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Various Artists

The Men In The Glass Booth: Part 1

    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!

    The Men They Couldn't Hang

    The Magnificent 40: 40 Years In 40 Songs

      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

      Jon Langford & The Men Of Gwent

      Lost On Land & Sea

        '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

        The Men

        Manhattan Fire (RSD24 EDITION)

          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.



          Corduroy

          Men Of The Cloth

            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.

            The Men

            Fuzz Club Session

              Hot off the back of this year's critically-acclaimed new album 'New York City', Brooklyn punk institution The Men are back already with a Fuzz Club Session album due out digitally and on limited double LP vinyl June 23rd. Recorded live to tape at Brooklyn's Serious Business Studio by Travis Harrison, the live session sees the Men storm through three tracks from 'New York City', one from 'Devil Music', a cover of English punk band Blitz and nine-brand new tracks that have never seen the light of the day until now, ranging from blistering noise-rock and cathartic rock'n'roll to lo-fi country-rock and hypnotising drones. This is the 20th release in the Fuzz Club Session series from London-based label Fuzz Club, which has previously hosted the likes of A Place To Bury Strangers, Night Beats, Holy Wave, The Entrance Band and more.

              TRACK LISTING

              1) Big Hair - Live
              2) Through The Night - Live
              3) Nothing - Live
              4) Give You What You Came For - Live
              5) Attack - Live
              6) Fire - Live
              7) Heart Strings - Live
              8) Trapped Inside - Live
              9) Right About You - Live
              10) Driver - Live
              11) Shake It - Live
              12) Anyway I Find You - Live
              13) River Flows - Live
              14) Sacred Ground - Live

              The Cribs

              Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever - 2023 Reissue

                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 Heads

                For Mad Men Only / Born To Go (Edit)

                  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

                  Robin Turner

                  Believe In Magic - Heavenly Recordings: The First 30 Years - Working Men's Club Exclusive Edition

                    We're super excited to be able to get our hands on some of these limited edition version of this fantastic book. 

                    This edition features an exclusive 7" single
                     - Angel (part 1) b/w Angel (part 2) - from Piccadilly favourites Working Men’s Club. They blew us away with their live shows last year and we can't wait for their debut album. 

                    You may have heard Angel in all its 12 minute glory in WMC’s legendary live sets. Here’s the studio version, produced by Ross Orton, split over both sides of a 7”.

                    Heavenly was already a state of mind. Seemed like the right time to make it something really special. We were all deeply immersed in music that we loved. None of us could believe our fucking luck, really. (Jeff Barrett) 

                    It was thirty years ago today - or thereabouts - that Heavenly came to be. In celebration of this big ol’ birthday comes Believe in Magic - a chronicle not only of Foxbase Alpha, Working Men’s Club and 28 of the releases in between that got the label to where it is today, but also of the haircuts, nights down the pub, pencil-eraser-carvings, cheese toasties, acid houses, Sunday Socials and lost Weekenders - Yorkshire and otherwise - that are as much a part of its story. 

                    As Jeff Barrett puts it at the beginning of the book, if there’s a continuous theme that runs through all of this, I think it’s that everything comes down to conversations with people about music. It might seem like it all starts with someone on one side of the counter who is selling you something, or someone writing excitedly in a magazine telling you about a band you need to hear, but I don’t think I’ve ever really seen things as one-way transactions. It’s more an ongoing dialogue, one that never really stops and helps to build up this growing soundtrack to our lives, something that’s passed from one person to another. That’s really the ever-present thread. That’s why we still believe in magic. 

                    Though we are three decades distant from The World According to Sly and Lovechild, lineup changes, ups, downs, and a good few office cleanups under the label’s belt, the Heavenly firm continue not to believe their fucking luck; at still being here, keepin’ on keepin’ on doing what they love, and at being able to pass all of this - then, now, and next week - on to you. 

                    Believe in Magic is a fully illustrated history of one of the most colourful and exciting independent British record labels; a label responsible for creating satellite communities of fans around the country and at all the major festivals.
                    After several years working at Factory and Creation, Heavenly Recordings was set up by Jeff Barrett in 1990 as the acid house revolution was in full swing; early releases set the tone and tempo for the mood of the decade to come - their first release was by perhaps the most revered acid house DJ of them all, Andrew Weatherall; and this was quickly followed by singles from St Etienne and Manic Street Preachers. 

                    Heavenly was always different to other labels; more of a 'club' with a defiant spirit of inclusiveness, and in 1994 they set up The Heavenly Social, which alongside the Hacienda, became perhaps the most famous club in recent British history, where the Chemical Brothers made their name. 

                    Over nearly 200 releases in thirty years Heavenly have consistently produced some of the most exciting music across all genres - dance, acid house, singer-songwriter, psych-garage - and this book collects rare photographs, ephemera, artwork into a celebration of a label that is, alongside Rough Trade and Factory, one of the most beloved institutions on the independent landscape. Running though the book are thirty stories, mostly told in the form of oral history by artists like James Dean Bradfield, Flowered Up, Beth Orton, Doves and Don Letts, which capture the presiding personality of the label, its bands and the people associated with its success. 



                    The Men

                    Mercy

                      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

                      Giant Sand

                      Recounting The Ballads Of Thin Line Men

                        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

                        Elle Mary & The Bad Men

                        Constant Unfailing Night

                          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)

                          Mike & The Melvins

                          Three Men And A Baby

                          ‘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

                          Tenpole Tudor

                          The Swords Of A Thousand Men

                            THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2014 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                            Limited edition picture disc.

                            TRACK LISTING

                            A.The Swords Of AThousand Men
                            B. Love And Food 

                            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)

                            The Magic Band

                            21st Century Mirror Men

                              "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.


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