What July lacks in quantity, it more than makes up for with quality, the month offering new blues jams from Chicago's Billy Branch and the mighty Supersonic Blues Machine as well as a cool four-disc box Cadillac Baby's Bea & Baby Records set. There are new rockin' tunes from folks like Imperial Teen, Violent Femmes, and Purple Mountains; some rare Little Steven music; and a slew of archive releases, including some Crowded House on wax and some rare Paul McCartney vinyl stuff. Plus, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, a long overdue reissue of Brian Eno's Apollo album on CD and vinyl! No matter your taste in music, there's something here for you to listen to in July!
If you’re interesting in buying an album, just hit the ‘Buy!’ link to
get it from Amazon.com...it’s just that damn easy! Your purchase puts
valuable ‘store credit’ in the Reverend’s pocket that he’ll use to buy
more music to write about in a never-ending loop of rock ‘n’ roll
ecstasy!
JULY 5
Billy Branch & the Sons of Blues - Roots and Branches: The Songs of Little Walter BUY!
JULY 12
Crowded House - The Very Very Best of Crowded House [vinyl] BUY!
Gomez - Liquid Skin [20th anniversary reissue] BUY!
Imperial Teen - Now We Are Timeless BUY!
Little Steven & the Interstellar Jazz Renegades - Lillyhammer The Score, Volume 1: Jazz BUY!
Little Steven & the Interstellar Jazz Renegades - Lillyhammer The Score, Volume 2: Folk, Rock, Rio, Bits & Pieces BUY!
Paul McCartney - Amoeba Gig [CD & vinyl reissue] BUY!
Paul McCartney - Choba B CCCP [CD & vinyl reissue] BUY!
Paul McCartney - Paul Is Live [CD & vinyl reissue] BUY!
Paul McCartney - Wings Over America [CD & vinyl reissue] BUY!
Purple Mountains - Purple Mountains BUY!
Supersonic Blues Machine - Road Chronicles [live] BUY!
JULY 19
Davina & the Vagabonds - Sugar Drops BUY!
Brian Eno - Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks [Extended Edition] BUY!
Steve Goodman - Affordable Art [CD reissue] BUY!
Steve Goodman - Artistic Hair [CD reissue] BUY!
Live - Throwing Copper [25th anniversary reissue] BUY!
Various Artists - Cadillac Baby's Bea & Baby Records: The Definitive Collection [4-CD history of Chicago blues label] BUY!
JULY 26
Soundgarden - Live From the Artists Den BUY!
Violent Femmes - Hotel Last Resort BUY!
Album of the Month: There are a number of great choices for the month, but the Rev has to go with the late Steve Goodman's Affordable Art, reissued on CD by the good folks at Omnivore Recordings. The last album released during singer/songwriter's lifetime, on his own indie Red Pajamas label, Affordable Art is a fine collection filled with humor, poetry, and humility – all of which were Goodman's stock-in-trade. If you're unfamiliar with this legendary, talented wordsmith and performer, Affordable Art is a great place to start. Omnivore is also reissuing Goodman's Artistic Hair album this month, and a couple more titles from the artist in August, and you honestly can't go wrong with any of 'em!
The longevity of Seattle-based independent label Sub Pop Records is a tribute to the indomitable human spirit; a triumph of rock ‘n’ roll aesthetics over commercial considerations. Formed in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt, the label was an offshoot of his Subterranean Pop music zine (Sub Pop – geddit?) and a labor of love that seems to have gotten out of control. After releasing a series of acclaimed, moderately-selling cassettes, Pavitt scraped up enough money to release the label’s first vinyl LP, the Sub Pop 100 compilation. Featuring performances from indie stalwarts like Sonic Youth, the Wipers, and Naked Raygun, the album provided the fledgling label with instant street cred.
