Month: November 2020 (Page 9 of 10)

Paul McCartney “McCartney III”
CD/Vinyl/Download

Next up for Beatles Day in The 2020 PopCult Gift Guide we have brand-new music from Sir Paul. This is another pre-order, due out on December 11, of a brand-new Paul McCartney album, recorded during the pandemic lockdown–or “rockdown” as McCartney calls it–and it’s the third in a series of albums where almost every instrument and voice is performed by McCartney himself.

Paul McCartney will release McCartney III on December 11th. Paul hadn’t planned to release an album in 2020, but in the isolation of “Rockdown,” he found himself fleshing out some existing musical sketches and creating new ones. Before long an eclectic collection of spontaneous songs would become McCartney III: a stripped, self-produced solo work marking the opening of a new decade. Built mostly from live takes of Paul on vocals & guitar/piano, overdubbing bass, drums, etc. atop this foundation.

2020 marks 50 years since Paul McCartney released his self-titled first solo album. Featuring Paul playing every instrument and writing and recording every song, McCartney’s effortless charms have only grown in stature and influence over time. The chart-topping album would signify not only a creative rebirth for Paul, but also as a template for generations of indie and lo-fi musicians seeking to emulate its warm homespun vibe and timeless tunes including ’Maybe I’m Amazed’, ‘Every Night’ and ’The Lovely Linda’.

In 1980, 10 years from the release of McCartney, Paul wrapped up the decade of Wings with the surprise release of his second solo album, the electronic-tinged McCartney II. Once again featuring Paul entirely on his own, McCartney II would come to be regarded as a leftfield classic, with classic cuts such as ’Coming Up’, ‘Temporary Secretary’ and ’Waterfalls’.   Hard as it is to believe, it’s only been two years since Egypt Station went #1–and it was only last year that Paul’s Freshen Up tour played its last show before Covid hit pause on live music, a legendary blowout at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

Recorded earlier this year in Sussex, McCartney III is mostly built from live takes of Paul on vocals and guitar or piano, overdubbing his bass playing, drumming, etc. atop that foundation. The process first sparked when Paul returned to an unreleased track from the early 90s, ’When Winter Comes’ (co-produced by George Martin). Paul crafted a new passage for the song, giving rise to album opener ’Long Tailed Winter Bird’—while ’When Winter Comes’, featuring its new 2020 intro ’Winter Bird’, became the new album’s grand finale.

This album will be the perfect gift for any fan of McCartney or The Beatles who will be excited to hear new music from the 78-year-old wunderkind. You can pre-order it from Amazon, or if your giftee is into colored vinyl, there are quite a few retailer limited edition exclusives in different colors like pink, red, green, yellow (sold out), white (independent record shops only), blue (Australia),and “Coke bottle” clear (also sold out already).

Here’s a short trailer for the album…

Today is Beatles Day at The 2020 PopCult Gift Guide, and we’re going to bring you four entries that focus on each of the Fab Four. Some are music. Some are books. Our first pick today is a our first double entry because it suggests both, a new John Lennon “Best of” boxed set, and a coffee table book devoted to a classic album of his.

GIMME SOME TRUTH: The Ultimate Mixes
[2 CD/Blu Ray Deluxe Boxed Set]
John Lennon
Remixed music produced by Sean Ono Lennon
Universal Music Group
$65

To mark the 80th anniversary of the birth of John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Sean Ono Lennon and Universal Music Group have released Gimme Some Truth: The Ultimate Mixes in a variety of formats and prices. We’re going to look at the 2CD/Blu Ray version because it’s got the most cool stuff with it.

We begin with the PR blurb:

The definitive new Best Of John Lennon – 36 tracks completely remixed from master tapes, giving these classic songs a new life for generations to come and sounding better than ever before. 2 CD/Blu-ray features 36 tracks in hi-res stereo 96/24 PCM, new 5.1 surround mixes and Dolby Atmos for the ultimate immersive experience. With an incredible 124-page book with rare photos and extensive notes from John, Yoko and more. Foldout 2-sided poster, 2 postcards and GIMME SOME TRUTH. bumper sticker.

If you are a fan of John Lennon and The Beatles, you will enjoy this reminder of the musical genius we lost almost forty years ago. This is also a good reminder of how wide-ranging Lennon was as a songwriter. Gimme Some Truthhas everything from rockers to ballads, protest songs to pop masterpieces, introspective soul-revealing epics to silly love songs. You’l find everything from the proto-metal scream of “Cold Turkey” to the tender fatherly ode of “Beautiful Boy.”

