This lovely lathe cut 7" sees Blackpool four-piece Vee VV present a blazing mix of post-punk grit, funk percussion and baggy guitar melodies into the hugely danceable and instantly rousing title track. ALSO, have you ever finished listening to a rousing punk record and thought 'Man, that's really just made me want to throw convention out the window and eat the sleeve'? If so, then Vee VV have your back because not only have they made this cathartic anthem in a normal 'probably-shouldn't' eat it sleeve but they've done it in a plant-based edible sleeve too, so even you most timid of sleeve-scranners can get involved, and get involved you should. Lovely stuff. 

The first really revolutionary fracture in The Fall was the departure of guitarist Martin Bramah. Commonly understood as the only viable challenger to Mark E Smith's dominance of the band, Bramah was The Fall's first singer and primary songwriter at the start. His subsequent group, Blue Orchids, was originally a reconstitution of the first recorded line-up of The Fall, without Mark, but with another slightly later Fall member, Eric McGann. After slight revisions in the lineup, Blue Orchids created a singular sound of maniacally aberrant psych on two thrilling singles - "The Flood" and "Work" - before recording one of the most imperfectly perfect debuts in what could no longer really be called 'rock and roll'.

'The Greatest Hit (Money Mountain)' eschews the frenetic energy of those singles to present itself as the greatest 'morning after the trip' albums ever - Martin and Una's wonderful explanations of the experiential backdrop to "Sun Connection" take up nearly as much space as those of all the other songs combined! Without exception, the songs are brilliant, majestic and memorable . . . plus it's possible that more covers of songs from 'The Greatest Hit' have been recorded by bands of credibility and renown than from any single Fall LP (although we're counting!), with near-contemporaneous versions arising from Fish & Roses, Slovenly, Dustdevils and Aztec Camera and many others since.

Never reissued on vinyl since its 1982 release, due to objections from the WB Yeats estate for the album's musical interpretation of the author's "Mad As The Mist And Snow" (now in public domain!), this deluxe edition includes a bonus album with two unreleased pre-album demos, two further demos released only on long out-of-print cassette compilations from more than forty years ago, and scorching live set featuring several of their early songs, extensive liner notes from Martin Bramah and Una Baines, a reproduction of the original lyric fold-over booklet and (with the 2LP version), a download card. The original artwork for the album and booklet have been restored painstakingly, and as Bramah himself says, "It's better than the original." After over four decades, we're proud to make available this classic album again. Tiny Global Production's first release was a companion to this release (it's also available again), containing the band's two 7" singles, the album's follow-up EP 'Agents Of Change', and two unheard demos.

TRACK LISTING

Sun Connection
Dumb Magician
Tighten My Belt
A Year With No Head
Hanging Man
Bad Education
Wait
No Looking Back
Low Profile
Mad As The Mist And Snow
Disney Boys (demo)
The Flood (demo)
Low Profile (C81 Cassette Version)
Thirst (Pleasantly Surprised Cassette Version)
Live In Manchester, 2014: Motorway
Hanging Man
Olympian
Work
A Year With No Head
The Unknown

The sound of acid jazz on one record – heavy, organ-driven instrumentals from Hammond maestro James Taylor and his quartet. Part of Acid Jazz 35th Anniversary series, highlighting core releases from the label. The debut album from The James Taylor Quartet, premastered and pressed on clear vinyl.

TRACK LISTING

1. The Money Spyder
2. One Way Street
3. Car Chase
4. The Spiral Staircase
5. Mr. Cool’s Dream
6. A Real Mean Time
7. The Onion Club
8. The Stroll
9. “Los Cuevos Pablo”
10. Midnight Stomp
(The New Rumba)
11. Buzy Bee
12. In The Park 

Alison Chesley is an unparalleled cellist and composer who has been making boundaryless music for nearly three decades under the moniker Helen Money. From her work in Verbow to her solo releases, extending to her work as a highly sought after collaborator with Jarboe, Bob Mould, Steve Albini, Neurosis and many more, Chesley has remained a singular voice and a pioneer in expanding the scope and perception of the cello. Will Thomas is an active composer for commercials, TV, and film (GvsE, CSI, The Haunted Swordsman). He has also contributed to several of Helen Money’s solo albums and an ongoing collaboration with Roger Eno. Trace marks Thomas’s and Chesley’s first fully collaborative album, synthesizing their myriad skills as songwriters, performers, and sound artists into vivid, profoundly moving music.

