Avenged Sevenfold's 'Waking The Fallen' expanded reissue

Avenged Sevenfold's new release Waking The Fallen: Resurrected, is available today via Hopeless Records. Personally curated by the band, the release is a rare, never before seen look at their 2003 CD Waking The Fallen.

The new three-disc set includes the original studio album, new artwork, 11 previously unreleased b-sides, live and alternate versions of songs, three music videos and a 30 minute documentary with never before seen live footage from some of the OC hard rock band's earliest shows.

Today, the band also debuted the original first cut of their music video for "Unholy Confessions," which appears on the DVD portion of the release.

Watch it now at http://bit.ly/1vHtnpr.

The collection features:

* Two unreleased songs, including the lead track "Waking The Fallen: Resurrected," which had been lost before it was discovered buried deep within the original multi-track recordings. Originally intended to make the album as a full song, it was ultimately reworked into a vocal free intro. Later the band drew inspiration from this lost song's piano intro, building it out into their hit song "Beast And The Harlot" off of their next album City Of Evil. This song is a previously unknown link between two major eras in the band's career.

* Four never before heard demos recorded by Thrice's Teppei Teranishi including "Chapter Four," "Remenissions," "I Won't See You Tonight Part 1," and "I Won't See You Tonight Part 2." These early version demos contain alternate lyrics, melodies, and arrangements giving fans a unique and unprecedented behind the scenes look at the evolution of four of the band's most popular songs.

* Five live versions recorded in 2004 from some of the band's earliest shows including "Chapter Four (Live In Ventura)," "Desecrate Through Reverence (Live In Pomona)," "Eternal Rest (Live In Pomona)," "Unholy Confessions (Live In Ventura)," and "Second Heartbeat (Live In Ventura)." Very little live material from this era of Avenged Sevenfold's career has ever been available.

* A 30 minute documentary featuring brand new interviews from band looking back on the lead up, demoing, recording and touring around the Waking The Fallen album. The 30 minute film includes personal behind the scenes home movies and photos from the band's earliest days.

* The original first cut of the "Unholy Confessions" music video.

Track Listing

CD 1:

1. Waking The Fallen
2. Unholy Confessions
3. Chapter Four
4. Remenissions
5. Desecrate Through Reverence
6. Eternal Rest
7. Second Heartbeat
8. Radiant Eclipse
9. I Won't See You Tonight Part 1
10. I Won't See You Tonight Part 2
11. Clairvoyant Disease
12. And All Things Will End

CD 2:

1. Waking The Fallen: Resurrected
2. Second Heartbeat (Alternate Version)
3. Chapter Four (Demo)
4. Remenissions (Demo)
5. I Won't See You Tonight Part 1 (Demo)
6. I Won't See You Tonight Part 2 (Demo)
7. Intro/Chapter Four (Live In Ventura)
8 Desecrate Through Reverence (Live In Pomona)
9. Eternal Rest (Live In Pomona)
10. Unholy Confessions (Live In Ventura)
11. Second Heartbeat (Live In Ventura)
12. I Won't See You Tonight Pt. 1 (Live In Ventura)*
13. I Won't See You Tonight Pt. 2 (Live In Ventura)*

*Denotes bonus tracks only available deluxe version

DVD Track Listing:

1. Waking The Fallen: Resurrected Documentary
2. Chapter Four (Live Footage Video)
3. Unholy Confessions (Official Music Video)
4. Unholy Confessions (Original First Cut Music Video)

avengedsevenfold.com

Matthew Ryan news

I've been a fan since the beginning and am really looking forward to the new material. Read the initial details...

Critically acclaimed alt-country singer/songwriter Matthew Ryan's new album Boxers will be released on Oct. 14.

He recorded it in Woodstock, N.Y. with producer and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Salem, The Gaslight Anthem’s Brian Fallon on guitar, longtime collaborator Brian Bequette on bass, Joe Magistro on drums, and Ryan on vocals and guitars.

