The 2015 Mercury Prize ‘Albums of the Year’ in association with BBC Music were announced today.
“This year’s Mercury Prize shortlist includes seven debut albums and it celebrates artists from every stage of their careers”, says Simon Frith, Chair of Judges. “These musicians come from a fascinating variety of musical places, cultures and histories. What they have in common is the ambition and the craft, the ideas and the imagination to make great music!”
The winner will be announced on November 20th.
Here’s the full list of nominees:
Aphex Twin – Syro
Benjamin Clementine – At Least for Now
C Duncan – Architect
ESKA – ESKA
Florence and the Machine – How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
Gaz Coombes – Matador
Ghostpoet – Shedding Skin
Jamie xx – In Colour
Róisín Murphy – Hairless Toys
Slaves – Are You Satisfied?
SOAK – Before We Forgot How to Dream
Wolf Alice – My Love Is Cool
Earlier this year, Devin Townsend Project played an incredible sold-out show at London’s legendary Royal Albert Hall venue, bringing the story of Ziltoid to life on stage as well as playing tracks from across his back catalogue. This larger-than-life evening was captured on film and is set to be released on the 13th November 2015. A special teaser clip for the live release has been launched and you can view that here:
Shot on 15 high-definition cameras, it was directed by Paul M Green (Devin Townsend, Opeth, BB King, Steve Hackett) and features special guests such as Dominique Lenore Persi (Stolen Babies), Chris Jericho (world-famous wrestler and singer of US band Fozzy) and Jean Savoie, with video narration by Bill Courage, as well as 12 singers & actors as cast and choir.
The release will arrive in several formats including an Artbook of 44 pages incl. the entire concert as well as extensive behind-the-scenes bonus footage and a full documentary, pressed on 3 CDs, 2 DVDs and a Blu Ray Disc, as Special Edition Digipak with 3 CDs and a DVD and as BluRay including the entire show and bonus material.
Multiplatinum band Simple Plan have unveiled the brand new track “I Don’t Wanna Go To Bed (feat. Nelly)” from their forthcoming album (out 2016). Available at all digital retailers today [insert buy link], the song is heralded by its official music video. Known for their self-deprecating sense of humor, the band star in the Baywatch-inspired clip, and were even able to recruit the legendary David Hasselhoff to join in the fun. The video also stars Maripier Morin, one of the stars of W Network’s “Hockey Wives” and a host on TVA.
“I Don’t Wanna Go To Bed (feat. Nelly)” official music video
“I Don’t Wanna Go To Bed (feat. Nelly)” video outtakes featuring David Hasselhoff
“I Don’t Wanna Go To Bed (feat. Nelly)” follows the recent release of “I Don’t Want To Be Sad” and “Boom,” new songs available now and also featured on Simple Plan’s as-yet-untitled, forthcoming album. This summer, Simple Plan premiered “Boom” with an electrifying performance at the Alternative Press Music Awards and appeared on select dates of this year’s Vans Warped Tour. Named one of the “Best Songs of August” by Alternative Press, the video for “Boom” features cameos from some of the band’s friends including All Time Low, New Found Glory, PVRIS, MxPx, Pierce The Veil, The Summer Set, Silverstein, Black Veil Brides, Parkway Drive, and Issues.
Dan Ingram was manning the microphone at 77 WABC radio in New York City back in 1965, when all of a sudden the power started going out of the music. The cart machines began to grind to a crawl . . . then the lights went out. They went out all over New York City. In fact the entire Northeast went dark from Maine to southern New Jersey.
