TVD Los Angeles

The Best of The Idelic Hour with Jon Sidel

Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Beautiful people are queuing to drown / They wait for the lifeguard to put on his crown / But he’s up at the other end of town / Trying to talk to the mirror / The scientist talks and he knows what he means / He sits on the floor and has beautiful dreams / Then he gets brought down by a woman who screams / But he knows it’s only a record¡ oh yes it is

A song for insane times? Huh? I guess whatever you say.

My grind towards spring continues. Kid Jonah made it back safely from Coachella to pitch well on Tuesday. So life is as good as it can be. Oh, and I made it out to see Bar Italia at Fonda Theatre last night.

These days I’m not used to standing with a thousand people to watch a band. From the NY Dolls to Fugazi to Led Zeppelin I’ve seen ’em all. What made me want to add Bar Italia to that list? Italia’s debut album was one of the sparks of 2023.

Happy to report that so did many cool kids made the scene. There was even a nice touch of rock ‘n’ roll fashion in the crowd. The band has room to grow live, but they finished off last night’s gig strong.

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TVD Washington, DC

TVD Live: Mercury Rev at the Atlantis, 4/13

Since it first formed 35 years ago at the University of Buffalo, Mercury Rev has gone through a lot of phases before settling into the kind of poetic grandeur it gave its high water mark, 1998’s Deserter’s Songs and that continues to inform their latest work, last year’s Born Horses.

It’s the kind of big, synth-washed saturation with guitar embellishment and booming drums that would satisfy an arena crowd. It was strange and wonderful, then, to see Mercury Rev in the first week of their tour playing a club as small as the Atlantis in DC. Bringing the same kind of theatricality to their performance that they’ve brought to their sound, the touring quintet assembled on stage to the strains of Ravi Shankar and an Antoine de Saint-Exupéry audiobook.

Frontman Jonathan Donahue, in a double-breasted coat, cap, and ascot, looked like a Pied Piper, using elaborate arm motions to swim through the sound or suddenly crouch to conduct or simply present the forces on either side of the stage, conjuring up their sounds like a wizard.

One was the only other original member of the band, Sean “Grasshopper” Mackowiak, in shades, playing an electric guitar that wasn’t so much individual notes or even chords, but more a cascade of glistening effects. Opposite him was the booming drums of Joe Magistro. Behind them, also in shades, were a pair of multi-instrumentalists, mostly working a pair of synthesizers, though Jesse Chandler also picked up an occasional sax or flute to bring something different to the mix.

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TVD Radar: Elliott Smith, Figure 8 (Deluxe Edition) 3LP in stores 6/6

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Twenty-five years ago today, the late musical mastermind Elliott Smith released Figure 8, his immaculate, ornate, Technicolor second album for DreamWorks Records.

In honor of the album’s 25th anniversary, its enduring appeal and continued influence, Interscope/UMe will release Figure 8 (Deluxe Edition), the previously digital-only edition that expands the classic album with all the B-sides, solo acoustic and alternate version tracks that were released on the various singles, promos, and international editions of the beloved 2000 record, on vinyl for the first time. The Deluxe Edition was released as a digital exclusive in 2019 to commemorate what would have been Smith’s 50th birthday.

The first-ever vinyl pressing of Figure 8 (Deluxe Edition) features the album presented on 45 rpm tri-color opaque white, black and red “Figure 8 Mural Vinyl” as a nod to the famous Los Angeles mural that a black and white Smith stands in front of on the iconic album cover. The original 16 tracks are spread across two LPs while a third LP boasts seven bonus tracks, six of which have never been on vinyl.

The audio has been mastered for vinyl by Justin Perkins at Mystery Room Mastering with lacquers cut by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound. This special 25th anniversary Deluxe Edition will be housed in a tri-fold sleeve and this exclusive vinyl colorway is limited to 3,000 globally. Figure 8 (Deluxe Edition) is available to purchase exclusively via Interscope.com. The record will ship on or around June 6.

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Graded on a Curve:
The Dictators,
Go Girl Crazy!

Celebrating Andy Shernoff in advance of his 70th birthday tomorrow.Ed.

You can’t judge a book by its cover, but LPs? A whole different story. One glance at the cover of The Dictators’ 1975 debut Go Girl Crazy!—which features roadie turned singer and “Secret Weapon” Handsome Dick Manitoba hamming it up in a wrestling outfit and a 200-watt smile, resplendent in Jewfro and dark sunglasses, an outrageous red glitter jacket bearing his name hanging from a gym locker nearby—and you know you’re in the presence of something truly outrageous and great.

