Chicago legend, Green Velvet, returns to Toolroom as he locks horns with label founder Mark Knight and studio partner, James Hurr, for 'The Greatest Thing Alive'. A low slung, chunky affair that screams Miami Space terrace at 8am! Quirky, full of character and Green Velvets unmistakable vocal re-work of the classic 'Mannish Boy' from Muddy Waters pushes this record into a really special place. Green Velvet debuted on the label back in 2015 alongside Technasia with 'Suga', a record that went onto to be an overall Beatport #1 and remained as their highest selling track for many years that followed, the track also sits on an impressive 9m streams. On the flipside, head honcho Mark Knight, returns with studio cohort and DJs favourite James Hurr, as they take on one of House music's all-time classic records; 'Lady (Hear Me Tonight)'. No messing around, Mark and James offer up an alternative take to this stone cold classic, bringing the infectious vocal and iconic guitar riff to the forefront, mixing into a signature Mark Knight club heavy beat. Having previously collaborated on 'Make You Happy' with Todd Terry and last year's 'You Are A God' with vocalist Cari Golden, Mark Knight and James Hurr are fast becoming a killer duo in the studio, and throughout the scene. Offering up a killer reinterpretation of legendary House classic 'Lady (Hear Me Tonight)' by French House duo Modjo, a record which transcended the boundaries of dance music back in the early 2000's and has since become a record synonymous with the era. True to form, Mark Knight and James Hurr mix their musical prowess together and deliver yet another stomping hit for the clubs!

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Phwooaaarr!! Take it to the terraces and the super clubs with two stonkingly large main roomers. Hard to pick a fave - whether its the monumental deep chug of "The Greatest Thing Alive" or the rattling refix of "Lady" - both are gonna blow the roof off!

TRACK LISTING

A1. The Greatest Thing Alive
B1. Lady (Hear Me Tonight)

Live at Max's Kansas City is a live album by the Velvet Underground recorded at the famous nightclub and restaurant at 213 Park Avenue South in New York City. It was originally released on May 30, 1972, by Cotillion, a subsidiary label of Atlantic Records.

2LP Expanded Edition of the legendary final concerts with Lou Reed recorded in 1970. Limited Edition Purple and Magenta Vinyl. Includes “I’m Waiting for the Man”, “Sweet Jane”, “Pale Blue Eyes”, “Femme Fatale” and more.

18 classic songs from the Velvet Underground catalog performed by The Feelies at White Eagle Hall/ Jersey City, NJ - October 13, 2018. The Feelies have spent their entire career covering songs by the Velvet Underground and are masters of the VU sound. They toured Europe opening for Lou Reed in the 1980s, sharing meals, hanging out backstage, even joining him to perform some of his classic material. On October 13, 2018 the Feelies were invited to perform Velvet Underground songs at Jersey City, NJ’s White Eagle Hall as part of a traveling museum show of VU memorabilia.

This double vinyl album of 18 classic Lou Reed songs includes VU standards like “Sweet Jane,” “Rock & Roll” and “I’m Waiting for the Man” as well as rarely covered gems like “I Heard Her Call My Name” and “That’s the Story of My Life.” The Feelies are one of the most influential bands to emerge from the NY post punk scene of the late 1970s and have continued to perform together and make records for 4 decades. Includes guest performances from Bongos members James Mastro and Richard Barone.

Double LP Includes liner notes by veteran music journalist Howard Wuelfing. 

TRACK LISTING

01. Sunday Morning
02. Who Loves The Sun
03. There She Goes Again
04. What Goes On
05. Sweet Jane
06. Head Held High
07. I’m Waiting For The Man
08. White Light/White Heat
09. I Heard Her Call My Name
10. New Age
11. That’s The Story Of My Life
12. All Tomorrow’s Parties
13. Rock And Roll
14. We’re Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together
15. Run Run Run
16. I Can’t Stand It
17. After Hours
18. Oh! Sweet Nuthin’

Kompakt unveils the third volume of Jörg Burger’s “Velvet Desert Music” compilation series, dedicated to music that hits the sweet spot between the cinematic, the (pop) ambient, and the psychedelic. With “Velvet Desert Music Vol. 3”, Burger and his friends wander afar, taking trips away from, or adjacent to, the dancefloor that’s acted so long as the crucible for the Kompakt aesthetic. Like its predecessors, it’s a gorgeous, lambent collection of late-night mood music.

