Is There Anybody Out There? / The Wall Live Pink Floyd 1980-81 (

Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the release of the original studio album The Wall, Columbia Records is releasing Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live, a sonic document of Pink Floyd’s legendary live performances of the group’s groundbreaking tour de force.

Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live will be available as a deluxe, limited-edition double-CD set, packaged in a 64-page hard-cover casebound book with full-color souvenir artwork from the show. The album will also be available in a double-jewelcase edition as well as a double-cassette.

Recorded live on a 48-track mobile studio during the original Earl’s Court, London, performances (1980-1981), the particular tracks on Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live were handpicked by Pink Floyd producer James Guthrie, who has created a hi-resolution mix for the CD set from the original multi-track concert recordings. In addition to a pristine composite live performance of The Wall in its entirety, Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live includes never-before released bonus music.

Released in December 1979, Pink Floyd’s The Wall is one of the defining masterpieces of rock culture. Conceived and written by Roger Waters; produced by Dave Gilmour, Bob Ezrin, and Roger Waters, the album’s ferocity of intelligence and austere depth of musical complexity confounded conventional market wisdom to reach the #1 spot on countless charts around the world while spawning the multi-platinum single and youth anthem “Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2).”

Over the next two years, The Wall was performed live by Pink Floyd in Los Angeles, New York, Dortmund, and London. Staging of The Wall was spectacular: room sets appeared within “The Wall,” which was built live onstage; giant puppets were dangled from “The Wall” while crazed animations, created by Gerald Scarfe, were projected onto it. During the show’s breathtaking finale, “The Wall” crashed to the ground revealing the band playing in the ruins.

Is There Anybody Out There? / The Wall Live Pink Floyd 1980-81 (Deluxe Limited Edition)

Price: $19.99

Baby Einstein – Numbers Nursery

A playful and interactive introduction to numbers!
– Exposes little ones to the concept of counting
– Reinforces number recognition using simple patterns

Between 12 and 24 months, little ones become increasingly interested in more complex ideas and begin to explore numbers and counting. Numbers Nursery introduces little ones to numerals 1 through 5 in a captivating, interactive way that invites them to join in, clap their hands and count out loud. Using baby-friendly images of brightly colored toys, plus puppets, children and familiar real-world objects set to beautiful music, this dynamic program is a fun and age-appropriate way for you and your child to discover the exciting world of numbers and counting together!

DVD Features
– Repeat play
– Language tracks (Spanish, French and English)
– Discovery cards – Count 1 to 10 in seven languages
– Count-along activities
– How many?
– Story time with See and Spy Counting book
– Toy chest

Price: $11.80

Order of the Black

In the two decades since Ozzy Osbourne hired him away from his job at a New Jersey gas station to become his new guitarist, Zakk Wylde has established himself as a guitar icon known and revered the world over. Writing and recording with Osbourne led to multi-Platinum success, inspiring him to create the now legendary Black Label Society in 1998. In the decade plus since, BLS has turned the notion of what a rock band should be upside down by inspiring legions of fans(known as Berserkers)all over the world to follow the mantra: Strength, Determination, Merciless, Forever (SDMF for short). Wylde and his Berserkers have established a heavy metal institution true to the vision of uncompromising, unfiltered and unrestrained rock n’ roll.

Price: $12.99

Jazzmasters VI

BILLBOARD Magazine’s 2008 Smooth Jazz Artist of the Year, prolific producer/multi-instrumentalist, Paul Hardcastle releases the much anticipated volume VI in his immensely popular Jazzmasters series, a vehicle that helped him re-launch his career in the early ’90s, made him a household name and has garnered him legions of rabid fans worldwide.
It’s been 19 years since the release of Jazzmasters I a pet project that became a format game changer in its initial release and one that has defined a music style that has yet to be copied. VI mark the entity’s ambitious return to the fold and continues to raise the bar with a grouping of highly charged melodic and memorable pieces that have become the Hardcastle/Jazzmasters signature over the last two decades.

