Monthly Archives: September 2022

VIA PRESS RELEASE | UME/Geffen celebrates Guns N’ Roses’ incredible musical legacy with Guns N’ Roses – Use Your Illusion I & II, the ultimate box set for the band’s 1991 multi-platinum releases Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II.

Set for release on November 11, 2022, Guns N’ Roses – Use Your Illusion I & II Super Deluxes feature a total of 97 tracks, 63 are previously unreleased. Available in multiple configurations including a Super Deluxe Seven-CD + Blu-ray, a Super Deluxe Twelve-LP + Blu-ray, Two-CD Deluxe Editions of Use Your Illusion I & II separately, standard 1CD and 2LP versions of Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II separately. In all formats, the original studio albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II have been fully remastered for the first-time ever, from high-resolution 96kHz 24-bit transfers from the original stereo 1/2-inch analog masters. All versions will be available to stream and as digital downloads, with all configurations available to pre-order and pre-save, HERE.

Guns N’ Roses’ highly anticipated third and fourth studio albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II were originally released simultaneously on September 17, 1991. With the massive success of GN’R Lies and Appetite For Destruction, the band had the daunting task of a follow up album. Not only did the band deliver, Guns N’ Roses surprised the world by releasing not one but two new, full length studio albums. Upon release, Use Your Illusion I reached No. 2 and Use Your Illusion II took the No. 1 position on the Billboard 200 chart concurrently, selling over 500k in the first two hours of release, with an estimated sales of over 685k and 770k respectively within the first week of release.

Read More »

Following a self-titled debut in 2020, Sakurajima is the new full-length from Under the Reefs Orchestra, the Brussels-based power trio consisting of guitarist and main songwriter Clément Nourry, saxophonist Marti Melia, and drummer Jakob Warmenbol. While they emerged onto the scene with an approach that was decidedly post-rock, their latest radiates a raw toughness, deepened in no small part by Melia’s bass saxophone, that reinforces comparisons to Morphine, though the non-vocal nature of these ten tracks lends distinctiveness. The album’s out September 23 on vinyl, compact disc, and digital through Capitane Records.

Sakurajima’s opener “Heliodrome” effectively sets the scene, the group bursting forth with a sinewy groove, Warmenbol lithe but large on the cans power trio-style, Nourry exuding a hint of spacy surf in his slide work, and Melia’s tone so low and serrated that it more than slightly resembles an amplified cello or bass fiddle (his solo in the track is a highlight)

The sharp execution carries over into “Ants,” though the cut’s strong point isn’t really the playing (either singly or collectively) but the writing, which structurally harkens back to the era of classic instrumentals (without going overboard about it) and provides a good home for Nourry’s touches of twang. The title track follows, beginning with a little snaky spy-flick saxophone as a prelude to a particularly wicked psychedelic guitar outburst, with the sax and drums locking down a pattern and then riding it with gusto underneath.

“Galapagos” is comparatively laid back as it unwinds, but still grooving, as the cut strengthens those Morphine vibes a bit. But don’t misapprehend that the music has descended into mellowness, as there’s always a modicum of intensity in Under the Reef Orchestra’s attack, and subtly ratcheted up in the back end of “Galapagos” to appealing effect.

Read More »

VIA PRESS RELEASE | All Souls (UMe) is a new collection of Siouxsie and the Banshees tracks personally curated by Siouxsie Sioux, which collates classic tracks and rarities into an Autumnal celebration.

Siouxsie and the Banshees were undoubtedly one of the most influential, fearless, and uncompromising bands to come from the punk era and this selection clearly illustrates their varied and unique musical approach. All Souls opens with 1982’s “Fireworks” which is one of three iconic singles featured here alongside “Spellbound” (recently used to end Stranger Things Season 4) and closes with “Peek-A-Boo.”

Also included is “Halloween” from the band’s classic Juju album mixed with more idiosyncratic tracks such as “El Dia De Los Muertos,” a B-side from the “Last Beat Of My Heart” single, “Something Wicked (This Way Comes) ” from the single of “The Killing Jar” and “Supernatural Thing” from 1981’s “Arabian Knights” single all of which are making their first appearance on vinyl in decades.

All the tracks have been re-mastered at Abbey Road studios with Siouxsie overseeing the process and cut at half-speed by Miles Showell. The record will be released on both 180g black and an exclusive limited edition orange vinyl as well as digitally. The collection features new and unique artwork directed by Siouxsie featuring a marigold; the symbolic flower of the Mexican Day of the Dead/All Souls Day festivities.

Read More »

It’s September and time to hit the books. That doesn’t have to mean textbooks and studying. There are some wonderful books on music to either keep close to your couch on the coffee-table or for reading as the nights grow longer and colder.