Because it’s such a broad church, “Velvet Desert Music” admits all kinds of new experiences, as well, with Burger looking for music that “goes beyond the desert to explore different corners of the velvet universe”. Indeed, of all the volumes in the series, this third installment feels closest to an album made by a true collective. The roster has changed, with new contributors Flug 8 and Seb Martel, both with his trio Las Ondas Marteles and with Chocolate Genius and Zsela as La Finca, joining regulars The Novotones, Mount Obsidian, The Golden Bug, Paulor and Sascha Funke.

Burger himself shows up alongside Fritz Ackermann of The Novotones and Max Würden and Thore Pfeiffer, in The Velvet Circle. Their contributions are pure lush life electronica: “Our Tribe” hitches a ride with a low-slung groove, flickering psychedelic reels of acoustic guitar traipsing across moody bass and taffeta layers of drone; their opening remix of Flug 8’s “Puerto Rico” gently introduces the album with softly tangling electronic tones, while guitars, drenched in reverb, pirouette in the background. Mount Obsidian’s remix of Burger´s The Black Frame “Sacrosanct” spins around the listeners ears like a kaleidoscope catching the reflections the sun makes in San Luis Potosí’s ornately decorated churches.

La Finca’s electronics and voice miniature, “What Clouds Say”, is a masterclass in poetic restraint; Martel’s “Dark Mambo”, remixed by Burger, is one of the collection’s big surprises, for it indeed does what the title says, a drifting, surrealist take on the mambo form, full of pensive chords, rich with unrequited longing, a breathy saxophone whispering under the song’s sly rhythmic carriage.

Old friends reappear, too: Paulor is back with the clicking grind of “The Last Coke in the Desert”, while Golden Bug’s “Es Cucuruc” is a muted slow burner. The Novotones chime in with a slyly propulsive, Krautrock-esque charmer, “Liberty Bell”, and the guitar-led tone-drift of “Valley of Oblivion”; Paulor’s “The Last Coke in the Desert” is a chiming, lilting dreamscape; Mount Obsidian are joined again by vocalist Charlotte Jestaedt for two modern takes on early-hours art song, „Fade“ and „Marole“, the closing track of the compilation, which is a spooked requiem for times passed. Sascha Funke’s “Mathias Rust” is a lavish dancefloor dream, vocal samples drifting through the song as it slowly envelops the listener in its opulent radiance.

What’s most compelling about “Velvet Desert Music Vol. 3”, perhaps, is the way everything sits together so tightly, so neatly – it’s the album in the series so far that feels the most like it’s been made by collaborators in one long, playful session of experiment and exploration; everyone’s on the same page, exploring the fractured wastelands, dust squalls, sunburnt scapes and psychedelic cacti of the psyche; burnt sienna, desert lilies and willows, fairy dusters, yucca and greasewood… an extravagance of blooming, riotous colour, erupting from the sun-cracked landscapes within each of us.

This is just a taste of the rich pleasures of Velvet Desert Music Vol. 3, a triumph of a compilation that takes the psychedelic visions of its predecessors and looks for the desert within, a dusty kiss, a road-movie hallucination flickering on the listener’s eyelids, a cinematic projection from deep inside the mind.

International Velvet is the second album by Welsh band Catatonia. It was the band's breakthrough, reaching number 1 in the UK Albums Chart.

TRACK LISTING

Side One
1. Mulder And Scully
2. Game On
3. I Am The Mob
4. Road Rage
5. Johnny Come Lately
6. Goldfish And Paracetamol
Side Two
1. International Velvet
2. Why I Can’t Stand One Night Stands
3. Part Of The Furniture
4. Don’t Need The Sunshine
5. Strange Glue
6. My Selfish Gene

Dylan Jones' definitive oral history of The Velvet Underground draws on contributions from remaining members, contemporaneous musicians, critics, film-makers, and the generation of artists who emerged in their wake, to celebrate not only their impact but their legacy, which burns brighter than ever into the 21st century. Rebellion always starts somewhere, and in the music world of the transgressive teen whether it be the 1960s of the 2020s, The Velvet Underground represent ground zero. Crystallizing the idea of the bohemian, urban, narcissistic art school gang, around a psychedelic rock and roll band - a stylistic idea that evolved in the rarefied environs of Andy Warhol's Factory - The Velvets were the first major American rock group with a mixed gender line-up; they never smiled in photographs, wore sunglasses indoors, and in the process invented the archetype that would be copied by everyone from Sid Vicious to Bobby Gillespie.

