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Brothers

The maturation of the Black Keys as record makers and performers has been both subtle and startling. With their 2008 Nonesuch release 'Attack & Release' - the fifth album of their eight-year career which doubled the sales of their previous album and Nonesuch debut 'Magic Potion' - guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney illustrated the durability of their few-frills sound, a mysterious and heavy brew of seventies-vintage rock, classic R&B and timeless, downhearted blues. Producer and pal Danger Mouse, their first outside collaborator, didn't try to reinvent their sound but further isolated its essence with the help of a few carefully chosen guest players and some retro-modern electronic gear. It didn't need to get slicker to get better, or, as the Boston Globe put it, ''Attack & Release' proves that cleaning up the boys still won't stop them from tracking mud all over the house.'Danger Mouse returned to co-produce 'Tighten Up' on 'Brothers,' but for the most part, the duo was on its own, spending ten days at the legendary Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama and coming up with the an even more intensely focused, deeply soulful set that includes a cover of Jerry Butler's 'Never Gonna Give You Up.' The performances are inventive and impassioned: Auerbach extends his vocal range to falsetto on the lead-off track 'Everlasting Light' and 'The Only One'; 'Howlin' For You' opens with a Gary Glitter-style drum riff and the chorus practically invites singing along. The tunes offer a surprising amount of lyrical candor and more than a little dark humor; the grooves alternate between ballsy swagger and bluesy rumination. The album reflects where Auerbach and Carney have been lately, most recently collaborating with a who's who of New York City MC's, including RZA, Q Tip, Mos Def and Raekwon on the 2009 BlakRoc super-session organized by hip-hop impresario and Black Keys fan Damon Dash. They've also pursued projects on their own, Auerbach with his solo 'Keep It Hid' album and tour, Carney with his band Drummer and its debut disc, 'Feels Good Together.' Their maturation didn't happen just in the studio, though. Carney admits, 'Dan and I grew up a lot as individuals and musicians prior to making this album. Our relationship was tested in many ways but at the end of the day, we're brothers, and I think these songs reflect that.''Brothers' was primarily cut in Muscle Shoals, a setting that turned out to have more in common with the Akron, Ohio factories where the Black Keys used to record. The place was desolate, the town depressed, so once again the duo slipped into a world all its own. They did additional recording at Auerbach's Easy Eye Sound System in Akron and The Bunker in Brooklyn. The album was mixed by engineer Tchad Blake, a veteran of sessions with Los Lobos, Pearl Jam and Peter Gabriel. Says Carney, 'The way he approaches mixing is the same way we approach making music. Respecting the past while being in the present.'

