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JOHN

John Robb

Live Forever: How Liam And Noel Remade Rock 'N' Roll

    Think Oasis was just Britpop and brawls? Think again.

    In this, the definitive book on Britain’s biggest band, John Robb peels back the layers of Manchester's best known musical export, revealing a tale of ambition, ego, talent, and a whole lot of attitude. From the gritty pubs of Manchester to the dizzying heights of global stardom, this unauthorized biography is a rollercoaster ride through the Gallagher brothers' turbulent lives and the music that defined a generation. But it is also a portrait of Britain around the turn of the millennium and the cultural forces and places that shaped, and were shaped by, two cocksure autodidacts from Burnage – from art to fashion, and from football to politics.

    Playful, funny and irreverent, and drawing on dozens of interviews and first-hand stories, Live Forever puts Oasis squarely in the Pantheon of Rock ‘n Roll royalty as the last great band of the pre-internet age. So, grab your parka and shades, perfect your swagger, and prepare to be amazed, amused, and maybe even just a little bit shocked.

    Ian Leslie

    John And Paul : A Love Story In Songs

      A majestic biography of two young geniuses who merged their talents to create one of the greatest bodies of music in history. John & Paul begins in 1957, when two teenagers in suburban Liverpool meet and decide to play rock n'roll together.

      It ends twenty-three years later, when one of them is murdered. In between, we see them become global stars, create countless indelible songs, and play a central role in shaping the modern world. Lennon and McCartney were more than friends, rivals or collaborators.

      They were intimates who both had the fabric of their world ruptured at a young age, and who longed to make emotional connections; with each other, and with audiences. The pop song was a vessel into which they poured feelings of grief and euphoria and everything in between. When they couldn't speak what they felt, they sang it.

      After the break-up of their group, they maintained a musical dialogue at a distance, in songs full of recrimination, regret, and affection. Ian Leslie traces the twists and turns of their relationship through the music it produced and offers rich insights into the nature of creativity, collaboration and human connection. Drawing on recently released footage and recordings, this is a startlingly fresh take on two of the greatest icons in music history.

      Leslie's majestic and wildly enjoyable biography will make us see and hear Lennon and McCartney anew.

      Swami John Reis

      Time To Let You Down

        Celebrating 55 years in the music business! Swami John Reis is back with his second LP in eight months. Time To Let You Down is a savage blast of junk shoppe punk that kicks you in the ding ding. This eleven track LP is chock full of fist pumpers, head bumpers, stinky dumpers, meaty thumpers and toe stumpers. The tempos are often breakneck and the dense arrangements tumble like bricks into hot cheese. The undeniable sonic girth barges at will into lathered ear tubes allowing these barbaric anthems to echo in hollow domes. Feel the whip crack break skin on the acne scarred backs of our cultural oppressors. The sound is tough. The songs are a bitch. Incite your expectations with the single “Fed To The Dogs” or the title track. Salty leather and wobbly chain link fences can’t contain its rebel intent.

        These recordings took place Oct. 2024 and features Swami John Reis on guitar and vocals with contributions from Jason Sinclair (Hot Snakes), Joey Guevara (Swami and the Bed Of Nails), Jacob Turnbloom (Mrs. Magician) and Glen Galloway (Truman’s Water). The record was produced by John Reis, engineered and mixed by Ben Moore and mastered by Dave Gardner.

        Time To Let You Down is pressed on virgin, Egyptian pellets and available in limited, colorful vinyl that have been hand-swirled. You’ll not only clearly hear the difference, you will see it as well.

        For fans of Hot Snakes, The Marked Men, Buzzcocks, The Spits, Judas Priest, The Damned, The Dickies...

        TRACK LISTING

        1. Time To Let You Down
        2. Basement Envy
        3. Boomer Rang
        4. King Of The Jungle VS
        5. The Boogie Man
        6. Fed To The Dogs
        7. Prince Of The Parade
        8. Radio Silence/Radio
        9. Vengeance
        10. Kamen Rider Theme
        11. Because I Stink
        12. Cold Feet
        13. Heartbeats

        Father John Misty

        I Love You, Honeybear - 2025 Remastered Edition

          Father John Misty’s landmark 2015 sophomore album, I Love You, Honeybear, is back on vinyl, remastered and repackaged as a single LP (It was originally released as a double LP).

          The now-classic album includes fan favorites “Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins),” and the title track, “I Love You, Honeybear.” On release I Love You, Honeybear earned a Pitchfork Best New Music, a perfect score from Exclaim!, and rave reviews from NME, Mojo, Q, Spin, and more. It was hailed as one of the best albums of 2015 by Pitchfork, Billboard, The A.V. Club, NME, and Stereogum. I Love You, Honeybear was produced by Josh Tillman and Jonathan Wilson, and mixed by Phil Ek. This 2024 edition was remastered in 2024 by Adam Ayan at Ayan Mastering.

          TRACK LISTING

          1. I Love You, Honeybear
          2. Chateau Lobby #4 (in C For Two Virgins)
          3. True Affection
          4. The Night Josh Tillman Came To Our Apt.
          5. When You're Smiling And Astride Me
          6. Nothing Good Ever Happens At The Goddamn Thirsty Crow
          7. Strange Encounter
          8. The Ideal Husband
          9. Bored In The USA
          10. Holy Shit
          11. I Went To The Store One Day

          John Glacier

          Like A Ribbon

            Within the UK, there are a select few burgeoning icons, artists that push the boundaries with their musical output while embodying a presence across all mediums that feeds into mass intrigue and curiosity. London-based rapper, poet and producer John Glacier is one of the few that can lay claim to this status. After years of garnering intrigue across the mainstream and underground, John Glacier will finally release her debut album, 'Like A Ribbon', via Young.

            Referring to the seamlessly neverending threads of relationships and responsibilities that overlay to form the ribbon of modern existence, 'Like A Ribbon' finds John Glacier providing an accurate snapshot of her life as it has played out on her meteoric rise; from a insular, simple existence growing up in Hackney, to projecting stories to the world while aiming to maintain a semblance of normalcy in what is a very extraordinary life. Executive producer Kwes Darko helps to lay the sonic tapestry for the weaving of John’s own tale, alongside contributions from the likes of Flume, Mk.gee contributor Andrew Aged, Surf Gang, Eartheater, Sampha and more. 'Like A Ribbon' is the story of living in a modern world, told through an imaginatively otherworldly lens.

            A highly feted vocalist whose work was subject to huge demand even before her debut project SHILOH: Lost For Words was released, John Glacier has pushed the boundaries of what defines UK rap with a diaristic approach that shines a light on the mundanities of everyday life and the complexities of human emotion, all through her own unique phrasing and perspectives. This sensibility, alongside her own externally perpetuated mythology, has also provided allure for the fashion world, with John becoming one of the faces of and providing bespoke poetry for Daniel Lee's iconic debut campaign for Burberry, as well finding fans in the likes of Bottega Veneta, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, J.W. Anderson, Miu Miu, Alexander McQueen and so many more. Her debut album 'Like A Ribbon' gives John Glacier the platform to explore the outer reaches of her immersive sound, traversing her own psyche in a way that's both abstracted and wholly relatable. Her poetic style takes center stage on the LP, defining modern life as a young woman growing up in Hackney; tied to the place she was born while existing on a whole other plane.


            TRACK LISTING

            1. Satellites
            2. Don’t Cover Me
            3. Money Shows (feat. Eartheater)
            4. Emotions
            5. Nevasure
            6. Steady As I Am
            7. Grands!
            8. Cows Come Home
            9. Whole Or None
            10. Poster
            11. Found
            12. Home
            13. Ocean Stepping (feat. Sampha)
            14. Dancing In The Rain
            15. Heaven’s Sent

            Rory Sullivan-Burke

            The Light Pours Out Of Me : The Authorized Biography Of John McGeoch

              John McGeoch was the unsung hero of the post-punk era. Blazing a trail with some of Britain’s biggest bands and most revered artists – Magazine, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Armoury Show and Public Image Ltd. – John left an undeniable and indelible mark on music.

              The Light Pours Out of Me examines John’s life and legacy, drawing on original interviews with the likes of Siouxsie Sioux, Howard Devoto, Johnny Marr, Billy Idol, John Frusciante, Keith Levene, Jonny Greenwood, Nick Launay, Ed O’Brien, Peter ‘Hooky’ Hook and many others.

              Illustrated with unseen photographs, this moving biography – authorised by the family – celebrates the remarkable guitarist who helped provide the soundtrack to a generation.

              Peter Brötzmann / John Edwards / Steve Noble / Jason Adasiewicz

              The Quartet

                It is a huge honour to announce the publication of Peter Brotzmann’s final concerts on OTOROKU. When we invited Peter to do a residency at Cafe OTO back in February 2023 we had no idea these would be his last ever shows and he played with such power it would have been hard for anyone present to believe he would never play publicly again.

                Recorded over two nights this grouping of Jason Adasiewicz on vibraphone, John Edwards on bass and Steve Noble on drums feels especially resonant and personal to Cafe OTO. The first time Peter performed at the venue back in 2010 it was in a trio with John and Steve, (released as The Worse The Better kick starting our in-house record label) so it feels fitting that the last shows he ever played here should also have that trio at its core.

                The quartet last played together at OTO back in 2013, (released as Mental Shake on OTOROKU), and Brotzmann humbly opened the return of the group saying, "it's a pleasure to be back” before launching straight into a long blast on the alto sax, swiftly met by the relentless energy and engagement of Adasiewicz, Edwards and Noble.

                There are moments of tenderness to Brotzmann’s playing that feels specific to this small group - one that cuts across three generations - and in a space that’s come to feel like home. Of course, there is dizzying, forceful, singleminded playing, but even amongst a relentless chorus of cymbal splashes and busy vibraphone clusters the lyrical, spacious moments are savoured and held onto. As he remarked at the end of the group's first visit to OTO, “the Quartet is, for us, a great adventure.”

                Peter clearly wanted to play to the end. Did he know these might be his last shows? We will never know. What is clear is he wanted to go out in style and on his terms. For anyone in the room at the time or listening to these recordings it’s clear he achieved that.

                It was Peter’s wish that these recordings should be made public and he was due to finalise the cover design on the week he passed away. We would like to thank Peter’s family for working with us to fulfil Peter’s wishes to release this material but more than anything we would like to thank Peter himself for all the extraordinary memories, his generosity and all he has given the music. On a personal level for us, like so many, he meant a huge amount and we miss him deeply.

                TRACK LISTING

                Part 1
                Part 2
                Part 3
                Part 4

                Mark Doyle

                John Cale's Paris 1919 - 33 1/3

                  John Cale's enigmatic masterpiece, Paris 1919, appeared at a time when the artist and his world were changing forever. It was 1973, the year of the Watergate hearings and the oil crisis, and Cale was at a crossroads. The white-hot rage of his Velvet Underground days was nearly spent; now he was living in Los Angeles, working for a record company and making music when time allowed. He needed to lay to rest some ghosts, but he couldn't do that without scaring up others. Paris 1919 was the result.

                  In this vivid, wide-ranging book, Mark Doyle hunts down the ghosts haunting Cale's most enduring solo album. There are the ghosts of New York – of the Velvets, Nico, and Warhol – that he smuggled into Los Angeles in his luggage. There is the ghost of Dylan Thomas, a fellow Welshman who haunts not just Paris 1919 but much of Cale's life and art. There are the ghosts of history, of a failed peace and the artists who sought the truth in dreams. And there are the ghosts of Christmas, surprising visitors who bring a nostalgic warmth and a touch of wintry dread. With erudition and wit, Doyle offers new ways to listen to an old album whose mysteries will never fully be resolved.

                  John Coltrane

                  Blue Train - 2025 Reissue

                    Blue Train was recorded September 15, 1957, in Hackensack, New Jersey. The personnel include Coltrane's Miles Davis bandmates, Paul Chambers on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums - both of whom had worked before with pianist Kenny Drew - and trumpeter Lee Morgan and trombonist Curtis Fuller, who were then up-and-coming jazz musicians and would go on to join Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers.

                    TRACK LISTING

                    Blue Train
                    Moment's Notice
                    Locomotion
                    I'm Old Fashioned
                    Lazy Bird

                    John Foxx

                    Metamatic - 2025 Reissue

                      Recorded 1979 at Pathway studios, an eight-track studio in Islington, North London, this is an album of inventive, timeless electro-pop. Mastered from the original analogue tapes, the album still sounds incredible thanks to Foxx’s minimalist approach, which was partly inspired by his experience of watching Lee “Scratch" Perry produce records at Island Records’ studios in the 1970s. Engineer Gareth Jones - who later worked on some of Depeche Mode’s finest recordings - also proved to be a fantastic collaborator and innovator on this record.

                      John Foxx:
                      "I was in retreat from bands, touring, etc, mightily convinced that electronics were the future, and reading too much J.G. Ballard. I lived alone in Finsbury Park, spent my spare time walking the disused train lines, cycled to the studio every day and wobbled back at dawn, imagining I was the Marcel Duchamp of electropop. Metamatic was the result. It was the first British electronic pop album. It was minimal, primitive technopunk. Carcrash music tailored by Burtons.”

                      TRACK LISTING

                      Side One
                      1. Plaza
                      2. He’s A Liquid
                      3. Underpass
                      4. Metal Beat
                      5. No-One Driving

                      Side Two
                      1. A New Kind Of Man
                      2. Blurred Girl
                      3. 030
                      4. Tidal Wave
                      5. Touch And Go

                      John Cale

                      Slow Dazzle - 2024 Reissue

                        Following on quickly from Fear, and capitalising on that album's energy Slow Dazzle is another fiery release by Velvet Underground founder John Cale - This re-issue faithfully replicates the original 1975 Island Records UK release and is pressed onto high quality 180g vinyl.

                        Released in March 1975, initially, the album offers a false sense of mellow security: "Mr Wilson", a tribute to Brian, the leader of Cale's beloved Beach Boys starts the on a much sweeter note than "Fear Is A Man's Best Friend", as does "Taking It All Away"; by "Dirty Ass Rock'n'Roll" Slow Dazzle is off to darker terrain, business as usual. Cale, however, cannot resist a pop song and a ballad – "Ski Patrol" is a great two-minute vignette, and "I'm Not The Loving Kind" is soul-baring.

                        The album's reputation, however, rests on two tracks – "Guts", a bald telling of Cale's wife's infidelity and his pitch-black cover of Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel". 50 years later, these songs still pack a tremendous punch.

                        TRACK LISTING

                        Mr. Wilson
                        Taking It All Away
                        Dirty-Ass Rock 'N' Roll
                        Darling I Need You
                        Rollaroll
                        Heartbreak Hotel
                        Ski Patrol
                        I'm Not The Loving Kind
                        Guts
                        The Jeweller

                        John Cale

                        Helen Of Troy - 2024 Reissue

                          Recorded quickly between John Cale producing Patti Smith's Horses and his going out on an Italian tour, Helen of Troy became Cale's third and final studio album for Island Records - This re-issue faithfully replicates the original 1975 Island Records UK release and is pressed onto high quality 180g vinyl.

                          Helen Of Troy is a raw, fascinating listen. The title track with its horns and spoken word is one of Cale's best: after the sweet bubblegum of "China Sea", the album gets increasingly stripped down – the acoustic guitar and piano of "Cable Hogue" and the punkish cover of The Modern Lovers' "Pablo Picasso" have long been favourites on the album. "Leaving It All Up To You" – in which Cale becomes increasingly disturbed – garnered controversy at the time and was actually removed from later pressings of the album because of its references to the Manson murders. Cale never lost his ability to shock. Taking its title from the opening line of Johnny Cash's "I Walk The Line", "I Keep A Close Watch", a track Cale would record again several years later, with its Robert Kirby-arranged strings and horns, is the closest Cale has veered toward a power ballad.

                          It is a work of great beauty among all the jagged edges of Helen Of Troy.

                          JOHN

                          POST-KIN (Live At Scala)

                            Following up 2023's acclaimed studio album 'A Life Diagrammatic', cryptically named powerhouse duo JOHN offer a live recording of their landmark appearance at London's historic SCALA in early 2024. Providing yet more evidence of their uncompromising show which brims with a primal energy honed over the last decade. With the setlist spanning across their discography, ‘POST KINO (Live at Scala)’ is an honest testament to both the space and the band’s time-tested ethos. Their taut synchronisation ricocheting from the former cinema walls with boundless power and clarity. The documentation also serves to mirror a now well-beaten observation of first-time listeners: that it is quite simply remarkable how only two bodies can combine to create such a formidable force.

                            STAFF COMMENTS

                            Barry says: One of the most uncompromising bands around right now, JOHN are custom built for the live environment, and this absolutely brilliant document of their incendiary live experience is second to none. An essential live record and further evidence of JOHN's enduring brilliance.

                            TRACK LISTING

                            Côte D’adur (Live At Scala)
                            A Submersible (Live At Scala)
                            Theme New Bond Junior (Live At Scala)
                            Hopper On The Dial (Live At Scala)
                            Service Stationed (Live At Scala)

                            A Whole House (Live At Scala)
                            Riddley Scott Walker (Live At Scala)
                            Trauma Mosaic (Live At Scala)
                            Squad Vowels (Live At Scala)
                            Future Thinker (Live At Scala)

                            John Cale

                            Fear - 2024 Reissue

                              Released in October 1974, Fear is an incredibly important in the 50+ year career of John Cale - This re-issue faithfully replicates the original 1974 Island Records UK release and is pressed onto high quality 180g vinyl.

                              Fear marked Cale's return to recording in London after the best part of a decade in America. Signing to Island, he made fast friends with two key admirers, Phil Manzanera and Brian Eno, who assisted him in returning his music to the rawer sound of his earlier work, as opposed to the lush textures of his previous studio album, Paris 1919. The tense, clipped "Fear Is A Man's Best Friend" harks back to the work of the Velvet Underground, as does the standout, "Gun", eight minutes of overdriven bleakness with Eno duelling with Cale's guitar solo on synthesisers. Much is rightly made of these tracks, but there is also the sweetness of the gospel of "Buffalo Ballet" and the Beach Boys homage "The Man Who Couldn't Afford To Orgy". The pretty, semi-autobiographical "Ship Of Fools" offers listeners an opportunity to hear Cale reference the South Wales city of Swansea, its seaside suburb, Mumbles and his home village of Garnant.

                              In its often-skeletal simplicity, the often triumphant Fear is an album that brought an angular aggression with it.

                              TRACK LISTING

                              Fear Is A Man's Best Friend
                              Buffalo Ballet
                              Barracuda
                              Emily
                              Ship Of Fools
                              Gun
                              The Man Who Couldn't Afford To Orgy
                              You Know More Than I Know
                              Momamma Scuba

                              Laibach

                              The John Peel Sessions - Black Friday 2024 Edition

                                THIS IS A BLACK FRIDAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                                IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8AM ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 30TH).

                                Never previously released on vinyl, now remastered and pressed on stone coloured vinyl, especially for Record Store Day Black Friday 2024.

                                TRACK LISTING

                                Krvava Gruda - Plodna Zemlja
                                Krst
                                Life Is Life
                                Leben-Tod
                                Transnational
                                Krvoprelitje (Ti, Ki Izzivaš)

                                Father John Misty

                                Mahashmashana

                                  After a decade being born, Josh Tillman is finally busy dying.

                                  'Mahashmashana' is the sixth album by Father John Misty. It was produced by Josh Tillman and Drew Erickson. It was engineered and additionally produced by Michael Harris. It was arranged by Drew Erickson. It was performed by Josh Tillman, Drew Erickson, Jonathan Wilson, Dan Bailey, Eli Thomson, David Vandervelde, Chris Dixie Darley, Jon Titterington, and Kyle Flynn. It was executive produced by Jonathan Wilson.It was recorded and mixed at Five Star and East/West , United and Drew's House

                                  'Mahasmasana' -- great cremation ground, all things going thither.

