By the early 1990s, multidisciplinary thinker, philosopher and mystic Terrence McKenna had found himself to be one of the darlings of the burgeoning rave scene - going on to become one of the most sampled voices in dance music to this day. However, the very high point of Terrence McKenna’s intersection with dance music is undoubtedly Alien Dreamtime - taking place at a 48 hour rave in 1993 San Francisco, a multi-media collaboration of didgeridoo, live video mixing and the sublime, techno-ambient, sonic wizardry of the unimitable Jonah Sharp aka Spacetime Continuum laying the foundation for McKenna to whip the audience into a frenzy as he belts out his musings on eschatology and peering behind the linguistic curtain through the power of the psychedelic experience. For the very first time, the recording of this seminal event is being released on vinyl format to help you tune into the Gaian mind.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Archaic Revival
A2. Transient Generator
A3. Alien Love
B1. Speaking In Tongues
B2. Aerobatic
B3. Timewave Zero

Recorded in the aftermath of Strawberry Switchblade's break up, the original "Sunflower Demos" included songs intended for the unrealised 2nd album. These songs posit an alternative future where McDowall pursued a Pop career instead of becoming an underground icon.

"In McDowall’s world, cake and chaos go hand in hand. She’s the witch at the door of the gingerbread house, beckoning you inside."
- Pitchfork

"One wonders what would have happened had these delirious songs made it to mainstream radio airplay. The exquisite nature of this slices of dappled pop genius is a joy to behold."
-The Quietus

Rose McDowall's Cut With The Cake Knife was originally reissued in 2015 by Night School Records and Sacred Bones. Since then, Rose McDowall and her previous band Strawberry Switchblade have only grown in cult status. Following a discovery by a generation of young, disaffected kids on social media of Strawberry Switchblade and McDowall's succeeding band Sorrow, Night School Records has remastered Cut With The Cake Knife and presents the album with a reimagined artwork that more closely recreates the original hand-made CD produced by McDowall.

Cut The With The Cake Knife was recorded by Rose McDowall in 1988/89 following the break up of her group Strawberry Switchblade. Produced with the aid of several musicians in several studios, the album features songs written for the fabled second Strawberry Switchblade album. More importantly perhaps it showcases the honest, direct and life-affirming songs of one of the greatest unsung songwriters of the modern pop era at a tumultuous time in her career.

Tibet opens the set and could be one of the best pop songs you’ve never heard. The innate sadness of the songs’ content – the loss of a friendship, impending sorrow – is heightened to heart-melting level by McDowall’s pop nous and melodic sensibility. Choruses and hooks are everywhere on Cake Knife, from the outsider take on stadium 80s pop in Wings Of Heaven to the spiraling, ecstatic So Vicious, a glorious anthem that highlights the human fragility in McDowall’s vocal performance, an instrument that has never lost the naïve purity it first exemplified in Strawberry Switchblade’s early 80s recordings. The centerpiece of the album, the title-track, is the greatest Switchblade pop chart hit that never was. Like the veiled melancholy of her former group’s hits, Cut With The Cake Knife hints at a darkness beneath the gloss, a darkness that saw McDowall delve into more esoteric territory with her subsequent recordings and collaborations. Cut With The Cake Knife serves as the bridge between the pop music McDowall had been making with her friends Jill Bryson, Lawrence from Felt and Primal Scream to what became a more extreme, deep sound informed by neo-folk and post industrial music.

Rose McDowall’s role in the canon has always been one of an outsider. Beginning in Glasgow’s East End in the avant proto-noise group The Poems, achieving fame briefly in the 80s and then disappearing into counter-cultural folklore, the emphasis in the internet-age has been skewed towards her image and cultural significance. Unseen to many, her solo work, her groups Sorrow and Spell and her collaborations with a whole host of underground luminaries have still touched lives. As McDowall elucidates: “They're real sad songs, about real life. I've had people come up to me to say I'd connected with them and helped them. I remember a gig in America when we made a whole room cry. It was bizarre. A couple at the front of the stage started crying and then these two boys beside and suddenly everyone was crying. And I thought, "that's power."

Night School’s issue of Cut With The Cake Knife includes unpublished photographs, extensive sleeve notes from Rose McDowall and 2 bonus tracks culled from the bootleg 7” “Don’t Fear The Reaper.” 

TRACK LISTING

Side A
A1 Tibet
A2 Sunboy
A3 Wings Of Heaven
A4 Sixty Cowboys
A5 On The Sun
A6 Cut With The Cake Knife

Side B
B1 Crystal Nights
B2 Soldier
B3 So Vicious
Don't Fear The Reaper 7" EP (Rio Digital 7RDS3)
B4 Crystal Days
B5 Don't Fear The Reaper (Written-By [Uncredited] – Blue Öyster Cult)

'Flowers in the Dirt' (1989) marked a creative resurgence for Paul McCartney, presenting him as a vital, contemporary songwriter at the close of the 1980s. Track highlights include the bright, Beatlesque 'My Brave Face', the heartfelt ballad 'Put It There', and the polished pop single 'This One'. Several songs were co-written with Elvis Costello, a collaboration that sharpened McCartney’s lyrical edge and drew critical attention. Culturally, the album is often seen as a late-career comeback, reestablishing McCartney’s artistic credibility and introducing his music to a new generation of listeners.

TRACK LISTING

1. My Brave Face
2. Rough Ride
3. You Want Her Too
4. Distractions
5. We Got Married
6. Put It There
7. Figure Of Eight
8. This One
9. Don’t Be Careless Love
10. That Day Is Done
11. How Many People
12. Motor Of Love
13. Où Est Le Soleil?

'Flaming Pie' (1997) is widely regarded as one of Paul McCartney’s strongest late-career albums, reflecting a relaxed, confident return to classic songwriting. Featuring the breezy 'The World Tonight', the reflective, lush 'Young Boy', and the tender, Grammy-winning ballad 'Calico Skies', the album blends modern production with McCartney’s timeless melodic sensibility, drawing on rock, pop, and acoustic influences. 'Flaming Pie' reaffirmed McCartney’s relevance in the 1990s and was celebrated as a creative renewal that bridged his 60s legacy with contemporary audiences.

TRACK LISTING

1. The Song We Were Singing
2. The World Tonight
3. If You Wanna
4. Somedays
5. Young Boy
6. Calico Skies
7. Flaming Pie
8. Heaven On A Sunday
9. Used To Be Bad
10. Souvenir
11. Little Willow
12. Really Love You
13. Beautiful Night
14. Great Day

'Red Rose Speedway' (1973) is Wings’ lush, romantic sophomore album, marking Paul McCartney’s growing confidence as a writer and bandleader. Track highlights include the chart-topping ballad 'My Love', the exuberant opener 'Big Barn Bed', and the tender, multi-sectioned 'Little Lamb Dragonfly', which showcase McCartney’s melodic strengths. Originally envisioned as a double album, it ultimately emerged as a streamlined collection with a polished, soft-rock sound. 'Red Rose Speedway' helped solidify Wings as a commercially viable McCartney project and reinforced his dominance in early 1970s pop music.

TRACK LISTING

1. Big Barn Bed
2. My Love
3. Get On The Right Thing
4. One More Kiss
5. Little Lamb Dragonfly
6. Single Pigeon
7. When The Night
8. Loup (1st Indian On The Moon)
9. Medley:
A) Hold Me Tight
B) Lazy Dynamite
C) Hands Of Love
D) Power Cut

Originally released in December 1971, the beloved debut album from Wings established Paul McCartney’s newest music project as a bonafide rock band. 'Wild Life' was written almost entirely by Paul and Linda McCartney, and was recorded in just over a week with the majority of tracks laid down in a single take. Featuring the yearning and politically charged title track, the funky 'Love Is Strange' and the gentle acoustic ballad 'Dear Friend', 'Wild Life' is a must-have title for the Wings collector

TRACK LISTING

1. Mumbo
2. Bip Bop
3. Love Is Strange
4. Wild Life
5. Some People Never Know
6. I Am Your Singer
7. Bip Bop (Link)
8. Tomorrow
9. Dear Friend
10. Mumbo (Link)

Fredrick "Freddie" McGregor is a Jamaican singer born in Clarendon, Jamaica in 1956. At age seven, he started singing backup for a local ska harmony duo called The Clarendonians and did his first recordings aged 10 under the name "Little Freddie" or "Young Freddie", and as a duo with Ernest Wilson aka "Freddie & Fitsy". McGregor stayed at Studio One for much of the '70s. He sang lead for groups like Generation Gap and Soul Syndicate, and also recorded off and on as a solo act during the '70s. In 1975, McGregor converted to Rastafarianism. His debut album Mr. McGregor was released in 1979. It opens with "We Got Love" featuring a Tower of Power influenced horn section underneath McGregor's tale of love conquering all.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. We Got Love
2. Walls Of Jericho
3. Jah Can Count On I
4. Oh No Not My Baby
5. Why Did You Do It?

Side B
1. Zion Chant aka Jah A We Fathers
2. Rastaman Camp
3. Do Good
4. Brandy
5. Rasta Have Faith

Beefheart & McQuinn is the new project from UK artist Moby Beefheart aka William Murray (formerly of UK outfit Fur) and Melbourne / Naarm musician Winter McQuinn (Sunfruits, jade imagine). Coming together after a chanced coffee meetup, the musical connection between the two artists is palpable. Sharing a love for the folk and rock sounds of yesteryear without pastiche obsession, Beefheart & McQuinn make contemporary psychedelic folk / soft rock, a rich sonic tapestry of vocal harmony blends and deft musicianship / production. 'Midtown Downtime' is a debut album which explores the tensions of time and productivity in late-stage capitalism. The album is a collection of 10 songs that explore the genres of contemporary psychedelic folk / soft rock, with stacked harmonies over syncopated guitars and occasional synth / drum outbursts. The album has a sound that is familiar yet unique, harkening to both Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young and Luke Temple/Carol King. Lyrically the album covers a lot of ground with songs about the squeeze of capitalism coupled with the feeling of isolation and anxiety that the modern world’s political landscape can engender, alongside songs of love, friendship and nostalgia. There’s a high energy feeling that runs through the 27-minute album's core, an energy that goes hand in hand with the modern era's ever-changing focus & diminishing attention spans, the record asks you to sit down and listen to it all in one go.

TRACK LISTING

1. Yellow Is The Colour of My Love
2. On The Line
3. Do It Again
4. Ride on Right
5. Melting
6. Waiting For The Rain
7. Dreams Die
8. Fill My Cup
9. Yesterday and Younger Days
10. Six Feet Under

'The Boys of Dungeon Lane' is a collection of rare and revealing glimpses into memories never-before shared, along with some newly inspired love songs, from one of the most culturally significant figures of our time. These extraordinary new songs find Paul writing with rare openness about his childhood in post-war Liverpool, the resilience of his parents, and early adventures shared with George Harrison and John Lennon long before the world had ever heard of Beatlemania.

TRACK LISTING

1. As You Lie There
2. Lost Horizon
3. Days We Left Behind
4. Ripples in a Pond
5. Mountain Top
6. Down South
7. We Two
8. Come Inside
9. Never Know
10. Home to Us
11. Life Can Be Hard
12. First Star of the Night
13. Sailsman Saint
14. Momma Gets By

Goat has long been mapping the shape of fuzzed ‘70s sounds culled from far-flung corners of the world, splicing tape-market aesthetics and poly-rhythmic pounce to a deep bench of Swedish psychedelics. This clash of ideas fully came to a head with February’s release of single ‘Nimerudi’, a collaboration track with Kenyan-born, Ugandan-based rapper MC Yallah. Matching the band’s lived-in, lysergic production, Yallah brought her nimble, multi-lingual flow, leaning into the band’s Nordic wrecking crew with an acumen that’s earned her an honor roll of critical praise. Yallah has been building steam since ’99, releasing a litany of singles and two albums with Debmaster on acclaimed Nyege Nyege sublabel Hakuna Kulala, and her elastic phrasing is the perfect fit for the band’s timeless feel. On it’s release the track quickly gained the prestigious BBC 6 Music ‘A’ playlist status, after picking up an unprecedented number of spot plays from many of the stations DJ’s Gilles Peterson, Mark Radcliffe, Huey Morgan, Iggy Pop, Don Letts etc etc etc – everyone couldn’t help to fall under the spell of the Goat/Yallah groove.Now, Rocket Recordings are happy to reveal an EP containing 5 more remixes of the track, following the acid dub of the ‘Salmagundi Remix’ that accompanied the ‘Nimerudi’ original release. The first of the five remixes is from Wayne Adams, the London producer who is one half of Goat’s label mates Petbrick, a duo that pairs Adams with old Sepultura drummer Iggor Cavalera. Wayne’s dark electronic mix teases out the hazy early hours of post rave urban London rather than the golden warmth of the sun soaked life of Uganda. The second remix sees GNOD continue their seismic sonic palette by stripping out the flesh and bones of the original track like the roughness of tiger tongue wrapping around your infinity machine mind – hypnotically grinding as a throbbing electronic sine wave of neurotoxins.Malcolm Catto’s remix is track of two worlds – the world of the living and the world of the spirit – where his burrowing rhythmic intensity summons Can’s deeply cosmic afro-krautrock-funk-psych of ‘Ege Bamyasi’– dappled with its intricate polyrhythms and fuzzy lead guitar signature of Malcolm’s ‘The Heliocentrics’ project. And lastly, the Illusive Bristolian producer Claude Cooper brings the whole release burning full circle with his old skool beats, stylized rhythmic chop-around reworking, embellishing the original with his West Country heavy funky breakbeats and scratching turntablism. The ‘Nimerudi Remix’ EP is released digitally across all streaming platforms on 30 May. There will also be a ltd edition 12” available featuring the original track, plus these four remixes. The 12” will also contain a special bonus Goat track, ‘Seu Sangue’ which has not been released on vinyl before.

TRACK LISTING

1. Nimerudi
2. Nimerudi (Wayne Adams Remix)
3. Nimerudi (Gnod Remix)
4. Nimerudi (Malcolm Catto / The Heliocentrics Remix)
5. Nimerudi (Claude Cooper Remix)
6. San Sangue (vinyl only bonus track)

Beloved singer-songwriter Lizzy McAlpine's debut album, 'Give Me A Minute', was released in August 2020 and is now got a lovely 2025 repress on pink vinyl. The album features hit tracks 'Pancakes for Dinner' and 'To The Mountains'. Lizzy has since released two more full length albums.

TRACK LISTING

1. Give Me A Minute
2. Nothing / Sad N Stuff
3. Over-the-Ocean Call (Andrew)
4. I Knew
5. Where Do I Go?
6. To The Mountains
7. You, Love (Interlude)
8. Means Something
9. Same Boat
10. Pancakes For Dinner
11. How Do I Tell You?
12. Apple Pie
13. Headstones And Land Mines

Mclusky are a band who were a band, weren’t a band, then are a band again. they formed in the late nineties and unformed, for the first time, in 2005, after three albums, opinions of which can be found on the internet.

The path to re-becoming a band started in 2014, with the band playing sporadic shows to raise money for a local venue threatened with closure and after some misadventures, which can be put down to life in its most wonderful forms, in 2025 they released their first record in twenty years, and now in 2026, they continue with more new music in the form of this 6-song mini album.

TRACK LISTING

1. I Know Computer
2. As A Dad
3. Spock Culture
4. Hi! We're On Strike
5. Fan Learning Difficulties
6. That Was My Brain On Elves

By 1983, many of Scotland's post-punk bands had broken up or moved south to chase the major labels in London. That vacuum was filled by an influx of young musicians who were determined to remake the scene in their own image. In this compelling and dynamic oral history, Grant McPhee chronicles the radical transformation of Scotland's independent music scene from 1983-1995.

Including archival photos and drawing from over 100 interviews with the key players of the time, Grant McPhee allows them to set the scene in their own words; including the Cocteau Twins, Shop Assistants, Teenage Fanclub, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream and many more. Postcards from Scotland is the definitive story of the radicals, misfits and experimentalists who made independent music what it is today.

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2026 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

A visionary fusion of jazz, hip hop, and spoken word, Welcome To My Dream remains a true underground classic of the early ’90s.
This 35th Anniversary Expanded Edition celebrates MC 900 Ft. Jesus’s genre-defying album with a tracklisting personally curated by Mark Griffin. Featuring Griffin’s own liner notes and early demos pressed on vinyl for the first time, this release shines new light on a record that still sounds boldly ahead of its time.

Pressed on silver vinyl and housed in a deluxe gatefold sleeve with printed inners.

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2026 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

Freddie McGregor’s Showcase (1981), produced by roots reggae icon Winston “Niney” Holness, is a product of the era’s vocal-and-dub “showcase” format and a key release from one of Jamaica’s most iconic voices. Featuring dub-forward production and a seamless blend of Lovers Rock and conscious roots material, the album bridges the sound of 1970s Kingston with the more melodic direction that would carry McGregor into international success with ‘Big Ship’ the following year. This is the first official reissue in four decades and an essential record of McGregor’s early solo era. Limited edition numbered pressings on heavyweight color vinyl, exclusive for RSD26.

Blending analogue hardware and live musicianship with deep, groove-driven production, Declan McDermott showcases a confident and colourful voice in contemporary underground house.

