English alternative rock band The Blinders' return with third album, 'Beholder'.

The perfect introduction to their album, 'Brakelights' drips with a dark atmospheric intensity which equally lurks across the albums other 9 tracks. Beholder shares a frenetic energy with their previous albums, but there's a new depth both lyrically and musically to the album.

With a visceral urgency live to more than match the likes of contemporaries IDLES or Fontaines DC, The Blinders live shows are brooding and intense, recalling the dark atmospherics of The Bad Seeds or peak-period Bunnymen.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Swimming with gothic influence, but kept moving along with propulsive percussion and throbbing post-punk bass, The Blinders' new outing 'Beholder' has all of the moody drive and melodic leaning of their previous two but refined into a finely honed melodic powerhouse. Reminiscent of several bands but with a sound all of their own.

TRACK LISTING

1. Ceremony
2. Brakelights
3. While I’m SVll Young
4. At Any Hand But Hers
5. Always
6. Iggy Got Camaro
7. Waterfalls Of Venice
8. Nocturnal Skies
9. Swallowing Static
10. All I Need

The Blinders have announced their new album, 'Fantasies Of A Stay At Home Psychopath' via Modern Sky UK.

The follow-up to their critically acclaimed debut album, Columbia, released in 2018, the album explores existential despair, mental health and society’s ills in a time of planetary crisis, and is both a riposte to, and commentary on, the rise of populist ideology. Delivering a blistering collection of powerful tracks, Fantasies Of A Stay At Home Psychopath is imbued with the visceral energy of IDLES, the twisted melodies of solo-era Lennon and the darkness of the Bad Seeds.

In the shadow of Brexit and the climate crisis, The Blinders return with their unique brand of outspoken anthemicism and a sensational album to rouse awareness and inject vital energy into a bleak 2020. Combined with their blistering live energy, get ready for The Blinders to accelerate furiously into the limelight. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Something Wicked This Way Comes
2. Forty Days & Forty Nights
3. Lunatic (With A Loaded Gun)
4. Circle Song
5. I Want Gold
6. Interlude
7. Mule Track
8. Rage At The Dying Of The Light
9. From Nothing To Abundance
10. Black Glass
11. In This Decade

Intense full-on raging hardcore with wild rhythms, demented vocals and a powerful sound.

Phono Erotic is proud to announce its second release by the deliciously Outsiderist Music Hall ensemble that is The Blood Tub Orchestra.

Now let’s clear something up straight away; this is no retro pastiche but a real working group tampering with the remnants of the almost lost and forgotten songbook of the lower classes, The Music Hall. Once considered one of the seven curses of London that detracted those working class types from their duty to make money for Queen, Empire and the intolerant ruling elite, Music Hall was a den of vice, sharps and wanton behavior, a lurid spectacle of unblushing immodesty…well not too much has changed for the binge drinking masses, festival frenzied fornicators and the crack den denizens of the inner cities, other that nowadays, the leopards’ spots are equally placed on the disposable equity burdened middle classes, who are quietly having their purses pinched by the pasty faced sharks of the new unfettered borders in this current great empire of finance.

The rousing rancorous heyday of these ‘palatial shams’, where ‘the modern comic vocalist doled out feeble jingling idiocies of his own composition’ lasted only a few short years in reality before it was sanitized by those with an eye for a fast buck and the state backed rise of the Temperance movements. It then slowly dissolved over 100 years into the tepid light entertainment of 60’s and 70’s Variety Shows and televised ‘spectaculars’ such as The Black & White Minstrel Show and on to the further degenerate televised horrors of shows today like ‘Strictly’ and ‘Britains Got No Talent’ (sic).

So it is with great relief, honour and privilege that we announce The Blood Tub Orchestra’s declaration of intent to strive for the restoration of these glorious days of bitter humour, coarse innuendo, political satire and a damn us all to hell and the trenches of a jolly old knee’s up, come one, come all, to restore the lost voice of the Great British cattle classes.

The great Harry Champion would no doubt raise a laugh at such wry commentry. Our Harry, the voice of the people throughout the 2 World Wars and an endless amount of skirmishes in both battlefield, bar brawl and brothel no doubt, provides us with the ammunition of the lewd entendre laced standard, ‘The End Of My Old Cigar’, given more than a healthy dose of boiled bully and gin tonicised blather, in this rousing interpretation.

The Immobile One and generally uncheeky chappie, Sam Mayo’s performance of ‘I Played My Concertina’ gives us the starting point for our next insight into the Pre-WW1 mentality of ‘ornery people’ and their laughter in the face of misery, with yet another piece of lyrical smut. Please note, no smiles were cracked during the recording of this performance.

While the first side of the EP represents a small sampler of the sort of thing to expect from the forthcoming Blood Tub Orchestra album, the second side was recorded live at the Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, one of London’s rare thus far unscathed multi-purpose cultural venues, a true anomaly that lives and breathes many of the attributes and attitudes of the heady days of the East End music halls and the stainged glitter hangover that goes with it.

Blood Tub’s belt and braces revamp of Lesley Sarony’s ‘Bloomin’ Well Dead’, an ascerbic prod at the hypocrisy of behavioral misdemeanor at funerals, still rings as true today as it ever did. And finally there’s, ‘Oh Father, Do Come Home’, one of a number of satirical jibes aimed at popular hit of the day, ‘Father, Dear Father, The Brokers Are In’, a
In the Temperance song of warning style that increasingly infiltrated the Music Hall scene, in order to combat the profligacy of the immoral games of ‘fox-and-goose’ distracting our fine young fellows from their devotion to good deed and good stead. Again, nothing changes, with the recent Government Guidelines recommend that alcohol consumption to be limited to 6 pints or 6 glasses of wine per week, ring a bell? Ah well, bah humbug to the lot of ‘em! Who’s for a quick tiddly wink or three?


The Blood Tub Orchestra are a most interesting and innovative outfit. A delightful and enthralling experience with their wholly unique idea of unearthing Victorian and Edwardian music gems from often long-forgotten artists and rattling their bones to breathe new life into them by evolving the pieces into fully-formed 21st century creations whilst retaining the characteristics and soul of the original, historic works. The ghost has firmly spooked the machinery. The rose-tinted veneer is peeled back and injected with the spirit of the age, both ancient and modern.

With the cosy mothball whiff of fancy dress nostalgia removed, a straight bare knuckle fight between the song and the performers ensues, finding its place in creating the most mouthwatering proposition since The Rolling Stones re-introduced Blues to America. Great Britain, this means you!

The Blood Tub Orchestra is comprised of a rag tag assortment of musical waistrels. Tim Whelan (Transglobal Underground, Furniture etc), Ashley Davies (Project Dark, London Dirthole Co etc), Kirsten Reynolds (Project Dark, LDC etc), Rob Lewis (Pulkas, LDC etc), Debbie Smith (Echobelly, Ye Nuns etc) plus various guests.

The Blood Tub Orchestra, set to be 2015’s most interesting and innovative outfit, are delighting and enthralling listeners with their wholly unique idea. Unearthing Victorian and Edwardian music gems from often long-forgotten artists, The Blood Tub Orchestra evolve the pieces into fully-formed 21st century creations that still possess the characteristics and soul of the original historic works. The ghost is firmly spooking the machinery.

When we look into our histories, we often do so with a rose-tinted and fantastical idealism of what entailed in those previous years, belying the actual truth whilst embracing the myths. This music most certanly isnt that! With the cosy mothball whiff of fancy dress nostalgia removed, a straight bare knuckle fight between the song and the performers is left to find its place creating the most mouthwatering proposition since The Rolling Stones re-introduced Blues to America. Great Britain, this means you!

The songs on this EP are selected for their timeless relevance and irreverance, We’re Glad You’ve Got A Gun, of which no known original recordings exist, is a chilling call to arms propaganda song aimed at the popular music markets of it’s day. The Modern Mephistopheles is a damning a bitter whimsical mocking version of a song about poverty and ‘domestic bliss’ that was popular in its day.

The Blood Tub Orchestra is comprised of a ragtag assortment of musical waistrels. Tim Whelan (Transglobal Underground, Furniture etc), Ashley Davies (Project Dark, London Dirthole Company etc), Kirsten Reynolds (Project Dark, LDC etc), Rob Lewis (Pulkas, LDC etc), Debbie Smith (Echobelly, Ye Nuns etc) plus various guests

The Blood Tub Orchestra, set to be 2015’s most interesting and innovative outfit, are delighting and enthralling listeners with their wholly unique idea. Unearthing Victorian and Edwardian music gems from often long-forgotten artists, The Blood Tub Orchestra evolve the pieces into fully-formed 21st century creations that still possess the characteristics and soul of the original historic works. The ghost is firmly spooking the machinery.

When we look into our histories, we often do so with a rose-tinted and fantastical idealism of what entailed in those previous years, belying the actual truth whilst embracing the myths. This music most certanly isnt that! With the cosy mothball whiff of fancy dress nostalgia removed, a straight bare knuckle fight between the song and the performers is left to find its place creating the most mouthwatering proposition since The Rolling Stones re-introduced Blues to America. Great Britain, this means you!

The songs on this EP are selected for their timeless relevance and irreverance, We’re Glad You’ve Got A Gun, of which no known original recordings exist, is a chilling call to arms propaganda song aimed at the popular music markets of it’s day. The Modern Mephistopheles is a damning a bitter whimsical mocking version of a song about poverty and ‘domestic bliss’ that was popular in its day.

The Blood Tub Orchestra is comprised of a ragtag assortment of musical waistrels. Tim Whelan (Transglobal Underground, Furniture etc), Ashley Davies (Project Dark, London Dirthole Company etc), Kirsten Reynolds (Project Dark, LDC etc), Rob Lewis (Pulkas, LDC etc), Debbie Smith (Echobelly, Ye Nuns etc) plus various guests

An atmospheric, arty mix of punk, prog and glam-rock from this three piece featuring Grifters and Those Bastard Souls main man David Shouse.

“Yours Until the Bitter End ” is The Bloody Hollies follow up to the highly praised “Who to Trust, Who to Kill, Who to Love” which was released in 2007 on Alive Naturalsound. Many who are familiar with the band’s sound know them by their trademark murder-themed blues/rock anthems that remind listeners of the 60’s and 70’s golden age of rock & roll. The new album still embraces the dark side of raw garage punk, but comes armed with a more eclectic array of songwriting and musicianship. But don’t let the touches of organ, violin, and xylophone fool you, the band’s hybrid of blues and rock & roll continue to shine more impressively than ever.

The Bloody Hollies recorded in San Diego, but enlisted the expertise of Jim Diamond in Detroit, a familiar friend of the band’s that helped bring the sound of this record to its full potential. “Yours Until the Bitter End” is a work that reflects a lengthy career that fully embraces The Bloody Hollies’ vast influences while at the same time maintaining the band’s unique sound of explosive, over-driven mayhem balanced with intelligently thought-out songwriting. What is most impressive about The Bloody Hollies, however, is the diversity of their strengths, ranging from 70’s classic rock, Americana blues, to an even power-pop songwriting style. Wesley Doyle’s voice is stronger than ever and continues to shine, complimenting Joseph Horgen’s unique slide blues guitar style. The rhythm section of Matthew Bennett (drums) and Erik Noorgard (bass guitar) are as solid as ever and work together perfectly on this record which will go down as The Bloody Hollies’ most impressive to date.

TRACK LISTING

1. So Grey, So Green
2. Dead Letter
3. Dirty Sex
4. Good Night, Sleep Tight
5. I Dream Of Bees
6. Dress To Kill
7. Leave That Woman Alone
8. Sticks And Stones
9. You're So Cold
10. John Wayne Brown

Khaela Maricich is the Blow, also a member of the Dub Narcotic studio gang. Khaela recorded this entire album on the Dub Narcotic 16 track tape deck, producing it herself, with guest appearances by a few friends: Susan Ploetz, Anna Oxygen, Mirah, Nora Danielson, Jason Anderson and Jenn Kliese. Like secret mantras, these are adult versions of children's rhymes adapted for more complicated situations, songs people want to sing for their loved ones, but probably never will.

The Bluebells have dug deep into their archive to give us the earliest recordings of these tracks, which have never been released before and are exclusive to this 7”

‘Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool’ is longer and more vibrant containing an extra verse and guitar solo which are not on previous versions. This is the closest recording to the one that was originally intended to be released on Postcard in 1981. The sleeve, designed by Bobby Bluebell features 2 of the earliest photos of the band.

THE BLUEBELLS were formed by songwriter / guitarist Robert Hodgens aka Bobby Bluebell in 1980. When deciding to form a group to start performing his songs, Hodgens remembered two punk musicians from Bothwell (brothers Ken and David McCluskey) he had interviewed for his fanzine, 10 Commandments. David (drums/ backing vocals) and Ken (vocals / harmonica) joined Robert and The Bluebells started performing live in and around Glasgow.

The Bluebells were soon involved in the burgeoning scene coalescing around Postcard Records in Glasgow (Orange Juice, Josef K, Go Betweens, Aztec Camera, Jazzateers), and it wasn’t long before The Bluebells were sharing stages throughout the UK with some of the Postcard groups. A single (Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool) was scheduled for release on Postcard, however after appearing on the front page on Melody Maker and in NME / Sounds etc, major record companies started making serious offers to sign the group. The Bluebells appeared on BBC music program The Old Grey Whistle Test, the first unsigned group to do so, and it wasn’t long after this television appearance that the group signed a major record contract with London Records.

The Bluebells were soon in the studio working on songs for their debut album, with Elvis Costello producing. They were invited to open on UK tours for Haircut 100 and Elvis Costello & The Attractions, and started releasing singles to critical acclaim (Forevermore, Cath, Sugar Bridge). However it was their fourth single I’m Falling (co-written by Robert and Ken) that finally resulted in commercial success, chart success, and appearances on Top of the Pops.

The Bluebells released their debut album, Sisters, in 1984 to further commercial chart success, which was continued when their next single, Young At Heart, gave the group their second big hit single. However, when Young At Heart was reissued in 1993, it reached number 1 in the chart for a month, making The Bluebells regular fixtures on Top Of The Pops.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
Everybody's Somebody's Fool

Side B
Some Sweet Day

The legendary Bluebells return with In The 21st Century, the first album from the trio in over two decades.

The new LP features 12 brand new songs including upcoming singles "Gone Tomorrow", "Blue Train" & "Ballad of the Bells", housed in a beautiful gatefold sleeve designed by Robert Hodgens and Jim Lambie, with photography from Brian Sweeney.\r\n

TRACK LISTING

She Rises 
Disneyland And Rock 'N' Roll 
Living Out Loud 
Blue Train 
The Ballad Of The Bells 
Anyone Could Be A Buzzcock 
Beautiful Mess 
The Boy Who Slipped Away 
Stonehouse Violets 
Orienteering 
Gone Tomorrow 
Daddy Was An Engineer

What can you say about Sisters that hasn't been said already? Well what about "Now featuring 2 bonus songs produced by Elvis Costello"? That's not been said before for sure.

The band were never perfectly happy with the version of "Everybody's Somebodys Fool" which opens the album and have thus chosen to replace this with a different (more Bluebells) version and we will be including - for the first time - the Elvis Costello produced "Aim In Life" and "Some Sweet Day"

The album will feature new liner notes and some updated art - whilst remaining your favourite sister of all. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Everybody's Somebody's Fool
2. Young At Heart
3. I'm Falling
4. Will She Always Be Waiting
5. Some Sweet Day
6. Cath
7. Red Guitars
8. Syracuse University
9. Aim In Life
10. Learn To Love
11. South Atlantic Way
12. The Patriot's Game

Impeccable credentials, The Blueprint are made up ex-members of Pitchshifter, Earthtone9 and Consumed. It's a six track mini album that's heavy, heavy, heavy. Probably the most exciting thing to have emerged from Nottingham for quite a while.

“Return To The Last Chance Saloon” is a hit packed, gold selling, Top 10 album that was originally released in March 1998. Featuring the hit singles ‘Solomon Bites The Worm’, ‘If…’, and ‘Sleazy Bed Track’ plus mail-order only single ‘4-Day Weekend’, this re-issue is augmented by the addition of standalone Top 10 single ‘Marblehead Johnson.’

The bonus material included across this 2CD set includes each band member’s favourite B-side, plus a stunning gig recorded at BBC’s Sound City in Newcastle in 1998. A set packed with all their hits; it’s the sound of a band at the top of their game playing to a jubilant and adoring audience. The 2CD, 36 track package is completed by the addition of previously unreleased BBC session tracks from the era and all contained in a tri-fold sleeve with a new booklet containing brand new sleevenotes from Mark Morriss.