                                  STAFF COMMENTS

                                  Barry says: This feels like a distillation of the serious side of Father John Misty, partially eschewing the humoured twists and surprising musical frivolity of his earlier works. For me, this really shows the skill of a musician and in this instance, a great look at the other side of Josh Tillman.

                                  TRACK LISTING

                                  1. Mahashmashana
                                  2. She Cleans Up
                                  3. Josh Tillman And The Accidental Dose
                                  4. Mental Health
                                  5. Screamland
                                  6. Being You
                                  7. I Guess Time Just Makes Fools Of Us All
                                  8. Summer's Gone

                                  John Cale

                                  Paris 1919 - 2024 Reissue

                                    John Cale was never very kind to his solo debut, ‘Vintage Violence’. When it was released in early 1970, Cale had been out of The Velvet Underground for less than two years. He wanted to prove he could be the songwriter, the person penning the words and melodies behind which a band could work. “I was masked on ‘Vintage Violence’,” he wrote much later. “You’re not really seeing the personality.”

                                    Indeed, Cale’s personality as a polyglot seemingly interested in everything emerged more and more on his next two solo albums, his only two for Reprise: 1972’s bracing and exploratory classical sojourn, ‘The Academy in Peril’, and 1973’s masterclass in anxious but accessible songcraft, ‘Paris 1919’.

                                    By reissuing both records in tandem affirms the artistic fearlessness Cale then fostered at the edge of 30, when all of music seemed like one inviting playpen.

                                    Remastered from the original tapes and includes previously unreleased outtakes.

                                    Liner notes written by Grayson Haver Currin.

                                    TRACK LISTING

                                    Child's Christmas In Wales (Remastered)
                                    Hanky Panky Nohow (Remastered)
                                    The Endless Plain Of Fortune (Remastered)
                                    Andalucia (Remastered)
                                    Macbeth (Remastered)
                                    Paris 1919 (Remastered)
                                    Graham Greene (Remastered)
                                    Half Past France (Remastered)
                                    Antarctica Starts Here (Remastered)
                                    I Must Not Sniff Cocaine (Remastered)
                                    Hanky Panky Nohow (Drone Mix) (Remastered)
                                    Child's Christmas In Wales (Rehearsal 1) (Remastered)
                                    Half Past France (Intro Chat) (Remastered)
                                    Macbeth (Take 11) (Remastered)
                                    Hanky Panky Nohow (Guitar Mix) (Remastered)
                                    Fever Dream 2024: You're a Ghost 

                                    John Cale

                                    The Academy In Peril - 2024 Reissue

                                      John Cale was never very kind to his solo debut, ‘Vintage Violence’. When it was released in early 1970, Cale had been out of The Velvet Underground for less than two years. He wanted to prove he could be the songwriter, the person penning the words and melodies behind which a band could work. “I was masked on ‘Vintage Violence’,” he wrote much later. “You’re not really seeing the personality.”

                                      Indeed, Cale’s personality as a polyglot seemingly interested in everything emerged more and more on his next two solo albums, his only two for Reprise: 1972’s bracing and exploratory classical sojourn, ‘The Academy in Peril’, and 1973’s masterclass in anxious but accessible songcraft, ‘Paris 1919’.

                                      By reissuing both records in tandem affirms the artistic fearlessness Cale then fostered at the edge of 30, when all of music seemed like one inviting playpen.

                                      Artist-sanctioned reissue, remastered from the original tapes.

                                      TRACK LISTING

                                      The Philosopher (Remastered)
                                      Brahms (Remastered)
                                      Legs Larry At Television Centre (Remastered)
                                      The Academy In Peril (Remastered)
                                      Intro (Remastered)
                                      Days Of Steam (Remastered)
                                      3 Orchestral Pieces: A) Faust b) The Balance C) Capt.
                                      Morgans Lament (Remastered)
                                      King Harry (Remastered)
                                      John Milton (Remastered)
                                      Temper *

                                      * = CD Only Bonus Track (included With LP As A Digital download)

                                      Lesley-Ann Jones

                                      Songbird : An Intimate Biography Of Christine McVie

                                        Christine McVie - born Christine Perfect - was the quintessentially English rock star, as both the backbone and the beating heart of Fleetwood Mac. Straddling the band's incarnations to achieve global fame alongside Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, Lindsey Buckingham and John McVie, the classic line-up, she wrote and performed many of their greatest hits. As famous for their occasionally life-threateningly decadent lifestyles as for their musical brilliance, they were held together by this strong, constant figure whom they dubbed 'the mother' of the band.

                                        It was Christine who contained the flock, regrouped them when they went AWOL, focused and blended their talents and always got them back on track. And yet, as the 'engine' of the band during their Rumours era - an album which charted the complete romantic disintegration within the band - Christine's personal life was every bit as tempestuous as those of her bandmates, weathering affairs, divorce, addiction and fiery passion, all of which bled into her now iconic song-writing. Told by an author who herself was friends with Christine, and with new contributions from those who knew her best, Songbird offers a true insider's view, and deep psychological insight into Christine as a both a woman and a musician - the first, the only, the ultimate picture of a rock legend and a national treasure.

                                        Aphrodite's Child

                                        666 The Apocalypse Of John - 2024 Reissue

                                          666 is one of the most original progressive rock albums of all time. Composed by the late maestro Vangelis, with lyrics written by Costas Ferris, it is a conceptual double album that was hailed upon its release as “a work of stunning complexity and originality” and is the crowning moment in the career of Aphrodite’s Child.

                                          Featuring material such as ‘The Four Horsemen’, ‘Aegian Sea’, ‘Babylon’, ‘Do It’, ‘The Beast’ and ‘All the Seats Were Occupied’, the album’s renown has grown steadily over the decades, influencing successive generations of musicians. Unique and relevant over 50 years after its original release, it is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished and important records ever released on the legendary Vertigo imprint, the jewel in the crown from the so-called ‘swirl’ period that refers to the famous label design used between 1969 and 1973.


                                          TRACK LISTING

                                          4CD / Blu-ray
                                          DISC ONE “666” – The 1972 Version Remastered
                                          The System
                                          Babylon
                                          Loud, Loud, Loud
                                          The Four Horsemen
                                          The Lamb
                                          The Seventh Seal
                                          Aegean Sea
                                          Seven Bowls
                                          The Wakening Beast
                                          Lament
                                          The Marching Beast
                                          The Battle Of The Locusts
                                          Do It
                                          Tribulation
                                          The Beast
                                          Ofis

                                          DISC TWO “666” – The 1972 Version Remastered
                                          Seven Trumpets
                                          Altamont
                                          The Wedding Of The Lamb
                                          The Capture Of The Beast

                                          Hic Et Nunc
                                          All The Seats Were Occupied
                                          Break

                                          DISC THREE “666” – The 1974 Greek LP Version Remastered
                                          The System
                                          Babylon
                                          Loud, Loud, Loud
                                          The Four Horsemen
                                          The Lamb
                                          The Seventh Seal
                                          Aegean Sea
                                          Seven Bowls
                                          The Wakening Beast
                                          Lament
                                          The Marching Beast
                                          The Battle Of The Locusts
                                          Do It
                                          Tribulation
                                          The Beast
                                          Ofis

                                          DISC FOUR “666” – The 1974 Greek LP Version Remastered
                                          Seven Trumpets
                                          Altamont
                                          The Wedding Of The Lamb
                                          The Capture Of The Beast

                                          Hic Et Nunc
                                          All The Seats Were Occupied
                                          Break

                                          DISC FIVE – BLU RAY DISC “666” - 96 KHz / 24-bit Atmos Upmix, 5.1 Upmix & Stereo Mix
                                          The System
                                          Babylon
                                          Loud, Loud, Loud
                                          The Four Horsemen
                                          The Lamb
                                          The Seventh Seal
                                          Aegean Sea
                                          Seven Bowls
                                          The Wakening Beast
                                          Lament
                                          The Marching Beast
                                          The Battle Of The Locusts
                                          Do It
                                          Tribulation
                                          The Beast
                                          Ofis
                                          Seven Trumpets
                                          Altamont
                                          The Wedding Of The Lamb
                                          The Capture Of The Beast

                                          Hic Et Nunc
                                          All The Seats Were Occupied
                                          Break
                                          “Discorama” Featuring Vangelis [VIRAL CONTENT]
                                          ORTF TV, France – 4th June 1972 [VIRAL CONTENT]

                                          2LP
                                          LP1 Side One
                                          The System
                                          Babylon
                                          Loud, Loud, Loud
                                          The Four Horsemen
                                          The Lamb
                                          The Seventh Seal

                                          LP1 Side Two
                                          Aegean Sea
                                          Seven Bowls
                                          The Wakening Beast
                                          Lament
                                          The Marching Beast
                                          The Battle Of The Locusts
                                          Do It
                                          Tribulation
                                          The Beast
                                          Ofis

                                          LP2 Side Three
                                          Seven Trumpets
                                          Altamont
                                          The Wedding Of The Lamb
                                          The Capture Of The Beast

                                          Hic Et Nunc

                                          LP2 Side Four
                                          All The Seats Were Occupied
                                          Break

                                          J Spaceman & John Coxon

                                          Music For William Eggleston's Stranded In Canton

                                            In 2015, Spaceman, Coxon, and friends performed a new original score live at a special film screening at the Barbican Gallery in London. The recording sat on a shelf for 10 years, and will finally be unveiled through this release.. Stranded in Canton is a black-and-white film portrait of Memphis in 1974, shot in bars and on street corners, showing Eggleston’s friends carousing, playing music and firing pistols into the night sky. It is raw, greasy, Quaalude-y and hot. Jagged and intimate, the film is a handheld window into a different world; “Hogarth on Beale Street” as writer Richard Williams describes it in the album’s liner notes. The tones Spaceman and Coxon came up with mirror the ragged nature of the film perfectly. Riffs written under flickering light bulbs, hypnotic tremolo, boozy romances, some barroom boogie, the blues, and hoping the bottle won’t let you down tonight. The characters of Stranded in Canton dance around the music, living their best Memphis lives by any means necessary.

                                            TRACK LISTING

                                            1. I Was Stranded In Canton
                                            2. Last Week I Took A Trip
                                            3. It’s Not Gospel
                                            4. What Train Blues
                                            5. I Don’t Know What I Can Possibly Do
                                            6. Mother’s Milk
                                            7. Back Up William
                                            8. Everybody In Their Life At One Time Or Another
                                            9. Love For The Asking
                                            10. Credits Roll

                                            Miranda Sawyer

                                            Uncommon People : Britpop And Beyond In 20 Songs

                                              When Miranda Sawyer interviewed Noel Gallagher in 1995, his gag wishing Damon Albarn would die of AIDS became front-page news. This fascinating pop history, exploring the mid-90s moment when British music suddenly meant everything, explains why. Picking out twenty key songs, delving into the surprising stories behind them and their unlikely creators, Uncommon People takes us back to when Jarvis Cocker became a national hero, Trainspotting was a global hit, fire-starting seemed like a good night out - and it felt as though the revolution was happening.

                                              Initially a music press nickname, Britpop became an unexpected musical movement centred around outsiders and misfits, drop-outs and weirdos who refused to compromise on their ideas, even when they were thrust into the international spotlight. Not just a scene for white guys with guitars, but something wilder and more interesting, with songs that have proved timeless. Exploring the era's key artists - Oasis, Blur, Tricky, Pulp, Underworld, Manic Street Preachers, The Prodigy, Suede, Chemical Brothers, Garbage, Supergrass, Radiohead, PJ Harvey and more - through their definitive anthems, Miranda Sawyer transports us back to the beating heart of the nineties.

                                              Uncommon People re-lives the mad exhilaration of what it was like to hear these songs for the very first time - and what it was like to make them. With amazing new interviews, and I-was-there insights, this book offers a backstage pass to all the most interesting bits of Britpop's Greatest Hits. Forget New Labour, forget earnest trend theories, this book is all about the music, the people and being right there, right now.

                                              Elliot Mintz

                                              We All Shine On : John, Yoko, And Me

                                                We All Shine On is the personal, intimate and, at times, heart-breaking memoir of an extraordinary friendship, which gives a first hand view of what it was like to be close to one of the most famous couples of all time. From the moment he interviewed Yoko Ono on his late night radio show in September 1971, Elliot Mintz’s life would never the same again. That phone call would lead him to an intense and revealing friendship with Yoko and her husband, John Lennon, until John’s untimely death in 1980, and beyond, to the present day.

                                                In 1971, then the talk host on American airwaves, Elliot Mintz was talking to all of the major figures in the burgeoning West Coast music scene when he was asked whether he would interview Yoko about her new album. Their talk quickly lead to other private calls and then to John Lennon, with whom he quickly formed a firm bond. Those conversations became hours-long epics, to the extent that Elliot had another phone line put in, for which only two people had the number - John and Yoko.

                                                The aftermath of The Beatles’ breakup ushered in a tumultuous decade. Elliot witnessed it, or heard all about it, at close hand including the unbearable cost of such fame when John and Yoko separated for what became known as his ‘lost weekend’. There was joy when their son Sean was born and the creative rebirth that was the multi-platinum selling triumph, Double Fantasy.

                                                But then there was unimaginable tragedy too when John was brutally murdered in December 1980.

                                                Colin Greenwood

                                                How To Disappear: A Portrait Of Radiohead

                                                  A collection of never-before-seen photographs of RADIOHEAD by their bassist Colin Greenwood, with a ten-thousand-word essay by him about the band that has been his life since they formed at school.

                                                  ‘For years now, I’ve been taking fugitive snaps of my band, Radiohead. I’ve tried to catch out my friends with my small black Yashica T4 Super. They are so lost in their own moment of performance that they don’t see me with the camera.’ Colin Greenwood

                                                  How to Disappear is bassist Colin Greenwood’s stunning portrait of Radiohead in his own photographs. Two decades in the making, he takes us on a journey into the heart of the 21st-century’s most influential band, a maverick collective who have vastly broadened our musical landscape while they dominate and distort it. On stage, backstage, in the rehearsal room, behind the scenes, on tour, at work and at play, Colin’s photographs, and the stories and memories they evoke for him in his accompanying text, form an intimate portrait of the musical and cultural iconoclasts as they travel through ‘our middle years: all the joy and doubt and confidence and uncertainty we would oscillate between’.

                                                  Colin Greenwood is from Oxford and has played bass in Radiohead since their formation in 1985. He's also recorded and toured with Tamino, Nick Cave and Warren Ellis and has written for publications including the Guardian and the Spectator.

                                                  Dandelion Adventure

                                                  John Peel Session

                                                    Released for the first time ever, here is the Dandelion Adventure session that they recorded for the John Peel show in 1990. These tracks have never been released before on any album and were recorded exclusively for Peelie. Featuring a double drum attack (Geoff and Jason), bass (Ajay), guitar (Stan), and vocals (Mark). Recorded on 13 May 1990 at Maida Vale Studios, and broadcast on 18 June 1990. Engineered by Mark Farrar and produced by Dale Griffin….it’s a monster sounding session.

                                                    The flip side of the album showcases the group’s very first release….a demo tape they recorded in Blackpool in 1988 on a 4-track recorder (including fan favourite “Speed Trials”). Plus a couple of songs that were recorded in their Oyston Mill rehearsal space in Preston. The whole album is a perfect capsule of the first and last thing the group ever recorded, and a brilliant reminder of the genius that this band exuded.

                                                    All on 180g blue vinyl with an insert full of photos, posters, reviews, gigography.

                                                    Dandelion Adventure were one of the greatest underground bands to emerge from Lancashire in the late 80s. At a time when the UK was fizzing with great groups like My Bloody Valentine, Bog-Shed, The Pastels, A Witness, bIG fLAME, and whilst more “established” underground giants like The Fall, The Nightingales, and Spacemen 3 were all going strong and steady, Dandelion Adventure certainly held their own. A band tendering the kind of leviathan rhythms that only early ‘80s Fall could have competed with, time changes that would make Captain Beefheart proud, and an experimental streak to get the pulse racing of any On-U-Sound fan.

                                                    Starting with their first show in 1988 in Blackpool (they had played 2 loose shows in 1986 and 1987 respectively but 1988 was the launchpad), they fizzed and crackled for 2 years, finishing with their final show, again in Blackpool, in September 1990. In that period they released two albums (both on Action Records from Preston), and recorded a John Peel session…Peel loved the group and supported them with much airplay. In the short period they existed, the likes of My Bloody Valentine and The Pastels specifically asked for DA to open for them. Such was mbv’s love for the band, that they appeared at one show with all 4 members (Kevin, Bilinda, Debbie and Colm) of the group wearing Dandelion Adventure t-shirts onstage. Dinosaur Jr. were big fans of DA and J Mascis can be seen wearing a Dandelion Adventure t-shirt in the “Freak Scene” video. Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth stated in 1989 in Melody Maker : “How’s the British music scene? Is it dead? The only bands I hear there are The Vaselines and Dandelion Adventure. They’re awesome”.


                                                    TRACK LISTING

                                                    1. Exit Frenzy Revisited 04:08
                                                    2. Bing Crosby's Cathedral 04:38
                                                    3. Don't Look Now 03:36
                                                    4. All The World's A Lounge 04:58
                                                    5. Speed Trials (The Weedkiller Tapes) 02:20
                                                    6. Death Is A Beautiful Carpark (The Weedkiller Tapes) 03:28
                                                    7. Chickenfeed (The Weedkiller Tapes) 02:35
                                                    8. King Burger Autopsy (The Weedkiller Tapes) 04:13
                                                    9. Disneytime (rehearsal 2 August 1988) 02:11
                                                    10. There Goes The Neighbourhood (Rehearsal 19 July 1988) 05:18

                                                    John Lennon

                                                    Meditation Mixes Of Mind Games

                                                      Newly, radically reimagined remixes, created from John Lennon’s classic song, Mind Games. These 9 Meditation Mixes create their own space while maintaining firm, authentic roots in John Lennon’s original recording of the song. Each of them have been radically altered, slowed down and extended, ranging from 5 to 10 to 0ver 33 minutes, allowing for the musical soundtrack to wash over the listener and provide a relaxing, immersive, deep listening and meditative experience. Four of these tracks are presented as Binaural versions that each focus on different types of brain waves: Beta, Delta, Gamma and Theta. Named ‘Mind’, ‘Space’, ‘Spirit’ and ‘Love’, these tracks utilise the effect created when the ears hear left and right frequencies which combine to be perceived as a new frequency that can activate different brain patterns for scientifically proven therapeutic effects.

                                                      Of the original song, Mind Games, Yoko Ono Lennon said: “John was trying to convey the message that we all play mind games. But if we can play mind games, why not make a positive future with it – to be a positive mind game?”

                                                      Produced by Sean Ono Lennon, mixed and engineered by Sam Gannon with additional recording engineered by Scott Holingsworth, the song will now bring a new positive impact in the realm of meditation and mindfulness.

