Category Archives: The TVD Storefront

Elemental Music’s Motown Sound Collection continues to roll in November with a stylistically varied slate of three vinyl reissues: there’s a mono edition of Marvin Gaye’ When I’m Alone I Cry, a mono edition of the Four Tops’ self-titled debut, and a full-blown stereo edition of Eddie Kendricks’ People…Hold On, all available November 15.

Listeners who know Marvin Gaye primarily through his 1960s hits “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You),” and “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” and his ’70s masterpieces What’s Going On and Let’s Get It On, can be initially struck and then perhaps perplexed by just how tightly Gaye embraced a Middle of the Road sensibility early in his career.

An abbreviated assessment is that Gaye was following in the footsteps of Nat “King” Cole. That’s a smidge reductive, but it’s not off target as he did record A Tribute to the Great Nat “King” Cole for Motown in 1965. And it wasn’t Gaye’s only attempt at harnessing the supper club vibe, as the year prior he cut the pop and jazz standards set When I’m Alone I Cry.

What was Gaye up to? It’s important to remember that circa the early 1960s the supper club represented adult sophistication, not shmaltz. Note that The Supremes had success traveling down this avenue. Gaye was strong enough on vocals to pull it off, but he also wasn’t especially memorable in this mode. The arrangements are better than expected for this sort of thing, avoiding an overabundance of syrup, but the best tracks, “You’ve Changed” and “I’ll Be Around,” come early. Although not for completists only, a whole bunch of Gaye records should be picked up before When I’m Alone I Cry.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | The story of Billy Childish, the most famous artist you’ve never heard of, by legendary music journalist Ted Kessler.

In 1977, seventeen-year-old Steven Hamper was a stonemason in the dockyards of Chatham, Kent, in England. His heart, however, beat in sync with the punk rock tremors of the era, seduced by its celebration of amateurism. So, in a gesture of revolutionary defiance, he took a three-pound club hammer and smashed his hand, vowing to never work again. In doing so, Steven Hamper metamorphosed into Billy Childish, a true Renaissance man.

Childish has since remained steadfastly true to punk’s DIY cred, becoming one of the most recognizable and authentic voices in whichever artistic endeavor he undertakes. He has released over 150 albums of raw rock and roll, punk, blues, and folk; and has written many volumes of searing poetry as well as several autobiographical novels. But what he is perhaps best known for in recent years is his painting, for which he is now critically, commercially, and internationally feted. He hasn’t changed course in any of his disciplines, though. The world just caught up with the sheer volume of his brutally honest work.

To Ease My Troubled Mind is a mosaic portrait collated over a year of interviews with Childish, as well as with close family, ex-girlfriends, band members past and present, friends, foes, collaborators, even his therapist. It is an unflinching, yet frequently spiritual and funny portrait of an artist who is now one of the most prolific and uncompromising of his generation. The volume also includes a foreword by British comedian Stewart Lee.

There has probably been no other rock music artist who has had more of their music released posthumously than Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix died in September of 1970 and since his death the music he made in his short life has been issued and reissued in many formats and in many ways.

For many years, under the official label of Experience Hendrix, his family has done a respectful job in putting out his music, chosen wisely in what unreleased music to put out and conceived projects that add greatly to our knowledge and understanding of what may be rock music’s greatest guitar player.

Hendrix was mercurial and mysterious and his music was not easily definable. These projects have helped round out the story and the untrodden road that Hendrix traveled. This new project, Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision, doesn’t so much elucidate a particular side, or foremost time period of his music, as shine a light on the legendary recording studio he conceived and owned.

Electric Lady Studios was originally to be a performance space. That’s what it was when Hendrix and his manager Mike Jeffery bought it in 1968 when, after its initial incarnation as the Village Barn, it was named the Generation. It was located in downtown Manhattan in Greenwich Village and was an eclectic venue that hosted a variety of musical styles.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Just in time for the holidays, the newest single from Angels in the Snow, Olivia Newton-John’s highly-awaited holiday album, arrives, adding a special warmth to the season’s chill. “All Through the Night (Reimagined),” featuring the legendary Michael McDonald, is out today, blending Olivia’s angelic voice with McDonald’s soulful, unmistakable sound. This reimagined duet captures the spirit of a classic, bringing two Grammy-winning icons together for a song that feels both timeless and new.

McDonald, a five-time GRAMMY®-winner and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, is known for his work with the Doobie Brothers and for solo hits like “I Keep Forgettin’” and “On My Own.” Now, in this holiday duet, he lends his signature voice to Olivia’s rendition of “All Through the Night.” The track releases today on all major streaming platforms, accompanied by a touching lyric video that captures the song’s warmth and reflective spirit. Pre-order the album HERE.

