New Daniel Lanois makes a Happy New Year

Now any new material from Daniel Lanois is good to hear, but he has some really cool things happening soon. Along with his brand new record/cd which you can buy right now from his new label and site, he will also be releasing a series of new recordings that wouldn't ordinarily get released in the proper fashion. They are coming out in a series called "The Omni series" Here is a description from his site.

"For every song of mine that gets released there is an abundance

of material that does not. These pieces, often favorites of mine remain

unheard, so Red Floor and I have decided to release this body of

work as The Omni Series. At the moment we are planning six cds. Each

will be thematically assembled to represent a certain part of my work.

For example, one will be called Steel, featuring steel guitar instrumentals

that I love, some of them recorded during the Slingblade Teatro era,

and others more contemporary. They are melodic, serene, and

transporting, the sort of cd that I personally love to hear. Another,

provisionally titled Midnight, will feature more south of the border

psychedelic material that could be viewed as a cousin to Belladonna.

So keep an eye on the Red Floor site for specifics on release dates and so on.

This work of course will be available as a digital download in full resolution

at the same price as MP3 resolution. Your support on this is appreciated,

conventional record company expectations do not allow for

material like this to flourish into the market place,

but we are believers and I think you will be too."

http://redfloorrecords.com/HereIsWhatIs.htm


Tracks are available on the site as well.

Happy New Year!

Best Cds Of 2007

Now normally I ignore lists like these because there are so many of them. But I need something to fill the empty space here and well, since everyone else is doing them, why shouldn't I? 2007 was a pretty good year for me cd release wise. Even though Sufjan didn't release anything, there were still a few jems. Looking at some of the other lists of faves, I see there were a lot of records I missed. Oh well. At the end, I've listed some of the records that I was surprised at how much I didn't like them. The first five are my favourites and the ones that follow are in no particular order.

My Favourites of 2007:

1. SHOCKING PINKS self titled
2. ELSIANE Hybrid
3. BASIA BULAT Oh, My Darling
4. CARIBOU Andorra
5. LUCINDA WILLIAMS West

The rest in no particular order:

THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS Challengers
COCOROSIE The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn
AU REVOIR SIMONE The Bird Of music
ANDREW BIRD Armchair Apocrypha
DEAN & BRITTA Back Numbers
GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS Ongiara
LAURA VEIRS Saltbreakers
NINA NASTASIA & JIM WHITE You Follow Me
FEIST The Reminder
IRON & WINE The Sheherd's dog
KEVIN DREW Spirits If
FUTURE CONDITIONAL We Don't Just disappear
DURUTTI COLUMN Idiot Savants
PIANO MAGIC Part Monster
TEXTILE RANCH Bird Heart In Wool
PATRICK WOLF The Magic Position
LILLY ALLEN Littlest Things
SISSY WISH Beauties Never Die
BLOW Poor Aim Love Songs
STARS In Our Bedroom After The War
SANDRO PERRI Tiny Mirrors
ELECTRELANE No Shouts, No Calls
AKRON FAMILY - Love Is Simple
HRSTA Ghosts Will Come and Kiss Our Eyes
KLIMA self titled
THE ACORN Glory Hope Mountain
RADIOHEAD In Rainbows
HOLY FUCK self titled
MATH AND PHYSICS CLUB Baby I'm Yours Ep
JONQUIL Lions
DAVID LYNCH Inland Empire Soundtrack
ROBERT WYATT Comicopera


Some of the disappointments of 2007:

PJ HARVEY White Chalk
GRINDERMAN self titled
PSYCHIC TV Hell Is Invisible...Heaven Is Here
GITHEAD Art Pop
THROBBING GRISTLE Part Two: The Endless Not
JOY DIVISION Closer (Expanded & Remastered)
JOY DIVISION Still (Remastered & Expanded)
JOY DIVISION Unknown Pleasures (Remastered & Expanded)

The last 3 Joy Division cds were excellent examples of record company greed. These were completely unnecessary releases. Yeah, ok, they are remastered, supposedly, but did it improve it all that much? I don't think so and the extra live material is all pretty much a complete waste of time. There are far better bootleg recordings out there that sound 10 times better. If you avoid 3 cds in the new year, make it these 3.

And speaking of Martin Hannett, finally the last great injustice to cd releasedom has been rectified. Three John Cooper Clark cds came out last year. ZIP STYLE METHOD, DISGUISE IN LOVE and SNAP, CRACKLE AND BOP. It's been a long wait, but it's over and they've never sounded better.

Now, one more release from last year that I must mention. The re-release of the fantastic Les Disques du Crepuscule compilation FRUIT OF THE ORIGINAL SIN. There's far too much to type here so it's time to copy and paste from Amazon.

Product Description:
LTM is proud to announce the first complete CD release of the classic 1981 compilation album The Fruit of the Original Sin, first released on chic Belgian indie label Les Disques du Crepuscule. Originally released as a deluxe double album package in November 1981, The Fruit of the Original Sin featured 24 exclusive tracks from the international avant garde and new wave, as well as the celebrated Factory Records and Postcard rosters. Then, as now, the contributing artists include William S. Burroughs, The Durutti Column, Paul Haig, Tuxedomoon, Wim Mertens, DNA, Richard Jobson, Marine, The French Impressionists and Peter Gordon. The programme also includes an extended interview with acclaimed French author Marguerite Duras. The original double album now features 8 bonus tracks, including both sides of long-lost singles by Paul Haig (Soon/Summertime) and noted New York visual artist Lawrence Weiner (Deutsche Angst/Where It Came From), as well as a rare track (Matters of Theory) by The Lost Jockey, the modernist ensemble featuring composer Andrew Poppy. The 12 page facsimile booklet features original artwork by Benoit Hennebert and Jean-François Octave, as well as archive images and detailed liner notes. The original cover art by Hennebert is widely recognised as one of his very best designs. This new double CD edition has been digitally remastered from the original master tapes, and features 125 minutes of material. Most of the tracks featured here remain unavailable elsewhere.



Fruit Of The Original Sin

Beautiful Video

Wonderful Hitchens

You have to have a lot of respect for a man who tells it like it is. Christopher Hitchens latest book is called God Is Not Great and I recommend it. Unless you are a big fan of God. He's speaking about the recently deceased Reverend Jerry Falwell

Fassbinder's Berlin Alexanderplatz Coming To Dvd

Rainer Werner Fassbinder's controversial, fifteen-hour-plus Berlin Alexanderplatz, based on Alfred Doblin's great modernist novel, was the crowning achievement of a prolific director who, at age thirty-four, had already made forty films. Fassbinder's immersive epic, restored in 2006 and available on DVD in this country for the first time, follows the hulking, childlike ex-convict Franz Biberkopf (Gunter Lamprecht) as he attempts to "become an honest soul" amidst the corrosive urban landscape of Weimar-era Germany. With equal parts cynicism and humanity, Fassbinder details a mammoth portrait of a common man struggling to survive in a viciously uncommon time.

http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=411

Lola fest 2007

This year's Lola Festival brings a wide selection of bands and visual artists as well as the Canadian premiere of Brian Eno's 77 Million Paintings. The events take place September 20-23.

http://www.lolafest.com/index.html

Backyard Flowers

Bruce Peninsula, Summer 2007

Pictures taken at Bass Lake near Owen sound, Ontario, July 2007

Monday November 17 1986