We didn’t post about new records last week since it was a holiday weekend so we’ve got a bunch of recent new vinyl releases to catch up on. The highly sought after Cure Record Store Day releases “Greatest Hits” and “Acoustic Hits” finally have a wide release, this time though they are on standard vinyl not the picture disc versions released on RSD. A couple key Iggy Pop albums “Idiot” and “Lust for Life” have been reissued and are now in stock. Soundtracks on vinyl are a big seller here at Backbeat and this week the True Romance soundtrack has been released. This one is on feather white & blood splatter vinyl and is limited to 2000 copies worldwide. Would you like to see us stock more soundtracks? Let us know!
Now on to some of the other new vinyl releases.
Ride – Weather Diaries
Produced by legendary DJ, producer and remixer Erol Alkan, ‘Weather Diaries’ is packed with all the classic elements that made Ride one of the defining bands of the early ‘90s. Trembling distortion, beautiful harmonies, pounding rhythms, shimmering soundscapes and great songwriting all combine to make an album that’s ambitious in scope, timeless and thoroughly addictive.
The first single from the album, ‘Charm Assault’ was unveiled in February to a flurry of acclaim from media and fans alike. Marrying the psychedelic muscle of Tame Impala’s “Elephant” with the rhythmic twists and turns of My Bloody Valentine’s “Feed me with your kiss”, Bell and Gardeners’ harmonies evoke The Who playing “A Quick One” at the Rolling Stones “Rock and roll circus”. The lyrics see Ride railing at the “focused, raw, reptilian ambition” of certain unspecified people in power, who “set fire to your world, and let it burn”. The song effortlessly flits from section to section, taking in influences ranging from Sonic Youth’s dungeon circa “Death Valley ’69” through to a jarring, repetitive chord sequence reminiscent of David Bowie’s “Chant of the ever circling Skeletal Family” – one of the songs Bowie wrote for a musical based on Orwell’s “1984”.
Brave New Waves – The Grapes of Wrath
On one of the earliest Brave New Waves sessions, The Grapes of Wrath performed cuts from their then-new Treehouse album, adding cover versions to kick things off in Studio 13, Montreal. A few years later, they would be invited once again to do an acoustic set, this time in promotion of the 1991 album These Days.
The CBC sessions capture the Grapes in their youth, full of energy and excitement, with a jam-like quality to the music that is less apparent on the album versions. The sessions have never been released commercially.
The Grapes of Wrath formed in 1983 and signed to Nettwerk Records the following year. Their albums Treehouse, Now & Again, These Days and the 2013 High Road are classics in Canadian rock, spawning such hits as “Peace of Mind” and “I Am Here.”
The Grapes of Wrath’s Brave New Waves Session was recorded on May 25th, 1988. The recording is taken from the original CBC Archives’ tape and remastered at Grey Market Mastering in Montreal, by Harris Newman.
Brave New Waves – Rheostatics
Although Brave New Waves had had guest artists perform in-studio since the show’s first year on air (1984), the idea to do regular sessions with primarily Canadian bands was not made a reality until February, 1988, when the now infamous Studio 13 was ready in Montreal.
Invited to do Brave New Waves’ inaugural session in the newly built studio was the Rheostatics, and so it is only fitting, nearly 30 years later, that the first-released Brave New Waves Session is also the same band, and a band that symbolizes Canadian music and the Canadian imaginary.
Formed in 1978, the Rheostatics, best-known for their mid-90s hit “Claire” are consistently rated as one of Canada’s greatest bands, and their albums, including Whale Music, Melville, and Introducing Happiness amongst Canada’s best. Many of the band’s best-loved songs, such as “Dopefiends and Boozehounds” and “Christopher,” appear in early, raw versions on this session.
The Rheostatics’ Brave New Waves Session was recorded on February 7th, 1988. The recording is taken from the original CBC Archives’ reel and remastered at Grey Market Mastering in Montreal, by Harris Newman.
Gotta go get a new belt…