Hailing from Sydney and now based in Berlin, Declan McDermott has quietly evolved into one of the most intriguing new names in left-of-centre house music. A lifelong instrumentalist and vintage gear authority he shifted from producer/musician-for-hire, to step into his own spotlight after falling in love with the hypnotic pull of late-night deep house and dub-influenced dance records. His studio work draws on analogue synths, vintage drum machines, field recordings, and his own understated vocal delivery, forming a sound that’s warm, textural, and effortlessly soulful. With his debut release turning heads among selectors who value emotion as much as groove, this EP marks his development as one to watch.

“Why Don’t You Believe Me?” is a slow-mo deep-house meditation wrapped in warmth and weight. Declan and his featured vocalists lay down their spoken and vocodered vocals across minimal, stripped-back house drums, weaving through DX7 and OBX-a melodies with subtle dubby inflections. It’s intimate but floor-friendly - an introspective nocturnal groove that sways rather than shouts.

Next up we have a remix from the revered French luminary I:Cube who lifts the BPM and launches the track straight onto the club floor. Leaning into cosmic-disco and classic filter house, the remix is propelled by a rolling, hypnotic bassline and warm Rhodes chops that drive the groove along. It’s a classy, elevated rework with the signature I:Cube balance of drive and dreaminess.

Flipping over we have the legendary NYC-based DJ Nature (founding member of Bristol’s Wild Bunch crew and sound system) who injects raw soul into the original, keeping things crunchy, real, and deeply felt. Clipped drums, dusty organ textures, and a warm, human touch guide this version - equal parts basement grit and emotive mood. It’s the kind of remix that feels like it could only come from a seasoned hand.

The EP floats to a close on a serene, atmospheric note with “Yara-Kimba (Lindeman Island)”. Echoes of Ron Trent’s spacious, spiritual deep house permeate the arrangement, with gentle percussion, tropical tones, and a calm-breathing groove. As Declan says ‘This track is a tribute to Yara-Kimba, inspired by childhood memories, the island’s natural soundscape, and my vision of a distinctly Australian / Oceanic house sound.’

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Get one up one your local disc jock by bagging this one for the weekend. Causing a fuss amongst the professionals, namely due to the DJ Nature and I:Cube remixes, the originals by Declan are also defo worth checking.

TRACK LISTING

A1 - Why Don’t You Believe Me?
A2 - Why Don’t You Believe Me? (I:Cube ‘Pourquoi’ Remix)
B1 - Why Don’t You Believe Me? (DJ Nature Remix)
B2 - Yara-Kimba (Lindeman Island)

Amazing new @markbrownstudio designed shirt.

Dark heather shirt with full colour print.

“In a way, all relationships are simply conversations. Some are brief flashes, sparks, which may extinguish as quickly as they began. Others last longer, or pause for years - only to pick up again where they left off. Some maybe never end. Years ago our band Girls Against Boys had one of those - once in a lifetime dream-like shows in Athens, Greece which for me epitomized a moment in time. Later, I decided to go back and make a record there - inthis place which holds an almost mythological meaning to me. To record music in a city which is more or less a dream is affecting. One is out of place - a visitor-time traveler. Visiting scenes. Alienating and yet comforting. These songs are about memories -romances - ideas - which remain alive and ever changing. The reality of experience itself blurred by time. Music is of course also a conversation-between riffs, motifs- questions and answers. And more questions. Jokes, language, flirtations. Atmosphere. Ultimately, the longest conversation we may ever have is with ourselves. Sitting with a notebook, watching the street life - mopeds & graffiti. The memories we carry become treasures - worlds to revisit which are still alive. And like cities and songs they don’t stop living. The biggest part of who we are is perhaps what we remember.”
Scott McCloud

The album was recorded by Dimitris Dimitriades at Zero Gravity studios in Athens, Greece and initially conceived as an experiment and time capsule, stripped down raw recordings on acoustic guitar and voice with minimal adornment. Over time, and several visits to Athens, the song sketches were fleshed out with a variety of musical guests with the intent of maintaining the vulnerable and minimal atmosphere of the original sessions.

Starting in the late Eighties, Scott was the guitarist for Washington DC’s post-hardcore band Soulside (Dischord) before moving to NYC and co-founding Girls Against Boys (Touch & Go, DGC) in the Nineties.

TRACK LISTING

1. Make It To Forever
2. Down Thru The Stars
3. Moonlight Stagedive
4. Abandoned In Flames
5. Come Round
6. (I Got) Devotion
7. Spaceship
8. Skin Of My Teeth
9. Hold Me Tight
10. Somewhereness
11. Staring At Yourself

Four classic US house vocals. Four club-ready remixes. One essential Sub-Urban EP.

Sub-Urban returns with Volume 3 in its much-loved vinyl series, a four-track, vocal-driven house EP built for DJs who want real vocals, real soul and real dancefloor impact.

Featuring iconic voices including Kathleen Murphy, Helen Bruner & Terry Jones and Ceybil Jefferies, this release delivers timeless house songwriting reworked into modern, club-ready cuts by respected underground producers.

This is a no-filler DJ tool, every track works in warm-ups, sunset sessions, peak-time soulful moments and late-night deep floors.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Key To Life Featuring Kathleen Murphy ‘Find Our Way (Breakaway)’ (Marc Cotterell Plastik Factory Vox)
A2. Lee Genesis ‘Ya Can’t Separate Me (I’m Determined)’ (Sean McCabe Vocal Mix)
B1. Next Phase & Helen Bruner & Terry Jones ‘I Ain’t Got Time’ (Grant's Euphoric Club Mix)
B2. Deep Zone Featuring Ceybil Jefferies ‘Praise Him (Lift Your Hands Up)’ (The Deepzone Club Mix)

"M.C.’s / How Many Miles?" is the follow-up solo single and arrival proper of MC D. With DJ Fusion once again handling production and scratch duties, this extended player is no less uncompromising than its predecessor. Benefitting a full release with the now iconic Mendoza green labels, it cemented the young MC in the annals of UK rap history. MC D (aka Darren James) cut one more record for Mendoza as part of his Silent Eclipse project before moving on to future collaborations with the likes of The Principle (Caveman), Deckwrecka, Rodney P and Skinnyman. M.C.’s/How Many Miles? is ranked amongst Mark McDonald’s Top 100 UK rap records in the essential Megablast book published in 2024.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Another slice of crucial, deep buried UK rap unearthed by the intrepid ears at Fundamental Frequencies. Raw as a bear's arse and full of attitude. They certainly don't make em like this anymore.

TRACK LISTING

1. M.C.'s
2. How Many Miles? Cut 2
3. How Many Miles ? Cut 1
4. How Many Miles? Cut 1 (Instrumental)

Indispensable 1981 cosmic funk business from Tommy McGee, remastered and reissued with replica artwork that has been calling out for an official reissue due to its eye watering £250+ price tag. Now with limited edition Red Rose vinyl in a hi gloss lipstick-pink sleeve, just in time for Valentines day; for all you lovers out there.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Now That I Have You (Orig Soundtrack '81 Version)
A2. Now That I Have You (Orig '86 Hip Kik Version)
B1. Stay With Me - Orig Soundtrack '81 Version
B2. Now That I Have You - Orig '86 Hip Kik Inst Version

'Pink Floyd at Pompeii - MCMLXXII', the groundbreaking 1972 film directed by Adrian Maben. Digitally re-mastered from the original 35mm footage, with enhanced audio newly mixed by Steven Wilson. Set in the hauntingly beautiful ruins of the ancient Roman Amphitheatre in Pompeii, Italy, this unique film captures Pink Floyd performing an intimate concert with additional rare behind-the-scenes footage of the band beginning work on The Dark Side of the Moon at Abbey Road Studios. The accompanying album release will see the performance presented on vinyl for the first time.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: I will never fall out of love with Pink Floyd, and this sees them at their youthful, experimental best. Wonderfully rich, bursting with moments of psychedelic perfection and unsurprisingly, goes incredibly well with mushrooms. Probably.

TRACK LISTING

LP & CD Tracklist:
1. Pompeii Intro
2. Echoes - Part 1
3. Careful With That Axe, Eugene
4. A Saucerful Of Secrets
5. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Suna
6. One Of These Days
7. Mademoiselle Nobs
8. Echoes - Part 2
9. Careful With That Axe, Eugene - Alternate Take
10. A Saucerful Of Secrets - Unedited

4K UHD, Blu-ray & DVD Tracklist:

Feature Film
1. Pompeii Intro
2. Echoes Part 1
3. On The Run
4. Careful With That Axe Eugene
5. A Saucerful Of Secrets
6. Us And Them
7. One Of These Days
8. Mademoiselle Nobs
9. Brain Damage
10. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun
11. Echoes Part 2

Concert
1. Pompeii Intro
2. Echoes Part 1
3. Careful With That Axe, Eugene
4. A Saucerful Of Secrets
5. One Of These Days
6. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun
7. Echoes Part 2

Man On The Run (Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack) is taken from the Amazon MGM Studios feature documentary Paul McCartney Man on the Run directed by Academy Award winner Morgan Neville. This set contains deep cuts and fan favourites from McCartney’s post-Beatles career, soundtracking the journey of Paul’s emergence from the dissolution of the world’s biggest band to proving to critics and fans that not all great acts are impossible to follow. This album compiles many of the key recordings from the motion picture together – including previously unreleased tracks ‘Live and Let Die (Rockshow),’ ‘Gotta Sing Gotta Dance’ and ‘Arrow Through Me (Rough Mix).’

TRACK LISTING

1. Silly Love Songs (Demo)
2. That Would Be Something (2011 Remaster)
3. Long Haired Lady (2012 Remaster)
4. Too Many People (2012 Remaster)
5. Big Barn Bed (2018 Remaster)
6. Gotta Sing Gotta Dance
7. Live And Let Die (Rockshow)
8. Band On The Run (2010 Remaster)
9. Arrow Through Me (Rough Mix)
10. Mull Of Kintyre (2016 Remaster)
11. Coming Up (2011 Remaster)
12. Let Me Roll It (2010 Remaster)

The most famous living rock musician on the planet, Paul McCartney is now regarded as a slightly cosy figure, an (inter)national treasure. Back in the 1970s, however, McCartney cut a very different figure. He was, literally, a man on the run.

Desperately trying to escape the shadow of the Beatles, he became an outlaw hippy millionaire, hiding out on his Scottish farmhouse in Kintyre before travelling the world with makeshift bands and barefoot children. It was a time of numerous drug busts and brilliant, banned and occasionally baffling records. For McCartney, it was an edgy, liberating and sometimes frightening period of his life that has largely been forgotten.

Man on the Run paints an illuminating picture: from McCartney's nervous breakdown following the Beatles' split through his apparent victimisation by the authorities to the rude awakening of his imprisonment for marijuana possession in Japan in 1980 and the shocking wake-up call of John Lennon's murder. Ultimately, it poses the question: if you were one quarter of the Beatles, could you really outrun your past?

A culturally connected celebration of the groundbreaking hip-hop group De La Soul, and how they changed the look, sound, and feel of Black America. Music artists and trends come and go, but every once in a while, a moment arrives that genuinely changes everything. In 1988, De La Soul, three young men from Amityville, Long Island, did exactly that.

Their always innovative work pulled inspiration from artists of the past and popularized cutting-edge music sampling techniques to blend jazz, R&B, and rap as they created a sound unlike any the world had heard before. But the De La Soul experience didn't end there. These weren't just musicians-they were game-changers in so many ways.

From the way they dressed, to the words they spoke, to the day-glo colours of their breakout 3 Feet and Rising, De La Soul rejected convention, refused to be talked back into the box, and left the door open for everyone behind them. Now, in Living in a D.A.I.S.Y. Age, Austin McCoy explores how De La Soul not only defined a new era of hip-hop, but also American and Black culture at the same time.

Through his eyes, ears, and well-studied recall of '80s, '90s, and 2000s America, McCoy takes us on a journey through the world this innovative musical act made. One of the few hip-hop groups of their era to stay together long term, De La Soul lived astonishing highs and lows, from forming the Native Tongues collective to influential fights with their publishers to assert the artist's right to control their creations. And after a lifetime left out of music's digital revolution, in 2023 they finally hit streaming services just as it lost founding member David Jolicoeur too soon to see his work reach a brand-new generation of fans.

Living in a D.A.I.S.Y. Age will connect with DLS fans, '80s babies, and students of the rap game alike, in a beautifully rendered and deeply researched tome that places this group atop the pedestal it deserves.

The first, and fully licensed reissue of this boogie-funk treasure by Desert Bone label boss and producer Nathan McKinney.

Featuring the original version and instrumental just like the original release from 1983. It was originally self released as a limited pressing and is now one of the most sought after records from this era.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: A rare-as-hen's-teeth boogie bomb gets an official and much needed reissue here. A regular spin on Full Beam! FM, this is quintessential boogie business here.

TRACK LISTING

Very Special Lady Pt. Ii
Very Special Lady (instrumental)

From Bach to Brahms, Mahler to Messiaen, any composer worth their salt has written for the pipe organ. And so when James McVinnie put the idea to Tristan Perich to write for the king of instruments, it was perhaps not a surprise that the New York contemporary-classical composer had already considered the possibilities of marrying his signature 1-bit electronic music with an instrument that has reverberated down the centuries. The resulting piece that started with a conversation between the two back in 2016 is undoubtedly Perich’s most ambitious work to date.

'Infinity Gradient' is an hour-long symphony in seven movements for organ and 100 speakers in 1-bit audio, recorded for this album at London’s Royal Festival Hall at Southbank Centre, where McVinnie was artist-in-residence throughout 2024. The 100 speakers are set across the stage – a recurring element in Perich’s work for over two decades, this time featuring four giant subwoofers, 24 medium-sized speakers, and 72 small speakers – against the backdrop of RFH’s imposing organ; the piece is as visually striking to look at as it is to listen to.

TRACK LISTING

1. Infinity Gradient: Opening
2. Infinity Gradient: Section 1
3. Infinity Gradient: Section 2
4. Infinity Gradient: Section 3
5. Infinity Gradient: Section 4
6. Infinity Gradient: Section 5
7. Infinity Gradient: Section 6
8. Infinity Gradient: Section 7

It's counter intuitive perhaps to react to the increasing noise of the world, not by adding to it, but by seeking quiet. Or something close to it.

Arrival's debut EP does just that - assembling immersive aural environments and delicately detailed backdrops - setting the scene for the perfectly pitched deeply melancholic meditations of Britain's least known and most valuable guitarist, Kevin McCormick.

Gordon Milson and Mark Rayner as Arrival, and Kevin too, are all proud Stockport denizens.
They're central to something gently stirring in the town They're calling it (using the district postcode) SKambient.
It's a youthful music scene sprouting from the cracks between the cobbles of a neglected old town area, built around the meandering Underbanks.
Here outliers like the bespoke hifi gaff, Odioba and Bruk are venues open to DJs and listeners looking for something deeper and less simplistically confrontational than your regular shouty Manc racket, R. Kid.
It's organic electronic, and (mindful of the Derbyshire hills to be seen peeping through the gaps throughout the town) pastoral too. Now the mills and workshops have fallen silent, never to be rebooted, these neglected spaces have been subdivided at affordable (for now) rents, allowing young sonic creatives to explore new environmental responses to a post, post-industrial landscape.
It's not unexpected. This is the town where the first (and perhaps greatest) ambient pop song in 10cc's "I'm Not In Love" was recorded in 1975 - at the legendary Strawberry Studios.

Kevin McCormick - with a whole series of rightly revered, self-defining records to his name - copies no one. But there are definite echoes in his approach. Consider the unquestionable genius of Vini Reilly. His eternally stunning Return of The Durutti Column was mixed in that same studio.
Alongside Arrival and their distinctly calming compositions, the former mills and converted spaces are full of laptops and instruments shared by a like-minded extended community in Jack Lever/Open Tapes, Arcade, Joe Synkro, Bop, Elsewhere and Thought Leadership. It's crass indeed to suggest all these things sound alike, but there's a definite thread, a certain sensibility.

Arrival have already received significant support from characteristically curious backroom Balearic selectors and collectors. It's music made for the joy of it and released here by the uniquely open-minded DJ, and scene stalwart, Jason Boardman's Before I Die imprint.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Fresh from the Stockport underground comes this serene and considered masterpiece from Arrival and Kevin McCormick. Shimmering like a mirage on the Stockport vitsa; perfect for when you've had a few too many at The Red Bull the night before.

TRACK LISTING

A1. One
A2. One (Solstice Mix)
B1. Common Place (Thought Leadership Remix)
B2. Common Place

Berlin-based Australian musician and producer Declan McDermott steps forward with his debut EP for Delusions Of Grandeur, bringing a raw yet soulful sound that reflects his unique journey through disco, funk, and soul music. Having cut his teeth as a multi-instrumentalist before delving deep into house and club culture, Declan naturally fuses his live musical talents with warm, analog-driven grooves. The result is a record that feels equally at home on the dance floor and in the living room, carrying both emotional depth and undeniable energy.

"Doin' It All 4 U" sees Declan laying down a soulful, funky house jam and getting busy on the vocoder to great effect! With a bubbling live bassline, shimmering Rhodes, and crisp, crunchy drums, the track radiates warmth while maintaining a driving dance-floor sensibility.