Oh, how I love The Dictators. The New Yawk proto-punkers may have produced only one brilliant LP, namely Go Girl Crazy! (which sold like shit), but talk about influential; you can draw a direct line between it to The Ramones and straight to The Beastie Boys. All three bands have the same smartass “fight for your right to party” punk attitude; they all deliver tons of snotty and hilarious one-liners; and they all use great guitar riffs to deliver the goods. If The Ramones (who later did a version of “California Sun” off Go Girl Crazy!) and The Beastie Boys didn’t cop their entire shtick from The Dictators’ debut, I’m Michael Bolton, mulleted version.

But to be honest I don’t give a shit whether Go Girl Crazy! was the Sgt. Pepper of proto-punk and the Rosetta Stone for hundreds of bands that came later. All that matters to me is that Go Girl Crazy! is one of the rockingest, funniest, and most gleeful albums ever made. And it’s good-natured, too. I used the word “snotty” above, but The Dictators are a friendly lot, and as a result get away with a lot. You would expect songs like “Master Race Rock” and “Back to Africa” to be prime examples of the deliberate punk outrage, but both turn out to be just the opposite of what they appear to be, namely funny and friendly. Why, these guys don’t even swear; co-lead vocalist Andy “Adny” Shernoff says “heck!”

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The Best of Radar:
The Podcast with Dylan Hundley, Episode 170: Oliver Ackermann of A Place to Bury Strangers

PHOTO: DEVON BRISTOL-SHAW | On this episode of Radar, I speak with Oliver Ackermann who is the founder and creator of the Brooklyn-based effects pedal company Death By Audio, and is the guitarist and lead singer for New York-based punk/noise/shoe-gaze band A Place to Bury Strangers.

They have released seven LPs, fourteen EPs, a live album, and more singles than I can count. They are prolific and committed to the cause. Their most recent is called Synthesizer (Dedstrange). It is a wonderful record that also comes in a limited edition series of LPs where the album cover itself doubles as a circuit board and functional synth for curious and enterprising fans. “It’s pretty messed up and chaotic. But it feels really human,” says Oliver. “In an era of making music where so little is DIY and so much is left up to AI, never setting foot in a practice room or a home studio, making something that feels deliberately chaotic, messy, and human, is entirely the point.”

I had a wonderful time talking about the record with Oliver along with his approach to live shows, his love of art, community, and mixtapes.

Radar features discussions with artists and industry leaders who are creators and devotees of music and is produced by Dylan Hundley and The Vinyl District. Dylan Hundley is an artist and performer, and the co-creator and lead singer of Lulu Lewis and all things at Darling Black. She co-curates and hosts Salon Lulu which is a New York based multidisciplinary performance series. She is also a cast member of the iconic New York film Metropolitan.

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The TVD Storefront

Graded on a Curve:
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Henry’s Dream

What’s all the fuss about this guy? And does anyone listen to him for pleasure? Between that sepulchral voice and the black attire and the overheated Gothic death dirges, which split the difference between folk music and lurid (and despite his rep as a “poet,” not very well written) and lugubrious blues melodrama, I just don’t see (or hear) the appeal. His “dark vision” is verbosity for verbosity’s sake and might work as comedy, but the man ain’t in it for the laughs. He’s for dead real serious.

Or is he? “I consider myself to be first and foremost a comic writer,” he once said. “The way I entertain myself—especially in those long and grim hours in the office—is to write stuff I find funny.” Is Cave a black humorist, and I’m simply too dumb to get the joke? I don’t think so. My sense of humor is blacker than Cave’s usual attire, and I’m not laughing. And I find E.M. Cioran funny.

I only have two problems with Nick Cave—his music and his lyrics. The former is dreary, morbid (he’s got a lot in common with the death metal crowd) and should be kept out of the hands of those with suicidal ideation. His lyrics show he spends a lot of time in the company of the Oxford English Dictionary, and it’s not doing him any favors. Take the opening line of a song I picked at random, “We Call Upon the Author”:

“Our myxomatoid kids spraddle the streets
We’ve shunned them from the greasy-grind
The poor little things they look so sad and old
As they mount us from behind.”

