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Asko-Schönberg Ensemble, Reinbert de Leeuw, Netherlands Radio Choir – György Kurtág: Complete Works for Ensemble and Choir (2017)

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Gyorgy KurtagThis fine, triple-CD collection of music by Hungarian composer György Kurtág is titled with uncharacteristic imprecision by ECM: it is a collection not of works for ensemble and choir, but of ensemble, vocal, and choral works. As such, it covers a good many of the milestones of this composer’s output, which hovered for many years between western Europe and the East Bloc scene, covering developments from the sparse text-setting of the earlier major song sets to the newer accessibility that were explored by other composers, but maintaining a distinctive voice all the while. The performances were painstakingly rehearsed, sometimes under the supervision of Kurtág himself. The set could easily serve as a basic Kurtág entry in a library of contemporary music,…

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…but in places it’s much more than that. Get your hands on the best piece of sound equipment you can, and sample one of the pieces on CD 2 bearing the notation that the instruments should be “dispersed in space,” perhaps Samuel Beckett: What Is the Word, Op. 30b (CD 2, track 7). Beyond the novelty of hearing Beckett in Hungarian, and the usefulness of addressing the importance of the minimalist Irish playwright in Kurtág’s own thinking, you get ECM’s engineering at its most awesome, as nearly as possible reproducing the sense of space that a physical performance would have had. An ambitious release that lives up to its aims; highly recommended. — AMG


Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement – Water Witches (2017)

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a1 Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement is Dominick Fernow‘s most quietly intriguing alter ego. This immersive boxset commits a comprehensive survey of his sprawling output under this moniker from its inception in 2011 until 2013 which paved the way to the deforestation of Green Graves last year, effectively forming a proper grimoir of its accursed output for the first time, remastered by Paul Corley (Ben Frost, 0PN, Colin Steson).
While all of Dominick Fernow’s work is driven by a sense of puristic, tortured expression, his Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement output renders some of the most diffusive, abstract and enigmatic thoughts and feelings in his entire catalogue. Where his other projects are known for intensely saturated sound design, RSE dwells in fathoms…

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…of stark negative space; conjuring a rare and arcane kind of acousmatic magick that massages the temples and squeezes open the third eye thru its textured tonal sensitivity and heartrate-slowing temporal pressure, as opposed to anything explicitly aggressive or panic-inducing.

Collated as a sort of book of spells – Water Witches works best thru dedicated solo immersion and absorption – just as you would imagine with a mescaline or ayahuasca trip deep in the jungle – only with less physical sickness and actual mosquitos. Although you’re likely to encounter the sounds of parakeets, tarantula wasps and other hallucinatory creatures and tribes populating its dense drone canopies and humid, decaying surfaces.

Do not treat this release lightly, and it will reward you manifold in return. Cross its path the wrong way, in a narrow frame of mind, however, and you’re almost certain to get irretrievably lost amid its plasmic moire of recursive energy channels and unidentified spectres, because you’ll find there’s few souls willing to come and repatriate your quickly rotting cadaver from this devil’s lung of mental mantraps.

The set collates in their remastered entirety the following releases – Fallen Leaves Camouflaged Behind Tropical Flowers, Green Amulet Crafts Supernatural Qualities, Taking Place In The Foyer, Jungle Black Magic And Highlands Green Sorcery, Papua Land Where Spirits Still Rule, Black Magic Cannot Cross Water, The Plant With Many Faces, Folklore Venom and Water Rose Above The Head.

1. Life Would Transform (11:56)
2. Skull Covered In Moss (12:02)
3. A Slave Boy That Died An Awful Death For Not Keepng His Owner’s Horses. He Helps People Who Are Looking For Lost Things. (10:00)
4. An Old Hag That Wears Shoes And Stomps Over People’s Stomachs At Night Making Them Breathless (10:01)
5. Spot A Witch By Changes In The Persons Behavior (05:02)
6. In New Guinea Police Don’t Have The Petrol Money To Search For The Witch Murderers (05:02)
7. Bodies Of Suspected Witchs Are Dumped In The River Or Buried In Toilet Pits (05:02)
8. Sorcery Killings (05:02)
9. The Case Of The Male Witch From Goroka (09:32)
10. A Cursed Leaf Under The Pillow Of A Victim (09:50)
11. The Verdict Handed Down By A Kangaroo Court (09:53)
12. For The Next Three Days There Was An Eerie Silence In The Village (09:40)
13. There Are Many Powerful Spirits Living In The Hills And Stones And It Is Not A Good Idea To Disturb Them. (04:48)
14. When They Cut The Road Through Here (04:48)
15. They Found This Stone Was Too Hard To Break Up So They Put It On A Truck (04:48)
16. They Took It Down To The Harbour And Dropped It In The Sea. (04:48)
17. But The Next Morning It Was Back Here Again. That Happened Three Times. (04:48)
18. They Dropped The Stone In The Harbour But Overnight It Returned, So Finally They Left It Here. (04:48)
19. In Port Moresby They Tried To Bulldoze A Mountain Where A Very Strong Spirit Dwells. (04:48)
20. The Spirit Was Angry And Froze The Bulldozer So It Could Not Move. The Bulldozer Is Still There Today. (04:48)
21. Homes Built Over The Sea (14:29)
22. Refuges From Black Magic (14:53)
23. Abaxial Masks With Sockets Closed To Hide The Face When The Destroyer Comes Alive (11:12)
24. Out Of The Mess Came The Green Devil (11:04)
25. Complex Rituals To Control Anthurium (11:09)
26. Poisonous Spirit Species (10:52)
27. Upside Down Left Eye (10:38)
28. Undrinkable Water (04:09)
29. In Honduras Death Caused By Being Chased By Spirits (02:48)
30. The Spirit Wore The Shoes Of The Boy (05:58)
31. Black Magic Originated In Nature (09:42)
32. Spirit Companion Sick-Bed (02:22)
33. Malaysia Yellow Herbs (02:46)
34. These Spirits Are Thought To Live Far Out At Sea And Are Usually Malevolent (12:46)
35. They Shoot Men With Flying Fish And Travel In Waterspouts Or On Rainbows (10:02)

Santana – Lotus: Complete Edition (2017)

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Santana…Seven unreleased tracks, which had been sealed for 44 years long, are included in this set, and finally listed on the original order. These seven are: “Japan”, “Bamble”, “Ummu Uum”, “Sacred Light”, “The Creator Has a Master Plan”, “Savor”, and “Conga Solo” (about 35 minutes total).
Legendary engineer Tomoo Suzuki, who was responsible for recording & mixing of the original work, is responsible for mixing these seven tracks, using the original master tapes stored in Japan.
Recorded in Japan in July 1973, this massive, three-LP live album was available outside the United States in 1974 but held back from domestic release in the U.S. It features the same “New Santana Band” that recorded Welcome, and combines that group’s jazz and spiritual influences with performances of…

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…earlier Latin rock favorites like “Oye Como Va.” — AMG

CD1
1.01 Meditation [01:40]
1.02 Going Home [02:53]
1.03 A-1 Funk [03:12]
1.04 Every Step of the Way [11:28]
1.05 Black Magic Woman [03:37]
1.06 Gypsy Queen [03:57]
1.07 Oye Como Va [05:44]
1.08 Japan [04:49]
1.09 Bambele [04:51]
1.10 Um Um Um [06:51]
1.11 Yours Is the Light [05:37]

CD2
2.01 Batukada [00:58]
2.02 Xibaba (She-Ba-Ba) [04:12]
2.03 Stone Flower (Introduction) [01:10]
2.04 Waiting [04:12]
2.05 Castillos De Arena, Part 1 (Sand Castle) [02:53]
2.06 Free Angela [04:47]
2.07 Samba De Sausalito [03:33]
2.08 Mantra [07:14]
2.09 Kyoto [09:55]
2.10 Castillos De Arena, Part 2 (Sand Castle) [01:12]
2.11 Light of Life [03:28]
2.12 Se A Cabo [05:29]

CD3
3.01 Samba Pa Ti [09:34]
3.02 Mr. Udo [03:12]
3.03 The Creator Has a Master Plan [09:02]
3.04 Savor [04:14]
3.05 Conga Solo [02:45]
3.06 Toussaint L’overture [08:02]
3.07 Incident at Neshabur [16:22]

The Members – The Virgin Years (2017)

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TheMembers To coincide with their 40th anniversary celebrations, The Virgin Years sees popular punk band The Members look back to the late 70s and their celebrated period spent with Virgin Records during the apex of the New Wave and Punk scene explosions.
The first disc complied in this four CD boxset is The Members’ debut LP, ‘At The Chelsea Nightclub’, which saw the band break into the UK charts with the New Wave anthem ‘Sound Of The Suburbs’ alongside fellow hit ‘Offshore Banking Business’. Following this disc is ‘1980 – The Choice Is Yours’, another critically acclaimed album that added to the Members rapidly expanding legacy.
Third disc, ‘The BBC Sessions’, is made up by two rare unreleased John Peel sessions…

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…alongside a version of ‘Physical Love’ recorded for Andy Peebles and a nine track In Concert for the BBC. Finishing this set off is a punk collectors dream disc, which gathers 11 previously unreleased studio demos including the fabled ‘End Of The Term’, which has never seen the light of day.