“It was a beautiful brotherhood,” Ryan says. “In my mind, the record sounds like Crazy Horse meets early Replacements with nods to more recent bands I love like the National.” 

Among the songs are “This One’s for You, Frankie,” “Anthem for the Broken,” “Suffer No More” (about the working poor), “We Are Libertines” (which details the ruthless ethos of pure capitalists) and “Heaven’s Hill.”

Of "Frankie," Ryan says on his web site:

"It's the most heartbreaking and hopeful piece of rock n roll I may have ever written and recorded...The band on this song kills it, kills me...it's ambitiously honest and full of immovable affection for the characters it's written for. One being a great old punk rock friend and one of Nashville's grumpiest and finest live sound engineers Frank Sass. The song isn't just about Frank, it's about several people. As is often the case it's an amalgamation, myself included. But its goal is to communicate the brotherhood/sisterhood in following a dream all the way down and through the hard curves and trials and disappointments and glowing victories that certain ethos color our lives with. It's about Rock 'n' Roll, but it could be about any dream or work that's worth breaking your heart over so you can pass a torch to whoever has its back with the integrity of an idea worth fighting for. Is that vague? I hope the song makes it clear. I believe it will."

Having first made his 1997 A&M Records debut with May Day, Ryan’s song “Jane, I Still Feel the Same," from the 2008 CD Vs. The Silver State, recently had a sudden surge on Spotify with over a million listens over the past few months and "Some Streets Lead Nowhere" from the '09 album Dear Lover recently saw a spike in views on YouTube. Both songs were featured in the WB drama One Tree Hill.

matthewryanonline.com

Bryan Adams album details

Bryan Adams is set to release his first studio album in more than six years with Tracks Of My Years (Verve Records), a collection of classics from the 1950s-70s.

Out Sept. 30, in the US and Canada (October 6 in Europe and other territories), Tracks Of My Years is co-produced by Adams, David Foster and Bob Rock, and includes ten cover songs featuring a wide range of influential musical styles, from Chuck Berry's "Rock & Roll Music," Ray Charles' "I Can't Stop Loving You" to the Beatles' "Any Time At All."

The collection also includes new track, “She Knows Me” co-written with his long-time writing partner Jim Vallance. The Adams/Vallance partnership was responsible for many of Adams’ classic hits including “Heaven,” “Summer of ‘69” and “Run To You.” The 11-track release and 16-track deluxe version will be available digitally and at retailers nationwide. Presale is live now: http://smarturl.it/TracksMyYearsDlx.

"Making the selection of the songs for the album took a long time" noted Adams. "We recorded all kinds of songs until the songs sort of presented themselves, or sounded different enough from the originals. We did about 3 months of recording, spread out over the course of two years. Radio was king when I was a teenager," Adams reflected, "you'd hear McCarney's ‘Admiral Halsey’ straight into ‘Kiss and Say Goodbye’ by the Manhattans. Radio didn't discriminate back then."

Tracks Of My Years, the first studio release from Adams since Eleven in 2008, is an eclectic mix of songs reflective of the time when rock was played alongside pop, country and R&B, and follows Adams’ critically-acclaimed acoustic album, 2010’s Bare Bones a release that resulted in sold out shows across Europe, North America, Australia and South Africa.

Track listing for Standard Version:
 
1) Any Time At All
2) She Knows Me
3) I Can't Stop Loving You
4) Kiss And Say Goodbye
5) Lay Lady Lay
6) Rock And Roll Music
7) Down On The Corner
8) Never My Love
9) Sunny
10) The Tracks Of My Tears
11) God Only Knows

Tracklisting for Deluxe Version:

1) Any Time At All
2) She Knows Me
3) I Can't Stop Loving You
4) Kiss And Say Goodbye
5) Lay Lady Lay
6) Rock And Roll Music
7) Down On The Corner
8) Never My Love
9) Sunny
10) The Tracks Of My Tears
11) God Only Knows
 
Bonus Tracks

12) You've Been A Friend To Me
13) Many Rivers To Cross
14) C'mon Everybody
15) Help Me Make It Through The Night
16) You Shook Me

New Phillip Phillips tour starts this week

Coming off a recent co-headlining tour with O.A.R., singer/songwriter Phillip Phillips has announced dates for his own North American headlining jaunt. Several shows go on sale this Friday. 

