In May 1976 a record was released that would have an unforeseen and lasting impact on the music industry “Ten Percent” by Double Exposure was an early release on the New York independent label Salsoul Records. America was in the grip of a disco explosion with new clubs opening on a weekly basis; Salsoul saw what was happening and swiftly created a sound for their label, heavily influenced by the music then coming out of Philadelphia, aimed directly at New York’s dance-floors. Records like “Salsoul Hustle,” “Tangerine” and “You’re Just The Right Size” by The Salsoul Orchestra borrowed heavily from the beautifully orchestrated Philadelphia International records but added a more percussive, bass heavy depth that New York’s DJs loved. So what was so special about this particular single then? Double Exposure was, after all, just another band, “Ten Percent” just another song; one of many “disco” records released that week. First of all Salsoul became the first record label to make a twelve inch single available to Joe Public - the exotic format was previously only available to DJs as promotional items or bought under the counter at certain record stores. Not only that though, the extended version was created by Walter Gibbons, a DJ at New York’s Galaxy 21 who’d built his reputation making exclusive versions of tracks to play in his sets.

In 1976 it was unheard of for a DJ to set foot in a recording studio, being seen as little more than living jukeboxes by the serious music industry. Recording studios were strictly the domain of recording artists and producers so Walter found himself in a unique position, gaining access to a world no DJ had been granted before.

Or so we thought...
The Men In The Glass Booth tells the full story. Featuring ground breaking re-edits and remixes by some of the Disco era's most influential DJs including Walter Gibbons, Bobby DJ Guttadaro, Tom Savarese, Jellybean Benitez, Tee Scott and John Luongo, this opulent release also includes a 40 page book which features exclusive photos and insights from some of the story's key figures.

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: BBE answer the prayers of all us non-millionaire disco fans, taking us on a journey through the alternative 12" history via this exhaustive collection of acetates and DJ edits. Mega!

'Come Beautify The Night' by interdisciplinary artist and musician Otis Mensah combines avant-garde musical-form with traditional elements of rap-flow & cadence, reflecting on the body as landscape across seven movements. The album marks a seminal evolution as Otis' compositional debut, with an abstractionist approach to sound and form that obscures the borders between self and place. Beginning inception in the North of England and drawing to a close in Berlin, the colliding dark / light textures and tonal shifts of 'Come Beautify The Night' inhabit the nature of transition and the rewriting home - teetering between rurality to metropolarity.

The album unfolds with Otis leading on piano and voice, breaking into untamed, nonlinear jazz-signatures that erode its seemingly classical form, the album remains in constant pursuit of autonomy. The seven tracks move through dusk, dawn, and nightfall, representing the body's liminal journey in dislocation, to chosen kinship/belonging, and collective resistance. Each song begins with piano & evolves into grand textured soundscapes and improvisational dialogue with a vast array of musicians and artists from Georgia Anne Muldrow to LIE NING.

The "Night" refers to that which is subdued and erased whilst the act of "beautifying" exists as a ritual of resistance. The adornment of one's self, the queering of gender, and the encryption of written and spoken language present themselves as oppositional modes of fierce defiance when one's identity and sense of home are at stake. 

TRACK LISTING

1. The Night Was Wet and Enduring (feat. LIE NING)
2. A Fire Named Homecoming (feat. Adebola Oyekanmi)
3. Blue Legged Exodus (feat. Savanna Morgan, Alexander Cromer)
4. They Can't Colonise The Spirit (feat. Adebola Oyekanmi)
5. Orisons Of The Body That Soared (feat. Marysia Osu, Hamza Mohammed Beg)
6. Black Requiem Of Burnt Lips (feat. Marysia Osu)
7. Prayerhands and Headnods (feat. Georgia Anne Muldrow) 

A globe-spanning reimagining of bossa nova from legendary Brazilian composer Roberto Menescal and vocalist Muca.

Rooted in rhythmic subtlety and melodic intimacy, Beleza draws on MPB, soul, and folk to create what Muca describes as "a global choir built on a bossa nova foundation", honouring the tradition while reaching toward something genuinely new.

Highlights include a track featuring vocalist Sofia Grant, whose folk-jazz sensibility moves lightly across the keys before giving way to stirring strings. The lyrics were written by acclaimed British poet and songwriter L.A. Salami, bringing his signature literary depth to one of the album's most poignant moments.

In keeping with bossa nova's literal meaning, "new wave", Menescal set out to find fresh voices and ideas. The result is an album that bridges Brazilian culture past and present, as alive with discovery as the movement that inspired it.

TRACK LISTING

1. A Beleza De Ser
2. Versos Singelos 
3. Ladeira
4. Jureia 
5. Todo Samba 
6. Mulher Assim 
7. Midnight Lullaby 
8. Every Little Thing
9. Playing On The Loose Fields 
10. Blue Rain 
11. Dance With You 
12. Feeling When It Comes

'Everything I Ever Saw' finds The Menzingers entering a new era in what's already been a storied career.

The Philadelphia punk legends' eighth album chronicles moments of significant change-- the personal, the political, and the universal-- while returning to the core creative principles that first put them on the map with listeners the world over. Twenty years in, The Menzingers have discovered that the wisdom gained with time's passing is even stronger than the emotional armor they once wore in their youth, and 'Everything I Ever Saw' captures the quartet embracing the here and now while strengthening the bonds that have held them together.

The Menzingers have always created as a four- headed unit, with all members (vocalist/ guitarist Greg Barnett, vocalist/ guitarist Tom May, bassist Eric Keen, drummer Joe Godino) throwing in their respective talents as part of the craft--but for 'Everything I Ever Saw', the group worked in creative symbiosis more than ever before. "The way we made this record feels the most like how the band was in the very beginning: Me and Tom coming to the band with the most basic element of a song, and the four of us shaping that," Barnett says.

Instrumental in building that excitement was locally centered and nationally renowned production legend Will Yip, who threw in with the Menzingers on 2017's 'After the Party' and their sonically expansive 2019 record 'Hello Exile'. This time around, Yip once again became an unofficial Menzinger while the band crafted these 11 songs in their South Philly space. "Working with Will was like a homecoming," May beams while talking about Yip's contributions. "We've grown up together over these years, and we're still incredibly close friends. He's the best at gassing you up and making sure everybody's on the right page, but he's also so good at pointing out stuff that might not fit the vision without being a fucking prick. He's the hardest working person that we've come across in the music industry, and he's incredibly inspiring."