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A morning mix of news for the vinyl inclined

In rotation: 4/18/25

US | Record Store Day 2025 Report: Swift Sales and Long Lines, But Weather and Economy Cloud Some Results: Taylor Swift, Gracie Abrams, Wicked and Oasis were among the in-demand titles as Retail Track trekked to eight indie stores in NYC and L.A. Record Store Day delivered another triumphant sales day to brick and mortar indie retailers with the hot sellers being Taylor Swift, Gracie Abrams and Charli XCX titles, while the Oasis and Wicked releases were among the most in demand—if only more copies had been manufactured for the event. While this year’s Record Store Day (RSD) represented the usual sales bonanzas for retailers, merchants in some of the stores visited by Billboard reporters said that even with one of the stronger release day schedules in recent years, it was difficult for them to top last year’s RSD, which at the time many retailers proclaimed as their best day ever. However, there were other mitigating factors beyond the strength of last year’s performance that were felt by stores.

Minneapolis, MN | Record Store Day at Minneapolis’ Electric Fetus With Bootsy Collins & Guests: Bootsy Collins celebrated the release of his new album Album of the Year #1 Funkateer at the Electric Fetus in Minneapolis. Decked out in purple and black as an obvious homage to Prince. Bootsy and Peppermint Pati danced and sang to Bootsy‘s new album with the crowd. The Fetus was packed with excited fans, picking up new albums for RSD, and checking out Bootsy, local Dj’s and artists like The Linda Linda’s signing autographs in the parking lot. After Bootsy’s DJ set, they proceeded to the parking lot to sign autographs, take photos, and chat with the fans. Dave Pirner from Soul Asylum was also in attendance, waiting his turn to say hello to the legendary funk hero.

Detroit, MI | Record Store Day hits the right notes: Andrew Dore and Andy Colohan were ready to shop on Record Store Day April 12. The Madison Heights residents stood in line outside Solo Records in Royal Oak with about 40 other music collectors before the store opened, hoping to find a few titles to be released only on Record Store Day. “I’m looking for the Jerry Garcia Band re-release and the Prince record,” said Dore, 26. “They also put out non-Record-Store-Day records. It’s fun to see what gems they have. I lean toward jam bands. This is the record store I go to the most.” Colohan, 26, was in search of Joey Valence & Brae. Even if he didn’t find it, “I’m just here to have fun,” the hip-hop and jazz music fan said. “Coming out early is always fun to get the exclusives and all the new Record Store Day picks.”

Evanston, IL | Record Store Day brings music fans to Evanston shops: Two record store owners discuss the importance of Record Store Day and physical media. Vinyl enthusiasts gathered at shops downtown on Saturday, April 12 to celebrate Record Store Day. The unofficial holiday honors independently-owned record stores and the role they play in their communities. Warm and sunny weather made for an ideal day of searching for exclusive releases and classic records. Conveniently located within walking distance of each other, two Evanston small businesses — Vintage Vinyl and Animal Records — participated in Record Store Day. Both displayed exclusive records from artists like Joni Mitchell, David Bowie, The Cure, Post Malone and Taylor Swift, among many others. …The shop has celebrated the occasion for its entire existence, according to owner Steve Kay. He said the day remains special for music enthusiasts and collectors, both old and new.

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TVD Radar: Dusty Springfield, Longing vinyl debut in stores 6/5

VIA PRESS RELEASE | In the early 1970s, Dusty Springfield relocated from her native England to Los Angeles in an effort to pursue new opportunities in her career and signed with ABC/Dunhill Records. Her 1973 album Cameo showcased Springfield’s soulful pop in splendid fashion but failed to generate significant traction outside of Billboard’s Adult Contemporary listings. For her sophomore project with the label the following year, Dusty travelled to New York to team with producer Brooks Arthur, renowned for his work with Phil Spector’s 1960s coterie of girl singers.

For Longing, Arthur chose to frame Dusty in the 1970s singer-songwriter milieu, surrounding her with material from Colin Blunstone (“Exclusively for Me”), Melissa Manchester & Carole Bayer Sager (“Home to Myself”), Janis Ian (“In the Winter”), Stephen Schwartz (“Corner of the Sky”), Chi Coltrane (“Turn Me Around”), Barry Manilow (“I Am Your Child”) and others. In many cases, the songwriters themselves contributed directly by playing keyboards on their respective creations at Arthur’s famed 911 Studios. Bruce Springsteen was also known to sit in on some of the sessions in admiration.

