Sunday, May 27, 2012

Riverside - One (1992)

Riverside's One is one of the prettiest albums of the early ‘90s. Considering that it was released during the peak of the grunge revolution, its lack of commercial success was inevitable. There is no screaming nor feedback-drenched guitars on One; the members of Riverside didn't sport long hair or goatees, and they probably never wore flannel. Strip away the CD's copyright date and it could easily be mistaken for a 1988 release. There's nothing wrong with that. One is suspended by shimmering guitars a la the Wild Swans and the Ocean Blue. (Since One was produced by former Ocean Blue keyboardist Steve Lau, perhaps the latter comparison should be no surprise.) Songs seem to float into one another; after a few tracks, the album begins to feel like one lengthy song. While the band seems to mine the same ethereal riffs in every track, the boyish innocence in the vocals and lyrics and the luminous beauty of the music are undeniably relaxing. The ringing guitars in "Waterfall," "General Nature," and "James" cast a hypnotic spell. The bouncy percussion of "Cinnamon Eyes" and the pulsating bass of "James" add character to Riverside's relentlessly atmospheric textures. Riverside expose their late-‘80s new wave influences so blatantly that it sounds like the group is paying homage to them; fans of the Wild Swans, the Ocean Blue, the Church, U2, Echo & the Bunnymen, and the Railway Children will be hooked. (by Michael Sutton) 

One
1992
RIVERSIDE
Glenn Kochan, Keith Kochan, Kenneth Jackson 

Bit rate: 192kbps

Track Listing

1. "Waterfall" (3:30)
2. "General Nature" (4:35) 
3. "Cinnamon Eyes" (3:43) 
4. "Galaxie" (4:03) 
5. "Careful Light" (4:02) 
6. "A Slow Fall" (4:26)
7. "Mansfield Park" (3:46)
8. "Always" (3:50) 
9. "Follow Me" (3:40) 
10. "James" (3:59)

CREDITS

Art Direction – JoDee Stringham 
Bass, Vocals, Words By – Glenn Kochan 
Drums – Jonathan Liney Engineer – Peter Keppler 
Engineer [Assitant Mix] – Carl Glanville 
Guitar – Kenneth Jackso
Management – Dennis Oppenheimer 
Mastered By – George Marino 
Mixed By – Jay Healy 
Music By – Riverside (tracks: 1 to 9) 
Percussion [Additional] – Robert Sherwood 
Photography By – Kristine Larsen 
Producer – Steve Lau 
Vocals, Guitar – Keith Kochan 
Marketed By – Warner Bros. Records Inc. 
Made By – WEA Manufacturing Phonographic 
Copyright (p) – Sire Records Company 
Copyright (c) – Sire Records Company 
Recorded At – Long View Farm Studios 
Mixed At – The Hit Factory 
Mastered At – Sterling Sound 
 Recorded at Long View Farm, Massachusetts, February/March 1992. 
Mixed at The Hit Factory, NYC, April 1992. 
Mastered at Sterling Sound, NYC. 
 ©℗ Sire Records Company, marketed by Warner Bros. Records Inc., a Time Warner Company. Made in U.S.A.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

The Stone Roses - The Collectors Edition Box Set (2009)

The Stone Roses is the debut album by English rock band The Stone Roses, released on Silvertone Records in 1989. It cemented the band's reputation among critics, and is still rated by some as one of the most influential albums. In 2004 an Observer Music Monthly poll consisting of musicians and critics voted the album the greatest of all time, as did the writers of NME in 2006, declaring it to be the greatest British album of all time. It is widely considered as the seminal record of the Madchester movement that was active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and as being highly responsible for the mid 1990s resurrection of British guitar music that came to be known as Britpop.

The album was first released in the UK in the first half of 1989, and in the US on 25 July 1989. In 1999, on the 10th anniversary of its release, a two-disc special edition re-release of The Stone Roses reached #9 on the UK albums chart. In 2009, the remastered 20th anniversary edition was released in several formats: the standard 11-track album (with the bonus track "Fools Gold") on CD and 12" vinyl LP (the LP version includes a bonus one-sided 7" single featuring the unreleased demo track "Pearl Bastard"); a deluxe edition 2CD/1DVD set, featuring the album on disc one, a 15-track collection of unreleased demos titled The Lost Demos on disc two, and a DVD featuring a 1989 live performance titled Live in Blackpool; and a 3CD/3LP/1DVD collector's edition box set, which features:
- The remastered 11-track album on one CD and one LP
- The Lost Demos on one CD
- The B-sides on one CD
- Two LPs
- Live in Blackpool DVD
- A 48-page booklet, containing unseen photos and new interviews
- Six 12"-sized art prints featuring John Squire's original single artwork
- A lemon-shaped USB stick, featuring digital files of:
       - The album, the demos, and the B-sides
       - Five previously unreleased "backwards tracks"
       - Six music videos
       - Up at Sawmills: The Making of Fools Gold documentary video
       - Exclusive desktop wallpapers, ringtones, and a 48-page digital booklet