Dutch house and disco heavyweight Tom Trago steps up for the first remix, transforming the original into a bass-heavy, club-ready edit. With his trademark groove and deep knowledge of house music’s roots, Trago reshapes the track into a peak-time weapon, pushing Declan’s soulful original straight onto the floor with tough low-end pressure and hypnotic flow.

New York-based artist Lovetempo, known for blending funk, soul and electronic textures into his productions, delivers the second remix. With rolling 808 drums and lush layers of moog synths, Lovetempo injects a heavy boogie sensibility into the track, reimagining it as a cosmic, groove-laden journey. His version adds a playful, analog richness that pays homage to disco and electro while carving its own forward-thinking space.

The EP closes with "Dani", a deep and rolling jazzy house number featuring Luxonous (aka Omri Abramov) on soprano saxophone and EWI (electronic wind instrument). Built on a bed of liquid grooves and subtle atmospheres, the track conjures the spirit of Frederick Galliano and St Germain, weaving acoustic and electronic textures into a sophisticated whole. Both meditative and dynamic, it’s a fitting finale that underlines Declan’s range and sensitivity as a producer.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Now comfortably past the 100-release milestone, and still rolling out the best house music in the UK. New signing Declan McDermott does the business for the long serving label.

TRACK LISTING

A1 - Doin’ It All 4 U
A2 - Doin’ It All 4 U (Tom Trago Remix)
B1 - Doin’ It All 4 U (Lovetempo Remix)
B2 - Dani Ft. Luxonous

The 2018 release of Universal Beings, in many ways, feels like the moment that the dam broke for both Makaya McCraven and International Anthem. On one hand, it's a four-sided communal showcase of the inter-city exchange that had started to develop in the “new jazz” hubs, collecting group improvisations from New York, London, Chicago, and Los Angeles. On the other, it is an editing and post-production masterclass – the MVP of McCraven’s “organic beat music” concept – and a landmark moment where his cut-splice-reassembly chops shine as brightly as the players themselves.

The musicians on the album were a combined who’s-who and who’s-gonna-be-who of their respective scenes: Brandee Younger (harp), Joel Ross (vibraphone), Tomeka Reid (cello), Dezron Douglas (double bass), Shabaka Hutchings (tenor saxophone), Junius Paul (double bass), Nubya Garcia (tenor saxophone), Ashley Henry (Rhodes piano), Daniel Casimir (double bass), Josh Johnson (alto saxophone), Miguel Atwood-Ferguson (violin), Jeff Parker (guitar), Anna Butterss (double bass), and Carlos Niño (percussion). In our original press release, we called it “an inspiring display of the organic global inter-connectedness of the Black American music tradition in 2018.” Not in the press release, in our off-the-record conversations at the time, we said it was ‘like Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, but for jazz’.

TRACK LISTING

Disc 1 – Side A (New York Sessions)
1. A Queen’s Intro
2. Holy Lands (feat. Brandee Younger)
3. Young Genius (feat. Joel Ross)
4. Black Lion (feat. Dezron Douglas)
5. Tall Tales (feat. Tomeka Reid)

Disc 1 – Side B (New York Sessions Continued)
6. Mantra
7. Pharaoh’s Intro
8. Atlantic Black
9. Inner Flight

Disc 2 – Side C (London Sessions)
10. Wise Man, Wiser Woman (feat. Shabaka Hutchings)
11. Prosperity’s Fear (feat. Junius Paul)
12. Flipped OUT
13. Voila (feat. Daniel Casimir)

Disc 2 – Side D (London Sessions Continued)
14. Suite Haus (feat. Nubya Garcia, Ashley Henry)
15. Butterss’s Fly
16. The Way Home
17. Kings & Queens
18. The Loneliness

Long-serving British house producer and hits maker Michael Gray brings his famously soulful sound to "On My Way Out" By Jamiroquai’s Derrick McKenzie Feat. Angela Johnson and it very much taps into a timeless vibe and old school disco feel. The grooves are nice and loose, the moog riff is smooth and fresh and the vocals are solar to the heavens next to mid tempo beats. High class Remix and lavish quality of the most uplifting music.

TRACK LISTING

A1. On My Way Out (Michael Gray 7” Vocal Mix)
B1. On My Way Out (Michael Gray 7” Dub Mix)

Kali Malone and Drew McDowall present 'Magnetism', their first collaborative album born from a decade-long friendship and ignited by a single day of creative synergy. When Malone stepped into McDowall’s Brooklyn home studio, a shared vision immediately took root and set the course for a remarkable collaboration between these two singular artists.

On 'Magnetism', Malone’s poignant and evocative melodies manifest through McDowall’s signature timbral synthesis, creating a unified voice that soars freely and radiates with vitality. Technically, the duo employs an exquisite blend of Karplus-Strong synthesis, distortion and just intonation. Kali and Drew embrace these tools with refined grace while moving fluidly within their musical framework. Charged by the magnetic pull of repetition, saturation, and resonance, Magnetism pulses as a living music that captivates the senses and lingers long in the mind after the final notes fade.

TRACK LISTING

1. Nothing Here Is Lost
2. The Secret Of Magnetism 
3. Withdrawn Into The Source
4. The Sound In My Mind
5. A Sound That Is Alive 

This collection charts the story of a band as it became one of the biggest-selling acts of all time. With US #1 singles including 'My Love', 'Band on the Run', 'Listen to What the Man Said', 'Silly Love Songs', and 'With a Little Luck' and over 22 million albums sold around the world, Wings defied expectations. 'Mull of Kintyre' became the first single in the UK to sell more than two million copies – overtaking 'She Loves You' to become the biggest-selling single of all time in the UK.

At their core Wings were a great rock band, but as WINGS amply demonstrates, they were so much more: The sprawling compilation showcases the band’s versatility with a staggering tracklisting that spans pop, folk, soul, reggae and experimentation with songs like 'C Moon', 'Goodnight Tonight', 'Arrow Through Me', 'Wild Life' and more.

Following the breakup of The Beatles, McCartney found himself adrift, having parted ways with his lifelong collaborators and closest friends. He missed the camaraderie, the creative spark that came from being in a band. Faced with the daunting choice of walking away from music or starting over, Wings was born.

Formed in 1971 with his wife Linda McCartney and guitarist Denny Laine, Wings quickly became Paul’s vehicle for both personal healing and artistic rebirth. Over the course of a decade, the band released seven studio albums and charted an ambitious, unpredictable journey that blended musical experimentation with global success. Rather than rely on past glories, Wings forged their own identity, often in the face of critical skepticism and frequent lineup changes. Their story is one of triumph, resilience, and a deep belief in the power of reinvention.

TRACK LISTING

1LP & 1CD Tracklisting:
1. Band On The Run (2010 Remaster)
2. Let ’Em In (2014 Remaster)
3. Jet (2010 Remaster)
4. With A Little Luck (DJ Edit) (2016 Remaster)
5. Arrow Through Me (2016 Remaster)
6. Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five (2010 Remaster)
7. Silly Love Songs (2014 Remaster)
8. My Love (2018 Remaster)
9. Live And Let Die (2018 Remaster)
10. Listen To What The Man Said (2014 Remaster)
11. Goodnight Tonight (2016 Remaster)
12. Mull Of Kintyre (2016 Remaster) 

3LP & 2CD Tracklisting:
1. Band On The Run (2010 Remaster)
2. Hi, Hi, Hi (2018 Remaster)
3. Silly Love Songs (2014 Remaster)
4. Letting Go (2014 Remaster)
5. Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five (2010 Remaster)
6. Live And Let Die (2018 Remaster)
7. Mamunia (2010 Remaster)
8. Junior’s Farm (2014 Remaster)
9. Helen Wheels (2022 Remaster)
10. Some People Never Know (2018 Remaster)
11. Let ’Em In (2014 Remaster)
12. Get On The Right Thing (2018 Remaster)
13. Jet (2010 Remaster)
14. My Love (2018 Remaster)
15. Call Me Back Again (2014 Remaster)
16. Getting Closer (2022 Remaster)
17. Listen To What The Man Said (2014 Remaster)
18. I’ve Had Enough (2022 Remaster)
19. Love Is Strange (2018 Remaster)
20. London Town (2022 Remaster)
21. Arrow Through Me (2016 Remaster)
22. Venus And Mars/Rock Show (2022 Remaster)
23. She’s My Baby (2014 Remaster)
24. Bluebird (2010 Remaster)
25. Deliver Your Children (2022 Remaster)
26. Let Me Roll It (2010 Remaster)
27. Mull Of Kintyre (2016 Remaster)
28. Wild Life (2018 Remaster)
29. C Moon (2018 Remaster)
30. With A Little Luck (2018 Remaster)
31. Soily
32. Goodnight Tonight (2016 Remaster) 

A landmark account of Paul McCartney’s triumphant musical reinvention in the 1970s and the rise of one of the decade’s most iconic bandsAs the Sixties came to a close, Paul McCartney was faced with the daunting prospect of being a solo artist for the first time. Wings’ ascension to the top of the charts with classic albums including Band on the Run, Venus and Mars and At the Speed of Sound, along with the band’s stadium-filling live shows, would prove to critics and fans that not all great acts are impossible to follow. Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run is a rousing, stereophonic celebration of the songs, collaborations and performances that would shape the soundtrack of the late 20th century.

Drawn from over 500,000 words, based on dozens of hours of interviews with McCartney and numerous key players in the band’s orbit, Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run weaves together the improbable trajectory of Paul McCartney and his newly formed band (featuring co-founding members Linda McCartney and Denny Laine) across the technicolor 1970s until their dissolution in 1981.

Internationally acclaimed drummer, producer, and sonic collagist Makaya McCraven returns to announce four distinct yet interconnected, digitally released EPs - Techno Logic, The People’s Mixtape, Hidden Out!, and PopUp Shop. The four EPs are also compiled on this 2xLP and 2xCD physical release titled Off the Record. Together they mark McCraven’s first recorded offerings since 2022’s In These Times (“McCraven’s most ambitious set of music” -GRAMMY) and a deep return to the signature “organic beat music” approach that Makaya first debuted on his 2015 album In The Moment and further developed across subsequent releases Highly Rare (2017), Where We Come From (2018), and Universal Beings (2018). Built from live recordings, the music is later reshaped by McCraven via extensive editing, overdubs, and post-production at his home studio in Chicago.

The source material from each EP is drawn from moments of pure improvisation, recorded live in performance, shaped as much by the room and audience as by the musicians themselves.

Techno Logic features Ben LaMar Gay and Theon Cross, and draws from performances in London (2017), Berlin (2024), and New York (2025), showcasing nearly eight years of developing rapport between the three musicians, starting with their very first session at Worldwide FM’s former North London studio.

The People’s Mixtape has its foundation in a live recording from Brooklyn’s Public Records in January of 2025, where McCraven celebrated the 10 year anniversary of In The Moment with an intentional return to the improvisational language he developed over that album’s sessions. For the occasion, McCraven played with bassist Junius Paul and trumpeter Marquis Hill (two musicians who are majorly present on In The Moment), as well as vibraphonist Joel Ross (who has been a regular collaborator of McCraven’s since the 2017 sessions for Universal Beings), and synthesist Jeremiah Chiu (marking the first occasion for McCraven to play with the SML co-leader and International Anthem labelmate).

Hidden Out! is built off recordings from McCraven’s June 2017 residency at The Hideout in Chicago, where he improvised weekly with a revolving cast including bassist Junius Paul, Tortoise member, International Anthem labelmate, composer and guitarist Jeff Parker, and SML co-leader, GRAMMY-award winning producer and alto saxophonist Josh Johnson.

PopUp Shop was created from recordings of McCraven’s Los Angeles debut at Del Monte Speakeasy in 2015, where McCraven took part in the King Hippo and Grown Kids Radio produced event RAWS:LA, and improvised with guitarist Jeff Parker, vibraphonist Justefan, and bassist Benjamin J. Shepherd.

The OFF THE RECORD vinyl LP and CD compilation is not just a collection of these recordings, but a tactile document celebrating creative, communal, IRL moments of musical gathering.

Speaking on the record, McCraven says, “In a time where we’re increasingly connected through phones, in a virtual world where you can’t really tell what’s real or what’s fake, there’s something special where we come together and share space, there is something special where we are sharing music, art. I want to create an energy that amplifies the magic in the underground moments where we come together and we experience something wild, different, off the cuff, human. What I’m trying to present is a dreamlike alteration of that energy, which only exists in the recorded realm. But to actually have been there, in real life, is the special thing.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: McCraven's dynamic fusion of jazz and electronic soul hits a peak of improvisational synchronicity and psychedelic interplay here for International Anthem. A masterclass in musicianship.

TRACK LISTING

PopUp Shop EP
1. YoYoYo Intro
2. Venice
3. Imafan
4. Los Gatos
5. Sweet Stuff

Hidden Out! EP
1. Battleships
2. Away
3. Dark Parks
4. Awaze
5. News Feed
6. Braddas

Techno Logic EP
1. Gnu Blue
2. Technology
3. Boom Bapped
4. Prime
5. Strikes Again

The People’s Mixtape EP
1. Choo Choo
2. The Beat UP
3. What A Life
4. Lake Shore Drive Five

Amazing new @markbrownstudio designed shirt.

Black shirt with full colour print.

Rusty Egan is one of the most iconic and influential figures in the electronic music industry. His career began in the music industry as a runner at DJM studios, followed by a stint at WEA Records. Rusty collaborated with former Sex Pistols member Glen Matlock, alongside Steve New and Midge Ure, to establish the new wave band Rich Kids. Their debut album, Ghosts of Princes in Towers, released in 1978, achieved both critical acclaim andcommercial success.

During the Rich Kids tours, Rusty met Steve Strange. This encounter led to Rusty's concept for a club night at Billy's, a Sohovenue, catering to fashionable punks and showcasing the music they were passionate about. In 1979, they moved their club night to the Blitz in Covent Garden.

As the resident DJ at the Blitz, Rusty played a pivotal rolein introducing British, German, and Japanese electronica to the Britishclub scene, essentially curating the soundtrack for the burgeoning New Romantic movement. Rusty Egan was instrumental in the formation of the band Visage with Midge Ure. Steve Strange joined them as the frontman (face and voice), and the lineup was completed by Billy Currie on keyboards, along with John McGeoch (guitar), Dave Formula (keyboards), and Barry Adamson (bass), all from the band MAGAZINE.

Beyond his band work Rusty co-founded the incredibly popular Camden Palace nightclub in London with Steve Strange, where he continued to champion and shape the development of electronica in the UK. He also established Metropolis Music, a publishing and production company,allowing him to create music as well as perform it. In more recent news, Rusty released his album Welcome To The Dancefloor in 2017, which featured collaborations with Midge Ure, Tony Hadley, and Peter Hook.

There are pop stars, and then there is Prince. In this kaleidoscopic, freewheeling biography, John McKie examines the remarkable life and career of one of the most mysterious figures in music through the prism of the record most widely considered his masterpiece, 1987's Sign o' the Times. Drawing on more than 200 interviews with friends, ex-girlfriends, bandmates, recording engineers, bodyguards, personal assistants, wardrobe designers and hairdressers, accomplished music writer John McKie examines the life of this musical polymath with the help of many of the people who knew him best.

Family members and friends discuss his childhood when he learned to master several instruments, there is new information on how he made the soundtrack to Purple Rain, the full story about why he decided to stop using his name, the now legendary Super Bowl half-time show and that guitar solo at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame which has been viewed on YouTube 100 million times. McKie also dives into the personality of the man: what made him laugh, the way he hired and fired colleagues, what he was like to live with, how his relentless drive to make music led to him recording for hours without sleep, how he changed his car stereo to road test his new hits and even booked his guitar and album sleeves their own seats on flights. Prince: A Sign o' the Times is the most comprehensive book ever written about one of the most enigmatic and talented pop stars of all time.

The first notes of 'Pentimento' are birdsong, and with it in the distance, Carson McHone reads from an 1840 letter from Ralph Waldo Emerson to Margaret Fuller: “Heaven walks among us ordinarily muffled in such triple or tenfold disguises that the wisest are deceived and no one suspects the days to be gods.” One of the birds whistles a distinct three-note tune. McHone whistles it back. A piano takes up the line, and the song 'Winter Breaking' blooms into being. In the study of physical art, the pentimento is an artifact, a remnant of a previous draft or altogether different painting that’s apparent beneath layers of paint on a finished canvas. Within seconds of 'Pentimento', one hears how the album organizes itself around this idea: 'Winter Breaking' is an astonishing piece of songwriting, a meticulously crafted guitar-pop jewel that finds McHone at the peak of her powers as a bandleader and a lyricist. The first 30 seconds contain the pentimenti, the earlier sounds, spaces, and materials that became this sound.

The effect is staggering; even for McHone, whose output to this point has seen her channel seemingly disparate influences into a unique, alluring sonic signature, 'Pentimento' marks a radical expansion of the scale of her ambitions. The “all of it” present here is not just the album, but context. The 185 years between McHone and Emerson. Two seasons in the desert. Six days spent oceanside with friends. The eternity between us and the first notes of birdsong. Thrillingly alive in the music are exquisite articulations of pastoral folk with snatches of spoken word or a choice instrument that casts a song in elegiac light. Occasional riffs that call back to her roots in Texas build towards moments of organic and tactile rock, with tambourines and claps, homemade instruments, and layered acoustics. The record is an anchor in the ceaseless flow of time, a home amidst the tumult of the moment we find ourselves in now—love and beauty in the presence of brutality.

