Posted by Vinyl Fever on Jul. 14, 2009, at 11:05 am
Brought straight to your desktops by Lee at Vinyl Fever.
VINYL:
AA Bondy – American Hearts
Their latest (2008) release, now available on vinyl.
Amon Duul II – Yeti
“Yeti” was the second album by Amon Duul II and is quite a musical achievement. This is a double LP set and contains some of Amon Duul’s most impressive work – delivering their thick, full-fledged, multi-layered sound with dense instrumentation and a certain epic vastness. This is Krautrock in the full depth of its power: huge, towering, dark and completely devoid of any happy optimism, but still bound full of energy. An essential bit of the psych/prog era. Released with the original artwork.
Beastie Boys - Ill Communication
Deluxe reissue features the original album remastered and a bonus disc of 12 rarities, live tracks and B-sides.
David Bowie – Man Who Sold The World
David Bowie – Pinups
High-end Simply Vinyl label pressings.
The Clash – The Clash
The Clash – Give ‘Em Enough Rope The Clash – Combat Rock
High-end Simply Vinyl label pressings.
The Dead Weather – Horehound
The latest musical adventure by Jack White epitomizes the alt-rock ethic: do the music you love, do it yourself, and do it fast. The Dead Weather brings together lead singer Alison Mosshart (half of the London-based lo-fi post-punk duo The Kills), Queens Of The Stone Age guitarist Dean Fertita, The Raconteurs’ bassist Jack Lawrence, and White on drums and vocals.
Iggy & The Stooges – More Power
Digitally remastered collection of rare studio recordings from the Raw Power era.
They saved the not-a-dry-eye-in-the-house part for the very end. As the Michael Jackson memorial stretched just past two hours this afternoon, after a series of speeches and several emotional music performances, Jackson’s daughter approached the microphone, aunt Janet steadying her. Choking back sobs, 11-year-old Paris said, “Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine. I just want to say I love him so much.”
If that didn’t get to your tear ducts at least a little, you’ve got a pretty chilly heart.
The second-most famous Jackson, Janet, clad in a black dress and beret, was sad- or stone-faced every time on camera. She neither spoke nor performed. Michael’s brothers Jermaine and Marlon offered tributes, and Jermaine sang a teary rendition of what speaker Brooke Shields said was Michael’s favorite song: the Charlie Chaplin chestnut “Smile.”
Maybe I’ve reached Michael Jackson overload, but I stayed dry-eyed until Paris’ comments at the end. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Eric Snider on Jul. 7, 2009, at 12:07 pm
No TV at the job? No worries. We’re streaming the Michael Jackson memorial here via Hulu. The stream starts at 12:55 p.m., so leave the window open or check back with us. Comment, comment, comment. I’ll be watching and weighing in.
I actually remember seeing this commercial on the air as a six-year-old boy in 1984. It sparked my desire and my need to own one of those red jackets. Also appearing in the commercial is Alfonso Ribeiro, Carlton Banks from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
If “Michael Jackson” and “Pepsi ad” sound like something you’ve heard in the same sentence before, you’re probably recalling how in the same year, while recording a Pepsi commercial on stage in Los Angeles, Jackson was apparently seriously burned by malfunctioning equipment, which may or may not have led to some of his later plastic surgeries.
Ten days after his death, Michael Jackson is the biggest story in the entertainment world. Some of you may be crying overkill, but I’m still keeping tabs. Here’s a series of the latest links I’ve come across.
Posted by Leilani Polk on Jul. 2, 2009, at 3:26 pm
Random news bites from the last several days (excluding anything about Michael Jackson … well, mostly).
Regina Spektor’s new album, far, debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 this week and the lovely Russian-born songstress is scheduled to perform on Late Night with Conan O’Brien on Thursday, July 30. Slipping to the No. 2 spot this week are theJonas Brothers with Vines And Trying Times, which held last week’s No. 1 position. Black Eyed Peas have moved to the top of the charts withThe E.N.D. And in case you BEP fans were worried, the title doesn’t foreshadow the band’s immenint break-up, but stands for “The Energy Never Dies.” Clever.
