Barry Adamson, original member of Magazine and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and a celebrated solo artist and composer, returns with the soundtrack to 'SCALA!!!', the acclaimed documentary chronicling the history of London’s most infamous independent cinema. Known for his film work, including collaborations with David Lynch, Adamson brings his trademark blend of noir, jazz, funk and atmosphere to a score that’s as evocative as the Scala itself.

The album captures the cinema’s spirit: late nights, sticky floors, sleazy underground screenings, and the intoxicating world of subversive art. Across its 22 tracks, Adamson conjures moods that shift from brooding and cinematic to playful and chaotic, echoing the wild programming and cultural rebellion the Scala embodied.

The film, directed by Jane Giles and Ali Catterall, tells the story of the legendary King’s Cross repertory cinema (1978–1993). Featuring interviews with staff, regulars and icons including John Waters, Mark Moore, Mary Harron, Isaac Julien and Ben Wheatley, alongside rare archival footage it celebrates a venue that became a crucible for counterculture, sexploitation, horror, kung-fu, LGBTQ+ cinema, live music, and cult double bills.

Barry Adamson’s original score plunges us into the underworld of late-night London - a vivid soundtrack to underground cinema and cultural rebellion.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: A superb soundtrack from Adamson honouring the Scala cinema in King's Cross, and roaring out of the speakers with a mix of gritty, distorted grungy rock and sleazy funk and really everything in-between. A perfectly manicured tribute from one of the greats.

TRACK LISTING

1. SCALA!!! (Opening Title)
2. Timelines
3. Scala Posters (Mondo Bongo)
4. As Steve Woolley Sees It
5. Babs Johnson Is Divine
6. Iggy And Lou And Mick Rock Too
7. Latex Gloves
8. Acid Celluloid
9. Scala Cats
10. Sodom And Tomorrow
11. Barry's Iranian Embassy Blues
12. Spandau Politics
13. Another All Nighter
14. One Of Us / Sticky Floors Atmos
15. Pink Narcissus
16. Black Leather Lovers
17. Back To The Cats
18. Jane's Day Out In Court
19. King's Cross Skyline
20. The Party's Over
21. SCALA!!! (End Title)
22. Scalarama (Outtake)

Here, Barry Adamson and Pan Sonic is performed by the Hljomeyki choir and Pan Sonic. "...a blend of an Icelandic choir performing Barry's (treated) microtonal, urgent score is slowly infiltrated, first with an electronic breath and then by well-rounded bass that evolves into a satisfactory crescendo before the scary humhum returns... highly successful" (Vital Weekly). The Hafler Trio's wonderful extended reworking "weaves strong drones together before levelling them to start anew. At times it sounds eerily like the soundtrack to "the monolith" from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, but the intermittent digital crackles and processing bring the listener forcefully up to the present tense. If you are interested in abstract and experimental electronic music, the Hafler Trio deliver a solid remix". Originally released on CD by Icelandic label Kitchen Motors in 2001, now released on vinyl for the first time by Cold Spring. Produced by Barry Adamson, Jóhann Jóhannsson, and Pan Sonic. The cover art features Icelandic electronic composer Magnús Blöndal Jóhannsson having a brain scan performed while listening to this disc.

TRACK LISTING

1. The Hymn Of The 7th Illusion
2. ""
3. The Illusion Of The 7th Hymn

2024 ushers in a brand new Barry Adamson album entitled, ‘Cut To Black’ The album swaggeringly embraces Adamson’s trademark genre hopping compositions, covering Pop, Soul, Jazz, Hip Hop and Gospel.

A must for fans of all things Cinematic Soul, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Post Punk, Massive Attack, Unloved and much more

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: There's an element (and not only in the cover) of Film Noire in Adamson's work, with the storytale lyricism and staggered-cool of the instrumentation, but there's also a lot more at play here. There are hints of slow-moving soul and soaring gospel hints woven through Adamson's thoroughly unique indie-rock backdrop, resulting in a varied and entirely singular album.

TRACK LISTING

1. The Last Words Of Sam Cooke
2. Demon Lover
3. Cut To Black
4. Manhattan Satin
5. These Would Be Blues
6. Please Don’t Call On Me
7. Amen White Jesus
8. One Last Midnight
9. Was It A Dream?
10. Waiting For The End Of Time

Initially released in 2012, I Will Set You Free amalgamated elements of Barry’s previous work, resulting in an album that is unmistakably Barry Adamson. Like many of Adamson’s records, the album is a genre odyssey that jumps from garage rock rock, to blues, to new-wave pop, with the adventurous brass section injecting an acid jazz touch. His overwhelming desire to examine cultural shifts and embrace them within the quest to improve oneself that often centres in Adamson’s art is clearly present in I Will Set You Free. This subsequently makes it a quintessential Barry Adamson record that fits right in with the back catalogue. 

TRACK LISTING

A1 Get Your Mind Right
A2 Black Holes In My Brain
A3 Turnaround
A4 The Power Of Suggestion
A5 Destination
B1 The Trigger City Blues
B2 Looking To Love Somebody
B3 The Sun And The Sea
B4 If You Love Her
B5 Stand In

Barry’s 2016 album, Know Where To Run, was produced by Barry himself and recorded in Brighton with Paul Pascoe, whilst WTNSS mixed and provided additional production at the legendary Dean Street Studios. The concept behind the album emerged when Barry started taking photos during a Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds North American tour, playing with the idea of traversing different states of the human condition and different states across America. The result was an audio/visual project inspired by these pictures, with the record being presented alongside a curated photobook. 