The remixes, using analog equipment and the original master tapes, are a bit of a sonic revelation. There are no major shocks or surprises here, but the new mixes have a remarkable clarity and sound absolutely pristine.

GIMME SOME TRUTH: The Ultimate Mixes is a good gift idea for the die-hard fan or a great entry-level collection for a Lennon newbie. The new mixes and the book make it really worthwhile. You should be able to buy or order this from any retailer who sells CDs.

John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band
by John Lennon and Yoko Ono
Weldon Owen
ISBN-13 : 978-1681885896
$50.00 (to be released November 17. Pre-order at Amazon now)

Fifty years after its release, John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band is celebrated in the pages of a beautiful coffee table book that would be the perfect gift for any fan of the album, or anyone who wants to learn the inner workings of the former Beatle and his wife at a key time, following the breakup of the biggest band in the world. This is a definitive, in-depth, revelatory exploration of John Lennon’s intensely personal first major solo album after the breakup of the Beatles.

Described by Lennon as “the best thing I’ve ever done,” and widely regarded as his best solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band was released on 11 December 1970. With first-hand commentary by Lennon, Ono, and other members of the band, and packed with previously unseen photographs by those who documented their lives, this incisive volume offers new insights into the raw emotions and open mindset of Lennon after marriage to Ono and the breakup of the Beatles, to the making of the album and revealing interview with Jann Wenner in December 1970.

Primal therapy had a huge impact on Lennon’s songwriting, resulting in the creation of intensely personal, soul-baring tracks. This book takes his lyrics as a starting point and explores Lennon’s life, career, and self-perception, from “performing flea” with the Beatles to authenticity as a solo artist.

This is a treasure trove for anyone who considers Lennon to be their musical hero.

Todd McFarlane’s RAW 10 Figures
$9.99 to $19.99, exclusively at Walmart

I first told you about this cool new action figure line back in July. Now this Walmart-exclusive line has hit stores and is also available online, and I’ve gotten my hands on them. They are extremely impressive for the price.

Recommended for kids and adult collectors, this line of four action figures (so far) takes the concept of wild animals and combines with robotics to create some really cool-looking new monster figures.

Toy and Comics impressario, Todd McFarlane has struck a deal with Walmart to sell a line of toys based on characters who first appeared in his comic book series, Spawn. Cy-Gor, a cybernetic gorilla was the result of experiments done on an Army buddy friend of Al Simmons, before he became the avenging undead superhero known as “Spawn.”

This is not Cy-Gor’s first appearance as a toy, but now he’s the star figure in a line of cybernetic animal hybrids with human minds, known as RAW 10.

McFarlane and the award-winning McFarlane Toys’ design team have created a brand-new toy line and online comic series for creature and monster fans of all ages. This is a delightfully cheesy B-movie concept executed in glorious plastic that reminds me of some of the acid-trip toys we had back in the 1960s. The figures are top-notch with decent articulation for the price.

The price is a strong selling point. There are four figures. Two cost twenty bucks each, and two cost ten bucks each, so you can collect the entire first series for sixty bucks.

With a robotic gorilla, shark, raptor and cobra, you get a great mix of monster animals that can interact with your other action figures. These guys even play well with 1/6 figures…or so I’m told.

Robot animals gone wild–who can resist that? You can order these from Walmart, and if you get the whole set, you might be able to get free shipping.

DC Goes to War
by Robert Kanigher and various
DC Comics
ISBN-13 : 978-1779500151
$39.99

This is a pretty decent hardcover compilation of great War comics. From the 1950s to the 1980s DC’s War comics boasted some of the top creators in the company’s history, and this hardcover collection includes work by Joe Kubert, Joe Simon & Jack Kirby, Alex Toth, Russ Heath, Mort Drucker, John Severin, Garth Ennis, Eduardo Baretto and more.  In my original review I complained about how much this book overlaps with a previous compilation, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a newly-printed collection of terrfic war comics.

Four of the stories collected in DC Goes To War were not included in the previous collection, and only three of those were published in the ensuing forty-plus years since that first collection. One of those newer stories, an excellect Enemy Ace mini-series from 2001, written by Garth Ennis, takes up the last 100 pages of this 352-page collection. It’s a great story and well deserving of a reprint.

DC Goes To War includes the first notable appearances of Blackhawk, Hop Harrigan, Sgt. Rock, The Haunted Tank, The Unknown Soldier, Capt. Hunter, Gunner and Pooch, Mlle. Marie and Enemy Ace. This book makes for a good overview and introduction to the vast pantheon of DC’s classic war comics.

