Lyrics Born released another new free download from the upcoming As U Were— a reunion of sorts with Lateef the Truth Speaker called “Pushed Aside, Pulled Apart.” The track is an interesting sort of 80’s-inspired head bobber featuring the distinctive rapping and vocals from LB and Lateef. I liked the first track “leaked” “Funky Hit Records,” but this track has summer jam written all over it.
The first track off of As U Were offered as a free download was “Funky Hit Records” back in March. That song got a video, and so does this one, and it’s directed by Raphael LaMotta from ApSci who incidentally have a new album out as well.
The video and MP3 were shared via Urb this morning. I’ve listened to the track about a dozen times already!
In what seems to be a gobsmackingly obvious move, the major labels in conjunction with digital music retailers like Zune Store, Amazon, Rhapsody and iTunes have announced “Digital 45s” on the 60th anniversary of the 7″ 45 record.
The big announcements are really in conjunction with Apple’s iTunes Store that they are calling “D45” and use that nifty logo pictured on the left. Digging through the press-releases shows that Warner Music Group is represented by Rhino which should represent the full compliment of WMG labels which includes Atlantic/Atco, Elektra/Asylum, Warner Brothers, Reprise and Sire– so this should bring a very wide and deep catalog and the first releases are already showing some promise.
EMI stepped up with a press-release as well although they don’t have a site dedicated to their Digital 45 initiative. EMI stable of labels include EMI, Apple, Capitol, Virgin, Blue Note, Manhattan– and interestingly, Caroline, Mute, Definitive Jux, and Astralwerks making for some potentially interesting releases.
The Concord Music group has titles released as well, but no press release. According to the Wikipedia article on Concord, UMG handles the physical distribution of Concord, but I don’t think that would apply here. Concord includes Fantasy’s labels– Fantasy, Stax/Volt and a number of jazz labels (Riverside, Prestige). There is a Sam & Dave Digital 45 of “Soul Man,” I hope this means we see some interesting Creedence Clearwater Revival releases– they were on Fantasy. There has been a long-standing Stax/Volt Singles box set with b-sides, but these Digital 45s would allow someone to pick and choose if they released the whole Stax catalog.
SonyBMG have brought some Digital 45’s as well, but I couldn’t find a press release on it. SonyBMG is a significant collection of labels as well with Sony, Epic, Columbia, RCA, Arista and all of their associated spinoff labels. One of the first Digital 45’s is a Michael Jackson single for “Billie Jean” b/w “Can’t Get Out of the Rain.”
A quick review of the online retailers shows a pretty impressive participation– iTunes, Amazon.com, Zune Music Marketplace, Rhapsody mp3 store, but eMusic seems to be the lone holdout– or shut out. Sony just signed an agreement with eMusic to be able to sell older titles, but apparently this doesn’t extend to Digital 45s, yet.
Comparing the offerings between the retailers shows that mostly everyone is adopting the $1.49 for 2 tracks, with the individual tracks at standard pricing of $0.99. Zune Marketplace has the 2 tracks at $1.69, with individual tracks at $0.99. The Sony titles seem to be priced differently– “Billie Jean” 2-track is $1.99 with “Billie Jean” at $1.29 and the b-side at $0.99. Right now it looks like iTunes is the only retailer who has the SonyBMG titles. I’m not sure what the future holds about this situation, since all of the retailers have other SonyBMG titles.
All of that detail aside, there are some pretty cool titles available already and based on an interview with Rhino Marketing Veep David Dorn by Billboard, they will be releasing “bundles” of Digital 45’s monthly, so there will be many more to come!
Some releases of interest to me:
Prince and the Revolution- “Kiss” b/w “Love or Money” (Warner Brothers) This is a single I own in 7″. Interestingly this was a B-Side left off of the 1993 3 CD compilation The Hits/The B-Sides, so its existence here is welcomed.
INXS – “What You Need” b/w “Sweet As Sin” (ATCO) During their heyday, INXS used their b-sides to provide songs that were a bit more experimental. “Sweet As Sin” is a two-steppish country tune. Not a bad track, but certainly didn’t fit on Listen Like Thieves. One of my favorite b-sides from INXS from this period is the jazzy instrumental “Begotten” and the really out-there “I’m Coming (Home)” from the “I Need You Tonight” single.
Erasure – “A Little Respect” b/w “Like Zsa Zsa Zsa Gabor” (Warner Brothers) Another great bubbly dance track from Erasure. Could have easily been on The Innocents, really.