They were avant-garde nihilists, writing about drug abuse, prostitution, paranoia, and sado-masochistic sex at a time when the rest of the world was singing about peace and love. In that sense they invented punk. It could even be argued they invented modern New York.

And then some. Drawing on interviews and material relating to all major players from Lou Reed, John Cale, Mo Tucker, Andy Warhol, Jon Savage, Nico, David Bowie, Mary Harron and many more, award-winning journalist Dylan Jones breaks down the band's whirlwind of subversion and, in a narrative rich in drama and detail, with an irresistible narrative pull, proves why The Velvets remain the original kings and queens of edge.

The third release on Midnight Drive takes us back to the heady days of 1984, New York City. We find Clive Stevens, a UK born saxophonist, producer, writer and poet at the helm of a truly staggering cast of international musicians known as 'Brainchild', recording an LP entitled 'Semjase' for Brazilian label Vôo Livre. The LP featured incredible session musicians whose CV's include work with some of the biggest names in popular music including Chic, Kate Bush, Miles Davis, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty and more (the list is endless). One track from this fairly obscure LP - 'Mystery Man' - somehow managed to find its way into the hands of the one and only Daniele Baldelli, who swiftly turned it into a cosmic classic. Present and correct on a number of the cosmic tapes, "Mystery Man" is a truly unique record melding electro-style programming, live percussion, synthesizers and vocals into a blistering slow motion disco jam that'll have you dancing like a loon and scratching your head trying to work out when, where and how it was made. Not content with offering us ucky bunch a first official reissue of this classic, Midnight Drive procured the original 1984 session parts from Clive himself, enabling a brand new remix from Gerry Rooney and Joel Martin aka Velvet Season & The Hearts Of Gold. Stretching the track to new tripped out heights, Gerry and Joel transform the cosmic roller into a dreamy and dubby tropical pop killer perfect for your next Balearic dancefloor set.

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: Holy interplanetary beach resort Batman! Midnight Drive pluck one of the finest Cosmic classics from the Baldelli tapes and deliver a first official reissue of the mega "Mystery Man". Alongside the original mix of this totally tropical electro-funk killer we get the dubby delight of a brand new extension from Velvet Season & The Hearts Of Gold. Top one!

TRACK LISTING

A. Mystery Man (Disco Mix) 
B. Mystery Man (Velvet Season & The Hearts Of Gold Special Disco Mix) 

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

Caitlin Rose releases a special limited 7" Vinyl for Record Store Day 2023. The 500 unit Limited 'Cherry Red' Coloured 7" release features two exclusive tracks recorded during the sessions for Caitlinís new critically acclaimed album 'CAZIMI'. New Track 'Johnny Velvet' and the demo version of 'Carried Away (Demo)í will be available for fans for the first time as exclusive to this 7" release.

The newly revived Undaground Therapy Muzik label comes with one of the most sought after releases of the label... the 1999 classic Men From The Nile ft Peven Everett “Watch Them Come”. A highlight in DJ sets from people such as Theo Parrish, Kerri Chandler and many others. Standing the test of time and a testament to its dancefloor-ready grooves, “Watch Them Come” opens up the EP and still sounds as fresh as ever. Men From The Nile is a collaboration between Roy Davis Jr. and Jay Juniel, and for “Watch Them Come” they enlisted the legendary vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Peven Everett to complete the tribal cut. For the reissue, Men From The Nile are joined by some of the biggest names in dance music. Green Velvet aka Cajmere has been a mainstay in the Chicago circuit since the 90s, making a name for himself as a multifaceted artist as well as label head at Cajual Records and Relief Records. Key players in the club scene for over two decades, Boston duo Soul Clap add one of their tight, minimalist reduxes, while Matt N Ricky turn the swing up to +11 for a seriously wriggly Chi-town flavoured tweak. Recommended tribal pressure for every serious house head!

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Tribal house zenith from '99 which Theo Parrish and many others got many dancing miles out of. Nothing epitomizes that red-lit, bassment buggin' house sound more than this. A true classic of the genre.

