After the sold-out release of their Peel sessions, Prolapse return to Precious Recordings of London for an album featuring two blistering sessions recorded for Mary Anne Hobbs’s Breezeblock on BBC Radio 1.

Prolapse like to do something special on their visits to Auntie, and these two live four-song outings (from 1997 and ’98) were no different in that respect. With both sessions aired completely live – one from the BBC’s legendary Maida Vale Studios, the other from Golders Green Hippodrome – they even made up two songs on the spot, ‘Golfer’s Elbow’ and ‘XA14 1997’. What were they thinking?

Neither of those recordings has ever been available before on vinyl, and they feature here as part of a collection that straddles ‘The Italian Flag’ and ‘Ghosts Of Dead Aeroplanes’ albums.

Let’s just say it’s eclectic: alongside favourites such as ‘T.C.R.’ and ‘Killing The Bland’, a song like ‘Return Of Shoes’ has hardly ever been played live so this version is also something of a deep cut, a rare gem or whatever you like to call it.

There’s a spontaneity here – possibly due to the band’s anxiety that these sessions were going out live to a sizeable audience, and what would happen if a guitar lead decided to stop working just before going on air?

Either way, the resulting sessions offer a taste of the late 90s band at full pelt, and as such this new release is a compellingly accurate snapshot of the band at that time.

They’re still going strong, by the way. Fast forward to 2025 and ‘I Wonder When They’re Going To Destroy Your Face’, the first new Prolapse album of the millennium, was released on Tapete Records in August 2025; at the end of the year, they were voted number one in the Festive Fifty on Dandelion Radio with ‘On The Quarter Days’.

Featuring well-known Prolapse favourites, some rarities and some oddball offerings – plus sleeve notes from the band and previously unseen images – the sessions LP is available in a limited edition of 600.

TRACK LISTING

1. Government Of Spain
2. Tunguska
3. Return Of Shoes
4. Golfer's Elbow
5. TCR
6. Killing The Bland
7. XA14 1997
8. One Ilness, 74 Tablets

Sha-na-na-na-na, na-na-na …

Everyone’s favourite Copenhagen-based indie-poppers Josie return with their second single. You might even recognise 'Oh Boy!' from their live shows – it’s the one that starts off a bit slower and has lovely twin vocals – while the B-side is 91 seconds of frantic, crashing Josie goodness.

Everybody played in everybody else’s band within the late-80s Edinburgh indie community – and the Fizzbombs were no exception, featuring members of Jesse Garon and the Desperadoes, the Shop Assistants and Secret Goldfish, amongst various others.

Much loved for their indie surf-punk sound, they managed only two ‘proper’ releases – until now, that is, when their BBC session for Janice Long is finally released as part of the ongoing series on Precious Recordings of London.

Alongside Fizzbombs originals like 'Beach Party' and 'Blue Summer', the session features a Neil Diamond cover (then known as ‘The Neil Diamond One’, it’s actually 'Cherry, Cherry' – either with or without a comma. We’re saying ‘with’). Plus a never-before-released song, 'It’s Not As Simple As That'.

As you may have worked out, we love an Edinburgh band round these parts – which explains why we’ve already released the Desperadoes, the Motorcycle Boy, the Green Telescope, the Vultures and the Twinsets. So don’t miss the Fizzbombs!

Limited edition ten-inch vinyl with download codes, previously unseen images and sleeve notes by Fizzbombs founders Margarita Vazquez Ponte and Angus McPake.

TRACK LISTING

1. Beach Party
2. Blue Summer
3. It's Not As Simple As That
4. The Neil Diamond One (Cherry, Cherry)

The latest signings to the Precious roster are Alta Zuma, a Manchester based four-piece featuring former members of The Bodines and The Waltones.

Featuring three tracks brimming with the group’s signature off-kilter indie pop, 'The Rosenbergs' EP is released on limited edition 7-inch to coincide with support slots with The Loft in Manchester and London.