The Cure – “Just Like Heaven” b/w “Breathe” (Elektra) The Cure is a veritable treasure trove of b-sides. This is most evidenced by the amazing 2004 Rhino/Fiction box set Join the Dots : B-sides and Rarities, 1978-2001. I had this on cassette single. According to one of the reviewers on iTunes, the “Just Like Heaven” mix is the mix by Bob Clearmountain used in the video.
Steve Martin and the Toot Uncommons – “King Tut” b/w “Hoedown At Alice’s” (Warner Brothers) I have this 7″– in fact you can see it in the header picture on this blog. With Martin’s new 5-string banjo album The Crow out, it makes sense for this b-side to show up as it is a banjo workout by Martin.
The Cars – “Let’s Go” b/w “That’s It” (Elektra) The lead single from Candy-O in 1979 had the non-LP track “That’s It” with Benjamin Orr on lead. This track was included in the 1995 Just What I Needed : Cars Anthology.
What I would like to see for singles (which is really about the b-sides)
INXS – “Listen Like Thieves” b/w “Begotten” (Elektra) I mentioned this one above.
Terence Trent D’Arby – “Sign Your Name” b/w “Greasy Chicken (Sony) My brother Steve was a big fan of TTD when Introducing the Hardline came out. He had the cassette single to “Sign Your Name” with the really funky workout “Greasy Chicken” as the b-side.
Bruce Springsteen – “One Step Up” b/w “Roulette” (Columbia) The Boss is pretty famous for having some really great songs “in the can” that eventually showed up as b-sides to singles or elsewhere. “Roulette” is a great example of this. Recorded in the Spring of 1980, it is a galloping song about nuclear holocost that just never made it to an album. This song eventually showed up on the very cool Tracks boxset. In fact, you can download it now from Amazon.com and other places.
Men At Work – “Who Can It Be Now” b/w “Anyone For Tennis” (Columbia) Another favorite around the house. My brother had this 7″ and played the b-side all the time. For some reason Sony Legacy omitted this song from the bonus b-sides appended to their 2003 remaster. “Anyone For Tennis” is a quick-tempo slightly ska-ish track demonstrates how much Men at Work owed the Police.
The Rolling Stones – “It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll (But I Like It)” b/w “Through The Lonely Nights” (Rolling Stones Records) When you’re a kid and your mom picks up records for you– you play the crap out of them. In my mind the flip side of the rocker “It’s Only Rock N’ Roll” is as notable as the A side. “Through The Lonely Nights” is a slinky, almost funky country rocker. Mick does his best American drawl. An absolutely gorgeous classic and largely ignored. This song was resurrected in a 2005 remaster done for a Starbucks compilation that is now out-of-print called Rarities 1971-2003. Really, I think that a box set of singles similar to the Singles Collection : London Years should be done for the post 1971 period.
Prince – All of the Warner singles! While it’s true that the 3 CD version of The Hits/The B-Sides is relatively available, they don’t seem to be available for digital download! So, this would be an inventive way to remedy this! Plus, there are still songs that didn’t make that 3rd disc– “Alexa de Paris” for one. In fact, maybe it’s time to reissue the Prince protegee bands’ singles as well!
Back in November, I reported on a really great limited-edition boxset tribute to Nesuhi Ertegun-– the younger brother to Atlantic Records label founder Ahmet, and VP of the Jazz division of Atlantic from 1955-1967. Titled Hommage a Nesuhi, it is limited to 3,000 numbered copies. It is a collection of songs he produced, artists he signed and music inspired by his tenure at the label. It was a collection of some amazing artists including Ray Charles, Big Joe Turner, LaVern Baker and Hank Crawford.
While it appears that Rhino Handmade may still have some of the boxes available for sale from their website, on June 23rd, the label decided to make Hommage a Nesuhi available as a digital download from places like iTunes and Amazon.com.
To spread the word, Rhino has made available some online “listening parties” with a small sampling of tracks from the box set:
Listening Party Tracklist:
“Hard Times” by David “Fathead” Newman
“Doodlin'” by Ray Charles
“Empty Bed Blues” by LaVern Baker
“Day by Day” by Jimmy Scott
“Ain’t No Sunshine” by Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Click Here for the Listening Party where you can choose a format including QuickTime, Windows Media or Real Audio.
