Monday, February 07, 2005

 

BESTofJAN05: "DIESEL U MUSIC" LAUNCH PARTY

Q. What do Louis XIV, Avril Lavigne, and Diesel have in common?
A: They all invaded Ivar on the 13th of January...

....where a packed house celebrated the launch of Diesel U Music, an initiative to give exposure to new bands "under the radar of mainstream radio and TV" -- "an international music competition for unsigned, unsung and unseen talents". Four of those talents were on when I arrived: Louis XIV, their sound sounding fresh even though this quartet coulda crashlanded from CBGBs circa '78. They had the crowd transfixed (perhaps because many in attendance could not recall 1978 -- "what be these strange sweet sounds betwixt my ears?!"). Part Bowie, part Stooges, part punk/new-wave, part Power Pop, Louis XIV rocked, with a look hip yet familiar -- longish shaggy hair, mod Brit-sleek attire and black eyeliner.

And then, Holy Synchronicity, I see a swarm of people weaving through the crowd, and in the Eye of the storm is none other than the Queen of Black Eyeliner --- Avril Lavigne, wearing an engineers cap, leading her posse to the VIP area. This mademoiselle looms large in print, but in real life, tres tres petite! And ironically, she was sans the famed overabundance of black eyeliner. Oh sure, there was some, but not the massive amounts she used to be known for.

Yes, our favorite sk8rgrrl is growing up, and perhaps so is a New Sound. Perhaps a torch was passing last night to a New Wave of eyelinered rockers, from one French-monikered music act to the Next. Perhaps I am at Ground Zero of a new French Revolution... in music!

Wait -- who am I, Kurt Loder?

But hey, you really should check out Louis XIV while you can. Because if Avril was there, who knows, maybe she knows something we should know. You know?

Many thanks to Nicole and Reagan at Landers PR for all their assistance on this event. Check out the raucous rock of Louis XIV on the KCRW website, where you can hear their archived performance from a recent Morning Becomes Eclectic show.

 

REVIEW: "THE BEATLES: THE CAPITOL ALBUMS VOL. 1" CD BOXSET

by Don Rose



The subtitle to this collection coulda been "The Beatle Box you Better Buy your Baby Boomer".

Or, "The Ka-ching Continues".

Yes, serious coin careened into Capitol coffers this Christmas, and should still be pouring in, as this long-overdue remastered-rerelease of the first four American Beatle albums is finally in fans' hands.
Meet the Beatles, The Beatles Second Album, Something New, and Beatles '65 can finally be yours, in one set, with both mono AND stereo mixes on each disc, digitally remastered. What a joy to hear all these sonically scintillating stereo songs -- like a great novel you can't put down, I devoured all the notes in one sitting. (You might want to reserve some time the first time you spend time with these discs.)

I also like the way the four discs are packaged -- pull them out of the box and it's like you're holding mini versions of those original four vinyl albums. The original front and back covers of the vinyl versions are reproduced in exact detail. A nice touch of nostalgia, and also information; I loved reading the original notes that appeared on each album. Interesting how the "Meet The Beatles" debut cover billed the band as a "pop combo", not a rock band.

Come to think of it, perhaps "pop combo" IS the best description for these moptops. Sure, there is great rock on the quartet's first disc-quartet (like "Rock 'n Roll Music" -- which outrocks the original by its creator, Chuck Berry -- as well as "Slow Down", "Roll Over Beethoven" and many more). But there are great melodic croonfests and ballads too (like Paul doing "Till There Was You", "And I Love Her" and "I'll Follow The Sun"). Want a little countryesque pickin' and rabble rousin'? That's here too ("She's A Woman", "Honey Don't", "I'm A Loser", "Matchbox" and "Everybody's Tryin' To Be My Baby"). Heck, you even get a song sung German (a version of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" meant as a nod to their early Deutschland fans, where they trained for greatness as rough youths; listen for the opening flubbed vocal in your right ear at the very very beginning!). Yes, there truly is something for every musical taste on these four CDs -- great pop in all its forms, combined in unique, satisfying ways.

