15 track compilation selected by Love And Rockets from across their entire career and all labels. Contains some rare 7" single versions previously unavailable on any albums and all the tracks are remastered from the original tapes. Also features exclusive new sleeve notes by Love And Rockets themselves.

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2022 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

This edition will be pressed on purple vinyl and has been mastered from the original analogue master tapes. Dali's Car was formed in 1984 Peter Murphy (vocalist) (Bauhaus), Mick Karn (bassist), keyboardist, guitarist, saxophonist) (Japan) and Paul Vincent Lawford (rhythm construction). They took their name from a Captain Beefheart song from his album Trout Mask Replica. 

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. Dalis Car
2. His Box
3. Cornwall Stone
4. Artemis
Side B
1. Create And Melt
2. Moonlife
3. The Judgement Is The Mirror

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2022 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

This edition has been remastered from the original analogue tapes on to 24 bit HD audio and will be pressed on blue vinyl

This, their fourth album, came out in 1995. It was their most ambitious and focused album to date, and returned them right back to the number one slot in the charts. The album also spawned three UK top 40 singles, “Crashin’ In” , “Just Lookin’” and “Just When You’re Thinkin’ Things Over” which peaked at no. 12

When the Charlatans started out, there were countless bands “similar” to them, but they immediately catapulted to the forefront of the Madchester scene, standing alongside such icons as The Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays.

The band was/is successful because in addition to being able to ride the groove, they could also write amazing songs. These were the gifts that made them among the greatest British survivors of our time, rolling through tragedy and stylistic changes to amass a terrific body of work - one that was modern enough to play in clubs but classic enough to stand the test of time, and one that continues to grow to this day. They have notched up thirteen Top 40 studio albums – three of them number ones – alongside twenty two hit singles, four of them Top 10.

STAFF COMMENTS

Laura says: By the release of this album, they'd well and truly shaken off the Madchester / baggy tag. Previous album, Up To Our Hips had proved they were so much more than that, and this album was even more ambitious, perfectly combining killer melodies, dancefloor nous and great songwriting. One of my all time favourite albums!

TRACK LISTING

1. Nine Acre Court
2. Feeling Holy
3. Just Lookin'
4. Crashin' In
5. Bullet Comes
6. Here Comes A Soul Saver
7. Just When You're Thinkin' Things Over
8. Tell Everyone
9. Toothache
10. No Fiction
11. See It Through
12. Thank You

Beggars Arkive is excited to reissue The Fall’s 10th studio album, 1988’s THE FRENZ EXPERIMENT. Available as an expanded edition on CD and LP, the releases both contain the original album, plus singles and B-Sides. The notes included with both formats contain brand new interviews conducted by Daryl Easley in May 2020.

“I was clearing out the other day and I came across a review of Frenz Experiment, saying how this could have been great, how it could have been like T. Rex’s Electric Warrior. I never attempted to make an album like T-Rex. I don’t see the point in anybody trying to make an album like T-Rex, although people do. I don’t mind it when journalists make fair comparisons, when they’ve done their homework. But comparing Frenz to Electric Warrior is plain daft.”
- Mark E Smith, Renegade – The Lives And Tales Of Mark E Smith, 2008

STAFF COMMENTS

Darryl says: Beggars Arkive re-issue The Fall’s 10th studio album, 1988’s ‘The Frenz Experiment’. Released at the height of their mainstream popularity, this expanded edition (on vinyl and CD) features the monstrous “Hit The North” as well as the cover versions of “Victoria” and “There’s A Ghost In My House”, alongside firm fan favourites like “Carrier Bag Man”, and “Bremen Nacht”.

TRACK LISTING

2LP

A1 Frenz
A2 Carry Bag Man
A3 Get A Hotel
A4 Victoria
A5 Athlete Cured
B1 In These Times
B2 The Steak Place
B3 Bremen Nacht (Vinyl Version)
B4 Guest Informant (Excerpt)
B5 Oswald Defence Lawyer
C1 There's A Ghost In My House (from There’s A Ghost In My House Single)
C2 Sleep Debt Snatches (from There’s A Ghost In My House Single)
C3 Mark'll Sink Us (from There’s A Ghost In My House Single)
C4 Haf Found Bormann(from There’s A Ghost In My House Single)
C5 Bremen Nacht Run Out (from The Bremen Nacht Run Out Single)
C6 Northerns In Europ (from The Hit The North Single)
D1 Hit The North Part 1 (from The Hit The North Single)
D2 Australians In Europe (from The Hit The North Single)
D3 Guest Informant (B-side From The Victoria Single)
D4 Tuff Life Booogie (B-side From The Victoria Single)
D5 Twister (B-side From The Victoria Single)

2CD

CD1
1 Frenz
2 Carry Bag Man
3 Get A Hotel
4 Victoria
5 Athlete Cured
6 In These Times
7 The Steak Place
8 Bremen Nacht (Vinyl Version)
9 Guest Informant (Excerpt)
10 Oswald Defence Lawyer
11 Bremen Nacht Run Out (from The Bremen Nacht Run Out Single, Included W. Initial Pressing Of The Album)
12 Mark'll Sink Us (2) (from The Bremen Nacht Run Out Single)
CD2
1 There's A Ghost In My House (from There’s A Ghost In My House Single)
2 Sleep Debt Snatches (from There’s A Ghost In My House Single)
3 Mark'll Sink Us (from There’s A Ghost In My House Single)
4 Haf Found Bormann (from There’s A Ghost In My House Single)
5 Hit The North Part 1 (from The Hit The North Single)
6 Australians In Europe (from The Hit The North Single)
7 Northerns In Europ (from The Hit The North Single)
8 Guest Informant (B-side From The Victoria Single)
9 Tuff Life Booogie (B-side From The Victoria Single)
10 Twister (B-side From The Victoria Single)
11 Bremen Nacht (Alternative)
12 A Day In The Life (from Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father NME Compilation, 1988)
13 Frenz (1987 Janice Long BBC Session) *
14 There’s A Ghost In My House (1987 Janice Long BBC Session) *
15 Get A Hotel (1987 Janice Long BBC Session) *
16 Haf Found Boorman (1987 Janice Long BBC Session) *

* - Previously Unreleased

Replicas is the second and final album by Gary Numan + Tubeway Army and was originally released in 1979. It was the first album in what Numan referred to as the “machine” phase of his career.  “Are Friends’ Electric?” was a surprise #1 UK hit single and this album was a huge breakthrough. Replicas began as a concept album, based on a book that Numan never completed about a futuristic metropolis where androids with cloned human skin called “Machmen” team up with machines to keep citizens controlled under fear and force.

TRACK LISTING

Me! I Disconnect From You
Are 'Friends' Electric?
The Machman
Praying To The Aliens
Down In The Park
You Are In My Vision
Replicas
It Must Have Been Years
When The Machines Rock
I Nearly Married A Human

30-year Anniversary edition of Buffalo Tom’s epic second album Birdbrain. Available on mint green vinyl, the album has been out of print for years.

Buffalo Tom (Bill Janovitz, Chris Colbourn and Tom Maginnis) formed at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1984 - a breeding ground of post punk guitar bands like Dinosaur Jr. and Pixies. The three longstanding bandmates recognize the achievement of their longevity as a creative unit. Initially offering a raw, propulsive sound that emphasized Janovitz’s imposing guitar squall on such early releases as 1989’s Buffalo Tom and 1990’s Birdbrain, Buffalo Tom’s early approach gave way to a more melodic, yet no less distinctive, style on 1992’s Let Me Come Over (including the hit ballad “Taillights Fade”), 1993’s Big Red Letter Day (including the hit “Soda Jerk”) and 1995’s Sleepy Eyed.

Their friendship with J. Mascis helped the band’s career take off by assisting with the production on the band’s first two albums; their self-titled debut, and Birdbrain.

Since Birdbrain’s release 30 years ago, many songs from it album have become live favourites including the epic title track “Birdbrain”, and “Enemy”. Trouser Press wrote that “[Birdbrain] boasts most of Buffalo Tom’s best songs.”

Buffalo Tom continues to make fantastic music, and they only get better with age. Their most recent album Quiet and Peace, came out in 2018.

TRACK LISTING

Birdbrain
Skeleton Key
Caress
Guy Who Is Me
Enemy
Crawl
Fortune Teller
Baby
Directive
Bleeding Heart

Beggars Banquet release two special titles to commemorate the legendary albums Gary Numan/Tubeway Army issued in 1979 – these editions are titled Replicas – The First Recordings, and the debut under his own name, The Pleasure Principle – The First Recordings.

