Rediscovered Recordings Resound In 2021

A diverse range of wonderful rediscovered recordings are highlighted this week...

Collectors will want to pick up the deluxe edition box set of Neil Young & Crazy Horse's 'Way Down In The Rust Bucket,' which chronicles a legendary 1990 concert event. It retails for $99.98 on the New Young Archives website.

Artist: Neil Young & Crazy Horse

Title: Way Down In The Rust Bucket (Reprise)

You might like if you enjoy: Neil Young & Crazy Horse

Tell me more: Clocking in at three hours or so, Neil Young & Crazy Horse's marathon performance across Way Down In The Rust Bucket is truly a stunning showcase for the quartet's power in the service of Young's stellar songcraft. The legendary performance at a small club (The Catalyst) in Santa Cruz, CA on Nov. 13, 1990 celebrated the release of the outstanding Ragged Glory album issued two months before; the entire event was filmed and recorded by Shakey Picture’s LA Johnson. Performing three sets, Young and company unleashed the first-time ever live versions of a slew of Ragged Glory cuts along with an evocative "Danger Bird," the latter a favorite off the 1970 album Zuma. The countrified rocker "Country Home," moody 14-minute "Love to Burn," soaring "Cinnamon Girl" and otherworldly "Over and Over Again" are early standouts. Late concert highlights include the harmonies-adorned "Don't Cry No Tears," fiery "Sedan Delivery," genuinely explosive "Like a Hurricane" and stirring concert-ending "Cortez the Killer." Way Down In The Rust Bucket was released on February 26, 2021 as a 4 LP vinyl box set, a 2 CD set and a deluxe edition box set containing a DVD of the concert, plus 4 vinyl LPs and 2 CDs. At a later date a stand-alone DVD will also be released at NYA — Young’s Archive website. Information: neilyoungarchives.com.

Artist: Todd Rundgren

Titles: A Wizard, A True Star...Live! (Cleopatra Records)

You might like if you enjoy: Todd Rundgren, The Who, Emitt Rhodes, Paul Stanley's Soul Station

Tell me more: Released on colorful rainbow swirl vinyl on March 5, Todd Rundgren's A Wizard, A True Star...Live! is a 2009 concert recording revisiting the artist's groundbreaking genre-bashing 1973 album A Wizard, A True Star! in its entirety. A Wizard, A True Star...Live! was issued on crystal clear DVD and audio CD last year, but the 2LP vinyl release is sure to please fans of the famed musician/producer/singer-songwriter who enjoy collectible vinyl titles. The 2LPs come packaged in a beautiful gatefold jacket featuring images from Rundgren's multi-media concert event captured in Akron, Ohio. The inspired recording shines throughout; the psychedelic-tinged opener "International Feel," wistful "Never Never Land," melodic "You Don't Have To Camp Around," neo-classical "Flamingo," ambitious "Zen Archer" and soulful "Sometimes I Don't Know What To Feel" are surefire standouts on the first LP. The second LP continues the parade of great offerings courtesy of a stellar soul medley, the melancholic trip "I Don't Want To Tie You Down," intoxicating rocker "Is It My Name?" and enthralling closer "Just One Victory." Rundgren's fourth studio album A Wizard, A True Star! mostly ignored the commercial-aimed songwriting found on his previous 1971 effort Something/Anything? and instead frequently focused on heavy experimentation. The results on the original studio set, as well as this terrific live version of the classic are glorious. Information: CleopatraRecords.com.

