VIA PRESS RELEASE | Marking today’s 50th anniversary of the December 7, 1971 release of Paul McCartney and Wings’ Wild Life, UMe announces the February 4, 2022 reissue of Wings’ debut LP as a limited edition half-speed mastered vinyl pressing. Pre-Order the 50th Anniversary Limited Edition of Wild Life HERE.

Following the eclectic charm and intimacy of 1970’s solo McCartney and 1971’s homespun lo-fi indie-pop progenitor RAM credited to Paul and Linda McCartney, Wild Life found Paul once again redefining his post-Beatles creative identity, this time beginning his tenure as a founding member of Wings. A rollicking left turn from its predecessors, Wild Life was recorded in barely more than a week, with more than half of the songs captured in a single take.

The end result would be eight songs running the gamut from joyous freewheeling jams to proto-chamber pop to spare introspective musings—all bristling with a raw, jagged energy akin to the grungiest of garage bands—whether on the careening blues-rock rave-up of opener “Mumbo,” a reggae-tinged reimagining of Mickey & Sylvia’s “Love Is Strange,” or the plaintive and heart wrenching ballad “Dear Friend.”

Cracking the top 10 and going gold in the US, Wild Life faced an admittedly uphill battle as the debut of Paul’s first post-Beatles band. In a recent reassessment, Billboard noted that modern-day Wild Life listeners “can throw out all this cultural baggage and just enjoy the tunes… by not reaching for any obvious Beatles tropes, Wings achieved something fresh and inviting…”

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Singer and guitarist Trini Lopez was one of the first Latin pop crossover artists, emerging in the early 1960s with his success persisting deep into the decade. Along with his hits, Lopez’s reputation largely rests on a pair of big-selling live albums that effectively kick-started his career. Omnivore Recordings’ new CD The Rare Reprise Singles illuminates the man’s abilities in the studio across 24 non-LP A- and B-sides. Trading performance verve for varying degrees of finesse, the disc spotlights Lopez’s considerable skills as an interpreter of songs and offers a few solid examples of his own writing. It’s available now.

Timeliness alert: those looking for non-overplayed Christmas songs to soundtrack their holiday soirees are in luck with The Rare Reprise Singles, as it includes Lopez’s 1968 45, “El Niño Del Tambor (The Little Drummer Boy)” b/w “Noche De Paz (Silent Night) / Let There Be Peace.” a double-dose of yuletide vibes that’s enjoyable if not a mindblower. Lopez had the voice for this material, and his singing in Spanish adds appeal, so it’s not at all bad as far as Christmas tunes go.

Contemporary relevance alert: The Rare Reprise Singles opens with “A-Me-Ri-Ca,” its lyrics written by that great man of the 20th century musical theater Stephen Sondheim, who passed from cardiovascular disease at age 91 on November 26 of this year, just a few days ago as of this writing. Lopez died from complications from Covid-19 at age 83 in August of 2020.

Furthermore, “A-Me-Ri-Ca” was written in collaboration with Leonard Bernstein for the 1957 Broadway play West Side Story, which was adapted into a film in 1963 (surely the impetus for Lopez’s song, which was released the same year) directed by Robert Wise, and with a fresh adaptation directed by Steven Spielberg (with a screenplay by Tony Kushner) due in theaters this Friday, December 10.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | In celebration of Impulse! Records’ 60th anniversary this year, famed director and photographer, Atiba Jefferson, has created an engaging short film about the significance and continued cultural relevance of the orange-and-black record label known as the House That Trane Built.

Titled “6 on 60,” the mini doc features interviews with six artists from a variety of fields spanning the worlds of jazz, punk, funk, rock and skateboarding: legendary jazz stalwart Ahmad Jamal, who released some of his best records on Impulse! throughout the late ‘60s and early ‘70s; Rock and Roll Hall of Fame bassist, Flea, of the Red Hot Chili Peppers; noted vinyl enthusiast, radio show host and seminal punk rocker, Henry Rollins; professional skateboarder, photographer and musician, Ray Barbee, and contemporary artists Brandee Younger and Shabaka Hutchings of Sons of Kemet, representing the new vanguard of jazz and the new class of Impulse! Records.

