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Kate Mossman on Queen …again!

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Author:Kate Mossman

Those of us who came here from the Word magazine will remember the excellent Kate Mossman’s writing. It was nice to see her pop up in the Guardian today. Almost inevitably it concerns Queen, who she was obsessed with as a child.

Kate is now Arts Editor on the New Statesman, which I don’t read but which I am now tempted to try again after several friends have recommended it.

Apparantly she has a new book coming out, which I may well explore too.

Length of Read:Short

Might appeal to people who enjoyed…

The Word magazine

One thing you’ve learned

Kate doesn’t listen to Queen bery often these days!

Nick Mason’s SoS RSD Echoes 12”

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I really fancy this, but the description says the record plays ‘inside out’ …what the actual flip does that mean? Here is the thing I have read….

Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets share an incredible live version of their interpretation of Echoes. Propelled by Nick Mason’s drumming, this recording captures the band with Gary Kemp, Guy Pratt, Dom Beken and Lee Harris at the peak of their powers. The performance was recorded on August 1st, 2024 at the Centennial Hall in Frankfurt, Germany by Steve Carr. Echoes Live was mixed by Steven Wilson with consultation and assistance from Dom Beken. This 12″ was half-speed mastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road and uniquely plays from the inside-out for the ultimate sound quality. The B-side includes an exclusive etched design.

Christine Collister

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Venue:

Honiton Beehive

Date: 21/11/2024

I first discovered Christine Collister in the 80s via her collaborations with Clive Gregson, and always loved her stunning voice. She was also in Richard Thompson’s band for a few years, but her solo work rather passed me by. I was excited to find she was appearing at one our best local venues – the Honiton Beehive – and I then had a request to interview her for my radio show and I jumped at the opportunity. She was an absolutely delightful interviewee. Most of the chat was around her new album – ‘Children of the Sea’ – which is based around myths and legends of the Isle of Man, where she lives and was brought up. I highly recommend it – at the moment it is only available as a physical copy within a delightful hardback book with wonderful illustrations inspired by the songs and notes by Christine about the songs. It should be on streaming at some time soon, but I would grab the book and CD while they are available as there are only so many produced. I will post a link to Christine’s website for it.

Ticket sales for the » Continue Reading.

Bruce Springsteen – Road Diary

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What does it sound like?:

I wasn’t too sure what to expect from this – presumably a lot of backstage chatter and some music clips, basically a promo for the upcoming tour, but we actually get quite a moving rumination on what being on the road means to Springsteen and the rest of the band after doing this for 50 years (one of our number watching with us was in actually tears at one point). I’m hesitating to say too much here as it would spoil the narrative, but it starts with the band getting together to rehearse after 6 years away from the stage. In that period Bruce released Letter to You and the soul album Only the Strong Survive, and we see him putting the set list together incorporating songs from those which have actually never been played live. We do hear that Bruce really isn’t one for rehearsing too much, and a lot is made of retaining the spontaneity in live performance, and there is one song they try out where Max Weinberg and Gary Tallent realise it is being played far too slowly! We also see the E Street Band expanding to include backing singers » Continue Reading.

CSNY Live at the Fillmore East 1969

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From Neil Young….

After famously playing their second show at Woodstock in August 1969, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, and Neil Young spent the rest of the year touring and writing songs for what would become CSNY’s 1970 debut, Déjà Vu. A newly discovered multi-track recording of the band’s September 20, 1969, concert at the historic Fillmore East in New York City captures an early moment from that first tour and will be released as a double live album on October 25.

Live At The Fillmore East, 1969 will be available from Rhino.com on vinyl (2LP) and CD on October 25. A special clear-vinyl edition will be available exclusively at select retailers on the same day. An unreleased live version of “Helplessly Hoping” is available today digitally.

Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young were heavily involved in the creation of this never-before-heard live show. Stills and Young compiled and mixed the original eight-track concert recordings with John Hanlon at Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles. The audio is AAA lacquer cut for the vinyl release to provide the highest audio fidelity.

Young recently said: “[We] have the tapes, and they sound so real. We mixed at Sunset Sound – » Continue Reading.

Dream in Colours at Sidmouth

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Venue:

Sidmouth Folk Festival

Date: 04/08/2024

Folkies on here will know that Steve Knightley and Phil Beer have decided to put Show of Hands to one side and to explore other projects for w while.

