To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of their celebrated album Unisex, Sarah Records legends Blueboy had their first full-band outing for 25 years with a sold-out show at The Water Rats in London’s Kings Cross on May 18, 2024.

With Gemma Malley taking over on vocals in place of the late Keith Girdler, Blueboy kicked off proceedings as an acoustic duo also featuring founder member Paul Stewart on guitar.

Then they were joined by Mark Cousens (bass) and Martin Rose (drums) for a blistering hour-long set featuring classics from throughout their 1990s career such as Popkiss, The Joy of Living, Air France, Meet Johnny Rave and Imipramine – plus One and Deux, the two astonishing new singles with which they announced their return.

This was a show nobody ever thought they’d see, and a joyful performance was to be a pivotal moment in the group’s extraordinary re-emergence. Fortunately the entire evening was professionally recorded for posterity – and now the majority of the songs are being released by Precious Recordings of London in a special blue vinyl package that’s limited to 500 copies worldwide.

Blueboy first got together in the early 1990s and went on to build a global following, touring Europe and Japan and featuring regularly in the UK independent charts with a series of acclaimed singles and well-regarded albums. At various times, their guitar-led sound has been described as having echoes of bands like The Smiths, Slowdive, Lush and The Cocteau Twins.

An album of new songs is planned for later in 2025. For now, though, this 13-song live LP is a must-have for any Blueboy fan. Also features sleeve notes from Sarah co-founder Matt Haynes and an array of photographs by Sasha Maese.

From Copenhagen, the much-anticipated debut release from a cosmopolitan indie-pop four-piece fresh from a recent support slot with Shonen Knife. We don’t really like making comparisons but think Shop Assistants, Talulah Gosh, Tiger Trap and you’ll be getting the idea. A classic sound as fresh here as a newly flowered daisy – they’ll have an album out later this year, and these songs aren’t on it. Plus you get a nice badge.

TRACK LISTING

1. Still Time
2. Shirley (Not)

From Camden Town: The first-ever solo release from the 14 Iced Bears’ frontman is an unmissable three-song outing. The gorgeous 'Sweetest Star' is plaintively melodic in the style beloved of longtime Bears’ followers, while Rob then gets cracking on old favourite 'Take It' with a brilliant mad mix. That’s the Asyd Mouse mix. Then we get to 'Consciousness…' (don’t forget the ellipsis) which he claims explains everything everywhere at anytime. Best listened to lying down.

TRACK LISTING

1. Sweetest Star
2. Take It (Asyd Mouse Mix)
3. Consciousness …

From Indonesia: Eagle-eyed viewers (and eagle-eared listeners) will know this already via a download but now on vinyl: two fantastic slices of indie-pop goodness. The A-side is in the realm of The Pains of Being Pure At Heart – Kip Berman is a big fan, naturally – and the B-side isn’t far off a lost Soup Dragons single from their Buzzcocksy phase … albeit with a female vocal. Whatever, it’s flippin’ great.

TRACK LISTING

1. Stars In Your Eyes
2. Bootleg Charm

“James [Dean Bradfield] was always banging on about Big Flame and I could never understand it. But then I played a record of theirs at a slower speed by mistake on vinyl once, and suddenly I got the jazziness of it.” Nicky Wire, Manic Street Preachers

Working within a pre-determined lifespan, bIG*fLAME developed their own distinctive sound and style: super-fast, two-minute, non-decadent Mach 2 beats overlain by distinctive, spiky, loud, unorthodox guitars, and politically-charged lyrics.

John Peel described the band as “one of the two or three very best bands of Planet Earth”, and also called them “the best dance band since Glenn Miller and his Orchestra”.

Find out for yourself on this album which features all four Peel sessions recorded by the agitpop trio between 1984 and 1986 – 16 tracks in total, with versions of nearly everything they ever recorded. And a few things they didn’t.

Among the highlights are the covers of the June Brides’ indie standard Every Conversation (Phil Wilson, a big fan of bIG*fLAME, loves it), plus These Boots Are Made For Working – Nancy & Lee eat your hearts out.