Celebrating Olivia’s legacy of music and love, Angels in the Snow reflects her holiday traditions with family and friends. The full album, featuring holiday classics like “White Christmas” with John Travolta and “O Come All Ye Faithful” with Jane Lynch, releases on November 22 on Green Hill Productions, part of Sun Label Group, a subsidiary of Primary Wave.

Producer Sam Hollander, who crafted the sound for Angels in the Snow, commented, “I’ve been a fan of Olivia’s since her Totally Hot days—there was something about that record that completely captured her range and depth. Her voice had this rare ability to express emotion in a way that felt both intimate and universal. Being asked to work on this project was not just a tribute but a chance to celebrate an artist who profoundly shaped my own creative journey. It’s such an honor to help preserve and carry her legacy forward.”

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Pianist Andrew Hill is most celebrated for his diverse run of recordings for the Blue Note label in the 1960s, but his work after that stretch is no less worthy of consideration. He continued pushing boundaries until the very end, and no recording illustrates this better than A Beautiful Day, Revisited, which expands and remasters exquisite 2002 live big band performances by the Andrew Hill Sextet Plus 10 from the stage of Birdland. An additional recording of the title composition is this new edition’s centerpiece, illuminating Hill’s method, which thrives on the spontaneity of a skilled, unified ensemble. The set is out now in vinyl, compact disc, and digital from Palmetto Records.

If Andrew Hill’s representation in the jazz canon is slimmed down to a single LP (which is frankly harsh treatment for such an important if undersung figure), then that record is almost certainly Point of Departure. Released in 1964, it was the fourth album he cut for Blue Note and the third to be released by the label, featuring Joe Henderson on tenor sax and flute, Eric Dolphy on alto sax, bass clarinet, and flute, Kenny Dorham in trumpet, Richard Davis on bass, and Tony Williams on drums.

The focus on Hill’s association with Blue Note is deepened by a return to the label for a pair of albums, Eternal Spirit and But Not Farewell, in 1989 and ’91. Time Lines, Hill’s final studio album prior to his passing in 2007, was also released by Blue Note in ’06; during the same period, a handful of unissued sessions from the Blue Note archive emerged, Passing Ships in ’03, Pax in ’06, and Change in ’07.

Sadly, Hill’s work for SteepleChase, Freedom, East Wind, Artist House, and Soul Note in the 1970s and ’80s is still too often overlooked. Dusk, the first of two records for the Palmetto label (A Beautiful Day being the other), is amongst Hill’s best-known work however, as it was chosen as the best album of 2001 by both DownBeat and JazzTimes magazines.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | 4 LP + 7 CD collection documents the band’s reformation and includes extensive rare and archival material and liner notes from Robert Forster. First 421 orders worldwide get a book from Grant McLennan’s personal library and a signed bookmark from Robert Forster.

Domino is honored to announce the upcoming release of the third and final installment of the anthology series documenting The Go-Betweens, one of the most beloved and influential Australian groups of all-time. G Stands For Go-Betweens Volume 3, out December 13, it extensively documents the band’s twenty-first century output in an ambitious box containing four vinyl albums, seven compact discs and an extensive 112-page book, featuring a trove of archival photos and extensive historical liner notes from founding member Robert Forster, along with additional pieces from guest essayists, fans and contemporaries.

The box set includes the first vinyl re-pressings of the last three studio albums, The Friends Of Rachel Worth, Bright Yellow Bright Orange & Oceans Apart, the latter remixed for this release by original producer Mark Wallis. G Stands For Go-Betweens Volume 3 also includes a new LP comprised of a lively acoustic radio session Forster and McLennan recorded for Bayern 2 Radio in Munich while on tour promoting the Bellavista Terrace compilation. Additionally, the set comes with seven compact discs of their B-sides, radio sessions and rare, hard-to-find and unreleased demos, including a collection of fourteen unreleased songs the duo recorded together in 1991.

We will begin taking pre-orders for this very special limited-edition release today. While a very small overrun may be made available to a few select retail outlets at a later date, this is a deluxe limited package, and we will only be pressing this very special collection once. The only way to guarantee your own copy is to order from Domino Mart HERE. The stock will be delivered to customers at the beginning of December, in time for the holidays.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Sub Pop is proud to present “John Waters covers ‘The Singing Dogs’ “Jingle Bells’” b/w “It’s a Punk Rock Christmas,” a new 7” single available ahead of “A John Waters Christmas,” his annual holiday tour. 