TRACK LISTING

A1 In Other Worlds
A2 Cine City
A3 Come Away
A4 Death Takes A Holiday
A5 Claw And Wing
B1 Texas Crash
B2 Mr Greed
B3 Up In The Air
B4 Evil Kind

Barry Adamson takes us Back to the Catalogue with a series of reissues on coloured vinyl and CD.

Originally released in the mid-2000s, Stranger On The Sofa is an album tied together by its mysterious cinematic composure. Each track is used to demonstrate the breadth of musicianship and re-presentation of countless timeless genres, moving in between electronica and jazz with shadowy ambience scattered throughout. Nick Plytas and Adrian Owusu provided their expertise on the organ and slide guitar, with Barry playing almost every other instrument. Composing, performing, recording and producing Stranger On The Sofa undoubtedly makes it an album that represents Adamson fully embracing the DIY aesthetic from where he began.

TRACK LISTING

A1 Here In The Hole
A2 The Long Way Back Again
A3 Officer Bentley's Fairly Serious Dilemma
B1 Who Killed Big Bird?
B2 Theresa Green
B3 The Sorrow And The Pity
B4 My Friend The Fly
C1 Inside Of Your Head
C2 You Sold Your Dreams
C3 Déjà Morte
D1 Dissemble
D2 Free Love

Originally released in 2008, Back To The Cat, was in keeping with the artist who developed the concept of the imaginary soundtrack, with every song building a compelling narrative around Barry’s lifelong investigation of identity, sexuality, race, spirituality and society. The record picked up the threads of his previous work and continued to showcase his musical ambidexterity covering noir jazz, sun-drenched pop ballads, fractious funk, heavenly blues and subversive soul.

TRACK LISTING

A1 The Beaten Side Of Town
A2 Straight 'Til Sunrise
A3 Spend A Little Time
A4 Shadow Of Death Hotel
A5 I Could Love You
B1 Walk On Fire
B2 Flight
B3 Civilization
B4 People
B5 Psycho_Sexual

Barry Adamson’s Steal Away EP released for the first time on vinyl via Mute. The EP was written and recorded at the time Adamson was writing his memoir ‘Up Above the City, Down Beneath the Stars’. The record ended up becoming an intrinsic part of the book writing process with Barry explaining, “The book is the past, the record is the past present. I needed to write it to get through the book, to stay present.” Sitting amongst Barry’s diverse catalogue, Steal Away EP presents a refreshing vibrancy and western-like feel that further demonstrates Adamson’s multifaceted ability in songwriting. 

TRACK LISTING

A1 Let’s Steal Away
A2 Broken Moments
B1 The Climber
B2 Sundown County Ft. Big Walt Daniels

Memento Mori charts Adamson’s career from 1978’s Magazine track, ‘Parade’ (co-written by Adamson, from their debut album Real Life), to his work as founding member, alongside Nick Cave, of the Bad Seeds (‘From Her To Eternity’, co-written by Adamson); through his nine solo albums, from 1988’s Moss Side Story to the latest Love Sick Dick EPs, bringing everything up to date with a brand new unreleased track, ‘The Hummingbird’.

STAFF COMMENTS

Laura says: When people talk about Manchester music legends, Barry Adamson barely gets a mention, but as this compilation demonstrates, he's been responsible for some of the most incredible, genre-bending music to come out of Manchester in the last 30 years, blending post-punk, jazz, blues, soundtracks, and everything in between in his own inimitable way. Stand out tracks include "The Man With The Golden Arm" from the briliantly noir-ish "Moss Side Story" and "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Pelvis" from 1996's "Oedipus Schmoedipus" featuring Jarvis Cocker on vocals, along with "Parade" by Magazine and "From Her To Eternity" from his days as a Bad Seed.

TRACK LISTING

The Man With The Golden Arm (Moss Side Story,1988)
Jazz Devil (As Above, So Below, 1998)
Civilization (Back To The Cat, 2008)
Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Pelvis (Oedipus Schmoedipus, 1996)*
The Snowball Effect (The Negro Inside Me, 1993)
The Sun And The Sea (I Will Set You Free, 2012)
The Big Bamboozle (Oedipus Schmoedipus, 1996)
I Got Clothes – ACR:MCR Rework (Love Sick Dick Remix EP, 2017)
Come Hell Or High Water (As Above, So Below, 1998)
Something Wicked This Way Comes (Oedipus Schmoedipus, 1996)
The Long Way Back Again (Single Version, 2006)
Up In The Air (Single Version, 2016)
007, A Fantasy Bond Theme (Soul Murder, 1992)
Sweet Misery (Love Sick Dick, 2017)
The Hummingbird (Memento Mori, 2018)
Parade – Magazine (Real Life, 1978)
From Her To Eternity – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (From Her To Eternity, 1984)
*with Jarvis Cocker

New album from Barry Adamson, and his most accessible to date. Still with his usual cool, dark vibes and filmic layered moods, but with an added dimension of lush, funky, soul-jazz. Add to that great musicianship and deep production and you've got yet another absolutely superb Barry Adamson album. Totally essential.