Plus, of course, the notorious Wham! cover … Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go it ain’t. Well it is, but it’s also Testament To The Slow Death Of Youth Culture. Once heard, never forgotten.

There never was a bIG*fLAME LP because they didn’t believe in it. So we’ve struck it lucky here. All this, plus sleeve notes from Greg O’Keeffe and printed inners with photos and flyers etc. All the stuff you love from Precious.

STAFF COMMENTS

Laura says: Finally I can bin my crackly cassette versions of these sessions! This collection is long overdue and perfectly captures the energy and intensity of the legendary biG fLAME. I think it was probably on the John Peel show that I first heard them and they left an immediate impression on me, a 17 year old Smiths fan who was used to guitars that jangled, not snarled and spat! I'd heard nothing like it before: the jagged guitars, odd time changes and rattling drums (I think it was journalist James Brown that described them as amphetamine harassed - which made me laugh at the time and always stuck in my head. It's the perfect description.) It took me a few more listens to actually catch the lyrics too which were political but not sloganeering: clever and satirical. I was hooked! I saw them live numerous times and as you can probably tell, I loved them. Over time they would open my eyes and ears to a whole new world of music - everything from Gang Of 4 and The Fire Engines to The Pop Group and On U-Sound, stuff I may never have discovered on my own it the pre-internet days.
Check this album out - they could be your new favourite band!

TRACK LISTING

Debra
Man Of Few Syllables
Sargasso
Breath Of A Nation
All The Irish Must Go To Heaven
New Way
Chanel Samba
These Boots Were Made For Working
Earsore
Let's Rewrite The American Constitution
Cat With Cholic
Every Conversation
Sink
XPQWRTZ
Three On Baffled Island
Testament To The Slow Death Of Youth Culture

Brighton-based Shrag were leading lights of the UK indiepop scene towards the end of the first decade of the 21st Century, recording several singles and three albums for iconic labels WIAIWYA and Fortuna Pop!

Post-punk influences to the fore, they referenced the likes of Prolapse and Life Without Buildings with a dash of C86 and Riot Grrrl! thrown in to create their own inimitable racket – all the time showcasing the literate and emotionally vulnerable lyrics of main vocalist Helen King. They also just happen to be big personal favourites of Precious founder Nick Godfrey.

Shrag recorded several sessions for the BBC, including this four-song outing for Huw Stephens at the famous Maida Vale Studios which predates their second LP ‘Life! Death! Prizes!’ and features an unforgettable version of string-drenched Coda, that album’s closing track.

Limited-edition ten-inch vinyl comes with free downloads, a printed inner sleeve with hitherto unseen images from the one and only Alison Wonderland plus brilliant sleeve notes from Helen.

TRACK LISTING

1. More Than Morning
2. Erratic Fictions
3. Gutless Wonder
4. Coda

Shrag’s sound had developed by the time of this session for Marc Riley, which features sparkling early versions of four songs destined to appear on ‘Canines’, their critically lauded third and final LP.

The Brighton-based indie poppers were regulars in the BBC Studios, with Marc Riley an especially fervent supporter before they called it a day in March 2013 with a triumphant and emotionally charged final show at London’s Lexington.

Limited-edition ten-inch vinyl comes with free downloads, a printed inner sleeve with hitherto unseen images and sleeve notes from Russell Warrior.

TRACK LISTING

1. Tears Of A Landlord
2. Tendons In The Night
3. Show Us Your Canines
4. You’re The Shout

Part of the vibrant Edinburgh indie scene in the late 1980s, The Vultures were gone almost before they had arrived, releasing just a solitary 12-inch single on the famed Narodnik label (the ‘Good Thing’ EP was NRK 006 – the final release on that classic imprint).

So there’s not a lot of material available – but now there is this four-song blast for Radio 1’s early-evening show in June 1988. None of them reaches the two-minute limit, and only ‘Good Thing’ has been previously released in any format.

As such, this is an unmissable document of a much-loved era, sounding as fresh today as it did in the late 80s … plus there’s a cover version of the Dickies’ ‘You Drive Me Ape (You Big Gorilla)’, here retooled as ‘I Go Ape’.