"Return To.." is as fresh as your first outdoor breath on a crisp spring day, as adrenalising as a five mile freefall into neat vodka and as heartbreaking as finding an ex's hair on a long forgotten shirt.” Melody Maker, 1998 “At times better than anything they've ever done” NME, 1998

Never before released in any form, this is the second BBC session from The Bodines.

Features What You Want and Slip Slide which later featured on their debut album. Slip Slide was also released as a single with Naming Names and Long Time Dead on the B-side.

Package also features a set of postcards with unseen pics by Kevin Cummins, sleeve notes by Mick Ryan and John Rowland plus free download codes.

Limited to 350 copies.

STAFF COMMENTS

Laura says: Glossop four piece The Bodines were one of the most underrated bands of the mid / late 80s. They released some classic jangle-pop singles and a wonderful Ian Broudie produced LP.

TRACK LISTING

What You Want
Slip Slide
Naming Names
Long Time Dead

Limited to 500 copies worldwide. Pressed on Violet vinyl. Includes poster.

Presented in the alternate 12” sleeve that was used for the original Creation release and includes all 3 tracks on 7” for the first time.

Originally released in 1986 and was one of the stand out tracks on the legendary C86 compilation.

In 2023, Mojo magazine ranked the song “Therese” as the 37th greatest UK indie record ever, citing it "a breathless romantic gulp of twin guitar twirl".

STAFF COMMENTS

Laura says: One the my favourite singles of all time! A glorious blast of romantic indie pop from Glossop's finest.

TRACK LISTING

Therese
Scar Tissue
I Feel

An early signing to Alan McGee’s Creation label, The Bodines were the missing link between Orange Juice and Echo and the Bunnymen. Never before released on vinyl, this is their first BBC session, featuring a fantastic version of C86 classic ‘Therese’ plus three more of their early setlist staples.

All four of these tracks featured on their wonderful Ian Broudie produced debut album which as released a couple of years later.

Package also features a set of postcards with unseen Bleddyn Butcher pics, sleeve notes by Mick Ryan and Paul Brotherton plus free download codes.
Limited to 350 copies.

STAFF COMMENTS

Laura says: One of my favourite bands from the mid / late 80's. Originally signed to Creation Records they were then snapped up by Magnet, releasing their debut album and a handful of singles before gravitating back to Manchester based Play Hard Records run by Dave Haslam and Nathan McGough.

"Therese" which features on this session is a slice of pop genius!

TRACK LISTING

Scar Tissue
Therese
William Shatner
The Back Door

The Body and BIG|BRAVE are both bands possessed with an unequalled ability to convey overwhelming weight with simplicity, repetition and detailed sonic atmospheres; artists who continue to alter the definition of what it means to be a heavy band.

The Body are consistently prolific while increasingly ambitious as untethered producers and collaborators. BIG|BRAVE shape sound with dense waves of guitar and feedback, minimalist and hypnotic crashes and emotionally exacting vocal melodies. In collaboration, The Body and BIG|BRAVE shift the gravity of their compositions to woven layers of percussion and unspooling guitars that sprawl through stark frameworks of earthy folk.

Their debut collaborative album, ‘Leaving None But Small Birds’ distils the two ensembles’ pioneering approach to heavy music into psalms for the forgotten, threnodies of lost love and odes to vengeance.

Recorded, mixed and produced by Seth Manchester at Machines With Magnets (Liturgy, Battles, Mdou Moctar) and mastered by Heba Kadry (Björk, David Bowie).

“Emotionally coherent but tricky to categorize. BIG|BRAVE are the sound of the raw unconscious, turned up loud.” - Pitchfork

“The Body have become one of the most interesting and difficult to pin down groups in extreme music.” - Rolling Stone

TRACK LISTING

Blackest Crow
Oh Sinner
Hard Times
Once I Had A Sweetheart
Black Is The Colour
Polly Gosford
Babes In The Woods

They all grew up in Salford, Manchester, all went to the same school, and all dig Metallica, Iron Maiden and Motorhead. Beer drenched rifftastic metal action excellently described by themselves as: 'Riffs, beer, headbanging, big f***ing songs you can sing along to, more headbanging!' And like they say: 'If your friends don't own this record, your friends are losers!' How can you resist?

The Body & Dis Fig are a natural pair. Each has pioneered instantly recognizable worlds of sound all their own that defy any traditional categorizations or boundaries. The Body, Lee Buford and Chip King, continually challenge any conventional conception of metal, collaborating with myriad artists and from the folk-leanings of their work with BIG|BRAVE to their groundbreaking work with the Assembly of Light Choir to the intensity of their collaborations with OAA or Thou. Dis Fig, aka Felicia Chen, pushes electronic music into dark extremes, from warped DJ sets to avant production, from being a member of Tianzhuo Chen’s performance-art series TRANCE to being the vocalist with The Bug. The Body and Dis Fig find kinship in reimagining what it means to make “heavy music”. Their debut Orchards of a Futile Heaven is the perfect synthesis of two forces, twisting melodicism and intoxicating rhythms, layering a dense miasma of distortion with intense beats and a soaring voice clawing its way towards absolution.

Orchards of a Futile Heaven’s walls of sputtering texture and tectonic booms are soaked in the reverence and melancholy of sacred spaces brought to life by palpable intensity by Chen’s voice. Crafted during a time of personal fragility, the album’s devastating force lies beyond any of the expected noise and abrasive textures typically associated with both The Body & Dis Fig. Suffused with a raw vulnerability and a longing for catharsis, Chen’s voice searches for escape in the midst of oppressive atmospheres as if determined to find relief from guilt. “Eternal Hours” patiently unfurls waves of surprising sounds, whispered undulations that are punctuated by sudden crashes, all beneath Chen’s haunting harmonies. “Dissent, Shame” evokes grief and shame with a minimalist drone dirge that gradually builds to an enchanting choral passage. King’s guitar on “Holy Lance” matches the uncanny drone of Chen’s accordion in an all-consuming blast, Chen’s voice transforming the moment from anguish to defiance and empowerment. The album’s arc finishes with “Coils of Kaa” acting as a kind of propulsive exorcism, breaking through a suffocating air before the funeral procession of “Back to the Water” lays the album to rest.

While sampling has long been essential to each, The Body & Dis Fig deftly meld their differing approaches to sampling and creating extreme sounds until the boundaries are entirely blurred. The two found kinship in their desire to find new avenues to make heavy music that looked beyond tropes of metal and electronic music by merging the two. “I always wanted the heavier stuff but I also didn’t really like heavier guitar music,” says Buford. “None of it really felt quite heavy enough to me. A human can’t be as heavy as a machine.” Chen counters, “I love the balance. You could never connect to just a machine as well as you could a human. Which is why the combination is so potent for me. I don’t want to hide. I think nothing connects you more empathetically than another human's voice.”

Orchards of a Futile Heaven affirms The Body & Dis Fig as skilled sound sculptors who have an exceptional ability to make deeply affecting music, bracing as it is touching, harrowing as it is awe-inspiring. Together, the two have harnessed their expansive artistry to make music that is profoundly emotional, and staggering in its beauty.

TRACK LISTING

1. Eternal Hours
2. To Walk A Higher Path
3. Dissent, Shame
4. Orchards Of A Futile Heaven
5. Holy Lance
6. Coils Of Kaa
7. Back To The Water

Over the course of two decades The Body - Lee Buford and Chip King - have consistently challenged assumptions and defied categorization, redefining what it means to be a heavy band.

On ‘I’ve Seen All I Need To See’, they test the boundaries of the studio to explore the extremes and microtonality of distortion to find its maximal impact.

Their most incisively bleak album to date, a towering monolith of noise, Buford’s booming, resolute drums paired with King’s obliterated guitar and howl.

Course, bristling distortion contorts every instrument, with samples of spoken word, cymbals, toms and King’s already noxious tone emerging from layers of feedback.

Features guests Ben Eberle (Sandworm) and Chrissy Wolpert (Assembly of Light Choir).  Recorded with long time engineer Seth Manchester at Machines with Magnets (Lightning Bolt, Battles, Daughters) and mastered by Matt Colton (Sumac, Brian Eno, Uniform, Sunn O)))).

The Body have collaborated with many, including Full Of Hell, Thou, Uniform and Bummer.

“The distortion has this ability to envelope you, and not push you away. It has this strange kind of beautiful timbre... once you give into the sheer power of it, and let it take you on a ride then it becomes this whole other kind of sonic experience.” - Matt Colton

TRACK LISTING

A Lament
Tied Up And Locked In
Eschatological Imperative
A Pain Of Knowing
The City Is Shelled
They Are Coming
The Handle/The Blade
Path Of Failure

I Shall Die Here / Earth Triumphant is an expanded edition of the fourth full-length album by The Body, first released to widespread acclaim, and terror, in 2014. Sharing their moribund vision with Bobby Krlic, aka The Haxan Cloak, the tried andtrue sound of The Body is shred to pieceson I Shall Die Here, mutilated by processand re-animated in a spectral state by the collaboration. This double album set is expanded with the previously unreleased Earth Triumphant, a full-length companion album that would become I Shall Die Here, showcasing The Body’s brutality in its most primal form. With both albums revisited by The Body and Seth Manchester at Machines With Magnets and remastered by Matt Colton at Metropolis Studios, this is the definitive edition of a shocking classic of unbridled bleakness and innovation.

Formed by drummer Lee Buford and guitarist Chip King in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1999, The Body soon relocated to Providence, Rhode Island. The duo remained in Providence for a decade before moving west to their current home of Portland, Oregon. Their debut self-titled album (Moganano, 2003) and on the widely-acclaimed, classification curtailing of All the Waters of the Earth Turn to Blood (At A Loss, 2011) readied the band for even more experimentations. The employment of the Assembly of Light Choir’s classical chorales on All the Waters, alongside more industrial music techniques such as vocal sampling and drum programming, prompted RVNG to inquire with King and Buford which darker corners of the electronic universe they were presumably interested in exploring.

The undertaking of I Shall Die Here was aided by Seth Manchester and Keith Souza, The Body’s long standing engineer and creative collaborator, and noted producer Bobby Krlic. Krlic’s own work as The Haxan Cloak struck a similarly despairing chord to The Body with the celebrated Excavation (Tri Angle, 2013), itself a minimalist evocation of the afterlife. I Shall Die Here shares similar nether space with the morbidly deviating darkness of Excavation, but remains sculpturally frozen in a sort of earthen purgatory. The Body’s musical approach, engraved by Buford’s colossal beats and King’s mad howl and bass-bladed guitar dirge, became something even more terrifying with Krlic’s post-mortem ambiences serving as both baseline and outer limit. I Shall Die Here sonically serrates the remains of metal’s already unidentifiable corpse and splays it amid tormented voices in shadow.

This expanded edition gives us a window into the creation of a classic with the inclusion of its in utero twin, Earth Triumphant. Recorded as a nearly finished album by Buford and King before The Haxan Cloak’s transformation,
it stands as a raw statement of intent, the original DNA for what would soon mutate into something wholly new. Fans of I Shall Die Here will find familiar sonic fragments in a more primitive state - like seeing an out-of-context photograph of a family member taken well before you knew them - but the album stands on its own in its minimalist brutality, a natural bridge to what The Body was soon to become.

The Body’s I Shall Die Here / Earth Triumphant will be released in digital and vinyl formats on June 30, 2023. On behalf of The Body, The Haxan Cloak, and RVNG Intl., a portion of the proceeds from this release will benefit Intransitive, an organization that works to advance the cause of Trans liberation in Arkansas through art, education, advocacy, organizing and culture in order to create effective systemic change and on-the-ground impact.

TRACK LISTING

1. To Carry The Seeds Of Death Within Me
2. Alone All The Way
3. The Night Knows No Dawn
4. Hail To Thee, Everlasting Pain
5. Our Souls Were Clean
6. Darkness Surrounds Us
7. Our New Genesis
8. No Sadness In The Many
9. A Testament To Willingness
10. A Cloud Broke Open
11. Wind On The Ocean, Wind On The Trees
12. Death At A Great Distance

‘The Making Of’ lands blow after blow. Featuring early singles XXX and Swarm, alongside Radio 1 playlisted To Die For and Where You At, the album is two barrels' worth of electrifying tunes and crackling 21st Century rock and roll.

The Bohicas are rock and roll painted in vivid primary colours. Hi def, loud, fast, shiny and above all fun. A barrage of killer hooks, razor blade riffs and choruses that slap you in the face, grab your hand and lead you onto the dance floor. All shot through with pulp imagery torn from the pages of a graphic novel.

‘The Making Of’ was produced by Mark Rankin (Queens Of The Stone Age, Bombay Bicycle Club), Chris ‘Merrick’ Hughes (Tears For Fears, Adam And The Ants) and Oli Bayston (Toy, Boxed In).

The Bohicas are Dominic McGuinness, drummer Brendan Heaney, guitarist Dominic John and bassist Adrian Acolatse. The Bohicas’ story began in Essex where, as schoolmates, McGuinness, Heaney and John first came together over a love of The Beatles, The Kinks, Ray Charles and the new wave of guitar bands who emerged at the start of the century after the scrag ends of Britpop had finally limped off.

TRACK LISTING

1. I Do It For Your Love
2. To Die For
3. Only You
4. Girlfriend
5. The Making Of
6. Where You At
7. XXX
8. Swarm
9. Red Raw
10. Upside Down And Inside Out
11. Somehow You Know What I Mean

‘The Making Of’ lands blow after blow. Featuring early singles XXX and Swarm, alongside Radio 1 playlisted To Die For and Where You At, the album is two barrels' worth of electrifying tunes and crackling 21st Century rock and roll.

The Bohicas are rock and roll painted in vivid primary colours. Hi def, loud, fast, shiny and above all fun. A barrage of killer hooks, razor blade riffs and choruses that slap you in the face, grab your hand and lead you onto the dance floor. All shot through with pulp imagery torn from the pages of a graphic novel.

‘The Making Of’ was produced by Mark Rankin (Queens Of The Stone Age, Bombay Bicycle Club), Chris ‘Merrick’ Hughes (Tears For Fears, Adam And The Ants) and Oli Bayston (Toy, Boxed In).

The Bohicas are Dominic McGuinness, drummer Brendan Heaney, guitarist Dominic John and bassist Adrian Acolatse. The Bohicas’ story began in Essex where, as schoolmates, McGuinness, Heaney and John first came together over a love of The Beatles, The Kinks, Ray Charles and the new wave of guitar bands who emerged at the start of the century after the scrag ends of Britpop had finally limped off.

TRACK LISTING

1. I Do It For Your Love
2. To Die For
3. Only You
4. Girlfriend
5. The Making Of
6. Where You At
7. XXX
8. Swarm
9. Red Raw
10. Upside Down And Inside Out
11. Somehow You Know What I Mean

Second album from Philadelphia punk rock anarchists the Boils. They've toured, and gigged and gigged and toured and are a slick as shit and twice as pustulose as a snot grobblin' band has any right to be. "Pride And Persecution" has been a long time coming, and it proves to be well worth the wait. An adrenaline-amped mixture of old school punk and hardcore.

The Bolshoi released three albums during their existence, but they also recorded a fourth album that was never officially released during their tenure. Provisionally titled Country Life, it was released in 2015 as part of a limited 5-CD box set. We are excited to now release it on vinyl for the first time. Country Life consists of demos recorded for the album, and many of these only survived on reference cassettes but were digitally restored. We are especially thrilled that Trevor Tanner has recorded a brand new acoustic reimagining of the song “Dolores Jones” made specifically for this release.

The Bolshoi were different. Their songs were dark and subversive, sufficient evidence for many critics to corral them under the 'Gothic' banner at the time of their debut - but they really only "flirted" with Goth. They oozed dark, pensive lyrics supported with inventive pop-goth guitar making them nearly impossible to categorize.

The suburban surrealism of the lyrics was rooted in the stories from characters on the fringes of society rather than brooding romantics, with an undercurrent of boredom, inadequacy and violence. Not the usual themes for pop success!

TRACK LISTING

1. World In Action 
2. Under The Shed 
3. What’s Your Favourite Colour 
4. Country Life 
5. We Don’t Want Him Here 
6. Boy From The Nursery World 
7. Long Tall Sally In A Black Dress 
8. Too Late 
9. Out There In The Distance 
10. Castaway 
11. Dolores Jones 
12. Yee Hee 
13. Madame Hecate 
14. Last Chance For The Slow Dance 
15. Everything Is Done For You Today 
16. Dolores Jones 2023

Harlem Hipshake sees the welcome return of The Bongolian AKA multi-instrumentalist and Big Boss Man front man Nasser Bouzida. This, the sixth album under The Bongolian moniker, follows the highly acclaimed Moog Maximus. Harlem Hipshake finds The Bongolian deeply immersed in his lifelong love for the music of the sixties New York’s Latin Soul scene, particularly the music of Ray Barretto, Mongo Santamaria and Joe Bataan. Principally a drummer, percussionist by trade, Nasser has once again delivered another set of heavy breaks and percussive grooves underpinning this brand-new collection of songs which he has written and produced. Whilst Nasser performs many of the instruments (as is usual with Bongolian albums) on the album, it also features a prominent use of additional UK musicians on brass duties. These include Terry Edwards (Trumpet, Trombone, Sax, Flute), Gareth James Bailey (Trombone) and Craig Crofton (Alto Sax), James Morton (Alto Sax), Andrew Ross (Tenor and Baritone sax) and Ralph Lamb (Trumpet). From the East Side to the West Side, get ready for the Harlem Hipshake

STAFF COMMENTS

Martin says: I've been shaking a leg or two to this in my living room of a Friday night. My girlfriend loves it too. Not my usual cup of tea but sometimes the funk just gets ya!

