Hi Everyone,
Have we all been transported to Espana for a week…Tis magic…Ole ole ole…..Terrible for biz…Good for the head though.
Releases in Music Zone towers that hit the shelves in the last week or so include PINK FLOYD, ROLLING STONES, MINOR VICTORIES, THE KILLS, JOHN WILLIAMS STAR WARS, DARK FUNERAL, THE KINKS, TEGAN & SARA, VOLBEAT, BRAD MEHLDAU TRIO,MUDCRUTCH and JESS GLYNNE.
Or for those who prefer the video, this week’s video is now up! (Which actually covers the last two weeks, the sun has made us lazy!)
Releases with us for next Friday the 10th include PAUL MCCARTNEY self titled compilation album of his solo work, Wings stuff and Fireman stuff on a deluxe 67 track 4 CD box set or a 4 LP set also.
UNIVERSAL
U2 – ‘Innocence and Experience Live in Paris; on DVD, BLU RAY, Deluxe 2 disc DVD and a limited ( pricey) super deluxe box which has the DVDs , BLU RAY , USB lightbulb, 64 page hardback via book, individually numbered dog tags, stencil set, postcard set, sticker sheet, pin badges and download codes for more stuff is also next Friday via Universal.
BAND OF HORSE’s fifth album “ Why Are You Ok” is also out on CD and LP via Virgin/EMI.
Universal also have the 50th anniversary of considered one of the greatest albums of all time, ‘Pet Sounds’ by THE BEACH BOYS ( note of interest…..if you have not seen Love and Mercy, the Brian Wilson movie….try watch…its excellent….well i thought it was anyway….probably a bit of hollywood license…but really good insight into the man i thought anyway..) this one on double CD, mono and stereo LP versions of the album and a 4 CD/Blu ray pack.
STEVE EARLE and SHAUN COLVIN are releasing a album together and there are some Sinatra reissues on Vinyl are out next Friday including “ Strangers In The Night” “ The World We Know” and “Songs For Swinging Lovers”.
Lastly from Universal for next week are some more quality LP reissues including THE POLICE, DRAKE, WEEZER, DIRE STRAITS and NATURAL BORN KILLERS OST.
SONY
Sony for next week have the complete VAN MORRISON “ It’s Too Late To Stop Now “ performances on 3 CD/DVD…VOLUMES II, III, IV of these live performances from his mythic 1973 tour with the Caledonia Soul Orchestra….11 piece band with string section….Van at the very top of his game arguably….the original album is getting re issued also on CD and LP….it was the first or very nearly the first live album to have no overdubs….moondance got the chop because of one single bum note!
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TOM ODELL has his follow up to his million selling debut album out next week also, there is an ELO studio album CD set, ELO ‘Very Best Of’ on DLP, STONE ROSES ‘Very Best Of’ on DLP also…nice track listing….why wouldn’t there be says you….the new one is growing on me a bit to be honest….has a hook that gets in your head…..PREFAB SPROUT give us a reissue of the poptastic “ Steve Mcqueen “ on LP and the HENDRIX EXPERIENCE give us “Smash Hits “ on LP also….all the above out via Sony
PIAS
PIAS for the 10th of June have GARBAGE’s new album, their 6th entitled ‘Strange Little Birds’. Also through PIAS is the new Temper Trap album ‘Thick as Thieves’..
Samaris second album is out via One Little Indian called ‘Black Lights’, and lastly PIAS have a double ‘Best Of’ by John Holt..
Bowie Reality Tour 3LP Set is also now in with us, lovely set to be fair..
WARNER
Warner for the 10th have MOTORHEAD’s – ‘Clean Your Clock’ on CD/DVD, CD/Blu Ray, + 2LP with codes.. Recorded in Munich just 3 or 4 weeks before Lemmy left…
Warner have a CARS 6LP coloured vinyl boxset.. All different colours.. Also a JOHN COLTRANE
‘Mono Years’ 6CD + 6LP plus 7’’… New documentary also coming later in the year called ‘Chasin’ Trane’, supposed to be good..
Rick Astley new CD ‘50’ is also out next week, written and played by himself (fully).. That surprised me… Fair play, looks like he’s never gonna give us up… Eh hemm.. Sorry..
I had a few reactions to last week’s newsletter when i suppose i asked the questions where’s the great stuff….where’s the top shelf stuff….kids , what are ye doing…..those questions….here’s one reaction from a good friend of mine and the shops.
“Morning Ray, Really enjoyed reading this weeks newsletter from the corporation and you raised some interesting points. I’d like to add my two cents worth so get ready for a ramble. In the letter you write of the industry still pushing the “old reliables” like the Stones, Beatles, Floyd etc. I understand the point that you are making but I don’t think that this ploy is necessarily a bad thing. I don’t believe you can dismiss the bands or their music just because it is old. If that were the case then logic would dictate that classical music has no place or relevance in todays world. We should object to the marketing strategy not to the bands or their music.
With regards to new bands and new music and that mythical band slaving away in the garage? I firmly believe that that band is out there but does anybody particularly care. Take our own John Blek for example. I make no apologies for stating yet again that his two albums with the Rats contain some of the finest music I have heard in a long long time. Great songs, great music and great lyrics. All the qualities we look for in this great garage band. Well here they are on our doorstep. But as previously stated, does anyone care. I would argue very few. If John was called Dizzie John Misty and came from Tombstone in America I bet you’d have people beating a path to Music Zone Towers to buy his album! But No, he’s from Cork, and he is one of many talented local musicians and that will always be their problem in one word…local.
