The Fratellis announce global music competition for up-and-coming musicians

Two years ago, I interviewed The Fratellis for Rock Cellar Magazine (see elsewhere on this blog). Now they've got a cool contest going. Read below for more info...

Multi-platinum award-winning Scottish rock band The Fratellis just announced their global music competition. It will give one unknown music artist or band a platform to success.

This prize features a studio session to record the artist or band’s winning single, which will be mixed by The Fratellis’ producer/mixer, Tony Hoffer (Angels & Airwaves, Fitz and the Tantrums, Elle King) and a chance to win a worldwide deal to release a single with Cooking Vinyl Records.

The winner will also get the opportunity to work with The Fratellis themselves, including one-on-one time with the band through an online masterclass, and a slot on a virtual upcoming Fratellis gig (date TBA).

To get involved, upcoming talent are invited to submit their tracks via @Vype_worldwide Instagram page, with both the shortlist and the final selection being chosen by The Fratellis themselves. The entire experience will be professionally marketed, including the creation of a music video of the unknown talent’s record.

A behind-the-scenes style video with The Fratellis will also be shared across The Fratellis’ and Vype’s social channels for the world to see. The competition runs through October 28. Applicants must read the T&Cs (+ Privacy Notice) before getting started. The winner will be chosen on November 2. Watch the full commercial HERE.

“We’re proud to be working with Vype to give a new artist the chance to work with some of the most talented professionals in the music industry…and The Fratellis! Getting our first proper single released through a big label was a huge deal for us so it will be exciting to help a new artist achieve this milestone and hopefully see them go on to have a long career in music,” says The Fratellis.

The Fratellis are a multi-platinum Scottish rock band from Glasgow, formed in 2005, consisting of lead vocalist and guitarist Jon Fratelli, bassist and backing vocalist Barry Fratelli, and drummer and backing vocalist Mince Fratelli. The Fratellis recently announced their sixth studio album titled Half Drunk Under a Full Moon, to be released on April 9, 2021, alongside the launch of a UK and European tour. The album features the single, “Six Days In June,” which released earlier this year. Listen to it HERE.

Formed in Glasgow in 2005, the band put out their debut album Costello Music a year later and it spawned the worldwide hit “Chelsea Dagger.” The song went double-platinum and led to The Fratellis winning the Brit Award for British Breakthrough Act in 2007. A successful second album, Here We Stand, followed in 2008 before an indefinite hiatus.

Since reforming in 2012, The Fratellis have put out three well-received studio albums.

Paul McCartney reveals details on new album

McCartney III, a new album by Paul McCartney, will be released December 11.

2020 marks 50 years since his self-titled first solo album.

The 1970s saw Paul forming his second band Wings with multiple #1 singles, sold-out world tours, multi-million-selling albums including Band on the Run, Venus and Mars, Wings at the Speed of Sound, London Town and more.

In 1980,10 years from the release of McCartney, Paul wrapped up the decade of Wings with the surprise release of his second solo album, the electronic-tinged McCartney II. Once again featuring Paul entirely on his own, McCartney II contained the chart topper Coming Up.

The Eighties saw Paul start again, this time kicking off an unprecedented solo run. The following four decades would see Paul’s release Tug of War, Flowers in the Dirt, Pipes of Peace, Flaming Pie, Memory Almost Full and New, and setting the World Record for the largest attendance at a concert. In 2018, 54 years since The Beatles first hit #1 on the Billboard Album Charts – Paul’s Egypt Station would be yet another #1 McCartney album.

Paul hadn’t planned to release an album in 2020, but found himself fleshing out some existing musical sketches and creating even more new ones. Before long a collection of songs would become McCartney III: a stripped back, self-produced and, quite literally, solo work marking the opening of a new decade, in the tradition of 1970’s McCartney and 1980’s McCartney II.

Recorded earlier this year in Sussex, McCartney III is mostly built from live takes of Paul on vocals and guitar or piano, overdubbing his bass playing, drumming, etc. atop that foundation. The process first sparked when Paul returned to an unreleased track from the early 90s, When Winter Comes (co-produced by George Martin). Paul crafted a new passage for the song, giving rise to album opener Long Tailed Winter Bird—while When Winter Comes, featuring its new 2020 intro Winter Bird, became the new album’s grand finale.

Speaking about III, Paul said: “I was living lockdown life on my farm with my family and I would go to my studio every day. I had to do a little bit of work on some film music and that turned into the opening track and then when it was done I thought what will I do next? I had some stuff I’d worked on over the years but sometimes time would run out and it would be left half-finished so I started thinking about what I had. Each day I’d start recording with the instrument I wrote the song on and then gradually layer it all up, it was a lot of fun. It was about making music for yourself rather than making music that has to do a job. So, I just did stuff I fancied doing. I had no idea this would end up as an album.”

He used some of the same gear from Paul’s Rude Studio used as far back as 1971 Wings sessions. And Paul's array of vintage instruments he played on the new album have an even more storied history, including Bill Black of Elvis Presley's original trio's double bass alongside Paul's own iconic Hofner violin bass, and a mellotron from Abbey Road Studios used on Beatles recordings, to name but a few.

In keeping with McCartney & McCartney II’s photography by Linda McCartney, the principal photos for III were shot by Paul’s daughter Mary McCartney—with additional photography by Paul’s nephew Sonny McCartney as well as photos Paul took on his phone (it’s a family affair). The cover art and typography is by celebrated American artist Ed Ruscha.

Both McCartney and McCartney II each saw Paul open up a new decade with reinvention, both personal and musical. Just as McCartney’s 1970 release marked Paul’s return to basics in the wake of the biggest band break-up in musical history, and the 1980 avant-garde masterpiece McCartney II rose from the ashes of Wings, McCartney III finds Paul back on his own. 