An aircheck of New York City radio station WABC from November 9, 1965 reveals disc jockey Dan Ingram doing a segment of his afternoon drive time show, during which he notes that a record he’s playing (Jonathan King’s “Everyone’s Gone to the Moon”) sounds slow, as do the subsequent jingles played during a commercial break. Ingram quipped that the King record “was in the key of R.” The station’s music playback equipment used motors that got their speed timing from the frequency of the powerline, normally 60 Hz. Comparisons of segments of the hit songs played at the time of the broadcast, minutes before the blackout happened, in this aircheck, as compared to the same song recordings played at normal speed reveal that approximately six minutes before blackout the line frequency was 56 Hz, and just two minutes before the blackout that frequency dropped to 51 Hz. As Si Zentner’s recording of “(Up a) Lazy River” plays in the background – again at a slower-than-normal tempo – Ingram mentions that the lights in the studio are dimming, then suggests that the electricity itself is slowing down, adding, “I didn’t know that could happen”. When the station’s Action Central News report comes on at 5:25 pm (ET), the staff remains oblivious to the impending blackout. The lead story is still Roger Allen LaPorte’s self-immolation at United Nations Headquarters earlier that day to protest American military involvement in the Vietnam War. The newscast gradually fizzles out as power is lost by the time the newsman starts delivering the second story.
To celebrate the 40th anniversary theatrical re-release of ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ and the release of the 40th anniversary Blu-Ray, DVD & limited edition castle gift set, the gang at Python put together this video of Terry Gilliam’s lost animations from the film.
The video includes an introduction from Terry G to his lost animation reel where he talks about where the artwork came from and the inspiration behind some of the animation, music by Neil Innes that didn’t make it into the final cut, new animations and deleted animations of ‘The Tale of Sir Robin’, ‘Elephant & Castle’, ‘Meanwhile, King Arthur & Sir Bedevere…’, ‘Run Away!’ and ‘The Tale of Sir Lancelot’.
The 40th anniversary limited edition Blu-ray box set and DVD are out now.
Japanese iaido master Isao Machii, who also holds numerous Guinness World Records for his skills, took the bat…errr.. sword inside a batting cage and to slice a 100-MPH baseball in half.
Columbia Records will release Bruce Springsteen’s ‘The Ties That Bind: The River Collection’ on December 4th. A comprehensive look at ‘The River’ era, the set contains 52 tracks on 4 CDs with a wealth of unreleased material, and 4 hours of never-before-seen video on 3 DVDs. It is comprised of the original ‘The River’ double album; the first official release of ‘The River: Single Album;’ a CD of 1979/80 studio outtakes; a two-DVD film of never-released, newly edited multi-camera footage from Springsteen’s famed 1980 show in Tempe, AZ, long rumored but never-before-seen; rare tour rehearsal footage; a brand new documentary “The Ties That Bind” about ‘The River;’ and a coffee table book of 200 rare or previously unseen photos and memorabilia with a new essay by Mikal Gilmore.
‘The River,’ Springsteen’s fifth album, was released on October 17, 1980 as a double album and reached #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. In his notes, Gilmore calls ‘The River’ Springsteen’s “pivotal album—[the] hinge between the ambitious commotions that had preceded it and the more succinct musical riots, and sometimes terrifying storytelling, that followed.”
‘The River: Single Album’ is the 10-track album that Springsteen recorded in 1979 as a follow up to 1978’s ‘Darkness On The Edge Of Town’ but never released. “The songs lacked the kind of unity and conceptual intensity I liked my music to have. So we went back in the studio,” he wrote in the lyrics/photo book “Songs.” The early sessions marked the beginning of a prolific 18-month long journey of writing and recording. Seven of the 10 titles on ‘The River: Single Album’ eventually appeared on ‘The River,’ some with alternate lyrics and arrangements, with outtakes like “Cindy” and a rockabilly version of “You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)” never released. Now for the first time ‘The River: Single Album’ will be officially available.
The fourth CD on the box set is ‘The River: Outtakes,’ which spans the entire ‘The River’ sessions in 1979 and 1980 and illustrate the depth and variety of Springsteen’s work during this period. Eleven songs are rarities that have never been released before, and for the most part are completely unheard and unknown even to fans, who have long considered Springsteen’s outtakes to be treasured secrets. The eleven unheard outtakes (“Record One”) were mixed by Bob Clearmountain and mastered by Bob Ludwig. Eleven additional outtakes (“Record Two”) are collected from the ‘Tracks’ box and ‘Essentials’ so as to put them in one place.