The Collector's Edition Box Set 
THE STONE ROSES
2009

Track Listing

DISC 1

1. I Wanna Be Adored (4.52)
2. She Bangs the Drums (3:52)
3. Waterfall (4:38)
4. Don't Stop (5:20)
5. Bye Bye Bad Man (4:03)
6. Elizabeth My Dear (0:53)
7. (Song for My) Sugar Spun Sister (3:26)
8. Made of Stone (4:14)
9. Shoot You Down (4:13)
10. This Is the One (4:59)
11. I Am the Resurrection (8:12)
12. Fools Gold (9:54)

DISC 2: The Lost Demos

1. I Wanna Be Adored [Demo] ) (3:42)
2. She Bangs the Drums [Demo] (3:46)
3. Waterfall [Demo] (4:45)
4. Bye Bye Badman [Demo] (4:03)
5. Sugar Spun Sister [Demo] (3:30)
6. Shoot You Down [Demo] (4:25)
7. This Is the One [Demo] (4:00)
8. I Am the Resurrection [Demo] (6:38)
9. Elephant Stone [Demo] (3:13)
10. Going Down [Demo] (2:40)
11. Mersey Paradise [Demo] (2:47)
12. Where Angels Play [Demo] (3:16)
13. Something's Burning [Demo] (3:03)
14. One Love [Demo] (6:22)
15. Pearl Bastard [Demo] (3:42)

DISC 3: The B-sides


1.Elephant Stone (4:50)
2. Full Fathom Five (3:03)
3. The Hardest Thing in the World (2:41)
4. Going Down (2:46)
5. Guernica (4:22)

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Novuhair Salutes Mothers

 

Nature’s own solution to hair loss paid tribute to mothers last Mother’s Day Weekend at TriNoMa Mall, North EDSA. Novuhair Topical Scalp Lotion sponsored Lifestyle Network and Working Mom magazine’s The Happy Mommy on Sunday, May 13th, a joint, mall-wide celebration held especially for mothers.

The The - 45 RPM: The Singles of The The (2002)

45 RPM is a collection of songs by The The. 45 RPM was released in 2002. All the songs were 24 bit digitally remastered to, as the slipcase tells us, "reveal the full richness and complexity of the original recordings". The album was also released as a limited hardback 2 CD set. The second CD contains eight extended remixes.

Like Steely Dan, The The wasn't so much a band as a personal musical conceit/alter ego, this one for English writer-performer Matt Johnson. While Johnson's "band" came of age during the English synth pop boom of the early ‘80s, electricity was about the only common denominator between Johnson and his fashion slave contemporaries. Indeed, the sense of conscientious outrage that informs many of the two decades worth of singles collected here fostered a perception of Johnson as something of a prickly malcontent. But fashion was never an end in itself for Johnson, even on early pop fare like "Uncertain Smile" and "Perfect." Johnson's restless creative bent has led him to remix many of these tracks anew, ensuring that this set would never be seen as mere artistic obituary. Johnson's reputation as a socio-political crank reached its zenith on tracks like "Heartland" (which decries the reverse cultural colonization of Britain by America) and "Armageddon Days" (a shotgun blast at pan-religious hypocrisy, here introduced by a hilarious parody of the Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz": "Are you ready Jesus? Yeah! / Budda? Uh-huh."), but subsequent history has only proven him sagacious. Pity that Johnson's "Armageddon" lineup was short-lived: The The was a real band in ‘89, with Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr adding his signature sound to "The Beat(en) Generation" as well. And if anyone thought they had Johnson pegged, his acclaimed 1995 Hank Williams tribute, Hanky Panky (represented here by a riveting reinvention of the country legend's "I Saw the Light"), surely set them scratching their heads again. The set is rounded out by three strong new tracks ("Decembersunlight (Cried Out)," a duet with Liz Horsman; "Pillar Box Red"; and "Deep Down Truth," a duet with Wild Colonial Angela McCluskey). The limited-edition two-disc set also includes a bonus disc of eight 12" club mixes previously unreleased in the U.S. on CD. -- Jerry McCulley




45 RPM: The Singles of The The (Hardback Edition) 
THE THE
2002

HD ALBUM IMAGES

 

Track listing

Disc One: The Singles

1. Uncertain Smile (Original version)
2. Perfect (Original version)
3. Sweet Bird Of Truth (New Edit)
4. Infected
5. Heartland
6. Armageddon Days (Are Here Again)
7. The Beat(en) Generation
8. Dogs of Lust
9. Slow Emotion Replay
10. Love is Stronger than Death
11. This is the Day (Disinfected Version)
12. I Saw the Light
13. December Sunlight (Cried Out)*
14. Pillar Box Red*
15. Deep Down Truth*

