This is a CD sampler which you get FREE when you buy any LP or CD from our Top 100 Albums, Top 20 Compilations or Top 20 Reissues/Collections charts.

Featuring tracks from albums in our Top 100, Compilations, and Reissues/Collections charts this was compiled by ourselves and Mark McQuillan and produced in conjunction with the lovely folks at ROM distribution. 

THE PICCADILLY RECORDS ALBUM OF THE YEAR 2023.

Everything Is Alive, Slowdive’s 5th record, is exactly what the title suggests: an exploration into the shimmering nature of life and the universal touch points within it.

While there are parts of this record that could sit neatly next to the atmospheric quality of 1995’s Pygmalion; everything is alive also manages to break down the boundaries of what’s come before it. Spanning psychedelic soundscapes, pulsating 80’s electronic elements and John Cale inspired journeys, the album lands immediately as something made for 2023 and beyond.

For a genre that is often thought of as divisive, and often warrants introspection, here Slowdive show their craft as the masters of it by pushing it outwards, beyond the singular; the end result being a record which feels as emotional and cathartic as it is hopeful.

STAFF COMMENTS

Liam says: When Slowdive returned in 2014, there was a real sense of jubilation and satisfaction that the shoegaze legends were finally getting their well deserved dues and plaudits. However in the years following their return, the world's landscape changed significantly. Not just on a global scale, but also on a personal level for members of the band. 'everything is alive' was born during a heavy period of grief, which can be felt on the closer “The Slab” - a visceral and overwhelming wall of sound that you just want to crawl into for solace and to escape the troubles of the world.
Despite these moments of sadness, there is real artistry in the way Slowdive manages to reflect on the human experience and how we navigate it throughout our lives. This in turn results in an absolute marvel of a record, with some of Slowdive's best work to date. Opener “Shanty” is an all-consuming shoegaze epic of colossal proportions, whilst the gorgeous “Prayer Remembered” is an atmospheric slice of ambient perfection that harks back to Slowdive's 1990 debut EP. The dreamy ”Alife” swirls amongst Rachel Goswell's ethereal vocals, which is then followed by the stripped back and vulnerable delivery of Neil Halstead on the exquisite and delicate “Andalucia Plays”. Then there's “Kisses”, the album's most 'pop' moment but also one of its best. Finally, we have the woozy headiness of “Skin In The Game” and the synth led and almost post-rock “Chained To A Cloud”, both of which just further emphasise the greatness of 'everything is alive'.
With 'everything is alive', Slowdive are well and truly full of life. Whilst their 2017 self-titled felt like a celebration of their legacy, the poignancy and beauty of 'everything is alive' feels like Slowdive never left and we hope they stay with us forever.

Back in the day (the late 90s!), confronted from October onwards by a raft of Christmas-related albums from the major labels, and barely a squeak of a release from the independents, we decided to compile our own top 50 albums of the year, and promote that over the festive season instead. 

Now, well over two decades on, the Piccadilly Records Top 100 has become one of THE essential end of year charts to check out. Our End Of Year Review booklets have also become increasingly sought-after, and now comes packed with our Top 100 albums, Top 20 compilations, Top 20 reissues/collections, Genre charts, book chart, staff charts and reviews of our favourite albums all wrapped in lush perfect bound artwork by Piccadilly pal Mark Brown (www.markbrownstudio.co.uk). 
The perfect read for any music lover over Crimbo.

It’s not an easy feat nowadays to get a record pressed in time for the end of year when there’s so much good music coming out every week, but we’ve once again managed to collect a stylistically diverse, cohesively sequenced collection of our 2023 favourites onto vinyl for your cut-price record buying pleasure.

Opening up the collection, and responsible for me asking an embarrassing amount of times ‘who is this?’ is the soaring “Kisses” from Slowdive’s new offering, and our well-deserved album of the year, ‘everything is alive’. I couldn’t imagine a better follower than “Failsafe” from Catatonic Sun’s self-titled album, as it takes the spine-tingling heft of the former and slides a little into more psychedelic territory.

The Nabihah Iqbal album came out of leftfield for me, and once again the eponymous track here is my top cut on the album, providing the perfect segue into Beach Fossils’ “Don’t Fade Away”, which reinforces the lysergic drift we’ve established while adding a little more structure. Closing the side, both bar italia’s “Nurse” and John’s “Service Stationed” provide a move towards more dynamic, post-punk indebted minimalism, with bar italia’s thoughtful garage groove setting up perfectly for John’s undeniable blast of power.

Jungle keep bringing the goods, and there couldn’t have been any other choice than the funkiest cut on ‘Volcano’, the brilliant “Candle Flame”. This funky banger sets the perfect opener to the B-side, with the melodically pristine “Good Lies” from Welsh duo Overmono bringing us to the dancefloor before shop favourite Matthew Hallsall leads us to the chillout room with his keyboardy jazz odyssey “Mountains, Trees And Seas”.

There are few tracks that could close out a compilation more perfectly than JIM’s anxiolytic melody-rich “Phoenix”, J-Walk’s brilliant “Cool Bright Northern Morning” (from Aficionado’s essential retrospective compilation) or Jalen Ngonda’s swinging, soaring wonder “Come Around And Love Me”, and here you get them all in one stretch. You lucky people.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Good Ol' Picco Recs eh? Once again bringing you a lovely selection of some of our favourite tracks of the year, on vinyl, for a ruddy good price! What joy. Soak in that tracklist. Feel it.

Celebrating twenty-five years of Aficionado as a place to play away from suffocating mainstream club culture, DJs Jason Boardman and Moonboots have compiled a contemplative set of 16 tracks that holds a deep meaning to both themselves and attendees of their now legendary parties. The compilation includes two new tracks exclusive to the release: J-Walk’s ‘Cool Bright Northern Morning’ and Begin’s remix of Canyons ‘Akasha’.

Reflecting on how it all started 25 years ago, Moon considers their no-plan-plan to be a makeshift plateau which evolved organically: “All we did was try to play good records one after the other without any consideration for fashion. And people wanted that”. Alternative approaches were not unknown at the time, but Aficionado, as Jason and Moon’s Sunday sessions became known, pressed the reset button with unique resolve.

Jason elaborates: “It was 1998 when we started. It was our own 'fuck you’ to the Super Club regime - almost everywhere then. The ‘anything goes’ Balearic ethos was in abeyance. It wasn’t cool at the time, but we both just wanted to keep that original spirit alive. ‘Keep it open’ had always been my approach to DJing - even from playing at Youth Clubs as a teenager. No rules or generic constrictions. Play anything that you like from any era, any style from any time. We always encouraged our guests to dig deep and play outside of their comfort zones, their usual styles”.

Regular contributors quickly realised there was a freedom here which expected exploration of the most cobwebbed corners of the collection. The trick was to do something that hadn’t been done before - to play a record which might make these genuinely genre-less sonic adventurers double take. Aficionado reserved the right to apply the brakes and offered the same opportunity to their guests in terms of avoiding stultifying ‘sets’ and routine dance floor button pushing. At the same time, Jason and Moon were also adept in responding to the hedonistic excess that often erupted by playing music likely to facilitate random outbursts of dancing on tables on a school night. Aficionado never settled or coalesced into something readily identifiable and easy to sell.

While there were many Manchester venues, for Jason Sundays at Zumbar were special: “It would get very deranged. A cranky Citronic double deck console and very lo-fi, but a real vibe. Free pizza! At Fat Cat we got offered a proper wage - credit in the straight world! A basement by the Canal”. Moon concurs: “Zumbar was crackers - Sunday became the essential day to go out for our lot. But my two favourite ’Nado venues were Arch in Hulme and Fat Cat. People who’d been up all weekend would turn up spangled. Some bods stopped going out on Saturdays and made Sunday their big night out. Did these people have jobs? Very, very funny times…”.

The lovingly crafted musical mystery tour of this compilation, considering its pleasantly hypnagogic intent, may not reflect the madness of these now distant memories. This is an older and considerably more responsible collection and this is what we need right now - a temporary respite from a world almost capsized. A mood, a meditation created by masters of their craft. Odd socks from disparate global locations making new sense side by side. An assemblage, if you like. A thread through many different kinds of thinking. A new picture pieced together from the lost pieces of many jigsaws. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Aficionado is a cult. A nod-and-a-wink into cryptic catacombs of musical discovery. A paradoxical combination of Moonboot’s hushed mythical reverence and the contagious sense of enthusiasm and adventure from Jason Boardman.

A club night that’s uniquely Mancunian in spirit yet has gone on to inform and inspire a whole global network of record obsessives. A label that spins on a different axis to the mainstream, yet evolves and adapts in natural cycles in harmony with the growing maturity of its founders. Which is why we find ‘25 Years Of Aficionado’ in a decidedly unhurried and meditative mood - showcasing sounds that are at home amongst sun-blushed beaches, English countryside and the relaxed contentment of a free weekend afternoon. Rather than re-hash the hits that soundtracked their debauched Sunday sessions back in the day, the pair have curated a contemplative set that reflects the unwinding of pace that undoubtedly comes with age – in turn delivering something that’s unequivocally relevant to the listeners it's aimed at.

I’ve had both the joy and pain of playing at ‘Nado. Forced to spend most of the evening wearing record sleeves on my head as my ill prepared set contained bootlegs, edits and, the biggest rule break of all – beat matching! I was young and ignorantly unaware of these basic fundamentals, but it was a beautiful schooling. To some this might seem like a militant and contrary manifesto; but it serves to highlight the purity of spirit that can easily be lost in today’s modern age, where digital versions of most songs can be acquired at the click of a mouse and true undiscovered rarities come few and far between. JB & Moon epitomise the excitement of the hunt, the joy of eclecticism; and I think it's due to this immovable and uncompromising passion for unearthing true vinyl gems that goes someway to explaining the pair’s universal admiration and acclaim as DJs and label curators.

END OF YEAR BONUS DISC EDITION - BOTH FORMATS INCLUDE A 13 TRACK BONUS CD DISC 'A LIGHT AND A SCREAM'.