The A-side single features a parody version of The Singing Dogs’ “Jingle Bells’,” which takes the Christmas classic on a howling turn that should delight (and possibly dismay) dog owners everywhere. Meanwhile, the B-side, “It’s a Punk Rock Christmas,” is a raunchy spoken word yarn about the lack of the punk rock spirit during the anxiety-provoking season. The new single was produced by Grammy-winner Ian Brennan (Tinariwen, The Good Ones [Rwanda], poet Raymond Antrobus, Parchman Prison Prayer) who produced all of Waters’ previous three singles.

Brennan states, “In producing John’s annual Christmas tour for over twenty years, it seemed almost negligent that he didn’t have a Christmas record. Everyone from U2 to Justin Bieber to William Shatner to Bob Dylan does, and John’s wit couldn’t be a more fitting cheer for the annual holiday music canon.”

The Pope of Trash’s annual “A John Waters Christmas” comedy tour begins Sunday, December 1st, in Santa Cruz, CA, at Rio Theatre and ends Thursday, December 19th, in Baltimore, MD, at Baltimore SoundStage. On Monday, April 22nd, 2025, John will also celebrate his 79th birthday with a special show titled “John Waters: The Naked Truth” at New York, NY’s City Winery. Tickets for all shows are on sale now.

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Celebrating Neil Young on his 79th birthday. —Ed.

When the legendary LA Roxy Theatre opened its doors on July 20, 1973, it was another legend who greeted the club’s first customers. Neil Young, who was then, as he put it, down in the ditch in the wake of the drug-related deaths of two close friends, played a triumphant bummer of a set with a band calling themselves the Stray Gators. And at long last the show (or three of them actually) are available in the form of 2018’s Roxy: Tonight’s the Night Live.

The studio versions of the songs Neil plays on the live disc wouldn’t see the light of day until 1975’s Tonight’s the Night, but Young more or less runs through them all here, omitting only “Come on Baby Let’s Go Downtown” (which was actually recorded live at the Fillmore East in 1970 with Crazy Horse guitarist and drug casualty and Danny Whitten and adding “Walk On” from 1974’s On the Beach.

On both the live and studio LPs Young sounds like a man trying to come to terms with the anguish he was feeling after the drug-related deaths of both Whitten and roadie pal Bruce Berry. Don’t let the Vegas-style stage patter Young engages in between songs on Roxy: Tonight’s the Night Live fool you; Young was one hurting individual.

And it wasn’t just Neil who was feeling gloomy; America’s youth were suffering a collective bring down from the loss of the idealism that marked the psychedelic sixties. On both LPs Young puts paid to the crystal visions of the Age of Aquarius, and channels the pain and disillusionment of a generation of innocents ravaged by hard drugs, Altamont, and the Manson family.

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Consisting of highly skilled enthusiasts, The Blasters stand tall amongst the very strongest exponents of the stripped down and wild sound that shaped the 20th century heyday of what the band described as American Music. For an extended taste of this outfit’s rare talents, just get in line on Record Store Day Black Friday November 29 for a copy of Over There, Live at the Venue, London – The Complete Concert, which expands a sharp six-song live EP originally released in 1982 to 23 tracks spread across four sides of vinyl. But heads up; only 1,500 copies of this double set were pressed by Liberation Hall, so interested parties should prepare to be disappointed. Demand will definitely exceed supply.

Formed in Downey, California in 1979 by vocalist-guitarist Phil Alvin, lead guitarist Dave Alvin, bassist John Bazz, and drummer Bill Bateman, by the time The Blasters recorded their self-titled second album released by Slash Records in 1981, they’d added boogie-woogie piano specialist and former Canned Heat member Gene Taylor, baritone saxophonist Steve Berlin (a contemporary from the Los Angeles scene) and veteran tenor saxophonist Lee “Walkin’ With Mr. Lee” Allen to the lineup. Upon landing in England to support Nick Lowe, they were a well-oiled machine just bursting with spontaneity and energy.

Perhaps the key component in The Blasters’ artistic success is that they couldn’t sit stylistically still for very long. Over There’s complete performance spans rockabilly, rhythm & blues, country, swamp blues, and soul. But on the downside (for the band; certainly not for listeners), this sheer diversity likely limited their commercial potential. Doing one thing repeatedly, e.g. the neo-rockabilly of The Stray Cats, increases the chances of breaking through, if only briefly. The Blasters had some chart success, but they never took a ride on the flash in the pan rollercoaster.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | From New York out of Cleveland, the Dead Boys were the most incendiary of Manhattan’s first wave punk bands.