The album is available for download from
HOMMAGE À NESUHI
Track Listing
Some Atlantic Jazz
1. “Hard Times” – David “Fathead” Newman
2. “Summertime” – The Modern Jazz Quartet
3. “Stay With Me” – Yusef Lateef
4. “Listen Here” – Eddie Harris
5. “With These Hands” – Les McCann
6. “Sweet Sixteen Bars” – Ray Charles
7. “Your Mind Is On Vacation” – Mose Allison
8. “Martians Go Home” – Shorty Rogers & His Giants
9. I Miss You So” – Chris Connor
10. “The Golden Striker” – The Modern Jazz Quartet
11. “A Ladiesman” – Oscar Brown, Jr.
12. CMemphis Underground” – Herbie Mann
13. “Come Rain Or Come Shine” – Ray Charles
Shades Of Blue
1. “Cherry Red” – Big Joe Turner
2. “Doodlin’” – Ray Charles
3. “Deuces Wild” – Sonny Stitt
4. “Am I Blue” – Ray Charles
5. “In The Evening” – Yusef Lateef
6. “Empty Bed Blues” – LaVern Baker
7. “The Entertainer (Done In The Style Of The Blues)” – Rahsaan Roland Kirk
8. “What Will I Tell My Heart” – Hank Crawford
9. “Stop This World” – Mose Allison
10. “Cousin Mary” – John Coltrane
11. “I Wish You Love” – David “Fathead” Newman
12. “Oh Lord Don’t Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb On Me” – Charles Mingus
13. “Like It Is” – Yusef Lateef
14. “Blues #3/Willow Weep For Me” – Ray Bryant
Live
1. “I’ve Got A Woman” – Ray Charles
2. “Bluesology” – The Modern Jazz Quartet
3. “After Hours” 0 Ray Bryant
4. “Comin’ Home Baby” – Herbie Mann
5. “If I Loved You” – Rahsaan Roland Kirk
6. “The Catbird Seat” – The Mitchell-Ruff Trio
7. “Compared To What” – Les McCann & Eddie Harris
8. “I’m Having Fun” – King Curtis & Champion Jack Dupree
9. “One Ton” – Rahsaan Roland Kirk
10. “Drown In My Own Tears” – Ray Charles
On The Edge
1. “Giant Steps” – John Coltrane
2. “Silver Cycles” – Eddie Harris
3. “My Favorite Things” – John Coltrane
4. “Ramblin’” – Ornette Coleman
5. “Vibrafinger” – Gary Burton
6. “Una Muy Bonita” – Ornette Coleman
7. “Hog Callin’ Blues” – Charles Mingus
8. “The Inflated Tear” – Roland Kirk
9. “Passions Of A Man” – Charles Mingus
10. “Day By Day” – Jimmy Scott
11. “In A Little Spanish Town (T’was On A Night Like This)” – Yusef Lateef
Some More Atlantic Jazz
1. “The Spirit-Feel” – Milt Jackson
2. “Love Theme From “The Sandpiper” (The Shadow Of Your Smile)” – Eddie Harris
3. “One No te Samba” – The Modern Jazz Quartet with Laurindo Almeida
4. “Naima” – John Coltrane
5. “Nubian Lady” – Yusef Lateef
6. “The Soul Of A Village – Part II” – Joe Zawinul
7. “Ain’t No Sunshine” – Rahsaan Roland Kirk
8. “Let Her Go” – Hubert Laws
9. “Sombrero Sam” – The Charles Lloyd Quartet
10. “The Story” – Hank Crawford
11. “Barbados” – Phineas Newborn, Jr.
12. “Nommo” – Max Roach
13. “Equinox” – John Coltrane
As previously mentioned, Chicago Post Rock stalwarts Tortoise’s first new album since 2004’s It’s All Around You will be released on June 23rd on Thrill Jockey. Titled Beacons of Ancestorship, it is, in my opinion certainly very distinctively Tortoise but compared to Around You, it seems to be more straightforward and pared back from some of the layered sound of that effort.
Thrill Jockey has started the promotion of Beacons early by allowing blogs to host a couple of mp3’s for download. The entire album is currently streaming from the Tortoise website on a splash page as well. I recommend you give it a listen!
If all of that weren’t enough, there is a video for “Prepare Your Coffin” that seems rather Tortoise-like. Matching the high-tempo (for Tortoise, anyway) pace of the song we see a guy running around taking interesting pictures of architecture that seem to echo the cover art for the album.