The shows will support Behind the Light (19 Entertainment/Interscope), which came out last spring. New single “Unpack Your Heart” is the second track released from the album, following the top 10 adult pop hit “Raging Fire.”

Behind The Light is the follow-up to Phillips’ successful debut album, The World from the Side of the Moon, which spawned the single “Home” -- one of the biggest tracks of 2012 with more than 5 million copies sold.

 

The World from the Side of the Moon sold more than 1 million copies and debuted at #4 on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart and #1 on the Billboard Rock Album chart; successful tours both as a headliner and with Matchbox 20 and John Mayer followed. The World from the Side of the Moon also featured the platinum single “Gone, Gone, Gone.”

 

Since winning season 11 of “American Idol,” Phillips has sold more than 2 million albums and more than 9 million singles.

Tour dates:

8/28/14 Waco, TX Baylor University – McLane Stadium
8/30/14 Gatineau, QC Gatineau Hot Air Balloon Festival
8/31/14 Syracuse, NY New York State Fair
9/12/14 West Point, NY US Military Academy at West Point
9/13/14 Boston, MA MDC Hatch Memorial Shell - Festival
9/14/14 Washington, DC Lincoln Theatre
9/16/14 New York, NY Best Buy Theater
9/18/14 Shippensburg, PA Luhrs Performing Arts Center
9/19/14 Cleveland, OH Playhouse Square Theater
9/20/14 Highland Park, IL Food Network in Concert
9/23/14 Austin, TX Stubb's Waller Creek Amphitheatre
9/24/14 Dallas, TX South Side Ballroom - KVIL Radio Show
9/26/14 Norman, OK University of Oklahoma – Meacham Auditorium
9/27/14 Houston, TX Houston Arena Theatre
9/28/14 New Orleans, LA Mahalia Jackson Theatre
10/1/14 Denver, CO Paramount Theatre
10/3/14 Sioux City, IA Morningside College - Tyson Center
10/4/14 Kansas City, MO Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland
10/5/14 Park City, KS Hartman Arena
10/7/14 San Antonio, TX Majestic Theatre
10/18/14 Ellensburg, WA Central Washington University
10/19/14 Pasco, WA Trac Center
10/21/14 Everett, WA Comcast Arena
10/23/14 Missoula, MT University of Montana – Adams Center
10/24/14 Bozeman, MT Theater at The Brick
10/25/14 Boise, ID Taco Bell Arena
10/28/14 St. George, UT Burns Arena
11/1/14 Atlantic City, NJ Harrah's Atlantic City
11/2/14 Durham, NC Durham Performing Arts Center
11/3/14 Huntington, WV Marshall University
11/8/14 Savannah, GA Forsyth Park - Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon
11/9/14 St. Augustine, FL Saint Augustine Amphitheatre
11/12/14 Sarasota, FL Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
11/14/14 Orlando, FL Hard Rock Live
11/15/14 Hollywood, FL Seminole Hard Rock
11/18/14 Louisville, KY Louisville Palace Theatre
11/19/14 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium
11/22/14 Milwaukee, WI The Riverside Theater
11/23/14 Duluth, MN DECC Auditorium
12/3/14 Reno, NV Grand Sierra Resort
12/7/14 Phoenix, AZ Celebrity Theatre

phillipphillips.com

Prince albums due next month

Prince today announces not one, but two, brand new studio albums to be released globally via Warner Bros. Records. They are Art Official Age and Plectrumelectrum, set for Sept. 30 in the U.S.. The former is a solo albuml the latter by Prince's new band, 3RDEYEGIRL.

Both albums, which are sold separately, are now available for pre-order via digital retailers and from artofficialage.com. Early buyers will be able to unlock 'instant grat' tracks from each record. The album releases will also be marked by a series of very special events taking place globally, to be confirmed shortly.

