Friday 28 January 2005

Cure Reissues - The next round

For those of you who don't own the Cure catalogue on vinyl, cassette and CD already, Fiction are currently in the midst of trying to pry more money of out your hands by offering a 2CD remaster series of the entire collection.

Three Imaginary Boys came out in November, and the next three in the series have just been announced for release in April. They are:

Seventeen Seconds (1980)
Faith (1981)
Pornography (1982)

The track listings are as follows:

SEVENTEEN SECONDS: THE ORIGINAL ALBUM

01. A REFLECTION
02. PLAY FOR TODAY
03. SECRETS
04. IN YOUR HOUSE
05. THREE
06. THE FINAL SOUND
07. A FOREST
08. M
09. AT NIGHT
10. SEVENTEEN SECONDS

SEVENTEEN SECONDS: RARITIES 1979-1980

01. I'M A CULT HERO (vinyl single by CULT HERO)
02. I DIG YOU (vinyl single by CULT HERO)
03. ANOTHER JOURNEY BY TRAIN (home demo)
04. SECRETS (home demo)
05. SEVENTEEN SECONDS (live)
06. IN YOUR HOUSE (live)
07. THREE (alt studio mix)
08. I DIG YOU (CULT HERO live)
09. I'M A CULT HERO (CULT HERO live)
10. M (live)
11. THE FINAL SOUND (live)
12. A REFLECTION (live)
13. PLAY FOR TODAY (live)
14. AT NIGHT (live)
15. A FOREST (live)

FAITH: THE ORIGINAL ALBUM

01. THE HOLY HOUR
02. PRIMARY
03. OTHER VOICES
04. ALL CATS ARE GREY
05. THE FUNERAL PARTY
06. DOUBT
07. THE DROWNING MAN
08. FAITH

09. CARNAGE VISORS

FAITH: RARITIES 1980-1981

01. FAITH (RS home demo)
02. DOUBT (RS home demo)
03. DROWNING (group home demo)
04. THE HOLY HOUR (group home demo)
05. PRIMARY (studio out-take)
06. GOING HOME TIME (studio out-take)
07.THE VIOLIN SONG (studio out-take)
08. A NORMAL STORY (studio out-take)
09. ALL CATS ARE GREY (live)
10. THE FUNERAL PARTY (live)
11. OTHER VOICES (live)
12. THE DROWNING MAN (live)
13. FAITH (live)
14. FOREVER (live)
15. CHARLOTTE SOMETIMES (single)

PORNOGRAPHY: THE ORIGINAL ALBUM

01. ONE HUNDRED YEARS
02. A SHORT TERM EFFECT
03. THE HANGING GARDEN
04. SIAMESE TWINS
05. THE FIGUREHEAD
06. A STRANGE DAY
07. COLD
08. PORNOGRAPHY

PORNOGRAPHY: RARITIES 1981-1982

01. BREAK (group home demo)
02. DEMISE (studio demo)
03.TEMPTATION (studio demo)
04. THE FIGUREHEAD (studio demo)
05. THE HANGING GARDEN (studio demo)
06. ONE HUNDRED YEARS (studio demo)
07. AIRLOCK: THE SOUNDTRACK
08. COLD (live)
09. A STRANGE DAY (live)
10. PORNOGRAPHY (live)
11. ALL MINE (live)
12. A SHORT TERM EFFECT (live)
13. SIAMESE TWINS (live)
14. TEMPTATION TWO (aka lgtb) (RS studio demo)

Tuesday 25 January 2005

Depeche Mode reissues ago-go!

Rumours are abounding that Mute Records are going to go back to the well again for their favourite sons and major cash cow Depeche Mode.

According to online zine Side Line, there are plans afoot to reissue the band's entire back catalogue. Chances are quite good the collection will be remastered and issued on SACD.

The label recently reissued a load of Can albums on hybrid SACD/CD and Depeche Mode's "101" live album was re-issued last year on multi-channel hybrid SACD/CD.

As everyone knows Martin Gore isn't the most prolific songwriter, so the chance of a 2CD set for any of the albums is quite slim, especially as Mute have recently issued boxsets for the singles, a remix collection and download for some of the more obscure remixes that featured on white label promos and the like. To continue an analogy, this repeated trip to the well is drying it up somewhat.

Chances are the reissues could co-incide with the release of the band's new album, which they're currently in the studio working on with producer Ben Hillier.

Not to be greedy, but if this trend continues, I've got my fingers crossed for some Recoil SACD reissues...