TRACK LISTING

1. Chance Encounters
2. Better Angels
3. Romanticism
4. Other People's Money
5. Gasoline & Matches 
6. The Fool 
7. Nobody's Heroes
8. Breathe With Me
9. When She Enters My Dreams
10. Parade Day
11. Everything I Ever Saw

Yum Yum Records launches its first vinyl release with label heads and duo Cal & Al, introducing "The Valley Mentality EP".

A friendship that started and grew into a project from many years of sharing moments shaped by digging, playing, listening and creating together.

A full Welsh affair, the EP features three original cuts alongside a remix from fellow Welshman Harrison BDP — four groove laden and drum driven tracks with an ambiguous tonal edge, built for open minded dance floors and introspective moments alike.

With this debut physical release, Yum Yum Records sets the tone for what’s to come…

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Techy and dubby, with a bit of rastaman vox thrown in for good measure, Cal & Al cement their sound in fine style for their label's vinyl debut. If you dug the Ark To Ashes and recent Mysticisms vibe, I know you're gonna dig this...

TRACK LISTING

A1.Jump and Twist
A2.Tell U (Deep Mix)
B1.Jump and Twist (Harrison BDP Remix)
B2.Tie Your Shoes Lace

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2026 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 18TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM (BST) ON MONDAY APRIL 20th).

Limited Red Vinyl pressing for RSD 2026. Remastered for vinyl. The Men They Couldn’t Hang release their classic album ‘Devil On The Wind’ on vinyl. Recorded in 2009 at Perry Vale Studios, London, SE23, with legendary British producer Pat Collier and originally released to coincide with 25th anniversary of The Men They Couldn't Hang’s debut gig at the ‘Alternative Country Festival’ in Camden Town’s Electric Ballroom. Previously, the album was only available on CD through Robb Johnson's Irregular Records label. Now, for the first time, it is being released as a limited-edition vinyl by VINYL STAR RECORDS, featuring a distinctive red pressing. ‘Devil on the Wind’ combines the bands famed live ferocity and undiminished lyricism to create an essential rock folk hybrid very much relevant in these volatile modern times. This essential release highlights the heart and soul of The Men They Couldn’t Hang - as someone once said, The Clash jamming with The Byrds!

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A. 1 Devil On The Wind 2 The Ragged Shoreline 3 Beast Of Brechfa 4 Mrs. Avery 5 Reservoir.

SIDE B. 6 Overseas 7 Heartbreak Park 8 Aquamarine 9 A Real Rain Coming 10 Lost World 11 Hard To Find

'All Is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade'. It may sound a little strange, but the title and beating heart of Icelandic indie-folk collective Of Monsters and Men’s fourth album hits a lot closer to home than you’d expect. A tapestry of stories, moments, and conversations, the album explores how love and pain intertwine. Feelings that might seem at odds with each other, but co-exist simultaneously and need one another. Tales both big and small — from the loneliness and longing of living in a block surrounded by strangers, to missed connections in a grocery store, to the lives and losses of a community of mice in a vacant house during winter.

Of Monsters and Men went from Reykjavík to the global stage with their breakout 2011 debut 'My Head Is An Animal', which propelled them from Icelandic indie darlings to international chart-toppers. The album’s breakout single 'Little Talks', a defining song for a generation, now boasts over 1 billion Spotify streams.

Amid their meteoric rise, the band released their sophomore album 'Beneath The Skin' in 2015, which debuted in the Top 3 of the Billboard 200 and was accompanied by a surprise cameo on HBO’s huge hit series Game of Thrones. Their cinematic sound has popped up everywhere from The Hunger Games to The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, while their festival appearances — Coachella, Glastonbury, Lollapalooza, and more.

Over a decade in, the band have gone from folk-tinged newcomers to digital-era mainstays, with 9 million monthly listeners on Spotify and a new generation discovering that Iceland’s beauty extends beyond fjords and thermal baths. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Television Love
2. Dream Team
3. The Actor
4. Tuna In A Can
5. Barefoot In Snow
6. Fruit Bat
7. Kamikaze
8. The Towering Skyscraper At The End Of The Road
9. Ordinary Creature
10. Styrofoam Cathedral
11. The Block
12. Mouse Parade
13. The End

Back in 2005, Seattle quintet Minus the Bear were riding the wave of a swift upward trajectory with their blend of ‘90s mathrock fretboard savvy, early ‘00s electro-indie textural depth, and the wistful melodicism of the more mature strain of Midwest emo. So it was an interesting time for the band to undergo a stylistic sea change. Looking beyond their fellow guitar slingers, Minus the Bear instead found inspiration in the more adventurous pop producers of the era and went full steam ahead with a revamped sound of glitchy guitar loops, modern R&B rhythms, and swirling electronic tapestries on their 2005 sophomore album 'Menos el Oso'. The stylistic shift was a gamble in the waning years of indie rock orthodoxy, but the risk paid off and Minus the Bear’s popularity exploded. Twenty years later, 'Menos el Oso' still sounds fresh and vibrant while simultaneously capturing the essence of a specific era where the rules and formulas of guitar-forward music were breaking down. To celebrate the album’s anniversary, Suicide Squeeze Records and Minus the Bear are offering up 'Menos el Oso - 20th Anniversary Edition'.

'Menos el Oso - 20th Anniversary Edition' expands the original LP into a double album featuring five demos mastered by Ed Brooks at Resonant Mastering on side C and an etching by Cory Murchy on side D. These early incarnations of four 'Menos el Oso' tracks and 'I’m Totally Not Down With Rob’s Alien' from the 'They Make Beer Commercials Like This' EP showcase how razor-sharp and sonically satisfying Minus the Bear were even when their songs were still being workshopped. As companion pieces to the album, these alternate takes shine a light on the creative process of a band undergoing a sonic evolution while also just being solid standalone tracks.

