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David Byrne’s concert documentary RIDE, RISE, ROAR will be released on DVD and blu-ray May 31st. Byrne has always tried to make an impact visually as well as sonically dating back to his Talking Head days. I don’t think anyone can forget his signature dance moves for “Once in a Lifetime” or his “big suit” from the Talking Heads’ “Stop Making Sense” concert film. You gotta respect an artist like this who continues to seek out different ways to present his material in a live setting. So, it’s definitely a treat to get to see what all went on to get Byrne’s 2008-09 show to the stage.

On a side note – be on the look out for Jenni Muldaur who served as a backing vocalist for the tour. You may recall Muldaur from her stint in Todd Rundgren’s live band way back in 1989-90.

Here’s the official press release:

Eagle Rock Entertainment Is Proud To Present RIDE RISE ROAR – A Live Concert Film Featuring David Byrne On DVD and Blu-ray May 31

Known as the force behind Talking Heads and later as creator of the highly-regarded record-label Luaka Bop, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member David Byrne also works as a photographer, film director, author, and solo artist; he has published and exhibited visual art for more than a decade. Recent works include Playing the Building, an interactive sound installation at New York’s Battery Maritime Building and London’s Roundhouse; Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, Byrne’s first collaboration with co-writer Brian Eno since 1981′s My Life in the Bush of Ghosts; Big Love: Hymnal, music from the second season of the HBO series; a series of unique bike racks installed throughout New York City in conjunction with the New York City Department of Transportation; Bicycle Diaries, a chronicle of David’s travels on his bicycle published by Viking Press and available as an audio book featuring narration and original music by Byrne; the official soundtrack from Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps; Here Lies Love, a 22-song cycle about the life of Imelda Marcos in collaboration with Fatboy Slim; and a collaboration with Will Oldham for the soundtrack to the upcoming Sean Penn film This Must be the Place.
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Eage Rock is scheduled to release a Primal Scream concert where they performed their seminal 90′s album Screamadelica live on Blu-ray as well as a DVD/CD combo pack. I’d probably go for the Blu-ray edition since it includes the “Classic Albums” special along with the concert footage and a special “rock set” perfomance. All in all, that’s a total of 3.5 hours of Primal Scream on the blu-ray edition.

Here’s the official announcement:

ONE OF THE SEMINAL ALBUMS OF THE 1990s—SCREAMADELICA BY PRIMAL SCREAM—RETURNS!
EAGLE ROCK TO RELEASE SCREAMADELICA LIVE CONCERT ON DVD/CD & BLU-RAY!
Award-Winning Documentary Series Classic Albums Goes Behind-The-Scenes On Blu-ray-Only Exclusive

Rock Set List:
1 Accelerator
2 Country Girl
3 Jailbird
4 Burning Wheel
5 Suicide Bomb
6 Shoot Speed / Kill Light
7 Swastika Eyes
8 Rocks
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You know you got to respect a guy that continues to persevere even after being responsible for the oh-so-sappy 80′s love theme for Luke & Laura from TV’s General Hospital. Singer/songwriter Christopher Cross has survived the 80′s backlash and even has a brand new album titled Doctor Faith to show for it.

Hey, since rock icon Todd Rundgren personally recruited Cross for two of his Beatles related tours (A Walk Down Abbey Road II and the Sgt. Peppers tribute), Cross can’t be all bad. The man at least deserves a second look…

Here’s the press release about the new album:

DOCTOR FAITH: FIRST NEW ALBUM IN 12 YEARS FROM CHRISTOPHER CROSS!
The voice rides high. Melodic. Beautiful. Everything everybody ever loved about Christopher Cross is on display in the 13 exquisite tracks of Doctor Faith, being released May 10 by Eagle Rock Entertainment (through earMusic). It marks the first all-new studio offering from Christopher Cross in 12 years.
Thirty-one years, five Grammys and an Oscar later, Doctor Faith is a dramatic return. His songwriting has never been sharper, more observant. His singing is better than it’s ever been. The production, for the first time, is guitar-oriented, rather than keyboard-oriented. Michael McDonald is on hand to give voice to the title character.
“This album not only feels like a new chapter to my career,” says Cross, “it feels like starting a whole new book.”
Cross has dedicated the album to Joni Mitchell “for a lifetime of inspiration.”
Influenced by Mitchell’s idiosyncratic way with a lyric line, and the guts to delve deep, Cross, and long time songwriting partner Rob Meurer, have written some songs sure to be instant classics. Opener “Hey Kid” lays it all out: optimistic yet cautious, forward-thinking yet imbued with a world-weary voice-of-experience, it sets the tone for such profundities as “I’m Too Old For This,” “Poor Man’s Ecstasy,” “Still I Resist” and the title track. One of the recurring themes of the album is the search for peace by making peace within one’s self.
Cross landed loud and large on the music scene in 1980, winning the Grammy for “Best New Artist.” “Sailing” and “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” were both #1s, the latter co-written with Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager, and the late Peter Allen. Cross charted eight times between 1980 and 1983. He has eight albums to his credit, as well as a number of other packages. Through it all, he’s maintained his high level of excellence, also singing, writing and performing with other artists.

