Much of the music we listen to today comes from different generations. It may be an old favorite like Led Zeppelin, or it might be a group that was under the radar for many years before finally having their hey day long after they’d ceased to exist as a group, like Big Star. Behind the contemporary music scenes, there is a full-blown industry involved in keeping popular records in print and releasing albums that deserve a second chance.

Meet Gordon Anderson who has spent much of his life doing both things. He was the founder of the ubiquitous Collector’s Choice label in the 1990s which—long before streaming—was the easiest and most sonically pleasing way to track down classics from the ’50s and ’60s. After leaving Collector’s Choice, Anderson and his business partner Gabby Castellana have created Real Gone Music, which is, as they describe it, “a reissue label dedicated to serving both the collector community and the casual music fan with a robust release schedule combining big-name artists with esoteric cult favorites.”

With nearly ten releases per month, Real Gone Music probably has something in their catalog that will appeal to everyone, in fact, it’s this populist, all-encompassing acceptance that gives the label its unique spin: if enough people want it, Real Gone Music will try to find a way to serve it up.

Anderson and I take a deep dive into the world of running a record label, the business of music reissues, and the vinyl comeback. We also question what’s going on with our old buddy the CD, and learn about the origins of Real Gone’s celebrated Black Jazz label reissues. It seems difficult to comprehend, but if it weren’t for guys like Gordon Anderson keeping vintage music catalogs alive, you might not even know that some of your favorite music ever existed.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

On their recent release From Dreams to Dust, The Felice Brothers commit apostasy by setting themselves apart from the Americana pack (a term I heartily loathe) and bravely join the modern age. Gone are washboard and fiddle; James Felice’s accordion stays mostly in the background. The band no longer records in a converted chicken coop in the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York, and singer/songwriter/frontman Felice is no longer looking over his shoulder at fellow Catskill legends The Band.

On Dreams to Dust he commits that greatest of Americana sins–he says to hell with the Dust Bowl and sings about Marcel Proust, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and Friedrich Hegel instead. Why, he even tosses in Jean-Claude Van Damme and AC/DC baseball caps.

The increasing sophistication of Felice’s subject matter corresponds to the band’s more contemporary sound, and will no doubt alienate purists who love the band for old-timey tunes like “Run Chicken Run” and “Frankie’s Gun.” Some of their new songs are streamlined and bottom heavy, and you won’t hear then being played on a honky tonk jukebox or your local folk festival. I can practically hear the same people who booed Bob Dylan at Newport screaming “Sell outs!”

LP opener “Jazz on the Autobahn” is the most blatant offender. A tale of the Apocalypse framed in a story about a sheriff on the run with a woman named Helen, the music owes no debt to Pete Seeger and his mighty axe. And Felice (the best poet working in music today) paints a vivid picture. “This is what the apocalypse will look like,” sings Helen, “a tornado with human eyes” marked by “a sundown of the human heart.” She tells the sheriff it:

“Won’t look like those old frescoes, man, I don’t think so
There will be no angels with swords, man, I don’t think so
No jubilant beings in the sky above, man, I don’t think so
And it won’t look like those old movies neither
There will be no drag racing through the bombed-out streets neither.”

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Sony Music Entertainment’s Premium Content Division, in partnership with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, has announced The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts, a Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band film featuring ten never-before-released performances from the Madison Square Garden MUSE benefit concerts and full footage of the band’s entire setlist for the first time.

Edited by longtime Springsteen collaborator Thom Zimny from the original 16mm film alongside remixed audio from Bob Clearmountain, The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts represent the highest quality and best recorded Bruce Springsteen performances from an explosive, ascendant and rarely-filmed era of the E Street Band. The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts film will be released in HD on physical formats on 19th November, including on two CD with DVD, two CD with Blu-Ray, and two LP formats. The film will be available globally in HD for digital download on 16th November and digital rental on 23rd November.

“A few years ago, I started re-examining the filmed archives for Bruce and the Band’s appearances at the No Nukes concerts of 1979,” said Thom Zimny. “I quickly realised that these were the best performances and best filming from the Band’s legendary Seventies, and dedicated myself to bringing out the full potential of the footage. Having worked as Bruce’s principal director and editor for the last 20 years, I can say without reservation that this newly re-edited, re-mixed and restored ninety minute film is the gold standard for Bruce and the Band live during one of their greatest creative periods.”

“The Seventies were a golden period in the history of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, and the Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts is the greatest document of that era we will ever have,” said Jon Landau. “It’s a pure rock show from beginning to end, the energy level is transcendent, and the mastery of the art and the craft of rock music is awe-inspiring.”

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Celebrating John Coltrane, born on this day in 1926. —Ed.