Third album from Allentown/PA three-piece Catatonic Suns: their self-released sophomore LP “Saudade” from early '22 was a feat of sonic guitar haze and grunged out pop.

The new album is a step forward in sound for the band, it sees them blend the underground psychedelia of the late 80s / early 90s Pacific Northwest with the shimmering shoegazery of Britain from the same time. Heavy and soft guitars, songs that soar, these new recordings verge on the epic.

For fans of Screaming Trees, Nirvana, The Verve (early), Loop, Slowdive, and Ride.

STAFF COMMENTS

Darryl says: Catatonic Suns are a psychedelic three-piece hailing from Pennsylvania, USA. Having released a couple of low-key releases (the mini-album ‘Aphelion’ in 2019 and a full length ‘Suadade’ in 2022) they’ve completely blown our minds with their new self-titled album.

Featuring seven original tracks and a raucous amped-up Original Sins cover, ‘Catatonic Suns’ finds the band honing their sound to perfection. Pitched somewhere between the melodic grunge noise of Nirvana and the blissed-out shoegaze of Ride and Swervedriver, the Catatonic Suns have delivered an astonishing album.

From the psych drenched opener “Deadzone” through to the huge eight minute swirling space-rock of “No Stranger” the band have created an epic wall of sound. Tracks like “Failsafe” and “Be As One” showcase the band's melodic side (either of these wouldn’t be out of place on the Verve’s ‘A Storm In Heaven’) whilst “Fell Off” and the aforementioned Original Sins cover “Inside Out” sees lead singer / guitarist Patrick Shields practically shredding his own vocal chords. Throughout all of this the rhythm section of Caleb Strobl (drums) and Jakob Christman (bass) keep things tight allowing the swirling guitar maelstrom to ride off into the sun.

More than 20 years in the making, this December finally sees the release of i/o, Peter Gabriel’s first album of new material since 2002’s Up.

During 2023, Peter has been releasing a new song from the album on the occasion of every full moon. Being revealed roughly every four weeks, each track has been allowed to find its own time and space, to enjoy its own orbit. “It’s a little like getting a Lego piece each month,” Peter explains. Now it’s time to stand back and admire the final, completed creation.

And what a creation – 12 tracks of grace, gravity and great beauty that provide welcome confirmation of not only Peter’s ongoing ability to write stop-you-in-your-tracks songs but also of that thrilling voice, still perfectly, delightfully intact. Throughout the album the intelligent and thoughtful – often thought-provoking – songs tackle life and the universe. Our connection to the world around us – ‘I’m just a part of everything’ Peter sings on title track i/o – is a recurring motif, but so too the passing of time, mortality and grief, alongside such themes as injustice, surveillance and the roots of terrorism. But this is not a solemn record. While reflective, the mood is never despondent; i/o is musically adventurous, often joyous and ultimately full of hope, topped off as it is, by the rousingly optimistic closing song, Live and Let Live.

Always looking to push the boundaries, i/o is not simply a collection of a dozen songs. All 12 tracks are subject to two stereo mixes: the Bright-Side Mix, handled by Mark ‘Spike’ Stent, and the Dark-Side Mix, as reshaped by Tchad Blake. “We have two of the greatest mixers in the world in Tchad and Spike and they definitely bring different characters to the songs. Tchad is very much a sculptor building a journey with sound and drama, Spike loves sound and assembling these pictures, so he’s more of a painter.” Both versions are included on the double-CD package, and are also available separately as double vinyl albums. And that’s not all. A third version – the In-Side Mix, in Dolby Atmos, comes courtesy of Hans-Martin Buff “doing a wonderful job generating these much more three-dimensional mixes” and is included in three-disc set, including Blu-ray.

Peter has kept his trusty inner circle of musicians close to hand, which means guitarist David Rhodes, bassist Tony Levin and drummer Manu Katché are sterling presences throughout. Several songs bear the fingerprints of long-time associate Brian Eno, whilst there are notable contributions from the likes of Richard Russell, pianist Tom Cawley, trumpeters Josh Shpak and Paolo Fresu, cellist Linnea Olsson and keyboard player Don E. Peter’s daughter Melanie contributes warm backing vocals, as does Ríoghnach Connolly of The Breath. Soweto Gospel Choir and Swedish all-male choir Oprhei Drängar lend their magnificent harmonies and the mass strings of the New Blood Orchestra, led by John Metcalfe, both soothe and soar.

Peter has also invited a range of visual artists to contribute a piece of art to accompany each track. The dozen artists make an exceedingly impressive team of collaborators: Ai Weiwei, Nick Cave, Olafur Eliasson, Henry Hudson, Annette Messager, Antony Micallef, David Moreno, Cornelia Parker, Megan Rooney, Tim Shaw, David Spriggs and Barthélémy Toguo. Having handpicked the artists, Peter recognises that “They have the same obsessive attention to their visual work that we musicians have in sound.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: I don't get why everyone is going on about it, it's only been 30 years and the result more than makes up for the *slightly* longer gestation time of I/O. It's a wonderfully rich, beautifully refined work that sings with influence from all of Gabriel's work since he started recording it, and coming together beautifully despite it's disparate elements.

Artists like Jalen Ngonda come around once in a lifetime, so it is our privilege and distinct pleasure to announce the release of his debut album ‘Come Around and Love Me’.

Anyone who has had the pleasure of seeing Jalen perform live knows that he is one of the most captivating performers on today's soul scene. His voice, equal parts raw feeling and elegance, exudes confidence and charm—disarming packed rooms of rowdy concert goers, leaving them silent as they hold fast to every syllable sung.

Plans for the album were struck just months before the COVID 19 pandemic shut the world down. Notwithstanding, Jalen eventually made it to Hive Mind Studios in Brooklyn, NY where he began writing and recording with the help of producer/arrangers Mike Buckley and Vincent Chiarito (both members of Charles Bradley's Extraordinaires) and a crack team of a-list musicians from the Daptone family. The team skilfully blends heavy arrangements and introspective lyrics with Motown sophistication, leaving the listener in a blissful wash of wonderment.

Jalen has been writing songs since he was 14, and his compositions are also very much of these times. He explains, “I love music from the 20th century— I listen to it all the time, but I'm in this world and the 21st century. ...to a stranger, I'd describe my music as modern soul and R&B, while trying to ft in the Beach Boys and the Beatles somewhere in between.” ‘Come Around and Love Me’ reveals how he creates a classic approach that is rooted in the sounds of revered pioneers, without falling into imitation–leaving no doubt that Jalen will continue to shine within the superlative, timeless musical tradition that is Daptone's hallmark.

STAFF COMMENTS

Laura says: Born and raised on the East Coast of the USA, just outside Washington DC and now resident in Liverpool, Jalen Ngonda’s debut album is released on Daptone, which is reason enough to take note - let’s face it, they rarely put a foot wrong do they? The album kicks off with the title track “Come Around And Love Me”, that brings to mind ‘What’s Going On’ era Marvin, and then runs through a collection of pristine 2-3 minute gems that perfectly capture the golden era of soul, from the mid 60s to mid 70s.

Jalen is the real deal, with a voice that ranges from raw soul power to sweet falsetto, and songwriting skills to match. There isn’t a bad track here, in fact pretty much every song could be a single in its own right. You can pick out a whole host of influences, from the aforementioned Marvin Gaye, to the psychedelic soul of Isaac Hayes, the Motor City sound of The Four Tops and sweet harmonies of The Temptation but there’s a fresh modern feel to the production too, it’s not some tired pastiche. I guess if you’re looking for a contemporary comparison, Michael Kiwanuka springs to mind in the way that he fuses the old and new so seamlessly. So to sum up, if you’re a fan of modern soul, full of romance and heartbreak and infused with classic Motown and Philly Soul ingredients, then this is for you.

Wig Out! Freak Out!’, the latest compilation from Two-Piers, dives into the world of Freakbeat, Psych and Mod from 1964-1969. Pulling the cream of tracks from the UK & United States Freakbeat and Garage scenes of the time. Featuring tracks from The Sonics, The Kinks, The Action, Chocolate Watch Band, The Haunted, The Standells, Paul Revere & The Raiders, The Shadows of Knight, The Yardbirds, The Seeds and more ‘Wig Out! Freak Out!’ is packed full of Freakbeat and Mod classics as well as rare sought after nuggets.

Talking about ‘Wig Out! Freak Out!' Two-Piers compiler Mark McQuillan says "The album was inspired by my many happy DJ nights promoting my club night ‘Club Pod’ down in Brighton in the 1990s and my love of all things Sixties Freakbeat. I wanted to put as many great tracks as I could on one compilation to hopefully bring across the feeling of sheer joy from spinning these awesome tracks in a club and seeing the place go off. This compilation isn’t supposed to be a rare crate diggers album, but rather a gateway to give listeners a flavour of the scene and allow them to go off and discover new and brilliant hidden gems within the Freakbeat and Mod Psychedelia genre, and if ‘Wig Out! Freak Out!’ does that job done!"

Aimed squarely at the Alternative & 60s Club Dancefloors ‘Wig Out! Freak Out!’ Kicks off with the fuzz guitars of The Sonics ’Shot Down’, The Standells epic ‘Dirty Water’, and lesser known gem '1-2-5’ by The Haunted, before taking you down a road of pure riotous Freakbeat joy with tracks by the likes of The Birds ‘You’re on My Mind', The Wimple Winch 'Save My Soul' and The Remains ‘Don’t Look Back’. Add the epic Freakbreat grooves of The Eyes ‘You’re Too Much’ and The Open Mind ‘Magic Potion’ an chuck in some brilliant covers by The Kinks, with their take on ‘Louie Louie, Paul Reeve & The Raiders sublime version of ‘I’m Not Your Stepping Stone, Girl group The Starlets garage cover of ‘You Don’t Love Me’, ‘Gloria’ reworked by The Shadows of Knight, and The Action covering ‘Land of 1000 Dances’ and making the track their own, and your feet can’t help but move. The compilation contains lesser known gems such as The Satans ‘Makin’ Deals’, Count Five ‘Double Decker Bus’, The Poets ‘Wooden Spoon’ and The Pirates ‘Cuttin’ Out’. It also takes a turn into Mod Psychedelic territory with the Hammond led grooves of The Quik ‘Berts Apple Crumble’, The Spencer Davis Group ‘I’m A Man’ and the glorious ‘Indian Rope Man’ by Julie Drsicoll, Brian Auger and The Trinity, before ending on the instrumental blues psych rock of Davie Allan & The Arrows ‘Blues Theme’ - a journey through the very best of Freakbeat and Mod Psychedelia at the peak of its powers 1964-1969.