'The Rosenbergs' is a heady cocktail of melodic sounds. The three songs were recorded and mixed at Eve Studios, Stockport, by Martin King – the acclaimed studios which have welcomed Bruce Springsteen, Albert Hammond Jr, Doves, Badly Drawn Boy, Jane Weaver and many more – and mastered by Jim Spencer (New Order, The Charlatans, Johnny Marr et al).

‘The Summer They Killed The Rosenbergs’ ruminates on those times when we wander away from what really matters, wrapped in a vibrant melodic earworm of a tune, while ‘The Way That You Held Me’ tells the tale of a love buried deep within a troubled soul. ‘Wild Poppy’ is all about escapism and the powerful desire to get away from the urban sprawl – all neatly captured in a gorgeous harmony-infused blast of melody with trumpets courtesy of Matteo Fernandes from the band Tigers And Flies.

Combining melodic guitar riffs and basslines with vocal harmonies, and a powerfully dynamic rhythm backbone, Alta Zuma create a sound that’s gloriously catchy, twisted with intensity and drenched in a dreamy energetic fuzz. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: Lovely, classic indie-pop from, would you believe it, original members of the Waltones (Mark from the Charlatans' first band) and the Bodines.

TRACK LISTING

1. The Summer They Killed The Rosenbergs
2. The Way That You Held Me
3. Wild Poppy

Not fake news; it’s true! Cult Figures shall return to your hi-fis with their fourth album, 'Reports Of People'. It’s a melody map of the world’s collective madness transporting the listener from pop to punk and back again; visiting every station en route.

Since forming in Birmingham in 1977, Cult Figures have utilised this thing called music to plumb the depths and scale the peaks of the human condition. Over the years, they have at times walked among us here on earth and, at other times, they’ve been … somewhere else (not prison).

Anyway, here they are and they’ve made a record that’s slightly darker, a bit more eclectic; but still indubitably Cult Figures. Zip Nolan would approve. That bloke out of Pink Floyd once said that a band consists of a drummer, a bassist and a collection of novelty acts. Quite right. Alongside the Wrecked Crew of Stuart and Lee, you’re gonna groove with Jon and Steve on guitars and the dulcet tones of Fraser channelling his inner highland chieftain for dear life.

So, what’s it all about? There are eleven tracks in a cardboard sleeve with an enigmatic photograph. Shakespeare might have summed the thing up as a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. But it’s so much more. 'Music Of Fear' will tickle anyone who has entertained thoughts of killing their boss. 'The Abductee' is a tale of alien abduction, or perhaps it’s about losing an afternoon in a Wetherspoon’s pub. 'Death Of A Thousand Cuts' is when your partner chooses to leave you but wants to tape your albums first.

Scum charts the diverging paths of childhood friends and features a coda straight outta Mott The Hoople. Legacy Hand is that jarring feeling of being left behind by modern life. And the driving beat, cool harmonies and nutty guitar of Walking Disaster do exactly what it says on the tin.

So, raid that piggy bank and buy a copy to reveal the rest of the story. But let it be known that the penultimate punker is Lunatic Friend. Quite appropriate really; we’ve all got one

TRACK LISTING

1. Music Of Fear
2. The Abductee
3. Death Of A Thousand Cuts
4. Legacy Hand
5. Dangerous Boy
6. Walking Disaster
7. Rose Bucket
8. Space Invader
9. Badly In Love
10. Lunatic Friend
11. Scum

The International Pop Underground is alive and well and living at Precious Recordings of London! The newest additions to the label fold are Coup Dur, a yé-yé-flavoured Belgian-French trio born after the internet.

Formed in late 2024 and based between Brussels, Strasbourg and Antwerp, the group features Avril De Broucker (Lavomatic) on guitar, Clémence D’Hulst (Fake Empire) on bass and César Laloux (Ada Oda) on drums.

With their sparkling, tender French songs tinged with acid romanticism and garage rock accents, the band invites us to do the twist amid an era of doomscrolling, bad dates with egotists, Basic-Fit centres and online masterclasses on how to become a serial entrepreneur. France Gall would be delighted by their indie take on a beloved 60s genre.