While each CD does contain all the original tracks in both stereo and mono, this reviewer gave the edge to the stereo mixes. I went back and forth on several tunes, and couldn't find one that seemed better in mono ("I Saw Her Standing There" is a good example, from the first record -- the stereo "Standing" simply sends an emotion explosion the mono can't match). For Beatlemaniacs who simply must own all songs in all forms, of course, this two-discs-in-one inclusiveness will be a welcome feature. (But will they experience the irony of playing both versions of "Not A Second Time"?)

Also in the box is a fine photo booklet about the band (as all boxsets must naturally contain) -- with words from the four lads themselves. Kinda like a super-condensed mini-earlyyears Beatles Anthology. It's pleasing to peruse, informative and fun -- but for such an important boxset I couldn't help wishing it was a little longer, a little larger, a little more chock full of rare/unseen pix, info and liner notes. Of course, I'll take what I can get; it's just that for the best band ever, I expect the very best -- and the box could have held a bigger booklet. (Chris Carter, host of L.A.'s great radio show "Breakfast with the Beatles", has mentioned the existence of another booklet that can fit into the box, and serves as a nice companion to the official booklet; according to WhatGoesOn.com , this item "is available exclusively through [Beatle author] Bruce Spizer's website www.beatle.net at a cost of $3, which includes shipping and handling". Sounds good.)

Another interesting touch: each disc says "Recorded In England". Wow. I guess that narrows it down. (I assume this is a relic from the original vinyl days, when American audiences had never experienced an English rock/pop band that was so, well, beatific!).

So, to sum up:
Are all the songs here from the first four Fab Four albums, with dual mixes?
Yep.

Is there a booklet included, with cool pix and quips?
Yep.
Is there an extra little guitar-sliding-lick I never heard before, at the very very end of "Tell Me Why"?
Yep!
Were all the songs recorded in England?
Bloody well right.

Do you have to play the entire disc all the way through before taking it out of your player?
Nope.
(Just wanted to see if you were paying attention.)

But you WILL want to play all the songs over and over, over the years, and you won't get over it!

Yes, this Beatle box is a marvelous must-have, a fine compilation by Capitol that should help keep the boys in the public consciousness well into this new century and beyond. And well they should be -- because this "pop combo" was simply the most versatile, talented, talked-about, prolific, popular and influential musical group of the sixties, of the last century, and perhaps of all time.

And now, to end my review of the Fab Four's First Four, four more words:
Bring on Volume Two!


---------------------------------------
THE BOXSET SONGS
(this list shows when each original U.S. LP was released,
and the songs that appeared on its original A and B sides
;
each tune appears twice in the boxset -- one stereo, one mono
):

1964-01-20 - Meet The Beatles!
A: "I Want To Hold Your Hand"; "I Saw Her Standing There"; "This Boy"; "It Won't Be Long"; "All I've Got To Do"; "All My Loving";
B: "Don't Bother Me"; "Little Child"; "Till There Was You"; "Hold Me Tight"; "I Wanna Be Your Man"; "Not A Second Time"

1964-04-10 - The Beatles' Second Album
A: "Roll Over Beethoven"; "Thank You Girl"; "You Really Got A Hold On Me"; "Devil In Her Heart"; "Money (That's What I Want)"; "You Can't Do That";
B: "Long Tall Sally"; "I Call Your Name"; "Please Mister Postman"; "I'll Get You"; "She Loves You"

1964-07-20 - Something New
A: "I'll Cry Instead"; "Things We Said Today"; "Anytime At All"; "When I Get Home"; "Slow Down"; "Matchbox";
B: "Tell Me Why"; "And I Love Her"; "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You"; "If I Fell"; "Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand"

1964-12-15 - Beatles '65
A: "No Reply"; "I'm A Loser"; "Baby's In Black"; "Rock And Roll Music"; "I'll Follow The Sun"; "Mr Moonlight";
B: "Honey Don't"; "I'll Be Back"; "She's A Woman"; "I Feel Fine"; "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby"


Sunday, February 06, 2005

 

COMMENTARY: A CAPITOL SUGGESTION (BEST BEATLE BOXSET BET)

FOUR MORE FOURS IN STORE FOR FUN GALORE?

by Don Rose

So the excellent Volume 1 of "The Beatles - The Capitol Albums" is now out (see my review elsewhere in this TRR:MUSIC section). This could've been called "The Beatles 1964 Boxset"; all 4 discs originally came out in '64:

VOL1: Meet The Beatles, The Beatles Second Album, Something New, Beatles '65.