It has now emerged that Steve has been working on this particular idea for the past year after conversations at Costa Festival with Eliza Marshall, the flautist from Ranagri, and Bennet Cerven, the fiddle player from The Trouble Notes, who he encountered at Glastonbury. Johnny Kalsi and Steve have been friends and occasional collaborators for some years, so the band came together to explore some new musical landscapes.

As Steve puts it “I am incredibly excited to introduce Dream in Colours to music lovers worldwide. Our fusion of trance, rhythmic beats, and world music grooves creates a sonic tapestry that invites audiences to let loose, embrace the rhythms, and celebrate together. With the exceptional talents of Bennett, Eliza, and Johnny, we aim to transport listeners on a rhythmic journey that sparks joy and connection.”

I did wonder how the band would be received, particularly at Sidmouth Folk Festival, which is very much at the traditional end of the folk festival world and where » Continue Reading.

The Beach Boys Documentary

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NigelT on Beach Boys Disney+ Documentary

Much trailed, this is a new 2 hour documentary on the band, simply titled ‘The Beach Boys’ and now available on the Disney+ channel (why are all these streaming sites something +…?).

I love a music documentary, and as a huge Beach Boys fan I was obviously particularly looking forward to seeing this. It is very much an official, band endorsed film and features new and archive interviews with all surviving members of the Beach Boys (although Brian’s interviews are, I guess of necessity, pretty much entirely historical), as well as plenty of archive interviews with Dennis and Carl, so it is told almost entirely from their own personal points of view. There are also a number of music luminaries and with ex wife Marilyn also commenting from time to time.

So what do we get..? For anyone with any previous interest in the band, the story presented is a well-known one; 3 brothers and a cousin enjoy singing together as youngsters and then, along with a couple of friends, form a band based on Four Freshman type harmonies. They then cotton on to surfing as a craze and get loads of hits » Continue Reading.

Pink Floyd’s Animals…again!

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Do we really need another mix of this album? This time in bloody Dolby Atmos. This is the second Blu-Ray in 2 years or so of this album. Are they having a laugh?

Having bought the last one, I’m damned if I’m going to fork out for this!

https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/new-atmos-mix-of-pink-floyds-animals-available-on-blu-ray-audio/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&_kx=Xj8lnGTa2oVJgMT270aRuXXGxPPONXhWn2LOx03lOLY.H3pGub

Beach Boys ‘Sail On Sailor’ box set bargain!

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This popped up between Christmas and New Year on the tax dodgers site, and I think it was on HMV too. I ordered it but it then disappeared quickly, but I see it is on again at £39.99 for the mega 6CD edition, down from around £120. God knows where they are shipping it from, but it should arrive on Thursday. I have waited patiently to get this, so can’t wait!

Why are there so many Pink Floyd tribute acts..?

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I’ve often pondered why some bands have so many tribute acts and some others very few or none at all. I present a Gig Guide show on the local radio, so I have become very aware of what seems to work and what doesn’t, but I have no real idea why.

The Beatles, ABBA, Queen, Elvis Presley, Fleetwood Mac, Eagles and Pink Floyd I would say are the most numerous by far. I can understand the first five of those as they had loads of huge hits, but Pink Floyd didn’t there are no end of Pink Floyd tribute bands and they always seem to be on locally. They sell well too. Why Pink Floyd and not, say, Yes or Genesis? I have done interviews with bands hopefully trying to sell tickets for a Journey show, and Toto, and I just knew they wouldn’t have an audience, but what about the Rolling Stones, the Who, or the Kinks? There are, I think, a couple of Stones and Who tribute shows, but certainly not many considering their popularity. The originals are still going of course, so maybe that makes some difference..? The Eagles had very few genuine hits in the » Continue Reading.

CD players that won’t play gapless..?!

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I happened across this video today on Youtube. The chap is saying that a lot of CD players don’t play gapless CDs ..er…gaplessly (he demonstrates a Cambridge model in the video) and they insert a gap between tracks – so, for instance, DSOTM or Abbey Road simply don’t play properly. Really?? Has anyone come across this? I am amazed if this is true, but he seems convinced.

https://youtu.be/qVEmahyfhQU?si=ctLZRgKgJZ6vCyye

The one you’ve all been waiting for – the No Parlez SDE release!

