At this time of year, the music business really gets down to business. Of the hundreds of titles arriving next week, there are really only a handful that truly qualify as new releases. The rest are best described as product: Reissues and anthologies and live albums and deluxe editions and box sets and compilations and holiday fare and Record Store Day Black Friday vinyl goodies and blah blah blah. Did I include some here? Well, of course — partly because they’re deserving, but mostly because this list would have about three entries otherwise. Enjoy:
Big Brother & The Holding Company
Live At The Grande Ballroom, Detroit; March 2, 1968
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “On March 2, 1968, Big Brother And The Holding Company graced the stage at the legendary Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan. They were performing some tracks from their debut self-titled album released two years prior, and some from their upcoming smash hit, Cheap Thrills, which boasts their biggest hits Piece Of My Heart and Ball And Chain. Despite the band’s success, Janis Joplin would leave the band later that year to embark on her successful solo career. This performance contains the legendary live performances of Down On Me and Piece Of My Heart which would later be included on her 1972 posthumous live compilation album, Janis Joplin In Concert. Now, you can hear the whole performance from that night in its entirety for the first time.”
The Blasters
Over There: Live At The Venue, London – The Complete Concert
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Americana music legends The Blasters were recorded on their first international tour in May of 1982 at The Venue in London, England. Six of those tracks were released on Slash Records as a 12-inch EP later that year. Four more tracks were uncovered and included on the anthology Testament in 1997. As part of a catalog deal for The Blasters recordings with Liberation Hall, the label has uncovered 13 more tracks to release the complete concert. The band were firing on all cylinders — and taking off in London after Shakin’ Stevens’ version of the Dave Alvin-written Marie, Marie hit the top 20 of the U.K. charts. The full show is quintessential listening, and a magical music moment uncovered for any fan of the band. The CD booklet includes new liner notes from Chris Morris, rare photos and memorabilia images.”
The Byrds / Buffalo Springfield
Live At The Monterey International Pop Festival
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The two most important American rock bands performing at the Monterey International Pop Festival — Buffalo Springfield and The Byrds — had one thing in common: David Crosby. These sets mark a pivotal moment in Crosby’s career: One of his final performances before leaving The Byrds and, sitting in with Buffalo Springfield at the request of Stephen Stills, the beginnings of the partnership that would become Crosby, Stills and Nash. While the sets by Otis Redding, The Who, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix were revolutionary moments, these sets by The Byrds and Buffalo Springfield tell a different story, of one artist’s evolution that in turn changed rock music itself.”
Des Demonas
Apocalyptic Boom! Boom!
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “D.C.’s Des Demonas have been hailed as a favorite of Henry Rollins (Black Flag), Marc Riley (The Fall) and Iggy Pop (The Stooges) since the release of their debut LP. The group is made up of some familiar names from the Washington punk, garage and indie scenes. Kenyan punk-poet-politique Jacky “Cougar” Abok (Foul Swoops, Thee Lolitas) is on vocals and percussion, Mark Cisneros (Hammered Hulls, Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds, The Make-Up) is on guitar, Paul Vivari (Benjy Ferree, DJ Soul Call Paul) is on Farfisa organ and bass machine, and Matt Gatwood (Two Inch Astronaut) is on drums. Their sophomore album Apocalyptic Boom! Boom! showcases their trademark blend of disparate sounds and influences, hitting with a driving pulse and fiery intent.”
Jazz Sabbath
The 1968 Tapes
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In 1968, Jazz Sabbath were an instant hit on the U.K. jazz scene. It wasn’t long until they were offered a record deal. They spent weeks in the studio recording the tracks that got the heaviest reactions at their shows until they captured their live energy on tape. Unfortunately, the label manager told them the album was far too experimental and there was no hit potential. Ordered to play some of their ‘easier’ tracks instead, they reluctantly gave in. The two albums that followed still are classics in their own right, but they were not mistaken in thinking they had recorded their best work in 1968. Like the tracks from their two albums, these tracks were also blatantly presented as ‘original songs’ by that band from Birmingham a few years later. Whether they copied them from live bootlegs or if they got their hands on the mix, it doesn’t really matter. Their lasting popularity, even in the crude way they were covered, only proves just how monumental these songs were and how record labels are often wrong. With the truth now finally out there and that Birmingham band exposed as the musical charlatans they are, Jazz Sabbath have finally mastered the 1968 tapes to present their best work to the public.”
The Last Poets and Tony Allen ft. Egypt 80
Africanism
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The project started when Tony Allen, the Nigerian master drummer whose unique polyrhythms had driven much of Fela Kuti’s best work, dropped by Prince Fatty’s Brighton studio and laid down a selection of drum patterns to die for. That was back in 2019, but then the pandemic struck. Once it had passed, the label booked a studio in Brooklyn, where the two remaining Last Poets, Abiodun Oyewole and Umar Bin Hassan, voiced four tracks apiece and breathed fresh energy, fire and outrage into some of the most enduring landmarks of their career. Those sessions lasted just two days, and we can only imagine the atmosphere in that room as the hip hop godfathers exchanged the conga drums of Harlem for the explosive sounds of authentic Afrobeat. Once they’d finished, the recordings and momentum returned to Fatty’s studio, since relocated to London. This was stage three of the project, and who better to fill out the rhythm tracks than two key musicians from Seun Anikulapo Kuti’s band Egypt 80? Enter guitarist Akinola Adio Oyebola and bassist Kunle Justice, who upon hearing Allen’s trademark grooves exclaimed, “oh, the Father… we are home!”
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Live In Edinburgh 1982: The Gennaro Tapes
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Tom Petty Estate and Third Man Records are thrilled to announce a unique bootleg performance of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers recorded by beloved house sound mixer Gennaro Rippo at the band’s show in Edinburgh, Scotland on the Long After Dark Tour in 1982. This rare recording has not been touched since the day it was captured, pressed directly from cassette to vinyl.”
Van Halen
Live in Dallas 1991
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Previously unreleased live concert from Van Halen’s Dec. 4, 1991, performance in Dallas. Captured during the For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge Tour, the show’s setlist mixes new songs Judgement Day and Poundcake with songs from 5150 and OU812 like Best Of Both Worlds and Finish What Ya Started. The band also played Panama, plus two of Hagar’s hits, I Can’t Drive 55 and There’s Only One Way To Rock.”