Two-Piers the label has brought to you such wonderful compilations as the Pop Psychédélique, Garage Psychédélique and Lounge Psychédélique compilation series introducing the listener to the worlds of French Psychedelic Pop, Garage Psych, and Lounge & Exotica Space Age Bachelor Pad Music, Waves of Distortion (The Best of Shoegaze 1990-2022) and Music for The Stars (Celestial Music 1960-1979).

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: One look at that tracklist and you know you're in for a treat. Weird psychedelic mod grooves, fuzzy guitars and syncopated swagger, soaring airy numbers and scuzzy garage-adjacent stomp. As always, presented beautifully and perfectly compiled by Two-Piers.

Two-Piers, the label that brought you ‘Pop Psychédélique (The Best of French Psychedelic Pop 1964-2019)’, ‘Garage Psychédélique (The Best of Garage Psych and Pzyk Rock 1965-2019)’ and ‘Music for the Stars (Celestial Music 1960-1979)’ bring you ‘Waves of Distortion (The Best of Shoegaze 1990-2022), a magical journey through the history of the Shoegaze scene from its inception to the current exponents on the scene championing the sound. A perfect introduction to all that is glorious and great about ‘Shoegaze’, and if it takes the listener down a rabbit warren to discover more then job done

‘Waves of Distortion’ brings in some of the OG (original ’gazer) classics – Ride’s peerless ‘Vapour Trail’, Lush’s ‘Sweetness and Light’ from 1990 and Chapterhouse’s ‘Pearl’ from 1991. They are all incredible and timeless tunes. Then there are some others that were never really a part of that other great music press construct, The Scene That Celebrates Itself, in the case of The Telescopes and their fantastic 1991 single ‘Flying’, and Spirea X’s ‘Chlorine Dream’ from the same year – both are indicative of the post-rave psychedelia that coloured everything at the time and fit perfectly within the Shoegaze scene at the time.

Once we get to 1992, there’s a bit of a gap in the chronology as shoegaze was all too hastily dismissed in the country that birthed it, ignored in favour of grunge and then Britpop, the feedback fading away along with the bands that made it. But something amazing happened. when the s-word was used elsewhere in the world, rather than having negative connotations, it was merely a descriptive term. So, the flame was kept burning in the most unlikely places, waiting for everyone else to catch up once again. It’s no surprise, then, that there are bands on this compilation from America (Ringo Deathstarr, Beach House), Australia (Lowtide, Flyying Colours), Sweden (Echo Ladies) and everywhere in between.

Since the turn of the century, successive generations have returned to the sound, taking it to new and exciting places. Thanks to the internet and streaming and listening to music without context the echo got louder and louder. The original scene may have morphed into a myriad of things, from acoustic Americana to ambient techno and post-rock (as evidenced by Mogwai, who appear here with ‘Kids Will Be Skeletons’), but it was only a matter of time before things came full circle. However it was Slowdive’s reunion six years later that finally made people sit up and take notice. There were scores to settle, too. The backlash Slowdive had faced the first time around went beyond mere music criticism into outright hatred. Their return and self-titled album from 2017 somehow managed to be their best yet and one of the finest examples of the genre to date. It brought in yet another generation of fans – the likes of bdrmm and Horsegirl, both included here, weren’t even born when Slowdive first existed, they were discovering them anew.

So, it’s fitting that this compilation begins with ‘Slowdive’s opener, ‘Slomo’. Neil Halstead and Christian Savill’s chiming guitars seemingly awakening from a 22-year slumber as the song gradually comes into focus. This was more than just a rebirth; it was a reaffirmation that this hard to define genre is here to stay.

And that is why we are here now, all these years later, listening to a compilation that joins the dots between all of this stuff, from the beginning to the present day. The beautiful noise that has soundtracked the past 30 years and will continue to do so for many more. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Liam says: This comp looks like it's raided my iPod classic circa 2017, full to the brim of absolute shoegaze classics and hidden gems. With cuts from shoegaze forefathers Slowdive and Ride, to more contemporary additions from the likes of DIIV and bdrmm, this is a must have for shoegaze veterans and newcomers alike! Mega, MEGA stuff!!!

Javelin marks Stevens’ first solo album of songs since 2020’s The Ascension, and his first in full singer-songwriter mode since 2015’s Carrie & Lowell, bridging all these approaches like never before. Whether listened to individually or as an album, these 10 songs become something much bigger, the entire experience of Stevens’ 25-year career brought to bear in four-minute bursts of choral, orchestral, and electric wonder.

Javelin pairs musical sweep with emotional breadth. At times, it has the feel of a big team album production — but it is decidedly not: almost every sound here is the result of Stevens at home, building by himself what sometimes feels like a testament to ‘70s Los Angeles studio opulence. The contributions come from a close circle of friends – adrienne maree brown, Hannah Cohen, Pauline Delassus, Megan Lui and Nedelle Torrisi – who provide harmonies on many songs, and Bryce Dessner, who plays acoustic and electric guitar on “Shit Talk.” Of course, Neil Young wrote the tender and mystic album closer, “There’s A World.”

Where The Ascension, lauded by The New York Times as “a cry of despair and prayer for redemption,” used ornate but urgent electronics to square up to its moment, Javelin begins like a self-portrait, detailed yet plain. This is Stevens at his most intimate, calling back to Seven Swans or Carrie & Lowell and then calling you close to share in its internal reckoning.

“So You Are Tired” begins with a gently introduced piano before intricate layers of guitar and percussion build, creating a lush, melancholic atmosphere. “So you are tired of us // So rest your head,” Stevens sings in his signature disarming voice, as if the very scenes of hurt and hope it is about to share have only galvanized it through the decades. 

Javelin is accompanied by a 48-page book of art and essays all created by Stevens, including a series of meticulous collages, cut-up catalog fantasies, puff-paint word clouds, and iterative color fields. The 10 short essays — alternatively funny, tragic, poignant, obtuse, and specific — offer little glimpses into loves and losses that have shaped him, and, in turn, these songs.

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: Delicate, fragile yet somehow forthright, this new collection of perfect songs sees Sufjan Stevens return to the summits previously inhabited by 2003’s ‘Michigan’, 2005’s ‘Illinois’ and 2015’s ‘Carrie and Lowell’. Basically, this new record is raw, soul searching, heart yearning, pain, truth, and beauty poured onto tape. There’s also plenty of love around, both personal and universal, so there’s something here for everyone, anyone who has a heart! If you’re familiar with Sufjan’s oeuvre, you’ll know that he’s a pure, total artist who determinedly follows his muse. This often results in unusual, experimental, often heavily electronic records. I think I speak for most people when I say, his melancholy acoustic albums are the ones we love the most. Personal highlights for me are “Will Anyone Ever Love Me?” and “So You Are Tired”. The latter is a breakup song to top all break up songs. It's exquisitely beautiful.

About the album:

Beautifully produced and rich in scope – ‘Iechyd Da’ is Bill Ryder-Jones’ most ambitious record to date. At times joyous and grand, at others intimate and heartbreaking, the past few years spent producing other artists have provided that gentle nudge to expand into new territory, from kids choirs and tender strings to dramatically re-contextualised disco samples.

Making this album has been a process that has been endlessly rewarding for Ryder-Jones, both creatively and personally, as he finally accepts that he’s made an album that has bettered one he’s been trying to top for a decade. “It's been incredible making this,” he says. “Despite all the life stuff that's happened, it has brought me immense happiness. I've always railed against it when people ask if making a record is cathartic but I’d have to admit that this one really was. Over the years my music has lost a bit of its hope I reckon. It were important for me to make a record that had more hope in it. Even by my standards the last few years have been rocky, but I’ve chosen to soundtrack it with more positive music, you know? I love this album. I haven't been this proud of a record since A Bad Wind Blows in My Heart.”

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever return in 2022 with Endless Rooms, the Melbourne quintet's third album proper. Described by the band – comprised of Fran Keaney, Joe White, Marcel Tussie and brothers Tom Russo and Joe Russo – as them "Doing what we do best: chasing down songs in a room together", Endless Rooms stands as a testament to the collaborative spirit and live power of RBCF.

While initial ideas were traded online during long spells spent separated by lockdowns, the album was truly born during small windows of freedom in which the band would decamp to a mud-brick house in the bush around 2hrs north of Melbourne built by the extended Russo family in the 1970s.

There, its 12 tracks took shape, informed to such an extent by the acoustics and ambience of the rambling lakeside house that they decided to record the album there. The house also features on the album cover. For the first time, the band self-produced the record (alongside engineer, collaborator and old friend, Matt Duffy), creating their most naturalistic and expansive document yet. The result is a collection of songs permeated by the spirit of the place; punctuated by field recordings of rain, fire, birds, and wind.

"It's almost an anti-concept album," say the band. "The ‘endless rooms’ of the title reflects our love of creating worlds in our songs. We treat each of them as a bare room to be built up with infinite possibilities."

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Aaah, there's nothing quite as satisfying as a new RCBF album. Their latest definitely sounds like them, with the roaring angular guitar lines and post-punk vocal sneer but is somehow softened into a more crepuscular, thoughtful selection of pieces. It's by no means a mellow record, but their usual drive is tempered a little, and all the better for it. A lovely record.