Track Listing:
1 Hey Kid
2 I’m Too Old For this
3 When You Come Home
4 Dreamers
5 November
6 Leave It To Me
7 Doctor Faith
8 Rescue
9 Help Me Cry
10 Still I Resist
11 Poor Man’s Ecstasy
12 Everything
13 Prayin’

Thanks again to all those that participated in Freschetta Pizza & cutting boards giveaway.

all the entries were compiled into a spreadsheet and numbered sequentially. I then used random.org to produce a random number.

and without further ado – the winner is:

Nessa

Congratulations! Please send me your mailing address and I’ll get your prize sent to you in the next week or so.

OK, so that was fun!

Be on the look out for another giveaway in the coming weeks. and be sure to LIKE RetroBlog on facebook to stay in the loop for future drawings and contests.

So, the latest album by Todd Rundgren is finally out in stores – Todd Rundgren’s Johnson. It’s basically Rundgren’s take on ol’ bluesman Robert Johnson, just in time to celebrate what would have been Johnson’s 100th birthday.

This project was recorded in the same fashion as 2008′s Arena album. Essentially Rundgren recording by himself (except for Kasim Sulton on bass) onto his laptop.

What a missed opportunity!! I’m pointing out the obvious but come on, drum machines and “the blues” absolutely DO NOT mix. YES, YES, I understand that Rundgren had no recording budget for this project but this is just “demo quality” work that he’s passing off as a “real” album. The drum samples sound horrid on the CD – almost “casio keyboard” like in quality. I’m not sure if the drum samples (especially the cymbals) used are of low bit rate quality but it’s almost comical. No one is going to take these Robert Johnson covers seriously when it sounds like something any dude could have done using “garage band” on a MAC in his bedroom.

Rundgren and/or the record company (MPCA) should have put up the extra dough to overdub Prairie Prince (Todd’s drummer) on top of these tracks, at the least. They definitely had the time to do it since MPCA sat on the album for over a year. well, I can’t really blame them now that I’ve heard the “finished product”. They probably didn’t have any confidence in the recorded material and just kept on delaying the release date of the album ’til they could figure out how to market this thing.

If I were MPCA, I would have pushed back and released Rundgren’s live performance of the Johnson album instead of these “demos”. Since the April 11th, 2010 performance at the Ridgefield Playhouse was recorded for streaming purposes via the web, I’d think that it wouldn’t have taken much more effort to issue the live recordings in place of Todd’s demos. Maybe just a remixing and mastering issue. Todd and the band performed these Johnson covers a hundred times better live than what was recorded by Todd alone. Plus the live setting and the interplay among the musicians in the band would have given these blues covers a bit more authenticity in my book.

but again, it’s just a long line of miss opportunities in the history of Todd. Oh well, it’s par for the course I guess.

now don’t get me wrong, it’s not ALL bad. I like Todd’s arrangements and his guitar work is stellar on the new CD. But in terms of the way the CD sounds, it’s just embarrassing. You won’t find me playing the CD for any of my buddies. Actually, there’s not much desire to relisten to this at all.

retroGrade: C-

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Billboard recently posted a short article stating that a new Trevor Rabin album is on the way. Yes, Rabin’s been talking about a new solo album for years. But since the news is from “Billboard”, maybe it’ll actually happen. who knows.

As a long time fan, I’ve been waiting for new Rabin material since 1994. Sure, Rabin has been prolific as a motion picture soundtrack composer but I’d rather hear some proper “rock” songs from the man.

I’m sure working on all those Jerry Bruckheimer films has been very lucrative but I can’t imagine the work being creatively satisfying. But with the music industry the way it is, you can’t blame Rabin for going where the money is.

Here’s the info from the article:

Yes Guitarist Trevor Rabin Working on First Solo Album in 22 Years
by Phil Gallo, L.A. | May 03, 2011 5:17 EDT

“I felt such freedom doing this,” Rabin says, his May schedule intentionally clear of movie scoring — the first time in 15 years — so he can return home to South Africa to see his mother. “I wasn’t restricted in any way. It worked out like a painting. You leave it on the easel and return to it when you’re ready.”

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