Sights and Sounds: ASIA to release 'The Official Live Bootlegs Volume 1; elbow's stirring advance track 'Six Words'; new singles / videos from Color Theory and Ryan Levine

This has been a super exciting week for music news. Featured in this update are major announcements and/or new music from forthcoming releases featuring ASIA, elbow, Color Theory and Ryan Levine...Robert Kinsler

The Official Live Bootlegs Volume 1 Out on November 26th   Multi-platinum selling English supergroup ASIA are to release a 10CD boxset The Official Live Bootlegs Volume 1 through BMG Records on November 26, 2021.  There will also be a digital album (also called The Official Live Bootlegs Volume 1) featuring a selection of 24 tracks taken from the full boxset, out on the same day. Pre-order it here: ASIA THE OFFICIAL LIVE BOOTLEGS VOL 1

ASIA: Geoff Downes (The Buggles, YES, keyboards), Steve Howe (YES, guitars), Carl Palmer (Emerson, Lake & Palmer, drums) and John Wetton (King Crimson, UK, bass/vocals), took the world by storm with their eponymous debut album, globally the biggest-selling album of 1982, and the single Heat Of The Moment. The Official Live Bootlegs Volume 1 celebrates the huge appeal of the concert tours that followed ASIA’s first two albums in 1982 and 1983. The success continued following ASIA’s 25th anniversary reunion in 2006 and three more highly acclaimed albums. The slipcase boxset features  5 x 2CD concerts from 1982 (Buffalo, NY, USA), 1983 (Worcester, MA, USA), 2007 (São Paulo, Brazil), 2008 (Tokyo, Japan) and 2010 (London, UK).   “This historical collection represents some of our finest and most defining live moments,” says Geoff Downes, “from the very first ASIA tour in 1982 and the Alpha tour the following year through three of our many ‘Reunion’ shows. It was such a privilege to take ASIA’s music to these different continents and feel the warmth and support from fans all over the world. We hope this brings back great memories and inspires others to appreciate the music of ASIA”.  The sets for ASIA’s original 1980s tours featured only the band’s new music. For the ‘Reunion’ years tours, ASIA included heritage tracks from each of the band member’s pre-ASIA groups. The 2007 and 2008 concerts also feature the Wetton/Howe composition Ride Easy, a song omitted from the debut album that was issued as the B-side of Heat Of The Moment, and included in their later live repertoire as a thank you to their fans for their support over a quarter of a century. This the first time these recordings have been made officially available by ASIA and they are presented together in a superb collector’s edition boxset with original artwork by Roger Dean, who created all of ASIA’s album artwork.  ASIA, The Official Live Bootlegs, Volume 1 is available as a 10CD boxset and Digital Album on 26thNovember 2021 through BMG Records.