Artist: Hasaan Ibn Ali

Title: Metaphysics: The Lost Atlantic Album (Omnivore Recordings)

You might like if you enjoy: John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Elmo Hope

Tell me more: Los Angeles-based Omnivore Recordings continues to champion rare and rediscovered recordings. Look (and listen!) no further than Metaphysics: The Lost Atlantic Album, a never-before-issued 1965 recording featuring jazz pianist Hasaan Ibn Ali. The story of the recording is almost as amazing as the dazzling jazzscape that plays out via the talents of virtuoso keyboardist Ali, tenor saxophonist Odean Pope, bassist Art Davis and drummer Kalil Madi. Prior to the release of Metaphysics on March 5, Ali was seemingly destined to be known only for The Max Roach Trio Featuring the Legendary Hasaan, a 1964 recording that lifted the Philadelphia-based Ali out of obscurity.  Indeed, when Atlantic invited Ali to record again in August and September of 1965, the subsequent step in mixing the sessions was halted because of a narcotics possession that resulted in Ali's incarceration. Thirteen years later, the master tape was destroyed in an Atlantic Records warehouse in Long Branch, N.J. Fast forward to 2018 and the discovery of a tape copy of the long-lost reference acetates of the 1965 sessions; listening to the work of Grammy Award-winning engineer Michael Graves on the restored Metaphysics is to be immersed in the astonishing playing of Ali (who sadly died in 1981). Ali's original compositions are beautiful even while challenging the listener at every turn. Detailed liner notes shed additional light on Ali as well as the other musicians who accompany him on this magical rediscovery. Information: OmnivoreRecordings.com.

Artist: Richard Pryor

Titles: Richard Pryor; 'Craps' (After Hours) (Omnivore Recordings)

You might like if you enjoy: Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy

Tell me more: The widely-acknowledged #1 stand-up comic of all time, Richard Pryor kept audiences laughing on stage and screen in a career spanning from the early '60s to his death at the age of 65 in late 2005. Now Omnivore Recordings has released restored and expanded editions of the late artist's first two albums. Richard Pryor (originally released in 1968) and 'Craps' (After Hours) (first issued in 1971) showcase the Peoria, Illinois native early in his career and reveal how brilliant his style remains more than 50 years later. His style of comedy is halarious and decidedly edgy whether eliciting laughing attacks from club goers with tales of black superheroes, impressing girls, life in prison, religion and race or sex, drug use and a comedic take on all things in life with his ability to play multiple characters — all delivered with rapid-fire improvisational precision. Richard Pryor was recorded live at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, with a second disc featuring 21 tracks recorded at several different comedy clubs that were included in the out-of-print Evolution/Revolution: The Early Years (1966-1974). 

The second Pryor release, 'Craps' (After Hours)' shows a slightly more polished Pryor, his comedy as keyed up as ever. The detailed liner notes on this collection are particularly helpful in understanding how Pryor "evolved from 19670s nighlub comedian to being the voice of his generation." Larry Karaszewski continues: "The performances capture the moment where Richard Pryor stopped being polite. Where he took off his suit and tie and gloves. Where Pryor began to reflect what was happening in the streets and in the counterculture." Information: OmnivoreRecordings.com.

Robert Kinsler

New album from Jody Porter (Fountains of Wayne) out on vinyl March 26

 Some breaking news for fans of Fountains of Wayne and top-tier dream pop! Robert Kinsler

Jody Porter (Fountains of Wayne) releases new album, 'Waterways,' on vinyl on March 26, 2021 AVAILABLE NOW DIGITALLY

Photo Credit: April Orr

“Jody is like a good friend talking in your head when it’s dark. For me, his lyrics are smart, fun and personal. Of course, it’s the whole band and the songs that play well together. I like the way the album sounds and the separation of the instant new sounds. Favorite track: 'Girl from the Other Side.'" - A Fan Grammy-nominated artist and former Fountains of Wayne guitarist Jody Porter is set to release his new album, WATERWAYS, on vinyl via Rare Rock Records on March 26. WATERWAYS is the hilarious and debonair guitarist's third solo effort and is available now digitally and on CD via Bandcamp. Co-produced with Fountains of Wayne's drummer Brian Young (who also played with the Jesus and Mary Chain and The Posies), WATERWAYS is the follow up to 2017’s PACIFIER. Prior to the formation of Fountains fo Wayne in 1996, Porter fronted the London-based band The Belltower who were considered dream-pop trailblazers on the UK indie scene. WATERWAYS fuse’s his shoegaze roots with the power-pop sensibilities of his former band making for a guitar-heavy psychedelic sail on the high seas. DOWNLOAD/STREAM/PURCHASE WATERWAYS JODY PORTER WATERWAYS (RARE ROCK RECORDS) March 26, 2021

Track List: Waterways, Pt. 1 Sunsick Moon Girl From The Other Side Half Mast Moonbeam Reach Argonaut Neverlasting Love Crashland Sheet Lightning Synching Ships Masters At Work Waterways, Pt. 2

The Allman Brothers Band: Live At Great Woods 1991 DVD To Be Re-Issued March 26

Important news for fans of The Allman Brothers Band, who will be pleased to know a legendary live performance is returning...

THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND:    LIVE AT GREAT WOODS SEPTEMBER 6, 1991 DVD   TO BE RE-ISSUED MARCH 26, THE BAND’S 61STANNIVERSARY;   FAN-FAVORITE UNAVAILABLE FOR SEVERAL YEARS

The ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND are excited to announce the re-issue of their acclaimed and platinum-selling LIVE AT GREAT WOODS DVD on March 26, their 61st birthday. Filmed for a Japanese TV special 9/6/1991, the original DVD release incorporated interview segments into the songs, but this re-mastered version—with the rights recently being returned to the ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND RECORDING COMPANY, with distribution by The Orchard--keeps the songs in full. It will be available on DVD and digitally, and individual audio and video tracks will be available digitally.    The outdoor show featured the powerful lineup of founding members GREGG ALLMAN, DICKEY BETTS, JAIMOE and BUTCH TRUCKS plus WARREN HAYNES, ALLEN WOODY and MARCQUINONES. The band was touring in support of their newly-released Shades Of Two Worlds album, and its “End Of The Line” gets a spirited welcome here. “Going Down The Road Feeling Bad” starts with all four guitarists on acoustics before going electric, and the bands tight harmonies and interaction are heard throughout.   Of the out-of-print 2014 DVD version, Jambands.com said, “Newest members Warren Haynes, Allen Woody, and Marc Quinones are exceptional in their abilities to assimilate and sparkle, each bringing a personal approach that echoes the group’s inimitable sense of unity and expression, yet allows them to showcase their respective styles and skills…the majority of the entries are Brothers classics, driven by the twin-guitar attack of Haynes and founding member Dickey Betts. Whether it’s the country leanings of ‘Blue Sky’ or the psychedelic jazz of ‘In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,’ the pair twists telepathically, interlocking like two kites, diverging then colliding in a duel of soaring notes, always tethered by Woody’s commanding bass and the cornerstone drumming of duo Butch Trucks and Jaimoe. Gregg Allman, youthful and sharp, breathes the blues with every growl, cry, and shout, fueling the fire on opener ‘Statesboro Blues,’ and feeding it all the way through to the ‘Whipping Post’ finale.”     LIVE AT GREAT WOODS track listing:   --Statesboro Blues --End Of The Line --Blue Sky --Midnight Rider --Going Down The Road --Hoochie Coochie Man --Get On With Your Life --In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed --Revival --Jessica --Whipping Post     For more information about the ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND, visit: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Apple Music | Spotify https://thebighousemuseum.com/

Paul Stanley's Soul Station releases first original track from forthcoming album 'Now and Then'

Check out "I, Oh I," the first original advance track from the forthcoming Paul Stanley's Soul Station album "Now and Then." The song is fantastic!...Robert Kinsler

PAUL STANLEY’S SOUL STATION RELEASES FIRST ORIGINAL TRACK FROM FORTHCOMING ALBUM 

NOW AND THEN Set to Release MARCH 19

PRE-ORDER THE ALBUM HERE

 

“I, OH I” AVAILABLE NOW

OFFICIAL AUDIO VIDEO HERE
 

(Los Angeles, CA – March 5, 2021) – Today, KISS co-founder & frontman, best-selling author and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer PAUL STANLEY’s Soul Station released their brand-new track “I, Oh I” – Listen HERE. Written, arranged and orchestrated by Paul Stanley, “I, Oh I” is the first original song to be released from the band’s forthcoming album Now and Then, out on March 19 via UMe, available for pre-order HERE. A collection of nine classic soul covers and five original tracks, Now and Then will also feature the band’s acclaimed version of Five Stairsteps’ “O-O-H Child” as well as their take on The Spinners, “Could It Be I’m Falling In Love.”
 