Helen Money and Will Thomas are masters of invoking emotional atmospheres. Their music paints in vibrant hues with outlines blurred, often using dense layers of processed instruments and textural ambience as a backdrop for harmonic tension and melodies. Trace is thrillingly cinematic. Each piece tells a compelling story through ratcheting suspense, twisting shifts, unfurling arcs, and blissful repose. “I don’t compose with a storyline in mind,” says Chesley. “I search for a feeling – a sound. It’s often not until the very end of the process that I realize what I was trying to express.” Chesley’s cello and Thomas’s synthesized textures converse with one another with a sense of curiosity. They each use their highly developed means of conveying emotion through sound and their collaborative natures to accentuate the emotional arc of the compositions. After years supplementing each other’s music and the long isolation of lockdowns, their collaboration’s conversational approach is rich with the electricity of old friends reconnecting. Chesley notes, “I was feeling grateful to be able to do this with someone I had worked with for so long – to be in the studio together again.”

Trace is a masterclass in sound design. Chesley’s formidable skill as a cellist and composer ground the compositions with rich organic sounds of cello and bow. Thomas’s equally deft hand manipulated electronics, keyboards create potent frameworks that bolster the sense of mystery and searching across the album. “Thieves” applies a jittering rhythmic pulse and sampled cello harmonics that tug forward anxiously before distorted cello thrusts transform the piece into something more resolute. The duo of “Half Asleep” and “Half Awake” act as companion pieces, using lush arrangements of cello and piano, each intoning atop steady chordal figures that sound distant and familiar, like meeting a friend in a dream. Chesley and Thomas pursue harmony and discord in equal measure. A thrum of foreboding blurs the lines between their instruments on “Boulevard in Silence,” which embodies wisps of shadow and the cowl of nightfall. Industrial crashes and obliterated bass textures subsume “Tilt” and the gorgeous timbres of “Glass Shattered” swim in waves of dissonance without resolution. “Trace” moves from gentle nudges to a hypnotic thump as the piece grows more rhythmically and sonically dense; each deviation rewarding with unexpected textures and sounds.

Chesley and Thomas’s unique voices as composers remain discernable and present throughout the album, but Trace is a celebration of connection of collaboration with an acute sense of details and the power they convey. On Trace, the duo utilize timbre, tone and dynamics as essential tools in crafting stunning emotive narratives. Together, the duo wield sound with inquisitive aplomb, burrowing into each other’s sonic aesthetics and unearthing irrefutable beauty. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Someone Out There
2. Thieves
3. Half Asleep
4. Boulevard In Silence
5. Abandon
6. Trace
7. She Never Suspected
8. Half Awake
9. Tilt
10. Glass Shattered
11. The Wheel

“There are certain records that ‘split the atom’, creating a totally new sound - serendipitous moments in time when an artist pulls a rabbit from the hat and forecasts a change ahead.” - Greg Wilson, DJ Mag.

Few records crossed over into different musical worlds as successfully as the Funk Masters’ sublime UK disco / jazz funk monster classic cut, ‘Love Money’. A monster underground hit in New York - everywhere from Larry Levan’s Paradise Garage and David Mancuso’s Loft in New York - through to the new wave / no wave dance crowds at Area, Club 57, Danceteria, Limelight and Mudd Club, and artists such as Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, who similarly played the track to death. The track then also became a huge Chicago house club track and influenced everyone from Masters at Work’s Louie Vega to Francois Kevorkian with its dubbed-out sound.

Originally released in 1981, the track came out on the flipside over a rap cut to the song by Bo Kool, one of the earliest examples of UK rap, but it was the instrumental ‘Love Money’, with its dubbed out sound effects, that was more often played, filling dancefloors everywhere. This nod to reggae and dub was not by chance. The track was produced by long-time UK resident Jamaican reggae DJ and producer Tony Williams. This was his first attempt at a club track but, by using reggae musicians, he created new style blending funk, disco and reggae, years ahead of its time.

So if ever you want to hear a record that encapsulates the world of disco, funk, proto-house, hip-hop, no wave dance and reggae in one go then this is it.

This is the first release from Soul Jazz Records’ delving into the Tony Williams Tania Music and Funk Masters catalogue, which contains a wealth of UK jazz funk killers.

