Monday's Forthcoming Releases [Part II]

JASON MRAZ ‘Jason Mraz's Beautiful Mess - Live On Earth’ [Release Date 23/11/2009]

CD/DVD:   http://991.com/Buy/ProductInformation.aspx?StockNumber=489847

This CD/DVD was filmed live from The Gratitude Cafe Tour at Charter One Pavillion on August 13th 2009 and features many songs from Jason's latest album, 'We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things', including 'I'm Yours' and 'Lucky' with guest Colbie Caillat, along with some of the older favourites and a few new songs.

FINAL ‘Reading All The Right Signals Wrong’ [Release Date 23/11/2009]

CD:   http://991.com/Buy/ProductInformation.aspx?StockNumber=489837

"Final draws from a toolkit of simple shifting harmonies, alternately dense and sparse tone clusters, repetition, filter sweeps, and still other sounds that are inexplicably 'wet’,' organic and free of outright harshnoise copout" – Dusted.

Justin Broadrick of Godflesh and Jesu with the latest release under his Final moniker. Now available on CD with four bonus tracks exclusive to this format. Justin has always made music which could one day serve as a soundtrack to the end of the world, should we ever need one. Whether with Godflesh or Jesu, themes of urban decay, corporate greed and post-modern malaise often set the bleak tone.

Final, his longest running project, is no different. Formed in 1982, it has often run parallel to his more recognizable work and served as an undefinable and more experimental outlet.

TURBO FRUITS ‘Echo Kid’ [Release Date 23/11/2009]

CD:   http://991.com/Buy/ProductInformation.aspx?StockNumber=489844

"Sounding like vintage Stooges and Lies-era G'n'R, the teenage duo revel in making dirty, turbo-charged songs about being young and out of control" – Dazed And Confused

"(Turbo Fruits) summon the image of Nick Cave steering a dragster over the Bailey's aisle of Thresher's to get the good stuff" – NME

"lithe, limber and spiked with whiskey, two grams of blow and 12 Xanax. Is that up your alley enough?" Vice – 9/10,

"Turbo Fruits' rock like the punk offspring of Jerry Lee Lewis and some nubile nymphet" – Artrocker.

The album was produced and mixed by Jeremy Ferguson (Be Your Own Pet) in the bands hometown, Nashville, Tennessey. Be You Own Pet's guitarist and founder Jonas Stein's new band Turbo Fruits unleash a more song based but equally rawkus album about girls, being 21 and living in Nashville.

VARIOUS ARTISTS ‘Almighty Essentials’ [Release Date 16/11/2009]

2CD:   http://991.com/Buy/ProductInformation.aspx?StockNumber=489911

Since the day that Almighty Records opened as a record stall just off the dance floor of one of London's historic clubs, its mission has always been devoted to DJs, dancers and dance music. Launched and staffed by disc jockeys and club enthusiasts for twenty years, the first 12-inch release on the Almighty label was a cover of a Limahl single, chosen because the artist's original label had unwisely let the extended version of that song go right out of print, while club-goers still wanted to dance to it and buy it.

Almighty wore its pop-dance heart on its sleeve, remaking the lifelong sentimental favorites and new obsessions of the staff and close friends; licensing in and updating the club classics of the disco era; and - most crucially, it turns out - audaciously covering the most popular chart songs of the current week that had no dance mix, or whose officially commissioned dance mixes did not completely satisfy the club audience. The producers hired the cream of London's session singers - numerous of them already famous as recording artists and even hit songwriters - to sing top-notch lead vocals that would compete with the singers of timeless classics and newly-released smash hits.

Responding to club and DJ demand with a high creative standard and the same kind of DJ instinct that would pack a dancefloor (or, inevitably, on occasion, clear it) was more than second nature to Almighty - it was, in each and every release, the primary and essential motive. In retrospect, it looks inevitable that the global pop-dance updraft of the 1990s and post-2000 period would carry that kind of a label and production team to worldwide success.

Rightly famous for pouncing on chart singles and, in their way, correcting the mistakes of major label dance departments, independent Almighty's early catalogue looked like a list of the greatest songs ever written - with two special successes describing the essence of the company: Abbacadabra's 'Dancing Queen' and Sarah Washington's 'I Will Always Love You', both massive and defining pop records whose originals had never been remixed for clubs. For Almighty, taking on these imposing songs turned out to be an opportunity to make their own timeless records, as both of them played year after year in clubs around the world, and Washington's single was a national U.K. hit, peaking at No. 12.

Dance promoters started putting two and two together and hiring the Almighty team to remix upcoming releases, and a turning point happened when Almighty was commissioned in advance for one of the epochal records of pop and dance, Cher's 'Believe'. In the first of her farewell tours, Cher chose the Almighty version for her finale reprise of the song, playing herself offstage to it. She returned to Almighty for further remixes, triggering a stampede of remix jobs from both sides of the Atlantic.