'Pentimento' is an audacious and rewarding record. It is also a reckoning: How can love and beauty exist in the presence of brutality? Disquietingly. Dissonantly. Against its shadow and bearing its mark. This is what McHone and her collaborators capture on 'Pentimento' with the subtlety of watercolor painting and the richness of verse, in ghost vocals and child voices alike. Every layer is a universe unto itself, revealing the pulse that animates Carson McHone’s creative drive. Arranged here and expressed as a whole, it constitutes a masterpiece.

TRACK LISTING

1. Winter Breaking
2. Abstract Spring
3. Downhill
4. Vision In The Verse
5. In The Summer The Streets Burned
6. Idiom
7. Fruits Of My Tending
8. Forbidden Kiss
9. The Canvas
10. Lucentum
11. Wake You Well
12. Triumph Of The Heart
13. September Song

Bret McKenzie is a Grammy and Academy Award winning artist most well known for his band Flight of the Conchords and their eponymous television show. McKenzie is internationally renowned for singing and writing funny, strange, and unique songs primarily for film and television. Bret’s songs have been sung by Kermit the Frog, Celine Dion, Lizzo, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brittany Howard, Homer and Lisa Simpson, Fred Armisan, Miss Piggy, Amy Adams, Jason Segal, Ricky Gervais, Benee, Isabela Merced, Spongebob Squarepants, Tony Bennett, Mickey Rooney, and more. As a young adult Bret was an active part of the Wellington music scene playing in multiple bands across multiple genres. He was a founding member of the popular band The Black Seeds, a reggae funk phenomenon that went on to make multiple gold albums and tour extensively around the world. He also started the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra, a surprisingly popular ten piece ukulele group, played in Dub Connection, an experimental electronica ensemble, made an indie pop electro record under the alias Video Kid, and performed in various jazz groups from The Shrinks, a band made up of people playing miniature instruments, to corporate function quartet The Canapés. At the same time Bret was heavily involved in the local theatre scene performing regularly in countless devised comedy theatre productions where he developed a friendship with a large community of theatre artists including long time collaborators Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi. In 2000 he was cast as an extra in the first Lord of the Rings film, The Fellowship of the Ring and was unexpectedly catapulted to fame as a background elf that garnered an abnormal amount of attention from the Tolkien fans. He was coined Figwit - an acronym for “Frodo is great, who is that?” Around the same time The Flight of the Conchords emerged from this prolific Wellington artistic community and Bret spent several years touring comedy festivals in Australia, Canada and the UK with his bandmate Jemaine. They made a radio show for the BBC followed by a TV show for HBO that became a cult classic and propelled the pair to international fame. They released one EP and three albums with Sub Pop Records winning the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album in 2008. Bret’s work with Flight of the Conchords established him in the entertainment worlds of both comedy and music and opened the doors to working in the American film industry. He has consistently worked on film and television projects since. In 2012 he won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for his ballad “Man or Muppet” from the Disney film The Muppets. During this time Bret and his wife Hannah Clarke had three children, and Bret started to focus on projects that would allow him to be at home in New Zealand with his family. In 2022 Bret released a solo album called Songs Without Jokes that saw him explore songwriting without punch lines. FarOut Magazine described the songs as “like musical versions of a Kurt Vonnegut novel.” This year he is releasing his second solo record, Freak Out City, made up of songs developed while on the road with his eight-piece band. Freak Out City was recorded in both Los Angeles and New Zealand, and co-produced by Bret and his long time collaborator Mickey Petralia. It was mixed by Michael Harris in Los Angeles at East West Studios. The musicians on the record are a mix of Los Angeles players Leland Sklar, Dean Parks, Drew Erickson, Chis Caswell, Joey Waronker and New Zealand musicians Ben Lemi, Leo Coghini, Jacqui Nyman, Moana Leota, Iris Little, Justin Clarke.

TRACK LISTING

1. Bethnal Green Blues
2. Freak Out City
3. The Only Dream I Know
4. All The Time
5. That’s The Way The World Goes ‘Round
6. All I Need
7. Eyes On The Sun
8. Too Young
9. Highs And Lows
10. Shouldna Come Here Tonight

'Interior Live Oak' draws from everything Cass has created over two decades of experimentation to cut through with a direct and clarifying light. Throughout, his attitude is hopeful, which may sound odd for someone who often sings about the more extreme aspects of modern life. 'Interior Live Oak', however, is the resolve of someone who has lived those extremes.

Named after a tree species native to Northern California, the album sees McCombs incorporate the more economical song structures of his prime material with the help of some of his earliest musical cohorts, including Jason Quever (Papercuts) and Chris Cohen. McCombs recorded much of the new material in the Bay Area, not far from where they had cut their musical teeth (as documented on last year’s archival release, 'Seed Cake On Leap Year'). Additional recording in New York City brought with it contributions from other perennial collaborators such as Matt Sweeney and Mike Bones.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: A brand new record from Cass McCombs! Following on from 2022's 'Heartmind' and the thoughtful majesty of 2016's 'Mangy Love', McCombs brings a uncharacteristically uplifting, optimistic burst of shimmering acoustic guitar and folky lyricism, rolling basslines and funk stabs.

TRACK LISTING

1. Priestess
2. Peace
3. Missionary Bell
4. Miss Mabee
5. Home At Last
6. I'm Not Ashamed
7. Who Removed The Cellar Door?
8. A Girl Named Dogie
9. Asphodel
10. I Never Dream About Trains
11. Van Wyck Expressway
12. Lola Montez Danced The Spider Dance
13. Juvenile
14. Diamonds In The Mine
15. Strawberry Moon
16. Interior Live Oak

Sheefy McFly came out of a new bag and put the band back together for this one: "Beach House on Mars." Straight up rocks out, with Sheefy wildin' over some rock-type, new thrash, alternative Detroit ishhh… guitars screaming, mics catchin' fire. All dropped on Detroit's own rock/metal label, Rusted Metal. And you already know - if it's Sheefy , a DetroiBallt anthem is already baked in.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Balls-out punk rock leather rippers from multi-disciplinary artist Sheefy McFly. Reminds me of when James Ferraro did a hardcore album, and when the Beastie Boys had that extended flirtation with punk. Full of character and interesting lyrics outbursts. And there's the obvious nod to MC5. Worth a ganders no doubt!

TRACK LISTING

A1. Green Lasers
A2. Bruce Willis
B1. Fuck You
B2. Detroit

TRACK LISTING

CPR
Davina McCall

'In Liverpool everybody wanted to be in a band. On every street corner and in every cellar there were young fellas practising with guitars. But it was rare to see any girls on the new Merseybeat scene.

It was inevitable that we would find each other . . .'In the early '60s, four friends from Liverpool formed a band.

But this is not the 'fab four' story we know. Mary, Sylvia, Valerie and Pamela - also known as The Liverbirds - were one of the world's first all-female rock'n'roll bands. At an early gig, backstage at the Cavern Club, a young John Lennon told them that 'girls don't play guitars'.

But they took that as a challenge. Despite the early scepticism, they won over tough crowds, toured stadiums, recorded two hit albums, and played with the Kinks, Rolling Stones and Chuck Berry - all in the space of just five years. Now, the two surviving members of the band tell their incredible story in full for the first time - capturing a lost era of liberation and rock'n'roll, as they thrived in the vibrant Merseybeat music scene and formed a friendship that has endured through the decades.

UNIVERSITY, the Crewe-based four-piece formed of Zak Bowker (vocals/guitar), Ewan Barton (bass), drummer Joel Smith and Eddie (mascot), announce their debut album, ‘McCartney, It’ll Be OK’, following last year's incredible debut EP and a slew of shows that have them firmly established as one of the best live bands in the UK right now.

With influences from the 80's DIY noise underground, emo-core, Burroughs and obscure arthouse cinema and the likes of 'Windmill' scenesters Black Midi they're the most exciting group to emerge from Crewe since, well, ever. The tightest of friendships thrust them together in a void of culture, where in-jokes, a fourth member who plays computer games on stage whiles they thrash out (and maybe writes all the songs!?!?!), these charismatic young upstarts invite you into their gang, where the riffs are melodic, the lyrics emotional yet humorous and the drums are set to eleven.

Recorded with producer Kwes Darko (Sampa The Great, Denzel Curry) at Damon Albarn’s Studio 13 in London, ‘McCartney, It’ll Be OK’ furthers the extremely exciting beginnings of UNIVERSITY’s 2023 debut EP, ‘Title Track’, with the hooks now brighter and more melodic, the breakdowns heavier and the lyrics more refined. The band recorded ‘McCartney, It’ll Be Alright’ totally live, and it retains the delightfully unhinged energy that’s defined their work so far, with everything thrillingly close to falling apart at any minute.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Frenetic, clattering noisy indie rock that's nestled nicely into blasts of punky drums and snappy distortion, athletic guitar shapes and screaming vocals. Fantastically weird, angular mayhem.

TRACK LISTING

1. Massive Twenty One Pilots Tattoo
2. Curwen
3. Gorilla Panic
4. Hustler’s Metamorphosis
5. GTA Online
6. Diamond Song
7. History Of Iron Maiden Pt. 1
8. History Of Iron Maiden Pt. 0.5

Magic, Alive! Began life when Dixon received an unexpected email from English producer Sam Yamaha. Dixon’s early beats had inspired Yamaha’s own nascent work, and he wanted Dixon to listen. Before long, Dixon rendezvoused with him in London, digging through his archive to find a wealth of beats that resonated with his own approach and with the burgeoning concept for Magic, Alive! In July 2024, Dixon returned to his native Richmond, Virginia, with a tranche of sounds from Sam Yamaha and Koff, with whom he’d worked before.

Alongside a cavalcade of guests and friends, from the mighty singer Anji mile and imaginative Alabama emcee Pink Siifuto trombonist Reggie Pace and harpist Eli Owens, Dixon split these beats wide open, adding hooks and horn lines and guest spots. He strung several songs together, too, so that Magic, Alive! moves like adream or, at the very least, an alternate reality where new rules reign.

For the better part of a decade, Dixon has been turning his experiences as a native Southerner sometimes living in Queens and an eager student of literature into vivid reflections on joy, pain, and perseverance. His breakthrough, though, began with2021’smuch-lovedFor My Mama and Anyone Who Look Like Herand continued with 2023’s Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?, both instrumentally rich exercises in storytelling wrapped up in the trauma and grief of losing a young friend. Those albums were emotional expurgations, Dixon dumping his feelings into marathons of literary references where Toni Morrison and Greek mythology shared space with detailed personal reflections.

TRACK LISTING

Side A:
01. Watch My Hands
02. Sugar Water (feat. Quelle Chris And Anjimile)
03. Crooked Stick (feat. Ghais Guevera And Alfred.)
04. Recitatif (feat. Teller Bank$)
05. Run, Run, Run Pt. II
06. We're Outside, Rejoice!

Side B:
07. All The Loved Ones (What Would We Do???) (feat. ICECOLDBISHOP And Pink Siifu)
08. F.F.O.L. (feat. Teller Bank$)
09. Listen Gentle
10. Magic, Alive!
11. Could've Been Different

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.

This project started in 2022 in the basement of Graham Jonson’s (Quickly, Quickly)’s home in Portland, Oregon. They made ‘Scared (To Admit It)’ in a day, and let it sit for a long time. Ava’s song ‘From Me’ blew up online, which led to new creative friendships. Ava started to work with Acrophase Records, it all felt very new and unreal. What followed was a writing frenzy, going through old voice memos looking for promising song ideas, and working with four different producers that each allowed Ava to tell a different story with their incredible help and talents.

Ava spent a month in Nashville recording the majority of the project with Josef Kuhn. She felt free to experiment, ask questions, change her mind, and they ate so many epic sandwiches on lunch breaks. 'Dragonfly' feels like a patchwork quilt of post-college. Surviving sexual harassment and assault, and allowing herself to speak about it freely after spending almost a decade being ashamed. It’s kinda all over the place, but so is she. Ava feels no longer afraid to say everything on her mind since working on this project.

TRACK LISTING

1. Be The Man
2. Dust On A Dime
3. Out Of Tomorrows
4. Standing Again
5. More Than A Friend
6. Dragonfly
7. Scared (To Admit It)
8. Young Girl
9. To Lose Your Mind
10. Say Goodbye (and Mean It)

The heralded UK band’s first album since 2004 and first for Ipecac Recordings.

Having formed in the late nineteen-nineties and releasing music, if that is what it was, from 2000-2004, Mclusky disbanded soon afterwards in a slow motion farce of not enough drama to get much press off the back of it. Now they are back fuelled initially by spite but now enjoying it too much not to do it, and playing to crowds in the UK, US and Australia which are much bigger - and more hygienically inclined - than in their so-called heyday. So far nobody has complained, except for one guy in Leeds (and he was clearly on ketamine). They are writing a new album - entitled 'the world is still here and so are we' due for release in may 2025.

TRACK LISTING

1. Unpopular Parts Of A Pig
2. Cops And Coppers
3. Way Of The Exploding Dickhead
4. The Battle Of Los Angelsey
5. People Person
6. The Competent Horse Thief
7. Kafka-esque Novelist Franz Kafka
8. The Digger You Deep
9. Autofocus On The Prime Directive
10. Not All Steeplejacks
11. Chekhov's Guns
12. Juan-party System
13. Hate The Polis

'The Scream', Siouxsie & the Banshees' first album, was released late enough in the punk era to bear some claim as the first post-punk album, with only a minor traces of 'punk' (one lingering early song, "Carcass" comes to mind) and enough hints of what had come even earlier, Andy MacKay-like saxophone flourishes - to feel utterly new. Not to mention the effort producer Steve Lillywhite must have put into the album, his first fully-credited major label production.

Siouxsie was clearly the focus of the band, with her unique vocal style and lyrics, but the real star, we've always known, was John McKay, who wrote most of the album's music (as well as singles like 'Hong Kong Garden'), creating a wholly new guitar sound - harsh and brittle, yet melodically intoxicating . . . best articulated by a somewhat confounded Steve Albini years later ". . . only now people are trying to copy it, and even now nobody understands how that guitar player got all that pointless noise to stick together as songs". McKay's influence lives on; many of the most influential guitarists of the past four decades credit him as a major influence - Geordie from Killing Joke, Jim Reid of The Jesus And Mary Chain, U2's The Edge, Thurston Moore, Johnny Marr and even the two guitarists - The Cure's Robert Smith and Magazine's John McGeoch - who followed him in The Banshees.

McKay's burgeoning status as the anti-guitar hero was halted when he and Banshees drummer Kenny Morris - at odds with Siouxsie and bassist Steve Severin - fled the band just after the start of a tour supporting the group's second album, 'Join Hands'. It was a weekly music paper scandal, later the subject of a BBC documentary, and Siouxsie's vitriol working its way into the lyrics of a later Banshees b-side, 'Drop Dead / Celebration'. Aside from a solitary single on Marc Riley's In Tape label nearly a decade later, no music was heard from McKay again. So it comes as a major surprise to learn of a pile of excellent recordings made in the years just after he left The Banshees, unheard by all but a very few, some of which feature drummer Kenny Morris, plus Mick Allen from Rema Rema, Matthew Seligman of the Soft Boys and longer-term collaborator Graham Dowdall and John's wife Linda . . . the latter three of whom now all sadly deceased.

'Sixes And Sevens' is an historic lost album. Brazenly genius and bearing fair claim as the lost treasure of the post-punk era, the album collects eleven studio tracks, carefully mastered from original tapes. It's a masterpiece which best speaks for itself. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Zen And The Art Of Nonsense
2. Fun On The Floor
3. The Blessed West
4. Taken For Granted
5. Looks Can Kill
6. Sacred Measure
7. Flare
8. Black Five
9. Vigilante
10. Zor Gabor
11. Tightrope

From the very beginning, fans have fallen in love with Jensen McRae for the sharp, evocative and clear-eyed songwriting. McRae songwriting is vulnerable, yes, but it’s also powerful for not holding back. Now, 'I Don’t Know How But They Found Me!' delivers McRae’s evolution from a promising young artist to a bona fide songwriter and star. "The most profound choices of my life,” says McRae, “have often felt like things I did before I was ready to do, and I had to grow into them.” 'I Don’t Know How But They Found Me!' is about what follows when you have withstood what you thought might crush you. It’s about meeting your limits and learning what you’re capable of. “I connected with the idea that I could've easily collapsed beneath the weight of what happened to me, but I didn't. I didn't even know it,” she says, “but I was bulletproof the whole time."

Born and raised in LA, Jensen McRae has studied and made music for most of her life. She attended Grammy Camp in high school and graduated from USC’s Thornton School of Music with a degree in Popular Music. McRae’s debut album, 'Are You Happy Now?', was written mostly when she was just 21, and was the first step in developing her now-devoted fanbase. 'Are You Happy Now?' navigates identity from its deepest foundations – life as a young, bi-racial Black and Jewish woman – to its most personal musings – do I trust you, do I trust myself. McRae’s trust in herself has borne out on multiple occasions, most recently and maybe most famously in the form of 'Massachusetts'. McRae posted a solo verse and chorus, little more than a piece of a demo, and it caught fire online. Covers, duets, and an avalanche of new fans followed, and McRae capped the moment with a finished version and a summerlong tour supporting Noah Kahan.

