VIA PRESS RELEASE | Celebrated archival label Light in the Attic is thrilled to announce the first official reissue of Nancy & Lee: the highly-influential 1968 duet album from Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood.

Set for release on May 20th and available for pre-order today, this definitive edition of Nancy & Lee features newly-remastered audio by the GRAMMY®-nominated engineer John Baldwin and includes an array of exclusive content, including a new interview with Nancy, never-before-seen photos, and two bonus tracks from the album sessions: an ethereal cover of The Kinks’ “Tired of Waiting for You” and an up-tempo version of “Love Is Strange” (first made famous by Mickey & Sylvia in 1956). While the recordings – both captured in January 1968 – will make their official debut on vinyl in May, “Love Is Strange” is currently available now to stream across all digital platforms. Click here to pre-order Nancy & Lee and stream/download first single “Love Is Strange.”

Nancy & Lee can be found in a variety of formats, including vinyl, cassette tape, CD, 8-track, and digital. The vinyl LP, pressed at Record Technology, Inc. (RTI), is presented in an expanded gatefold jacket and features the iconic, original cover photo by Ron Joy. Inside, a 20-page booklet offers an array of photos from the legendary singer, actress, and activist’s personal collection, as well as an in-depth Q&A with Sinatra, conducted by the reissue’s GRAMMY®-nominated co-producer, Hunter Lea (also available in the CD package). In addition to the classic black vinyl pressing, a selection of colorful variants can be found exclusively at NancySinatra.com, LightInTheAttic.net, independent record stores and select online retailers.

In celebration of the release, Nancy and fellow musician and longtime friend Don Randi (The Wrecking Crew) visited Record Technology, Inc. (RTI) in Camarillo, CA to take a tour of the plant and get a sneak peek at the Bootique-exclusive pressing of Nancy and Lee. A short video piece documenting the day, including new interviews with Sinatra, Randi, and RTI plant manager, Rick Hashimoto, is available above. Additionally, a limited-edition merchandise capsule including album art apparel, accessories, and more will accompany the release at Nancy’s Bootique at NancySinatra.com.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Craft Recordings is proud to announce Relaxin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet as the latest release in its acclaimed Small Batch audiophile series. A pivotal title in Miles Davis’ incomparable catalog, this 1956 recording features a who’s who of jazz greats, including John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums. Coinciding with Jazz Appreciation Month, the album is available for pre-order this Friday (April 15th) at 2:00 pm PST / 5:00 pm EST exclusively through CraftRecordings.com, and is limited to 5,000 copies worldwide.

Carefully curated from Craft’s vast catalog of titles, each release in the Small Batch series offers discerning listeners the highest-quality, authentic sound—distilled to its purest form. Since launching in early 2020—debuting with John Coltrane’s Lush Life, followed by Yusef Lateef’s Eastern Sounds—the series has drawn praise from critics far and wide. Absolute Sound raved, “the sound is exceptionally detailed, present, and airy, with gorgeously rich instrumental tones and textures, excellent dynamic scaling, and a notable lack of groove noise that brings these performances to goosebump-raising life,” adding, “the deluxe packaging and accompanying notes are likewise top-tier…Don’t hesitate.” UK’s Record Collector declared, “Craft [has] done a superlative job; the packaging is elegant, and the sound is flawless…there’s a depth and vivacity that brings out the best in these sessions.” Hi-Fi Choice added, “there’s no denying the beauty of this impeccable pressing.”

As with previous Small Batch albums, Relaxin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet was mastered from its original analog tapes by Bernie Grundman and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI using Neotech’s VR900 compound and a one-step lacquer process—as opposed to the standard three-step process—allowing for the utmost level of musical detail, clarity, and dynamics while reducing the amount of surface noise on the record. The limited nature of these pressings guarantees that each record is a true representation of the original lacquer and is as close as the listener can get to the original recording.

Each pressing of Relaxin’ is individually numbered and encased in a foil-stamped, linen-wrapped slipcase featuring an acrylic inset of the original artwork. The vinyl disc—extractable through a unique, frictionless ribbon pull tab—is housed in a reproduction of the album’s original tip-on jacket from Prestige Records and protected by an archival-quality, anti-static, non-scratching inner sleeve. New liner notes from the GRAMMY® Award-winning music historian, journalist, and producer, Ashley Kahn complete the package.