Click Here to visit the Beacons of Ancestorship album page at Thrill Jockey which is where you will be able to pre-order the album (no date, yet).
Click Here to download “High Class Slim Came Floatin’ In”
You may remember Squirrel Nut Zippers from their 15 minutes of fame in 1997 with their platinum album Hot, which included the singles “Hell” and “Put a Lid On It.” While the band didn’t consider themselves part of the late-90’s neo-swing movement (which included Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Cherry Poppin Daddies and The Brian Setzer Orchestra) their single “Hell” which made it to #13 on the charts with it’s calypso sound was retro enough to be included in most folks’ minds.
After a quick run and a couple more albums the members pursued individual efforts. But, the band reunited in 2007 with the original members and recorded a live album in 2008 titled You Are My Radio that is slated to come out this month (May), and according to their website, it will come in a “dizzying array of download and physical CD bundles” as well as a limited deluxe bundle. If you sign up for their e-mail list, you will be sent a link to download an mp3 of “Memphis Exorcism” from the upcoming release– a 320K mp3 no less. Incidentally, it appears based on the URL of the mp3, that the Zippers are working with TopSpin for the promotion and release of their new album. TopSpin, as you may recall is the company who is helping Wendy and Lisa with their newest album.
The opening act, the Damnwells are a really good straight-up rock band with great harmonies and guitars that I hear little bits of Petty, Counting Crows, Matthew Sweet in the mix. The Damnwells had a failed relationship with a major label which left them stranded, but they continued on an independent route. The Damnwells new album One Last Centuryis freely available as mp3 download from their site. I highly recommend it!
Click Here for more information on the Iowa City Arts Festival
It doesn’t seem that long ago that Lyrics Born released his last album Everywhere At Once— in fact it was released just under a year ago! (4/22/08) Not one to rest on his laurels when there is inspiration– LB has been spending time in the studio working on the release of his next album to be titled As U Were to drop this fall.
To help spread the buzz, LB has made available for FREE the old school stylee track “Funky Hit Records.” “Funky Hit Records” is a tribute to classic 80’s style hip hop– a different direction than the production of his last two albums using only beats and scratches to propel the track from Trackademicks. A fun track with trademark tongue-in-cheek bravado from the man LB. The song has a video produced by Justin– the guy who handles all of the on-line activity for the Lyrics Born camp including the LBTV videos.
In other news, Lyrics Born is making a quick jump to the Midwest in April with Joyo Velarde and DJ D-Sharp. They’ll be at The Majestic in Madison, WI on April 14th, and Trocadero’s in Minneapolis on Friday, April 17th! I’ll be at the Minneapolis show, of course!
Click Here to download “Funky Hit Records” from the forthcoming As U Were. Click Here to visit Lyrics Born’s website Click Here to visit the LBTV YouTube Channel with the video for “Funky Hit Records” as well as a bunch of other videos.
Today Amazon.com has a sale on the 1997 remaster of John Coltrane’s only Blue Note album Blue Train. The story goes that before Coltrane signed to Prestige as a solo artist (he was already recording on Prestige as part of Miles Davis’s band) he had a meeting with label head Alfred Lion in late 1956 or early 1957 where Lion gave Coltrane an advance to sign with Blue Note. Coltrane would sign with Prestige, but still felt obligated to come over to Blue Note and record one album.
This album, of course, is the essential Blue Train (Blue Note 53428). Amazon.com has the 1997 remaster with two alternate takes available for $1.99 for a limited time, so if you don’t already have this remaster or album I highly recommend it!
In celebration of Phish’s reunion shows– Phish is generously offering 256Kbps mixed, soundboard recordings of their upcoming three-night run at the legendary Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, VA for free download. From their press release:
In celebration of Phish’s first shows in over four years, we’re thrilled to be able to offer fans free, high-quality downloads of the band’s sold-out March 6th, 7th and 8th concerts at Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia at LivePhish.com.
Each show will be professionally multi-tracked and mixed onsite and within 24 hours, 256kbps MP3s will be made available for free for a limited time at LivePhish.com. Fans who wish to download higher quality versions may purchase FLAC downloads. The shows will also be available on CD. Both are available for pre-order now. Register at LivePhish.com to receive an email when the free MP3s are available.
“We really wanted to show our gratitude to all the Phish fans for their support and the overwhelming response they’ve had to these shows. It’s going to be an amazing celebration and we only wish everybody could be there,” said Trey Anastasio.