TRACK LISTING

1. Good Thing
2. Something New
3. I'll Kill That Girl
4. I Go Ape

The Chesterfields were leading lights among the generation of indie pop outfits that thrived in the post-C86 environment.

Formed in 1984 in Yeovil, Somerset, by Dave Goldsworthy, Simon Barber and Dominic Manns – and joined in 1985 by Brendan Holden – they came to prominence as part of a thriving UK underground scene that had turned its back on bland over-produced 1980s chart music and was looking for back-to- basics pop music. Think the likes of the June Brides, Wedding Present and the Loft – bands championed by John Peel and Janice Long.

The Chesterfields released three well-received singles on the Subway Organization label and had their own outing for Janice Long in early 1987, well before their debut album ‘Kettle’ hit the shops (and reached the dizzy heights of No.2 in the independent charts).

After line-up changes, the band released two more singles and an album (‘Crocodile Tears’) via their own Household label before finally splitting in 1989 – and then reforming briefly in 1994 for a Japanese tour. Following the death of Davey Chesterfield in a hit-and-run accident in Oxford in 2002, Simon Barber resisted all requests for the band to record or perform as ‘The Chesterfields’ until they were asked to play NYC Popfest in 2016, and a new line-up was put together. Live dates and another album followed.

In October 2024, Simon Chesterfield released his debut album on the Legere Recordings label, featuring a selection of back catalogue songs reimagined as an orchestra performance.

Now the Chesterfields’ Janice Long session from their early classic period is released as part of the series of BBC sessions on the Precious Recordings of London label. As well as featuring a handful of the group’s best-loved songs, the session features a guest appearance from soon-tobe-legendary West Country-based PJ Harvey producer John Parish – masquerading as ‘Scott Tracey’ for a spot of percussion and backing vocals!

TRACK LISTING

1. Two Girls And A Treehouse
2. What’s Your Perversion?
3. Oh Mr Wilson!
4. Love Mountain

Creation Records legends The Loft release their first new songs for nearly 40 years in the shape of the single ‘Dr. Clarke’. Available on limited edition seven-inch vinyl on Precious Recordings of London.

Taken from the forthcoming album ‘Everything Changes Everything Stays The Same’ on Tapete Records, ‘Dr. Clarke’ is backed with an exclusive B-side ‘Got A Job’, available only on the vinyl single.

The Loft notched up an impressive list of firsts for Creation label artists back in the mid-80s. First Creation band on TV, first to hit the top of the indie singles chart, first to be invited on to a major UK tour and first Creation band to record a coveted BBC radio session – for Janice Long’s Radio 1 show in 1984. Then, on the verge of biog-time indie greatness, they split up. And how they split up: mid-song, amid bitterness and acrimony, onstage at the Hammersmith Palais in front of 3,000 people.

Now the band has reunited, their status as one of the UK’s most influential guitar bands of the 1980s only growing through the intervening years Last year, after a sell-out show at London’s MOTH club and their heralded appearance at the Glas-Goes Pop festival, the group was invited by BBC 6 Music’s Riley & Coe to record their fourth BBC session at Maida Vale’s famous Studio 4. Within six months the session was rush-released by Precious Recordings of London on glorious ten-inch vinyl.

Precious is now proud to release ‘Dr. Clarke’ as a taster to their debut album ‘Everything Changes Everything Stays The Same’, released by Hamburg-based Tapete (tapeterecords.de) on March 14, 2025. Single and album were recorded in Hackney in August and produced by Dexys’ Sean Read with the original Loft line-up of Pete Astor (guitar/vocals) Andy Strickland (guitar), Bill Prince (bass) and Dave Morgan (drums).

TRACK LISTING

Dr. Clarke
Got A Job

Forerunners to The Thanes, The Green Telescope started out in 1981 as ardent ambassadors for 60s-style psychedelic sounds, soon becoming well known around Edinburgh for putting together exotic-sounding shows featuring freak-out style lights.

A couple of line-up changes later, they took fresh inspiration from the British beat group era plus the US/European teen garage-punk explosion – think ‘Nuggets’ and ‘Pebbles’.