CHRISTOPHER CROSS ‘A Christopher Cross Christmas’ [Release Date 16/11/2009]

CD:   http://991.com/Buy/ProductInformation.aspx?StockNumber=489916

Christopher Cross emerged as one of the biggest Pop Rock stars of 1980, virtually defining adult contemporary radio with a series of sophisticated ballads including the chart-topping 'Sailing'. His self-titled debut LP, with the lead single 'Ride Like the Wind' rocketed to the number two spot, and the massive success of a second single, 'Sailing' made Cross a World superstar, walking off with a record-setting five Grammys in 1981, including 'Best New Artist' and 'Song of the Year' for 'Sailing'.

He soon scored a 2nd # 1 and an Academy Award with 'Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)', which he co-wrote with Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager, and Peter Allen for the smash Dudley Moore film comedy 'Arthur'.

After a 10 year break from studio activity, Cross released a new studio album 'The Café Carlyle Sessions' on earMUSIC label in 2009 that finally brought him back to Europe. This is a new studio album by Christopher Cross. An album that goes back to the old tradition of Christmas music, capturing the richness of the melodies and the emotional feeling of such standards as 'Christmas Time is Here', 'Silent Night' and many others performed and arranged by Cross in a way that only top stars can offer.

VARIOUS ARTISTS ‘Future Soundtrack For America’ [Release Date 16/11/2009]

CD:   http://991.com/Buy/ProductInformation.aspx?StockNumber=489922

The Future Soundtrack for America was organised in 2004 as a fundraising compilation CD featuring an amazing array of artists and was joint project with MoveOn.org and Music For America. (McSweeney's Publishing is also releasing a book with similar fundraising goals that will include a copy of the CD; the future dictionary of america features contributions from an astounding group of almost 200 writers, from Paul Auster to Michael Chabon to Jonathan Franzen to Joyce Carol Oates to Kurt Vonnegut to Wendy Wasserstein). One hundred percent of the proceeds from the book and CD projects will go to non-profit progressive organizations, including Music For America, Common Assets, The Sierra Club, and others.

MARILYN MANSON ‘Guns, God And Government - Live In L.A.’ [Release Date 16/11/2009]

Blu-Ray:   http://991.com/Buy/ProductInformation.aspx?StockNumber=489926

'Guns, God And Government – Live In L.A.' was filmed on the last night of the world tour in support of the 'Holy Wood' album. When originally released on DVD in 2002, the visual footage of 'Guns, God And Government' was taken from numerous concerts around the world during the tour, set to the audio soundtrack from the Los Angeles show. Now for the first time, this Blu-ray presents the original high definition L.A. footage and soundtrack together as a cohesive concert film. The spectacular staging, the costumes, the lighting and the charismatic presence of Marilyn Manson himself combine to make this the ultimate live Marilyn Manson release.

'The Death Parade' – an all access, no holds barred film of life on the road with Marilyn Manson featuring cameo appearances by Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne and Eminem among others.

VARIOUS ARTISTS ‘The Perfumed Garden’ [Release Date 07/12/2009]

5CD:   http://991.com/Buy/ProductInformation.aspx?StockNumber=489929

Named in honour of John Peel's 1967 late-night programme on pirate radio station 'Radio London', which Peel named after a 13th century Arabic sex manual, the original 3 volumes of Past & Present's 'The Perfumed Garden', which many affianados felt set the benchmark for future compilations, were applauded for the quality of both the content and the sound, but these accolades were often undermined by the lack of information about the tracks and the artists who performed them. This repackaged version of the first 3 volumes, plus 2 additional volumes compiled by a leading expert on British psychedelia, contains a scholarly and informative 52-page booklet complete with rare photographs an exhaustive liner notes. This is full-on UK garage rock and psychedelia and every tracks a winner. Great sound coupled and 82 fantastic tracks over 5 CDs, 3 featuring the original artwork and the additional discs boasting new artwork newly-commissioned for this superb box set.

JOAN BAEZ ‘How Sweet The Sound’ [Release Date 07/12/2009]

DVD/CD:   http://991.com/Buy/ProductInformation.aspx?StockNumber=489936

'How Sweet The Sound' features performances, and interviews with David Crosby, Bob Dylan, ex-husband David Harris, the Reverend Jesse Jackson and Roger McGuinn, in addition to revealing historical archival material. Accounts and footage of Baez' controversial visit to North Vietnam, Martin Luther King Jr. outside a California prison, where he visited Joan to offer his support after she was jailed for staging a protest, Joan at her first Newport Folk Festival in 1959, and Joan as a teenager performing at the historic Club 47, are all woven into the story so viewers can experience scenes from Joan's life that have never been uncovered.

The CD soundtrack includes material spanning Joan's career, including many never-before-heard performances and studio recordings that span her career.