“As much as Soul Station is rooted in the past, I wanted our music to also live in the present,” said Stanley. ““I, Oh I” shows what can grow from those deep roots. With love and respect, we’re proud of where we come from and where we’re going. Check out the first of 5 originals from the album!”

 

Listen to “I, Oh I”: HERE

Set for release on March 19, Now and Then is the first-ever full-length album from Soul Station: A band gathering some of today’s leading musicians to pay tribute to the greatest artists and songs from the R&B and soul catalog to keep this vital music current.  While a surprise to many, Stanley’s early pivotal roots in this music has quietly turned this passion into a celebrated touring and recording band.  Stanley’s 15-piece ensemble group has toured the U.S. and Japan, but it wasn’t until recently that they were able to get in the studio together and record Now and Then.  
 
Updated Soul Station information can be found at www.paulstanley.com
 
Stanley’s legendary band members include: Rafael “Hoffa” Moreira (guitar & backing vocals), Sean Hurley (bass), Alex Alessandroni (Musical Director, keyboards), Ely Rise (keyboards), Eric Singer (drums & backing vocals), RayYslas (percussion), Gavyn Rhone (backing vocals), Crystal Starr (backing vocals) and Laurhan Beato (backing vocals) and Jon Pappenbrook (lead trumpet). 
 
The band is augmented by three string players and two horn players of the same stature enabling Soul Station’s wall of sound to be firmly rooted in the past while staking claim to both the present and future.
 
Reviews from Soul Station U.S. shows:
 
“Paul Stanley of Kiss found some genuine emotional power in a set of classic Sixties and Seventies…” Rolling Stone
 
“Stanley and company crackled life into more than a dozen soul and Motown classics in versions that featured arrangements mostly faithful to the studio versions while gaining an additional edge played live. Stanley not only hit those lofty notes, but delivered the songs with authentic emotion that gave the overall performance an artistic sense of purpose that more than justifies future outings from Soul Station.” – Orange County Register
 
About Paul Stanley:
As co-founder of KISS, Stanley has piloted the band's music and business through its 50-year career as one of the biggest bands in the history of rock. In addition to 100 million in world sales, their 30 U.S. gold albums make them the #1 American band for most certified gold albums. Stronger than ever, the KISS legacy continues to grow, generation after generation. Stanley has further established his legacy when his memoir Face The Music: A Life Exposed debuted at #2 on the New York Times best seller list upon its April 2014 release and was followed by his second best seller Backstage Pass. 

'Zack Snyder's Justice League (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)' available March 18, 2021 via Watertower Music

Very exciting update about the soundtrack for the highly-anticipated "Zack Snyder's Justice League" coming to HBO Max later this month...Robert Kinsler

Zack Snyder's Justice League (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Available March 18 on Watertower Music

 

Features New Original Score From

Grammy Nominated Composer Tom Holkenborg

 

Album Includes Two New Tracks From The Film:

“Song To The Siren” Performed By Rose Betts

“Hallelujah” Performed By Allison Crowe

 

New Tom Holkenborg Track Released Today:

“Middle Mass (From Zack Snyder’s Justice League)”

 

 

MARCH 5, 2021: WaterTower Music is excited to announce the March 18 release of Zack Snyder's Justice League (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), which features a completely brand-new score to accompany Snyder’s vision for the film, created by Grammy nominated multi-platinum producer, musician, composer and educator Tom Holkenborg, aka Junkie XL (Mad Max: Fury Road, Deadpool, the upcoming Godzilla Vs. Kong). The album features Holkenborg’s music from Zack Snyder's Justice League, the film in which, determined to ensure Superman’s (Henry Cavill) ultimate sacrifice was not in vain, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) aligns forces with Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) with plans to recruit a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of catastrophic proportions. Now united, Batman (Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and The Flash (Ezra Miller) may be too late to save the planet from Steppenwolf, DeSaad and Darkseid and their dreadful intentions. 