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Spring fever is in the air and Major League Baseball’s Opening Day is just behind us: there’s no better way to celebrate the changing of the seasons than with America’s Pastime. But what do music and baseball have in common? Well, aside from the fact that there have been numerous songs written about baseball—and conversely many classic tunes that have been used to pump up the energy level at a ballpark—both of them are connected to very voracious collecting communities: like vinyl records, baseball card collecting is also going through a renaissance.

Dr. James Beckett is no doubt the leading authority on all things baseball cards. In the late 1970s, Dr. Beckett began publishing price guides for cards and in 1984 founded Beckett Baseball Card Monthly which became the gold-standard for establishing card values. The magazine, and accompanying Beckett Media, grew tremendously; branching out into other products and sports and also becoming one of the leading card grading companies in the world. While he has since sold the company, he still retains a position as senior advisor.

He’s found a new legion of collectors, however, with his very popular podcast called Sports Card Insights and has currently completed his 724th program. During this interview, Dr. Beckett and I interviewed one another – in a way—each drawing parallels between collecting vinyl records and what many people consider the greatest hobby in the world, baseball card collecting. I was pleased—and honored—that he used some of our conversation on his own podcast; it was a great trading session.

So, take a seat, grab a hot dog and a cold beer as Dr. Beckett and I compare hobby notes; while we come from different worlds, you’ll be very surprised to learn we have many more similarities than differences. So, let’s play ball!

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.

Do you think the lads in this English beat band wondered why they never made it big? You’d think someone—their manager for instance—would have informed them that band names are supposed to be catchy. Or, failing that, not so long you need write them on the palm of your hand with indelible ink to remember them. There was a reason The Monkees didn’t call themselves Mickey, Davy, Peter & Mike—the moguls behind the curtain wanted to sell records.

Believe it or not—or so I’ve been told—the band’s unwieldy name was an actual selling point in England, where they scored seven Top Ten hits between 1966 and 1967. By contrast only one of their singles broke into the Top 100 in the United States, in small part because unlike Herman’s Hermits’ “Henry 8th,” the novelty songs on 1966’s If Music Be the Food of Love… Prepare for Indigestion are crap. Literally in the case of “Loos of London,” a subpar Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band imitation (sung in a very posh accent) extolling the superiority of the English toilet.

Similarly, the anti-homage to their private school principal “Master Llewellyn” doesn’t hold a ruler to Van Halen’s “Hot for Teacher” or Elton John’s “Teacher I Need You.” And finally we have the unspeakable “Hair on My Chin-Chinny-Chin (Huff N Puff),”a vapid adaptation of the children’s story featuring some kind of awful Balkan guitar riff.

But let’s not write off Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich completely. If Music Be the Food of Love… Prepare for Indigestion is more than just a cleverly jaded album title—it includes some songs well worth hearing. “Bang” owes a definite debt to The Beatles—especially in the harmonies department—but it’s undeniably catchy, has a banging chorus, and highlights the fuzz bass of Trevor “Dozy” Davies and explosive guitar solo of Ian “Tich” Amey. And Davies’ punch-to-the-ear bass is right up front on garage rocker “Hands Off,” on which lead vocalist Dave Dee sounds ready to rumble, warning you in no uncertain terms to stop messing around with his baby or… well, he doesn’t say what, exactly.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Today, UMe, Island Records, and BBC announce the release of Live at Glastonbury 2007—the iconic performance of Amy Winehouse’s Pyramid Stage set at Glastonbury 2007, coming to vinyl for the very first time on Friday, June 3rd.

Showcasing the inimitable artistry of one of the UK’s most gifted and accomplished singers of all time, this emotionally charged live set will be released as a 2LP on black vinyl, with an exclusive crystal clear edition available HERE. The 2007 performance on the festival’s legendary Pyramid Stage, 15 years ago this summer, was Amy’s second Glastonbury appearance and a performance that saw the world completely fall in love with her music. As well as a second set later that same day on the Jazz World Stage, Amy returned the following year to perform again on the Pyramid stage, cementing herself firmly in the canon of great Glastonbury performances.

Live at Glastonbury 2007 is an unmissable dive back into the memory of Amy’s 2007 set, including the singer’s trademark irreverent soundbites in between songs, to the huge love she received from her enthralled audience—despite the changeable weather that year! This performance featured timeless crowd-pleasers from the award-winning Back To Black album, including “Tears Dry On Their Own,” “Rehab,” and “You Know I’m No Good,” as well as early soul classics like “Monkey Man.”

The artwork for this must-have release includes a recollection of the performance from Glastonbury co-organizer Emily Eavis, who commented, “Amy Winehouse was a Glastonbury-goer through and through. She either came and played or, when she wasn’t working, came and camped. She played in the blistering heat and the heavy rain, and there were so many magical moments to her performances.”