When local rockers Green River – which included future members of Pearl Jam and Mudhoney – chose to record their Dry As A Bone EP for Sub Pop, Pavitt struggled to underwrite its release. With the EP’s subsequent appearance almost a year later, in the summer of 1987, the band and Sub Pop had planted the flag for ‘grunge’ as a hard rock genre that would be identified around the globe with Seattle and Sub Pop. Pavitt took on a partner in Jonathan Poneman, who provided funding for the debut single by future world-beaters Soundgarden, who followed it up with their groundbreaking Screaming Life EP later that year. Sub Pop was off and running, if not without a few struggles and obstacles along the way, with Pavitt handling the label’s A&R efforts and Poneman handling Sub Pop’s business dealings.
Gillian G. Gaar’s World Domination: The Sub Pop Records Story
In the 33 years since its founding, Sub Pop Records carved a niche for itself, first as a pioneering indie imprint releasing influential and often-times blockbuster records by local bands like the aforementioned Soundgarden, Mudhoney, and Nirvana. Studying earlier indie labels like Motown and SST Records, the partner worked to make the label reflect the regional scene before branching out and, from their logo and merchandising to imaginative efforts like their singles club, Sub Pop created a strong and easily-identifiable brand identity for itself. It helped that they had enlisted producer Jack Endino early in the process, the studio master recording fast and cheap, his unique recording technique creating a signature sound for Sub Pop artists across the 75 45s, EPs, and albums that he produced during the label’s early days.
As time passed, changes in the industry pretty much forced the label to partner with major label Warner Bros, which bought a 49% ownership of the company in 1995. Pavitt retired to spend time with his family after an acrimonious split with Poneman, who continues to head a dedicated staff of music-lovers at Sub Pop to this day. Along the way, when ‘grunge’ as a commercial force fizzled out, the label expanded its focus and, whether by accident or on purpose, would release important and influential albums by a diverse roster of innovative and exciting artists, including Sleater-Kinney, Sebadoh, the Afghan Whigs, King Tuff, Father John Misty, and even comedians like David Cross and Patton Oswalt. The label has enjoyed its share of commercial success – Nirvana’s Bleach LP and the Postal Service’s Give Up both achieved Platinum™ Record status for over one million in sales, while releases by the Shins, Fleet Foxes, and Band of Horses have all sold better than half-million copies – overall the label occupies a modestly-successful alt-rock niche.
The Reverend’s Bottom Line
With World Domination: The Sub Pop Records Story, music journalist Gillian G. Gaar explores better than three decades of the label’s history, from Bruce Pavitt’s early musical interests and publishing efforts to Sub Pop’s current state in the new millennium, and the entire roller-coaster ride between these two points. Gaar is uniquely qualified to tell the Sub Pop story – she’s been covering the Seattle music scene since before the beginning, knows all the important people, and has written about it in the city’s excellent music publication The Rocket. Gaar is a veteran writer whose work has appeared in venues like Goldmine, Rolling Stone, and British music magazine Mojo, among others. She’s also an avid music lover who published a Kate Bush fanzine back in the early ‘80s that I swapped issues of my own zines with.
Gaar does a wonderful job with World Domination in condensing the label’s lengthy history into an easily-digestible and quick read without omitting any important or crucial facets of the story. Her writing is colorful, yet succinct, and you get a feel for the people and personalities that made the label special and innovative. Although Gaar is obviously a cheerleader for her local scene, she pulls no punches in the pages, outlining Sub Pop’s stumbles and mistakes as well as the label’s triumphs. As such, World Domination is much more than the story of a single scrappy indie label but also a primer for like-minded music lovers who may dream of one day launching their own record label. As, arguably, the most successful rock ‘n’ roll indie of the last quarter-century, the Sub Pop story is an important one, and Gaar nails it perfectly with this informative and entertaining tome. Grade: A (RPM Series/BMG Books, published November 20, 2018)
Chris Cornell’s death in May 2017 robbed the rock ‘n’ roll world of one of its all-time greatest vocalists. The talented singer and songwriter for chart-topping bands like Soundgarden, Audioslave, and Temple of the Dog, Cornell also enjoyed a significant solo career with his four solo albums circa 1999-2015 all charting in the Top 20. Over the course of a career that spanned four decades (and still ended far too soon), Cornell earned two Grammy™ Awards and selling better than 30 million records worldwide.