McCartney III will arrive via Capitol Records across digital platforms, on CD, and on LP manufactured by Third Man Pressing. Vinyl configurations will range from standard 180g to a Third Man Edition of 3,000 hand-numbered red vinyl copies, a ‘333’ Edition sold only via Third Man Records online store and limited to 333 copies on yellow-with-black-dots vinyl created using 33 recycled vinyl copies of McCartney and McCartney II, a U.S. indie retail exclusive pressing of 4,000 hand-numbered white vinyl LPs, and more.

Country music update: Russell Dickerson returns in December with 'Southern Symphony'

Triple Tigers' multi-platinum recording artist, Russell Dickerson announced the release of his sophomore album, SOUTHERN SYMPHONY, with the release of "Never Get Old," the latest track off the forthcoming album.

Co-produced alongside frequent collaborator Casey Brown and a first-time collaboration with legendary producer Dann Huff, the 10-track record is set for release on December 4, 2020, via Triple Tigers Records.

Pre-order/pre-save here.

"'Southern Symphony' is hands down the best work I've created," said Dickerson, "It’s the best songs I’ve written. It’s sonically the best we’ve created. This album is ten honest and true tracks that tell the story of how I’ve grown as an artist and a man. I could not be more proud of every song on this album.”

Listen to “Never Get Old” here and watch the lyric video here.

Russell gave fans the first taste of Southern Symphony earlier this year with the debut single, “Love You Like I Used To,” which is currently in the top 10 on the Country Radio Charts with over 106M global streams to date.

Southern Symphony includes one of Russell’s biggest collaborations to date, “It’s About Time,” featuring Florida Georgia Line. The new album follows the 2017 release of Russell’s gold-certified full-length debut “Yours” which bowed at #5 on the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart, #1 on the Emerging Artists Chart and yielded three consecutive #1 hits, including the double-platinum “Yours,” the platinum “Blue Tacoma,” and platinum “Every Little Thing.”

Track List:

1. Never Get Old
2. Home Sweet
3. All Yours All Night
4. Love You Like I Used To
5. Forever For A Little While
6. It's About Time (ft. Florida Georgia Line)
7. Honey
8. Southern Symphony
9. Come To Jesus
10. Waiting For You My Whole Life

Next installment in Neil Young's 'Archives' series covers 1972-76

Neil Young's Archives Volume II: 1972-1976 will be available November 20. The box set is the second installment in the survey of Young’s body of work, which was kicked off by 2009’s Archives Volume I: 1963-1972.

This new volume focuses on an especially prolific era of Young’s career during which he—often joined by Crazy Horse—released the albums Time Fades Away, On the Beach, Tonight’s the Night, Zuma, and Long May You Run.

Homegrown, just released, is part of this history as well. Archives Volume II: 1972-1976 is available for pre-order exclusively from The Greedy Hand Store here (NYA).

Click here to view and share the Archives II trailer, and here for the unboxing. Click here to stream the previously unreleased “Come Along And Say you Will” from Archives II: 1972-1976.

The deluxe edition box set of Archives Volume II: 1972-1976 contains 10 CDs with 131 tracks, including 12 songs that have never been released in any form, and 49 new unreleased versions of Young’s classics—studio and live recordings both solo and with Crazy Horse (Odeon Budokan), The Stray Gators (Tuscaloosa), the Santa Monica Flyers (Roxy: Tonight's the Night Live), Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and The Stills Young Band.

It also includes a 252-page hardbound book with hundreds of previously unseen photographs, additional archival materials, a partial tape database, a detailed description of the music, a fold-out timeline of the period.

In addition, each purchase includes the hi-res 192/24 digital files of all 131 tracks, as well as a free one-year membership to the Neil Young on-line archives. The box also includes a poster. Box sets are strictly limited worldwide to 3,000 units.

Archives Volume II: 1972-1976 will be available digitally on Neil Young Archives and at all major DSPs. NYA is the first totally immersive fan-experience website and remains the only portal for all things Neil Young.

Only at NYA can you find Young’s music in the highest possible digital audio resolution and a seemingly infinite store of archival files. It’s also the home of Young’s virtual daily newspaper, The Times Contrarian, and The Hearse Theater, where you can watch rare footage from Young’s career and stream live performances. NYA is a fittingly sprawling home for Young’s work; few artists—perhaps none—have explored such a vast spectrum of sounds and styles over more than half a century.

Neil Diamond teams with The London Symphony Orchestra on 'Classic Diamonds'

On Nov. 20, Capitol Records will release Classic Diamonds - Neil Diamond with The London Symphony Orchestra.

Pre-order here.

The 14 song collection features new vocals from Neil Diamond paired with a new interpretation of Diamond’s most celebrated chart-topping hits performed by The London Symphony Orchestra.

Recorded at both Abbey Road Studios in London and Neil Diamond’s studio in Los Angeles, the album was produced by Walter Afanasieff.

Track Listing:

Beautiful Noise

I Am…I Said
I’m A Believer
Song Sung Blue
September Morn
America
Holly Holy
You Don’t Bring Me Flowers
Play Me
Love On The Rocks
Heartlight
I’ve Been This Way Before
Sweet Caroline

Jonny Polonsky delves into 'Power and Greed and Money and Sex and Death'

“With these songs, I wanted to be as bold and stark and in your face as possible,” Jonny Polonsky says about his new album. “I wanted the vocals really loud and dry, so that you can understand all the words. I wanted it to feel kind of like an avalanche. To me, that’s what it’s like out in the world these days – overwhelming and intense. That’s what the title is about, too.”

Power and Greed and Money and Sex and Death is due out November 13 on Ghostworks Recordings. “It just popped in my head, and I wrote it down and just started laughing,” he says. “That’s always a good sign. Like, ‘I can’t possibly say that’ – but I want to. So that’s the title.”