TRACK LISTING

1. The Game Needed Me
2. Memphis & 53rd
3. Drilling
4. The Fix
5. El Torrente
6. Pachuca Sunrise
7. Michio's Death Drive
8. Hooray
9. Fulfill The Dream
10. The Pig War
11. This Ain't A Surfin' Movie
12. Hooray (Demo)
13. Drilling (Demo)
14. The Pig War (Demo)
15. Michio's Death Drive (Demo)
16. I'm Totally Not Down With Rob's Alien (Demo)

'Men in Love' is a collaborative concept album by Irvine Welsh and The Sci-Fi Soul Orchestra, exploring the complexities of love, relationships, and the human condition. The album blends classic Motown and disco influences with contemporary electronic dance production, creating a unique and powerful sound that is both nostalgic and fresh.

From soaring anthems to intimate ballads, 'Men in Love' takes the listener on a journey through the highs and lows of romance, celebrating the power of connection, vulnerability, and the enduring search for love in a chaotic world.

The album will be released concurrently with Welsh's new novel, also titled 'Men in Love'. The book is a sequel to Welsh's seminal work, Trainspotting, and continues the story of Renton, Sick Boy, Spud, Begbie, and other beloved characters. The album serves as a sonic companion to the novel, with its themes, lyrics, and musical atmosphere reflecting the experience and inner turmoil of its characters. The album also introduces The Sci-Fi Soul Orchestra, a unique musical entity with their own unique music releases in the pipeline”

BUT, WHY DISCO?

“In uncertain times, dominated by the ascendancy of soul dead oligarchs, their corrosive technology and looting economics, the great positive constant for humanity remains our infinite capacity for love.

Music is still the medium by which we bypass their reductive, low frequency world, and if we can sing and dance and express our collective love in joy and rapture, we render their pathetic schemes the irrelevant sideshows they deserve to be.

One of the greatest musical forms in delivering that ecstasy has been discotheque music. No matter how confused our men (and women) have been in the quest for love, as we are forced to earn a living to pay for our fun, our real predilections are to party like it’s 2099. So don’t diss the disco, let’s dance away the heartache or die trying, because nothing else makes any sense.”

Irvine Welsh

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Absolute sweat-dripping, glitteRball spinning, tight-trouser wearing, arm waving disco from... :checks notes: Irvine Welsh & The Sci-Fi Soul Orchestra. Why not eh? Brilliant it is too.

TRACK LISTING

1. A Man In Love With Love
2. You Gotta Be Strong
3. Damn Straight
4. Saviour
5. Love At Last
6. Supply Lines Of Love
7. A Whole New Side Of Me
8. Dreams
9. Men In Love

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

New Original Soundtrack done by The Liminanas with David Menke. 100% new original song. This RSD Vinyl to be the only physical release.

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2025 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 12TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 14th.

‘Buyer Beware’ marks The Men’s fifth collaboration with recording engineer Travis Harrison (Guided by Voices, Built to Spill) who, at this point, is finely attuned to the nuances of the group’s dynamics - Nick Chiericozzi (guitar/vocals), Kevin Faulkner (bass), Mark Perro (guitar/vocals), and Rich Samis (drums). Recording direct to tape, Harrison captures the raw, confrontational fever of their stage shows without sacrificing their introspective undercurrents. The result is undoubtedly their most aggressive album since ‘Leave Home’ (2011), and their most psychedelic since ‘Immaculada’ (2010). But 'Buyer Beware' is no mere return to their roots - The Men have always moved forward while remaining true to themselves. A clarion call for troubled times signaled by its title, ‘Buyer Beware’ finds The Men tackling questions both personal and political, their sound and vision never more primal or apocalyptic.

TRACK LISTING

1. Pony
2. At The Movies
3. Buyer Beware
4. Fire Sermon
5. PO Box 96
6. Charm
7. Black Heart Blue
8. Nothing Wrong
9. Control
10. Dry Cycle
11. The Path
12. Tombstone
13. Get My Soul

Although Cannonball Adderley experimented with assorted styles and formats during his career, Cannonball's Bossa Nova [aka Cannonball Adderley and the Bossa Rio Sextet] continues to be an unusual work in his discography. This was not only true because of the Brazilian style to which the LP is devoted, but also because he isn't featured in the company of his usual collaborators, nor any other American jazz musicians. Instead, he's backed by a combo of Brazilian musicians led by the great pianist Sergio Mendes and drummer Dom Um Romao, who later became a member of Weather Report.

"Cannonball Adderley, who had to do some agile dodging to avoid being contaminated by the 'soul jazz' flood, has moved into bossa nova with equally perceptive discrimination. His set with the Bossa Rio Sextet is one of the most distinguished collections he has turned out and he produces some of the most commanding and gorgeously stated solos he has ever recorded."- John S. Wilson, ****1/2 DownBeat

TRACK LISTING

Clouds
Minha Saudade
Corcovado
Batida Diferente
Clouds [single Version]
Joyce's Samba
Groovy Samba
O Amor Em Paz (Once I Loved)
Sambop
Corcovado [alt Tk]

'Vomitorium' is the new album from ever-evolving Eindhoven band Radar Men From The Moon. Due out August 16th on Fuzz Club, it's an eight-track collection of abrasive experimental punk that unleashes their latest line-up and musical incarnation in typically confrontational form. Revelling in cathartic excess and a bludgeoning intensity, they power through 90s industrial electronics, discordant noise-rock and the darkest post-punk extremes. "The album features eight mental landscapes, all with an entrance and an exit, just like a vomitorium of a Roman theatre", Radar Men From The Moon write: "Power structures that are constantly aroused and working against each other." On this recording, the band is made up of founding members Glenn Peeters (guitar) and Tony Lathouwers (drums), alongside second drummer Joep Schmitz, Bram Van Zuijlen (guitar/synths), Niek Manders (bass) and new vocalist Niels Koster. 'Vomitorium' is the band's eighth full-length in an extensive, shape-shifting discography that has also seen collaborations with the likes of Gnod (as Temple ov BBV), The Cosmic Dead and 10 000 Russos.

TRACK LISTING

1. Speech Of The Hammer
2. Psychic Warfare Now!
3. Vomitorium
4. Liberation
5. Altered States
6. My Body Is An Event
7. Confusion
8. Open Door To Vices

TMTCH stumbled into existence onstage at the Alternative Country Festival, Electric Ballroom, Camden on Easter Sunday in 1984; after a long afternoon busking and drinking in a Hammersmith subway. They knew three chords and a hundred songs all of which sounded a bit the same, a frenzied skiffle that was exciting to jump around and drink snakebite to. If they thought about longevity at all, a lifespan of 40 days seemed most likely. It’s forty years later and they are still running. Since those early days, and without much of a game plan other than always stepping onward, TMTCH have released around 20 albums plus many side projects, bootlegs, curios and an unknown number of T shirts. They’ve toured constantly, whether in dingy pub backrooms or Grand Ballrooms and Festival Stages. From Cairo to Reykjavik and all points in between, the TMTCH roadshow has shambled and thrilled through the decades, always passionate, always literate, occasionally dishevelled.