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Sacd Shm Sampler CD

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Foundling

Foundling -- the stunning new effort by internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter David Gray -- begins with those evocative and somewhat mysterious words. What follows is an extraordinary song cycle of rare and timeless power that bears a rather fitting title. As people today may or may not remember, the word "foundling" is defined as "an infant found after its unknown parents have abandoned it." And as Gray puts it with a warm laugh, "Foundling sort of arrived at my door without my asking it to, so it felt very appropriate for this album." In a sense, Foundling also marks another notable arrival -- the second coming of David Gray's own second coming -- and one that truly "sprung like a wild orchid" in its own right. By 2005, Gray had already enjoyed what has been a rather distinguished career as a singer-songwriter and recording artist, having sold more than 12 million albums, including his global left-field smash, 1998's White Ladder, which remains the single best selling album in Irish history. Gray had by this point already won two Ivor Novello Awards, a Q award, two Brit nominations and a GRAMMY nomination. But not a man or artist content to ever rest on his laurels, Gray decided that the time has come to shake things up in a significant way. So in 2006, David Gray decided to disband his longtime backing group, and to attempt to reconnect with his music before recording his excellent 2009 album Draw The Line with a new group of players at his studio The Church. "Draw the Line was essentially about the band, and four people playing together in a room," says Gray. "But you can't just keep going for unlimited takes. So on days when I felt everyone was getting a bit worn down and frayed at the edges -- and that it might be good to give everyone a little space -- I'd go into the studio on my own or maybe with one other person. I'd either work on tracks we already recorded or try to record other songs with just me on piano or guitar. That's a lot of what eventually became Foundling. In essence, Foundling became an alternate musical universe to Draw The Line. As Gray puts it," Foundling was an album done in slices of time in between band recording sessions. Eventually, I had the thought of recording and then mixing two separate albums during the same time period, so I then went back and took a closer look at the tracks and recorded a few overdubs and attempted to add a few finishing touches so that they sounded more complete. That's how Foundling became like a tapestry that I hung on the other side of The Church. And I kept walking over and making little marks on it, and before you knew it, what started off as a side project was holding my attention as well as the main work." In the end, Foundling looks like the most gorgeous and minimalist musical tapestry that David Gray has ever created -- one that alternately suggests the early work of The Band, Randy Newman and Tom Waits, but without sounding remotely like a piece of nostalgia. Like the recent productions of T-Bone Burnett, this is music that seems to exist almost outside of time, yet feels fantastically modern and stripped of all unnecessary varnish. "Because I've done so much recording lately, I think you eventually get braver," says Gray. "You think `I can go even further with this - I can do even less.' So there's definitely a sense here of reducing the songs to their absolute bare minimum. It's that core notion of getting to the gist of the song. On Draw The Line and in a different way here, I didn't concern myself with trying to use very current sounds that might date badly. I just focused on getting the song down by the simplest means possible." Working this way was ultimately very emancipating for Gray. "We were very unfussy on this record," he says. "I felt like this was my private record. I didn't get too picky with the vocals, and I didn't have to think about things like potential airplay. So I threw all of that stuff out and it's actually a wonderfully liberating feeling. You think, `This hasn't got a cat in hell's chance of getting on the radio, so let's make this the way we feel it ought to be made. We just made it the way we wanted to." When it's pointed out that he was always a bit of a left-field success story, and that Foundling might find a home on the airwaves simply because it's so good, he laughs and adds, "I could see these songs doing well at the cinema or maybe on TV because there is a cinematic quality to some of the stuff. Maybe that could unlock the record in some way, but it's hard to imagine it getting on the radio as it stands. But who cares anyway? Fuck it, we love it." "Frankly, I can't wait for this bloody thing to come out because I'm still tearing my hair out about what to leave in and not," Gray adds with a hearty laugh. "It's basically the record I've been wanting to make for a long time and it's as strong a statement as White Ladder in its own way. The album is like a stepping off point for what might happen next. It's like I'm really putting my money where my mouth is with this one." FOUNDLING: SONG-BY-SONG WITH DAVID GRAY: ONLY THE WINE: "Only The Wine" was born out of a little guitar motif with a slight nod toward "Norwegian Wood." That first line was key: "Sprung like a wild orchid." I thought that the whole song sounded like something woody -- something you'd find growing in a field. When we recorded "Only The Wine," the song had this beautiful warm sound. Everyone was playing quite tentatively and innocently because we hadn't settled into that whole "We know what we're doing" feeling. So this song had the sense I love of players still reaching for something. FOUNDLING: This was a key track because of the soundscape of it. It's just a two chord thing, and yet it feels like new territory to me. For me, "Foundling" is a sort of a road marker left at the end of the last recording session to tell me where to start next time around. Like, "Start there next time and just keep going further out." There's no use trying to unwrap the lyrics for this song or "Only the Wine" -- it's just bring your own pictures because that's all I'm creating here, and make your own meaning too. FORGETTING: This one is self-explanatory to the point that it would be stupid to explain it when it's so obvious what it's about. The lyrics came first for a change here. What happened during this whole period of this recording is that the joy of words and language and writing came back to me full force. That's still with me, and I think that's where I'm strongest and it's where I'll be concentrating a lot of my energies next time around. So I think there may be a few more lyrics first scenarios around the corner for me. GOSSAMER THREAD: This song came to me some time ago, and I just got this really strong picture of a person, this semi-derelict person, just drifting from city to city, hanging on to life as if by a gossamer thread. We all know how that feels sometimes. In terms of recording, as a piece of playing, it took a lot of effort to get it all in one take, and by the end of the session we were so worn out we just put it to one side and didn't listen to it for months. It was the very last thing we mixed on the record, and when we put up the faders it was the most pleasant surprise of the whole mixing session. It sounded great and it just sort of mixed itself. IN GOD'S NAME: It's the song I wrote to my friend Bryan Glancy, an English singer songwriter who also inspired Elbow's record The Seldom Seen Kid. He was a great character and a dear friend to us all, and he died shortly after I wrote this song with him in mind. "In God's Name" became part one, and I wrote another part that will be an extra track on the album called "Fixative," which together represent my own little homage to Bryan. A very simple idea and I don't know how to elaborate on it. What brought the track together was we got the hurdy gurdy man in to play on it. That's something you don't get to say every day. THE OLD CHAIR: When I talk about how minimal Foundling is, I must remember "The Old Chair" is on there with a huge orchestra that kicks in at the end. It's a bit early Tom Waits that one, and proudly so. The song is about old people and in a way it's definitely a cousin of some of those great songs John Prine's written like "Hello In There." It's obviously not a very popular subject for a pop song, with a few exceptions like "Eleanor Rigby." The reason the song got started was unusual. I was doing some writing for an animation project to do with these rescue dogs, and the original working title for the project was "The Old Chair." So that's where the title came from, even though it had nothing to do with the final song. Still, I quite like having an assignment to work on, it can change the parameters of your thinking in a very useful way. WE COULD FALL IN LOVE AGAIN TONIGHT: Well, this is a very romantic song, and I haven't written many of those in recent years. And in this context, it was almost gutsy to feature some breathy saxophone on this track. I was thinking of "When Teardrops Fall" by Bob Dylan from Oh Mercy. Or maybe Stan Getz's saxophone on "Girl From Ipanema." That was what I wanted there. Sometimes I like to record without using bass because I feel you can get a starker more emotional result. Bass can sometimes normalize things and make a song seem too comfortable and familiar. HOLDING ON: This came from the session when the new band first came together -- the same session as the title track from Draw The Line was recorded. Neil MacColl's guitar part here is beautiful. I've written a song called "Hold On," "Hold On To Nothing," and now "Holding On," so I'm getting some grief from the boys, like, "Write some decent titles, Dave." A NEW DAY AT MIDNIGHT: This song actually dates back to the album A New Day At Midnight from 2002. That' when I wrote it, and it gave its title to that album. This is the oldest recording that's on the album. I kept this one back because I thought there was a better moment for the song, and this is it. I'm getting some grief about this title too because it's the same as the 2002 album. It's a simple, uplifting kind of song, and I'm very happy about the horn arrangement, which I think came out great. WHEN I WAS IN YOUR HEART: This song I wrote a good few years ago, and it just had something. We did it up as a band version first and I felt we hadn't really taken it any further, so then I stripped it back. Lestyn Polson, my producer, had so much to do with the colour of this record and the soundscape of it. He did a brilliant job of presenting the simple things. We used a lot of old reverb effects, and you can hear a good example on the vocals in this track. A strange, quirky little song, and I'm glad it's finally going to see the light of day. DAVEY JONES' LOCKER: This whole song came pretty much fully formed out of a soundcheck jam. It virtually wrote itself. Then afterwards I went back and added a few more lines to it, and tidied up a few loose ends. Then I got the same people from onstage into the studio and we got it down 'live' in a couple of takes. I can't really unravel the imagery too much without making it sound trite, but the lyric describes heading down under the surface of things into a strange and dreamy world