Polonsky had just returned home to Brooklyn after two weeks of dates in Europe – and the filming of a documentary -- just before the release of his album Kingdom of Sleep, which came out in early March. New York had just emerged as the epicenter of the pandemic and the city shut down. “It was such a bizarre and frightening time,” he says, but it ended up spurring his creativity. He began writing new songs, and he resumed work on some others that were in various states of completion.

Also, inspired by Dylan’s epic “Murder Most Foul” and Sly and the Family Stone’s 1971 classic There’s a Riot Goin’ On, Polonsky began thinking about the purposes music can serve in a tumultuous time.

“I thought about the usefulness of songs,” Polonsky says about selecting the material for this album. “So when I had a list, I thought, ‘What’s the use of this song – to me, and perhaps to other people?”

Polonsky recorded Power and Greed and Money and Sex and Death in his apartment on his laptop. He has been making albums for nearly twenty-five years and plays guitar, bass and keyboards here. Timpani, bagpipes, harp, koto drums, erhu and programmed drums are also part of the sound.

The Kinks reissue news

Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One, commonly abbreviated to Lola Versus Powerman, or just Lola, is the eighth studio album by The Kinks, recorded and released in 1970. A concept album, it’s a satirical appraisal of the music industry, including song publishers, unions, the press, accountants, business managers, and life on the road.

For its 50th anniversary, The Kinks unveil special multi-format release plans for the album as a Deluxe Box Set, 1LP, Deluxe 2CD, 1CD and digitally - to be released on December 18 via BMG.

Limited Edition, Deluxe 10” Slipcased book pack (containing 60 page book, 3 X CDs, 2 X 7” singles, 4 X color prints)
1LP Gatefold
2CD Hardback Book
1CD Softpack
Digital
HD Digital
D2C Limited Edition Exclusives (free with boxset orders): 7” Single, Enamel pin badge

Although it appeared during a transitional period for The Kinks, Lola Versus Powerman was a success both critically and commercially for the group, charting in the Top 40 in America and helping restore them in the public eye, making it a "comeback" album. It contained two hit singles: "Lola", which reached the #9 US, #2 UK and Germany - becoming the Kinks' biggest success since "Sunny Afternoon" in 1966 - and "Apeman", which peaked at #5 in the UK and Germany.

Ray Davies says: “The album is a celebration of artistic freedom (including my own) and the right for anyone to be gender free if one wishes. The secret is to be a good and trusting person and friend.”

The track "Lola" was written by Ray Davies in early 1970 and recorded at Morgan Studios in London. The track supposedly tells the romantic tale between a young man and a transgender person whom he meets in a club in Soho, inspired by an alleged encounter by the band’s manager. Released with Village Green Preservation Society outtake "Berkeley Mews" in the UK and the Dave Davies-penned "Mindless Child of Motherhood" in the US, the hook has been sung around the world for decades.

The Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One release plans follow the recent successful #LolaDay, celebrating 50 years of the seminal hit single. Fans were able to ‘Lolafy’ their individual photos with 10 new custom-made stickers available via The Kinks website.

The ‘Lolafy’ site has been updated include four new stickers of the band members, Dave, Mick, Pete and Ray.

The 50th Anniversary box set campaign launches with a brand new Ray Davies’ remix / medley of the Kinks track "Any Time" (titled "The Follower - Any Time 2020 Feat: Anytime by The Kinks"). https://thekinks.lnk.to/AnyTime2020PR

Originally written by Ray as a possible B-side for "Apeman", "Any Time" includes previously unreleased versions and excerpts of several Kinks tracks from the Lola album as well as added spoken word and sound effects. It is a concept piece about which Ray states “The isolation caused by Coronavirus can give people time to re-evaluate the world and re-assess their lives. Music can comfort the lonely, transcend time and it’s not the future or the past, yesterday, today or tomorrow. It’s anytime”.

He adds, “I saw a way of making this unreleased 1970s track connect to an audience in 2020. I also saw a way of showing that music can time-travel, that memory is instantaneous and therefore can join us in the ‘now’. I put this together as something surreal then realized that it was really happening. The song has found its place - after its 50th Birthday.”

THE KINKS LOLA VERSUS POWERMAN AND THE MONEYGOROUND, PART ONE

Available to Pre-order here: https://thekinks.lnk.to/Lola50AnniversaryPR

RELEASE FORMATS:

DELUXE 10” SLIPCASED BOOK PACK

Rigid, matte laminated, open one end card slipcase, with foil and metallic special cover effects, containing: 60 page hardback book with notes, band quotes, Ray Davies ‘1970 Diary’, rare photos / memorabilia; 3CDs in card wallets containing the remastered original album and bonus audio including many unreleased tracks: front and back pocket pages containing 2 reproduced original international 7” picture sleeve singles ("Lola" & "Apeman") and 4 x printed 5” sq rare band photocards.

CDs x 3

Stereo original album newly remastered from original master tapes, singles (stereo and mono mixes), B-sides, alternate original mixes.

Exclusive to the boxset: new medleys with Ray & Dave Davies in intimate conversation in Ray’s kitchen, plus nine new Ray Davies remixes and out-takes from the original session tapes, previously unreleased session and live tapes, instrumental and acoustic versions, previously unreleased demos and BBC material. Track lists curated and produced by Ray Davies.

7” Singles x 2

"Lola / Berkeley Mews" Italian picture sleeve.
"Apeman" / "Rats" Portuguese picture sleeve, (with alternate version of "Apeman")

Reproduced original artwork, remastered audio, black vinyl.

