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

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

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

TRACK LISTING

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

Never before released on vinyl, this is the Sarah Records’ legends at their finest on their debut session for John Peel in 1990. The four songs here include a cracking version of live favourite ‘Caveman’ (better than the Lyceum mini-LP version, how the band wanted it!) and two others destined to end up on their Unholy Soul album – plus one song never properly released at all. Precious package also features a set of six postcards with unseen pics from studio and tour and download codes.

TRACK LISTING

Caveman
Frank De Salvo
Dirty Clothing
And When I Wake Up

Now you’re gonna want this – more unreleased Orchids material! This is the enigmatic Scottish five-piece’s second session for John Peel, four years after the first, by which time they’d started phoning in football reports to the legendary DJ. Two of these songs were never released at the time, though one came out as a demo about 25 years later (the shoulda-been-single ‘Patience Is Mine’) – and the other two were very different on Striving For The Lazy Perfection. Package also features a set of six postcards with unseen pics from their famous session at Toad Hall Studios in Glasgow.

TRACK LISTING

Patience Is Mine
Waiting Seems Vain
A Living Ken And Barbie (Back To Basics Mix)
The Searching

The long-awaited new album from the best pop band in Scotland...

The Orchids were making sophisticated pop music right back in the early 1990s when Sarah Records first started. Their songs were as emotionally pure as anything else on that label, but they were always a step ahead of their peers in terms of song arrangements and musical ambition. With a casual, unpretentious air they made writing perfect pop songs seem easy, almost accidental, and several great releases followed. The Orchids gained a passionate following: people knew a good thing when they heard it and they hugged it close. But maybe now it’s time for the rest of the world to be let in on the secret.

The songs themselves are a beautiful mix of strength and gentleness. They wrap you in a powerful embrace, making you feel comfortable and secure – and then whisper their insecurities and anxieties into your ear. They say: ‘it’s OK to admit weakness. It’s OK to be fragile. That’s where true strength comes from’. From Glasgow, and proudly Scottish, the band shares a musical lineage with other great groups from that city, from Aztec Camera to Orange Juice, Lloyd Cole to Teenage Fanclub - bands that specialise in song-writing that can tell big stories through small personal fragments, that can make the ordinary extraordinary.

Ian Carmichael has helped the band create a perfectly produced masterpiece. He subtly accentuates the drama of the songs, with a sophisticated choreography and gloss that never overwhelms the tenderness of the music. In ‘This Boy Is A Mess’ (the first single from the album), the lyric confesses frailty while the arrangement gets stronger and stronger. It is bittersweet and exhilarating at the same time. ‘I Want You, I Need You’ has harmonies as big as a house – but the yearning message remains intimate and close. ‘I Don’t Mean To Stare’ is an elegant version of the song that first appeared on Skep Wax compilation Under The Bridge.

Album opener ‘Didn’t We Love You’ daringly opens up empty spaces where the reverb of the drums is the only thing you can hear... and then floods your ears with a harmonised chorus, sweet guitar melodies and sweeping effects. Even then, the lyrical lament, expressing the desire to live in a better place - a place unspoilt by the greedy phonies who’ve taken over – comes across as clearly as if Hackett were leaning over for a friendly chat in the snug bar of The Orchids’ favourite Glasgow pub.

TRACK LISTING

1. Didn’t We Love You?
2. Limitless #1
3. What Have I Got To Do?
4. This Boy Is A Mess
5. I Never Thought I Was Clever
6. Echos
7. Isn’t It Easy
8. Something Missing
9. I Should Have Thought
10. I Don’t Mean To Stare
11. A Feeling I Don’t Know
12. I Want You, I Need You
13. Limitless #2 (Hurt)

Tim Burgess of The Charlatans hosts Tim's Twitter Listening Party on Saturday evenings, where he chooses an album in advance and the show's followers simultaneously click 'play', listening in tandem while sharing anecdotes, impressions and criticisms of that week's choice. It's not uncommon for the artists themselves to pop up and interact with fans, a welcome diversion while we're all bottled up at home. Tim's recent choice of Blue Orchids' The Greatest Hit (Money Mountain) was no random one - the album's influence on The Charlatans is palpable, though the album remains one of rock's greatest obscurities. So one week after Susanna Hoffs turned up to talk about The Bangles, it was no surprise to see Blue Orchids founder Martin Bramah arrive and announce himself, only to mysteriously disappear in seconds, for the duration of the show. And thus it has been with Blue Orchids.

Tantalising, brilliant songs appearing out of nowhere, an album arriving, only for Martin to take unannounced leave for years, without explanation. So it's a miraculous turn of good fortune that Blue Orchids have released as much new material in the last five years than in the thirty-six (!) years before that, even if you include Blue Orchids-buy-any-other-name combos like Thirst and Factory Star into that equation. The sterling quality and wit of those releases remains undimmed since the beginnings of the band back in 1980. Speed The Day retains the classic line-up from the last two albums' line-up and adds electric ukulele player Tansy McNally, hailing from Australia and adding a different psychedelic lacquer to an impassioned set of nine new songs, pls an oddly paranoid cover of Chicago's 25 Or 6 To 4, which slyly mutates lyrics about late-night songwriting into a paean to speed. (Although your interpretation may vary!) An far darker and more energetic album than The Magical Record Of Blue Orchids, their album of obscure garage covers, Speed The Day is a sterling addition to the the canon of Martin Bramah masterpieces

TRACK LISTING

1. Deeper Than Sin 
2. Lucky Speaks 
3. Classy Fella 
4. 25 Or 6 To 4 
5. Street Of Flowers 
6. What Lies Beneath 
7. Like A Clockwork Orange 
8. The Pebble 
9. Meet The Maker 
10. 22nd Century