TRACK LISTING

1. Funk Masters - Love Money
2. Bo Kool - (Money) No Love

"After receiving regional praise for his 1976 debut Abrabo, Dan Boadi set his sights on leaving Ghana and bringing his highlife sensibilities to an American audience. Recorded at Paul Serrano namesake studio on E. 22rd St. in Chicago, Boadi's U.S. debut showcased the true scope of his musical range weaving in and out of funk, highlife, afrobeat, and reggae. The title track immediately demands the listener' attention with a chugging drum lead by The African International's King Tuch setting the pace for Boadi's colorful orchestration to follow. Money Is The Root of Evi claims t's own space as a musical melting pot and reflects the excitement Boadi waslearningto harness as a musician in his newfound home of Chicago."

TRACK LISTING

A1. Money Is The Root Of Evil (Edit)
B1. Duodo (Edit)

The track is a study in perpetual motion – caught between an exhilarating swagger and a drunken lurch. Built around a spiralling, infectious synth lead-line, rolling bass and drums, and skittish guitars, this all provides the backbone for Conor Clements’ visceral vocal spitting.

It tells a tawdry tale, examining the propensity for unhinged views born of banal insularity. As the band explain:

“A father hiding behind a screen, a family watching the Queen’s jubilee and a wife leaving her unloving husband for a new life in Spain. We’ve seen all of these people and we know them too.

Hot off the back of their self-titled debut single – the energetic five piece made up of Joel Douglas (vox/guitar), Tom Butler (vox/bass), Robbie Cottom (keys), Mike Hendry (guitar) + George Thompson (drum/percussion) follow it up with the provocatively titled ‘Your God Owes You Money.’

For those unacquainted with the band’s brand of esoteric eclectic pop - The Queen's Head are a five piece from South London making alternative music about modern anxieties. Blending elements of post-punk, noise-rock, disco and modern dance music, wrapped in a familiar verse-chorus pop structure, the resulting sound is simultaneously enchanting and terrifying.

Ordering this giddy chaos are the dual vocals of childhood friends Joel Douglas and Tom Butler. Together they combine cutting, spoken word narratives and growling melodies which take form as vigorous, traumatised calls to arms, scriptures not as much sung but bellowed and preached to the audience. It’s a sermon.

‘It did feel like that’ recounts Speedy co-runner Pierre Hall who put them on at one of Speedy’s ‘Homecoming’ nights at The Social at the end of lockdown. ‘From the second they came on to the second they finished – everyone was completely entranced. You were sucked in. It was powerful. Scary, intense, confrontational. But powerful nonetheless. I was hooked.’

On the resulting track – a heady mix of post-punk influences crossed with everything from The Clash to The Specials via Daniel Avery and Charlie XCX, the band say: ’We are a band interested in world-building, with our process normally meticulous, pouring over tiny production and song-writing details. Taking 'Your God Owes You Money' into Dan Carey's space and method was a deliberate attempt to disrupt our complacencies. We played live, welcomed error and followed improvised ideas, under Dan's guiding hand. The version of this song we produced in just a day hopefully captures the rage and range of our live show - a direct glimpse into the band, what we believe and our frailties as self-confessed performers. An honour, a privilege and a wholly enjoyable day amidst Dan's Aladdin's cave.’ The genie is out of the lamp.

Reissue of the first Dire Straits greatest hits collection, originally released in October 1988 and featuring songs from their first five albums.

Fully remastered by Bob Ludwig, and cut by Bernie Grundman, this vinyl reissue includes ‘Telegraph Road (Live Remix)’ which was previously only available on the original CD format, and a brand new mix of ‘Portobello Belle (Live)’. It is cut over four sides of vinyl for the first time.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: I remember having a copy of this on CD when I was younger, and thoroughly believed it to be a proper album. Imagine my surprise then when it turned out it's just a really good compilation. Andy and I were talking about just this the other week. I love Dire Straits, and this is the best 'album' that never was.

