outside the box

No Music, No Life!
Wednesday, May 10, 2006

I just mail from DARLA Records, announcing its New releases and restocks for May, 2006:

CHAPTERHOUSE
Whirlpool cd $12.99

Inspired by My Bloody Valentine and Ride, Chapterhouse were part of the early 90s first-wave shoegaze scene. They were on the more pop/rock end of the spectrum, often mixing in the Manchester baggy beat with their wall-of-sonic-guitar-fuzz alongside peers

The Stone Roses, The Charlatans, and Blur. Chapterhouse created records to stimulate both mind and feet. This newly expanded reissue of their classic debut Whirpool, includes all the b-sides from the singles 'Pearl', 'Falling Down' and the 'Sunburst EP', along with 'Die Die Die' which was originally only available on a free record that came with the vinyl version of the album and is on CD for the first time. Produced by the band along side Robin Guthrie [Cocteau Twins], John Fryer [This Mortal Coil], Stephen Hague [New Order] and Ralph Jezzard, and featuring guest vocals from Rachel Goswell [Slowdive], with liner notes from music journalist and long-time associate Andrew Perry, along with the lyrics in full [documented here for the first time], photos, memorabilia and other clippings from the bands personal archive, and images of all of the releases featured on the album.

JULY SKIES
The English Cold cd $14.49

Re-press. July Skies is the musical project of Antony Harding, a member of the Birmingham based electronic band Avrocar who were cited as an influence by Radiohead during the recording their experimental album Kid A.

Avrocar and July Skies have previously received significant airplay from John Peel and Mary-Anne Hobbs of BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 3. July Skies debut album Dreaming of Spires was a pastoral departure from the dark skittery urban beats of Avrocar and trod the path of reflective dreamlike compositions that were heavily anchored in childhood memories and a lost 1950/60s English countryside.. musically, think the Durutti Column, the melancholy of Piano Magic, Maurice Deebank (Felt) or Robin Guthrie (Cocteau Twins). July Skies have received excellent reviews from a recent successful gig at the Pop Revo festival in Denmark where they supported The Clientele and Radio Dept. Nick Halsted reviewed English Cold for Uncut.

NARA LEAO
Nara '67 cd $12.99

Restock. A brilliant 23 track compilation of the Brazilian Bossa Nova star Nara Leao. The cliche about Nara Leao was that she was "the muse of bossa nova." As a teenager in the late 'Fifties, she opened up her parents

house as a salon for the movers and shakers of the early bossa nova scene - Tom Jobim, Joao Gilberto and others to hang out in. In the early sixties, as bossa nova exploded internationally, Nara rose to stardom. Soft and sweet, moody and sensuous, she performed pop and beautiful samba and bossa standards and established her reputation as one of the outstanding talents of her generation. She toured Japan, Brazil and France with Sergio Menzies and returned to record political songs that were critical of Brazil's prevailing military junta. Nara's catalogue of recordings are so magical, of such a consistently high standard, they are sacrosanct in Brazil. this compilation concentrates on recordings made in 1967 her absolute best period. Nara Leao has more recently began to cultivate an audience in Japan where like Astrud Gilberto, Elis Regina and Claudine Longet her sweetness strikes a real chord. A biography of Nara Leao as a history of bossa nova has just been published in Brazil. Sergio Cabral, "It's a mystery why she hasn¹t been recognized as one of the most influential characters of our music. We forget people easily. But I believe that, at least unconsciously, the revolution she started was realized by the people who surrounded her."

SPACEMEN 3
Playing with Fire 2xcd $16.80

Every once in a while a record comes along that somehow manages to define an era. In the late 80's there can be no doubt that one such record was released - and that record was "Playing With Fire" by Spacemen 3.

Fuelled by narcotic indulgence and an overwhelming sense of darkness it was rightly hailed as a classic at the time and is still considered to be one of the greatest albums of the time by many today. Its mesmerising beauty and sublime originality are still recognised as a genuine triumph to this day. complete with live versions of "Suicide" and "Repeater" and recordings of "Che" and "May The Circle Be Unbroken". Not only that but they've also included a second CD full of studio out-takes and demos, including the Spacemen 3 version of "Any Way That You Want Me" - the song which went on to become Spiritualized's debut single.

NEIL YOUNG
Living with War cd $15.59

MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Neil is one of the greats and this is one of the most provocative Neil Young records. Living with War is raw and real. TrueMajorityACTION is streaming the album.

You can also send a message to Congress telling them to require that the troops leave Iraq this year. I did it -- why don't you check it out? Here's the URL for the music and the action.

NICO
All Tomorrow's Parties: Nico Live dvd $19.49

A brand new, previously unseen DVD featuring one of the great all-time rock music icons - Nico. One of the most fascinating figures of rock's fringes, Nico hobnobbed, worked, and was romantically linked with an incredible assortment of the most legendary entertainers of the '60s.

Nico first rose to fame as a European supermodel, also landing a bit part in Fellini's La Dolce Vita film. In the mid-1960's she moved to New York, where Andy Warhol installed her as a vestigial presence and occasional lead singer for the Velvet Underground. The band never really accepted her as a bona fide member and she departed in 1967, but not before contributing unforgettable deadpan vocals to three of the songs on their classic 1967 debut album. Nico embarked on a solo career, recording folk-rock-flavored songs for her debut Chelsea Girl album with assistance from Jackson Browne, Lou Reed, and John Cale. Her 1969 follow-up, The Marble Index, was a dramatic departure that unveiled her doom-laden, gothic persona, produced by Cale and prominently featuring her deep vocals, impenetrable lyrics, and ghostly harmonium. Her subsequent '70s albums explored much the same territory, with assistance from Cale and influential art rockers like Brian Eno. She fought a constant struggle with a massive drug habit and tangled personal life and eventually died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Ibiza in 1988. The original goth rocker, Nico's albums are demanding and bleak, but map a unique and starkly powerful vision that has become more influential with age. "All Tomorrow's Parties" features extremely rare material from two shows Nico played in the UK in the early 1980's.

STONE ROSES
Stone Roses LP $22.99

Red vinyl. The color vinyl was originally issued in 1989. The Stone Roses eponymously titled debut album is now regarded as the defining release of the late 80's early 90's 'Madchester' music scene.

Byrdsian jangly guitar pop songs are injected with the attitude of The Rolling Stones. It includes the singles 'She Bangs The Drums', 'Made Of Stone' and 'I Am The Resurrection'. Among my fave is the classic I Wanna Be Adored.

I am the Resurrection and I am the light... I couldn’t ever bring myself to hate you as I’d like (always wondered who was saying these lines... JHC? hmm... lol!)

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note: Even if I'm stomped with work, doesn't mean I have no time to listen to great music! There are actually over 50 releases and restocks announced by DARLA, but then again I just posed here what I like most (and don't have yet, for that matter) hehe...

~*~*~

atomicvelvetsigh drank tea with Pandora @ 11:11 PM

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