About ASIA ASIA was a true ‘supergroup’ pooling the talents of Geoff Downes, Steve Howe, Carl Palmer and John Wetton, who had already amassed tens of millions of record sales with their collective bands of the 70s. Leaving behind their progressive roots, ASIA embraced the commercial FM rock sound that dominated US airwaves and took that, and the new MTV video channel, by storm.  The single Heat Of The Moment was a world-wide monster smash and their eponymous 1982 debut album spent an incredible 9 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard chart as ASIA became the biggest selling album of the year and world tour dates sold out. A second album, Alpha, was released in 1983. The four original members reconvened in 2006 for a world tour, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of that incredible success, and the album Phoenix followed. While the members were still heavily involved in other projects they came together again to record Omega in 2010 and XXX in 2012, both albums were acclaimed by their faithful fans and supported by more world tours. Steve Howe stepped back from ASIA to concentrate on his work with YES and was absent for 2014’s Gravitas. Following this tour came the news of John Wetton’s treatment for cancer, a fight he sadly lost in 2017. FOR ALL THINGS ASIA, please visit:  originalasia.com elbow reveal second studio track titled "Six Words," taken from forthcoming album 'Flying Dream 1,' out Nov. 19, 2021 Watch the music video for "Six Words" HERE PRE-ORDER 'FLYING DREAM 1' OUT 11/19   elbow have shared a second track taken from their forthcoming studio album, ‘Flying Dream 1.’ ‘Six Words’ is a stunning love song and in true elbow tradition, is a complex rhythmical and melodic composition, both lyrically intense with fulsome rumination on the endless power of love to harness souls young and old as Guy Garvey explains:  “I can’t remember the exact genesis of the track, but it is definitely one of Craig’s. In some ways it’s familiar territory lyrically, it has similar sentiments to ‘Mirrorball’ but it draws heavily on my teenage years: the bottle green in the song is the colour of my school uniform and the six lanes is the traffic on the road to school in Prestwich. Though that six lanes line was something I originally wrote back in the early elbow days when I sat in The Cornerhouse people watching so it’s a double reminisce and a return to my love of writing about love. The musical revelation came when we heard the backing singers that now end the track. We had this pyramid of voices making something incredible that reminded me of the early classic Disney soundtracks. It was so powerful that we knew we had to throw the spotlight onto them so that is why they end the track.”   As with ‘The Seldom Seen Kid,’ the first track to be released from the album, ‘Six Words’ is accompanied by a film of the band recording the song, captured during the recording sessions for ‘Flying Dream 1’ at Brighton’s Theatre Royal. You can watch the film here.   ‘Six Words’ is also available on all streaming services   elbow’s ninth studio album, ‘Flying Dream 1’ will be released on November 19. Pre-Order/Save/Add HERE OFFICIAL WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE Color Theory returns with compelling original cut "The Limit" Watch the music video for "The Limit" HERE Listen or download "The Limit" HERE You're in a relationship with someone who wants a rival, an enemy, a fight. You feel like you've been here before, watching the threads of your friendship fray and unravel. You think to yourself, "Just let me go... I'm stretched to the limit." Make sure to listen to the amazing Brian Hazard-penned "The Limit." Ryan Levine releases new single and video, "I Miss The War" WATCH HERE   GOOD THINGS TO REMEMBER EP OUT NOVEMBER 19 October 15, 2021 – Los Angeles, CA – Today, singer and songwriter Ryan LeVineshares his new single and music video, “I Miss The War,” via BMG: LISTEN HEREand WATCH HERE. This is the latest offering from his upcoming debut EP, Good Things To Remember, out November 19.  “’I Miss The War’ feels like a confession,” Ryan shares about the emotive new track. “It admits, almost shamefully, how much power toxic relationships can have over you, even when you think you’ve moved on from them.” The new single arrives on the heels of the previously released tracks “Signs” and “You Don’t Hold The Cards Anymore.” Praising “Signs,” Grimy Goods wrote, “Hot new artist alert…Out of the song’s slowly trodding strums and drums emerges a crescendo of blisteringly woeful riffs that reaches the height of LeVine’s lucidly broken heart.” Glide Magazine said that Ryan “brings a tenaciously soulful approach to folk and root music,” and “showers us with his emotive vocals that spawn the low key experimental mood swings of The National up through Hozier.” At the end of 2018, Ryan LeVine’s life cracked down the center. His band of six years, Wildling, called it quits and his relationship with “the one,” fell apart. Like it always had been, songwriting was the only tool he knew to use as a means of processing the loss and confusion. This time however, he traded elaborate home demos for simple voice memos and focused a lot more on the songwriting rather than the production. Ryan started recording the EP in early 2020 at Boulevard Studios in Los Angeles and then connected with his co-producer Kevin Ratterman (My Morning Jacket, Ray LaMontagne) to finish the songs at Kevin’s home studio later that spring. The result was an introspective body of work which reveals a songwriter searching for answers. While he may not always find them, there is a resolving sense of peace that comes from the process. Photo credit: Harvey Hale

New music: Gary Clark Jr., Depeche Mode, Bobby Darin & Johnny Mercer

Although the latest titles featuring Austin bluesman Gary Clark Jr., British trio Depeche Mode, and a wonderful reissue teaming Bobby Darin & Johnny Mercer couldn't be more different, all are terrific and showcase stellar music making.