TRACK LISTING

LP1 - Side A
Sultans Of Swing (5:46)
Down To The Waterline (4:01)
Portobello Belle (Live: Alternative Out-take) (4:33) – Previously Unreleased Version
LP1 - Side B
Twisting By The Pool (Remix) (3:30)
Tunnel Of Love (8:10)
Romeo And Juliet (5:56)
LP2 - Side C
Where Do You Think You're Going (3:30)
Walk Of Life (4:08)
Private Investigations (5:50)
LP2 - Side D
Telegraph Road (Live Remix) (11:59) – Previously Unreleased On Vinyl
Money For Nothing (Single Edit) (4:06)
Brothers In Arms (Edit) (4:49)

Orig released in 1978 and unavailable on vinyl since then, "Vampires Stole My Lunch Money", is regarded as one of the best albums by Mick Farren (the Deviants). Featuring guest appearances from Wilko Johnson, Chrissie Hynde, Sonja Kristina and more.

As powerful as rock gets this punk influenced album also includes r&b jams and features an impressive roster of musicians.

Supergrass’ hugely successful second album, which reached #2 in UK Album Charts in 1997, amassed 300k sales in the UK and over a million worldwide since release. Voted 10th Best Album of 1997 (NME) and included in ‘1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die’, it featured the hit singles: ‘Going Out’ (UK #5), ‘Richard III’ (UK #2), ‘Sun Hits the Sky’ (UK #10) and ‘Late In The Day’ (UK #18).

Following the successful “Strange Ones” Deluxe Boxset (3k copies worldwide) and a sold out world tour in 2020, this brand new expanded edition of ‘In It For The Money’ features remastered audio from analogue tape on 180g Black and 140g Turquoise Vinyl (Retail Exclusive). LP also includes 12” single ‘Sun Hits The Sky (Bentley Rhythm Ace Remix)’ / ‘The Animal’ on 140g White Vinyl. Not available on LP since original release.

The 3CD format includes 43 tracks over two CDs of B-Sides, Rarities, Outtakes & Live Tracks, imagery from Kevin Westenberg and sleevenotes from Charles Shaar Murray. Compiled by Supergrass.

TRACK LISTING

3CD & SD DIGITAL DELUXE TRACKLISTING
*Previously Unreleased

CD1: In It For The Money - 2021 Remaster
1. In It For The Money (2021 Remaster)
2. Richard III (2021 Remaster)
3. Tonight (2021 Remaster)
4. Late In The Day (2021 Remaster)
5. G-Song (2021 Remaster)
6. Sun Hits The Sky (2021 Remaster)
7. Going Out (2021 Remaster)
8. It's Not Me (2021 Remaster)
9. Cheapskate (2021 Remaster)
10. You Can See Me (2021 Remaster)
11. Hollow Little Reign (2021 Remaster)
12. Sometimes I Make You Sad (2021 Remaster)

CD2: Research & Development - Studio Extras & B-Sides
1. Susan (AKA Going Out)*
2. Melanie Davis
3. Can't Dig It (AKA G-Song)*
4. Late In The Day (Demo)*
5. Get Away (AKA Richard III)*
6. Charles II *
7. Sun Hits The Sky (Monitor Mix)*
8. It's Not Me (Original)*
9. Silver Lining*
10. Cheapskate (Monitor Mix)*
11. In It For The Money (Monitor Mix)*
12. Hollow Little Reign (Güiro Mix)*
13. Tonight (Monitor Mix)*
14. You Can See Me (Demo)*
15. Sometime We’re Really Sad (Edit)*
16. Sometimes I Make You Sad (Guide Vox)*
17. Nothing More's Gonna Get In My Way
18. We Still Need More (Than Anyone Can Give)
19. Don't Be Cruel
20. 20ft Halo
21. The Animal