Given his popularity and influence on rock vocalists to follow, it’s only fitting that Cornell should be honored with a career retrospective box set. On November 16th, 2018 UMe will release the self-titled Chris Cornell, a limited-edition deluxe four-disc box set with 64-tracks, 11 of which are previously-unreleased. The set is being released with the support of Cornell’s wife Vicky on behalf of The Chris Cornell Estate.
Working extensively with Cornell’s former bandmates and friends, Vicky Cornell has compiled a collection that represents the singer’s entire career, including songs by all three of his aforementioned bands along with solo material. The set includes such memorable moments as Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun,” Temple of the Dog’s “Hunger Strike,” and Audioslave’s “Like A Stone.” Among the previously-unreleased songs are a live performance of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U,” a duet with Cat Stevens on “Wild World,” and a duet with his daughter Toni on a cover of Bob Marley’s reggae classic “Redemption Song.”
In addition to the four-disc box set, Chris Cornell will also be released as a seventeen-track single disc version housed in a jewel case with a limited-edition custom die-cut slipcase that showcases Seattle with tree-line graphics on the front and other cities that Cornell lived in on the back cover. The set includes a 32-page booklet with unreleased photos and liner notes by friends and bandmates like Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron, Tom Morello, Mike McCready, and Brendan O’Brien. A two-LP 180-gram vinyl edition features a gatefold jacket with similar slipcase graphics and a twelve-page booklet while the four-disc box set includes an expanded 54-page booklet.
For the hardcore fan with money to burn, Chris Cornell will also be available as a limited-edition ‘Super Deluxe’ box with four CDs, a DVD, and seven-LP set featuring all 64 songs plus 23 music videos along with a 66-page hardcover book wrapped in linen with a red foul signature cover. The ‘Super Deluxe’ box also includes three artist lithos, three photochromatic lithos inspired by Cornell’s fascination with the sun, a turntable mat, a microfiber vinyl cleaning cloth, and a 36” x 48” wall poster.
“Since Chris’ sudden passing I have put all my efforts and energy into sharing his music and legacy with his fans from all over the world,” says Vicky in a press release for the Chris Cornell box set. “I felt we needed to create a special collection to represent all of him – the friend, husband and father, the risk taker and innovator, the poet and artist. His soaring vocals found their way into the hearts and souls of so many. His voice was his vision and his words were his peace. This album is for his fans.”
Filmmaker Doug Pray’s critically-acclaimed ‘rockumentary’ Hype! premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 1996 and was released to general audiences later that year. The film attempted to place the Seattle ‘grunge’ scene into proper context through on-camera interviews with those involved while poking gentle fun at an overly-enthusiastic music media that ‘hyped’ the scene to epic proportions. Among those interviewed by Pray for the documentary were members of rising stars Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, and Mudhoney as well as lesser-known bands like the Gits, the Melvins, Supersuckers, and the Fastbacks.
On September 29th, 2017 Shout! Factory will release Hype! for the first time on Blu-ray disc as well as updating the original DVD release for their Shout Select line. Hype! [Collector’s Edition] includes new audio commentary by director Pray, vintage interviews and performances, and cartoonist Peter Bagge’s animated short “Hate” as well as video outtakes and a new featurette with interviews with some of the original characters from the film 20 years later.
‘Grunge’ rose from the late ‘80s/early ‘90s rock scene in Pacific Northwest that was based in Seattle, Washington and exploded out of a vibrant local underground music scene on the strength of major label releases by Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam. Nirvana, arguably the scene’s best-selling band, hit #1 on the charts with their classic “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (and accompanying video, which received heavy airplay on MTV), opening the floodgates for dozens of bands like Seaweed, Flop, and 7 Year Bitch to sign deals as the major labels went on a ‘grunge’ feeding frenzy. While the top bands on the scene achieved multi-Platinum™ sales status and worldwide fame, many others scrapped by in the PNW and are known primarily by hardcore fans of the genre.