Disc 1:

1. Electricity
2. Sally
3. Soho-A-Go-Go
4. Don’t Push
5. Solitary Confinement
6. Frustrated Bagshot
7. Stand Up And Spit
8. The Sound Of The Suburbs
9. Phone-In Show
10. Love In A Lift
11. Chelsea Nightclub
12. The Sound Of The Suburbs (7″ Single Version)
13. Handling The Big Jets
14. Offshore Banking Business
15. Solitary Confinement (7″ Single Version)
16. Offshore Banking Business / Pennies In The Pound

Disc 2:

1. The Ayatollah Harmony
2. Goodbye To The Job
3. Physical Love
4. Romance
5. Brian Was
6. Flying Again
7. Normal People
8. Police Car
9. Clean Men
10. Muzak Machine
11. Gang War
12. G.L.C.
13. Killing Time
14. Ballad Of John And Martin
15. Disco Oui Oui
16. Love In A Lift (Soul Version)
17. Rat Up A Drainpipe (New Version)

Disc 3:

1. Love In A Lift
2. Phone-In Show
3. At The Chelsea Nightclub
4. The Sound Of The Suburbs
5. Physical Love
6. Muzak Machine
7. Killing Time
8. Romance
9. Gang War
10. The Ayatollah Harmony
11. Muzak Machine
12. Romance
13. Physical Love
14. Clean Men
15. Police Car
16. The Sound Of The Suburbs
17. Flying Again
18. Chelsea Nightclub

Disc 4:

1. End Of Term
2. G.L.C.
3. Muzak Machine
4. Faces In A Crowd
5. Gang War
6. Ayatollah Harmony
7. Ballad Of John And Martin
8. Brian Was
9. Flying Again
10. Clean Men
11. Clean Dub

Ricardo Donoso – Symmetry (2016)

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symmetryOne of the best things about German label Denovali Records is that whenever they sign an artist, they usually make an effort to reissue out of print items in their back catalog in addition to releasing their new material. Brazilian composer and electronic musician Ricardo Donoso received much acclaim for his releases on the now-defunct Digitalis label, and after Denovali released two new albums by Donoso in 2015, as well as reissuing his 2010 cassette Deterrence, the label presented a lavish box set of his sought-after trilogy of albums Progress Chance, Assimilating the Shadow, and As Iron Sharpens Iron, One Verse Sharpens Another. On 2011’s Progress Chance, Donoso crafted flickering, shimmering synth arpeggios reminiscent of early-’90s trance and ambient techno,…

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…but without beats. The album’s bright, bubbling tones are reflective and nostalgic, but with a tinge of fear and uncertainty lurking underneath. The album doesn’t seem heavy on the surface, so it’s easy to overlook how subtly complex the arrangements are at first. It’s an album for watching the sun rise after a long, bleary night out while you’re too restless to fall asleep just yet. Originally released as a double LP in 2012, Assimilating the Shadow is more ambitious, stretching track lengths closer to the ten-minute mark, and letting the fear and suspense creep in. The album seems to reach further back to the earlier, pre-techno era of cosmic space music, with more gripping melodies and a wider range of dynamics. Expressive yet nuanced, it’s easily one of Donoso’s best works. Arriving in 2013, As Iron Sharpens Iron, One Verse Sharpens Another (initially released as two separate vinyl EPs but intended as a proper album) found Donoso coming closer to producing proper techno, with pulsating beats and more clearly defined rhythms on some of the tracks, particularly during the album’s second half. Final track “The Master Game” could easily fit in a DJ set of early-’90s trance, in the KLF “Pure Trance” sense of the word. Other tracks such as “The Sphinx” exhibit a sense of mystery and discovery, more fit for exploring the ruins of ancient civilizations than for a post-club comedown. Taken as a whole, the trilogy is a stunning body of work.

Dave Matthews Band – DMB Live 25 (2017)

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dmb1 Dave Matthews Band release a new vinyl collection, titled DMB Live 25, which is comprised of 25 previously unreleased live tracks, released in honor of the band’s 25 anniversary, which the band celebrated last year during their pre-hiatus tour.
The collection, which features live cuts spanning the band’s entire career, will come in the form of five 180-gram LPs, delivered in a deluxe package that also includes a hardcover book displaying the photographs previously featured in the band’s DMB 25 Pop-Up Retrospective events.
Highlights of Live 25 include the first official releases of three songs: “Doobie Thing,” an instrumental performed only in 1993; “Falling Off The Roof,” a one-off from 2007; and “Break For It,” a 2010 rarity. The box set also features…

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…one of the best performances of “Bartender” in history and an early version of “Lying in the Hands of God” as an intro to “What You Are.”

Side A
1. Seek Up (8.29.95 – Philadelphia, PA – Mann Center)
2. JTR (5.2.01 – Greenville, SC – Bi-Lo Center)

Side B
1. You Never Know (8.24.03 – E. Rutherford, NJ – Continental Airlines Arena)
2. Don’t Burn The Pig (7.31.02 – Bristow, VA – Nissan Pavilion at Stone Ridge)
3. The Stone (9.2.00 – Charlotte, NC – Blockbuster Pavilion)

Side C
1. Shotgun (8.15.09 – W. Palm Beach, FL – Cruzan Amphitheatre)
2. A Dream So Real (9.22.07 Dallas, TX – Smirnoff Music Center)
3. Busted Stuff (8.25.00 Hartford, CT – Meadows Music Theatre)

Side D
1. Kit Kat Jam (6.20.03 – Darien Center, NY – Darien Lake PAC)
2. Lover Lay Down (6.22.00 – Noblesville, IN – Deer Creek Music Center)
3. Doobie Thing (8.31.93 – Charlottesville, VA – Trax)

Side E
1. Snow Outside (5.30.15 – Atlanta, GA – Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood)
2. Warehouse (6.22.96 – Clarkston, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre)

Side F
1. Say Goodbye (7.25.00 – Denver, CO – Mile High Stadium)
2. #41 (12.29.96 – Landover, MD – USAir Arena)

Side G
1. Don’t Drink The Water (7.13.04 – Darien Center, NY – Darien Lake PAC)
2. Big Eyed Fish > Granny (6.21.13 – Noblesville, IN – Klipsch Music Center)

Side H
1. Raven (4.4.02 – Washington, DC – MCI Center)
2. #34 (8.20.05 – George, WA – The Gorge Amphitheatre)
3. I’ll Back You Up (11.7.96 – Seattle, WA – KeyArena at Seattle Center)

Side I
1. Bartender (4.7.02 – Boston, MA – Fleet Center)
2. Falling Off The Roof (7.8.07 – Bridgeview, IL – Toyota Park)

Side J
1. Break For It (7.4.10 – Elkorn, WI – Alpine Valley Music Center)
2. Rhyme & Reason (9.27.94 – Charlottesville, VA – McIntire Amphitheatre)
3. What You Are (6.14.08 – Hartford, CT – New England Dodge Music Center)

Blancmange – The Blanc Tapes (2017)

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Blancmange“The Blanc Tapes” is a new Blancmange nine-CD box set that contains expanded three-disc editions of the albums “Happy Families”, “Mange Tout” and “Believe You Me” – all of which contain previously unreleased demos, remixes and BBC sessions.
As far as 1980s synthpop bands go, Blancmange seemed to have all the ingredients for a relatively long career. They were British. They were a duo. They had the artsy French name (after a dessert pudding). They were Erasure before Erasure existed: They had a hit with an ABBA cover; they even looked like Erasure. Yet they came and went over the course of only four years and three albums—although they did return briefly in 2011 with a fourth album, Blanc Burn. What happened?
This set of deluxe, three-disc reissues makes the story pretty clear. Ultimately, Blancmange tried to parlay success in the UK for mainstream acceptance in the United States and failed. Still, Blancmange is worthy just for the fact they never did anything truly bad, something that could not be said for many of their contemporaries. They were nothing if not…

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…stylish. And, as these reissues show, some of what they did was really quite good.

The 1982 debut Happy Families remains the high point. It is an impressively confident start, even if it is not an original one. The influences are almost entertainingly easy to pick out:  OMD on the plaintive, moody balladry of “Wasted” and “Sad Day”; ABC on the grandiose, orchestrated pop of “Waves”, and Talking Heads on everything else, with Arthur’s bemused yet agreeable croon playing no small part. The nervous “I Can’t Explain”, with its soulful backing vocals and doomy, minor-key bass line, and twisted electro-funk love song “Feel Me” still sound taut and sharp, and Arthur and Luscombe never bettered them. The percussive, Eastern-tinged “Living on the Ceiling” got some club play in the states and is the Blancmange song most likely to show up on a ‘80s compilation, but it is ultimately unremarkable. Producer Mike Howlett (OMD, A Flock of Seagulls), keeps things from getting cluttered. Alas, not even he can prevent the overabundance of synthesized handclaps that date-stamp every song.

Mange Tout (1984) adds a more pure, upbeat type of synthpop to the band’s repertoire. “Don’t Tell Me” to accomplish this and seamlessly mix in the band’s Eastern fascination. It is so winning and shamelessly good-natured, it is amazing Erasure’s Vince Clarke wasn’t involved in writing it. Not surprisingly, it rewarded Arthur and Luscombe with their biggest UK chart hit, followed closely by the duo’s faithful take on ABBA’s “The Day Before You Came”. The Heads-style dance-pop is still there in the form of “Game Above My Head” and the superior, ominous “Blind Vision”. Elsewhere, the album sounds willfully eclectic, as if Arthur and Luscombe are trying to make up for their pop turn with the formless dissonance of “Murder” and the bizarro-disco of “All Things Are Nice”. The strategy only works on the lovely acapella gospel of “See the Train”.

Here is where the Blancmange trajectory becomes clear, at least in hindsight. Mange Tout was a considerable UK success, generating hits and going gold in the process. With major-label distribution behind them and a US deal with new wave standard-bearer Sire, hitting the big time in America was the logical next step. Helmed by radio-friendly American producer Stewart Levine, Believe You Me was the result.

Like contemporaries OMD, Blancmange sacrificed their UK indie credibility for a go at mass-acceptance in North America. Where OMD largely succeeded, though, Blancmange did not. Believe You Me drastically tones down the band’s quirky edge, smoothing their compositions into agreeably unthreatening pop which happens to go heavy on synths. The album is far from a disaster, though, and in a way, it is their most consistent. Opening track and single “Lose Your Love” is an adequate representation of the whole thing. The arrangement and synth work are quite pretty, but the crunchy bits of guitar leave no question as to the intended market. You why it was not a huge hit until you remind yourself the chorus is built on repeating the word “no” six times. Every other listen, it’s either great or grating. The rest of Believe You Me just-misses-the-mark in a similar fashion, with tracks like the moody, vaguely reggae “Paradise Is” coming across like nothing so much as latter-day Police.  Arthur himself sounds bored, the charming chamber pop of “Lorraine’s My Nurse” notwithstanding.

These reissues will be heaven for hardcore fans, jam-packed as they are with extended mixes, b-sides, demos, radio sessions, and live tracks. Listening to the various outtakes presents a curious and somewhat frustrating proposition. Though most are instrumental, they provide evidence of a different band altogether, one that sounds moodier and truly experimental, not unlike Joy Division at times. It makes you wonder if Arthur and Luscombe were bowing to label pressure, or their own desire for mass acceptance, all along.

In any case, Blancmange left behind enough of a legacy to maintain a cult following, which allowed them to reunite in 2011 (Luscombe has since retired due to illness). These reissues cement the fact they were not without their own influence, either. It’s easy to hear why Moby was a fan of their eclecticism, use of technology, and emotive tone, while arty synthpop bands like Cymbals and Dale Earnhardt Junior Junior surely took note, too. If Blancmange is not essential, they are far from a waste of time.

Little River Band – The Big Box (2017)

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Little River BandLittle River Band are an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1975. Over the course of the last 40+ years they’ve sold over 30 million records and had 13 US Top 40 hits.

The Big Box offering is a collection of the band’s key albums, interviews, new live performances from the 40th anniversary tour in 2015.
Disc One is the 2000 studio album “Where We Started From”, Disc Two the 2002 live album “One Night in Mississippi”, Disc Three 2004 studio album “Test of Time”, Disc Four “Rearranged” a collection of newly recorded versions of older songs, Disc Five “Revisited” a release from 2016.