Forty years of recording has spawned a vast back catalogue, well represented here by songs from each album, style and era; a tapestry of human stories and vibrant characters. So there are the fast sprints like early folk hoedown ‘Ironmasters’, the frantic shanty ‘Raising Hell’ and the amphetamine punk blues of ‘Going Back to Coventry’. Then there are the waltzing folk ballads, from their impassioned version of the anti war standard ‘Green Fields Of France’ to the bitter regret of ‘The Bells’ and the righteous testimony of ‘Our Day’. Elsewhere there are anthems galore; ‘The Crest’ a swirling gaelic chant, ‘Rosettes’, a fast marching assault of drums, fiddles and mandolins; historical epics such as ‘Ghosts Of Cable Street’, ‘Shirt of Blue’ and ‘The Colours’; romantic ballads like the wistful ‘Parted From You’ and ‘Island in The Rain’.

All the eras are here; from the wiry lo fi of the first album, through the eighties into full blown MTV ready multi trackers with vast charging drums; the initial simplicity of their recipe deepening and darkening. And then on through the nineties, noughties and tens; always the double pronged vocals drifting between harmony and unison, always the celtic, folk and country tones vying for attention, the emotive fiddle, the top end mandolin above the thundering rhythm section. On through bouffant hair, spiky hair, dyed hair, thin hair and hats; on through Grunge, Baggy, Madchester, Rave, Britpop. On through the Miner’s Strike, Poll Tax, New Labour, Iraq and Brexit. On through marriage, children, loss and revival. Forty years at the working end of rock and roll is a feat achieved by very few bands. It requires tremendous chemistry, a deep catalogue; both panoramic and miniature, a vital and irrepressible energy, all of which is on resplendent display in this sprawling 3 disc compilation. But most of all it requires an intense resilience, something that TMTCH possess in spades. Forty years on the run; was ever a band so aptly named? 

TRACK LISTING

Ghosts Of Cable Street
The Eye
Wishing Well
Raising Hell
Bounty Hunter
Going Back To Coventry
Sirens
Nightbird
Shirt Of Blue
A Place In The Sun
Island In The Rain
Singing Elvis
The Lion And The Unicorn
Smugglers
Gold Rush
Night Ferry
The Crest
Rain, Steam And Speed
Our Day
King Street Serenade
Beast Of Brechfa
Kingdom Of The Blind
Rivertown
Great Expectations
Company Town
Devil On The Wind
Red Rocks Of Spain
Scavengers
Overseas
Rosettes
The Bells
Billy Morgan
A Map Of Morocco
The Colours
Parted From You
Green Fields Of France
Ironmasters
Walkin’ Talkin’
A Night To Remember
Red Kite Rising

'Lost on Land & Sea' is Jon Langford's Men of Gwent third album for Country Mile Records - The band spent time locked away in a rural mid Wales studio recording every track 'live' with minimal overdubs

Taking local stories and individuals from their hometown, Newport. The 12 songs weave in and out of a mostly true but partly imagined landscape where all the characters are set adrift at the mercy of the tides of time. The cover art by Jon Langford returns the infamous Newport Cherub (the town emblem on the old bridge) from Manchester back to Newport after the Stone Roses borrowed it for the cover of their 'Love Spreads' single in 1994!

TRACK LISTING

1. Commercial Street
2. The Last Murenger
3. How Bright Are The Stars? 
4. Ruby
5. Mrs Hammer's Dream
6. Tenby Boatman
7. Honest Ken
8. Encounted With A Selkie Off Llangranog
9. River Daughter
10. Ghost Light
11. Lost In The Wentwood 
12. Black Gold At Six Bells

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

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

Australian 9-piece Spiritual Jazz group Menagerie announce their highly anticipated fourth album 'The Shores Of Infinity' - representing the 3rd LP to be released by Freestyle Records from the Melbourne-based Jazz ensemble, founded by producer, songwriter, guitarist, DJ and recording artist Lance Ferguson (The Bamboos, Lanu, Rare Groove Spectrum, Machines Always Win).

Menagerie released their debut album They Shall Inherit in 2012 via Tru Thoughts, before releasing The Arrow Of Time on Freestyle in 2018 followed by the critically acclaimed 'Many Worlds in 2021. Inspired by both the post-Coltrane generation of the 70's and the current "New Wave Of Jazz", Menagerie have made serious waves internationally, being championed on Worldwide FM, Jazz FM and Jazzwise. They were nominated in the Best Jazz Act category of the 2021 Music Victoria Awards, and in 2022 performed as part of the esteemed Melbourne International Jazz Festival. Now, two years on from their last full length album, Menagerie are back with The Shores Of Infinity, further expanding their sound out into the music universe - a forward-looking, rhythm-heavy expression of contemporary Jazz that is steeped in the tradition but somehow also defies genre pigeonholing.

TRACK LISTING

1. The Shores Of Infinity
2. Kingdom
3. Earthrise
4. Arrival
5. Of
6. Danieda's Dance

Recorded to mark the 30th Anniversary of their debut ‘Dad Man Cat’ and the follow-up ‘High Havoc’, Corduroy return with an new mini-album: ‘Men of the Cloth.’

Sitting perfectly at the corded fringe between acid jazz and rising Britpop, Corduroy emerged in 1991 out of the ashes of cult band Boys Wonder, and made three increasingly brilliant albums on Acid Jazz. They also became one of the top live acts of their generation. After an 18-year hiatus, they returned with ‘Return of the Fabric Four in 2018, and remain a draw on the live circuit.

Featuring the popular sides from last years limited-edition 7” single ‘No More Me Me Me’ and ‘Hypnotoad’, ‘Men of the Cloth’ features four new cuts from the same Corduroy cloth - a heady mix of swinging sixties soundtracks, pop art imagery and Jazz-Funk in equal measure. A must-have addition to one of the founding acts of Acid Jazz.