Price: $12.44

A Postcard From California

Beach Boys co-founder Al Jardine, who started the group in 1961 with the Wilson brothers (Brian, Carl, and Dennis) and their cousin Mike Love, released his new solo album, A Postcard from California.

The twelve-song collection includes four cuts that comprise what Jardine calls “the green side” of the new album, compositions that speak to the relationship of man and his environment. “Don’t Fight the Sea,” “Tidepool Interlude” and “A California Saga” are songs that reflect this artist’s deep love for the California coastline and his concern for the ecological health of the planet. “I think this material defines the new project in these days of climate change,” he suggests.

Al Jardine has always embodied that concern for the environment, and the coastline and ocean in particular. Previously, on the Beach Boys’ “Surf’s Up” album, he and Mike Love had written the song, “Don’t Go Near the Water.” The new album includes “Lookin’ Down the Coast,” a tale of the discovery of California by the Spanish, as seen through the eyes of its natural inhabitants, the California condor, the whale, the otter and the bear.

The collection, “A Postcard from California,” was largely penned by Al Jardine and features a regular “who’s who” of classic rock and popular music royalty. Jardine was joined in the studio by a steady and willing stream of famous friends, including Brian Wilson, Glen Campbell, Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell of America, Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, David Marks, Richie Cannata and John Stamos, in addition to those already noted elsewhere in this announcement. Completing the generational span, Jardine’s sons, Matt and Adam, are also heard on vocal harmonies.

This product is manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media. Amazon.com’s standard return policy will apply.

Price: $10.99

Red Dog Speaks

Elvin Bishop has been traveling the blues road longer than most, and he’s got the stories to prove it – many of which are contained within the songs on this release. Stops along the way include his work as a founding member of the groundbreaking Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the early ’60s, and pop success with his 1976 smash hit Fooled Around and Fell In Love. Bishop’s long and varied career has included plenty of side trips along the way as well, from deep down gutbucket blues played in smoky south side Chicago taverns, to raucous roadhouse R&B, to good time rock & roll on concert stages and festivals around the world. And at every stage along the way, he’s instilled all of his music with passion, creativity, and a healthy helping of wisdom, wit, and good humor.

Delta Groove Productions president Randy Chortkoff has been a fan and follower of Elvin’s music through all the many phases of his career, beginning with Butterfield Blues Band in the mid 1960s, and when the opportunity arose to bring Elvin into the Delta Groove fold, Chortkoff jumped at the opportunity. The result was Elvin’s Grammy-nominated 2008 CD The Blues Rolls On, and a flurry of other awards and accolades, including being named 2009 Male Blues Artist of The Year by Blues Blast magazine. Elvin’s brand new release Red Dog Speaks, his second on Delta Groove Music, is the exciting next step in his blues journey.

Right out of the gate, Bishop leaves no doubt where his heart is, cleverly introducing his long-time cohort – a 1959 Gibson ES-345 that lovingly answers to the name of ‘Red Dog’, with a gritty slow blues calculated to set the pace for what’s to come. Along the way he smoothly steers the way from strutting blues and R&B, to a good dose of good-time rock & roll, and even an occasional detour through doo-wop, zydeco and gospel. Elvin has made plenty of talented friends over the years, and many of them jumped at the chance to help out including John Nemeth, Buckwheat Zydeco, Roy Gaines, Tommy Castro, Ronnie Baker Brooks, and Kid Andersen who all make guest appearances. And all of it adds up to an amalgam that can only be called ‘Elvin Bishop music.’

QUOTES:

‘The North Bay-based musician remains one of the genre’s most distinctive guitar stylists, melding a slashing attack with a keen ear for melody.’ East Bay Express

‘…careening slide and razor-edged bursts, all delivered with unflagging enthusiasm and wit.’ Rolling Stone

‘Nemeth’s harp and Bishop’s slide make beautiful old music beautiful again.’ Pittsburgh Post Gazette

‘Bishop is a good-hearted soul whose life mission is to entertain to the best of his ability.’ Downbeat

Price: $10.99

100 Miles From Memphis

For Sheryl Crow, the title of her seventh album isn’t just a location; it’s a state of mind. “I grew up in a small town 100 miles from Memphis, and that informed not only my musical taste, but how I look at life,” she says. “The drive to Memphis is all farmland, and everyone is community-oriented, God-fearing people, connected to the earth. The music that came out of that part of the world is a part of who I am, and it’s the biggest inspiration for what I do and why I do it.”