Exclusives here include the bonus track “Clean the Water”, and a brand new track, “Prodigal Son”.

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Where We Started From:

  1. Where We Started From
  2. This Place
  3. Magazine Girl
  4. Just You and I
  5. The Night Owls
  6. I Think I Left My Heart with You
  7. Who Made the Moon
  8. Look in Your Eyes
  9. American Way
  10. Lead Me to Water
  11. Cool Change

One Night in Mississippi:

  1. Man On Your Mind
  2. This Place
  3. Take It Easy On Me
  4. Lonesome Loser
  5. Where We Started From
  6. Reminiscing
  7. Happy Anniversary
  8. Who Made the Moon
  9. The Night Owls
  10. Help Is On Its Way
  11. It’s Not a Wonder
  12. I Think I Left My Heart with You
  13. Cool Change
  14. Lady

Test of Time:

  1. The Long Goodbye
  2. Shoulf I Go
  3. Back in Your Arms Tonight
  4. Old Money
  5. Hold On
  6. Enlighten Me
  7. Forever Now
  8. Can’t Get You Outta My Heart
  9. I’ve Met Love Before
  10. I’m Waiting
  11. There’s a Bus Leaving

Rearranged:

  1. It’s a Long Way
  2. Man On Your Mind
  3. This Place
  4. Take It Easy On Me
  5. Happy Anniversary
  6. Forever Blue
  7. The Other Guy
  8. Reminiscing
  9. Should I Go
  10. We Two/Down On the Border
  11. Help Is On Its Way
  12. The Night Owls
  13. Cool Change
  14. Lonesome Loser
  15. Lady

Revisited:

  1. Help Is On Its Way
  2. Reminiscing
  3. Lady
  4. Lonesome Loser
  5. Cool Change
  6. The Night Owls
  7. Take It Easy On Me
  8. Man On Your Mind
  9. We Two
  10. You Saved Me
  11. All the Young Faces

Neil Young – Original Release Series Discs 5-8 (2017)

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Neil-Young-5-8Official Release Series Discs 5-8 continues the packaging of Young’s classic Reprise albums as part of his own personal archival series. (These four albums were collected on vinyl in 2014; Official Release Series Discs 1-4, covering 1968’s self-titled album through 1972’s Harvest, bowed in 2009 while Official Release Series 8.5-12, spanning The Stills-Young Band’s Long May You Run (1976) to 1979’s Live Rust, was released to vinyl last year.)
This box feature high-resolution remasters of live album Time Fades Away (1973), On the Beach (1974), Tonight’s the Night (1975) and Zuma (1975), with Time Fades Away making its first appearance on the format.
The CD debut of Time Fades Away allows fans to revisit a bumpy chapter in Young’s career, known…

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…as the “Ditch Trilogy.” It began with a 1973 solo tour with Harvest-era backing band The Stray Gators, a trek beset by problems from start to finish. Crazy Horse guitarist and friend Danny Whitten had passed away at the end of the previous year (he was in fact turned away in rehearsals by young when it became apparent his substance abuse was preventing him from keeping up with the band), and alcohol flowed freely among the rest of the group. Though fans praised the newly-electric album, which consisted of eight original songs otherwise unavailable on LP, Young has frequently dismissed it, calling it “the worst record I ever made” in 1987 and cancelling a last-minute HDCD reissue in 1995. (Young even went as far to tease an alternate version of the album, Time Fades Away II, in his long-delayed Archives Vol. 2 box set, which would feature more tracks with Johnny Barbata, who replaced Kenny Buttrey mid-tour and is heard on three Time Fades Away cuts.)

From there, Young took to the studio to work through his grief and despair, having lost not only Whitten but friend and roadie Bruce Berry mere months later (turned onto drugs by Whitten). His first set of sessions, cut mostly in a single day with Crazy Horse’s bassist Billy Talbot and drummer Ralph Molina plus guitarist Nils Lofgren and pedal steel player Ben Keith (collectively known as The Santa Monica Flyers), addressed this loss head-on, name-checking Berry in “Tonight’s the Night” and including “Come On Baby Let’s Go Downtown,” a live track from 1970 prominently featuring Whitten. But it was the second set of sessions in early 1974 that was released first, a haphazard collection of still-grieving songs with minimal arrangements and production, plus contributions from members of Crazy Horse, The Band, Ben Keith, David Crosby and Graham Nash. On the Beach was a shocking studio follow-up to Harvest, deemed “one of the most despairing albums of the decade” by Rolling Stone, but both it and Tonight’s the Night are regarded by critics and fans alike as masterpieces. (Rarity has elevated at least one of these albums, too; On the Beach did not make it to CD until 2003.)

After reuniting with Crosby, Stills & Nash for a “doomed” 1974 tour, Young regrouped Crazy Horse (now featuring Talbot, Molina and guitarist Frank Sampedro–a lineup that’s stuck ever since) for a more traditional, “return to form” album. Zuma featured more straightfoward guitar heroics on tunes like “Cortez The Killer” (one of his best-known songs), “Don’t Cry No Tears” and “Danger Bird,” and set the tone for Young’s subgenre-hopping ways over the next few years.

 

Disc 1: Time Fades Away (originally released as Reprise MS 2151, 1973 – previously unreleased on CD)

  1. Time Fades Away (Live @ The Myriad, Oklahoma City – 3/1/1973)
  2. Journey Thru the Past (Live @ The Public Hall, Cleveland – 2/11/1973)
  3. Yonder Stands the Sinner (Live @ The Seattle Center Coliseum – 3/17/1973)
  4. L.A. (Live @ The Myriad, Oklahoma City – 3/1/1973)
  5. Love In Mind (Live @ Royce Hall, UCLA – 1/30/1971)
  6. Don’t Be Denied (Live @ The Phoenix Coliseum – 3/28/1973)
  7. The Bridge (Live @ The Sacramento Memorial Auditorium – 4/1/1973)
  8. Last Dance (Live @ The San Diego Sports Arena – 3/29/1973)

Disc 2: On the Beach (originally released as Reprise R 2180, 1974)

  1. Walk On
  2. See the Sky About to Rain
  3. Revolution Blues
  4. For the Turnstiles
  5. Vampire Blues
  6. On the Beach
  7. Motion Pictures
  8. Ambulance Blues

Disc 3: Tonight’s The Night (originally released as Reprise MS 2221, 1975)

  1. Tonight’s the Night
  2. Speakin’ Out
  3. World On a String
  4. Borrowed Tune
  5. Come On Baby Let’s Go Downtown (Live)
  6. Mellow My Mind
  7. Roll Another Number (For the Road)
  8. Albuquerque
  9. New Mama
  10. Lookout Joe
  11. Tired Eyes
  12. Tonight’s the Night (Part II)

Disc 4: Neil Young with Crazy Horse, Zuma (originally released as Reprise MS 2242, 1975)

  1. Don’t Cry No Tears
  2. Danger Bird
  3. Pardon My Heart
  4. Lookin’ for a Love
  5. Barstool Blues
  6. Stupid Girl
  7. Drive Back
  8. Cortez The Killer
  9. Through My Sails

Neil Young – Original Release Series Discs 8.5-12 (2017)

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8.5-12 Remastered from the original analog studio recordings at Bernie Grundman Mastering.
Official Releases Series is the name Neil Young has given to the personally approved remasters of his core catalog. The series debuted in 2012 with a four-album box that contained Young’s first four albums, and this 2016 installment covers his next five: the Stephen Stills duet album Long May You Run (its presence is why this is billed as “8.5”), American Stars & Bars, Comes a Time, Rust Never Sleeps, and Live Rust.
Whether they’re heard in new vinyl pressings or CDs released in 2017, the remasters are vivid and robust — the best this music has ever sounded, and that’s reason enough for hardcore Neil Young fans to purchase these titles again.

567 MB  320 ** FLAC

1976  – The Stills / Young Band – Long May You Run
1. Long May You Run
2. Make Love to You
3. Midnight on the Bay
4. Black Coral
5. Ocean Girl
6. Let It Shine
7. 12/8 Blues (All the Same)
8. Fontainebleau
9. Guardian Angel

1977 – American Stars ‘N Bars
1. The Old Country Waltz
2. Saddle Up the Palomino
3. Hey Babe
4. Hold Back the Tears
5. Bite the Bullet
6. Star of Bethlehem
7. Will to Love
8. Like a Hurricane
9. Homegrown

1978 Comes a Time
1. Goin’ Back
2. Comes a Time
3. Look Out for My Love
4. Lotta Love
5. Peace of Mind
6. Human Highway
7. Already One
8. Field of Opportunity
9. Motorcycle Mama
10. Four Strong Winds

1979 – Rust Never Sleeps
1. My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)
2. Thrasher
3. Ride My Llama
4. Pocahontas
5. Sail Away
6. Powderfinger
7. Welfare Mothers
8. Sedan Delivery
9. Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)

1979 – Live Rust
1. Sugar Mountain (Live)
2. I Am a Child (Live)
3. Comes a Time (Live)
4. After the Gold Rush (Live)
5. My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue) [Live]
6. When You Dance I Can Really Love (Live)
7. The Loner (Live)
8. The Needle and the Damage Done (Live)
9. Lotta Love (Live)
10. Sedan Delivery (Live)
11. Powderfinger (Live)
12. Cortez the Killer (Live)
13. Cinnamon Girl (Live)
14. Like a Hurricane (Live)
15. Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black) [Live]
16. Tonight’s the Night (Live)

Kayak – Journey Through Time (2017)

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KayakWith their instrumental prowess and keyboardist Ton Scherpenzeel’s facility at writing lyrics in English, you might be forgiven for mistaking Kayak for a bunch of clever proggers from London. But this Dutch band began in 1968 in the city of Hilversum, where Scherpenzeel and drummer Pim Koopman attended a music conservatory. After the addition of guitarist Johan Slager, bassist Cees van Leeuwen, and vocalist Max Werner, the group solidified by 1972 and commenced recording.
Stylistically they featured the instrumentation and chops of progressive acts like Yes and Genesis, but the pop song structures of Supertramp and the Alan Parsons Project; as time passed they increasingly favored the pop side of the equation. Royal Bed Bouncer, the most even balance between these…

2.56 GB  320 ** FLAC

…two styles, was to be a commercial and artistic high point for the band. They continued to meet with minor success throughout the ’70s on a variety of record labels, and in 1974 toured in support of Queen — a move that influenced the flavor of their later work.

