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After the Bend is the second album from Louisville based Flanger Magazine, and the follow up to FM’s 2018 debut, Breslin. Whereas Breslin was the solo creation of Christopher Bush, an album noted for “an astute synthesis of ‘library music’ and solo acoustic guitar,” and “a seamless blend into the uncluttered and airier side of classic 1970’s giallo,” After the Bend is an ensemble affair. An ecosystem, a perfect mutualism bodies forth—of strings, outdoor recordings, electronics, reeds, and percussion—featuring new FM players Anna Krippenstapel (Frekons (Freakwater + Mekons), The Other Years), Jim Marlowe (Equipment Pointed Ankh, Tropical Trash, Sapat), Eric Lanham and Benjamin Zoeller (both from Caboladies). The various combos perform with both a distinguished efficacy and unhurried Sunday drift—charged and beautiful, pulsating and pleasing. The production is subtle and tasteful. Mutating past the old saws of bounded individualism, a strange form of tentacular life accrues, cyborgian-fungral-tangles of the more-than-human variety.

Robert Beatty’s cover art of otherworldly and interconnected river-scape gradients, coupled with song titles like “Reservoir,” “Falls Fountain Removed,” and “Sympathies for the River,” cue and clue the listener toward a river as a singular multitude analogue for the album. Interstitial gaps, clearings and openings give rise and merge into an accumulated flow from the tributaries of spirited improvisational performance, palimpsestic song cycles, and high fidelity studio production. The composite sound-image of After the Bend refuses to put both oars down into any one of the eddies of the folk, sound, chamber, electronic, or jazz idioms, and instead glides along the currents found within the slipstreams between.

Gathering samples, a River Doctor Limnologist inspecting the properties of After the Bend might note the specter of Leroy Jenkin’s free-violin heat-light deepin the water’s thermal stratification. Or mortgage the late-Maestro’s time with Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza to pay down the growing river heat budget. Or take one’s dirty buckets to the banks of the 19th laundromat where Walt Dickerson plays his vibraphone parts from Divine Gemini with dowsing rods. Or excavate the bedrock in the drainage basin, noting skeletal remains of a Shostakovich string quartet attempting to tune up a Kentucky Fiddle’s subsequent influence on the chemical composition of the water. Or consult the historical revisionist reenactment troupe’s episode of Fishing with John (Fahey) in which Codona, The Sea Ensemble and Nuno Canavarro guest host as their fleet of paddle boats churn river water into a regal lager, and all the fish get drunk in their quest for the leaner enamel Hosianna Mantra GPS coordinates of the Fattened Herb.

Bush and Marlowe recorded and produced the album at End of an Ear Studios, located in the Portland neighborhood, in the west end of the city of Louisville, bordering the Ohio River, between Kentucky’s Upper South and the Indiana’s Midwest, during the first year of the global pandemic, amidst the planet’s sixth great extinction event. As good a time to be alive as any other. (by Kris Abplanalp)

A defining artistic statement:Savatage's first concept album!
Every fan believes that their favourite band has a crowning achievement,
a magnum opus, a defining artistic statement
For many Savatage diehards, that landmark is Streets.Originally released in 1991,
the group's first rock opera tells of a rock star who ultimately overcomes the
demons of his drug- dealing past to achieve spiritual salvation. The album
spawned what would become the band's most beloved song, an epic tale of
redemption titled "Believe". It would also be the last Savatage record featuring
vocalist Jon Oliva performing alongside his late brother, guitarist Criss Oliva.
This Savatage classic is being reissued as a Heavyweight Double LP Gatefold
Edition on Black Vinyl, along with a Limited Collector's Edition on Ocean Blue
Vinyl. Both editions are mastered for vinyl and reissued with the original cover
design, specially enhanced artwork, including a 12pages LP booklet with
extensive liner notes by Clay Marshall.
"'Streets' was in my opinion the best work we did with the line-up of Criss, myself,
Johnny, Steve and Paul. It is definitely the most versatile of all our albums, and if
there is one album that shows all the sides of Savatage, 'Streets' is the one" (Jon
Oliva)

A defining artistic statement:Savatage's first concept album!
Every fan believes that their favourite band has a crowning achievement,
a magnum opus, a defining artistic statement
For many Savatage diehards, that landmark is Streets.Originally released in 1991,
the group's first rock opera tells of a rock star who ultimately overcomes the
demons of his drug- dealing past to achieve spiritual salvation. The album
spawned what would become the band's most beloved song, an epic tale of
redemption titled "Believe". It would also be the last Savatage record featuring
vocalist Jon Oliva performing alongside his late brother, guitarist Criss Oliva.
This Savatage classic is being reissued as a Heavyweight Double LP Gatefold
Edition on Black Vinyl, along with a Limited Collector's Edition on Ocean Blue
Vinyl. Both editions are mastered for vinyl and reissued with the original cover
design, specially enhanced artwork, including a 12pages LP booklet with
extensive liner notes by Clay Marshall.
"'Streets' was in my opinion the best work we did with the line-up of Criss, myself,
Johnny, Steve and Paul. It is definitely the most versatile of all our albums, and if
there is one album that shows all the sides of Savatage, 'Streets' is the one" (Jon
Oliva)

RIYL: Guided by Voices, Pavement, The Clean, XTC, Flying Nun. The title of The Stroppies' newest LP, Levity, serves as a creative statement of intent and an acknowledgment of the dichotomy between the music they have made and the conditions in which they were produced. For a group that started over an initial idea to "create open ended music, quickly and haphazardly”, the logistical challenges of creating their second album in the midst of a pandemic, in a city that endured the longest lockdown in the world, created a need to redefine process. Levity, The Stroppies strongest creative statement to date, is the result of this new approach to creative process. Playful yet focused, but broader in scope and experimentation than previous efforts, the ten songs that comprise Levity continue the band's exploration of the pop song as both foil for experimentation and conduit for personal reflection. Whereas the group's debut LP Whoosh! demonstrated their ability to craft clean, concise jangle pop, Levity takes a different route by utilizing a darker pallet of sounds to create its impressionistic whole. Fuzz and distortion are employed to add weight to songs built on tape loops and Motorik drum patterns. Warbling synthesisers and modulated keys add new moods and dimensions to The Stroppies unique brand of pop classicism. Thematically, the band continues their exploration of the personal refracted through the lens of the absurd, though this time around the music feels a few shades darker, a somewhat inevitable consequence of the collective trauma of the past 24 months. While the narrative around the 'lockdown record' is increasingly commonplace, there are unavoidable realities involved in making creative decisions under such circumstances that can't be overlooked, especially for a band that thrives on collaboration. "The restrictions around COVID really informed the way we made the record', says Angus Lord, the band's co-founder and guitarist. "It meant that there was a lot less opportunity to meet and build ideas collaboratively, which is how we’ve worked in the past. Instead, ideas were developed in isolation, then shared digitally, developing slowly over correspondence and only bearing fruit when we were able to be in a room together. I think this had a big effect on the songwriting and execution.” This process even extended to the studio, where The Stroppies found a kindred spirit in John Lee of Phaedra Studios, who mixed the record in isolation, somehow managing to synthesise the band's pop sensibilities with their penchant for studio experimentation. Furthermore, the addition of new member Zoe Monk, known for playing in a diverse array of Melbourne acts (Eggy, Thibault, The Opals) contributed both synthesiser experimentation and rock solid rhythm guitar, a huge addition to the band's developing sound, an infectious combination of the off-kilter 90s US underground, British artpunk ala Wire and a more than generous love of classic Pop songwriting. The Stroppies have managed to craft a record of weight and substance. Through Levity the Stroppies have, at least temporarily, found their feet amongst the chaos