Artist: Gary Clark Jr.
Title: Live / North America 2016 (Warner Bros.)
You might like if you enjoy: Jimi Hendrix, Chuck Berry, Sam Cooke
Tell me more: Seeing Gary Clark Jr. in concert is always a thrilling experience so it's no surprise his new collection Live / North America 2016 is so astonishing. The title features 12 tracks recorded last year, with a wide range of Clark's original material visited across the disc. Heavy guitar-centered acid rock ("Grinder," "When My Train Pulls In"), Chicago blues ("My Baby's Gone," "Shake"), semi-acoustic Americana folk ("Church") and soul ("Our Love," "Down To Ride") are perfect musical mates in Clark's versatile universe. The jewel on the set is "The Healing," a confessional exploration at the power of music where Clark delivers a top-flight R&B vocal performance while unleashing guitar work that alternates from shimmering one-note fills to a fervent Hendrix-like attack that closes out the song. Information: WarnerBrosRecords.com.

Artist: Depeche Mode
Title: Spirit (Columbia)
You might like if you enjoy: Erasure, Color Theory, Depeche Mode
Tell me more: Depeche Mode's newly-released 14th studio album Spirit blends the trio's simmering heavy synthpop sonic territory with original material aimed against right-wing targets ("Going Backwards," "Where's the Revolution," "The Worst Crime") at times or revisiting romance-minded themes elsewhere ("You Move," "Cover Me," "So Much Love"). Depeche Mode is one of the most influential and enduring artists to emerge in the 1980s and it's noteworthy that singer Dave Gahan, singer-keyboardist Martin Gore and keyboardist Andy Fletcher have created an immersive album that will please the faithful with material that is inspired and relevant. Information: depechemode.com.

Artist: Bobby Darin & Johnny Mercer
Title: Two of a Kind (Omnivore Recordings)
You might like if you enjoy: Bobby Darin, Johnny Mercer, Billy May
Tell me more: Some albums sound great in their time, and ultimately for all time. Such is the case with the fantastic deluxe reissue of Two of a Kind, a 1961 album that teamed a young Bobby Darin with famed singer-songwriter/composer Johnny Mercer. The original 13-track collection has been reissued with seven additional selections (including two songs recorded for the album but left off the original release) making for a breathtaking look back at the winning big band sounds and pop vocals that shine across the set. A key ingredient here was the backing of Billy May and his orchestra. There is an obvious chemistry and joy in the delivery of the timeless songs delivered here, including "East of the Rockies," "If I Had My Druthers" and several rousing versions of "Two of a Kind." Information: omnivorerecordings.com.


Robert Kinsler

Sights and Sounds: Sigur Rós, Simple Minds, Depeche Mode

Lots of big news, so best to get right to it!

Sigur Rós

Sigur Rós to release new album on June 17 (June 18 in North America)

Sigur Rós will release its new album kveikur worldwide on June 17, 2013 (and June 18 here in North America). The self-produced album features nine tracks and is the Icelandic group's first as a trio.

Sigur Rós kicked off its North American Tour on Sunday night (March 24) in Washington, D.C. and performs in Boston tonight. The group, who has delivered some of the most powerful concerts this writer (and music fan!) has ever seen, will be performing a number of times in Southern California next month including twice at Coachella (Saturdays, April 13 and 20) in Indio, and at the Santa Barbara Bowl on Friday, April 19.

You can pre-order kveikur at www.sigur-ros.co.uk/kveikur. However, the band is reminding fans that the pre-order of a deluxe edition of kveikur is yet to come.

As noted on the band's Web site, the tour features an 11-member band so the group's lush and symphonic textures will surely sound terrific in concert.

For more information, and to see all of Sigur Rós' upcoming tour dates, visit the group's official Web site at http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk/tour/

Simple Minds aptly-titled retrospective 'Celebrate' due April 16

Check out writer George A. Paul's post on his Music Minded blog about the forthcoming release of Simple Mind's Celebrate, set for release on Tuesday, April 16.

We can hope that with the upcoming release of Celebrate (which includes several new tracks, "Blood Diamonds" and "Broken Glass Park") that the legendary British outfit will get out on tour this summer.