While both of these albums have remained in print, these releases concentrate on the early recordings made prior to the completed albums and present the evolution of the albums. The tracks have been sequenced as they appeared on the original tapes and the audio has been taken from the high resolution digital transfers made by John Dent in 2007. One of the Freerange studio tapes suffered irreparable print through damage on two tracks so they were not used in the 2009 release. However an alternative source has been located so the tapes can now be presented as complete for this release.

In late 1978, Gary Numan was booked into a small studio in London’s Chinatown with the same musicians that had played on Tubeway Army’s debut album, released a month earlier. Two stereo master tapes were compiled of eleven tracks. A month later they again went to Gooseberry Studio and recorded an additional three tracks, including “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” and “Replicas”. At the same time, the band recorded a session for the BBC’s John Peel show, taping alternate versions of three songs from the December recordings. Finally Numan returned to an upgraded studio, Marthus Music, in February to overdub and remix the Gooseberry recordings into their released versions. Only one alternative out take still exists (“Down In The Park”) which is included in this release.

TRACK LISTING

CD
DISC 1
1. You Are In My Vision (Early Version)
2. The Machmen (Early Version)
3. Down In The Park (Early Version)
4. Do You Need The Service? (Early Version)
5. The Crazies
6. When The Machines Rock (Early Version)
7. Me! I Disconnect From You (Early Version)
8. Praying To The Aliens (Early Version)
9.It Must Have Been Years (Early Version)
10. Only A Downstat
11. I Nearly Married A Human 3 (Early Version)
12. Replicas (Early Version)
13. Are ‘Friends’ Electric? (Early Version)

DISC 2
1. Replicas (Early Version 2)
2. Down In The Park (Early Version 2)
3. Are ‘Friends’ Electric? (Early Version 2)
4. We Have A Technical
5. Replicas (Early Version 3)
6. Me, I Disconnect From You (BBC Peel Session)
7. Down In The Park (BBC Peel Session)
8. I Nearly Married A Human (BBC Peel Session)

LP
A1. You Are In My Vision (Early Version)
A2. The Machmen (Early Version)
A3. Down In The Park (Early Version)
A4. Do You Need The Service? (Early Version)
A5. The Crazies
A6. When The Machines Rock (Early Version)
B1. Me! I Disconnect From You (Early Version)
B2. Praying To The Aliens (Early Version)
B3. It Must Have Been Years (Early Version)
B4. Only A Downstat
B5. I Nearly Married A Human 3 (Early Version)
C1. Replicas (Early Version)
C2. Are ‘Friends’ Electric? (Early Version)
C3. We Have A Technical
C4. Down In The Park (Outtake Mix)
D1. Are ‘Friends’ Electric? (Early Version 2)
D2. Replicas (Early Version 2)
D3. Me, I Disconnect From You (BBC Peel Session)
D4. Down In The Park (BBC Peel Session)
D5. I Nearly Married A Human (BBC Peel Session)

Beggars Banquet release two special titles to commemorate the legendary albums Gary Numan/Tubeway Army issued in 1979 – these editions are titled Replicas – The First Recordings, and the debut under his own name, The Pleasure Principle – The First Recordings.

While both of these albums have remained in print, these releases concentrate on the early recordings made prior to the completed albums and present the evolution of the albums. The tracks have been sequenced as they appeared on the original tapes and the audio has been taken from the high resolution digital transfers made by John Dent in 2007. One of the Freerange studio tapes suffered irreparable print through damage on two tracks so they were not used in the 2009 release. However an alternative source has been located so the tapes can now be presented as complete for this release.

Even before the single “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” was released, Numan had recruited a permanent drummer and keyboard player and demoed an album’s worth of new material between April 9-12, 1979 at Freerange Studio in London’s Covent Garden. This was supplemented by a second session, probably the following June, that yielded four further songs and two re-recordings. Following the hectic schedule of promoting “AFE?”, Numan recorded a new session for John Peel the day after the single hit #1 on the UK charts. Rather than record as Tubeway Army, the session was credited to Gary Numan and the group name abandoned at the peak of it’s success. As before, rather than promote the current album, Numan chose to record four new songs. While the album Replicas hit #1, Numan was busy recording a follow up in Marcus Music Studio. From the surviving tapes there are six mixes marked as out-takes and these have been included in the CD package. The discs have been sequenced with the stronger, second Freerange demo preceding the first session but all tracks are in the order of the tapes.

TRACK LISTING

CD
DISC 1
1. Cars (Demo Version 2)
2. Films (Demo Version)
3. Complex (Demo Version)
4. Random (Remastered 2009)
5. M.E. (Demo Version)
6. Conversation (Demo Version 2)
7. Tracks (Demo Version 1)*
8. Cars (Demo Version 1)*
9. Metal (Demo Version)
10. Airlane (Demo Version)
11. Trois Gymnopédies No.1 (Demo)
12. Observer (Demo Version)
13. Conversation (Demo Version 1)
14. Engineers (Demo Version)
15. Asylum (Remastered 2009
16. Oceans (Remastered 2009)
17. Photograph (Remastered 2009)

DISC 2
1. Airlane (BBC Peel Session)
2. Cars (BBC Peel Session)
3. Films (BBC Peel Session)
4. Conversation (BBC Peel Session)
5. Tracks (Outtake Mix)
6. Complex (Outtake Mix)*
7. M.E. (Outtake Mix)
8. Engineers (Outtake Mix)*
9. Airlane (Outtake Mix)*
10. Cars (Outtake Mix)*

* Previously Unreleased

LP
A1. Cars (Demo Version)
A2. Films (Demo Version)
A3. Complex (Demo Version)
A4. Random (remastered 2009)
A5. M.E. (demo Version)
B1. Conversation (Demo Version 2)
B2. Tracks (Demo Version 1)*
B3. Cars (Demo Version 1)*
B4. Metal (Demo Version)
B5. Airlane (Demo Version)
C1. Trois Gymnopédies No.1 (Remastered 2009)
C2. Observer (Demo Version)
C3. Conversation (Demo Version 1)
C4. Engineers (Demo Version)
C5. Asylum (Remastered 2009
C6. Oceans (Remastered 2009)
C7. Photograph (Remastered 2009)
D1. Airlane (BBC Peel Session)
D2. Cars (BBC Peel Session)
D3. Films (BBC Peel Session)
D4. Conversation (BBC Peel Session)

* Previously Unreleased

Originally released in 1989, Sonic Temple proved to be a pivotal moment for both band and the wider rock scene. Produced by the legendary Bob Rock (Metallica, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith), Sonic Temple had four hit singles; “Fire Woman”, “Edie (Ciao Baby)”, “Sun King” and “Sweet Soul Sister”. The album catapulted The Cult into superstar status and remains their most commercially successful release. It has sold over 1.5 million copies in the US alone, and was declared platinum in 1990. It made it to #10 on the Billboard charts, and the abovementioned songs are all rock-radio staples to this day.

TRACK LISTING

DOUBLE LP
A1 Sun King
A2 Fire Woman
A3 American Horse
A4 Edie (Ciao Baby)
B1 Sweet Soul Sister
B2 Soul Asylum
B3 New York City
B4 Automatic Blues
C1 Soldier Blue
C2 Wake Up Time For Freedom
C3 Medicine Train (From The Edie (Ciao Baby) Single)
C4 The River (From The Sweet Soul Sister Single)
D1 Bleeding Heart Graffitti (from The Edie (Ciao Baby) CD EP)
D2 Messin' Up The Blues (from The Fire Woman Single)
D3 Fire Woman (NYC Rock Mix) (from The Fire Woman CD EP)
D4 Edie (Ciao Baby) (Acoustic) (From The Heart Of Soul CD Single)

BOX SET
Vinyl:
A1 Sun King
A2 Fire Woman
A3 American Horse
A4 Edie (Ciao Baby)
B1 Sweet Soul Sister
B2 Soul Asylum
B3 New York City
B4 Automatic Blues
C1 Soldier Blue
C2 Wake Up Time For Freedom
C3 Medicine Train (From The Edie (Ciao Baby) Single)
C4 The River (From The Sweet Soul Sister Single)
D1 Bleeding Heart Graffitti (from The Edie (Ciao Baby) Single)
D2 Messin' Up The Blues (from The Fire Woman Single)
D3 Fire Woman (NYC Rock Mix) (from The Fire Woman CD EP)
D4 Edie (Ciao Baby) (Acoustic) (From The Heart Of Soul CD Single)
E1 New York City (live) *previously Unreleased)
E2 Automatic Blues (live) *previously Unreleased)
E3 American Horse (live) (from The Sweet Soul Sister Single)
E4 Sun King (live) *previously Unreleased
F1 Soul Asylum (live) (from The Sweet Soul Sister Single)
F2 Sweet Soul Sister (live) (from The Sweet Soul Sister Single)
F3 Fire Woman (live) *previously Unreleased