RIYL: Guided by Voices, Pavement, The Clean, XTC, Flying Nun. The title of The Stroppies' newest LP, Levity, serves as a creative statement of intent and an acknowledgment of the dichotomy between the music they have made and the conditions in which they were produced. Levity, The Stroppies strongest creative statement to date, is the result of this new approach to creative process. Playful yet focused, but broader in scope and experimentation than previous efforts, the ten songs that comprise Levity continue the band's exploration of the pop song as both foil for experimentation and conduit for personal reflection. Whereas the group's debut LP Whoosh! demonstrated their ability to craft clean, concise jangle pop, Levity takes a different route by utilizing a darker pallet of sounds to create its impressionistic whole. Fuzz and distortion are employed to add weight to songs built on tape loops and Motorik drum patterns. Warbling synthesisers and modulated keys add new moods and dimensions to The Stroppies unique brand of pop classicism. Thematically, the band continues their exploration of the personal refracted through the lens of the absurd, though this time around the music feels a few shades darker, a somewhat inevitable consequence of the collective trauma of the past 24 months. While the narrative around the 'lockdown record' is increasingly commonplace, there are unavoidable realities involved in making creative decisions under such circumstances that can't be overlooked, especially for a band that thrives on collaboration. "The restrictions around COVID really informed the way we made the record', says Angus Lord, the band's co-founder and guitarist. "It meant that there was a lot less opportunity to meet and build ideas collaboratively, which is how we've worked in the past. Instead, ideas were developed in isolation, then shared digitally, developing slowly over correspondence and only bearing fruit when we were able to be in a room together. I think this had a big effect on the songwriting and execution." This process even extended to the studio, where The Stroppies found a kindred spirit in John Lee of Phaedra Studios, who mixed the record in isolation, somehow managing to synthesise the band's pop sensibilities with their penchant for studio experimentation. Furthermore, the addition of new member Zoe Monk, known for playing in a diverse array of Melbourne acts (Eggy, Thibault, The Opals) contributed both synthesiser experimentation and rock solid rhythm guitar, a huge addition to the band's developing sound, an infectious combination of the off-kilter 90s US underground, British artpunk ala Wire and a more than generous love of classic Pop songwriting. The Stroppies have managed to craft a record of weight and substance. Through Levity the Stroppies have, at least temporarily, found their feet amongst the chaos.

Repress !

(November Collective Title) Meditative but heaving with energy, Son Lux's third full-length weaves disparate elements into songs both strange and welcoming. On the heals of being named NPR's 'Best New Artist of the Year', Son Lux has created an album that sits as comfortably next to the compositions of Stravinsky, John Adams, David Lang and Ben Frost, as it does to those of Jamie Lidell, Björk, Flying Lotus, and Radiohead. Equal parts producer and composer, Son Lux (aka Ryan Lott) bridges an unusual gap between old-world music theory and next-level experimentation. Meditative but heaving with energy, 'Lanterns' finds a peculiar congruency between futuristic soul and ancient sentiment. Driving orchestral electronica (Lost It To Trying, No Crimes) is placed alongside creepy minimalism (Pyre), often starkly juxtaposing densely layered arrangements with Lott's fragile voice. In recent past Son Lux has gained notoriety both for his s/s/s project (with Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti), and from being named NPR's 'Best New Artist of the Year'. His third full-length album, and his first for Joyful Noise (Kishi Bashi, Sebadoh, etc.), positions Son Lux at the helm of an impressive ensemble of instrumentalists and singers, including Chris Thile (The Punch Brothers), Peter Silberman (The Antlers), DM Stith, Lily & Madeleine, Darren King (Mutemath), Ieva Berberian (Gem Club) and yMusic (Dirty Projectors, Bon Iver).

Following 2019’s critically-acclaimed sophomore album, I Spent the Winter Writing Songs About Getting Better, Proper. is making their return with The Great American Novel. “The Great American Novel is a concept album about how Black genius, specifically my own, goes ignored, relentlessly contested, or just gets completely snuffed out before it can flourish,” vocalist Erik Garlington said. “This record is a concept album that’s meant to read like a book; every song is a chapter following the protagonist through their 20s. Imagine a queer, Black Holden Caufield-type coming up in the 2010s.” The result is an album that is both lyrically and musically heavy, the former something fans have come to expect from Garlington’s unflinchingly honest lyrical content, but the latter something that’ll be refreshingly new. Channeling the heavier music he listened to during his adolescence — from post-hardcore outfit At the Drive-In to progressive metal band System of a Down — Garlington and the rest of Proper. — bassist Natasha Johnson and drummer Elijah Watson — push themselves in ways they haven’t before, culminating in an ambitious project that showcases the new sonic territory the band is heading in. Recorded by Bartees Strange in early 2021 and mixed/mastered by Brian DiMeglio, TGAN is made up of 14 songs, with three of them to be singles dropped throughout the course of the album’s release

The Hill District were a group of working musicians assembled by bassist Walter “Sonny” Hughes who following one afternoon rehearsal session together the very same evening recorded their only ever 45 outing the somewhat elusive and now sort after amongst group harmony collectors “Your Scared Of Falling In Love”. The other group members were Sonny’s brother Richard Hughes (Lead Guitar), Anthony Law (Keyboards), William M. Standard Jr (Piano), Mark Smith (Drums) and Daniel S. Lee Jr (Lead Vocals). The groups name was taken from a grouping of African American neighbourhoods in the city of Pittsburgh P.A. locally referred to as ‘The Hill’. The recording session was held under the direction of record producer and song writer James Richard Calloway (A.K.A) Rich Calloway. Calloway would go on to release “Your Scared Of Falling In Love” on his own ‘C-Way Records’ label featuring a instrumental version on the flipside. Rich Calloway hailed from Uniontown P.A. with Uniontown being known affectionately by the local black community as ‘Oniontown’ the name which Calloway adopted for his publishing company. Unfortunately for the Hill District the final mastering of their song left something be desired (a scenario we’ve now rectified with our release) and as a result local Pittsburgh Disc jockeys refused to plug their song leaving their one and only 45 outing to fade into obscurity with the group members going their own separate ways to continue their careers as session musicians with other ensembles. Producer and lyricist Rich Calloway also continued with his own C-way Productions company later composing both sides of The Cleveland Ohio group ‘The Entertains’1975 outing for Steel Town records “Love Will Turn It Around/Why Couldn’t I Believe Them”. Calloway was no stranger to Cleveland having been earlier employed by Way Out Records owner Lester Johnson to compose the lyrics to Jesse Fisher’s “Your Not Loving A Beginner”, the songs arrangement’s being originally laid down by members of the Way Out group The Soul Notes, William Bell (A.K.A Bill Spoon), John Washington and Ricki Dannison under the working title of “I’ve Been Waiting For Your Love”. Prior to the Hill’s District release Rich Calloway had penned and released a 45 single on another local Pittsburgh artist Richie Merrett. The 1973 outing You’ll Always Have Yesterday Standing By” b/w “I Gave It Up” (C-Way 103). Merritt a professional singer who performed with several groups including The Electron’s on their 1968 outing “Turn On Your Lovelight (Shock 209) recorded his first solo outing on the Nashville Deltron label “Can I Get A Rebate/It’s Never Too Late” which he later released again on his own R.A.M label followed by two early 90’s outings, the modern soul favourite’s “Where Did I Go Wrong” and “You Got Problems”. Richie still performs today doing one off shows in between his solo performances aboard 7 Day Cruise ships travelling between Los Angeles and Sant Cabos, Mexico. “You’ll Always Have Yesterday Standing By” was later produced by Walt Maddox under the shortened title of “Yesterday’s Standing By” on his own group ‘These Gents’.