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Dino: The Essential Dean Martin

CD > POPULAR MUSIC > ROCK

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Imagination Movers: For Those About to Hop

Playhouse Disney stars the Imagination Movers are back with a second album featuring songs as seen on the Playhouse Disney TV Series, Season 1. Album features show favorites such as Jungle Room, Imagination Movers Theme Song and more.

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Black Country Communion (CD/DVD)

Black Country Communion......is a devastating head-on collision between Americanand British rock influences a true supergroup thatdelivers a titanic rock experience greater than the sum ofits supremely talented parts.The brainchild of producer Kevin Shirley (Black Crowes, Aerosmith,Led Zeppelin), the band combines the rock lineage and forces of legendaryfrontman and bass guitarist Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath,Trapeze), master blues-rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa, powerhouse drummerJason Bonham (Led Zeppelin, Foreigner) and keyboardist Derek Sherinian(Dream Theater, Billy Idol, Alice Cooper). Named after the industrial area inBritain where both Hughes and Bonham were born and raised,Black Country Communion began rehearsing and recording tracks writtenby both Hughes and Bonamassa at Shangri-La Studios in early 2010.Their new Self Titled Debut Album will release on September 21, 2010and the band is planning a tour of select venues in 2011.

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Five Little Monkeys

Start snapping your fingers to one of your favorite chants done in a jazzy version, and clap along to classic singable songs. Kids will love this special collection of timeless tunes, laced with pleasing new favorites. This cool-sounding recording is a great way for children to get their wiggles and giggles out! Look for activity ideas and book links, along with lyrics, in the comprehensive guide.

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Bernstein Favorites: Children's Classics

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A Beautiful Exchange

Hillsong Live returns with an all-new album entitled, A Beautiful Exchange. Recorded at Hillsong Church in Australia, these powerful worship songs explore themes including sacrifice & redemption ("A Beautiful Exchange"), extraordinary love ("Our God Is Love"), and comforting hope ("Forever Reign") which is also the first radio single and looks to be a song that will be quickly adopted by churches everywhere. Hillsong Live albums are moving experiences led by worship leaders including Reuben Morgan, Joel Houston, and Darlene Zschech to name a few. Other key songs include: "Open My Eyes," "Love Like Fire," & "Greatness of God"

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We Cry Out: The Worship Project

Grammy-nominated and RIAA multi-Gold selling artist Jeremy Camp is set to release his seventh studio project, We Cry Out - The Worship Project. Once again Camp teamed up with award-winning producer Brown Bannister to create a heartfelt, worshipful project. Returning to his worship music roots, he co-wrote with other notable worship leaders Matt Maher, Reuben Morgan (Hillsong) and Brenton Brown. "It is an overwhelming joy to see how the Lord has been faithful even though I am undeserving of it," shared Camp thinking back on his career. "I just want to continue to seek Him in all that I do, and want to always remember that it's the Lord doing the work...not me!

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