When diving into the work of John Coltrane, many begin with a canonical record, likely from his tenure with the Atlantic or Impulse labels. There’s certainly no mistake in that, but anybody building a shelf of the saxophonist’s vital stuff will end up procuring a significant percentage of the material he cut for Bob Weinstock’s New Jersey-based Prestige company. Craft Recordings’ attractively designed and thoughtfully assembled 5CD or 8LP Coltrane ’58: The Prestige Recordings, a substantial hunk of it is easy to obtain. Chronologically sequencing the man’s leader or co-leader sessions from January to December of the titular year, it coheres into a powerful statement of budding greatness.

Make no mistake; nothing about Coltrane ’58: The Prestige Recordings suggests that it is a purchase one would make on a whim. A hefty clothbound release with an ample LP-sized booklet of photos, production notes, and excellent words from Ashley Khan, plus the meat of the matter, eight LPs tucked into manila sleeves (the 5CD set is the same with scaled-down dimensions), it’s a package clearly made for both longtime lovers of John Coltrane and Modern Jazz in general and for folks whose recently developed interest in these subjects is unquestionably keen.

As its full title makes plain, Coltrane ’58 documents the saxophonist’s time with the Prestige label, though only partially so; none of the extensive sideman work is here, and neither are his earlier leader sessions (his first album under his own name, Coltrane, was released through Prestige late in ’57). And so, not a completist thing, which would be unwieldly, as the man’s complete recordings for Prestige required 16 CDs, but instead, something better; a digestible and enlightening portrait of a year’s work in the driver’s seat under the supervision of Weinstock and recorded by Rudy Van Gelder.

Prestige didn’t keep alternate takes, so there’s nothing unreleased here. That means those longtime fans who already own all of the original LPs (or picked up either the complete Prestige 16CD box from ’91 or the leader-date truncation Fearless Leader from ’06) will need to calculate whether dropping cash for Coltrane ’58 is in their interest.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | The September 24, 1991 release of Nirvana’s Nevermind touched off a seismic shift in global youth culture. Rising to #1 worldwide over the next few months, its impact would elevate Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Dave Grohl from a promising Pacific Northwest cult band to one of the most successful and influential artists of all time. Nevermind returned rock ’n’ roll integrity and passion to the top of the charts, and continues to be a singular inspiration to fans and musicians alike over the last three decades–as it no doubt will for generations to come.

Beginning November 12, 2021, Geffen/UMe commemorates the 30th anniversary of Nevermind with several multi-format reissues. A total of 94 audio and video tracks–70 previously unreleased–will be made available across configurations ranging from Super Deluxe Editions to standard digital/CD and single disc vinyl with bonus 7-inch. In all formats, Nevermind is newly remastered from the original half-inch stereo analog tapes to high-resolution 192kHz 24-bit.

Among the previously unreleased material exclusive to various versions of the Nevermind 30th Anniversary Editions are four complete live shows that document Nirvana’s historic ascension on the concert stage – Live in Amsterdam, Netherlands (recorded and filmed on November 25, 1991 at the famed club Paradiso); Live in Del Mar, California (recorded on December 28, 1991 at the Pat O’Brien Pavilion at the Del Mar Fairgrounds); Live in Melbourne, Australia for triple j (recorded February 1, 1992 at The Palace in St. Kilda); and Live in Tokyo, Japan (recorded at the Nakano Sunplaza on February 19, 1992).

All four newly remastered live shows are included in the Nevermind Super Deluxe Editions, which will be available in both vinyl (8LPs – 180-gram black vinyl – all in premium tip-on jackets — plus the new 7-inch – A-side: “Endless, Nameless” / B-side: “Even In His Youth” and “Aneurysm”) and CD+Blu-ray (5 CDs plus Blu-ray – Live in Amsterdam, Netherlands complete concert video newly remastered audio & video in HD).

For pre-orders, full track listings and release dates for all configurations go HERE.

VIA PRESS RELEASE | This holiday season, Merge Records will release a special 10th anniversary edition of A Very She & Him Christmas, the now classic-status collection of holiday tunes from Zooey Deschanel (She) & M. Ward (Him).

Originally released in October 2011, A Very She & Him Christmas was the beloved duo’s third album and marked their first adventure into the wonderful world of holiday music. The new, limited-edition deluxe reissue sees Zooey and Matt look to the 1980s for inspiration. A Very She & Him Christmas deluxe is pressed on tinsel silver vinyl and includes a brand-new 7-inch, also on silver vinyl, that features a dazzling version of Madonna’s “Holiday” and a cover of Wham!’s “Last Christmas,” as well as a bonus download of their beautiful take on “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” the Meredith Wilson classic popularized by Perry Como and Bing Crosby in 1951. The 7-inch can also be purchased separately on evergreen vinyl.