There were only two singles – including the much-sought-after ‘Face In A Crowd’ seven-inch – so this, their only BBC session from 1986, is a proper one-off, capturing the spirit and sound of the times via a swirling organ, a psych heart and three totally unreleased tracks. Plus one that was recorded only 20 years later in a different version by the Thanes.

… and don’t miss their inimitable cover of the Driving Stupid’s ‘Horror Asparagus Stories’!

TRACK LISTING

Who Knows?
X+Y=13
Try To
Horror Asparagus Stories

Blueboy continue their extraordinary re-emergence after 20 years of separation with a magnificent new single that hits you in the solar plexus and then forces you to sing along.

Darkness, light and shade, melancholy and euphoria, sadness and joy are Blueboy's natural territory; in ‘Deux’, an anthemic chorus is juxtaposed with quietly spoken verses, mood and emotion driven by ever-present guitar.

Blueboy first got together in the early 1990s and went on to build a global following, touring Europe and Japan and featuring regularly in the UK independent charts with a series of acclaimed singles and well regarded albums.

At various times, their guitar-led sound has been described as having echoes of bands like The Smiths, Slowdive, Lush and The Cocteau Twins.

Having reformed in 2024, founder member Paul Stewart was joined by Gemma Malley (now on vocals) to play in London, Cologne and Paris; their comeback single ‘One’ was launched at a triumphant full band show in London where drummer Martin Rose and bassist Mark Cousens rejoined the team from the 1990s line-up.

Peel favourites Saloon were a Reading-based folktronica/dreampop band active between 1998 and 2003.

After watching Austin Powers in a Reading cinema in 1997, university friends Adam Cresswell and Michel Smoughton conspired to form a band together. Wanting to do something in the spirit of bands such as Broadcast, Air and the Velvet Underground, the original criteria for Saloon was that its members had to look good in a roll-neck jumper.

The line-up was completed in 1998, with Cresswell and Smoughton being joined by Amanda Gomez on vocals, Alison Cotton on viola and Matt Ashton on guitar.

Saloon quickly became darlings of fanzine writers, with their distinctive and languid lo-fi sound being described as like “Belle and Sebastian in space”. After a run of 7-inch singles on a series of indie labels, they were invited to record their first session for the legendary John Peel in 2001. It was an utterly alien experience for the band, who were most used to recording on four-track tape machines in their bedrooms.

Saloon went on to record a total of three sessions for the BBC (the second was a live session; the other two are collected here). The band also featured in Peel’s Festive 50, including the No.1 in 2002 with the single ‘Girls Are The New Boys’.

Throughout five and a half years together, Saloon gigged relentlessly, travelling up and down the UK in a converted post van (and money pit) named Dave. They played with indie royalty including Laika, Electrelane, Of Montreal, Movietone, Quickspace, Sea Power and American Analog Set – plus the band they were most often compared to, Stereolab.

Saloon released two studio albums on Darla Records in the US and Track and Field in the UK and Europe. The debut (This Is) What We Call Progress (2002) was listed in the Sunday Times albums of the year; the follow-up If We Meet in the Future (2003) received 8/10 in NME. Saloon called it a day in 2004. This Peel Sessions release for Precious Recordings of London is the first Saloon output since the singles compilation Lo-Fi Sounds, Hi-Fi Heart in 2006.

TRACK LISTING

1. Spacer (session) 03:49
2. Bicycle Thieves (session) 05:16
3. Make It Soft (session) 04:31
4. Girls Are The New Boys (session) 05:24
5. Vesuvius (session) 03:17
6. Kaspian (session) 04:21
7. Happy Robots (session) 04:13
8. I Could Have Loved A Tyrant (session) 05:59

Began in 1985 in the febrile, incestuous world of Edinburgh’s emerging indie
community, Jesse Garon & the Desperadoes achieved almost legendary
status in the burgeoning Scottish music scene of the time.

Their first new release for more than 35 years arrives via the group’s sole
BBC radio session, recorded for the much-missed Janice Long and now
let loose upon the world again as part of the acclaimed Precious Recordings
of London series.

Named after Elvis Presley’s stillborn twin brother and a throwaway line
from The Young Ones – “I’m a fugitive, a desperado!” – the Desperadoes
released their earliest singles, produced by Douglas Hart of the Jesus and
Mary Chain, on the nascent Narodnik label, run by Eddie Connelly of Meat
Whiplash.

