Two years after suddenly ending her recording career, Cocco returns with a DVD release titled Heaven’s Hell on Dec. 24. TBS “News 23” filmed the singer as she campaigned to clean up Honshuu’s beaches at a special event this past summer. Cocco performed a short acoustic set, which included a new song, “Heaven’s Hell”. The DVD contains an hour’s worth of footage, and a limited edition version includes a CD single featuring two versions of the new song — a live performance recorded at a Kobe music festival, and a studio version.
Mukai Shuutoku’s post-Number Girl band Zazen Boys releases its self-titled debut on Jan. 10, 2004. On that same day, Zazen Boys embarks on its 16-date “Tour Matsuri Session” tour. Tickets for the tour go on sale Nov. 22.
Till then, Mukai will perform his “Acoustic & Electric” show at Quruli’s “Hyakkyagyoo” performance at Zepp Tokyo on Dec. 16, and a one-man show at Shinjuku Liquid Room on Dec. 15.
Dragon Ash will release a DVD video clip collection on Dec. 24. Details have yet to be announced, but the DVD should include videos from the band’s most recent album, Harvest, plus material released since the preceding video collection, Lily da Video.
Pop band Spitz will release a four-DVD box set of its best live performances from the past four years. Titled Hooro Hayabusa Junjoo Sugoroku, the limited edition set hits stores Dec. 17. Spitz recorded only two albums in that period but embarked on four different tours. Off-stage footage is included on each disc, and a 100-page booklet is planned to accompany the set.
Sugar Fields’ forthcoming album rainbow sports guest appearances by Suneo Hair and Quruli. The album will be released on Nov. 23 by Café Au Label. Suneo Hair worked with Sugar Fields’ previously on the band’s July 2002 album, Lemon Water. The indie folk-rock songwriter played organ and guitar on the album.
Quruli has added a second date at Zepp Tokyo for its “Hyakkyagyoo” tour. The Dec. 16 performance precedes the band’s all-night event at the venue. Mukai Shuutoku, Yugawa Chouon and DJ TSUCHIE also performs on that date.
Tommy February6, a.k.a. Kawase Tomiko of the brilliant green, has produced the debut single of 20-year-old singer Hinoi Asuka. “Wanna Be Your Girlfriend” will be released on Nov. 19 and features Tommy’s trademark 80s sound.
Of all the reissues in Capitol’s Duran Duran campaign, Seven and the Ragged Tiger offers the least incentives.
No extra tracks (you can find those on the singles boxed set), no interactive elements, no extended liner notes.
It doesn’t matter — the remastering of the album is worth the price alone.
Unlike Duran Duran’s first two albums with producer Colin Thurston, Seven and the Ragged Tiger epitomized the claustophobia of the band’s writing.
Keyboardist Nick Rhodes would later describe that period as five guys bashing it out for a piece of the spotlight — they all wanted some part of the sonic real estate.
What resulted was one of Duran Duran’s thickest recordings, a super glossy production that covered up some rushed writing. The closest Seven and the Ragged Tiger gets to a slow song is “The Seventh Stranger”, and even that song has a lot going on.
For the audiophile, Nick Webb’s remastering brings out all of the album’s nuances. If anything, a better appreciation of Seven and the Ragged Tiger derives not from the band’s songwriting but from its arrangements.
Just one listen to the album version of “The Reflex” is enough to show why Nile Rodgers’ remix of the song was necessary.
And yet, it’s great to listen to all the swirling effects of “(I’m Looking for) Cracks in the Pavement” or the layers of synthesizers on “Shadows on Your Side” or even Simon Le Bon’s reverb-drenched voice on “The Seventh Stranger” in full stereo.
The decision not to tack extras at the end of the album is something of a mixed blessing. It would have been nice to see at least the single version of “The Reflex” on the disc, but it’s also nice that nothing interferes with the poignant conclusion of “The Seventh Stranger”.
(If Duran Duran ever releases a rarities collection, how about including the demo of what should have been the album’s title track?)
Duranies may feel cheated by the fact this reissue doesn’t reveal more than what’s already public knowledge, but an A-to-B comparrison with the original CD release should quell any doubts.
Get this reissue if only to better appreciate the studio magic of the album.
When Duran Duran’s Rio was first released on CD back in the early 90s, U.S. fans introduced to the band after 1983 were in for a shock.
The album on CD sounded nothing like the album on vinyl or cassette. The songs were shorter, and the arrangements weren’t fleshed out.