                                                      TRACK LISTING

                                                      LP1 Side A
                                                      Mind Games Meditation Mix - MIND (Binaural Gamma Waves 100Hz) (10:02)
                                                      Mind Games Meditation Mix - MAGIC (10:58)

                                                      LP1 Side B
                                                      Mind Games Meditation Mix - SPACE (8Hz Theta Binaural) (5:42)
                                                      Mind Games Meditation Mix - SEED (5:59)
                                                      Mind Games Meditation Mix - YES (6:03)

                                                      LP2 Side A
                                                      Mind Games Meditation Mix - SPIRIT (15Hz Beta Binaural) (5:36)
                                                      Mind Games Meditation Mix - LOVE ().5Hz Delta Binaural) (12:32)

                                                      LP2 Side B
                                                      Mind Games Meditation Mix - SURRENDER (23:41)

                                                      LP3 Side A
                                                      Mind Games Meditation Mix - PEACE (23:55)

                                                      LP3 Side B (ALL TRACKS 1.8 SECONDS)
                                                      MANTRA 1 (0:018)
                                                      MANTRA 2 (0:018)
                                                      MANTRA 3 (0:018)
                                                      MANTRA 4 (0:018)
                                                      MANTRA 5 (0:018)
                                                      MANTRA 6 (0:018)
                                                      MANTAR 7 (0:018)
                                                      MANTRA 8 (0:018)
                                                      MANTRA 9 (0:018)

                                                      Various Artists

                                                      John Gomez & Nick The Record - Tangent Edits Vol. 1

                                                        One of London's most loved underground parties, Tangent, celebrates its 10th birthday this year with a new compilation on Mr Bongo. Its residents, John Gomez and Nick the Record , have curated a selection of prized, rare and dancefloor-ready tracks that have soundtracked the past decade of their parties. Alongside remastered reissues of these original cuts, the CD version of the compilation also houses three incredible edits from Nick, John and Dan Tyler of the Idjut Boys. These were too good not to press onto vinyl, so we've given them the standalone 12"they deserve.

                                                        Contextualising their edits Nick states, "Tangent was not only the place for us to play the music we love the most, it also became the testing ground for our edits. It was really helpful being able to see the effect each of these had on a dancefloor before the records were released and many of them also became firm Tangent classics."

                                                        Up first, Nick is joined by Dan Tyler (Idjut Boys), who he runs the edit label Record Mission with, for a furiously feel-good re-edit of Leo Basel's 'Quelle Drole De Vie'. Basing their edit on the 1987 'Special Remix', it does what any great re-work does, dropping the sections from the original that don't quite hit the mark, whilst focussing on the gold in amongst it all. The result is a slice of peak-time, French boogie joy, that will warm even the coldest hearts.

                                                        John then joins Dan at the dials for a cosmic revamp of Love Isaacs 'Surprise Surprise'. A serving of '80s electro-funk, dripping in swagger with a highlife tinge. John and Dan extended the grooves for maximum dancefloor power, space echoing it into the stratosphere at all the juiciest points.

                                                        Lastly, Nick takes on Rick Asikpo and Afro Fusion 'Let's Get High' from the super sought- after 1980 album, Got To Be Me. Celestial, gospel- infused soul from Nigeria, Nick homes in on the energetic last 2 minutes of the original as the building block of his 12- minute edit . A completely reworked, feverishly paced creation, Nick switches the sections around, saving the slow, soulful segment for a brilliant cosmic breakdown before the track erupts back into its full flow. Synthesised, jazz-funk elation from start to finish!

                                                        TRACK LISTING

                                                        Leo Basel - Quelle Drole De Vie (Nick The Record & Dan Tyler Re- Edit)
                                                        Love Isaacs - Surprise Surprise (Joao Gomes & Dan Tyler Are Predictably Delayed Rework)
                                                        Rick Asikpo And Afro Fusion - Let's Get High (Nick The Record Re-Edit)

                                                        John Grant

                                                        John Grant : The Illustrated Lyrics

                                                          Featuring photographs supplied by the Grant and lyrics from the albums BOY FROM MICHGAN; LOVE IS MAGIC; GREY TICKLES, BLACK PRESSURE; PALE GREEN GHOSTS; QUEEN OF DENMARK

                                                          John Robb

                                                          The North Will Rise Again : Manchester Music City 1976-1996

                                                            The Buzzcocks. Joy Division. The Fall. The Smiths. The Stone Roses. The Happy Mondays. Oasis. Manchester has proved to be an endlessly rich seam of pop-music talent over the last 30 years. Highly opinionated and usually controversial, stars such as Mark E. Smith, Morrissey, Ian Brown and the Gallagher brothers have always had plenty to say for themselves. Here, in John Robb’ s new compilation, Manchester’ s gobbiest musicians tell the story of the city’ s thriving music scene in their own words. When the Buzzcocks put on the Sex Pistols at Lester Free Hall in 1976, they kickstarted a musical revolution and a fervent punk scene exploded.

                                                            In 1979 the legendary Tony Wilson founded Factory Records, the home of Joy Division/New Order and later the Happy Mondays. The Hacienda, the Factory nightclub, became notorious in the late 1980s as a centre of the influential Madchester scene, led by the Mondays and the Stone Roses, with a unique style and sound of its own. Then, from the ashes of Madchester rose ü ber-lads Oasis, the kings of Britpop and the biggest UK band of the 1990s.

                                                            John Robb is a leading music journalist and the author of the bestselling biography of the Stone Roses. His other books include Punk: An Oral History, The Charlatans … We Are Rock and The Nineties: What the F**k Was That All About? He lives in Manchester.

                                                            John Coltrane

                                                            Live At The Village Vanguard - 2024 Reiusse

                                                              This original three-track set questioned all sorts of norms, the standout item “Chasin’ The Trane” lasting 16 minutes with the tenor man the only soloist and a 12-bar grid the only thing for performers and fans to hold on to. “Spiritual”’ was the first time Trane opened and closed a piece entirely out-of-tempo, while the conventional “Softly As In A Morning Sunrise” began with over three minutes of just the rhythm trio before his soprano solo. Bonus track on this LP “Blue Train” recorded in Sweden. Not merely the first live John Coltrane to be issued, but a turning-point for him and essential listening for us.

                                                              TRACK LISTING

                                                              1. Spiritual
                                                              2. Softly As In A Morning Sunrise
                                                              3. Chasin ‘The Trane
                                                              4. Blue Train (Recorded Live, Konserthuset, Stockholm, Sweden, November 23, 1961)

                                                              John Murry And Mike Timmins

                                                              A Little Bit Of Grace And Decay

                                                                The Soundtrack to accompany the Award winning Documentary "The Graceless Age: The Ballad Of John Murry". Written and performed by John Murry and Mike Timmins (Cowboy Junkies). The film has already won Best Irish Documentary at the 35th Galway Film Fleadh and will be premiering in the UK later this year. Directed by Sarah Share best known for her multi award winning ‘If I Should Fall from Grace’ - the Shane MacGowan Story.

                                                                "Ever since we finished recording A Short History of Decay back in 2016, I've been waiting for John Murry to return to my studio. I had been working on some ideas for the film score for John's doc when he finally reappeared. He had three days to kill in Toronto, so we decided to get together, sit around and play some music. No real plan and no real goal, just play and enjoy each other's company. This album is the result of that visit. It's a "sort-of" soundtrack album to the film, it contains some score pieces, as well as some of the solo recordings that John and I made when he was here in Toronto, some of which also became a part of the score" Mike Timmins.

                                                                This haunting film is the story of American singer songwriter John Murry, who was on the cusp of greatness after the release of his highly acclaimed album The Graceless Age (2013), when his world fell apart. Addicted to heroin and creatively exhausted, he washed up on the shores of Ireland, a broken man. Now, he retraces his steps back to Mississippi into the dark heart of American life and faces his demons- a neglected childhood, traumatic assault, and resulting years of opioid addiction.

                                                                John also explores his family links to the Nobel Prize winning author William Faulkner. His adopted grandmother Mimi would tell him if anyone was imbued with the spirit of Bill Faulkner, it was John. She also told him that his famous ancestor was also addicted to opiates. Yet, throughout his long period of substance abuse he was constantly writing and performing. Like Faulkner, Murry's lyrics embrace the dark side of American life - an anger that is born in the rotting underbelly of Mississippi history. Reminiscent at times of Neil Young or Wilco, Murry's music is classic Americana.

                                                                This film chronicles his efforts to put it back together again after finding solace in Ireland and come to terms with his turbulent early years. John embarks on a road trip that takes him from his haven on the cliffs of Co Clare, Ireland to his native Mississippi and then his strung-out days in California. The film culminates with John travelling to Toronto to rekindle his creative collaboration with Canadian music legend Mike Timmins, who produced his second album, A Short History of Decay. Mike helps John express himself the best way he can - through his outstanding music. This beautiful documentary charts his journey from near death to redemption and a new zest for life and art. 

                                                                TRACK LISTING

                                                                1. Grace - Michael Timmins
                                                                2. Wrong Man - John Murry
                                                                3. Swamp - Michael Timmins
                                                                4. Silver Or Lead - John Murry
                                                                5. Driving (Part 1) - Michael Timmins & Peter Timmins
                                                                6. Dark Side Of The Moon Again - John Murry
                                                                7. Driving (Part 2) - Michael Timmins & Peter Timmins
                                                                8. Come Five And Twenty - John Murry
                                                                9. Cave - Michael Timmins
                                                                10. The Stars Are Gods Bullet Holes - John Murry
                                                                11. Alleyway - Michael Timmins
                                                                12. Mother Mary - John Murry 

                                                                John Masouri

                                                                Pressure Drop : Reggae In The Seventies

                                                                  Pressure Drop chronicles reggae’s most tumultuous and influential decade. Beginning in 1970 and unfolding both in Britain and Jamaica, reggae flourished against a backdrop of political upheaval, gang warfare, Black Nationalism, racial and class discrimination and grinding poverty.

                                                                  The music that developed as rocksteady and early reggae gave birth to deejays, dub, rockers, lovers rock, early dancehall and 2 Tone was by turns brutal and revelatory.

                                                                  Including an extensive analysis of the decade’s major singles and albums, Pressure Drop includes eyewitness accounts and experiences of the decade from the likes of Burning Spear, Chris Blackwell, Gregory Isaacs, Bunny Wailer, Jimmy Cliff, Black Uhuru, U-Roy, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Augustus Pablo, Toots and the Maytals, Desmond Dekker, Sly & Robbie, Dennis Bovell, Don Letts and members of the Specials, as well as first-hand anecdotes of Bob Marley and Peter Tosh.

                                                                  John Prine

                                                                  Now Playing

                                                                    Introducing John Prine ‘Now Playing” on Cobalt Blue vinyl - This ‘Now Playing’ John Prine's tracklist features a collection of deeply personal and storytelling songs that span folk and country genres. Tracks like 'Illegal Smile' and 'Angel from Montgomery' showcase his ability to craft vivid narratives, while songs like 'Paradise' and 'Fish and Whistle' add a touch of humor and charm. This compilation is a testament to Prine's songwriting prowess and his enduring impact on folk and country music.



                                                                    TRACK LISTING

                                                                    1. Illegal Smile
                                                                    2. Paradise
                                                                    3. Angel From Montgomery
                                                                    4. The Great Compromise
                                                                    5. Sweet Revenge
                                                                    6. Please Don’t Bury Me
                                                                    7. Saddle In The Rain
                                                                    8. That’s The Way That The World Goes 'Round
                                                                    9. Fish And Whistle
                                                                    10. How Lucky

                                                                    John Coltrane

                                                                    Plays The Blues - 2024 Reissue

                                                                      Contains new specially prepared liner notes by Penguin Guide to Jazz 's writer Brian Morton.

                                                                      In 1960, and after recording the music to be issued on The Avant Garde (with Don Cherry), and the all- time classic My Favorite Things , Coltrane embarked on the making of Coltrane Plays the Blues, a thematic LP consisting of six tunes based on the blues.

                                                                      'Blues for Bechet', one of the two tracks on which Coltrane plays soprano sax, is an obvious dedication to the man who brought the instrument to jazz, the great Sidney Bechet. Pianist McCoy Tyner sits out on 'Blues to Bechet ' and 'Blues to You', reducing the quartet to a trio on these two tracks.

                                                                      "A powerful session. As for the phrase 'plays the blues' in the title, that's not an indicator that the tunes are conventional blues (they aren't). It's more indicative of a bluesy sensibility." - AllMusic, 4.5 STARS (Richie Unterberger)

                                                                      TRACK LISTING

                                                                      Blues To Elvin
                                                                      Blues To Bechet
                                                                      Blues To You
                                                                      Blues To Elvin
                                                                      Mr. Day
                                                                      Mr. Syms
                                                                      Mr. Knight
                                                                      Blues To You

                                                                      2024 edition - 180 Gram, Tip On Sleeve . One of the rarer records of the mythical Strata East.

                                                                      The recording of Earth Blossom, the John Betsch Society's one and only album, seems something of an enigma nowadays. For even though Nashville is clearly one of the towns in the US with the highest number of recording studios, who would have thought that the capital of country music would give birth to one of the forgotten masterpieces of 1970s spiritual jazz. The path leading to the album starts in 1963 when John Betsch, originally from Jacksonville in Florida, arrives in Nashville to study at Frisk University. He is a young drummer and joins Bob Holmes trio. Holmes is one of the towns major jazz organists and pianists; he becomes Betschs mentor and, over the space of two years, John will play alternately with him and with the trumpeter Louis Smiths group. However, in 1965, John leaves town to go to the prestigious Berkeley University in Boston and do a two-year course along with his fellow debutants with names like John Abercrombie, Ernie Watts and Alan Broadbent. Two years later, he is invited by a pianist friend, Billy Chilf, to join the legendary singer/songwriter Tim Hardins group. Just after Woodstock, John Betsch and Tim record a psychedelic album Columbia will never release together with the members of the future group Oregon: Colin Walcott, Glen Moore, Paul McCandles and his friend Billy Chilf. But he soon leaves this group to return to Nashville where he hooks up again with his friend Bob Holmes. Two years later, he is accepted on Archie Shepp and Max Roachs famous course at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMASS) and for the next four years he participates in this collective of intellectuals and musicians under the aegis of the two masters.

                                                                      During this period he returns to Nashville to form his Society whose music is obviously influenced by the Afrocentric ideas of the UMASS student and political movement. However, the album, recorded in one day and in one take, also bears the hallmark of their generations psychedelic experiences, and in the themes and playing of the musicians we can hear a less violent form of music than the radical free jazz of New York or Chicago. Nature and environmental themes are the inspiration behind tracks touched by the spirit of Coltrane but also of Flower Power.

                                                                      After Amherst, John Betsch joins Marion Browns group in 1976, leaves Tennessee for good and makes his home in New York over the next ten years or so. He plays and records with Dollar Brand, Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre and many others, before heading off to France. He has lived in Paris for the last twenty years and played in Steve Lacy, Mal Waldron and Archie Shepp bands, as well as forming groups of his own. He now lives in Paris and plays with many musicians/bands.

                                                                      TRACK LISTING

                                                                      Ode To Ethiopia
                                                                      Earth Blossom
                                                                      Open Pastures
                                                                      Song For An Untidy Lady
                                                                      Ra
                                                                      Darling Doria
                                                                      Get Up And Go

                                                                      John Einarson

                                                                      Forever Changes: The Authorized Biography Of Arthur Lee And Love

                                                                        Widely hailed as a genius, Arthur Lee was a character every bit as colorful and unique as his music. In 1966, he was Prince of the Sunset Strip, busy with his pioneering racially mixed band, Love, and accelerating the evolution of California folk-rock by infusing it with jazz and orchestral influences, a process that would climax in a timeless masterpiece, the Love album Forever Changes. Shaped by a Memphis childhood and a South Los Angeles youth, Lee always craved fame.

                                                                        He would achieve his ambition with a mixture of vaulting talent and colossal chutzpah. Drug use and a reticence to tour were his Achilles heels, and he succumbed to a dissolute lifestyle just as superstardom was beckoning. Despite endorsements from the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, Lee s subsequent career was erratic and haunted by the shadow of Forever Changes, reaching a nadir with his imprisonment in 1996 for a firearms offence.

                                                                        Redemption followed, culminating in an astonishing postmillennial comeback that found him playing Forever Changes to adoring, multi-generational fans around the world. This upswing was only interrupted by his untimely death from leukemia in 2006. Written with the full consent and cooperation of Arthur s widow, Diane Lee, Forever Changes is a meticulously researched biography that includes lengthy extracts from Arthur s vivid, comic, and poignant memoirs, published here for the first time.

                                                                        Author John Einarson has also amassed dozens of new interviews with the surviving members of Love and with many others who fell into the incomparable Lee s flamboyant orbit. This updated edition adds a new foreword by Love s co-founder and lead guitarist, Johnny Echols.

                                                                        Various Artists

                                                                        John Gomez & Nick The Record Present: Tangent

                                                                          To celebrate 10 years of one of London’s most loved underground club nights, Tangent, Mr Bongo are thrilled to launch this new compilation series. Crafted by its two residents, John Gómez and Nick the Record, it aims to transmit a taste of Tangent’s spirit. A party rooted in inclusivity and open-mindedness, whose name captures the spontaneous switches in musical direction that are a defining element of their nights. For the compilation, the pair have cherry-picked a selection of their prized, rare and dancefloor-ready tracks from around the globe, that have soundtracked the past decade of parties.

                                                                          Friends for close to 20 years, music lovers, record obsessives and internationally renowned DJs in their own right, John and Nick have two lifetimes worth of musical knowledge to draw from. John a long-standing NTS Radio resident and compiler for Music From Memory. Nick one of the UK’s go-to record dealers, resident DJ since the ‘90s at one of Japan’s pioneering parties, Life Force, and co-captain / co-edit-expert of Record Mission with Dan Tyler (Idjut Boys).

                                                                          In 2014, the pair decided to bring some of Life Force’s grassroots principles to the UK, whilst channelling underground clubbing institution Plastic People’s meticulous attitude to sound. Tangent grew from being a small gathering of friends, to an established fixture in London’s nightlife, whilst always maintaining a strict no guest DJ policy. “As London’s clubs have become increasingly reliant on international guests, we wanted to emphasize the importance of a club night growing through its residents”, John and Nick reflect. With 10 years of the duo at the helm, an intimate connection between DJ and dancefloor has been built, allowing for freedom of expression on both sides of the decks.

                                                                          Tangent reaches around the globe and across different eras to make connections that stimulate emotional reverberations in the unfamiliar. Where the blissfully Balearic ‘Laberinto’ by Miguel Perikás, goes hand-in-hand with the Cameroonian hip-house of King B.’s ‘Love is Crazy’. The thundering ‘Amek Amek’ by L'Innovateur Djoe Ahmed et le Zoukabyle, rubs shoulders with the soulful Caribbean-influenced touch of Champagn’s ‘Bel Ti Négress’. And Pellegrin El Kady’s afro-cosmic ‘Seiva de Carnaval’, crosses paths with Kajou’s Kompa disco anthem ‘Tet Chajé’.

                                                                          Tangent’s longevity is in part down to it having always embraced contemporary sounds. The sub-rattling bass of Srirajah Sound System’s stunning Molam dub stepper ‘Si Phan Don Lovers Rock’ and the slow, woozy mantra of leftfield dancehall explorer Androo’s ‘Lyriso’, are two shining examples.

                                                                          This compilation represents an ongoing dialogue between past and present, transporting listeners to the heart of a pure musical experience, where open minds and open hearts are eager to follow the tangent. 

                                                                          STAFF COMMENTS

                                                                          Matt says: Two of London's most decorated and respected music aficionados present a compilation of hits from their long running club night. Including plenty of new tweaks and twists by some well feted friends, as well as new tracks standing proud alongside the old, it's a brilliantly colourful and varied set which really paints a picture of this much celebrated London institution.