 *Previously Unreleased

 

Disc Two: The Remixes

1. Uncertain Smile (12" Remix)
2. Perfect (12" Remix)
3. Sweet Bird of Truth (12" Remix)
4. Infected (12" Remix)
5. Armageddon Days (DNA Remix)
6. Violence of Truth (Remix)
7. Gravitate to Me (12" Remix)
8. Dogs of Lust (Foetus Spermicide Remix)

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

VA - Going Underground (2011)

Going Underground 2011
Between 1977 and 1981 a myriad of influences, fashions and styles collided to make a heady musical brew that hasn’t been equaled since. In the wake of Punk's brief flare-up there emerged a dazzling band of diverse talents who came to be known under the umbrella term New Wave. 'Going Underground' is a 66-track, 3CD set that sets out to tell the story of those exciting, experimental days. From the UK, explosive newcomers like The Jam, Elvis Costello and Siouxsie & The Banshees took on our domestic singles charts and won, with hit after landmark hit. From the USA, The Ramones, Patti Smith, Blondie and The Pretenders gave them all a run for their money. Meanwhile burgeoning future legends like The Cure, Ian Dury and Bob Geldof's Boomtown Rats rubbed shoulders with crazily inventive one-offs like The Flying Lizards, Lene Lovich, Jilted John and Belgium’s Plastic Bertrand. The musical styles embraced by the New Wave might have ranged from ska (The Specials, The Selecter) to R&B (Dexy’s Midnight Runners, Dr Feelgood) to electronica (Joy Divison, The Human League) to thrashy garage rock (The Skids, The Buzzcocks) but one thread connected them all: this was about as perfect as pop music gets. Strangely, every single one of these 66 smashes sounds as fresh today as the day it was recorded. Viva Le New Wave! Review

 

Track Listing

Disc One

1. Going Underground - The Jam
2. Hong Kong Garden - Siouxsie And The Banshees
3. Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)? - Buzzcocks
4. Pump It Up - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
5. Geno - Dexys Midnight Runners
6. Turning Japanese - The Vapors
7. My Best Friend's Girl - The Cars
8. Ca Plane Pour Moi - Plastic Bertrand
9. Dog Eat Dog - Adam & The Ants
10. Lucky Number - Lene Lovich
11. Airport - Motors
12. Because The Night - Patti Smith Group
13. Rat Trap - The Boomtown Rats
14. No More Heroes - The Stranglers
15. Another Girl Another Planet - The Only Ones
16. Do Anything You Wanna Do - Eddie & The Hot Rods
17. Making Plans For Nigel - XTC
18. Money - The Flying Lizards
19. Jilted John - Jilted John
20. Jimmy Jimmy - The Undertones
21. Banana Splits - The Dickies
22. If The Kids Are United - Sham 69

Disc Two

1. Hanging On The Telephone - Blondie
2. My Sharona - The Knack
3. Is She Really Going Out With Him? - Joe Jackson
4. Up The Junction - Squeeze
5. Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll - Ian Dury & The Blockheads
6. Back Of My Hand - Jags
7. I Got You - Split Enz
8. Rock Lobster - The B-52's
9. Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles
10. Stop Your Sobbing - The Pretenders
11. 2-4-6-8 Motorway - Tom Robinson Band
12. Into The Valley - The Skids
13. The Sound Of The Suburbs - The Members
14. Sheena Is A Punk Rocker - Ramones
15. Milk And Alcohol - Dr. Feelgood
16. King Rocker - Generation X
17. Prime Time - The Tubes
18. Whip It - Devo
19. Top Of The Pops - The Rezillos
20. Babylon's Burning - The Ruts
21. Public Image - Public Image Ltd.
22. I Am The Fly - Wire

Disc Three

1. Boys Don't Cry - The Cure
2. Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
3. Pretty In Pink - The Psychedelic Furs
4. Kids In America - Kim Wilde
5. They Don't Know - Kirsty MacColl
6. Reward - The Teardrop Explodes
7. Swords Of A Thousand Men - Tenpole Tudor
8. Eighth Day - Hazel O'Connor
9. I Heard It Through The Grapevine - The Slits
10. Egyptian Reggae - Jonathan Richman And The Modern Lovers
11. Gangsters - The Special AKA
12. On My Radio - The Selecter
13. Private Life - Grace Jones
14. Genius Of Love - Tom Tom Club
15. Broken English - Marianne Faithfull
16. Germfree Adolescents - X-Ray Spex
17. I'm In Love With A German Film Star - The Passions
18. No.1 Song In Heaven - Sparks
19. Being Boiled - The Human League
20. Life In Tokyo (Part 1) - Japan
21. We Got The Beat - The Go-Go's
22. C30 C60 C90 Go - Bow Wow Wow

 
Artist: VA|Title Of Album: Going Underground|Date Released: 30 May 2011
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