Book

Deluxe 60 page, 10” square, gloss-art hardback book with extensive notes by renowned Kinks expert Andy Neill, interviews / new band quotes (from Ray Davies, Dave Davies, Mick Avory and John Dalton and John Gosling), rare photos and memorabilia. Includes full, detailed tracklist information and historical background.

Photos

4 x 5” sq, light card, gloss-art photos:

GATEFOLD 1LP

Newly remastered original album (Stereo), original gatefold sleeve, heavyweight vinyl, booklet with notes, new band quotes, rare photos and memorabilia. Officially available for the first time since 1983.

DELUXE 2CD

Newly remastered original album (Stereo), deluxe hardback book 2CD, booklet with notes, new band quotes, rare photos and memorabilia

1CD

Newly remastered original album + key bonus tracks from the box set. Digi-pack,

booklet with notes, new band quotes, rare photos and memorabilia.

DELUXE DIGITAL

Newly remastered original album (Stereo) plus other key tracks from the box set, including the IGs / e-singles

D2C EXCLUSIVES (LIMITED EDITION, FREE WITH BOX SET ORDERS)

"Lola / Berkeley Mews" original Danish picture sleeve 7” single: Remastered, reproduced original artwork, clear vinyl

Bespoke round metal & enamel pin badge featuring album cover art.

M. Ward interprets Billie Holiday on next album

Singer/songwriter M. Ward has announced his new album Think of Spring, a collection of songs originally recorded by Billie Holiday. To be released via ANTI- on December 11, listen to the first track “For Heaven’s Sake” HERE.

“It still feels good to invent new guitar tunings and use them to help deconstruct old songs,” M. Ward said. “Billie Holiday's “For Heaven’s Sake" in a modified open B."

Ward achieved the intimate sound of this record by filtering the original songs and strings through a single acoustic guitar, using various alternate tunings and a minimal amount of textures and studio manipulation. Most of the songs were recorded on an analog Tascam four track. The title Think of Spring comes from a poem written in 1924 by Jane Brown-Thompson that eventually became "I Get Along Without You Very Well" in 1938 - the first song on the record. Proceeds from Think of Spring will benefit Inner-City Arts & Donors Choose via PLUS1 for Black Lives Fund.

“I first heard [Billie’s album] Lady In Satin in a mega-shopping mall somewhere in San Francisco,” M. Ward explained. “I was about 20 years old and didn’t know much about Billie’s records or her life or how her voice changed over the years. Anyway, the sound was coming from the other side of the mall and I remember mistaking her voice for a beautiful perfectly distorted electric guitar - some other-world thing floating there on this strange mournful ocean of strings and I was hooked for life.”

In April of this year M. Ward also released his critically acclaimed tenth studio release and first for ANTI-, Migration Stories. It was recorded at Arcade Fire’s Montreal studio.

Pre-Order ‘Think of Spring’

1. I Get Along Without You Very Well

2. For Heaven’s Sake

3. It’s Easy To Remember
4. You’ve Changed
5. Violets For Your Furs
6. For All We Know
7. But Beautiful
8. All The Way
9. I’m A Fool To Want You
10. I’ll Be Around
11. You Don’t Know What Love Is

Jamie Cullum's Christmas album due next month

British singer/songwriter/pianist Jamie Cullum and Blue Note Records have announced the Nov. 20 release of his new big band album The Pianoman At Christmas, a set of 10 new original holiday songs that was recorded at Abbey Road studios.

“So much of the Christmas music we all love is stuffed full of all the things I am really drawn to in songs,” says Cullum.

“Our ears seem ready from December onwards for big bands, huge orchestras, beautiful chord changes and focused, timeless lyrics. It is a world of classic songwriting that I have been operating in since the beginning of my career. So I set myself the task to try and write ten, original Christmas songs that used these skills and obsessions to create something uncynical and adventurous, full of the joys and complexities of the season, that could be something you feel like reaching for every year. I have been so lucky that every corner of this record has been touched by the world’s best - from the legendary Studio 2 at Abbey Road, to the engineers, the arrangers, the producer and mixer. I hope the care, attention to detail and sheer joy that we put into this record will bring a little magic this Christmas.”

ABBA news

On Oct. 30th, Polar Music/UMe will mark the 40th anniversary of Super Trouper, the first of only two albums that ABBA made in the 1980s.

It was their sixth consecutive No.1 in Sweden, a chart-topper around Europe and a US Top 20 album. With the singles, including the title track, "The Winner Takes It All" and "Lay All Your Love On Me," Super Trouper became the best-selling album in the UK in 1980.

Taking its name from a large follow spotlight used on stage, some of the music was rediscovered via the hit musical and film Mamma Mia!

Super Trouper is now presented in an expansive half-speed master, carried out at Abbey Road by Miles Showell, and in keeping with recent releases there is a 7" collector's box and a collectible picture disc set.

SUPER TROUPER - 2LP HALF SPEED MASTER

Limited Edition 2 x 12" on black 180g heavyweight 45rpm vinyl / Gatefold sleeve / Half-speed mastered Abbey Road certificate of authenticity and download card

LP 1

SIDE ONE: Super Trouper / The Winner Takes It All / On and On And On

SIDE TWO: Andante, Andante / Me and I

LP 2

SIDE ONE: Happy New Year / Our Last Summer

SIDE TWO: The Piper / Lay All Your Love On Me / The Way Old Friends Do

SUPER TROUPER - SINGLE BOX

Numbered, limited edition - three colored vinyl 7″ singles in one boxset with download card

SINGLE ONE: The Winner Takes It All / Elaine

SINGLE TWO: Super Trouper / The Piper

SINGLE THREE: Lay All Your Love On Me / On And On And On

THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL / ELAINE - PICTURE DISC

SUPER TROUPER / THE PIPER - PICTURE DISC 

LAY ALL YOUR LOVE ON ME / ON AND ON AND ON - PICTURE DISC 

Collectible, strictly limited-edition picture disc 7-inch singles will be available to purchase separately via the ABBA Store, Sound of Vinyl and uDiscover.