Louder than the Ramones, faster than Patti Smith, more feral than Television, and fronted by Stiv Bators, an unholy cross between Iggy Pop, David Johansen, and all the Sex Pistols put together, the Dead Boys were also responsible for one of the all-defining anthems of the CBGBs era, “Sonic Reducer.” Not to mention two full albums that remain untouchable in terms of punk’s finest. And if they were monstrous on record, they were almost brutal on stage.

Touring relentlessly, the Dead Boys were a seething, dizzying blur of dynamic action and brain-charring volume that left audiences wilting and music critics gaping, powering through a repertoire that simply dripped with future classics… “Caught with the Meat In Your Mouth,” “Flame Thrower Love,” “Down in Flames”—they even immortalized one of New York City’s most feared serial killers, the Son of Sam, even as his reign of terror unfolded.

All these and more (to paraphrase the title of yet another Dead Boys masterpiece) are included on Live in San Francisco, a raw, verité recording of the band’s legendary November 1977 appearance at that city’s historic Old Waldorf—a gig later immortalized as one of the crucial landmarks in local punk rock lore.

Approved by guitarist Cheetah Chrome, this is the first ever official release of this wild and thrilling recording, an unforgettable firestorm that captures every drop of sweat, fleck of spittle and burst of crazed energy that made Dead Boys the kings of American punk rock! And it wraps up with the Dead Boys’ signature slam through the Stooges’ “Search and Destroy,” a version that makes even the original sound tame.

VIA PRESS RELEASE | In C and Rainbow in Curved Air get all the ink (inc?), but its own somewhat subtle way, 1980’s Shri Camel, the last of the three brilliant albums Terry Riley recorded for CBS, is every bit as groundbreaking as its hallowed predecessors.

Not content to rest on his laurels as a minimalist master, Riley studied with Hindustani classical singer Pandit Pran Nath during the ‘70s; by blending that Eastern influence with his own experiments in just intonation (where tuning is dictated by equal mathematical intervals rather than the “tempered” tuning familiar to Western music), Riley made an album whose shimmering textures (played through a specially modified Yamaha organ) seem to change with one’s own breath or thought, like the reflection of rippling water on rock.

And while Shri Camel is far more demanding and ultimately rewarding than any “New Age” recording, one definitely gets the sense that its ever-evolving, ecstatically hypnotic rhythmic and harmonic patterns are massaging the brain’s neural circuitry, leaving one refreshed, relaxed, and, yes, maybe even a little smarter than before listening. First LP reissue and long overdue!

Celebrating Andy Partridge, born on this day in 1953. —Ed.

In their early days XTC released a copious amount of singles, with this output appropriately corralled onto a handful of compilations situating the band as one of the more interesting acts produced in the late-‘70s UK. Amongst these songs were the three cuts that comprise their debut, ‘77’s “3D EP.” Many consider it as a strong but minor first effort in a scenario of future greatness, but investigating them apart from the group’s initial prolific tide provided this writer with the key that unlocked XTC’s substantial value.

By the time I became acquainted with them in the mid-‘80s, XTC was essentially a critics’ fave and one that was largely functioning as an album band. This was the era of Skylarking, and while “Dear God,” the b-side of that LP’s first single “Grass,” kicked up quite a bit of dust via MTV and even replaced “Mermaid Smiled” on the US version of the disc, in the US it only managed to land on a now defunct barometer of radio play named the Billboard Album Rock Chart, where it found modest success.

And on their home turf it barely even entered the Singles Chart, peaking at the severe back end at #99. This really is no surprise, since “Dear God” is a truly eloquent dispatch of religious disbelief, a song that likely would’ve caused their countryman Bertrand Russell to stand up and cheer had he only lived to hear it.

“Dear God” was so cogent (while simultaneously manifesting a well-harnessed anger) that more than a few believers in my personal circle considered it a legitimate expression of doubt and questioning rather than quickly dismissing it as merely sacrilegious. The tune’s that good. But even though ‘86’s Skylarking and its follow up Oranges & Lemons were both strong sellers and the group was very popular on college radio, the rise of their singles during this period seemed mainly tied to video play.

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The prog people were right! Turns out the greatest songs, the legendary songs, aren’t the simplest ones—simplicity is for losers! The greatest songs, and if anybody knew this Rush knew it, are the ones with sections! Multiple moving parts! Just look at the evidence. “Stairway to Heaven,” epic! “Hotel California,” stupendous! “MacArthur Park,” godly! And the same goes for “Layla,” “Free Bird,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes,” and forget I said “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.” It’s a nightmare.