Brian Hazard

Depeche Mode review

Listeners would be hard pressed to find any bigger fan of Depeche Mode than Color Theory's Brian Hazard. Now Brian has written a lengthy and thoughtful review on Depeche Mode's new album Delta Machine that is required reading for fans of either group. Click here to read Brian's excellent review on the Color Theory site...

Inbox Update: Asia, Duran Duran, Color Theory

Any day I can announce new music from the original ASIA line-up (Steve Howe, Geoff Downes, Carl Palmer and John Wetton), as well as Duran Duran and Brian Hazard's wonderful Color Theory is a great one! Read on music friends...



ASIA set to celebrate its 30th anniversary with new studio album XXX; a deluxe box set edition of its 1982 debut album, two new DVD releases and a world tour set

ASIA will release their new studio album XXX (pronounced Triple X) on Frontiers Records on July 3rd. The new record, produced by Mike Paxman, is being hailed as ASIA's best album since its classic early 80s releases, and features original artwork by Roger Dean.

The first single taken from the highly anticipated new album is entitled "Face On The Bridge", released worldwide on May 14th. The videoclip for the new track can be seen below:




Official ASIA Web site: http://www.originalasia.com/



A Diamond In The Mind, featuring Duran Duran live in concert, set for release on DVD, Blu-ray and CD; recorded At Manchester’s MEN Arena

Following the phenomenal success of their recent All You Need Is Now UK arena tour, and the announcement that they will be representing England as one of the headliners at the BT London Live Opening Ceremony Concert in Hyde Park, to celebrate the London 2012 games, iconic British rock band, Duran Duran, are shortly set to release A Diamond In The Mind - a stunning recording of one of the band’s recent live concert performances on DVD, Blu-ray and CD.

Slated to hit stores on Tuesday, July 10, 2012, through Eagle Vision and Eagle Records, A Diamond In The Mind was filmed and recorded at Manchester’s MEN Arena in December of last year, where the band garnered some of the finest reviews of their career.


Shot in high definition by long-time Duran collaborator, director Gavin Elder, the recording of the show will be simultaneously released on multiple formats: standard DVD, Blu-ray, CD, and the triple-pack Deluxe Edition, containing all three formats (Blu-ray, DVD & CD – MSRP $TBA) in an 8 panel digipack with bonus features, and an expanded 20 page booklet, all inside a foil blocked slip-case. The DVD, Blu-Ray and Deluxe Edition releases also feature interviews with the band, alongside behind-the-scenes footage of the 2011 tour, and bonus tracks ”Come Undone” and “Is There Something I Should Know.”


The band’s first live release in almost a decade, A Diamond In The Mind bristles with classic hits alongside new tracks taken from their critically acclaimed album All You Need Is Now which was produced by Grammy award winner Mark Ronson and hit the #1 spot on Download Charts in 15 countries (including the UK).


Known for their epic productions, amazing visuals, ground-breaking stage sets and iconic style, this is only the second time in ten years that the band have recorded one of their concerts in glorious high definition sound and vision, giving fans a rare and unique opportunity to relive the experience.


Talking from Brazil, where the band are currently on the South American leg of their world tour, keyboardist, Nick Rhodes said “We wanted to create a dynamic, interactive show, combining new technology with edgy design. The brief for our lighting designer was 'Pixel Punk'. This manifested itself in the convergence of hi-tech screens with a powerful, asymmetrical lighting rig. The primary aim was to re-invent our songs visually and introduce material from the new album as a unique sensory experience. With this in mind, the screens were populated by science fiction, supermodels, anime, psychedelic patterns and graphic design. Four massive mechanical arms were programmed to swoop down over the stage, firing beams of light, like the aliens in War of the Worlds. And the audience was integrated with the show, as live cameras were turned on them, projecting their images behind the band. Hanging high above the stage, four giant heads presented another dimension to the production, as they came alive as band members, skulls, robots and a girl transforming into a leopard.


The show is a journey. It was already our movie, but the challenge loomed to translate this into a film that tells the same story for those who were not there on the night. In this case we used many cameras, to ensure no detail escaped. We deployed both slow motion, animation and various stylized film grades, which give the performance a dreamlike quality in places; but most of all, I think A Diamond in the Mind truly captures the widescreen energy and vibrancy of what really transpired that night, when Duran Duran played live in Manchester.”