‘Mon Amie’, which focuses on the fantasy of a friendly break-up, offers an accurate representation of the group’s playful pop stylings. Expect more of the same on their fantastic eight-song EP, written between February and April 2025, then recorded and mixed in just two days by Rafael ‘Tuff Guac’ Valles Hilario in Antwerp.

A founding gesture, concise and carried out with urgency, reflecting the music it produces: direct, spontaneous, without detours or superfluity. The title of the EP echoes the band’s amusement – and astonishment – at seeing this first record released on an English label, Precious Recordings of London.

We really do want Coup Dur!

TRACK LISTING

1. Mon Amie
2. J’avais Pas Pensé À Ça
3. Bigger Fish In The Sea
4. J’attendrai
5. Ça Me Vexe
6. Tu Dis Des Choses
7. Encore Un Mythe
8. De La Lumière

Whisper it quietly, but Jasmine Minks frontman Jim Shepherd has created his masterpiece with 'Be Careful What You Wish For', his new album with The Pillars of Creation on the Precious Recordings of London label.

Let’s not call them a ‘supergroup’ – though the ensemble does indeed feature former stalwarts of Alan McGee’s iconic Creation label, headed by The Loft’s Dave Morgan, on drums and synths, and doing the honours on production and mixing). In fact, although this is the first album credited to The Pillars of Creation, it’s really the band’s second after 'The Circle', released in 2022 (on Spinout Nuggets) and credited as a Shepherd solo effort.

However, 'The Circle' featured most core members, who also played on live shows to accompany its release. Now they’re back together for an epic record that represents a radical departure. And one thing’s for sure: the new album is not a record beholden to a typically C86 or early Creation sound.

Layers of sound, beautifully crafted arrangements, strings, spoken word and an 18-minute mini rock opera that takes up almost a whole side. "Ooh, sounds a bit prog!” Yeah yeah, what-evs!

“'Be Careful What You Wish For' was written in a brief period when I took a month off work, because my son was very ill,” says Shepherd.

“I would just sit with him, and my wife Gemma suggested that I write songs while I was sitting around for hours, so out of that came 14 new songs, including an 18-minute suite of songs, based on (and named after) Maurice Maeterlinck’s 'Bluebird', a play about learning to accept reality.

“The songs poured out of me, whether I was being inspired by listening to Prince or watching the news about refugees in boats or reading novels about faraway lands … I wanted to convey optimism but darkness creeps in too. I wouldn’t change a note: everything the guys contributed is perfect.”

TRACK LISTING

1. Be Careful What You Wish For
2. One Way Home
3. Strange Kind Of Lovin'
4. The Eyes That See
5. Aide De Camp
6. The Sea
7. Bluebird
8. I Walk The Path

Blueboy continue their extraordinary comeback with the haunting
‘Stardust’, the third in a triumvirate of memorable seven-inch singles
for Precious Recordings of London.

Having announced their unlikely return with ‘One’ and ‘Deux’ and a
sell-out anniversary show at the Water Rats in London for their cult
album ‘Unisex’ (subsequently compiled on a breathtaking live LP),
Blueboy last year released the highly acclaimed digital album ‘A Life
in Numbers’.

Now they return with the spectacular ‘Stardust’, which sees a return
to the shimmering guitars and sweeping vocals that have exemplified
this latter-day incarnation of the legendary Sarah Records artistes.
Backed with an exclusive acoustic version of album track ‘Five
Minutes’, ‘Stardust’ is released in a limited edition of 350.

TRACK LISTING

1. Stardust
2. Five Minutes (Acoustic)

A stunning mix of Northern Soul, machine-like beats, electroclash, slogans and agitpop, Age of Chance were one of the most exciting groups to emerge during the C86 era. They certainly didn’t sound like anybody else, that’s for sure.

An uncompromising live act, Age of Chance were frantic and frenetic – and they even dallied with the mainstream via their version of Prince’s 'Kiss'. Janglepop this is not.

Now, not before time, their three sessions for BBC Radio 1 are collected by Precious Recordings of London as part of the label’s ongoing series. And for good measure, we’ve included both sides of their first two incredible groundbreaking singles – 'Motorcity' and 'Bible Of The Beats', both unavailable in any form for decades.