Cassette:
A1 Sonic Temple Radio Promo
A2 New York City (demo)
A3 American Horse (demo)
A4 Sun King (demo)
A5 Automatic Blues (demo)
A6 Yes Man (demo)
A7 Wake Up Time For Freedom (demo)
A8 Citadel (demo)
A9 The River (demo)
B1 The Crystal Ocean (demo)
B2 Cashmere (demo)
B3 Edie (demo)
B4 Bleeding Hearts Revival
B5 Star Child (demo)
B6 Medicine Train (Rock Demo)
B7 New York City (Rock Demo)
B8 Fire (Rock Demo)

5-CD SET
1-1 Sun King
1-2 Fire Woman
1-3 American Horse
1-4 Edie (Ciao Baby)
1-5 Sweet Soul Sister
1-6 Soul Asylum
1-7 New York City
1-8 Automatic Blues
1-9 Soldier Blue
1-10 Wake Up Time For Freedom
2-1 Sonic Temple Radio Promo
2-2 Fire Woman (Edit)
2-3 Messin' Up The Blues (from The Fire Woman Single)
2-4 Medicine Train (From The Edie (Ciao Baby) Single)
2-5 Fire Woman (NYC Rock Mix) (from The Fire Woman CD EP)
2-6 Edie (Ciao Baby) (Edit)
2-7 Bleeding Heart Graffiti (from The Edie (Ciao Baby) CD EP)
2-8 Sun King (Edit)
2-9 Sweet Soul Sister (Edit)
2-10 The River (From The Sweet Soul Sister Single)
2-11 Soldier Blue (Werman Extended Version)
2-12 Fire Woman (LA Rock Mix)
2-13 Sweet Soul Sister (Rock's Mix)
2-14 Edie (Ciao Baby) (Acoustic) (From The Heart Of Soul CD Single)
3-1 Medicine Train (demo)
3-2 New York City (demo)
3-3 American Horse (demo)
3-4 Sun King (demo)
3-5 Automatic Blues (demo)
3-6 Yes Man (demo)
3-7 Fire (demo)
3-8 Wake Up Time For Freedom (demo)
3-9 Citadel (demo)
3-10 The River (demo)
4-1 The Crystal Ocean (demo)
4-2 Cashmere (demo)
4-3 Edie (demo)
4-4 Bleeding Hearts Revival
4-5 My Love (demo)
4-6 Star Child (demo)
4-7 Medicine Train (Rock Demo)
4-8 New York City (Rock Demo)
4-9 Fire (rock Demo)
4-10 Spanish Gold (jam Demo)
5-1 New York City (live) *previously Unreleased)
5-2 Automatic Blues (live) *previously Unreleased)
5-3 American Horse (live) (from The Sweet Soul Sister Single)
5-4 Sun King (live) *previously Unreleased
5-5 Soul Asylum (live) (from The Sweet Soul Sister Single)
5-6 Rain (live) *previously Unreleased
5-7 Sweet Soul Sister (live) (from The Sweet Soul Sister Single)
5-8 She Sells Sanctuary (live) *previously Unreleased
5-9 Fire Woman (live) *previously Unreleased

Classic compilation, now back in stock across two CD albums. 

‘1979-1983’ was originally released as a double album on vinyl in 1985 and then split into two volumes for release the following year. Together they offer an in-depth introduction to one of the most influential bands of recent times.

TRACK LISTING

Kick In The Eye
Hollow Hills
In Fear Of Fear
Ziggy Stardust
Silent Hedges
Lagartija Nick
Paranoia, Paranoia
Swing The Heartache
Third Uncle
Spirit
All We Ever Wanted Was Everything
Slice Of Life
She’s In Parties
The Sanity Assassin
Who Killed Mr. Moonlight
Satori
Crowds

Classic compilation, now back in stock across two CD albums.

‘1979-1983’ was originally released as a double album on vinyl in 1985 and then split into two volumes for release the following year. Together they offer an in-depth introduction to one of the most influential bands of recent times.

TRACK LISTING

Double Dare
In The Flat Field
Dark Entries
Stigmata Martyr
Bela Lugosi’s Dead
A God In An Alcove
Telegram Sam
St. Vitus Dance
A Spy In The Cab
Terror Couple Kill Colonel
Dancing
Hair Of The Dog
The Passion Of Lovers
Mask

Late 2018 will mark the 40th anniversary of Bauhaus. To celebrate, Beggars Arkive is reissuing six records from the band’s catalogue on limited edition coloured vinyl.

Formed in 1978, The legendary and hugely influential quartet hailed from Northampton, England and is comprised of Peter Murphy, Daniel Ash, David J and Kevin Haskins. The dark, dramatic music that they made, possessed far more force, variety and playfulness than the "founding fathers of goth" tag that is always attached to them.

Bauhaus' landmark debut album, In the Flat Field, came out towards the end of 4AD's first eventful year. Following the plan at the time, the band then "moved upstairs" to Beggars Banquet, for whom they cut three further albums before dissolving in 1983. They charted with their cover of David Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust”, they’ve been and namechecked by everyone from Nine Inch Nails, Sepultura, Janes Addiction, MGMT, Interpol, Bjork, Nirvana and more. They remain a huge cult concern, periodically reforming to wow their legions of dedicated followers.

Released in 1982, this is a live album, compiled from shows across the UK from 1981–82. Press the Eject… features a striking version of John Cale’s “Rosegarden Funeral Of Sores,” a particularly spooky run-through of “Hollow Hills” that out-creeps the studio version on Mask, and the punk rock fuzz-out of “Dark Entries”. Of course, “Bela…” appears here as well, in a luxurious nine-and-a-half-minute version. Washed in feedback and ever-so subtly accelerating and decelerating, this song is the true center of “Goth” mythology. This was mastered from HD audio files transferred from the original tapes.

TRACK LISTING

In The Flat Field (Live @ The Old Vic, London)
Rose Garden Funeral Of Sores (Live @ The Old Vic, London)
Dancing (Live @ The Royal Court, Liverpool)
The Man With X-Ray Eyes (Live @ Hammersmith Palais, London)
Bela Lugosi Is Dead (Live @ The Old Vic, London)
The Spy In The Cab (Live @ The Royal Court, Liverpool)
Kick In The Eye (Live @ The Royal Court, Liverpool)
In Fear Of Fear (Live @ The Royal Court, Liverpool)
Hollow Hills (Live @ The Old Vic, London)
Stigmata Martyr (Live @ The Royal Court, Liverpool)
Dark Entries (Live @ The Royal Court, Liverpool)
Terror Couple Kill Colonel (Live @ Le Rose Bon, Paris)
Double Dare (Live @ Le Rose Bon, Paris)
In The Flat Field (Live @ Le Rose Bon, Paris)
Hair Of The Dog (Live @ Le Rose Bon, Paris)
Of Lilies And Remains (Live @ Le Rose Bon, Paris)
Waiting For The Man (Live @ Fagins, Manchester)

Beggars Arkive reissue The Fall’s ninth studio album, Bend Sinister, originally released in 1986. This edition is titled Bend Sinister/The 'Domesday' Pay-Off Triad-Plus!

It was the last of three albums in a row produced by John Leckie and was named after a dystopian novel by Vladimir Nabokov.

After the universal acclaim for the previous year’s This Nation’s Saving Grace, Bend Sinister often stands in its predecessor’s shadow. It is a dark, brooding album made at the height of the group’s Beggars Banquet years and many people include this at the top of the list of favourite Fall albums.