As for Springsteen in Dublin, I cant knock it, up to a point. The guy still delivers and believes in the power and glory in music. Cant fault him. Back in the early 80’s when you had the likes of Queen, Elton John, Rod Stewart and our very own Foster and Allen and Joe Dolan playing dates in South Africa, Bruce took a political stand and said Fuck That,” I aint gonna play Sun City.” He helped form Artists against Apartheid and helped to overthrow an evil regime. Would Rihana or One Direction or any of todays acts do the same, or take a political stand on anything? I doubt it. Don’t rock the boat. And on the subject of Bruce in Croker, I guarantee you that at least half the crowds at the gigs are the same people who were Garth Brooks crazy a few years ago!!!! Coming back to the local scene again I always tend to put John Spillane and Bruce in the same bracket. Now I know that Bruce is streets ahead of John, I understand that. But they both chronicle what goes on in their hometown. John singing about his Dunnes Stores girl is as relevant and vital to Cork as Bruce singing about his Jersey Girl is to New Jersey. The geography is different is all. But both equally relevant. I don’t think that young people today feel or believe that music matters anymore. Does anyone take any notice of the charts.
I know when we were young the charts were everything. Music and football (and girls) was all we talked about in school. Where was your team in the league and where was your band in the charts? It was almost life and death. Not now. Not anymore. You see now people don’t have the time to put in to listening to new music (hence Beatles and Stones being re-issued) so they just download what they know and in some ways that’s no ones fault. Just ’cause something is popular doesn’t make it good. It often means people have no choice. Its just the way it is now. Many many years ago Bowie said that if he were a young kid today he wouldn’t be into music, he would be interested in the internet. That’s where the future was. Music doesn’t shock anymore. No revolution there. No danger. All that is now to be found online. In 1970 Gill Scott Heron said ” The revolution will not be televised.” He was right. The revolution, when and if it happens will be downloaded. The last time we spoke of Bruce, I said I was a dinosaur.
But Ray anyone, no matter what their age who walks into Music Zone and buys a physical copy of music, cd or lp is a dinosaur, just by buying something you can hold in your hand. All of us a dying breed. Its a different game now Ray, as you well know music is tailored to demographics. Record companies now look at different age groups, eg people in their 30’s, 40’s, 50’s and manufacture bands or music to suit that particular age group (One D, Ollie Murs, Il Divo). Music is made easily digestible for people. Nothing too out there or shocking. Bring back The Pistols please!! Most of these people do not go to gigs or clubs anymore. Sat at home in front of the t.v. waiting for the next big band/act from X Factor. People want music they can listen to over cocktails, and see Springsteen or Garth Brooks every two or three years to get that roc’n’roll experience. That’s rock and roll now, All wrapped up in a bow. So nothing too challenging. Just perfect sounding music produced to within an inch of its life. Check Beyonces new album, count the number of producers. There are 75 writers credited on the album, 17 on one track alone. I rest my case.
Jesus Ray I’v gone on enough and trust me I could go on even more about how punk and hip hop were the last two global movements in music in that they influenced fashion, writing, film and culture in general but that was 40 and 30 years ago. Nothing since. Oasis/Arctic Monkeys are /were really only average bands. Good because there was no one else. The biggest mistake rock and roll made was having a self destruct button. Once you went over 25 you were by the very nature of youth rebellion over the hill. But look at all the great Blues legends in their 70”s. Wouldn’t it have been great if the Stones had written and sung about aging in terms of rock and roll!!! And on that note Ray I’ll say “Its only rock and roll but I like it.”
There’s a lot to take in there and most of it has it’s merits.. Gan aon doubt… But I have to believe.. The next mind blower is out there.. Not that I have to believe… I do believe.. Not that some of our local stuff is not as good if not better that the stuff on mainstream radio.. I think you will agree that I have banged that drum for a long time.. But to get a break is so difficult even when you show quality.. Consistently it is so difficult to get noticed… So when you get your shot on The Late Late Show young and upcoming Cork bands, throw your guitar into the crowd at the end with venom, eat a dove, start to show your crown jewels to the 40 something plus audience.. Do something out of the ordinary.. Get seen… If the music is good enough then you shall be noticed after your stunt has been forgotten.. I do disagree with the point about young people today not feeling or believing that music matters anymore. I just think there has not been a whole lot for kids to relate to… To be honest… On a massive scale anyway.. Pockets of Strypes fans, Jake Bugg fans, Mumford fans.. All going about their business in a really worthwhile way… Strypes newest album, a fine record in my opinion from what are essentially only four kids… Hit the English charts at number 9 or something like that, but plummeted to 46 in week two.. These boys are one of the few great hopes out there.. But I saw little support really nationally here for them around the time of the album…
Maybe I am missing it…. What’s changed so dramatically this century that we, or more importantly young people, mainly have had no supergroup.. No Beatles, Zeppelin, U2, Oasis… There’s one from every decade prior to the millennium, and plenty more I could have mentioned…
I would love to know ye’r thoughts on this… Especially if you are under 25.. But everyone’s thoughts if you want to drop us a line… Is it the fragmentation of the way we consume music now? Is there too much choice, so support for bands gets diluted?… We are all lost in a fog?!!!
Is the cream at the top of the pile or if not, why can’t it rise there?
Some fierce interesting points made by my good pal TC but part of me does not want to believe them… For personal and business reasons! I would love to hear anybody else’s feedback, or hell maybe it just don’t matter..
Sin é for this week,
Thanks for listening as always.
Ray