Together with 3RDEYEGIRL, Prince played the UK and Europe with his sell out Hit & Run tours earlier this year. In April, NPG Music Publishing was launched, marking the first time Prince's publishing catalog has been independently controlled and administered in over 20 years.

In addition, he headlined and curated the Essence Festival July 4 in New Orleans and made an appearance on TV show New Girl. 

The new studio albums mark a return to Warner Bros. Records, Prince's original label home. The renewed partnership came after the announcement that Warner Bros. Records returned to Prince the master recordings of his pioneering '80s albums, including Dirty Mind, 1999, Purple Rain and Sign 'O' the Times.

Art Official Age was produced, arranged, composed and performed by Prince and Joshua Welton. Plectrumelectrum is a band record, with 3RDEYEGIRL which include Prince, Donna Grantis (guitar), Hannah Ford Welton (drums) and Ida Nielsen (bass). It was recorded live and in analog. 

Live dates will be confirmed shortly.
  
Track-listings:
ART OFFICIAL AGE

ART OFFICIAL CAGE
CLOUDS
BREAKDOWN
THE GOLD STANDARD
U KNOW
BREAKFAST CAN WAIT
THIS COULD BE US
WHAT IT FEELS LIKE
affirmation I & II
WAY BACK HOME
FUNKNROLL
TIME
affirmation III

PLECTRUMELECTRUM

WOW
PRETZELBODYLOGIC
AINTTURNINROUND
PLECTRUMELECTRUM
WHITECAPS
FIXURLIFEUP
BOYTROUBLE
STOPTHISTRAIN
ANOTHERLOVE
TICTACTOE
MARZ
FUNKNROLL

New Pornographers album, tour dates

The New Pornographers’ album, Brill Bruisers, is out now on Matador Records.

 

An appearance on “Late Show with David Letterman” happens Sept. 3, followed by a North American tour. See below for details.

Lead singer and main songwriter AC Newman says, “This album is stylistically as close as we can get to what I think I’ve always imagined us being. I feel like what we did on this has always been in the back of my mind, even from the first record, but we just never did it, like using all the arpeggiators and adding that spacy synth element. It just never seemed right before, and with this record, it completely did. I feel more confident about this record than I’ve ever felt about anything before."

In conjunction with the release, the band is partnering with Intelligentsia Coffee on an exclusive, limited-edition coffee, “Brill Brew,” which is available here: http://store.bandmerch.com/thenewpornographers/

 

Each coffee purchased at an Intellegentsia location will come with a digital download card for Brill Bruisers. Of the collaboration, Carl Newman comments, “As absurd as it may seem for us to have a signature blend, I think it is important that there is some sort of marker, some flag planted in the earth, so that whoever walks into Intelligentsia, whoever drinks this, will know: ‘The New Pornographers really really loved coffee.’”

A limited edition multi-colored “paint splattered” version of the Brill Bruisers LP is available at The New Pornographers’ web-store.

The New Pornographers are A.C. Newman, Blaine Thurier, Dan Bejar, John Collins, Kathryn Calder, Kurt Dahle, Neko Case and Todd Fancey.

TOUR DATES
 

August 29 Edmonton, AB Sonic Boom Festival
August 30 Halifax, NS Sandjam
September 6 Detroit, MI Majestic Theatre
September 7 Toronto, ON Riot Fest
September 13 Victoria, BC Rifflandia Festival
September 20 Columbus, OH The LC Pavilion
October 3 Vancouver, BC The Commodore Ballroom
October 4 Vancouver, BC The Commodore Ballroom
October 5 & 6 Seattle, WA The Showbox
October 8 Portland, OR Crystal Ballroom
October 9 Boise, ID Knitting Factory
October 10 Salt Lake City, UT The Depot
October 11 Denver, CO Gothic Theatre
October 13 Phoenix, AZ The Crescent Ballroom
October 14 Tucson, AZ Rialto Theatre
October 15 Pioneertown, CA Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace
October 17 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern
October 18 San Diego, CA North Park Theatre
October 18-19 San Francisco, CA Treasure Island Music Festival
November 4 Nashville, TN Cannery Ballroom
November 5 Asheville, NC Orange Peel
November 6 Atlanta, GA Buckhead Theatre
November 7 New Orleans, LA Civic Theatre
November 8 Austin, TX Fun Fun Fun Fest
November 10 St. Louis, MO The Pageant
November 11 Omaha, NE Slowdown
November 13 Milwaukee, WI Pabst Theater
November 14 Chicago, IL Riviera Theatre
November 15 Cleveland, OH House of Blues
November 17 New York, NY Hammerstein Ballroom
November 19 Boston, MA House of Blues
November 20 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
November 21 & 22 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
November 23 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle

Soundgarden arrives in SoCal; deluxe 'Superunknown' out now

With Soundgarden performing live in Southern California over the next several days (see dates below), it’s a good time to discuss the recent 20th Anniversary deluxe reissue of the band’s Superunknown album, which appeared in stores earlier this summer via UME/A&M.

Back in 1992, after the Seattle rock band had completed a stint at the Lollapalooza Festival (then a cross-country tour in America), it started work on what would become Superunknown. Michael Beinhorn, who had previously helmed hit albums for Red Hot Chili Peppers and Soul Asylum, signed on to co-produce the sessions.

A grunge music pioneer alongside Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains, Soundgarden spent more time making the album than their previous three efforts. The musicians allowed some freedom to experiment and the powerful results were evident in what guitarist Kim Thayil once called their “Sabbath influenced punk.” Unusual time signatures and alternate tunings were prevalent amid the 15 songs, which clocked in at 70 minutes.

Released in March of ‘94, Superunknown was a massive success, dominated mainstream and alternative rock radio stations (like KROQ/106.7 FM in Los Angeles) for much of the next couple years and spawned five top 20 hits on the former’s genre chart. The songs won Grammys; the album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and went multi-platinum.

Listening to the fine new 2CD remastered version today (details on the five disc Super Deluxe package can be found elsewhere on this blog) is a solid reminder of what a heavy-hitting force the band was – and continues to be - today.

For starters, the booklet’s gauzy artwork is captivating. Each song’s lyrics are printed with a different image revolving around natural elements. Band photos are by Kevin Westenberg. Yet another reason why physical CD packages remain important to many music buyers.

Singer Chris Cornell’s wailing words of alienation and despair, paired with Thayil’s assaultive, yet often finessed guitar work, Matt Cameron’s dominant rhythms and backing vocals and Ben Shepherd’s prominent bass and vocals made for one of the 1990s most memorable rock albums. 

Disc One is highlighted by the keening grunge guitar sway of “My Wave” (it’s great to hear the full 5:13 version again instead of the radio edit emblazoned on the brain); the slow burn “Fell on Black Days,” with its psychedelic flourishes and Cornell’s raspy vocals going full boil; the Led Zeppelin-esque title track, containing a more complex sound and fiery Thayil solo; No. 1 Mainstream rock radio hit “Black Hole Sun,” with a trippy allure (subtle nuances are more evident in the sound mix now); the hard-edged crunch of “Spoonman,” with prominent percussion and Thayil’s intense solo at the fore, not to mention Cameron’s banging of pots and pans and rattling spoons more audible in the full version; “Like Suicide,” the longest song at 7 minutes, is also the moodiest and contains a stinging Thayil solo. Original international album bonus cut “She Likes Surprises” is notable for its needling riff.

Disc Two comprises demos, rehearsals, B-sides and remixes and is primarily of interest to diehard fans. 10 of the 16 tracks are previously unreleased. The demo of “Black Hole Sun” has a bulk of the finished song intact, while an intriguing rehearsal version of “The Day I Tried to Live” finds Cornell giving directions on how they should proceed and an acoustic take on “Like Suicide” is very interesting. 

