, making me aware of new talent. Send me your discs...ahead of time when you can. I'm pretty damn flexible and can recognize talent when I hear it even if I don't personally like it. Trust me, I'll be fair. I'm going to create a new segment of MusicTAP that will help do the job of radio and print magazines in that I'll alert the readers to new and potentially great bands. Let's let word of mouth take over from there. I'll include links to MP3s where I can.

But I'll need record companies help. I know you folks read the site. I see your IPs in the reports and I get email from a lot of you. And I truly love the lot of you. Why? Because you care... I can tell. It's not all business, it's passion to many of you.

And the readers...they're the best in the world. I love the lot of you as well. I get your emails and I try to answer everyone of them. You have been very supportive of what we do here and I deeply appreciate that. And I love talking with you because you share the passion and the love for music as deeply as any that I have known.

And I'm going to throw in a big thanks to Bill Hunt of The Digital Bits who, like many of us, believes in the power of the medium of music to revitalize a somewhat stale and lackluster generation of whatever you want to call it.

So, to recap...I'm taking the initiative to develop a segment of TAP for a radio/magazine like alert which will be designed to bring fresh bands to your attention worth listening to. I'm asking the help of record companies to provide me with these new bands' CDs, allowing me to preview them. If they make the grade like The Music does, like Interpol does, we'll set up a display page and keep them forefront. Hopefully, you as readers, will listen to our finds and spread the word. Maybe we'll be responsible for the next U2 who might have otherwise floundered and disappeared from sight.

Thanks for reading and listening but it's damn time to stand up and be a part of change.

News is otherwise very slim. I have a cool find from EMI. They're issuing a "Greatest Hits" package for The Hollies on May 20. The 2CD set features a collection of all of their hits plus additional popular tracks. There is also a new song included. There are 47 songs altogether. Exciting set...I want it. Thanks to Rainer Horak for the heads up.

I am also posting the lone review this evening for The Moody Blues' Deluxe Edition of their 1992 "A Night at Red Rocks". It's an expanded edition and it's essential as a live document. The audio is superb, the package sweet. Jump in and read what I thought.

With that, I'm finished for the day. I hope that I haven't disappointed the readers in rambling on what I felt to be an important issue. I only hope that you feel the same way. If you do, bombard my mail box and we'll get this show on the road.

Tomorrow...

April 7, 2003

MusicTAP is happy to make the announcement that we have entered into a retail partnership with Acoustic Sounds along with our affiliate, The Digital Bits. Acoustic Sounds offer high resolution audio discs that include not only the SACD/DVD-Audio/XRCD collections but also high quality LPs. Should you wish to purchase an album after reading one of our reviews, simply click on the button at the bottom of the review or click the album cover, you'll be taken directly to the ordering page. When you purchase a disc via this link, you help to support what we do here at MusicTAP.

The addition to the SACD schedule for Universal is the 'title to be announced' disc for Will Downing. The disc is scheduled to street on Sept 9. The album, Downing's 10th release for GRP Records, will see simultaneous release with the standard CD issue. More info as it becomes available.

Well..we did it. We reviewed Pink Floyd's SACD upgrade of "The Dark Side of the Moon". In a word? SPECTACULAR. With a quality release like this one, high resolution music moves a step closer. With a few more high profile releases such as the continuation of Pink Floyd's catalogue, acceptance becomes more of a reality. So come in and check out that review.

We also have a review of The Byrd's "Greatest Hits" SACD disc by Robert Olsen, our resident Byrds expert. Additionally, we have the SACD review of Telarc's "Got Swing!" by John Nelson and, for tomorrow, finally, my review of Universal/Threshold's 2CD Deluxe Edition of The Moody Blues' "Live at Red Rocks".

The news from the weekend has been very quiet and it looks to be quiet over the week. You just get a feeling about it. Let's hope that we get blasted with new and cool releases. But there are a few definites, although you probably know all about 'em.

MCA Records has Live on the May schedule for a May 20 release. The title, "Birds of Prey" come in several configs, the standard release and a limited edition that includes a bonus DVD.

Interscope/nothing records will release Marilyn Manson's latest, "The Golden Age of Grotesque" on May 13 in several flavours as well. There will be the standard issue and an obliging edited set as well as a limited edition that comes with a bonus DVD. In new upcoming DVD issues, Hollywood Records is releasing "Queen - Live at Wembley '86" on June 10 with Roger Waters' "The Wall: Live in Berlin" following on June 17 on the Mercury stamp. While we're at it, fans of Sigur Ros will have a chance at "Untitled Track #1", a CD single, or the same title with the bonus of a video.

A label named Raven Records is releasing a Byrds set, "Byrd Parts", a compilation of some 24 tracks recorded by members of the band before, during , and after their tenure with The Byrds. The set features some rare, elusive, and essential tracks. This label has also issued some Byrds material in the past including solo offerings by Gram Parsons and Gene Clark. They have other interesting titles as well and deserve investigation as they lie low on the radar. You can go here for more information.

We'll part company here now but will be back tomorrow with more reviews and news. We've received Rhino's 2CD Expanded and Remastered edition of The Grateful Dead's "Europe '72" and Warner's "The Best of James Taylor", an all inclusive disc that feature the best of his years with Apple, Warner, and Columbia. We also have upcoming reviews for Crawler discs from Angel Air, Ani Difranco's "Evolve" from Righteous Babe Records and other SACD titles from various labels. Come back for more tomorrow.