As the sessions wound down in the summer of 1974, Dusty found herself suffering from emotional exhaustion and professional uncertainty. She subsequently chose to put the album on the shelf and part ways with the label, ultimately re-recording a pair of the tracks when she signed to United Artists Records a few years later.

In 2001, under the supervision of producer Arthur, nine of the ten tracks he recorded with Dusty were released on CD as part of a collection of her ABC/Dunhill period. A tenth track (“Corner of the Sky” from the Broadway musical Pippin) was reworked as a duet with Petula Clark and included on a pair of her anthologies. Now, all ten tracks make their vinyl debut, including the first-ever solo release of “Corner of the Sky” along with new mixes for eight of the other selections for this dual CD & LP release.

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TVD Radar: Avicii,
Avicii Forever 2LP in stores 5/16

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Today, Interscope Records, Pophouse and the Avicii Estate are proud to announce the upcoming release of Avicii Forever, a compilation featuring 19 essential tracks from Avicii’s iconic catalog, along with the brand-new single “Let’s Ride Away” featuring Elle King.

This special release honors the lasting impact and influence of Tim Bergling, better known to the world as Avicii. With beloved hits like “Wake Me Up,” “Levels,” “Heart Upon My Sleeve” (feat. Imagine Dragons), and more, Avicii Forever captures the spirit and sound that made Avicii a global phenomenon.

The compilation also introduces “Let’s Ride Away,” a long-awaited new track that showcases Avicii’s genre-defying sound, blending folk and electronic elements with powerful vocals by Elle King. Avicii Forever will be available across all major streaming platforms, in physical formats, and through exclusive content on Avicii’s official social channels on May 16 and is available now for pre-order here.

Avicii, born Tim Bergling in Stockholm, Sweden, was a visionary artist, producer, and DJ who revolutionized electronic dance music (EDM). Known for blending electronic beats with soulful melodies, Avicii’s groundbreaking style bridged genres and resonated with fans worldwide. He first rose to international fame with the 2011 hit “Levels,” which became an anthem for a generation and solidified his place as one of the most innovative figures in modern music.

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Graded on a Curve: Happy Mondays, Greatest Hits

Celebrating Bez in advance of his 61st birthday tomorrow.Ed.

A crash course for the ravers—back in the late 1980s, Happy Mondays became the veritable house band for Madchester’s e-fueled rave scene, which transformed an entire generation of Joe Bloggs-clad English kids into pinwheel-eyed, whizz-happy 24-hour party people stepping on and up, up, up to a dizzying sound composed of equal parts alternative rock, acid house, funk, and psychedelia.

Oh, it was a glorious time, a true Renaissance as it were. I’d have loved to be there when the party started, and every blessed baggy-jeans wearing ecstasy-altered geezer at the Haçienda loved every other baggy-jeans wearing ecstasy-altered geezer at the Haçienda. And every single one of them knew the song—which just happened to be the Happy Monday’s deliriously danceable “Step On,” with its infectious keyboard progression and funky drumming—would go on forever.

It didn’t of course—I strongly recommend Pulp’s “Sorted for e’s and Whizz” if you’re looking for a post-mortem—and Happy Mondays crashed as hard, or harder, than anybody else, having gone “crack crazy” (in guitarist Paul Ryder’s words) in Barbados during the sessions that would culminate in 1992’s Yes Please! But you can still hear the joy of being young and very, very chemically altered in every song on Happy Mondays’ 1999 Greatest Hits.

On such immortal ravers as “Step On,” “Kinky Afro,” “Loose Fit,” “Mad Cyril,” and “24-Hour Party People” brothers Shaun and Paul Ryder and Company (including of course, the band’s official “dancer” Bez) kept the punters soaring above the dance floor all night long. It’s all there in “Kinky Afro”—Brit pop melded smoothly to a seductive groove—and “Loose Fit,” the definitive baggy anthem and Madchester fashion manifesto, which fuses funky percussion to a lovely riff and a message (“Don’t need no tight fits in my wardrobe today”) that put a sizeable segment of England’s youth in flares.

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TVD Radar: Richard Pryor, I Hope I’m Funny: The Warner Albums (1974–1983) 7LP box set
in stores 4/18

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Shocking. Hilarious. Boundary-defying. Fearless. Brilliant. In the world of comedy, few names resonate as powerfully as Richard Pryor. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential comedians of all time, Pryor’s ability to weave incisive social and political observations into his storytelling has left an indelible mark on the genre. His comedic legacy goes beyond awards and accolades; he used humor to explore complex themes like race, addiction, and personal trauma, challenging societal norms while making audiences laugh.