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

100 % New original songs done by the psychedelic french garage duo The Liminanas & german-french music composer David Menke for the forthcoming Arte documentary "Thatcher's Not Dead" dedicated to Margaret Thatcher. The only physical edition done is the this Double LP for the Record Store day. 

TRACK LISTING

A1 - Snatcher – Feat. Oliver Howlett
A2 – Downfall – Part.1
A3 – Not Our War
A4 – Heritage
B1 – Bright Future
B2 – The Iron Lady
B3 – Master Plan – Feat. Oliver Howlett
B4 – Don’t Be A Traitor Feat. Oliver Howlett
B5 – Fuzzy Thatcher
B6 – She Had To Be Believed
B7 – War
C1 – Broken Dreams – Feat. Oliver Howlett
C2 – Num Confrontation
C3 – Chaos
C4 – Business As Usual
C5 – Revolting
D1 – Tears Don’t Lie
D2 – Way Of Her Cross
D3  - Ambiguous Memories
D4 – Downfall Part.B

Produced by Alex Kapranos, the album is full of enduring anthems and is still considered by many as one of the defining indie rock albums of the noughties. In the USA, Rolling Stone made it one of their records of the year, calling it a “tour de force”.

TRACK LISTING

LP/CASSETTE TRACKLIST:
Side 1
1 Our Bovine Public
2 Girls Like Mystery
3 Men's Needs
4 Moving Pictures
5 I'm A Realist
6 Major's Titling Victory
Side 2
7 Women's Needs
8 I've Tried Everything
9 My Life Flashed Before My Eyes
10 Be Safe
11 Ancient History
12 Shoot The Poets

CD TRACKLIST:
Disc 1:
1 Our Bovine Public
2 Girls Like Mystery
3 Men's Needs
4 Moving Pictures
5 I'm A Realist
6 Major's Titling Victory
7 Women's Needs
8 I've Tried Everything
9 My Life Flashed Before My Eyes
10 Be Safe
11 Ancient History
12 Shoot The Poets
Disc 2:
1 It Happened So Fast (Vancouver Version)
2 To Jackson (Vancouver Version)
3 Don’t You Wanna Be Relevant?
4 Fairer Sex
5 Tonight
6 Get Yr Hands Out Of My Grave
7 Kind Words From The Broken Hearted
8 My Adolescent Dreams
9 Bastards Of Young
10 I’ve Tried Everything (Acoustic)
11 Men’s Needs (CSS Remix)
12 I’m A Realist (The Postal Service Remix)
13 Our Bovine Public (Demo)
14 Men’s Needs (Demo)
15 Moving Pictures (Demo)
16 I’m A Realist (Demo)
17 MTV (Demo)
18 My Life Flashed Before My Eyes (Demo)
19 Ancient History (Demo)
20 Tonight (Demo)
21 I’ve Tried Everything (Demo)
22 Shoot The Poets (Demo)
23 Be Safe (Rehearsal Tape For Lee)

The psychedelic French garage duo The Liminanas and german-french music composer & sound engineer David Menke wrote together 2 OST for documentaries . “The Ballad Of Linda L” for the Arte eponymous documentary about the life of Linda Lovelace. And “The Devil Inside me” for the Netflix serie “Monsters Inside : The 24 Faces Of Billy Milligan” . 100% new music, fuzz guitars & garage rock.

TRACK LISTING

VINYL 1 - OST THE BALLAD OF LINDA L
FACE A
1. Prologue
2. Deep
3. Doin' It
4. The Ballad Of Linda L.
5. 80's Score Pt. A
6. 80's Score Pt. B
FACE B
1. Friends On Fire
2. Desolation
3. Romance
4. Punky Disco
5. Linda’s Lament
6. Get Up To Fight

VINYL 2 - OST THE DEVIL INSIDE ME
FACE A
1. Them
2. Waiting For You
3. Losing Control
4. A Shot Of Whiskey
5. Strange Girl
6. Meeting Morrison
7. Back To Amanda
8. Oh Lord
FACE B
1. Love Around Us
2. Illusion Song
3. USA Motorbike
4. Surfing
5. The Devil Inside Me
6. Savages
7. West Coast
8. Suicide Solution

Bristol's sike merchants the Heads have a 20 year anniversary to celebrate this week with their THIRD STUDIO album , "Under Sided", originally released in March 2002! . They've decided (!) to release a 4LP/plus boxset of that double album, with a double album of demos, their third peel session, and other such unreleased gems. Thats going to be released at the end of August /September. we'll send more details on that soon, once certain elements of that set are finished!

Whilst trawling through the cassettes, CDrs, and ephemera in order to create the forthcoming "Under Sided" 20th anniversary reissue boxset.. the Heads found their cover of May Blitz's "For Mad Men Only", originally released as part of a 70s tribute comp LP on SMALL STONE Records. Also unearthead was their version of Hawkwind's "Born To Go" ..a full on 13 minute unedited version.. (a version of which appeared on the ROCKET Records 10" Out Demons Out. )

How about doing a limited 7" single to announce the boxset's impending release... ideal, once Born To Go was edited down (full version in the boxset, of course!) Simon Price came up with a suitable wraparound sleeve idea.. and the 2 tracks were pressed to vinyl.. 900 (450 of two colours!) have been made.

This is a full on, pedals set to stun, grooves set to vibrate sike assault, with the Heads at this point in time revelling in the peak of their psychedelic rock powers, and pretty much obliterating all around, then, and now. This aint no gentle-whimsy-psych indie rock this is the real brown-acid-gobbling mind-melting beast you were warned about..get on board!

Building on the success of 2018’s ‘Filoxiny’ (listed as one of Q Magazine’s ‘354 Albums to Blow Your Mind’) and this year’s ‘Umoja’ (“a pleasure to listen to from start to finish” – Songlines magazine) – both of whose singles have peppered the playlists of BBC 6 Music and have lead to his helming of a Bandcamp takeover - Skinshape returns with the witheringly, prophetically titled ‘Arrogance is the Death of Men’. Written and recorded between November 2019 and July 2020, Skinshape bids to recreate something akin to the ‘old style’ of ‘Oracolo’ (2015) and ‘Life & Love’ (2017). With ‘Arrogance…’, Will Dorey’s blueprint points to a simple formula, aligning a bank of fresh drum breaks recorded at the end of 2019 to whatever he had to hand, for a long player recorded in the majority at home due to the COVID-19 lockdown.

