Buscar:501

It means Noisy Stars'' - Fergus Lawrie.

So it's coming up for the 20th anniversary of the We Are Urusei Yatsura' album, so what better time to look back at the broken Woolworths guitars, damaged eardrums and bleeding knuckles of Glasgow's lo-fi, Tokyo dreaming geek rock quartet

You could say it all began at the Glasgow Sound City event, when legendary BBC DJ John Peel came along to check out Urusei Yatsura at the 13th Note at the invitation of future Franz Ferdinand front-man Alex Kapranos. Liking the chaos that he saw, Peel invited the band to record a session for his show, asking live on air while guitarist and singer Graham Kemp was visiting the studio to talk about his Kitten Frenzy' fanzine the next day.

Peel arranged for us to record the session in Glasgow' says Kemp, We didn't have any amps or any money to get to London.' Producer Stewart Cruickshank told the band that it was the first Peel Session recorded outside of Maida Vale since the Undertones. So no pressure there then.

This began a long association with John Peel and the BBC, which saw the band record 5 Peel Sessions, 3 Evening Sessions for Steve Lamacq, play live to air for Mark Radcliffe, and appear regularly on Radio Scotland for John Cavanagh and Mark Percival. Digging through old C-90's that had been partly taped over with that week's charts, the band have pieced together a compilation of the best tunes for you, the discerning 90's indie rock aficionado.

..they sounded a bit like the Saints' - Thurston Moore, SELECT

Some of the recordings we did for the BBC, I think, are better than what eventually made it onto vinyl. We did Kewpies Like Watermelon' live in the control room for Radio Scotland and we had just learned it so it sounds really fresh and exciting. The version of Siamese' is the best we ever captured, and I love the Dice/Nae Dice' tune we wrote especially for Peel'. - Kemp

The challenge of recording and mixing four songs in a single day brought out the best in the band, and suited their impulsive, DIY rock n' roll spirit. The album, available on CD and vinyl, features 11 songs, including session versions of 6 singles, choice album tracks and live favourites from the only band who have been threatened by both the Yakuza and the Mafia (the latter incident generating the hilarious headline Nerds Threatened With Death' in the Sun newspaper'). The band have decided to call this hand-picked selection of the highlights of an eight year career', You Are My Urusei Yatsura, BBC Radio Sessions.

Other highlights of said career include, a number one indie single with a video shot in a Star Trek themed bar (Phasers On Stun), a Peel Festive Fifty placing (Kewpies Like Watermelon) an actual top 40 hit (Hello Tiger), numerous chaotic tours of Europe, UK and USA ,narrowly surviving a collapsing stage at Benecassim and a tent fire at Phoenix Festival, releasing three studio albums and 13 singles (including splits with Mogwai, the Delgados and the Blisters), taking Mogwai, Eska and Pink Kross on their first UK tours, supporting Super Furry Animals, Pavement and Teenage Fanclub, playing at Roskilde, Reading and T In The Park festivals, The CMJ festival in New York and MIDEM in Cannes.

The band consisted of the writers Fergus Lawrie (guitar and vocals) and Graham Kemp (guitar and vocals), with brother and sister rhythm section Elaine and Ian Graham on bass and drums respectively.

Issued in 1973, Labi's fourth album ('the album of which I am proudest') includes two epic songs in 'Children Of
Children' and 'Let's Pretend', songs he says he was 'provoked' into writing.
Presented in its original gatefold sleeve, with all the lyrics on the inner sleeve, and pressed on brown 180 gram
vinyl.

Blackhill Transmitter comes from the FSOLdigital stable of projects. Credited to Dougans / Cobain it was produced and engineered by Yage.
Blackhill Transmitter has been compared to a Four Tet from the 1970's, combining Krautrock with granular synthesis. It is a journey through 15 tracks which blend in and out, interspersed with hauntingly distorted sounds of old lost transmissions that still circle the Earth.
The album is available as a 180g heavy weight vinyl release.

