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For Immediate Release September 27, 2005
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN:
COLUMBIA RECORDS TO RELEASE HISTORIC 'BORN TO RUN 30TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION' ON NOVEMBER 15
BOX SET WILL INCLUDE THREE SEPARATE DISCS INCLUDING A STUNNING DVD OF THE LEGENDARY 1975 HAMMERSMITH ODEON CONCERT; A DVD OF "WINGS FOR WHEELS: THE MAKING OF BORN
TO RUN," WITH NEVER BEFORE SEEN ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE AND NEW INTERVIEWS WITH ALL THE BAND MEMBERS AND MANY OTHERS; AND A CD OF THE BRILLIANTLY REMASTERED 'BORN TO RUN'
Columbia Records will release the 'Born To Run 30th Anniversary
Edition' box set on November 15. Personally supervised by
Bruce Springsteen and Jon Landau, the box set includes
"Hammersmith Odeon, London '75," an astonishing film of
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's legendary 1975
concert at the Hammersmith Odeon in London; the new film
"Wings For Wheels: The Making of Born To Run;" the classic
album in remastered CD form; and finally, a 48 page booklet
of previously unpublished photographs. With its two DVDs,
the package offers approximately four hours of previously
unseen footage.
"I believe that the combination of the great 1975 concert
footage, the brilliant documentary of the making of the
album and the dazzling remastering of 'Born to Run' add up
to a nearly perfect storm of Bruce's music," said longtime
manager Jon Landau.
Spanning roughly two hours and ten minutes, the November 18,
1975 concert at London's Hammersmith Odeon finds an epic
performance of sixteen Bruce Springsteen and the E Street
Band clas sics, including "Thunder Road," "Tenth Avenue
Freeze Out," "Jungleland," and "Born To Run," as well as
such other favorites such as "Kitty's Back" and "Rosalita."
The multiple-camera film of the complete concert will be
available in its entirety and its original sequence, as newly
edited by Emmy Award Winner Thom Zimny. "Hammersmith Odeon,
London '75" is the only full-length concert film ever released
of Bruce and the E Street Band's first 25 years.
Zimny's production team painstakingly cleaned the original
negatives and digitally restored the footage, ultimately
presenting this indispensable concert in vibrant color and
detail. Producer Bob Clearmountain remastered and remixed the
DVD in both stereo and 5.1 surround sound. Zimny has worked
with Springsteen on several projects, including editing the
Emmy-winning "Live in New York," the quadruple-platinum
certified, Emmy-nominated "Live in Barcelona" and the "VH1
Storytellers" fil ms. Clearmountain is the legendary mixer who
has often collaborated with Springsteen over the last twenty-
five years, most famously on 'Born in the USA.'
The ninety-minute documentary "Wings For Wheels: The Making of
Born To Run" chronicles the definitive story of the creation of
'Born To Run,' from songwriting to production and beyond. "Wings
For Wheels" boasts archival film never shown publicly, including
substantial footage of Springsteen and the E Street Band
recording the album, 1975 concert film and other footage shot
between 1973 and 1975. The film also features exclusive footage
of Springsteen playing solo piano and guitar versions of songs
from 'Born To Run.'
In addition, "Wings For Wheels" incorporates newly filmed
interviews with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band,
including former members who played on the album, as well as
the production team. In newly shot footage from Asbury Park,
NJ, Springsteen discus ses his personal feelings about the
making of the iconic album in great depth; the footage with
Springsteen includes the musician reflecting on outtakes and
unreleased tracks from the album for the first time since
1975. The DVD of "Wings For Wheels: The Making of Born to Run"
ends with stunning bonus footage of three songs recorded live
at Los Angeles' Ahmanson Theater in 1973: "Spirit In The
Night," "Wild Billy's Circus Story" and "Thundercrack."
Finally, the box set will feature a CD of the newly
remastered 'Born To Run,' as well as a remarkable 48-page
photo album of previously unpublished photographs with an
introduction written by Springsteen. This is the first time
Springsteen has allowed any of his catalogue to be fully
remastered and he enlisted his longtime mastering guru Bob
Ludwig to handle the job. The newly remastered version
presents the masterpiece with striking clarity and presence.
Widely regarded as one of the cornerstone albums in rock and
roll history, 'Born To Run' has been recognized by many
international polls as one of the greatest albums of all time.
It has sold nearly nine million albums worldwide. Of 'Born To
Run,' which was originally released August 25, 1975, Rolling
Stone wrote, "It is a magnificent album that pays off on every
bet ever placed on him... and it should crack his future wide open."
Now, we'll be the first to admit that we've been big supporters of some of the remakes that have taken place over the past couple of years. We definitely singled out the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake as deserving of much praise, and a few of the Japanese imports (most notably The Grudge) have actually surpassed the original. But now, we're sorry to say that Neil Labute has decided to remake The Wicker Man. For those of you not in the know, this is one of the weirdest little cult films ever made, about a policeman who goes to a little island off the Scottish coast to investigate a murder, and things....get weird quickly. Aside from one of Christopher Lee's finest and oddest roles, this movie simply cold not be made today. Unless he's really period-piecing it, it's just gonna blow. Some things should be let well enough alone, in our humble opinion. Maybe write your own movie next time, Neil. Oh, wait, you've been doing that, and the last few have....never mind.