'I Don’t Know How but They Found Me!' takes McRae’s now-considerable powers and hardwires them for mass appeal. Stealth single 'Savannah' is one for the yearners. The pulsing, country-adjacent song immediately brings the best of Phoebe Bridgers to mind, with McRae singing in an acrobatic whisper over a feather light acoustic guitar. By the time 'Savannah' hits its crescendo, it’s crystal clear McRae is an artist with her own singular power, as piano layers with guitar and McRae delivers a series of scathing indictments with grit and conviction: "You swore you'd raise our kids to end up just like you / well you're a false prophet / and that's a goddamn promise." Meanwhile 'Let Me Be Wrong' is a bona fide anthem, a “buoyant ode to rejecting perfectionism.” Built once again on a simple vocal and acoustic guitar, 'Let Me Be Wrong' builds step over step in its defiance; guitars layer, drums pick up the pace, and McRae makes space for everyone’s mistakes. When McRae growls “fuck those girls got everything” it’s a punch of both power and vulnerability, begging to be shouted in unison the biggest possible crowd.

The unusual title of her second album is taken from a line in McRae's favorite film, Back to the Future. A key protagonist survives a hail of bullets, and the image resonated with McRae because, she said, she often feels a connection to some future self guiding her decisions, especially in times of crisis. It also inspired the album’s cover, as McRae stands in a custom fireman’s coat with the job’s official marks and symbols stitched alongside abundant ones of herown. The effect caught her off-guard; “I was surprised how emotional it made me to be in the fire coat,” she says, “forced to stand still, stand powerfully. I could feel myself becoming a symbol of my own hero’s journey." If Are You Happy Now? was her coming of age, 'I Don't Know How But They Found Me!' is Jensen McRae all grown up.

TRACK LISTING

1. The Rearranger
2. I Can Change Him
3. Savannah
4. Daffodils
5. Let Me Be Wrong
6. Novelty
7. I Don't Do Drugs
8. Tuesday
9. Mother Wound
10. Praying For Your Downfall
11. Massachusetts

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2025 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of 'Venus and Mars', this special vinyl edition was cut at half speed using a high-resolution transfer of the original master tapes from 1975 by Miles Showell at the legendary Abbey Road Studios. The album is presented as a meticulous reproduction of the original UK pressing, with recreations of the original “Venus and Mars are alright tonight” circular sticker and “comparative sizes of sun and planets” bookmark sticker, and comes with two posters with photography by Aubrey Powell and Sylvia de Swaan. The iconic album artwork by Hipgnosis has been meticulously recreated and presented in a gatefold sleeve.

TRACK LISTING

1. Venus And Mars
2. Rock Show
3. Love In Song
4. You Gave Me The Answer
5. Magneto And Titanium Man
6. Letting Go
7. Venus And Mars (Reprise)
8. Spirits Of Ancient Egypt
9. Medicine Jar
10. Call Me Back Again
11. Listen To What The Man Said
12. Treat Her Gently – Lonely Old People
13. Crossroads

Previously of Djax-Up Beats / Saber Records, Chicago producer Terrence McDonald introduces his new Funkshun Keys Records imprint. Tracky shit that takes you back to 1991 when TMack was running with Roy Davis JR., Brian Harden, DJ Skull and Ellery Coiwles; Steve Poindextor, Howard Thomas and Mark Grusane also well plugged into this sound, alongside the recent Dirty Blends mob. TIP! 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Wild jak beat and acid from Chi-town mainstay Terrance McDonald. One of the highlights from his vast catalogue.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Spaced Out
A2. Back From Canada
B1. Mind Over Matter (New Mix)
B2. Mind Over Matter (Original Mix)

Long anticipated remastering and reissue of the Jack frost recordings featuring Steve Kilbey of The Church & Grant McLennan of The Go Betweens

TRACK LISTING

CD Tracklist:

CD1
1. Every Hour God Sends
2. Birdowner (As Seen On TV)
3. Civil War Lament
4. Geneva 4 A.M.
5. Trapeze Boy
6. Providence
7. Thought I Was Over You
8. Threshold
9. Number Eleven
10. Didn't Know Where I Was
11. Even As We Speak
12. Ramble
13. Everything Takes Forever
14.Jack's Dream
15.Dub Threshold ( Nightmare Mix )
16.Providence U.S Television Broadcast 28th April

CD2
1. Jack Frost Blues
2. Aviatrix
3. Running From The Body
4. Shakedown
5. You Don’t Know
6. Weightless And Wild
7. Pony Express
8. Cousin/Angel
9. Little Song
10. Empire
11. Angela Carter
12. Haze
13. Dry Dock
14. Persuasion
15. Bad For You

CD3
1. Providence
2. Didn't Know Where I Was
3. Civil War Lament
4. Ramble
5. The Wrong Road
6. Bye Bye Pride
7. Thought That I Was Over You
8. Every Hour God Sends
9. Number Eleven
10. Everything Takes Forever
11. Thought I Was Over You.
12. Didn’t Know Where I Was
13. Providence
14. Civil War Lament

LP Tracklist:
1. Every Hour God Sends
2. Birdowner (As Seen On TV)
3. Civil War Lament
4. Geneva 4 A.M.
5. Trapeze Boy
6. Providence
7. Thought I Was Over You
8. Threshold
9. Number Eleven
10. Didn't Know Where I Was
11. Even As We Speak
12. Ramble
13. Everything Takes Forever
14. Persuasion
15. Angela Carter
16. Haze
17. Dry Dock
18. Bad For You
19. Jack's Dream
20. Jack Frost Blues
21. Aviatrix
22. Running From The Body
23. Shakedown
24. You Don't Know
25. Weightless And Wild
26. Pony Express
27. Cousin/Angel
28. Little Song
29. Empire

‘Twilight’ is a twelve-track night drive from dusk ‘til dawn, with all the moments in-between. The album begins with ‘The Comedown,’ a collaboration with their friend ‘The Blessed Madonna’ who also narrates, “I can hear my heart beating like a drum.” The title track ‘Twilight’ follows, an immersive wall of choral sounds and field recordings, incorporating David’s favourite birdsong and Sean’s dogs, Fred and Barney.

‘Sorry I Made You Cry’ is one of the standout moments on the album. A warped doo-wop influenced torch song from Sean’s twisted droning synths to its wonky exploding chorus where David exclaims, “I’m not as good at sleeping when we’re lying awake.”

Sean : ‘I wanted to make this album feel like you were in a dark head space while being hugged by your favourite person at the same time.’

David : ‘All I know is we set out to make a little sister for Daylight and ended up with our best album so far…’

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Warm, shuffling grooves and hazy house atmospheres sit beneath those syrup smooth vocals, crafting an atmosphere that is as intricate as it is enveloping. Blissful production on a selection of beautifully written crepuscular ballads.

TRACK LISTING

1. The Comedown
2. Twilight
3. Uptown / Downtown
4. Driftaway
5. Sorry I Made You Cry
6. Goodbye Drama Queen
7. Equinox's Children
8. High With You
9. Night Drive
10. Star
11. Sleeping Pill
12. Sirens 

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.

South London rapper Confucius MC returns to Shabaka Hutchings’ Native Rebel Recordings for a new project alongside producer and multi-instrumentalist Bastien Keb. Merging unexplored pathways between rap, folk, and jazz into a spiritual triumvirate, 'Songs For Lost Travellers' is an album unlike any either artist has made previously, possibly unlike any record in existence.

Honest and direct, the duo imbue 'Songs For Lost Travellers' with knowledge and truth from their lived experiences. There is grief hidden in the notes, an inherent sadness that is balanced with an awareness that grief is a protest against the social machinery of remaining numb. The record lingers in a meditative state, unafraid of restlessness and embracing solitude, with the expectation that peace is just as imminent as death.

Neither Con nor Keb bothered much with the professional studio in making 'Songs For Lost Travellers'. Instead, they opted for the raw state of their home recordings and first takes, matching the intimacy of being alone and reflective in their creative energies. Room static on ‘Tell Me Lies’ makes it feel like you’ve entered their apartments. The immediacy continues on ‘Gutters’, as Keb plays guitar while watching the tele and Con hums along to the vocal melody in search of the proper pocket for his verse.

More drawn to Keb’s recent folk recordings on the 'Songs For Lilla' EP than his funk roots circa Dinking In The Shadows of Zizou or the cinematic soul of The Killing of Eugene Peeps, Con leaned into the spacial freedom he heard in Keb’s lo-fi production cobbled from field recordings and voice notes. Both artists placed their families into the tableau; Con wrote ‘Little Man’ for his son, hoping to add a positive contribution to the canon of parental rap songs. Later, his son appears at the end of ‘Paramount’ to deliver a passage from Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet. Keb secretly recorded his mum playing saxophone and sampled his cousin playing sax as well. The result is a near-drumless album (save for ‘Toulouse’ and light tapping on ‘It Would Speak’) in which Keb’s raw production (plus a few sessions with Kofi Flexxx on flute) gave Con a liminal zone, unencumbered by beats per minute, to craft melodies that turn his philosophical rhymes into mantras. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Tell Me Lies (feat. Kofi Flexxx)
2. Fairytale (feat. Kofi Flexxx)
3. Time Will Come
4. It Would Speak (feat. Kofi Flexxx)
5. Little Man
6. Lemon Zest (feat. Kofi Flexxx)
7. Question Or Consume
8. Gutters
9. Paramount
10. Bonsai (feat. Mark Millington)
11. Lattice Of Confidence
12. Eyes To See
13. Toulouse
14. Care About (feat. Zemora Amour)

A collection of early, previously unreleased music recorded at Jason Quever's apartment at 924 Fulton in San Francisco while McCombs was living in Berkeley between 1999-2000. The Bay Area in the late 90s housed a special community of artists including Papercuts, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Chris Cohen’s Curtains, and Mt. Egypt. The ethos was for maximum integrity and intimacy, and often music would only be shared with close friends. Graffiti writers, skaters and old timers from the 60s were never far away or far from mind.

Always following a mindset of moving forward, ever forward, this was a brief but productive phase in McCombs’ career before he hit the road and traveled the country, eventually landing in New York City, where he would make the music that would come to reach a wider audience. What’s so remarkable about 'Seed Cake On Leap Year' is how vibrant and raw these songs remain, full of insight and wonder, in conversation with everything yet to come.

TRACK LISTING

1. I’ve Played This Song Before
2. Anchor Child
3. Baby
4. Gum Tree
5. Wasted Again
6. If I Was A Stranger
7. You’re So Satanic
8. Always In Transit
9. What Else Can A Poor Boy Do
10. Northern Train

Less than six months after Gnod rewired their sound for the umpteenth time, with the release of deliciously detailed deep listener Spot Land, they’re back with another album and a whole new approach. Inner Fucking Peace comprises eight tracks for voice and electronics – varied in style but connected in feeling and recorded as a trio.

Chris Haslam and Paddy Shine, the two ever-present members in the Gnod lineup since their first stirrings in mid-2000s Salford, are completed by Portuguese vocalist MC Sissi. Inner Fucking Peace is the first time MC Sissi, or Cecilia de Fatima dos Santos, a very well known name in Portuguese experimental circles has recorded with Gnod. From the minimalist tuned percussion of ‘Stop’, to the shuffling beats and spaced-out synth on ‘Perde-Te Onde Quiseres’, to ‘Get Out’ and its ominous electronics and crashing industrial drums (combined with Sissi’s irate-sounding vocal, here Gnod are on a tip that compares to great Bristolian duo and recent touring partners Harrga), to the supremely chopped & screwed woodwind that’s central to ‘Flute Theme’, to ‘Reprise’s hypnotic hand drum workout, to ‘Tea & Eggs’ – ten minutes of reggaeton-gone-minimal-synth – to ‘Olivia’, named after Sissi’s niece and the track’s guest vocalist, to ‘Cannela Crematoria’ closing us out and hitting a zenith of gloominess with some more industrial battery folded in…this is a full on Gnod vibe shift that also makes total sense in their infamously extensive discography. With this band enjoying hard-won freedom from release schedule tyranny, they – just like us – don’t know what’s next on the recording agenda, or if there’ll be more Gnod & MC Sissi collab albums, but this is an engrossing introduction to the partnership. In the short term, the trio will be playing some European shows in the autumn, including a slot at Utrecht festival Le Guess Who? in November.

TRACK LISTING

01. Stop
02. Perde-te Onde Quiseres
03. Get Out
04. Flute Theme
05. Reprise
06. Tea & Eggs
07. Olivia
08. Cannela Crematoria 

‘Heavy Lifting’ is the new studio album by Detroit’s punk rock pioneers, MC5.

Led by MC5 founding member Wayne Kramer and produced by the iconic Bob Ezrin, ‘Heavy Lifting’ signifies a momentous occasion – the release of new MC5 music, a staggering 53 years since their last album in 1971.

The music community recently mourned the loss of MC5 founding member Wayne Kramer and Dennis 'Machine Gun' Thompson, the last members of the original MC5 lineup, accompanied by messages of love from the world’s greatest rock stars.

MC5's enduring influence and cultural significance are solidified by their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2024.

‘Heavy Lifting’ features an all-star lineup of guest musicians including Slash, Tom Morello, William Duvall (Alice in Chains), Vernon Reid (Living Colour), Tim McIlrath (Rise Against), and many more.

TRACK LISTING

CD TRACKLIST:
1. Heavy Lifting (feat. Tom Morello)
2. Barbarians At The Gate
3. Change, No Change
4. The Edge Of The Switchblade (feat. Wiliam Duvall & Slash)
5. Black Boots (feat. Tim McIlrath)
6. I Am The Fun (The Phoney)
7. Twenty-Five Miles
8. Because Of Your Car
9. Boys Who Play With Matches
10. Blind Eye (feat. Dennis Thompson)
11. Can’t Be Found (feat. Vernon Reid & Dennis Thompson)
12. Blessed Release
13. Hit It Hard (feat. Joe Berry)

1LP TRACKLIST:
Side A
1. Heavy Lifting (feat. Tom Morello)
2. Barbarians At The Gate
3. Change, No Change
4. The Edge Of The Switchblade (feat. Wiliam Duvall & Slash)
5. Black Boots (feat. Tim McIlrath)
6. I Am The Fun (The Phoney)
Side B
7. Twenty-Five Miles
8. Because Of Your Car
9. Boys Who Play With Matches
10. Blind Eye (feat. Dennis Thompson)
11. Can’t Be Found (feat. Vernon Reid & Dennis Thompson)
12. Blessed Release
13. Hit It Hard (feat. Joe Berry)

2CD TRACKLIST:
Disc 1
1. Heavy Lifting (feat. Tom Morello)
2. Barbarians At The Gate
3. Change, No Change
4. The Edge Of The Switchblade (feat. Wiliam Duvall & Slash)
5. Black Boots (feat. Tim McIlrath)
6. I Am The Fun (The Phoney)
7. Twenty-Five Miles
8. Because Of Your Car
9. Boys Who Play With Matches
10. Blind Eye (feat. Dennis Thompson)
11. Can’t Be Found (feat. Vernon Reid & Dennis Thompson)
12. Blessed Release
13. Hit It Hard (feat. Joe Berry)
Disc 2
1. Ramblin' Rose
2. Kick Out The Jams
3. Come Together
4. Motor City Is Burning
5. Borderline
6. Gotta Keep Movin'
7. Future/Now
8. Poison
9. Shakin' Street
10. Sister Anne

2LP TRACKLIST:
Side A
1. Heavy Lifting (feat. Tom Morello)
2. Barbarians At The Gate
3. Change, No Change
4. The Edge Of The Switchblade (feat. Wiliam Duvall & Slash)
5. Black Boots (feat. Tim McIlrath)
6. I Am The Fun (The Phoney)
Side B
7. Twenty-Five Miles
8. Because Of Your Car
9. Boys Who Play With Matches
10. Blind Eye (feat. Dennis Thompson)
11. Can’t Be Found (feat. Vernon Reid & Dennis Thompson)
12. Blessed Release
13. Hit It Hard (feat. Joe Berry)
Side C
1. Ramblin' Rose
2. Kick Out The Jams
3. Come Together
4. Motor City Is Burning
5. Borderline
6. Gotta Keep Movin'
Side D
7. Future/Now
8. Poison
9. Shakin' Street
10. Sister Anne

A riveting oral biography of the proto-punk Detroit rockers MC5, based on original interviews with the band and key members of their inner circle Few bands have dared to ignite a revolution through their fusion of activism and art like MC5. Managed by the charismatic radical and hippie spokesman, John Sinclair, MC5 wasn't just a band; they were a thunderous proclamation of dissent, amplifying the voices of the marginalized long before it was fashionable. From championing Black Lives Matter to rallying for cannabis legalization, they fearlessly thrust their beliefs onto the world stage. For their efforts, the rabble-rousing musical arm of the White Panther Party, the scourge of J.