Seattle grunge metal makers Alice in Chains have confirmed the dates of their upcoming world tour, sans lead voice Layne Staley, who, if you recall, faded away into reclusivity before he speedballed to his death in 2002. The tour supports the band’s first new studio release in more than 10 years, Black Gives Way to Blue (in stores September 29). The first single, “A Looking View,” is currently streaming on their MySpace page and definitely has the feel of classic Alice in Chains, complete with the hard-meets-soft harmonies by vocalist/guitarist Jerry Cantrel and Staley replacement, vocalist/guitarist William Duvall. Here’s a statement the band released about the new song: “The song basically speaks to any number of things that keep you balled up inside. A cell of our own making with an unlocked door that we choose to remain in. Focusing our attention inward instead of reaching out to a much larger world. I think this is common to us all. It’s funny how hard we fight to hang on to a bone we can’t pull through a hole in the fence, or how difficult it is to put down the bag of bricks and move on.” Current confirmed U.S. stops include Detroit, DC, Chicago, NYC, Milwaukee, Portland and San Francisco. No telling whether the tour will bring them to Florida. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s just like the old days. Michael Jackson is ruling the charts.
According to Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks record sales, Jackson’s solo albums sold 415,000 units last week, mostly in the time between the Friday after his death and Sunday night, when scanning for the week closed. 58 percent of the sales were digital downloads.
Because Jackson’s titles are not eligible for the Billboard 200, they are relegated to the Pop Catalog chart, where he holds the top nine positions. Three of his titles — Number Ones, Thriller and The Essential Michael Jackson — exceeded 100,000 in sales, outpacing Black Eyed Peas The E.N.D. (88,000), which claims No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It’s the first time that a catalog album has outsold the No. 1 on the 200, the survey of current albums. This week, Jackson has done it three times over.
Additionally, Jackson titles hold the first four positions on the Digital Albums chart, and six of the Top 10
Posted by Leilani Polk on Jun. 30, 2009, at 1:26 pm
It used to be that MTV would overplay videos to such a degree that it was impossible not to know the latest singles by Madonna, or Prince, or Michael Jackson (may he RIP). Those artists blew wads of cash to make miniature movies for their songs. (Michael and sister Janet’s 1995 acclaimed video duet, “Scream,” cost $7 million alone to produce.)
Nowadays, MTV doesn’t play videos so much as it airs clips of them during the closing credits of its neverending reality TV programming, so many artists have turned to YouTube to get the vids out and are likely alot more budget conscious when making them. The results vary from fun and inspired to downright garbage. Here’s a look at two Moby videos created in support of his ninth album (out today on Little Idiot). I’ve also included a preview clip of Bjork’s live Voltaic CD/DVD release. (Complete clips from the DVD would be nice but sadly, there are leaked or uploaded as yet.)
Artist:Moby Album:Wait for Me Songs: “Shot in the Back of the Head,” “Pale Horses.”
Both of Moby’s new singles have intrigued me with their raw electro-meets-organic feel. The video for “Shot in the Back of the Head” is David Lynch’s dark and abstract translation of the song, which is rather gloomy all on its own; and “Pale Horses,” the second single with haunting female vocals by Amelia and melancholy overtones, is directed by Elanna Allen and follows a lonely alien who takes a train to the moon to find some companions. Both are animated, but in very different styles. Grade: A for both; the music was good and the videos compelling enough to make me want to check out Moby’s new album. (CHECK OUT THE VIDEOS AFTER THE JUMP). Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Eric Snider on Jun. 30, 2009, at 8:28 am
According to industry insiders, three Michael Jackson albums — Number Ones, The Essential Michael Jackson and Thriller — each sold 100,000 copies last week. The sales tracking week ended at the close of business on Sunday (June 28) night and will be reported today. That means the bulk of the sales took place in the three days after Jackson’s death.
Those six-figure tallies would’ve put the three discs at Nos. 1, 2 and 3 on the Billboard 200 —slightly ahead of the Black Eyed Peas’ The E.N.D. — but catalog albums are not eligible for the album sales chart, so Jackson will instead dominate the Pop Catalog survey.
Ed. Note: What follows is a repost of an item by CL Marketing Director Joran Oppelt from his recent trip to SXSW. At the time, I thought it was just a really cool video. Today I think it’s become something more. You can see Joran’s original post here.
Quincy recalls his first encounters with Michael Jackson and their work on the best-selling records Off the Wall and Thriller, as well as the birth of MTV and how they broke through the “no black artists” mandate.
This exclusive CL TV video was shot in March at Jones’ 2009 South by Southwest keynote address. Video after the jump …
Posted by Eric Snider on Jun. 25, 2009, at 9:56 pm
Never has so much triumph dissolved into so much tragedy.
From kid star to King of Pop to punchline. And now dead. Michael Jackson was 50 when he died earlier today of a heart attack. A shock — but, then again, when it came to Michael Jackson, nothing was.
