VIA PRESS RELEASE | Craft Latino announces a 50th-anniversary reissue of Indestructible, a defining title from legendary conguero and bandleader, Ray Barretto. The 1973 masterpiece, which cemented Barretto’s status as a salsa icon, features the classic title track, plus such highlights as “El Diablo” and “La Familia.”

Set for release on December 15 and available for pre-order, the long-out-of-print album has been newly remastered from its original tapes and pressed on 180-gram vinyl. A classic tip-on jacket, replicating the album’s original design, completes the package. Additionally, Indestructible will make its debut in 192/24 hi-res digital audio.

In 1973, Ray Barretto (1929-2006) was at a crossroads in his career. For more than a decade, the Brooklyn-born, Puerto Rican musician had enjoyed his status as one of the foremost names in Latin jazz and Afro-Cuban rhythms. He had become the go-to conguero in New York City, playing alongside such jazz greats as Wes Montgomery, Cal Tjader, Kenny Burrell, and Dizzy Gillespie.

As a bandleader, Barretto achieved stardom with his 1963 hit, “El Watusi,” while he became a foundational figure in the soulful boogaloo movement. Before long, he was at the forefront of the emerging salsa scene. Playing alongside him for much of this period was The Ray Barretto Orchestra, which featured vocalist Adalberto Santiago, timbalero Orestes Vilato, and bongosero Johnny Rodríguez, among others. But after five years and eight albums together (including 1968’s Acid, 1971’s The Message, and 1972’s Que Viva la Música), Barretto’s band left him to form Típica 73. The highly publicized split was a massive blow to the artist, creatively and personally.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | BMG announces the November 17 release of a deluxe edition of Stewart Copeland’s Klark Kent, a new comprehensive collection available on 2LP, 2CD, and digital formats and now available for pre-order.

Today, the remastered 1978 single, “Too Kool to Kalypso,” is available at DSPs. Originally released as a 7” single, the track is one of the non-album original studio recordings that appear on the collection.

Featuring newly remastered versions of all the original non-album singles, the full 1980 self-titled album, plus two previously unreleased studio recordings, Klark Kent showcases Copeland on all of the instruments and vocals. The CD and digital formats include 12 previously unreleased demo versions. The set includes the single “Don’t Care,” which hit the UK Top 50 chart in advance of any song by The Police.

The first solo project by a member of The Police, Klark Kent’s innovative music, released on Kryptone Records, began in 1978 as a series of singles and culminated in a 1980 self titled album recently reissued as a limited Record Store Day vinyl release. In 1995, Copeland released a compilation of his songs for Kollected Works.

Remembering Peter Tosh, born on this day in 1944. —Ed.

Live at My Father’s Place 1978 offers crisp audio clarity of a Peter Tosh performance originally broadcast live over radio via New York’s WLIR FM. While it’s unlikely to alter many opinions, positive or negative, of Tosh’s work at this stage of his career, it does accurately represent the man’s musical direction during a commercially productive and musically transitional period. 

Flash back to 1978, and Peter Tosh was in the midst of his most fertile commercial run. That year saw the release of Bush Doctor, his first album for Rolling Stones Records, a set that found him duetting with Mick Jagger on a Temptations tune. If Tosh wasn’t reggae’s biggest star at the time, he was sitting pretty secure in the number two spot.

While album-focused listeners might disagree, Peter Tosh’s early recordings endure as his strongest work, cohering into an unimpeachable stretch of singles both solo and as part of the Wailers; alongside Bob Marley and Bunny Livingston, the Wailers eventually cut a string of crucial LPs in the early ’70s, prior to Tosh and Livingston’s departure and the Wailers effectively shifting to Marley’s backing band.

However, the appraisals of Tosh’s post-Equal Rights LPs are decidedly varied. This is partly due to an increased attempt at scoring crossover success, which as detailed above, was fully realized. Although he’d been frequenting studios since the mid-’60s, Tosh didn’t release his full-length solo debut until 1976, after signing with Columbia. The record, Legalize It, remains his most well-known, and for reasons that should be obvious; for decades, its title track was an anthem for folks who were tired of being hassled for their stash.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | This December, prepare to celebrate 48 1/2 years of Monty Python and The Holy Grail with a special nationwide theatrical re-release in select theaters via Iconic Events Releasing and Mercury Studios. Tickets are available here.

This cinematic event kicks off in over 500 theatre locations nationwide on Sunday, December 3rd with encore screenings beginning on Wednesday, December 6th. Select theatre locations will also be offering a Quote-A-long version of the film for audiences to experience the joy in sharing together, as you quote your favorite lines with the characters.