                                                                          TRACK LISTING

                                                                          1.  Srirajah Sound System - Si Phan Don Lovers Rock Feat. Molam Inteng Keawbuala
                                                                          2.  PERIKAS - Laberinto
                                                                          3.  Leo Basel - Quelle Drôle De Vie (Nick The Record & Dan Tyler Re-Edit)
                                                                          4.  Mac Thornhill - No Way To Control It
                                                                          5.  King B. - Love Is Crazy
                                                                          6.  L'Innovateur Djoe Ahmed Et Le Zoukabyle - Amek Amek
                                                                          7.  Champagn’ - Bel Ti Négress
                                                                          8.  Androo - Lyriso
                                                                          9.  Hidrogenesse - La Carta Era Muy Larga (Dub)
                                                                          10.  Love Isaacs - Surprise Surprise (João Gomes & Dan Tyler Are Predictably Delayed Rework)
                                                                          11.  Kajou - Tet Chajé 
                                                                          12.  Conjunto Baluartes - Nira Gongo
                                                                          13.  Land Shark - Tie Me Up (The Nas-T Version Instrumental)
                                                                          14.  Rick Asikpo & Afro Fusion - Let’s Get High (Nick The Record Re-Edit)
                                                                          15.  Pellegrin El Kady - Seiva De Carnaval
                                                                          16.  Lee Jackson Band - Call On Me
                                                                          17.  LTA (Love The Action) - What Comes To Ya?
                                                                          18.  Urban Volcano Sounds - Ame No Uta (Rain Song) (Extended Version)

                                                                          John Lennon

                                                                          Mind Games - 2024 Reissue

                                                                            Continuing The Ultimate Collection series of John Lennon album remixes for 2024.
                                                                            The John Lennon Estate and Universal Music Recordings present:
                                                                            JOHN LENNON - MIND GAMES - THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION

                                                                            2 LP
                                                                            Featuring Mind Games - The Ultimate Mixes and The Out-takes – 24 tracks on 180mg vinyl; plus an 8-page booklet of photos and artwork; a reproduction of the original 1973 triptych marketing poster; postcard sized reproductions of 1973 advert artworks and an individually numbered Citizen of Nutopia ID Card.
                                                                            Produced by Sean Ono Lennon, Mixed and Engineered by Triple GRAMMY-Award winner Paul Hicks, Additional Engineering by Sam Gannon, Mastered by Alex Wharton at Abbey Road Studios.

                                                                            2CD
                                                                            Featuring Mind Games – The Ultimate Mixes and The Out-takes – 24 tracks on 2 CDs; plus a 20 page booklet of photos and artworks; a reproduction of the original 1973 triptych marketing poster; postcard sized reproductions of 1973 advert artworks and an individually numbered Citizen of Nutopia ID Card.
                                                                            Produced by Sean Ono Lennon, Mixed and Engineered by Triple GRAMMY-Award winner Paul Hicks, Additional Engineering by Sam Gannon, Mastered by Alex Wharton at Abbey Road Studios.

                                                                            6 CD/2 Blu Ray Deluxe Box Set
                                                                            A Limited Edition 10-inch square Box Set including 6 CDs, 2 HD Audio Blu-Rays, a 128-page hardback book; a reproduction of the original 1973 triptych marketing poster; postcard sized reproductions of 1973 advert artworks and an individually numbered Citizen of Nutopia ID Card.

                                                                            6 CDs of The Ultimate Mixes, Elemental Mixes, Elements Mixes, Evolution Documentary, Out-takes and Raw Studio Mixes.
                                                                            2 Audio Blu-Rays include High Definition 24-192 Stereo, 24-192 5.1 Surround, and Dolby Atmos versions of all of the above, plus the 2024 Remastered ‘Mind Games’ music video and a ‘You Are Here’ (additional out-take) tape boxes music video.

                                                                            Produced by Sean Ono Lennon. Mixed and Engineered by Triple GRAMMY-Award winner Paul Hicks, Mixed and Engineered by Sam Gannon and Mixed by Rob Stevens. Stereos Mastered by Alex Wharton at Abbey Road Studios. 5.1 Surround and Dolby Atmos mastered by Sam Gannon.

                                                                            Included is a 128-page glossy, hardback coffee-table book about the writing and recording of the album - in the words of John & Yoko - taken from hundreds of
                                                                            hours of archive interviews; also featuring brand-new interviews with all the
                                                                            musicians and engineers, exclusive never-before-seen photographs by Bob Gruen and unseen photos, lyrics, letters, original tape boxes and memorabilia from the John Lennon & Yoko Ono Lennon Archives.


                                                                            14 Iced Bears

                                                                            John Peel Session 26.11.86

                                                                              "I love these Iced Bears – all 14 of them!” – John Peel

                                                                              14 Iced Bears began as one of the most beloved bands on the C86 wave that spread through the UK in the mid-80s after the Jesus and Mary Chain brought back pop songs, albeit drenched in noise, to the alternative scene.

                                                                              Having released a single on the legendary Sarah Records, the Bears went down a psychedelic path for their first album, a move which led to a ringing endorsement from the United States of America’s Dorothy Moskowitz for their cover of ‘Coming Down’, and a six-page article in Shindig magazine, the type of coverage usually reserved for psych giants like Arthur Lee or Syd Barrett.

                                                                              The band recorded two sessions for John Peel in their earlier period, and these new releases on Precious cover the period from their first single ‘Inside’ (described by Pitchfork as one of the prototype Shoegaze records), of late 1986, to shortly before their acclaimed ‘Come Get Me’ EP on Sarah in 1988.
                                                                              On hearing the Bears’ first session, John Peel exclaimed his new-found love for the band. “My type of band,” he said. “I love these Iced Bears, all 14 of them!”

                                                                              With half the band changing between the two sessions, their second visit to the BBC’s Maida Vale Studios found them progressing subtly to a sound that would help define psych-indie. Now released on vinyl for the first time, these releases capture a band in momentum from early indie popularity to genre-shaping creations. 

                                                                              TRACK LISTING

                                                                              1. Balloon Song
                                                                              2. Cut
                                                                              3. Shy(-)Like You
                                                                              4. Train Song

                                                                              14 Iced Bears

                                                                              John Peel Session 27.07.87

                                                                                "I love these Iced Bears – all 14 of them!” – John Peel

                                                                                14 Iced Bears began as one of the most beloved bands on the C86 wave that spread through the UK in the mid-80s after the Jesus and Mary Chain brought back pop songs, albeit drenched in noise, to the alternative scene.

                                                                                Having released a single on the legendary Sarah Records, the Bears went down a psychedelic path for their first album, a move which led to a ringing endorsement from the United States of America’s Dorothy Moskowitz for their cover of ‘Coming Down’, and a six-page article in Shindig magazine, the type of coverage usually reserved for psych giants like Arthur Lee or Syd Barrett.

                                                                                The band recorded two sessions for John Peel in their earlier period, and these new releases on Precious cover the period from their first single ‘Inside’ (described by Pitchfork as one of the prototype Shoegaze records), of late 1986, to shortly before their acclaimed ‘Come Get Me’ EP on Sarah in 1988.
                                                                                On hearing the Bears’ first session, John Peel exclaimed his new-found love for the band. “My type of band,” he said. “I love these Iced Bears, all 14 of them!”

                                                                                With half the band changing between the two sessions, their second visit to the BBC’s Maida Vale Studios found them progressing subtly to a sound that would help define psych-indie. Now released on vinyl for the first time, these releases capture a band in momentum from early indie popularity to genre-shaping creations. 

                                                                                TRACK LISTING

                                                                                1. If I Said
                                                                                2. Spangle
                                                                                3. Miles Away
                                                                                4. Hay Fever

                                                                                Gratts

                                                                                Sun Circles Reimagined - Incl. Alexander Flood + John Beltran Remixes

                                                                                Belgian artist Gratts wrote 'Sun Circles' as an empowerment anthem for his two sons and it dropped to plenty of acclaim last year. In its wake, Gratts DJed with Adelaide's multi-talented Alexander Flood on percussion and after some conversations he was enlisted to bring his jazz background to a remix of the original. He did so live as part of a quintet and the result is a super summery, airy rework with soulful vocals that linger long in the air. Detroit-based techno and ambient maestro John Beltran appears on the flip to bring a classy Balearic remix that will have you dreaming of longer, warmer nights and plenty of sun-kissed dancing fun.

                                                                                TRACK LISTING

                                                                                Sun Circles (Alexander Flood Live Rework)
                                                                                Sun Circles (John Beltran Project Remix)

                                                                                The Aislers Set

                                                                                John Peel Session 10.04.01

                                                                                  “Recording at Maida Vale for the Peel Session was literally the highlight of our career as a band.”

                                                                                  So says Alicia from San Francisco indie legends The Aislers Set, and who are we to argue? Precious Recordings of London is excited to release this 2001 session for the one and only John Peel by the Slumberland dream-poppers, who recorded four songs for the BBC – among them a celebrated cover of Joy Division’s ‘Walked In Line’ and the band’s own classic ‘Mission Bells’.

                                                                                  The latter was written specifically for the session by Linton, who also supplies a sleeve essay with memories of the day of recording – and then hunkering down in a Glasgow pub with members of Belle and Sebastian to listen to the first broadcast on a tinny transistor.

                                                                                  10" vinyl limited edition of 500 copies featuring previously unseen photos on the inner plus download codes.


                                                                                  TRACK LISTING

                                                                                  1. Mission Bells
                                                                                  2. Walked In Line
                                                                                  3. Long Division
                                                                                  4. The Walk

                                                                                  Iain Robertson

                                                                                  Oasis: What's The Story?: Life On Tour With Liam And Noel Gallagher

                                                                                    Oasis were a band like bands used to be. Hard-drinking and substance abusing. If they liked you, they loved you.

                                                                                    If they didn't, you had to be prepared for confrontation. Iain Robertson is used to tough jobs - after retiring from the Parachute Regiment, he took on jobs guarding George Harrison, Gary Moore and Johnny Rotten. But keeping Oasis on the rails after debut album Definitely Maybe ignited their rise toward global superstardom would be the toughest gig of them all.

                                                                                    Oasis would explode into public consciousness and have the world at their feet in the wake of their epic first album and a huge world tour. Iain was side-by-side as their road manager and minder, twenty-four hours a day, eight days a week, as they took on the world and won. No one was closer.

                                                                                    Now updated with new unpublished material ahead of the thirty year anniversary of Definitely Maybe, this story is the defining chronicle of life on tour with Oasis.

                                                                                    John Williams

                                                                                    John Williams Conducts John Williams - The Star Wars Trilogy

                                                                                      In 1990, John Williams created the compilation album "John Williams Conducts John Williams – The Star Wars Trilogy", which features 13 of his most memorable tracks from the original Star Wars Trilogy. All performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, it features the iconic “Main Theme” and “Throne Room / Finale” from Episode IV – A New Hope, “The Imperial March” from Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, and “Luke And Leia”. "John Williams Conducts John Williams – The Star Wars Trilogy" is available on vinyl for the very first time and is housed in a gatefold sleeve with liner notes by the creator of the Star Wars franchise, George Lucas.

                                                                                      STAFF COMMENTS

                                                                                      Liam says: Super duper limited release, this John Williams curated compilation of his most iconic themes from the original Star Wars trilogy has never been released on vinyl before and is comin' atcha on (Yoda or lightsaber - you take your pick) green vinyl. Perfect soundtrack accompaniment for those days you're wanting to blow up the Death Star or Jedi training on Dagobah.

                                                                                      TRACK LISTING

                                                                                      Side A
                                                                                      1. Episode IV "A New Hope": Main Theme
                                                                                      2. Episode IV "A New Hope": Princess Leia's Theme (Instrumental)
                                                                                      3. Episode IV "A New Hope": The Little People (Instrumental)

                                                                                      Side B
                                                                                      1. Episode V "The Empire Strikes Back": The Imperial March
                                                                                      2. Episode V "The Empire Strikes Back": Yoda's Theme (Instrumental)
                                                                                      3. Episode VI "Return Of The Jedi": Parade Of The Ewoks (Instrumental)
                                                                                      4. Episode V "The Empire Strikes Back": The Asteroid Field (Instrumental)

                                                                                      Side C
                                                                                      1. Episode VI "Return Of The Jedi": Luke And Leia (Instrumental)
                                                                                      2. Episode IV "A New Hope": Cantina Band
                                                                                      3. Episode IV "A New Hope": Here They Come! (Instrumental)
                                                                                      4. Episode VI "Return Of The Jedi": Jabba The Hut (Instrumental)

                                                                                      Side D
                                                                                      1. Episode VI "Return Of The Jedi": The Forest Battle (Instrumental)
                                                                                      2. Episode IV "A New Hope": Throne Room / Finale

                                                                                      John Grant

                                                                                      The Art Of The Lie

                                                                                        Following the runaway success of his last LP, Boy From Michigan, which crashed the UK Top 10 back in July 2021, legendary singer-songwriter John Grant returns with his hugely-anticipated sixth album, The Art Of The Lie.

                                                                                        Released 14th June via longtime label Bella Union, The Art Of The Lie is Grant’s most opulent, cinematic, luxurious album yet and confirms Grant’s status as a modern electronic auteur. Grant likens the musical flavours of The Art of the Lie to the sumptuous Vangelis soundtrack for Bladerunner or the Carpenters if John Carpenter were also a member. While undeniably a John Grant record, nestling humour into tragedy, bleeding anger into compassion, there is a musical ambition and nerve to ‘The Art of the Lie’ which offsets its most political and personal moments.

                                                                                        The Art of The Lie was produced by Grant and Grammy-nominated producer Ivor Guest who is perhaps best known for his work with Grace Jones & Brigitte Fontaine. The album features an array of celebrated musicians including Dave Okumu, Seb Rochford and Robin Mullarkey.


                                                                                        STAFF COMMENTS

                                                                                        Barry says: Aaaah, finally! It's always a good day when shop favourite disco synthlord and all-round sleaze-pop genius John Grant puts out a new LP, and this is a doozie. Gradually eschewing the straight-laced (but obviously thoroughly brilliant) moody synth chug of Pale Green Ghosts or Queen Of Denmark for an increasingly diverse and ever-blooming sound palette, 'The Art Of The Lie' is a wildly inventive and brilliantly produced new chapter in JG's storied musical legacy.

                                                                                        TRACK LISTING

                                                                                        1. All That School For Nothing
                                                                                        2. Marbles
                                                                                        3. Father
                                                                                        4. Mother And Son
                                                                                        5. Twistin Scriptures
                                                                                        6. Meek AF
                                                                                        7. It's A Bitch
                                                                                        8. Daddy
                                                                                        9. The Child Catcher
                                                                                        10. Laura Lou
                                                                                        11. Zeitgeist

                                                                                        John Cale

                                                                                        POPtical Illusion

                                                                                          Despite the album’s playful title, Cale’s second album in just over a year still contains the same feelings of fierce and inquisitive rage that were present in 2023 album MERCY. He remains angry, still incensed by the willful destruction that unchecked capitalists and unrepentant conmen have hoisted upon the wonders of this world and the goodness of its people. But this is not at all MERCY II, or some collection of castoffs, as throughout his career of more than six decades, Cale has never been much for repetition. His vanguard-shaping enthusiasms have shifted among ecstatic classicism and unbound rock, classic songcraft and electronic reimagination with proud restlessness.

                                                                                          And so, on POPtical Illusion, he foregoes the illustrious cast to burrow mostly alone into mazes of synthesizers and samples, organs and pianos, with words that, as far as Cale goes, constitute a sort of swirling hope, a sage insistence that change is yet possible. Produced by Cale and longtime artistic partner Nita Scott, POPtical Illusion is the work of someone trying to turn toward the future – exactly as Cale always has.

                                                                                          TRACK LISTING

                                                                                          1. God Made Me Do It (don’t Ask Me Again)
                                                                                          2. Davies And Wales
                                                                                          3. Calling You Out
                                                                                          4. Edge Of Reason
                                                                                          5. I’m Angry
                                                                                          6. How We See The Light
                                                                                          7. Company Commander
                                                                                          8. Setting Fires
                                                                                          9. Shark-Shark
                                                                                          10. Funkball The Brewster
                                                                                          11. All To The Good
                                                                                          12. Laughing In My Sleep
                                                                                          13. There Will Be No River

                                                                                          John Abercrombie, Dave Holland & Jack DeJohnette

                                                                                          Gateway

                                                                                            With "daring and visionary spirit", to quote a Downbeat review from the year of this album's release, master improvisers John Abercrombie, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette forged a unique vision of trio interplay on their frst joint effort under the Gateway moniker. The trio tackles Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette originals with a visionary idea of what three- way conversations in jazz could sound like. As The Observer remarked in an article of the time, "the telepathic ensemble playing and perfect execution make it difficult to believe that this music is almost completely improvised". The players' respectively unique instrumental signatures had already fully crystallised here, hinting at the music to come.

                                                                                            The Luminessence edition of the album arrives in a Tip- on gatefold, complete with previously unseen archival photos and new liner notes by Wilco's Nels Cline.

                                                                                            "One thing most recordings on the label share in common is the capturing of special moments in real time. That is what "Gateway" is, what it feels like so many years later, for as long as we have ears to listen." - Nels Cline

                                                                                            TRACK LISTING

                                                                                            1. Back - Woods Song
                                                                                            2. Waiting
                                                                                            3. May Dance
                                                                                            4. Unshielded Desire
                                                                                            5. Jamala
                                                                                            6. Sorcery I

                                                                                            John Coltrane

                                                                                            Now Playing - 2024 Reissue

                                                                                              Introducing John Coltrane 'Now Playing' on Translucent Blue Vinyl - Uncover the brilliance of jazz legend John Coltrane through a tracklist uncovering rich gems, such as the iconic "Giant Steps", the soulful "Naima," demonstrating Coltrane's virtuosity and innovation, the enchanting melodies of "My Favorite Things, Pt. 1" and the tender ballad "I'll Wait and Pray" as the perfect start or continuation of your musical journey.

                                                                                              TRACK LISTING

                                                                                              Side A
                                                                                              1. Giant Steps [4:48]
                                                                                              2. Cousin Mary [5:50]
                                                                                              3. Naima [4:25]
                                                                                              4. Village Blues [5:23]

                                                                                              Side B
                                                                                              1. I’ll Wait And Pray [3:35]
                                                                                              2. My Favorite Things, Pt. 1 (Single Version) [2:47]
                                                                                              3. Everytime We Say Goodbye [5:45]
                                                                                              4. Central Park West [4:15]
                                                                                              5. Body And Soul [5:41]

                                                                                              John Mulaney

                                                                                              Baby J

                                                                                                The Emmy-winning Comeback Kid himself comes back yet again with a blunt, brilliantly quotable stand-up special. 'Baby J' takes the form of a wide-ranging
                                                                                                conversation between John Mulaney, a kid in the balcony named Henry, and the rest of the sold-out crowd at Boston’s Symphony Hall. And now, you!

                                                                                                John dominates the chat, of course - and while his cautionary tales are a bit too convulsive to be functionally preventative, you probably aren’t here to be cautioned. So have at it!

                                                                                                TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                1. Miss America
                                                                                                2. Lost In New York
                                                                                                3. Star-Studded Intervention
                                                                                                4. Koala Bank Changing Station
                                                                                                5. Dr. Michael
                                                                                                6. A Call From Al Pacino
                                                                                                7. Baby J
                                                                                                8. John, John And John
                                                                                                9. Breaking Up With
                                                                                                10. Your Dealer
                                                                                                11. Mushing Metals
                                                                                                12. Hello Old Friend
                                                                                                13. A Wide Ranging Conversation

                                                                                                John Preston & Elton John

                                                                                                Watford Forever : How Graham Taylor And Elton John Saved A Football Club, A Town And Each Other

                                                                                                  'The heartwarming story of the collaboration and friendship between English football's oddest couple, Elton John and Graham Taylor' The Times 'An ever-entertaining telling of a remarkable sporting fairy-tale' Daily Telegraph

                                                                                                  An unforgettable British underdog story from one of our greatest narrative nonfiction writers, John Preston, and the international musical icon and bestselling author, Sir Elton John. Britain in the 1970s was beset by unrest and unemployment, as inflation soared, fuel was scarce, and hooliganism was on the rise. And for Watford FC, the outlook was even gloomier.