Forever balanced between sweetness and a sigh, as per his position ‘Behind the Sun’, the Skinshape essence, intricate yet always reachable, at times tailored in a single session and sourcing archive bric-a-brac when required, is all around on the sweetly strummed ‘Tomorrow’ and ‘The Eastern Connection’, featuring Ivan Kormanak on drums. Maintaining an incisive knowledge of global sounds that keeps him in the filmic company of Khruangbin and El Michels Affair, Dorey’s listening to vintage Vietnamese music and Asian film scores provides the basis of ‘Sound of Your Voice’ and ‘Flight of the Erhu’, starring Wan Pinchu on Erhu violin. Acutely aware of the world’s ongoing health crisis without preaching about the whys and wherefores, the title track and ‘Losing My Mind’ reflect enforced confinement as tranquil songs of both quiet consideration yet powerful release. Dorey’s guitar pieces and wraith-like soul continue to flicker with fascination as Indian Summers and fireside retreats beckon, with ‘Watching From The Shadows’ - about “standing up for yourself, and avoiding the limelight for your own good”– and ‘Outro’ gently bringing the album to rest

TRACK LISTING

A1. Tomorrow
A2. Sound Of Your Voice
A3. Arrogance Is The Death Of Men
A4. The Eastern Connection
A5. Behind The Sun..
B1. Another Day
B2. Losing My Mind
B3. Flight Of The Erhu
B4. Watching From The Shadows
B5. Outro

New York band The Men have always been genre-morphic and unpredictable, but on their eighth album Mercy they have truly done something new as a band. For the first time since forming, they have now created three straight records with the same lineup, and the result is a sound that feels developed and continuous despite running the gamut of mood, in true Men fashion. Having this lineup stability has allowed the band to deepen and finesse the sounds they were exploring on 2017’s Drift and produce tracks that have a unique and distinct voice.

Mercy was recorded live at Serious Business studio to 2” tape with Travis Harrison. The band did minimal overdubs, contributing to the urgent feel of the recording. The album is simply the sound of a band that has a deep and unjaded passion for songwriting and creation, working at the peak of their collaborative connection.

Mercy takes the listener on a cinematic journey throughout its seven tracks, beginning with the soothing but lonesome country rock opener “Cool Water.” This track, like many on the record, feels timeless, illustrating the band’s ability to write songs you are convinced you’ve heard before on the B-side of your favorite record from the ’70s. You are then pulled into its longest song, the 10-and-a-half minute psychedelic blues rock opus of “Wading in Dirty Water.” The band explore some new territory on Mercy, and they also revisit the Suicide-style sound they have been working on for a while through Drift and also with one of their side projects Dream Police, resulting in the highlight “Children All Over the World,” a song that could stand next to any classic rock hit but with The Men’s unique artistic savvy. It wouldn’t be a contemporary Men record without a total fuzzed-out stomper a la their Open Your Heart-era sound, and this record’s offering, “Breeze,” shows the band’s complete command of this urgent and pulverizing style. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: As stylistically varied a record we've ever heard from The Men, Mercy skilfully toes the line between pastiched 80's soft-focus synth work and grooving psychedelia, dipping toes into a wealth of genres along the way including gothic rock, blues and even veering towards the dancefloor. A fascinating and engrossing collection.

TRACK LISTING

1. Cool Water
2. Wading In Dirty Water
3. Fallin’ Thru
4. Children All Over The World
5. Call The Dr.
6. Breeze
7. Mercy

At the end of the 70s, The Monochrome Set were part of the first wave of 'post punk' bands. Right from the beginning, the band earned a solid reputation as purveyors of fine pop, gaining praise from 80s contemporaries such as Morrissey and Edwyn Collins. The Monochrome Set sound has often been described as 'timeless', and that alone explains why, over the years, the band has continued gaining admirers. As with all TMS albums, "Fabula Mendax" is at once accessible and arcane, upbeat and dark, lush and spare, and with lyrics that as ever remain tantalisingly opaque.

It’s 33 and a third years since the seminal Giant Sand and its country cousin The Band Of… Blacky Ranchette entered the studio to lay down their second albums. Yes. Both bands had recorded their second albums each. Two sides of the multi-faceted hyper-productive Howe Gelb. “I was turning 28,” he recalls, “and had been wanting to make and release albums since my early 20s, but only recently had figured out how. It was time to make up for lost time.”

Time was of the essence. That thin line between then and now has seen journeymen Giant Sand release 27-ish albums, their latest, ‘Recounting The Ballad Of The Thin Line Men’ turning the clock back to 1986’s ‘Ballad Of A Thin Line Man’, picking over the bones and making a whole new soup. All these years on, the latest incarnation of Giant Sand: Howe Gelb (guitars, piano) Tommy Larkins (drums) and Thøger Lund (bass), have dusted off the old vinyl and re-imagined those heady days – they’ve polished these buried gems, reignited some truculent tirades and rekindled an ageless angst. The revamp re-orders the tracks, drops a couple and adds ‘Reptillian’, a previously lost song hailing from their album’s 25th anniversary re-issue, a tune that opens proceedings and basks in all its crinkly glory. There’s also two takes of ‘Tantamount’. The unique thing about Giant Sand’ is they make it all their own, they sound like no-one else. The songs remain the same, but somehow completely different. Howe: “We were a fine storm. The greatest storm in terms of tumultuous velocity and pelting bluster. It proved unstoppable... for a minute”.

TRACK LISTING

1 Reptillian
2 Hard Man To Get To Know
3 Desperate Man
4 You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory
5 Tantamount
6 Who Am I
7 Body Of Water
8 Graveyard
9 The Chill Outside
10 Thin Line Man
11 Tantamount Blast (Bonus Track)

NYC’s The Men have made a name for themselves as wayfaring musicians, constantly evolving and eluding their listeners. Before they were genre-hopping through country, post-punk, noise rock, and more, they were applying that experimental nature within the more confined space of punk. Within that genre they were wildly adventurous, playing noise shows, hardcore shows, rock shows, and switching up the instrumentation as they saw fit, while always operating within a general punk ethos. Their first demo was a hand-dubbed and spray-painted run of 32 copies, half of which worked, and their first shows were at New York dives like Tommy’s Tavern, Matchless, and Don Pedro (all of which have been shut down).