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | “New York City, top of the world…” testifies Mick Jagger after a raucous performance of “If You Can’t Rock Me.” “It’s great to see you here looking really beautiful tonight all dressed up. You think you’re on TV or something?”

In 1964, The Rolling Stones arrived to absolute mayhem for their first show in NYC, after the release of their debut album The Rolling Stones. Having played New York City multiple times, at several venues, it was only fitting that in January 2003, as part of their 40th anniversary tour, they made it a point to return to New York’s most celebrated arena… Madison Square Garden. The Rolling Stones’ 40-year celebration tour with the NYC crowd bearing witness to a razor-sharp performance is evidenced throughout the set.

On June 10, Mercury Studios will proudly present Licked Live In NYC on DVD+2CD, SD Blu-ray+2CD, as well as a standalone 2CD and 3LP. Originally released in 2003 as an HBO special and as part of the Four Flicks package, this concert has been fully restored and remastered with four previously unreleased songs: “Start Me Up,” “Tumbling Dice,” “Gimme Shelter,” and “Sympathy For The Devil.”

Joining Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, and Charlie Watts were Darryl Jones (bass, backing vocals), Chuck Leavell (keyboards, backing vocals), Bobby Keys (saxophone), Bernard Fowler (backing vocals), Lisa Fischer (backing vocals), Blondie Chaplin (backing vocals, acoustic guitar/ percussion), Tim Ries (saxophone, keyboards), Kent Smith (trumpet), and Michael Davis (trombone) who set the Garden’s stage ablaze.

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Celebrating Ritchie Blackmore on his 77th birthday. —Ed.

If I’ve never come forward publicly about the indelible mark I made on rock history at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1971, it’s because I’m still peeved that Deep Purple saw fit to slander me as “Some stupid with a flare gun” in their big hit single “Smoke on the Water.” Firing that flare gun into the roof of the Montreux Casino may not have been the smartest thing I’ve ever done, but STUPID? I was EXCITED, and I just happened to have a flare gun on my person, and one thing led to another and before I knew it the rattan ceiling was on fire and all manner of shrieks were freaking towards the exits.

But enough personal history and on to Deep Purple, a band that I’ve always had reservations about. I find the English heavy metal avatars ponderous, plodding, and unduly portentous, and if you don’t know what I mean I direct you to “Smoke on the Water,” which is the very un-lightweight little ditty they’ll probably best be remembered for and which I can only describe as a very stoned dinosaur stomping in slow dazed circles to the accompaniment of one gargantuan and omnipresent guitar riff.

That said, Deep Purple–who after a lot of early creative experimentation and moments of serendipitous genius finally settled upon a sound that combined elements of prog rock and the grinding blues-based hard rock that would become known as heavy metal–had their moments, and lots of them are to be found on their sixth and most commercially successful LP, 1972’s Machine Head. From its very metallic (the title’s stamped in steel!) cover to its far-out boogie numbers Machine Head is one wild ride, what with Ian Gillian’s shriek, Ritchie Blackmore’s blazing guitar, Jon Lord’s “I am two separate gorillas” organ, and the positively intimidating drumming of Sir Ian Paice, who has yet to be knighted but certainly ought to be lest he become angry and start throwing punches.

Deep Purple originally intended to record this baby at the Montreux Casino in Switzerland, but that was before, well, I’ve already broken my long silence about the fire that “burned the place to the ground.” After deciding that it probably wouldn’t be a very good idea to record their next album atop a smoking ruins, they retreated to the empty Grand Hotel at the outskirts of Montreux, and with the help of the Rolling Stones’ mobile recording unit proceeded to make this surprisingly uptempo (by D.P. standards) piece of music history, which the very clear-headed Ozzy Osbourne has called one of his ten favorite British LPs of all time.

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It’s a comeback story with a vexing beginning. After being shelved by a label that wasn’t interested in her having her own voice, Baylee Barrett—now known as dani mack—found her career in limbo with no path forward.

Taking on the moniker of dani mack and finding a home with a new label Future Gods, she’s poised to capture the attention of indie lovers far and wide. With her star on the rise, mack is getting traction from all the right places—“Someday” her latest single has a slot on Apple Music’s “Mellow Days” playlist as well as Tidal’s “Rising” playlist, and she’s made an appearance on NPR’s All Songs Considered. It’s the kind of attention an artist hopes for, but Barrett’s start was anything but idyllic.

