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Ghost Canyon

Sony Legacy Record Store Day 2019 [Black Friday] Sony Legacy Record Store Day 2019 [Black Friday]

Record Store Day 2019 [Black Friday Edition] is in the books, and EXCLUSIVE MAGAZINE wants to say a big THANK YOU to all of you who went out to the stores on Friday, November 29th to support and celebrate them.

We hope you found something you loved to take home with you, whether that was something released exclusively for Record Store Day or something fantastic from what they regularly stock.

Yes, every day should be Record Store Day, so we encourage you to make stopping by your favorite record store AND stopping by this website a regular thing - because we'll be telling you about awesome things going on at record stores all year long!

As our dear friends at Sony Legacy Recordings have once more kindly sent us quite a few of their RSD 2019 [Black Friday] releases for review, as always we shall review those whilst at the same time highlighting all the others from them.

Reviewing those that were sent to us below, please know the remainder of the released titles are all listed and accounted for at the base of this article.

Legacy Recordings’ Jeff Buckley, Live On KCRW: Morning Becomes Eclectic (1LP – Previously Unreleased) captures one of the most magical, as-yet unreleased live performances by Jeff Buckley.

Debuting on vinyl as part of the continuing celebration of the 25th anniversary of his debut studio album Grace, Buckley’s captivating appearance on KCRW-FM’s long-running Morning Becomes Eclectic was accompanied by the core band with which he recorded Grace, and features favorites from that record.

Side A:
1. 'Mojo Pin (Chocolate Intro)'
2. 'Corpus Christi Carol'

Side B:
1. 'Grace'
2. 'So Real'
3. 'Lover, You Should've Come Over'

As we all know by now, the estranged son of late crooner Tim Buckley, Jeff fought to emerge from the shadow of father he had never known.

Recorded just a few months before the debut of his groundbreaking album, Grace, and just two and a half years before the singer drowned during a night swim the Mississippi river, this five track album will have you holding your breath, you heart beating ever so noticeably fast, for the sheer majestically beautiful music it contains.

Buckley's voice surges with power, and gently lingers on the final whispers of a fleeting note like nobody ever did before him, nor after.

Along with the oh-so haunting lyrics of 'So Real' ("I couldn't awake from the nightmare/ That sucked me in / And pulled me under”), and the ambient ebb and flow of the magnificent trio of 'Mojo Pin,' 'Grace,' and 'Lover, You Should Have Come Over,' we also hear the echoes of a genius long lost, and taken way too soon.

Miles Davis, Early Minor: Rare Miles From The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions (12” Single) - During the year between the dissolution of his ‘60s quintet and the groundbreaking Bitches Brew, Miles Davis recorded a number of transitional sessions creating music of lyrical beauty, culminating in the masterful album In a Silent Way.

Three superb pieces — 'Splashdown,' 'Early Minor' and 'The Ghetto Walk' — come to vinyl for general release for the first time ever, as originally heard on The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions, released in 2001.

Side A:
1. 'Splashdown'
2. 'Early Minor'

Side B:
1. The Ghetto Walk'

As a whole, The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions release detailed a six-month stretch in 1968-69 when the various advisors in Miles' life would see their seeds sprout into fauna so full of life and outrageous fertility that the face of his idiom would be forever changed.

Of course, the final product of all this investigation and experimentation has been the subject of countless essays on Miles' genius, but it bears closer inspection to reveal that the trumpeter didn't just up and create this music out of thin air.

He spent months in the studio rehearsing on tape, midwifing his ideas. In late '68, Miles was a painter using one canvas to try and retry his masterpiece, continually repainting over areas where, though the ideas were fresh and the colors vibrant, the concept was yet immature.

As a palette, Miles chose only the best primaries from two continents. At the time, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, and Herbie Hancock were mainstays from his second great quintet. Bassist Ron Carter had become so busy with sessions in New York that Miles had to find a replacement.

