Oh, the irony. Sure, there are 500 new albums, EPs, singles, box sets, compilations, anthologies, retrospectives, soundtracks, vinyl reissues and cassettes coming out this week for Record Store Day Black Friday. But despite (or perhaps due to) that vinyl tsunami, there aren’t a lot of essential new titles on the way. Here are the new (and old) goodies on my list:
Aerosmith
1971: The Road Starts Hear
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Aerosmith’s 1971: The Road Starts Hear is a rare and previously unheard rehearsal. Recently discovered in the Aerosmith vaults, the original tape had not been touched in decades. This historic recording features seven extraordinary tracks showcasing the early, unbridled talent of the future Rock And Roll Hall of Fame members including a nascent version of Dream On, which they would later record and release on their 1973 eponymous major label debut. The landmark early recording was made with Joe Perry’s Wollensak reel-to-reel tape machine, either in the band’s Boston rehearsal room in front of a few select friends, or at a soundcheck for an early show. All that is certain is that the tape captures a young, hungry rock band one year before signing with Columbia Records and two years before their self-titled major-label debut helped catapult the band to one of the biggest rock acts of all time.”
David Bowie
Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The fifth instalment in an award-winning and critically acclaimed series of box sets, David Bowie’s Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001) is an 11-CD or 18-LP vinyl set. The collection is named after the Koto-led instrumental track from the ‘hours…’ album. The box include newly remastered versions, with input from the original producers and collaborators, of some of Bowie’s most underrated and experimental material: Black Tie White Noise, The Buddha Of Suburbia (available on vinyl for the first time in nearly 30 years), Outside, Earthling and ‘hours…’ along with the expanded live album BBC Radio Theatre, London, June 27, 2000, the non-album / alternative version / B-sides and soundtrack music compilation Re:Call 5 and the legendary, previously unreleased Toy, featuring new interpretations of songs he’d first recorded from 1964-1971. David planned to record the album ‘old school’ with the band playing live, choose the best takes and then release it as soon as humanly possible in a remarkably prescient manner. Unfortunately, in 2001 the concept of the ‘surprise drop’ album release and the technology to support it were still quite a few years off, making it impossible to release Toy, as the album was now named, out to fans as instantly as David wanted. In the interim, David did what he did best; he moved on to something new.”
Deep Purple
Turning To Crime
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Deep Purple’s Turning To Crime arrives only 15 months after their latest studio album Whoosh!, and is their first studio album entirely made up of songs not written by the band and previously recorded by other artists. Producer and friend Bo Erin, who worked with Deep Purple on previous albums forming their so-called Time Trilogy of Now What?!, inFinite and Whoosh!, was once again an important part of the new studio work.”
Julie Doiron
I Thought Of You
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Julie Doiron is back with I Thought Of You, her first solo record since 2012’s So Many Days. Every bit an instant classic as only she can masterfully create, Doiron emanates a radiative force with her guitar and her unmistakably indomitable voice. Doiron is a maker of songs and a teller of stories, wielding her instruments like a craftsperson would their tools. Ever the bountiful songwriter, Julie had been writing songs in the years since her last solo record, keeping them close and waiting for it to feel right to head back into a studio. When the time came, she enlisted close and trusted friends to collaborate in the process: the uber-prolific and multi-talented Daniel Romano, superstar drummer Ian Romano, and Quebecois songwriter Dany Placard on bass. Together the quartet retreated to a cabin in the woods to record. The resulting album is every bit a return, as Doiron finds her way back with new songs to enthrall our hearts, while simultaneously finding her way back to herself. We live for these moments, when our dearest friends find their way back to the places they love, and we once again hear their voices rise back into our lives.”
Nell & The Flaming Lips
Where The Viaduct Looms
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Nell & The Flaming Lips’ Where the Viaduct Looms comprises nine Nick Cave cover versions with vocals and instrumentation by 14-year-old Nell Smith and instrumentation and production by 1.Outside. This inspiring and heartwarming story begin when Smith, originally from Leeds, moved to Canada and met Wayne Coyne at age 12 at The Flaming Lips’ headline show at the Sled Island Festival in Calgary in 2018. Nell had already attended several Lips shows and was a regular at the front of the stage, dressed in a parrot costume and screaming out the band’s songs. Coyne soon began to notice the kid in the parrot suit and sang a David Bowie cover directly to her at the show in Calgary, with Nell singing every word back. A musical bond formed with Coyne staying in contact with Nell and her father Jude as she learned to play guitar, while their creative relationship began to flourish when she started to write her own songs. When a planned trip to record with the band in Oklahoma had to be cancelled due to Covid, Coyne suggested Nell record some Cave songs and email them to Oklahoma to be backed by the band. Coyne chose Cave because Nell didn’t know him and wouldn’t have preconceived notions as to how to sing the songs.”
Dan Sartain
Arise, Dan Sartain, Arise!
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Dan Sartain finished Arise, Dan Sartain, Arise! a few months before his death on March 20 of this year. It has been released as Dan intended — nothing has been changed. Made up of 13 wickedly wisecracking, vintage surf-rock bangers, this concise and classic record incorporates everything that’s made Sartain the genres favourite underdog over the last two decades. Seeped in obsidian black humour, the biting witticism of these tracks pair wonderfully with the playful tone of Sartain’s slick-back dark doo-wop. The crooner also gets a chance to flex his punk muscles, pushing the guitars further into distorted territory taking the late ’50s garage-rock influence via the late ’70s in much the same way The Ramones and The Damned did. Throughout Arise, Dan Sartain, Arise!, searing surf guitars intertwine with beautifully haunted organ jabs, with rhythms pulled straight from saloon bars way out west, and cheeky wink-to-the-camera lyrical whimsy.”