So for the Kennett, Missouri native, calling the disc 100 Miles From Memphis is a statement of purpose, both musical and emotional. It also marks a long-awaited return by the nine-time Grammy winner to the sounds that first drew her to making music.

“This is something I’ve been thinking about for a long time,” says Crow. “When (manager Scooter Weintraub) first started working with me twenty years ago, what he heard in me was that I had heavy influences from the South–Delaney and Bonnie, all the Stax records. So for years he’s been asking me, `When are you going to make that record?’”

The results evoke a time when soul and passion filled the radio waves, when the sweat and joy of a recording session could be captured forever on wax. Sometimes the musical references–Al Green, Sly and the Family Stone, Stevie Wonder–are made apparent, but the album’s eleven songs are characterized more by capturing a classic spirit than by imitating any specific style.

Crow explains that the way 100 Miles From Memphis was recorded is crucial to its slinky grooves and rolling rhythms. Produced by Doyle Bramhall II and Justin Stanley (“I knew they could get that old soul feeling with authenticity,” she says), and cut mostly live with a regular crew of musicians, the album presented a new set of challenges for her as a singer and a songwriter.

“This wasn’t like any other record I’ve made,” she says. “We cut two, three, sometimes four tracks a day, for ten or twelve days. We wrote a lot of music, and then I had to write lyrics later, to catch up. That was definitely a new experience, feeling like I had to do homework. It was super-daunting.”

With the musical direction already established, the album’s messages crystallized in one night at Crow’s farm, outside of Nashville. “Having a three year old, you don’t get too much quiet time,” she says, “but I sat up one night, and I worked all night long and came up with the better part of five lyrics.”

What emerged was a set of songs that are unusually open and direct for someone often celebrated for the care and craft of her writing. “This music called for emotion, a place of sensuality and sexuality, and that’s a little challenging for me,” she says. “Sometimes it’s easier for me to hide behind more intellectual lyrics. So it was a great stretching experience to show more vulnerability in my writing.”

The songs on 100 Miles From Memphis display impressive range, in feeling and performance. First single “Summer Day” is a delightfully breezy slice of glory-days AM radio pop. “I wanted to experiment with writing something simple and positive,” says Crow. “The feeling of a great, solid love–not just a new love, but something everlasting.”

The spare, dramatic ballad “Stop” (the one song on the album for which Crow has sole writing credit) is a powerful vocal showcase that struggles with some hard truths. “That one is really a plea to make everything quit going so fast,” she says. “Life has reached this epic point of being out of control. There’s so much chaos everywhere you look. And especially when you have a little kid, you just want to protect the people you love from all that pain.”

Though the album features a tighter focus on Crow’s voice than ever before, a few high-profile guest stars did stop by the sessions. When she cut “Eye to Eye,” with its loping reggae groove, there was only one guitarist she could imagine adding his signature slashing riffs to the mix–her old friend Keith Richards. “He has been such a champion for me, and the Stones gave me so many breaks along the way, from very early on,” she says. (When Richards recorded his part at Electric Lady studios, the New York City facility built for Jimi Hendrix, he started reminiscing about the incomparable guitar wizard; “we were all like little kids at story hour,” says Crow.) Citizen Cope appears on a hazy, impassioned duet of his “Sideways,” a song Crow says she has long wanted to record and one of several string-heavy arrangements on 100 Miles From Memphis.

