For the Record
April Classic Rock Record of the Month - The Cars - Heartbeat City (Opaque white, Double vinyl)
April marks a pretty great addition to the monthly B.T.R.C. subscription service. We added "Classic Rock" as a new style / genre for our subscribers to choose from each month. April also marked the 2018 Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame Inductee ceremony. One of this year's recipients was The Cars. We cant think of a better way to launch our new style than with the reissued, expanded edition of Heartbeat City. The album was originally released in 1984, and was the 5th album from The Cars, coming off the 1981 release of Shake It Up. That album delivered the band's first Billboard top ten hit. The title track, "Shake It Up", went #4 on Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on Mainstream Rock. The band had some other minor radio placement with tracks off the '81 release, but none went as high as "Shake It Up". The band took a break after the "Shake It Up Tour" ended in 1982 and both Ric Ocasek and Greg Hawkes released solo projects.
April Jazz, Soul & Blues Record of the Month - Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats - Tearing at the Seams (Double vinyl, 180-gram)
You may not know it, but we almost never had a Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats to groove with! In 2015, just before his first single "S.O.B." hit #1 on the US AAA Chart, Rateliff was prepared to hang it all up and return to his previous career as a gardener. The group's self-titled first album, released in June of 2015 on legendary Memphis soul label Stax Records, propelled them into the spotlight, solidifying Rateliff's decision to stick with writing music.
April Alternative Record of the Month - Editors - Violence
Incorporating and blending heavier electronic elements into their newest album, Violence, Editors' sought the help of Blanck Mass aka Benjamin John Power. The results speak for themselves. Swelling, guitar-driven choruses are surrounded by synths and samples at each refrain. Programmed drums pulse throughout title track "Violence", creating a tense feeling that slowly subsides with second half standouts "No Sound but the Wind" and "Counting Spooks". "Darkness at the Door" and "Nothingness" are pop anthems that'll stay with you long after listening. Arguably the best song on the album, "Magazine" was originally written for Editors' fourth record The Weight of Your Love, but was shelved when guitarist Chris Urbanowicz quit and the band nearly broke up.
April's Rock Record of the Month - Jack White - Boarding House Reach
Over the last 18 years, Jack White has become a household name in Rock and Alternative music. Six records as the White Stripes (1999 - 2007), two records with the Raconteurs (2006, 2008) and three with the Dead Weather (2009, 2010, and 2015). His first solo record was Blunderbuss (2012) followed by 2014's Lazaretto. He also released a double LP Acoustic Recordings 1998 - 2016 which contained unreleased tracks, b-sides and alternate versions of songs from his career catalogue. That album released in the fall of 2016. So, at this point, his career has cultivated a pretty amazing collection of material.
April Singer Songwriter Record of the Month - Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite - No Mercy In This Land (180 gram vinyl)
In 2013, Ben Harper did something that nobody saw coming. He teamed up with Charlie Musselwhite to record Get Up!. It was Harper's eleventh studio album and Musselwhite's twenty ninth! Musselwhite was 68 at the time while Harper was 43. But what may have seemed an unlikely pairing turned out to be an amazing match. Get Up! won a Grammy for Best Blues Album in 2014.
Collector's Series: The Johnny Cash Ultimate American Recordings and House Of Cash Bundle
The first American Recordings album released by Johnny Cash came out in 1994. It was Cash's 81st studio release, but was the first in a series of albums all the way up until Cash's death that featured collaborations with famed producer Rick Rubin. This first release was simply titled CASH, but it came to be known as the American Recordings.
March's Record Store Spotlight Album of the Month - Billy Squier - Don't Say No
On April 13th, 1981, Billy Squier released Don't Say No, his second album since signing as a solo artist with Capitol Records. Squier's first record, Tale of the Tape, was only moderately successful. Although it peaked at #169 on the Billboard 200, it still spent three months on the chart at a time when the top 200 albums really meant something. In need of a producer for his second album, Squier reached out to Queen guitarist Brian May, who had to decline due to scheduling. May suggested that Squier reach out to Reinhold Mack (longtime studio engineer for E.L.O.) who was currently producing Queen's The Game (which garnered a Grammy nomination for Producer of the Year (Non-Classical) in 1981). So Squier met with Mack, and he ended up co-producing the record.