Hype! [Collector’s Edition] features rare performance footage of Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Pearl Jam, the Posies, Supersuckers, the Mono Men, the Fastbacks, the Gits, and the Young Fresh Fellows as well as the first live performance of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana. Aside from the wealth of band interviews the film provides, director Pray also included interviews important with behind-the-scenes movers and shakers like Sub Pop Records co-founders Jonathan Poneman and Bruce Pavitt, K Records founder Calvin Johnson, Empty Records founder Blake Wright, and many others. Hype! offers the definitive story of what was arguably the last great rock scene before major labels took control and diluted ‘grunge’ in the name of more marketable ‘alt-rock’.
One of the leading lights of the ‘90s-era Seattle scene, Chris Cornell was found dead in the bathroom of his room at the MGM Grand in Detroit, Michigan after performing a show with Soundgarden at the Fox Theatre. Cornell’s cause of death was ruled to be suicide by hanging; he was only 52 years old.
Cornell is primarily known as the singer, songwriter, and rhythm guitarist for Seattle rock legends Soundgarden. He was also an accomplished solo artist and the frontman of early 2000s supergroup Audioslave as well as the founder of Temple of the Dog, a band formed in tribute to Cornell’s late friend Andrew Wood of Seattle rockers Mother Love Bone. Perhaps the most classically skilled vocalist of the grunge-era, Cornell famously had a vocal range of nearly four octaves and could sing with great power and emotion.
Cornell formed Soundgarden in 1984 with former bandmates Hiro Yamamoto (bass) and Kim Thayil (guitar), originally playing drums and singing. The band added drummer Scott Sundquist and moved Cornell up front, and this line-up recorded three songs that appeared on the C/Z Records compilation Deep Six. When Sundquist left the band in 1986, he was replaced by Matt Cameron of Skin Yard, who would become Soundgarden’s permanent drummer. Signing with Seattle’s Sub Pop Records, the band released the Screaming Life EP in 1987 and the Fopp EP the following year. Jumping to punk label SST Records, the band released its full-length debut, Ultramega OK, which earned them a Grammy® Award nomination and a subsequent deal with the major label A&M Records, for whom they recorded their sophomore effort, 1989’s Louder Than Love.
Soundgarden’s tenure with A&M Records resulted in but four studio albums total, but they’re all considered classics of the era. The band’s 1991 breakthrough, Badmotorfinger, charted Top 40 in the U.S. and U.K. on its way to double Platinum™ sales while its follow-up, 1994’s Superunknown, topped the U.S. charts and sold better than five million copies, earning Soundgarden superstar status. Their final album for the label, 1996’s Down On the Upside, would go Top 10 in a half-dozen countries and land a Platinum™ Record for sales. The band toured constantly, including a slot on the 1996 Lollapalooza tour co-headlining with Metallica. After a worldwide tour that spanned 1996-97, Soundgarden broke up due to internal tensions and disagreement over the creative direction of the band.
Cornell launched his solo career with the 1999 release of Euphoria Morning, which performed respectively, charting Top 20 in the U.S. and Canada, with the singer touring in support of the album. He wouldn’t release a second solo album until 2007’s Carry On, following up two years later with Scream. In between solo efforts, Cornell formed the band Audioslave in 2001 with former Rage Against the Machine band members Tom Morello, Tim Commerford, and Brad Wilk. Audioslave released three albums between 2001 and 2006, selling close to five million copies, the band’s middle album Out of Exile hitting #1 in the U.S. and Canada. Cornell left the band in 2007 to renew his solo career. He would release his final solo album, the critically-acclaimed Higher Truth, in 2015.
Soundgarden reunited in 2010 with the band’s 1990s-era line-up of Cornell, guitarist Kim Thayil, bassist Ben Shepherd, and drummer Matt Cameron. The band was touring at the time of Cornell’s death, releasing the album King Animal in 2012 and working on new songs as recently as late 2016. Cornell’s legacy as one of the greatest singers in rock ‘n’ roll is based on his critically-acclaimed work with both Soundgarden and Audioslave. One of the big four bands of Seattle’s vaunted ‘grunge’ scene, Soundgarden was arguably the first and one of the most successful among its peers, largely due to Cornell’s immense vocal abilities, on-stage charisma, and songwriting talents. He will be missed…