“Black Days III” is an early, almost unrecognizable “Black Hole Sun,” with fuzztone guitar front and center and Cornell’s buried vocals. Elsewhere, the alternate Steve Fisk remix of “Spoonman” is far more dense than the regular album version. 

Soundgarden and Nine Inch Nails perform tonight at Sleep Train Amphitheatre in Chula Vista, Friday at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine and Monday at the Hollywood Bowl. To purchase: ticketmaster.com

Porter Robinson tour dates

Porter Robinson's new album Worlds, released via Astralwerks, debuted at #1 on the iTunes Electronic Album Chart.

Rising to prominence as a headline DJ while still in his teens, Robinson will embark on his first live tour later this month.

Renowned music technologist Laura Escudé (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) collaborated with him to design the show, which he will control via Ableton Live. There will be 32-foot video screens displaying a set of completely custom visuals, 96 lighting fixtures, 480 streamer tubes, 1600 lbs of confetti, and 15 50lb tanks of CO2.

 

The lighting, video and special effects have been meticulously synced with his tracks to create an experience that will far exceed the expectations of fans accustomed to typical dance music shows. Robinson will play live, sing, and even improvise at times by using various MIDI controllers. See below for full list of North American dates.

Worlds takes its name from the fantasy digital universes Porter played growing up; MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing games) such as Star Wars Galaxies Emulator, Guild Wars 2, Archeage (Alpha), Minecraft, and World of Warcraft; the music on the album is inspired by his nostalgia for these fictional places.

Last week, the DJ gave a look into the video games that inspired and influenced Worlds by hosting a full album live video stream via Twitch (www.twitch.tv). He hosted the stream from his home studio in North Carolina, inviting fans inside his private music/gaming space for the first time as he went through each track on the album; showcasing the video games that inspired each track while chatting with fans via split screen.

North American Tour

8/28 Vancouver, BC - Vogue
8/29 Seattle, WA - WaMu Theater
8/30 Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory
8/31 Portland, OR - Roseland
9/1 Eugene, OR - McDonald Theater
9/2 Boise, ID - Knitting Factory
9/4 Reno, NV - Knitting Factory
9/5 Salt Lake City, UT - The Great Saltair
9/6 Denver, CO - Fillmore
9/9 Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theater
9/10 Phoenix, AZ - Marquee Theater
9/11 San Diego, CA - SOMA
9/12 San Francisco, CA - Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
9/13 Los Angeles, CA - Shrine Exposition Center
9/14 Pomona, CA - Fox Theater
9/17 Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater
9/18 El Paso, TX - Buchanan's
9/19 Austin, TX - Austin Music Hall
9/20 Dallas, TX - South Side Ballroom
9/21 Houston, TX - Stereo Live
9/22 Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom
9/24 Urbana, IL - Canopy Club
9/25 Minneapolis, MN - Myth
9/26 Chicago, IL - Aragon Ballroom
9/27 Madison, WI - Orpheum
9/29 London, ON - London Music Hall
9/30 Guelph, ON - Guelph Concert Hall
10/2 Montreal, QC - Metropolis
10/3 Toronto, ON - Koolhaus
10/4 Ottawa, ON - Earnst & Young Center
10/5 Buffalo, NY Rapids Theater
10/7 Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE
10/8 Hartford, CT - The Dome
10/9 Boston, MA - House of Blues
10/10 Philadelphia, PA - Tower Theater
10/11 New York, NY - Terminal 5
10/13 Washington DC - 9:30 Club
10/15 Tallahassee, FL - Coliseum
10/16 Tampa, FL - Amphitheatre
10/17 Orlando, - FL HOB
10/18 Miami, FL - Fillmore

Gavin Rossdale & Bush to return this fall

Multi-platinum alt-rock band Bush have announced an Oct. 21 release date for their new album, Man On The Run (Zuma Rock Records/RAL). The band's 6th studio effort will be introduced via lead single "The Only Way Out," which hits radio and online retail outlets Sept. 9.