                                                                                                  Rundown and rat-infested, Watford were an ailing side with holes in their kit and barely enough fans to fill a stand. Of the 92 clubs in the Football League, spread across four divisions, Watford were in 92nd place. Meanwhile, Elton John was the most successful rockstar in the world.

                                                                                                  With six-inch platforms, spangled jumpsuits, and peroxide hair, he was glamorous, gay, and seemingly a world away from the semi-detached house in Pinner where he had supported Watford FC as a child. Many assumed he would move to America. Instead, he bought the football club.

                                                                                                  Watford Forever is the remarkable story of Elton John's ownership of Watford FC and its transformational journey to the top of the First Division under iconic manager Graham Taylor. Perhaps most remarkably, four of the same players who had been written off as has-beens went with them all the way from the bottom to the top. Inspiring and infectiously funny, this is a tribute to football's unlikeliest friendship as Elton John and Taylor, a straight-talking former fullback with a love of Vera Lynn, beat the odds and their personal demons to save a club and a community.

                                                                                                  Immersed in the grime and glamour of '70s Britain, Watford Forever is one of sport's great underdog stories and a love letter to the beautiful game.

                                                                                                  John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter & Daniel Davies

                                                                                                  Lost Themes IV: Noir

                                                                                                    It’s been a decade since John Carpenter recorded the material that would become 'Lost Themes', his debut album of non-film music and the opening salvo in one of Hollywood’s great second acts. Those vibrant, synth-driven songs, made in collaboration with his son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies, kickstarted a musical renaissance for the pioneering composer and director. In the years since, Carpenter, Carpenter, and Davies have released close to a dozen musical projects, including a growing library of studio albums and the scores for David Gordon Green’s trilogy of Halloween reboots. With 'Lost Themes IV: Noir', they’ve struck gold again, this time mining the rich history of the film noir genre for inspiration.

                                                                                                    Since the first 'Lost Themes', John has referred to these compositions as “soundtracks for the movies in your mind.” On the fourth installment in the series, those movies are noirs. Like the film genre they were influenced by, what makes these songs “noirish” is sometimes slippery and hard to define, and not merely reducible to a collection of tropes. The scores for the great American noir pictures were largely orchestral, while the Carpenters and Davies work off a sturdy synth-and-guitar backbone. The noir quality, then, is something you understand instinctively when you hear it, as in connected in an emotional way.

                                                                                                    The trio’s free-flowing chemistry means 'Lost Themes IV: Noir' runs like a well-oiled machine - the 1951 Jaguar XK120 Roadster from Kiss Me Deadly, perhaps, or the 1958 Plymouth Fury from John’s own Christine. It’s a chemistry that’s helped power one of the most productive stretches of John’s creative life, and Noir proves that it’s nowhere near done yielding brilliant results.


                                                                                                    TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                    1. My Name Is Death
                                                                                                    2. Machine Fear
                                                                                                    3. Last Rites
                                                                                                    4. The Burning Door
                                                                                                    5. He Walks By Night
                                                                                                    6. Beyond The Gallows
                                                                                                    7. Kiss The Blood Off My Fingers
                                                                                                    8. Guillotine
                                                                                                    9. The Demon’s Shadow
                                                                                                    10. Shadows Have A Thousand Eyes

                                                                                                    Indie's Exclusive 7" Bonus Track:
                                                                                                    1. Black Cathedral

                                                                                                    Elton John

                                                                                                    Caribou (RSD24 EDITION)

                                                                                                      THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                                                                                                      IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.


                                                                                                      2LP set on 180g limited edition sky blue vinyl. Includes original album, plus newly compiled LP of bonus tracks.

                                                                                                      Dr John

                                                                                                      The Atco / Atlantic Singles 1968-1974 (RSD24 EDITION)

                                                                                                        THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                                                                                                        IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.


                                                                                                        Includes Dr. John's biggest chart hits. All A & B-sides from U.S. & U.K. singles between 1968-1974. Color vinyl printed inner sleeves. Up Dated cover art

                                                                                                        John Lennon

                                                                                                        Mind Games (RSD24 EDITION)

                                                                                                          THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                                                                                                          IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.


                                                                                                          As long-standing supporters of the independent record stores all around the globe, the John Lennon Estate are excited and proud to be able to join the fun with this new, exclusive, limited-edition 4 track 12î EP release. As a teaser to the forthcoming ìUltimate Editionî Anniversary release of the ìMind Gamesî album ñ coming later this year in a collection of incredible new formats ñ this extremely limited-edition EP sets the tone for what will be an extraordinary year for the music and legacy of John Lennon.A1. Mind Games (Ultimate Mix A2. Iím The Greatest (Ultimate Mix) featuring George Harrison and Ringo StarrB1. Aisumasen (Iím Sorry) (Ultimate Mix) B2. You Are Here (Out-take, Take 5)

                                                                                                          John Lennon

                                                                                                          Mind Games (RSD24 EDITION)

                                                                                                            THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                                                                                                            IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.


                                                                                                            As long-standing supporters of the independent record stores all around the globe, the John Lennon Estate are excited and proud to be able to join the fun with this new, exclusive, limited-edition 4 track 12î EP release. As a teaser to the forthcoming ìUltimate Editionî Anniversary release of the ìMind Gamesî album ñ coming later this year in a collection of incredible new formats ñ this extremely limited-edition EP sets the tone for what will be an extraordinary year for the music and legacy of John Lennon.A1. Mind Games (Ultimate Mix A2. Iím The Greatest (Ultimate Mix) featuring George Harrison and Ringo StarrB1. Aisumasen (Iím Sorry) (Ultimate Mix) B2. You Are Here (Out-take, Take 5)

                                                                                                            Melys

                                                                                                            BBC Sessions Vol 1 (John Peel Sessions & Other Selected Rarities) (RSD24 EDITION)

                                                                                                              THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                                                                                                              IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.



                                                                                                              John Coltrane

                                                                                                              Lush Life - 2024 Reissue

                                                                                                                "Lush Life" (1958) is among John Coltrane’s best endeavours on the Prestige (and Music) label. One reason can easily be attributed to the interesting personnel and the subsequent lack of a keyboard player for the August 16, 1957 session that yielded the majority of the material. Coltrane (tenor sax) had to essentially lead the compact trio of himself, Earl May (bass) and Art Taylor (drums). The intimate setting is perfect for ballads such as the opener "Like Someone in Love". John Coltrane doesn’t have to supplement the frequent redundancy inherent in pianists, so he has plenty of room to express himself through simple and ornate passages. May provides a platform for Coltrane’s even keeled runs before the tenor drops out, allowing both Earl May and then Art Taylor a chance to shine. The fun cat-and-mouse-like antics continue as Taylor can be heard encouraging the tenor player to raise the stakes and the tempo – which he does to great effect.

                                                                                                                TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                Side A
                                                                                                                1.Like Someone In Love
                                                                                                                2.I Love You
                                                                                                                3.Trane’s Slow Blues

                                                                                                                Side B
                                                                                                                1.Lush Life
                                                                                                                2.I Hear A Rhapsody

                                                                                                                The Flaming Stars

                                                                                                                John Peel Session 19​.​02​.​02

                                                                                                                  Hailing from the rather more literate side of Camden’s garage-punk scene in the mid-90s, The Flaming Stars were Peel favourites over the years, recording no fewer than EIGHT sessions for the legendary DJ.

                                                                                                                  Six of them were collected on a Vinyl Japan CD at the turn of the century – but this fantastic final session is one of two never released before (the other one is PRE 042!). And what a session it is, featuring the brilliant ‘Cash 22’ (should’ve been a single!) and the noir vision of ‘Killer In The Rain’.

                                                                                                                  TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                  Cash 22
                                                                                                                  Over And Done
                                                                                                                  Action Crime & Vision
                                                                                                                  Killer In The Rain

                                                                                                                  Liam Gallagher & John Squire

                                                                                                                  Liam Gallagher & John Squire

                                                                                                                    Long-term friends with a mutual admiration for each other’s work, the idea of a collaboration started when John joined Liam on-stage at his biblical knebworth shows.

                                                                                                                    Song ideas were soon flowing, and the album took shape with an intuitive intensity while in Los Angeles with the revered producer Greg Kurstin. He played bass throughout the record, while drums were performed by Joey Waronker (Beck, R.E.M., Atoms For Peace).

                                                                                                                    STAFF COMMENTS

                                                                                                                    Barry says: I think about when I used to listen to Oasis and The Stone Roses back in 'The Day' and imagine how i'd feel if you told me that this would be a collaboration that could happen in the future. It's Squire's unmistakeable songwriting and playing, with Gallagher's vocals over the top. I bet he's even got his arms behind his back. Danceable, baggy psychedelic rock with vox one of the most legendary vocalists of his generation.

                                                                                                                    TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                    1. Raise Your Hands
                                                                                                                    2. Mars To Liverpool
                                                                                                                    3. One Day At A Time
                                                                                                                    4. I’m A Wheel
                                                                                                                    5. Just Another Rainbow
                                                                                                                    6. Love You Forever
                                                                                                                    7. Make It Up As You Go Along
                                                                                                                    8. You're Not The Only One
                                                                                                                    9. I’m So Bored
                                                                                                                    10. Mother Nature's Song

                                                                                                                    John Bramwell

                                                                                                                    The Light Fantastic

                                                                                                                      One of the country's most underrated singer-songwriters, John Bramwell, returns to the fray with a remarkable new album The Light Fantastic via Townsend Music.

                                                                                                                      Anyone who has heard John's work with seminal Manchester band I Am Kloot, will be cheered by the news of this impending release. Nominated for a Mercury Prize in 2010 for their acclaimed Sky At Night album, I Am Kloot never quite received the widespread success their music deserved.

                                                                                                                      This new album is a masterclass in emotionally charged and melodically driven tunes for the adventurous. All 12 tracks were written by John except for 'Nobody Left But You' which he co-wrote with album producer Dave Fidler.

                                                                                                                      "After both my Mum and Dad died, I started writing these songs to cheer myself up," John admits with typical candour. "The themes are taken from my dreams at the time. Wake up and take whatever impression I had from what I could remember of my dream and write that."

                                                                                                                      Despite the sentiment, the songs are surprisingly uplifting. And will no doubt sound great live.

                                                                                                                      TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                      1. Leave No Traces
                                                                                                                      2. A World Full Of Flowers
                                                                                                                      3. It's Just You
                                                                                                                      4. The Light Fantastic
                                                                                                                      5. Here It Comes
                                                                                                                      6. A Sky Full Of Thunder And Lightning
                                                                                                                      7. I Am The Sky
                                                                                                                      8. Days Go By
                                                                                                                      9. The Element Of Truth
                                                                                                                      10. I Feel Me
                                                                                                                      11. Nobody Left But You
                                                                                                                      12. Illegalised

                                                                                                                      John Cooper Clarke

                                                                                                                      WHAT

                                                                                                                        'Nothing short of dazzling' - Alex Turner

                                                                                                                        Dr John Cooper Clarke's dazzling, scabrous voice has reverberated through pop culture for decades, his influence on generations of performance poets and musicians plain for all to see. In WHAT, the original 'People's Poet' comes storming out of the gate with an uproarious new collection, reminding us why he is one of Britain's most beloved writers and performers. James Brown, John F.

                                                                                                                        Kennedy, Jesus Christ: nobody is safe from the punk rocker's acerbic pen - and that's just the first poem. Hot on the heels of The Luckiest Guy Alive and his sprawling, encyclopaediac memoir I Wanna Be Yours, the good Doctor returns with his most trenchant collection of poems yet. Vivid and alive, with a sensitivity only a writer with a life as varied and extraordinary as Cooper Clarke's could summon, WHAT is an exceptional collection from one of our foremost satirists.

                                                                                                                        John Coltrane

                                                                                                                        My Favourite Things - 2024 Reissue

                                                                                                                          My Favorite Things was the first album in which John Coltrane played soprano saxophone in addition to his usual tenor. His soprano sax dominates two of the album's four tracks, including his unforgettable cover of the title track written by Rodgers and Hammerstein for the musical The Sound of Music. Released in March 1961 the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998, certified gold in 2018 and it's considered a masterpiece would inspire several generations of fans.

                                                                                                                          This release is part of the New Ermitage collection available from January 2024: 18 jazz and soul titles reissued on yellow vinyl with new codes and renewed graphics.


                                                                                                                          TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                          1. My Favorite Things
                                                                                                                          2. Everytime We Say Goodbye
                                                                                                                          3. Summertime
                                                                                                                          4. But Not For Me

                                                                                                                          Dylan John Thomas

                                                                                                                          Dylan John Thomas

                                                                                                                            Brand new music from Dylan John Thomas following his 2 EPs last year.

                                                                                                                            “Dylan John Thomas could be Scotland’s next big singer-songwriter.” The Scotsman.

                                                                                                                            “Scotland’s break out star of 2022” Daily Record.

                                                                                                                            “Dylan John Thomas looks set for the big leagues.” Notion.

                                                                                                                            “A unique juxtaposition of heartfelt lyricism, affirming optimism, and a driving energy.” The Line of Best Fit.

                                                                                                                            TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                            1. Fever
                                                                                                                            2. Feel The Fire
                                                                                                                            3. What I Need
                                                                                                                            4. Up In The Air
                                                                                                                            5. Now And Then
                                                                                                                            6. Melancholy's Cure
                                                                                                                            7. Rich Boy
                                                                                                                            8. Yesterday Is Gone
                                                                                                                            9. Champs-Élysées
                                                                                                                            10. When I Get Home
                                                                                                                            11. Jenna
                                                                                                                            12. Lovely Day
                                                                                                                            13. Wake Up Ma (Live At Barrowlands)

                                                                                                                            John Murphy

                                                                                                                            The Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special (Original Soundtrack) (Black Friday 23 Edition)

                                                                                                                              THIS IS A BLACK FRIDAY 2023 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON FRIDAY NOVEMBER 24TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                                                                                                                              IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8AM ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 25TH).


                                                                                                                              The Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special is the soundtrack to the television special released on Disney+ in November 2022. The album features an original score composed by John Murphy, plus two songs performed by Old 97’s and Kevin Bacon. Available for the first time on vinyl, this color splatter LP is being released exclusively for RSD Black Friday 2023.Releasing internationally in line with the US/Canada RSD release - 2-Colour Splatter Vinyl

                                                                                                                              John Denver

                                                                                                                              The Last Recordings

                                                                                                                                Before there was (Taylor’s Version), there was (John’s Version).

                                                                                                                                “The Last Recordings,” the last known studio recordings from John Denver, recorded in Nashville in 1997 shortly before the singer’s untimely death, is a collection of Denver’s greatest hits reimagined as the singer wished to present them and intended by Denver to take the place of masters recorded under his decades-long run with a major label.

                                                                                                                                Previously released only in a limited CD pressing in Europe, Denver’s Estate and Windstar Records are excited to present “The Last Recordings” for the first time worldwide, at digital retailers everywhere, and available on CD and blue seafoam wave vinyl.

                                                                                                                                TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                SIDE A
                                                                                                                                Whispering Jesse
                                                                                                                                Dreamland Express
                                                                                                                                Rocky Mountain High
                                                                                                                                Take Me Home, Country Roads
                                                                                                                                Christmas For Cowboys
                                                                                                                                Love Again
                                                                                                                                SIDE B
                                                                                                                                Sunshine On My Shoulders
                                                                                                                                Perhaps Love
                                                                                                                                Leaving On A Jet Plane
                                                                                                                                Windsong
                                                                                                                                I’m Sorry
                                                                                                                                Back Home Again

                                                                                                                                John Coltrane

                                                                                                                                Lush Life - 2023 Reissue

                                                                                                                                  The seminal recordings that make up Lush Life were taped during a transitional period in John Coltrane's musical career. He had first joined the Miles Davis Quintet in 1955 and would form his own celebrated quartet with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones in 1960. In the intervening years, he overcame his narcotics addiction and began to expand on his own musical ideas while experimenting with both the Thelonious Monk Quartet and the Miles Davis Sextet (featuring Bill Evans and Cannonball Adderley). Lush Life was constructed with material from three different sessions, all of which produced additional material issued in other albums. While Side A is in trio format with no piano, Side B features a quintet showcasing Donald Byrd and Red Garland.

                                                                                                                                  Contains new specially prepared liner notes by Penguin Guide to Jazz's writer Brian Morton and by Paris' prestigious Jazz Magazine.

                                                                                                                                  "All aspects of Coltrane's conception during this period are well-illustrated on the album: the classic simplicity and haunting loveliness of the Coltrane ballad technique is here. For sheer beauty of approach and execution, his work has rarely been equalled." - ***** Franz Kofsky, DownBeat

                                                                                                                                  TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                  1. Like Someone In Love
                                                                                                                                  2. I Love You
                                                                                                                                  3. Trane's Slow Blues
                                                                                                                                  4. Slowtrane
                                                                                                                                  5. Lush Life
                                                                                                                                  6. I Hear A Rhapsody
                                                                                                                                  7. While My Lady Sleeps

                                                                                                                                  John Francis Flynn

                                                                                                                                  Look Over The Wall, See The Sky

                                                                                                                                    On his new album, Look Over The Wall, See The Sky, John Francis Flynn delicately unpicks traditional songs and rearranges them with an emotional force that sometimes leaves them unanchored, foating in a surreal space between the past and the present, the analogue and the digital, between love and tragedy.

                                                                                                                                    In his frst single, Mole In The Ground, a cover of an American anti-establishment folk song recorded by Bascom Lamar Lunsford in 1928, John allows the surrealism of the song to take centre stage, opting to speak rather than sing the words. His voice, too, lives beneath the ground of the melody, burrowing its way beneath hypnotic drums, dancing guitars, and sliding violins. By taking away the nursery rhyme-like melody of the song, we focus on our narrators' fantasies and desires, but also on "the weirdness of the song, and its aggressiveness. The last line is: I don't like the railroad man/ the railroad man will kill you when he can/ and he'll drink up your blood like red wine, and I wanted to get to grips with that emotion."

                                                                                                                                    TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                    1. The Zoological Gardens
                                                                                                                                    2. Mole In The Ground
                                                                                                                                    3. Willie Crotty
                                                                                                                                    4. Kitty
                                                                                                                                    5. The Seasons
                                                                                                                                    6. Within A Mile Of Dublin
                                                                                                                                    7. The Lag Song
                                                                                                                                    8. Dirty Old Town

                                                                                                                                    John Coltrane

                                                                                                                                    Plays The Blues - 2023 Reissue

                                                                                                                                      Coltrane's sessions for Atlantic in late October 1960 were prolific, yielding the material for 'My Favorite Things', 'Coltrane Plays the Blues', and 'Coltrane's Sound'. 'My Favorite Things' was destined to be the most remembered and influential of these, and while Coltrane Plays the Blues is not as renowned or daring in material, it is still a powerful session.

                                                                                                                                      As for the phrase "plays the blues" in the title, it's not so much an indicator that the tunes are conventional blues, but more indicative of a bluesy sensibility.

                                                                                                                                      TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                      1. Blues To Elvin
                                                                                                                                      2. Blues To Bechet
                                                                                                                                      3. Blues To You
                                                                                                                                      4. Blues To Elvin [Alternative Take]
                                                                                                                                      5. Mr. Day
                                                                                                                                      6. Mr. Syms
                                                                                                                                      7. Mr. Knight
                                                                                                                                      8. Blues To You [Alternative Take]

                                                                                                                                      John Coltrane

                                                                                                                                      Ballads - 2023 Reissue

                                                                                                                                        Presented here in its entirety, the celebrated 1962 LP 'Ballads' album (Impulse AS-32) was the last word in John Coltrane's ballad playing and became an instant hit. One of the most revolutionary saxophonists in jazz history, Coltrane was also a superb ballad player, capable of creating a very personal and intimate sound. This album features the leader backed by the members of his classic quartet: McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones.