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As we all know, this is (was…?) a perennial charity shop record. Maybe they are banking on all those people who got rid of it hankering after hearing it again in Dolby Atmos. Like my post about the Sound of Music issue a week or so ago, I’m not convinced there is a huge market out there, but I guess someone has done the math.

https://www.thesdeshop.com/collections/paul-young?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&_kx=Xj8lnGTa2oVJgMT270aRuXXGxPPONXhWn2LOx03lOLY%3D.H3pGub

Show of Hands – Final night of the Full Circle tour

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Venue:

Exmouth Pavilion

Date: 02/12/2023

Show of Hands, having decided to take an indefinite break from playing and touring together, wound up ‘Phase 1’ of their lap of honour selling out three nights at the Exmouth Pavilion. The venue has become the traditional local homecoming for the band at the end of their autumn tours in recent years, and it is always great to see the place packed out for the local heroes. It was bittersweet – the whole audience knew this may be the last time they will see SoH with the incomparable Miranda Sykes, so they savoured every moment of an evening that seemed to fly by far too quickly.

The first set consisted of the three either playing solo or in various duo combinations, whilst the second set was a triumphant run of some of their best known songs from their 30 odd years together. Miranda was visibly emotional towards the end of the show, and she graciously thanked Phil and Steve for the last twenty years when she has regularly played with them.

Show of Hands perhaps have never really had the recognition they deserved – whilst being very well known within what » Continue Reading.

The Sound of Music super deluxe box set

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Yes, really. I know it was a huge seller back in the day, but is there a market for this?! I guess someone must know what they are doing.

The blurb….

The soundtrack to Robert Wise’s film version of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music is being reissued across multiple formats, with a super deluxe edition offering “every musical element” from the film and a Dolby Atmos Mix.

The musical features classics such as as ‘My Favourite Things’, ‘Do-Re-Mi’, ‘The Sound of Music’ and ‘Edelweiss’ and Robert Wise walked away with Best Picture and Best Director Oscars (being director and co-producer) at the 1966 Academy Awards.

The new reissue is led by a 4CD+blu-ray super deluxe which features over 40 previously unreleased tracks, including 11 never-before-heard alternate takes and instrumentals of each song for that singalong-a-Sound-of-Music experience. The blu-rays capacity allows it to deliver the full score in hi-res stereo audio and well as a Dolby Atmos Mix of the 16-track original soundtrack.

Here’s that track listing in full….

CD 1 Prelude and The Sound of Music (Film Version) Overture Preludium (Dixit Dominus) Morning Hymn and Alleluia Maria (Film Version) I Have Confidence (Film Version) The Little Dears* The » Continue Reading.

Think you have a large collection…?!

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This is about a vast archive of records in the US. It got me wondering how many of these huge collections there are in the world. I’m sure there was a piece years ago about a vast private collection in a warehouse somewhere (South America somewhere perhaps?), and aren’t there institutions such as the BBC who once claimed to have every record issued? I know Elton has or had a huge collection, and I’m sure there must be other megarich people with similar stashes.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/nov/16/archive-of-contemporary-music-new-york?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Dark Side of the Moon – SDE standalone BluRay

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I don’t think this has been posted before..? This disc brings together the following on one disc..

Dolby Atmos Mix 5.1 Surround Mix (24/96) Remastered Stereo Mix (24/192)

The spatial audio mixes are by James Guthrie. This is presented in a softpack die-cut gatefold with yet another variation of the famous front cover. Commemorative postcards, stickers and a 24-page booklet are included.

Released on 13th October – £20 plus postage.

https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/pink-floyd-announce-standalone-blu-ray-of-the-dark-side-of-the-moon/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&_kx=Xj8lnGTa2oVJgMT270aRuXXGxPPONXhWn2LOx03lOLY%3D.H3pGub

Paul Simon – Seven Psalms

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What does it sound like?:

This is an extraordinary record in so many ways. Consisting of 7 pieces – I hesitate to call them songs because they don’t really fit that category – linked together as one suite (there is only one track on the CD and, I believe, on the LP), this record demands to be listened to completely. It is like nothing else I’ve ever heard, although there are odd echoes in the guitar phrases that recall early Paul Simon compositions. As one might suspect, this is a meditation on his stage in life and, me not being that far behind, it resonates with this listener in sometimes quite disturbing ways. It is not an ‘easy’ listen – not only because of the words ( again I hesitate to refer to them as lyrics as that seems inadequate) but the music weaves in unexpected turns and rhythms to serve those words and present them to the listener in a way that can’t be ignored. Paul’s voice has also aged which enhances the subject matter.