Therefore Soul Junction brings you two 70’s soul/Lowrider in demanders back to back for your delectation.

Growing up in the Californian sprawl and the vast suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona, Caleb Dailey largely dismissed the country and western music that surrounded him. Instead, he was drawn to independent rock, experimental zones, and other genre-defying forms, which led him to create skewed rock music with Bear State and establish the “minimal art label” Moone Records with his brother Micah Dailey in 2013. But in the early half of the 2010s, Dailey began to hear things differently. Drawn into the left-of-center works of artists like Gram Parsons and Blaze Foley, a more idiosyncratic take on country, folk, and roots music began to swirl in his imagination.

Wandering into the form’s cowboy chords and lonesome scenes, Dailey found himself wondering what his own country album might sound like. The result is his debut solo album, a collection of covers called Warm Evenings, Pale Mornings; Beside You Then. Produced by John Dieterich of Deerhoof, Keiko Beers, and Dailey himself, it’s a melancholy charmer, rooted in traditional ideas but free roaming in its scope. Laced with synths, pedal steel, acoustic guitars, and commanded by Dailey’s full and woozy voice, it owes as much to the busted waltzes of Lambchop and the homespun lo-fi folk of Little Wings (whose Kyle Field appears on the album via a spoken intermission) as it does to the songwriters and performers who provide its source material, which include Parsons, Foley, Elvis Presley associate Chips Moman, steel guitarist Buddy Emmons, and others.

“The subversive nature of country music isn’t as much at the surface as some other genres,” Dailey says. “But the deeper down the ‘country hole’ I went, the more I wanted to be part of it. It is truly a strange world.”

The hands of Dailey and his collaborators, which includes a wide roster of DIY experimentalists like James Fella of art punks Soft Shoulder, Jay Hufman (Gene Tripp), Lonna Kelley of Giant Sand, Japanese DIY hero’s Koji Shibuya and Tori Kudo, Nicholas Krgovich, Markus Acher of The Notwist, and more, that strangeness is accentuated. Dailey doesn't aspire to retro Nashville fetishism or sanctioned notions of “realness” so much as a genuine outsider authenticity. Take his version of Gordon Lightfoot’s “If You Could Read My Mind” for example: a highlight of the record, it pairs familiar genre signifiers like pedal steel and guitar strums with warbled synths. Then there’s his read of “Dreaming My Dreams,” originally made famous by Waylon Jennings (who also did time in the Arizona desert), which morphs from a mournful ballad into a wash of far-off sonic noise.

The attention here is on the songcraft itself, with Dailey inhabiting these songs and turning them inside out to reveal unexpected tenderness and playfulness.

Recorded at home with an acoustic guitar and 4-track, Dailey began open correspondences with his collaborators, who fleshed out ideas and added touches, often working with skeletal frames before Dieterich and Dailey shaped it into a cohesive whole. “John is the reason this album exists,” Dailey says. “He sculpted all these parts together in such an otherworldly way. He is truly a magician.” Deeply allergic to insincerity, Dailey avoids any trace of irony. He’s created a cohesive gem out of disparate parts, uniting Americana songcraft with experimental disassemblage. From this bric-à-brac, he’s made something touching and beautifully strange.

Father John Misty returns with ‘Chloë and the Next
20th Century’, his fifth album and first new material
since the release of ‘God’s Favorite Customer’ in
2018.
 ‘Chloë and the Next 20th Century’ was written and
recorded August through December 2020 and
features arrangements by Drew Erickson.
 The album sees Tillman and producer/multiinstrumentalist Jonathan Wilson resume their longtime collaboration, as well as Dave Cerminara,
returning as engineer and mixer. Basic tracks were
recorded at Wilson’s Five Star Studios with strings,
brass and woodwinds recorded at United
Recordings in a session featuring Dan Higgins and
Wayne Bergeron, among others.
 ‘Chloë and the Next 20th Century’ features the
singles ‘Funny Girl’, ‘Q4’, ‘Goodbye Mr. Blue’ and
‘Kiss Me (I Loved You)’

It hasn't been long since The Wedding Present released their latest LP Going, Going... but there's already another LP in the pipeline, albeit a collection of old sessions. The Marc Riley Sessions Volume 1 collection comes out on 2nd December via Hatch Records and contains tracks from three memorable studio sessions with DJ Marc Riley from 2007, 2008 and 2010. The sessions feature songs that span the entirety of the cult indie band's career and the consistency of David Gedge's songwriting.
Marc Riley himself commented on the release of the new album: The release of The Wedding Present sessions done for our 6
Music programme over the years is something of an honour. In the great tradition of the Peel/Selwood releases on the Strange Fruit label this record proves that even without John the BBC can still be a place where great bands can continue to grow and be creative... amongst friends.' Riley also commented on John Peel's love of the cult band: There were many other bands who benefitted from the 'Peel Effect'. T oo numerous to mention. But one of those was — as if you can't see this coming — The Wedding Present. The constant support. Plays. Sessions. Encouragement. Friendship. John's love of the George Best LP (which was a heroic support considering John's affiliation to Liverpool — Manchester United's most hated rival) was well known... and until John passed away he remained a firm fan of all things 'Gedge'.'

LP Black Vinyl, DL card. ‘Devasting, with slow, burning songs that shudder and wince’ NY TIMES. Peel Sessions is an essential nine-track set catching Boston’s mighty Come at the peak of their powers. The collection includes two sessions recorded for John Peel in both 1992 and 1993, plus a previously unreleased live track ‘Clockface’ from 1991, unwrapping the blueprint of their sonic idealism. Raw, loud and live, exactly where the band’s dissonant blues noise rock originates. 1992’s four track session is direct from their debut; but more mangled, strangled and abrasive. The follow-up set from a year later includes live favourite ‘Mercury Falls’ and ‘City Of Fun’ neither of which surfaced as studio recordings. The sessions feature the masterful guitar interplay of two central pivots of the post-post-punk and alternative noisnik underground, Chris Brokaw (Codeine, Pullman, Thurston Moore, Ryley Walker, Lemonheads) and Thalia Zedek (Uzi, Live Skull, solo). The session’s line-up is completed by the addition of Sean O'Brian and Arthur Johnson’s visceral bass and percussion, documenting an essential era for the band. Peel Sessions follows their recently released ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ reissue, part of Fire Records forthcoming reissue series for the seminal group

Vinyl Only

Marshall Applewhite has returned from the red planet with a new discovery in tow, his Lowercase EP! As a musical pioneer he needs little introduction but a few lauds include: the creation of an entire genre of electronic music, starting legendary label YoSucka! featuring his hit release "Go Home", now running a fantastic and creative label project called Junted sharing experimental and strange sounds. For all those in the Detroit techno community, his music has been an inspiration and his devil may care attitude is a welcome refreshment from the often overly serious and judgemental air of the industry. These tracks once again change up his style, leaning a bit more toward a house groove, but with plenty of his signature freakish basslines and trippy vocal samples to ride along. Released via PITS, a Detroit-based electronic music label run by cohort John Joe XO. The project is entering its fifth year of life this summer of 2021, so in celebration this special edition release will also be shared on 12" vinyl. The label has seen support from many artists over the years including Exos, Blazej Malinkowski, Justin Carter, Laurent Garnier, John FM, and more.

