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There are loads of new record releases either out this month or coming in the next weeks. Let's start with... Freddie Mercury - Barcelona (Special Edition) “ I’m moving into opera now. Forget rock and roll ” Freddie Mercury (1987) 25 years after the original release, Queen singer Freddie Mercury ’s Barcelona album recorded in collaboration with Spanish operatic soprano Montserrat Caballé , is to have a special re-release. The record will get a fully orchestrated rework. It'll be available on CD, CD Special Edition (CD1: A full orchestrated rework of the Barcelona album, CD2: Rarities from the Barcelona sessions, CD3: Barcelona instrumental version and a DVD with videos and interviews) and on vinyl (release: September 3 2012). Listen to the samples here: Aimee Mann - Charmer Aimee 's all new record Charmer is available for preorder (release: September 18, 2012) on CD and Vinyl (you can also get things like a Charmer turntable slip mat and...

One of the two singer songwriters that were the initial reasons for this blog* - Bleu McAuley - will have a new record out. It is set for February 2013, and the first song from it - It's Not Over ('Til it's Over And Done) - is streaming on soundcloud. It's musically located somewhere between Four and Redhead . The song is more electronic, powerful and gripping. If this is an indication for the direction of the new record, I'm jazzed! Icing on the cake: It was written by Bleu and David Mead ! * The other artist is not hard to guess by means of my last posts...

On August 15th 2012 there was a Mike Viola web show at stageit.com (Notes from Underground #3). The result of this show was the song Future Horror Hockey Games . It's a song about a tip fight of two guys - Alex & Andy - at this web show (and yes, one of them is me...). The song is available here: Lyrics - Future Horror Hockey Games Andy is a super fan from Germany Alex just finished college with a bachelors degree This song is the story of how they lost themselves It starts on August 15th 2012 They were bidding in an online forum for the song I am singing now The bidding started innocent but ended in thousands and Thousand of tokens neither could afford But it's so hard not to rush in Once you open that door There was  a secret weapon that Alex had in mind Launched at the last second at a very specific time All the fans around him would cower at his feet Except for one called Leschnik he was impossible to beat Andy used his super powers at the end of the fight C...

The Blue Thumb album on vinyl The long lost Blue Thumb album of The Candy Butchers will be released by Mike Viola this Christmas. It'll likely include the album on vinyl, a CDR and also bonus tracks. Stay tuned! Some words of its development and the sad end of the project: After the recording was finished the album was mixed and re-mixed several times and a potential single pulled and mixed by Bob Clearmountain. Lots of money was spent. Sadly, Blue Thumb went belly up (“it wasn’t our fault!”) and the Candy Butchers debut album was never released. Our manager shopped the finished record around but we had amassed such a debt from all the re-mixing (a decision made by the powers that had been) nobody wanted to sign us cause they’d be taking on all this debt. It was crazy. I was sitting on this record that was basically my life’s work up to that point. Knowing in the back of my mind it would never be released.  See also mikeviola.com and his Faceboo...