Throughout 1986 the Desperadoes toured extensively with the Shop
Assistants – singer Alex Taylor was a big early supporter – joining them on
their first nationwide tour. It was during this quixotic adventure that the
Desperadoes stopped off at the BBC Maida Vale studios in October ’86 to
record their one and only radio session.

Brilliantly capturing the spirit of the indie times, this ‘four songs in under
ten minutes’ effort was best remembered for two reasons – production
duties being dextrously handled once again by Douglas Hart (much against
BBC policy), and the deployment of the name of a much-loved children’s
TV presenter as the punchline of a rather laboured joke.

Released on ten-inch vinyl and featuring a host of unseen images, the
Janice Long session represents Jesse Garon & the Desperadoes in their
first flush of youth, debut single ‘Splashing Along’ just released, well before
their debut album A Cabinet of Curiosities. As a later single would so elegantly articulate, 'You'll never Be That Young Again!'

TRACK LISTING

1. Laughing, Smiling And Falling Again (BBC Session Version)
2. Leave You Behind (BBC Session Version)
3. Up On The Big Wheel (BBC Session Version)
4. Hank Williams Is Dead (BBC Session Version)

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

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

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

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

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

TRACK LISTING

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

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

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

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

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

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

TRACK LISTING

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

Sarah Records legends Blueboy return as a four-piece with a blistering new single ‘One’ – their first new song for 25 years, featuring founder member Paul Stewart plus Gemma Townley, Mark Cousens and Martin Rose from the band’s halcyon days in the 1990s.

With Gemma taking over lead vocals from the much-missed Keith Girdler, who died in 2007, ‘One’ is a stunning slice of indie pop with echoes of Lush, Stereolab, Dinosaur Jr (and maybe even Kylie) to rank alongside anything they’ve done before.

Backed with a magical acoustic version of ‘Air France’ featuring Paul and Gemma, the single is released in May 2024 to coincide with a full-band show in London to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the classic Blueboy album Unisex.

‘One’ is being released on the Precious Recordings of London as the label’s first-ever non-BBC session release.

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

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

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

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

TRACK LISTING

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

The Loft notched up an impressive list of firsts for Creation Records artists back in the mid-1980s. First Creation band on TV, first to hit the top of the indie chart, first to be invited on to a major UK tour and, not least, first Creation band to record a coveted BBC radio session – for Janice Long’s Radio One show in 1984. Then they split up.

In October 2023, the band was invited by BBC Radio 6 Music’s Riley & Coe show to record its fourth BBC session at Maida Vale’s famous Studio 4, following their heralded appearance at the Glas-Goes Pop festival.

Featuring four classic Loft tracks and played by the original members – Pete Astor, Dave Morgan, Bill Prince and Andy Strickland – the session confirmed the band’s standing as pioneering indie originals. On hearing the very first track broadcast, Nick Godfrey of Precious Recordings of London was messaging the band to bag the session for a full vinyl release.

The 10-inch vinyl EP features three band originals, ‘Beware’, ‘Worm In My Brain’ and ‘Ride’, plus their celebrated version of Richard Hell’s ‘Time’.

The band have all contributed to the sleeve notes, describing what the session, and still playing together, means to them, with exclusive photos from inside Maida Vale taken by Ken Copsey.

“…straight to ‘tape’, no overdubs, four songs in four hours, finelined by a mix that enshrines the ‘play it as it lays’ ethos” – Bill Prince

“Time has been kind to us I think; where once the world felt impossible and threatening, we seem to have learned to be more careful of each other and focus on playing together” – Pete Astor

TRACK LISTING

1. Beware (BBC Session Version)
2. Ride (BBC Session Version)
3. Worm In My Brain (BBC Session Version)
4. Time (BBC Session Version)

Even before the release of the debut single from off-kilter Scottish indie-pop legends Close Lobsters, the late, lamented Janice Long got them in for their first outing at the BBC’s Maida Vale Studios. They recorded a session featuring four staples from their blistering live set at the time – which was peak-hour C86.