TRACK LISTING

Watch Them Come - Original Mix
Watch Them Come - Green Velvet Rmx
Watch Them Come - Soul Clap Rmx
Watch Them Come - Matt N Ricky Rmx

Lou Reed's last album with the Velvet Underground has remained a reliable fixture on Rolling Stone's 500 best albums of all time, and others. Earning a 10/10 from Pitchfork and top accolades from Q, Spin, Uncut, AllMusic, Christgau's Record Guide, and others, this album is a fan favorite featuring hit singles "Sweet Jane" and "Rock & Roll."

Created during a particularly tumultuous time in Nutzman’s life that involved drug abuse, bank fraud, and a house fire, it’s unsurprising that Bulli would echo his present state of mind. Bulli feels anticipatory, often frantic and manic but given the period of his life that it emerged from its songs glimmer with a pop sheen, as fragmentary soundscapes meld leftfield electronic sounds with alternative rock, power pop, even tender R&B and deft hip-hop.

TRACK LISTING

CD Tracklisting
1.  Pop Song 2
2.  Never Said Peep
3.  Pop Song 1
4.  Sinker
5.  Bell Clapper
6.  Ebony Eggshell
7.  Ballad Smaller
8.  Shiny
9.  Georgia
10.  The Foreigner
11.  Animal
12.  Sub Tieties


LP Tracklisting

Side A
A1.  Beginner**
A2.  Never Said Peep**
A3.  The Foreigner
A4.  Pop Song 2
A5.  Pop Song 1
A6.  Bell Clapper
A7.  Repedo
A8.  Ballad Smaller

Side B
B1.  Shiny
B2.  Legal Tender**
B3.  Sinker
B4.  Ebony Eggshell
B5.  Georgia
B6.  Over**
B7.  Sub Tieties
B8.  Animal

(** Exclusive To Vinyl)

Curated by director Todd Haynes, the official soundtrack to his feature documentary (on Apple TV+) about the highly influential, iconic New York band, The Velvet Underground.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: NY legends The Velvet Underground feature on this new documentary from Todd Haynes, and this is the soundtrack to that feature. What we have in essence though, is just a great collection of tunes from VU and associated acts. It's a superb collection on it's own merits, and a superb soundtrack too.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
Venus In Furs - The Velvet Underground
The Wind - The Diablos
17 XII 63 NYC The Fire Is A Mirror (excerpt) - The Theatre Of Eternal Music
Heroin [mono] - The Velvet Underground
Side B
Road Runner (Live) - Bo Diddley
The Ostrich - The Primitives
I'm Waiting For The Man - The Velvet Underground
Chelsea Girls - Nico
Sunday Morning - The Velvet Underground
Side C
Sister Ray (Live) - The Velvet Underground
Pale Blue Eyes - The Velvet Underground
Side D
Foggy Notion - The Velvet Underground
After Hours (Live) Version 1 - The Velvet Underground
Sweet Jane - The Velvet Underground
Ocean - The Velvet Underground
All Tomorrow’s Parties - The Velvet Underground

‘U.S. Velvet’ is the debut release from the LAbased duo of the same name, made up of Zahara Jaime and Collin Davis. Their debut single is a raw, post-punk mission statement about the anxieties of living in the 21st Century.  The 12” single includes an instrumental version (exclusive to the 12”) and a dub version by ATOsigned artist, Pachyman. 

Collin is currently an engineer and producer at Stones Throw Studios in Los Angeles and Zahara is a touring musician with The Simps and Eyedress. Zahara and Collin both create solo music as Zzzahara and Ynes Mon respectively. The duo will release a video to accompany their ‘U.S. Velvet’ single, which features a cameo from Stones Throw’s founder Peanut Butter Wolf’s alter ego, Folerio. 

Dub version of the single by Pachyman, who just released his new album ‘The Return of…’ with ATO Records and opened two shows for Khruangbin.

TRACK LISTING

1. U.S. Velvet
2. U.S. Velvet (Pachyman Dub)
3. U.S. Velvet (Instrumental)

The Velvet Underground’s White Light/White Heat is one of the most confrontational and inspirational second albums ever made by a rock band. Recorded in a matter of days at the end of the summer of 1967, a season in which everything seemed possible in rock and much of it happened at now-mythic speed, White Light/White Heat is an album that reeks of the gritty NY street life and could only have been made in New York, by one band. And that group is the classic-quartet lineup of The Velvet Underground – singer-guitarist Lou Reed; bassist-organist and viola player John Cale; guitarist-bassist Sterling Morrison; and drummer Maureen Tucker.