The English blues rock band The Yardbirds released
their album Roger the Engineer in 1966. It was the
only Yardbirds album with all original material.
Although the record was officially titled Yardbirds it has
since its release been referred to as Roger the
Engineer, a title stemming from the cover drawing of
the record's audio engineer Roger Cameron by band
member Chris Dreja. Due to the influence of Jeff
Beck's experimentation with guitar distortion, the
album is considered a precursor to heavy metal.

This 2016 LP reissue features the bonus non-album
single Happenings Ten Years Time Ago b/w Psycho
Daisies at the end of Side B.

As Björk continues to make waves in the electronic scene One Little Indian present exclusive remixes by boundary-pushing artists and DJs personally selected by the Icelandic artist

As Björk continues to make waves in the electronic scene One Little Indian present exclusive remixes by boundary-pushing artists and DJs personally selected by the Icelandic artist

As Björk continues to make waves in the electronic scene One Little Indian present exclusive remixes by boundary-pushing artists and DJs personally selected by the Icelandic artist

As Björk continues to make waves in the electronic scene One Little Indian present exclusive remixes by boundary-pushing artists and DJs personally selected by the Icelandic artist

As Björk continues to make waves in the electronic scene One Little Indian present exclusive remixes by boundary-pushing artists and DJs personally selected by the Icelandic artist

To coincide with Expansion's release of Leon's two iconic Elektra albums, back to back on one CD, two signature tracks have been brought together here on 7' single. Outside of all the great work Leon contributed to other artists, notably Marvin Gaye, both 'Why I Came To California' and 'Rockin' You Eternally' are songs he is best remembered for as a solo artist. The love of Leon and both these songs keep Leon performing through to this dates, including nights at Ronnie Scotts in London last year. Leon continues to record beyind these 80s records, and Expansion have been honoure d to represent his music over the years with reissues, compilations and new recordings.

NORTHERN SOUL doesn't get much better than this iconic 1968 anthem, Time Will Pass You By', one of the famed 3 Before 8' as played every Sunday morning at Wigan Casino during it's 8 year reign. Presented here - FOR THE FIRST TIME - coupled with the original demo, recorded by the writers at the Impact studio, Detroit, 1965. We also include a spoken word introduction recorded exclusively for Outta Sight by writer and producer John Rhys... now ain't that just Outta Sigfht!'

SALES POINTS:
One of the all-time great Northern Soul tracks, a 3 before 8' classic
Exclusive commentary by writer John Rhys
As featured in the film Northern Soul

When Harry met Barney it was a match made in heaven - that's Hary Balk and Barney Duke' Browner. The Duke had worked with Harry since the early sixties on other labels inlcuding American Arts where he wrote Walk On InTo My Heart' for Bobbie Smith. But he really hit his stride at Impact alongside Harry and John Rhys. Eventually the three would make the move to Motown but not before the Duke struck paydirt with his Northern Soul anthem Crying Over You' featured here in its orginal coupling, vocal/instrumental. It was the instrumental that first commanded the dance floor back in the days of the Golden Torch, but today the vocal is king. Whatever your preference we know you'll enjoy our offering couretsy of Harry Balk himself... the first legal reissue in years!

SALES POINTS:
All time Northern Soul Classic - Two fabulous sides
TV advertised and featured in the film Northern Soul

The late Dena Barnes reputedly recorded four sides for Harry Balk in the Impact studios circa 1966-67, two are featured here, the other two have yet to surface... oh what joy! If You Ever Walk Out Of My Life' IS Northern Soul to many devotees ever since it was first spun on the UK club scene some 40 years ago. Co-written by Gar'dena' Barnes and Duke Browner, during his glory years, and arranged by Detroit royalty Mike Terry. Surely this iconic double-sider demands to be in every soul fans collection.

SALES POINTS:
All time Northern Soul Classic - Two fabulous sides
Massive appeal to ALL Northern Soul fans

Repress!

THE BROTHERS first caught our eye in 1975 with the release of their RCA album Disco Soul featuring a cover version of Carl Douglas' King Fu Fighting', an instrumental take on Barry White's You're My First, My Last, My Everything' and, of course, the superb Are You Ready For This'. Blackpool Mecca were certainly ready as it soon filled the floor and, 40 years on, it's still filling the dance floor. Vying for attention are The Trumains with their 1977 New York smooth disco anthem Ripe For The Pickin'', their final recording.