In between gigs in England, he saw Dave Holland's band opening for Bill Evans. Miles was immediately struck by the young bassist, and sent word via Philly Jo Jones and his manager (Miles had the best connections) that he wanted Dave.

Elsewhere, when it became apparent Hancock was going to have trouble making a recording date, Williams recommended the young Boston native Chick Corea as a replacement.

This quintet (Davis, Shorter, Williams, Holland and Corea) produced the first tunes on this release in September 1968.

'Splashdown,' a piece of tense, Rhodes-led jazz-funk, was recorded with the first three-keyboard version of the band and leads the way here.

Both 'Early Minor' and 'The Ghetto Walk,' neither of which ended up on the original release of In a Silent Way are magnificent examples of an album done to perfection that obviously still had tracks to spare.

'Early Minor' is a Zawinul original that's indicative of the kind of hyper-impressionism he would play (with Shorter) with Weather Report shortly after making Bitches Brew with Miles.

It's also confusing as to just why this didn't make the cut for the original In a Silent Way release, because it features similar cascading Rhodes figures, and very nice, gentle pulse keeping by Chambers.

'The Ghetto Walk' is a hard funk, almost-blues featuring Joe Chambers laying down a slinky groove on drums, while McLaughlin, Shorter and Miles give up equally subversive solos.

Most interesting is the middle section trip-down, wherein the ghost of the session two days prior sneaks in with a little atmospheric feather float.

Kings Of Leon, Day Old Belgian Blues (12” Single – Previously Unreleased On Vinyl) - Recorded on a European tour to promote their sophomore album, 2004’s Aha Shake Heartbreak, Day Old Belgian Blues captures early Kings of Leon’s raw sense of urgency.

This live EP, featuring versions of 'The Bucket,' 'Four Kicks,' 'Molly’s Chambers' and more, made its vinyl debut for Record Store Day Black Friday.

Side A:
1. 'Taper Jean Girl'
2. 'The Bucket'
3. 'Soft'

Side B:
1. 'Molly's Chambers'
2. 'Four Kicks'
3. 'Trani'

Formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1999, the band composed of brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared Followill together with their cousin Matthew Followill, were initially embraced as "the Southern Strokes" for their resurrection and reinvention of Dixie-styled rock & roll.

But this raw, unapologetic and to-my-mind experimental recording made to promote their sophomore album, 2004’s Aha Shake Heartbreak, is, quite simply put, a true musical feast for all their fans.

The 6-track live EP is a limited edition release with the title of the EP, 'Day Old Belgian Blues playing on the song name 'Day Old Blues' from their aforementioned second album, Aha Shake Heartbreak (though the song does not appear on the EP).

This is a great live EP and even though I'm not a big fan of the studio versions of the songs (except for 'Soft,' which is just great), this live setting gives them a whole new feel.

Jimi Hendrix, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year EP (12” Picture Disc) - As Christmas 1969 beckoned, Jimi Hendrix, bassist Billy Cox, and drummer Buddy Miles (christened as Band Of Gypsys by Hendrix) engaged in extensive rehearsals for their highly anticipated appearances at The Fillmore East in New York.

To mark the occasion in his own inimitable fashion, Jimi readied this special medley of holiday favorites to celebrate both Christmas and the dawning of a new decade.

This medley of 'Little Drummer Boy,' 'Silent Night' and 'Auld Lang Syne,' backed by 'Three Little Bears,' a playful Electric Ladyland outtake from 1968, now makes its debut on picture disc, featuring the album artwork on one side and a photo of Jimi dressed as Santa Claus on the other.

Side A:
1. 'Little Drummer Boy/Silent Night/Auld Lang Syne'
2. 'Three Little Bears'

Side B:
1. 'Little Drummer Boy/Silent Night/Aud Lang Syne' (Extended Version)

In truth, 'Merry Christmas & Happy New Year' is a wonderful little two-song single to see out the millennium. These glorious one-off studio jams capture Jimi Hendrix and his Band of Gypsies during rehearsal for the famous New Year's Eve 1969 Fillmore concerts that would eventually become Band of Gypsies.