"No one listened to it. But there it is, forever – the quintessence of articulated punk. And no one goes near it." - Lou Reed, August 2013

“Cited by nearly every group in punk's long lineage and by more than a few arty types, the Velvets defined New York rock, poised between street-level grit and literary irony, rock simplicity and minimalistic drones, clarity and noise.”– The New York Times.

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND: AN OVERVIEW

• The Velvet Underground is regarded as one of the most influential bands in rock history.

• Their first 4 albums were included in Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

• Ranked 19th greatest artist by the same magazine and the 24th greatest artist in a poll by VH1.

• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

• Critic Robert Christgau considers them "the number three band of the '60s, after the Beatles and James Brown and His Famous Flames".

• AllMusic wrote that "Few rock groups can claim to have broken so much new territory, and maintain such consistent brilliance on record, as the Velvet Underground during their brief lifespan [...] the Velvets' innovations – which blended the energy of rock with the sonic adventurism of the avant-garde, and introduced a new degree of social realism and sexual kinkiness into rock lyrics – were too abrasive for the mainstream to handle."

TRACK LISTING

1. Sunday Morning – Michael Stipe (3:50)
2. I’m Waiting For The Man – Matt Berninger (3:44)
3. Femme Fatale – Sharon Van Etten (w/ Angel Olsen On Backing Vocals) (4:43)
4. Venus In Furs – Andrew Bird & Lucius (6:55)
5. Run Run Run – Kurt Vile (6:59)
6. All Tomorrow’s Parties – St. Vincent & Thomas Bartlett (4:52)
7. Heroin Feat. Bobby Gillespie– Thurston Moore Feat. Bobby Gillespie (7:24)
8. There She Goes Again – King Princess (3:29)
9. I’ll Be Your Mirror – Courtney Barnett (2:27)
10. The Black Angel’s Death Song – Fontaines D.C. (3:12)
11. European Sun – Iggy Pop & Matt Sweeney (7:45)

Flexi is a record store and music label based in Italy and run by Simone and Lorenzo. Over the years, Flexi have gained both the respect and recognition of the music scene, earned by almost forty years of experience in the world of music and with the support of many DJs, artists and fans

Finally the camp return with a new 12" in the “Velvet Series”. Featuring six acts that are completely new to me (bonus) and seemingly representing the best new primtive house, atmospheric techno and moody electro that Europe has to offer.

The A side opening is by Bologna-based Brine, with “YR Body”, providing a wobbly Juno bassline and catchy HOUSE vox; nicely shuffled for extra wiggle. Then we have “Benerice" from Daughters and Sons (aka Luca Fronza) who throws us into a beautiful, Detroit-inspired analog jam rich with synth work and interesting;y programmed snare & hi-hat patterns.

Sicily man Manuold is up next with an amazingly stylish take on the Italo-house blueprint which reminds oneself of finding a lesser known but incredibly tasty vintage Barolo - yum yum!

On the B side, welcome back the veterans Tengrams (formerly the Piatto brothers from N.O.I.A Records) with the outstanding "Rapid Eye Movement" which traverses across retro-futurist influences and 808 patterns under a dystopian-sci-fi movie theme - wild!

"Dreaming Pad" is by the Calma duo who play with a few elements to build a neverending, slow-techno climax...did you recognise the sample?

The last track is a sort of relaxing downtempo sunset closure complete with bells, from the California producer Gloved Hands, whose relaxed composier and super chilled demenia are the perfect tonic to unwind with after dancing the whole night under the stars.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says:

TRACK LISTING

A1. Brine - Yr Body
A2. Daughters & Sons - Benerice (feat. Miss Daisy)
A3. Manuold - Acid Puff
B1. Tengrams - Rapid Eye Movement
B2. Calma - Dreaming Pad
B3. Gloved Hands Rice Cracker

On Neon Brown, Velvet Negroni is a griot relaying the life and times of his own island—it’s a singular place, with the squeak and thrum of guitar strings looped over drum machine beats accented by steely marimbas, all creating a pocket for one of the most authentic and original artistic voices ever committed to tape.