A few years back I had this dream: I was walking through vast grasslands
towards a solitary hill
On top of the hill was a movie house. On the marquee: History of Jazz.I kept
thinking about it. What was in the movie house? What happened before? What
followed? Why was I going there? Why "History of Jazz"? To reach some kind of
insight, I began a film script, extending the dream tenfold. The script morphed
into a novella-sized book, a series of songs, and finally, a "mind-movie" podcast,
forming this labyrinthine, multi- medium story – equal parts dream, film and
waking life. Figuring out how to transcend the traditional parameters of the album
to create a more panoramic story- vision is something I've been unconsciously
trying to do for some time. I've been pushing against the edges – toying with
narrative, characters and visuals with Easterween and Niagara, a weird children's
book Daydreams for Night – but the scope of life behind Rialto felt too
irrepressible and expansive to be boxed in an album. The book and podcast have
kicked open the doors – allowing the album to lead or serve where it should.In
Rialto's extended narrative, Klaus (loner, insomniac) is working a stint as a driver
for a small town writer's festival. Following a series of unsettling paranormal
events, he finds himself agreeing to a strange request - to deliver a film reel in
time for its premiere at a secluded movie house - the Rialto. The journey leads
him through a circuit of strangely located, oracular movie houses, screening a mix
of dreams, fantasies, memories and prophecies - numinous films of personal
revelation. Inhabiting the movie houses are underworld characters and spirits
with ambiguous motivations, some helping and some hindering Klaus's quest. It's
a Dantesque, deep cleanse pilgrimage to untangle bitterness and trauma,
rediscover a lost clairvoyance, ancestry, and ultimately, the medicinal source of
eternal youth. A metaphysical noir. A hyperstition.Rialto's album stars seven
singer-artists playing characters alongside mine: Tamara Lindeman (The Weather
Station), Daniel Knox, Thom Gill (Owen Pallet, Beverly Glenn- Copeland), Ryan
Driver (Jennifer Castle), Felicity Williams (Bahamas), Robin Dann (Bernice) and
Martin Tielli (Rheostatics). All Toronto- based like me except Daniel (Chicago).
Performed by the Venuti String Quartet with arrangements by Andrew Downing.
Produced by Jean Martin (Tanya Tagaq). It's my 13th album and fourth on Tin
Angel - previous releases on Tin Angel: Miracle In The Night (2019), Small Town
Water Tower (2016), and Niagara (2014). Each of Rialto's eight podcast episodes
features a chapter from the book performed by a cast of twenty five - made up
almost entirely of musicians – including the speaking voices of the
aforementioned singers, as well as Meg Remy (U.S. Girls), Claudia Dey, Veda Hille,
Devon Sproule, Luka Kuplowsky and others. Rialto is available as a 101-page eBook (illustrations by David Ouimet) on Sud de Valeur Press. Premiere
performances begin fourth quarter 2021. Happy Rialto listening, reading,
watching, dreaming...

Limited coloured marbled vinyl edition of this album Booker T. & the M.G.s formed as the house band for Stax Records and provided playbacks for numerous singers, including Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding. During a - recording break for Billy Lee Riley, 17-yearold keyboardist Booker T. Jones, guitarist Steve Cropper, Lewie Steinberg on bass and Al Jackson Jr. on drums began messing around with a bluesy organ riff. The president of Stax Records, Jim Stewart, was at
the mixing board. He liked what he heard and recorded it. The result: „Green Onions,“ with „Behave Yourself“ as the B-side.
The record became a hit when radio DJ Reuben Washington played it four times in a row, even before the band had a name. The single went to #1 on the US R&B chart, #3 on the pop chart, reached #7 in the UK
and sold over a million copies. The song was listed as one of the 500 greatest songs of all time by Rolling Stone magazine and received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999. It was followed by the allinstrumental album „Green Onions“, which is now a classic of the era.

The album was included in Robert Dimery‘s 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Booker T. & the M.G.s have been called the most influential stylists in modern American music. Until the 2000s, they
played as the house band for countless world stars such as Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Johnny Cash, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Neil Young and many others.

More than anyone, Blind Willie Johnson embodies the archetype of the cursed bluesman. Despite the fact that his records have sold fairly well at his time, or that one of his ballads (Dark Was The Night, Cold as the Ground - that also gives the name to this compilation) was included on the Voyager disc launched into space in 1977, the American singer/preacher has lived his whole life in total misery. However, his powerful voice fascinates. His guitar style, a mixture of picking and slide, will influence several generations of musicians. And like many of his contemporaries, it was not until the 1960s that his talent would finally be recognized at its fair value (via the work of the brilliant Reverend Gary Davis).

Produced by Jonathan Wilson (Dawes, Father John Misty, Conor Oberst), Erin Rae's highly anticipated new album Lighten Up is a timeless amalgam of classic pop, cosmic country and indie rock, recorded earlier this year in California’s Topanga Canyon. Three years have passed since the release of her critically acclaimed debut Putting On Airs, which drew high praise from publications from Rolling Stone to NPR Music. She mostly spent her time on the road, performing at Newport Folk and Red Rocks, sharing stages with Iron & Wine, Jason Isbell, Jenny Lewis, Hiss Golden Messenger and Father John Misty, before her touring came to a sharp halt at the start of the pandemic. The solitude of the road and then the pandemic created space for Rae to undergo a sonic and philosophical shift where she found personal catharsis in creating an album that reflected on her newfound lessons of self acceptance, alongside finding the confidence to offer social commentary on the environment, gender identity and equality. “My last record was a lot of self-assessment and criticism, and trying to kick old habits and ways of relating and not relating to people,” Rae acknowledges. “This one is about blossoming, opening up, and living a little more in the present moment. Fully experiencing what it is to be human.” With a renewed sense of agency, Rae also took a more active role in creating the kaleidoscopic soundscape that became Lighten Up, setting out to reflect a sound she calls, “an emotional pallet, I could get lost in.” Alongside Erin and Jonathan Wilson, who contributed various instruments, the album also features guest appearances from fellow rising star singer songwriters, Meg Duffy, Ny Oh, and Kevin Morby.

“One of the standout releases of the year” - The Times

“Lady Blackbird finds her calling with an extraordinary collection of songs and performances that burn deep into you” - The Guardian, 5*

The debut album Black Acid Soul from Lady Blackbird is one of the standouts for 2021. It's instant and within a minute you are hooked. Think Nina Simone, Hot Buttered Soul-era Isaac Hayes, Billie Holiday and Chaka Khan with critics drawing comparisons to Adele, Amy and Celeste, Lady Blackbird’s distinct and beguiling talent is not one to be missed. Gilles Peterson called her "the Grace Jones of Jazz".