A loose medley of 'Little Drummer Boy/Silent Night/Auld Lang Syne,' this track clearly illustrates the heavy chemistry between Hendrix and his co-conspirators Buddy Miles and Billy Cox.

The second cut, 'Three Little Bears,' is another one-off jam, this time with the original Jimi Hendrix Experience (Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell), during sessions for Electric Ladyland.

It's more on the psychedelic R&B side of things, but nevertheless remains another charming curio from a man who was easily one of the most revolutionary musicians of the century.

J. Cole, 2014 Forest Hills Drive EP (12” Picture Disc) - Rediscover the songs that helped J. Cole’s third album go platinum with no features!

Side A:
1. 'Apparently'
2. 'Wet Dreamz'

Side B:
1. 'No Role Modelz'
2. 'Love Yourz'

For those not in the know, for his third record, 2014 Forest Hills Drive, J. Cole channeled the nostalgic self-mythology of Jay-Z’s Black Album.

Indeed, the cover is shot at his childhood home as Eminem did on the Marshall Mathers LP. The track listing swaps s’s for z’s ('Wet Dreamz', 'A Tale of 2 Citiez', 'Love Yourz') like 2pac’s All Eyez on Me.

With 2014, Cole is certain he’s made his classic and actually tells you as much partway through the 15-minute credit roll 'Note to Self', which apes Kanye West’s joyous, candid College Dropout closer 'Last Call'.

2014 Forest Hills Drive is J. Cole planting himself in the pantheon of rap greats, a volley to the spike of Kendrick Lamar’s 'Control' verse. Here on this RSD Picture Disc EP we rediscover the songs that helped J. Cole’s third album go to the moon and back!

The last one we were kindly sent was Arcade Fire, Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) b/w My Buddy (7” Single) - Frequently cited as one of the most important alternative songs of the 2000s, 'Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)' – the opening track on debut album Funeral – was an early introduction to the trademark Arcade Fire sound and encapsulates the essence of the music and themes on Funeral.

The B-side, 'My Buddy' by The Alvino Rey Orchestra, pays tribute to Will and Win Butler’s late grandfather, the Jazz musician Alvino Rey, whose passing during the early part of Arcade Fire’s career would greatly influence Funeral.

The 7” replicates the original Merge Records release – first released in June 2004 – which was the debut single from the band.

Originally limited to 1500 copies, it has become a highly collectible item amongst fans over the years.

Side A:
1. 'Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)'

Side B:
2. 'My Buddy'

For my money, either when it was a newborn track or even listening to it today, 'Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)' is a fresh blast of nostalgia.

Replete with a storybook view of love and genuine youthful invincibility, the song hearkens back to a time of refreshing simplicity.

Amidst the constant pressures to consider the vast possibilities of the future, 'Tunnels' offers nonchalance.

The love found within 'Tunnels' is not defined by its economic optimality. It’s all-consuming (“Then we think of our parents/Well what ever happened to them?!”)

It overcomes all obstacles (“And if the snow buries my, my neighborhood … Then I’ll dig a tunnel from my window to yours.”) It’s forever.

Simply put, 'Tunnels' is a serendipitous case of a perfect song coming along at the perfect time in your life. Majestic, sprawling, and unforgettable.

And finally, as promised, here are all the other RSD Legacy Recording releases for you to delve into on your own time:

Cheap Trick, Are You Ready? – Live 12/31/79 (2LP – Previously Unreleased)

Pearl Jam, MTV Unplugged (1 LP – Previously Unreleased On Vinyl)

Elvis Presley, American Sound Sessions 1969 (2LP – Previously Unreleased On Vinyl)

Joe Satriani, Surfing With The Alien (Deluxe Edition) (2LP – Previously Unreleased On Vinyl)

Willie Nelson, 'Sometimes Even I Can Get Too High' b/w 'It’s All Going To Pot' (7” Single)

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