In this new Quote-A-long rendition, fans not only witness the absurdity of Arthurian legend but also actively participate in the laughter. It’s a sidesplitting cinematic event that honors the timeless humor of Monty Python while inviting fans to quote, laugh, and sing-a-long like never before. Get ready to journey into a world of Medieval madness, coconut-clacking horses, and unforgettable one-liners in this uproarious Quote-A-long version of a comedy classic.

Monty Python remains one of the most iconic comedy collectives of all time, influencing generations across theatre, music, TV, and film. Formed in 1969, members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin rose to prominence with their sketch comedy TV series Monty Python’s Flying Circus. This was followed by the publication of multiple books; the release of a number of hugely popular albums; live stage shows including tours around England, Canada and the US; and two more iconic feature films—the mock-Biblical epic, Monty Python’s Life of Brian and The Meaning of Life, a dark, ribald symphony of excess and meditation on mortality.

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The late Peter Gutteridge is known as a founding member of The Clean and The Chills, but along with his band Snapper, he is best remembered for his only solo release, Pure. Originally issued on cassette in 1989 by the Xpressway label, it’s due to arrive on LP November 10 through Superior Viaduct. Featuring raw slices of lo-fi subterranean pop interspersed with methodically layered instrumentals, the set is a masterpiece of DIY that’s highly recommended to anybody who cherishes the sound of one human’s undiluted creativity captured by a 4-track.

Along with his brief time with The Clean and The Chills (very brief in the latter’s case), Peter Gutteridge was also a contributor to Clean offshoot The Great Unwashed (alongside Hamish and David Kilgour), The Puddle, and the Alpaca Brothers, but the band that brought him the biggest direct recognition was probably Snapper, a Flying Nun band that stood apart from what many think of when they think of the Flying Nun label.

Gutteridge’s higher profile in Snapper is due to his participation through the band’s whole run, which consisted of three singles, a self-tilted EP in 1988, Shotgun Blossom in ’90 and A.D.M. in ’96. “Buddy” from the EP is said to be Snapper’s best known tune, which makes sense as the video for the song made the rounds back in the day and was included on Atavistic Video’s In Love With These Times Vol. 1 Flying Nun VHS compilation.

Snapper’s sound could be described as a little like Jesus & Mary Chain, Spacemen 3, and early Stereolab in a big dogpile in Alan McGee’s backyard, and knowledge of the band’s general thrust will certainly be helpful for those hearing the unpolished DIY nature of Pure for the first time. But even as it offers markedly different versions of Snapper’s “Hang On” and “Cause of You,” Pure’s contents spread out farther than what Snapper was up to stylistically as the nature of the one-man and a 4-track operation launches the music from a contracted platform.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Oh Boy Records will release John Prine —The Oh Boy Singles, a special 7-inch box set, on November 24. The limited-edition collectable is now available for pre-order and will also be available at indie record stores nationwide.

Modeled precisely after Prine’s 1935 Wurlitzer Jukebox, the collection features the eight singles Prine released throughout his career on Oh Boy Records packaged in their original artwork as well as working lights that illuminate the jukebox, a booklet with a forward written by Jim Rooney, two “Handsome Johnny” jukebox coins, a vintage Oh Boy catalogue and more.

One of Prine’s beloved possessions, the jukebox was a gift from his friend and fellow songwriter Steve Goodman as a thank you for co-writing Goodman’s first country hit, “You Never Even Called Me by My Name,” after Prine refused to take credit or royalties for writing the song.

Of the collection, Oh Boy Records’ Jody Whelan shares, “This collection took quite a bit of time and effort to put together, and perhaps some version of it could have come out a year or two earlier, but the guiding principle for us always was: ‘Would John have thought this was cool?’ So, after many revisions and additions we can finally say, ‘John would have thought this was cool (or at least Pretty Good).’”

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The late Jeff Beck had a singular solo career and for many had been the number one rock guitarist in the world since the early ’70s. Prior to his going solo, his work as a member of the Yardbirds and his own Jeff Beck Group (featuring Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood) laid the foundation for his solo career. The band, however, that was the true bridge from group artist to solo artist was Beck, Bogert & Appice.

The trio only released one studio and one live album and, in comparison with the aforementioned Yardbirds and Jeff Beck Group who had made several albums and were quite well-known, Beck, Bogert & Appice has somehow been largely overlooked, forgotten, or unknown in some circles. With this new box set, all of that should now change and the group will receive the credit it so rightfully deserves.

First off, the trio was very much a group and not merely Beck and sidemen. Appice had been the second drummer in American group Vanilla Fudge, where he met Bogert (the other members were Vinnie Martel and Mark Stein) and proved to be the missing piece, as after his joining Vanilla Fudge the group went on to huge success.