Preorder here.

www.abbasite.com

The Bird and The Bee get in the holiday spirit

The Bird and The Bee have announced Put Up The Lights, a collection of the duo’s favorite holiday songs alongside new and original compositions, due out Oct. 23 via No Expectation/Release Me Records.

Pre-order the album HERE.

Since forming in 2005, The Bird And The Bee have put out an EP followed by three original studio albums. They have also become known for cover songs as on 2010’s Interpreting the Masters Volume 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates and 2019’s Interpreting the Masters Volume 2: A Tribute to Van Halen.

“I’m so happy it’s finally here,” stated Greg Kurstin. “We included some of our favorite holiday songs and wrote a couple of originals too. One of my favorite songs we wrote is “You and I at Christmas Time” which was written through email. I sent Inara the piano part and I was blown away by what she sang over it.”

While the idea for Put Up The Lights dates back to 2007, it wasn’t until they released the Van Halen tribute that they committed to making this album. Greg would send a track recorded in his home studio and Inara moved her recording operation into a closet and recorded all vocals on Garageband.

“Working on a holiday record during summer is always strange, no matter what the circumstance,” commented Inara George. “But working on a holiday album during the summer, and a global pandemic, worldwide civil rights protesting, historical wildfires and the lead up to the most important election of our lives is really, really strange. Although, I have to admit, it felt like such a sweet little momentary escape singing “Chestnuts Roasting on an open fire…” all alone in my closet. It was a little respite from reality.”

The recording of Put Up The Lights became an unexpected source of calm and joy for the songwriters and gave light to the power of holiday songs.

“Holiday songs give us such an escape from a time of year that is supposed to be so jolly and happy, but a lot of times can be so stressful and even lonely,” added Inara. “And even more universally, how music in general, always offers that to the listener… an escape, a moment of joy, a feeling of belonging. There’s a song out there for every occasion."

Track list:

1. You and I At Christmas Time
2. The Christmas Song
3. Sleigh Ride
4. Deck The Halls
5. Little Drummer Boy (feat. Dave Grohl)
6. Christmas Time Is Here
7. Merry Merry
8. Hallelujah Chorus

photo courtesy: Grandstand PR

The Gun Club's 'Miami' to get expanded reissue in December

Mixing punk rock and blues, Jeffrey Lee Pierce and The Gun Club emerged on the L.A. club scene in the early '80s.

They recorded their debut album, 1981's Fire of Love, for the local Slash/Ruby label. But when it came time to record a follow-up, the group decamped to New York to work with producer Chris Stein of Blondie and his new label, Animal. The results were 1982's Miami, an album that didn't get proper attention.

Now Blixa Sounds will release deluxe reissues of the album in double-CD and double-vinyl editions on Dec. 4.

Both will contain a digitally remastered version of the original 12-track album, as well as demos of every track. In addition, the CD version will contain a second disc with 18 previously unreleased demos, including 6 tracks exclusive to the CD release.

The double-vinyl version will be released as a two-LP set packaged in a gatefold cover with extensive liner notes by drummer Terry James Graham and journalist Craig Rosen, as well as rare photos and ephemera. The CD version is a two-disc set, also with liner notes, photos and ephemera.

While their own hometown of Los Angeles was lukewarm to The Gun Club, others, including Blondie guitarist Chris Stein, took notice. He signed the band to his fledging Animal imprint via Chrysalis Records due to Blondie's huge commercial success.

With the band relocated to New York, Stein produced Miami at Blank Tape Studios in June 1982, with Deborah Harry on hand to sing backup vocals, credited under the pseudonym D.H. Laurence Jr.

The late Gun Club singer had been West Coast head of the Blondie fan club. It was Jeffrey Lee who suggested that Blondie cover The Nerves' "Hanging on the Telephone," a highlight and British hit on the band's breakthrough album, 1978's Parallel Lines.

As was usually the case with The Gun Club, Miami found the band in a state of flux. Ritter split after recording the basic tracks. He's credited on the album below the band's then-current members, alongside Pierce's "additional piano" and Harry's pseudonym-credited backing vocals, and The Gun Club appears as a trio on in the cover photo, with Ritter missing in action.

"The band was really starting to split apart," Graham confirms in the documentary Ghost on the Highway: A Portrait of Jeffrey Lee Pierce and The Gun Club.

"It was going to Jeff's head… Chris Stein, his friend, is producing the record and somebody is telling him, 'You don't need your band, all you need is you.'"

Closing track "Mother Earth" was cited by Billy Idol as a key influence on his 1982 hit "White Wedding." In a TV interview, Pierce said, "I didn't see how he saw it similar in his head, really. It didn't make any sense to me, but I said, 'Fine, I guess if it inspired you to make that music, it's good.'"

While The Gun Club went on to influence such artists as Chris Isaak, The White Stripes and Mark Lanegan, the band also highlighted their own influences on Miami. The album includes a take on Creedence Clearwater Revivals' "Run Through Jungle," a version of the traditional folk song "John Hardy," and a rendition of J.R. Reynolds' "Fire of Love."

This special two-CD version of Miami also includes a second disc, featuring demo versions of every track on the album, plus six previously unreleased demos of material that would later turn up on The Las Vegas Story ("Walking With the Beast," "Prune Dicks From Mars," "Vampires," "Journey to Zatar," "Blue Hair" and "Pig Boys").

Though some have criticized Miami, Stein is still proud of the album. "I have gotten flak from Gun Club members who played on Miami for not having a 'hard rock' enough approach to the production," he says in the book From Blondie: Parallel Lives by Dick Porter and Kris Needs.