“That time was so exciting,” recalls frontman Steve Elvidge. “From the moment Peel played 'Motorcity' the day after he received it, to working up 'Kiss' specially for the second session. We all loved it and danced to it, but we wanted it to have our sound – the guitars, the hip-hop beats. I wished we’d recorded 'How The West Was Won' on the first LP. It’s still one of the best things we’ve done.”

Guitarist Neil Howson described the progression of the BBC recordings, saying: “In the first session we’d focussed on a percussive and rhythmic sound, and into the second, we’d developed a broader scope, added open chords, harmonics and dynamic breaks. That informed 'From Now On', 'This Will Be Your God', which we wrote for C86; we wanted to experiment and try something more extreme than just a pop song.

STAFF COMMENTS

Laura says: This collection of Age of Chance's four Peel Sessions spans just a couple of years, and captures the band's rapid evolution: from the punchy, percussion-heavy rumble of their early recordings to their later electro-infused sound. Naturally their legendary cover of Prince's "Kiss" makes an appearance! The early 1980s was a period when musical boundaries were dissolving: indie kids were listening to hip hop, electro, reggae, soul, and dub and like many of their contemporaries (including Manc favourites bIG flAME), Age of Chance drew these diverse influences into their own distinctive sound.

TRACK LISTING

1. Mob! Hut!!
2. The Going Going Gone Man
3. Morning After The Sixties
4. I Don't Know And I Don't Care
5. Motorcity
6. Everlasting Yeah!
7. Bible Of The Beats
8. Liquid Jungle
9. Kiss
10. How The West Was Won
11. Be Fast Be Clean Be Cheap
12. From Now On This Will Ne Your God
13. Shut Up And Listen
14. Hold On
15. Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Noise? 

Featuring an array of Glasgow’s pop glitterati, 'Duglas Stewart’s Frankenstein' is the lost BMX Bandits masterpiece. Except that now it’s been found.

Originally released only on CD in 1996, this new vinyl version can be regarded as a ‘director’s cut’ – enhanced, expanded, featuring the group’s cult hero leader Duglas and a cast of pals including the likes of Norman Blake and Francis Macdonald (Teenage Fanclub), Sushil K Dade (Soup Dragons), Joe McAlinden (Superstar), Stuart Kidd, David Scott, Mitch Mitchell and Bill Wells. Plus lots of others. As well as a selection of Bandits originals and new tracks (such as the 'Blakepenned Slow Fade'), '...Frankenstein' also features covers of songs by Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys, Randy Newman and more.

“The album is our most lo-fi album and it contains more cover versions than we would usually have on an album but it still feels very personal to me,” says Duglas. “It had a strong influence on much of the material that BMX Bandits went on to make after my long-term partner-in-pop Francis Macdonald’s departure from the group in 2005.”

The album begins with the magical 'Unbreakable Heart', which Duglas describes as “one of my favourite recordings I’ve ever been involved in … it was just the three of us (Norman, Frank and me) at Norman’s flat in Glasgow.”

However, Duglas says the album never felt complete to him, explaining: “With this reissue I wanted to bring some other tracks to the album that felt like they belonged in the world of Duglas Stewart’s Frankenstein. So here it is. I am very proud of this album.”

TRACK LISTING

1. Unbreakable Heart 
2. Hey Little Tomboy
3. Daddy Daddy
4. Stupid
5. Tones
6. Airmail
7. Snow
8. Into The Moon
9. Do Your Thing (feat. The Wellgreen)
10. Very
11. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
12. Tones #2
13. Title Track
14. Gaelic Guru
15. Hello Young Lovers
16. Slow Fade
17. And Yes I'm Still Stupid

A special new four-track limited-edition EP from the one and only Helen Love.

TRACK LISTING

1. An Ordinary Lovers' Story
2. I'm In Love With You
3. Plastic Heart
4. New Flame

Post-cool or too old to care? The Lovely Basement say that they set out to mix alt-country with the Velvet Underground. They also say they failed, but quite like the result.