“Impulse has been the soundtrack to my life, from my childhood to today, and I still play these records daily,” says Atiba Jefferson. “As a photographer I was always captivated by the photography and design—like everything about Impulse it has only gotten better with age. I had the idea to tell the stories of people and how they related to Impulse’s amazing 60-year history. I wanted to tell these narratives from the perspective of people from disparate worlds, from skateboarding to punk to funk to even the label’s artists of today and yesterday. It’s a story that is still being told and I’m glad to be able to help share it.”

For 60 years, the legendary Impulse! Records has been home to the greatest jazz artists of all time, including John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Archie Shepp, Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Quincy Jones, and more. The orange-and-black imprint was a cultural beacon of progressivism, spiritualism, and activism throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Today, the label thrives with an exciting new wave of jazz artists including Shabaka Hutchings, Sons of Kemet, The Comet Is Coming, Brandee Younger, Ted Poor and more.

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Frontier Records and Cult Epics announced today that iconic American Goth band Christian Death’s landmark debut album Only Theatre of Pain is set for a 40th anniversary reissue in January 2022 featuring an oversized hardcover book by famed Los Angeles punk rock photographer Edward Colver from Cult Epics books. In honor of Only Theatre of Pain’s 40th anniversary, Lisa Fancher, founder of Frontier Records, created an exclusive, double-vinyl gatefold Only Theatre of Pain album including a separate disc of digitally remastered demos and outtakes, and a bonus photo poster, for the upcoming box set.

This 40th Anniversary Edition is the only book authorized by the estate of founding member Rozz Williams and founding band members Rikk Agnew, James McGearty, and George Belanger. The oversized 12” x 12” book features rare and never-before-seen photos as well as new interviews with Colver and the surviving Christian Death band members. During this time, Edward Colver befriended the band and followed them around in late 1981 and early 1982 at more than a dozen concerts as well as photo shoots in Rozz Williams’ family home (used on the back cover of Only Theatre of Pain) and a session of now famous images at a cemetery in Pomona.

“Finally, fans of the real Christian Death will know how closely I worked with them and get to see a lot of the photographs that I shot during that time,” said photographer Edward Colver.

Christian Death was formed by Rozz Williams in Los Angeles, California in 1979. Williams was eventually joined by guitarist Rikk Agnew of Adolescents, James McGearty on bass guitar, and George Belanger on drums. It was this Christian Death line-up that was responsible for recording the band’s most iconic 1982 debut, widely agreed to be the #1 American goth album of all time.

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On December 15, 2004 international book, film, and would-be musical artist Moby Dick bullied his way into Los Angeles’ famed recording studio the Record Plant, where he proceeded to destroy $398,000 in recording equipment. “We got off easy,” said engineer Donny “Awesome” Tong. “Squeeze 27,000 tons of pissed-off blubber into a relatively small space and I’m surprised anything was left.”

Police apprehended Dick at West Hollywood’s Viper Room. When asked what led to his rampage Mr. Dick replied “They say sperm whales can’t sing. But you should hear my take on ‘Do Ya Think I’m Sexy.’ Kills ‘em at the Karaoke bar.”

Dick is a good singer, but he has nothing on the humpback whale, who’s famed for the beauty of its singing. The proof lies in 1970’s Songs of the Humpback Whale. Its 127 tracks were compiled by the late Dr. Roger Payne, the biologist and environmentalist responsible for compiling the field recordings that make up 1973’s award-winning Snap, Crackle & Pop: The Sounds of Children Eating Delicious Breakfast Cereals.

In the compilation’s liner notes, environmentalist Lars Van Greif writes, “People think all humpback whales sound alike. This is the equivalent of saying Glenn Danzig sounds like Justin Bieber. Common wisdom has it male humpbacks sing to attract chicks. But there’s evidence to suggest their songs are also trash-talking challenges to other males. Your male humpbacks are always looking for a fearsome fin fight. And I can tell you now, Justin Bieber wouldn’t stand a chance.”

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | “I love it that phonograph records are popular again,” enthuses Marshall Crenshaw. “They were consigned to oblivion by the music business back when I was recording for Razor & Tie, but now they’re back!”

The veteran rock ’n’ roll tunesmith, whose beloved body of work encompasses ten studio albums as well as a variety of EPs, compilations and live discs, recently regained ownership of the five acclaimed albums he released on the Razor & Tie label between 1994 and 2003. In 2020, Crenshaw launched a series of ambitious revised editions of those albums, on his own Shiny-Tone label (distributed through Megaforce) on CD, vinyl, and digital on February 4, 2022. The new expanded reissues, all of which include newly recorded bonus tracks, are being released on vinyl, as well as on CD and on all digital platforms.