The final U.S. show, a triumphant and blistering bookend to the storied career of one of the most influential bands in rock music, featuring a unique and expansive eighty-five minute set list that spans Sonic Youth’s nearly three decade catalog. Mixed from multitrack by longtime live engineer Aaron Mullan and mastered and cut by Carl Saff.

On August 12, 2011 Sonic Youth played their final US show on an outdoor stage overlooking the East River at the Williamsburg Waterfront in Brooklyn. Fitting that their storied career would bookend with a panoramic view of New York City where it all began 30 years before, having left in their wake one of one of the most powerfully influential careers in rock music.

Following incredible sets from Kurt Vile and Wild Flag, the band took the stage. As the sun went down over the city, Sonic Youth ripped through a 17 song set that spanned from deep cuts off their first studio album and highlighting many other albums all the way through to their last, like a band with everything to prove. Or as Brooklyn Vegan’s Andrew Sacher said at the time: “While most bands who are thirty years into their career are either fading away or living off of the nostalgia of their older material, Sonic Youth continue to sound and perform as fresh as ever.”

Steve Shelley explains the uniquely career spanning set list of Live in Brooklyn 2011 and how it came to be, as well as the importance of outdoor NYC summer shows in Sonic Youth’s legacy:

“This show was a culmination of a run of really special outdoor summertime shows in New York City for us, starting in ’92 with Summerstage in Central Park when we played with Sun Ra. For the Williamsburg Waterfront show I wrote out the set list to present to the band and it was a lot of material we hadn’t played in a while, a lot of deep cuts, so I wasn’t sure if everybody would feel like doing it. After worrying about which songs the band might say yes or no to, I threw those concerns out the window and I just made a list of songs that I thought would be a great set. We practiced the week of the show at our space in Hoboken and put the set together. First we’d try and make sure we had a guitar in the song’s tuning, then we’d try to remember the arrangement and try and put it together, sometimes re-learning bar by bar. In the end I think the whole song list made it through. Even as early as ’86 and ’87 we stopped playing ‘Death Valley 69’ and ‘Brave Men Run’ with any regularity. We’d just get excited about new material coming into the set and songs would get ‘retired’ and wouldn’t get played again for years. So on this particular night in Brooklyn a lot of those retired songs and deep cuts got dusted off and played for this show. It turned out to be a pretty special event with a really special song list.” The band would go on to fulfill a contracted festival run in South America a few months later but, by then, the group’s center was severed beyond repair and the festival appearances didn’t hold the same kind of weight.

“The stage was facing the East River from the Williamsburg, Brooklyn waterfront, and I recall the sun going down in the west during our set. It was a pretty magical, if kinda weird day. Fitting, somehow, that our ‘last show’ should be in New York City, our home and where it all began…” Lee Ranaldo

The Williamsburg Waterfront show would fondly become referred to as ‘The Last Show’ by fans and band alike, equally for its triumphant high energy performance, its unique and expansive set list and locale.

Newly remixed and remastered, Live in Brooklyn 2011 is presented for the first time on 2xLP, 2Xcd, August 18, 2023.

STAFF COMMENTS

Darryl says: The legendary Sonic Youth played an historic gig on the Williamsburg Waterfront overlooking the East River on August 12th 2011. It would prove to be their final U.S. show, and this double vinyl and double CD on Silver Current Records perfectly captures this raw and expansive 85 minute set.

Heavy on songs from their early years Sonic Youth powered through these tracks like a band full of teenage energy. The fact that this show was their U.S. swansong after around 30 years together makes this blistering set all the more remarkable.

Kicking off with the hypnotic “Brave Men Run (In My Family)”, before exploding into the sensational noise carnage of “Death Valley ‘69”. Sonic Youth continue to rip through the set with 80s classics; “Kotton Krown”, “Kill Yr. Idols”, “Eric’s Trip” and the awesome “Tom Violence” all dispatched with visceral vigour and punky power.

Interspersed with three tracks from their last album ‘The Eternal’ along with a brilliantly brutal “Sugar Kane” they finish off proceedings with an apocalyptic version of “Inhuman” complete with feedback and wailing guitars and then it’s all over with the line “… with the power of love anythin’ is possible”.

Following on from 2019's 'The Unforgiving Current', Horsebeach's Ryan Kennedy returns with his fifth record 'Things To Keep Alive'. With 'The Unforgiving Current' exploring the themes of isolation whilst living in Tokyo, Kennedy has since returned to the perpetual grey of Mancunia. But rather than viewing his return to Manchester as a step back, Kennedy has used Horsebeach as a catalyst to explore and make positive strides within his mental health.

From Beatles-esque balladry, fuzzed out shoegaze and a lavish cover of a 00s pop classic, 'Things To Keep Alive' still importantly retains the Horsebeach DNA and even has moments that will take fans all the way back to Kennedy's C86 inspired debut LP. In turn, this results in Horsebeach's most varied and rewarding album to date. A record that inspires and shows growth; a record that makes you appreciate the things you help to keep alive.

Here’s what Ryan (Horsebeach) had to say about the album."I always treat each album as a snapshot of a certain period of my life and Things To Keep Alive is no different. However, it's less of a measure of time and more a snapshot of the mental space I've come to occupy over the past few years.

Fundamentally, this album is about my own struggle with one particular side effect of my mental health. Especially my propensity to long for the sweet release of death. I've come to learn how to deal with these things over time and I have always cared for my many cats, plants and important people close to me. These things bring me great joy and through the fog of my depressed haze I have finally learned to water, feed and care for myself as well. These are the things I keep alive. Musically I've decided to revisit themes from my earlier work but allow myself to open up to sounds I might have restricted from the Horsebeach palette in the past. It's quite a simple album thematically but perhaps the one I'm most proud of to date. I've given myself much longer to write this album and I hope the extra time I’ve spent nurturing each song comes through in the end."

Ryan

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: After an unbearable wait, Horsebeach finally return, and guess what, it's their best record so far! Fabulously varied and with tunes to die for, this record will jangle and sigh its way straight into your hearts.

They say long live the king and all, but nothing’s ever set in stone. A quarter of a century since his self-inflicted coronation, and self-released debut solo album, Kenny Anderson - DIY pop voyager, ancestral seaside home restorer, squeezebox lothario, Fife for lifer, diamond miner, hijacker of hearts, and the man also known as King Creosote - has released over 100 records (at a relatively conservative guess), collaborated with the likes of Jon Hopkins,KT Tunstall, Beta Band’s Lone Pigeon, and had his songs covered and performed by artists including Patti Smith and Simple Minds. Yet he’s still standing, fallible, doubtful, patched together, bloody-minded and unbowed. He’s got a new LP, despite or perhaps because of it all. It’s called I DES.

While the record’s kaleidoscopic musical terrain plots vibraphones, accordions, e-bows, samplers, ungulates, scratched records and wine glass-drones across its landscape, there’s common ground in the wonder of the synthesiser – not to mention Anderson’s singular voice, and his roguish, roving, ever-evolving, gorgeous songs in the key of Fife.

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: A totally gorgeous and varied album blending tasty electronics with a whole host of acoustic instruments. There's a lot of heartache and sorrow this time out, but the over all feeling is one of a deep sense of beauty. Kenny is such a great songwriter. It's been worth the wait!

Halsall who has been hailed as one of the leading figures of the UK jazz renaissance has never seen himself as part of any one sound or scene: he builds his own sonic universe instead. An Ever Changing View finds him at his most experimental yet, once again expanding his sound and production techniques to create his unique brand of deeply meditative music.

During the album's creation, he was staying in both a beautiful architect’s house with breath-taking sea views and a striking modernist house, where he composed what he saw “like a landscape painting”. In these new environments, Halsall wanted to capture “the feeling of openness and escapism” and to approach making music again from scratch. “I hit the reset button and wanted to have complete musical freedom,” he says. “It was a real exploration of sound.”

It was hearing jazz on the dancefloor as a teenager that first opened up new possibilities in Halsall’s mind and his music has long drawn on his love for the spiritual jazz of Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders and contemporary electronica from the likes of Warp Records and Ninja Tune. An Ever Changing View melds those forms in a way that feels heady and, at times, even otherworldly. One of the album’s starting points was Halsall’s ever-expanding box of percussion, from congas and kalimba to various clusters of seeds, bells and chimes, which he sampled and looped to use as a foundation for the songs – a first for him and his band. Elevating, charming, totally modern jazz tracks jostle with deft warm magic realism; and laid back grooves with hand percussion, deep bass and the gorgeous glisten of the Fender Rhodes meet hip-hop beats. Halsall himself sparkles, illuminating his beautiful tapestries of sound with lithe, glistening elegiac trumpet.

An Ever Changing View comes in a package as striking as the music, with handmade fonts designed by Ian Anderson of The Designers Republic and the specially commissioned tapestry by artist Sara Kelly is a stunning and harmonious complement to the record's sound.

STAFF COMMENTS

Martin says: That Matthew Halsall’s music takes as its starting point the meditative end of Pharoah Sanders and Alice Coltrane is no accident. His final two years of education were spent at the Maharishi school, where his experience of meditation led to a deeper immersion in Buddhism, a philosophy that permeates and shapes the nature of his work.

This is his ninth solo album, which in itself presents the perennial problem that dogs most artists; how to keep the originality and inspiration that accompany approaching a blank canvas and not disappear into a spiral of ever diminishing returns by clinging too tightly to the only formula they allow themselves to know. While it is true that the flow of his work has remained consistent, the individual components and musicians have not. Almost all of the original members of The Gondwana Orchestra have moved on to the burgeoning London jazz scene, the silver lining to this being their replacements have brought their own influence. Halsall has also an ever increasing collection of percussion instruments to draw on and use as a base for his music - in this case kalimba, glockenspiel and marimba amongst others, over which his serene trumpet soars softly overhead. It’s a testament to Halsall’s willingness to evolve that his music still sounds so fresh. He’s produced an exquisite, peaceful gem, as rich as any of his previous work, overflowing with warmth, intricacy and gentle charm.