 

A new track from Holkenborg, “Middle Mass (From Zack Snyder's Justice League)" was released today, joining the previously released “The Crew At Warpower (From Zack Snyder’s Justice League)" as opportunities for fans to hear early music from the film. 

 

Zack Snyder's Justice League will be made available worldwide day and date with the US HBO Max debut on THURSDAY, MARCH 18 (*with a small number of exceptions). The feature film will be available internationally to rent, buy, stream or watch via HBO services, local TV providers, or a range of digital platforms. And the soundtrack releases worldwide the same day.

 

Tom Holkenborg calls Zack Snyder's Justice League (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) his “Mount Everest of Scores.” Indeed, the album’s nearly 4 hours of music showcases his colossal output on a project which was a massive and deeply personal undertaking for him, given his and Zack Snyder’s years-deep connection on the film. The two worked together on Snyder’s original musical vision for the film in 2016; and have now come back together to see that vision come to fruition.  

 

"Scoring Zack Snyder's Justice League has been a project like no other in my career,” explains the composer. “It's a four-and-a- half-hour movie. I wrote so much music! The score is, at times, fully electronic, and at other times fully orchestral. It included many global elements, rock and even trap. And it was all written during Covid, so it was an incredibly hands on, isolated and intense experience; and I think that comes out in the score. This project demanded so much on so many levels, and all of us involved owed it to the fans and Zack to give it everything we had."

 

Unquestionably, the album does showcase the best of Tom Holkenborg, who was inspired to put everything he had into the opus. The soundtrack highlights his full spectrum as a composer, and draws on his experience as a rock producer, electronic music producer, his world music collaborations, and love of classical orchestration and classical film scoring. Yet even with that wide ranging stylistic mix, this body of work brilliantly illuminates a passionate cohesiveness amidst a more aggressive and more dramatic offering than anything the composer has previously put forth.  

 

The Zack Snyder's Justice League (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) will be available March 18. Two tracks, “The Crew At Warpower (From Zack Snyder’s Justice League)” and “Middle Mass (From Zack Snyder's Justice League)” now available digitally, and the track list is as follows. All music by Tom Holkenborg unless noted:

Song to the Siren Performed by Rose Betts

A Hunter Gathers 

Migratory 

Things Fall Apart

Wonder Woman Defending / And What Rough Beast

World Ending Fire 

Middle Mass 

Long Division 

No Paradise, No Fall 

The Center Will Not Hold, Twenty Centuries of Stony Sleep 

As Above, So Below 

No Dog, No Master 

Take This Kingdom by Force 

A Splinter from the Thorn That Pricked You 

Cyborg Becoming / Human All Too Human 

The Path Chooses You 

Aquaman Returning / Carry Your Own Water  

The Provenance of Something Gathered 

We Do This Together 

The Will to Power 

Smoke Become Fire 

I Teach You, the Overman 

A Glimmer at the Door of the Living 

How We Achieve Ourselves 

The Sun Forever Rising 

Underworld 

Superman Rising, Pt. 1 / A Book of Hours 

Beyond Good and Evil 

Monument Builder 

Monument Destroyer 

Urgrund 

So Begins the End 

The House of Belonging 

Earthling 

Flight Is Our Nature 

Indivisible 

And the Lion-Earth Did Roar, Pt. 1 

And the Lion-Earth Did Roar, Pt. 2 

Superman Rising, Pt. 2 / Immovable  

At the Speed of Force 

My Broken Boy 

That Terrible Strength 

An Eternal Reoccurrence of Change 

We Slay Ourselves 

Your Own House Turned to Ashes 

All of You Undisturbed Cities 

The Art of Preserving Fire 

The Crew at Warpower 

The Foundation Theme (from Zack Snyder’s Justice League) 

Batman, a Duty to Fight / To See 

Batman, an Invocation to Heal / To Be Seen  

Wonder Woman, a Call to Stand / A World Awakened  

Flash, The Space to Win / Our Legacy Is Now  

Hallelujah   Performed by Allison Crowe

 

ABOUT TOM HOLKENBORG 

Tom Holkenborg, aka Junkie XL, is a Grammy nominated multi-platinum producer, musician, composer and educator whose versatility puts him on the cutting edge of contemporary music, and whose thirst for innovation is helping to reimagine the world of composition.