Edgar Hoover's FBI and other defenders of public decency, were often beaten with clubs, threatened at gunpoint, tossed into jail, and even unceremoniously dumped by their record company, right as their album was storming up the charts--and all while the Sex Pistols were still on training wheels. What has been lost amidst this notoriety is MC5 itself, a band worth remembering not because they were bad boys, but because they were so damn good. In MC5: An Oral Biography of Rock's Most Revolutionary Band?, music journalists Brad Tolinski and Jaan Uhelszki invite readers to reconsider this legendary group. Centered around a series of interviews with MC5, their manager, and their inner circle--many of whom are no longer with us--that Tolinski and Uhelszki inherited from CREEM Magazine founding staffer and Mojo's US editor Ben Edmonds prior to his death, this book presents a genuinely candid, funny, and moving portrait of rock's most uncompromising and articulate band. MC5 also features a virtual "who's who" of 1960s rockers, including Iggy and the Stooges, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, promoter Bill Graham, John Lennon, the Jefferson Airplane, and political firebrands like Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden, and Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver. As innovative, insightful, and inspiring as the band itself, MC5 is a fitting testament to the legacy of these iconic rock pioneers--told in their very own words.

'Throat' consists of two artists on sabbatical from their day jobs - Nick Power from The Coral, and McKowski as one half of The Lost Brothers, film score composer (Quantum Cowboys) screen writer (The Spin) and touring musician (Jolie Holland, Howe Gelb, M. Ward). Recorded in the period of 2021 and 2024 between Omagh, Northern Ireland and Merseyside, Throat is a journey through McKowski and Power’s shared imagination.

It’s a sense of outsiderness that links Throat’s disparate parts: folk-horror, VHS video nasties, poetry, the natural world, hauntology, true crime, John Laurie films, teenage acid trips, twisted road songs. 'Throat' is a way of giving a platform to this secret world, while almost moonlighting as a run-of-the-mill ‘album’. Soon after the title track was complete, Mark began recording and sending more music to Power, who’d write words while driving around Merseyside at night. As the tracks began taking shape, a pattern emerged, and with it, certain rules. All recordings go down in the first take. Mistakes stay in. Only play what’s to hand, even if it’s a tin pot. It’s within these limitations that 'Throat' blossomed - eschewing traditional song structures for discordant instrumental breaks, passages of spoken word, the sound of footsteps on a wooden staircase.

TRACK LISTING

1. Throat
2. One
3. The Master
4. Death Of Ghillie Man
5. Nick Powers Dream
6. Moon Over Tesco
7. Dead Cars
8. New Brighton Speedway 1972
9. The Tailor And The Mouse.
10. Return Of Ghillie Man
11. Jody Forever

Twenty years ago, mclusky released their third album, 'The Difference Between Me and You Is That I’m Not on Fire' via Too Pure. In the years since, their legend has only grown, proved by their recent sold-out tour dates and announcement of a new album. Alternative Press described them as “a smash up between the scabrous rock noise of the Jesus Lizard and the jagged rhythms and open spaces of Gang Of Four”. Originally produced by the late, great Steve Albini, this reissue has been mastered by his close friend and Shellac bandmate, Bob Weston.

TRACK LISTING

1. Withoug MSG I Am Nothing
2. That Man Will Not Hang
3. She Will Only Bring You Happiness
4. Kkkitchens, What Were You Thinking?
5. Your Children Are Waiting For You To Die
6. Icarus Smicarus
7. Slay!
8. You Should Be Ashamed, Seamus
9. Lucky Jim
10. Forget About Him, I’m Mint
11. 1956 And All That
12. Falco Vs. The Young Canoeist
13. Support Systems

JD McPherson has created something unique and amazing with his latest album, Nite Owls - His first album release since 2018's critically acclaimed Christmas classic, SOCKS - Over the past 5+ years, McPherson has stayed consistently busy writing new songs while at the same time touring with Alison Krauss and Robert Plant.

Being a touring musician offers the chance to see the sights, tour the town and pick up some inspiration from the local record shop. With Nite Owls, JD wanted to try something new and different. He wanted to take the inspiration from multiple decades and styles and incorporate them into his own sound. "The initial idea for the record was: It's like if The late-60s Ventures were the session band on the first New Order record." Says, McPherson. Idea achieved. Nite Owls delivers the signature sounds of vintage garage-rock while also seamlessly bridging the sounds of Bowie and Alan Vega. Songs such as "Sunshine Getaway", "The Rock and Roll Girls" and "I Can't Go Anywhere with You" sound like Chuck Berry is jamming with Buddy Holly. While song's like, "Nite Owls" and "Don't Travel Through the Night Alone" give a nod to the Factory sound from the UK. The throwback sound of the lone instrumental track "The Phantom Lover of New Rochelle" would make Dick Dale ride and Link Wray rumble. With Nite Owls, McPherson takes inspiration from multiple genres of the past and combines them together to evolve a sound that is all his own.

TRACK LISTING

Sunshine Getaway
I Can't Go Anywhere With You (Feat. Bloodshot Bill)
Just Like Summer
Nite Owls
Shinning Like Gold
The Rock And Roll Girls
Baby Blues
The Phantom Lover Of New Rochelle
Don't Travel Through The Night Alone
That's What A Love Song Does To You

Cass McCombs’s 2002 debut EP Not The Way, a song-suite of narcotic lullabies, acutely observed lyrics, and preternatural hooks, introduced the world to a gifted songwriter possessed with a fully-formed vision and mission. His first release, the self-recorded 6-track EP was originally released on CD and was subsequently pressed by 4AD in the UK as a double 7” a few years later. Now finally getting the 12” pressing that will make collectors happy.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Not The Way
A2. So Damn Pure
A3. Opium Flower
B1. Your Mother And Father
B2. Nobody’s Nixon
B3. It’s Getting Colder

Cass McCombs’s insta-classic 2003 debut album A is a formidable collection of story-songs and magnetic melodies that stands up today as a foundational document of independent rock ‘n roll to come. Featuring deep cuts ‘I Went to The Hospital’, ‘When the Bible Was Wrote’ and ‘Bobby, King of Boys Town’, A has become a rare find on vinyl and title many have asked him to repress over the years.

TRACK LISTING

A1. I Went To The Hospital
A2. Bobby, King Of Boys Town
A3. What Isn’t Nature
A4. AIDS In Africa
A5. A Comedian Is Someone Who Tells Jokes
B1. Gee, It’s Good To Be Home
B2. Meet Me Here At Dawn
B3. When The Bible Was Wrote
B4. My Pilgrim Dear
B5. Bedding Down Post-Xmastime
B6. My Master

With 2005’s flawless second LP PREfection, Cass McCombs entered the pantheon of singer-songwriters dealing in a signature thematic and sonic universe studded with effortless catchiness, singular mood, and literary lyrics of rare distinction. Featuring single ‘Sacred Heart’ and favourites ‘Equinox’ and ‘She’s Still Suffering’, PREfection set the scene for Cass’s 2007 breakthrough album Dropping The Writ, rounding off a golden period when Cass was in his ascendance.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Equinox
A2. Subtraction
A3. Multiple Suns
A4. Tourist Woman
A5. Sacred Heart
B1. She’s Still Suffering
B2. Cuckoo
B3. Bury Mary
B4. City Of Brotherly Love
B5. All Your Dreams May Come True

Music is like no other business. It's about being at the right place at the right time, following your nose and diving in feet first. It's about being plugged into the mystical electricity and about surfing on the wild energy. It's about how to fuck up and how to survive and be sustained by the holy grail of the high decibel. No-one captures this wild feral spirit better than Alan McGee whose helter skelter career through music has made him a major force. Wilder than his bands, more out of control than his most lunatic singer, more driven than his contemporaries and closer in spirit to the rock n roll star he could never be himself, McGee was always in a rush. Creation would sign people and not just the music. McGee understood that running an indie label is mainly about the charisma, the game changers, the iconography and the story. It's about neverbeing boring.

His ability to start a raw power ruckus brought the visceral danger back to a moribund mid-eighties music scene. His nose for danger and his ear for classic guitar rock n roll brought us Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, Teenage Fan Club and Ride before topping out in the nineties with the biggest band in the world, Oasis.

More Modern Soul madness from the team at Celestial Echo. No Stranger To Love is one of those rare tracks that crosses over both Modern and Northern scenes & has long been a favourite of collectors and selectors with original copies regularly changing hands for £100 + on the second hand market.

This lead to the synth laden funk track being picked up by Dam Funk & the Stones Throw crew, who shone a new light on the track via online mixes which has only increased the demand.

Officially reissued for the first time in 40 years and as always, officially licenced and remastered by Celestial Echo Records. Needless to say, buy or cry.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Modern soul from '89 that'll set you back over a ton for an original. Thankfully this repro 7" sounds just as slick, with that punchy bass and fizzy stabs complimenting the suave vocals by Glenda beautifully. Top drawer stuff.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Vocal
B1. Instrumental

‘Sweet Whispers’ is more than a run-through of some of Vaughan’s most popular songs. It’s not hard to imagine the immense task in selecting those songs, after all, Vaughan’s recording career spanned 50 years notching up almost 60 albums (plus nearly 30 again in compilations and box sets). Through a thoughtfully chosen selection of songs, formed across months in collaboration with producer, and the album’s clarinettist and saxman, Giacomo Smith – Zara journeys through the musical life of Sarah Vaughan, from her first to last recording, bringing to life and breathing new life into some of her best and less familiar songs. But importantly, the songs that mean the most to Zara.

Zara McFarlane said “It was when I started to listen to Sarah Vaughan that I really began to appreciate jazz vocals. She had such control across her range and a vocal command that was cheeky, playful and fun yet sophisticated and articulate. I really wanted to pay homage to her as I feel she has been somewhat overlooked amongst the jazz singers. Although I do love Ella and Billie, it's all about Sarah for me.”

‘Sweet Whispers – Celebrating Sarah Vaughan’ was recorded analogue at Durham Studios, London. Giacomo assembled a stellar cast of musicians - Joe Webb on piano, Ferg Ireland on double bass, Jas Kayser on drums, Marlon Hibbert on Steel Pan and Gabriella Swallow on cello – to record 11 tracks live to tape; with minimal overdubs, the recording has retained a live, vintage feel.

A celebration of Sarah Vaughan could be in no better hands than that of Zara McFarlane, who makes an inspired homage to the ‘Divine One’. Beautifully performed in Zara’s own inimitable style, with her own playful swoops and slides, she has added her own touch to the music. With a silken voice and timbre that brings emotional depth, attitude and personality to this collection of Sarah Vaughan songs, this is a masterful celebration.

TRACK LISTING

1. Tenderly
2. Mean To Me
3. Inner City Blues
4. September Song
5. Great Day
6. If You Could See Me Now
7. Interlude
8. Obsession
9. The Mystery Of Man
10. Stardust
11. Sweet Whispers

Malcolm McLaren, New York Dolls and Sex Pistols’ manager, writer, musician, fashion designer, marked the history of pop culture.

His album “Paris” released in 1994 on the French Vogue label was produced by Robin Millar (Sade, The Style Council, Everything But The Girl). A journey through the city, it is haunted by jazz music reminiscences, the beating heart of Haute Couture fashion, via the home of Erick Satie, Françoise Hardy (lead vocalist on one track), and Serge Gainsbourg (a surprising cover of “Je t’aime..Moi non plus”) and is a crossroad of cultures from northern to western Africa.

This is the first time the album has been available on vinyl and arrives a few weeks before the opening of Paris Olympic Games which should see lead track ‘Paris Paris’ with Catherine Devenue on vocals widely referenced.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. Mon Dié Sénié
2. Walking With Satie
3. Père Lachaise
4. Miles And Miles Of Miles Davis
5. Jazz Is Paris

Side B
1. Rue Dauphine
2. Paris Paris
3. Je T'aime... Moi Non Plus
4. Club Le Narcisse
5. La Main Parisienne

Side C
1. Driving Into Delirium
2. Revenge Of The Flowers
3. In The Absence Of The Parisienne
4. Anthem
5. Who The Hell Is Sonia Rykiel?

Side D
1. Paris Un
2. Paris Deux
3. Paris Trois
4. Paris Quatre

The wait is over: With the release of One Hand Clapping, one of the most bootlegged live albums in musical history will finally receive a proper release.

In August 1974, when Band on the Run was enjoying a seven-week consecutive #1 stint at the top of the UK album charts, Paul McCartney and Wings headed to Abbey Road Studios for the filming of a video documentary and possible live studio album – One Hand Clapping. Despite overwhelming demand for newly recorded material from the biggest band in the world at that time, One Hand Clapping was never officially released.

50 years after their initial recording, the sessions for Wings One Hand Clapping is released for the very first time. Discs 1 and 2 are newly mixed with 12 tracks that didn’t appear in the original film, including reworked extracts of Beatles classics. The package includes original artwork, plus a TV sales brochure created for the film.

TRACK LISTING

2LP
Disc 1
One Hand Clapping (Side A)
Jet (Side A)
Soily (Side A)
C Moon (Side A)
Maybe I’m Amazed (Side A)
My Love (Side A)
Bluebird (Side B)
Let’s Love (Side B)
All Of You (Side B)
I’ll Give You A Ring (Side B)
Band On The Run (Side B)
Live And Let Die (Side B)
Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five (Side B)
Baby Face (Side B)

Disc 2
Let Me Roll It (Side C)
Blue Moon Of Kentucky (Side C)
Power Cut (Side C)
Love My Baby (Side C)
Let It Be (Side C)
The Long And Winding Road/Lady Madonna (Side C)
Junior’s Farm (Side D)
Sally G (Side D)
Tomorrow (Side D)
Go Now (Side D)
Wild Life (Side D)
Hi, Hi, Hi (Side D)

2CD
Disc 1
One Hand Clapping
Jet
Soily
C Moon
Maybe I’m Amazed
My Love
Bluebird
Let’s Love
All Of You
I’ll Give You A Ring
Band On The Run
Live And Let Die
Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five
Baby Face

Disc 2
Let Me Roll It
Blue Moon Of Kentucky
Power Cut
Love My Baby
Let It Be
The Long And Winding Road/Lady Madonna
Junior’s Farm
Sally G
Tomorrow
Go Now
Wild Life
Hi, Hi, Hi

This epoch-making record of the late '80s effortlessly combines dense swathes of guitar noise and dance music. This turned out to be their last record (until 2013's 'mbv'), guitarist and studio maestro Kevin Shields having set their standards so high it was impossible to surpass them.

An exquisite collection of original duets with renowned French artists, such as Keren Ann, Chien Noir, Alex Beaupain, Clou and more. McRae decided to collaborate on these 11 new songs with various artists as a way of acknowledging his deep love of French music, and deepen his relationship with mainland Europe, following Britain’s disastrous decision to leave the EU. Tom’s debut album went Gold in France in 2001, selling over 60,000 copies, and he has divided his time between Paris and Wiltshire since 2021. Says Tom: “I grew up being intrigued by classic French songs. Before streaming services made all music readily available, only the huge crossover pop songs made it across the channel, but while my friends were listening to Vanessa Paradis, I was listening to Serge Gainsbourg. It seemed exotic, adventurous, and to be from another planet, let alone a country only 21 miles away from my own.”

During Covid, McRae released a single with his Belgian friend, Wannes Cappelle, a reworking of one of Tom’s songs in English and West Vlaams, as well as an album of duets with a Welsh artist, Lowri Evans. Both projects sparking his interest in collaboration with other artists. “It’s not been a great time to be British since 2016”, says McRae. “We’ve become politically, economically and culturally isolated since Brexit - and I want to show that I feel more of a European than simply just an English person.”

“But mostly this album, Étrange Hiver, is about beautiful songs, some in English, some in French. Sung as duets with friends (some established artists, as well as some new or undiscovered voices) and creating 11 little emotional moments in a crazy world. Some cinematic, some more intimate and personal, all of the songs addressing the important things in life: love, loss, political populism, impending climate collapse… written at a time when it feels as if the world may never escape from this long, strange winter.“ 

TRACK LISTING

01. Wild Love Ft. Keren Ann
02. Ginkgo Ft. Chien Noir
03. Speeding Cars Ft. Clou
04. Étrange Hiver Ft. Alex Beaupain
05. Sans Lumière Ft. Vanille
06. For My Confessor Ft. Aïtone
07. Lover's Souvenir Ft. Rose
08. Habit Of You Ft. Naya
09. Half On My Mind Ft. Alma Forrer
10. Lost In Translation Ft. Julien Brocal
11. Inherit The Wind Ft. Helena Noguerra

In the early '60s, four friends from Liverpool formed a band. But this is not the 'fab four' story we know . .

Mary, Sylvia, Valerie and Pamela - also known as The Liverbirds - were one of the world's first all-female rock'n'roll bands. At an early gig, backstage at the Cavern Club, a young John Lennon told them that 'girls don't play guitars'.

But they took that as a challenge. Despite the early scepticism, they won over tough crowds, toured stadiums, recorded two hit albums, and played with the Kinks, Rolling Stones and Chuck Berry - all in the space of just five years. Now, the two surviving members of the band tell their incredible story in full for the first time - capturing a lost era of liberation and rock'n'roll, as they thrived in the vibrant Merseybeat music scene and formed a friendship that has endured through the decades.

The second EP from rising New York singer-songwriter, June McDoom.

Features covers of songs popularized by Judee Sill and Nina Simone.