                                                                                                                                        TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                        1. Say It (Over And Over Again)
                                                                                                                                        2. You Don't Know What Love Is
                                                                                                                                        3. Too Young
                                                                                                                                        4. To Go Steady
                                                                                                                                        5. All Or Nothing At All
                                                                                                                                        6. Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye
                                                                                                                                        7. I Wish I Knew / What's New?
                                                                                                                                        8. It's Easy To Remember
                                                                                                                                        9. Nancy (With The Laughing Face)
                                                                                                                                        10. Greensleeves
                                                                                                                                        11. Naima

                                                                                                                                        John Grant

                                                                                                                                        Fireflies - Music Box

                                                                                                                                          ‘Fireflies’ is the penultimate song from the Deluxe Version of John Grant’s debut solo album; ‘Queen Of Denmark’ - which was released on the seminal UK label Bella Union in 2010.

                                                                                                                                          Recorded in Texas in collaboration with members of Midlake, the album was heralded as an “Instant Classic” by Mojo Magazine and went on to be selected as their choice for Best Album of that year.

                                                                                                                                          The Independent described it as "a near-perfect marriage of his warm baritone with their lush woodwind and keyboard textures” and the BBC cited it as "one of the most deeply satisfying debut albums of recent times.

                                                                                                                                          This version of this plaintive ballad replays it’s beautiful piano & vocal melodies.

                                                                                                                                          John Dwyer + Heather Lockie, Thomas Dolas, Kyp Malone, Andres Renteria, Brad Caulkins & Archie Carey

                                                                                                                                          Ritual / Habit / Ceremony

                                                                                                                                            The band is John Dwyer (synths, vocals), Heather Lockie (viola), Thomas Dolas (synths), Andres Renteria (hand percussion), Brad Caulkins (tenor saxophone), Kyp Malone (synths) and Archie Carey (bassoon). The singers are YoshimiO (Boredoms, OOIOO), Albert Wolski (EXEK), Gracie Jackson (GracieHorse), Ciriza (Artist Extraordinaire), Kyp Malone (Bent Arcana, TV On The Radio, Rain Machine etc.), Brigid Dawson (Thee Oh Sees, The Mothers Network), AZITA (Scissor Girls, Bride of NONO, AZITA).

                                                                                                                                            For fans of Steve Roach, Eno, Syrinx, Howard Shore, Current 93, Terry Riley, Tangerine Dream and a proper sage scrub.

                                                                                                                                            “An experiment in symphonic improvisation paired with synthesizerscapes. Strings, reeds, synths and hand percussion all blend sweetly into an odd landscape indeed. The final touch was to bring aboard some singers I have loved over the years. I’m so pleased they were all willing to participate and I’m very tickled by the plane we navigate. Once YoshimiO agreed to be on board I knew we were going to be OK. Recorded and mixed at my home studio (Stu-Stu-Studio in Los Angeles) and remotely, this one was a slow burn to see the light of day. And here it is in its final crystal form. Celebrating the spaces between ritual, habit and ceremony. And all the parallels between. The line is blurred. This is occult adjacent strain of sound. At home in daily ritual, contemplation and meditation.” - John Dwyer.

                                                                                                                                            TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                            1. What Do (YoshimiO)
                                                                                                                                            2. Ruths Mouth (Albert Wolski)
                                                                                                                                            3. For Those Who Don’t Get Anything (Gracie Jackson)
                                                                                                                                            4. Memory Mirror Floweth Over (Ciriza)
                                                                                                                                            5. Sound The Unknown (Kyp Malone)
                                                                                                                                            6. Azazel (Brigid Dawson)
                                                                                                                                            7. Debris In The Sky (Azita)

                                                                                                                                            The White Stripes

                                                                                                                                            The Complete John Peel Sessions - 2023 Reissue

                                                                                                                                              The official release of The White Stripes Peel Sessions on one stuffed-to-the-brim disc. Capturing Jack and Meg at the precipice of international renown in the hubbub of "White Blood Cells," their two live sessions with famed BBC DJ John Peel are arguably the best document of the White Stripes at that time.

                                                                                                                                              TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                              Vol. I // Maida Vale // July 25th, 2001
                                                                                                                                              1. Let's Shake Hands
                                                                                                                                              2. When I Hear My Name
                                                                                                                                              3. Jolene
                                                                                                                                              4. Death Letter
                                                                                                                                              5. Cannon
                                                                                                                                              6. Astro / Jack The Ripper
                                                                                                                                              7. Hotel Yorba
                                                                                                                                              8. I'm Finding It Hard To Be A Gentleman
                                                                                                                                              9. Screwdriver
                                                                                                                                              10. We're Going To Be Friends
                                                                                                                                              11. You're Pretty Good Looking
                                                                                                                                              12. Boll Weevil
                                                                                                                                              13. Hello Operator
                                                                                                                                              14. Baby Blue

                                                                                                                                              Vol. II // Peel Acres II November 8th, 2001
                                                                                                                                              15. Lord Send Me An Angel
                                                                                                                                              16. Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground
                                                                                                                                              17. I Think I Smell A Rat
                                                                                                                                              18. Lets Build A Home / Goin’ Back To Memphis
                                                                                                                                              19. Little Room
                                                                                                                                              20. The Union Forever
                                                                                                                                              21. The Same Boy You've Always Known
                                                                                                                                              22. Look Me Over Closely
                                                                                                                                              23. Looking At You
                                                                                                                                              24. St James Infirmary Blues
                                                                                                                                              25. Apple Blossom
                                                                                                                                              26. Rated X
                                                                                                                                              27. Little Girl That Says
                                                                                                                                              28. Jumble, Jumble
                                                                                                                                              29. Little People

                                                                                                                                              John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter & Daniel Davies

                                                                                                                                              Anthology II (Movie Themes 1976-1988)

                                                                                                                                                By now everyone should know John Carpenter is not only a celebrated filmmaker but also a musical maestro whose soundtracks have become synonymous with the genres of horror, suspense, and science fiction. His innate talent for composition and his deep understanding of how music can elevate storytelling have left an indelible mark on the world of cinema, and a haunting presence in people’s record collections.

                                                                                                                                                Anthology II continues the celebration of his compositional genius via an excellently sequenced collection of some of his most iconic pieces of music from his extensive filmography, all newly recorded with his musical collaborators Daniel Davies and Cody Carpenter.

                                                                                                                                                The compilation opens with “Chariots of Pumpkins” from Halloween III that perfectly captures the eerie essence of the cult classic film with its pulsating synths and haunting melodies. The listener is engulfed by a sense of unease and anticipation, before being thrust into “69th St. Bridge” from Escape From New York, a dynamic track that encapsulates the futuristic and gritty nature of the film via the use of throbbing bass lines, driving rhythms, and electronic textures. The record has also an isolating tone as it skulks through ambient leaning tracks such as “Fuchs” and “To Mac’s Shack” from The Thing, and “Walk to the Lighthouse” from The Fog, all of which display a slower tempo, foreboding undertones and an ethereal atmosphere that feels like a distant whisper. All of which has been cautiously laid in preparation to the grand finale. The iconic and instantly recognizable ”Laurie’s Theme” from the original Halloween. Its simple yet menacing piano melody which has become synonymous with the horror genre, concludes the album by striking fear into the hearts of listeners.

                                                                                                                                                These tracks represent just a fraction of John Carpenter’s impressive musical repertoire. With each haunting note and pulsating beat, his soundtracks continue to resonate with audiences, forever etching his name in the annals offilm music history.


                                                                                                                                                TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                1. Chariots Of Pumpkins (Halloween III)
                                                                                                                                                2. 69th St. Bridge (Escape From New York)
                                                                                                                                                3. The Alley (War) (Big Trouble In Little China)
                                                                                                                                                4. Wake Up (They Live)
                                                                                                                                                5. Julie’s Dead (Assault On Precinct 13)
                                                                                                                                                6. The Shape Enters Laurie’s Room (Halloween II)
                                                                                                                                                7. Season Of The Witch (Halloween III)
                                                                                                                                                8. Love At A Distance (Prince Of Darkness)
                                                                                                                                                9. The Shape Stalks Again (Halloween II)
                                                                                                                                                10. Burn It (The Thing)
                                                                                                                                                11. Fuchs (The Thing)
                                                                                                                                                12. To Mac’s Shack (The Thing)
                                                                                                                                                13. Walk To The Lighthouse (The Fog)
                                                                                                                                                14. Laurie’s Theme (Halloween)

                                                                                                                                                John Carter / Bobby Bradford

                                                                                                                                                Self Determination Music - 2023 Reissue

                                                                                                                                                  The John Carter and Bobby Bradford Quartet/Quintet were critical to the progressive jazz movement around Los Angeles in the late 60s alongside the likes of Horace Tapscott. Both hailed from the Watts area and trumpeter, Bradford played with a woodshedding Ornette Coleman for two years in the early 60s when the legendary free movement leader decided not to record for a while but wanted to hone his trademark sound on the saxophone. Multi-reed player, Carter also worked with Coleman who brought them together to lead their own band.

                                                                                                                                                  Their first outing on Flying Dutchman was “Flight For Four” as the Carter Bradford Quartet that was released in 1969. This is the second album they recorded where Carter and Bradford were supported by Tom Williamson (bass), Buzz Freeman (drums) and another uncredited bass player on four extended improvisations – ‘The Sunday Afternoon Jazz Blues Society’, ‘The Eye Of The Storm’, ‘Loneliness’ and ‘Encounter’.

                                                                                                                                                  The album has been out of print on vinyl since 1971 and Ace are delighted to release it with audio taken from hi-res digital transfers from the original masters.


                                                                                                                                                  TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                  Side One
                                                                                                                                                  1. The Sunday Afternoon
                                                                                                                                                  Jazz Blues Society
                                                                                                                                                  2. The Eye Of The Storm
                                                                                                                                                  Side Two
                                                                                                                                                  1. Loneliness
                                                                                                                                                  2. Encounter

                                                                                                                                                  John Fahey

                                                                                                                                                  Proofs & Refutations

                                                                                                                                                    Recorded in 1995 and 1996, mostly in John Fahey’s room at a Salem, Oregon boarding house, the performances on ‘Proofs & Refutations’ prefigure the ornery turn of the page that marked Fahey’s final years, drawing another enigmatic rabbit from his seemingly bottomless musical hat.

                                                                                                                                                    Cloaked in the language of dogma - what is he proving? refuting? - this is Fahey dancing a jig in the Duchampian gap, jester cap bells a-jingling. True believers? He’s got something for you: an uncompromising vision that you can sneer at (“guy can’t play anymore and refuses to concede!”) or embrace as evidence of his genius (“the reinventor does it again!”). Skeptics? He’s there with you, too: sending up the fallacy of certitudes altogether. Institutions, systems, accepted wisdoms. Heroes. Alternative facts, indeed.

                                                                                                                                                    Right out the gate, Fahey re-materializes before us, somewhere between Oracle of Delphi and Clown Prince at Olympus. Mounting a thundering dialectic from on high, ‘All the Rains’ resembles nothing else in his extensive discography - betraying roots in everything from Dada to Episcopal liturgical chant - and contains nary a plucked guitar note. You can’t fool him! When the lap steel of yore appears on ‘F for Fake’, it serves more as soundbed for an extended sequence of vocal improvisations, running the gamut from wordless Bashoian caterwauling to free-form (but decidedly fake) Tuvan, even revealing a burnished falsetto in the process.

                                                                                                                                                    Fahey takes on a different kind of provocation in the two acoustic guitarbased tracks closing Side 1 - ‘Morning’ parts 1 and 2 - the first of four recordings in this session that have him wrestling with the ghost of Skip James, perhaps Fahey’s effort to wrench the “bitter, hateful old creep” (his words) back into the grave.

                                                                                                                                                    Anchoring Side 2 is the two-part ‘Evening, Not Night’, the second half of his extended cathexis on James (and the latter’s avowed castration complex - another story for another day, perhaps). Bit of a chill in the air – where’s the impish Fahey from earlier? Unmistakably working through some psychic wounds here, we might think: the unheimlich rendered in glistening viscera. Or is he playing with our notions of authenticity, of his reputation as troubadour of raw emotional states, a pilgrim of the ominous, the simmering unconscious? These cards are kept decidedly close to the vest. The opening and closing pieces again feature Fahey’s guitar as drone soundbed - employing distortion, oscillation, and an altogether absurd quotient of reverb to create texture and harmonics that are - if we want to go there - not dissimilar to the sustained tonic clusters of Tibetan singing bowls, the hurdy gurdy, Hindustani classical music, or La Monte freaking Young.

                                                                                                                                                    Portions of this material appeared on obscure late 1990s vinyl in the 7” or double-78 rpm format, but as a ‘session’ it has lain dormant more than a quarter century now. Taken together, we can now see these tracks as secret blueprints to latter-day Fahey provocations, several years prior to records like 1997’s ‘City of Refuge’ and ‘Womblife’.

                                                                                                                                                    TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                    All The Rains
                                                                                                                                                    F For Fake
                                                                                                                                                    Morning, Pt 1
                                                                                                                                                    Morning, Pt 2
                                                                                                                                                    For LMC2
                                                                                                                                                    Evening, Not Night, Pt 1
                                                                                                                                                    Evening, Not Night, Pt 2
                                                                                                                                                    Untitled (w/o Rain)

                                                                                                                                                    John

                                                                                                                                                    A Life Diagrammatic

                                                                                                                                                      With March 2023's 7" ‘Theme New Bond Junior’/‘Hopper On The Dial’ reaching No.1 in the UK Vinyl Single Chart, and April 2023's BBC/KEXP supported ‘Trauma Mosaic’ single announcing a debut fifteen date US/CA Tour for October 2023. JOHN consolidate their reputation as a truly uncompromising force with the announcement of their fourth full length A Life Diagrammatic.

                                                                                                                                                      The album – which features collaborations with award-winning actor Simon Pegg, and Barry Adamson (formerly of The Bad Seeds and seminal post-punk act Magazine) – is released via Brace Yourself Records & Pets Care Records, and is the follow-up to 2021’s Nocturnal Manoeuvres LP which crashed the top 75 of the main UK album chart.

                                                                                                                                                      “Limitations are key for us,” says drummer and vocalist John Newton. “I never view being a two-piece as a minus - it’s a key idiosyncratic element of what the project is.”

                                                                                                                                                      For the last decade, and now over four albums, the duo of Newton and Johnny Healey have constantly redefined and expanded the role, function and parameters of what a guitar and drum two-piece can be. No more so is this apparent than on their latest A Life Diagrammatic, a record that harnesses the punch and intensity of their blistering live shows with the band’s increasingly textural, cinematic and expressive sensibilities. “We knew the direction we wanted to go in after the last record,” Healey says of Nocturnal Manoeuvres. “We had started moving towards soundscapes rather than straight-up noise and four to the floor structure.”

                                                                                                                                                      The level of thought, ambition and scope is what makes JOHN such a captivating and genre-defying band, and A Life Diagrammatic such a rich and evocative listening experience. And the album artwork is perhaps a perfect metaphor for the band itself: a surface level glance may only reveal the basic function of an ostensible two-piece rock band but undertake a full service and you’ll discover a wealth of complexity, technicality, skill and function. Or quite simply, as Healey himself says, “we're not just a rock band. There's more to it than that.”

                                                                                                                                                      Seth Manchester (Big Brave, Battles, METZ) was brought in to mix the album, with Frank Arkwright (Mogwai, Arab Strap, Squarepusher, Autechre) mastering it at the legendary Abbey Road Studios. The aim being to merge the powerful live presence of the band whilst also honing in on some of the more varied dynamics at play. “We wanted to further explore the space and ambience of our instrumentation,” says Newton. “To offer an album that deliberately pushes and pulls in a multitude of directions throughout its duration.”

                                                                                                                                                      STAFF COMMENTS

                                                                                                                                                      Laura says: On their fourth album John continue to evolve their sound, adding more experimentation to their driving guitar and drums onslaught. As with previous releases, the taut guitar riffs create a tension throughout the album as it sweeps between brooding atmospherics and explosive outbursts, but there’s a more nuanced, cinematic feel this time around. This is typified on “Media Res” which features a strange, slightly unnerving monologue from Simon Pegg - a distorted conversation that you only hear one side of. Typical of the whole album there’s an ambiguity to the narrative that sucks you in and forces you to listen. There’s no snappy sloganeering here, the lyrical depth is integral to the sound as a whole, it’s an album that demands your attention. Still not convinced? Then surely a nod of approval, in the shape of a collaboration on “Riddley Scott Walker”, from the king of cinematic noir, Barry Adamson, should surely seal the deal.

                                                                                                                                                      TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                      1. At Peacehaven
                                                                                                                                                      2. Media Res
                                                                                                                                                      3. Côte D’Adur
                                                                                                                                                      4. A Submersible
                                                                                                                                                      5. A Whole House
                                                                                                                                                      6. Service Stationed
                                                                                                                                                      7. Construction Site/Summer_22
                                                                                                                                                      8. Trauma Mosaic
                                                                                                                                                      9. Riddley Scott Walker
                                                                                                                                                      10. The Common Cold

                                                                                                                                                      Big John Patton

                                                                                                                                                      Let 'Em Roll - Tone Poet Edition

                                                                                                                                                        Kansas City born Hammond B3 organ dynamo Big John Patton made a stellar run of soul jazz albums for Blue Note thru the 1960s but Let ‘Em Roll stands among the finest with Patton adding vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson to a standard organ trio line-up with guitarist Grant Green and drummer Otis Finch.

                                                                                                                                                        This stereo Tone Poet Vinyl Edition was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, and packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket.

                                                                                                                                                        TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                        1. Let 'Em Roll (Side A)
                                                                                                                                                        2. Latona (Side A)
                                                                                                                                                        3. The Shadow Of Your Smile (Side A)
                                                                                                                                                        4. The Turnaround (Side B)
                                                                                                                                                        5. Jakey (Side B)
                                                                                                                                                        6. One Step Ahead (Side B)

                                                                                                                                                        Even As We Speak

                                                                                                                                                        John Peel Session 20.02.93

                                                                                                                                                          Recorded 12 months after their Peel debut, this is the second BBC session from the Sarah Records legends, released to coincide with their first UK appearance for five years at Glas-Goes Pop!

                                                                                                                                                          A version of much loved single ‘Blue Eyes Deceiving Me’ is backed by three tracks never before released on vinyl, including the lovely ‘(All You Find Is) Air’, which features wonderful sax from Louise Elliott of fellow Aussies, The Moodists. As for ‘The Revenge of Ella Mae Cooley’ … well, you gotta hear it.

                                                                                                                                                          Package includes sleeve essay by Julian Knowles and a set of five postcards with rare pics from a Melody Maker session – plus free download codes. Limited to 350 copies.

                                                                                                                                                          TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                          Blue Eyes Deceiving Me
                                                                                                                                                          The Revenge Of Ella Mae Cooley
                                                                                                                                                          (All You Find Is) Air
                                                                                                                                                          Coz I Like It

                                                                                                                                                          Play Dead

                                                                                                                                                          John Peel Sessions At The BBC

                                                                                                                                                            It features ten tracks, four of which were never recorded elsewhere and early versions of some of their most popular songs such as The Tenant and Propaganda. Between 1980-85 they grew into one of the UK’s leading postpunk bands with regular indie chart hits and a large loyal live following. The Peel Sessions helped with their exposure alongside extensive gigging (with UK Decay, Sex Gang Children, Killing Joke, The Cult and more), subsequent headline tours in their own right and a live spot on the UK’s top music TV programme, The Tube.

