A few random notes regarding things we’ve discussed recently here at ATV, plus a couple of new items for you to be aware of:

First of all, I’d like to direct Stones fans to the excellent breakdown of the forthcoming Exile on Main Street reissue from Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune, featuring a review of the deluxe edition, plus separate interviews with Mick and Keith about the set. As you might expect, the stuff from Keith is typical gold….

Q: What about the remix of the older material?

A: My approach was basically hands off, don’t touch. I don’t want to do any fancy, modern ideas on top of a 40-year-old record. My job was to guard the sanctity and purity of the original tracks. But there was some overdubbing of vocals on some of the extra tracks. There was one track where we heard an acoustic guitar, then about one-third of the way through another acoustic guitar because I string must’ve broken, so I overdubbed that. I wouldn’t touch the original tracks with a barge bull.

Check out the complete Stones coverage from Kot right here.  Pre-order Exile on Main Street via these links – deluxe edition – super deluxe edition.

For You, For A Good Cause…..

When author Lawrence Kirsch published For You, his first book of Springsteen fan-sourced recollections and photographs in 2007, the limited pressing of 2000 copies quickly sold out.  If you missed out on that pressing, don’t be TOO sad – Kirsch has one more chance for you to win a brand new signed copy of the book, via a drawing benefiting the Montreal Heart Foundation’s 2010 fund raising drive.

Here’s more information from Lawrence:

Bruce Springsteen represents a great deal to his fans, not only as a world-renowned artist, but as a giving and caring person, someone who stands out by helping and donating to many charitable organizations over the years.

Today I am asking for your help to raise money for a great cause: The Montreal Heart Institute, a cutting-edge cardiology center dedicated to education and prevention of heart disease.

As you may know, the limited edition For You has been sold out since December 2008. This spring, I’m offering a chance to win a new signed copy of the book while contributing to the Montreal Heart Foundation’s 2010 fundraising drive.

Register for your chance to win by clicking here.

All The World Is Indeed A Stage….

Good news for Rush fans!  Dates are starting to pop up for screenings of the new Rush documentary, Rush:  Beyond The Lighted Stage.

Directors Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen embark on a comprehensive exploration of this extraordinary power trio, from their early days in Toronto, through each of their landmark albums, to the present day. Featuring never-before-seen footage and interviews with notables such as Jack Black, Billy Corgan, Trent Reznor, Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters), Kirk Hammett (Metallica) and Gene Simmons, this film explores the forty-year career and phenomenon behind what could be the world’s biggest cult band. The much-anticipated film premiered at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival.

The film will open nationwide on June 10th with screenings on tap so far for about 80 cities, with advance tickets already available for most of those cities.  Additional locations and on-sale details are being confirmed minute by minute via the official Twitter feed and website for the film.  Click here to purchase tickets for your market.

I’m stoked personally because the film will screen here in Cleveland at two locations – The Capitol Theatre and the Cedar Lee, giving Cleveland Rush fans plenty of choice, whether you’re on the east side or the west side, you’re covered!

In case you missed my previous post, here’s the trailer:

Hey Del Amitri fans…

The Great War is the title of the brand new solo album from former Del Amitri frontman Justin Currie, and if you’re a Dels fan, I think you’ll find a lot to love about this new album.  I had the chance to discuss the new album and a variety of other topics with Justin for an interview that went online yesterday at Popdose.  Click here to check it out.

After the interview was online, my Popdose colleague Jon Cummings spoke up and asked the question that has been on the mind of many a Dels fan – why does the 1985 self-titled debut from Del Amitri sound so different than everything that they recorded afterwards?

Good question.  Why didn’t I ask that??  I dropped Justin an email to see if he might want to respond to the question, and he wrote back quickly with the following answer:

We always said that our “transformation” from indie-art pop to mainstream pop-rock was a natural thing. None of us ever suddenly stood up in a rehearsal and said, “Do you know what? Fuck this post-punk Postcard indie shit – let’s ROCK”.

We were massively influenced by our trip to the US in 1986 when we were on our last legs financially. We started to realise that the whole alternative credibility thing was a trap that the songs we’d started writing needed to break free from. And, perhaps more importantly, Iain and I started writing separately instead of with the rest of the band – and our stuff sounded much more accessible and probably Americanised. Iain’s guitar playing loosened up, started embracing blues and rock. We were also getting into the New Country stuff at that time, Steve Earle, Lyle Lovett. And we then brought in a famous Glasgow guitarist called Mick Slaven who plays like Robert Quine meets Nile Rodgers meets Marc Bolan meets Jimi Hendrix. That we should sound a little different from before was inevitable.

So there ya go…

Have a good weekend!