Like most progressive bands, Kayak never had a terribly stable lineup; at one point they went through three bassists in as many years. With Scherpenzeel as the sole constant, Kayak’s first lineup also proved to be their finest; but Koopman’s asthma forced him to retire in 1976, and Werner was so tortured by stage fright and unfounded doubts over his singing ability that he demanded the vacated drum chair for himself, leaving the vocal duties to new member Edward Reekers. Scherpenzeel’s central role in the band eventually wore on the others, and Kayak fell apart in 1980. Scherpenzeel continued on to work with the English band Camel and then compose primarily for the theater. Koopman and Reekers worked in music production and performance; Werner left the stage to become a postal worker; and van Leeuwen became — of all things — a prominent lawyer. The band reunited in 1997 for a Dutch TV special, though no new recordings have yet emerged.

Journey Through Time contains 21 CD’s, and holds the sixteen studio album (including three double albums) and two bonus CD’s with non album tracks, rarities and demo’s. One of the bonus CD’s most remarkable items is Happy New Year, a Kayak demo dating from ’74 or ’75, that has never been released. There are several Kayak-related tracks like the single “Fluffy/White Walls” (1970) by High Tide Formation (with Pim Koopman, Ton Scherpenzeel, Chiel van Praag and Ron v.d. Werff). Then there’s an outstanding collection of  eight home recorded demo’s with previously unreleased material by Pim, Ton, Johan Slager and Carwin Gijsing under the name of Ten Ride Ticket. The Plan (with Ton and the Kayettes) are represented by their 1982 single “If This Ain’t Love/Hit Bottom”.

1973 – See See the Sun
1974 – Kayak
1975 – Royal Bed Bouncer
1976 – The Last Encore
1977 – Starlight Dancer
1978 – Phantom of the Night
1980 – Periscope Life
1981 – Merlin
2000 – Close to the Fire
2001 – Night Vision
2003 – Merlin: Bard of the Unseen
2005 – Nostradamus: The Fate of Man 2CD
2008 – Coming Up for Air
2009 – Letters from Utopia 2CD
2011 – Anywhere But Here
2014 – Cleopatra: The Crown of Isis 2CD
2017 – More Kayak 2CD

Huey Lewis & The News – Collected (2017)

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Huey LewisFans looking for a wildly thorough compilation for pop-rock band par excellence Huey Lewis & The News – or those hunting for rarities in the wake of their 30th anniversary edition of Sports that may have left fans wanting – have got some unlikely good (pardon the pun) news coming out of Europe.
An entry on the San Francisco bar band in Universal Music’s triple-disc Collected series looks to be not only a deep dive into the band’s hits and favorites from their debut album in 1980 to the release of 2010’s Stax covers album Soulsville, but a treasure chest full of rare mixes and hard-to-find tracks, including nine versions making their CD debuts.
The set covers the band’s meteoric rise from New Wave-tinged pub rockers to dominant rock hitmakers. Between 1982 and 1988,…

529 MB  320 ** FLAC

…The News racked up a dozen Top 10 hits in America, including the chart-toppers “The Power of Love” (from the blockbuster film Back to the Future), “Stuck with You” and “Jacob’s Ladder.” But Collected goes even further, covering the group’s mix of covers and originals in the ’90s and ’00s, not to mention the silly, self-effacing theme to the stoner comedy Pineapple Express in 2006.

And the final disc racks up 17 rare and uncompiled tracks: there’s two Mutt Lange-produced songs from Clover, the pre-News group that included Lewis on harmonica and keyboardist Sean Hopper (and famously, sans Lewis, backed Elvis Costello on his debut album My Aim Is True in 1977), and soundtrack and compilation appearances by Lewis on his own. CD debuts on this disc include the sole single sides by American Express, which featured Lewis, Hopper, guitarist Johnny Colla, bassist Mario Cipollina and drummer Bill Gibson–5/6 of the classic News (lead guitarist Chris Hayes would complete the lineup)–and 12″ dance mixes of hits “I Want a New Drug,” “Heart and Soul,” “The Power of Love” and “Hip to Be Square.”

Disc 1

  1. Some of My Lies Are True (Sooner or Later)
  2. Now Here’s You (Single Version) *
  3. Stop Trying
  4. Trouble In Paradise
  5. Do You Believe In Love
  6. Hope You Love Me Like You Say You Do
  7. Workin’ for a Livin’
  8. Tattoo (Giving It All Up for Love)
  9. Heart and Soul (Single Edit) *
  10. I Want a New Drug (Single Edit)
  11. The Heart of Rock & Roll (Single Edit)
  12. If This Is It
  13. Walking On a Thin Line (Single Edit)
  14. Bad Is Bad
  15. The Power of Love
  16. Back In Time (Jellybean Single Mix) *
  17. Stuck with You
  18. Hip To Be Square
  19. Jacob’s Ladder (Single Version)
  20. I Know What I Like (Single Version)

Original versions of Tracks 1-4 from Huey Lewis and The News (Chrysalis CHR 1292, 1980). Track 3 from Chrysalis single 2458, 1980
Tracks 5-8 from Picture This (Chrysalis CHR 1340, 1982)
Original versions of Tracks 9-14 from Sports (Chrysalis FV 41412, 1983). Track 9 from Chrysalis single VS4 42726, 1983. Track 10 from Chrysalis single VS4 42766, 1983. Track 11 from Chrysalis single VS4 42782, 1984. Track 13 from Chrysalis single VS4 42825, 1984
Original versions of Tracks 15-16 from Back to the Future: Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (MCA Records 6144, 1985). Track 16 from Chrysalis single WWS-17608 (JP), 1985
Original versions of Disc 1, Tracks 17-20 and Disc 2, Tracks 1-2 from Fore! (Chrysalis OV 41534, 1986). Track 19 from Chrysalis single VS4 43097, 1986. Track 20 from Chrysalis single VS4 43108, 1987

Disc 2

  1. Simple As That
  2. Doing It All for My Baby
  3. Perfect World
  4. Small World (Single Version)
  5. Give Me the Keys (and I’ll Drive You Crazy) (Single Edit)
  6. World to Me
  7. Walking with the Kid
  8. Couple Days Off (Short Edit)
  9. It Hit Me Like a Hammer (Sax Single Remix)
  10. He Don’t Know
  11. (She’s) Some Kind of Wonderful
  12. But It’s Alright
  13. Little Bitty Pretty One
  14. 100 Years from Now
  15. We’re Not Here for a Long Time (We’re Here for a Good Time)
  16. Let Her Go and Start Over (Radio Edit)
  17. I’m Not In Love Yet (with Wynonna Judd)
  18. Pineapple Express
  19. Respect Yourself
  20. Just the One (I’ve Been Looking For)

Original versions of Tracks 3-7 from Small World (Chrysalis OV 41622, 1988). Track 4 from Chrysalis single VS4 43306, 1988. Track 5 from Chrysalis single VS4 43335, 1988
Original versions of Tracks 8-10 from Hard At Play (EMI USA 93355, 1991). Track 8 from EMI USA promo CD single DPRO-04639, 1991. Track 9 from EMI USA promo CD single DPRO-04777, 1991
Tracks 11-13 from Four Chords & Several Years Ago (Elektra 61500, 1994)
Track 14 from Time Flies…The Best of Huey Lewis and The News (Elektra 61977, 1996)
Original versions of Tracks 15-17 from Plan B (Silvertone 01241-41767-2, 2001). Track 16 from Silvertone promo CD single JDJ-42920-2, 2001
Track 18 from Pineapple Express: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Bodog Music BDM0136128, 2006)
Tracks 19-20 from Soulsville (W.O.W. Records/Redeye 6 34457 53612 8, 2010)

Disc 3

  1. Streets of London – Clover
  2. Ain’t Nobody Own Nobody’s Soul – Clover
  3. Exodisco – American Express  *
  4. Kick Back – American Express *
  5. Trouble In Paradise (Live @ The Kabuki Theatre, San Francisco – 3/19/1985)
  6. Flip Flop & Fly
  7. Oh! Darling – Huey Lewis
  8. Once Upon a Time In New York City – Huey Lewis
  9. Feelin’ Alright – Huey Lewis
  10. Lonely Teardrops – Huey Lewis
  11. Work with Me – Strokeland Superband feat. Huey Lewis
  12. Oh! Happy Day – Brenda Lee & Huey Lewis
  13. Way Past Midnight – Frankie Miller & Huey Lewis
  14. I Want a New Drug (Extended Version/Dance Mix) *
  15. Heart and Soul (Jellybean Remix) *
  16. The Power of Love (Jellybean Remix) *
  17. Hip to Be Square (Dance Remix) *

Track 1 from Unavailable (Mercury SRM-1-1169, 1977)
Track 2 from Love On The Wire (Mercury SRM 1-3708, 1977)
Tracks 3-4 from Mercury single 6007 212 (U.K.), 1979
Track 5 from We Are The World (Columbia USA 40043, 1985)
Track 6 from “But It’s Alright” CD single – Elektra EKR188CD (DE), 1994
Track 7 from Come Together: America Salutes The Beatles (Liberty CDP 72438 31712 2 4, 1995)
Track 8 from Oliver and Company: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Walt Disney Records 64101, 1988)
Tracks 9-10 from Duets: Original Soundtrack (Hollywood Records HR-62241-2, 2000)
Track 11 from Kick It Up a Step (Strokeland Records SR001CD, 2000)
Track 12 from Gospel Duets with Treasured Friends (Provident Special Markets 83061-0845-2, 2007)
Track 13 from Double Take (Universal Music 00602547944245 (U.K.), 2016)
Track 14 from Chrysalis 12″ single 4V9 42779, 1983
Track 15 from Chrysalis 12″ single 601 275 (Europe), 1983
Track 16 from Chrysalis 12″ single 4V9 42889, 1985
Track 17 from Chrysalis 12″ single 4V9 43075, 1986

* previously unreleased on CD

The Turtles – The Complete Original Albums Collection + All the Singles (2016)

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Turtles…The 6-CD Complete Original Album Collection and 2-CD All the Singles round up, in truly definitive fashion, the original band’s recordings between 1965 and 1970 as first released on White Whale Records.  Though The Turtles have long been recognized as top-flight purveyors of classic 45s, a journey through their compact six-album catalogue as presented in The Complete Original Album Collection unearths numerous riches beyond the big hits.  With a gleeful sense of abandon, The Turtles epitomized sixties pop while merrily sending it up in gently subversive fashion.  Each of the first three albums is presented on CD in both mono and stereo.  Albums from The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands on are presented in stereo with rare bonus tracks.

1173 MB  320 ** FLAC

The October 1965 release of It Ain’t Me Babe introduced The Turtles – guitarist/vocalist Mark Volman, keyboardist/vocalist Howard Kaylan, multi-instrumentalist Al Nichol, drummer Don Murray, guitarist Jim Tucker and bassist Chuck Portz – to the LP market with a strong set of potent folk-rockers.  The album’s cover photo featuring some rather serious-looking young men was somewhat reflected in its contents.  Three songs came from the pen of Bob Dylan – not just the hit title track but also “Love Minus Zero” and “Like a Rolling Stone.”  All three of the Dylan songs were given an attractive sheen by the band; Dylan recalled meeting The Turtles during an early trip to California in his memoir Chronicles Volume One.  Also tapping into the zeitgeist was P.F. Sloan’s Dylan-aping but no less powerful “Eve of Destruction.”  Sloan recurs on the LP with the passionately defiant “Let Me Be,” soon to become The Turtles’ second hit single.