CD3: Product Placement – Live Recordings
1. Going Out (Opera House, Toronto, 11 Sep 95)*
2. Melanie Davis (Lowlands Festival, Netherlands, 25 Aug 96)*
3. Tonight (Les Eurockéennes Festival, France, 04 July 97)*
4. Sometimes I Make You Sad (Paradiso, Amsterdam, 08 Oct 97)*
5. It's Not Me (Les Eurockéennes Festival, France, 04 Jul 97)*
6. G-Song (Rehearsal Cassette Recording, 18 Jun 95)*
7. Hollow Little Reign (O2 Academy Islington, London, 01 Jun 2004)*
8. In It For The Money (Rock City, Nottingham, 18 Jan 98)*
9. Cheapskate (Rock City, Nottingham, 18 Jan 98)*
10. Mansize Rooster (Rock City, Nottingham, 18 Jan 98)*
11. Richard III (Rock City, Nottingham, 18 Jan 98)*
12. You Can See Me (Rock City, Nottingham, 18 Jan 98)*
13. Late In The Day (Rock City, Nottingham, 18 Jan 98)*
14. Alright (Rock City, Nottingham, 18 Jan 98)*
15. Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) (Rock City, Nottingham, 18 Jan 98)*
16. Lose It (Rock City, Nottingham, 18 Jan 98)*
17. Sun Hits The Sky (Rock City, Nottingham, 18 Jan 98)*
18. Going Out (aborted) (Rock City, Nottingham, 18 Jan 98)*
19. Caught By The Fuzz (Rock City, Nottingham, 18 Jan 98)*
20. Going Out (Rock City, Nottingham, 18 Jan 98)*
21. Strange Ones (Rock City, Nottingham, 18 Jan 98)*
22. Lenny (Rock City, Nottingham, 18 Jan 98)*

1LP BLACK / TURQUOISE TRACKLISTING
A1. In It For The Money (2021 Remaster)
A2. Richard III (2021 Remaster)
A3. Tonight (2021 Remaster)
A4. Late In The Day (2021 Remaster)
A5. G-Song (2021 Remaster)
A6. Sun Hits The Sky (2021 Remaster)
B1. Going Out (2021 Remaster)
B2. It's Not Me (2021 Remaster)
B3. Cheapskate (2021 Remaster)
B4. You Can See Me (2021 Remaster)
B5. Hollow Little Reign (2021 Remaster)
B6. Sometimes I Make You Sad (2021 Remaster) 

Chantage are Eve Blouin and Vivien Goldman. This exclusive re-issue features the artwork from the original 7", the extended version of "It's Only Money" from the Chantage 12" and the dub version by Adrian Sherwood which previously was only released on On-U Sound under the project name Playgroup in 1983. Also features Bruce Smith (PopGroup/Slits), Carroll Thompson and Neneh Cherry amongst others.

TRACK LISTING

A. It's Only Money (Extended Version)
B. It's Only Money (On-U Sound Dub Version By Adrian Sherwood)

Doug Payne is a graduate of LaGuardia High School of Music & Art (also known as FAME) in Manhattan NY, and Howard University in Washington D.C. He performed as a member of the Sister Sledge tour ("We are Family") has produced several recordings for quite a few East Coast acts and worked as the Music Director for The Dreamlovers, Eddie Holman, The Coasters and the house-band for the Atlantic City television show Chat-24.

We are happy to present two of his self released singles in full on one long 12". She Is On The Money is a A+ Boogie floor filler this previously unreleased in this full version massive 15 Mins long mix direct from master tape. On the flip we have Doug's first single "Holiday" which was previously 45 only and very hard to find, plus some other mixes of "She is On The Money" from a second tape, HEAT!

STAFF COMMENTS

Millie says: Holidaaaaay! Ultimate boogie dancefloor filler right here for you folks, drenched in soul-disco-boogie goodness. ‘She Is On The Money’ you can’t not move to, it’s impulsive. An absolute must.

TRACK LISTING

1. She Is On The Money (Unreleased Full Version)
2. Holiday
3. She Is On The Money (Alternate Version)
4. She Is On The Money (7 Inch Mix)
5. She Is On The Money (Instrumental)

A Danny Krivit and Harvey favourite, as sampled by J Dilla and Glenn Underground - a dubby disco cover of the Gamble & Huff penned O’Jays classic. Also featuring on Kenny Dope's amazing "Disco Heat" compilation and receiving plenty plays at Mancusso's legendary Loft parties.

This sound was later pioneered by the likes of Arthur Russell and Larry Levan, and is especially present throughout the Sleeping Bag records catalogue. Replica original 7” artwork, official Mr Bongo reissue, mastered from our original DAT copy.