With a voice that has stopped critics in their tracks, Lady Blackbird is a revelatory new talent with music that transcends the jazz scene through which the LA-based artist is rooted. Minimal yet rich, classic yet timely, the album connects backwards to Miles Davis (his pianist, Deron Johnson, plays Steinway Baby Grand, Mellotron and Casio Synth throughout) and forwards to Pete Tong (he made the Bruise mix of ‘Collage’ his Number Two Essential Selection tune of 2020).

It's 11 tracks have a sound, feeling and attitude that speak of Lady Blackbird's deep experiences in music, stretching all the way back to infancy. Standout tracks include the sad, elegantly simple tune, ‘Nobody’s Sweetheart’, plus two killer cuts written by Lady Blackbird and Seefried, ‘Fix It’ and ‘Five Feet Tall’. The former is an elegant piano ballad that sounds like a Great American Songbook standard sung by a woman on the side of the angels. Her ability to nail the song in the studio in minimal takes was clearly something to behold. The album also includes Wanted Dead or Alive, a rare groove classic recorded by funk/gospel collective Voices of East Harlem in 1973 and co-produced by Curtis Mayfield, an inspired reinvention on the aching 'It’ll Never Happen Again', written by Tim Hardin and a stunning take on Nina Simone's Blackbird.

Following up on 2021"s highly acclaimed Hologram EP, the rebooted lineup'
vocalist/guitarist Oliver Ackermann plus drummer/vocalist Sandra Fedowitz and
bassist John Fedowitz (both of Ceremony East Coast)' delivers an overclocked
set of futuristic electronic punk music encoded with punishing industrial rhythms,
swirling voltage- starved guitars and unclassifiable auditory annihilation. Across
thirteen tracks recorded in seclusion throughout the nihilistic absurdity of the
coronavirus pandemic, See Through You is proof-positive that the group hailed as
'The Loudest Band in New York' is still finding new ways to push the needle
deeper in the red

John Lodge, legendary bass player, songwriter and vocalist of The Moody Blues, and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, is to release a new live album entitled ‘The Royal Affair and After’. It features incredible new live recordings of all his Moody Blues hits, plus special tributes to all his bandmates, Graeme Edge, Justin Hayward, Mike Pinder and Ray Thomas. John is delighted to release this album, an album that encompasses the songs that he describes as being ‘the soundtrack of his life’, and continues in his deeply-felt quest to ‘Keep the Moody Blues music alive’. The album was recorded live in Las Vegas on ‘The Royal Affair Tour’, with additional tracks recorded during his subsequent USA dates. During the summer of 2019, Lodge was delighted to be part of the ‘The Royal Affair Tour’, with YES, Carl Palmer, Arthur Brown, and ASIA, and what followed was an epic summer. For John it was unique opportunity to bring his electrifying show to both long established fans, and to those new to the Moody Blues. The album comprises many of the incredible Moodies hits penned by Lodge, classics such as “I’m Just a Singer (in a Rock and Roll Band),” “Gemini Dream,” “Ride My Seesaw,” “Isn’t Life Strange,” and “Steppin’ in a Slide Zone”, plus the wonderful “Saved by the Music” from the Blue Jays album.

The wheels rattle into the thrilling unknown on The Coral’s first new music since 2018, finding the unsurpassed, metamorphic gonzo-pop five-piece in the company of crooks, sell-by-date candyfloss and plastic skeletons as they release Faceless Angel. Of misplaced memories from a place and time that might never have been, the track precedes a new and vividly evocative body of work from the legendary Merseyside band in the form of their TENTH and first, ever double-album: Coral Island.

Squinting into the neon-lit penny arcades and draining an after hours glass with the displaced and dispossessed once the power is pulled, The Coral’s latest caper concerns listeners with the light, shade, thrills and profound melancholy of coastal palaces packed with fun and fright. Both now and then, or perhaps never as fiction encroaches on reality, the feverous anticipation of a night amongst the screams, fights and romance of the fair become part of life on the newly-built Coral Island.

Welcoming travellers one trepidous step at a time, Faceless Angel sits amongst a series of promised audio visual portraits of and inspired by the Island’s inhabitants. Conceived and created by artist, Edwin Burdis, the single’s video was filmed ‘on’ Coral Island itself, a sprawling diorama purpose-built inside a deserted Chinese restaurant in Cardiff. It’s the band and fans’ first venture onto the surreal land mass, populated by surreal sculptural forms, charity shop-finds, looming mountains and gathering storm clouds. Filmed in debt to the traditional model-based filmmaking methods of greats like George Lucas or Ray Harryhausen, Burdis navigated Coral Island at waist-height and via camera-friendly pathways to gather 360 degree footage from inside and outside his and The Coral’s fascinating, fabricated world. The expansive and ambitious installation also provides the album artwork for Coral Island as well as designs for Faceless Angel and future singles.

Indebted in part to the classic pre-Beatles rock and roll era of Duane Eddy and Chuck Berry alongside the clattering of a weary ghost train’s rusted wheels on worn steel, Faceless Angel’s title evokes DC Comics ominous occult detective series, Hellblazer and the broken character of the strip’s protagonist, John Constantine.

The wheels rattle into the thrilling unknown on The Coral’s first new music since 2018, finding the unsurpassed, metamorphic gonzo-pop five-piece in the company of crooks, sell-by-date candyfloss and plastic skeletons as they release Faceless Angel. Of misplaced memories from a place and time that might never have been, the track precedes a new and vividly evocative body of work from the legendary Merseyside band in the form of their TENTH and first, ever double-album: Coral Island.

Squinting into the neon-lit penny arcades and draining an after hours glass with the displaced and dispossessed once the power is pulled, The Coral’s latest caper concerns listeners with the light, shade, thrills and profound melancholy of coastal palaces packed with fun and fright. Both now and then, or perhaps never as fiction encroaches on reality, the feverous anticipation of a night amongst the screams, fights and romance of the fair become part of life on the newly-built Coral Island.

Welcoming travellers one trepidous step at a time, Faceless Angel sits amongst a series of promised audio visual portraits of and inspired by the Island’s inhabitants. Conceived and created by artist, Edwin Burdis, the single’s video was filmed ‘on’ Coral Island itself, a sprawling diorama purpose-built inside a deserted Chinese restaurant in Cardiff. It’s the band and fans’ first venture onto the surreal land mass, populated by surreal sculptural forms, charity shop-finds, looming mountains and gathering storm clouds. Filmed in debt to the traditional model-based filmmaking methods of greats like George Lucas or Ray Harryhausen, Burdis navigated Coral Island at waist-height and via camera-friendly pathways to gather 360 degree footage from inside and outside his and The Coral’s fascinating, fabricated world. The expansive and ambitious installation also provides the album artwork for Coral Island as well as designs for Faceless Angel and future singles.

Indebted in part to the classic pre-Beatles rock and roll era of Duane Eddy and Chuck Berry alongside the clattering of a weary ghost train’s rusted wheels on worn steel, Faceless Angel’s title evokes DC Comics ominous occult detective series, Hellblazer and the broken character of the strip’s protagonist, John Constantine.