Ervin Drake’s “It Was a Very Good Year,” introduced by The Kingston Trio in 1961 and most memorably recorded by Frank Sinatra (and released on his September of My Years LP just one month before It Ain’t Me Babe) gets a sincere and straightforward reading.  The band was also up for the raucous, stomping “Your Maw Said You Cried” (with background vocals recalling those other merry musical pranksters, Jan and Dean) and Brill Building shine of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil’s “Glitter and Gold” (also recorded by The Everly Brothers and duo Danny and Diego).  It Ain’t Me Babe wasn’t solely a covers album, though.  Howard Kaylan contributed four songs to the album, all demonstrating the work of a fine songwriter: the jangly opener “Wanderin’ Kind,” the taut rockers “A Walk in the Sun” and “Let the Cold Winds Blow” (the latter which is still all too appropriate today with its pleas of unity and rejection of hatred and prejudice) and the baroque harpsichord-tinged breakup song “Last Laugh,” co-written with Kaylan’s then-girlfriend Nita Garfield.

Though The Turtles would more deeply explore their original voices on future projects, It Ain’t Me Babe beautifully captures the period as well as the sound of L.A. folk-rock with prominent 12-string guitar. Engineer/”studio director” Bones Howe knew how to best capture Kaylan and Volman’s commanding voices and rich harmonies, as well as the group’s energy and spirit; Howe (later to sprinkle his magic on The 5th Dimension, The Association and Tom Waits) would stick around to bring his acumen to one more significant album.

“Let Me Be” recurred on The Turtles’ second LP, April 1966’s You Baby, a distinctive, quirkier effort distinguished by tight band interplay and powerful lead vocals from Howard Kaylan.  The hit was joined by two more P.F. Sloan tunes, both penned with Steve Barri: the pretty mid-tempo ballad “I Know That You’ll Be There” and the sweet slice of catchy pop that lent the album its title. The infectious “You Baby” justifiably earned the band a Top 20 hit and pointed the way towards the future. (Just try not to sing along!)  Bob Lind of “Elusive Butterfly” fame was tapped for the mordant commentary of “Down in Suburbia.”

Kaylan remained The Turtles’ most prolific writer on You Baby with the rocking prison blues “House of Pain” as well as “Pall Bearing, Ball Bearing World” (bearing the influences of both Sloan and Dylan) and the brisk, early Kinks-esque “Almost There.”  A pretty revival of the folk standard “All My Trials” as the more modern “All My Problems” returned The Turtles to the milieu of It Ain’t Me Babe.  The other band members also chipped in with material.  Al Nichol wrote the brash opener “Flyin’ High” and Chuck Portz and Jim Tucker were responsible for the evocative “I Need Someone.”  Pals Matt Portz and Ronald Schwartz wrote the eccentrically-titled ballad “Give Love a Trial.”  With You Baby, The Turtles were poised for the pop superstardom that was waiting just around the bend.

Following the release of You Baby, The Turtles experienced some personnel changes when Chuck Portz and Don Murray left the group.  They were replaced by, respectively, Jim Pons on bass and Johnny Barbata on drums.  The Turtles greeted 1967 with their first chart-topping single: Alan Gordon and Garry Bonner’s immortal “Happy Together.”  Quite simply one of the most joyful and ebullient singles of the 1960s or any era, the bright and punchy 45 naturally gave its title to The Turtles’ next album, produced by Joe Wissert.  Happy Together was no one-trick pony, though, as it took the band to the next level of sunshine pop bliss.

In addition to the title track (which featured Chip Douglas on bass and arranging duties), Bonner and Gordon were represented by the song that followed “Happy Together” up the charts all the way to No. 3: “She’d Rather Be with Me,” another pure pop explosion with an irresistible melody, singalong lyrics and soaring harmonies.  Their third and final song on Happy Together, the fine “Me About You,” only suffers when compared to “Happy Together” and “She’d Rather Be with Me.”

“Makin’ My Mind Up,” from the team of Dalton and Montgomery, was revived from a 1966 single with the addition of Tijuana-esque brass to make for a potent opening salvo.  The frothy “Guide for the Married Man” (theme to the movie of the same name starring Robert Morse and Walter Matthau) came courtesy of future superstar composer John (then Johnny) Williams and stage and screen lyricist Leslie Bricusse.  Eric Eisner’s “Too Young to Be One” and Warren Zevon’s “Like the Seasons” both offer moments of reflective beauty.  The latter, one of the famously biting Zevon’s most tender ballads, is graced with a string arrangement.  (Note that The Turtles played all their own instruments, only calling on session vets for orchestral embellishments.)

Songs from within the band included Kaylan and Volman’s subtle “Think I’ll Run Away,” boasting an intricate vocal arrangement and atmospheric production.  The solo Al Nichol offered up the driving “Person Without a Care,” and Kaylan and Nichol wrote a pair of kooky, offbeat tunes, “The Walking Song” and “Rugs of Woods and Flowers.”  The latter concludes the LP on a happily bizarre note – appropriate, considering the band’s very next LP!

Will the real Turtles please stand up?  Fans might have been asking themselves that very question after listening to The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands.  The bravura LP, issued in November 1968, found Messrs. Kaylan, Volman, Nichol, Pons and Barbata gleefully switching identities (and genres!) from track to track.  Chip Douglas, fresh from his work with The Monkees, returned to fold in the role of producer for this most original album.

The concept of The Battle of the Bands was fresh and simple: the group would perform each song on the record as a different band.  Douglas and pal Harry Nilsson introduced this wacky concept album with their specially-written, brassy title track.  From there, an anything-goes sensibility transformed The Turtles into The Atomic Enchilada (the hazily psychedelic “The Last Thing I Remember”), The Quad City Ramblers (the over-the-top, twangy C&W of “Too Much Heartsick Feeling”), Fats Mallard and the Bluegrass Fireball (“Chicken Little Was Right”) and The Fabulous Dawgs (the organ-drenched R&B garage rocker “Buzz Saw”).  The band even reverted to its pre-Turtles identity as surf band The Cross Fires with “Surfer Dan,” and engaged in some comedic punning as Chief Kamanawanalea and his Royal Macadamia Nuts. (Just say the Chief’s name out loud!).  Underscoring the vast array of sounds on this record, the haunting and environmentally-conscious “Earth Anthem” closes the album on a stately, orchestral note.

Surely “Howie, Mark, Johny, Jim and Al” would have won the battle, however, with “Elenore.”  The gleefully loopy tune, written by Kaylan as a parody of “Happy Together” with the chords changed and intentionally bizarre lyrics (“You’re my pride and joy, et cetera!”) was nonetheless such a polished pop production, performed to the hilt, that it couldn’t help but become a Top 10 hit!  Equally delicious was the reinvention of The Byrds’ “You Showed Me.”  In their guise as Nature’s Children, The Turtles slowed down the original demo’s jangly, uptempo arrangement, yielding one of the group’s most beguiling ballads as well as another Top 10 smash.

Eleven bonus tracks – stereo mixes of both period singles and outtakes – round out this reissue of Battle.  “She’s My Girl” (1967) is another stellar confection from the Bonner/Gordon team which was paired on 45 with an early, harder-rocking version of “Chicken Little Was Right.”  The single “Sound Asleep” b/w “Umbassa the Dragon” (1968) showcase the band’s most outré side.  Nilsson returns with the “sweet, groovy” single “The Story of Rock and Roll” which was backed by another offbeat B-side, “Can’t You Hear the Cows.”  A previously unreleased alternate take of “Earth Anthem” is also included, along with a radio spot for Battle and some studio chatter as the band works on “Food.”

Turtle Soup saw the group once more looking forward.  The October 1969 release would prove to be The Turtles’ final original studio album, but what a way to go out: it was produced by Ray Davies (the only full-length rock-and-roll album he has produced to date for an artist other than himself or The Kinks) and featured only songs written by the group members.  John Seiter had replaced Johnny Barbata on drums but otherwise the line-up remained consistent…for the most part.  Howard Kaylan’s brief departure from the band led to a lesser reliance on his lead vocals than on other Turtles LPs, lending Turtle Soup a unique feel in both music and performance.  (A couple of tracks, “Dance This Dance with Me” and “How You Love Me,” are presented in demo form with Howard’s original vocals.)

Davies’ production prowess shines on Jim Pons’ evocative portrait of a “House on the Hill,” the country-tinged “Torn Between Temptations” and guitarist Al Nichol’s atmospheric “Love in the City.”  Both the majestic and moody “Love in the City” and Kaylan’s wonderful, melodic “You Don’t Have to Walk in the Rain” rank among The Turtles’ most underrated singles and the strongest tracks on Turtle Soup.  Kaylan’s original demo of “Somewhere Friday Night” – with a classy feel somewhat redolent of “You Showed Me” – also made the final cut for the album.  “She Always Leaves Me Laughing” harkens back to the band’s folk-rock period, while both “Bachelor Mother” and “John and Julie” bear the quirky hallmarks of The Kinks’ leader; the latter also has a fine string chart by Ray Pohlman.  “Come Over” and “Hot Little Hands” are straight-ahead rock-and-roll, solid if among the LP’s lesser cuts.

Twelve bonus tracks have been added to Turtle Soup including five demos (two previously unreleased including a raw “Come Over” and “Strange Girl”), a radio spot, and six tracks from the album’s abortive follow-up, Shell Shock.  (A version of the LP was assembled in 1987 by Rhino, and while that release is not present in this set, all of its tracks are present between the box set and All the Singles.)  Producer Jerry Yester (The Lovin’ Spoonful, Farewell Aldebaran) helmed such tracks as Bonner and Gordon’s hard-rocking “Goodbye Surprise” (later re-recorded by Volman and Kaylan as Flo and Eddie) and “Like It or Not” as well as Kaylan and Volman’s languid “There You Sit Lonely” – all strong selections with a more pronounced commercial edge than the tracks on Turtle Soup.