You follow his voice as it rhymes in double time, or hiccups and la-las through a break, or croons from a room down the hall, as it unfolds into another story of lost love, or another joke about lost drugs, as he tries to make sense of a life spent in the (sometimes harrowing) pursuit of communion.

Turns out what sounds like a lonely island is in fact the city of Minneapolis. Velvet Negroni grew up in an outer suburb of the Twin Cities as Jeremy Nutzman, a black kid adopted into a white evangelical Christian family. His fundamentalist missionary of a mother drove him to virtuosity, both as a classically trained concert pianist and a competitive figure skater, but he had to climb out his bedroom window to play guitar in his first band.

In 2016 after years of performing under a schizophrenic rotation of various aliases, Nutzman finally landed on a persona that he felt he could be proud of. It was in a fancy cocktail bar in Austin, Texas that he hatched Velvet Negroni. A tour opening for Bon Iver followed, as well as a writing credit on Kid Cudi and Kanye West’s “Feel the Love” off their 2018 album Kids See Ghosts. That same year, he released his first singles on b4, “First Time” and “Crybaby.”

It was in the summer of 2018, together with his friends, producers Psymun (Future, Young Thug, Dua Saleh) and Tickle Torture, that Velvet Negroni composed the stories on NEON BROWN, stories he’s been waiting a lifetime to tell.

TRACK LISTING

1. One One
2. Wine Green
3. Kurt Cobain
4. Poster Child
5. Confetti
6. U.Dunno
7. Choir Boy
8. Scratchers
9. Nester
10. Feel Let
11. Ectodub

Cardinal Fuzz are proud to introduce the debut LP from Wollongong’s Heavy Psychedelia outfit Velvet Elevator. With guitars set to Open C and amps, cabs and fuzz pedals set to 11 Velvet Elevator build a wall of sound so dense that at first it may overload your temporal lobes. Covering themes of Anthropomorphism, Religion and Armageddon and focused roughly on the Revelation chapter of the bible the two closing tracks of Principium tell the story of the Blood Moon which is traditionally a series of apocalyptic beliefs appearing in the bible - ITS HEAVY. Velvet Elevator bring the dirge but they show their garage chops with a sound that shares comparisons to The Heads (the melding of Heavy Bottom Ends and Garage), Sabbath and of course The Wiz as tracks delve into Drone,Psychedelia and Doom. Heavy isn’t about volume, it’s about attitude and these Wollongong boys have it. A 300 Pressing on blood red and black swirl vinyl. Presented in a 320gsm gloss laminated wide spine sleeve with download code. “Flies like The Heads and Hawkwind with a huge dollop of Sabbath and Electric Wizard. Heavy psych dirges that will tear your nugget in half” Optical Sounds

Black Velvet is a celebration of Charles Bradley, lovingly assembled by his friends and family at Dunham/Daptone Records. Though chronologically the material spans Charles' entire career, this is no anthology, greatest hits or other shallow rehashing of the songs that already made him famous. Rather, this album is a profound exploration through the less-travelled corners of the soulful universe that Charles and his longtime producer, co-writer and friend Tommy "TNT" Brenneck created in the studio together over their decade-long partnership.

It features new songs recorded during the sessions from each of his three albums, heard here for the very first time in all their scorching glory: "Can't Fight the Feeling," "Fly Little Girl" and the heart-wrenching single "I Feel a Change"; hard core rarities like his funk-bomb duet with LaRose Jackson, "Luv Jones," the psychedelic groover, "(I Hope You Find) The Good Life" and the ever-illusive alternate full band electric version of "Victim of Love"; sought-after covers of Nirvana's "Stay Away," Neal Young's "Heart of Gold" and Rodriguez's "Slip Away"; and the title track "Black Velvet," a stirring Menahan Street Band instrumental to which Charles was never able to cut a vocal.

Charles was truly a transcendent singer who led a remarkable life, overcoming unimaginable adversity to achieve great success and international acclaim very late in his life. What was really special about him and made him different from everybody else in the world was how he understood his pain as a cry for universal love and humanity. He felt that if he loved enough—if we all loved each other enough—we could take away the world’s pain and sadness. That is why he jumped off the stage and literally tried to hug everybody he could. It's why he took such great care of a mother that had abandoned him. It's why he sang and danced like a lunatic. It's why he screamed like an eagle. And that's why we love him.