The reissue series, which began with Crenshaw’s 1996 effort Miracle of Science, now continues with a freshly revised edition of his 1999 set #447, remastered by legendary engineer Greg Calbi. The original 11-song set includes such instant Crenshaw classics as the tongue-in-cheek “Dime a Dozen Guy,” the haunting “Television Light,” the infectious “Tell Me All About It,” and the romantic “T.M.D.” Recorded in the artist’s own home studio as well as Nashville’s Alex the Great studio, #447 features Crenshaw on vocals, guitar, bass, drums, percussion and various vintage keyboards, with additional instrumental contributions from such kindred spirits as Brad Jones, Bill Lloyd, Greg Leisz, Andy York, and former E Street Band member David Sancious.

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It’s seldom a band releases an album so bad in so many ways all you can do is fling your hat into the air and shout “Huzzah!” Pulling off such an audacious feat requires teamwork, dogged persistence and no small amount of unshakable stupidity. It also helps to have no taste.

One such band is Los Angeles’ White Wizzard. One of the things that makes White Wizzard so wonderfully special is their subject matter, which on their 2011 sophomore effort Flying Tigers includes the lost city of Atlantis, the pyramids, the War of the Worlds, a kid from a far-off galaxy named Starchild, and the Rainbow Bar and Grill in West Hollywood. That’s a lot of ground to cover in less than an hour, but if there’s one thing White Wizzard love it’s a challenge.

One of the most pressing questions about Flying Tigers is whether it’s a concept album. The short answer is yes, with caveats. Nine of the LP’s twelve songs take us to astral and/or demonic realms; the remaining three take us to Los Angeles and Tokyo. How did these outliers make it on to the LP? My guess is they separately creepy-crawled into the studio in the dead of night and accidentally hit record while wrestling for a Snickers bar.

Songs like “Starchild,” “Starman’s Son” (I’m taking it they’re the same person), “War of the Worlds,” “Dark Alien Overture, “Fall of Atlantis,” and “Blood on the Pyramids” lead me to believe that bass player and lyricist Jon Leon has watched every pseudo-documentary about ancient aliens ever made, and believes they’re the gospel truth. Tell him Adolf Hitler traveled to earth via the Jefferson Starship and he’ll ask you if Adolf took any selfies with Grace Slick.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | The original version of U-Roy & Jesse Royal’s “Small Axe” can be found on the acclaimed new album, Solid Gold U-Roy, available now via Trojan Jamaica/BMG for streaming and download. Limited Edition 2LP Gold Vinyl will be exclusively available at VP Records retail outlets in Queens, NY and Miramar, FL on December 17, and available for pre-order online via VP Reggae now.

The dub-powered new take on Bob Marley’s classic early hit, “Small Axe” sees the late, great Daddy U-Roy trading big vocals with Kingston, Jamaica-based singer-songwriter Jesse Royal over an indelible riddim that is rich with instrumentation and reverb, yet leaves enough space as to highlight the contrasting deliveries of the singer and deejay, as well as the guitar and piano by Zak Starkey, organ by Robbie Lyn, and fresh backing vocal arrangements courtesy of Robbie Shakespeare, Tony Chin, and Sharna “Sshh” Liguz.

On hearing U-Roy & Jesse Royal’s version of “Small Axe,” legendary producer and Island Records founder Chris Blackwell commented, “I love the unique production sound, it’s “f*cking great!” “It was and always will be an honor and a pleasure to work on U-Roy’s recordings,” says Zak and Sshh. “We miss him, but our mission is to keep his legacy strong with the music that lives on. Jesse Royal gives a stand-out performance with passion and talent that we have come to know from ‘the small axe’. Maximum Respect!”

“We are all from the same bloodline,” says Jesse Royal. “Products of one of the greatest places on Earth! Walking talking blessings. The session for me was a school, as whoever knows me knows that I’m an avid studier when it comes to the ones who set it! The vibrations are always high, as the respect is mutual, and for me the level of gratitude was undeniable! Incredible concept that the team came up with, and brilliant execution by the musical team. Truly honored to be a part of such an amazing project!”

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