From Bend Sinister, “Mr. Pharmacist” is a lurching instalment in pop music’s ongoing conversation with drug dealers, illicit and otherwise. Actually a cover of 1960s garage-rockers the Other Half, it’s also a demonstration of how the Fall’s relatively unchanging style could bolster other people’s songs. – PITCHFORK

“Part musical hypnotist, part ranting madman, Smith was a singular figure in post-punk. His Mancunian accent, dry witticisms and plays on words were one of the Fall’s most constant characteristics. Their songs were odysseys into his ever-verbose psyche, marked by repetitive rhythms and melodies.” – ROLLING STONE

“At various points in the band’s four-decade career, the Fall might sound like punk, hard rock, psychedelia, funk, blues-rock, jazz-rock, electropop or sheer noise. “If it’s me and your granny on bongos, it’s the Fall,” Mr. Smith once declared. The BBC disc jockey John Peel, an early and steadfast supporter, said of the Fall that ‘they are always different, they are always the same.’” - THE NEW YORK TIMES

"Mark E Smith’s group of psychedelic post-punks rank as one of the most visionary, singular British bands of all time.” -THE GUARDIAN

STAFF COMMENTS

Darryl says: Originally released in 1986, one year after the highly celebrated ‘This Nations Saving Grace’, ‘Bend Sinister’ was a darker brooding album, but had the Brix pop sensibility to counteract Mark E. Smith’s caustic vocals. Still highly regarded by Fall fans to this day, this was MES and his band hitting their creative peak. Reissued as a double disc edition with a plethora of bonus material.

TRACK LISTING

LP TRACK LISTING:
A1. R.O.D.
A2. Dktr. Faustus
A3. Shoulder Pads 1#
A4. Mr. Pharmacist
A5. Gross Chapel – British Grenadiers
B1. U.S. 80’s – 90’s
B2. Terry Waite Sez
B3. Bournemouth Runner
B4. Riddler!
B5. Shoulder Pads 2#
C1. Living Too Late (From The Living Too Late Single)
C2. Hot Aftershave Bop (From The Living Too Late Single)
C3. Lucifer Over Lancashire (From The Mr.Pharmacist Single)
C4. Auto Tech Pilot (From The Mr.Pharmacist Single)
D1. Hey! Luciani (from The Hey! Luciani Single)
D2. Entitled (from The Hey! Luciani Single)
D3. Shoulder Pads #1b (from The Hey! Luciani Single)
D4. Living Too Long (From The Living Too Late Single)

CD TRACK LISTING:
1-1. R.O.D.
1-2. Dktr. Faustus
1-3. Shoulder Pads 1#
1-4. Mr. Pharmacist
1-5. Gross Chapel – British Grenadiers
1-6. U.S. 80’s – 90’s
1-7. Terry Waite Sez
1-8. Bournemouth Runner
1-9. Riddler!
1-10. Shoulder Pads 2#
2-1. Living Too Late (Remastered/from The Living Too Late Single)
2-2. Hot Aftershave Bop (Remastered/from The Living Too Late Single)
2-3. Lucifer Over Lancashire (Remastered/from The Mr.Pharmacist Single)
2-4. Auto Tech Pilot (Remastered/from The Mr.Pharmacist Single)
2-5. Hey! Luciani (Remastered/from The Hey! Luciani Single)
2-6. Entitled (Remastered/from The Hey! Luciani Single)
2-7. Shoulder Pads #1b (Remastered/from The Hey! Luciani Single)
2-8. Living Too Long (Remastered/from The Living Too Late Single)
2-9. R. O. D (Peel Session, June 29 1986)
2-10. Gross Chapel – British Grenadiers (Peel Session, June 29 1986)
2-11. U. S. 80s – 90s (Peel Session, June 29 1986)
2-12. Hot Aftershave Bop (Peel Session, June 29 1986)
2.13. Luciani (Original Version, Previously Unreleased)
2.14. DKTR. Faustus (Rough Mix, Previously Unreleased)
2.15. Terry Waite Sez (Yellow 2 Mix, Previously Unreleased)
2.16. Lucifer Over Lancashire (Abbey Road Take 2, Previously Unreleased)
2.17. Entitled (Abbey Road Take 2, Previously Unreleased)
2.18. Town And Country Hobgoblins (Live, From The Bend Sinister Cassette Release)

Late 2018 will mark the 40th anniversary of Bauhaus. To celebrate, Beggars Arkive is reissuing six records from the band’s catalogue on limited edition coloured vinyl.

Formed in 1978, The legendary and hugely influential quartet hailed from Northampton, England and is comprised of Peter Murphy, Daniel Ash, David J and Kevin Haskins. The dark, dramatic music that they made, possessed far more force, variety and playfulness than the "founding fathers of goth" tag that is always attached to them.

Bauhaus' landmark debut album, In the Flat Field, came out towards the end of 4AD's first eventful year. Following the plan at the time, the band then "moved upstairs" to Beggars Banquet, for whom they cut three further albums before dissolving in 1983. They charted with their cover of David Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust”, they’ve been and namechecked by everyone from Nine Inch Nails, Sepultura, Janes Addiction, MGMT, Interpol, Bjork, Nirvana and more.

Burning From The Inside was Bauhaus’ fourth album and was the last of their studio albums of this era, released just after the band’s breakup in 1983. This was mastered from HD audio files transferred from the original tapes

TRACK LISTING

She's In Parties
Antonin Artaud
Wasp
King Volcano
Who Killed Mr. Moonlight?
Slice Of Life
Honeymoon Croon
Kingdom's Coming
Burning From The Inside
Hope

Late 2018 will mark the 40th anniversary of Bauhaus. To celebrate, Beggars Arkive is reissuing six records from the band’s catalogue on limited edition coloured vinyl.

Formed in 1978, The legendary and hugely influential quartet hailed from Northampton, England and is comprised of Peter Murphy, Daniel Ash, David J and Kevin Haskins. The dark, dramatic music that they made, possessed far more force, variety and playfulness than the "founding fathers of goth" tag that is always attached to them.

Bauhaus' landmark debut album, In the Flat Field, came out towards the end of 4AD's first eventful year. Following the plan at the time, the band then "moved upstairs" to Beggars Banquet, for whom they cut three further albums before dissolving in 1983. They charted with their cover of David Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust”, they’ve been and namechecked by everyone from Nine Inch Nails, Sepultura, Janes Addiction, MGMT, Interpol, Bjork, Nirvana and more. 

Mask is the band’s second album, and was released by Beggars Banquet in 1981. This album is mastered from HD audio files transferred from the original tapes

“their second album and masterpiece…..a record that stretched out their aural madness in every direction possible with pure noise and the space of dub clashing against each other.” – Louder Than War

TRACK LISTING

Hair Of The Dog
The Passion Of Lovers
Of Lilies And Remains
Dancing
Hollow Hills
Kick In The Eye 2
In Fear Of Fear
Muscle In Plastic
The Man With X-Ray Eyes
Mask

Originally released in 1990, the seventeen songs collected here come from The Fall’s Brix Smith era, aka “the golden era of Fall releases.” This is a perfect introduction to the band, and as legendary critic Robert Christgau said, it’s “The only Fall record any normal person need own”.

The band’s legendary and notorious frontman Mark E. Smith passed away earlier this year at the age of 60. The band’s output since they formed at the height of the punk rock movement in Manchester in 1976 was prolific to say the least. It’s hard to be exact, but in their four decades, The Fall released 31 studio albums, 5 part-studio/part live albums, 32 live albums, 40 compilations, and Mark E. Smith also released two spoken word albums. Another high number is that of former members of The Fall. There were over 60 different band members over the years. Their high volume of quality work over the last 40+ years had an enormous influence which was extolled greatly after his death.

TRACK LISTING

1. Oh! Brother
2. C.R.E.E.P.
3. No Bulbs 3
4. Rollin’ Dany
5. Couldn’t Get Ahead
6. Cruisers Creek
7. L.A.
8. Living Too Late
9. Hit The North Part 1
10. Mr. Pharmacist
11. Hey! Luciani
12. There’s A Ghost In My House
13. Victoria
14. Big New Prinz
15. Wrong Place, Right Time No. 2
16. Jerusalem
17. Dead Beat Descendant

Beggars Arkive announce the remastered vinyl reissue of Oceansize’s stunning 2003 debut ‘Effloresce’. The album’s twelve tracks mix shimmering, atmospheric soundscapes, with insistent drums and their trademark hypnotic, three-guitar attack, which catapulted them to the forefront of the so-called ‘new prog revolution’ of the 2000s. Echoing the expansive instrumentals of Mogwai, the rock-experimentalism of Jane’s Addiction and the sonic onslaught of My Bloody Valentine, Oceansize scaled new heights of grandiose, ethereal and utterly captivating music.

It’s rare for a name to so eloquently sum up a band and yet for Oceansize, their moniker only scratched the surface of the vast depths of musicianship displayed within this quintet. Hailing from Manchester, Oceansize owed nothing to the city’s most renowned acts. Instead Oceansize followed their own musical paths to stunning effect, from their formation in 1998 to the band’s break-up in 2011.