MOMENTS LIKE THESE, THE NEW ALBUM FROM SUBWAY SECT, PRODUCED BY MICK JONES AND FEATURING THE 1981 SUBWAY SECT LINE-UP, VIC GODARD WITH SEAN MCLUSKY, CHRIS BOSTOCK, JOHNNY BRITTON, & DC COLLARD and guest appearances by MICK JONES, PETE WILLIAMS, TERRY EDWARDS and SIMON RIVERS. Sukhdev Sandhu runs a publishing imprint Texte und Töne in New York.

The LP, the imprint's first, is also the first-ever Subway Sect record to come out in the States. (Perhaps unsurprisingly: they did have a song called U.S. Cunts!) It's been produced by Mick Jones of The Clash. (A White Riot '77 reunion of sorts.) ‘There’s a certain element of unspoiltness about the whole thing and that’s what really appealed to me about it.’
Mick Jones MOJO ‘This is Vic reflecting on a lifetime in the music business. It sounds like a record that he had to make and is perfect for now. When I was a kid, I used to make up my fantasy punk band with members from different bands and they almost always
contained Vic Godard and Mick Jones. The songs are as good as it
gets and with Mick Jones producing and playing piano, what more do
you need?’ Jim Reid, Jesus and Mary Chain ‘The Subway Sect story is one of the strangest, and therefore one of the best. Vic Godard indicated ways that pop should go. He dropped hints, left clues. It is all there.’ Kevin Pearce ‘Vic's always walked his own path. He's a model of independence.

No wonder that he's recorded for some of the best UK independents
(Rough Trade, el, Postcard). Years ago, when I was writing a book
about nocturnal London, he took me on a postal round with him, all
the while telling me funny stories about some of the prog rock
aristos whose mail he delivered, and enthusing about the latest hip
hop and bhangra he was listening to.

Asked by Time Out to write an essay about my favourite Londoner, I wrote it about Vic. Now, in summer 2021, I'm very happy to help release Moments Like These. It's about thinking back and thinking forward, about walking your own path. It's got soul, swagger and swing. Vic Godard: always onward!’ Sukhdev Sandhu ‘It was an accident really as Sukhdev wanted to put What's the Matter Boy out until I told him I'd just recorded a new LP. I'd been in discussions with loads of record labels but they all wanted to get my back catalogue digital rights and weren't into the idea of putting out a new LP. I thought it was on course to be my 2nd lost album until the phone calls with Sukhdev.’ Vic

The Senior Service returns with a brand new 10” for 2022. A year or so ago, The Senior Service decided that it wanted to add a little more to its well-honed instrumental sound. On one slightly drunken night out, they approached local songwriter and chanteuse Rachel Lowrie and asked if she’d like to perform guest vocals on some specially written new material. By this time, Rachel had supplied impressive ‘pipework’ on quite a few Medway records so the band was confident that she’d be able to deliver – the band was right.
Following a lengthy hiatus in activity due to lockdown restrictions, The Senior Service was finally able to get together to record the new songs, so they piled into Ranscombe Studios to crack on. It soon became apparent that they’d lost none of the chemistry that had made them such a powerful musical collective and the instrumental backing tracks were laid down with relative ease. It was when Rachel arrived and sprinkled vocal sugar over the tracks that they really began to shine! Intuitively, she understood the approach needed and delivered a made-to-measure performance for each song. this collection includes four original tracks penned by the band plus two rollicking covers of lesser-known instrumentals; John Schroeder’s take on ‘Lovin’ You Girl’ – a slinky slice of lounge grooviness, given a slightly chunkier sound, informed by the band’s musical aesthetic, and ‘Mysterious Land’ – The Chris Lamb Orchestra’s little heard filmic masterpiece; a track seemingly tailor-made for the band to get its musical chops around. So, we invite you to spend ‘A Little More Time with The Senior Service’.

Years & Years has today announced details of brand new album, ‘Night Call’, which will see a release on Polydor Records on January 7th. Olly further introduces the record today with a brand new track, the pulsating ‘Crave’, and its incredible video featuring some of the cast of ‘It’s A Sin’ (Omari Douglas, Nathaniel Hall, David Carlisle) plus the likes of Munroe Bergdof. The record-breaking show won Best New Drama at the National Television Awards earlier this month, continuing a phenomenal year for Olly (which has also seen the release of first single ‘Starstruck’, its rework with Kylie, and a show-stopping performance of ‘It’s A Sin’ alongside Elton John at the BRIT Awards).

A daring dance track about leaning into submission to the point of embracing it, ‘Crave’ – says Olly – “is a playful way of inhabiting the deranged sexual energy I’ve always wanted. In the past I felt like I’ve been dominated by toxic relationships, and I felt like it would be fun to turn it on its head.” Consider this a risqué cut of kinked-up, club-ready pop, and Olly Alexander using his platform to push the boundaries of mainstream superstardom.

From its iconic artwork to its euphoric, rejuvenated sound, ‘Night Call’ is a thrilling new chapter for Years & Years. Inspired as much by pioneering figures like Sylvester as it is French House, at the centre of the record is that mermaid of a muse: a beautiful icon luring men to their death, on an album partly about those searching for love (or a lover) but ultimately finding power in themselves. Embodying the new perspective of a character – like Ritchie in ‘It’s A Sin’ - also deeply influenced Olly’s songwriting, with songs that blur the line between fantasy and reality but are bound together by their explorations of queer life. Hedonistic and escapist, ‘Night Call’ captures that joy and anticipation of going out precisely because, says Olly, “I was writing from a fantastical space, stuck in the same four walls. I wanted to have as much pleasure as possible in the music.”

As Years & Years, Olly Alexander has become one of the world’s most trailblazing modern pop stars. Across two hugely successful albums to date, the singer, actor, fashion icon and cultural vanguard has earned 5 Brit Award nominations, surpassed 4.4 billion global streams, and played triumphant homecoming shows at London’s O2 and Wembley Arenas. Along the way, Olly has also become a fearless, once-in-a-generation voice on important discussions around mental health, and issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community - all of which, in its own way, has taken him to ‘Night Call’, and the most essential Years & Years album to date.

All Detroit Techno, taken from the album DnA

After a monster year for Vince Watson, with releases on Get Physical, Tronic, SushiTech, All Day I Dream alongside his own Everysoul Audio and a host of remixes, he now ends 2021 brining his label’s biggest and most adventurous release to date: ‘DnA reSequenced’.

After the massive response to his 18 track ‘DnA’ album in 2019, Vince had a vision of having some of the tracks remixed by his favourite Detroit ‘flavoured’ artists from the 3 places that musically have made it all possible for him: Scotland, Amsterdam, Detroit.

So it is with great pleasure that Everysoul can announce remixes by none other than Carl Craig, Claude Young, John Beltran, Jon Dixon, Shawn Rudiman, Stephen Lopkin, Steve Rachmad and Stephen Brown.

Planet E boss Carl Craig is no stranger to Vince’s work, having released 4 of his singles on Planet E and previously remixing his track ‘It’s Not Over’. His remix of ‘Holographic’ takes the heavy synth lines into typical C2 remix territory, building and building with layers into a crescendo.

Jon Dixon may be one of Detroit’s rising stars as a solo artist, but as a band member of Underground Resistance and Timeline, he plays with some of the best Detroit Techno groups around: Galaxy2Galaxy and is a classically trained pianist. Jon’s releases over the last few years now showcase his personal styles and Vince was desperate to work with him, with a keen respect for his musicianship. His Remix of

John Beltran has been one of Vince’s favourite producers for over 25 years and his Pan Am remix is a journey of blissful Beltran fusion styles.