Hampton Coliseum is notable in Phish’s history as being the location for the shows on November 20 & 21, 1998 that was the basis for the six-disc box set Hampton Comes Alive. Hampton Coliseum has been a favorite stop for Phish and these upcoming shows on March 6th, 7th, and 8th mark the 13th, 14th, and 15th time Phish will have played there.
These upcoming shows are also where Phish is looking to legally block the sale of bootleg products like unauthorized “lot shirts” and other paraphernalia with Phish tie-ins. An interesting move considering how ingrained in the jamband scene the lot scene sales have become. Certainly Phish is entitled to defend their very valuable trademark and image– especially since the future of the band seems unclear, and licensing of products in addition to the sale of recordings would be the only way the band could continue to profit if they don’t continue to tour.
Update: Apparently Phish is in it for the long haul and have plans to record a new album with a focus on their proggy side!
Click Here to pre-order the three shows in mp3 format.
Last week was a good week for show postings at Daytrotter.com– our Internet-music fan-buddy to the Southeast of here. We got the 2008 recording of Nelly McKay, and we got the Pontiak session! Pontiak and Wye Oak were touring together last year on a shared bill and were scheduled to stop at the Mill in Iowa City on June 15th. However, the Floods of 2008 prevented them from performing their show. However, they managed to stop in at Daytrotter on the 16th and record four songs.
Pontiak’s sludgy psychedelia translated well to Daytrotter’s retro facility and in four songs provided a good snapshot of the ride that is Pontiak.
They recorded a song apiece from their previous efforts, “How Tall Are You?” from their debut Valley of Cats, and the waltzing title track from Sun on Sun. They also recorded the title track to their upcoming Thrill Jockey release Maker, due to drop on April 7th. They also dropped a campfire rendition of a recently-learned Warren Zevon cover “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner.”
The oddly-named The Horse’s Ha is a cross-section of legendary Thrill Jockey and Chicago bands. Formed in 2002 as a side project for Freakwater and Eleventh Dream Day member Janet Beveridge Bean and James Elkington of The Zincs. Initially, they were going to focus on covers but over the next couple of years Elkington started writing songs specificically for them to perform as The Horse’s Ha. The band is made up of Bean, Elkington, Nick Macri (also of the Zincs and a bunch of other bands) on bass, Charles Rumback on drums and Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello, who– along with Bean– helped out on the first Zincs record Dimmer in 2005. Mark Greenberg from the Coctails worked on Dimmer as well as The Horse’s Ha’s new record titled The Cathmawr Yards.The band’s name as well as the title of the album come from a Dylan Thomas short story “The Horse’s Ha” where zombies apparently inhabit the fictional Welsh graveyard of The Cathmawr Yards.Listening to the six songs streaming from their MySpace page, the band has a pleasant folksy acoustic sound with Bean and Elkington providing very complimentary vocal harmonies. The Horse’s Ha is pretty much the intersection of Freakwater and the Zincs, which is a good thing.The Cathmawr Yards will be released on June 9th as CD and download by Parasol Records label Hidden Agenda. This will be followed by a vinyl release. Hidden Agenda, according to the Parasol website was a label designed in 1997 specifically to release one-off CD’s and singles for higher-profile artists. Although, when you look at the catalog it is clear that some of these artists have released more than one title on the label, so maybe we’ll see future releases from The Horse’s Ha.No confirmation of a tour, but I’d like to see this lineup.
Tracklisting
1. Plumb
2. Asleep In A Waterfall
3. Wild’s Empty Bedroom
4. Left Hand
5. Liberation
6. The Piss Choir
7. Heiress
8. Tea Creek In The Dunes
9. Rising Moon
10. Map of Stars
In what seems to be a gobsmackingly obvious move, the major labels in conjunction with digital music retailers like Zune Store, Amazon, Rhapsody and iTunes have announced “Digital 45s” on the 60th anniversary of the 7″ 45 record.
As part of the
Today Amazon.com has a sale on the 1997 remaster of John Coltrane’s only Blue Note album Blue Train. 
In celebration of Phish’s reunion shows– 
Last week was a good week for show postings at Daytrotter.com– our Internet-music fan-buddy to the Southeast of here. We got the 2008 recording of Nelly McKay, and we got the Pontiak session! 
The oddly-named The Horse’s Ha is a cross-section of legendary 