Losing her mother in her early teens gave mack the perspective to spend her life doing what she loves—music. Growing up in Lubbock, Texas, the town that gave us Buddy Holly, she took vocal lessons at the encouragement of her mother who sang in their local Southern Baptist church. Showing promise at an early age, she soon became the coveted Sunday Service soloist. Her father—who raised her through the most difficult and pivotal years of her life—sacrificed and nurtured his daughter’s dreams, including her desire to move to Los Angeles to pursue music. It is in his honor that she chose his first and last name, dani mack, as her new monicker.

“Someday,” her first single, is a 100% self-produced indie-bedroom track orchestrated with her bandmate Chris Reagan and mixed by Greg Uhlmann (Perfume Genius, Hand Habits). High falsettos and distorted guitars; it’s an introspective and light approach to the blissful denial that as relationships fall apart, it’s people who resist change. “People don’t really change, their situations do,” she explains. Akin to Phoebe Bridgers in her lyrical content and sound, dani mack is set to consummate her own ascent.

Mystique is the second full-length from Ekko the Strange, a coldwave/ post-punk/ goth-adoring gentleman currently based in Warsaw, Poland, but with roots spanning to the Pacific Northwest of the USA; that’s Idaho, specifically. Across eight tracks, the impact of Joy Division, Bauhaus, Sisters of Mercy and the general thrust of dystopian New Wave of the late ’70s-early ’80s becomes increasingly apparent. While the record isn’t breaking any new ground, the familiarity avoids the predictable as the infusion of atmosphere largely eschews the overwrought. The record is out April 15 on vinyl and digital through HIFI Mantra Records.

Not to spoil the uh, mystique, but in his Idaho days, Mr. Ekko the Strange answered to Christopher Bock and was the chief songwriter in Revolt Revolt, a band active from 2009-’15. Revolt Revolt recorded three CDs during that stretch, the last being Wild Unraveling, which featured guest guitar from Built to Spill’s Doug Martsch and Hammond organ and piano from Todd Dunnigan, formerly of Built to Spill and Caustic Resin, with Dunnigan also mixing the record.

Dunnigan also helped mix Mystique, so the ties to Idaho haven’t been severed (Ekko the Strange played Boise on April 13 to open a short West Coast tour). In fact, this transformation to Ekko apparently began in Idaho prior to traveling through 30 countries and settling in the Praga District of Warsaw. Debut Ekko the Strange album Haunting Me came out in 2020 on HIFI Mantra, as did a series of four 7-inch singles (all album tracks with the exception of one B-side).

Recorded last year in Warsaw, Mystique opens with “Exotic,” the cut stuffed full with tribal thump and thwack, reverberating synth/ keyboard ominousness, and appropriately enough deep, foreboding vocals. In a less restrained scenario, this last aspect might’ve spilled all over the song like a shroud, but happily, there is as much attention paid to the placement of the vocals in the mix (lots of echo and movement) as there is to a cultivating a menacing air.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | “Ghost of Love” backed with “Imaginary Girl,” originally released via CD single in 2006, are now finally seeing their vinyl and digital release for the first time in celebration of Inland Empire’s 2022 theatrical re-release. Both are signature cinematic Lynchian classics that feature Lynch on guitar and vocals, accompanied by his long-time collaborator and Sacred Bones staple Dean Hurley on bass. Out digitally and on Sacred Bones exclusive Coke Bottle Clear vinyl on April 29th, 2022 and available on retail exclusive Silver vinyl on July 15th, 2022.

In the late ’90s and early aughts, internet video capabilities like Real Video and Quicktime were expanding, proving the early prophecy that “anyone would be able to have their own television channel on the internet” was indeed coming true. After the critical success of Mulholland Drive, director David Lynch doubled down on the medium, funneling virtually all of his time into personally animating, filming, and scoring content for his own internet destination: davidlynch.com. It was fertile and limitless ground for a creative like Lynch, allowing him to return to the days of his experimental film roots, where it was actually possible for him to have his hands on every element of the process.

It was out of this newfound digital freedom that the early seeds of Inland Empire were born, evolving and fissuring from an internet-bound experiment itself, into something much more expansive. The film collated a variety of ideas and working methods that the recent web paradigm had nurtured in Lynch, one of which was an increased frequency of his own solo music productions. Having finished constructing his own personal recording studio in 1998, he was no longer tethered to the scheduling and high premiums of rented studio time and was free to accelerate his musical experimentation without constraint.

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