Black Velvet is a celebration of his life, and is destined to join Charles' first three albums alongside the cannon of essential soul records for the ages.

STAFF COMMENTS

Millie says: Black Velvet is a summary of everything that was great about Charles Bradley, his strong compelling vocals and passion is etched into all his music and this album ties it all together as a celebration to him and his legacy.

TRACK LISTING

1. Can’t Fight The Feeling
2. Luv Jones
3. I Feel A Change
4. Slip Away
5. Black Velvet
6. Stay Away
7. Heart Of Gold
8. (I Hope You Find) The Good Life
9. Fly Little Girl
10. Victim Of Love (Electric Version)

Velvet Pony hits its stride with its forth release to date. Art Alfie stumbled upon all three of these unreleased tracks whilst witnessing performances by the artists involved. One of those situations when you run up to the DJ wondering what track they've just blown your mind with, only to discover it's their own, unreleased, work! - what serendipity! After playing the fuck outta these jams for literally years Art Alfie's mega buzzed to be releasing them on cult Stockholm house label Velvet Pony.

Bobby Salaam's "Thicker Than Blood" is a warm deep house glider; beautifully encased with sumptuous strings and fluttering pads. Nils Westerlund's "Susperia" is suitably dark, eerie and cinematic for such a title while Peder Mannerfelt's early incarnation - The Subliminal Kid drops "Mars Attacks", a high grade techno roller circa 2004-2008 that would and has tore the arse off Bergain midsession.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Bobby Salaam - Thicker Than Blood
A2. Nils Westerlund - Susperia
B1. The Subliminal Kid - Mars Attacks

"After The Velvet Underground cut three albums for the jazz-oriented Verve label that earned them lots of notoriety but negligible sales, the group signed with industry powerhouse Atlantic Records in 1970; label head Ahmet Ertegun supposedly asked Lou Reed to avoid sex and drugs in his songs, and instead focus on making an album "loaded with hits." Loaded was the result, and with appropriate irony it turned out to be the first VU album that made any noticeable impact on commercial radio -- and also their swan song, with Reed leaving the group shortly before its release. With John Cale long gone from the band, Doug Yule highly prominent (he sings lead on four of the ten tracks), and Maureen Tucker absent on maternity leave, this is hardly a purist's Velvet Underground album. But while Lou Reed always wrote great rock & roll songs with killer hooks, on Loaded his tunes were at last given a polished but intelligent production that made them sound like the hits they should have been, and there's no arguing that "Sweet Jane" and "Rock and Roll" are as joyously anthemic as anything he's ever recorded. And if this release generally maintains a tight focus on the sunny side of the VU's personality (or would that be Reed's personality?), "New Age" and "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" prove he had hardly abandoned his contemplative side, and "Train Around the Bend" is a subtle but revealing metaphor for his weariness with the music business. " - All Music.

TRACK LISTING

1. Who Loves The Sun
2. Sweet Jane
3. Rock & Roll
4. Cool It Down
5. New Age
6. Head Held High
7. Lonesome Cowboy Bill
8. I Found A Reason
9. Train Round The Bend
10. Oh! Sweet Nuthin'

CD Bonus Tracks - Session Outtakes:
11. I'm Sticking With You
12. Ocean
13. I Love You
14. Ride Into The Sun

The Velvet Underground’s classic self-titled third album, originally released in March 1969, by MGM, was a departure from the band’s first two albums in more ways than one. Gone was co-founding member John Cale, and in his place was a 21-year-old with Long Island roots named Doug Yule, who stepped right in. The record was also a stylistic leap, as Lou Reed described to Rolling Stone editor David Fricke, “I thought we had to demonstrate the other side of us. Fricke calls it “a stunning turnaround… 10 tracks of mostly warm, explicit sympathy and optimism, expressed with melodic clarity, set in gleaming double-guitar jangle and near-whispered balladry. Or as the late rock critic Lester Bangs put it, “How do you define a group like this, who moved from ‘Heroin’ to ‘Jesus’ in two short years?”