Adding to this, lead singer Simon Le Bon said; “The 2011 UK tour was particularly significant for all of us on a number of levels. In the early part of the year, I lost my voice and we were forced to cancel several months of touring, including all of our British dates. It was a really difficult time for us as a band as we had a new album out that we were just breaking in and loving playing live. When I blew my voice out in Cannes, at the film festival in mid-May, we weren’t sure when we would be able to resume and the summer wait was long and full of anxiety – especially for me. The UK shows which were finally rescheduled for December, proved to be some of the best we’ve ever done – so the year that had been rather a roller-coaster, ended on a really high note.”


Duran Duran have become one of the most iconic British bands of the last three decades. Widely recognized as THE band that defined the MTV Video generation, Duran Duran single-handedly transformed music videos from a gimmicky marketing tool into one of the music industry’s most valued assets. Fusing pop music with art, fashion and technology, exotic locations, beautiful girls and stunning special effects, they took the visual imperatives of the New Romantic movement to another level.


Today with over 80 million records sold, 30 UK Top 30 hits and 18 American hit singles, they are an unstoppable force, with no fewer than six prestigious ‘Lifetime Achievement Awards’ under their belt in the last few years from MTV VMA’s, the BRITS’s, the IVOR NOVELLOS, Q Magazine, the Spanish Ondas, and GQ Magazine.

DVD, Blu-ray, and Deluxe Edition Track Listing:

1.) Return To Now

2) Before The Rain

3) Planet Earth

4) View To A Kill

5) All You Need Is Now

6) Blame The Machines

7) Safe (In The Heat Of The Moment)

8) The Reflex

9) Man Who Stole A Leopard

10) Girl Panic!

11) White Lines

12) Careless Memories

13) Ordinary World

14) Notorious

15) Hungry Like The Wolf

16) (Reach Up For The) Sunrise

17) Wild Boys/Relax

18) Rio

19) A Diamond In The Mind

Bonus tracks:

Come Undone

Is There Something I Should Know?




CD Track Listing:

1) Before The Rain

2) Planet Earth

3) View To A Kill

4) All You Need Is Now

5) Come Undone

6) Blame The Machines

7) The Reflex

8) Girl Panic!

9) Ordinary World

10) Notorious

11) Hungry Like The Wolf

12) (Reach Up For The) Sunrise

13) Wild Boys

14) Rio


Eagle Rock Entertainment is the largest producer and distributor of music programming for DVD, Blu-Ray, TV, Audio and Digital Media in the world. Eagle works directly alongside talent to produce top quality, High Definition and 3D programs, both concerts and documentaries, including The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, The Who, Queen, The Doors, Jeff Beck, U2, Peter Gabriel, Paul McCartney and Ozzy Osbourne. Eagle is a Grammy Award winning company and has received over 30 multi-platinum, over 50 platinum and over 90 gold discs, worldwide. Eagle Rock Entertainment has offices in London, New York, Toronto, Paris and Hamburg.

 
New Color Theory collection set for release on June 12, 2012
 
Here is the email I received this morning from Color Theory:
 

I'm proud to present my first collection of original material in nearly two years. Adjustments Pt. 1 contains five new songs and five remixes of those songs. I can't wait for you to hear it! Special thanks to Dave Pasciuto for the amazing original cover designs.



The 10-track EP will be released on June 12, but you can pre-order it now for $6.99. Better yet, pre-order all three Adjustments EPs to get them one week before their release dates, plus exclusive progress reports and demo snippets by email along the way.


Why should you pre-order?

1. 30% off. The price will go up to $9.99 on the release date.

2. Access. It should hit iTunes on the release date (for $9.99), but it can take 4-6 months to show up on Spotify.

3. Support. Buying direct from me helps me the most, and allows me to keep making music. Bandcamp takes 10%, versus 30% from iTunes and 100% (give or take a penny) from Spotify.

Hear the new songs and pre-order here. Thanks for being a fan!

Brian
COLOR THEORY


electronic indie piano pop

http://colortheory.com/