Two of the songs included here in early versions ended up re-recorded as A-sides of singles, paving the way to a close shave with stardom via their incredible debut album ‘Foxheads Stalk This Land’, released a year later.

TRACK LISTING

Never Seen Before
Pathetic Trivia
Heaven … Rains [Going To Heaven To See If It Rains]
Nothing Really Matters

This limited edition 3x10" collection features the two Precious Recordings Sessions EPs along with a Radio Clyde Session EP which is exclusive to this bundle.

TRACK LISTING

John Peel Session
1. Loopholes 02:44
2. From This Day On 04:42
3. What Is There To Smile About? 02:47
4. Mirror Breaks 03:46

Janice Long Session
1. Never Seen Before 02:55
2. Pathetic Trivia 02:38
3. Heaven … Rains [Going To Heaven To See If It Rains] 03:06
4. Nothing Really Matters 03:04

Radio Clyde Session
5. Lovely Little Swan 03:48
6. Le Grande Ennui [Knee Trembler] 04:37
7. Nature Thing 03:59
8. Say Hello, Wave Goodbye 04:25

Shortly after parting company with X-Ray Spex, post-punk icon Lora Logic went into the BBC’s Maida Vale Studios with the first incarnation of her own band, Essential Logic.

Now officially released for the first time by Precious Recordings of London to coincide with its 45th anniversary, this is that legendary four-song session for John Peel – pre-dating the group’s debut LP, ‘Beat Rhythm News’, for which these tracks would be re-recorded, and a famous 30-date Rough Trade UK tour with Stiff Little Fingers and The Normal.

TRACK LISTING

Wake Up
Shabby Abbott
Alkaline Loaf In The Area
Quality Crayon Wax OK

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

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

TRACK LISTING

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

Thirty years after they started kicking out the jams, indie legends Helen Love make their debut on Precious with a session that has legendary status with fans – and with listeners of Steve Lamacq’s much-loved Evening Session.

Yes indeedy, pop pickers, to coincide with the 25th anniversary of its initial broadcast, this is the session featuring none other than Joey Ramone on the phone and a never-to-be-forgotten (and never-before-released) cover of The Clash’s ‘Tommy Gun’ that morphs into a jingle for Lammo.

Then we get three Helen Love classics, great photos from Alison Wonderland and a set of postcards (and Joey shows up here as well – more than once) Free downloads with the vinyl – and get a move on, because there are only 300 copies.

TRACK LISTING

Tommy Gun
Does Your Heart Go Boom
Shifty Disco Girl
MC5

The Soup Dragons’ status as indie-dance pioneers is often overlooked; first, though, came a more rocky sound, as evidenced on their fourth session for the BBC (and the second for longtime supporter, the much missed Janice Long). Can’t Take No More, however, was actually one of their earliest songs; a re-recorded version went to No.1 on the indie charts and just missed the Top 50 in the UK. Session includes another future single in Kingdom Chairs and the instrumental Cow Nest, never before released. Sleeve notes by Ross Sinclair; mastered by Sean Dickson. Includes download codes and a set of postcards.

TRACK LISTING

Can’t Take No More
Kingdom Chairs
Cow Nest
Turning Stone

“I love this session. Four great songs full of hooks. All of them under the three-minute mark. La-la-la singalongs. Shiny guitars. What more do you want?” Gideon Coe

From Perth in Scotland, This Poison! released two classic late 80s singles on the Wedding Present’s Reception Records and that was it. Apart from this stunning Peel session, featuring four songs that never saw the light of day on vinyl during the band’s lifetime. “Rip-roaring stuff!” said John Peel, and he wasn’t wrong. Package also includes download codes, sleeve notes from Derek Moir and a set of postcards – among them one from the great man himself sent to the band, a must for any Peel devotees.