Bush (vocalist/guitarist Gavin Rossdale, guitarist Chris Traynor, bassist Corey Britz and drummer Robin Goodridge) recorded Man On The Run with Grammy-winning producer Nick Raskulinecz (Deftones, Foo Fighters) at Studio 606, the Northridge, CA-based studio owned by Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl.

Man On The Run is the follow-up to 2011’s The Sea Of Memories, which was its first release in 10 years. That album saw them return to the top of the charts with lead single "The Sound of Winter" making rock radio history as the first self-released song ever to hit No. 1 at Alternative Rock radio (where it stayed for six consecutive weeks).

2014 marks the 20th anniversary of BUSH’s debut album Sixteen Stone, which hit No. 4 on The Billboard 200 and included the No. 1 hits “Comedown,” “Glycerine” and “Machinehead,” as well as fan favorites “Everything Zen” and “Little Things.”

Jars of Clay '20' album out now

Grammy and Dove Award-winning band Jars of Clay celebrates 20 years of music, releasing today a fan-curated retrospective double-album of re-recorded favorites and two new songs, appropriately named 20.

It was released independently on the group’s own Gray Matters label with distribution through Tone Tree and is available now.

With 20, Jars of Clay took time to look back over what they’ve created.

“This has been the most extended period of time that we’ve been able to musically reflect on what we’ve done over the last twenty years,” says rhythm guitarist Matthew Odmark.

Remakes of earlier songs and movies often fall short of evoking the same spark that made them popular in the first place, but Jars of Clay have discovered rich treasures hidden in previous works during their two-decade career.

By allowing the fans to say which songs they would do and allowing themselves to decide how they would do them, balancing out the essence of the original version with where the band is now, the adventurous 20 ends up feeling both nostalgic and new, simultaneously looking back and facing forward.

“There is weight attached to a collection of songs that people who have spent 20 years with us have chosen. It’s sacred space,” says lead vocalist Dan Haseltine.

A few of the fans’ selections surprised the band, not having played some of them in ten years. Many were deep-track selections that didn’t garner as much radio play but cut to the heart of fans.

“There were some songs that were surprisingly hitting a real strong emotional chord in me because I had missed them the first time around,” admits multi-instrumentalist Stephen Mason.

Many of the band’s remakes received a “sonic sprucing up” that reflects the current ethos of the band. The original version of “God Will Lift Up Your Head,” for example, now sports a punk rock energy, with jazz flavored polyrhythmic drum-and-bass grooves.

Conversely, Jars of Clay’s original, acoustic driven “Love Song,” has a more relaxed, airy feel with stark piano chords and a cinematic string section.

Jars of Clay’s 20 also features guest vocalists like Ashely Cleveland on “Jealous Kind,” while Mancy Pendergrass sings on “Worlds Apart.”

The two new songs in this retrospective album are “If You Love Her,” which came from the band’s experiences working with Blood:Water Mission, an organization they founded in 2004 that has raised more than $22 million to help fight AIDS/HIV and the water crises in Africa, and “Ghost on the Moon.”

On tour later this month, Jars of Clay will play both old and new fan favorites spanning the band’s repertoire that includes 16 No. 1 songs.

Track listing:

Disc: 1
 

1. Fade To Grey
2. Worlds Apart
3. Tea and Sympathy
4. Silence
5. No One Loves Me Like You
6. Collide
7. Jealous Kind
8. God Will Lift Up Your Head
9. Ghost In The Moon
10. If You Love Her
 

Disc: 2
 

1. Trouble Is
2. Something Beautiful
3. I Need Thee
4. Boys
5. Dead Man
6. Oh My God
7. Safe To Land
8. Inland
9. Love In Hard Times
10. Love Song

 

Tour dates:

 

August 31 Joshua Fest Quincy, CA

September 8 Aladdin Theater Portland, OR
September 9 Rialto Theater Tacoma, WA
September 10 Spokane County Fair Spokane, WA
September 27 Franklin Theater Franklin, TN
October 8 Harvester Center Rocky Mount, VA
October 9 The State Theatre State College, PA
October 10 Highline Ballroom, New York, NY
October 11 Sellersville Theater Sellersville, PA
October 12 Roberts Wesleyan College Rochester, NY
October 19 Howard Performing Arts Berrien Springs, NY 
December 5 Wentz Concert Hall Naperville, IL 

* Tour dates subject to change. 
jarsofclay.com

Leonard Cohen returns with music

Popular Problems, legendary singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen's 13th studio album, will be released on Sept. 23 via Columbia Records.

