GRAMMY award-winning, multi-platinum rock band Kings of Leon are coming back big with their 9th full-length studio album, Can We Please Have Fun. As the title suggests, it’s a document of one of this era’s great rock & roll bands cutting loose, trying new things, and, yes, having some fun. Recorded at Dark Horse studio and produced with new collaborator Kid Harpoon (Harry Styles, Florence + the Machine) the album sees a new side of Kings of Leon. On the new album, the band harkens back to their gritty origins while simultaneously finding new gears. It’s the sound of a band unified in vision and purpose, freed from any expectations, and the album the band says they’ve always wanted to make.

TRACK LISTING

Side A:
1. Ballerina Radio
2. Rainbow Ball
3. Nowhere To Run
4. Mustang
5. Actual Daydream
6. Split Screen
Side B:
1. Don’t Stop The Bleeding
2. Nothing To Do
3. M Television
4. Hesitation Gen
5. Ease Me On
6. Seen

The 40th Anniversary expanded edition of Billy Idol’s iconic Rebel Yell album. Includes the smash hits “Eyes Without a Face,” Flesh for Fantasy” and “Rebel Yell.”

Deluxe reissue features 13 bonus tracks, including the previously unreleased “Best Way Out of Here” and cover of “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore” from the original sessions, plus original demos and the Poolside remix of “Eyes Without a Face.”

TRACK LISTING

Vinyl Tracklisting:
Side A
Rebel Yell
Daytime Drama
Eyes Without A Face
Blue Highway
Side B
Flesh For Fantasy
Catch My Fall
Crank Call
(Do Not) Stand In The Shadows
The Dead Next Door
Side C
Best Way Out Of Here
Love Don’t Live Here Anymore
Daytime Drama (Demo)
Flesh For Fantasy (Demo)
Side D
Catch My Fall (Early Version)
Crank Call (Demo)
(Do Not) Stand In The Shadows (Demo)
Eyes Without A Face (Poolside Remix)

2CD
Disc 1
Rebel Yell
Daytime Drama
Eyes Without A Face
Blue Highway
Flesh For Fantasy
Catch My Fall
Crank Call
(Do Not) Stand In The Shadows
The Dead Next Door
Disc 2
Best Way Out Of Here
Love Don’t Live Here Anymore
Daytime Drama (Demo)
Flesh For Fantasy (Demo)
Catch My Fall (Early Version)
Crank Call (Demo)
(Do Not) Stand In The Shadows (Demo)
Rebel Yell (Session Take)
Blue Highway (Original Demo)
Flesh For Fantasy (Session Take)
Catch My Fall (Original Demo)
Motorbikin' (Session Take)
Eyes Without A Face (Poolside Remix)

Vinyl Description:
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Band On The Run, this special vinyl edition was cut at half speed using a high-resolution transfer of the original master tapes from 1973 by Miles Showell at the legendary Abbey Road Studios, London. This tracklist mirrors the US release which includes the song “Helen Wheels”. Includes reproduction of Linda McCartney Polaroid poster. Features an Obi strip.

CD Description:
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Band On The Run, this special 2CD edition features the original album and a second disc of previously unreleased “underdubbed” mixes of the songs. CD1 mirrors the US release which includes the song “Helen Wheels”. The set also includes a double-sided fold-out Polaroid poster taken by Linda McCartney.

TRACK LISTING

1LP: 
Band On The Run (Side A)
Jet (Side A)
Bluebird (Side A)
Mrs. Vandebilt (Side A)
Let Me Roll It (Side A)
Mamunia (Side B)
No Words (Side B)
Helen Wheels (Side B)
Picasso’s Last Words (Drink To Me) (Side B)
Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five (Side B)

2CD:
Disc 1 - Band On The Run
Band On The Run
Jet
Bluebird
Mrs. Vandebilt
Let Me Roll It
Mamunia
No Words
Helen Wheels
Picasso’s Last Words (Drink To Me)
Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five

Disc 2 - Band On The Run (Underdubbed Mixes)
Band On The Run
Mamunia
No Words
Jet
Bluebird
Mrs. Vandebilt
Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five
Picasso’s Last Words (Drink To Me)
Let Me Roll It

Ed O’Brien never planned to make a solo record. As a guitarist with Radiohead, who over almost three decades and nine albums have established themselves as one of the most innovative and influential musical forces of our time, he thought his artistic side had its outlet and was happy to spend any downtime from Radiohead with his family. Plus, he wondered, would it really be necessary? “Thom, Jonny and Phillip are making music,” he says, “and I’m like, ‘The last thing the world needs is a shit album by me.’”