Funkycan aka Am Kinem teams up with Max Gee, while Money $ex regulars Imyrmind & Delphonic join Glenn Astro and Lonny Benz for a jam packed Money $ex outing. "Steiermark2017" is by Funkycan 7 & Graef and is a techno track made with a DR-550 and the crumar performer. It weaves and winds with slightly discordant melodies as fizzy, saturated drums pop and spurt. Glenn and Max drop the sub heavy and highly trickski, "No Tricks Dub". Thick walls of bass and intricately programmed tribal rhythms are order of the day as the pair conjure up a track similar to Paul Daly's cult remix of Jose Padilla's "Adios Amigo" - excellent! Delphonic & Astro provide the EPs crowning glory (in my opinion), a gentle propullsive, percussive glider that sounds like it's been ripped off a Sued record and should wins fans across the board with its delicate but engrossing sounds. Finally Imyrmind collaborates with Lonny Benz for the disjointed club attack that is "DID" - a juddering assault of drums embellished with subtle analogue nuances. A belter here from all involved, most recommended. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: I'll be honest, Money $ex doesn't always do it for me (then what does?! - ed) but this doozy from the allstars of the label has kept me more than entertained. Interesting sounds, intricate rhythms and experimental arrangements all keeping me hooked. Top one.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Funkycan 7 Max Graef - Steiermark2017
A2. Max Graef & Glenn Astro - No Tricks Dub
B1. Glenn Astro & Delphonic - Riddim Fur Die Atzen
B2. Imyrmind & Lonny Benz - D.I.D

Beach Baby will release their much-anticipated debut album, 'No Mind No Money', on September 2nd. The band will be supporting Beaty Heart around the US in September, before playing their own series of headline dates across Europe Additional festival slots are still to come at Reading & Leeds and Festival Number 6, with across-the-board support at Radio 1, 6Music, Radio X and Spotify. Captured vividly across ‘No Mind No Money’, London four-piece Beach Baby have built up a tightly-sealed, vaguely surreal world of their own. Beach Baby’s touchstones have now evolved to include seminal acts on both sides of the Atlantic –from Parquet Courts and Mac DeMarco to Ariel Pink and cult lo-fi artist Cleaners From Venus. They each supported themselves throughout this creatively-intense period with make-ends-meet jobs, which included working in burger joints, ‘charity muggers', and - in perhaps the oddest of odd jobs - working as a script reader for production companies like Icon.

The aptly-titled ‘No Mind No Money’ touches frequently on those less-glamorous uncertainties of post-campus life: apathy, escapism, and the distance between your own future and the iconic bands or movies you grew up on. “One of the best new bands in Britain” Sunday Times Breaking Act. “Make no mistake, Beach Baby have every means of triumphing in the big leagues” DIY. “Captures the best of several genres – post-punk, baggy, shoe gaze, grunge –without sounding like a mess” Guardian. “That aching, inexplicable magic of college innocence is all here” Stereogum. “You’ll fall for this London foursome” i-D

In 2013 MONEY released their debut album ‘The Shadow Of Heaven’, following a handful of concerts that felt more like communions in out-of-the-way venues, advertised by word-of-mouth only.

Two years on, the new MONEY album, ‘Suicide Songs’, takes you deeper into their sound and vision. It feels more advanced and yet simpler, more perfected and yet more open. It is, by turns, a tender, barren, cavernous, smouldering, despairing and inspirational piece of work.

Out of a renewed, richer palate of sound, a sense of greater self-belief has emerged. However, as its title suggests, ‘Suicide Songs’ doesn’t shirk from the emotional truths that birthed it. “I wanted the album to sound like it was ‘coming from death’ which is where these songs emerged,” Jamie explains. “Above all else, I’m just trying to project and portray a poetic truth. Suicide is about anonymity, to the point where you don’t exist, which I definitely feel in my songwriting and as a person. But rather than writing myself out of anonymity, I want to remain there, in this record at least.”

TRACK LISTING

I Am The Lord
I’m Not Here
You Look Like A Sad Painting On Both Sides Of The Sky
Night Came
Suicide Song
Hopeless World
I’ll Be The Night
All My Life
A Cocaine Christmas And An Alcoholic’s New Year

Birthday Records announce the return of Hull punk poets Life with their fine new double 'A' side release 'Money' and 'Crawling', released on 17th March and available as limited edition 7" and download.

Formed just a year ago, the last twelve months have gone by in a bit of blur for the Hull quartet, whose punchy guitar hooks and pop-poem lyrics have already garnered love from Steve Lamacq, John Kennedy, The Fly and NME Radar, and bagged them airplay on 6Music, XFM, Radio 1 and Amazing Radio for their infectious debut single 'I Wanna Forget'. Both tracks were produced by former Kaiser Chief Nick Hodgson at his studio in London.