The Turtles’ White Whale years came to a close in 1970 with Wooden Head.  Sporting a whimsical sleeve designed by Dean Torrence, the LP comprised nine previously unreleased sides and two released cuts from the band’s days with producer Bones Howe.  Sonically, it fits snugly between You Baby and Happy Together, and actually plays well despite following the audacious likes of Battle of the Bands and Turtle Soup.  A few of its folk-pop cuts are known from other renditions: the supercharged opener “I Can’t Stop” by The Roulettes; David Gates’ “Tie Me Down” by Dino, Desi and Billy; “Wrong from the Start” by Peter and Gordon.  But The Turtles brought their bright energy to all of the above.  Other standouts include Kaylan’s chiming “She’ll Come Back” (performed by the band in the 1966 movie Out of Sight) and dramatic “Come Back” (a different song despite the close title), Nichol’s ballad “On a Summer’s Day,” and a rollicking run through the WWII standard “We’ll Meet Again” complete with barroom piano.  (A different, more irreverent alternate of “We’ll Meet Again” premieres in the bonus material!)  “I Get Out of Breath” fits nicely into the band’s oeuvre of P.F. Sloan-written songs.

Thirteen bonus tracks make for a more packed Wooden Head than ever.  These bonuses encompass most of the band’s 1967 Golden Hits collection which featured new stereo remixes by Bones Howe.  Every one of Golden Hits’ eleven tracks is here, in order, except for “She’d Rather Be with Me” and “Happy Together” which can be found elsewhere in the box.  Golden treats include a beautiful production of Goffin and King’s “So Goes Love,” Warren Zevon’s “Outside Chance,” and more from Bonner and Gordon (“Can I Get You Know You Better”) and Sloan and Barri (“You Know What I Mean”).

The 2-CD All the Singles serves two purposes – both as one-stop shopping for the more casual Turtles fan, and an essential companion to the box set with the big hits and the deep B-sides alike.  Its 48 tracks are chronologically presented in their original (mostly mono) single mixes, and trace the evolution of the band and its many sides.  This set also includes some tracks slated for single release but unissued, as well as tracks released by the group under the pseudonyms of The Christmas Spirit (“Christmas is My Time of Year”) and The Dedications (“Teardrops” and “Gas Money”).

The Complete Original Album Collection is housed in a sturdy, attractive box, with each of its six albums in a handsome gatefold digipak.  The box includes a 40-page color booklet featuring new, informative liner notes by Andrew Sandoval as well as copious memorabilia images.  Among the amazing curios, you’ll find posters of The Turtles’ stands at The Hullabaloo, The Whisky A Go Go, the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and elsewhere, plus advertisements (Turtles 45s at Montgomery Ward!), sheet music covers, and more.  (Songwriter credits are unfortunately nowhere to be found in the booklet.)  The Complete Singles is also packaged in a digipak, featuring a 20-page booklet with wonderful track-by-track liner notes from Sandoval incorporating insightful comments from the band members.

The stellar sound of both The Complete Original Album Collection and All the Singles, produced by Dan Perloff and Bill Inglot, comes courtesy of co-producer Inglot, remastering from the original tapes with Dave Schultz at d2 Mastering.  Inglot and Schultz have captured the original sound of these records with clarity and detail, making for their best sonics ever on compact disc.

 It Ain’t Me Babe (White Whale WW 11/WWS 11, 1965 – reissued Manifesto/FloEdCo, 2016)

  1. Wanderin’ Kind
  2. It Was a Very Good Year
  3. Your Maw Said You Cried
  4. Eve of Destruction
  5. Glitter and Gold
  6. Let Me Be
  7. Let the Cold Winds Blow
  8. It Ain’t Me Babe
  9. A Walk in the Sun
  10. Last Laugh
  11. Love Minus Zero
  12. Like a Rolling Stone
  13. Wanderin’ Kind
  14. It Was a Very Good Year
  15. Your Maw Said You Cried
  16. Eve of Destruction
  17. Glitter and Gold
  18. Let Me Be
  19. Let the Cold Winds Blow
  20. It Ain’t Me Babe
  21. A Walk in the Sun
  22. Last Laugh
  23. Love Minus Zero
  24. Like a Rolling Stone

Tracks 1-12 in mono, Tracks 13-24 in stereo

You Baby (White Whale WW 112/WWS7 112, 1966 – reissued Manifesto/FloEdCo, 2016)

  1. Flyin’ High
  2. I Know That You’ll Be There
  3. House of Pain
  4. Just a Room
  5. I Need Someone
  6. Let Me Be
  7. Down in Suburbia
  8. Give Love a Try
  9. You Baby
  10. Pall Bearing, Ball Bearing World
  11. All My Problems
  12. Almost There
  13. Flyin’ High
  14. I Know That You’ll Be There
  15. House of Pain
  16. Just a Room
  17. I Need Someone
  18. Let Me Be
  19. Down in Suburbia
  20. Give Love a Try
  21. You Baby
  22. Pall Bearing, Ball Bearing World
  23. All My Problems
  24. Almost There

Tracks 1-12 in mono, Tracks 13-24 in stereo

Happy Together (White Whale WW 114/WWS 7114, 1967 – reissued Manifesto/FloEdCo, 2016)

  1. Makin’ My Mind Up
  2. Guide for the Married Man
  3. Think I’ll Run Away
  4. The Walking Song
  5. Me About You
  6. Happy Together
  7. She’d Rather Be with Me
  8. Too Young to Be One
  9. Person Without a Care
  10. Like the Seasons
  11. Rugs of Wood and Flowers
  12. Makin’ My Mind Up
  13. Guide for the Married Man
  14. Think I’ll Run Away
  15. The Walking Song
  16. Me About You
  17. Happy Together
  18. She’d Rather Be with Me
  19. Too Young to Be One
  20. Person Without a Care
  21. Like the Seasons
  22. Rugs of Wood and Flowers

Tracks 1-11 in mono, Tracks 12-22 in stereo

Present the Battle of the Bands (Tracks 1-12 from White Whale WWS 7118, 1968)

  1. The Opening: The Battle of the Bands
  2. The Last Thing I Remember
  3. Elenore
  4. Too Much Heartsick Feeling
  5. Oh Daddy!
  6. Buzzsaw
  7. Surfer Dan
  8. I’m Chief Kamanawanalea (We’re the Royal Macadamia Nuts)
  9. You Showed Me
  10. Food
  11. Chicken Little Was Right
  12. The Closing: Earth Anthem (All)
  13. She’s My Girl
  14. Chicken Little Was Right (Single Version)
  15. Sound Asleep
  16. Umbassa and the Dragon
  17. The Story of Rock and Roll
  18. Can’t You Hear the Cows
  19. The Last Thing I Remember (The First Thing I Knew) (Alternative Version)
  20. The Owl
  21. To See the Sun
  22. Earth Anthem (Alternative Version)
  23. Battle of the Bands – Radio Spot

Turtle Soup (Tracks 1-12 from White Whale WWS 7124, 19669)

  1. Come Over
  2. House on the Hill
  3. She Always Leaves Me Laughing
  4. How You Love Me
  5. Torn Between Temptations
  6. Love in the City
  7. Bachelor Mother
  8. John and Julie
  9. Hot Little Hands
  10. Somewhere Friday Night
  11. Dance This Dance with Me
  12. You Don’t Have to Walk in the Rain
  13. Goodbye Surprise
  14. Like It or Not
  15. There You Sit Lonely
  16. Can I Go On
  17. You Want to Be a Woman
  18. If We Only Had the Time
  19. Dance This Dance (Demo)
  20. Come Over (Demo)
  21. How You Love Me (Demo)
  22. Strange Girl (Demo)
  23. Marmendy Mill (Demo)
  24. Turtle Soup – Radio Spot

Wooden Head (Tracks 1-11 from White Whale WW 7133, 1970)

  1. I Can’t Stop
  2. She’ll Come Back
  3. Get Away
  4. Wrong from the Start
  5. I Get Out of Breath
  6. We’ll Meet Again
  7. On a Summer’s Day
  8. Come Back
  9. Say Girl
  10. Tie Me Down
  11. Wanderin’ Kind
  12. You Baby (1967 Stereo Mix)
  13. So Goes Love
  14. Makin’ My Mind Up (1966 Stereo Version)
  15. Is It Any Wonder?
  16. Let Me Be (1967 Stereo Mix)
  17. Grim Reaper of Love
  18. It Ain’t Me Babe (1967 Stereo Mix)
  19. Can I Get to Know You Better
  20. Outside Chance
  21. If You Know What I Mean
  22. Cat in the Window
  23. We’ll Meet Again (Alternate Take)
  24. The Turtles’ Golden Hits – Radio Spot

All the Singles (Manifesto/FloEdCo, 2016)

CD 1

  1. It Ain’t Me Babe
  2. Almost There
  3. Let Me Be
  4. Your Maw Said You Cried
  5. You Baby
  6. Wanderin’ Kind
  7. Grim Reaper of Love
  8. Come Back
  9. So Goes Love
  10. On a Summer’s Day
  11. We’ll Meet Again
  12. Outside Chance
  13. Makin’ My Mind Up
  14. Can I Get to Know You Better
  15. Like the Seasons
  16. Happy Together
  17. She’d Rather Be with Me
  18. The Walking Song
  19. Guide for the Married Man
  20. Think I’ll Run Away
  21. You Know What I Mean
  22. Rugs of Woods and Flowers
  23. She’s My Girl
  24. Chicken Little Was Right

CD 2

  1. Sound Asleep
  2. Umbassa the Dragon
  3. The Story of Rock and Roll
  4. Can’t You Hear the Cows
  5. Elenore
  6. Surfer Dan
  7. Christmas is My Time of Year
  8. You Showed Me
  9. Buzz Saw
  10. House on the Hill
  11. Come Over
  12. How You Loved Me
  13. You Don’t Have to Walk in the Rain
  14. Love in the City
  15. Bachelor Mother
  16. Lady-O
  17. Somewhere Friday Night
  18. Teardrops
  19. Gas Money
  20. Who Would Ever Think That I Would Marry Margaret?
  21. We Ain’t Gonna Party No More
  22. Is It Any Wonder
  23. Eve of Destruction
  24. Me About You

András Schiff – Ludwig van Beethoven: The Piano Sonatas (2016)

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Ludwig van Beethoven 11 CD edition contains the complete piano sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven, recorded live in concert at the Tonhalle in Zürich.
Taken from recitals he gave at the Tonhalle in Zürich between 2004 and 2007, András Schiff’s cycle of Beethoven’s piano sonatas appeared chronologically disc by disc. Boxed together now, the ordering and even packaging of the original discs has been preserved, meaning, for example, that the E flat major Sonata Op 7 and the Waldstein Op 53 (with its original slow movement, the Andante Favori, as an appendix) each get a disc all to themselves. Taken as a whole, the set is a bit uneven: there are mighty performances of the later sonatas that sweep all before them, and accounts of some of the earlier works that seem prissy and…

1.59 GB  320 ** FLAC

…over-manicured, with moments when Schiff could have allowed the music to flow more naturally than it does.

