Limited Animal

I hadn't realized that for Alejandro Escovedo's new work, Real Animal, that came out at the end of June, that there was a limited edition double vinyl version of the release. The vinyl comes with two bonus songs not on the CD release. The songs are 'Falling in Love Again' and a cover of Iggy Pop and the Stooges' 'I Got a Right.' The vinyl can still be purchased through Alendro's webiste.

Westerberg Digital Download Onslaught Continues

The somewhat strange release of new music by former Replacements leader Paul Westerberg continued this week with a digital EP release called 3oclockreep that was made available August 27th on the tuneCORE site. The release is two tracks; 3oclockreep, and Finally Here Once. The latter is a three and a half minute tune, while the former is a twenty minute long piece.

Limited Weller

A very limited Paul Weller book and vinyl record has been released by Genesis Publications. The release is limited to 2,000 copies and has some great selling points. All copies are hand signed by Weller and contain 350 photos and items of personal memorabilia. But, of most interest is the added vinyl 12", which contains four unreleased Jam tracks from 1977. They are all demos and are the songs that got The Jam their deal with Polydor records. The tracks included are; In the City, Time for Truth, So Sad About Us, and Sounds from the Street. As great as this sounds, if you are interested in getting a copy, you better open your wallet wide. Copies are priced at 250 pounds, which is around 460 dollars (US) these days. Ouch!

The Missing 5:05

Apparently Paul Westerberg's new digital only release 49:00 was pulled a few weeks ago from Amazon.com. Although I haven't heard a definitive reason, it appears to be related to copyright issues. But, now Paul has released a one song digital download called 5:05 that is available from tuneCORE for either 99 cents (or $5.05, your choice). The disappearance of the full "album" 49:00 is clear as mud. But, 5:05 at least clears up a mystery that seems to have been bothering a lot of fans. The release 49:00 was only 43 minutes and 55 seconds long. So, with an additional 5:05, now you have your 49:00. Ah, breathe easy, now we can all feel whole again.

Join the Club

To start something different, the folks over at Karmic Hit Records have established the Esoteric Music Club. The Australian label, which is run by John Kilbey (former member of the Bhagavad Guitars and brother of the Church's Steve Kilbey) has often focused on releases from the Kilbey clan (another brother Russell also is a musician and was in the band the Crystal Set). Apparently John and brother Steve often get together and record songs. They have now started making them available as MP3 downloads from the label's "Club" page. The label asks for donations, but the tracks can be downloaded for free. A new song is made available every Sunday. The latest song is a cover of The Go-Betweens "The Wrong Road" which features Steve Kilbey on vocals with Russell Kilbey and Michael Hanlon performing the music.

One Free MP3 of the Trees

The band Calexico is poised to release a new work next month called Carried To Dust. As a little sampler, the band have posted a MP3 of the song "Two Silver Trees" on its website.

Guerrillas in the Mist

Primal Scream released their eleventh record in July entitled Beautiful Future. It has not been released in the US yet (main release in the UK). But, there is some bonus material that can be accessed from their website if you insert the purchased CD into your computer. The bonus includes an MP3 of "Urban Guerrilla" which was not on the album and is a Hawkwind cover. There is also some live photage and interviews that can be downloaded. Even if you didn't purchase the CD, you can still get the MP3, but you can't get the additional photage.

In addition, there is a three format single for the song 'Can't go back'; a CD, a 7 inch, and an download. The CD contains the single track and a song called 'Jesus is My Air O Plane'. The b-side to the 7 inch single is 'Urban Guerrilla' and the "b-side" (if you can call it that) to the download is 'Diamonds, Fur Coat, Champagne (Recordstore Exclusive)'.

Seriously?

This year saw the CD reissue of one of the lesser known great pop records from the 70's. The album was called Are You Serious? and was released by Van Duren in 1978. Van Duren was part of the Memphis pop scene at that time. In fact he auditioned in 1974 to join Big Star as a second guitarist. That didn't materialize. However, he and Big Star drummer Jody Stephens recorded some demos with former Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldman and played in an outfit with Stephens called the Baker Street Regulars. This nearly complete solo record (he recorded nearly everything himself) doesn't contain Stephens, although one of the songs is a co-write with Jody. And while numerous write ups have mentioned that it sounds like Big Star, to these ears I hear more of a Todd Rundgren influence thrown in with the strong helping of Paul McCarntney or Emmitt Rhodes. The CD was released on Water Records and is available from the usual online CD shops.