In a celebration of his comedic genius, the enduring legacy of Richard Pryor is encapsulated in a newly released 7LP boxed set, I Hope I’m Funny: The Warner Albums (1974–1983), out April 18. Each album showcases Pryor’s unparalleled humor and thought-provoking social commentary, solidifying his reputation as one of the greatest comedians of all time.

The set includes six albums: That N*****’s Crazy, …Is It Something I Said?, Bicentennial N*****, Wanted/Richard Pryor Live in Concert (double-LP), Live On The Sunset Strip, and Here and Now. Limited to 1,000 copies, I Hope I’m Funny: The Warner Albums (1974–1983) is available exclusively at Rhino.com.

Scott Saul, a Professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Becoming Richard Pryor (Harper Perennial), details Pryor’s essential recorded output between 1974 and 1983 in the set’s enlightening liner notes. Saul takes a deep dive into Pryor’s vast and immeasurable influence on the world of comedy, quoting comedian Paul Rodriguez, who once said that “there are two periods in comedy in America: before Richard Pryor and after Richard Pryor.”

“The Age of Pryor has never ended,” Saul writes. “Across the six albums collected here, Pryor blew open what a comedian could do onstage, and it’s the rare comedian who is not somehow in his debt.”

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Graded on a Curve: Clarence White,
Melodies from a Byrd
in Flyte 1963–1973

For bluegrass fans, guitarist Clarence White needs no introduction. And as a member of The Byrds, White’s impact on rock music in its maturation phase was substantial. These dual achievements were often in dialogue with each other, and on Melodies from a Byrd in Flyte: 1963–1973, White’s groundbreaking acoustic bluegrass flatpicking is sequenced on side one and his equally innovative electric playing takes up side two. Released by Liberation Hall for Record Store Day, copies are available now.

Listeners with a deep appreciation for Clarence White are possibly familiar with this set as The Lost Masters: 1963-1973, which Liberation Hall released on CD in September of 2023. With a debut on vinyl comes a change in title and improved cover art, but nothing else has changed right down to the sequence of the tunes and the liner notes by producer John Delgatto.

White is a fascinating figure, a player so exceptional that he was able to essentially escape criticism and condemnation from the notoriously conservative segment of the bluegrass community for turning his attention to the rock scene, switching to electric guitar, and making a sizable splash as a member of The Byrds. He joined that band in earnest in 1968, having played on Sweetheart of the Rodeo the year before.

The transition to electric occurred prior to playing on Sweetheart, as White was a member of two noted country bands on the California scene, Nashville West and The Roustabouts. Featuring Gib Guibeau on rhythm guitar, Wayne Moore on bass, and Gene Parsons on drums alongside White and his distinctive tone, Nashville West are represented on Melodies from a Byrd in Flyte with two tracks, an excellent non-vocal run-through of “Ode to Billie Joe” that opens side two, and the gorgeous band original “Nashville West.”

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A morning mix of news for the vinyl inclined

In rotation: 4/17/25

Ontario, CA | Long lineups at independent Ontario retailers stores for Record Store Day: Vinyl is back in a big way and if the annual turnouts for Record Store Day are any indication, so is the love for the independent record stores. The 18th annual celebration of independent record stores and vinyl records happened Saturday and hundreds of collectors lined up—two diehards even set up shop outside the store with sleeping bags the night before—to get their hands on rare and new titles, with some only available that day. Andre Lessard at Another Spin Records on Bond Street in downtown Oshawa said Saturday’s event even topped Record Store Day in 2024, which he described as “our craziest ever,” with vinyl fans lined up around the block at before 5 a.m. to be first in the store for the 10 a.m. opening. 2025 did that day one better, with a couple of dedicated record lovers “camping out at 8 at night.”

Southport, UK | Owner of Quicksilver Music in Southport Market Quarter thanks music lovers for ‘best ever Record Store Day.’ The owner of Quicksilver Music in Southport has thanked music lovers for making this year’s Record Store Day “the best yet”. The special event on Saturday (12th April 2025) saw people queuing up outside the shop, on the corner of Market Street and King Street, for up to 12 hours, ready for the doors opening at 8am. The first person in the queue was here from 8.30pm on Friday night—he queued for nearly 12 hours—to buy the limited edition Wicked soundtrack (£50), one of just three available in Quicksilver, for his daughter. All three records went in the first five minutes.