Claude Young takes his remix into a completely new and different direction, moving from the Electro of the original into an experimental masterpiece, respecting the tricky chord programming of the original and adapting into sounds that only Claude Young is able to extract.

Steve Rachmad is one of Vince’s closest allies in Amsterdam and having worked together on many projects over the years, Steve was the first name on the list. His 4/4 edition of Second Wave takes the deep Detroit chords and harmonies into a much darker and groovier direction, with early Transmat character and the funk that Steve Rachmad is known for.

Shawn Rudiman’s remix is a no nonsense straight to the floor banger, taking all the elements of the original into a much more streamlined and live improv version for the floor rather than the head.

Stephen Lopkin is one of Vince’s favourite Scottish producers and his remix takes the original into his own unique style and identity. The original had very unique chord progressions and timing and Lopkin was able to successfully extend this to make it even more complex but with a seamless flow that keeps the groove flowing.

Stephen Brown is also a top Scottish producer who Vince has been supporting and spinning for over 20 years, and his remix of Immersion removes the fluffy jazzy elements from the original and opts directly for the dancefloor, taking Immersion into new territory.

DnA

This double album is a new collaboration between long-time Umor Rex artists Andreas Gerth (one half of Driftmachine) and Carl Oesterhelt (11 Pieces for Synthesizer). Both developed their shared musical cosmos during their time with the now defunct Tied +Tickled Trio. Oesterhelt is also known for his solo compositions for orchestras and for collaborations with Johannes Enders and Hans-Joachim Irmler of Faust.

As futurism seems inherent to electronic music, the backward-looking view is alien to its nature – consequently, a dialectical struggle between these principles is rarely expressed with the means of electronics. Especially today, its essence as a medium of progress stands in opposition to a sceptical position. By reconnecting us with history, The Aporias of Futurism seeks to define a critical location, that stands in opposition to the postmodern concept of interpretation, deconstruction and reformulation and the belief in progress that goes with it.

The working method for the album Andreas and Carl followed was the usual musique-concrète-technique – cut/assemble/edit/process pre-recorded sounds – but instead of deconstructing the concrete noises into an abstract sound entity, they followed a different path: the organic interweaving of orchestral structures with the electronically processed noise layers into a composition in the sense of classical modernism at the beginning of the 20th century.

Carl started with sketches recorded via a broken CD player, processed through a ring modulator, which sounded like old electronic music from the 1950s. To interact with these fragments Andreas recorded and processed a plethora of everyday noises, atmospheres, tonal fragments from the modular, industrial and shortwave radio noise, percussion in the form of door slamming, falling metal sheets, ball tracks, and so on. So, while they still played within the futuristic discipline, the reference to the past is actually unmistakable. One can hear it in the tonality of the contrasting orchestral passages, in the sound character of the processed samples and the sonic electronic layers. But it is precisely here, where a narrative tension develops. Theses and antitheses, extreme (unresolved) opposites, contrasts… essentially inner contradictions, or expressed in another word aporias… … but there is another factor at play here, something that plays a subordinate, almost ostracized role in the post-modern context: beauty (albeit the beauty of ruins) – beauty, the only refuge of the pessimist.

In the course of the process, a wide range of motifs and ideas emerged from the fog of memory. Free associations of concepts, books and authors from a wide period of time, such as Milton's Paradise Lost, William Blake, Robert Graves, ancient Rome, as well as Borges and Juan Rulfo. This flood of images is also incorporated on the album cover as a "free interpretation" of cultural objects and their relations in time.

The overarching motif of a sceptical rejection of the idea of Futurism is illustrated by a quote from Emile M. Cioran, the writer who most closely embodies the common spirit of the work presented here.

"But here comes the strangest thing: the Futurist idolizes becoming only until he has enforced that order for which he fought; then the ideal conclusion of time becomes apparent to him, the ‘always’ of utopia, which concludes and crowns the historical process. The conception of the Golden Age of Paradise par excellence, thus grips believers and unbelievers alike. But between the original paradise of the religions and the eschatological of the utopia there is the whole distance that separates a nostalgia from a hope, a repentance from a delusion, an achieved from an unrealized completion."

All music composed by Andreas Gerth and Carl Oesterhelt between Berlin and Munich, Germany in 2021. Produced and mixed by Andreas Gerth in Berlin. Mastered by John Tejada in Sherman Oaks, USA. Artwork by Daniel Castrejón in Mexico City.

Long before John Brannon of Negative Approach cemented himself as a USHC icon, you
would hear rumblings about his pre-NA glam group, STATIC. Only a handful of people were
lucky/brave enough to see them live. Scenesters spoke of a tape but never seemed to have
one. Their most well-remembered song, Toothpaste and Pills, allegedly featured smashing
beer bottles against John’s mom’s basement wall as a percussion instrument. Could this be
real?

Fast forward to 2020 and a few months into the covid-19 lockdown, Brannon came across a
bunch of tapes he dug out of a box in his Mom’s closet - STATIC “DEMOS ‘78”, STATIC
“LIVE AT GROSSE POINTE SOUTH H.S.”, STATIC “LIVE AT PLEWA HALL”. Holy shit! The
legend is true! And best of all, STATIC rule!

John Brannon grew up in Grosse Pointe Park just a few blocks from the Detroit border. John
was always into music, but as soon as he heard T-Rex, The Stooges and Alice Cooper, he
was obsessed (and still is) and had to start a band to channel his obsessions. With the help
of neighborhood kid and collaborator Billy Daniels and a local drummer simply known as
“Red”, STATIC was born.

Before Negative Approach changed the face of punk and hardcore, before Laughing Hyenas
scared the world silly and blew everyone else off the stage and before Easy Action started
melting minds all over the world, there was STATIC. STATIC was real. STATIC was real as
shit.

Third Man Records is beyond ecstatic to be providing this long-missing piece of the
American Underground Music puzzle. We worked closely with John Brannon and Warren
Defever, one of Third Man Mastering’s resident wizards, to put together this essential
collection of demos and live recordings.

To celebrate Billy Preston’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in October 2021 Apple Records and Universal Music Catalogue will be making Billy’s highly regarded 1970 album ‘Encouraging Words’ available on vinyl for a limited period. First released in the UK on 11 September 1970 the album was co-produced by Billy and George Harrison, with two of George’s songs – ‘All Things Must Pass’ and ‘My Sweet Lord’ – issued here for the first time, two months before his own recordings appeared on the triple album ‘All Things Must Pass’.In 2010 Record Collector magazine described ‘Encouraging Words’ as “one of the finest titles in the Apple Records catalogue”, while virtuoso keyboard player Rick Wakeman told BBC Radio 4’s John Wilson he considered Preston’s two Apple albums “absolute gems – a perfect combination of gospel and funk.” The album was last released on vinyl in 1992. The original album credits did not include details of contributing musicians, though the sleeve notes of the 2010 CD reissue included Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann, Ringo Starr, Bobby Keys and the Edwin Hawkins Singers.

LP + DVD

Factory Benelux presents a 180gm vinyl edition of The Invisible Girls, a collection of rare lost studio recordings by legendary new wave production duo Martin Hannett and Steve Hopkins (aka The Invisible Girls).