But the collection now includes the encores that Schiff played at the original recitals. There are pieces by Bach, Mozart, Schubert (including marvellously enigmatic performances of the late C minor Allegretto D915 and the first of the D946 Piano Pieces) and Haydn (the whole of the G minor Sonata), all perfectly fashioned and carefully matched to what had preceded them in each recital. For those who collected the ECM sonata discs when they first came out, the encores have also been released separately; those who invest in the complete set won’t have many disappointments either. — Guardian

Alien Sex Fiend – Fiendology: A 35 Year Trip Through Fiendish History 1982-2017 A.D. and Beyond (2017)

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Alien Sex Fiend3 CD collection spanning the 35 year history of the seminal goth and industrial legends including five previously unreleased recordings.
Subterraneanly subtitled A 35-Year Trip Through Fiendish History 1982-2017 A.D. and Beyond, this three-CD set gambols with gothic glee through the career of an undervalued British institution.
As early birds on London’s Batcave scene Alien Sex Fiend are forever portrayed as semi-comic over-the-top goths, tied to the early ’80s. It’s partly their own, sporting sense of humour that has allowed others to belittle them, but outside this country’s fashion trends they’ve developed a degree of respect in territories as far-flung as Japan and the US, moving into the industrial and electronica scenes with music which is – in case you haven’t…

497 MB  320 ** FLAC

…bothered to listen to them since goth’s golden age – surprisingly nimble, witty and muscular.

Their tongue-in-cheek horror imagery adorns extended grooves such as Now I’m Feeling Zombified and I’m Doing Time in a Maximum Security Twilight Zone. These may share vocabulary with The Cramps, but their body language prefers rhythmic dance music to garage rock. Often, produced by Youth, they sound like a smarter Sigue Sigue Sputnik, and claims that they influenced The Prodigy and Sleaford Mods aren’t as daft as you might think.

Kris Needs’s vibrant sleeve notes emphasise that goth clubbing was always as much about fun as frostiness, and this romp through Mr. and Mrs. Fiend’s oeuvre confirms that.

Diehards will enjoy unreleased tracks and mixes (and two teasers from their next album), while those who only pretended to die to look cool at the Batcave will find that resurrecting one’s fondness for this ironic gloom makes deathless sense.

CD1
1. Dead and Re-Buried (06:01)
2. Dance of the Dead (03:11)
3. I Walk the Line (04:52)
4. Haunted House (05:58)
5. Now I’m Feeling Zombiefied (08:00)
6. Tarot (Alt Mix 5) (07:32)
7. Carcass (Carrion Mix) (03:07) **
8. Gurl at the End of My Gun (02:55)
9. Smells Like… (05:49)
10. R.I.P. (Blue Crumb Truck) (Demo) (05:01)
11. The Impossible Mission (04:25)
12. Bun-Ho! (Cranium Mix) (05:22)
13. Inferno (Oscar Madness Edit Mix) (05:29) *

CD2
1. Hands of the Silken (00:45)
2. On a Mission (08:21)
3. Ignore the Machine (Electrode Mix) (05:08)
4. Lips Can’t Go (05:43)
5. I’m Doing Time in a Maximum Security Twilight Home (06:02)
6. E.S.T. (Trip to the Moon) (08:17)
7. Garbage (05:50)
8. Attack!!! (12″ Version) (08:30)
9. Gotta Have It (Sliced and Diced Mix) (05:28)
10. Isolation (07:09)
11. Comatose (The Ultra Mix) (09:28)

CD3

1. I Walk the Line (Alt Mix 2) (04:38) *
2. Baby (05:39)
3. Mad Daddy Drives a UFO (04:19)
4. Hurricane Fighter Plane (06:48)
5. One Way Ticket (05:16)
6. In and Out of My Mind (04:49)
7. Invisible (The Beyond Mix) (06:30) **
8. Ain’t Got Time to Bleed (04:12)
9. Information Overload (ReVamp Mix) (06:28)
10. Get Into It (03:44)
11. Evolution (Back From the Dread Pt 2) (05:41)
12. Instant Karma Sutra (07:14)
13. Now I’m Feeling Zombiefied (Alt Mix 3) (10:01) *
14. Fiendish Liquid (00:18)

* previously unreleased
** from the new studio album “Possessed”


Natalie Merchant – The Natalie Merchant Collection (2017)

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Natalie MerchantNonesuch Records issue The Natalie Merchant Collection, a new ten-CD box set that brings together her eight studio albums along with two bonus discs. This new box starts with Merchant’s 1995 solo debut Tigerlilly and includes all her long-players, including 2003’s acoustic album The House Captain’s Daughter, the Leave Your Sleep double album from 2010 and the 2015 reboot of her debut, Paradise is There.
In terms of the bonus discs, Butterfly is a new studio set featuring four new songs and six reinterpreted selections from her catalog, all arranged for string quartet. The final disc is Rarities 1998-2017, a collection of 15 rare and previously unreleased tracks including home studio demos, album outtakes, live tracks, and collaborations…

1.21 GB  320 ** FLAC

…with artists like Billy Bragg, David Byrne, The Chieftains, Cowboy Junkies, and Amy Helm.

Her career began in 1981 when, as a college student, she joined the seminal alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs, which signed to Elektra Records in 1984. As lead vocalist, lyricist, and sometimes pianist, Merchant released six critically acclaimed studio albums with the band, including the platinum-certified In My Tribe (1987), Blind Man’s Zoo (1989), Our Time in Eden (1992), and the multi-platinum MTV Unplugged (1993), which became the band’s most successful release as well as one of the best-selling in the Unplugged series. She left the group in 1993, and in 1995 released her multi-platinum solo debut, Tigerlily, followed by the platinum Ophelia (1998) and Motherland (2001). In 2003 she independently released an album of traditional and contemporary folk music, The House Carpenter’s Daughter (included in this collection), which also coincided with the birth of her child.

In 2010, Merchant returned with a thematic double album, Leave Your Sleep, her debut for Nonesuch Records. For this meditation on childhood and mothering Merchant set nineteenth- and twentieth-century American and British children’s poetry to music. She also collaborated with award-winning children’s book illustrator Barbara McClintock for a picture book based on the album. In 2014, Nonesuch released Natalie Merchant, her sixth solo album and first of entirely original songs in thirteen years, which the New York Times called a “set of dark, brave, thoughtful, and serenely startling songs” and the Daily Telegraph praised for the “intelligence of her writing, and piercing character studies that thicken with each musical brushstroke.” Nonesuch most recently released Paradise Is There: The New Tigerlily Recordings in 2015. This collection of all-new recordings revisits Merchant’s solo debut, Tigerlily.

Weasel Walter – A Pound of Flesh (2017)

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Weasel Walter A Pound Of Flesh is a tour de force solo offering by musical polymath Weasel Walter. Known for his wide ranging work with ensembles like The Flying Luttenbachers, Cellular Chaos, XBXRX, Behold The Arctopus, and Lydia Lunch Retrovirus, as well as his prolific career as an improviser, producer, and composer, Walter reveals almost 5 hours of long, abstract forms in this monolithic set.
Ranging from detailed electro-acoustic music to athletic solo drumming, skronkily deconstructed power trio improvisations to minimalistic horrorscapes, harsh noise walls to solo guitar deconstructions, “A Pound Of Flesh” is a manifesto of internal coherence and brutal aesthetics. This box contains 4 CDs as well as a full color 12 page booklet discussing the compositions.

  663 MB  320 ** FLAC

Can Am Des Puig​ –​The Book of Am Parts I​~​IV (2017)

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CanAmDesPuig The Book Of Am is a unique combination of recordings and artwork, a testament of the hippie scene which flourished in the Baleric islands during the 70’s.
Known to record collectors and psych/folk/prog music aficionados, this multicultural project, formed in the island of Mallorca, recorded a beautiful album which has gained cult status as years passed by. For the first time, the four parts, recorded between 1978 and 2012, are put together as one project with extra 7 bonus songs!!!
Can Am Des Puig all 4 parts of the fabulous legendary and collectable Book Of Am from the 1st in 1978 to the 4th in 2013 plus 7 bonus songs will issued by G.O.D. Records (Garden Of Dreams) in a 3 cd issue including the 152 pages book…

  490 MB  320 ** FLAC

…of art in high quality paper all in a metalic printed box.

1.AM 01:17
2.The Song Of AM 04:45
3.The Song OfThe Void 03:18
4.Come Unto Me 01:18
5.The Song-Ship’s Journey West 02:49
6.Fire 04:11
7.The Cauuldron Of Regeneration 04:15
8.O Keeptress 07:27
9.Homage to Ra 06:51
10.As The Wind Blows 02:58
11.Hear The Voice Of The Bard 02:57
12.I Am That Living Soul 04:29
13.Who Can Be Muddy 06:40
14.Favours Of The Muse 01:46
15.The Music Of The Spheres 04:27
16.Hermes 03:52
17.Taliesin 05:05
18.Enchanted Bard 07:18
19.The White Lion On The Mountain 06:08
20.I Stretch Forth 04:43
21.Love’s Strength 04:05
22.I Am Yesterday 04:04
23.IOA 03:01
24.Tuarach Winter Song 04:47
25.Song Of Songs 05:06
26.Sleep Sleepless Sleep 03:58
27.The Awareness Of Voidness 04:37
28.What Is The Mind 06:31
29.Under The Apple Tree 05:17
30.Where The Unstruck Music Sounds 05:23
31.Bowl Woman Song 06:47
32.Nightfall 04:22
33.The Swing Of The Ocean Of Joy 05:36
34.Alcuin 05:12
35.O Pale Innana 05:01
36.The Vision Of Yduna 03:08
37.Amergin 04:44
38.I’m An Old Drummer 04:55
39.Epilogue 05:42
40.AM 02:10
41.A Love Charm (bonus) 03:26
42.Song Of Songs (bonus) 04:51
43.Nightfall (bonus) 05:11
44.Epilogue (bonus) 07:01
45.Intxixu-Tower Mountain (bonus) 03:30
46.Intxixu-Ocean Moon (bonus) 02:51
47.Intxixu- Wedding Feast (bonus) 02:51

10CC – Before, During, After: The Story of 10CC (2017)

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10CCBefore, During, After: The Story of 10cc is a new box set devoted to the history and legacy of Eric Stewart, Graham Gouldman, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. This 4CD collection includes a disc of the group’s hits (“During”); from there, it’s a disc of post-10cc material (“After”) by Godley & Creme, Wax (Gouldman’s duo with singer-songwriter Andrew Gold), solo tracks by Stewart, Gouldman and Godley; Creme’s tenure in The Art of Noise in 1999 and even the rare single mix of “Pretty Little Head,” a track Stewart penned for Paul McCartney’s Press to Play in 1986.
The remaining two “Before” discs cover much of the group’s early session days at Strawberry Studios in their native Stockport (where Stewart was a business partner). This includes not only nine obscure singles and work for diverse clients like The Ohio Express and the Manchester City Football Club, but material by pre-10cc bands Doctor Father and Hotlegs, early solo Graham Gouldman material, Stewart’s work with The Mindbenders (including…

617 MB  320 ** FLAC

…the hit “A Groovy Kind of Love”) and even session work for Neil Sedaka on tunes like “Solitaire” and “Love Will Keep Us Together.”