That hand-dubbed demo kicked off a furious run of creative output from 2008 to 2011, much of which is now collected on the new compilation, Hated. The songs on Hated are pulled from a variety of sources — the debut demo tape, a split with Nomos, a 7", a 12" EP, and a slew of unreleased demos, outtakes, and live recordings. These songs show the huge range and potential of a band still in its infancy, when they were just beginning to blaze the path they’re still on to this day.

The core value of the original incarnation of The Men was work ethic. The band became a lifestyle for original members Chris Hansell, Mark Perro, and Nick Chiericozzi, with Hansell even living off unemployment checks to dedicate his time to the project. The three of them would jam and obsess over music together over all else.

For those who were at those early NYC shows, Hated will be a welcome reminder of a glorious time in the underground. For those who weren’t, it’s a chance to experience The Men as the locals did, and to get a glimpse of a Brooklyn DIY scene that doesn’t really exist anymore, at least not in the same way. And for diehard fans of the band, it’s a reminder of how much they’ve evolved, and how much more evolution they still have to go.

TRACK LISTING

1. Twist The Knife
2. Hated
3. Free Sitar
4. Gates Of Steel
5. Ailment
6. Digital Age
7. Control Loop
8. Think (7" Version)
9. Impish
10. Walking Out On Love
11. Saucy
12. Somebody’s Watching Me
13. Love Revolution
14. Captain Ahab
15. Cowboy Song
16. California
17. Wasted

Led by Elle’s guitar playing and beautiful, nuanced voice, ‘Constant Unfailing Night’ peels away layer after layer of expectation. Rhythmically challenging and yet unassuming, it leads you down a rabbit hole of emotions, sonics and stories, reminiscent of bands from Smog to Sharon Van Etten.

Though firmly grounded in folk-noir, the album carefully carves out its own space. From “Falling”, a song that seemingly gets more complicated after each listen, to the crescendo at the centre of “Behave”, where the vocals open the door from folk to anger, Elle Mary & the Bad Men have crafted a journey. Elle Mary explains: “This album has been written over the course of three years, a project started in response to a break up, a shift, a necessity to carry on. As I wrote and filtered out songs, the focus started to change and became about tapping into some part of the subconscious, looking for the part of me that knows better, but that I seem to ignore. The Bad Men, Michael Dubec and Pete Sitch, have joined me on this journey and probably know me too well as a result of it. The weight they add to the songs is incredible and I really couldn’t ask for a better band.

“Space and a minimal approach has always been the most important part of the music to me; to do more with less. It’s this that draws me in the most about the artists I love (Low, Julie Doiron, Bill Callahan etc.). The space allows my voice to sit on top and the words seep in. I don’t really enjoy telling people what the lyrics mean; I prefer them to interpret for themselves: that perspective interests me; I like the freedom of taking what you want from a song.”

For fans of: Jenny Hval, Sharon Van Etten, Low

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Beautiful tender string plucks and Elle Mary's haunting vocals soaring over the top, Constant Unfailing Night is another winner from Manchester's own Sideways Saloon.

Drift is the seventh full-length by NYC rock polymaths The Men. The band’s last album, the self-released Devil Music, was the sound of a band who had been through hell hitting reset and looking to their roots to rediscover themselves. On Drift, The Men return to their longtime label Sacred Bones Records and explore the openness that Devil Music helped them find.

The immediately evident result of that exploration is the experimental quality of much of the material on Drift. Songwriters Mark Perro and Nick Chiericozzi chase their muses down a few dozen thrilling rabbit-holes over the course of the album’s nine tracks. The songs on Drift veer in a number of directions, but notably, almost none of them feature a prominent electric guitar. The lone exception, “Killed Someone,” is a rowdy riff-rocker, worthy of the finest moments of the band’s now-classic Leave Home and Open Your Heart albums. The rest of the album drives down stranger highways. “Secret Light” is an improvisation based on an old piano riff of Perro’s. “Maybe I’m Crazy” is a synth-driven dancefloor stomper for long after last call. “Rose on Top of the World” and “When I Held You in My Arms” are paisley-hued, psyched-out jams with big, beating hearts.

The album was recorded to 2" tape with Travis Harrison (Guided by Voices) at Serious Business Studios in Brooklyn. A whole pile of instruments was involved — synths, strings, sax, steel, harmonica, tape loops, on top of the usual guitar, bass, and drums. Unlike recent releases from The Men, there aren’t many overdubs on Drift — a reflection of the personalities of its makers becoming less frantic, Chiericozzi suggests. In fact, the band removed a lot of the additional parts they tried adding early on, giving the final product a bit of a ghostly feel. The songs on Drift took giant leaps and trips from their beginnings only to find the band returning to the first spark of creation.

TRACK LISTING

1. Maybe I’m Crazy (4:11)
2. When I Held You In My Arms (4:59)
3. Secret Light (4:16)
4. Rose On Top Of The World (4:28)
5. So High (3:26)
6. Killed Someone (2:30)
7. Sleep (2:45)
8. Final Prayer (5:46)
9. Come To Me (2:45)

At the risk of further belabouring a rather obvious point, with "Thank God For Mental Illness", their third collection of absolutely stunning music in 1996, the Brian Jonestown Massacre parallels the prolific and effortless brilliance of the Rolling Stones at their fevered late-1960s peak; the sheer scope of their achievements is stunning — rarely are bands quite so productive, or quite so consistently amazing. "Thank God" is the BJM's down-and-dirty country-blues outing, all 13-odd tracks supposedly recorded on a single July day at a cost of just $17.36.

In May 1976 a record was released that would have an unforeseen and lasting impact on the music industry “Ten Percent” by Double Exposure was an early release on the New York independent label Salsoul Records. America was in the grip of a disco explosion with new clubs opening on a weekly basis; Salsoul saw what was happening and swiftly created a sound for their label, heavily influenced by the music then coming out of Philadelphia, aimed directly at New York’s dance-floors. Records like “Salsoul Hustle,” “Tangerine” and “You’re Just The Right Size” by The Salsoul Orchestra borrowed heavily from the beautifully orchestrated Philadelphia International records but added a more percussive, bass heavy depth that New York’s DJs loved. So what was so special about this particular single then? Double Exposure was, after all, just another band, “Ten Percent” just another song; one of many “disco” records released that week. First of all Salsoul became the first record label to make a twelve inch single available to Joe Public - the exotic format was previously only available to DJs as promotional items or bought under the counter at certain record stores. Not only that though, the extended version was created by Walter Gibbons, a DJ at New York’s Galaxy 21 who’d built his reputation making exclusive versions of tracks to play in his sets.