But what of the next volumes, what will they contain? If it was up to me, here is how I'd continue the series:
put out 4 more boxsets of 4, for a grand total of 5 sets of 4 discs:

VOL2: The Early Beatles, Beatles VI, Help!, Rubber Soul. (a.k.a. the '65 box).

VOL3: Yesterday... And Today, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour. ('66-'67).

VOL4: The White Album Boxset. ('68).

VOL5: Yellow Submarine, Abbey Road, Hey Jude, Let It Be. ('69-'70).

The White Album was the biggest selling album of the 60's decade, and deserves its own special box -- which could contain outtakes and demos galore, an art/photo booklet, perhaps interviews from that time, and so on. Two discs for the original album, plus two bonus discs.

These hypothetical five boxes -- 20 discs in all -- would give any music buff a comprehensive collection covering the Beatles career. However, there is one minor problem: there is one major smash hit that is not accounted for in the above five boxsets, as far as I can tell. Can you guess what it is? Write in your answers here, and we will post the answer in the coming weeks. To "Help!" you out, here is what the track listings of the above sets (IF my suggestion was actually used) would look like; each album is listed with the date it was originally released as well as what was on its A/B sides (A/B/C/D for the White Album):

VOL2:

1965-03-22 - The Early Beatles (US LP Release, Capitol)
A: "Love Me Do"; "Twist And Shout"; "Anna (Go To Him)"; "Chains"; "Boys"; "Ask Me Why";
B: "Please Please Me"; "PS I Love You"; "Baby It's You"; "A Taste Of Honey"; "Do You Want To Know A Secret"

1965-06-14 - Beatles VI (US LP Release, Capitol)
A: "Kansas City — Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!"; "Eight Days A Week"; "You Like Me Too Much"; "Bad Boy"; "I Don't Want To Spoil The Party"; "Words Of Love";
B: "What You're Doing"; "Yes It Is"; "Dizzy Miss Lizzy"; "Tell Me What You See"; "Every Little Thing"

1965-08-13 - Help! (US LP Release, Capitol)
A: "James Bond Theme" (Soundtrack Instrumental); "Help!"; "The Night Before"; "From Me To You Fantasy" (Soundtrack Instrumental); "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away"; "I Need You"; "In The Tyrol" (Soundtrack Instrumental);
B: "The Bitter End" / "You Can't Do That" (Soundtrack Instrumental); "You're Going To Lose That Girl"; "The Chase" (Soundtrack Instrumental); "Another Girl"; "Another Hard Day's Night" (Soundtrack Instrumental); "Ticket To Ride"

1965-12-06 - Rubber Soul (US LP Release, Capitol)
A: "I've Just Seen A Face"; "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)"; "You Won't See Me"; "Think For Yourself"; "The Word"; "Michelle";
B: "It's Only Love"; "Girl"; "I'm Looking Through You"; "In My Life"; "Wait"; "Run For Your Life"

VOL 3:

1966-06-20 - "Yesterday" ... And Today (US LP Release, Capitol)
A: "Drive My Car"; "I'm Only Sleeping"; "Nowhere Man"; "Doctor Robert"; "Yesterday"; "Act Naturally";
B:"And Your Bird Can Sing"; "If I Needed Someone"; "We Can Work It Out"; "What Goes On"; "Day Tripper"