                                                                                                                                                            Bis

                                                                                                                                                            John Peel 16.06.96

                                                                                                                                                              With support slots alongside the likes of Ash and Bikini Kill, Scottish punk popsters bis were already old hands at this pop music game by the time of this, their second session for John Peel. With versions of the singles ‘Sweet Shop Avengerz’ and ‘Keroleen’, this EP showcases their rockier side, with Riot Grrrl influences shouted proudly from the rooftops … and you get a one-off tribute to John Peel as an unexpected fifth track.

                                                                                                                                                              Package includes sleeve notes from Manda Rin and a set of five postcards with rare pics – plus free download codes.

                                                                                                                                                              Limited to 500 copies.

                                                                                                                                                              TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                              Sweet Shop Avengerz
                                                                                                                                                              Antiseptic Poetry
                                                                                                                                                              Rebel Soul
                                                                                                                                                              Keroleen
                                                                                                                                                              We Love John Peel

                                                                                                                                                              Steve Jolliffe

                                                                                                                                                              Tattoo - The Unreleased Music From The 1975 John Samson Documentary

                                                                                                                                                                Incredible jazz / prog / folk score to groundbreaking tattoo film by maverick filmmaker. Unreleased until now, so don’t go saying it’s a reissue because it isn’t, but I’m sure some people will because they always do.

                                                                                                                                                                John Samson (1946 - 2004) was a truly great documentary maker. He must be as I’ve been obsessed with his work for many years. Educated first at Glasgow School Of Art (circa 1963) and then finally in the art of film making at The National Film And Television School in Beaconsfield - he headed there in its opening year of 1971 having made a short film that got him a scholarship. It was at the NFTS that Samson met Mike Wallington, who was to become his right hand man and eventual producer; together as a quite brilliant team they made a handful of inspiring, entertaining and hugely prescient films about important, overlooked, unseen and marginal fringes in society.

                                                                                                                                                                Tattoo (1975) Exploring the rather clandestine world of tattooing in the UK.

                                                                                                                                                                Dressing For Pleasure (1977) Exploring the rather clandestine world of festish in the UK.

                                                                                                                                                                Brittania (1979) A film about railway enthusiasts and a steam train restoration. Arrows (1979) The life of dart player Eric Bristow.

                                                                                                                                                                Drag Ball (1981) An unreleased film about the annual Porchester Hall Drag Ball.

                                                                                                                                                                The Skin Horse (1983) BAFTA winning film about The Outsiders Club, a dating agency for disabled people.

                                                                                                                                                                The subject matter in all films was always unusual for the time, and Samson managed to navigate his way with compassion, interest and subtlety, immersing himself in the chosen scene and producing moving, fascinating and sometimes darkly amusing situations. His documentaries also do not rely on traditional voiceovers, with stories, facts and narrative threads being dictated by the subjects.

                                                                                                                                                                I’ve tried for a long time to find the music for a couple of his early films (there was actually an original 7” for Arrows) - so far this is the only unreleased soundtrack I have found. This one was written by Steve Jolliffe, who met Samson at the NFTS. Joliffe was the resident composer and had a room at the college complex where he could work on scores for the fledgling film makers. Jolliffe was and still is a multi-instrumentalist and prolific composer who had met Edgar Froese at the Berlin Konservatorium in the late 1960s and played in an early incarnation of Tangerine Dream. He toured with blues rock outfit Steamhammer, before hanging out at the NFTS, making this recording (and many others) and eventually rejoining Tangerine Dream in the late 1970s. Jolliffe still writes, records and releases today and once i had made contact with him we traced the original Tattoo master tape to a box at his brother’s house. Musically it’s charming, slightly folky, a touch baroque, there’s a whiff of prog too, and it perfectly suited this early documentary about the art and desire of tattoos. I only wish it was longer. But the film is only 16 minutes long. Seek it out if you can. Try and find all the Samson films, they really are a joy.

                                                                                                                                                                As well as featuring intimate footage of tattooed people, the film also includes a rare and very early interview with Alan Oversby (better known as Mr Sebastian), a seminal character in the development of tattoos and body modifications worldwide - it was he who eventually was to tattoo and pierce Genesis P-Orridge.

                                                                                                                                                                The images for this vinyl release were all found in Mike Wallington’s Tattoo documentary research folder from 1974, and were photos sent in to Mike and John by people who wanted to feature in the film. Most answered an advert in Time Out, and others included people from my home town of Aldershot where tattooist Bill Skuse and his wife, Rusty (the most tattooed woman in Britain at the time, and featured in the film) were based. His parlour was situated at the back of the arcade where we all used to lose all our pocket money in the slot machines.

                                                                                                                                                                The Musicians:
                                                                                                                                                                Steve Jolliffe - keyboards, flute, sax Geoff Jolliffe - bass guitar Julian Furniss - guitar Mick Kirby – drums.

                                                                                                                                                                John Cale

                                                                                                                                                                Word For The Dying - 2023 Repress

                                                                                                                                                                  First time vinyl repress of this John Cale album, originally released on the Opal label in 1989, produced by Brian Eno.

                                                                                                                                                                  “‘Words For The Dying’ has at its heart The Falklands Suite, Cale’s baroque if heartfelt response to the Anglo-Argentinian War, which finds him setting the poems of his beloved Dylan Thomas to music. When building songs around another’s words, the results often sound forced, but Cale does a magnificent job of compressing Thomas’s lyricism into neat melodic phrases, themselves just components of a vast harmonic mega-structure scored for the USSR’s Orchestra of Symphonic & Popular Music of Gostelradio. A project that could easily have collapsed under the weight of its own ambition is instead a late masterpiece, thanks to Cale’s deep-seated compositional genius, and unobtrusive but resonant production from Brian Eno.” - Kiran Sande

                                                                                                                                                                  TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                                  The Falkland Suite
                                                                                                                                                                  Introduction
                                                                                                                                                                  There Was A Saviour
                                                                                                                                                                  Interlude I
                                                                                                                                                                  On A Wedding
                                                                                                                                                                  Anniversary
                                                                                                                                                                  Interlude II
                                                                                                                                                                  Lie Still, Sleep Becalmed
                                                                                                                                                                  Do Not Go Gentle Into That
                                                                                                                                                                  Good Night

                                                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                                  Songs Without Words
                                                                                                                                                                  Songs Without Words. I
                                                                                                                                                                  Songs Without Words. II
                                                                                                                                                                  The Soul Of Carmen
                                                                                                                                                                  Miranda

                                                                                                                                                                  John Martyn

                                                                                                                                                                  London Conversation - 2023 Reissue

                                                                                                                                                                    A complex and sometimes belligerent character in real life, on record, John Martyn was the epitome of the folk-dreamer, embodying the spirit of the bourgeoning London acoustic scene of the late 60s - Well-known and respected for his 70s albums Solid Air and One World, this is where it began.

                                                                                                                                                                    Released in October 1967, London Conversation was the first album by the first 'rock' signing to Chris Blackwell's Island Records. With eight of the twelve tracks written by Martyn, it is easy to see why Blackwell was such a champion of his work. The five- minute plus sitar drone of Rolling Home pointed the way to the possibilities that lay ahead. The sleeve captured the earnest folky sitting among the capital's chimney tops, strumming his acoustic. At once Martyn was part of it; Martyn was above it.

                                                                                                                                                                    TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                                    Fairy Tale Lullaby
                                                                                                                                                                    Sandy Grey
                                                                                                                                                                    London Conversation
                                                                                                                                                                    Ballad Of An Elder Woman
                                                                                                                                                                    Cocaine
                                                                                                                                                                    Run Honey Run
                                                                                                                                                                    Back To Stay
                                                                                                                                                                    Rolling Home
                                                                                                                                                                    Who's Grown Up Now
                                                                                                                                                                    Golden Girl
                                                                                                                                                                    This Time
                                                                                                                                                                    Don't Think Twice

                                                                                                                                                                    John Martyn

                                                                                                                                                                    The Tumbler - 2023 Reissue

                                                                                                                                                                      A complex and sometimes belligerent character in real life, on record, John Martyn was the epitome of the folk-dreamer, embodying the spirit of the bourgeoning London acoustic scene of the late 60s - Well-known and respected for his 70s albums Solid Air and One World, this is where it began.

                                                                                                                                                                      Produced by fellow London scenester Al Stewart, The Tumbler was a huge step forward, presenting Martyn as the questing soul he would become; yet, for the abstraction of The Gardeners, there was the simple folk ditty of Fishin' Blues. With the exemplary flute playing of Harold McNair, Fly On Home is clear in its influence on Martyn's peer, Nick Drake. Knuckeldy Crunch and Slippledee- Slee Song demonstrates what would have happened if Syd Barrett had gone folk.

                                                                                                                                                                      The Tumbler can be viewed also as the beginning of Martyn's slurred vocal style and sweet sentiment that was to chime with thousands of his aficionados in the UK.

                                                                                                                                                                      TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                                      Sing A Song Of Summer
                                                                                                                                                                      The River
                                                                                                                                                                      Goin' Down To Memphis
                                                                                                                                                                      The Gardeners
                                                                                                                                                                      A Day At The Sea
                                                                                                                                                                      Fishin' Blues
                                                                                                                                                                      Dusty
                                                                                                                                                                      Hello Train
                                                                                                                                                                      Winding Boy
                                                                                                                                                                      Fly On Home
                                                                                                                                                                      Knuckledy Crunch And Slippledee-Slee Song
                                                                                                                                                                      Seven Black Roses

                                                                                                                                                                      John Coltrane

                                                                                                                                                                      Evenings At The Village Gate: John Coltrane With Eric Dolphy

                                                                                                                                                                        In August of 1961, the John Coltrane Quintet played an engagement at the legendary Village Gate in Greenwich Village, New York. Coltrane’s Classic Quartet was not as fully established as it would soon become and there was a meteoric fifth member of Coltrane’s group those nights— visionary multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy. Ninety minutes of never-before-heard music from this group were recently discovered at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, offering a glimpse into a powerful musical partnership that ended much too soon.

                                                                                                                                                                        In addition to some well-known Coltrane material (“My Favorite Things”, “Impressions”, “Greensleeves”), there is a breathtaking feature for Dolphy’s bass clarinet on “When Lights Are Low” and the only known non-studio recording of Coltrane’s composition “Africa”, from the Africa/Brass album. This recording represents a very special moment in John Coltrane's journey—the summer of 1961—when his signature, ecstatic live sound, commonly associated his Classic Quartet of '62 to '65, was first maturing and when he was drawing inspiration from deep, African sources— and experimenting with the two-bass idea both in the studio (Olé) and on stage. This truly rare recording of "Africa" captures his expansive vision at the time.

                                                                                                                                                                        TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                                        My Favorite Things
                                                                                                                                                                        When Lights Are Low
                                                                                                                                                                        Impressions
                                                                                                                                                                        Greensleeves
                                                                                                                                                                        Africa

                                                                                                                                                                        John Carroll Kirby

                                                                                                                                                                        Blowout

                                                                                                                                                                          John Carroll Kirby is a GRAMMY Award-nominated producer, composer and keyboardist from Los Angeles. New album Blowout was inspired by the local people, music and nature of Costa Rica. In addition to his acclaimed solo albums, Kirby has collaborated with Solange, Harry Styles, Yves Tumor, Eddie Chacon, and more.

                                                                                                                                                                          Blowout contains all the hallmarks of the signature sound John Carroll Kirby has finessed over six solo albums and dozens of collaborations – playfulness, humour, and lushness.

                                                                                                                                                                          TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                                          1) Oropendola
                                                                                                                                                                          2) Mates
                                                                                                                                                                          3) The Takedown
                                                                                                                                                                          4) Hotel Jonny Chingas
                                                                                                                                                                          5) Vertigo
                                                                                                                                                                          6) So So So
                                                                                                                                                                          7) Sun Go Down
                                                                                                                                                                          8) Gecko Sun
                                                                                                                                                                          9) Flying Cat
                                                                                                                                                                          10) Mates (Dub)
                                                                                                                                                                          11) So So So (Dub)
                                                                                                                                                                          12) Hotel Jonny Chingas (Dub)

                                                                                                                                                                          Various Artists

                                                                                                                                                                          Yebo! Rare Mzansi Party Beats From Apartheid's Dying Years Compiled By John Armstrong

                                                                                                                                                                            The apartheid boycott In the 80s, the world – rightly - stepped up its boycott against South Africa’s apartheid government. But this had unexpected and sometimes adverse consequences for South Africa’s music professionals and consumers. Musicians still needed to work live shows both at home and abroad, and to make and sell records. The youth still aspired to clubbing and partying at the weekend after hard, poorly paid jobs under the thumb of an oppressive government. Music was their sanctuary: specifically, African- American inspired soul, jazz, boogie, disco and funk.

                                                                                                                                                                            Unique diversity producing musical excellence was nothing new for South Africa, even in the 80s: both traditional and jazz music of various genres had been performed, showcased and recorded for decades with the assistance of some of the most skilled and ingenious sound-engineers and producers in the world, the jazz players rivalling their American peers in many cases. But what makes Mzansi 80s popular music unique is that it had to – and for the most part, did- appeal to a multi-ethnic, multilingual population almost like no other in the world, for its geographical size. There may have been many tribal and political differences between Zulu, Sotho, Xhosa, Tsonga and others day-to-day, but when it came to the weekend, those differences often melted away for a while on the dancefloor. Paul Ndlovu had kwaZulu fans as well as Shangaan followers; Black Moses and the Soul Brothers had followers and fans with everyone..and so on. And everyone- detractors and lovers alike- were content to settle on the monicker ‘Bubblegum’ as a general description. Mzansi took disco- and slowed it down a bit.. ..exactly as 90s and early 2000s South African DJs and mixers took House- and slowed it down a bit to develop Kwaito, Gqom and – later – Amapiano. The Roland TR-707 sampler came along in 1985- at just the right time for the flowering of Mzansi disco and boogie. And in the artful hands of arrangers, engineers and producers such as Peter “Hitman’ Moticoe, whose work figures on several of the tracks here, it became something unique to South Africa.

                                                                                                                                                                            TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                                            1. Tsakane
                                                                                                                                                                            2. Johnny Boy
                                                                                                                                                                            3. Crocodile's Rock
                                                                                                                                                                            4. I Was Born In Africa
                                                                                                                                                                            5. Don't Follow Me
                                                                                                                                                                            6. Special Angel
                                                                                                                                                                            7. Blackout
                                                                                                                                                                            8. Ximamane
                                                                                                                                                                            9. Dayshift
                                                                                                                                                                            10. Khombora Mina
                                                                                                                                                                            11. Pusa Twala
                                                                                                                                                                            12. Nwananga Washanesera
                                                                                                                                                                            13. Ku Hluvukile Eka Zete
                                                                                                                                                                            14. Chomesa

                                                                                                                                                                            Mark Volman & John Cody

                                                                                                                                                                            Happy Forever : My Musical Adventures With The Turtles, Frank Zappa, T. Rex, Flo & Eddie, And More

                                                                                                                                                                              Mark is one of the most indomitable yet gentle spirits I ve ever met. He will always be one of my favorite artists I ve ever worked with. And someday when I grow up, I want to be just like him.

                                                                                                                                                                              Alice Cooper. This book is a puzzle. The outside frame pieces are about me, but the picture wouldn t be complete without the perspectives of all the people telling you about me.

                                                                                                                                                                              Mark Volman. Mark Volman has led a storied life, and many of those stories are contained in Happy Forever. A true son of southern California, he has gone from topping the charts with The Turtles ( Happy Together ) to underground cred with Frank Zappa and beyond.

                                                                                                                                                                              As Flo & Eddie, Mark and his longtime singing partner Howard Kaylan were the not-so-secret ingredient on many other artist s records, taking Bruce Springsteen into the Top 10 for the very first time and helping T. Rex dominate the British charts. Then came The Ramones, U2, Blondie, Duran Duran, and so many more; the list of credits is long and varied.

                                                                                                                                                                              Happy Forever covers all of that, along with subsequent forays into animation, a stint as a radio personality in Los Angeles and New York, and a midlife return to academia, which led Mark to create and run innovative college programs in LA and Nashville. But this is not the world according to Mark Volman, and it is not your average musical autobiography. Alongside his own comments, this uniquely insightful book contains contributions from more than one hundred of Mark s peers, friends, and lovers who share their thoughts on the man himself and on topics that span the social and cultural landscape of past half-century.

                                                                                                                                                                              Happy Forever s cast list reads like a who s who of popular music, featuring members of The Doors, The Monkees, The Byrds, The E Street Band, and many more; producers Tony Visconti, Bob Ezrin, and Hal Willner; voice actors from The Simpsons and the Firesign Theatre; and key figures from the worlds of radio, animation, and academia. The book also includes previously unseen photographs and forewords by Alice Cooper and Chris Hillman.

                                                                                                                                                                              Sam Prekop & John McEntire

                                                                                                                                                                              Sons Of

                                                                                                                                                                                Pitchfork awarded ‘Sons Of’ an 8.3 and a spot in their Best New Music category in their review written by Philip Sherburne.

                                                                                                                                                                                The first full length collaboration from two artists who have expanded the field of rock through their work over the last three decades, both as individuals and in their time together in The Sea and Cake.

                                                                                                                                                                                John McEntire is known for his work as a musician playing with Tortoise, Jim O’Rourke, Stereolab and others. Owner and operator of Soma Electronic Music Studios, he is also known for his pioneering work as a producer and engineer, working with Stereolab, Archer Prewitt, Yo La Tengo, Bright Eyes, The Fiery Furnaces and Chicago Underground, among many others.

                                                                                                                                                                                ‘Sons Of’ finds two master craftsmen working at the nexus of pristine production and skilful improvisation, forging compelling narrative arcs into glistening metropolises of infinite pulse. The resulting sound is one of transformative fluidity; each passing beat marking a sense of familiarity while the surrounding atmospheres are in constant flux. Ever-shifting tonalities and magnetic grooves propel the music with persistent momentum without feeling hurried buoyed by the steady pace, creating the framework that allows space for new sounds to breathe and evolve.

                                                                                                                                                                                TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                                                1. A Ghost At Noon
                                                                                                                                                                                2. Crossing At The Shallow
                                                                                                                                                                                3. A Yellow Robe (Part 1)
                                                                                                                                                                                4. A Yellow Robe (Part 2)
                                                                                                                                                                                5. A Drink At The Banquet
                                                                                                                                                                                6. Ascending By Night

                                                                                                                                                                                Richard Morton Jack

                                                                                                                                                                                Nick Drake: The Life

                                                                                                                                                                                  'This is the book we've been waiting for . . .

                                                                                                                                                                                  It is a biography to be treasured' Joe Boyd'The Drake completist could ask for nothing else' Telegraph'Illuminating. The definitive word on Drake' ObserverIn 1968 Nick Drake had everything to live for. The product of a loving, creative family and a privileged background, he was not only a handsome and popular Cambridge undergraduate, but also a new signing to the UK's hippest record label, Island.

                                                                                                                                                                                  Three years later, however - having made three well-reviewed but low-selling albums - Nick had been overwhelmed by a mysterious mental illness. He returned to live in his family home in rural Warwickshire in 1971, and died in obscurity in 1974, aged just 26. In the decades since, Nick has become the subject of ever-growing fascination and speculation.

                                                                                                                                                                                  Combined sales of his records now stand in the millions, his songs are frequently heard on TV and in films, and he has become one of the most widely known and admired singer-songwriters of his generation. Nick Drake: The Life is the only biography of Nick to be written with the blessing and involvement of his sister and Estate. Drawing on copious original research and new interviews with his family, friends and musical collaborators, as well as deeply personal archive material unavailable to previous writers - including his father's diaries, his essays and private correspondence - this is the most comprehensive and authoritative account possible of Nick's short and enigmatic life.