Since DC shut down their war comics in the mid-1980s, there haven’t been many memorable war comics published by them. Many of the better recent stories are already collected in hardcover or paperback form.

As I said, DC Goes To War is a terrific collection, if you don’t already have the 1979 book, America at War: The Best of DC War Comics. It’s a good introduction to DC’s war comics, and the production is pretty decent. You can order it from any bookseller by using the ISBN code, or you can get it at a discount from Amazon.

Highly recommended for fans of well-crafted comic books, thrilling war adventures, or high-quality art.

Tears For Fears
The Seeds Of Love [4CD/Blu-ray Box Set]
CD

This is my favorite album by Tears For Fears.

When it was originally released in 1989, I was not really a big fan of the band. This was a game-changer, with every track a strong song, powerful guest vocals by Oleta Adams, and a bit of a psychedelic gloss sprayed over the album, particularly on the title track, that parked this right in my wheelhouse.

This edition contains not only the original album, but a new 5.1 mix by Steven Wilson which was done in conjunction with Roland Orzabal, as well as all the relevant B-Sides, alternate mixes and around 60 minutes of previously unheard demos and live rehearsals. The set is housed in a shoe box style box (similar to the band’sprevious two deluxes reissues) with an extensive booklet, with new interviews by Super Deluxe editor Paul Sinclair with the band and other players on the album. Also contains the tour program.

The demos and rehearsals give you a peek behind the curtain at how this very expensive and long-gestating album was recorded, and the new mix by Steven Wilson brings a new clarity to the music that wasn’t always there in previous digital releases.

Recommended for fans of Tears For Fears, fans of 1980s music and fans of quality psychedelic sounds. Available from Amazon in a variety of configurations, this link will take you to the most deluxe of the lot.

Check out that glorious title track…

The Empty Hearts “The Second Album”
Vinyl/CD/Download

Even though The Empty Hearts band features members of Blondie, The Cars, Chesterfield Kings and The Romantics—as well as being christened by Little Steven Van Zandt from his super-secret list of unused band names—this is no cynically constructed super group.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame drummer Clem Burke, two-time Grammy nominee and MTV Video of the Year Award winning guitarist Elliot Easton, bassist Andy Babiuk and lead singer/rhythm guitarist Wally Palmar have parlayed a combined lifetime of rock ‘n’ roll into new kind of garage rock, a sterling collection of influences that include ‘50s American roots rock ‘n’ roll, ‘60s British Invasion and ‘70s garage-punk that is anything but retro, rather a refreshing return to core musical values.

The band’s newly released, The Second Album is loaded with great rock ‘n’ roll, and features 13 tracks of skillfully-crafted pop/rock music. Ringo Starr guests on drums on one track, and that’s a heck of an endorsement.

I’ve been playing tracks form this record on Radio Free Charleston for a few weeks now, and it’s a breath of fresh air in a year really needed one.

You can order this album on vinyl, or CD from their website, or you can find it on most streaming services.

It’s the perfect gift for fans of good old rock ‘n’ roll. Just give it a listen…

The AIR is in reruns until Friday so that your PopCulteer can iron out all the bugs in The 2020 PopCult Gift Guide. We will be connecting our programming with some of the gift suggestions, though, and we’ll mention those as those items come up. In order to hear these special encore presentations, you simply have to point your cursor over and tune in at the website, or you could just stay on this page, and  listen to this convenient embedded radio player…

At 10 AM and 10 PM Tuesday we will bring you an episode of Radio Free Charleston from a few weeks ago. This show opens with The Empty Hearts, a supergroup made up of members of The Cars, The Romantics, Blondie and The Chesterfield Kings. I’ll tell you more about them later today.

Tuesday at 1 PM we shine the spotlight on Forbidden Broadway, on a recent episode of Curtain Call. 

2 PM Tuesday it’s time for Psychedelic Shack, hosted by Nigel Pye. This episode opens with Tears for Fears, and you can look for them in the gift guide later Tuesday, too.

Wednesday will be Beatles Day on The 2020 PopCult Gift Guide. We will replay our recent episode of Beatles Blast at 2 PM Wednesday that brought you highlights from Lennon’s GIMME SOME TRUTH boxed set, which will also be featured in the gift guide.

Friday we’ll have new shows on The AIR, and the plan is to have all-new programming next week. In the meantime, check out The 2020 PopCult Gift Guide. Tuesday’s posts will start before noon.

RAZZMATAZZ–IDKHOW
CD/Vinyl/Download
Available HERE

I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME, or iDKHOW is a new project led by Dallon Weekes (Panic! At The Disco). Earning press acclaim, their debut EP hit #1 on Billboard’s Top Heatseekers Chart and was recommended last year in The PopCult Gift Guide.