Shepherdstown, WV | National Record Store Day draws customers from out-of-state to Shepherdstown: A long line of vinyl record enthusiasts wrapped around the corner of Admiral Analog’s Audio Assortment on Saturday morning, in anticipation of finding some of the 400 special releases made in honor of National Record Store Day. According to Admiral Analog’s Audio Assortment owner Andrew Barton, his store has been participating in the event for about a decade. His store started off by celebrating the event’s holiday season counterpart, the Black Friday Record Store Day, in 2014. That celebration proved to be so popular, that he decided to begin commemorating National Record Store Day every April. “This is a special celebration, designed for people in the record business. The attention it brings to the store is great…”

Syracuse, NY | Vinyl fanatics celebrate, camp out for Record Store Day at Sound Garden: Twelve hours before opening, Bill McClenthan and his friends lined up outside The Sound Garden Syracuse hoping to be in the first group let in for Record Store Day. With his decades-spanning collection, McClenthan treats it as a “religious holiday.” “I’ve been collecting since I was a teenager,” McClenthan said. “I probably have a good 3,000 records and around 10,000 CDs.” On Saturday, The Sound Garden Syracuse branch celebrated Record Store Day with exclusive deals. Since its opening in 1995, the store has been a cornerstone for local music enthusiasts. The record store hosts listening parties, live band performances and is filled to the brim with records and CDs.

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TVD Radar: Norman Greenbaum, Spirit in the Sky reissue in stores 6/13

VIA PRESS RELEASE | For more than half a century, Norman Greenbaum’s 1969 anthem “Spirit in the Sky” has captivated listeners of all generations with its euphoric energy and bold, genre-bending sound. Now, Craft Recordings celebrates the song’s era-defying legacy with two special releases: a brand-new Dolby Atmos® mix of the single available to stream/download now, and a vinyl reissue of Greenbaum’s kaleidoscopic debut album, Spirit in the Sky, arriving June 13.

Long out-of-print, Greenbaum’s 1969 debut returns to vinyl in a replica tip-on jacket with lacquers cut from the original tapes (AAA) by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio. Anchored by its beloved, iconic title track, “Spirit in the Sky,” the album fuses rock, gospel, and psychedelia, featuring hidden gems like “Marcy,” “Tars Of India,” and “Skyline” that highlight Greenbaum’s distinctive songwriting style. Meanwhile, the Dolby Atmos single gives fans an opportunity to experience “Spirit in the Sky” in transcendent spatial audio.

Fueled by one of the most unforgettable guitar hooks in music history, the single “Spirit in the Sky” premiered in December 1969 and soon reached the No. 1 spot on charts across the globe, including the US, Australia, Canada, Ireland, the UK, and Germany. Eventually selling over two million copies worldwide, the gold-certified track marked a major commercial and creative breakthrough for Greenbaum, fusing elements of rock & roll, gospel, pop, and psychedelia with a daring originality way ahead of its time.

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TVD Radar: Les Abranis, Album No. 1 reissue in stores 5/23

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Wewantsounds is delighted to continue its Algerian music reissue program with the release of Les Abranis’ coveted 1983 LP, Album No. 1. Originally recorded in Paris and privately pressed by the group, the album is now being reissued for the first time.

Curated by Cheb Gero, who recently compiled the Sweet Rebels Rai set for Wewantsounds, Album No. 1 is a masterful blend of Kabyle grooves, funk, and hints of reggae. Also known as Id Ed Was, the album is reissued with its original artwork, remastered audio by Colorsound Studio in Paris, and a two-page insert with new liner notes (in French and English) by journalist Rabah Mezouane. The Kabyle group Les Abranis from Algeria has become one of the most sought-after bands on the global beat scene over the years.

Founded in France in the late 1960s by two young Algerian Kabyle workers, Shamy El Vaz and Karim Abdenour, Les Abranis rose to prominence in the 1970s with their innovative sound, blending traditional Kabyle music with funk, rock, and psychedelic influences. Their lyrics, often sung in Kabyle, celebrate Amazigh identity and culture, making them a major influence on the North African music scene and beyond.

In 1973, they returned to Algeria to participate in the Festival de la Chanson Algérienne (Festival of Algerian Song). Despite facing opposition from the country’s authorities—who viewed them as a societal threat due to their use of the Kabyle language instead of Arabic—their popularity continued to grow.

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  • SUPPORTING YOUR LOCAL INDIE SHOPS SINCE 2007


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