The first meeting of Beck, Bogert & Appice was when Vanilla Fudge was offered a deal to do a Coca Cola commercial and their guitarist couldn’t do it. They asked Beck and he agreed, and so Beck joined Bogert, Appice, and Mark Stein of Vanilla Fudge for the commercial. Vanilla Fudge and Beck shared some similar management and crossed paths in the later ’60s, including Bogert and Appice jamming with Beck in London.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | In a celebratory return to his roots, the legendary bassist Les Claypool has announced the Adverse Yaw: The Prawn Song Years Box Set, slated for release on February 9th.

Spanning the illustrious and eclectic moments of his solo career, this compilation is a tribute to the dynamic range of musical avenues Claypool has explored over the years. Featuring projects such as the Fearless Flying Frog Brigade, Colonel Claypool’s Bucket of Bernie Brains, and The Fancy Band, this 5-album set is a treat for both seasoned aficionados and new listeners.

The 5-album collection will include Live Frogs Sets 1 & 2, the sought-after Purple Onion, Of Whales & Woe, and Of Fungi & Foe LPs. Listeners will also experience The Big Eyeball In the Sky, now available with remastered audio on limited edition, colored 180-gram vinyl. Bundle options include an exclusive t-shirt and a limited-edition screen-printed poster, designed by Matt Leunig. The Adverse Yaw: The Prawn Song Years Box Set is now available for pre-order at Club Bastardo.

The announcement of Adverse Yaw comes on the heels of the launch of Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade’s The Hunt for Green October Tour, which kicked off in Oakland, CA on October 11th for their last Bay Area performance of the year. The fall tour will also include a number of east coast performances, including The Palace Theatre in Albany, NY on Friday, October 20th, Brooklyn Steel in Brooklyn, NY on Sunday, October 22nd, and the Fillmore in Philadelphia on Wednesday, October 25th.

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Formed by Martin Phillipps in 1980, The Chills stand as one of New Zealand’s very greatest bands. Against the odds, Phillipps and his cohorts have persevered, still touring and releasing high-quality stuff, and for fans who’ve never grabbed vinyl copies of the band’s earliest releases, there is no better time to be alive than right now, as Fire Records has just issued expanded 2LP editions of the compilation Kaleidoscope World and debut LP Brave Words, with the latter remastered under the supervision of Phillipps. Delivering imaginatively conceived guitar pop with occasional currents of psychedelia, both albums are must-have acquisitions for collectors of the whole international ’80s post-punk shebang.

Many consider the two records The Chills recorded for Slash to be the sustained highpoint in their discography, and those discs, 1990’s Submarine Bells and ’92’s Soft Bomb, are so successful in their pop ambition that I’d be disinclined to raise an argument. It’s really impossible to deny those two LPs effectively capture Martin Phillipps’ songwriting at its most developed and with bold production to match.

But The Chills’ early work carries its own appeal, residing nearer to the garage, and in a few instances on Kaleidoscope World, punk rock (The Chills formed after the breakup of Phillipps’ punk band The Same). There’s the charged up belter “Bite” from the B-side of the their first single, while “Smile From a Dead Dead Face” was recorded live in ’85. These are exceptions however, as The Chills’ pop intentions were manifest from the start.

Originally released by Flying Nun and Creation in the UK in 1986, Kaleidoscope World started as a tidy 8-song affair collecting cuts from the legendary “Dunedin Double” compilation EP and their first three singles. This includes the majestic and decidedly psych-tinged “Pink Frost,” a song that manages to be soothing and unsettling at once. Easily one of the masterpieces in the band’s vast catalog, “Pink Frost” is nearly matched on the now 24-track 2LP set numerous times, including by much of ’85’s “The Lost EP,” which revealed songwriting growth, a clear rise in confidence, and a disdain for playing it safe.

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PHOENIX, AZ | Shinedown and the Revolutions tour stopped at Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre alongside Papa Roach for a sold out crowd in Phoenix, Arizona. The group brought their unique mix of rock, grunge, and pop-metal to the 23rd stop on this 2023 fall tour.

The Florida natives began their set with “Diamond Eyes,” a tune from their 2008 album The Sound of Madness. Accompanied by pyrotechnics, the band brought the heat literally and figuratively. The band followed the opener with “Dead Don’t Die” and “I’ll Follow You.

Coming onto the scene in 2001, the band has shown they have a healthier endurance than just about anyone still touring and releasing music into the early 2020s. Playing songs from their entire career, a band like this is what brings generations together. One could possibly surmise the average age of the audience, but you can be sure everyone was on their feet the entire time.

The revolutions tour and the 17 song setlist brings everyone on a two decade journey. The band plays as if it’s their last show, and plays for their only boss—all while fire and lights go wild. The show is an absolute blast from start to finish.

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