On one level the album’s title could refer to the changes in landscape travelling between Northumberland and North Wales, where the album was recorded, But it also nods to the Buddhist concept of impermanence, the idea that it’s a property of the universe that nothing stays the same. An ever changing view.

‘Lounge Psychédélique’ takes you on a journey into the world of Lounge, Exotica and Space Age Bachelor Pad Music, from its early days in the 1950s and 1960s to the current crop of artists championing the Lounge & Exotica sounds today. Compiled by Spencer Hickman & Mark McQuillan for Two-Piers

‘Lounge Psychédélique (The Best of Lounge & Exotica 1954-2022)’ is the third instalment in the Psychédélique Compilation series on Two-Piers, following the critically acclaimed ‘Pop Psychédélique (The Best of French Psychedelic Pop 1964-2019)’ and ‘Garage Psychédélique (The Best of Garage Psych and Pzyk Rock 1965-2019)’.

‘Lounge Psychédélique’ brings together the sounds of Easy Listening, Soundtrack Instrumentals, Exotica, Jazz, Psychedelic, and Space Age sounds all under the umbrella of Lounge Music. The compilation includes legends of the Lounge and Exotica scene, such as Martin Denny, Yma Sumac, Mel Tormé, Herb Alpert, and Les Baxter, alongside legendary composers Hugo Montenegro, Lalo Schifrin, Michael Giacchino. Add some Lounge Jazz from Cal Tjader and the Latin Bossa Nova of Quincy Jones. Then throw in some beautiful oddities from Leonard Nimoy, Pizzicato Five and Mort Garson. Next, mix in some Lounge-Mod moments from Dave Pike and Jack Trombey, KPM library classics from Alan Hawkshaw and Keith Mansfield, and finish with some brilliant modern-day exponents of the Exotica sound Los Bitchos, Ixtaheule and the Percussive Funk Moog party sounds of The Bongolian. The result is a fun and crazy ride through the world of Lounge Music which will bring a smile to your face and a spring to your step. So raise a cocktail glass to ‘Lounge Psychédélique (The Best of Lounge & Exotica 1954-2022) – a sheer joy from start to finish!

‘Lounge Psychédélique’ isn’t meant to be a ‘crate diggers’ album or a compilation of obscure, hard-to-find tracks to outdo your mates. Instead, it is intended to celebrate the Lounge scene and, hopefully, the perfect introduction to this fantastic and beautiful music for any newcomers out there. So let your journey into Lounge and Exotica begin here….

STAFF COMMENTS

Darryl says: Delving into the world of Lounge, Exotica and Space Age Bachelor Pad Music, these cuts are the creme de la creme of the scene. Featuring legends like Martin Denny, Yma Sumac, Les Baxter, Mort Garson, Alan Hawkshaw, Leonard Nimoy, Pizzicato Five, and Keith Mansfield, there’s plenty of delights to raise a cocktail glass to!

Chaos For The Fly is the debut solo album from Grian Chatten, vocalist of Dublin’s critically-acclaimed band Fontaines D.C.

Rare moments of respite from a relentless touring schedule afforded Chatten the opportunity to start work on something for himself, occupying a completely different headspace from his hugely successful work within Fontaines D.C. Co-produced by the band’s longstanding producer Dan Carey, the album is arguably the most poetic we’ve heard from Chatten. Each song here has a sweep of colour and textures that breathe life into his lucid tales. Over its nine tracks, Chaos For The Fly is a record that takes in all of life’s rich emotions, transporting the listener to a place you not only want to visit, but will find yourself returning to again and again.

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: Grian Chatten, as I’m sure you all know, is the lead singer of Fontaines D.C. This is his first solo album and it’s an absolute corker! It only seems right, at this point, to own up to being not the biggest Fontaines’ fan, but that’s why this record is such a wonderful surprise to me. Whilst they thunder along in their rambunctious, post punkish style, Grian solo is a far more considered and down beat affair. Musically, Chatten seems to be referencing such poetic songsmiths as Leonard Cohen, Elliott Smith and, of course, Shane MacGowan, and he’s said that the whole album came to him in a vision whilst walking along Stoney Beach in Ireland. It’s interesting that he should share this as there is a tangible faded (seaside) glamour and epic, introspective vibe which shrouds the whole record. There are only nine songs here, but every one is a gem. Dan Carey is still on board as producer but, on this album Grian’s voice is pointedly out front, clear as a bell and centre of attention. His voice is stunning. And, as for his words, well these songs are pure poetry set to music; miniature films, if you like. My two favourite tracks are, funnily enough, back to back in the running order. “All Of The People” is just a brilliant melody with a harsh and apparently heart felt finger pointing lyric whilst “East Coast Bed” just drifts so gorgeously it’s in a genre all of its own!

For 'Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours Volume Two', Paul dives back into the vaults for more seriously good, rare cuts for all to enjoy. Spanning seventeen tracks, the new compilation represents his continued journey with the Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours sound. Think of heady sounds to soundtrack balmy English summers and Balearic poolside drops, the compilation includes a huge slab of privately pressed obscurities with some previously unreleased material.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: From horizontal ambient folk business to head-nodding Balearica, the wonderful Paul Hillery once again raids his vaults for a unique selection of the finest gems. This time sees more drifty numbers like Len Udow's gorgeous “Beauty Raise The Tree” joined with some more upbeat numbers, like Grand Union's funky odyssey, “Morning Brings The Light”'.

Using broader concepts, ‘Dreamer’ is “more introspective, because it's about things that I’ve been through over the last few years,” she says. The album is an intimate journey through snapshots and memories of Nabihah’s life. Exploring personal identity and grief through the soft-focus lens of melancholy, the album is not one specific sound. Her left-field lo-fi aesthetic twirls itself throughout as she manages to skate between tracks without ever sounding disjointed. Apart from four of the songs which have live drums on them, Nabihah wrote, recorded and produced the album herself. Incorporating the harmonium and sitar in her music for the first time, instruments reflective of her Pakistani heritage, it’s Nabihah’s rawest and most personal work yet.

STAFF COMMENTS

Mine says: Though not a million miles away sonically from her 2017 debut album ‘Weighing Of The Heart’, Nabihah Iqbal's second long player ‘DREAMER’ does sound like the London based musician, producer and DJ has taken on a new creative direction, deconstructing her trademark sound of electronic shoegaze and dreamy synth-pop into its core elements. While sounding more mature and confident than its predecessor, the record also shows more vulnerability, as if past struggles (among them stolen equipment and a family emergency during the pandemic) have left her visibly exposed. The ethereal, otherworldly opener “In Light” is followed by a catchy dream pop number, the aptly titled “Dreamer”, before “This World Couldn't See Us” introduces more electronic elements and spoken vocals without interrupting the sonic theme of melancholy that is undisputedly making its mark throughout the entire the album.

‘DREAMER’ sounds like it was written by someone who feels just as at home at an intimate gig as at a rave, but it manages to combine Iqbal's influences so effortlessly that the album flows and never strays from what it set out to do, despite featuring tracks as wildly different as the introspective, stripped back “Lilac Twilight”, the haunting, beatless “Sweet Emotion (Lost In Devotion)” and the anthemic, trance influenced “Sky River”; one of the songs on the album that showcases her love for dance music. Awash with ambient synth pads, reverb laden guitars, textured melodies and big beats, ‘DREAMER’ manages to please both stargazers and night-time ravers. A truly beautiful record by an artist who is at a creative peak in her career.

The Endless Coloured Ways is a collection of songs by legendary singer/ songwriter, Nick Drake, performed and recorded by over 30 incredible artists from a range of different backgrounds, genres, age groups and audiences. From Fontaines D.C to Guy Garvey, and Aurora to Feist, each artist has offered their own incredible take on a timeless classic.

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: How would you present a compilation of modern day artists covering singer-songwriter Nick Drake's work? Like this! Get them to re-interpret the material in their own individual way, re-imagine if you like, whilst maintaining Nick's original melody and words. We all know the original songs so well; that this record brings them to life so eloquently and sincerely is a huge testament to everybody involved.

The debut full length album from boygenius, Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus. Bridgers has called the formation of the group "kind of an accident," wherein each of the members were simply fans of each other's work and then became friends. 

The long-awaited album is produced and written by boygenius. It was recorded at Shangri-la Studios in Malibu, California.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: There was never any doubt that the wonderful boygenius would pull out a perfectly paced, emotionally rich debut after the roaring reception of their self-titled EP. ‘the record’ starts with a touching piece featuring the unadorned vocals of Lucy Dacus, Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers. It’s an arresting and perfectly telling show of the skill and camaraderie that exists between these musicians, and a beautiful starting point for something truly special. There are some more tender moments, like the touching and incredibly open “Emily, I’m Sorry” or the folky meanderings of “Cool About It”, but It’s the contrast from these pieces to the more dynamic overdriven behemoths that really show their comparative merits all the more clearly. “Satanist” easily fills any need you may have for screaming grungy mayhem, with both rolling bass and squealing guitars making an appearance before fading once again into the ether.

The three vocalists all have notably different voices too, and while their sound definitely carries over from their respective solo acts, there’s something intangible that’s added when they all work together, turning this from a project that’s some musicians playing alongside each-other into a fully formed band that just happens to be made up of three of the best indie musicians of the last decade. Boygenius are easily one of the most emotionally devastating, life-affirmingly beautiful acts around today, and ‘the record’ is just the start of their journey. A perfect album in every way.

Bella Union are thrilled to release the long-awaited debut solo album Albion by Harp, the adopted name of Tim Smith, formerly the singer and principal songwriter of Texan legends Midlake, who is joined by his wife, Kathi Zung.

The road to Albion might have been long and winding, and bumpy to boot, but the music Harp has created is steeped in sublime melody, mood, drama and detail, its ten songs and two mood-matching instrumentals framed by a mesh of acoustic/electric guitars, soft shades of keyboards and Smith’s gorgeous voice; in other words, the quintessence of what drew people in the first place to his work with Midlake.