TRACK LISTING

1. Give The Drummer Some
2. Harlem Hipshake
3. East Side Rumble
4. LSD Got A Hold On Me
5. Flatfoot Hustle
6. Soul Drums On 110th Street
7. Do You Like It Like That. West Side:
8. Manhattan Cornbread
9. El Beardo
10. West Side Stories
11. Mojito Time Baby
12. Tito's Pay Off
13. Swinging At Palm Gardens

Bringing their story to the present, Eight is the band’s eighth album, released on the band’s own Boostr label. Where last year’s album, joyful in tone yet brooding with heavyweight lyrical themes, came together as an exploration of the isolated ideas of each member, Eight is, according to vocalist and co-songwriter, Sice formed of songs recorded “purposefully to appear together on an album.” Before adding, “There is also a greater depth of integration, which means that it’s more difficult to tell which member of the band the song originated with.”

Reflecting on Seeker, the new album’s opening track, written about leaning on those we trust to share life’s highs and lows, bassist and co-songwriter, Tim Brown says: “This song started out as a three-chord synth pop tune and mutated into a brassy bop courtesy of trumpeter, Nick Etwell. The electric guitar flourishes were added by Louis Smith before Sice added layers of backing vocals which help drive the song along and bring it to its joyful conclusion.”

TRACK LISTING

CD & LP
1. Seeker
2. The Unconscious
3. Hollow
4. Skeleton Woman
5. Sorrow (I Just Want To Be Free)
6. Sometimes I Sleep
7. Swift’s Requiem
8. The Way I Am
9. A Shadow Darker Than The Rest
10. Wash Away That Feeling
11. When I Find It Hard
12. Now That’s What I Call Obscene
13. How Was I To Know

2CD
1. Seeker (Full Version)
2. Skeleton Woman (Extended Version)
3. Sometimes I Sleep (Alternative Version)
4. A Shadow Darker Thank The Rest (Piano Version)
5. The Hollow (Alternative Version)
6. I Won't Be There With You
7. That Ain't A Way Of Life
8. Now I Know
9. All Thing Must Pass - Live At The Cavern 2022
10. Spaniard - Live At The Cavern 2022
11. Find The Answer Within - Live At The Cavern 2022

The Boo Radleys reveal a vinyl reissue to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their nineties genre-hopping masterpiece “Giant Steps”.

NME’s 1993 Album Of The Year, named in the Top 20 of Pitchfork’s The 50 Best Shoegaze Albums of All Time and lauded as one of 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, The Boo Radleys’ classic album, Giant Steps is reissued, on special remastered vinyl almost 30 years to the day since its original release. The band’s genre-ambiguous and widely-acclaimed masterpiece will become available to fans old and new.

Only the second of their five albums to be released on the legendary Creation Records, at a time when label mates including Slowdive, Teenage Fanclub and Ride were also casting long shadows across the indie landscape, pre-the Oasis hurricane making landfall at the label, Giant Steps broke into the canon of great, experimental rock albums soon after its release. It’s first single, Lazarus, issued as a standalone release in November 1992, its blend of brass and guitar-squall and acutely introspective lyrics, gave a hint of what was to come and remains lodged in the band’s most-loved and best-known songs. For the 2023 reissue, Lazarus’ 12” version appears on the all-formats track listing for the first time.

Recorded at London’s Protocol Studios, where Carr and Brown took on self-production duties with support from engineer, Andy Wilkinson, The Boo Radleys set about responding to their shared sense of dissatisfaction with their 1992 album, Everything’s Alright Forever. Free to do as they please, they set about making a record of complete artistic freedom, bringing in reggae (Upon 9th And Fairchild), dance (Rodney King) and irresistible, warped indie pop (Barney And Me) influences into the studio and, without limitation, weaved them into the satisfyingly complex fabric of Giant Steps. Snapshot incidentals, intermissions and between-radio-station static intro/outros added to the sense of unrestrained exploration.

Writing about the album, drummer, Cieka reflected on Giant Steps, stating: “Creation loved it, people's reactions seemed really positive. I do listen to it from time to time and still find great moments I’d forgotten about. I think it stands up pretty well today. I'm always left feeling happy to have been a part of the record.”

"Wow, now THIS is what music can be!" – The Quietus on Giant Steps.
“It deserved the accolades and praise heaped on its shoulders.” – The Line of Best Fit.
“A masterwork...” – Pitchfork.

TRACK LISTING

A1 I Hang Suspended
A2 Upon 9th & Fairchild
A3 Wish I Was Skinny
A4 Leaves And Sand
B1 Butterfly McQueen
B2 Rodney King (Song For Lenny Bruce)
B3 Thinking Of Ways
B4 Barney (…and Me)
C1 Spun Around
C2 If You Want It, Take It
C3 Best Lose The Fear
C4 Take The Time Around
C5 Lazurus
D1 One Is For
D2 Run My Way Runway
D3 I’ve Lost The Reason
D4 The White Noise Revisited

CD BONUS TRACKS
18 Lazarus (Saint Etienne Remix)
19 Rodney King (Saint Etienne Remix)
20 Peachy Keen

Responding to the warm welcome that greeted news of their reformation earlier this year, The Boo Radleys release their first album of all-new music in 24 years, the 11-track Keep On With Falling on their own Boostr label.

Rising from cult-shoegaze band to the very forefront of British guitar pop inside one, eventful decade, The Boo Radleys began their new chapter in July by surprise releasing the single, A Full Syringe And Memories Of You. Followed by a four-track EP of the same name, memories of the band’s glittering, nineties past remained present in bright melodies crashing into effusive choruses, yet new, altogether less sunny lyrical preoccupations were evident.

Formed of original members, Sice, Tim Brown and Rob Cieka, the 11-songs on Keep On With Falling are the first to be developed by The Boo Radleys as a three-piece. Having recorded six of their seven, previous albums as a ‘hey day’ Creation Records band, working in expensive studios for long periods with cost no issue, the band grabbed the opportunity to test the qualities of modern, DIY recording. Through file sharing and their own, democratic production processes, what emerged was, according to the band, an album where songwriting ideas shone through, free of the static of ego and excess.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: It's always interesting to hear what massive bands who haven't been around for a while do when they return, and one of my favourite outcomes is exactly this. An LP that shines with optimism and a renewed interest in that which endeared them to so many in the first place. Wonderfully written and full of great melodies, a great return.

TRACK LISTING

LP
A1. I've Had Enough I'm Out
A2. Keep On With Falling
A3. All Along
A4. I Say A Lot Of Things
A5. Tonight
A6. A Full Syringe And Memories Of You
B1. Call Your Name
B2. Here She Comes Again
B3. You And Me
B4. I Can't Be What You Want Me To Be
B5. Alone Together

CD
1. I've Had Enough I'm Out (Album Version)
2. Keep On With Falling
3. All Along
4. I Say A Lot Of Things
5. Tonight
6. A Full Syringe And Memories Of You (Album Version)
7. Call Your Name
8. Here She Comes Again
9. You And Me
10. I Can’t Be What You Want Me To Be
11. Alone Together

2CD
1. I’ll Put The Bars Around My Heart - Alternative Version (previously Unreleased)
2. Thieves Like Us - New Order Cover (previously Unreleased)
3. All Along - Alternative Version (previously Unreleased)
4. Tonight - Alternative Version (previously Unreleased)
5. I Can’t Be What You Want Me To Be - Piano Version (previously Unreleased)
6. Alone Together - Alternative Version (previously Unreleased)
7. See It Through (previously Released Digitally On The “A Full Syringe And Memories Of You” EP)
8. Life Is Getting Better (previously Released Digitally On The “A Full Syringe And Memories Of You” EP)
9. I’ll Put The Bars Around My Heart (previously Released Digitally On The “A Full Syringe And Memories Of You” EP)

And so it began. When multi-instrumentalists and sound enthusiasts Paul de Jong and Nick Zammuto first came together, they surely could not have foreseen their debut album, Thought For Food, becoming such a beloved genre-defying masterpiece, an album that rests firmly in countless Top 100 Albums of the Decade lists. Filled with endearing and enduring songs, the Books revisit their wide-eyed beginnings with this remastered Thought For Food, repackaged with all-new artwork and expanded to include lyrics for every song for the first time ever. Carefully and thoughtfully remastered from the original mixes by Zammuto at his new studio outside his home in Vermont, TFF now boasts a warmth and clarity that surprisingly reveals an increased harmonic depth. Having combined and refined their compositional and recording processes over the course of four albums, addressing the technical limitations of these earlier recordings offers the chance to marry the technical, musical and emotional aspects of these songs in a way like never before. To be sure, the differences are subtle, but for a band who have transformed minutiae into modern art, that subtlety is downright sublime. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Enjoy Your Worries, You May Never Have Them Again (4:06)
2. Read, Eat, Sleep (3:49)
3. All Bad Ends All (2:42)
4. Contempt (3:22)
5. All Our Base Are Belong To Them (4:18)
6. Thankyoubranch (5:05)
7. Motherless Bastard (4:11)
8. Mikey Bass (2:56)
9. Excess Straussess (2:08)
10. Getting The Done Job (3:49)
11. A Dead Fish Gains The Power Of Observation (1:08)
12. Deafkids (1:09)

Following on from the remarkable and gloriously haunting single “Oh Mary”, The Border Surrender return with their second EP “Lean Season”. Having firmly established themselves in amongst the fray of the UK’s most exciting new acts, the North London quartet demonstrate their remarkable ability to evolve and build upon their own foundations with this, a mesmerising recording that delicately drifts away from the earlier proclaimed tags of Americana Folk that were drawn upon on their debut EP, and shifts itself towards the other Southern state influences of Blues and Gospel. Released on Smoky Carrot Records, “Lean Season” places itself in the unusual territory of being not only technically comprehensive and steeped in heavily educated influences, but of also being filled with overwhelmingly anthemic choruses and masterful pop driven hooks.

Although utterly unique in their production and execution The Border Surrender, to a certain degree, take pride in wearing their influences on their combined sleeve. In fact, each of the four songs included on this record were specifically chosen to represent the different styles and genres that the quartet have drawn upon to create their sound. Opening the EP in magnificent style is the ethereal and euphoric melody of “If You Pass Me By”. Written with the sound of Springsteen’s Nebraska album in mind, but resulting in a more muscular full band sound that has drawn comparisons to The Arcade Fire, this composition is best described as experimental-country, and could be viewed as the centre piece to the entire EP. The lyrics follow the feelings of an unfortunate soul, who can only look on at people enjoying the spoils of success while he walks the streets with his memories of a grand dream that in hindsight and passing looks more like grand delusion. Whereas, the rallying, almost biblical, “Call To Prayer” and the wistful “What Happened at The Estuary” are gleefully infected with an honest Blues tint, which the band proclaim is largely due to a love of modern blues based artists such as The Black Keys and Nick Cave. However, sandwiched between in the middle, we can hear an audible difference in the approach to the more pop-driven folk sound of “The Mariners Wife” whose bouncing verse and joyful chorus sits in stark contrast to the lyrics of its two worn out subjects. These words recall a tale of a retired navy captain, who looks back on his life with a woman who he left his position to marry. She now lives under his shadow and has almost completely lost her own identity, being now constantly referred to as the Mariners wife rather than her own title. On listening to this superlative EP in its entirety, the complexities and comfortable contradictions of each recording truly find their way to the front and mark this out as a highly accomplished and poignant record; one which will no doubt dominate the listeners ear phones for quite a time to come.

The Bottle Rockets new album absolutely nails a sound and a vibe with a palpable sense of place - "Lean Forward" is suffused with the determination and resilience of their distinctly MidWestern roots, and oh, it's a flat out, smoking rock record, too. Reunited with producer Eric 'Roscoe' Ambel (who ran the knobs on their seminal albums "The Brooklyn Side" and "24 Hours A Day"), the Bottle Rockets do what no other band does better - populist anthems with the sympathetic eye of Woody Guthrie and sonic stomp of Crazy Horse. They are songs that demand the windows be rolled down and the volume turned up - "Lean Forward" has the locked down groove of a band on top of its game.

The Boy Who Trapped The Sun is 25 year-old Colin MacLeod - the 'Boy Who' moniker, he says, 'feels bigger and less lonely'. Originally from the Isle of Lewis, a windswept outcrop of the Outer Hebrides, MacLeod was discovered swinging round the rafters of an Aberdeen bar, dishing out Deep Purple covers and, he says, 'generally acting like an arse'. Having smashed his guitar and knocked himself unconscious on stage, he set to cleaning up both the broken instrument and his act. Thus The Boy moved to London, to become a solo artist and an adult.

And so emerged "Fireplace", with MacLeod playing all the instruments bar the strings himself. Hazy opener "Golden" sets the scene, with MacLeod gently drawing the listener into his world. New single "Katy" is more upbeat, a catchy paean to avoiding commitment. Title track "Fireplace" was written when MacLeod was housebound for four days as a fierce storm battered Lewis, while the loose, bluesy "Home" was written in London, about being displaced in the big city - 'This city's not a home, but it's somewhere to get lost'. "Walking In The Dark" is an achingly pretty piano-led track, while the waltz-y, wry "Dreaming Like A Fool" is the tale of ex-girlfriend who tried to stab MacLeod. 'Lately it feels like we're drifting apart', he sings. 'It could be because you're insane'.
Riding on a dream-like descending riff "Copper Down" features exquisite harmonies and a deft, mid-song change of pace. The final track is the haunting, beautifully arranged "Antique Cobweb". There follows the hidden spoken-word outro "Poem", its second verse in Gaelic, wonderfully evocative of the Isle of Lewis and the sea that defines it. "Fireplace" is a beautifully realised debut from an authentic new talent. Listen again and again.

TRACK LISTING

1. Golden
2. Katy
3. Fireplace
4. I See You
5. Home
6. Thorn In Your Side
7. Walking In The Dark
8. Dreaming Like A Fool
9. Telescope
10. Copper Down
11. Antique Cobweb / Poem (Hidden Track)

2023 marks 35 years since the first single by The Brand New Heavies and here we have twenty-one seminal tracks from Acid Jazz royalty, The Brand New Heavies, who transcended London’s local funk scene to become to enjoy global success across with hits such as ‘Sometimes’, ‘You Are The Universe’, ‘Dream on Dreamer’, ‘Midnight at The Oasis’ and more.

This new compilation brings together all the singles from the band’s time with London Records, featuring 15 Top 40, 5 Top 20, and 1 Top 10 UK hits.

All formats feature new liner notes from producer and long-time fan Mark Ronson. 

TRACK LISTING

CD1
1. Never Stop
2. Dream Come True
3. Got To Give
4. Don’t Let It Go To Your Head
5. Stay This Way
6. Dream On Dreamer
7. Back To Love
8. Midnight At The Oasis
9. Spend Some Time
10. Close To You
11. Sometimes
12. You Are The Universe
13. You’ve Got A Friend
14. Shelter
15. Saturday Nite
16. Apparently Nothing
17. People Get Ready
18. Bonafied Funk
19. Brother Sister
20. Mind Trips
21. You Can Do It

CD 2
1. Stay This Way (Bob Sinclar Remix)
2. Dream Come True (Heavies Mix)
3. Never Stop (Heavies Mix)
4. Back To Love (GP Club Mix)
5. Midnight At The Oasis (Roger S Underground Network Mix)
6. Spend Some Time (Brothers In Rhythm Club Mix)
7. Close To You (Masters At Work Remix)
8. Sometimes (Monsieur D’s Underground Behaviour Mix)
9. You Are The Universe (Tuff Jam’s 2 In 1 Remix)
10. Saturday Nite (Full Intention Club Mix)

1991 was a momentous year for The Brand New Heavies. They started it without a singer second on the bill to The James Taylor Quartet and by the end they had a Top 3 US hit and were about to embark on a run of 16 Top 40 hits in the UK. N’Dea Davenport was by this point fronting the group as their guest singer and the brilliant string of singles from their debut album were becoming locked in the minds of an ever-growing fanbase.