Curated with input from all four band members, this box serves as the definitive introduction to the world of 10cc.

Disc 1: During // The Best of 10cc 1972-1978

  1. Rubber Bullets
  2. Donna
  3. Silly Love
  4. The Dean and I
  5. Life Is a Minestrone
  6. The Wall Street Shuffle
  7. Art for Art’s Sake
  8. I’m Mandy Fly Me
  9. Good Morning Judge
  10. The Things We Do for Love
  11. Dreadlock Holiday
  12. I’m Not In Love

Tracks 1-2 and 4 from 10cc (U.K. Records, 1973)
Tracks 3 and 6 from Sheet Music (U.K. Records, 1974)
Tracks 5 and 12 from The Original Soundtrack (Mercury, 1975)
Tracks 7-8 from How Dare You! (Mercury, 1976)
Tracks 9-10 from Deceptive Bends (Mercury, 1977)
Track 11 from Bloody Tourists (Mercury, 1978)

Disc 2: After // What We Did Next, Post-10cc

  1. Under Your Thumb – Godley & Creme
  2. An Englishman In New York – Godley & Creme
  3. Cry – Godley & Creme
  4. Wedding Bells – Godley & Creme
  5. Sunburn – Graham Gouldman
  6. Bridge to Your Heart – Wax
  7. Right Between the Eyes – Wax
  8. The Ritual Parts 1-2-3 – Eric Stewart
  9. Pretty Little Head – Paul McCartney
  10. Metaforce – Art of Noise
  11. Metaphor On The Floor – Art of Noise
  12. Hooligan Crane – GG06
  13. Son of Man – GG06
  14. Confessions – Kevin Godley
  15. Expecting a Message – Luke Mornay
  16. Man On the Moon – Producers
  17. Every Single Night In Jamaica – Producers

Tracks 1 and 4 from Ismism (Polydor, 1981)
Track 2 from Freeze Frame (Polydor, 1979)
Track 3 from The History Mix Vol. 1 (Polydor, 1985)
Track 5 from The Original Soundtrack Album From Sunburn (Arrival Records, 1979)
Track 6 from American English (RCA, 1987)
Track 7 from Magnetic Heaven (RCA, 1986)
Track 8 from Frooty Rooties (Mercury, 1982)
Track 9 from Press to Play (Parlophone, 1986)
Tracks 10-11 from The Seduction of Claude Debussy (ZTT, 1999)
Tracks 12-13 from GG06 EP (self-released, 2006)
Track 14 from Hog Fever EP (Ear Movies, 2016)
Track 15 from Twenty Five Ten (Mornay Music, 2017)
Tracks 16-17 from Made In Basing Street (The Last Label, 2012)

Disc 3: Before // The Strawberry Hit Factory

  1. Sausalito (is the Place to Go) – Ohio Express
  2. Tampa, Florida – Peter Cowap
  3. Have You Ever Been to Georgia? – Garden Odyssey
  4. Travellin’ Man – Tristar Airbus
  5. Crickets – Peter Cowap
  6. Today – Festival
  7. Umbopo – Doctor Father
  8. Safari – Peter Cowap
  9. Da Doo Ron Ron – Grumble
  10. The Joker – Garden Odyssey
  11. Funky City – Manchester City F.C.
  12. The Man with the Golden Gun – Peter Cowap
  13. Roll On – Doctor Father
  14. Wicked Melinda – Peter Cowap
  15. Willie Morgan – Tristar Airbus
  16. Pig Bin An’ Gone – Grumble
  17. Warm Me – Festival
  18. Oh Solomon – Peter Cowap
  19. Boys In Blue – Manchester City F.C.
  20. There Ain’t No Umbopo – Crazy Elephant

Track 1 from Buddah U.S. single BDA 129, 1969
Tracks 2 and 12 from Pye single 7N.45042, 1971
Tracks 3 and 10 from RCA Victor U.K. single 2159, 1972
Tracks 4 and 15 from RCA Victor U.K. single 2170, 1972
Tracks 5 and 14 from Pye single 7N.17976, 1970
Tracks 6 and 17 from RCA Victor U.K. single 2275, 1972
Tracks 7 and 13 from Pye single 7N.17977, 1970
Tracks 8 and 18 from Pye single 7N.45071, 1971
Tracks 9 and 16 from RCA Victor U.K. single 2384, 1973
Tracks 11 and 19 from RCA Victor U.K. single 2200, 1972
Track 20 from Bell U.S. single 875, 1970

Disc 4: Before // The Early Years

  1. A Groovy Kind of Love – The Mindbenders
  2. One More Time – The Mindbenders
  3. Bus Stop – Graham Gouldman
  4. No Milk Today – Graham Gouldman
  5. For Your Love – Graham Gouldman
  6. Neanderthal Man – Hotlegs
  7. Desperate Dan – Hotlegs
  8. Life Child – Ramases
  9. Quasar One – Ramases
  10. That’s When the Music Takes Me – Neil Sedaka
  11. Solitaire – Neil Sedaka
  12. Love Will Keep Us Together – Neil Sedaka

Track 1 from The Mindbenders (Fontana, 1966)
Track 2 from Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders (Fontana, 1964)
Tracks 3-5 from The Graham Gouldman Thing (RCA Victor, 1968)
Tracks 6-7 from Hotlegs Thinks: School Stinks (Philips, 1970)
Tracks 8-9 from Space Hymns (Vertigo, 1971)
Tracks 10-11 from Solitaire (RCA Victor, 1972)
Track 12 from The Tra-La Days Are Over (MGM, 1973)

Godley & Creme – Body of Work 1978-1988 (2017)

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Godley & Creme…Caroline International release a 5CD box set further detailing what Kevin Godley & Lol Creme did as a duo after leaving 10cc in 1976. The artier half of the band, the duo nonetheless scored two U.K. Top 10 hits in the 1980s with “Under Your Thumb” and “Wedding Bells.” Body of Work 1978-1988 features, in full, each of the band’s six albums in that decade (L (1978), Freeze Frame (1979), Ismism (1981), Birds of Prey (1983), The History Mix Vol. 1 (1985, presented in its expanded “Plus” form as issued by Edsel in 2004) and Goodbye Blue Sky (1988)), plus a disc of 12 non-LP B-sides.
The first CD combines 1977’s L and its follow-up Freeze Frame. The next album, 1981’s Ismism (aka Snack Attack) shares space with 1983’s Bird of Prey on another ‘two-fer’ disc…

767 MB  320 ** FLAC

…(although a close look at the track listing confirms that the last song on that album – Out in the Cold – is bumped to the start of CD3). The History Mix Volume 1 (which features the hit single Cry) and their final album Goodbye Blue Sky fill out the next two CDs and the final disc contains single A-sides, B-sides and an extended version.

Disc 1: L (Tracks 1-7, released as Mercury 9109 611, 1978) and Freeze Frame (Tracks 8-15, released as Polydor POLD 5027, 1978)

  1. The Sporting Life
  2. Sandwiches of You
  3. Art School Canteen
  4. Group Life
  5. Punchbag
  6. Foreign Accents
  7. Hit Factory/Business is Business
  8. An Englishman In New York
  9. Random Brainwave
  10. I Pity Inanimate Objects
  11. Freeze Frame
  12. Clue
  13. Brazilia (Wish You Were Here)
  14. Mugshots
  15. Get Well Soon

Disc 2: Ismism (Tracks 1-9, released as Polydor POLD 5043, 1981) and Birds of Prey (Tracks 10-17 and Disc 3, Track 1; released as Polydor POLD 5070, 1983)

  1. Snack Attack
  2. Under Your Thumb
  3. Joey’s Camel
  4. The Problem
  5. Ready for Ralph
  6. Wedding Bells
  7. Lonnie
  8. Sale of the Century
  9. The Party
  10. My Body the Car
  11. Worm and the Rattlesnake
  12. Cats Eyes
  13. Samson
  14. Save a Mountain for Me
  15. Madame Guillotine
  16. Woodwork
  17. Twisted Nerve

Disc 3: Birds of Prey continued, The History Mix Vol. 1 (Tracks 2-4, released as Polydor POLH 22, 1985) and additional tracks

  1. Out in the Cold
  2. Wet Rubber Soup
  3. Cry
  4. Expanding the Business/The “Dare You” Man/Hum Drum Boys in Paris/Mountain Tension
  5. Cry (Single Edit)
  6. Love Bombs
  7. Snack Attack (Remix)
  8. Wet Rubber Soup (Edit)
  9. Golden Boy (Remix)
  10. Light Me Up
  11. Golden Boy (12″ Mix)

Tracks 5-6 released as Polydor single POSP 732, 1985
Tracks 7-8 released as Polydor single POSP 875, 1987
Tracks 9-10 released as Polydor single POSP 760, 1985
Track 11 released on Polydor 12″ single POSPX 760, 1985

Disc 4: Goodbye Blue Sky (originally released as Polydor POLH 40, 1988)

  1. H.E.A.V.E.N./A Little Piece of Heaven
  2. Don’t Set Fire (to the One I Love)
  3. Golden Rings
  4. Crime & Punishment
  5. The Big Bang
  6. 10,000 Angels
  7. Sweet Memory
  8. Airforce One
  9. The Last Page of History
  10. Desperate Times

Disc 5: B-sides

  1. Silent Running (B-side to “An Englishman In New York” – Polydor POSP 80, 1979)
  2. Wide Boy (single A-side – Polydor POSP 145, 1980)
  3. Submarine (single A-side – Polydor POSP 171, 1980)
  4. Marciano (single B-side – Polydor POSP 171, 1980)
  5. Babies (B-side to “Wedding Bells” – Polydor POSP 369, 1981)
  6. Power Behind the Throne (B-side to “Under Your Thumb” – Polydor POSP 322, 1981)
  7. Welcome to Breakfast Television (B-side to “Save a Mountain for Me” – Polydor POSP 490, 1982)
  8. A Little Piece of Heaven (Extended Mix) (12″ A-side – Polydor POSPX 901, 1988)
  9. Bits of Blue Sky (B-side to “A Little Piece of Heaven” – Polydor POSP 901, 1988)
  10. Rhino Rhino (12″ B-side to “A Little Piece of Heaven” – Polydor POSPX 901, 1988)
  11. Hidden Heartbeat (B-side to “10,000 Angels” – Polydor POSP 913, 1988)
  12. Can’t Sleep (12″ B-side to “10,000 Angels” – Polydor POSPX 913, 1988)
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