The Sorrows of Young Werther, by Goethe.
Simple rule for life: try to avoid German Romanticism whenever possible. It's not pretty. Or rather, it thinks it is, and that's the problem.
As always, Howard Zinn is still a fucking genius. This interview with him is the first time today we've smiled.
"...I suspect mostly it will be because the rest of the world won't accept further American forays into places where we don't belong. In the future, I believe 9/11 may be seen as representing the beginning of the dissolution of the American empire; that is, the very event that immediately crystallized popular support for war, in the long run -- and I don't know how long that will be -- may be seen as the beginning of the weakening and crumbling of the American empire."
Things just keep getting better:
World has slim chance to stop flu pandemic - Reuters
Sep 20 1:48 AM US/Eastern
By Michael Perry
NOUMEA, New Caledonia (Reuters) - The initial outbreak of what could explode into a bird flu pandemic may affect only a few people, but the world will have just weeks to contain the deadly virus before it spreads and kills millions.
Chances of containment are limited because the potentially catastrophic infection may not be detected until it has already spread to several countries, like the SARS virus in 2003. Avian flu vaccines developed in advance will have little impact on the pandemic virus.
It will take scientists four to six months to develop a vaccine that protects against the pandemic virus, by which time thousands could have died. There is little likelihood a vaccine will even reach the country where the pandemic starts.
Global Warming 'Past the Point of No Return' By Steve Connor
The Independent UK Friday 16 September 2005
A record loss of sea ice in the Arctic this summer has convinced scientists that the northern hemisphere may have crossed a critical threshold beyond which the climate may never recover. Scientists fear that the Arctic has now entered an irreversible phase of warming which will accelerate the loss of the polar sea ice that has helped to keep the climate stable for thousands of years.
Read the rest here.
'Nuff said.
"In Your Honor", the title track off the new Foo Fighters record.
From the moment that Dave Grohl screams "Can you hear me?", after thirty seconds of a spacey fuzz and guitar riff, you know that you're hearing one of the best adaptations of Pink Floyd to have come along in a decade. We're serious, too- this song is a total Pink Floyd rip-off. Which makes it all the more amazing that the track is so good. Grohl proves that Roger Waters should have done more screaming. The rest of the album is really winning us back over to being an official Foo fan, as well, but there's time for that later. For now, go to Itunes, check out the track, and decide for yourself.
Brain Williams said this. On the air. It's so weird hearing reporters reclaim their balls:
I am duty-bound to report the talk of the New Orleans warehouse district last night: there was rejoicing (well, there would have been without the curfew, but the few people I saw on the streets were excited) when the power came back on for blocks on end. Kevin Tibbles was positively jubilant on the live update edition of Nightly News that we fed to the West Coast. The mini-mart, long ago cleaned out by looters, was nonetheless bathed in light, including the empty, roped-off gas pumps. The motorcade route through the district was partially lit no more than 30 minutes before POTUS drove through. And yet last night, no more than an hour after the President departed, the lights went out. The entire area was plunged into total darkness again, to audible groans. It's enough to make some of the folks here who witnessed it... jump to certain conclusions.
There are two interesting things at work in the representation of the destruction of New Orleans, both in the media and in people's day-to-day discussions of the event. Let's go ahead and point out the obvious point first: the fact that every single person we've discussed the disaster with, especially in the midst of it, would say "Man, this is upsetting, crazy, and kind of cool!" Not the loss of life, of course, but the acheivement of the fantastic: the obliteration of a major American city, and a direct reveal of America as a functioning Third World country, for all intents and purposes. That being said, there's something so unsettling about the game of who-can-find-the-most-disturbing-picture that's being played by progressive news sites all over the country. Leaving aside the same clear point that Baudrillard made after 9/11- namely, that the reason it wielded such tremedous cultural sway is the fact that, deep down, people secretly wanted it to happen- in all honesty, the way that the leftist newsies are fetishizing images of misery and horror is no less creepy than religious nutbags waving around images of aborted fetuses. The hunger for this sort of suffering connects deeply with big traditional American beliefs, especially Christian ones- you have go through trials of suffering every now and then, and somehow the fact that you weren't in New Orleans is proof of some affiliation to a club of self-improvement, so on and so forth. There are many more, which you should feel free to point out here.
Well, after letting thousands of poor Americans die intentionally, the Bush Administration has wasted no time in stepping up to fuck over the people who are going to help out:
"Some Houstonians who plan on moving to Louisiana and points east to get work in the Katrina rebuilding effort may discover their wages won't be as high as they might have expected. That's because President Bush signed an executive order last week rescinding the rule [under the Davis-Bacon Act] that contractors on projects receiving federal money pay the prevailing wage in areas damaged by the hurricane." (see more in the Houston Chronicle)
But wait! It gets even better!