 

A Full Contact Composer, Holkenborg is hands on at every stage of the composing process, a multi-instrumentalist who combines a mastery of studio engineering, classical musical training and an innate sense of curiosity. He’s as adept working with a 50 piece philharmonic orchestra as he is with a wall of modular synths, playing a bass guitar or building his own physical and digital instruments. His drive to reimagine what’s possible and share that knowledge with the next generation of composers is what makes Holkenborg a unique force, and one of the most in-demand film composers in the world. 

 

Tom’s film scoring credits have grossed over $2 billion at the box office and include Mad Max: Fury Road, Deadpool, Black Mass, Alita Battle Angel, Divergent, Brimstone, The Dark Tower, Tomb Raider, Terminator: Dark Fate, the record setting Sonic the Hedgehog and the forthcoming projects The 355, Justice League: The Snyder Cut, Godzilla vs Kong and Army Of The Dead. He has worked with directors including Peter Jackson, Robert Rodriguez, James Cameron, George Miller, Christopher Nolan, Zack Snyder and Tim Miller among many others. 

 

An educator as well as a creator, Tom is committed to breaking down the barriers of entry in the world of film composition, creating the free SCORE Academy program in Los Angeles and a music composition program at the ArtEZ conservatorium in his home country of the Netherlands. On YouTube, Tom hosts his educational series StudioTime, which is available for free and has been watched millions of times. 

 

Tom is able to draw on his extensive knowledge of classical forms and structures while keeping one finger planted firmly on the pulse of popular music. When his eclectic background is paired with his skill as a multi-instrumentalist (he plays keyboards, guitar, drums, violin, and bass) and a mastery of studio technology, a portrait emerges of an artist for whom anything is possible. Outside of his own artistry Tom’s desire to marry technology and classical composition to initiate change and evolution led him to partner with Orchestral Tools in 2019 to create Junkie XL Brass, his first sample library, making world-class sounds available to composers everywhere. 

 

The foundation for Tom’s work in film started in his native Holland, where he created multiple film scores, before undertaking mentorships with celebrated composers Harry Gregson Williams and Hans Zimmer, with whom he worked on projects like Inception, Batman vs Superman and Dark Knight Rises. Tom’s partnership with Hans was formative, enabling him to hone his own voice and style while learning from one of Hollywood's most influential composers. Tom’s own Hollywood journey really started to take flight in 2014 with his first major solo project, and the first of his many collaborations with Zack Snyder, 300: Rise Of An Empire. It was the beginning of a scoring schedule that has netted billions of box office dollars, included blockbusters and indie projects, seen Tom work with some of Hollywood’s most lauded directors, and kept him jam packed ever since. 

 

Holkenborg’s music career began in 1993 when he started the industrial rock band Nerv and was also producing hardcore and metal bands like Sepultura and Fear Factory. Drawn by electronic breakbeats he started Junkie XL in 1997 debuting with the album Saturday Teenage Kick. Holkenborg went on to produce five more albums under the Junkie XL moniker while playing headline shows all over the world. In 2002 the producer remixer scored a number 1 chart hit in 24 countries with his rework of “A Little Less Conversation”. Following its success Holkenborg collaborated with celebrated artists like Dave Gahan, Robert Smith, Chuck D, and remixed artists such as Coldplay, Depeche Mode, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and many more. In addition Holkenborg created the music for video games like FIFA, Need For Speed, The Sims, and SSX and commercials for global campaigns like Nike, Heineken, Adidas, Cadillac and VISA.

 

ABOUT WATERTOWER MUSIC

WaterTower Music, the in-house label for the WarnerMedia companies, releases recorded music as rich and diverse as the companies themselves. It has been the soundtrack home to many of the world’s most iconic films, television shows and games since 2001.