As it turns out, fans late to the game bought a remixed version of the album that contained many dance mixes of the songs. When it came time to release Rio on CD, the band opted to use its original masters, with shorter songs.
What does this have to do with a remastering of the band’s first self-titled CD? There’s a similar track change on this reissue as well.
Don’t panic — it’s not as drastic as finding out the album you knew and loved didn’t really start out that way.
To capitalize on Duran Duran’s breakthrough in the U.S. during the early ’80s, Capitol reissued the band’s first album, replacing “To the Shore” with a then-new single, “Is There Something I Should Know?”
Guess what? “Is There Something I Should Know?” is nowhere on this remastered issue of Duran Duran, and that’s something of a blessing and a curse.
In terms of mood and temperament, “To the Shore” definitely matched the rest of Duran Duran far better than the highly-glossy “Is There Something I Should Know?” ever did.
At the same time, it isn’t one of the band’s best songs, and Duran Duran was justified in removing it on later pressings. (In fact, the very first issue of the album didn’t contain it.)
As such, it takes some adjustment to consider “Careless Memories” as the conclusion of “side one” after years of conditioning by “Is There Something I Should Know?”
In terms of sound, the difference is magnificent. The remastered version makes full use of stereo, and the overall volume of the album has been greatly boosted. Headphones listening reveals subtle flourishes on “Friends of Mine” and “Night Boat” buried on the original pressing.
Unlike Capitol’s reissue of Rio back in 2001, the remastered Duran Duran has no extras — no photos, no videos. The limited edition gatefold is just fancy packaging, and it doesn’t even contain an inner sleeve to protect the disc from scratches by the cardboard cover.
With the release of The Singles 81-85, Capitol probably hopes the lack of new material on these reissues would force Duranies to get the boxed set. (And damn it — it’s fucking working.)
Still, it’s safe to say this remastered version of Duran Duran is worth the redundancy. Go ahead and sell that old version to a used CD shop.
Duranies who’ve lasted this long have more than likely heard most of the singles and extended mixes contained in The Singles 81-85, Duran Duran’s first boxed set collection.
As part of its 100th anniversary in 1998, EMI released the limited edition Night Versions, a collection of 12-inch mixes. And the single tracks have all been collected in a pair of retrospective discs, Decade (1989) and Greatest (2000).
And let’s face it — a boxed set is geared for Duranies anyway.
No. The Holy Grail of this set are the b-sides.
Duran Duran has a terrible habit of putting perfectly serviceable songs on b-sides, while stuffing its albums with filler. Anyone who’s ever encountered “I Believe/All I Need to Know” will know the feeling.
About five years ago, Capitol had readied a b-sides collection for the band but canceled it for fear that bootlegging had already saturated the market for such a disc.
Now with the original five members who infused Capitol with wads of cash in the early 80s reunited, the label has started a reissue campaign of the group’s hit albums.
The Singles 81-85 painstakingly replicates the packaging of those early singles, from the Mondarian-influenced covers of Malcolm Garrett right down to the “45 RPM” imprint on the disc. (As if fans can set their CD players to 45 RPM!)
Thankfully, the box fits nicely on a CD rack, although the compact design leaves little room for extended liner notes. That ink was already spilled for Night Versions.
Listeners without a CD changer or a CD burner to rip these discs to their hard drive may find it a hassle to switch out 13 separate 15-minute discs. Even with a five-disc changer, you’d still need to switch them out three times.
The boxed set, however, pays for its $50 price tag in the b-sides, and these songs reveal more about the band’s influences than some of their albums.
“Late Bar” and “Khanada” show the strongest influence of Chic, especially in John Taylor’s bass work and Roger Taylor’s drumming. If anyone ever mistook Simon Le Bon for David Bowie on “New Moon on Monday”, a cover of Bowie’s “Fame” reveals why.
“Faith in This Colour” finds the band actually trying to be “new Romantics”, while “Secret Oktober” intersects Eno-like textures with ancient Hawaiian rhythms.
Duranies who missed out on snatching up Night Versions before it went out of print — it was pressed for only six months — may find some odd gems.
The manic-paced, single version of “My Own Way” bears no resemblance to what eventually showed up on Rio. And an demo version of “The Chauffeur (Blue Silver)” shows why the song endures.
Duran Duran would go on to make more interesting music as the 80s progressed — some of the post-1986 b-sides are downright gorgeous — but for fans who thought the group was finished when Andy Taylor and Roger Taylor left, this set is at least, interesting, at most, essential.