Comprising Mike Vennart (lead vocals / guitar), Steve Durose (guitar/ vocals), Gambler (guitar), Jon Ellis (bass) and Mark Heron (drums), Oceansize met whilst studying at Salford University. They self-released their first EP ‘Amputee’ in 1999, followed by the ‘A Very Still Moment’ EP before signing to Beggars Banquet in 2000. They released the ‘Relapse’ EP via the label in 2002, with production by one of their heroes, Tim Smith from Cardiacs. Tracks from those EPs such as ‘Amputee’ and ‘Saturday Morning Breakfast Show’ found their way on to their debut album.

‘Effloresce’ - which means “to burst forth into or as if into a flower” - was originally released on 29 September 2003. All the tracks were recorded and produced by Chris Sheldon (Foo Fighters, Feeder) during Spring / Summer 2003. The album includes the singles ‘Catalyst’, ‘Remember Where You Are’ and ‘One Day All Could be Yours’ as well as the tracks ‘Long Forgotten’ and ‘Massive Bereavement’, which feature mesmerising strings from cello, violin and viola duo Martin & Kimberley McCarrick.

At the time, the band described ‘Effloresce’ as: “a schizophrenic album: blissed-out highs to brooding lows with violent outbursts in between. We want to send the listener on a journey through the euphoric and the terrifying - an emotional rollercoaster that they can immerse themselves in. Like all our favourite records, once you've allowed it to grab you, you're in it for the long haul. Oh, and it rocks like a bastard, too.”

The album gained critical accolades, with the press comparing them favourably to bands like Mogwai, Tool, Nirvana, Jane’s Addiction, My Bloody Valentine, Can and Faith No More, among others. Rolling Stone described it as “an hour-plus of guitar-army paradise.”

Buffalo Tom (Bill Janovitz, Chris Colbourn and Tom Maginnis) formed at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1984 - a breeding ground of post punk guitar bands like Dinosaur Jr. and Pixies. They thrived on college radio in the late 1980’s and toured extensively in Europe, the US, Australia and Japan. In 1992 the band recorded their third album Let Me Come Over with a varied group of songs they had been developing at home and on the road - mixing their live power trio sound with some more acoustic based guitar ballads. The album’s single “Taillights Fade” would become their signature song.

2017 marks the 25th anniversary of this album, and to celebrate, Beggars Arkive reissues it on vinyl + cd and package it with a live album. Recorded in London at ULU (University of London Union) in 1992, this marks the band’s first-ever live release. The double LP contains 10 live tracks, and the cd edition contains the entire show (17 songs).

Buffalo Tom have never really stopped making music or playing shows, and 2017 has seen them celebrating the album’s anniversary with commemorative live shows, including a date at Islington Assembly Hall in London on 9 June. For these shows, they have been performing two sets – the first being Let Me Come Over in full, and the second being favorites from throughout their career. They have also funded a new album via Pledge Music which will see release later this year.

On its first two albums, Buffalo Tom constructed towering guitar-scapes and mastered a naturalistic version of quiet-to-loud dynamics. So, for its third, we found Buffalo Tom shedding a bit, but not all of the skin it had worn and emerging with its charms more front and center. Let Me Come Over is the sound of the trio exiting the insular underground for the wide world of “alternative” rock--but more or less bringing its best moves along with it, too. Previously loosely linked with fellow travelers Dinosaur Jr. and Uncle Tupelo via a similar three-piece format, stunning depth of songwriting and association with Boston’s Fort Apache Studios--it’s not hard to imagine Buffalo Tom wanted to stake a claim stylistically. Yet, LMCO never feels like a break with the past, it’s a transition. Inside that abstruse cover are undeniably magnificent tunes.

“Staples” is emblematic of a band in flux with a grungy lyrical conceit rendered with hi-fi guitar squalls. It’s the first single “Taillights Fade,” however, where the band appears to find a new comfort zone, at an unhurried speed where Janovitz’s storytelling and car crash metaphors stand the best chance of making an impression. It plays with quiet-to-loud dynamics, and as for emotional expression, it swings for the bleachers--and a place on alternative rock radio. “Mineral” jangles in a similar vein and makes grand gestures. “Darl” and “Larry” (referencing the brothers from the Newhart show I always thought?) are solid but disparate cuts. Colbourn’s “Darl” feels a bit like an outlier with its thrashy feel--it sounds better louder. “Larry” has a sweetness to it that’s augmented by its busker’s strumming.

Released as a second single, “Velvet Roof” had given us a taste of what was newly possible, a hook-heavy stomper with a densely woven rhythm matched by tight lyric writing--each piece expertly crafted to go into the next, no frayed ends here--and a snazzy mix by Ron Saint Germain, a pro who would later bring out the best in Soundgarden. A wailing harmonica solo gives it all a swagger that’s kind of new for the band. “Stymied” summons the emotional intensity of Birdbrain--it’s probably the album’s darkest moment. Somehow both life-affirming and wistful “Porchlight” contrasts with the way “Saving Grace” blazes through the barroom like a ‘Mats tribute. There’s no filler to be found here. “Frozen Lake” sees the band caressing acoustic guitars in comedown mode.

Let Me Come Over is kind of a short story collection with equal parts thunder and intimacy, hills and valleys, last night’s mistakes and tomorrow’s contrition. Ultimately, it’s possibility, a sense of ‘hey, this just might work’ that makes it such a deep spin 25 years later. Let Me Come Over triumphs.

TRACK LISTING

2CD
‘Let Me Come Over’
Staples
Taillights Fade
Mountains Of Your Head
Mineral
Darl
Larry
Velvet Roof
I’m Not There
Stymied
Porchlight
Frozen Lake
Saving Grace

Live From London, ULU
1992
Birdbrain
Staples
Taillights Fade
Impossible
Enemy
Larry
Velvet Roof
Fortune Teller
Sally Brown
The Bus
The Crawl
Mineral
Sunflower Suit
I’m Not There
Bleeding Heart
Skeleton Key
Reason Why

2LP
‘Let Me Come Over’ + 10
Live Tracks (1-10) +
Download Of Full Live
Show

Having formed in 1994, Six By Seven have gone through various incarnations, with the only constant being singer and composer Chris Olley. They recorded three albums for Mantra Records via Beggars Banquet - ‘The Things We Make’ (1998), ‘The Closer You Get’ (2000), ‘The Way I Feel Today’ (2002) - toured extensively, had two hit singles - ‘Candlelight’ (1998) and ‘I O U Love’ (2002) - recorded five Peel Sessions and appeared on Later With Jools Holland (December 1998). Despite heaping praise on Six By Seven’s breakthrough second album ‘The Closer You Get’, the press seemed confused as to how to categorise them. The band straddled a fine line between post-Brit Pop, British rock and a much edgier kind of punk. Inspired by The Pistols and The Stranglers as well as US bands such as Sonic Youth and Mercury Rev, Six By Seven consciously wanted to write songs that would get played on the radio, as Chris Olley explains: “We wanted to fill a gap I think, fill it with the sort of music we would like to hear and buy ourselves; sort of Captain Beefheart doing pop.”

Mixing misanthropic lyrics with Olley’s distinctive vocal style, the music was underpinned by malevolent, slow-burning guitars, creating a menacing, dense wall of sound. Chris Olley continues; “There is a great sense of vitriol running through ‘The Closer You Get’ both musically and lyrically.” Journalist Sharon O’Connell commented in her review for Mojo; “Few bands now have the courage to make noise as meaningful as this; it’s like warming your heart against a limited nuclear strike.”

TRACK LISTING

A Beautiful Shape
Candlelight
Crying
For You
IOU Love (Single Edit)
So Close
Catch The Rain
New Year
Eat Junk Become Junk
Bochum (Light Up My Life)
Oh! Dear
Always Waiting For...
Change
Truce
European Me (Student Radio Session)

‘Melting Pot’ is a greatest hits album by The Charlatans, featuring tracks from their time at Beggars Banquet Records between 1990 and 1997.

This compilation shows what a great band they were around that time (and still are!) There's not a bad track on here.

TRACK LISTING

The Only One I Know
Then
Opportunity Three
Over Rising
Sprotson Green (US Remix)
Weirdo
Theme From Wish Patrol (Chemical Brothers Remix)
Can’t Get Out Of Bed
I Never Want And Easy Life If Me An He Were Ever To Get There
Jesus Hairdo
Crashin’ In
Just Lookin
Here Comes A Soul Saver
Just When You’re Thinking Things Over
One To Another
North Country Boy

This contains the material from the two singles and the EP, Call For Escape Route, that the band released in 1984, which were also part of the extended cassette ver-sion of the original album. These were the remaining tracks recorded at the sessions.