Keith Le Blanc, Skip McDonald and Doug Wimbish were the rhythm section that powered the Sugarhill Gang back in the early days of hip hop. In the 80s they hooked up with On-U Sound's Adrian Sherwood to create heavyweight electroid funk as TACK>>HEAD. They are more than just highly talented individual artists and absolute luminaries in their field.

TRACK LISTING

1. For The Love Of Money
2. Loose Booty
3. Higher Ground
4. King Bee
5. Just Kissed My Baby
6. Fire
7. Stealing
8. Funky President
9. I'm Afraid Of Americans
10. War
11. Black Cinderella
12. Exodus (Dub)
13. Black Cinderella (Dub)
14. Funky President (Adrian Sherwood Remix)
15. For The Love Of Money (Instrumental Version)

MONEY release their debut album The Shadow of Heaven on 26th August via Bella Union Records. Recorded in London through the deep, dark winter of 2012/13, it’s an ethereal, transcendent record that’s notable for its musical and intellectual ambition. Though ambition is perhaps not quite the right word. Because MONEY would never talk about ambition. Such things don’t sit well with them. They’d talk about anti-ambition and the revision of existing values — the kind of bold gesture already signalled by their unabashedly iconic name. It’s an album that defies convention and cliché, asking us instead to be courageous enough to see the world in different ways. As lead singer and ideologue Jamie Lee says, ‘Our aim with this band — in all things we do — is to create the world afresh on our own terms.’

MONEY are Jamie Lee, Charlie Cocksedge, Billy Byron and Scott Beaman. Having formed in Manchester amidst a prolific underground milieu, they soon came to embody the passion, creativity and optimism of a new generation of artists and musicians who found themselves presented with what Jamie describes as ‘an extraordinary, poetic city’. MONEY played shows in esoteric venues such as Salford's Sacred Trinity Church and ‘the Bunker', a former factory near Strangeways Prison and home to the cult independent label SWAYS, who released the band’s debut 7” single, ‘Who’s Going to Love You Now’ / ‘Goodnight London’ to wide acclaim. Having been tracked down by Simon Raymonde, the band subsequently signed to Bella Union, headlining the label's Christmas party at the Union Chapel before taking to the studio to record 'The Shadow of Heaven'.

The album consists of ten songs that range from stripped-back piano ballads such as ‘Goodnight London’ and ‘The Cruelty of Godliness’ to the more epic ‘Hold Me Forever’ and ‘Bluebell Fields’. Rooted in universal themes of the spirit, love and loss, the album also addresses man’s condition in the modern world, issues ‘such as isolation and mental health as logical reactions to it', says Jamie. It’s an album full of yearning and soul-searching, a voyage of (non-) discovery that only ends up finding itself and the sheer, aching beauty of questions asked in full knowledge of their own answerlessness. It’s metaphysics for the modern age, which might not be quite as spiritually bankrupt and bereft of meaning as we once believed.

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: There's always been a buzz around this band. This passionate debut album totally justifies it. Today: Piccadilly Records, tomorrow The World?!

The concept of the compilation is very simple: Permanent Vacation asked their favorite producers if they could each contribute with an exclusive track for the compilation. All of these artists seem to work from very different angles at first glance. But from our point of view, they are all unified through a certain down to earth and back to the roots vision of house music that is more inspired by the time when disc jockeys cut the rhythm sections of the records one after another to create a steamy and sweaty atmosphere through the whole night than the streamlined excrescence of house music that got popular in the era of the super clubs.

Lluckily, almost everyone they asked was up for it, and if that wasn't enough they even got two new pairings of artists who gave their debut on our compilation: Soul Clap and Trickski teamed up for a slow house bomb, while Jacob Korn and Cuthead from the Uncanny Valley family also got creative. Together they morphed to the double-headed mythical creature Kornhead who can kill you with a single groove. We also get ace cuts from John Talabot and Pional, who both individually gave PV back their faith in new house music that doesn't sound like clones of the old masters. Talabot created "Leave Me" one of his most dance floorfriendly productions to date. Beautiful Swimmers drop their first release outside of their Future Times homebase and Slow Hands, after the success of his track "Rough Patch" on the Wolf + Lamb vs. Soul Clap DJ Kicks, brings us "Kreuzberg Blues". Which leads us directly to the big Berlin resident crew consisting of Hunee, Mano Le Tough and Session Victim. All three tracks are crackers. The same is true for Good Guy Mikesh & Filburt, who bewitched us with "Roamer". This time the Permanent Vacation producers also seized the chance to participate in the compilation with "Hendiadyoin" and an edit for the epic "Sightless Brightness" by the ever innovative Contra Communem Opinionem.

