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Updated 3/14/02 Release dates [among other things] subject to change. Our mailorder pages feature all the titles below-- and more-- sorted by release date at the following links:
3/11/02,
3/25/02,
4/1/02 and 4/15/02
Our Feburary 2002 new release page can be found here.
 HAYDENSkyscraper National Park (BADMAN 981) CD/LP Released the week of March 11th, 2002 order from Midheaven mailorder Skyscraper National Park is the welcome return of Hayden from self-imposed three-year exile of silence. His previous Outpost/Geffen albums, Everything I Long For and The Closer I Get earned him a "vital" tag from the tastemakers at Spin, and his contribution of the title track to Steve Buscemi's Trees Lounge cemented his cult following. Hayden has since evolved into a near-mythical legend, subject to Bigfoot-like sightings and rumors of activity. His fans refuse to accept his absence as a permanent situation, and optimistically speculate about new releases just around the corner. They are finally correct. Hayden relies on his instincts and does what feel s most natural; honesty is the guiding principle of his guileless, gimmick-free songwriting. Skyscraper National Park, which the Toronto Sun calls "his best work yet," is raw and bleak, yet warm and bright. From a high falsetto to a low growl, from a distant piano and thin guitar to lush strings and horns, Hayden traverses the span of wide-open spaces to solitary introspection. Heartbreak and comfort rub elbows in the light and in the shadows. Hayden's subtle touch and easy sense of humor dispel misconceptions that his is a troubled and moody soul.
 ALI AKBAR KHANFrom Father To Son (AMMP 0209) CD Released the week of March 25th, 2002 order from Midheaven mailorder The art of Indian classical music has been passed down from father to son, generation to generation as naturally as time goes by. This particular school of music, the Baba Allauddin Senya Binkar Gharana, dates back to the 16th century and the courts of Emperor Akbar. Ali Akbar Khan was taught by his father, Baba Allauddin Khan, who told him to spread the music as far as the sun and the moon. Joining Khansahib on this recording is longterm rhythmic companion Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, the brilliant master of tabla, who credits his family for the encouragement and early training that have earned him a place among the greatest classical musicians of India. His style is based on the long training he received from his Guru, Santosh Krishna Biswas of Calcutta - the eminent exponent of the Lucknow Gharana. Khansahib's son, nineteen-year-old Alam Khan, follows in the footsteps of his eldest brothers Aashish Khan and the late Dhyanesh Khan, both of whom studied sarode with their father and grandfather. Alam has studied with his father since he was seven years old. Indian classical music's place in the history of music is unique: most of what is performed on stage is composed on the spot according to the rules of the tradition. For a student, this is the most challenging time of one's life - listening and responding at the feet of one's guru with an intensity felt every moment. The traditional raga performed here, "Ragini Puriya Dhanasri," is an evening raga with a mood of peace, pathos, joy and power. Its magic will pull you in and keep you involved until the last note of the performance. Since 1967, the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, California, is where Khansahib can be found, nine months of the year, teaching all levels of students; Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri has been the Director of Percussion here for 20 years as well. As Khansahib begins his 80th year, one of his goals is to open a public library and archive as part of the AACM facilities in San Rafael, consisting of his personal collection of concerts, recordings, photos, and articles; his father's handwritten composition books translated into English; and Khansahib's ongoing and past 34 years of classes in both audio and notated form, along with videos.