TRACK LISTING

1. Oh! Brother
2. God-Box
3. C.r.e.e.p.
4. Pat - Trip Dispenser
6. No Bulbs 3
7. Slang King 2
8. Draygo's Guilt
9. Clear Off
10. No Bulbs

Available for the first time on vinyl, this collection compiles the singles released around This Nation’s Saving Grace and includes 5 tracks from the bands’ 1985 BBC Peel sessions. Also included is the track “Ma Riley” which made its debut on the CD box set in 2011.

‘In The Flat Field’ (Re-mastered in 2008): Few debut albums ever arrived so nearly perfectly formed. That ‘In The Flat Field’ practically single-handedly invented what remains for many as the stereotype of goth music - wracked, at times spindly vocals about despair and desolation of many kinds, sung over mysterious and moody music - demonstrates the sui generis power of both the band and its work. This said, perhaps the best thing about the album isn’t what it’s supposed to sound like, but what it actually does - an awesomely powerful, glam-inspired rock band firing on all fours, capable of restraint and complete overdrive, fronted by a charismatic, storming frontman. ‘In The Flat Field’ started off Bauhaus’ album career with a near-perfect bang.

‘Mask’ (Re-mastered in 2008): Managing the sometimes hard-to-negotiate trick of expanding their sound while retaining all the qualities which got them attention to begin with, on ‘Mask’ the members of Bauhaus consciously stretched themselves into newer areas of music and performance, resulting in an album that was arguably even better than the band’s almost flawless debut. More familiar sides of the band were apparent from the get-go - opening number ‘Hair Of The Dog’, one of the band’s best songs, starts with a double-tracked squalling guitar solo before turning into a stomping, surging flow. The energy wasn’t all just explosive angst and despair, though. The one-two punches of ‘Kick In The Eye’ and ‘In Fear Of Fear’ have as much hip-shaking groove and upbeat swing to them as portentous gloom. Elsewhere, numerous flashes of the band’s quirky sense of humour - something often missed by both fanatical followers and negative critics alike - make an appearance. Add to that three of the most dramatic things the band ever recorded - the charging, keyboard-accompanied ‘The Passion Of Lovers’, the slow, dark fairy-tale-gone-wrong ‘Hollow Hills’, and the wracked, trudging title track, where the sudden appearance of an acoustic guitar turns a great song into a near-perfect blend of ugliness and sheer beauty - and the end result was a perfect trouncing of the sophomore-slump myth.

‘The Sky’s Gone Out’ (Re-mastered in 2013): More fragmented in origin than it might appear on first glance (the lead off track, a phenomenal, nuclear-strength rip through Brian Eno’s ‘Third Uncle’, featuring some fantastic soloing from Ash, came from a BBC radio session performance), ‘The Sky’s Gone Out’ was caught between the expectations of an audience now thoroughly embracing the incipient goth genre, with all the built-in limitations such expectations often provide, and a band which wanted to please them while still following its own muse. ‘The Sky’s Gone Out’ feels more like a compilation than anything else. Piece by piece, though, the songs still often showed Bauhaus in excelsis.

‘Burning From The Inside’ (Re-mastered in 2013): ‘Burning From The Inside’ really was a collection of various recordings, due in large part to outside events - Murphy had fallen victim to a life-threatening illness, so the rest of the band began recording without him, which more than anything else foreshadowed both Bauhaus’ breakup and the trio’s future work as Love And Rockets. As a result, two songs ended up on the album, the piano led cinematic moodiness of ‘Who Killed Mr. Moonlight’ and the sweet acoustic drive of ‘Slice Of Life’, with David J and Ash on lead vocals respectively. The end result of all this was an album that was good in spots but not as strong throughout as it could be, while betraying the other performing and writing strains that would soon cause the band to call it a day. As before, though, when the band members were on, they were on with a vengeance, such as the medieval folk dance ‘King Volcano’ and the starkly beautiful ‘Kingdom’s Coming’.

‘Singles’: A compilation of the non album singles (excluding BBC recordings), this re-mastered set also included the first official release of the rare cover of ‘Spirit In The Sky’ (originally featured on an ultra rare, fan club only single) and the live-with-studio-vocals version of ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’.

Drawing from the latter years of the Beggars Banquet recordings (1987-1989), this set features often overlooked albums and a compilation of singles and alternative takes.

Out of all the late 70s punk and post punk bands, none were longer lived or more prolific than The Fall. Throughout their career, the band underwent myriad lineup changes, but at the centre of it all was vocalist Mark E. Smith. With his snarling, nearly incomprehensible vocals and consuming bitter cynicism, Smith became a cult legend in indie and alternative rock.

Over the course of their career, The Fall went through a number of shifts in musical style, yet the foundation of their sound was a near-cacophonous jagged jumble of guitars, sing-speak vocals, and keyboards. During the late 70s and early 80s, the band were at their most abrasive and atonal.

In 1984, Smith’s American wife Brix joined the band as a guitarist, bringing a stronger sense of pop melody to the group. By the mid 80s, the band’s British following was large enough to result in two UK Top 40 hits, but in essence, the group have always been a cult band; their music was always too abrasive and dense for the mainstream.

‘The Frenz Experiment’ reverts to the original vinyl version with bonus 7” tracks at the end.

After the dark morass of ‘Bend Sinister’, the sound of 1988’s ‘Frenz Experiment’ comes as a bit of a shock. The arrangements are spare and broken down to the essentials, with the distorted guitars brought down low, and Wolstencroft’s drums high in the mix. Marcia Schofield had also joined the band to add keyboards. Their cover of The Kinks’ ‘Victoria’ marked The Fall’s first entry into the British charts, but also fitted in with Smith’s continuing explorations of Britain’s history and how it translates into issues of class identity.

‘I Am Kurious Oranj’ keeps the vinyl track sequence and adds bonus tracks and alternative mixes at the end.

The last thing most Fall fans expected the group to do in 1988 was provide music for a ballet, but in fact this is what they did. Of course, it helped that the Michael Clark company of dancers were some of the most avant-garde at the time in Britain, inspired originally by The Fall’s ‘Hey! Luciani’ single.

‘Hit The North (Parts 1 - 6)’ includes all 6 released versions (four have never been on CD and one not even on vinyl) as well as an unreleased instrumental track (just in case you wanted more).

‘Singles 1987 - 1989’ is a new compilation of singles tracks and alternate / unreleased versions.

‘Seminal Live’ is a hybrid album, featuring 5 new studio songs followed by live recordings from 1988. This is sequenced as the original CD.

When they released their first album in 1989, the Boston-based trio Buffalo Tom were written off as Dinosaur Jr. junior. Admittedly, their debut was in debt to J Mascis’ thundering guitar and folk-tinged songs and it didn’t help that Mascis produced the record either. Over time, Buffalo Tom stripped away their grungier influences and developed into a straight-ahead rock group of the early 90s, capable of throttling rockers and beautiful ballads.

Buffalo Tom began to develop their own style with their second album, 1990’s ‘Birdbrain’, which featured a noticeable improvement in songwriting.

In 1992, Buffalo Tom released ‘Let Me Come Over’, a gritty set of driving rock and achingly melancholy ballads; several of its tracks became alternative radio staples, including the gorgeous ballad ‘Taillights Fade’. Despite an increased amount of critical praise and some radio airplay, the album didn’t sell.

The follow-up, 1993’s ‘Big Red Letter Day’, featured a more polished, radio-ready production, but the album received only a small push from radio and MTV. ‘Soda Jerk’, the first single from the album, became a minor alternative radio and MTV hit.

After a yearlong tour, the group returned in the summer of 1995 with ‘Sleepy Eyed’, a return to the more direct sound of ‘Let Me Come Over’, following it with ‘Smitten’ in 1998 before taking a decade long hiatus.

The albums are released in their original CD configurations.

In 1985 The Cult enjoyed breakthrough success with the single ‘She Sells Sanctuary’ and the album ‘Love’, establishing themselves as a new breed of alternative rock band.