A collaboration with co-writer/producer Patrick Leonard, it is available for pre-order. Those who do so digitally (http://smarturl.it/PopularProblems) will receive an instant download of his new song, “Almost Like The Blues.”

To celebrate his milestone 80th birthday (Sept. 21), Cohen (best known for penning "Hallelujah," "Chelsea Hotel," "First We Take Manhattan" and many more) and his legacy can be revisited with a new artist page on iTunes (www.itunes.com/leonardcohen), which features Popular Problems and includes all 12 prior studio albums Mastered For iTunes.

Last week, Rolling Stone reported:

Cohen's last album was 2012's Old Ideas, though in the year leading up to that album's release, the singer-songwriter unveiled new songs onstage that failed to make the album.

"I rehearsed some other songs on the road – new songs that didn't make it onto the record," he said in 2012. "So I have a new record [after this one], at least two-thirds of it, anyway." 

Tracklisting:

1. Slow
2. Almost Like The Blues
3. Samson In New Orleans
4. A Street
5. Did I Ever Love You
6. My Oh My
7. Nevermind
8. Born In Chains
9. You Got Me Singing

LeonardCohen.com

Former Jellyfish/Redd Kross members collaboration finally gets U.S. release

Jason Falkner, Roger Joseph Manning Jr. and Brian Reitzell have quite a musical history. 

Manning and Falkner — once bandmates in Jellyfish — also achieved success as solo acts, or as members of groups including The Three O’Clock, The Grays, Imperial Drag, and the Moog Cookbook.

Reitzell, once the drummer for Redd Kross and Air, turned his talents to film and television, supervising and composing music for several films directed by Sofia Coppola, including The Virgin Suicides and the Academy Award-nominated Lost in Translation (for which he, along with Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine, was nominated for a BAFTA award). Currently, Reitzell composes music for the NBC-TV drama Hannibal.
 
But, together, the three were TV Eyes.
 
Their 2006 self-titled debut was only released in Japan, and is now out of print, commanding top dollar on the collector market. Omnivore Recordings will rectify that situation with a CD and 2-LP expanded edition due out on Oct. 7.

The release features nine tracks from TV Eyes, plus four bonus tracks from the Japanese-only EP Softcore — three of which are remixes, one from each member of the band. As if that weren’t enough, the reissue also includes the first CD appearance of “She’s a Study,” which was featured in the aforementioned Lost in Translation, and previously only available on a white label, promo 12” single a decade ago.
 
For its first-ever issue on vinyl, the double LP will be pressed on translucent yellow vinyl, and includes a download card. The packaging for both formats will include photos and liner notes by Falkner.
 
According to Falkner, “We only performed this record three times in Los Angeles, so not too many people had the opportunity to see and hear it. We made incredible films with images culled from our obscure video collections, and we projected those movies behind us on rented gear (must be why we never made any money!).
 
“Unfortunately, we never aggressively hunted for the right label to release this album back when it was new to us, and its only release to date has been in Japan . . . so now it’s your turn. I know that Brian, Roger, and myself put everything we had into this music almost 15 years ago, and we are thankful for the fine folks at Omnivore and their enthusiasm and commitment to releasing this.”
 
Track listing:
 
1. Over The City
2. Fascinating
3. She’s A Study
4. The Party's Over
5. Mission:Submission
6. Love To Need
7. What She Said
8. Fade Away
9. Time’s Up
10. Fascinating (Jason Falkner Remix)
11. She’s A Study 
(Roger Joseph Manning Jr. “Malibu” Remix)
12. Time’s Up (Brian Reitzell Remix)
13. She Gets Around