 ATOMIC BITCHWAXSpit Blood (METEORCITY MYC020) CD Released the week of March 25th, 2002 order from Midheaven mailorder They say the best things in life come through struggle and sacrifice. What with Atomic Bitchwax guitarist Ed Mundell being on call for the last seven years with his other band, arena-drug-rockers Monster Magnet, it's a wonder that the 'wax have managed to stick around through it all. But they've done more than just hang on, having risen to reign as the most mind-bending, jam-scorching power trio on the planet. One of the best things in life? Hell friggin' yeah! Spit Blood is The Atomic Bitchwax's third official slab of retro-boogie. It's a mile-marking interim record that encompasses a few early cuts, some brand-new experiments in wildness, a wickedly cosmic version of AC/DC's stadium classic "Dirty Deeds," and a massive multimedia documentary containing audio, video, and text coverage of the Spit Blood recording process, along with interviews, links, discography, and tons more. Witness, mortals, the all-important third step in Bitchwax's ascent up the ladder toward rock'n'roll immortality! Also packaged with Spit Blood for a limited time is MeteorCity's hellacious 2002 sampler of advance tracks of the best stuff the label's got on deck, including new material from Solace, Eternal Elysium, Orquesta Del Desierto, Slaprocket, The Mushroom River Band, and The Ribeye Brothers. Every rock fan will get a killer package when they buy the new Bitchwax. The Atomic Bitchwax wrench a sonic blast that's a living homage to the massive power grind from bands like Cactus, Blue Cheer, and Free. With a headful of THC to guide them as their backasses are blown apart by the constant shredding of Marshall stacks, the Atomic Bitchwax are the penultimate acid psych band of the season." -Focus It used to be when someone called something heavy they meant mind-blowing, and Atomic Bitchwax is heavy in just that way. The guitar lines are bolts of lightning ripping through vast cosmic spaces. The riffs are boulder-sized chunks. -Backfire Long, involved jams filled with the kind of wide-open spaces that allow Mundell to take flight with his soaring, intricate fretwork É this three-piece is certainly one of the heaviest and grooviest stoner metal bands to plug it in and turn it up." -CMJ
 TONY JOE WHITEs/t (SEPIA-TONE STONE03) CD Released the week of March 11th, 2002
order from Midheaven mailorder The self-titled third LP by Tony Joe White-- newly remastered for Sepia-Tone-- was originally released by Warner Bros. in 1971, a collection of soul-flavored, blues-drenched swamp rock with a few reflective, soul-tinged ballads about life and love thrown in. Recorded in Memphis, this is classic Tony Joe White: an influential mixture of rugged country and powerful rock songs garnished with gritty vocals, fuzzed-out wah-wah, and the brilliant sounds of the Memphis Horns. White has long occupied a revered place in the pantheon of completely laid-back Southern white-guy recordmakers (along with J.J. Cale, Don Williams, and Dan Penn). His style has been described by Jackson Griffith of Pulse as the "ideal soundtrack to watching the world fall apart from your front porch." Born in 1943, White was the youngest of seven children in a part-Cherokee family raised on a cotton farm near Oak Grove, Louisiana, and first showed an interest in music at the age of 16 when he heard an album by Lightning Hopkins. He later began performing at school dances and night clubs, first as Tony and the Mojos and then as Tony and the Twilights. "The Swamp Fox," as he came to be known, found himself in the national spotlight in the late '60s with his classic "Polk Salad Annie," a Top 10 hit later covered by Elvis Presley; other of White's songs were also covered by Elvis, by Dusty Springfield ("Willie and Laura Mae Jones"), by Hank Williams Jr., Brook Benton, and over a hundred other artists ("Rainy Night in Georgia"). Throughout the '70s, White toured with some of the biggest artists of the decade including Credence Clearwater Revival, Eric Clapton, and Joe Cocker, and scored another hit in the '80s when Tina Turner recorded "Steamy Windows."
 TONY JOE WHITEThe Train I'm On (SEPIA-TONE STONE 04) CD Released the week of March 25th, 2002
order from Midheaven mailorder After howling his way out of the swamplands of Louisiana into the national spotlight with his classics such as "Polk Salad Annie" and "Rainy Night In Georgia" in the late '60s, Tony Joe White toured throughout the '70s with some of the biggest artists of the decade. Dubbed "the godfather of swamp rock,'" White has a laid-back, misty, sensual charm and a voice to match. The way he tells a story, his southern drawl at times sounds almost like another language. It should also be noted that Tony Joe White had some of the coolest sideburns in rock'n'roll history and he actually made leather pants work. The Train I'm On marks the fifth album in Tony Joe White's career, his second recorded for Warner Bros. Produced by Jerry Wexler and recorded at the legendary Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama, The Train I'm On delivers more of his classic, swampy, soul-infused rock 'n' roll. This is the first time it has been available in the USA on CD.