Renowned for their joyous holiday shows, today’s album news comes with a string of tour dates for December, including two hometown shows at Los Angeles’ Theater At The Ace Hotel. (All dates below). Tickets go on sale Friday (9/24), sign up for presale tickets starting Wednesday (9/22) at sheandhim.com. One dollar from each presale ticket will be donated to Baby 2 Baby.

A Very She & Him Christmas has grown in popularity every Christmastime since its release, finding itself in high rotation alongside kindred spirits like A Christmas Gift for You, A Charlie Brown Christmas and classic holiday albums by The Beach Boys, The Carpenters, and Elvis Presley. Ever since the album was first released in 2011, She & Him have donated a portion of sales from the album to 826 National, a non-profit for young people to ignite and channel their creativity, explore identity, advocate for themselves and their community, and achieve academic and professional success. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been donated to date, and She & Him are proud to continue that initiative with this reissue.

Celebrating Joan Jett, born on this day in 1958. —Ed.

Joan Jett’s 1979 debut LP is one of rock music’s most joyful readymades–an utterly endearing romp through rock history from hoary old standards (“Wooly Bully”) to bubblegum pop to Gary Glitter to the buzzsaw sound of the Ramones, Bad Reputation is a veritable vinyl jukebox you’ll never get tired of tossing dimes into.

On Bad Reputation–original title Joan Jett--the runaway Runaway dares to wear her heart on her sleeve by pledging allegiance to the songs that made her who she is; this is Joan Jett’s Self Portrait, and with the exception of her too-stiff-by-half take on the Isley Brothers’ “Shout,” she does her personal canon proud. Not only does she prove she’s the true successor to Gary Glitter (and by association her glam role model Suzi Quatro), she demonstrates conclusively that she’s her own gurl by contributing a couple of songs that (with the exception of the punk-tinged title track) blend seamlessly in with their esteemed company.

Jett (the Blackhearts were still in the future) chose her producers wisely. Top guys Kenny Laguna and Ritchie Cordell (Sex Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook also lent a hand) were both proud Super K Productions alumni working under immortal bubblegum producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffrey Katz, and they brought their many years of throwaway pop songcraft to the table. Remember that version of Led Zep’s “Stairway to Heaven” set to the lyrics of the theme song from Gilligan’s Island? You can thank Laguna for it. And Cordell is the guy who bequeathed us both “I Think We’re Alone Now” and “Mony Mony.”

I could go into all kinds of philosophical digressions about Jett’s reactionary backwards-looking worldview but I’m too busy bashing my head to her positively infectious takes on Glitter classics “Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)” and “Doing Alright with the Boys.” Jett hangs on to that big, bad Glitter sound (dig that tribal thump thump thump!) but takes both songs to Glamtastic new heights by making Glitter (no wallflower for sure) sound positively enervated; she doesn’t sing ‘em, she shouts ‘em, bringing an unprecedented amount of bad attitude to the table. Message to Glam Rock: You’re not dead until Joan Jett says you are!

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The New York-based Holy Hive consists of Homer Steinweiss on drums, Joe Harrison on bass, and Paul Spring on vocals and guitar. Their second album is a self-titled affair coming out on Big Crown Records, as did their debut from last year. The label connection might inspire thoughts of neo-soulfulness, but while that’s not an inaccurate assumption, particularly as Steinweiss has backed up Amy Winehouse, Lady Gaga, Adele and others, it’s only part of an equation that has been impressively honed on this ample 15-track set. It’s available digitally, on compact disc and on either standard black or translucent pink with blue spatter vinyl on September 24.

Holy Hive stands out in the Big Crown catalog through a sound that’s been dubbed Folk Soul. As I mentioned in an assessment of their debut in these web pages from June of 2020, this style hybrid might conjure positive visions of Bill Withers and perhaps Terry Callier, or maybe even Curtis Mayfield (and late period Tim Buckley as a significant negative), and then not much else.

Folk Soul is certainly an applicable tag for Holy Hive’s sound, indeed as the band’s bio details the meeting up Minnesota way of neo-soul session ace Steinweiss and Spring, a traveling folk singer. But after completing the band with Harrison and then enlisting a bevy of guest contributors including, either on this album or the last, harpist Mary Lattimore, trumpeter Dave Guy (of The Roots), singer-bassist Shannon Wise (of The Shacks), and guitarist Robin Pecknold (of Fleet Foxes), Holy Hive have fomented a well-controlled atmosphere that’s frequently reminiscent of gentle psych and even mellow pop.

Key to Holy Hive’s success is how they never misplace the backbeat nor the range of emotion at the microphone (a soul necessity), as Spring has a superb falsetto. Both elements are foregrounded in Holy Hive’s crisp opener “Color It Easy,” which sounds like it could’ve been a hit single anywhere from 1968 to ’72, except that the drums wouldn’t have hit quite this hard back then (and yet with consummate restraint), and some producer would’ve no doubt marred the situation by slathering on canned strings or something similar.

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