Live they were a revelation. The only group from the UK scene who could do tight and slick, without slipping into ‘lift music’ blandness. The core membership of Andrew Levy, Simon Bartholomew and Jan Kincaid had been playing together since college and each knew where the other was going. Their ability to write classic soul songs lifted them above their contemporaries.

‘Shibuya 357’ is the quintessential (and only live) document of an era that quickly passed. The hits - ‘Never Stop’, ‘Dream Come True’, ‘Stay This Way’ and ‘Don’t Let It Go To Your Head’ are all here - as are some compelling funk jams. This recording captures the ecstatic rush of joy; when you go from youthful dream to accomplishment in such a short period.

The album was only ever released in Japan in the late 90s and then only for a very short time. Acid Jazz are pleased to release this new version remastered from the source tape and the album appears on vinyl for the very first time.

TRACK LISTING

Gimme One Of Those
BNH
Ride In The Sky
Got To Give
People Get Ready
Don’t Let It Go To Your Head
Mr. Tanaka
Never Stop
Stay This Way
Doin’ It To Death
Dream Come True
Shakedown

‘Mr. Machine’ is a record that put them alongside names as Steve Reich and Philip Glass, but with considerably more groove. More than anything, Daniel, Jan and Paul are keen that the Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble are not written off as a curiosity.

“Often people focus a lot on this whole "cross-over" aspect,” says Brauer. “We wish people would simply notice we have good chords, melodies etc. and take the music as it is. Because we make it the way we feel, and not for other, let's say purely conceptual reasons. Some only seem interested in how it’s made. Some reviewers perceive us as minimal techno, some as modern classical, some as nu jazz and so on. But we don’t divide the world into techno and nontechno.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: A rhythmic, hypnotic selection of classical instrumentation and cyclic music-concrete riffs, underlaid by pulsing bass and snapping jazzy percussion. It's dance music made by nature, or like that bit in Spaced where tyres does the 'everyday raving' bit.

TRACK LISTING

1. Mr. Machine
2. Bop
3. You Make Me Real
4. Pretend
5. Mi Corazon
6. On Powdered Ground (Mixed Lines)
7. Teufelsleiter
8. 606 ‘N’ Rock ’N’ Roll

More 80s infused pop from The Bravery. Wailing Robert Smith-esque vocals over chunky synths riffs and choppy guitars that create a relentless, infectious rhythm.

Five more cool but still fun New Yorkers, this lot make post-punk electronic rock / pop just like it's England in 1982. You could fit them in with Franz or The Killers today, but really it's poppy Cure, early Duran Duran or the pre-rock Simple Minds that spring to mind. By the way: this is a Good Thing. The New Romantic era was full of exhuberance and the music was made to get you up and out as much as it was to listen to. And with songs as catchy and uplifting as this, The Bravery will surely go far.

The Break are an aggressive, rapid assault of uplifting punk rock, loaded with loud guitars, intense vocals and enough bottom end to make you feel funny.

The Breath are Irish singer Rioghnach Connolly, Stuart McCallum (guitarist of The Cinematic Orchestra) and McCallum’s fellow Cinematic alumni, pianist John Ellis and drummer Luke Flowers.

Born out of Manchester’s fertile music scene they mix Irish folk influences with mesmerizing guitar riffs, anthemic themes and powerful hooks. Connolly’s soulful vocals are interwoven into the electronic fabric of McCallum’s distinctive soundworld.

In turns hypnotic, lush, powerfully raw and raucously punchy, their songs entrance, uplift and break your heart as The Breath conjure a kaleidoscope of sound that perfectly frames Connolly’s raw songs and soul cleansing vocals.

Recorded in Manchester and at Real World Studios and mixed by sound guru Tchad Blake.

Fourth studio album, originally released in April 2008. This reissue of ‘Mountain Battles’ includes 12” size, 28 page booklet.

TRACK LISTING

Overglazed
Bang On
Night Of Joy
We're Gonna Rise
German Studies
Spark
Istanbul
Walk It Off
Regalame Esta Noche
Here No More
No Way
It's The Love
Mountain Battles

The Breeders were formed by The Pixies Kim Deal and Throwing Muses Tanya Donelly. This was their debut album originally released by 4AD in May 1990. The album, produced by Steve Albini combines the energy and angular pop sensibilities of their other bands, bolstered by creative songwriting and clever arrangements. It features iconic Vaughan Oliver artwork.

TRACK LISTING

Glorious
Doe
Happiness Is A Warm Gun
Oh!
Hellbound
When I Was A Painter
Fortunately Gone
Iris
Opened
Only In 3’s
Lime House
Metal Man

Being released this November as part of Record Store Day’s sister Black Friday event is a faithful repress of the 12” version of The Breeders’ Safari EP, complete with Shinro Ohtake’s 1983 charcoal drawing Nairobi VIII adorning its cover. Originally released in April 1992, sandwiched between their first two albums (Pod and Last Splash), The Breeders’ Safari EP came at a time when Kim’s Pixies commitments were winding down and her new band were on the cusp of releasing a platinum-selling album.

Their first record to feature Kim Deal’s twin Kelley, the EP was recorded in two studios with the bulk coming from a session in New York, which provided an early version of ‘Do You Love Me Now?’, ‘Don’t Call Home’ and a cover of The Who’s ‘So Sad About Us’. The title track, ‘Safari’, was recorded separately in London by Kim, Josephine Wiggs and drummer Jon Mattock (Spacemen 3 / Spiritualized).

All Nerve – the first new album from The Breeders in a decade – reunites band members Kim and Kelley Deal, Josephine Wiggs and Jim Macpherson, the line-up behind the iconic and platinum-selling record, Last Splash.

The quartet returned to the stage in 2013 to celebrate the album’s 20th anniversary and have been quietly working on new material since then.

Featuring singles ‘Wait in the Car’ and title track ‘All Nerve’, recording took place at Candyland, Dayton, Kentucky, with Mike Montgomery; Electrical Audio, Chicago, with Steve Albini and Greg Norman; and with Tom Rastikis at Fernwood Studios, Dayton, Ohio. Artwork was conceived by Chris Bigg, who has worked with The Breeders since their first album, Pod.

TRACK LISTING

Nervous Mary
Wait In The Car
All Nerve
MetaGoth
Spacewoman
Walking With A Killer
Howl At The Summit
Archangel’s Thunderbird
Dawn: Making An Effort
Skinhead #2
Blues At The Acropolis

Recorded by the ‘classic’ Breeders line-up of Kim Deal, Kelley Deal, Josephine Wiggs and Jim Macpherson, and featuring the infectiously appealing ‘Cannonball’, Last Splash immediately became an alt-rock classic, achieving platinum status in the UK and US, and is ranked in Pitchfork’s Top 100 Records of the 1990s.

To celebrate this anniversary, the album has been remastered from the original analog tapes – previously thought to be lost – a process which also brought to light two unreleased tracks, a discovery that will delight fans.

Entitled Last Splash (the 30th Anniversary Original Analog Edition), this special edition will span two 12” 45rpm vinyl discs, plus an exclusive, one-sided etched 12” disc containing two forgotten tracks from the original Last Splash sessions: ‘Go Man Go’, a track that Kim co-wrote with Black Francis, and ‘Divine Mascis’, a version of ‘Divine Hammer’ with lead vocals provided courtesy of Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis.

For this special edition, the original, iconic sleeve art by the late visionary designer Vaughan Oliver has been gloriously reimagined by his long-time design partner Chris Bigg.

TRACK LISTING

1. New Year
2. Cannonball
3. Invisible Man
4. No Aloha
5. Roi
6. Do You Love Me Now?
7. Flipside
8. I Just Wanna Get Along
9. Mad Lucas
10. Divine Hammer
11. S.O.S
12. Hag
13. Saints
14. Drivin’ On 9
15. Roi (Reprise)

12” Included With LP's
1. Go Man Go
2. Divine Mascis

Though ostensibly a side project of The Pixies' Kim Deal and Throwing Muses' Tanya Donelly, The Breeders' 1990 debut, "Pod", has held up as a classic of late 80s/early 90s off-kilter alternative pop, surpassing the contemporaneous work of their main bands. Though Deal would really hit the big time 3 years later with the Breeders' follow-up, "Last Splash", and Donelly would do the same with her next band, Belly, "Pod" is the band's finest, most coherent, album and perhaps the high point in both their careers. Engineered by the legendary Steve Albini.

Hailing from the isolated climes of Edmonton (Alberta, Canada), 23 year old Travis Bretzer has an appropriately singular, off-beat take on guitar pop. An adroit songwriter and true troubadour,Travis sidesteps easy pigeonholing - his breezy, classic songs touching on the new-pop of Orange Juice, the playful idiosyncrasies of Prefab Sprout, with a freewheeling sensibility present in much of the Stiff Records catalog. There's a truly deft, sophisticated streak through Travis' songwriting that belies its occasionally haphazard production and cheeky, casual delivery.

After purchasing his first guitar as a teenager with savings from his scuzzy movie theatre job, Bretzer formed a band, The Subatomics, with his best friend. They taught each other how to play and honed their craft supporting a range of touring bands, as well as in their own ramshackle local shows. These days Bretzer spends his days writing jingles and goofballing on a local radio station - a day jobbefitting of his knack for penning perfect melodies and ear-wormy hooks.

"Forget the food courts and GAP megastores, Edmonton has a new jewel in their crown." "On debut EP teaser ‘Trying To Learn’ – a title indicative of Bretzer’s self-deprecating manner – he drawls verses about feeling elderly in his youth with a sweet and hopeful air; not so much Mac (Demarco), more like an embodiment of the C86 movement." - Line of Best Fit

Waxing Romantic is the debut album from Canadian artist Travis Bretzer. Hailing from Edmonton, Alberta, 24-year-old Bretzer has an appropriately singular, off-beat take on guitar pop. An adroit songwriter and true troubadour, Travis sidesteps easy pigeonholing. On his debut EP Making Love (Mexican Summer, 2013) he managed to touch on the new-pop of Orange Juice, the playful idiosyncrasies of Prefab Sprout, with a freewheeling sensibility present in much of the Stiff Records catalog. Above all, Making Love displayed some truly sophisticated songwriting that belied its occasionally haphazard bedroom production and casual delivery.

On Waxing Romantic, Travis has stepped up the production in a big way, graduating from the bedroom to a full studio environment. Recorded at Gary's Electric in Brooklyn and produced by Jorge Elbrecht the new environment has allowed for Travis' songs to be taken to new, fully-realized heights.

The move to the studio also feels very in keeping with the sonic inspiration Travis had for the album, which came in part from memories of rifling through his parents' soft-rock LPs: think Gerry Rafferty, Al Stewart, Christopher Cross, The Eagles. With their warm drums and smooth, clean studio sound informing Travis' sonic palette, it makes sense that Gary's Electric became the venue for the album recording.

'It sounds like pina coladas and an afternoon spent woozily wandering around, slightly tipsy from said cocktails, hand-in-hand with a beautiful partner in crime.' Noisey

‘Travis Bretzer’s music has the effect of transporting listeners into a cloudy, ether-effect chamber, like Doctor Who scouring the skies while on valium. Nostalgia swims around, with melodies sharp enough to survive any decade.’DIY

Aufheben or Aufhebung is a German word with several seemingly contradictory meanings, including "to lift up", "to abolish", or "to sublate". The term has also been defined as "abolish," "preserve," and "transcend." In philosophy, aufheben is used by Hegel to explain what happens when a thesis and antithesis interact. A brand new album by the Brian Jonestown Massacre , recorded in Berlin in Anton Newcombe’s studio & the infamous East German Radio Station “Studio East”

Featuring Matt Hollywood an original member of the band. It also features Will Carruthers (Spacemen 3 , Spritualized) , Constatine Karlis (Dimmer), & Thibault Pesenti (Rockcandys) . Plus vocal performances by Eliza Karmasalo (in Finnish) This album brings the traditional Brian Jonestown Massacre sound mixed with eastern influences & bringing it up to date with the benefit of all the additional weirdness that's been discovered in the past 40 years.

Give It Back! was the sixth studio album by American psychedelic rock band The Brian Jonestown Massacre, originally released in 1997 by record label Bomp!. First time on 180g audiophile vinyl. Notably, this is the only album that features Peter Hayes, who later founded the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. The sessions for the record were filmed for the documentary Dig!. Though only a couple of minutes of these sessions appear in the film.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A -

1) Super Sonic
2) This Is Why You Love Me
3 ) Satellite
4) Malela 
5) Salaam

SIDE B –

1) Whoever You Are,
2) Sue,

SIDE C –

1) (You Better Love Me) Before I Am Gone 
2) Not If You Were The Last Dandy On Earth
3) # 1 Hit Jam

SIDE D –

1) Servo
2) The Devil May Care (Mom & Dad Don’t) 
3) Their Satanic Majesties Second Request

Mini Album Thingy Wingy are 7 brand new & exclusive tracks recorded by Anton Newcombe in is his studio in Berlin in 2014 & 2015. Running at over 34 minutes, the mini album is co produced, engineered & mixed by Fabien Leseure. This release contains four self written songs by Anton Newcombe, a co write of the band’s first Slovakian song (Prší Prší) with Vladimir Nosal, another co write (Pish) with Tess Parks and a cover of the 13th Floor Elevator’s track “Dust” which features Alex Maas from the Black Angels on jug.

Originally, Anton Newcombe was heavily influenced by The Rolling Stones' psychedelic phase, but his work in the 2000s has expanded into aesthetic dimensions approximating the UK Shoegazing genre of the 1990s and incorporating influences from world music, especially Middle Eastern and Brazilian music.

This album brings the traditional Brian Jonestown Massacre sound mixed with eastern influences & bringing it up to date with the benefit of all the additional weirdness that's been discovered in the past 40 years.

TRACK LISTING

DOUBLE 10” – Tracklisting
SIDE A -
1 ) Pish
2) Prší Prší

SIDE B -
1) Get Some
2) Dust

SIDE C -
1) Leave It Alone
2) Mandrake Handshake

SIDE D-
1) Here Comes The Waiting For The Sun

LP - Tracklisting
SIDE A -
1 ) Pish
2) Prší Prší
3) Get Some
4) Dust

SIDE B -
5) Leave It Alone
6) Mandrake Handshake
7) Here Comes The Waiting For The Sun

CD - Tracklisting
1 ) Pish
2) Prší Prší
3) Get Some
4) Dust
5) Leave It Alone
6) Mandrake Handshake
7) Here Comes Waiting For The Sun

The strangest thing happened to this album after it’s release in 2015 one of the tracks “Bonbon” was used on the soundtrack to the 2015 Palme D’Or winning film “Dheepan” so maybe this album was becoming less imaginary .Musique de film imaginé (music for film imagined) is a soundtrack that pays homage to the great European film directors of the late 50’s and 60’s, such as François Truffaut & Jean-Luc Godard (to name but two), created by Anton Newcombe on behalf of the Brian Jonestown Massacre for an imaginary French film.

Guests on this daring symphonic experience are French chanteuse and multi-instrumentalist SoKo and Italian actress, singer and director Asia Argento. SoKo is signed to Because Music and her track ‘We Might Be Dead by Tomorrow’ was featured in the viral video ‘First Kiss’, which has garnered over 63 million views and debuted at number 9 in the Billboard Hot 100 last year. Asia Argento, who has starred in music videos for Marilyn Manson, Placebo and Tim Burgess, recently wrote the storyline for ASAP Rocky’s music video and short film ‘Phoenix’, which has had over 5.5 million hits. Both vocal performances are in French. Anton Newcombe recorded Musique de film imaginé in Berlin in August 2014, after a successful European tour for the Brian Jonestown Massacre

TRACK LISTING

1 - Après Le Vin 
2 - Philadelphie Story (with Soko) 
3 - La Dispute 
4 - L'Enfer 
5 - Elle S'échappe
6 - Le Cadeau 
7 - Le Sacre Du Printemps (with Asia Argento) 
8 - Le Souvenir 
9 - Les Trois Cloches 
10 - Bonbon 
11 - L'Ennui 
12 - Bonbon
13 - La Question  
14 - Au Sommet

After spending time writing and recording in Liverpool, England and Reykjavik, Iceland; "My Bloody Underground" is the thirteenth full length album released by the band, and is released on Anton Newcombe's own record label A Recordings. Fans and critics of Brian Jonestown Massacre who have eagerly awaited a new album for a little over four years now will not be disappointed with its musical content, quality and controversy to follow. The opening track titled "Bring Me The Head Of Paul McCartney On Heather Mill's Wooden Peg (Dropping Bombs On The White House)" begins and soars into an echoing wave of tambourines and trancelike acoustics, that continues for 12 more tracks and 75.87 minutes, stirring visions of sunny Californian communes to New York City bars on the Lower East Side. From Rishikesh to Reykjavik, the entire album provides provocative glimpses into Anton Newcombe's head, both the darkness and the light, so clearly and so beautifully self produced.