SONY DSC
“The Ties That Bind” is a brand new 60-minute documentary produced and directed by Zimny that features an intimate interview with Springsteen as he reflects on the tumultuous, extended period writing and recording ‘The River.’ The film transitions between Springsteen telling the stories behind the music — and illustrating them with solo acoustic guitar performances — interspersed with period concert footage and rare photos of Bruce and the band in and out of the studio.
The final video component is “Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band: The River Tour, Tempe 1980,” a new film produced from footage professionally filmed in 1980 using four cameras and recorded in multitrack audio. The film features 24 songs — 2 hours, 40 minutes — on 2 DVDs from Springsteen’s November 5, 1980 concert at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ. Widely regarded as one of Springsteen’s finest performances, this intense show features early live versions of over half of ‘The River’ songs. Also included is 20 minutes of footage from the late September, 1980 River Tour rehearsals held in Lititz, PA, showing Springsteen and The E Street Band working through live arrangements of what was then unreleased material from the upcoming album. The film was recently edited by frequent Springsteen collaborator and Grammy and Emmy-winning filmmaker Thom Zimny, and the audio was mixed in Stereo & 5.1 surround by Bob Clearmountain from the original multitrack recordings and mastered by Bob Ludwig.
‘The Ties That Bind: The River Collection’ is packaged in a 10″ x 12″ box with a hardcover 148-page coffee table book containing 200 studio and live photographs — most of which have never been seen before — plus pages from Springsteen’s notebooks, single covers, images and outtakes from the original album package, and other memorabilia documenting the album. Liner notes include a new essay from journalist Mikal Gilmore, the original Rolling Stone album review from 1980, and Springsteen’s updated comments about the album from the 1998 “Songs” book.
‘The Ties That Bind: The River Collection’ is available for pre-order at Amazon and iTunes.
CD1
The River – Disc One
The Ties That Bind
Sherry Darling
Jackson Cage
Two Hearts
Independence Day
Hungry Heart
Out In The Street
Crush On You
You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)
I Wanna Marry You
The River
CD2
The River – Disc Two
Point Blank
Cadillac Ranch
I’m A Rocker
Fade Away
Stolen Car
Ramrod
The Price You Pay
Drive All Night
Wreck On The Highway
CD3
The River: Single Album
The Ties That Bind
Cindy
Hungry Heart
Stolen Car (Vs.1)
Be True
The River
You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch) (Vs.1)
The Price You Pay
I Wanna Marry You
Loose End
CD4
The River: Outtakes
Record One
Meet Me In The City
The Man Who Got Away
Little White Lies
The Time That Never Was
Night Fire
Whitetown
Chain Lightning
Party Lights
Paradise By The “C”
Stray Bullet
Mr. Outside
Record Two
Roulette
Restless Nights
Where The Bands Are
Dollhouse
Living On The Edge Of The World
Take ’em As They Come
Ricky Wants A Man Of Her Own
I Wanna Be With You
Mary Lou
Held Up Without A Gun
From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)
DVD 1
The Ties That Bind (Documentary)
DVD 2
The River Tour, Tempe 1980
Concert – Part 1
Born To Run
Prove It All Night
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Jackson Cage
Two Hearts
The Promised Land
Out In The Street
The River
Badlands
Thunder Road
No Money Down
Cadillac Ranch
Hungry Heart
Fire
Sherry Darling
I Wanna Marry You
Crush On You
Ramrod
You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)
DVD 3
The River Tour, Tempe 1980
Concert – Part 2
Drive All Night
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
I’m A Rocker
Jungleland
Detroit Medley
Where The Bands Are (Credits)
Bonus: The River Tour Rehersals
Ramrod
Cadillac Ranch
Fire
Crush On You
Sherry Darling
Nickelodeon is bringing “H.R. Pufnstuf” back for a new televised adventure for the first time in 45 years. The network announced on Tuesday that it has greenlit “H.R. Pufnstuf Comes to Mutt & Stuff!” The special will be part of the network’s order for 20 additional episodes of live-action preschool series “Mutt & Stuff” from Sid and Marty Krofft, the creators of “Pufnstuf.” The beloved character that debuted on NBC in 1969 will return to TV in early 2016, along with friends Cling and Clang, Freddy the Flute and the Rescue Racer. Production on the special is beginning this fall.