DARRELL BANKSDarrell Banks Is Here (SEPIA-TONE STONE07) 12" Released the week of March 25th, 2002
order from Midheaven mailorder The Great Gaylord is absolutely correct: Darrell Banks' "Open the Door to Your Heart" is exemplary, significant soul music. "It is," says the WFMU deejay, "two-and-a-half minutes of flawlessness [that] cuts directly to the essence of soul." It's got the beat, it's got the sound, but what's more, it's got the expressive, pleading voice of Darrell Banks. He doesn't overdo it - he does it just enough, and wham! hits the listener with a wallop of rhythm & blues at its finest. The song debuted on the Cashbox Black Contemporary Chart at Number 45 on July 2, 1966. Six weeks later it was Number One for two weeks, knocked off by a Stevie Wonder record for a week before returning to the top spot again. This time The Supremes' "You Can't Hurry Love" brought it down for good.
Late in 1967, Atco originally issued Darrell Banks Is Here! LP, consisting of Banks' four singles, their B-sides, and two new tracks. The album is one of soul music's best, though it never achieved the cult status of Howard Tate's Get It While You Can or Edwin Starr's Soul Master, but collectors of Detroit soul music have long treasured this obscure gem.
The album starts with a fine ballad, "Here Come the Tears," written by Chicago songwriter Gerald Simms, who worked at such labels as Chess, Brunswick and OKeh as an arranger and producer. The second song, "I've Got That Feelin'," another tough Detroit production with punchy horns and a real boss beat was originally released as the B-side of "Tears." It was written by Jimmy Crosby, veteran R&B songwriter Rosemarie McCoy and Gene Redd, who had worked at King Records and went on to discover Kool & the Gang in 1969.
"I'm Gonna Hang My Head and Cry," never released at 45 RPM, shows Banks' total mastery of the soul ballad. "Look Into the Eyes of a Fool" is taken at a mid-tempo pace and features stops, much like a Four Tops record, though without the affect. It was originally the B-side of "Angel Baby." Side one ended with a perfect slice of Detroit soul, "Our Love (Is in the Pocket)." Written by a young George Clinton and Rosemarie McCoy, this fabulous hip-shaker's first life was as the B-side to "Open the Door," which opened side two, followed by "Angel Baby" (another dip into Motown's Jobete catalog, an up-tempo stormer written by Sylvia Moy and Henry Cosby, both of whom co-wrote with Stevie Wonder during the '60s), and "Someone (Somewhere) Needs You," a dance-floor mover and groover. Frank Wilson, a Motown songwriter and producer, wrote the song, which was first cut by Ike & Tina Turner for Loma in 1965.
Banks' soulful, gritty vocal is a highlight of "Baby What'cha Got (for Me)," as is the horn arrangement. The songwriting is credited to C. Hatcher and J. Barnes - that's right, Edwin Starr and J.J. Barnes. The album ends with "You Better Go," a sweet ballad by the prolific Teddy Randazzo, Lou Stallman and Bobby Weinstein that never appeared as a single.
-Freddie Patterson, The Boogaloo Omnibus
30-second RealAudio excerpts: Here Come
the Tears |
Click the titles below for details on specific new releases.
March 2002
ATOMIC BITCHWAX
DARREL BANKS
HAYDEN
ALI AKBAR KHAN
TONY JOE WHITE
TONY JOE WHITE
June 2002 new releases
Coming "soon":
dates subject to change
CHEATER SLICKS
SPEEDBALL BABY
JAWBREAKER
WARLOCKS
THE COUP
SPIRITU
DON COVAY & J. LEMON BLUES
INCREDIBLE STRING BAND
INCREDIBLE STRING BAND
SOLE
The releases above and on the left (as well as over 17,000 other
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