Revelation is the first album that was fully recorded & produced at Anton’s recording studio in Berlin. It is the 14th full length release from the Brian Jonestown Massacre recorded from late 2012 to early 2014. With Anton Newcombe refining the 13 tracks that appear on the album.

Featuring Ricky Maymi an original member of the band playing on this album. It also features Joachim Alhund (Les Big Byrds), Constatine Karlis (Dimmer), & Ryan Van Kriedt (Asteroid #4). Plus vocal performance in Swedish by Joachim Alhund (Les Big Byrds) on the opening track.

This album brings the traditional Brian Jonestown Massacre sound mixed with eastern influences & bringing it up to date with the benefit of all the additional weirdness that's been discovered in the past 40 years. Two dozen band members later and numerous “ups and downs” (some have been famously sensationalized in the media), the one thing that has always remained consistent for this psychedelic collective, is front man Mr. Anton Alfred Newcombe.

TRACK LISTING

1. Vad Hände Med Dem?
2. What You Isn't
3. Unknown
4. Memory Camp
5. Days, Weeks And Moths
6. Duck And Cover
7. Food For Clouds
8. Second Sighting
9. Memorymix
10. Fist Full Of Bees
11. Nightbird
12. Xibalba
13. Goodbye (Butterfly)

This comes for the first time on 180g vinyl in a gatefold sleeve. Re-mastered for vinyl.

This 22 track compilation spans the years 1995 – 2004 featuring key tracks from all their albums as well and live recordings and many unreleased tracks.BJM has been essential in the development of the modern U.S. garage scene, and many LA and SF musicians got their start playing with Newcombe, including Peter Hayes of The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Originally Newcombe was heavily influenced by The Rolling Stones' psychedelic phase - the name comes from Stones guitarist Brian Jones combined with a reference to cult leader Jim Jones, but his work in the 2000s has expanded into aesthetic dimensions approximating the UK Shoegazing genre of the 1990s and incorporating influences from world music, especially Middle Eastern and Brazilian music.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1) Nailing Honey To The Bee
2) That Girl Suicide
3) Nevertheless
4) Evergreen
5) Starcleaner
6) Let Me Stand Next To Your Flower – Live

Side B
1) Hide & Seek – Live
2) In My Life
3) Mary Please
4) Talk-Action=Shit
5) Oh Lord
6) This Is Why You Love Me

Side C
1) Not If You Were The Last Dandy On Earth
2) Swallowtail – Live
3) Feel So Good
4) Fucker
5) #1 Hit Jam

Side D
1) Ballad Of Jim Jones
2) Free & Easy - Take 2
3) Stolen
4) Mansion In The Sky
5) Sue

At the risk of further belabouring a rather obvious point, with "Thank God For Mental Illness", their third collection of absolutely stunning music in 1996, the Brian Jonestown Massacre parallels the prolific and effortless brilliance of the Rolling Stones at their fevered late-1960s peak; the sheer scope of their achievements is stunning — rarely are bands quite so productive, or quite so consistently amazing. "Thank God" is the BJM's down-and-dirty country-blues outing, all 13-odd tracks supposedly recorded on a single July day at a cost of just $17.36.

The album was recorded in Berlin By Anton Newcombe , joining him in the studio for this album were Hakon Adalsteinsson (guitar), & Uri Rennert (drums) . The band in 2022 have been touring and completed a 34 date tour in North America with Mercury Rev and the Magic Castles which was very successful , with 3 festival appearances in the summer of 2022 in Angers , France , Graz , Austria & Switzerland which were also successful. With this the band went on tour in Europe which started in September 2022 with many sold out shows . .

STAFF COMMENTS

Liam says: Album twenty from neo-psychedelia legends, 'The Future Is Your Past' is another exceptional addition to the Brian Jonestown Massacre canon. Full of expansive excursions and stellar trips, the record also comes with some crayons to colour in the sleeve for those of you who are feeling artistic!

TRACK LISTING

1) Do Rainbows Have Ends
2) Nothing Can Stop The Sound
3) The Light Is About To Change
4) Fudge
5) Cross Eyed Gods
6) As The Carousel Swings
7) The Mother Of All Fuckers
8) All The Feels
9) Your Mind Is My Café
10) Stuck To Yous

Third World Pyramid is the first album that was fully recorded & produced at Anton’s new Cobra Studio in Berlin . It is the 15th full length release from the Brian Jonestown Massacre recorded from early 2016.

Featuring Ricky Maymi , Dan Allaire , Joel Gion , Collin Hegna & Ryan Van Kriedt from the band .Also Emil Nikolaisen from the Norwegian band Serena-Maneesh joins the band on this album , plus vocal performance Tess Parks and Katy Lane .

Anton Newcombe has been a very busy man these past 2 years, kicking off with the critically acclaimed Brian Jonestown Massacre album ‘Revelation’ in May 2014. After a successful UK and European tour, the BJM followed this up with the ‘+-‘ EP (Nov 2014). 2015 saw the release of ‘Musique de film imaginé’ (April); an imaginary film soundtrack album featuring the track ‘Bonbon’ which has, ironically, been used in ‘Dheepan’; the Palme D'or winner at Cannes film festival 2015. In June, Anton and Tess Parks embarked on a well received tour of the UK and Europe to support the release of ‘I Declare Nothing’. Anton finished the year with a BJM mini-album release entitled ‘Mini-Album Thingy Wingy’. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Encompassing aspects of wandering psychedelia, meditative drone and anthemic indie balladry, this newest outing from Newcome and co. is their most diverse and exciting yet, cementing them as one of the most defining and prolific acts in modern music.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A:
1) - Good Mourning
2) - Government Beard
3) - Don't Get Lost
4) - Assignment Song
SIDE B: 
1) - Oh Bother
2) - Third World Pyramid
3) - Like Describing Colors To A Blind Man On Acid
4) - Lunar Surf Graveyard
5) - The Sun Ship

CD - Tracklisting
1) - Good Mourning
2) - Government Beard
3) - Don't Get Lost
4) - Assignment Song
5) - Oh Bother
6) - Third World Pyramid
7) - Like Describing Colors To A Blind Man On Acid
8) - Lunar Surf Graveyard
9) - The Sun Ship 

The B.E.F. return with a shape-shifting prog-rock indietronica record. March 26th will see the return of The British Expeditionary Force with their highly anticipated next installment on Erased Tapes Records, entitled 'Chapter Two: Konstellation Neu'. The British Expeditionary Force, short The B.E.F., was formed in 2007 by Northerners Aid Burrows, Justin Lockey and his brother James Lockey. Whilst their trademark indie-electronica marriage 'Chapter One: A Long Way From Home' was solely created via email, the long-awaited sequel 'Chapter Two: Konstellation Neu' was recorded in one room, with two drummers and mad professors on synthesisers contributing to an even broader sonic palette. A sound that producer and ex-Yourcodenameis:milo mastermind Justin Lockey likes to describe as 'prog rock, innit'. 'The tactic we've used is the 'more' method. More sounds, more layers, more people. More face to face, more angles, more songs. If we've done our sums right, it should total more than the individual pieces', explains singer Aid Burrows.

"The Architecture of Oppression Part 1" represents Ferguson's debut as a bandleader and orchestrator, and manifests as a committed and soulful response to ongoing and systemic anti-black racism, social oppression and state violence both at home in London and across the globe. Combining poetry, testimony and song with rich and cinematic backdrops, Ferguson has produced a sui generis sound that conjures flavours of Arthur Verocai, Ennio Morricone, classic library productions, Madlib-style deep-jazz beat science, and psychedelic soul.

With bandmate Malcolm Catto on drums, Ferguson draws on their long years of collaborative experience in the Heliocentrics to build an album of striking texture and depth. But the album does not only reflect Ferguson's full-spectrum musical prowess, experience and vision. It is equally a manifestation of his longstanding and high-profile work as a frontline activist for racial justice and social equity in London and beyond.

Alongside Malcom Catto, contributors to the album are drawn from the intersecting worlds of community activism, cultural education, politics and music, and include singer and political activist Jermain Jackman, Zara MacFarlane; Chicagoan activist, poet and singer Ugochi Nwaogwugwu; Lee Jasper, longstanding worker for racial justice and former advisor on equalities to the Mayor of London; acclaimed performance poet Dylema; Hackney community leader Janette Collins MBE and Leroy Logan MBE, founder and former chair of the Black Police Association, and the subject of Steve McQueen's Small Axe episode 'Red, White and Blue'.

The Architecture of Oppression Part 1 is a singular and urgent chronicle of the black British experience, an upful expression of Pan-African creative unity and community solidarity, and a militant and unbending missive from the frontline in the great tradition of The Impressions' This Is My Country, Irreversible Entanglements Who Sent You?, Max Roach's We Insist - Freedom Now Suite, or Linton Kwesi Johnson's Bass Culture. A broken record repeats itself, and never plays through – the music is interrupted or trapped in a cycle by damage to the grooves. But The Brkn Record is a work of healing and protection, and a chance to let the full story be heard – all the way to the end, no skips.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Political and personal, this LP narrates the Black experience with a sound palette somewhere between Axelrod, Madlib, MPB and soul.

TRACK LISTING

1. Assimilation (Ft. Dylema)
2. His Mother’s Eyes (Ft. Jermain Jackman)
3. Brother Andrew – The Investigator (Ft. Brother Andrew Muhammad)
4. Break The Chains
5. A Police Service, Not A Police Force (Ft. Lee Jasper)
6. Hackney Ain’t Innocent (Ft. Yolanda Lear)
7. On The Daily (Ft Ugochi Nwaogwugwu)
8. Say Black (Ft. Dylema)
9. The Babylon Encounter (Ft. Janette Collins & Leroy Logan)
10. Witness The Whiteness (Ft. Adam Elliot Cooper)
11. Lifeline (Ft. Zara McFarlane)

Following their debut Glastonbury Festival performance, Broadside Hacks in collaboration with British Underground today announce the UK premiere of The Broadside Hack; a new documentary telling the story of the young vanguard of UK artists sharing radical interpretations, proto-feminist narratives and queer histories through the lens of British traditional folk song.

An accompanying live album of the songs performed in the film will also be released in December on LP and digitally.

Having enjoyed its US premiere at SXSW in March, The Broadside Hack is a short music documentary produced by British Underground, created with the aid of a grant from Arts Council England and PRS Foundation. Directed by Crispin Parry and filmed by The Northern Cowboys, It explores the influence of traditional folk songs on a new generation of musicians, filmed just as the UK was emerging from the dark days of the pandemic. The documentary was made in collaboration with music collective Broadside Hacks and features influential artists and groups from the new folk scene, including Rough Trade signees caroline, former Goat Girl bassist Naima Bock, whose acclaimed album Giant Palm was released on Sub Pop earlier this year, Shovel Dance Collective, Thyrsis, Broadside Hacks and Boss Morris. Discovering a fresh vitality in the tunes and new histories in the stories they tell, the film includes conversations, dances and intimate performances filmed at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios in Box, Wiltshire between 17th and 19th August 2021.

The live concert and screening of The Broadside Hack arguably marks the close of the first chapter in the story of the UK’s new folk scene; a story in which Broadside Hacks has been central. Initially formed as a folk night, the pandemic forced it to change its shape, morphing into a collective of young, like-minded musicians who met to play folk music in South London.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
A1 Boss Morris - Up The Hill
A2 [Interview] Shovel Dance Collective - ‘A Collective Authoring Of History’
A3 Shovel Dance Collective - The Bold Fisherman / My Husband Has No Courage In Him
A4 [Interview] Thyrsis - ‘Collaboration Across Space And Time’
A5 Thyrsis - Single Sailor
A6 [Interview] Naima Bock (Broadside Hacks) - ‘Retracing Beginnings’
A7 Broadside Hacks - Gently Johnny
Side 2
B1 Shovel Dance Collective - Merrily Kissed The Quaker
B2 [Interview] Shovel Dance Collective - ‘Queering Folk Songs Of The Past’
B3 Thyrsis - Godstow Bridge
B4 [Interview] Naima Bock (Broadside Hacks) - ‘The Broadside Hacks Folk Club’
B5 Broadside Hacks - Rain And Snow
B6 Boss Morris - Young Collins

Re-issue of a soul masterpiece from 1974. 'I Love You More and More' by Tom Brock was Tom's only solo album release, but what a beautiful classic it is.

For some, it is up there in the pantheon alongside their all-time treasured soul favourites such as Marvin Gaye's 'What's Going On'. Produced by the legend Barry White and released on 20th Century Records in 1974, it features the lush hallmark orchestration, heartfelt songs, and funky yet slick playing you'd expect from a White production. Like a dusting of sugar onto the top of the cake, the record also features the stunning arrangements of the great pianist, arranger, composer, and producer Gene Page, whose musical career left an impressive and prolific legacy.

'I Love You More and More' received another lease of life when it was resurrected for a new audience after having been sampled by Jay-Z, Mos Def, C.L. Smooth, and others. The record is solid throughout, but the song 'There's Nothing in This World That Can Stop Me From Loving You' proved to be an extra-bright star in the sky and it formed the base to Jay-Z's 2001 hit 'Girls, Girls, Girls'. The sampling of Tom's work triggered the collectors, diggers and DJs to explore his record and to transfer their passion for it onto their followers too. Tom Brock passed away in 2002, but left behind his sensational soulful voice on a handful of amazing dusty 7" singles, several assorted productions recorded by other artists, and this absolute winner of an album, which will be cherished for years to come.

TRACK LISTING

1. Have A Nice Weekend Baby
2. The Love We Share Is The Greatest Of Them All
3. There’s Nothing In This World That Can Stop Me From Loving You
4. I Love You More And More
5. Naked As The Day I Was Born
6. That’s The Reason Why (I'll Love You Until The Day I Die)
7. Shame Me, Wake Me
8. If We Don’t Make It Nobody Can

"Gadzooks!" is the first album by new 6-piece experimental group The Broken Blackbird Ensemble. It features James and David from Big Eyes, but there the comparison ends. TBBE feature players previously and currently immersed in noise / sound experimentation, klezmer, folk, classical and acid-rock, but this, their first album, contains nothing that could be specifically classified under any of these categories. The album was recorded and improvised in one day (in September 2004), with some tracks from the vaguest principle, others conceived from scratch. Theirs is the sound of creaking wood, gothic ragas, horrored drones, a choir of pipes and oh-so hushed melody. Is free-folk the right term? Who knows, but there is definitely some music common ground between the New Weird America artists and TBBE.

LA-based rockers The Bronx return for their sixth studio album 'Bronx VI'.

Bronx VI builds on the legacy The Bronx has established in its near two-decade existence, but which definitely proves the door to what’s next has not just been kicked down, but chopped up and burned to a cinder.

Yes, the first four tracks – “White Shadow”, “Superbloom”, “Watering The Well” and “Curb Feelers” – bristles with the wild and untamed energy that’s defined the band from the off, but then – all of a sudden, as “Peace Pipe” kicks in – the pace and mood shifts to something a little less aggressive. Elsewhere, “Mexican Summer” and its (relatively) chilled-out mariachi vibes serve as an homage to the band’s alter-ego, Mariachi El Bronx (and was written while that incarnation of the band was on tour), while fatalistic closer “Participation Trophy” masks the Caughthran’s existential dread behind searing riffs and a catchy, defiant and exuberant melody. “The feelings I got when writing for this sixth record is the same type of feeling I got writing “Heart Attack American”.

It all comes from the same place and it’s all still 100% genuine and real. Believe me – I’m still feeling the raw emotion that I felt when this band first started. That’s just who I am, that’s who we are as people. You can’t fake stuff like that when it comes to music or art. You have to stay connected. You’ve just got to be real” - Matt Caughthran, vocalist. Bronx VI was produced by Joe Baressi (Melvins, Tool, Bad Religion).

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A

1. White Shadow
2. Superbloom
3. Watering The Well
4. Curb Feelers
5. Peace Pipe
6. High Five

SIDE B

1. Mexican Summer
2. New Lows
3. Breaking News
4. Jack Of All Trades
5. Participation Trophy

Fifteen years ago, The Bronx appeared in a storm of attack-mode guitars, apocalyptic rhythms, screaming aggression and sneering disdain for the status quo. In 2017, as The Bronx resurface with their fifth eponymous album (and first in four years), the Los Angeles-based quintet has lost none its pugnacity. “The Bronx V,” as it is destined to be known, is as hard-hitting, confrontational and relevant as ever. And while it may or may not sound more grown-up than their vein-bulging early releases, they will not apologize either way. “It has the angst and social commentary that has characterized us from the beginning,” guitarist Joby J. Ford says, “only now the angst is aimed at more than just superficial things and the social commentary is directed at more than just people who like different music than us.” Says singer Matt Caughthran: “We still have a lot to prove to ourselves.” Coming from a band that has persevered for a decade and a half, that sounds outlandish. Moreover, they've led dual lives for the past eight years, maintaining an alter ego as Mariachi El Bronx that as is as true to that form of music as their hardcore is to the punk ethos. Prove themselves? Yes, that’s the way the Los Angeles-based quintet thinks and works. “The Bronx V” is out Sept. 22.

