JOHN LENNON ALBUMS REMASTERED FROM THE ORIGINAL MIXES AND NEW COLLECTIONS COMPILED FOR GLOBAL “GIMME SOME TRUTH” CAMPAIGN LAUNCHING IN OCTOBER

Eight of John Lennon’s classic solo albums and other standout recordings have been digitally remastered from his original mixes for a global catalogue initiative commemorating the music legend’s 70th birthday, which falls on October 9.

Overseen by Yoko Ono, John Lennon’s “Gimme Some Truth” campaign will launch on 4 October (5 October in North America) with the worldwide release of eight remastered studio albums and several newly-compiled titles.

Double Fantasy, 1980’s GRAMMY Award winner for Album of the Year, will be presented in a newly remixed ‘Stripped Down’ version remixed and produced by Yoko Ono and Jack Douglas, co-producers of the original mix with John Lennon. The new stripped down version of the album comes in an expanded 2CD and digital edition pairing the new version with Lennon’s original mix, remastered.   Read more...

RECORD GRADING 101

Nothing is more important in determining the value of your records than their condition! Yes, their relative rarity and demand is important, but a collector or dealer will pay much more for a record in Near Mint condition than one in Very Good Minus condition.

However, I’ve found that most people with collections or accumulations have an inflated sense of the condition of their discs. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard people who think they know what they are talking about tell me, “My records are all Mint!” Sure, and I’ve got some oceanfront property in Arizona to sell you.   Read more...

Tom Petty, Mojo, Rolling Stone

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have been one of America’s greatest live bands since their first club tours and opening-act jobs, in 1976 and ’77. Lethal garage-rock modernists with pop-hook savvy, they’ve always had the chops and empathy to make a studio record like Mojo: everybody in one room, going for the master take together and getting it fast. They just took 34 years to work up the nerve.   Read more...

Steve Miller Band

Steve Miller admits he has no idea why it took him 17 years to release a new studio album. He also admits he was in no rush to do so. “We continued to sell records from our touring, and we were really in this sort of magical place where we didn’t have to make records until I really wanted to,” said Miller, 66.

“I’ve recorded lots of projects, but just haven’t bothered to release them.” “BINGO!”, however, is not remaining on the shelf. Steve Miller Band’s first new studio album since 1993′s “Wide River” hits stores on Tuesday, June 15, and sees Miller embracing the blues music he immersed himself in growing up in Dallas.   Read more...

Jimmy Webb

“People may wonder how all these great artists came to do this album with an obscure, eclectic talent like Jimmy Webb,” says the veteran songwriter with more than a little self-deprecation as he talks about Just Across the River. “The answer is that it’s a family — an interlaced, interconnected family. There’s a love and deep emotional content in the subtext of this record.”   Read more...

Good Old War, Good Old War

“Together as Good Old War the trio have mastered the art of three part vocal harmonies and their lively and intricate songs are a throwback to the days when Crosby, Stills, & Nash ruled the Rock world” – Alternative Press

Seldom do band members rebound gracefully after their main musical effort falls apart, but Keith Goodwin (vocals/guitar) and Tim Arnold (drums/vocals), members of the once up-and-coming progressive rock band Days Away have managed to do just that, pulling a 180 with their sound to a great degree of success in their new acoustic folk project Good Old War. Rounding out the trio is Dan Schwartz (guitar/vocals) from the Americana tinged 6 piece band, Unlikely Cowboy.   Read more...

Mitch Woods, Gumbo Blues

For 30 years, Mitch Woods has been waging a war. While other similarly classically trained pianists of his generation slipped into the annals of modern jazz and found success, Woods’ crusade has been more than that of the traditionalist. The arsenal at his disposal might be boogie-woogie, jump blues and New Orleans R &B, but the soldier’s battle isn’t about traditional songs and an old-timey sound. No, if that was it, then Gumbo Blues would be like some bayou voodoo zombie shuffling about, a dead thing raised from the grave for evil. But Woods’ war is more basic: he wants to keep the blood in the music. And if anyone can stand up to the task of naming their record after a Smiley Lewis classic, it’s Woods. But where Lewis caressed the keys into that legendary striptease of his, Woods’ modus operandi is speed, dirt, and gravel. Even when he slows the tempo down, like on David Bartholomew penned standards “Blue Monday” and “I Hear You Knockin’,” the pianist manages to keep the blood pumping and the music alive.