When it came to recording a follow-up, the band booked into The Manor studios in Oxfordshire with Steve Brown again producing the album. By the end of October 1986 the album was recorded, the masters assembled and it was given the title ‘Peace’. However, the band weren’t happy with the final results which seemed too polished. Appreciating the rawness of Run-D.M.C.’s ‘Walk This Way’, the band contacted producer Rick Rubin to re-mix the lead track, ‘Love Removal Machine’. Rubin agreed to work with the band but only on condition that the track was entirely re-recorded. The result was a sparse, dry, riffing version that captured the sonic excitement the band were looking for. Enthused by the results, the decision was made to abandon the expensive ‘Peace’ recordings and re-record the entire album in New York with Rick Rubin. The new tracks would become The Cult’s third album, re-titled ‘Electric’, and a multi-million seller.

Tracks from ‘Peace’ were used as single B-sides and some of the alternative versions were issued on an early CD - ‘The Manor Sessions’ - but it wasn’t until the limited ‘Rare Cult’ box set in 2000 that fans got to hear the full album correctly sequenced. The box rapidly sold out meaning that ‘Peace’ has been unavailable for 13 years. Until now.

This expanded release of Biffy Clyro’s ‘The Vertigo Of Bliss’ has been re-mastered over three sides of vinyl for improved sound quality. The fourth side contains six non-album B-sides.

Available on coloured double vinyl in gatefold sleeve.

“Based on the evidence of ‘The Vertigo Of Bliss’, Ayrshire's Biffy Clyro have matured massively since their debut album, ‘Blackened Sky’. While retaining a highly refined melodic sensibility that manifests itself mostly in their effortless vocal harmonies, they've added a metallic heaviness to their sound, and bravely given themselves full range to experiment.”

“‘The Vertigo Of Bliss’ is never predictable, hardly even stable. Most of the tracks here are in constant flux. Pastoral acoustic guitars, fuzzed bass and sweet strings slip in and out of the mix, leading on to the next folksy interlude, wild jazz break or punky firestorm. One example of this is ‘With Aplomb’, where a pretty acoustic riff is gradually submerged in lush strings and vocal harmonies, before the band engage in a series of brief solos rising to a kind of Elizabethan rock climax recalling Ritchie Blackmore. Elsewhere ‘Diary Of Always’ is a bizarre ballad driven by a Laurie Anderson-style vocal pulse, while ‘Now The Action Is On Fire!’ mixes turbulent guitars and staccato strings, like a cross between John Cale and Ozzy Osbourne” - Dominic Wills

Released in 1997, when it went straight to the top of the album charts, this year marks the 15th anniversary of ‘Tellin’ Stories’.

Building on the sound of their eponymous, previous release (‘The Charlatans’ - also a No.1), the band’s performance has the feel of a classic British rock band (the type which also contain ‘roll’ in the music), combined with the more focussed songwriting of Britpop.

The package contains the original album, re-mastered and cut from the analogue studio tapes, in addition to a collection of the single B sides, plus an unreleased, early version of ‘Don’t Need A Gun’, originally entitled ‘Rainbow Chasing’. Of the eight B sides only half were re-issued on the anthology ‘Songs From The Other Side’.

TRACK LISTING

With No Shoes
North Country Boy
Tellin' Stories
One To Another
You're A Big Girl Now
How Can You Leave Us
Area 51
How High
Only Teethin'
Get On It
Rob's Theme
Two Of Us
Reputation
Don't Need A Gun
Down With The Mook
Title Fight
Keep It To Yourself
Rainbow Chasing (Don't Need A Gun First Take)
Clean Up Kid
Thank You (Live)

Can it really be twenty years ago that The Charlatans furtively and then confidently appeared in the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays’ slipstream to carve their own distinctive, tough, psychedelic soundtrack for those brief, heady years when Manchester was the centre of the world? From that auspicious start they experienced career highs and lows, broadened their musical base and endured to become one of the era’s most respected and successful bands.

This 2 disc Expanded Edition includes "Some Friendly" restored to its original vinyl sequence plus a second disc of the non album singles and previously unreleased BBC sessions. It includes the UK top 10 single (and perennial classic) "The Only One I Know", the follow-up, "Then", and the "Over Rising" EP. All tracks have been re-mastered from the original analogue studio masters (except the BBC recordings). The set also includes a 20 page book with notes by the author John Robb.

TRACK LISTING

CD1 - Some Friendly
1. You’re Not Very Well
2. White Shirt
3. Opportunity
4. Then
5. 109 Pt.2
6. Polar Bear
7. Believe You Me
8. Flower
9. Sonic
10. Sproston Green

CD2 - Singles & Sessions
1. The Only One I Know
2. Imperial 109
3. Everything Changed
4. Then (BBC Peel Session)
5. Always In Mind (BBC Peel Session)
6. You Can Talk To Me (BBC Peel Session)
7. Polar Bear (BBC Peel Session)
8. You’re Not Very Well (BBC Goodier Session)
9. Indian Rope (BBC Goodier Session)
10. The Only One I Know (BBC Goodier Session)
11. White Shirt (BBC Goodier Session)
12. Then (Alternate Take)
13. Taurus Moaner
14. Polar Bear (12” Mix)
15. Over Rising
16. Way Up There
17. Happen To Die (Long Version)
18. Opportunity Three

St. Vincent is Annie Clark, born in Tulsa, OK, the middle child of nine brothers and sisters. She cut her musical teeth with the Polyphonic Spree, as well as supporting Sufjan Stevens, Television, Arcade Fire and Midlake amongst others. St. Vincent makes cinematic pop epics that feel at times like Paris in the 20s before all the fun ended. Or, conversely, an orchestra of pure modernity — a new American music, informed by jazz, gospel blues, Southern folk music, and classical composition but, in the end, an animal original unto itself. On "Marry Me", we see a smartly crafted deluge of guitar, bass, and beats pulsing forward with warmth and immediacy alongside Annie's classy soprano. Her lyrics can be weird or tongue-in-cheek or dead serious, capturing verily what it feels like to be 24 years old in America and caught up in the delirium of love blues and wartime blues and the various swashbuckling adventures of existence. Horns and strings cry out brassy and full-bodied over digital keyboards. Songs rock out vigorously, break down into squiggling post-noise-rock deconstructions, roll out mellow and slow-flowing as a river. Backing harmonies and kiddie choirs loom in the distance, rise, and lilt above the stately grandiosity.

The National's 2005 album "Alligator" saw them fulfil the promise shown on their previous two albums, and set the bar impossibly high for their follow up.

However, with "Boxer" they've created something quite stunning, in fact the opening three tracks, "Fake Empire", "Mistaken For Strangers" and "Brainy" are possibly their best songs ever. A taut rhythm section is present throughout, and complements the languid vocals and lush string arrangements perfectly. Although the strings and Matt Berninger's distinctive drawl create a solemn mood, there are plenty of upbeat moments here too, creating a rich anthemic album with just the right amount of melancholy.

TRACK LISTING

1. Fake Empire
2. Mistaken For Strangers
3. Brainy
4. Squalor Victoria
5. Green Gloves
6. Slow Show
7. Apartment Story
8. Start A War
9. Guest Room
10. Racing Like A Pro
11. Ada
12. Gospel

"Again working with John Leckie on production, the Fall's third Beggars album, Bend Sinister, was a distinctly down affair -- not that the Fall were ever a shiny happy band, of course, but both music and lyrics seemed like a darker corner to dwell in. Happily there was no worry that the Fall would ever go goth; one suspects Mark E. Smith would rather have his tongue removed. Still, opening track "R.O.D." makes for a distinctly lower-key start in comparison to recent leadoffs like "Lay of the Land" and "Bombast," almost sounding a bit like fellow Mancunian legends Joy Division, Smith's lyric his own depressing vision of a beast slouching toward Bethlehem. Leckie's production emphasizes space in the recording, while the band as a whole sounds generally more deliberate and understated, even Craig Scanlon's guitar not leaping quite as much to trebly life as is normally the case. Songs like "Gross Chapel - British Grenadiers" favor Steve Hanley's bass work as much as anything, while the almost industrial/hip-hop beat of "US 80's-90's" sets the tone for a glowering vision of the States from, as Smith puts it, "the big-shot original rapper." Elsewhere, there's Smith's vision of the eternal outsider comes to life once again -- "Shoulder Pads 1," a hardly disguised sneer against being surrounded by people who "can't tell Lou Reed from Doug Yule," for all that there's a slightly quirky arrangement thanks to Simon Rogers' keyboards. Still, there are certainly moments of sheer fun -- in keeping with the band's regular ear for good cover versions, this time around psych-era obscurities the Other Half get the nod with a brisk rip through the obvious drug references of "Mr. Pharmacist." Brix again shares vocal leads with Smith at various points, notably "Dktr. Faustus," a distinctly reworked version of that particular legend that turns into a frantic, audibly unhappy dance groove." - AllMusic.