"And he wants to suspend prevailing wage rules for service workers, too: But the Bush folks face a problem in suspending the Service Contract Act. Davis-Bacon has a specific provision allowing the President to suspend it during a national emergency. The Service Contract Act does not, and its suspension may be unprecedented, labor experts say." (from Talking Points Memo)
You know, come to think of it, we're really tired of all those fats cats living high on the hog off of their "required by law" minimum wages, too. Let's get rid of that shit while we're at it..
Special treat today for you Harry Potter dorks.....Moviefone is presenting a sneak-preview trailer for the next film. Click here for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire!
A special treat today for our Twin Cities readers, courtesy of Planetarium contributing editor brunansky:
NEWS BAZAAR: POLS COMPETE FOR WHO'S THE BIGGEST SPRINGSTEEN FAN
St. Paul, MN, city councilor Kathy Lantry introduced a
resolution declaring 9/30 as "Bruce Springsteen Day in St.
Paul." Springsteen will be performing there that night. But
councilor Chris Coleman "wanted to amend the resolution to note
that he had attended" an '84 concert "in St. Paul at which the
Boss' 'Dancing in the Dark' video was filmed." Lantry "piped up
that she had been there, too." Coleman "continued": "Whereas,
Chris Coleman has been to 15 Bruce Springsteen concerts ..."
Said Lantry: "I actually kept my own name out of it. ..."
Coleman: " ... Whereas Kathy Lantry has desired to run away with
Bruce ..." Lantry: "That's right -- well, I want my husband
there, too." Council pres. Dan Bostrom: "I think we better vote
on this right now." The resolution then "passed unanimously"
(Duchschere, Minneapolis Star Tribune, 9/26).
Warner finally has a good-looking trailer online for the upcoming Philip K. Dick-based A Scanner Darkly. This looks to be extremely cool, and not just because it's based on what is arguably Dick's best work. As someone who is NOT a fan of animated movies, we're very curious to see just what Richard Linklater and his team of Waking Life maestros have cooked up. Stop hiding, Rick! Or esle we'll start making "Brangelina" jokes again. In SEPTEMBER.
Our favorite sarcastic line about the racism of the media regarding New Orleans, from a message board:
"I think it's sad that black people are using the total destruction of their homes and all their possessions as an excuse to steal things to eat.."
New Krugman. Go!
Every couple of years, a new Pearljam record comes out, and every couple of years, we waste our breath trying to explain to people who will never even hear the album that Pearljam has evolved into a great classic rock band, one of the best working today, in fact. And every year people go, "Oh, Pearljam, they're so bad," likely with visions of "Last Kiss" or "Elderly woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town" running through their heads. These poor naysayers- so sad- don't know what they're missing. Planetarium finally got around to picking up their 2-disc odds-n-sods collection, Lost Dogs. It must really bum out some dudes that this bands' collection of throwaways is better than the best record their bands will ever create. Ever.
And hey- didn't we tell you to go buy Sleater-Kinney's The Woods? What's the holdup?
You should click here right now to watch Kanye West's stumbling, angry and upset (and WILDLY off teleprompter) remarks on live TV during the Hurricane Katrina fundraiser. It's uncomfortable, but man, if you get to the end, it's worth it. We won't spoil the surprise- just watch it now.
This was going to be an entry about the amazing film The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, which as you may or may not know, has one of the greatest opening credits sequences in the history of film. Also, if you haven't seen it, you should know it's an epic, not a Western. In the grand tradition of Star Wars IV: A New Hope or Apocalypse Now, this film needs to be seen to be believed, as there are too many of us who don't like westerns, and thus confine this movie to the "probably won't see it" region of our brain.
BUT- instead- motherfucking William Rehniquist just died. Like shit wasn't crazy enough in this country (god DAMN this is an interesting time to be alive, as in the ancient Japanese curse "May you live in interesting times"), the chief justice had to take the long walk on the green mile, meaning that when things couldn't get any bleaker, they just got a lot bleaker. Yeah, you thought Justice Roberts was gonna be bad? You ain't seen nothin' yet. Is it time yet for the Democrats on the Hill to start a revolution? I'm just wondering how long it will take, how many of their deepest beliefs they will compromise before they say "enough's enough". maybe all of them, in which case we're fucked. But maybe not, who knows. Despite our current pessimism and "smoke 'em if you got 'em, 'cuz we're going down" attitude, there's always that small ray of hope that manages to stay lit, God knows why. But seriously, as B.Alec pointed out on this site a while back, the nomination for Rehnquist's sucessor is going to be a fucking crazy-ass, frothing at the mouth, let's-kill-welfare-moms psychopath, straight up. It'll be like an R. Kelly song without the fun or the pedophilia. Wait, wait, I forgot, it's a religious nutbag, too- there'll DEFINITELY be pedophilia.
NYC has a level of shiftiness we can't quite put our finger on. There may be something in the water. Perhaps hundreds of dead bodies? Oh, wait, no, that's New Orleans. Seriously, is there anything LEFT for this administration to fuck up?
Oh, and go see The Constant Gardener. We loved Mereilles' last film, and since we can't see this one for awhile, we need a report. We'll even post it here, if you like.