"I don't recall any of them voicing concerns at the time. Jeffrey and I spend a lot of time thinking about what the record should ultimately sound like. He really wanted to get away from a standard punk rock approach and reach into the world of so-called 'normal' music by making more references to country, et cetera. Jeff was the one who brought in a pedal steel guitar player. I know for sure he liked the record."

And Gun Club biographer Ryan Leach maintains the album is even stronger than Fire of Love. "I think Jeffrey's lyric writing had progressed in that year or so," Leach says in Ghost on the Highway: A Portrait of Jeffrey Lee Pierce and The Gun Club. "There are also a lot of harmonies on that record that Fire of Love never dreamed of."

CD TRACK LISTING

DISC 1

1. CARRY HOME

2. LIKE CALLING UP THUNDER
3. BROTHER AND SISTER
4. RUN THROUGH THE JUNGLE
5. DEVIL IN THE WOODS
6. TEXAS SERENADE
7. WATERMELON MAN
8. BAD INDIAN
9. JOHN HARDY
10. FIRE OF LOVE
11. SLEEPING IN BLOOD CITY
12. MOTHER OF EARTH

DISC 2

1. CARRY HOME (DEMO)
2. LIKE CALLING UP THUNDER (DEMO)
3. BROTHER AND SISTER (DEMO)
4. RUN THROUGH THE JUNGLE (DEMO)
5. DEVIL IN THE WOODS (DEMO)
6. TEXAS SERENADE (DEMO)
7. WATERMELON MAN (DEMO)
8. BAD INDIAN (DEMO)
9. JOHN HARDY (DEMO)
10. FIRE OF LOVE (DEMO)
11. SLEEPING IN BLOOD CITY (DEMO)
12. MOTHER OF EARTH (DEMO)
13. WALKIN’ WITH THE BEAST (DEMO)
14. PRUNE DICKS FROM MARS (DEMO)
15. VAMPIRES (DEMO)
16. JOURNEY TO ZATAR (DEMO)
17. BLUE HAIR (DEMO)
18. PIG BOYS (DEMO)

Black Friday Record Store Day news: Aimee Mann

Academy Award-nominated and Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Aimee Mann will debut a 20th Anniversary Expanded Edition of her acclaimed album, Bachelor No. 2 or, the Last Remains of the Dodo, on Nov. 27 as part of Black Friday Record Store Day.

The colored vinyl reissue will be remastered and restored from the original session tapes and feature five additional tracks from Mann’s soundtrack for Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1999 film Magnolia, including the Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated “Save Me” and “Wise Up.” The record, which is limited to only 5,000 copies worldwide, will be available for purchase at participating Record Store Day retailers.

Mann self-released Bachelor No. 2 in 2000 and sold the first 25,000 copies directly from her website. After securing a distribution deal, she sold well over 275,000 units in the U.S. alone, leading the way for many self-releasing artists to come.

Bachelor was produced by Mann, Jon Brion (Fiona Apple, Rufus Wainwright) Mike Denneen (Guster, Letters to Cleo), Buddy Judge (Stevie Nicks, Liz Phair) and Brendan O’Brien (Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam).

Says Mann:

"When I wrote this record, I was on a label. When I released it, I was not. There were some mergers of labels, and I think maybe this album got lost in the shuffle, but mostly they didn’t hear a single. They said I could go if I wanted to, so I did. I called it Last Remains of the Dodo because I felt like singer-songwriters were a dying breed, and really, they still are. I don’t remember why Bachelor No. 2, but maybe because a lot of these songs are about relationships. Some of these relationships are with people and some are with record labels, and it’s not always easy to tell which is which. These things echo. This album is better than I remember. I produced a lot of it myself because I knew what I wanted it to sound like and I thought I could do it. I wanted to spend time in the studio and experiment. I used a lot of drum loops and had a lot of great players, and apparently, I have a hi-hat credit somewhere in there. There are a couple of songs I would leave off if I released it today, but they are not the songs that I would have left off then."

After several albums with her band Til Tuesday, Mann began her solo career in 1993 with the album Whatever and made a name for herself through her independent success and the founding of her record label, SuperEgo Records.

Her latest release, 2017’s Mental Illness, received widespread acclaim and won Best Folk Album at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards. In addition to her solo albums, Mann has appeared on many film soundtracks.

In 2014, Mann joined up with Ted Leo for a more rock-oriented duo project, releasing a self-titled album under the name The Both. Other extracurricular activities ranged from playing herself on the hit TV series “Portlandia” to performing for President Obama and the First Lady at the White House to starting a Podcast with Leo called, “The Art of Process.” 

TRACKLIST:

Side A
1. How Am I Different
2. Nothing Is Good Enough
3. Red Vines
4. Optimist
Side B
1. Deathly
2. Ghost World
3. Calling It Quits
4. Satellite
Side C
1. Save Me
2. Driving Sideways
3. Just Like Anyone
4. Susan
5. It Takes All Kinds
Side D
1. One
2. Wise Up Re-record
3. Momentum
4. Build That Wall
5. You Do

The return of AC/DC

AC/DC will release their 17th full-length album POWER UP on Nov. 13. This marks the band’s first new music since 2014. POWER UP is available for pre-order HERE. 

They just unleashed a new single entitled “Shot In The Dark.” The song sees the lineup of Angus Young [lead guitar], Brian Johnson [lead vocals], Cliff Williams [bass guitar], Phil Rudd [drums], and Stevie Young [rhythm guitar] firing on all cylinders once again.

For the album, the band reunited with producer Brendan O’Brien who helmed Black Ice in 2008 and Rock Or Bust in 2014.