TRACK LISTING

01. Pional – Just Passing Through
02. Slow Hands – Kreuzberg Blues
03. Mano Le Tough – Let’s Not Talk About Love
04. Beautiful Swimmers – Excited
05. John Talabot – Leave Me (Friendly Pattern Version)
06. Jacob Korn & Cuthead – Ooohja
07. Hunee – A Study In Wild
08. Permanent Vacation – Hendiadyoin
09. Contra Communem Opinionem – Sightless Brightness (Permanent Vacation Edit)
10. Session Victim – Large Processor
11. Trickski & Soul Clap – Members Of The Clap
12. Good Guy Mikesh & Filburt – Roamer

Senseless Records are back with another of their genre-bashing EPs to have future beats dancefloors in a spin. First up Philly street-bass kingpin Starkey delivers a remix of Sarantis and Warrior Queen's "More Than Money". It's one of his instantly-recognisable smash-up of dubstep, grime, gutterhouse and hip-hop that's made him one of THE producers of the last couple of years. Over on side B there's some future baile-funk flavours on "Click" by Deville, featuring vocals from Violet. Then it's back to Sarantis for the hyper-arpeggiated dubetp finale on "Focus".

Skeletons were born in Ohio, in the belly of a music school located in the state's poorest county. After self-releasing three long-players on the Shinkoyo label, they refined their particular brand of pop music with the release of "Git" as Skeletons & the Girl Faced Boys. Dispersing across the big country after each tour, the band was drawn one-by-one to New York City and eventually needed a new headquarters. They found an old empty sweatshop, built rooms, dangerously dabbled in electrical work, put in a washing machine and the now infamous "Silent Barn" was born. They hosted shows and recorded the acclaimed "Lucas" there, credited to Skeletons & the Kings of All Cities, and named after the town in Kansas where the Garden of Eden is. After years of physical and psychological testing, touring as a trio, quintet, octet or more, which sometimes changed its name between songs on stage, the Skeletons band is now four: Jonathan Leland, Tony Lowe, Jason McMahon and Matt Mehlan.

The Brighton boys who were fresh meat for Zane Lowe have now released their debut album care of Kasabian's producer Dan Swift. They achieve an edgy psychotic sound chock full of angular guitars that contrast with the languid vocals.

Following two exceedingly scarce EPs, the indefatigable Money Studies present a full length album by Scott Herren (AKA Savath & Savalas, Prefuse 73, etc.). Not actually a collection of singles at all, these tracks were apparently produced solely with drums (both machines and kits) and various keyboards. The result is a coherent discourse of typically Herren material, all performed in a single, recognisable dialect.

The ex-Beastie Boys keyboard player returns with another understated solo album. Featuring a wealth of well-crafted electro-acoustic songs, mostly played by Mark himself with the backing of people like G-love, Woody Jackson, Carol Kaye (Axelrod's bass player of choice) and Jim Keltner, the album recalls the slightly off-kilter psych-soul of Shuggie Otis.

Daniel Rachel's second album "A Taste Of Money" has a glorious upbeat feel, with captivating, luscious string arrangements, fantastically catchy pop chorus' and beautiful, bitter-sweet ballads.

With their second album "God's Money" Gang Gang Dance creates a modern music which reorients the palette of electronic music into an organic context, manipulating sound, rhythm and melody in an almost mercurial manner. Painstakingly recorded over the course of a year at Junkyard Audio Salvage, the band utilized whatever means were available to them to craft their sound: drums of all shapes, sizes and circuits, various keyboards and synthesizers, midi-triggering guitar scenarios, vocals reconfigured via guitar effect pedal and even the occasional aluminium chair. Blending their hypnotic rhythms into a highly structured compositional style or soaring in the lofty heights of practiced improvisation, this recording follows in the footsteps of the bands previous output all the while marking new ground.

Part of the local Minus Money collective.