Another guest confirms her appeal across generations. A Memphis native named Justin Timberlake dropped by one of Crow’s sessions at Henson Studios in Los Angeles (the former A&M studio), and offered to contribute background vocals to a version of Terence Trent D’Arby’s 1987 smash “Sign Your Name” that was being recast in the style of Al Green, right down to the distinctive thud of the Hi Records drums. “He’s hysterical and super-smart, and he knows a lot about a lot of different kinds of music,” Crow says. “I’m totally impressed in every way.”

The final surprise, for both the singer and the listener, came out of a run through of an obscure Marvin Gaye song called “It’s a Desperate Situation.” The melody reminded Crow of “I Want You Back,” the Jackson 5’s breakthrough 1970 hit, and she started singing those words. Her natural vocal range sounds uncannily like Michael Jackson’s, and when Bramhall and Stanley heard it, they insisted on recording the song then and there. The album’s “bonus track” was done in one take; they even had to add the song’s introduction afterwards because they had gone straight into the lyric.

Crow, of course, first reached the spotlight as a back-up singer with Michael Jackson, and adds that “I Want You Back” was the first single she ever bought. “It wasn’t a conscious choice to do an homage, but it wound up being a very bittersweet thing,” she says. “Michael’s death brought a lot of stuff back for me, so it was nice that we could include this.”

For Sheryl Crow, 100 Miles From Memphis is the right album at the right moment. “My last record (2008’s Detours) was pretty political, extremely personal, and more lyric-driven,” she says, “so it seemed like a great time to do something soulful and sexy and more driven by the music.” It took a lot of years, but with this set of songs, she finally made it back home.

Price: $7.99

Korn III – Remember Who You Are

Their ninth offering, ‘Korn III -Remember Who You Are,’ is their first effort for brand new label home, Roadrunner Records, and it bursts at the seams with that very feeling that defined the band from the get-go. Each song unleashes an uneasiness reminiscent of Korn’s earliest and most unbridled material, but there’s also a modern refinement that’s epic in its execution. Korn definitely don’t lose sight of their roots on ‘Korn III – Remember Who You Are,’ but they also venture into uncharted darkness. All that truly matters is where they’re going. The album strikes a balance between their past and their future, as it finds the band reuniting with producer Ross Robinson, who manned the boards for their first two records, all the while joining forces with Roadrunner Records, the world’s leading rock label. With ‘Korn III – Remember Who You Are,’ it’s their time…

Price: $9.56

XII

Brian Culbertson commemorates his twelfth release with 12 new songs that continue to reflect his broad-ranging musicality and mastery of intimate moods. The titles swing from the rapturous metaphorically rich love ballad “Skies Wide Open” (featuring R&B singing star Avant), the sexy bedroom baby-maker “I Wanna Love You” (featuring singer/guitarist Ray Parker Jr.), the strings-kissed dance jam “Another Love” (featuring 21st century soul man Kenny Lattimore) and the cool club persuader “Out On the Floor” (featuring balladeer supreme Brian McKnight) to the slammin’ attitude jam “Don’t U Know Me By Now” (featuring powerhouse Faith Evans), a journey through the many moods of being entitled “That’s Life” (featuring Earl Klugh who co-penned it along with fellow Detroit native Parker and Culbertson), a think piece on the meaning of it all titled “I Don’t Know” (featuring spoken word enchantress Natalie Stewart of Floetry), and an all-out Go-Go party jam titled “Feelin’ It” (featuring the man who put Washington, D.C. Go-Go Music on the map, Chuck Brown in addition to a comedic appearance by Sinbad). Four more instrumentals round out the album, including the lovely dreamscape “Waiting for You” and the incredibly funky “Stay Wit It” on which he takes a rippin’ Moog solo.

Price: $10.79

Teflon Don

With three successful albums to his credit, Ross is at the top of his game and ready to take on the world. On his fourth album Teflon Don Ross is riding high with the album’s first single “SUPERHIGH” feat. Ne-Yo. On Teflon Don, Ross joins forces with music’s elite, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Chrisette Michele, Raphael Saadiq to name a few, to create another classic album in his hip hop legacy.

Price: $7.99

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