"Feel the wrath of my Bombast!" exhorts Smith on this follow-up to their groundbreaking Wonderful and Frightening World of... the Fall, and this collection is ample proof of the pure confidence the group had at this time. Stompers like "Barmy," "What You Need," and the mighty "Gut of the Quantifier" are all led by Brix Smith's twanging lead hooks, filled by distorted guitars and bludgeoning drums, on top of which Smith rants with conviction. But it's the departures from this sound that mark the real interest here: The synth-driven "L.A." looks ahead to the Fall's experiments with electronica; "Paint Work" is an impressionist piece interrupted by Smith accidentally erasing over some of the track at home; and "I Am Damo Suzuki," a tribute to Can's lead singer, which borrows its arrangement from several of that group's songs. the Fall sound mysterious, down-to-earth, and hilarious all at the same time. The CD reissue adds the singles "Cruiser's Creek" and "Couldn't Get Ahead" as well as their B-sides making this an essential purchase." - AllMusic.

"So named due to this being a collection of stuff released on the Kamera label, for a long time Hip Priests was the only way to listen to material from the mighty Hex Enduction Hour album, as well as Room to Live and related singles like "Lie Dream of a Casino Soul" and "Look, Know." For that reason alone it was a useful collection, though it was also flawed in that nearly everything was mastered for CD from vinyl, a harbinger of what would eventually happen in the late '90s with any number of early Fall reissues. It's especially noticeable on "Hip Priest" itself. Whether or not one wants to debate the aesthetics of such an approach, it's still more than a little frustrating. Thankfully, the song selection is nearly impeccable -- omissions are unavoidable, but there's no overlap with Palace of Swords Reversed, and the highlights are legion: "Hip Priest," "The Classical," "Mere Psued Mag. Ed.," "I'm Into C.B.!," and the absolutely wonderful B-side "Fantastic Life." The CD and cassette versions both include a useful bonus of interest to hardcore fans -- four live cuts of varying fidelity of other material from that time. "Who Makes the Nazis?" is OK enough, but the take on "Just Step Sideways" gets delivered with rough, fiery authority. At the end of the collection, meanwhile, there's an extremely muddy take on "Jawbone and the Air-Rifle" that will likely cause immediate departures on the part of neighbors and friends. A full quarter-hour ramble and stumble through "And This Day" concludes the release as a whole; it's a great performance that at nearly every point sounds like it'll collapse into formless chaos. Mark E. Smith is his typically contrarian self, while the lineup has its usual off-center way with the proceedings." - AllMusic.

TRACK LISTING

Lie Dream Of A Casino Soul
The Classical
Fortress
Look, Know
Hip Priest
Who Makes The Nazis?
Just Step Sideways
Room To Live
Mere Pseud Mag. Ed.
Hard Life In Country
I'm Into CB!
Fantastic Life
Jawbone And The Air-Rifle
And This Day

"After the dark morass of Bend Sinister, the sound of 1988's Frenz Experiment comes as a bit of a shock. The arrangements are spare and broken down to the essentials, with the distorted guitars brought down low and Wolstencroft's drums high in the mix. Marcia Schofield had also joined the band to add keyboards. With most of the songs credited only to Smith himself, this could be seen as a solo album of sorts, or an indication of some rift within the group -- it certainly doesn't translate into the music. For the first time too, his vocals are loud and clear, though certainly not comprehensible; "Bremen Nacht" hints at some sort of run in with a ghost in Germany, "Athlete Cured," with its Spinal Tap-borrowed riff, tells of a "German athletic star" made ill from unusual circumstances -- the narrative turns strange, then funny until wandering off, a classic Smith tactic. Their cover of the Kinks' "Victoria" marked the Fall's first entry into the British charts, but also fit in with Smith's continuing explorations of Britain's history and how it translates into issues of class identity. The CD contains their other two singles from this time -- "Hit the North" and a cover of R. Dean Taylor's "There's a Ghost in My House," which the group makes their own -- plus several B-sides." - AllMusic.

TRACK LISTING

1 Frenz
2 Carry Bag Man
3 Get A Hotel
4 Victoria
5 Athlete Cured
6 In These Times
7 The Steak Place 
8 Bremen Nacht Alternative
9 Guest Informant Excerpt
10 Oswald Defence Lawyer
11 Tuff Life Booogie
12 Guest Informant
13 Twister
14 There's A Ghost In My House
15 Hit The North Part 1

"The Fall made the leap to a semi-major label -- Beggars Banquet -- with The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall, hooking up with noted producer John Leckie to create another smart, varied album. Contemporaneous with the slightly friendlier "Oh! Brother" and "C.R.E.E.P." singles without actually including them, Wonderful and Frightening World makes few concessions to the larger market -- every potential hook seemed spiked with the band's usual rough take-it-or-leave-it stance. Mark E. Smith's audible, tape-distorting spit on the descending chord blast of "Elves" -- already spiked with enough vocal craziness as it is -- gives a sense of where the album as a whole aims. Brix Smith co-writes about half the tracks, creating a strong partnership with many highlights. It may start with a semi-low-key chant, but when "Lay of the Land" fully kicks in, it does just that, Craig Scanlon in particular pouring on the feedback at the end over the clattering din. Smith sounds as coruscating and side-splittingly hilarious as ever, depicting modern Britain with an eye for the absurdities and failures (and crucially, no empathy -- it's all about a gimlet eye projected at everyone and everything). Two further standouts appear on the second half -- "Slang King," a snarling portrayal of a cool-in-his-mind dude and his increasingly pathetic life, and the concluding "Disney's Dream Debased." Though unquestionably the most conventionally attractive tune on the album, ringing guitars and all, Smith's lyrics portray a Disneyland scenario in hell, however softly delivered. Elsewhere, Gavin Friday from the Virgin Prunes takes a bow with his own unmistakable, spindly vocals on the trebly Krautrock chug of "Copped It" and the slightly more brute rhythm of "Stephen Song."

[The CD version, in an admirable move by Beggars Banquet, contains seven extra tracks to fill the disc out, including "Oh! Brother" and "C.R.E.E.P.," along with associated B-sides and the Call for Escape Route EP.] " - AllMusic.

These five Cincinnati friends recorded two albums and a mini album for Brassland before signing to Beggars Banquet. Their last effort, "Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers", was touted as one of the year's best by Rolling Stone and other magazines.

The National contains two pairs of brothers - Aaron Dessner (guitars, bass) and Bryce Dessner (guitar), Scott Devendorf (guitar, bass), Bryan Devendorf (drums) and singer Matt Berninger. Matt's potent baritone intones about matters fraught and funny and sad; about record collections, missing persons and medium-sized American hearts. The songs are intense, and emotive but generally quite restrained, but on one or two tracks, this intensity spills out into a superbly abrasive blast of emotion, before ebbing back into mellowness. Wonderful!

STAFF COMMENTS

Laura says: An absolutely awesome album - one of my albums of the year in 2005 when it was originally released. Although it's perhaps a little less 'polished' than "High Violet" it still has that same compelling, claustrophic intensity too it.

TRACK LISTING

1. Secret Meeting
2. Karen
3. Lit Up
4. Looking For Astronauts
5. Daughters Of The Soho Riots
6. Baby, We'll Be Fine
7. Friend Of Mine
8. Val Jester
9. All The Wine
10. Abel
11. Geese Of Beverly Road
12. City Middle
13. Mr. November

Featuring 15 original tracks and boasting some stunning guest appearances, "Bubblegum" is simply one of Mark Lanegan's (Screaming Trees singer and Queens Of The Stone Age member) best albums, a stunning dark americana journey full of tales of remorse and loneliness delivered by his unique and emotive gravel-edged voice. Musical assistance on "Bubblegum" comes from luminaries including Queens Of The Stone Age bandmates Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri, PJ Harvey (who provides vocals on "Hit The City" and "Come To Me"), Afghan Whigs and Twilight Singers' Greg Dulli and Ween's Dean Ween amongst others.

The album was recorded in one day. The result is a rich, diverse album of angular post-hardcore / alt.rock. Taking it's title from a phrase in contemporary novel "I Lucifer", "The Vertigo Of Bliss" is an inspired rush of emotion, contemplation and twisting melodies. The sleeve for "The Vertigo of Bliss" includes an original illustration by celebrated Italian artist, Milo Manara, whose work was also featured on the sleeve of Biffy Clyro's recent single "The Ideal Height".

A sort of alternative best of, this album is a 15 track compilation of the best studio tracks that never appeared on their six official albums!