POWER UP will be available in multiple configurations, including digital, CD, and deluxe versions. The limited edition is a one-of-a-kind deluxe POWER UP box with a button on the side of the box that triggers a flashing neon AC/DC logo light as the opening bars of “Shot In The Dark” blast out of the built-in speaker.

Inside the box is the full CD package in a soft-pack with a 20-page booklet that features exclusive photos and USB charging cable allowing the box to remain powered up and on display. The vinyl LP will be pressed on 180 gram vinyl and housed in a gatefold jacket. Limited edition variants of the LP will be available at select retailers nationwide, as well as the band’s online store. The album will be available on all digital platforms.

Track listing: 

1. Realize
2. Rejection
3. Shot In The Dark
4. Through The Mists Of Time
5. Kick You When You’re Down
6. Witch’s Spell
7. Demon Fire
8. Wild Reputation
9. No Man’s Land
10. Systems Down
11. Money Shot
12. Code Red

Annie Lennox freshens up 2010 Christmas album

Annie Lennox is releasing a digitally remastered version of her sixth solo album, A Christmas Cornucopia - a collection of interpretations of traditional festive songs, rounded out by a Lennox composition, "Universal Child."

The 2020 re-issue of A Christmas Cornucopia will be released via Island Records/Verve on November 20 to mark its 10 year anniversary. It will feature a brand new, previously unreleased track, “Dido’s Lament”, a new tracklisting, and new artwork (across all formats – vinyl, CD and digital).

“I’m absolutely delighted to be releasing the 10th Anniversary of A Christmas Cornucopia. 2020 has been an unprecedented year around the world… The carols on this album represent continuum - harking back to a time before modern technology, climate emergency, global pandemics, pollution, forest destruction, species extinction and all the challenges our world must urgently deal with in terms of crisis in sustainability. I hope this recording will at least offer some comfort and nostalgia, but also an awareness that political leaders, religious leaders and everyone around the world must face up to the question of how many more Christmases we have left to spend on this blighted earth,” stated Annie Lennox.

“Dido’s Lament” – written by Henry Purcell in the 17th century and arranged by Annie Lennox and Mike Stevens – references the tragic love story of Dido and Aeneas as documented in Virgil’s legendary epic poem, The Aeneid, from the 1st century BC. It will be released as the lead single from the album on November 10 and will be accompanied by a music video (out November 12).

All proceeds earned from Annie’s original composition on the album, “Universal Child”, will be paid to The Annie Lennox Foundation. The Annie Lennox Foundation raises money for various charitable projects, primarily those supporting and educating women and children in Africa and people with HIV/Hepatitis C in Scotland.

The music on A Christmas Cornucopia was mostly played by Lennox, in collaboration with co-producer Mike Stevens, and originally recorded in his southwest London studio, at the bottom of his garden, in 2010. The pair also worked with a 30-piece orchestra at Pinewood Studios. And they travelled further afield too: to South Africa, to record with the African Children’s Choir, a remarkable organization with which impassioned campaigner and activist Lennox has long had a relationship.

A Christmas Cornucopia offers songs drawn from British, French and German traditions covering the well-known alongside more untrodden ground. On “Lullay Lullay,” Lennox draws direct links between the Nativity and the plight of Africa’s child soldiers.

Track listing: 

CD:

1. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen 

2. The First Noel 

3. Il Est Ne Le Divin Enfant 

4. See Amid the Winters Snow 

5. Silent Night 

6. Universal Child 

7. Dido’s Lament 

8. Angels From the Realms of Glory 

9. The Holly and the Ivy 

10. As Joseph Was a Walking 

11. Oh Little Town of Bethlehem 

12. In the Bleak Midwinter 

13. Lullay Lullay 

PRE-ORDER THE 10th ANNIVERSARY RE-ISSUE OF A CHRISTMAS CORNUCOPIA HERE:

https://AnnieLennox.lnk.to/ChristmasCornucopia

Billie Joe Armstrong gathers his 'No Fun Mondays' covers series songs together for an album

Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong is set to release his YouTube covers series No Fun Mondays into a 14-song collection on November 27 via Reprise/Warner Records, on vinyl, CD, and digital.

No Fun Mondays sees Armstrong putting his spin on songs by John Lennon, Billy Bragg, Johnny Thunders and others. In the run-up to No Fun Mondays’ official release, a different track from the album will be made available on streaming services every week. Additionally, limited baby blue colored vinyl will be available at U.S. independent music retailers. Pre-order No Fun Mondays HERE.

The No Fun Mondays series launched in March on Green Day’s YouTube channel. Like many musicians, Armstrong expected to spend much of this year on the road, touring in support of Green Day’s chart-topping February album, Father of All… However, once the COVID-19 pandemic forced him to put those plans on pause, Armstrong got busy with a different kind of work.

"While we’ve all been in quarantine I’ve been reflecting on the things that matter the most in my life: family, friends, and, of course, music,” he says. “I figure if we have to spend this time in isolation at least we can be alone together."

Armstrong treated fans to a new home-recorded cover song each Monday, accompanied by a DIY video. Beyond paying respects to his punk-rock forefathers (The Avengers’ “Corpus Christi,” Dead Boy Stiv Bators’ “Not That Way Anymore”) and working-class heroes (John Lennon’s “Gimme Some Truth,” Billy Bragg’s “A New England”), Armstrong also indulged his love of sugary pop through versions of The Bangles’ “Manic Monday” and the Beatlesque theme to Tom Hanks’ 1995 film That Thing You Do! The latter was performed in tribute to the song’s writer, Adam Schlesinger, who passed away from COVID-19 complications in April.