Link: Amazon.co.uk

Monday 24 January 2005

Tsunami Gig

As I guessed, the Tsunami Relief Concert in Cardiff came and went and people are hard pressed to say who played, when they played and what they played. A far cry from the Live Aid 2005 it was billed as.

Suffice it to say, about the only thing I am sure of is the Manic Street Preachers DID play and they DIDN'T play their late 90s single Tsunami, which I guess is a good thing. Of course, the Manics of the Generation Terrorists era would have chomped at the bit to play it and be subversive, in the same way they released a song called Another Invented Disease during the AIDS epidemic.

As a footnote, the b-side to the Manics single is called Buildings for Dead People, which given what has happened, is quite eerie.

Still, word is out that Scotland are going to try their hand at the whole Live Aid 2005 thing... sorry, the Tsunami relief concert. According the NME, the lineup looks rather Scot-band heavy, as one would expect. Bands like Franz Ferdinand, Deacon Blue and Trashcan Sinatras are poised to make a forgettable appearance all in the name of charity and re-building a career. (There's only so many slots available on Celebrity Big Brother).

Link: NME's article
Link: Give to the Tsunami Relief

A much better Idol?

After more than 10 years away from the music scene, Billy Idol is set for a return this coming March with an album of new material out on Sanctuary, the label that gives has-beens another chance.

Anyone who's a fan of classic Idol should be quite happy at the news that Billy's buried the hatchet with long-time contributor and all around guitar God Steve Stevens. The last studio album by Idol featured a scab guitarist and really felt like a let down compared to the earlier Stevens driven work.

Also on board is long-time producer Keith Forsey, who sat behind the desk for most of Idol's initial releases, including the "Rebel Yell" album.

The new album, to be released 22 March, is called "Devil's Playground" and the new single, called Scream, already starting to cause a buzz, having been released to radio and digital download stores from yesterday. It can also be heard on the splash page of the official site.

The track is a return to form of sorts for the bottle-blond punk king. The driving bassline, the screaming guitar, and the sneering menacing Idol vocals are all present and accounted for. There's also some lyrics about "lemon trees" which is quite odd.

Whether the man can capture the success he once held in the early 80s (as encapsulated in the film "The Wedding Singer") will be interesting to see, but as other bands of the era like Duran Duran and U2 are still going concerns, anything is possible.

Also, you've gotta admit, given the choice of Idols, you'd take Billy over Pop any day!

Link: Amazon.co.uk

Friday 21 January 2005

Is it Friday? Then it must be Factory

Everyone remembers Factory Records. The seminal indie label from the 80s that brought us not only Joy Division and New Order, but also the backbone events of the Madchester era - the Hacienda and the Happy Mondays.

Anyone remember Factory Two? Or whatever the third incarnation was called?

Fast forward to 2005 and Factory founder Tony Wilson is prepping a new label called Factory Four or F4 Records. The label should start trading on 31 January 2005 and the first release, "Realize and Witness" from hip-hop outfit Raw will hit UK record shops in March.

Rumour has it that another previous label stalward of Wilson's, namely Durutti Column, will be among the initial signings for F4.

Which previous Factory imprint this label will emulate is hard to judge, but suffice to say the last two kicks at the can haven't worked out too well.

It'll be interesting to see if the soundtrack for the forthcoming Joy Division movie comes out on F4. I might actually buy that release.

Link: Official Site

Thursday 20 January 2005

BMG are brickin' it

Anyone wondering why BMG Europe are releasing an Elvis single a week for the foreseeable future?

Seems their European copyrights are due to expire on large amounts of his material and while they petition governments to extend copyrights, they're rushing as much crap into the charts as possible to make as much money in as little time as they can... just in case.

Without ammendments to the law, Elvis' track "That's All Right" has fallen into the public domain as of 1 January 2005, so play it where and when you want and you don't have to pay anyone for the privledge!

As it currently works, the copyright law is as such:

- In the United States, under the 1998 Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, sound recordings are protected for 95 years from the day of recording. For recordings done post-1976, coverage is the artist's life plus 70 years.

- In most of the European Union, the duration is 50 years after the first release of a sound recording.

Link: Elvisnews.com

Wednesday 19 January 2005

Lessons Learned

With news this week that Duran Duran's Roger Taylor has injured his foot and thus cancelled the band's about to start Japanese tour, there's been a large hue and cry from fans who are now stuck with a impending Duran-less Japanese holiday.

When dealing with a trip that hinges on the appearance of a band, I guess it's always a good idea to make back up plans as well - like choosing a destination that you'd want to go to anyway.