So, what do you find in The Lovely Basement? A beautiful slice of alt-countrystyle. Americana, infused with the sensibilities of the aforementioned Velvet Underground – and a chopping guitar that wouldn’t sound out of place on an album by the VU’s British counterpart, Fairport Convention.

Since the release in 2019 of their first album, 'Just Because You Can', The Lovely Basement have drawn admiring glances from all over the place: “the sweetness of Yo La Tengo and the raggedness of The Pastels”; “not dissimilar to Paisley Underground veterans the Dream Syndicate”; “tossing off songs with the looseness of early Faces”.

The single Cornstalk Girl was the first offering from Lowlands and was picked up by Radio 6 Music’s Gideon Coe, a long-time supporter of the band’s output. Mention was also given to the “excellent” B-side cover of Beat Happening’s 'Angel Gone'. Vocals for the album were recorded by John Parish (PJ Harvey, Howe Gelb, Eels) who stumbled across the band playing live locally and stayed!

Like all Lovely Basement records, Lowlands eloquently covers a range of subjects. From musings on sentience, inequality, globalisation, even theology, to the deep need to hunker down with good friends when the world outside gets too much, all find an often wry voice in this shimmering collection of finely crafted songs.

TRACK LISTING

1. Cornstalk Girl
2. Fifth Column
3. Small Fleas
4. Black Jumper On
5. Lowlands
6. Rest Now Lucy
7. Barabbas
8. Dust Patterns
9. Mostly Wrong
10. Goodbye

Sticking out like a flower-patterned thumb amid the grey and brown hues of the serious boys in the early 2000s Cardiff music scene, The Loves soon established themselves as a band who categorically didn’t listen to Radiohead.

Their debut single (Little Girl Blues b/w She’ll Break Your Heart) soon caught the ear of John Peel, who invited them in to record a session for his programme. As the feedback echoed at the end of When My Baby Comes, he commented: “I bet they’re a riot live … maybe we should get them in for a live one?”

And so it came to pass that The Loves – led by the eponymous Simon Love – did indeed perform a seven-song live session for Peel. Broadcast from the BBC’s Maida Vale Studios in September 2001, this provides the bulk of the first side of this, The Loves Live at the BBC album. Track eight is a cover of Queen’s You’re My Best Friend, also broadcast live from Peel Acres a bit later on.

The Loves went on to record three more sessions for Peel in an 18-month period, as well as touring with high-profile groups such as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Cribs.

Over the next decade or so, The Loves released four smash-packed albums – Love, Technicolour, Three and Love You – plus several indie-hit singles like Boom-A-Bang-Bang-Bang, Xs And Os and December Boy, named 6 Music Single of the Week by Radcliffe & Maconie. Versions of all these songs appear on The Loves Live at the BBC.

They also recorded a lot more live sessions for Marc Riley, who does the honours on side two of the new album with eight songs recorded for his show, culminating in another cover in the shape of the Velvet Underground’s Guess I’m Falling In Love.

As the seasons changed, so did the membership of the group and by 2011, it was estimated they’d gone through 37 members and had played many gigs all over the world with such contemporaries as Darren Hayman, The Lovely Eggs and Comet Gain (to name but three).In 2024, they released a career retrospective vinyl double album, True Love – The Most Of The Loves.

Now the best of their live work at the BBC is collated on this new LP, which is released as part of the ongoing sessions series on Precious Recordings of London.

TRACK LISTING

1. Depeche Mode (Peel)
2. She'll Break Your Heart (Peel)
3. Little Girl Blues (Peel)
4. Boom-A-Bang-Bang-Bang (Peel) 02:39
5. Shake Yr Bones (Peel)
6. I’m Gonna Get Fucked Up (Peel)
7. Just Like Bobby D (Peel)
8. You’re My Best Friend (Peel)
9. Xs And Os (Riley)
10. Honey (Riley)
11. The Ex-Gurlfriend (Riley)
12. Sweet Sister Delia (Riley)
13. Can You Feel My Heart Beat? (Riley)
14. Bubblegum (Riley)
15. December Boy (Riley)
16. Guess I’m Falling In Love (Riley)

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 …

“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

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

"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

“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)

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

“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

“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