Track listing: 

I Think We’re Alone Now
War Stories
Manic Monday
Corpus Christi
That Thing You Do!
Amico
You Can’t Put Your Arms Round A Memory
Kids in America
Not That Way Anymore
That’s Rock ‘N’ Roll
Gimme Some Truth
Whole Wide World
Police On My Back
A New England

Elvis Costello news

The Complete Armed Forces, a new box set covering Elvis Costello's 1979 album is due out Nov. 6 via UMe. Personally curated by the artist, it features classic hits “Accidents Will Happen,” “Oliver’s Army” and “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding.”

For the super deluxe edition vinyl box set, fans can get immersed in nine pieces of vinyl (3 12-inch LPs, 3 10-inch LPs and 3 7-inch singles), including a new 2020 remaster of the album, B-sides, alternate versions and outtakes, demos, and live recordings – 23 unreleased tracks were taken from three concerts.

Exclusively available via Elvis Costello's official online store and UMG’s online stores uDiscover and Sound of Vinyl, it will be offered in two vinyl versions – 180-gram black vinyl and limited edition 180-gram multi-color opaque vinyl. It will also be available digitally for streaming and download.

The collection is proceeded with the release of a three-track digital EP featuring unreleased live performances of “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding?,” “Goon Squad” and “Pump It Up,” taken from the new live LPs, Christmas In The Dominion - Live 24th December ’78, Riot At The Regent – Live In Sydney ’78 and Europe ’79 – Live At Pinkpop.

Pre-order The Complete Armed Forces and stream the new live EP here: https://elviscostello.lnk.to/ArmedForces

This box set embraces designer Barney Bubbles’ pop-art packaging, including the paint-splattered cover artwork by Bubbles and Bazooka (used for the American release and included in the fold-out UK version) and features an origami cover that folds out to display the art and graphics and the six vinyl LPs, which are rounded out by three 7-inch reissues of the album’s singles “Oliver’s Army,” “Accidents Will Happen” and Nick Lowe’s “American Squirm” b/w “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?”

There are seven custom notebooks with newly updated liner notes from Costello, totaling nearly 10,000 words, facsimiles of first-draft, handwritten lyrics and examples of his lyrical working methods from his personal archive as well as rare photos, memorabilia and concert ephemera. The notebooks offer insight into Costello’s songwriting process, showing the evolution from idea to finished work, while the liners detail the making of and stories behind the songs.

“Most of this record was written in hotel rooms or on a tour bus, scribbled in a notebook which rarely left my side or failing this, from fragments and phrases scrawled on paper cocktail napkins or hotel notepaper,” Costello writes in the liners.

The box set also includes a print of the vintage grenade and gun poster and the four original postcards of each band member. Additionally, Costello commissioned artist Todd Alcott to create pulp novel book covers of songs from Armed Forces starring himself as the protagonist in a variety of precarious situations.

Armed Forces has been newly remastered by Costello and mastering engineer Bob Ludwig from the original analog tapes to match the initial 1979 UK pressing.

“It sounds as close to the way it sounded to us in the studio as we could make it,” Costello recently revealed to MOJO. “That’s a beautiful thing.”

The album’s evolution is documented on the 10-inch, Sketches For Emotional Fascism A.K.A. Armed Forces, which assembles together B-sides, demos and alternate versions, making many of these songs available on vinyl for the first time in decades.

Produced by Nick Lowe, Armed Forces was Elvis Costello’s third album and his second with The Attractions – Steve Nieve (keyboards), Bruce Thomas (bass) and Pete Thomas (drums) – following on from the immense success of their first effort, This Year’s Model.

TRACKLISTING: 

Armed Forces 12” LP

SIDE A

1. Accidents Will Happen

2. Senior Service
3. Oliver’s Army
4. Big Boys
5. Green Shirt
6. Party Girl 

SIDE B

1. Goon Squad

2. Busy Bodies
3. Sunday’s Best
4. Moods For Moderns
5. Chemistry Class
6. Two Little Hitlers
7. (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding?

Live at Hollywood High & Elsewhere 1978 12” LP

SIDE A
1. Accidents Will Happen
2. Mystery Dance
3. Goon Squad
4. Party Girl
5. Stranger In The House 

SIDE B
1. Alison
2. Lipstick Vogue
3. Watching The Detectives
4. You Belong To Me
5. Chemistry Class (Live at The Warner Theatre, Washington D.C.)

Europe ‘79 – Live At Pinkpop 12” LP

SIDE A
1. Goon Squad
2. B-Movie
3. Green Shirt
4. (I Don’t Want To Go To) Chelsea
5. Opportunity
6. So Young
7. High Fidelity

SIDE B
1 Lipstick Vogue
2. Watching The Detectives
3. Big Boys
4. Pump It Up
5. You Belong To Me
6. (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding? 

Sketches for Emotional Fascism 10″ LP

SIDE A
1. Clean Money
2. Talking In The Dark
3. Wednesday Week
4. Tiny Steps 

SIDE B
1. Crawling To The U.S.A.
2. Big Boys (Alternate Version)
3. Green Shirt (Demo Version)
4. My Funny Valentine 

Riot At The Regent – Live In Sydney ’78 10” LP

SIDE A

1. Oliver’s Army
2. Waiting For The End Of The World
3. Big Boys 

SIDE B

1. This Year’s Girl
2. You Belong To Me
3. Pump It Up 

Christmas In The Dominion – Live 24th December ‘78 10” LP

SIDE A

1. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes
2. No Dancing

SIDE B
1. I Stand Accused
2. (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding?

“Oliver’s Army” 7″
SIDE A
1. Oliver’s Army

Side B
1. Big Boys (Demo)

“Accidents Will Happen” 7”
SIDE A
1. Accidents Will Happen

Side B
1. Busy Bodies (Alternate)

Nick Lowe & His Sound - “American Squirm” 7″
Side A
1. American Squirm

Side B
2. (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding?

Photo: Ray DiPietro, courtesy Shore Fire Media