But suddenly a switch was flicked and the songs came pouring out of him. That creative surge resulted in an album of rediscovery and adventure by O’Brien under the moniker EOB that deftly veers from moments of delicate folk to euphoric house, its songs seamlessly pinned together by unswerving melodic hooks and candid lyricism. A spirit of collaboration runs through it, from the production team of Flood, Catherine Marks, Alan Moulder and Adam ‘Cecil’ Bartlett to the extraordinary musicians O’Brien assembled to help bring these tracks to life; Omar Hakim, Colin Greenwood, David Okumu, Laura Marling, Adrian Utley, Nathan East and Glenn Kotche.

But every group of collaborators needs a leader, and this album is all O’Brien’s vision. “I wanted to make a record from the heart,” he says. “I wanted to make something direct. I wanted to talk about love, your family in the immediate and the wider sense, where we are on the planet, the bigger picture, life and death. I wanted to make a big hearted, warm and colorful album… something hopeful and full of love.”

It all started in Brazil. Ed and his family moved out to the Brazilian countryside at the end of 2012. After setting up a home studio and dabbling with the idea of making an electronic record, a listen to Primal Scream’s landmark Screamadelica was O’Brien’s eureka moment. “I thought, this is it… I want my music to have that joy, that light, the depth and breadth of that album… elements of dance, soul, ambient… Uplifting in parts.” He immediately picked up an acoustic guitar and started writing, the new direction further influenced by a trip to Rio Carnival. “Carnival was another eureka moment… an extraordinary explosion of rhythm, melody, dance, light and joy… I felt there was a thread right through Screamadelica, rave and carnival.”

The O’Briens returned home in summer 2013 and Ed hunkered down in a remote cottage in the shadow of the Cambrian Mountains in Wales to begin writing songs. As the material for the album was taking shape, Flood offered his services as producer having heard some of the demos. “I had my man, my producer… He’s probably my favorite producer. The breadth of the stuff he’s done, from Depeche Mode, PJ Harvey, U2, Foals… he’s a sonic maestro.”

They rented a big house in Wales and over three weeks, in the Autumn of 2017, O’Brien and his house band – East, Hakim and Okumu – got down the bones of the record. A year of tinkering and re-working followed at Assault & Battery Studios in Willesden, London. “The house band was so good for some tracks – but other stuff needed a different approach. Any record that I’ve been involved with, that’s been of any merit, is always a journey.”

And then, following five years of writing and recording scheduled during any possible break from the making and touring of Radiohead’s A Moon Shaped Pool, EOB’s debut was finally completed. “I see this as part of a bigger story…. A trilogy perhaps…I’ve really just started.” It has been a long, necessary process, and O’Brien has emerged a different person. “You have to keep moving and finding the things that inspire you and that resonate… there’s a music that I’m chasing… this feels like the right start.” EOB marks a new beginning for Ed O’Brien. From here, he can go anywhere.

TRACK LISTING

1. Shangri-La
2. Brasil
3. Deep Days
4. Long Time Coming
5. Mass
6. Banksters
7. Sail On
8. Olympik
9. Cloak Of The Night

Goatherder is the seventh album from underground London producer Kristian Craig Robinson, AKA Capitol K. Along with everything from Chinese pop to the marching band music of the United Arab Emirates in his early musical vocabulary, the influence of rave, new wave, grunge, and noise-core would collide to create a bold new sound. His early studio experiments gave birth to his debut, "Sounds of the Empire" (Planet Mu, 1999) built upon a heady balance of samples and live sources that placed Capitol K at the forefront of the UK's electronic scene. The follow-up, 2002's "Island Row", was released via XL Records, with lead single "Pillow" becoming a daytime Radio 1 crossover. "Nomad Junk" (2005) combined Asian field recordings into a vibrant psychedelic collage, while "Notes From: Life On The Wire With A Wrecking Ball" (2008) paid homage to London’s squats and free anarchistic artistic spaces of which K was a part for many years. "Andean Dub" (2012) was an exploratory South American-influenced album of heavy synth laden cumbia sound system tracks.