I only got this today, so will be spending a long time absorbing it and playing this a lot in the coming days. » Continue Reading.

A weird CD mystery

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OK, this is a bit weird, and I don’t think I’ve had this happen ever before. Yesterday a CD started to skip right near the start, so I had a look at it and there may have been a vague fingerprint hear the middle, but no obvious blemish, so I did the usual thing of giving it a clean and popping it back in. It did it again, but in slightly different places, so I repeated the above procedure several times, but with unsuccessful results. The odd thing was that it was happening in different places each time I tried it. I presumed now there was something actually wrong with the disc, although I’m sure I had played it before with no problem, so I put it in my BluRay player…the damn thing played perfectly. I now thought my CD player was on the blink (a Roksan Caspian M2), but other discs are playing just fine, so I don’t think it is the player. It just doesn’t seem to like the remixed White Album disc 2 for some strange reason!

Any thoughts or ideas? I’m just curious to see if this is common and if anyone can explain the logic » Continue Reading.

Bob Dylan announces Fragments – Time Out Of Mind Sessions (1996 – 1997): The Bootleg Series Vol. 17

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Here’s the tracklisting for the deluxe 5CD box set:

Disc One – Time Out of Mind (2022 Remix) 1. Love Sick 2. Dirt Road Blues 3. Standing in the Doorway 4. Million Miles 5. Tryin’ to Get to Heaven 6. ‘Til I Fell in Love with You 7. Not Dark Yet 8. Cold Irons Bound 9. Make You Feel My Love 10. Can’t Wait 11. Highlands

Disc Two – Outtakes and Alternates 1. The Water is Wide (8/19/96, Teatro) 2. Dreamin’ of You (10/1/96, Teatro) 3. Red River Shore – version 1 (9/26/96, Teatro) 4. Love Sick – version 1 (1/14/97, Criteria Studios) 5. ‘Til I Fell in Love with You – version 1 (10/3/96, Teatro) 6. Not Dark Yet – version 1 (1/11/97, Criteria Studios) 7. Can’t Wait – version 1 (1/21/97, Criteria Studios) 8. Dirt Road Blues – version 1 (1/12/97, Criteria Studios) 9. Mississippi – version 1 (1/11/97, Criteria Studios) 10. ‘Til I Fell in Love with You – version 2 (1/16/97, Criteria Studios) 11. Standing in the Doorway – version 1 (1/13/97, Criteria Studios) 12. Tryin’ to Get to Heaven – version 1 (1/18/97, Criteria Studios) 13. Cold Irons Bound (1/9/97, Criteria Studios)

Disc Three – » Continue Reading.

The 7″ Singles Box – Paul McCartney

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Limited to 2 per customer. Strictly limited to 3000 copies.

This numbered limited-edition collection of 80 x 7” singles personally supervised by Paul McCartney contains:

Recreations of 65 singles/promos using restored original artwork from 11 different countries 15 singles never-before released on 7” including: Singles previously released on 12”, picture discs, CD singles/promos, digital downloads, and music videos

1 x EP

1 exclusive test pressing randomly selected from the manufacturing process

148-page book containing foreword from Paul, essay by Rob Sheffield, recording notes, release dates, and chart information on each of the singles – each single included is shown on the attached onsert which will be packed into each box

Remastered and cut at Abbey Road Studios, London. Also available digitally. All housed in a two-piece, four-walled FSC approved Redwood pine and Birch Ply wooden art crate manufactured in the United Kingdom.

Yours for….wait for it….£614.99

In the Court of the Crimson King

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There are people here who will know far more about this than I do, but this looks great! Sort of a real life Spinal Tap but featuring incredibly intelligent and talented musicians. Apparently it is in cinemas for one day, and then streaming on nugs.net, so I doubt I’ll get to see it any time soon. I’m always fascinated by the internal politics of bands, but it seems KC rival the Tories for intrigue and ill will.

https://youtu.be/Kg3osMG5yK4