The band — Ford, Caughthran, guitarist Ken Horne, bassist Brad Magers and drummer David Hidalgo Jr. (replacing Jorma Vik, who departed the band in 2016) — recorded the album over five weeks with renowned producer Rob Schnapf, whose wide array of gear allowed them to add considerable nuance to their blistering guitar volleys. “Instead of having one thick wall of guitar, there are a lot of different colors, different sounds, the result of using a variety of guitars and amps,” Horne says. “Overall, it’s still heavy but catchy.” Adds Magers: “He was perfect for us. Somehow, we sound clean yet dirty.”

Tracey Browne created Earthscension Records at the age of 20, in order to produce and release her own music. Directly inspired by Ani Difranco, who did the same thing 15 years ago. Thirteen tracks of mellow, acoustic-guitar and piano based music, the lyrics are inspired by girls, life and imagination. When singing with rock band Minusoneraver, Tracey's vocals have been likened to All About Eve singer Julianne Regan, or Evanescence's Amy Lee; here, they are stripped bare and fluid, recorded to allow the natural sound of her voice to be heard. A truly independent release, this album was written, produced and performed by Tracey, and serves as a strong debut for a singer-songwriter who will continue to release music regardless of trends.

His third album released in 1969, this saw Buckley really spreading his wings and incorporating more jazzy elements into the sound. The album featured just six tracks, many of them lengthy and evolving opuses of passion and pain, but there was now more depth and space to his music which complemented his amazing vocal range to complete perfection.

If anyone could be termed a tortured genius Tim Buckley could. The self induced damage he did to himself, the anguish and pain in some of his songs are a bitter mirror image to the purity of his voice and the hope for love and a better world in other tracks. This is a superb anthology - 33 tracks, many rare or previously unreleased plus all his great works like "Song To The Siren" and "I Must Have Been Blind".

Tim Buckley died on June 29th 1975 less than a decade after these, the first, of his albums were issued. In that period the 'tenderest of troubadour' image was replaced by the vulnerable, emotionally complex and damaged tortured artist of his later work. Drugs and inner demons played a bitter part in his story but there is a freshness and joy on these early recordings that have no echo of the pain to come. Remastered and reissued as part of Elektra Records 50th Anniversary these are gifted and insightful delights.

The list of '60s and '70s singersongwriters is long and full of legends; but perhaps the most talented of that very talented bunch was Tim Buckley. Certainly when it came to singing Buckley was at the very top; his range was unmatched, capable of covering several octaves and acres of emotion in one breath, from sweet, tenor tenderness to hoarse, cracking anguish.

And his songwriting showed a similar wide range; in the course of eight short years Buckley went from baroque, psychedelic folk rock to jazzy, even avant-garde ravings to blue-eyed soul. This extreme eclecticism, of course, worked against Buckley commercially. But it's also one of the reasons why his reputation has steadily grown in the years since his untimely death in 1975.

Countless listeners only familiar with his early Elektra albums have found themselves floored by his later output. Which is where we find ourselves with 1973's Sefronia and 1974's Look at the Fool, the last two records Buckley released during his lifetime and probably the two most controversial albums of his career. Long-time fans decried these records as sellouts, and indeed their soft '70s funk feel is jarring to those used to his more adventurous work. But Buckley proves himself to be one helluva R&B singer on these albums, which deserved a much larger audience than they got (by this time Buckley was on Frank Zappa and Herb Cohen's label DiscReet).

Now, Real Gone Music is proud to present both Sefronia and Look at the Fool on vinyl for the first time since the late '80s, in versions newly remastered from the original master tapes by Bill Inglot. These releases mark a significant upgrade in sound from what's heretofore been available, and to celebrate, we're offering each of these records in two different versions: for audiophiles, a limited edition of 400 copies in 180-gram black vinyl, and for collectors, a limited edition of 300 copies in colored vinyl (Red for Sefronia and Blue for Look at the Fool). It's high time these albums were reappraised; these vinyl releases show them at their very best!

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: Tim Buckley gets funked up again on what would be the final album of his life. Mega

TRACK LISTING

Look At The Fool
Bring It On Up
Helpless
Freeway Blues
Tijuana Moon
Ain’t It
Peculiar
Who Could Deny You
Mexicali Voodoo
Down In The Street
Wanda Lou

The Budos Band return with 'Burnt Offering'; a wild, booze-fueled ride of hazy riffs and take-no-prisoners horn lines that summons the occult - an evolved sound for this mighty 10-piece band sparked by their love of Black Sabbath and Pentagram.

'Burnt Offering' was recorded live in the studio, engineered and produced by Tom Brenneck, a founding member and guitarist in The Budos Band who runs Dunham Records and Studios. It was written at the band’s longtime Staten Island studio, where they’ve gathered for weekly rehearsals for over fifteen years. The haunting album cover was created by drummer Brian Profilio, a NYC public school art teacher.

The new album is dripping with the psychedelic sounds of early heavy metal fused with the tight-knit propulsion of Fela Kuti. “The Sticks” kicks off with a snarling riff seamlessly doubled on bass and guitar and unfurls into sludgy breakdowns and searing guitars.

Frontier’s Edge is the new EP by the fiery, energetic and genre-defying group The Budos Band.

After a two-decade run with the legendary Daptone Records, Frontier’s Edge is the first new music from the group on the new label, Diamond West Records — run by The Budos’ saxophonist Jared Tankel and guitarist Tom Brenneck.

The Budos Band’s departure from Daptone was on good terms; the split from their long-time home base was an organic result of the band’s evolution.

“It’s just a natural growth,” Brenneck says, admitting: “We’re going further away from the sound of Daptone and into territory they probably wanted to stay away from.”

As a result, Frontier’s Edge finds the group hungry, passionate and primed to charge into their next epoch newfound sense autonomy within the collective. “We’re a powerhouse in the studio; we can produce ourselves,” Brenneck says proudly of a long process of self-containment. “I take the helm, but the band, they know what they want.” As expected from The Budos Band, Frontier’s Edge resists analysis; it represents the band as they are: a contained explosion. You don’t pick apart Frontier’s Edge; you feel it all at once.

“Somehow, we wrote six songs in two days,” says The Budos’ drummer, Brian Profilio. “Tom was able to take what we were doing and put it together in a cohesive manner.”

Whether this is your first rodeo with The Budos Band or you’ve been following them throughout their two-decade run, Frontier’s Edge contains their musical universe Afrobeat, Ethiopian music, proto-metal, any number of other streams in microcosm.

Dime the volume and behold The Budos.

STAFF COMMENTS

Liam says: Tasty little EP from The Budos Band, 'Frontier's Edge' has everything you'd come to expect from these genre-wizards. A little bit of jazz, some desert psych and plenty of tasteful improvisation, this is definitely worth checking out!

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A
1. Frontier’s Edge
2. Devil Doesn’t Care
3. KRITN
SIDE B
4. Crescent Blade
5. A Passage To Ashinol
6. Curled Steel

"A split-screen maelstrom of Fela Kuti, Led Zep, Morricone, psych and dub" The Budos Band - MOJO - Rising - August 2019 Celebrating 15 years from the release of their debut album, Daptone's Royal Court from Staten Island delivers a truly epic collection of new material that finds the group further bridging the gap between the farfisa-fueled Ethio-Funk stylings of their early recordings, with the psychedelic, Sabbath-inspired hellfire of late. “In some ways, itʼs reminiscent of our first two albums The Budos Band and Budos II,” says Tom Brenneck. “We branched off on Burnt Offering and Budos V. Now, weʼre still moving forward.

You can play these songs on the dance-floor. We knew the horns had to stand out too. Thinking about hip-hop allowed us to put the bounce back into The Budos.” This is evident from needle drop to final rotation. Heavy drum breaks, reminiscent of the B-Boy approved grooves of their early output reign supreme, setting the stage for the pulsating, hallucinatory wall of organ, menacing horns, and rugged guitar riffs to permeate your soul - leaving the listener in a rhythmic wash of Budonian rapture. Long in the Tooth represents the culmination of a 15-year journey by a band that has consistently carved its own distinct path through the grooves of history.

TRACK LISTING

1 Long In The Tooth
2 Sixth Hammer
3 Snake Hawk
4 Dusterado
5 Silver Stallion
6 Haunted Sea
7 The Wrangler
8 Gun Metal Grey
9 Mierda De Toro
10 Budonian Knight Renegade

The Bug Club’s name does a good job of introducing the band & their music: a tight-knit, collaborative effort focused on telling tales of the everyday that we often take for granted, shot through with humour & riffs-a-plenty.

Imagine Jonathan Richman bought a really big amp & a time machine & found himself somewhere on the Nuggets compilation. Or perhaps Ray Davis palled up with Sterling Morrison, got really into The Minutemen & agreed that songs need not be longer than two minutes. Then, maybe, you’re almost where the Welsh three-piece are coming from.

The creative trio of Sam Willmett (guitar/vocals), Tilly Harris (bass/vocals) and Dan Matthew (drums) formed The Bug Club in 2016 in the little-known rock n' roll hotbed that is Caldicot, Monmouthshire. Following relentless gigging in their local area, The Bug Club were picked up by Bingo Records & released their first proper single - ‘We Don’t Need Room For Lovin’ - in February 2021. It garnered immediate acclaim, with BBC 6 Music’s resident tastemaker Marc Riley playing it a few times a week ever since & booking them in for a post-lockdown live session right off the bat. The announcement of the EP ‘Launching Moondream One’ followed - as did the release of second single ‘Checkmate’, with which came a similar level of radio airplay. And then the same again for the EP's title track.

First and foremost a live band, the band record as a group quickly, capturing the energy & sound of the gigs that make them such a popular fixture on the live circuit. 

RIYL: The Modern Lovers, The Wave Pictures, The Vaselines, The Velvet Underground, The Kinks.

TRACK LISTING

1. Checkmate 02:13
2. All Of The Scariest Monsters Live In London 02:04
3. We Don't Need Room For Lovin' 02:00
4. Launching Moondream One 01:33
5. The Word Of God 00:35
6. My Baby Loves Rock & Roll Music 02:37
7. Vegetable Garden 02:56
8. The Fixer 02:27
9. Pure Particles 02:13
10. Jonathan's Gone 02:07
11. If My Mother Thinks I'm Happy 04:22
12. A Love Song 01:14
13. Pure Particles Theme 01:37

'Pure Particles' follows the great sellout success of The Bug Club's debut EP 'Launching Moondream One'. Again released on Bingo Records, it sees the South Wales trio deliver a larger portion of raucous, riffing garage shot through with a sense of humour that reminds you that, while they may be excellent musicians, they're certainly not going to bore you about that.

TRACK LISTING

1. The Word Of God 00:35
2. My Baby Loves Rock & Roll Music 02:37
3. Vegetable Garden 02:56
4. The Fixer 02:27
5. Pure Particles 02:13
6. Jonathan's Gone 02:07
7. If My Mother Thinks I'm Happy 04:22
8. A Love Song 01:14
9. Pure Particles Theme 01:37

The Bug Club cap off 2023 with their second full-length album - an hour-and-a-bit long double LP called 'Rare Birds: Hour of Song'.

Now then, what could you possibly have to say that takes two records to spit out? Pay attention to this and learn. It's The Bug Club's Hex Enduction Hour. South Wales' Double Nickels On The Dime. It's The Faust Cycle for people with shorter attention spans. Listen to me, why don't you. I'm from the label. I'm relevant. I have a huuuuge record collection, I love name-dropping, and I don't have many friends.

Their eighth release since joining forces with Bingo Records in summer 2020, 'Rare Birds...' is a culmination of a year spent relentlessly touring. But it's not one of those hackneyed road records. It's about birds, to an extent. Well, it is, and it isn't.

Spare us an hour and four minutes. That's what we're asking of you here. It's a big ask, these days.

But if you do, you'll find yourself entrenched in an immersive world of The Bug Club. The other records - with the sardonic and surreal, the riffs and the obsession with outer space - were a run up. With 'Rare Birds...' Sam, Tilly and Dan have created an expansive environment in which we can all bask in a cocktail of garage rock, poetry, nonsense, wordplay, sentimentality and fuck-offs. Ivor Cutler's come round to play with Gordon Gano and Kimya Dawson in a semi-detached in Caldicot. They've made something you're going to really like.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Snapping percussion and raucous guitar lines, swimming in post-punk waters but with a wry and keen humour to go along with the impeccable jagged garage-rock instrumentation. Another killer outing from Bingo records.

TRACK LISTING

1. burds Wurds - My First Lie
2. Samuel Was Beautiful Tonight
3. burds Wurds - For Feeling
4. I Will Feel The Same
5. burds Wurds - Tomorrow's Triangle
6. Undone
7. burds Wurds - I Think We'll Go With This
8. Fully Clothed
9. burds Wurds - The Key
10. Marriage 03:36
11. burds Wurds - Shut My Beak
12. Four Sisters
13. burds Wurds - What's Your Sweet Cereal?
14. Is This The Music You Like?
15. Can Ya Change A Thing Like This?
16. burds Wurds - Hot Emptiness
17. We Can't All Play Saxophones
18. burds Wurds - Big Gold Medallion
19. Short And Round 02:40
20. burds Wurds - Louder Than Normal Ha Ha Ha
21. Passionflower, Paperbacks And Woodlice
22. burds Wurds - The Pantry Flap
23. Blues Magicians
24. burds Wurds - The Big Frog
25. Strawberry Season
26. burds Wurds - It's Lovely
27. Do It All Again
28. burds Wurds - Really Nice
29. Drown Me Out
30. burds Wurds - Twelve Surnames
31. One Big Heavy Person
32. burds Wurds - More Of A Pretty Turkish Bookmark
33. Mister Do You Have The Time For Sittin'?
34. burds Wurds - Fish Tongue
35. In My Hour Of Song
36. The Loudest Violin
37. burds Wurds - Now We Can Move On
38. Antique Heirlooms
39. burds Wurds - Cubed Up!
40. Cheap Linen
41. Burds Wurds - Something Small
42. Rare Birds
43. burds Wurds - Ready For Living
44. Three Brians
45. burds Wurds - From One Rare Bird
46. Wide Awake Forever
47. Burds Wurds - This Story's End

Green Dream in F# is a culmination of The Bug Club universe that has been constructed over the course of two sold out EPs, a couple of standalone singles, and the kind of relentless touring the band has quickly become known for. ‘It’s Art’ is a typically short piece of garage pop perfection, beginning quietly and with singer and guitarist Sam Willmett listing the band’s musical heroes in the manner similar to one of those he namechecks: Jonathan Richman. The band’s ever-present sardonic wit is at the forefront, as they question the meaning and purpose of art - and in turn themselves - before throwing in a blistering guitar riff and the trademark duel-vocals between Sam and Tilly Harris (bass, vocals) before things get too serious.

The band say this first single sets the tone for the album, and musically it presents us with a refined version of what we have come to expect on the basis of previous releases: whip-smart pop songs performed flawlessly and with humour by one of the tightest musical units going. As indicated by the names of both first single and album, The Bug Club’s debut LP shows the band taking a long, hard look at the way the music industry - and by extension the art world - takes itself so seriously, and deciding to ignore that and carry on doing things on their own terms.

Riding atop drummer Dan Matthew’s relentlessly solid foundation, Green Dream in F# packs in 14 tracks covering favourite The Bug Club topics including space, small town life, love and swearing. Sam and Tilly’s playing could be virtuosic if they were in any way arrogant, but they’re not, and so well-crafted and at times complex guitar work sits neatly within the sharp song structures that never stick around too long, and backs engaging and, at times, laugh-out-loud funny lyrical storytelling.

Following the remarkable DIY success of early EPs Launching Moondream One and Pure Particles (also available via Bingo Records), Green Dream in F# shows a band not at all phased by the prospect of putting out their debut full length. Instead, they use the space to stretch their abilities and create something as cohesive, involved and engrossing as you’d expect the imaginary, dog-directed symphony their LP’s name pokes fun at to be.