In 1976 it was unheard of for a DJ to set foot in a recording studio, being seen as little more than living jukeboxes by the serious music industry. Recording studios were strictly the domain of recording artists and producers so Walter found himself in a unique position, gaining access to a world no DJ had been granted before.

Or so we thought...
The Men In The Glass Booth tells the full story. Featuring ground breaking re-edits and remixes by some of the Disco era's most influential DJs including Walter Gibbons, Bobby DJ Guttadaro, Tom Savarese, Jellybean Benitez, Tee Scott and John Luongo, this opulent release also includes a 40 page book which features exclusive photos and insights from some of the story's key figures.

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: BBE answer the prayers of all us non-millionaire disco fans, taking us on a journey through the alternative 12" history via this exhaustive collection of acetates and DJ edits. Mega!

‘Three Men And A Baby’ is the new album by Mike (Kunka, bassist / vocalist of godheadSilo) and The Melvins.

In 1998, Mike and his friends The Melvins - who at that time were King Buzzo (guitar / bass / vocals), Dale Crover (drums / vocals) and Kevin Rutmanis (bass / vocals) - started making a record at Tim (The Champs) Green’s Louder Studios. Complications occurred and the incomplete recording sat until 2015, when everyone reconvened and finished the damn thing at Sound Of Sirens in LA with Toshi Kasai.

The results are worth the wait. Mike’s signature bass crunch and vocals are all over it and The Melvins are in fine form. The album has everything from hefty noise rock churn to a Public Image Ltd. song to cough syrup blues to deconstructed black metal.

TRACK LISTING

Chicken ‘n’ Dump
Limited Teeth
Bummer Conversation
Annalisa
A Dead Pile Of Worthless Junk
Read The Label (It’s Chili)
Dead Canaries
Pound The Giants
A Friend In Need Is A Friend You Don’t Need
Lifestyle Hammer
Gravel
Art School Fight Song

The Men's new LP for Sacred Bones is the tongue-in-cheek-but-still-auspiciously-titled Tomorrow's Hits. This is their first album recorded in a high-end studio and, appropriately, the result is their most high fidelity album to date. That being said, it is still an incredibly straightforward record. Tomorrow's Hits is a concise collection of songs that nonetheless expands the band's ever-evolving musical palette. It's an album full of genre-bending risks, but it reinforces the overarching theme that has come to define its makers: The Men are a great rock band. After spending much of 2011 and 2012 on the road, including a trip upstate to write and record New Moon, their fourth full-length in as many years, The Men needed a break. They decided to take the winter of 2012 off to work on new material in Brooklyn. The converted founding member Mark Perro’s bedroom in Bushwick into a practice space and rehearsed there nearly every day for three months, cutting more than 40 demos. By the end of that winter, the Men had pared that crop of songs down to 13. With their plans to take a break foiled by their own work ethic, they decided to record those songs before New Moon came out. They booked two days at Brooklyn’s Strange Weather studios, clocked in, and tracked all 13 songs entirely live, even including a horn section.

Eight songs from those sessions made the final cut for The Men’s new LP, Tomorrow’s Hits. This is their first album recorded in a high-end studio and, appropriately, the result is their most high fidelity album to date. That being said, it is still an incredibly straightforward record. Tomorrow’s Hits is a concise collection of songs that nonetheless expands the band’s ever-evolving musical palette. It’s full of genre-bending risks, but it reinforces the overarching theme that has come to define its makers: The Men are a great rock band.

TRACK LISTING

1. Dark Waltz (5:15)
2. Get What You Give (3:22)
3. Another Night (5:30)
4. Different Days (4:33)
5. Sleepless (3:13)
6. Pearly Gates (6:19)
7. Settle Me Down (4:59)
8. Going Down (3:43)

"These shows will astonish you. I had tears of joy in my eyes". This was the standout line from a Five Star review by The Guardian newspaper of the live shows by The Magic Band - a collection of extraordinary musicians drawn from the lineups that were brought together over the years by the legendary Captain Beefheart. Tribute bands and ghost bands are usually a decidedly poor relation to the real thing, but The Magic Band are different, as the tracks on this album prove. Recorded at the UK shows during 2004, the material bursts with new life, and the band achieve a near-impossible task - not just playing the notes as they are on the records (hard enough in itself in some cases) but playing them convincingly enough to send a sold-out London audience into ovation after ovation. These are the players who were inducted into the Captain's secret musical universe, and who transformed his unique ideas into works of unfathomable and inimitable beauty, and live in 2005 they did that same thing again.

Men, the Brooklyn-based band & art/performance collective, consists of core members JD Samson (Le Tigre), Michael O'Neil (Ladybug Transistor) & Ginger Brooks Takahashi (LTTR). This is their debut album release on IAMSOUND, via Columbia Records. The band focus on the raw energy of live performance & the radical potential of dance music. Musical styles merge between guitar-laden dance-floor funk & funky electronica, with a lyrical bite!

Joanna's music has more of an affinity with the folk revival of the 60s, or the bluegrass movement at present, than with most contemporary 'folk' (or 'anti-folk') scenes. Her harp arrangements are at times ethereal and delicate, at others galloping and ornate, but never overwrought.

One of the great collaborations of our times, as legendary 60s garage pioneers The Downliners Sect meet with Thee Headcoats, Thee Headcoats Sect is the inevitable intersection of two generations of mad-hatted punk R&B misfits with musical and philosophical lineage that can be traced back over more than 30 years. They were among the country's foremost rhythm and blues groups, their most prolific period being the years from 1964 to 1966. As is often the case, they were denied the sort of success they deserved - they were outcasts, too young, too uncouth, and just a tad too eccentric to be accepted by their peers. As the Melody Maker said of their debut album in 1964 'Forget this one if you want a Happy Christmas, and don't want to drive all the guests away from your party'. Today, however, to fans of raw, vital punk R&B, Thee Downliners Sect are revered above and beyond any of their tamer, more famous UK beat contemporaries.