Two iconic MOD/Soul tracks by the Godfather of Soul himself - JAMES BROWN and his Famous Flames. First spun at the Scene Club, London, by legendary DJ and label owner Guy Stevens, Night Train' was originally a 12-bar blues instrumental and its roots can be traced as far back as 1940. Lyrics were first added in the early fifties but James Brown put his own stamp on it by shouting a list of cities off his East coast touring schedule. The energy of Brown's delivery and the exotic sounding American locations caught the imagination of Britain's young Mods and it's never lost it's appeal. Think' is the title track from Brown's third album and is a cover of the 1957 5' Royales R&B hit. Brown makes it his own and transforms it into an insistant dance floor workout complete with an extended sax break.

Paradise Valley's debut 'Deep Probe' EP could well be a case study on how to make an unforgettable electronic music record. Take an incredible, psychedelic collection of ideas that have been drenched in emotional content and heart ache and then infused with optimism and inspirational, healing emotions, shake it with visions of outer space, and the production level 99, put that into a track that will be the defining moment of any dj set: you just got 'Deep Probe'.

Bell Gardens combines the musical visions of Kenneth James Gibson (formerly of Furry Things, now recording as
*Bell Gardens' origins began arguably as more of an experiment than the duo's current 'experimental' projects - McBride's drone- and string-laden ambient symphonies, and Gibson's ventures in dub and minimalist techno - as they sought to manifest their mutual reverence for folk, psychedelia and chamber pop in a traditional band structure without cannibalising any particular past genre. Bell Gardens' sound is less reliant on effects and studio trickery than the pairs' independent guises, laying bare as it does vocals and live instruments with emotional sincerity, and presenting songs imbued with an almost pastoral or gospel simplicity and timelessness.
Slow Dawns for Lost Conclusions was again recorded mostly at home studios, but additionally the band made use of a friend's desert cabin in Wonder Valley, California, and it seems this willingness to retreat from the city has lent an expansiveness to the tracks, in particular the spacious, ceremonial 'Silent Prayer' (written in a snowbound mountain cabin in Idyllwild, C.A.) and the crepuscular 'She's Stuck in an Endless Loop of Her Decline' (mapped out under the stars in the desert).
While the addition of strings (contributed by Lauren Chipman of The Rentals and The Section Quartet) and trumpet (Stewart Cole of Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros) provides a double rainbow of tonal textures throughout, the nine tracks of Slow Dawns for Lost Conclusions are united by an understated elegance belying the newly expanded, communal effort in the studio: each instrument earns its place, nothing is overwrought or conspicuous. Moreover, it is McBride and Gibson's artistry in building stirring soundscapes from the barest of materials in their other guises that lends such assurance and sophistication to these arrangements.
The band is a result of the complimentary cross-pollination of Gibson and McBride's musical tastes - borne from a late-night conversation between the two that grew wings - and it is the universality of the sentiments and their restrained, reflective approach to writing and recording that allows the music to simultaneously straddle the past and the present. The music avoids pastiche, its pedal steel, sleigh bells and harmonies giving a nod to the ghosts of musical genres past, but never overriding or distracting from the emotional content of the sum of its parts.
The album ends with the glorious 'Take Us Away' - one of the first demos Gibson gave McBride when he was on tour with Stars of the Lid - neatly bringing their work to date full circle and exemplifying the band's mindfulness of their own serendipitous beginnings: the dawning of an auspicious, unique musical force.

Bell Gardens - Take Us Away -
Harmonies alert!! Actually, this is rather lovely. Slow-tempo, just the right side of 'twee' and packed full of strings, as if Air and Midlake had been taking balloon trips over the mid-West and sprinkling good-vibes dust across the land. From L.A. and subconsciously plugged into the '60s dream-pop scene, taking in a little bit of Mercury Rev and Brendan Perry en route, stopping off at Pearls Before Swine and Big Star's house for inspiration, before getting stoned with '70s era Brian Eno and Harold Budd.