This latest work was developed and recorded in his native Malta, where he built a studio in a cave (a former goat stable). K gathered bamboo instruments collected around the world, including an ancient Quecha reeded pipe (his new-found lead instrument), and various resonating vessels and percussive objects including dry fennel storks collected from Punic troglodyte sites, and atonal flutes built from fresh cut farmland reed. Ritualistic improvisations took place over a series of seasonal visits, awakening genetic memory and plant communication. Back in London the tracks were interfaced and expanded with post-industrial machine beat and bass guitar lock down. Homage is paid to New Age synthscapes, while a spirit jazz overtone arrives from K's recent years as the sonic muscle behind a plethora of luminous albums born in his Total Refreshment Studio. Goatherder follows on from the 2016 collaborative incarnation "Loose Meat" and sonically abridges 2012's Capitol K album "Andean Dub". 

TRACK LISTING

1. Goatherder 3:34
2. Landlocked 4:00
3. Building Fire 4:27
4. Swirling Torrents 3:15
5. Fennel Dance 2:45
6. Field Walk 3:04
7. Island Is Ransacked 2:16
8. Sunset 2:29
9. Plant Communication 3:51
10. Collective Farming 4:09
11. Lament 2:09

"If you don't vote it's on you, not me," Jim James sings on his second solo album. It's an election-year entreaty geared towards too-pure leftoid lintheads, but the song is no screed, befitting a guy whose music usually turns inward. James floats his humidly ethereal soul mumble over seven minutes of a languid beat, cottony strings and chill organ bleat. Throughout Eternally Even, the My Morning Jacket mainman renders his change gospel with conversational grace, Bill Withers warmth, Sly Stone optimism and Neil Young conviction – less soap box pugilist than lazy-Sunday sage.

The music recalls Aquarian soul, Nineties trip-hop and laser-gun funk: "True Nature" ties a find-your-mission message to a hazily coiled Blacksploitation groove; the loose flowing prettiness of "Here in Spirit" links today's battles to a history of struggle. The sonic spaciness can sometimes undercut James' less probing moments ("This world is war and blood when it could've been love," he observes on "We Ain't Getting Any Younger (Pt. 2.)" More often, the effect is charming. The gentlest moment is the title cut, in which his Kentucky coo cuddles against a track that's like Dark Side of the Moon as an astral doo-wop lovers prayer, reaching for a personal and social over-the-rainbow moment of Zen so sweetly visioned it feels like it's already unfolding –walking in the shadows, tripping towards the light. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: This record has the meandering, groovy, mellow and melancholic vibe of Marvin's masterpiece "Here, My Dear". Stoned, soulful, fuzzy songs bleed into one another to create a powerful meditation on the times (political and personal). It is a stunning record.

TRACK LISTING

1. Hide In Plain Sight
2. Same Old Lie
3. Here In Spirit
4. The World's Smiling Now
5. We Ain't Getting Any Younger Pt. 1
6. We Ain't Getting Any Younger Pt. 2 [Explicit]
7. True Nature
8. In The Moment
9. Eternally Even

"Ill Communication" follows the blueprint of "Check Your Head", accentuating it at some points, deepening it in others, but never expanding it beyond the boundaries of that record. It was the first Beastie Boys album not to delve into new territory, but it's not fair to say that the band were coasting, since much of the album finds the group turning in muscular, vigorous music that fills out the black-and-white sketches that comprised "Check Your Head". Much of the credit has to go to the group's renewed emphasis on their rhyming; there are still instrumentals, but the Beasties do push their words to the forefront, even on dense rockers like the album's signature tune, "Sabotage". But even those rhymes illustrate that the group is in the process of a great settling, relying more on old-school-styled rhyme schemes and word battles than the narratives and surreal fantasies that marked the high points on their first two albums. With this record, the Beasties confirm that there is indeed a signature Beastie Boys aesthetic, with the group sticking to a blend of old school rap, pop culture, lo-fi funk, soulful jazz instrumentals, Latin rhythms, and punk, often seamlessly integrated into a rolling, pan-cultural, multi-cultural groove.