Grip Weeds, Strange Change Machine

“Sparkling, insanely catchy psyche-pop”: The Grip Weeds are a critically acclaimed Psychedelic Rock /Power Pop quartet consisting of brothers Kurt and Rick Reil (on drums and guitar respectively), Kristin Pinell (guitar) and Michael Kelly (bass). Surrounded by their vintage equipment, this talented four-piece band records slices of perfect, radio-friendly guitar-pop, psychedelic enough to appeal to record junkies and Sixties-retro fans, but edgy enough to fit into a modern rock set.   Read more...

Scissor Sisters, Night Work

A genre- and gender-defying mix of rock, pop, and dance inspired by burlesque, drag queens, and glam rock, New York’s Scissor Sisters made a splash in late 2003/early 2004 with their neon-bright reimagining of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb,” the B-side to the band’s first single, “Electrobix.” The song made quite a name for the band, which features singers Jake Shears and Ana Matronic, keyboardist/bassist Babydaddy, guitarists Del Marquis and Derek G, and drummer Paddy Boom: along with becoming the calling card that got the band signed to Polydor in the U.K., “Comfortably Numb” was heralded Single of the Month by Dazed and Confused and Jockey S**t magazines, named an Essential New Tune by Pete Tong on Britain’s Radio 1, and also received considerable play by DJs including Felix da Housecat and Tiga. Scissor Sisters (whose name is slang for a lesbian sex act) came from the cutting edge of New York’s nightlife and gay culture, incorporating elements of burlesque and drag shows, as well as performance art, into their theatrical live shows. This was the perfect setting for their music, which gleaned the best of Elton John, the Bee Gees, the B-52′s, David Bowie, and many other artists with a campy sense of humor and impeccable style.

After proving themselves as one of the city’s most dynamic live acts, Scissor Sisters won over British and European audiences on a tour early in 2004 that coincided with the release of their self-titled debut album. That March, they returned stateside for a South by Southwest gig with Junior Senior and the B-52′s before returning to the U.K. to tour with Duran Duran in support of the “Take Your Mama Out” single. The band continued to have a busy spring and summer, launching its first U.S. tour in May — coinciding with the stateside release of Scissor Sisters — and returning to Europe in June and July. These dates included two gigs supporting Scissor Sisters’ spiritual and musical godfather, Elton John, as well as appearances at festivals such as Glastonbury, T in the Park, Roskilde, and the Montreux Jazz Festival. Late that year, Scissor Sisters were nominated for a Grammy for Best Dance Record for “Comfortably Numb.” The band kept busy with touring and producing remixes during 2005, and returned with new material in fall 2006, when the single “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’” hit number one in England. The band’s subsequent album, Ta-Dah, also topped the charts in Great Britain. In 2008, Paddy Boom left the group and was replaced by Randy Schrager. Scissor Sisters worked with producer Stuart Price on their third album, Night Work, which was released in 2010 and was preceded by the single “Invisible Light.”

Rush

Rush, as bassist Geddy Lee himself points out, just might be “the world’s most popular cult band.” And now we’ve got the documentary evidence to prove it.

After a brief theatrical run and VH1 premiere, “Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage” (****, Zoe Records) is set for DVD release Tuesday (June 29).Directed by a pair of veteran rock filmmakers, the biopic is a godsend for Rush’s long-deprived fan family, dishing up delightful rare footage, savvy cultural context and plenty of potent song clips.

It’s a rare rock doc that keeps its focus on the heart of the matter — the music — and the two-hour “Lighted Stage” is refreshing in that way: The Toronto band’s four-decade musical evolution becomes the film’s narrative arc, a story told with good humor (and crisp memory) by the group’s three principals and fleshed out by a cast of reverential music peers.   Read more...