TRACK LISTING

1. Only In Love
2. Six O’Clock News
3. Little Coy Space Boy
4. Love Is A Painting
5. It’s Art
6. Love For Two
7. My Guy
8. Going Down
9. Yesterday’s Paper
10. Sitting On The Rings Of Saturn
11. Christmas Lullaby
12. Love Letters From Jupiter
13. Some Things Sound Better In Space
14. Green Dream In F#

The Bug aka Kevin Martin, and producer/vocalist Dis Fig aka Felicia Chen, refer to their style on ‘In Blue’ as “Tunnel Sound”; a foggy, melancholic meltdown of narco-dancehall-soul and dread-drenched, electronic dub. The 2018 prototype rhythms for this album were a continuation of Martin’s ongoing quest for a futuristic dancehall mutation, but more sci-fi, aquatic and smokey than before. An obsessive search for the right sultry 2AM voice to ride his syncopated walls of sub, fuzzed out white noise and infinite echoes eventually led him to Dis Fig’s torched soul-jazz glow, and 20 months of subsequent lab exchanges have resulted in the deeply sensual pulsations and lyrical long shadows of ‘In Blue’ - an album that shares shades of King Midas Sound’s wrecked lovers rock, alongside the bass immersion that The Bug has become infamously known for. Just as Martin took a stylistic swerve on ‘In Blue’, so did Chen. Previously known for experimental noise onslaughts and emotional exorcisms, she opts here for threatening intimacy and hushed confessionals, concentrating on bittersweet vocals and seductive surprises that are all the more potent for their inferred narratives and delicate delivery. Mixed during lockdown, the sense of claustrofear, escapism and tension throughout is palpable. With the bewitching croon of Dis Fig directing the flow, carnality and violence merge under the turbulent, cinematic surface of an hypnotically addictive album.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Around Me
A2.Come
A3.Destroy Me
B1.Blood
B2.In 2 U
B3.Levitating

C1.Forever
C2.Blue To Black
C3.Take
D1.No Return
D2.You
D3.End In Blue

Kevin Martin’s first solo full-length album under The Bug moniker for seven years could not be better timed, and could not be more needed: ‘Fire’ - the third exhilarating part of an incendiary urban triptych, that began with 2008’s explosive ‘London Zoo’ via 2014’s mind-melting 'Angels & Devils' - is fourteen tracks that immolate the synapses, flail the body, that cinematically take you from arcing evocations of a bleak lockdowned city-scape to swooping deep-focus close-ups of Martin and his collaborator’s psyches at breaking point. The aggression, the attitude, the vertiginous scope and subterranean incisiveness, the destabilising unsettling frenzy of The Bug sound is marshalled to perfection throughout but ‘Fire’ is no mere reanimation of the Bug’s past - for Martin, the album is both a response to the unique circumstances of the past year but also a chance to reflect his own journey from reclusive sound-obsessive to family man, and his thirst - in a period of enforced hermetic isolation - for contact, for the mayhem that can only happen between people, noise and bass, the derangement of the senses that has been Bug’s method and trajectory ever since it first crawled out of London’s deepest corners in the late 90s. It’s the Bug’s best yet, possibly the most ferociously realised and immensely moving music Martin has ever made, and still touches on those initial cravings and impulses that first propelled ‘London Zoo’ into your world like a pipe bomb through your letterbox. It’s a HUNGRY record in all senses.

“I've always been addicted to the physicality and intensity of sound: I started The Bug because I wanted to make music for a soundsystem I had in storage, and the live experience of The Bug has always been something I wanted to reflect on record - I’m always looking for fuel to the fire and live shows - and MISSING live shows in lockdown was a real impetus” Martin admits. “I’m always asking - how can I ramp this up MORE? How can I get people more out of control? For me a live show should be unforgettable, should alter your DNA, or scar you for life in a good way - that’s always been my goal, to set up shows that are unforgettable. I like friction, chaos, fanning the flames with sound, and this album is the most reflective of the live show in terms of intensity and the sheer fuck-off attitude of those shows. ‘WHAT the FUCK?’ is the reaction I want - insane is a good reaction especially at a time when there’s so much control in how people consume music and are pacified culturally”.

The MCs featured (longtime likeminds like Flowdan, Roger Robinson, Moor Mother, Manga Saint Hilare, Irah & Daddy Freddy alongside relatively new names to the Bug stable like Logan, Nazamba and FFSYTHO) inevitably reflect the external madness of a world turned upside down, but also dig deep into themselves to craft reflective, pitilessly honest portrayals of the rage, resistance and resignation the last year has engendered in all of us. Check the juddering maelstrom of ‘Clash’ wherein Logan matches every lunging hit of the kick and Martin’s none-more-dank dubtronics with a diseased narrative of mental warfare and strife, or ‘Pressure’ where Flowdan imperiously calls out the universe for a scrap over a beat so thunkingly rapacious its as if the ghost of Andy Weatherall has been reanimated for some rerubbing duties. Throughout ‘Fire’ you can hear MCs and Martin upping the ante, pushed to new heights and lows by an ever-present, periphirally-glimpsed armageddon. The album is bookended by the TS Eliot Award winning poet and long term friend and collaborator Roger Robinson.

“2020 was the worst dystopian nightmares made real - part of me was panic-stricken, the other part of me was ‘how am I going to stay sane?’” recalls Martin. “I’ve got to support 4 people and it might be YEARS before I play shows - this was at the back of my mind making the album. Just to keep calm I got into making solo albums which was meditative, got me back in touch with myself and enabled me to rebuild my studio which kept me working and helped me keep my head straight. It was crucial because I’ve realised through life that what keeps me grounded is music. I used to think I wanted to bury myself in NOW, reality, sensation, information - as time’s gone on I’ve realised I want to actually make a parallel world in sound - the studio gave me an escape from just how fucked up the world was last year. That feeling of external chaos but really questioning yourself internally is something that all the MCs, in different ways, reflect on ‘Fire’. And I feel I’ve grown - making music not just as an egotistical pursuit but to support my family has meant I’ve stopped overthinking things - we KNEW when tracks were finished and loosening my maniacal control over the music, letting it breathe and come together more naturally. That’s something I think you can hear throughout the album.”

‘Fire’ then is 14 tracks that not only chart where we are right now, but offer tantalising glimpses of just what miracles we might soon conjure again together. Growing up VAST. Get some ‘Fire’ in your belly and feel the BURN. This plague has found its soundtrack. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Having long been one of the most uncompromising forces in music, there is a significant amount of excitement over the new Bug LP. and with good cause. 'Fire' lurches from cavernous bunker techno to shadowy trip-hop via dark hip-hop, perfectly performed by a superb line-up of guest collaborators, and brought together in The Bug's inimitable no-holds-barred production style. Superb.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
1. The Fourth Day (feat Roger Robinson) (1:57)
2. Pressure (feat Flowdan) (3:48)
3. Demon (feat Irah) (3:48)
4. Vexed (feat Moor Mother) (3:44)

Side 2
1. Clash (feat Logan) (3:07)
2. War (feat Nazamba) (4:30)
3. How Bout Dat (feat FFSYTHO) (3:47)

Side 3
1. Bang (feat Manga Saint Hilare) (3:03)
2. Hammer (feat Flowdan) (3:28)
3. Ganja Baby (feat Daddy Freddy) (3:15)
4. Fuck Off (feat Logan) (3:24)

Side 4
1.Bomb (feat Flowdan) (4:46)
2. High Rise (feat Manga Saint Hilare) (4:17)
3.The Missing (feat Roger Robinson) (4:35)

Thoma Bulwer returns with "Jandaze", his latest EP on Parasol Culture featuring long-time partner in crime Anna Wall. It follows Parasol 001, their first joint vinyl release, that sold out on the shelves gaining support from the likes of Mood II Swing and Cab Drivers plus on the airwaves via NTS. Their "Jandaze" EP has already been doing the rounds on the DJ circuit in Hackney Wick and beyond.

"Patience" was the result of a late night jam session with sync boxes, groove benders and the classic TR-909. After much fine-tuning, it’s been tried and tested by Cinthie on her recent Australia tour and is set to be a staple club cut for this summer.

Although "Insouciant" means a casual lack of concert, a lot of work went into making this one tick. It’s the most laid-back of the bunch, with Smallville-esque Juno 106 melodies perfect for the afterparty or warm up session. This goes out to the post-NYD loft party crew in The Wick where it was played for the first time. Try pronouncing this one at 7am in the morning…

"Fridge Speed" is a minimal house cut influenced by Thoma’s garage roots. Think rudely placed analogue synth stab melodies, ‘tuff’ skippy drums and big subs ideal for early hours and the capital's penchant for upfront house tackle.

"Egress" was made with long jam takes from Thoma’s modular system. Deep, dubby beats, evolving synths and textures make up this track that’s been road-tested on the world famous Fabric Room 1 sound system by Voigtmann in his extended set before Ricardo Villalobos.

Current support comes from Maya Jane Coles, Archie Hamilton Franck, Roger, Cinthie, Voigtmann, John Dimas. 

TRACK LISTING

A1. Thoma Bulwer & Anna Wall – Patience
A2. Thoma Bulwer & Anna Wall - Insouciant
B1. Thoma Bulwer - Fridge Speed
B2. Thoma Bulwer - Egress

In 2012, Tim Burgess of the Charlatans published his hugely successful and critically acclaimed memoir, Telling Stories. Tim really enjoyed his new role as an author, and so here it is: Tim Book Two - a tale of Tim's lifelong passion for records, the shops that sell them, and the people who make them.

In some ways, the biggest events in Tim's life happened in the couple of years after he had finished writing his first book rather than in the forty years before. So he had more to say, but instead of another autobiography he chose a different way of telling the story. Tim set himself a quest. He would get in touch with people he admired, and ask them to suggest an album for him to track down on his travels, giving an insight into what makes them tick. It would also offer a chance to see how record shops were faring in the digital age - one in which vinyl was still a much-treasured format.

Tim assembled his cast of characters, from Iggy Pop to Johnny Marr, David Lynch to Cosey Fanni Tutti. Texts, phone calls, emails and handwritten notes went out. Here is the tender, funny and surprising story of what came back.

Tim Burgess is a singer-songwriter and record label owner, best known as the lead singer of one of the defining bands of the 1990s, The Charlatans.

Tim was born in Salford but grew up in a village near Northwich, Cheshire. Leaving school at 16 to work at ICI, his real love was music and soon afterwards he was invited to join new band, The Charlatans. They went on to have 3 number 1 albums and 17 top 30 singles. For 12 years, Burgess lived in Los Angeles but now lives back in the UK. 

How inspiring it is to hear Tim Burgess conjuring up exciting and life-affirming sounds as he, almost inconceivably, enters his fifth decade on public duty. Frontman, singer, label boss, DJ and author, he’s been instrumental in so many great records over the years, always bringing enthusiasm, positivity and diversity of influence, which altogether light the way for those who hold him dear.

While in The Charlatans, Tim’s indefatigable energy has been a consistent fuel for the band across thirteen high-charting albums, his solo adventure has been no less extraordinary, scaling new heights in 2020 with his fifth solo release to date: ‘I Love The New Sky’. Released on Bella Union, it features wonderfully connective songs of everyday minutiae and universal experience, of love and anger, of loss and belonging, all united by elaborate yet natural arrangements and an effortless but deceptively expert way with melody.

‘I Love The New Sky’ differs from its predecessors in that all twelve tracks were self-penned. “In the past, I've written collaboratively,” says a characteristically, but rightfully excited Burgess. “(2012's) ‘Oh No I Love You’ was written with Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner in Nashville, and then ‘Same Language, Different Worlds’ was a collaboration with Peter Gordon who had worked extensively with Arthur Russell.”

The spark for ‘I Love The New Sky’ came after a year of touring another album, ‘As I Was Now’, which he’d made in 2008 but had a belated release ten years later. “That one was made in three days, just friends getting together”, he says – the amigos included Josh Hayward from The Horrors, Primal Scream Keyboard player Martin Duffy, Ladyhawke and My Bloody Valentine's Debbie Googe.

“I didn’t realise the album hadn't actually come out as I had a copy of it on my ipod so I figured that maybe everybody did. So, all those years later I thought it would make an interesting release for Record Store Day. It did really well, so I was approached to tour it for Independent Venue Week and after that a load of festivals asked us to play too. Average Sex were the support band that then became my band so it was a brilliant little tour. After that, I was really energized, and I thought, Right, I'm going to do another album, but really concentrate on making it a solo record, where I write everything on my own and all the songs are the very best I can make them.”

“I’d been listening to a lot of Isaac Hayes, Olivia Tremor Control, Carole King, Todd Rundgren, John Maus, Weyes Blood and Kevin Ayres - I’m not sure how much they have influenced the album but they were the impetus and inspiration.”

The twelve tunes of ‘I Love The New Sky’ were authored, he says, “in Norfolk, in the middle of the countryside, with the nearest shop eight miles away. There are no distractions, and I guess that way things happen. I wrote everything on acoustic guitar, and the chords were really considered. The guitar lines would lead the melody, and the melody would inform the lyrics – just dreaming away with music.”

So far, so Laurel Canyon, though ‘I Love The New Sky’ would end up sounding anything but hippie/folkie, thanks to a connection Tim made while living in a warehouse space in gritty Seven Sisters in North London, before heading to Norfolk.

“The Quietus had their office there,” he recalls. “I used to know pretty much all the stuff they were writing about, but then their album of the year for 2013 was ‘Glynnaestra’ by Grumbling Fur, and I really fell in love with it. I started talking to the band about working together. To cut a long story short I recorded a song with Grumbling Fur, they remixed two Charlatans tracks and a couple of Daniel O'Sullivan's solo albums came out on my label.”

As well as bass and drum duties on I Love The New Sky, O’Sullivan plays piano on much of the album, from the bouncing chamber-pop chords of ‘Sweetheart Mercury’ and the punchy chorus of ‘Empathy For The Devil’, through to ‘Comme D’Habitude’’s juxtaposition of blissfully rolling West Coast singer-songwriting and a complex Sparks-y Broadway-esque bridge, to the Velvets-y ramalama moves on ‘Warhol Me’ and ‘Undertow’’s sombre balladry.

The album was arranged and recorded quickly but not rushed: “Ideas happen fast, don’t they?” Tim reasons. The first sessions at Eve Studios in Stockport were with long-serving Charlatans engineer Jim Spencer. Tim, Daniel and Nik Void cut three tracks in two days, with Nik layering up modular synths in line with her previous day job in Factory Floor.

A third keyboard maestro entered the picture when Thighpaulsandra, a maverick musician and producer, came into the frame, best known for his work for Julian Cope, Coil Spiritualized and Elizabeth Fraser. I found out that he was based at ‘Rockfield’ [legendary residential facility near Monmouth, South Wales]. So I said, ‘Okay, that’s where we’re going to record the rest of it’.” As well as enlisting his know-how as an engineer, the cosmically-inclined Welshman also applied vintage synths and what Tim hazily calls “wizardry”.

For Burgess himself, the return to Rockfield was meaningful: “I hadn’t been there since we recorded ‘Tellin' Stories’” he says. “It was a matter of ending this long period of not going there, because after Rob died we couldn’t face it again. So nearly 25 years later, we returned and the positive feelings came back. Mark Collins [Charlatans guitarist] came down to play on ‘Empathy For The Devil’ and ‘Sweetheart Mercury’, and he actually had the same room as he had in 1996. It was like no time had passed at all.”

“I was in search of a certain sound there,” Tim adds, of his overriding motivation for returning. “I couldn’t exactly put my finger on what it was I was searching for, but I knew if it was there that I’d be able to find it”.

The results are nothing short of astounding. ‘I Love The New Sky’ has landed somewhere between Paul McCartney's ‘RAM’ and Brian Eno's ‘Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)' and certainly that recipe covers both the all-pervasive tunefulness and high quality. Stylistically, though, it runs the widest gamut, from 'Empathy For The Devil's gospel style rockabilly skip, through to the sophisticated song-craft of ‘Sweetheart Mercury’ and the Nilsson-esque ‘Sweet Old Sorry Me’, with the angst-y gravitas of ‘Undertow’, which Tim describes as “a mood-changer, influenced by 10cc.”

Lyrically, this might almost be a defining collection from Burgess after thirty years honing his craft. There’s plenty of typical lightness of touch of ‘Only Took A Year’s joking reference to the album’s twelve-month gestation period, and the quip, “what’s your favourite Cure LP? I like ‘Pornography! But it could be any one of three.”

Equally amusing in its self-referencing is ‘Warhol Me’ set to a soundtrack of New York bubblegum pop. ‘Sweet Old Sorry Me’ finds Burgess reminiscing on his former life in Los Angeles, but drolly updating the Steely Dan vernacular for the social-media era with the line, “I had to unsubscribe from that particular tribe”. ‘Lucky Creatures’, meanwhile, follows Tim on his day back in LA on tour, as he enjoys “tacos on the underground”, revisiting his old everyday haunts in Hollywood.