1966-08-08 - Revolver (US LP Release, Capitol)
A: "Taxman"; "Eleanor Rigby"; "Love You To"; "Here, There And Everywhere"; "Yellow Submarine"; "She Said She Said";
B: "Good Day Sunshine"; "For No One"; "I Want To Tell You"; "Got To Get You Into My Life"; "Tomorrow Never Knows"

1967-06-02 - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (US LP Release, Capitol)
A: "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"; "With A Little Help From My Friends"; "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds"; "Getting Better"; "Fixing A Hole"; "She's Leaving Home"; "Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite!";
B: "Within You Without You"; "When I'm Sixty-Four"; "Lovely Rita"; "Good Morning Good Morning"; "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)"; "A Day In The Life"

1967-11-27 - Magical Mystery Tour (US LP Release, Capitol)
A: "Magical Mystery Tour"; "The Fool On The Hill"; "Flying"; "Blue Jay Way"; "Your Mother Should Know"; "I Am The Walrus";
B: "Hello Goodbye"; "Strawberry Fields Forever"; "Penny Lane"; "Baby, You're A Rich Man"; "All You Need Is Love"

VOL 4:

1968-11-25 - The Beatles ("White Album") (US LP Release, Apple [Capitol])
A: "Back In The USSR"; "Dear Prudence"; "Glass Onion"; "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"; "Wild Honey Pie"; "The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill"; "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"; "Happiness Is A Warm Gun";
B: "Martha My Dear"; "I'm So Tired"; "Blackbird"; "Piggies"; "Rocky Raccoon"; "Don't Pass Me By"; "Why Don't We Do It In The Road"; "I Will"; "Julia";
C: "Birthday"; "Yer Blues"; "Mother Nature's Son"; "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey"; "Sexy Sadie"; "Helter Skelter"; "Long Long Long";
D: "Revolution 1"; "Honey Pie"; "Savoy Truffle"; "Cry Baby Cry"; "Can You Take Me Back" (Untitled Song Fragment); "Revolution 9"; "Good Night"

...plus two bonus discs

VOL 5:

1969-01-13 - Yellow Submarine (US LP Release, Apple [Capitol])
A: "Yellow Submarine"; "Only A Northern Song"; "All Together Now"; "Hey Bulldog"; "It's All Too Much"; "All You Need Is Love";
B: Soundtrack Instrumentals: "Pepperland"; "Sea Of Time" / "Sea Of Holes"; "Sea Of Monsters"; "March Of The Meanies"; "Pepperland Laid Waste"; "Yellow Submarine In Pepperland"

1969-10-01 - Abbey Road (Apple [Capitol])
A: "Come Together"; "Something"; "Maxwell's Silver Hammer"; "Oh! Darling"; "Octopus's Garden"; "I Want You (She's So Heavy)";
B: "Here Comes The Sun"; "Because"; "You Never Give Me Your Money"; "Sun King" / "Mean Mr Mustard"; "Polythene Pam" / "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window"; "Golden Slumbers" / "Carry That Weight"; "The End"; "Her Majesty"

1970-02-26 - Hey Jude (US LP Release, Apple [Capitol])
A: "Can't Buy Me Love"; "I Should Have Known Better"; "Paperback Writer"; "Rain"; "Lady Madonna"; "Revolution";
B: "Hey Jude"; "Old Brown Shoe"; "Don't Let Me Down"; "The Ballad Of John And Yoko"

1970-05-18 - Let It Be (US LP Release, Apple [Capitol])
A: "Two Of Us"; "Dig A Pony"; "Across The Universe"; "I Me Mine"; "Dig It"; "Let It Be"; "Maggie Mae";
B: "I've Got A Feeling"; "The One After 909"; "The Long And Winding Road"; "For You Blue"; "Get Back"

Note: the above track listings were compiled by Yrjö Heinonen, based on data in Mark Lewisohn's book on the Beatles' recording sessions. To see Heinonen's complete Beatles discography, listing all singles and albums officially released by the Fabs in the US and UK between 1962 and 1970, go to: http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/VOLUME03/Songwriting_recording_Appendix1.html .