IDKHOW initially had a curated storyline, believed to have been a decades-old band that never got a big break until 2017, when an anonymous donor released recovered video footage that hints otherwise, leading fans, music historians and conspiracy theorists to debate.

There debut full-length album, RAZZMATAZZ, is available on vinyl or CD from the band’s website, and you can find a load of related apparel there, too.

The music is pure New Wave retro bliss. I have been known to dub this style of music “blippy, farty music,” but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t near and dear to my heart. Highly recommended for fans of New Wave Music, or just clever, intelligent and catchy post-punk pop-rock.

Check out this video to see what’s so cool about IDKHOW…

Murder on Staunton Road
by Charlie Ryan & Mitch Evans
Sycamore Tree
ISBN-13 : 978-0578723624
$29.99 (plus shipping)

Our first local offering in the Gift Guide this year is a potboiler of an unsolved murder that happened right here in Charleston. Murder On Staunton Road is a fast paced narrative of a sensational unsolved homicide that captured the attention of the nation in 1953. It’s a perfect gift for folks interested in unsolved mysteries and local political intrigue.

On the night of August 21, in the haute monde neighborhood of South Hills in Charleston, West Virginia, Juliet Staunton Clark was savagely beaten to death. She was the owner of The Charleston Daily Mail, the capital city’s prosperous afternoon newspaper. Her murder set off a flurry of investigation under the direct supervision of Charleston’s flamboyant Mayor “Jumpin” John Copenhaver.

Accusations flew as the investigation swept through the city. Many charged then, and some repeat the charge today, that there was manipulation to protect prominent Charlestonians who were being questioned as possible persons of interest in the Clark murder. The Charleston Daily Mail, The Charleston Gazette, and newspapers throughout the country reported every detail of the fascinating story of the brutal beating of the esteemed socialite. Nationally prominent investigators traveled to the “Rose City” to apply the newest forensic physiological test to probe criminal suspects—the polygraph machine, known as the “Lie Detector”.

The tale of sadistic murder follows the pioneer Staunton family roots from Nottingham, England to the banks of the Kanawha River in southern West Virginia. There, family members recall that fateful night of August 21, 1953, when a wave of blood flowed freely across a green carpet rug in a living room on Staunton Road.

You can read more about the book and find out how to order the book HERE.

Batman: Tales Of The Demon
story by Dennis O’Neil art by Neal Adams, Irv Novick and others
DC Comics
ISBN-13: 978-1401299439
$49.99 (Hardcover, less at Amazon)

This new collection (also available in softcover) brings together all the key 1970s stories of Batman and his major foe, Ra’s Al Ghul. Aside from the Steve Englehart/Marshall Rogers run on Detective Comics, these are my favorite Batman stories of all time.

Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams managed to rehabilitate Batman from the campy perceptions of the 1960s TV show and return him to his dark, pulp roots as an avenger of the night. Ra’s Al Ghul was a newly-created villain who, for the first time, was Batman’s match in terms of intelligence and personal integrity.

As the PR blurb explains…

Batman scales the side of the Statue of Freedom for a secret meeting with an informant inside the torch. During the meeting the informant is assassinated, leaving Batman with his final words instructing him to find a person called Darkk on the Soom Express. Finding and confronting Darkk Batman is assaulted, leaving him unconscious, and finds himself in a dungeon unmasked. There he meets the Daughter of the Demon, Talia who jump-starts his journey in finding the League of Assassins and it’s founder, Ra’s al Ghul.

This volume collects the earliest Ra’s al Ghul stories written by Dennis O’Neil and illustrated by artists Neal Adams, Michael Golden, Irv Novick, Bob Brown and Dick Giordano.

Collects Detective Comics #411, #485, #489-490, Batman #232, #235, #240, #242-244 and DC Special Series #15.

These stories are near the peak of comic book craftsmanship, with brisk, well-thought-out storytelling and excellent art. In addition to Adams, Dick Giordano, Bob Brown and Irv Novick we get to see early work by Don Newton, and Michael Golden.

This is the Batman I grew up reading, and it will be a revelation to anyone who’s only read the post-Frank MIller psychobabble Batman where it takes seventy-five issues to tell a story that O’Neil tells better in 22 pages. There’s a reason all the best Batman movies are based on stories that DC published in the 1970s.

These are, seriously, some of the best, most intelligent Batman stories ever told, and any fan of great superhero comics would love to add this to their collection.