First up is A Life in Focus: The Photography of Graham Nash (Insight Editions) by Graham Nash. Along with releasing his solo albums, recordings with David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Neil Young and the Hollies, Nash has pursued photography. This book brings together a lifetime of work from behind the lens. Nash is not just a musician who dabbles in photography. This book clearly proves that with works that feature people, places and things, captured in mostly stark, evocative, black-and-white moods, but there are also plenty of stirring color images.

Nash includes many photos of his musical collaborators and contemporaries, including Allan Clarke, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Judy Collins, Cass Elliot, J.D. Souther and many more. There are photos of a very young Kris Kristofferson and some of the folk artists that presaged the British Invasion such as Phil Ochs. Those behind the scenes, such as Bill Graham, Ahmet Ertegun, and David Geffen, are also featured. Fellow photographers and visual artists Henry Diltz, Joel Bernstein, Elliot Landy, and Gary Burden, who created some of the most iconic album covers and rock images, are represented as well.

Nash moved in the worlds of Swinging London, Laurel Canyon, Hollywood, and New York, which are all represented with photos of Twiggy, Dennis Hopper, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, and Leon Russell (captured at the famous Bangladesh concert). Musicians from many styles, including the likes of Taj Mahal and Johnny Cash, are also included. Many images of a geometric nature, while others are abstract, almost surrealistic thought-provoking photos to linger over and ponder. This is a book that tells the story of a musical life from a searching wanderer whose eyes are wide open.

Read More »

Yara Asmar is a multi-instrumentalist, video artist, and puppeteer who currently lives in Beirut with her house cat Mushroom. Just 25 years old, her debut release offers an uncommonly rich blend of experimentation, field recordings, and ambient sensibilities across seven tracks. Recorded in her place of residence via mobile phone and cassette, the aptly titled Home Recordings 2018–2021 is also appropriately issued on tape, with chosen format nicely echoing the method of conception, and it’s available in an edition of 200, so don’t dawdle in procuring a copy. It’s released through Hive Mind Records, one of the most reliably interesting labels on the contemporary scene.

Yara Asmar provides a concise bit of biography and then lets the music do the talking, which is much appreciated. But neither is she calculatedly mysterious; in the rundown of the instruments played on Home Recordings 2018–2021, it’s mentioned that the accordion used on the set belonged to her grandmother, and that it was found in the attic of her grandparents’ home in Lebanon (and so, a pertinent tidbit of further background).

Asmar also plays piano (both standard and toy models), metallophone, glockenspiel, synthesizer, toys, and music boxes, and in the tape’s fascinating second track, “Sleeping in Church – Tape 1 – On a Warm Day I Turned to Tell You Something but There Was Nothing There,” she interweaves field recordings of hymns sung in Lebanon churches into the scheme, at one point manipulating them to surreal and ominous effect.

The cassette’s opener “It’s Always October on Sunday” is loose and at times sparse as it makes its introductions, but it’s never random, beginning with a combo of bold chimelike tones (the toy piano, the metallophone, those music boxes), elements further mingled with bits of percussive rattle (later, more directly rhythmic interjections), and sustained, resonating tones. The piece and others on the tape do suggest sound collage at times, a similarity aided by the use of field recordings, natch, but distinguished by the fact that Asmar plays everything else.

Read More »

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Much like Santa Claus himself, Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong devoted his life to “the cause of happiness,” as he once put it, bringing joy to audiences around the globe every time he put his trumpet to his lips or crooned with his instantly-recognizable, gravelly voice. Yet, while Satchmo’s holiday recordings have become standard yuletide fare, he never released a Christmas album during his lifetime. Now, for the very first time, Louis Wishes You A Cool Yule—out October 28 via Verve Records/UMe, presents Armstrong’s holiday recordings as a cohesive body of work, marking his first-ever official Christmas album.

Since his passing in 1971, Armstrong has become one of the most oft-played artists during the holiday season, his golden trumpet tone still able to cut through the din of even the most bustling shopping mall. Available for pre-order today, Louis Wishes You A Cool Yule features nearly the entirety of Armstrong’s holiday output: six Decca singles from the ‘50s, including “Cool Yule,” “Christmas Night in Harlem,” and the swinging “‘Zat You Santa Claus?.” The 11-track album also features duets with two of Pops’ favorite vocal partners, Velma Middleton (“Baby, It’s Cold Outside”) and Ella Fitzgerald (“I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm”). An official video for the Louis and Ella classic debuts today, hand-drawn by director and animator JonJon in his distinctive “line and shape” style.

Rounding out the collection is the artist’s signature hit, “What a Wonderful World,” which has become something of a yearlong hymn of hope and celebrates its 65th anniversary this year, plus a very special gift to fans: a previously unreleased reading of Samuel Clement Moore’s poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” popularly known as “The Night Before Christmas.” Paired with a groovy, newly-recorded musical underbed by New Orleans pianist Sullivan Fortner, the poignant recording marks the first new Louis Armstrong track in more than 20 years and is notable for being the last recording he ever made.