But Albion has starker, darker hues than Smith is typically renowned for, which lifts Albion to new heights in his canon; likewise, the level of personal revelation. These are songs about the human condition, from love - both lost and found – to faith, anxiety to joy, fear to acceptance, all couched in a highly distinct poetic language.

Since leaving Midlake, Smith has performed just once, with Lost Horizons (at London’s Festival Hall in 2018), the collective co-founded by Bella Union boss (and former Cocteau Twin) Simon Raymonde, after Smith had contributed vocals and lyrics to “She Led Me Away” for the collective’s 2017 debut Ojalá. Smith subsequently went on to contribute vocals and lyrics for the track “Grey Tower” on Lost Horizons’ second album, In Quiet Moments. Those were all-too-rare sightings of Smith, but Albion’s day has come, and in a manner of speaking, in many aspects of his life, Smith has finally come home.

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: Tim Smith, genius song writer, from Midlake's golden, 'Van Occupanther' period FINALLY returns. It's been 12 long years but he's delivered an absolute classic. Apparently he became smitten with The Cure's 'Faith' and all things UK alt 80s, and so has combined those epic, lush production sensibilities with his own sometimes folk, sometimes Medieval and sometimes Celtic melodies. Add a touch of Roy Harper and echoes of early 70's folk/prog,(only in feel though, these are still proper "pop" songs) and the result is a deep, doomy but beautiful, melancholy, magical, masterpiece.

bar italia, the London trio of Nina Cristante, Jezmi Tarik Fehmi and Sam Fenton, have announced details of their new album ‘Tracey Denim’, which is released on Matador Records.

‘Tracey Denim’ was recorded and produced by bar italia with mixing from Marta Salogni. It features the single “Nurse!” which was released in March to acclaim, and described as “a hypnotic post-punk ballad” (The Guardian) and “narcotically arresting” (Pitchfork).

Over the last two years, bar italia have released two albums, an EP and several singles on Dean Blunt’s World Music label, leading to much word-of-mouth, sold out headline shows, and festival performances at Pitchfork Music Festival London, by:Larm, OUT.FEST, Le Guess Who?, and End Of The Road.

STAFF COMMENTS

Ethan says: On ‘Tracey Denim’, bar italia sound like a 90s underground-American-indie outfit that miraculously discovered Britpop one day, and then were immediately whisked through time and space to a pristine recording studio in the 2020s. And the result is absolutely brilliant!

There’s a ‘slacker’ approach to this band’s whole aesthetic, with their loose performances and inconsistent lower-case approach to titling. That is, in everything except the immaculate production, where they manage to pull off some incredibly unique drum sounds and edgy guitar tones while still remaining light and gentle. There’s the silvery hi-hat powering through “guard”, the guttural bass defining “Horsey Girl Rider”, and fuzz-tinted power chords on “Punkt”. Everything here has a definite Sonic Youth edge, or maybe a more-relaxed Modest Mouse would be more appropriate. It’s all wrapped up in a very tongue-in-cheek gen-z humour, best exemplified through their digs at Kate Nash through Track 7’s stupidly-long title.

All this gushing about the band and I haven’t even mentioned what sets them apart from all the sub-par 90s throwback bands. Their unique selling point is the Beatles approach to vocals, which is to say lead vocals are distributed between all band members at a fairly equal rate. “Missus Morality” is a beautiful exchange between Nina Cristante’s alto range and Jezmi Tarik’s deeper, tenor timbre. The two then duet on tracks like “changer”, and the band even bring in Sam Fenton for a trio on tracks such as “Friends”.

The surprise companion to The National's April release First Two Pages of Frankenstein, Laugh Track is the band's most freewheeling, all-hands-on-deck album in years. If Frankenstein represented a rebuilding of trust between group members after 20+ years together, the vibrant, exploratory Laugh Track is both the product of that faith and a new statement of intent. Reveling in the license to radically upend its creative process, The National honed most of this material in live performances on tour, and captured those invigorated versions in impromptu sessions at producer Tucker Martine’s Portland studio. Two nights later in Vancouver, the nearly eight-minute album closer “Smoke Detector” was recorded during soundcheck, completing a body of work bristling with spontaneity and vintage rock energy that makes a perfect complement to the songs found on its more introspective predecessor.

STAFF COMMENTS

Laura says: Released as a companion album to ‘First Two Pages Of Frankenstein’, ‘Laugh Track’ was written during the same sessions but feels more dynamic, largely due to Bryan reverting to ‘real’ rather than programmed drums. After all, it’s his fluid, scatter-shot drumming that has always been the perfect foil for Matt’s melancholy. This LP sounds much more like The National we love and closing track “Smoke Detector” possibly hints at the future direction of their evolution.

Panda Bear & Sonic Boom, the duo of Noah Lennox and Peter Kember, release Reset in Dub, a dub version of their acclaimed 2022 LP Reset, featuring reworkings of all nine tracks by the legendary British dub producer Adrian Sherwood, via Domino. Sherwood created his version of Reset at his On-U Sound Studios with a crew that included such storied musicians as Doug Wimbish and Skip McDonald of the Sugarhill Gang and Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, as well as Prisoner, Alex White, Horseman, Mark Bandola, “Crucial” Tony, Ras Badthings, Ivan “Celloman” Hussey, and Mathew Smythe. “One of the primary influences on Reset was

Jamaican rocksteady and it seemed like an interesting idea to explore taking it back to that sort of tropical root,” says Kember.

“I like big empty spaces; I like malls when there's no one there and the beach in the wintertime - visually it’s simple and uncluttered and the noise of the surf drowns out everything else, so I suppose it's no surprise I've always liked the sound of dub,” says Lennox, “and though some stuff bears its mark more than others I'd wager you can find residues of it in everything I've done. As a fan of Adrian’s I was excited when Pete suggested we ask him to do some dubs of Reset tracks, but as they started to come through it was clear what he was working on was much more than a dub. Reset in Dub feels like the thing filtered through a prism and it recontextualizes the OG.”

“This is a complete reset of Reset from myself and the On-U Sound crew,” says Sherwood. “Being a fan of Animal Collective and Spacemen 3, when it was suggested we do this together I loved the idea and relished the challenge. We talked about influences, old records, mixing techniques and made a plan, which was to keep all the elements of trippy fun, but with added menace, groove and an ultra active mix for the ‘heads.’ Very happy and proud of the result.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: A brilliant flipside to PB & SB's already superb Reset album. You just know a suite of dubs put together by the great Adrian Sherwood is going to be a great time, and with such stallar source material it's no surprise that it's turned out this well. Rich, cosmic dubby madness.

Next Wave Acid Punx DEUX is the second compilation for Eskimo Recordings compiled and curated by Berlin-based Musician and DJ Luca Venezia, aka Curses, to explore the darker side of club music. Spread across 3CDs and three 2LPs Next Wave Acid Punx DEUX features a mammoth 49 tracks that join the dots between early industrial pioneers Throbbing Gristle, EBM legends like Nitzer Ebb and the post-punk experiments of people like Malcolm McLaren and Big Audio Dynamite with some of the most exciting artists around today, such as Boy Harsher, Nuovo Testamento and Years of Denial.

Where the first Next Wave Acid Punx compilation was a personal journey for Luca, a lockdown inspired exploration of his record collection to find the thread that ran through the music that had soundtracked much of his life, DEUX is a celebration of that music let loose on the world, the thrill of music performed live, the smoke and strobe filled clubs you'll hear it in and the artists you'll find on those stages.

"After our enforced break, getting back out there and playing live again really brought home to me so much of what I love about the scene I'm in but also just how important live music has been and is to club culture over the years," Luca explains. "Too often we think of club nights and live gigs as these separate things, but throughout the years it's where the two meet, the friction that can cause, that you'll find the most vibrant scenes."

"There's an energy, an atmosphere that you get with live music, an unpredictability where at any moment something can go wrong or even better right in a way you never expect. I think about a live set we played at a Lebanese festival where our MPC drum machine froze up because of all the dust and sand trapped in the pads. We had to improvise half our set, jamming bass and guitar and pedal FX and vocals, embracing this surreal environment and experience, something that could only happen in the moment."

"With Next Wave Acid Punx DEUX I wanted to celebrate those bands and artists, past and present who, to me, represent that spirit. Both full live bands and makeshift electronic duos alike, the kind of acts that you might have found wedged between DJs back in the day at The Hacienda in the 80s, Trash in the 00s or today at nights like Berlin’s MILK ME, EXBTN in Paris, Night Terrors + SC&P in London, New York City’s Synthicide or Ukraine’s Worn Pop."

"So I've put this compilation together much like my favourite kind of night, going out to see some bands play, hitting up a club where live music and DJs blur together, before the serious business of the after party. On Chapter 1 you'll find bands like Vicious Pink, DAF and Cabaret Voltaire, some of these acts are more obscure than others, some flirted with pop and even the charts but they were all embracing new ways of working in the late 70s and 80s that both set them apart and set the scene for much of what we think of as club music."

"Chapter 2 moves the night on, and this is the sound of the clubs I love to both play and just hang out in these days, clubs where the people involved put a lot more time into digging through the crates than working on their Instagram Reels. These are places where you're as likely to find a band on stage as you are a DJ, where 80's German electro pop by a band like Boytronic seamlessly flows into tracks like Silent Servant’s Non Fiction. Timeless music that can be romantic, dreamlike and ethereal one moment, then veer into dark, industrial sounds the next."

"Then finally we get to that part of the night where you probably should go home but if it's too late for good decisions there's still time for good music. Things are a bit wilder here, the drums a bit harder, the synths are more aggressive, tracks like The Hacker's Monopoly, Zanias' Tryptamine Palace or EVA's Industrial Hope that don't let up, don't let you go, just subjugate you to the beat and keep you there till you stumble out blinking into a new day." 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Another absolute stormer of a comp from the Eskimo crew. this time it's split into three, and it's REALLY hard to say which i'd go for given the chance. Throbbing Gristle, Cab Voltaire, DAF, The KVB and literally tens more. A perfectly curated selection of dark dancefloor grit and soaring synthy groove.