                                                                                                                                                                                  Includes a foreword by Gabrielle Drake and over 75 photos, many rare or previously unseen.

                                                                                                                                                                                  Dr. John

                                                                                                                                                                                  Gris Gris (Original MONO Mix) - 2023 Repress

                                                                                                                                                                                    1968 Debut Record, this is the Original MONO mix. The first time this has been reissued and its on Limited Green Vinyl. 1968 Debut album from the king of the psychedelic bayou – the hypnotic, mystical and powerful sound of the swamp coming to life. As he became Dr. John (real name Mac Rebennack), it was his LA session work with musicians like Sonny & Cher, Canned Heat, and Zappa that allowed him to start conjuring up his visions of guitar psych-pop to walk alongside his authentic New Orleans upbringing.

                                                                                                                                                                                    While “Gris Gris” contains moments that make it a type stamped symbol of its era, it might have well been made in outer space. Recorded in its own psychic and stylistic vacuum, the album borrows as heavily from the New Orleans’ musical culture in which he grew up as it does the looming continuous pulse of war, heavy drugs, and the end of the free love/hippie movement. The album was taken under the wing of a small percentage of the “underground” upon its release in 1968 and did not find a true following for years. 

                                                                                                                                                                                    TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                                                    1. Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya
                                                                                                                                                                                    2. Danse Kalinda Ba Doom
                                                                                                                                                                                    3. Mama Roux
                                                                                                                                                                                    4. Danse Fambeaux
                                                                                                                                                                                    5. Croker Courtbullion
                                                                                                                                                                                    6. Jump Sturdy
                                                                                                                                                                                    7. I Walk On Guilded Splinters

                                                                                                                                                                                    Emeli Sandé / John Grant

                                                                                                                                                                                    The Endless Coloured Ways: The Songs Of Nick Drake

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

                                                                                                                                                                                      TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                                                      1.One Of These Things First - Emeli Sandé
                                                                                                                                                                                      2. Day Is Done - John Grant

                                                                                                                                                                                      Cranes

                                                                                                                                                                                      John Peel Sessions 1989-1990

                                                                                                                                                                                        The first in a series of archival releases from Cranes, the band’s John Peel Sessions are collected for the first time.

                                                                                                                                                                                        Formed in mid-1980’s Portsmouth by the brother & sister duo of Jim Shaw (drummer, keyboardist, guitarist, programmer) & Alison Shaw (vocalist, guitarist, bassist), Cranes first appeared in 1986 with Fuse, a self-released & now highly sought-after cassette of demos.

                                                                                                                                                                                        Their debut album ‘Self-Non-Self’ followed in 1989, catching the attention of legendary DJ John Peel, who invited them to record two sessions for his show in 1989 & 1990, the second seeing Mark Francombe (guitarist, keyboardist, bassist) & Matt Cope (guitarist) join ranks to form the line-up who would go on to record multiple albums for Dedicated including the much-loved album, ‘Forever’, which enjoys it’s 30th anniversary this year.

                                                                                                                                                                                        Cranes are releasing John Peel Sessions (1989-1990) on their own Dadaphonic label. The first in a series of archival releases, this compilation features original artwork by fêted 4AD & v23 sleeve designer Chris Bigg (Pixies, Cocteau Twins, The Breeders).

                                                                                                                                                                                        John Peel Sessions (1989-1990) will be available on black vinyl and as a highly-limited Dinked Archive Edition pressed on silver vinyl with an exclusive 12”x12” print of alternate artwork and Obi Strip.


                                                                                                                                                                                        TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                                                        Side A
                                                                                                                                                                                        E.G. Shining
                                                                                                                                                                                        Focus Breathe
                                                                                                                                                                                        Starblood
                                                                                                                                                                                        Til Tomorrow
                                                                                                                                                                                        Side B
                                                                                                                                                                                        Da Da 331
                                                                                                                                                                                        Give
                                                                                                                                                                                        Inescapable

                                                                                                                                                                                        Dr. John

                                                                                                                                                                                        The Montreux Years

                                                                                                                                                                                          A collection of Dr. John’s finest Montreux Jazz Festival live performances!

                                                                                                                                                                                          The audio has Expertly restored and remastered in superlative HD audio; The Montreux Years is released on superior audiophile heavy weight vinyl, MQA quality CD and in HD digital. The release includes brand new liner notes and rare photos from his Montreux shows.


                                                                                                                                                                                          TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                                                          1. Professor Longhair Boogie (Live - Montreux Jazz Festival 1986) 03:35
                                                                                                                                                                                          2. You Ain't Such A Much (Live - Montreux Jazz Festival 1986) 04:52
                                                                                                                                                                                          3. Sick And Tired (Live - Montreux Jazz Festival 1986) 03:30
                                                                                                                                                                                          4. Stack-A-Lee (Live - Montreux Jazz Festival 1986) 04:11
                                                                                                                                                                                          5. Accentuate The Positive (Live - Montreux Jazz Festival 2007) 03:50
                                                                                                                                                                                          6. Right Place, Wrong Time (Live - Montreux Jazz Festival 2004) 04:04
                                                                                                                                                                                          7. Rain (Live - Montreux Jazz Festival 2007) 04:53
                                                                                                                                                                                          8. Going Back To New Orleans (Live - Montreux Jazz Festival 1993) 10:34
                                                                                                                                                                                          9. Makin' Whoopee (Live - Montreux Jazz Festival 1995) 04:01
                                                                                                                                                                                          10. Big Chief (Live - Montreux Jazz Festival 2011) 07:18
                                                                                                                                                                                          11. In A Sentimental Mood / Mississippi Mud / Hard Times (Medley) (Live - Montreux Jazz Festival 2012) 07:35
                                                                                                                                                                                          12. Love For Sale (Live - Montreux Jazz Festival 2007) 08:34
                                                                                                                                                                                          13. Let The Good Times Roll (Live - Montreux Jazz Festival 1995) 06:07
                                                                                                                                                                                          14. Good Night Irene (Live - Montreux Jazz Festival 1986) 05:41

                                                                                                                                                                                          Reflections of the Sun is a collection of new music that see John Rocca experiment with a more laid back side to his musical personality. John is best know in Jazz Funk circles for his 1980s self funded, self produced and self released Brit Funk classic 'Southern Freeez', and as the band Freeez's founder.

                                                                                                                                                                                          Much of the album is also somewhat reflective. A personal and emotional reflection on John's life - the tracks a nod to John's varied musical pasts. Sounds, a pondering upon his collection of global influences and his life experiences over the years; Genre, the pulse of today, societal, musical or otherwise - but not easy to place as is John's character; Lyrics, the present dilemmas we face as humanity, whilst reflecting on our own private and deepest human feelings, of life and, of love in all its wonderous forms.

                                                                                                                                                                                          Musically, the 'Reflections of the Sun' album casts a glimpse back to Rocca's Brit Funk roots growing up amongst 1970s classic Jazz Funk and Soul, while also blending inspiration from his 1980-90s electronic influences topped off with everything else he has seen and heard on his life travels since then.

                                                                                                                                                                                          Giving a nod to John's own past while bringing Reflections of the Sun up to date was completed by adding elements of London's re-surgent and vibrant jazz scene. Not so different from John’s own early days jamming with Freeez, he is accompanied on all the album's tracks by his two young nephews and highly respected jazz musicians, Benjamin Rocca on keyboards and Joel Rocca on Saxophone. The two youngsters are known on the current London Jazz scene as the "Rocca Brothers".

                                                                                                                                                                                          The album's title track, "Reflections of the Sun" refers to how humanity, gorging on the sunshine that brings life to everything, also has a tendency to reflect the hellishness of the sun itself. Comparing our self-destructive nature with our planet's volumes of un-ending beauty.


                                                                                                                                                                                          TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                                                          A1. Angel
                                                                                                                                                                                          A2. Close Your Eyes (Take The Ride)
                                                                                                                                                                                          A3. Dream, LoveB1Reflections Of The Sun
                                                                                                                                                                                          B2. I’ve Known Love (the Feeling Of Love)
                                                                                                                                                                                          B3. Open Spaces, Open Minds

                                                                                                                                                                                          John Holt

                                                                                                                                                                                          Essential Artist Collection

                                                                                                                                                                                            After fronting popular Jamaican vocal trio the Paragons on a succession of best-selling rock steady singles during the late Sixties, John Holt went on to become one of Jamaica’s most popular solo performers, scoring a series of reggae hits for many of the island’s leading record producers.

                                                                                                                                                                                            His international breakthrough came in 1974 with the hugely popular ‘1000 Volts of Holt’ album, which fused raw reggae rhythms with sophisticated orchestral arrangements.

                                                                                                                                                                                            The highlight of the long-player was a reworking of Kris Kristoffersson’s country hit, ‘Help Me Make It Through The Night’, which the following year became a global hit, with the single, peaking at Number 6 in the UK charts. Over the years that followed, Holt remained a giant of the reggae scene with further best sellers and numerous sell-out shows around the world.

                                                                                                                                                                                            The very best of his solo work has been brought together on this ‘Essential Artist’ compilation, the latest release in Trojan Records’ newly launched range that showcases the work of Jamaica’s best-loved ‘foundation’ artists.

                                                                                                                                                                                            Available as a 28-track double vinyl LP and a comprehensive 2CD compilation, the collection superbly illustrates the talent that made John Holt one of the reggae music’s most popular and enduring singers. 


                                                                                                                                                                                            STAFF COMMENTS

                                                                                                                                                                                            Matt says: A nice catch-all / best of from one of reggae music's most popular and enduring singers. Mainly dealing with issues of love and longing, it's a light-hearted alternative to some of the more political and riotous music also being at the time. Lover's rock heads are certainly gonna dig this.

                                                                                                                                                                                            TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                                                            Vinyl Tracklisting:
                                                                                                                                                                                            Side A
                                                                                                                                                                                            1. Help Me Make It Through The Night
                                                                                                                                                                                            2. Pledging My Love
                                                                                                                                                                                            3. Stealing Stealing
                                                                                                                                                                                            4. My Heart Is Gone
                                                                                                                                                                                            5. Looking Back
                                                                                                                                                                                            6. I'll Be Lonely
                                                                                                                                                                                            7. I Wanna Dance
                                                                                                                                                                                            Side B
                                                                                                                                                                                            1. Ali Baba
                                                                                                                                                                                            2. Stick By Me
                                                                                                                                                                                            3. Strange Things
                                                                                                                                                                                            4. Tonight
                                                                                                                                                                                            5. The Further You Look
                                                                                                                                                                                            6. Wild Fire
                                                                                                                                                                                            7. Sweetie Come Brush Me
                                                                                                                                                                                            Side C
                                                                                                                                                                                            1. Sister Big Stuff
                                                                                                                                                                                            2. My Desire
                                                                                                                                                                                            3. I'll Take A Melody
                                                                                                                                                                                            4. Time And The River
                                                                                                                                                                                            5. Let's Get It While It's Hot
                                                                                                                                                                                            6. Ghetto Queen
                                                                                                                                                                                            7. Reggae From The Ghetto
                                                                                                                                                                                            Side D
                                                                                                                                                                                            1. You Baby
                                                                                                                                                                                            2. You Will Never Find Another Love Like Mine
                                                                                                                                                                                            3. I See Your Face
                                                                                                                                                                                            4. The Tide Is High
                                                                                                                                                                                            5. Let's Build Our Dreams
                                                                                                                                                                                            6. Before The Next Teardrop
                                                                                                                                                                                            7. Just The Way You Are

                                                                                                                                                                                            CD Tracklisting:
                                                                                                                                                                                            CD 1
                                                                                                                                                                                            1. Help Me Make It Through The Night
                                                                                                                                                                                            2. Pledging My Love
                                                                                                                                                                                            3. Stealing Stealing
                                                                                                                                                                                            4. My Heart Is Gone
                                                                                                                                                                                            5. Looking Back
                                                                                                                                                                                            6. I'll Be Lonely
                                                                                                                                                                                            7. I Wanna Dance
                                                                                                                                                                                            8. Anymore
                                                                                                                                                                                            9. I Want You Closer
                                                                                                                                                                                            10. Morning Of My Life
                                                                                                                                                                                            11. Sometimes
                                                                                                                                                                                            12. What You Gonna Do Now
                                                                                                                                                                                            13. I’d Love You To Want Me
                                                                                                                                                                                            14. Ungrateful Lady
                                                                                                                                                                                            15. Keep It Up
                                                                                                                                                                                            16. My Eyes
                                                                                                                                                                                            17. In The Springtime
                                                                                                                                                                                            18. Tell Me Why
                                                                                                                                                                                            19. Ali Baba
                                                                                                                                                                                            20. Stick By Me
                                                                                                                                                                                            21. Strange Things
                                                                                                                                                                                            22. Tonight
                                                                                                                                                                                            23. The Further You Look
                                                                                                                                                                                            24. Wildfire
                                                                                                                                                                                            25. Sweetie Come Brush Me
                                                                                                                                                                                            26. Just The Way You Are
                                                                                                                                                                                            CD 2
                                                                                                                                                                                            1. Sister Big Stuff
                                                                                                                                                                                            2. My Desire
                                                                                                                                                                                            3. I'll Take A Melody
                                                                                                                                                                                            4. Time And The River
                                                                                                                                                                                            5. Let's Get It While It's Hot
                                                                                                                                                                                            6. Ghetto Queen
                                                                                                                                                                                            7. Reggae From The Ghetto
                                                                                                                                                                                            8. Riding For A Fall
                                                                                                                                                                                            9. All My Life
                                                                                                                                                                                            10. Love So Right
                                                                                                                                                                                            11. Winter World Of Love
                                                                                                                                                                                            12. Memories By The Score
                                                                                                                                                                                            13. Have You Ever Been To Heaven
                                                                                                                                                                                            14. Wasted Days And Wasted Nights
                                                                                                                                                                                            15. Try A Thing
                                                                                                                                                                                            16. The Treasure Of Love
                                                                                                                                                                                            17. I’m The One To Be Blamed
                                                                                                                                                                                            18. A Love Like Yours
                                                                                                                                                                                            19. You Baby
                                                                                                                                                                                            20. You Will Never Find Another Love Like Mine
                                                                                                                                                                                            21. I See Your Face
                                                                                                                                                                                            22. The Tide Is High
                                                                                                                                                                                            23. Let’s Build Our Dream
                                                                                                                                                                                            24. Before The Next Teardrop Falls 

                                                                                                                                                                                            John Andrews & The Yawns

                                                                                                                                                                                            Love For The Underdog

                                                                                                                                                                                              John Andrews is something of an open secret in a certain corner of the music scene: a versatile musician and animator. A film school drop out whose work hat-tips tradition as much as outsider anti-aesthetics. He’s spent over a decade on the DIY circuit, playing early house shows alongside then up-and-coming peers Weyes Blood and Daniel Bachman. Today he is still out there projecting his sketchy hand-drawn animations during his performances in coffee shops, small galleries and non-traditional venues. Andrews’ painterly approach now introduces the listener to his version of New York City, the place he was bound to end up after years of dwelling in Pennsylvania farm towns and New Hampshire barns. There is handmade vibrancy to the world he’s imagined here: intimate moments seen from the interior, looking outward from hole-in-the-wall restaurants, theaters and the fragments of peace found within the restless and dirty street corners.

                                                                                                                                                                                              Love For The Underdog, his aptly titled fourth release with the Woodsist label, was tracked live to tape in various studios and apartments across the Empire State with help from his bandmates in Cut Worms’ touring outfit, Max Clarke, Keven Lareau and Noah Bond. Buoyant melodies are supported by timeless string arrangements, translated from Andrews’ head to page with the help of friend Simon Hanes. The string quartet follows the tradition of Francoise Hardy, Harry Nilsson, Margo Guryan and Belle and Sebastian, giving the whole thing a cinematic ambience with stark shadows of an Edward Hopper painting. The lyrics tie together narratives of cynical heroes and troubled lovers. Put on the record and sink into well-worn red velvet theater seats, when the lights go down and the flickering of projectors run the title: Love For The Underdog, indeed.

                                                                                                                                                                                              TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                                                              1. Checks In The Mail
                                                                                                                                                                                              2. Never Go Away
                                                                                                                                                                                              3. Fourth Wall
                                                                                                                                                                                              4. Starving Artist
                                                                                                                                                                                              5. Walking Under My Loves Ladders
                                                                                                                                                                                              6. Cloudy
                                                                                                                                                                                              7. Only Heart
                                                                                                                                                                                              8. I Want To Believe

                                                                                                                                                                                              John Massoni With Sonic Boom

                                                                                                                                                                                              Think Of Me When You Hear Waves (RSD23 EDITION)

                                                                                                                                                                                                THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2023 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                                                                                                                                                                                                A brand-new John Massoni LP that was produced by his good friend, Grammy nominated producer, Hunter Lea. This is another John Massoni and Pete Kember, aka Sonic Boom (Spacemen 3, EAR, Spectrum) collaboration. It will have one side completely mixed by Sonic Boom. Featuring the excellent track ìGreat Godís Giftî this will be pressed in heavy weight 180g solid mustard coloured vinyl.

                                                                                                                                                                                                John Robb

                                                                                                                                                                                                The Art Of Darkness: A History Of Goth - SIGNED EDITION

                                                                                                                                                                                                  The first ever complete overview of Goth culture will be released in 2023.

                                                                                                                                                                                                  Finally, after a decade of work, countless interviews and immersing himself into the culture, John Robb's definitive book is a journey far into The Art Of Darkness. The first in-depth book on Goth is a deep dive into the enduring culture and the social, historical and political backdrop that created the space for The Art Of Darkness to thrive.

                                                                                                                                                                                                  680 pages with interviews with the likes of Andrew Eldritch, Killing Joke, Bauhaus, The Cult, The Banshees, The Damned, Einsturzende Neubauten, Danielle Dax, Johnny Marr, Trent Reznor, Adam Ant, Laibach, The Cure, Nick Cave and many others, this is a deepdive and walk on the dark side and into the very heartland of Goth.

                                                                                                                                                                                                  Every generation has got to deal with the blues - embrace the melancholy. Find a beauty in the darkness, a poetry in sex and death...Whether it’s the Roman love of ghost stories, European macabre folk tales of the Middle Ages, Romantic poets, or the original Gothic tribes sacking the Eternal City, a walk on the dark side has always had its attractions. In the post-punk period, Generation Xerox saw music, clothes and culture come together to create one of the most enduring pop cultures of them all that still resonates to this day..
                                                                                                                                                                                                  Goth.
                                                                                                                                                                                                  It may have been a retrospective term for a scene that was already thriving, but its back story goes back millennia. The book starts with the fall of Rome and ends with Instagram and Tik Tok influencers, taking diversions through Lord Byron, European folk tales, Indian sadhus, Gothic architecture, Romantic poets, philosophers and idealists before coalescing through the dark end of the Sixties’ youthquake, and then blooming like Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs Du Mal in the post-punk period.

                                                                                                                                                                                                  Defying the broken heartland of the post-industrial cities, the semi-forgotten satellite towns and the grim real politic of the Thatcher years, this was a post-punk culture full of dark dance and a death disco. The music soundtracked the style and a Stygian obsidian soundtrack fused the many fragments of culture that had been flirted with in the post-war pop narrative; a darker culture that began to coalesce around the holy trinity of the Doors, the Velvets and the Stooges in the late Sixties before flirting with glam rock, being amplified by punk, exploding as Goth, and then splintering into electronic dance music, industrial, psychobilly and new Goth, before finally filtering through dystopian Hollywood blockbusters, modern literature and throughout the modern world.

                                                                                                                                                                                                  In the late Seventies, Goth culture emerged around a clutch of bands who found a new form of beauty in the apocalyptic foreboding, as a new youth tribe took glam rock from the catwalk to the cobbles and onto their own dance floors, creating their own art of darkness.



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