One of the very best, by which I mean it’s definitely in the top five in not the top three if not the very best, is Paul McCartney & Wings’ 1974 smasheroo “Band on the Run.” Why, it’s even better than Sir Paul’s “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey,” which stickler for detail that I am I refuse to include on my list because let’s face it, it’s two songs separated by a slash, as is“Venus & Mars/Rock Show” for that matter. And that’s cheating.

The number three is the number to remember when it comes to “Band on the Run.” The song has three parts. Only three musicians (Paul, Linda McCartney, and Dennie Laine) were involved in its making. “Band on the Run” was McCartney’s third chart-topping American single. On the other hand, the song only went to number three on the UK charts (what’s wrong with those people?).

The song’s creation coincided with (and was perhaps in part inspired by) the three non-Johns in the Beatles’ escape from manager Allen Klein. Only three people in the entire world think it’s not the greatest thing ever. And finally, I listen to it three times a day, every day, because it’s been proven to keep the bowels regular and improve mental health. Oh, and it will open your third eye, guaranteed.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | A&M/UMe celebrates the upcoming holidays in a merry big way with the release of the Carpenters’ Christmas Once More, an all-new Christmas collection featuring 16 timeless Carpenters holiday classics personally curated by Richard Carpenter.

This newly remixed and remastered 16-track set includes perennial Carpenters holiday favorites such as “Sleigh Ride,” “(There’s No Place Like) Home For The Holidays,” Richard’s own “Merry Christmas, Darling” featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and many more. All 16 tracks, which have been culled from the Carpenters’ most cherished holiday albums, are available now in multiple formats, including CD, black vinyl, limited-edition gold vinyl, digital download, streaming, and ATMOS. Listen to or order Carpenters’ Christmas Once More HERE.

Building upon the grand traditions of Christmas songs and holiday-themed albums recorded by legendary artists like Enrico Caruso (“O Holy Night”), Bessie Smith (“At the Christmas Ball”), Bing Crosby (“White Christmas”), Perry Como (“Home for the Holidays”), and Frank Sinatra (Christmas Songs By Sinatra), Karen and Richard Carpenter set out to make their own first seasonal LP in 1978 titled Christmas Portrait. Richard had a unique idea for creating a near-continuous work that would mix hymns, pop tunes, vocals, and instrumentals into a more flowing, inventive medley style.

In effect, the Carpenters came up with a modernized sound tapestry in which old and new traditions followed one another in surprising and pleasing ways. Their concept of making Christmas albums artfully reflected the eclectic ways American audiences experienced the season and its joyful music in the years when the Carpenters’ generation was growing up.

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Celebrating Rickie Lee Jones on her 70th birthday. —Ed.

I’ve always had the same issue with Rickie Lee Jones as I do with Tom Waits; to wit, I can’t escape the sense that they’re beatniks escaped from a time capsule. There’s something atavistic about their sound; hearing it, it’s impossible to escape the eerie sensation that you’re sitting in a smoky and low-ceilinged Village club, the Kettle of Fish say, surrounded by beret-wearing hipsters in goatees, of the type who click their fingers instead of applaud.

That said, I’ve always preferred Jones, if only because she doesn’t have a patch of hair sprouting from her lower lip. No, the truth is I can’t really rationalize my life-long dislike of Waits; sure, he’s written lots of great songs, but that doesn’t mean I have to like him. I don’t have to like Jones either, but I do, from her groundbreaking debut to her latest release, 2012’s The Devil You Know, on which she sings like… well, like she just swallowed a shitload of ludes, which causes her to sing very slooowwwllly, which I like a lot. No more of the beatnik affectations. Her phrasing and sudden shifts in tone are idiosyncratic, to say the least, but she doesn’t sound as rebop as she does wasted, like she brought a quart of bourbon to the studio and drank it before she sang any of the songs on this album of noteworthy standards.

Jones’ career took off with the release of her 1979 self-titled debut, which featured dozens of top-notch LA sessions players—to say nothing of Dr. John on piano and Randy Newman on synthesizers—and included the great “Chuck E.’s in Love.” Buoyed by a highly touted performance on Saturday Night Live, she soon found herself on the cover of the Rolling Stone, and her beret quickly became more famous than Joni Mitchell’s beret, which no doubt pissed off Mitchell’s beret to no end.

And she would likely have become a superstar had she not drifted inexorably jazzwards, a move that she found creatively fulfilling but didn’t win her many pop fans. Henceforth she toiled in the jazz-pop wilderness, moving to Europe where she battled with writer’s block. But she continued to record, moving from more mainstream projects to more avant-garde efforts, none of them wildly successful but most of them critically praised.

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