How indeed do you describe an album which includes such classics as “Candy Says,” Reed’s ode to Warhol superstar Candy Darling; the aching love song “Pale Blue Eyes,” allegedly inspired by a girlfriend at Syracuse University who got away, with lead vocals by Yule; the inspiring “Beginning to See The Light”; the spoken-word narrative and musique concrete of “The Murder Mystery,” and the beautiful Maureen Tucker-sung “After Hours”?

Celebrating the 45th anniversary and following on from the Super Deluxe CD release in 2014, we will be reissuing The Velvet Underground on 180g vinyl.

Marc says of ‘The Velvet Trail’: “Some of the songs have a more personal melancholy, reflective and evocative, like the title track ‘The Velvet Trail’, a song about memories, nostalgia, childhood and death. So it is too with the song ‘The Pain of Never’ (Chris Braide’s personal favourite). Chris wanted to create his ultimate Marc Almond record, electric, lush, emotional, dark and sexy and I felt inspired by his tunes and production to deliver just that”. He then explains the seamless format of the album: “Chris saw the record as one journey, one record you put on from beginning to end, linking tracks with musical interludes. This a reaction against the downloaded digital age, where individual tracks are taken or albums re-arranged in different orders. I always see my records as a show running from beginning to end that takes you on a ride”.

The Velvet Trail is an album that wasn’t supposed to exist - born from a spontaneous, organic inspirational process. It wasn’t just written and recorded, but felt and created. For all those who love Marc Almond’s work and those who just love true music and the emotions it generates, this is one not to be missed.

A short while removed from his acclaimed Brothers Fowl album, released in late 2012, Dam Mantle returns as part of the Free Association collective with a new three-track 12” on NOTOWN Recordings.

A loose collective of musicians from his Glasgow home, this EP showcases, according to Tom Marshallsay AKA Dam Mantle, ‘a small glimpse of what's been getting made in the studio recently. There's quite a few other folks who feature on some of these tracks, so it's a demonstration of the collective attitude behind all this’.

The EP is a glimpse of the moods being explored in his live sets, where his diverse productions converge in a fervent sonic assemblage. The A side gives two heads-down hip shakers which explore a diverse sound palette, while the flip-side adds urgency and steady syncopation with a streak of dark intent and an anticipatory glimmer.

Since the release of his Brothers Fowl album, Dam Mantle has been busy ‘mainly playing records and putting on parties, living life, working’. In addition, he’s spent a bit of time working on collaborative projects, mainly as General Ludd, releasing via the Mister Saturday Night banner, the NYC promoter and label.

TRACK LISTING

A1. The Free Association - Heavy Velvet Affair
A2. Dam Mantle Feat. Baker - Simultaneous Fall
B1. Dam Mantle - The Underlying Issue

Brand new limited 7" from VD, blowing the dust out of their Barrett-esque psyched pop, this brings 60s pop to the future - amazing. 'Our previously loved psychedelic friends, Velvet Davenport have just sent over their newest slice of 60’s infused pop. On their recent LA vacay they met up with like minded nostalgists Ariel Pink and Gary War, the resulting “Get Out” is an acid flashback into a more liberal state of mind'. - Weeklytapedeck.com.

This album of classic 60s tinged pop, co-produced by Matthew Sweet, is now available in this expanded edition. Remastered and with new liner notes and photos, it also includes a bonus disc of demos.

What can you say? Everything a rock and roll record should be? Sexy, dangerous, moody, poignant, poetic, arty. One of the most influential records ever. A music peopled with misfits, dreamers, musicians and magicians. A world created by Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Moss and Mo Tucker for us to step into, for us to believe in. And to think in '67 no-one was listening! 

45th Anniversary Edition includes remastered sound from the original tapes, original gatefold sleeve artwork with peelable banana sticker on front, 180g heavyweight vinyl.

TRACK LISTING

Sunday Morning 2:53
I'm Waiting For The Man 4:37
Femme Fatale 2:35
Venus In Furs 5:07
Run, Run, Run 4:18
All Tomorrow's Parties 5:55
Heroin 7:05
There She Goes Again 2:30
I'll Be Your Mirror 2:01
Black Angel's Death Song 3:10
European Son To Delmore Schwartz 7:44

This double CD "Crimson Love On Velvet Black" sees 15 year old Hedges using her great voice and rare songwriting talents to develope a sophisticated and varied style ranging from folk rock, gospel and country. Disc two contains 12 covers from the songs of Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Nick Drake, Townes Van Zandt and The Cowboy Junkies.