Back in 1995 I went on holiday to California with a mate of mine. Just so happens that this particular week in June co-incided with Duran Duran (again again) playing The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Mate and me got to the NBC studio in Burbank at 7am to make sure we got tickets, then spent a great deal of the afternoon in a lineup with likeminded people. Around 4:30pm (the show starts taping around 5:30pm) we were told the musical act would be Boys II Men not Duran. No reason was given, but the fact that one of the other guests was bassist John Taylor's ex-wife Amanda made us all think.

The point is, while we felt a bit cheated that day - early rising and long lineups for Boys II Men is just WRONG!! - we still enjoyed our Duran-free holiday in California.

While people are moaning about being out of pocket up to £1500 for a Japanese holiday, maybe they should just try and have a good time and drink in the Japanese culture and marvel at places Duran have played, like the Budokan.

Another point. Bands usually have world tours for a reason - so people don't have to traipse half way round the world at great expense to see them.

Friday 14 January 2005

New Year. New Things. Etc.

So it's a new year and what better way to welcome it than by attending a live and exclusive gig in Londontown?

Last night I attended a BBC Radio 2-taped free concert by Duran Duran at Hammersmith Palais, a small little nightclub that the band played back in 1982, really before the cusp of worldwide fame grabbed them by the danglies. That show as well was taped for radio broadcast.

Apart from the obvious highlight of seeing the band in a 3,000-odd capacity venue (and how many fans can say that - unless they attended the Big Thing Tour in 1989?), it was awesome to see the band continue to trot out the older tracks. Too many bands with a history similar to Duran's continue to tour a greatest hits package year after year.

Credit due to Duran, though. They've been listening to the fans who continually ask for older b-sides and obscure album tracks to be added to the set lists. Last night was the first time in many, many years that the band played "Hold Back The Rain", a standout track from the Rio album, which I have personally never heard live.

This can be added to other non-greatest hits tracks from the last couple of tours; stuff like "(Waiting For The) Nightboat" and "Friends Of Mine", and for the lucky few who got to see it's live debut "Tiger Tiger".

Great gig, welcome introduction to 2005 for those of us there, and I can't wait to see us singing along to "Notorious", "Ordinary World" and "Rio" when the concert is played on the radio later this month.

Set List
1. FINEST HOUR
2. HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF
3. HOLD BACK THE RAIN
4. WANT YOU MORE
5. UNION OF THE SNAKE
6. WHAT HAPPENS TOMORROW
7. CHAINS
8. ASTRONAUT
9. ORDINARY WORLD
10. SAVE A PRAYER
11. BEDROOM TOYS
12. NOTORIOUS
13. REFLEX
14. NICE
15. (REACH UP FOR THE) SUNRISE
16. WILD BOYS

Encore
17. GIRLS ON FILM
18. RIO

hmmm ... what rhymes with brit?

With this year being the 25th anniversary of the first ever Brit awards, there's a special award to celebrate the best British song of the last quarter century.

Now this award would be a chance to look back over some amazing output and different musical movements that once made British music the driving force it once was - punk, new wave, Madchester, Brit Pop, etc.

Sadly the nominees look like a grab back of "what the hells" meant to capitalise on the lack of any hindsight that so encapsulates the music industry today.

Here's the list of nominees:

Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights
Queen - We Are The Champions
Robbie Williams - Angels
Will Young - Leave Right Now

Let's break it down.

Love Will Tear Us Apart is the cry of a man who was so depressed he took his own life mere months before the song came out. The track itself was the bridge between 70s punk and the more melodic rock movement of the 80s. Also proved that an indie label can have an effect on the public consciousness. Perfect snapshot of the time.

Kate Bush is one of the most successful female singer/songwriters of our time and provided the roadmap for artists like Tori Amos. Wuthering Heights was not only a wonderful literary reference but also proved that David Gilmour was more than just the noodly guitar virtuoso for Pink Floyd. Possibly not an overwhelming choice for best British song ever, and not even best Kate Bush song, but it is her first single and got her into the public eye, so fair dos.

Without We Are The Champions, many a final game of any sports series (in whatever sport you choose) would be that more empty. A perfect example of how a song can transcend itself to become something more than its creators could ever dream. Certainly no Bo Rap, but an important landmark in the music as anthem category.

Angels is the song that saved Robbie Williams career. A weeper - sure; a grand ballad that's graced every slow dance and wedding since - of course. Years from now, the state of the British music scene post Brit pop will be summed up by this track.

Will Young won pop idol or something, didn't he?