Disney's Legacy Collection Series Now Includes "Pinocchio" Music CD

The sixth release from The Legacy Collection celebrates the 75^th anniversary of "Pinocchio" with a 2-disc set, which includes the original restored motion picture soundtrack, 3 new Lost Chords recordings, plus bonus tracks, enchanting illustrations, original concept art and more. The Walt

Disney Records two disc CD set is available now from Baker & Taylor.

"Pinocchio" was a groundbreaking achievement in the area of effects animation, giving realistic movement to vehicles, machinery and natural elements such as rain, lightning, snow, smoke, shadows and water. The film was released to theaters on February 23, 1940. "Pinocchio" became the first animated feature to win a competitive Academy Award®, winning two for Best Music, Original Score and for Best Music, Original Song for "When You Wish Upon A Star." The beloved ballad became an instantly recognizable cornerstone of Disney's entertainment legacy. In 1994, "Pinocchio" was added to the United States National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Alabama Shakes New "Sound & Color" Out April 21

Alabama Shakes has announced the April 21, 2015 release of their new album Sound & Color via ATO Records, and now you can stream the first single “Don’t Wanna Fight”. Listen to it below, and order the album for your library.

“We took our time to write this record, and I’m really glad we did,” says Brittany Howard, lead singer and guitarist of Alabama Shakes, about the band’s new album Sound & Color. “We were able to sit down and think about what’s exciting to us, explore all the things we wanted to on our first album. This record is full of genre-bending songs – it’s even harder now when people ask, ‘What kind of band are you?’ I have no clue.

Classic American Ballads Presents Songs Of True Tales And Tragedies By Guthrie, Seeger, Lead Belly + More

In the days before YouTube, Twitter, and “Serial” podcasts, newsworthy events “went viral” in the form of song. Certain tragedies and grisly crimes captivated the American imagination, and entrepreneurial ballad writers penned songs catering to the thirst for details. On March 24, Smithsonian Folkways will release Classic American Ballads, featuring Doc Watson, Bill Monroe, Pink Anderson, and Sis Cunningham, among many others performing American topical songs that may draw from the British ballad tradition but are distinctly native to the United States.

The 25 tracks on Classic American Ballads, written between 1836 and 1947, chronicle tragic and significant events such as the sinking of the Titanic, the wreck of the “Old 97” train in Danville, Virginia, and the murder of a young girl along the Ohio River. Woody Guthrie’s “Billy the Kid” narrates the exploits of the notorious 19th-century outlaw, while Pete Seeger’s “Young Charlotte” tells the tale of the young Maine woman who froze to death on New Year’s Eve, 1840. Lead Belly’s version of the popular folk song “Duncan and Brady” is based on the notorious story of James Brady, a St. Louis policeman who was fatally shot by bartender Harry Duncan in 1890.

Watch: Punch Brothers Behind the Scenes of Their New Album, "The Phosphorescent Blues"

Punch Brothers' T Bone Burnett–produced new album, The Phosphorescent Blues, was released last week to critical acclaim, with, for example, Rolling Stone exclaiming: "Punch Brothers are astoundingly skilled, non-show-offy, and pretty much pushing at the vanguard of really great music you need to listen to right now."

The band, which kicks off a USA tour to promote the album on February 20, is known to impress sartorially as well, with the Evening Standard noting in its four-star review of a London show that "Punch Brothers sounded as sharp as they looked." All the rarer then is this footage of Punch Brothers dressed casually (and looking quite happy) during the writing sessions as the band created the music that became The Phosphorescent Blues, all set to Debussy's Passepied, off the new album:

UK's "The Temperance Movement" Announces USA Album Release, Tour

“A potent force in British rock music has arrived,” proclaimed MOJO in their 5-STAR review, and well, yes they have. Driven by the gritty, soulful vocals of Phil Campbell, the mastery of guitarists Paul Sayer and Luke Potashnick and a powerhouse of a rhythm section delivered by Nick Fyffe on bass and Damon Wilson on drums, The Temperance Movement is set to splash down stateside with the release of their 12-song, self-titled debut album on February 3rd, 2015 via Fantasy/Concord records (album details below).

 

Live on arrival, the U.K. five-piece is bracing for maximum impact having just been selected as the next iHeartRadio On The Verge Artist, a six week program that begins on February 16th and includes on-air exposure as well as significant digital and social support across iHeartMedia's network.   The program is based on key tracks and artists that iHeartMedia's programmers are collectively passionate about and the highly successful program has proven instrumental in the development of emerging acts such as Banks, Iggy Azalea, Tove Lov, Royal Blood and many others.  The vote of confidence from iHeartMedia, the leading media company in America with a greater reach than any radio or television outlet, assures massive audience exposure for the anthemic first single, “Take It Back,” on radio stations across the country. Watch/listen to their video for "Take it Back" below, from B&T.

 

Electrifying fans of timeless, British-invasion song craft and superb musicianship, The Temperance Movement deftly fuse inspirations such as The Stones, Faces, Little Feat, Bobby Womack and acknowledged catalysts The Black Crowes, into their own authentic blast of blues’n’soul drenched rock’n’roll. 

Listen to Rhiannon Giddens New "Tomorrow Is My Turn" Album

Rhiannon Giddens' debut solo album, Tomorrow Is My Turn, is due out next Tuesday, February 10, via Nonesuch Records. But you don't need to wait till then to hear it: the new album is streaming in full all this week as an NPR First Listen. Tomorrow Is My Turn, produced by T Bone Burnett, features a broad range of songs from genres as diverse as gospel, jazz, blues, and country, including works made famous by Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline, Odetta, and Nina Simone. "It's a scrupulously selected, richly realized collection of songs," writes NPR's Ann Powers.

"Tomorrow Is My Turn tells the story of how songs become crucial through certain performances that take them somewhere beyond their origin points. Giddens responds to these performances with highly nuanced, sometimes theatrical, always personal readings of her own, presenting an alternative history of folk and popular music that's particularly appropriate for today." Powers later concludes: "Though she didn't write most of these songs, Giddens owns them on Tomorrow Is My Turn ... Her voice—mobile, intelligent, ready to talk back to anyone's presumptions—is always at the center here, guiding the story. Let me be the first to say it: Today is Rhiannon Giddens' turn." Read more and listen to the complete album, streaming now here

YELLOWBIRD Flies onto DVD on April 7th

Take a journey with the most unlikely hero when the adorable and heartwarming tale, Yellowbird,

flies onto DVD on April 7 from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. Awarded the Dove Seal of Approval, the digitally animated film is perfect for the whole family. Headlined by the voice talents of Seth Green (Austin Powers franchise), Dakota Fanning (The Twilight Saga) and Danny Glover (The Color People), Yellowbird includes a behind-the-scenes look at the voice recording for the film and a “making of” featurette and will be available on DVD for the suggested retail price of $19.98.

 

Just when it’s time to migrate to Africa, Darius (Glover), the elder of the flock, is wounded.  He will have no choice but to share all his secrets, wisdom and new flying routes with the first bird that happens to come along. The candidate is none other than Yellowbird (Green), an eccentric little fellow, super excited about the challenge, but without the slightest hint of knowledge or natural talent for migrating whatsoever.