New Ray Davies disc free with newspapers

The release of Ray Davies’ first solo album, 2005′s Other People’s Lives, was a big deal, for it was the first time the Kinks leader had released something under his own name. That was then, this is now: Brits could get a good-to-great new Davies solo album free with purchase of the Sunday Times. “Here he is, 50 years after he first picked up a guitar, surfing the cover-mount zeitgeist and seemingly quite comfortable in the uncharted commercial waters in which he has set sail.” That from an interview with Davies that ran in Sunday’s paper.

The “cover-mount zeitgeist” is a particularly British phenomenon, as anyone who regularly reads Q, Uncut or Mojo can attest, each with its monthly CD gummy-stuck to the cover. The specific zeitgeist that Davies is surfing was pioneered by Prince, who issued his Planet Earth disc earlier this year as a cover mount in The Mail.

Sunday Times readers got a little gem this week, as the disc offers a solid dozen Davies songs that are more immediate — and thus less challenging — than those found on Other People’s Lives. That means, of course, that fans will probably sink comfortably into this Daviesian narratives, but might stick it on the shelf with Preservation Act 2 while pulling out more compelling work like Village Green or Other People’s Lives. eMusic users can get in on the fun as well, as V2 has posted the disc for download there. The free CD apparently had 10 tracks; a CD is expected Oct. 29 with those 10 and two bonus tracks, making up what I assume are the 12 tracks found on eMusic..

It’s not Davies’ best music, but it’s certainly among the best discs issued by anyone still in the game after 40 years (Neil Young’s new one may join it… I’ll find out soon). While the music industry debates recent moves by Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails to bypass traditional labels, Davies has quietly stuck with a label (he’s still on V2) and put his music in front of 1.5 million people in one day. Not bad for an old Kink.