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Celebration (Deluxe Edition) (Album of the Day)
The Warhol-esque pop-art cover of CELEBRATION salutes an artist whose 15 minutes of fame have now stretched to nearly 40 years. The career-spanning 2009 double-disc collection was Madonna's last for longtime label Warner Bros., distilling her output for the company to 36 highlights selected with input from fans. All the essentials are here along with a pair of single-only sides and two new songs: “Revolver” (with rapper Lil Wayne) and the Dance Club chart-topping title track. Sequenced for flow rather than chronology, the lineup offers a breathtaking parade of hits including “Holiday,” “Music,” “Express Yourself” and “Vogue.” In CELEBRATION of Pride 2019, we're turning up the volume on this Top 10, Gold-certified best-of from Madonna
Aoxomoxoa (50th Anniversary) (Album of the Day)
Though AOXOMOXOA was the third Grateful Dead album, it represented several significant firsts for the Bay-area band. The group's first self-produced set, it would be their first recorded to 16-track tape and the first whose lyrics were entirely penned by frequent collaborator Robert Hunter. The 1969 collection introduced such favorites as "St. Stephen," "Mountains On The Moon" and "China Cat Sunflower." Now available, the 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of the enigmatic classic includes the original album with newly remastered sound, plus a bonus disc of unreleased live recordings captured over several nights in January 1969 at San Francisco's Avalon Ballroom. Murky, mysterious and majestic, AOXOMOXOA is a perfect time capsule that is still stubbornly resplendent a half century after it first appeared.
You and Me Both (Album of the Day)
On the heels of his work with Depeche Mode, keyboardist Vince Clarke found an ideal musical match in vocalist Alison Moyet. Their distinctive blend of propulsive synth beats and R&B textures quickly conquered the dance clubs of their native England, where the 1982 debut album from Yaz went platinum. Its follow-up was YOU AND ME BOTH; recorded shortly before the duo broke up, the album's pop polish belies the emotional depths it reaches. With producer Eric Radcliffe returning and the writing duties split more evenly, the set is arguably more accessible than its hit predecessor and includes such affecting songs as “Nobody's Diary,” “Mr. Blue” and “Ode To Boy.” Today we'll give YOU AND ME BOTH another spin to wish Alison Moyet a happy birthday.
Zapp (Album of the Day)
Built around Dayton, Ohio's Troutman brothers, Zapp made a strong enough impression on Bootsy Collins and George Clinton that they pointed the funk quintet to Warner Bros.; ZAPP was released on the label in 1980. Co-produced by Collins (who also contributes guitar work) and recorded at Parliament-Funkadelic stronghold United Sound Systems in Detroit, the collection has a strong P-Funk flavor with an emphasis on spacey jams, but singer-songwriter Roger Troutman's vocoder-enhanced delivery gives those jams a personality all their own. Among the fine originals here are “Be Alright” and Top 10 R&B hit “More Bounce to the Ounce,” both of which would be sampled by a host of rap greats years later. A classic of 1980s electro-funk, the Gold-certified ZAPP will still get a dancefloor bouncing.
A Ghost is Born (Album of the Day)
Following a highly publicized parting of the ways from Reprise Records after YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT, Wilco landed on Nonesuch for A GHOST IS BORN, released 15 years ago this weekend. The 2004 collection features some of the dissonance and anguished vocals of its predecessor while still reflecting an eagerness to break new ground - the one constant in the band's history. With the departure of Jay Bennett, frontman Jeff Tweedy takes over lead guitar duties and strikes a Neil Young-like balance between raging electricity and haunting intimacy, aided and abetted by Sonic Youth collaborator Jim O'Rourke. “Handshake Drugs,” “Company in My Back” and “The Late Greats” are among the many highlights here, and A GHOST IS BORN was a Top 10 hit that earned Wilco its first Grammy (for Best Alternative Music Album).
Movement (Definitive Edition) (Album of the Day)
Out of the ashes of Joy Division, the remaining members decided to carry on recording under the name of New Order; the band's debut album was MOVEMENT. Bernard Sumner, Stephen Morris and Peter Hook's former group is echoed throughout the 1981 collection, which was helmed by Joy Division producer Martin Hannett and includes references to that group's fallen frontman, Ian Curtis. But true to its name, MOVEMENT also displays progression, with new recruit Gillian Gilbert and a funkier guitar sound (“Senses”) and electronic percussion (“Truth”) hinting at dance and synth-pop glories to come. The new Definitive Edition of the seminal set includes the original album on vinyl and CD, a bonus disc of previously unreleased tracks, a DVD of live shows and TV appearances and a hardback book.
Disintegration (Album of the Day)
Over the course of the 1980s, British alternative rockers The Cure rose to become a commercial juggernaut, an ascent capped by DISINTEGRATION. The growing adulation left leader Robert Smith uneasy, and that despair can be heard throughout the record, but if his intent was to turn away from pop success, it didn't work. Singles “Fascination Street,” “Lovesong” and “Pictures of You” were irresistible, and the collection sold more than three million copies worldwide to become the band's commercial high-water mark. Released 30 years ago today, DISINTEGRATION is also among The Cure's most acclaimed, with such outlets as Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and Entertainment Weekly citing it as one of its decade's best albums.
In My Life (Album of the Day)
Judy Collins’ crystalline vocals have been delighting listeners for more than half a century since she emerged as one of the queens of the ‘60s folk scene. Collins helped establish Elektra Records as a leading exponent of that style, and IN MY LIFE, her sixth album for the label, helped redefine what folk could be. Judy had classical training, and tapped arranger/conductor Joshua Rifkin to craft orchestral and chamber pop settings for a diverse set ranging from the traditional - Richard Farina's “Hard Lovin' Loser” would become her first charting single - to then-new songs like Leonard Cohen's “Suzanne” and the Beatles title track. IN MY LIFE remains one of Judy Collins' very best, and we can't think of a better way to celebrate the singer's 80th birthday than by giving it another spin...
Shotgun Willie (Album of the Day)
After RCA threw their hands up with him, Willie Nelson headed to Austin, TX, grew his hair out and started to make music far removed from the constraints of the Nashville hitmaking machinery. The album that emerged, 1973's SHOTGUN WILLIE, was one of the opening salvos in the outlaw country movement, broadening the traditions of Hank Williams and Lefty Frizell to include singer-songwriter individuality. Nelson proves an engaging storyteller on originals like the title track, and he makes covers of songs like “Whiskey River” and “Stay All Night (Stay a Little Longer)” definitive with his masterful phrasing. Finding common ground between hillbillies and hippies, SHOTGUN WILLIE is expertly played, touched with humor and filled with inventive stylistic turns. Willie Nelson celebrates a birthday today, and we'll fire off a salute to the legendary performer with this breakthrough album!
Keep On Keeping On: Curtis Mayfield Studio Albums 1970-1974 (Album of the Day)
Born on this day in 1942, Curtis Mayfield recorded a string of hits with The Impressions before leaving the influential soul-gospel group to embark upon a solo career that began 50 years ago and produced some of his greatest work. Known as the "Gentle Genius," Mayfield has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice - first as a member of The Impressions and later as a solo artist. Rhino spotlights the singer-songwriter's early solo career with KEEP ON KEEPING ON: CURTIS MAYFIELD STUDIO ALBUMS 1970-1974. The four-disc collection includes newly remastered versions of Mayfield's first four studio albums: CURTIS (1970), ROOTS (1971), BACK TO THE WORLD (1973) and SWEET EXORCIST (1974) – and exclusively for orders placed via Rhino.com, a limited edition 12x12 print.