‘The Mall’, too, revels in its everyday setting: “it’s an ordinary feature of everyday life. I’m pretty sure that the ‘escalating drama on a moving staircase’ bit happened at Boots in Piccadilly Circus. Maybe they'll put a blue plaque there one day. I love it round there, it’s like the whole world is happening – but it’s taking a small idea and trying to make it into something more universal.”

‘I Got This’ has the line “the future is friendly”. Says Tim: “Everyone’s been going through a lot of tough times. And the future is uncertain. But you have to have that optimistic outlook – like, waking up in the morning and feeling that it’s gonna be a good day.”

There is a sense of community within this solo venture, which is emphasised when Tim and Nik’s six year old son joins in on ‘Comme D’Habitude’, and with the assembly of what Tim calls a “gang chorus”, in the spirit of Dexy’s Midnight Runners’ ‘Plan B’, for the closing chant of the album title on ‘Laurie’. This song is particularly heartfelt, as Tim mistily reveals, written for “someone I love who I never met”. The end section happened spontaneously at Rockfield: “Everybody that came into the studio, I asked them to sing, so there are about 20 people doing that vocal – Mark Collins, Daniel, our friend Ally, Nik, Thighpaulsandra – everybody singing it, and for this spirit that is loved.”

The final stages of the album’s year-long narrative arc were enacted at Jet Studio in Brussels, with the Echo Collective string section. Burgess looked on “mesmerised at what was happening to the songs, taking an even more magical turn.”

With that icing on the cake, Tim is in no doubt that he has his finest solo record under his belt. On this occasion, it’s coming out on time, and he’ll be touring it with a live ensemble featuring Daniel O’Sullivan, Thighpaulsandra, another O Genesis artiste called Keel Her, and renowned avant-jazz violinist Peter Broderick, who plays on ‘’Empathy…’ and will recreate the Echo Collective parts, too. So, the community will grow. Just like Tim says, “the future is friendly.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: Tim’s fifth solo album is his best by a mile and what’s even sweeter is that he wrote every song totally by himself. It’s the quintessential Tim experience; warm, open-hearted, playful and experimental, but absolutely always with a catchy pop hook at the centre of everything. There’s a sense of wonder and a carefree spirit at play, but don’t be fooled; these twelve ditties have sophisticated arrangements and are expertly embellished with sax, strings and piano, the latter provided by Grumbling Fur’s Daniel O’Sullivan. You could call this soft psyche or indie easy listening except Tim always throws a spanner in the works, a mad detour or delightful quirk. It’s a record full of surprises. Having warmed the hearts of a nation with his wonderful listening parties this summer, Tim has made the kind of album we’ll all be pouring over ourselves for many years to come.

TRACK LISTING

1. Empathy For The Devil
2. Sweetheart Mercury
3. Comme D'Habitude
4. Sweet Old Sorry Me
5. The Warhol Me
6. Lucky Creatures
7. The Mall
8. Timothy
9. Only Took A Year
10. I Got This
11. Undertow
12. Laurie

This 6-track EP contains two superb new tracks, “Yours. To Be”, and “The Ascent Of The Ascended”, recorded soon after the album was finished, as well as four tracks recorded in New York City back in March as a live session for Paste magazine. Three of the tracks are from I Love The New Sky alongside a new version of The Charlatan’s classic ‘The Only One I Know’.

Of the lead track, “Yours. To Be”, Burgess says: “At the tail end of the glory of the night before - with all the hope and beauty that the following morning brings. Away from the glare of the party - like the calm after the storm has left town. It’s a feeling that’s so pure and uncluttered. It’s around a while, then real life starts to creep back in. It’s all about making the most of moments as they are happening .”  

Burgess goes on to say: “There was an energy that came from recording the album with such a brilliant band - I didn’t want it to end, I wanted to record a bit of a magnum opus, which is where Ascent of the Ascended came in. I’d always wanted to work with Charles Hayward from This Heat, so we have him a ring and he said yeah. With “Yours. To Be” being almost like an instant feeling you get in a moment, very rarely in your life - the two songs are so different but they somehow complement each other. So an EP was the perfect idea.”

“We had so many plans for playing live this year - from South by Southwest to Glastonbury and everything in between. But that wasn’t to be. We played four shows in New York before lockdown happened - so our session for Paste Magazine was such a rare event, we’ve included the songs to complete the EP.”

TRACK LISTING

1. The Ascent Of The Ascended
2. Yours. To Be
3. Laurie (Paste Session)
4. The Mall (Paste Session)
5. The Only One I Know (Paste Session)
6. Undertow (Paste Session)

Limited edition pressing of 300 copies on 7” of “Inspired Again” taken from the Record Store Day album “As I Was Now”. The single comes backed with an exclusive track, a cover of Suicide’s “Cheree” .

TRACK LISTING

Side One: Inspired Again
Side Two: Cheree

Tim Burgess is lead singer of one of the defining bands of the ’90s, The Charlatans. In One Two Another, the singer presents and annotates his lyrics – from The Charlatans to The Chemical Brothers – allowing an insight into a very idiosyncratic and creative song-writing process.

As Tim writes: ‘That’s the thing. I imagine almost everybody writes songs in different ways, but then again each person may use all the different ways to come up with the lyrics to a song. From lists to experiences and stories, there are no rules. A good song is a good song whoever writes it and however the writing happens. I only know what I do. In this here book I have collected some of the ideas and thoughts and words.’

‘Tim Burgess is a crusader and vinyl’s epic voyager. He knows why pop’s art, a culture and a cure. Learn and listen. He knows good things’ Johnny Marr

‘You can’t feel blue around Tim. He makes you feel happy, not just about music but about life. Even the most cynical of souls (mine) become infected by his gorgeous energy. Plus he gives good vinyl’ Sharon Horgan

Telling Stories by Tim Burgess of The Charlatans is one of the decade's most revealing rock books

'Clear, honest. An unusually frank and well-written rock memoir' The Times

The Charlatans. Madchester. Britpop. Taking on the world. Here are the highs, the lows, the joys, the agonies, and the stories of what it's like to be in a rock band, as told by front man and survivor, Tim Burgess.

'Like the best bits of every cautionary rock star tale . . . there is armed robbery and smuggling. There's serious fraud. There are near and actual death experiences, divorce, industrial cocaine consumption and magnificent cameos from Madonna, Alan McGee, Ronnie Wood, Joe Strummer, LA drug dealer Harry The Dog, and Joaquin Phoenix. A minor classic' Q

'A vivid read' Independent on Sunday

The Charlatans' Tim Burgess invites you to the greatest listening party of all time.

In 2020 when the world was forced to hit pause on live in-person gigs, Tim Burgess found an ingenious way to bring people together by inviting artists and bands, from Paul McCartney and New Order to Michael Kiwanuka and Kylie, to host real-time album playbacks via Twitter. Relive 100 of the most memorable listening parties here with stories from bands and fans, rarely seen backstage images, and unique insider info from those who created these iconic albums.

"Hey Twitter, let's all say a big thanks to Tim for these brilliant events this year! We really needed them. So much great music being talked about.'" - Sir Paul McCartney

"Twitter being used for something really positive." - Mary Beard

Has there been a busier musician over the last two years? A more prolific artist? More creative? More heroic?

Tim Burgess – as self-effacing a band leader, solo star, label runner, repeat memoirist and all-round caffeinated can-do kid as you’ll find – would certainly shrink from the latter accolade. “A hero??” he’d likely mutter with a shake of his boyish mop. “For playing some records?”

Yes, Tim, we would say that. And not just because with the May 2020, mid-lockdown appearance of I Love The New Sky, his fifth solo album, he undauntedly pushed on with releasing an album that brought much-needed sunshine to a world enveloped in gloom.

Over the course of the first year of the pandemic, Tim’s Twitter Listening Parties were a lifeline to many. At a time when the world shut down, we all retreated indoors, alone, and cancelled gigs were the least of our worries, the North Country Boy’s idea of utilising social media to unite us round a digital turntable was inspired.

Meanwhile, Burgess was writing. And writing. And writing. From September 2020 to summer 2021, ideas poured out of Burgess. He’d been encouraged by Simon Raymonde, boss of his record label Bella Union ¬– and, of course, a former Cocteau Twin. He applied a musician’s logic: if you can’t tour your last album, write a new one. Then, when you can tour again, you’ll have two albums’ worth of songs to play.

Well, now, arguably, Burgess has three albums’ worth of songs to perform live. Typical Music is a 22-track double, a blockbuster set of songs that are as expansive and diverse as they are rich. As fun as they are funky. That embrace heartache and love. That run the gamut, from ABBA (in the shape of guest vocalist Pearl Charles, whose own brilliant Magic Mirror album is the sound of the magic Swedes doin' disco) to Zappa (free-form studio experimentation is go!)

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1 Here Comes The Weekend
2 Curiosity
3 Time That We Call Time
4 Flamingo
5 Revenge Through Art
6 Kinectic Connection
Side B
1 Typical Music
2 Take Me With You
3 After This
4 The Centre Of Me (Is A Symphony Of You)
5 When I See You
Side C
1 Magic Rising
2 Tender Hooks
3 L.O.S.T Lost / Will You Take A Look At My Hand Please
4 A Bloody Nose
5 In May
Side D
1 Slacker (Than I've Ever Been)
2 View From Above
3 A Quarter To Eight
4 Sooner Than Yesterday
5 Sure Enough
6 What's Meant For You Won't Pass By You

O.Genesis present a super Limited 12" Pressing, exclusive to Piccadilly Records, of remixes from Tim Burgess' recent, critically acclaimed, album "Oh No, I Love You".

Seahawks delivers a stunning 11 minute remix of "A Gain//Stoned Alone Again Or (Seahawks Remix)", exclusive to 12", whilst on the flip Tandy Love aka Andy Votel brings his remix skills to "Hours".

TRACK LISTING

A – A Gain // Stone Alone Again Or (Seahawks Remix)
B – Hours // Tandy Love (Andy Votel Remix)

Whatever aspect you might like about these DIY Indie Pop Superheroes, you'll find it here, just a little bit more. Garbage Island, The Burning Hell's newest album, is a danceable romp through a fractured landscape of apocalypses near and far, celebrations of failure and escape, a dense medley of pop culture references, and plenty of birdlife. It will be released on June 24 2022 on BB*ISLAND and the band will spend much of the autumn and winter touring it through Europe, North America and Australia. Along the way, the album narrates both the need for action and the joys of refusing the hustle, imagines a futuristic nostalgia for the days of post-apocalyptic touring life, celebrates escape and solitude, and concludes with the hesitant suggestion that the end of the world can't last forever. The songs feature the omnivorous genre- bending and rapid-fire surrealist lyricism the band has been known for in the past, but while there is humour and playfulness in abundance, there are few jokes. It's either the darkest record The Burning Hell has made, the most reassuring, or the most fun. It might be all three.

"Making a record about a future world of disintegration and renewal while the real world seemed to be collapsing around us felt right." say Mathias Kom.

The Burning Hell is the ongoing musical project of songwriter Mathias Kom and multi- instrumentalists Ariel Sharratt and Jake Nicoll, often including additional comrades and collaborators. Their densely populated genre-shifting songs are packed with an abundance of literary, historical, cultural, and pop-cultural forebears, heroes and villains, subjects and objects, stories and hooks. They move with heavy rhyme and a light step, incorporating a frequent fixation on apocalypse and ruin into work that celebrates participation in a surprising, delightful, and even occasionally beautiful world. Which is to say they're good dance partners and they want to dance with you. The Burning Hell are DIY in the best possible sense-underlining the "Do"- affirming a commitment to the political power of sharing music. It is a profoundly optimistic gesture, by way of killer tunes, exuberant hooks, and joyful live performances.

TRACK LISTING

01. No Peace (4:34)
02. Nigel The Gannet (3:41)
03. Birdwatching (2:06)
04. Dirty Microphones (3:54)
05. The Last Normal Day (2:48)
06. Empty World (2:34)
07. Minor Characters (2:39)
08. All I Need (4:11)
09. Swan Boat (3:07)
10. Bird Queen Of Garbage Island (5:04)
11. Speechlessness (4:22)
12. The End Of The End Of The World (4:25)

Public Library, the album by Canadian indie rock/folk rock band The Burning Hell was released in 2016, and has been sold out for several years. Now it returns as a limited edition coloured LP. Public Library was another high point in surreal humour, virtuosic wordplay wrapped in smart indie rock songs.

Revival Beach, the eighth LP from Canada's The Burning Hell, highlights the musical diversity of the band, shifting from jangly garage rock to 50s ballads, rembetika-tinged instrumentals, waltzes, and delicate, tiny bedtime songs.

An 8 piece Scottish-Canadian ‘supergroup’ whose sound can be described as indie pop meets carnival rock, The Burns Unit include Karine Polwart, King Creosote, Emma Pollock and Future Pilot AKA among their ranks.

The Burns Unit is: award winning folk singer Karine Polwart, alt-folk royalty King Creosote, indie queen Emma Pollock, Indo-Caledonian pop artist Future Pilot AKA, multi-instrumentalist Kim Edgar, drummer / producer Mattie Foulds, pianist Michael Johnston and virtuosic rapper MC Soom T. Stepping out of their more familiar styles as solo artists, they have combined to create an exhilarating debut album. With elements of cabaret, dub, synth-pop, folk and underground rock, it is a cohesive and emotionally resonant recording that is both theatrical and intimate and walks the line from dark to playful and back again.

Tré Burt is the newest artist to sign to John Prine's Oh Boy Records, following a serendipitous discovery, Oh Boy's Jody Whelan found Tré Burt's music and was immediately enamoured.

Following Burt’s showcase at Americana fest in Nashville he has now become one of only two artists who have been signed to Oh Boy records in the past 15 years, both signings in 2019.

The kings of street punk are back! This is the theme song to the soon to be released British gangster movie "Hell To Pay". This three tracker features two new tracks plus a killer cover of the classic "Do Anything You Want To Do" by Eddie And The Hot Rods.

First released in 1985 this Oi!-punk album is now reissued on picture CD. It was the band's second studio album and was a top 20 smash. Now includes the ultra rare "Get Out of My House" EP as bonus tracks.

New single by the Butterflies Of Love, a taster for the upcoming "The New Patient" album. A pop song reminiscent of the great Creation-era 80s guitar bands. Recorded with producer Mike Deming (The Lilys, Beachwood Sparks). The B-side "I'll Be Your Excorcist" is a collaboration with Mark Mulcahy.

Before settling in to make Jazzhound, their most extravagant, ambitious, and fully realized album to date, the Buttertones had to face the hounds of real life. Prior to a headlining summer tour in support of Midnight in a Moonless Dream, a fiery blast of an album capturing the band at their purest distillation, drummer/multi-instrumentalist Modesto had a sudden and serious medical scare involving his eye, requiring emergency surgery. He lost half his vision (it will hopefully return with a future operation), and the tour had to be cancelled. Music took a backseat for the time being gave us some perspective on our health says bassist Sean Redman,the fact that we have to look after ourselves and one another first, or else the music just cant happen Cobin, Redman, and vocalist/guitarist Richard Araiza have been playing together for seven years now, having first come together for a self-titled debut in 2013; along with London Guzman on sax and keys, they’ve come to establish themselves as one of L.As tightest groups, conquering stages from Coachella to Tropicalia. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Phantom Eyes
2. Denial You Win Again
3. Rise And Shine
4. Fade Away Gently
5. Dirty Apartment
6. Bebop
7. Blind Passenger
8. Velour
9. Infinite Tenderness
10. Jazzhound

The first word of the album says it all: 'Bang!' On their new album Midnight In A Moonless Dream the Buttertones dig deep and discover something dark. Where their previous album Gravedigging played like the soundtrack of a good spaghetti-western heist movie, Midnight moves to the dark cityscapes of '70s New York and tells the story itself - a perfect and intricate crime executed by a crew of professionals under cover of night; a biting sound befitting of CBGB's while staying true to their LA roots. There are echoes of Suicide and Bauhaus, nods to the spirit of sax and violence that powered the Deadbeats. Midnight is music made for dancers but also for doomed romancers that will appeal to fans of The Cramps, The Gun Club, Car Seat Headrest, Black Lips, King Tuff, Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall,
and Parquet Courts. Released on Innovative Leisure, the LA label that also brought you the Allah-Las, BADBADNOTGOOD, Hanni El Khatib, Nick Waterhouse, and more.

For fans of The Cramps, The Gun Club, Car Seat Headrest, Black Lips, King Tuff, Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Parquet Courts

TRACK LISTING

1. At The Dojo
2. Baby C4
3. Midnight In A Moonless Dream
4. Old Nick's Still Got It
5. Winks And Smiles
6. Don't Cry Alone
7. Jungle
8. Darling, I Need Time But Don't Really Know Why
9. You And Your Knife
10. Brickhead
11. Eros