My first EP, June McDoom, was hugely inspired by the minimal sound of the 60s and 70s folk era. I wanted to reimagine a couple of those songs more stripped down as a follow up to that first EP. Judee Sill's songwriting and arrangements have impacted me deeply, and so I hoped to honor the music she made by recording a version of her song, “Emerald River Dance” – one of my favorite songs for many years and a song I still sing at most of my shows. The first time I heard “Black is the Color” was Tia Blake's version that she recorded in 1971, and then Nina Simone's performance inspired me to try and record a rendition of my own.

While writing "On My Way" and "The City," I always imagined versions of those songs stripped down with three-part harmonies, which I was finally able to do here with dear friends, Cécile McLorin Salvant and Kate Davis, who have both been big inspirations to me throughout the years. One of my close friends, Sam Weissberg who I met while studying in jazz school when I first moved to New York City worked with me and arranged the harp and strings for each song. I produced the songs and tracked the remaining instruments and vocals with Evan Wright at our new studio in Greenpoint, Brooklyn that we share with our friend, Nick Hakim (who also provided backing vocals on “On My Way”).

TRACK LISTING

1. Emerald River Dance (4:48)
2. Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair (3:57)
3. On My Way (With Strings) (3:54)
4. The City (With Strings) (6:01)

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).

Tuff City anthology of early Hip-Hop solo performers with insert 7" half on red, half on yellow vinyl featuring Spoonie Gee, T-SkiValley, Ultramagnetic MC’s featuring Kool Keith, Grandmaster Caz, etc. Tuff City is pleased to present the best possible reissue program of Hip-Hop's first decade. These reissues were made as a tribute to Hip Hop’s 50th Anniversary. Each volume represents an important facet of performers on Tuff City: The Solo MC’s, The MC Crews, The DJ’s and The Female MC’s. Each volume features an inner sleeve with liner notes and bonus 7” insert. Each pressing consists of 750 on red vinyl and 750 of an opaque color specific to the volume (Yellow, Gold, Blue, Orange). A bonus 7” single is slipped in the cover encased in a Tuff City logo sleeve in the style of its iconic 12” singles. The series was also conceptualized as a multiset release to stand side by side with the classic Old School Rarities series (The Funky Drum Jams, The Electro Jams, The Linn Drum Jams & The Disco Jams) issued by our Ol’ Skool Flava imprint.

The Solo MC’s kicks off with Harlem’s pioneering Spoonie Gee’s influential “Spoonin’ Rap” from 1979. “Catch The Beat” from T-Ski Valley captures the post-Disco Bronx era of Rap. The side closes with the underground personality Funkmaster Wizard Wiz whose “Knucklehead Rappers” came after he broke from The Undefeated Three. Brooklyn’s Jimmy Spicer delivers a 14+ minute marathon “Adventures of Super Rhyme (Rap).” Grandmaster Caz from Cold Crush is paired with the Fantastic’s Whipper Whip for “To All The Party People” Captain G Whiz from Freddy B’s Mighty Mic Masters closes with his solo 12” track “All The Way Live.” The bonus single features a Kool Keith solo from the Ultramagnetic MCs backed with Grandmaster Caz by himself doing “I’m What Is and You’re What Wants To Be.”

TRACK LISTING

1. Spoonin' Rap-Spoonie Gee;
2. T-Ski Valley-Catch The Beat;
3. Funkmaster Wizard Wiz-Knucklehead Rappers;
4. Adventures Of Super Rhymes-Jimmy Spicer;
5. Grandmaster Caz With Whipper Whip-To All The Party People;
6. All The Way Live-Captain G. Whiz;

Bonus 7" Single
A: Ultramagnetic MC's-Kool Keith Wild;
B: Grandmaster Caz-I'm What Is Your What Wants To Be

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).


Tuff City anthology of Old School group rap classics half on red vinyl, half on gold featuring Ultramagnetic MC’s, PHD featuring Havoc from Mobb Deep, Flavor Unit featuring Queen Latifah, Spoonie Gee with The Treacherous Three feat. Kool Moe Dee, etc. Tuff City is pleased to present the best possible reissue program of Hip-Hop's first decade. These reissues were made as a tribute to Hip Hop’s 50th Anniversary. Each volume represents an important facet of performers on Tuff City: The Solo MC’s, The MC Crews, The DJ’s and The Female MC’s. Each volume features an inner sleeve with liner notes and bonus 7” insert. Each pressing consists of 750 on red vinyl and 750 of an opaque color specific to the volume (Yellow, Gold, Blue, Orange). A bonus 7” single is slipped in the cover encased in a Tuff City logo sleeve in the style of its iconic 12” singles. The series was also conceptualized as a multiset release to stand side by side with the classic Old School Rarities series (The Funky Drum Jams, The Electro Jams, The Linn Drum Jams & The Disco Jams) issued by our Ol’ Skool Flava imprint. The MC Crews starts with the innovative scratch legend from the Bronx, Grand Wizard Theodore with the Fantastic Romantic 5. The classic “Can I Get A Soul Clap?” features a live rhythm section. Spoonie Gee with the Treacherous Three (including Kool Moe Dee) is a relentless tour-de-force that popularized the freestyle concept. A much sought-after 1986 remix of the 1980 “High Power Rap” from The Crash Crew closes out the first side. New Jersey is well represented with “Flavor Unit Assassination Squad.” The Flavor Unit produced by 45 King features Lakim Shabazz, Lord Alibaski, Apache, Double J and Queen Latifah at the turn of the 90’s. The Undefeated Three represent the Grand Concourse section of the Bronx with “U-N-D-E-F-E-A-T-E-D.” The bonus single features PHD from Queensbridge with an appearance from Havoc from Mobb Deep. The flip side is a freestyle from Bed-Sty's Freddy B & The Mighty Mic Masters.

TRACK LISTING

1. Grand Wizard Theodore & The Fantastic Romantic 5-Can I Get A Soul Clap;
2. Spoonie Gee With The Treacherous Three-New Rap Language;
3. Crash Crew-High Powered Rap (Remix);
4. Flavor Unit Feat Queen Latifah-Flavor Unit Assasination Squad;
5. Undefeated Three-U-N-D-E-F-E-A-T-E-D;

Bonus 7" Single
A: PHD Feat Havoc-Set It Pt. 3;
B: Freddy B & The Mighty Mic Masters-Bed Stuy Freestyle

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).

Tuff City anthology of Female MC's with insert single, half on red vinyl, half on orange vinyl featuring Queen Latifah, Roxanne Shanté, Wanda Dee, etc. Tuff City is pleased to present the best possible reissue program of Hip-Hop's first decade. These reissues were made as a tribute to Hip Hop’s 50th Anniversary. Each volume represents an important facet of performers on Tuff City: The Solo MC’s, The MC Crews, The DJ’s and The Female MC’s. Each volume features an inner sleeve with liner notes and bonus 7” insert. Each pressing consists of 750 on red vinyl and 750 of an opaque color specific to the volume (Yellow, Gold, Blue, Orange). A bonus 7” single is slipped in the cover encased in a Tuff City logo sleeve in the style of its iconic 12” singles. The series was also conceptualized as a multiset release to stand side by side with the classic Old School Rarities series (The Funky Drum Jams, The Electro Jams, The Linn Drum Jams & The Disco Jams) issued by our Ol’ Skool Flava imprint. The Female MCs commence with a greeting encompassing Dancehall, Rhythm and Patois from the superstar Queen Latifah. The classic Roxanne Wars are represented by Roxanne Shanté “Roxanne’s Revenge,” Sparky D’s “Sparky’s Turn” the pairs “Round One” and Sparky D’s “Sparky’s Profile.” Bronx teenager Traedonya is featured from both sides of her 1987 12” “The Boogaloo” and “Sixteen.” Sweet Tee’s feature on “The DMX Will Rock” closes out the first side. The Jazzy J produced “The Goddess” represents the Hip-Hop side of Wanda Dee, who had a UK House hit with “To The Bone.” New Jersey’s rare recording “(We Are) The Champs” produced by Ultramagnetic’s Ced Gee closes out the second side. The bonus single features Midnight Lace’s entry in the Run-DMC sweepstakes with “What’s Up (With These Girls)” and is backed with Harlem rapper Puffy Dee’s “Joe Blow.”

TRACK LISTING

1. Queen Latifah-Greetings From The Queen;
2. Roxanne Shanté-Roxanne's Revenge;
3. Sparky DSparky's Revenge (Roxanne You're Through);
4. Traedonya-The Boogaloo;
5. Davy DMX Feat. Sweet Tee-The DMX Will Rock (Rap Mix);
6. Roxanne Shanté With Sparky D-Round One;
7. Wanda Dee-The Goddess;
8. Traedonya-Sixteen;
9. Sparky D-Sparky's Profile 
10. Nasty Girls-We Are The Champs;

Bonus 7" Single
A: Midnight Lace-What's Up WIth These Girls;
B: Puffy Dee-Joe Blow

Mark Thomas Griffin, better known as MC 900 FT JESUS, is an American rapper based in Dallas, Texas. A classically trained musician and trumpeter, Griffin is known for mixing hip hop and jazz. Griffin's work has often been seen as way ahead of its time with socially responsible lyrics tinged with quirky biting humour. Griffin's use of rap, electro and cool jazz (he often plays like Miles Davis) is perhaps why his title "Falling Elevators" was chosen to illustrate an ad for the 501 Levi's brand which achieved great success

TRACK LISTING

1. Falling Elevators
2. City Sleeps
3. Killer Inside Me (Killer Long Version)
4. Truth Is Out Of Style (12’’ Version)
5. I’m Going Straigth To Hell
6. Born With Monkey Ass (12’’ Version)

When it comes to underground New York Disco, Donna McGhee's highly sought-after 1978 LP, "Make It Last Forever," ranks among the best in the genre, thanks to Donna's singing and the production skills of legendary producers Greg Carmichael and Patrick Adams. Featuring five songs penned by the producing pair, it's got their quintessential Disco sound of the late 70s topped by Donna McGhee's superb vocals. These have also blessed recordings by The Fatback Band, Phreek, Bumblebee Unlimited and The Universal Robot Band around the same time. The album has been an elusive affair since it first came out in 1978 and this is one the first times in decades it is widely available in its original form with newly remastered audio.

TRACK LISTING

1. Make It Last Forever
2. Do As I Do
3. It Ain't No Big Thing
4. Mr. Blindman
5. I'm A Love Bug

the remarkable account of Paul McCartney's time in Wings and ascent into solo stardom, by renowned music biographer Lesley-Ann JonesNo comprehensive biography of the time Paul McCartney spent with Wings has ever been published, until now. A period often dismissed as McCartney's 'missing' years, in fact the band lasted for a decade: two years longer than the Beatles, and wielded such impact and influence that they at one point achieved the status as the biggest live band in the world. Band on the Run sold over 6 million copies worldwide and became EMI's biggest selling album of the 1970s in the UK.

Music biographer Lesley-Ann Jones has met McCartney many times and knew his late wife Linda. Here she shows how crucial Linda was to the evolution of Wings - at great cost to herself given the ridicule she was to encounter. But Linda saw that McCartney needed the band in the wake of the break up of the Beatles.

Drawing on extensive interviews and her trademark meticulous research, the author shows how this period in Paul McCartney's career was to become crucial not only to his development as an artist, but to his very survival.

High Time is the second studio album (third album overall) by the American rock band MC5, released in 1971 by Atlantic Records.

Kick Out the Jams is the debut album by American proto-punk band MC5. It was released in February 1969, through Elektra Records. It was recorded live at Detroit's Grande Ballroom over two nights, Devil's Night and Halloween, 1968.

The LP peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard 200 chart, with the title track peaking at No. 82 in the Hot 100.

McKinley Dixon calls the late Toni Morrison the greatest rapper of all time; and the way he tackles topics like survival, violence, and religion within the expansive landscape of the Black experience, evokes her novels. It is from the title of Morrison‘s Beloved trilogy where he finds the title of his new album with City Slang Records out June 2: Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? Musically his household was defined by “artists whose first name was Mary,” including Mary J. Blige and gospel duo Mary Mary. Discovering Outkast was formative for Dixon, deepening his love for hip-hop while he also grew curious about the more theatrical rock of groups of the day, bands like My Chemical Romance and Panic! At The Disco that his Maryland friends introduced him to.

“Those groups also helped me with my sense of longing, since their music reflected a sense of longing,” he says. Eventually he channeled these competing influences into a debut EP he released in 2013. With time, his music became his primary means of self-expression, whether discussing Blackness or his own relationship with healing. Across his next releases, his style evolved and his confidence grew, especially when it came to live instrumentation.

His 2021 debut album For My Mama and Anyone Who Look Like Her was a game changer, as Dixon set his sights on heartache and grief. “I was making these really dense and chaotic songs, stuffing whatever thought I had into five and a half minutes,” Dixon says of that project. Beloved! Paradise! Jazz?! is an attempt at channeling different impulses. Sometimes rough and other times delicate, this record is a journey into is a journey into the psyche of McKinley Dixon, with all of the of the attendant peaks and valleys.

TRACK LISTING

1. Hanif Reads Toni (Feat. Hanif)
2. Sun, I Rise (feat. Angélica Garcia)
3. Mezzanine Tippin' (Feat. Teller Bank$, Alfred.)
4. Run, Run, Run
5. Live! From The Kitchen Table (Feat. Ghais Guevara)
6. Tyler, Forever
7. Dedicated To Tar Feather (Feat. Anjimile)
8. The Story So Far (Interlude)
9. The Story So Far (Feat. Seline Haze)
10. Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? (Feat. Ms. Jaylin Brown)

June McDoom’s eponymous debut EP is a collection of songs that collage virtually everything important to her. Growing up in South Florida in a Jamaican household, McDoom was raised around reggae music, which echoed throughout every room of her childhood home. Later, she discovered and nourished her own deep love for folk music and songwriting of the 1960’s and 70’s. While studying in NYC for a degree in Jazz Performance, her musical palette expanded to include the more intricate influences of jazz and early soul. Realizing that her favorite vintage folk music lacked artists with similar identities as her own, it became increasingly important for McDoom to carve a unique musical space to push folk music towards a new and different audience.

Following the release of her debut single, “The City” – mixed by Gabe Wax (Soccer Mommy, Spoon) – June

McDoom was eager to take the reins on the production of her debut EP. Recorded and mixed entirely from home with collaborator Evan Wright, McDoom found herself enthralled with the analog recording process, which began a textural exploration that defines this record. Experimenting with a mixture of vintage analog and modern digital recording, McDoom learned profound new ways to marry the seemingly contrasting genres and style that had individually shaped her.

June McDoom’s debut EP is steeped in self-discovery, and self-acceptance. Its magic lies in its ability to weave the influences of such seemingly disparate icons as Joan Baez, The Delfonics and Alton Ellis into a new, seamlessly crafted tapestry.

TRACK LISTING

1. Babe, You Light Me Up (5:33)
2. Piano Song (4:50)
3. On My Way (3:33)
4. Stone After Stone (4:07)
5. By June (4:43)

Madison’s latest project, I Hope You Can Forgive Me, represents an evolution in her career as she finds ways to improvise and self-produce in the midst of an ever changing global pandemic landscape. I Hope You Can Forgive Me builds upon that next step sonically while exploring themes of love, self preservation, fear, and conjuring. What comes out of this work and Madison’s career thus far is a commitment to leave - leave fear and doubt behind in order to make space for what is next to come, all with a sense of style, fun, and invitation to dance through it

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: McFerrin presents a beautifully manicured selection of new soul ballads, musically edging towards the glimmering guitars and shimmering percussion of Chic but with her stunning athletic vocals bringing things into funky R&B territory.

TRACK LISTING

1. Deep Sea
2. Fleeting Melodies
3. Testify
4. Run
5. God Herself
6. OMW
7. (Pease Don’t) Leave Me Now
8. Stay Away (From Me)
9. Utah
10. Goodnight

With a foreword by Paul McCartney'It's semi-devotional -- a really special place' Florence Welch'There are certain things that are mythical. Abbey Road is mythical' Nile RodgersMany people will recognise the famous zebra crossing. Some visitors may have graffitied their name on its hallowed outer walls.

Others might even have managed to penetrate the iron gates. But what draws in these thousands of fans here, year after year? What is it that really happens behind the doors of the most celebrated recording studio in the world?It may have begun life as an affluent suburban house, but it soon became a creative hub renowned around the world as a place where great music, ground-breaking sounds and unforgettable tunes were forged - nothing less than a witness to, and a key participant in, the history of popular music itself. What has been going on there for over ninety years has called for skills that are musical, creative, technical, mechanical, interpersonal, logistical, managerial, chemical and, romantics might be tempted add, close to magic.

This is for the people who believe in the magic.

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

First time on vinyl for the gorgeous 'Late December', with a second LP featuring rare recordings from her Live Acoustic LA tour in 2006, the package includes new liner notes and a download of the studio album and live show. An album thatís broader than Broadway, a panoramic view of life, love and loss filled with drama and theatricality. Plus a live set thatís heart-on-sleeve time, bringing together songs from Lone Justice, plus covers of the traditional country anthem 'The World Is Not My Home', Richard Thompson's 'Has He Got A Friend For Me' and three songs that show the bittersweet beauty of her brother Bryan MacLeanís song writing. In total, it's Kurt Weill, Springsteen, itís the million-selling global hit 'A Good Heart' delivered by the songwriter herself in all its Phil Spector-like baroque beauty.