Some people will dismiss Jackson’s death as a fitting end to a twisted caricature of a life. They might even get a chuckle out of it. I won’t. I’m hit. This is one of those celebrity deaths that I’ll remember where I was when I heard about it. (As it turned it, it was at Cirque de Soleil; I left soon after.)
I’m upset, more than I guess I thought I’d be. But I’m focusing on memories. I was there, watching, when he wowed the country with his pre-adolescent charm on Ed Sullivan, his skin the color of milk chocolate. I was there, watching, as he turned into a man, still with childlike charisma.
I was there in 1979, in an arena in Honolulu, when he performed with The Jacksons, but the most riveting material was from his new album, Off The Wall. I was there, in front of the TV, when he first did the moonwalk on Motown 25 and folks talked about it for days, months. I was there, a newly minted music critic, giving Thriller all of three stars.
And yes, I was there when he gradually sanded his skin to the color of chalk and remade his nose into a button. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Leilani Polk on Jun. 25, 2009, at 6:02 pm
He might not actually be dead yet, but TMZ is reporting that pop master Michael Jackson, who suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this afternoon at his Holmby Hills home, has passed away at age 50. According to them, the paramedics said that they were unable to revive him. (Other publications, like ABC News, MTV.com, NPR and the New York Times are not so quick to jump to the RIP conclusion.)
So is Jackson alive or dead? Is this the Shrodinger’s Cat paradox being played out right in front of our very eyes? Keep watching the headlines…
On Thursday, March 19, legendary music/film producer and arranger Quincy Jones spoke for 2-and-a-half hours to a packed house at the Austin Convention Center about the state of the music industry, the future of the music business, his first encounters with Michael Jackson, brain science, nanotechnology and the success he has enjoyed around the globe by being a ”Ghetto Gump,” happening to be in the right place at the right time. He also shared some personal anecdotes from his years in the industry.
Jones recounted how he discovered Oprah Winfrey, having cast her in The Color Purple, a film adapted from Alice Walker’s novel and directed by Steven Spielberg. Walker was apparently hesitant to have such a young (not to mention Jewish) director at the helm, who until then was best known for the sci-fi/action blockbusters Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Raiders of the Lost Ark, but Quincy was able to convince her that this was the man for the job. Executives even doubted that they could get Spielberg to commit to Color Purple “before Schindler’s List was made.” Spielberg himself asked Jones, “Don’t you want a black director to make this film?” Jones’ reply: “Did you have to go to Mars to film E.T.?”
During one especially tender moment, during a screening of Ray Charles performing “My Buddy (Quincy)” at Montreaux, the producer teared up and turned away from the crowd.
On the future of the music business, Jones was at a loss. He cited Napster, iPods and other technology for the decline in sales and said there would never be another multi-million-selling record, stating “I got mine,” and that it’s now up to future generations to figure their way out of the box. Yet, he sympathized with up-and-coming artists that find themselves surrounded by ”an entire generation that does not know people ever paid for music.” At one point, he even said he was “open to any ideas” for solutions to new revenue streams and suggested music could monetize itself through advertising similar to television.
Jones has put forth a new idea, however. This year, he started a petition and at last count has aquired over 240,000 signatures in an effort to lobby President Obama to create a cabinet-level position entitled Secretary of Culture (or Minister of the Arts) - which most other countries already have – a postion that would be tasked with music education and artists’ rights.
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS from Jones’ address in five parts after the jump.
I flew into La Guardia on Saturday January 31st at about 2pm. The temperature was in the mid to upper 20s and slowly dropping. The Thermals were playing a late show at The Bell House in Brooklyn. How cold was it going to be when the show started at 11pm? I didn’t care. I was in New York and was going to catch The Thermals play a one-off show before jumping the pond to the U.K. for a small tour. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Leilani Polk on Jan. 19, 2009, at 1:16 pm
In honor of the good doctor’s day, I’ve compiled a list of songs either paying tribute to MLK or spreading a message I do believe he’d approve of.
“Power to the People,” Curtis Mayfield
“It is now the nation’s turn / for all to be concerned / We can be freer still / it is the people’s will / And bring back the power for the people / that’s all we ask in our country dear / the sick and the hungry are unable / protect them and those who may live in fear.”
“Motherless Child,” Richie Havens, the Woodstock 1969 version.
Havens sings straight from the heart, his face almost pained when he bellows the improvised “Freedom” lyric (not in the original recording of the song) over and over again.