TRACK LISTING

1. Question Mark (Peel Session) 02:13
2. St Johnstoun (Peel Session) 02:45
3. Driving Skills (Peel Session) 02:15
4. It'll All Work Out (Peel Session) 02:07

On vinyl for the first time, this is the only BBC session ever recorded by legendary 1980s indie pioneers Hurrah!, featuring an early version of their fabled second single ‘Hip Hip’ alongside three more bursts of immaculate guitar pop. Comes with a set of postcards – first 250 copies signed by Paul Handyside and Taffy Hughes, who have also provided sleeve notes. Postcards also feature excerpts from the Kitchenware fanzine, the first-ever group photo shoot and a Bleddyn Butcher photo; Bleddyn also did the cover. And download codes, of course.

TRACK LISTING

1. Hip Hip (Jensen Session) 02:40
2. Saturday’s Train (Jensen Session) 03:10
3. This Boy (Jensen Session) 02:59
4. Lonely Room (Jensen Session) 04:36

Third and final Hefner contribution to the Precious singles series … and what a contribution it is, a session from Steve Lamacq’s ‘Live Lounge’ with a Jonathan Richman cover in the mix. The download will also include ‘The Hymn For The Cigarettes’, which the band played live into the show from Maida Vale. Plus the package includes a set of four 'Hefner does DiY' postcards by Darren Hayman, which any self-respecting fan will surely want. And he's done his usual top job on the sleeve notes.

TRACK LISTING

1. The Weight Of The Stars (Lamacq Session) 02:57
2. The Hymn For The Things We Didn't Do (Lamacq Session) 03:38
3. Every Little Gesture (Lamacq Session) 04:04
4. To Hide A Little Thought (Lamacq Session) 03:04

Indie favourites Hefner were to become regulars at the BBC’s Maida Vale Studios with both Steve Lamacq and John Peel vying for their services. This is the group’s first-ever BBC session, recorded for Lamacq soon after the release of their debut LP; among the four songs is live favourite Twisting Mary’s Arm, which was usually the closing song of their live set. According to Darren Hayman, they intended never to record it but eventually relented. Gatefold package also includes free downloads of original BBC files and a set of postcards.

TRACK LISTING

1. The Librarian (Lamacq Session) 04:17
2. Tactile (Lamacq Session) 04:53
3. May God Protect Your Home (Lamacq Session) 04:11
4. Twisting Mary's Arm (Lamacq Session) 05:04

Here's the explosive second Peel session from the masters of discord (or should that be dischord?). You'll want this for 'Deanshanger' alone but the rest's pretty good too – including two previously tracks – made up on the spot according to the group. Features a set of postcards, download codes and sleeve notes from Linda telling us how relieved she was to miss out on TOTP.

TRACK LISTING

1. Slash/Oblique (Peel Session) 04:19
2. Deanshanger (Peel Session) 04:59
3. Outside Of It (Peel Session) 06:34
4. Place Called Clock (Peel Session) 03:56

On vinyl for the fist time, this is Prolapse's spectacular debut session for John Peel, featuring divergent versions of a couple of classics and the previously unreleased 'Broken Cormorant', the subject of much debate among devotees down the years. As usual, comes with a set of postcards – among them a Joe Dilworth contact sheet – plus download codes for the BBC WAVs. And sleeve notes from Scottish Mick.

TRACK LISTING

1. Serpico (Peel Session) 05:40
2. Doorstop Rhythmic Bloc (Peel Session) 04:49
3. When Space Invaders Were Big (Peel Session) 04:25
4. Broken Cormorant (Peel Session) 05:21

“The Jasmine Minks were the first real Creation band – their single ‘Think!’ was the fourth single we put out. An amazing unknown gem of a band. Working-class heroes – to me, anyway.” Alan McGee

Formed in Aberdeen in 1983, the Jasmine Minks were one of the original artists on Alan McGee’s fledgling Creation label and regulars at the storied Living Room. They recorded several classic singles for the label – among them ‘Think!’, ‘What’s Happening?!’ and ‘Cold Heart’ – plus a number of LPs. These recordings are their only two sessions for the BBC.

This session for the legendary John Peel show, features the band’s original line-up with powerhouse songwriting duo Jim Shepherd and Adam Sanderson; among tracks included are ‘The Ballad of Johnny Eye’ and ‘Cry For A Man’, both favourites with their fans. 

TRACK LISTING

The Ballad Of Johnny Eye
Cry For A Man
You Take My Freedom
I Don't Know