‘Sea Of Mirrors’ is The Coral in full conceptual mondo-movie mode. Combining their love of 60s and 70s Western cinema, baroque pop, Love, Scott Walker, Sergio Leone, Lee Hazelwood and Ennio Morricone, it features string arrangements by the High Llama’s Sean O’hagan and a cameo from Cillian Murphy. It is the natural, sprawling successor to 2021’s ‘Coral Island’ and you will hear nothing like it in 2023.

Following their acclaimed album, Coral Island, the band felt inspired to create material for two more albums, (see the separate listing for 'Holy Joe’s Coral Island Medicine Show'). Amidst that songwriting scirroco, a combination of a script written by keyboard player, Nick Power, a vintage cinema foyer poster artwork was created by drummer, Ian Skelly confirmed Sea Of Mirrors’ vivid concept and the blueprint for The Coral to move beyond all expectations once again.

“Once the album concept was clear, this was us imagining the theme tune for an Italian western directed by Fellini with a Richard Yates-written script,” Explains James Skelly. “It’s us asking ourselves: what would have happened if Lee Hazlewood had produced a Gene Pitney song written by Townes Van Zandt?”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: The first of a two-album conceptual double-whammy from everyone's second favourite Wirral export. 'Sea Of Mirrors'. There is the classic Coral stomp and psychedelic groove we've come to love but infused with a heady mix of spaghetti western twangs and lysergic drifts of hazy country guitar.

Ducks Ltd. make inviting and frenetic guitar pop for when life feels overwhelming. While the band’s songs are ostensibly breezy, a palpable anxiety boils underneath that communicates something deeper about everyday existence. On their latest album Harm’s Way, the Toronto duo of Tom McGreevy and Evan Lewis hones in on interpersonal and societal collapses, urban decay, and the near-impossibility of keeping a level head when everything around you seems to be falling apart.

Even with its often dark subject matter, Harm’s Way is Ducks Ltd.’s most vividly rendered and collaborative collection yet. It’s an undeniable evolution for the band, not just in how these songs soar, but in their entire writing and recording processes. Composed on tour while supporting acts like Nation of Language, Illuminati Hotties, and Archers of Loaf, the album displays the band’s finely tuned songcraft and well-earned, road-tested confidence.

The band, fortified by this strong sense of sonic identity and a self-assurance in their new material—and in contrast to their critically acclaimed 2021 debut Modern Fiction and 2019 EP Get Bleak, both self-recorded and self-produced in a Toronto basement—wanted to bring Harm’s Way to life in a new city, with an outside producer, and with some of their favorite musicians. Working with producer Dave Vettraino, they enlisted a marquee cast of Windy City collaborators to round out the tracks on Harm’s Way, including: Finom’s Macie Stewart; Ratboys’ Marcus Nuccio; Dehd’s Jason Balla; and backing vocals from Julia Steiner (Ratboys), Nathan O’Dell (Dummy), Margaret McCarthy (Moontype), Rui De Magalhaes (Lawn), and Lindsey-Paige McCloy (Patio). The band’s touring drummer, Jonathan Pappo, and bassist Julia Wittman also appear on the LP.

Harm’s Way’s lush, melodic swagger is clear from the first notes of opener “Hollowed Out.” A song about living with decline (inspired by a Toronto sinkhole), its bright, indelible catchiness serves in contrast to its lyrical unease. Anchored by Lewis’ shimmering electric guitar, “The Main Thing” laments growing apart from a person whose views you once shared while managing to toss in references to both the unglamorous lives of middle relief baseball pitchers and the occult. Other songs split the difference between country and krautrock, like the rollicking “Train Full of Gasoline,” which uses the 2013 Lac-Mégantic rail disaster in Quebec as a metaphor for self-destructive patterns.

Harm’s Way is Duck Ltd.’s most intuitive and organic album yet, the result of keen observation, self-possessed songwriting, and a collaborative spirit. Building on the successes of their previous releases, the deeply relatable album displays a band operating at a nuanced, lyrical and musical best.

TANGK is the righteous and vibrant fifth album from madcap truth-seekers, IDLES. Pronounced “tank” with a whiff of the “g” - an onomatopoeic reference to the lashing way the band imagined their guitars sounding that has since grown into a sigil for living in love - the record is the band’s most ambitious and striking work yet. Where IDLES were once set on taking the world’s piss, squaring off with strong jaws against the perennially entitled, and exercising personal trauma in real time, they have arrived in this new act to offer the fruits of such perseverance: love, joy, and indeed gratitude for the mere opportunity of existence.

A radical sense of defiant empowerment radiates from TANGK, co-produced by Nigel Godrich, Kenny Beats, and IDLES guitarist Mark Bowen. Despite his reputation as an incendiary post-punk sparkplug, frontman Joe Talbot sings almost all the feelings inside these 10 songs with hard-earned soul, offering each lusty vow or solidarity plea as a bona fide pop song—that is, a thing for everyone to pass around and share, communal anthems intended for overcoming our grievance.

TANGK is a love album—open to anyone who requires something to shout out loud in order to fend off any encroaching sense of the void, now or forever.

Who is Jim?

A kaleidoscope of harmony vocals - as Crosby, Stills and Nash might have sounded with a funky back beat. Delicate acoustic fingerpicking, warmed by a swell of brass before a drama of electric unfolds. Guitar band music, delivered with the sensibilities of someone who knows how to make you dance. Sun-kissed blue-eyed soul, reminiscent of Ned Doheny, but emanating from a beach far from California.

These are the sounds of Jim, as heard on debut album 'Love Makes Magic'.

Debuting in 2021 on the folk-informed 'Falling That You Know' EP, Jim is the latest alias of songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and renowned DJ Jim Baron. Famed as co-founder and musical director of festival-stunning favourites Crazy P, his latest Jim project is a musical journey unlike anything he has done before. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Paul says: On first listening to ‘Love Makes Magic’ by JIM, it’s hard to believe that the man behind it, Jim Baron, is a founding member of Manchester dance innovators Crazy P - a group who’ve been shaking dance floors all across the globe for two decades.

Here, he's influenced by the likes of Nick Drake, Jackson C. Frank, Terry Callier, and guitar bands from the 60s and 70s such as Crosby, Stills and Nash, as well as soulful West Coast sounds like Ned Doheny. It's no surprise, then, that this is an album full of lush, intricate summer folk sounds and beautiful Balearic beats.

It's full of subtle melodies and grooves which proliferate on a journey through space and time - from Laurel Canyon to Levenshulme via Ibiza. It's a simple call to hazy memories, youthful exuberance with a care-free, feel-good spirit and a return to the feeling of home. Essential.

Marking 40 years of The Jesus And Mary Chain, ‘Glasgow Eyes’ was recorded at Mogwai’s Castle of Doom studio in Glasgow, where Jim and William continued the creative process that resulted in their previous album, 2017’s ‘Damage and Joy’, becoming their highest charting album in over twenty years. What emerged is a record that finds one of the UK’s most influential groups embracing a productive second chapter, their maelstrom of melody, feedback and controlled chaos now informed more audibly by their love for Suicide and Kraftwerk and a fresh appreciation of the less disciplined attitudes found in jazz.

Jim Reid says, “But don’t expect ‘the Mary Chain goes jazz.’ People should expect a Jesus and Mary Chain record, and that’s certainly what ‘Glasgow Eyes’ is. Our creative approach is remarkably the same as it was in 1984, just hit the studio and see what happens. We went in with a bunch of songs and let it take its course. There are no rules, you just do whatever it takes. And there’s a telepathy there - we are those weird not-quite twins that finish each other’s sentences.” ‘Glasgow Eyes’ not only extends The Jesus and Mary Chain's story, but feels simultaneously like a return to roots. From the incendiary ‘Psychocandy’ debut and its classic ‘Just Like Honey’ onwards, the Reid brothers steadily became the misfits who made good without compromise.

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: A gentle tweak of the template brings electronic bleeps and keys to that trademark Mary Chain sound. Hear the new track and you'll be left in no doubt. JAMC Forever!!

A hugely in demand repress (the original vinyl pressing on North Country changes hands for hundreds of pounds..) now released on Shack’s newly created own label Shack Songs.

The Shack story is one of music’s greatest legends. It incorporates hardship, bereavement and chaotic misadventure, but above all it tells the tale of beautiful music triumphing over trouble and tragedy.

‘Here’s Tom with The Weather’ boasts a majestic and fresh form. These are magical songs, psychedelic folk songs of the finest Head vintage. Sleepy-eyed, wistful and mystical, yet crafted with a cunning and acute dexterity beyond just about anybody you can think of.

The two profoundly Liverpudlian brothers Mick and John Head have made several brilliant albums together , but none as quickly as ‘Here’s Tom…’ which was completed in seven weeks at Brynderwen Studios in North Wales along with drummer Iain Templeton (RIP) , bassist Guy Rigby and producer Jay Reynolds in 2003.

In the 80’s , the two brothers from the notorious Kensington estate in north Liverpool were singer and guitarist with The Pale Fountains , an effervescent pop group which imploded under the weight of two albums in 1986. The Heads returned in ‘88 as Shack and a debut album Zilch. In 1991 , Shack made ‘Waterpistol’ , an inspirational guitar jewel that would have proved just as influential as any British album in that era had the studio not burned down, taking the master tapes with it. Four more years passed , but by the time it was finally released on Marina it had developed ‘lost classic’ status.

The Heads battled on. They toured as their hero Arthur Lee (RIP) of Love’s backing band. In ‘97 , they created a new group called The Strands and recorded the delicate, dreamy masterpiece ‘The Magical World Of The Strands’ . They spent a long time making another classic ‘HMS Fable’ , and then decided that next time they wouldn’t take quite as long recording. Enter ‘Here’s Tom With The Weather’.