TRACK LISTING

Sure Shot
Tough Guy
B - Boys Makin' With The Freak Freak
Bobo On The Corner
Root Down
Sabotage
Get It Together
Sabrosa
The Update
Futterman's Rule
Alright Hear This
Eugene's Lament
Flute Loop
Do It
Ricky's Theme
Heart Attack Man
The Scoop
Shambala
Bodhisattva Vow
Transitions

"Check Your Head" brought the Beastie Boys crashing back into the charts and into public consciousness on its original 1992 release. Following "Paul's Boutique", the Beasties had repositioned themselves as a lo-fi, alt-rock groove band. They had not abandoned rap, but it was no longer the foundation of their music, it was simply the most prominent in a thick pop-culture gumbo where old school rap sat comfortably with soul-jazz, hardcore punk, white-trash metal, arena rock, bossa nova, spacey pop, and hard, dirty funk. On "Check Your Head" turned toward primitive grooves they played themselves, augmented by keyboardist Money Mark and co-producer Mario Caldato Jr. Music was the message, and the rhymes, which had been pushed toward the forefront on both "Licensed To Ill" and "Paul's Boutique", have been considerably de-emphasized (only four songs - "Jimmy James," "Pass the Mic," "Finger Lickin' Good," and "So What'cha Want" - could hold their own lyrically among their previous work). The focus is on the music, mood, and even the newfound neo-hippie political consciousness. As much as "Paul's Boutique", this is a whirlwind tour through the Beasties' pop-culture obsessions, but instead of spinning into Technicolor fantasies, it's earth-bound DIY that makes it all seem equally accessible - which is a big reason why it turned out to be an alt-rock touchstone of the 90s, something that both set trends and predicted them.

TRACK LISTING

Jimmy James 3:14
Funky Boss 1:35
Pass The Mic 4:17
Gratitude 2:45
Lighten Up 2:41
Finger Lickin' Good 3:39
So What'cha Want 3:37
The Biz Vs. The Nuge 0:33
Time For Livin' 1:48
Something's Gotta Give 3:28
The Blue Nun 0:32
Stand Together 2:47
Pow 2:13
The Maestro 2:52
Groove Holmes 2:33
Live At P.J.'s 3:18
Mark On The Bus 1:05
Professor Booty 4:13
In 3's 2:23
Namasté 4:01

"Hello Nasty", the Beastie Boys' fifth album, is a head-spinning listen loaded with analogue synthesizers, old drum machines, call-and-response vocals, freestyle rhyming, futuristic sound effects, and virtuoso turntable scratching. The Beasties had long been notorious for their dense, multi-layered explosions, but "Hello Nasty" was their first record to build on the multi-ethnic junk-culture breakthrough of "Check Your Head", instead of merely replicating it. Hiring DJ Mix Master Mike (one of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz) turned out to be a masterstroke; he and the Beasties created a sound that strongly recalls the spare electronic funk of the early 80s, but spiked with the samples and postmodern absurdist wit that have become their trademarks.

This dark and dreamy psychedelic band pairs former Rain Parade and Opal guitarist Dave Roback with vocalist Hope Sandoval. Drawing primarily from the swirling, textured drone of such 60s groups as The Velvet Underground and The Doors, Mazzy Star also incorporates blues, country, and pulsing acoustic folk elements, creating a highly textured and luminous amalgam. The band's auspicious debut, "She Hangs Brightly" is a rich, atmospheric bag of tricks. Such songs as "Halah", "Ride It On", and "Be My Angel" emphasise the duo's folk-pop origins but add layers of effect-drenched guitar and intimate, pristine production to achieve gorgeously ethereal results. The title track and "Ghost Highway" are more blues-based and recall the simmering and evocative ethic of heavy acid-rock. Sandoval's languid, earthy vocals are the perfect foil for Roback's lysergic explorations, and "She Hangs Brightly" is undoubtedly the band's finest moment.

"Among My Swan" features the same swirling, psychedelic folk music that brought Mazzy Star mainstream success with 1993's "So Tonight That I Might See". The songs employ the sparse arrangements and dark sense of space first explored by bands like Big Star (on "Third/Sister Lover") and the Velvet Underground. But with tunes that are always accessible, and sometimes irresistible, Mazzy Star has brought this dreamy ballad sound up from the underground. David Roback provides a shimmering backdrop of slide guitar and organ for Hope Sandoval's mesmerising vocals. Smooth as honey and wispy as tumbleweed, Sandoval's haunting voice traps the listener in a celestial trance. "Among My Swan" never lapses into the self-indulgent side of psychedelia; the music is always kept muted and close to its folk and blues roots. This is an album of beautiful mood music that flickers in the shadows.