Read More »

Talk about your one-chord wonders. England in the mid- to-late seventies was awash in them, punk bands that woke up to the fact that you didn’t have to be Queen to seize the stage and play rock and roll. The spirit of the day was “Look ma! I just picked up a guitar ten minutes ago and played my first gig last night!” And it was The Adverts who perfectly captured that spirit on the opening cut of their 1978 debut LP Crossing the Red Sea with The Adverts, “One Chord Wonders.”

Early arrivals on London’s punk scene, The Adverts perfectly encapsulated The Replacements’ sentiment “I hate music/ Sometimes I don’t/I hate music/It’s got too many notes.” And on “One Chord Wonders”—a feedback-laced hit of pure punk amphetamine—they turn it into both a point of pride and a manifesto. Their message: “I wonder how we’ll answer when you say/”We don’t like you – go away”/”Come back when you’ve learned to play.” And, “The wonders don’t care–we don’t give a damn.” On “Bored Teenagers” they channel the ennui of a time when the only way to get a job was with a personal referral from the Queen. Looking for something new isn’t paying off, opines T.V. Smith, tying yourself to the railway tracks isn’t a completely unreasonable idea, and everyone’s “looking for love/or should I say emotional rages.”

“New Church” is stripped-to-the-bone power pop in an era when power pop meant the Raspberries, On it T.V. Smith gobs on the notion that the meek shall inherit the earth, so he intends to stick with the winners: “So long – goodbye to the blind and the weaklings/I’ll follow my feelings/Be strong – I’ll do what I want.” “On the Roof “ is a drag that picks itself up only to fall down again, and what Smith is getting at is adult hypocrisy, which he wishes was a joke—he’s “waiting for the punchline” but it ain’t coming, and in the meantime he’ll “be on the roof/Waiting for you/Where we’ll hide.”

Read More »

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Led by the songwriting and virtuoso musical duo of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, Steely Dan released an extraordinary run of seven albums on ABC Records and MCA Records from 1972 through 1980. Filled with topline musicianship, clever and subversive wordplay, ironic humor, genius arrangements, and pop hits that outshone the Top 40 of its day, their records, which were as sophisticated and cerebral as they were inscrutable, were stylistically diverse, melding their love of jazz with rock, blues, and impeccable pop songcraft.

Now at long last, Steely Dan’s classic ABC and MCA Records catalog will return to vinyl with an extensive yearlong reissue program of the band’s first seven records, which is being personally overseen by founding member Donald Fagen. The LPs, most of which haven’t been widely available since their original release, will be available on 33 1/3 RPM 180-gram black vinyl via Geffen/UMe, and as a limited-edition premium 45 RPM version on Ultra High-Quality Vinyl (UHQR) from Analogue Productions, the audiophile in-house reissue label of Acoustic Sounds. Analogue Productions will also release this series of titles on Super Audio CD.The series will kick off on November 4th with the album that started it all, Steely Dan’s legendary 1972 debut LP, Can’t Buy A Thrill, now in its 50th anniversary year, featuring the band’s breakthrough hits, “Do It Again,” “Reelin’ in the Years,” and the recently viral “Dirty Work,” with original lead vocalist David Palmer.

Read More »

Celebrating Colin Newman, born on this day in 1954. —Ed.

Most bands are fortunate to get in the ballpark of a single masterpiece during their existence, but from ’77-’79, and right out of the gate with their debut, Wire produced three in a row. In the process, they delivered a blueprint for minimalist art-punk (from which many have swiped but never bettered) while becoming one of the defining acts in the emerging genre of post-punk. 

As the final studio album before Wire’s first hiatus, 154 inevitably registers as a culmination. However, if the byproduct of chances taken, repetition disdained, and unsurprisingly, friction between band members, the album’s experimentation with and extension of rock and pop form ultimately transcends the tag of post-punk, with its contents remarkably cohesive and betraying no signs of strain from creative differences.

For an outfit who stated they’d quit because of a dearth of new ideas, 154 is loaded with them. If it’s a taste of the band at the end of their tether that you desire, then the live recording Document and Eyewitness, revised and expanded in 2014, is the release to check out; fascinatingly flawed but in this writer’s view somewhat underrated, it stands as the true end of Wire’s first period.

But don’t let’s lose track of the subject at hand. 154 easily extends the brilliance established on Wire’s prior releases by unveiling another major spurt in development, though the sheer intensity of invention did them few favors. The reality of all this rapid-fire progress? Wire was simply moving too fast to cultivate their listenership, and by extension, disappointment from their label EMI was certain. Furthermore, as their sound was at odds with the general trend toward post-punk refinement (e.g. New Romanticism), the response from critics could often be indifferent, perplexed, or even hostile.

Read More »