Showcasing John’s slow , shy emergence as a songwriter to challenge his brother (on the sparkling, heartbreaking ‘Miles Apart’ and ‘Carousel’ , and the spun-out ‘Kilburn High Road’ ) , toasting Mick’s newest confirmation as the most unrecognised genius of his or any other generation (the ode to his bro, ‘Byrds Turn To Stone’ , the mariachi horns that break open the slow folk fog of ‘Meant To Be’ , the two lullaby bookends ..and on , and on) .

“The journey we’ve had together has been beautifully turbulent”, laughs John. “But there’s times when we glide and we’re gliding forward now”

Mick agrees. “Making this album has been frantic, chaos, carnage, intense : the normal way with us. But it doesn’t sound like that. That’s all that matters. The story is what it is. But so are the songs and so are the records. Because we’re good.”

Nobody could disagree with that.

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: Michael and John Head have such a storied career together as Pale Fountains and of course, Shack. It seems that "success" proving elusive, was ironically the catalyst for them to produce such differing work of immense high quality. Here's Tom is no exception. It's fresh. These are concise, taught, acoustic based story- telling pop songs. It's uncluttered and upfront; song after majestic song. That Mick's brother John weighed in with his first full Classic was also a joy to behold. Timely and much in demand re-issue!

Everything Is Alive, Slowdive’s 5th record, is exactly what the title suggests: an exploration into the shimmering nature of life and the universal touch points within it.

While there are parts of this record that could sit neatly next to the atmospheric quality of 1995’s Pygmalion; everything is alive also manages to break down the boundaries of what’s come before it. Spanning psychedelic soundscapes, pulsating 80’s electronic elements and John Cale inspired journeys, the album lands immediately as something made for 2023 and beyond.

For a genre that is often thought of as divisive, and often warrants introspection, here Slowdive show their craft as the masters of it by pushing it outwards, beyond the singular; the end result being a record which feels as emotional and cathartic as it is hopeful.

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: Hallelujah! The Kings and Queens of Shoegaze return with a beautiful record which feels like everything you'd want from a new Slowdive LP. It ticks all the boxes. Everything they've done rolled into one blissed-out dream. It's brilliant!

É Soul Cultura Vol. 1 seemed to land at exactly the right moment. Post-lockdown, optimism was back on the rise and the dance floors swelled again. For many listeners, Manchester based DJ Luke Una's intriguingly woven pattern of new, old, rare and under-discovered music from around the world became the soundtrack to rejuvenated positivity. Piccadilly Records (that's us!) made the release their top compilation of the year, with Rough Trade placing it as their number two. The enthusiasm from the industry was mirrored by record buyers and demonstrated that in the right hands, moving through genres, tempos and decades can make perfect musical sense.

This second volume gives another opportunity for Luke to share his journey of the past four decades of staying up late and getting transcendental whilst listening to holy grail music as the city slept. It at times ventures into the deeper, spiritual, soulful, downtempo, experimental aspects of his tastes. From the conscious, street soul fusion gospel of Veronica Mickie's 'Lost Children', to an excursion into Swiss, psych, progressive rock in the form of Pyranha, then onto the classic Indian music-inspired electronic workout of Andi Otto's 'Bangalore Whispers'. Luke hints at his softer side in Avis; a sweet, obscure cover version of Minnie Riperton's 'Baby, This Love I Have', as well as championing local heroes in the shape of Manchester's Yargo and their driving, obscure, proto-house belter, 'Marimba'. There's also Japanese, electronic, slo-mo heaviness from 1979, courtesy of Bach Revolution. House music is integral to the É Soul sound and is represented by Nav Aktah's deep remix of Mr Scruff, and then there's Isis 'In Essense'; a track of such majestic brilliance that it has never left Luke's record bag.

The selection is eclectic, global, and plucked from different times and spaces. In theory, perhaps they shouldn't work together, but there is a mysterious link that makes them gel as a whole. That's what Luke does best. He creates a sort of musical alchemy, unifying the diverse.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: There's a reason Luke's first compilation was such a massive hit in the shop, and Volume 2 takes all of the afterparty energy of the first and stretches the outer limits of the sound field into more spiritual, off-piste excursions. Perfectly collated, researched and presented.

Following on from the Primal Scream frontman’s brilliantly-received previous release for Ace, ‘Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down’, Bobby Gillespie brings us another slice of the music that soundtracks his life. And in this case, it’s his touring life. Drawing on the experience of ‘the way that the noise and clamour of the road can tire you out, wear you down and frazzle your nerves to shattered fragments of jangled exhaustion’, these are the records Bobby turns to for solace, for comfort, for empathy and for resourcefulness.

The compilation features an introduction from the man himself, talking us through his personal choices as though he’s sitting cross-legged on the carpet going through records with you in his lounge. Also long-time cohort of the band, Kris Needs has written extensive liner-notes, serving up an intensive track by track insight and analysis.

Titled after and kicking off with the Willie Nelson track of the same name, ‘I Still Can’t Believe You’re Gone’ leads us through a darker and deeper exploration than its predecessor, featuring Nick Cave’s funereal version of ‘By The Time I Get To Phoenix’ and Ry Cooder’s sparse and beautiful reworking of ‘Dark End Of The Street’. And we get there via such greats as Bob Dylan, JJ Cale, Donnie Fritts, Crazy Horse, Lee Hazlewood, Al Green, Thin Lizzy and so many more.

In Bobby’s own words: ‘These songs are soul savers to soothe frayed and battered nerves and to ease and settle the heart. They work on me like medicine every time. I would like to share this wonderful music that has given me strength, joy and inspiration over the years with you the listener, so that you too might get the same feelings of protection and inspiration that I do whenever I listen to these songs. We're all travellers on some kind of road through this life, and we all need respite from time-to-time - the music on this compilation is soul food of the highest order - I hope you enjoy it.’. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: Read any interview with Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie over the years, and you can't fail to notice what a ridiculously knowledgeable fan of musical history he is. It's there in the multitude of styles his band have always explored, and it's there in his previous compilation for Ace, ‘Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down’. Guess what? This second outing is even better!

Originally released via the legendary Factory Records, Substance compiled all of the band's singles to that point in their 12” versions, and specially new recorded versions of ‘Temptation’ and ‘Confusion’. The album also included the biggest selling 12” single of all time, Blue Monday, alongside other classic singles The Perfect Kiss, Bizarre Love Triangle and the band’s debut single release Ceremony.

The album is the band’s biggest selling to date, with over one million copies sold, going platinum in the UK with a Top 5 hit in True Faith which was accompanied by the seminal video, directed by French choreographer Philippe Decouflé.

Light in the Attic’s Pacific Breeze series has supplied the world’s growing legions of Japanese music fans with an expertly curated selection of the most sought-after City Pop recordings—the mesmerizing and nebulous genre of Japanese bubble-era music of the ‘70s-’80s that encompasses AOR, R&B, jazz fusion, funk, boogie and disco. These familiar sounds are spun through the unique lens of optimistic, cosmopolitan fantasy colored by Japan’s affluence at the time. Much of the music has previously been nearly impossible to acquire outside of Japan and continues to captivate listeners with its unique blend of groove-laden escapism, even birthing wholly new genres such as Vaporwave.

Pacific Breeze 3: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1975-1987 marks the latest chapter in the famed series and features holy grails plus under-the-radar rarities. The collection bursts at the seams to reveal some of the greatest Japanese tracks ever laid to tape, pushing towards the edge of City Pop to reveal glimmers of the next waves of styles to spring forth from the country’s creative minds. The appearance of Pizzicato Five hint at the emergence of Shibuya-kei while the influence of hip hop and electro as an emerging global trend are also evident here through the prevalence of heavier programmed drum beats on tracks such as “Heartbeat” by Miho Fujiwara.

This volume of Pacific Breeze, like its predecessors, is a female-forward offering with many tracks being voiced by women who would become household names in Japan as actresses and pop idols. Their songs here subvert the norm and brim with an innovative spirit that shatters gender roles in favor of sonic transcendence. Techno-pop classics from Susan, Miharu Koshi and Chiemi Manabe sit alongside sublime funk from Atsuko Nina and Naomi Akimoto while Teresa Noda slides into the mix with a sultry reggae jam. The genre span is stretched wider with hypnotic jazz fusion by Parachute and Hiroyuki Namba, a synthesizer fantasy from Osamu Shoji, and magnetic pop by Makoto Matsushita and Chu Kosaka.

Although not front and center, the visionary members of Yellow Magic Orchestra are still very present on Pacific Breeze 3, with Haruomi Hosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Yukihiro Takahashi taking up producer and musician roles on many of these tracks. Pacific Breeze 3 serves up a captivating musical journey that adds an essential chapter to the iconic compilation series.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Another instalment in the hugely popular Pacific Breeze franchise here, coming *just* in time for the first light of spring. Collecting another suite of lesser-heard Japanese boogie & City Pop, AOR and jazz-fusion records, perfectly sequenced and presented. You can't go wrong with a Light In The Attic comp, and this is one of their best.

It was in December 2022 that The Staves celebrated the 10th anniversary of their debut album Dead & Born & Grown – a strange and beautiful period in the lives of sisters and band members Jessica, Camilla and Emily Staveley-Taylor, making their fourth album All Now with the same organic vulnerability as that first record: except now everything was different, and they kind of were too.

All Now emerges, bold and bright, from a period of quiet, which followed a period of chaos, for the band. When Good Woman was released in 2021, to positive reviews, it felt like “an echoing silence” to share such a cathartic album with a world shut down. So The Staves had to retreat, again, and actually wrestle with everything they had been through.

The result? An album as rich and honest as all the most profound music by The Staves scattered across albums for the last decade, calcified here into something special.

But the most thrilling part of this album, is that the hardest pills to swallow, here, almost have a sweeter taste. Once you’ve survived the climb to the top, learned from the journey, you may as well enjoy the view. “When you sing about hesitation and fear, there’s a lot of power in not making it sound fearful and being quite steadfast instead,” says Camilla. “It feels like an act of taking control.” With All Now, there’s no letting go.