“Black or White,” Michael Jackson
Jackson promotes racial harmony with a John Landis-directed video that features a young and adorably rebellious post-Home Alone Macaulay Culkin. Read the rest of this entry »
Billboard magazine, long the music industry bible, celebrated the 50-year anniversary of its Hot 100 singles chart not too long ago, and issued a compilation of the top songs and artists of the last half-century. I’m not even that much of a chart hound and I got lost in the lists for quite awhile. Billboard’s Hot 100 is based on actual sales and airplay, and therefore has been an accurate historical gauge for what’s really been popular in music over the years. Peruse the 50-year charts here.
Here’s a quick quiz before you go browsing:
1. One man (who was a member of two bands) is in the Top 11 artists. Who is it?
2. Janet Jackson and Michael Jackson both made the Top 10 artists. Which one placed higher?
3. What contemporary hard-rock band placed highest on the Hot 100 list?
4. Who placed more solo songs on the Hot 100, Paul McCartney or John Lennon?
ANSWERS IN COMMENTS. (Click on Leave a Comment” below)
Posted by Eric Snider on Feb. 15, 2008, at 2:18 pm
A second take on the album, 25 years later.
When I tell people that I gave Michael Jackson’s Thriller three stars when it was originally released in December 1982, they tend to be amused — the implication being that I really blew that call. I let them have their laugh, but I’ve never backed down from my rating. Fact is, just because Thriller is widely considered to be the biggest-selling album in the history of the world does not make it a masterpiece.
A deluxe reissue of Thriller commemorating its 25th anniversary — expanded to include newly released remixes and a DVD of select videos —
provides me the opportunity to revisit my first assessment. Did I
blow it? Given the chance, will I revise my star rating?
Thriller’s songs — every one save “The Lady in My Life†and “Baby Be Mine†was a Top 10 hit — along with their videos have become so embedded in the collective psyche that it’s simply understood that they’re great. Well, I listened to the nine tunes several times over, and here’s what I concluded (this time):
Thriller is not a masterpiece, certainly not measured against landmarks of black music like Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions and Prince’s Purple Rain, to cite a few. Thriller breaks no bold stylistic ground. Most of the songs — “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,†“Human Nature,†“P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing),†“The Lady in My Life†and “Baby Be Mine†— are pretty much boilerplate pop-R&B common to the early ’80s.
They have little to say on the lyrics front. These tunes were immaculately produced by Quincy Jones, who managed to stack layer upon layer of tracks while retaining the detail and clarity of each. No small feat. They are given a youthful verve by Jackson’s thin, androgynous voice.
Fun songs, yes, but not much else.
So what’s left? The title tune is, to these ears, an annoying novelty number. Without the accompanying short film (remember when the world stopped so TV could air the premiere?) I think “Thriller†would be widely dismissed as a trifle. “The Girl is Mine,†a duet with Paul McCartney, oozes cuteness (and is actually more likeable than I remember it), but it is what it is: a pop ditty.
Which leaves us Thriller’s two best tracks. “Beat It,†built around a rock guitar riff, was arguably innovative for its time. (I still get a, um, thrill out of Eddie Van Halen’s blazing solo.) You could also argue that its message to walk away from fights (underscored in the West Side Story-style video) could’ve resonated in an environment where gang violence was on the upswing.
And that takes us to the masterpiece within. “Billie Jean†captivates from its opening four-square drum beat. The song has a real narrative tension: A young man vehemently denies fathering a child. “Billie Jean†is not deep or perceptive, but it does deal with real-life problems. The song is more effective for its collective emotional tenor. That drumbeat becomes ominous as it chugs along, relentless. Jackson’s vocal hiccups, which would soon become an overdone conceit, add a sense of desperation. Jones builds the arrangement to a measured crescendo, the masterstroke being the descending string riff that doesn’t appear until the second chorus, right after “the kid is not my son.†The song is a piece of perfection, or close to it.
As far as extras, the DVD includes the iconic videos for “Billie Jean,†“Beat It†and “Thriller,†as well as Jackson’s galvanizing performance of “Billie Jean†on the 1983 TV special Motown 25, where he unveiled the moonwalk and blew minds the world over. The clips serve as poignant reminders of just how charismatic and likeable Michael Jackson was before he went around the bend. The remixes — featuring the likes of will.i.am, Fergie and Kanye West — are largely disposable.
So … given the opportunity, will I revise my star rating of Thriller? Yes. I’ll bump it to 3 1/2.
Brought straight to your desktops by Lee at Vinyl Fever.
The Dead Weather – Horehound