Combining the considerable talents of guitarist Dave Roback (Opal, Rain Parade) and Hope Sandoval's sultry, heavy-lidded vocals, Mazzy Star fuses blues, country, and pulsing acoustic folk in a dark psychedelic mix that recalls the Velvet Underground and The Doors. The group's highly textured, atmospheric sound emerged glittering and fully formed on the debut "She Hangs Brightly", surprising listeners with its moody yet accessible mix. "So Tonight That I Might See" sticks close to the ground staked out by its predecessor, though with no less success. "Wasted" moves insistently down the twelve-bar road to nuanced, snarling guitar embellishments. "Blue Light" is smoky, blue-eyed (if black-hearted) soul. Of particular note is the cover of Arthur Lee's "Five String Serenade", graced with lilting cello and tambourine accompaniment. Roback's electric/lysergic guitar explorations and Sandoval's blusey, lazily erotic sigh weave a deeply evocative spell, making "So Tonight That I Might See" a perfect 2:00AM album.

Philadelphia's The Capitol Years return with this new single on new label SOE. "You Can Stay There" is wonderful sunkissed pop that has similar shimmering pop dynamics to The Shins: Melodic, intricate guitars, vocal harmonies, and dreamy vocals. Over on the flip, "1000 Guns" employs the same melodic guitar work, over a lolloping drum beat again topped with gorgeous dreamy vocals. Reminiscent of Piccadilly favourites Ambulance LTD. Lovely stuff!

Not content with just one 'Revolution', Philadelphia's shape-shifting pop auteurs, The Capitol Years, implore you to embrace their new single (along with the worldwide change afoot) if only by spinning the new track over and over again! Leading up to the release of the full length, "Dance Away The Terror", "Revolutions" is just one instance of ethereal pop on an album that ranges from art noise freakouts to whimsical pop-craft, often in the course of the same song. The Capitol Years began as a bedroom pop experiment, morphed into a bombastic live band of Philadelphian song-obsessed noisemakers, and today continues as one of the city's most beloved groups.

Having recorded albums for labels such as XL and Planet Mu, Capitol K returns with full length number six, this time on Faith and Industry. The first track unfolds gradually in classic Capitol K style with the beat-poet driven, nostalgic rave of "Diamond Skys", the energy rises with the deconstructed bossa-nova of "Go Go Go", again influenced by the early days of Beat poetry. Things slow down a little for Steve Lamacq ROTW single "Libertania". Next up, "Acid Favela" takes the gigantic baile funk "Rambo" anthem and mixes in some acid lines and shoe-gazing riffage like only Capitol K can. "Freak" is a progressive hyper-funk freak out over a cut up 2-step rhythm. "Impression", is part two of "Freak", reflecting on a love with a sense of stillness and calm, musically revisiting K's penchant for revealing serene melodies from dictaphone tape cut ups.

From the Floydian Mellotron ballad of "In My First Mind" to the seagulls and wavesounds on "The Beauty of Time Is That It's Snowing" the first Steve Miller Band album from 1968 is full of suprises, each track segues into the next and can be termed a concept album, there is a blues feel about it but there are also moments of psychedelia and progressive rock that make you really sit up. A minor classic.

"Number 5" the Steve Miller Band's 1970 release remains a real favourite amongst his fans. It seems to epitomise his early work (prior to his car crash and later more pop-orientated career). It's full of melodic, spacey guitar-led songs with much use of the Echoplex. It includes classic Miller songs like "Good Morning", "Going To The Country" and "Jackson-Kent Blues".

Opening with the haunting "Song For Our Ancestors" Steve Miller's 1968 album "Sailor" is probably the finest of his career. The band were on song with half the album more bluesy and the other half more rockin'. It includes classic Miller songs like "Living In The USA" and "Gangster Of Love". With Stones producer Glyn Johns at the controls, this is a great album if you love that epic 60s San Francisco sound.

Second full length album from this Washington DC trio. For fans of Q And Not U, Delta 72 and Fugazi.