If naming is a form of claiming, of being claimed, how is one tethered to both the physical landscape that surrounds us, as well as our own internal emotional landscape at times calm, at times turbulent, and ever changing? H.C. McEntire’s new album Every Acre grapples with those themes that encompass grief, loss, and links to land and loved ones. And naming claiming land, claiming self, being claimed by ancestry and heritage permeates the hauntingly beautiful landscape that is this poignant collection of songs.

The songs straddle the line between music and poetry. In “New View,” McEntire cites poets “Day, Ada, and Laux, Berry, and Olds” fixtures in the world of writing, whose works are beacons of light over bleak horizons. The beginning of the song is backed by soft guitar plucks that fall on the downbeat and spangle like stars, and, throughout, guitar, bass, and drums swell together gently, mimicking ebbing and flowing tides under the moon. McEntire’s voice (at once tender and fierce) intones the truth of both giving and taking, releasing and claiming: “Bend me, break me, split me right in two. Mend me, make me I’ll take more of you.”

Permeated by heartbeat-like drums, “Shadows” develops quiet ruminations on surrender and loss reminiscing, moving on. This ponderous, dreamlike song asks the question of how “to make room.” How does one make room, for self and for renewal and surrender, when it is so difficult to leave what you know behind? Playing with slivers of descending chromatics, along with the occasional downward-stepping bass, here McEntire yearns for home, and for nesting.

Perhaps one of the more grief-stricken songs, “Rows of Clover” is a lamentation, one that touches on the loss of a “steadfast hound.” The lone piano in the beginning of the song is rhythmically hymn-like. The stark verse arrangement gradually leads to a chorus that reads like a moody exhale, swollen with lush guitar strums and a Bill Withers–esque understated soul groove. But what stands out the most is an image of being “down on your knees, clawing at the garden” the only explicit mention of a person in the song. “It ain’t the easy kind of healing,” sings McEntire, seemingly from further and further away as her voice echoes; and healing takes time, time takes time truths that linger painfully.

“Dovetail” is a song that tells of various women. The song moves back and forth between solo piano and the addition of bass and drums under vocals. McEntire’s gentle, trembling vibrato harmonized in thirds in a celebratory manner calls to mind a rejoicing psalm and shines through these images, leaving the listener cuttingly fraught with emotions such as wonder, sadness, nostalgia that can only arise with these juxtapositions.

Gracious (and graceful) with its lilting melodies and lush harmonies, Every Acre explores the acres of our physical and emotional homes. These songs are reaching for the kind of home that we all seek: one where we can rest and lay down (or tuck away) our burdens of loss. And maybe, moving through every acre of a world that often tries to tear our sense of identity and heritage down, McEntire sheds light on what it is to be human in this life both stingy and gracious, both hurtful and kind.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A
1. New View
2. Shadows (feat. S.G. Goodman)
3. Turpentine (feat. Amy Ray)
4. Dovetail
SIDE B
5. Rows Of Clover
6. Big Love
7. Soft Crook
8. Wild For The King
9. Gospel Of A Certain Kind

Sean says - 'Happy Ending' is a psychedelic electronic soul soundtrack written and recorded at the top of an East London tower block and mixed in a beach house on the south coast. Half the album is accompanied by an eighty-piece Bollywood orchestra recorded at a film studio in Bangalore India.

While the whole of the UK seemed to be mining the sound of The Beatles, Stones and The Who as Britpop slavishly paid homage to the 60s, The Sound Of McAlmont And Butler took its influences more from music of Dusty Springfield, Scott Walker, Andy Williams and Burt Bacharach while creating something unique and timeless

Rock, indie, soul, jazz and folk all meld in an album full of beguiling momentsBernard Butler had risen to fame as guitarist with Suede, who he'd left in 1994. After six months of solo writing, he approached ex- Thieves singer David McAlmont at London's Jazz Café, with the bare bones of a song, Yes. McAlmont added lyrics, and the track soared to No 8 in the UK charts, becoming the sound of summer 1995. It is impossible to listen to Yes without breaking into a beaming smile. With this headstart, the duo recorded more sides together – the Top 20 hit You Do and attendant tracks. However, it ended as quickly as it had began. Never intended as a long- term arrangement, McAlmont & Butler were over by autumn 1995. Considering The Sound Of McAlmont & Butler is effectively a compilation of the duo's sessions as opposed to a planned work, it has a tremendous consistency. A lot of the tracks were recorded as bonus tracks for CD singles (the 90s equivalent of a B- side), and retain a spontaneous air alongside the huge production numbers of Yes, You Do and Disappointment.

This re-issue faithfully replicates the original 1995 Virgin Records UK release with printed inner sleeve and is pressed onto high quality 180g vinyl.

TRACK LISTING

Yes (Full Version)
What's The Excuse This Time?
The Right Thing 
Although
Don't Call It Soul
Disappointment
Interval
The Debitor 
How About You?
Tonight
You'll Lose A Good Thing
You Do (Full Length)

Cass McCombs and Weak Signal’s members have been friends for a long time and played together in many different formations over the years, and here they seal the deal by joining as a four piece for the Vacation From Thought b/w Give it Back 7”. They quickly wrote and arranged two bangers and recorded them in NYC tracked directly to tape and featuring only 2 overdubs. The A-Side, and lead single “Vacation From Thought,” which was written by Cass, takes the listener on a trip to some of the most exotic places imaginable within the confines of the narrator’s mind. The B-Side “Give it Back” counters Thoughts’ complexity with the Weak Signal written, and Cass sung “Take it Back” - a punch straight to the gut.

'VMAK' is the first ever solo album by acclaimed bassist Douglas Andrew McCombs.

McCombs is one of the most highly regarded bassists / guitarists working today, known for his pioneering band Tortoise, his bass playing in Chicago’s Eleventh Dream Day, and his innovative instrumental group Brokeback. He has released albums with guitarist David Daniell and collaborated with the likes of Tom Zé to Yo La Tengo, Stereolab to Daniel Lanois. In addition to being the touring bassist for The Sea and Cake, McCombs has somehow found time to form a new trio Black Duck with guitarist Bill MacKay, and percussionist Charles Rumback.

Douglas McCombs’ ‘VMAK’ is a window into one of the most distinguished and distinct voices in guitar music for the last three decades, effortlessly stretching the boundaries of the guitar while staying firmly grounded by blissful, uncanny melody.

McCombs’ debut solo album is a mix of improvisation, textural explorations and recurring melodic themes. The album title was lifted by the well-travelled McCombs from one of the visas packed into his current passport, the stamp a reminder of how far his music has taken him - literally all over the world. Not since McCombs’ solo outlet Brokeback blossomed into a full-fledged rock unit has his singular approach to solo guitar playing been exhibited in such striking detail. Taking after Brokeback’s classic ‘Morse Code in the Modern Age: Across the Americas’, ‘Two To Coolness’ is a piece that McCombs refined through a series of improvised performances and features Calexico drummer John Convertino, as well as singer / guitarist / synth player Sam Prekop (also of The Sea and Cake). ‘Green Crown’s Step’ was largely improvised working through melodies and patterns. The stately ‘To Whose Falls Shallows’ reshapes three key themes that Tortoise and Brokeback fans will find to be signature McCombs, buoyed by fellow Brokeback member James Elkington (Tweedy), who also engineered and mixed the album.

On the album, McCombs plays with spare instrumentation and primarily plays electric and acoustic guitars as well as the Bass VI, drawing out textures that stretch the scope of his instruments. McCombs’ work is pastoral and expansive, his playing is refined and nuanced, and his melodies often bely his admiration for Ennio Morricone as his guitar imbues endlessly sprawling fields of the Midwest with the same sense of magic. It is a true pleasure to hear him perform in such an intimate way. This is an absolute essential for followers of McCombs and newcomers alike, as the album lays bare his influence on each of his groups as well as firmly stakes McCombs as a force all his own.

TRACK LISTING

Two To Coolness
Green Crown’s Step
To Whose Falls Shallows

In These Times is a collection of polytemporal compositions inspired as much by broader cultural struggles as McCraven’s personal experience as a product of a multinational, working class musician community. With contributions from over a dozen musicians and creative partners from his tight-knit circle of collaborators – including Jeff Parker, Junius Paul, Brandee Younger, Joel Ross, and Marquis Hill – the music was recorded in five different studios and four live performance spaces while McCraven engaged in extensive post-production work at home. Featuring orchestral, large ensemble arrangements interwoven with the signature “organic beat music” sound that’s become his signature, the album is an evolution and a milestone for McCraven, the producer. But moreover, it’s the strongest and clearest statement we’ve yet to hear from McCraven, the composer.

TRACK LISTING

In These Times
The Fours
High Fives
Dream Another
Lullaby
This Place That Place
The Calling
Seventh String
So Ubuji
The Knew Untitled
The Title

On Heartmind, Cass McCombs enters the double-digit-album phase of his career, a quantitatively rarified place for any songwriter; rarer still, though, is the fact that he does not yet seem to have settled into a qualitative sound or pattern, of singing the same thought twice (or perhaps even once).

Songs like "Karaoke" are a god-level burst of powerpop perfection, as fetching as anything Cass has ever cut. The springy staccato guitar, the vaporized electric keys, the melody seemingly born for singing or clapping or dancing along: Cass triangulates a perch of his very own out among The Go-Betweens, The dB's, and The Cure,and vibrates there, a beacon. And then, of course, there is the song's playful if painful lyrical conceit—the lover who is making all the sacred motions of commitment but whose feelings may be no more deep or real than someone simply reading the lyrics for "Vision of Love" or "Stand by Your Man" from some crowded bar's TV screen.

There are, at least, some basic facts to share about Heartmind, logistical evidence that may in turn shape your own questions: Cass recorded these songs in multiple sessions on both coasts, in Brooklyn and Burbank. The great Shahzad Ismaily not only cut the staggering "Unproud Warrior" and four others here but also played lots of bass. Buddy Ross tracked "New Earth," a paean of post-humanity renewal with several sharp wisecracks. Ariel Rechtshaid—now a dozen years into his collaboration with Cass, which began with 2009's Catacombs—captured Cass' scintillating guitars on "Belong to Heaven," a thoughtful consideration of what we all lose when we lose an old friend to the inevitable end. The steadfast Rob Schnapf (who previously produced McCombs' ANTI- debut, Mangy Love) mixed and merged it all. Wynonna Judd (yes, that one) offers harmonies, while her beau Cactus Moser provides some lap steel. Joe Russo, Kassa Overall, Danielle Haim, Nestor Gomez are featured on the album, too.

TRACK LISTING

Music Is Blue
Karaoke
New Earth
Unproud Warrior
Krakatau
A Blue, Blue Band
Belong To Heaven
Heartmind

Solo debut by Bret McKenzie, one half of New Zealand’s most popular comedy folk duo, Flight of the Conchords.

‘Songs Without Jokes’ harkens back to the greats of the 1970s singer- songwriter era, with songs reminiscent of the finest work of Harry Nilsson, Randy Newman, and even a touch of Elvis Costello.

The Conchords landed McKenzie and Jemaine Clement a hit HBO TV show, a BBC Radio series, chart-topping records, world tours, a Best Comedy Album Grammy, and a 2018 ‘reunion’ special. McKenzie transitioned to Hollywood, writing songs for 2011’s ‘The Muppets’ (winning a Best Original Song Oscar for ‘Man or Muppet’), 2014’s ‘Muppets Most Wanted’, and films in the ‘Pirates!’ and ‘Dora’ canons.

While he enjoyed and excelled at the work, he wondered where his songs might go if set free of all that plot-bound specificity. And so, while in Los Angeles a few years back, recording movie music with a crack assemblage of legendary session musicians, McKenzie started playing around with a tune or two he had written simply as songs - songs without any external direction, songs without plot-pushing concerns, songs without jokes.

The results reveal McKenzie’s talents on multiple instruments (he’s a veteran of several non-comedy bands in New Zealand back in the day, most notably the reggae-based fusion group The Black Seeds), and his affinity for wry, literate artists like Harry Nilsson, Steely Dan, Randy Newman and Dire Straits.

While the album may be free of traditional punch lines, it doesn’t lack a sense of humour. It showcases a new stage of McKenzie’s career, to be sure, but one that isn’t so far removed from his past work and true artistic self. Like Jim Henson before him, who made a career of blending the silly with the sincere and the playful with the profound, McKenzie also aims to connect rainbows to the ridiculous.

TRACK LISTING

This World
If You Wanna Go
Dave’s Place
Here For You
That’s L.A
Up In Smoke
Carry On
A Little Tune
America Goodbye
Tomorrow Today
Crazy Times

Jason McNiff returns with a new album Tonight We Ride, a collection of songs from the songwriters that inspired Jason’s writing ang playing.

As Jason explains:
'When the pandemic first broke and I took my weekly 'Sundowner' gig online, I found to my surprise a wonderful community of music fans who were ready to support me each week with donations and encouraging messages. I loved playing for people in this new format - who could've guessed it would feel so live and intimate! I sometimes played for 2 hours, all the covers I could think of, and learned many new songs to keep the shows fresh and different. This covers record really grew out of these gigs, and it's been a real privilege to immerse myself in the work of heroes such as Townes Van Zandt and Mark Knopfler. I approached the recording as if they'd been my own songs and went to the same studio and producer (Roger Askew) where I made my most recent record, Dust Of Yesterday. Of course, there are 2 Dylan tracks and 2 by one of my fave guitar players, Bert Jansch. I also got the chance to record material by lesser known, but just as brilliant, artists like Tom Russell and Stephen Foster.' 

TRACK LISTING

1. Running From Home - Bert Jansch
2. My Proud Mountains - Townes Van Zandt
3. Tonight We Ride - Tom Russell
4. Tomorrow Never Knows - The Beatles
5. One Too Many Mornings - Bob Dylan
6. I Remember You - Jason McNiff
7. Fisherman's Blues - The Waterboys
8. The Open Road - Bert Jansch
9. Tunnel Of Love - Dire Straits
10. Shadow Ships Of Deptford -Jason McNiff
11. Hard Times - Stephen Foster
12. Precious Angel - Bob Dylan
13. Moving On - Leonard Cohen

Freestyle puts out another reissue 12" in their drive to unearth rare and classic UK funk, soul & boogie records - this time a much needed pressing of the late Candy McKenzie's heavy boogie-funk cover of Patrice Rushen's classic Remind Me. Produced by Candy's late cousin, and seasoned session bass player, John McKenzie (and licensed from the family estate) this was originally released in 1983 - and comes with an excellent dubbed-out 'Different Style' instrumental version on the flip.

--

Candy McKenzie (1953-2003) was a North West London-based vocalist from a Guyanese family heavily steeped in musicianship . She began learning the piano at a young age, picking up vocal harmony from her father, a jazz bass player. Her brothers Bunny & Binky, were also celebrated bassists.

Candy would marry young in 1970 at the age of 17, though just one year later her brother Binky (who played with the likes of Cream, Alexis Korner & John Mclaughlin in the late 60s) tragically took the lives of her mother and father, along with Candy's husband in an attack at the family home to which Candy was present. Candy was also injured but escaped with her life.

In the years that followed the tragedy Candy, regularly accompanied by her brother Bunny, would find reggae vocal session work - often at the Chalk Farm Studios frequented by many key producers & acts. She found her way onto Aswad's first album and Keith Hudson's legendary Flesh Of My Skin Blood Of My Blood LP - and a little while later on a couple of sessions with Bob Marley for Island, under the supervision of Lee Perry.

The latter two parties took a keen interest in Candy, with Island wisking her away to Jamaica in 1977 to record an album at the legendary Black Ark. Her vocals found their way onto The Congos seminal Heart of the Congos LP, but the album she recorded with Perry was shelved - with just the Black Art holy grail 12" Disco Fits / Breakfast in Bed finding it's way to release at the time.

Back in London, Candy spent the early to mid 80s recording various lovers and funk/soul 12"s, including this fantastic cover of Patrice Rushen's Remind Me, produced by her cousin John. She went on to record singles for labels like Elite & Cooltempo throughout the '80s and early '90s, and appeared as backing vocalist with the likes of Leonard Cohen, Whitney Houston, Elton John and Diana Ross. She passed away in 2003, with her one and only album recorded at the Black Ark finally seeing release on Trojan in 2011.

Candy's cousin John McKenzie got his starts in the music industry in the mid 70s as part of prog group Man and communal festival rockers Global Village Trucking Co., as well as playing with the likes of Annette Peacock and Steve Hillage. His father Mike McKenzie was also a key Carribbean jazz figure in the UK throughout the early 1950s, through to the '60s and '70s. John would become a heavily in-demand session musician - playing with everyone from the Eurhythmics to Bob Dylan - while also finding time to produce this record, alongside a couple of excellent 12"s with Mel Gaynor as Finesse, between 1982 and '83. He would regularly tour the world as a live musician for a huge array of headline acts, appearing on multiple chart hits, and in his later years was a member of the excellent group Ibibio Sound Machine. He lost his battle with cancer in 2020.

This reissue is dedicated to the memory of both John & Candy McKenzie.

TRACK LISTING

1. Remind Me
2. Remind Me (Different Style)