The album has been newly remastered by Peter Beckmann at TechnologyWorks and is pressed on 180gsm black vinyl. The outer sleeve is printed in black with a silver pantone. The inner bag includes detailed liner notes by Steve Hopkins, as well as archive TIG and Strawberry images.

Martin ‘Zero’ Hannett is the legendary Manchester producer famous for his work with Joy Division, Buzzcocks, New Order, Magazine and Happy Mondays. Steve Hopkins was his musical partner in The Invisible Girls, a floating studio collective which shaped epochal records by John Cooper Clarke, Pauline Murray, Nico and several others.

The first five tracks on the album are a selection of previously unreleased demos (‘moods’) recorded at the famous Strawberry Studios between 1980 and 1987. “These were the beginnings of Martin’s Invisible Girls world domination plan,” ace arranger Hopkins explains. “The idea was to assemble a roster of key instrumental players, produce tracks to be fronted by different singers/stars - and get some hits!”

Also included are 3 Hannett solo pieces recorded in 1978 and 1979, with the deluxe package rounded off by a DVD featuring a remarkable 13 minute trio improvisation by Hannett, Hopkins and Vini Reilly of The Durutti Column, recorded for television in January 1980.

Praise for FBN 65: ‘This store room grab conjures Manchester’s scarred wastelands, jazz-funky library music and ambient disquiet. Blade Runner via the Arndale Centre. A strange wayward collection, just like the thought processes of Hannett’s brain’ (Mojo)

‘Lovingly annotated, these effortlessly melodic backdrops offer a glimpse into what could have been as a post-punk one-stop-shop Chic’ (Q); ‘Captivating’ (Classic Pop); ‘The Nelson Riddle of narcotic rock’ (The Wire)

Biffy Clyro will release the surprise new project ‘The Myth of the Happily Ever After’ on October 22nd. The record is a homegrown project that represents a reaction to their #1 album ‘A Celebration of Endings’ and a rapid emotional response to the turmoil of the past year. It is the ying to the yang of ‘A Celebration’, the other-side-of-a-coin, a before-and-after comparison: their early optimism of 2020 having been brought back to earth with a resounding thud. It’s the product of a strange and cruel time in our lives, but one that ultimately reinvigorated Biffy Clyro.

“This is a reaction to ‘A Celebration of Endings’,” says vocalist / guitarist Simon Neil. “This album is a real journey, a collision of every thought and emotion we’ve had over the past eighteen months. There was a real fortitude in ‘A Celebration’ but in this record we’re embracing the vulnerabilities of being a band and being a human in this twisted era of our lives. Even the title is the polar opposite. It’s asking, do we create these narratives in our own minds to give us some security when none of us know what’s waiting for us at the end of the day?”

Grounded by lockdown, Biffy Clyro recorded ‘The Myth’ in a completely different way to how they approached ‘A Celebrations’. Rather than spending months in Los Angeles, they traded one West Coast for another by recording for just six weeks in their rehearsal room (converted DIY style into a fully functional studio by rhythm section brothers James and Ben Johnston) in a farmhouse closer to their homes.

The trio went in with the intention of completing some unfinished songs from ‘A Celebration’, but instead ‘The Myth’ took over as it started to take shape late in 2020, with everything written and recorded within a ten-mile radius. Traditionally, 90% of Biffy songs have been written in Scotland before the band head to London or Los Angeles for recording, but this represented the first time they’ve ever recorded in their homeland. As Simon jokes, “It’s our first full-on tartan album!”

‘The Myth’ blends experimental flourishes with flashes of old school Biffy. ‘Existed’ is the moment that shaped the record an elegant expression of self-doubt that redefines the sonics of the band’s catalogue of vulnerable slowburners, while ‘DumDum’ is an even bigger departure, having been constructed primarily around soft synths sampled from Simon’s voice. And ‘Slurpy Slurpy Sleep Sleep’ is just as audacious a closer as ‘Cop Syrup’ from ‘A Celebration’. It also represents one of a selection of “easter eggs” or “turns of phrase” that subtly complement and contrast the two records.

At the other extreme, devoted fans will connect with the feral anger of ‘A Hunger In Your Haunt’, the arena-scaled drama of ‘Errors In The History of God’ and the sheer catchiness of ‘Witch’s Cup’.

‘The Myth’ has been launched alongside the new track ‘Unknown Male 01’. In six adventurous minutes, the band explore every facet they’re renowned for, taking in the unguarded emotion of its introduction, a skewed off-kilter breakdown, and a jagged, spiralling riff that builds towards a cataclysmic crescendo. The song reflects on friends who have taken their own lives.

“When you lose people that you love deeply and have been a big part of your life, it can make you question every single thing about your own life,” he says. “Like a lot of creative people, I struggle with dark thoughts. If you’re that way inclined you realise you’re staring at darkness, but you don't want to succumb. Those moments don’t stop. As the song says, ‘The devil never leaves.’ There’s never a day where you wake up thinking, ‘I feel great, it won’t cross me ever again.’”

A recurring concept of the album is the power of personal convictions, which have taken on an almost religious fervour via the echo chambers of social media and news platforms. But that idea has the nuance to rise above contrasting sides of an argument, arguing that greater unity and open-mindedness is the only way forward. Elsewhere, it spans everything from gaslighting to the ultimate devotion of cults and the beautiful failure of a Japanese racehorse.

‘The Myth of the Happily Ever After’ is now available to pre-order here, with ‘Unknown Male 01’ provided as an instant download. It will be released on CD and digital formats, as well as a limited edition red vinyl which is packaged with a must-have bonus CD for fans: full audio of the acclaimed livestream show that Biffy Clyro performed at Glasgow Barrowland in August 2020 to commemorate the release of ‘A Celebration of Endings’.

After headlining Reading and Leeds in August, Biffy Clyro will also play further large-scale outdoor gigs this summer at Cardiff Bay and Glasgow Green. Plans for 2022 are also taking shape, with April’s long sold-out ‘Fingers Crossed’ intimate tour and a huge Saturday night headline set at Download. Please see the band’s official website for a full list of shows and ticket information.

Limited-edition reissue of the classic Johnny Mathis LP ‘Johnny’s Greatest
Hits’ on 180g audiophile vinyl
18 hit-tracks by the star of the romantic song, Johnny Mathis. Including “Chances Are”, “Misty”, “It’s Not for Me to Say”, “Small World”, The Twelfth Of Never,
and many others.







[g] a7. Somewhere My Love [Aka Lara’s Theme]

River Lea (a division of Rough Trade) releases Fire Draw Near - an album of
Irish traditional songs and music from the archives, compiled by Ian Lynch
of Dublin band Lankum.
“This LP is a collection of 13 rare, strange and wonderful gems from the Irish
tradition. Recorded in various parts of the country over a period of over 60
years between 1947 and 2013.
They show us a strong, multi-faceted and vibrant musical tradition in the country; one that still exists in the present day. The settings are varied - bars, living rooms, campsites, recording studios - as are the backgrounds of those who
perform.
The music of the Travellers, who tended to the flame of tradition while the rest
of society began to lose interest is well-represented, as are styles ranging from
sean-n s singing in Connemara, Donegal fiddle-playing, uilleann piping from
Dublin and English language singing of ballads both bawdy and beautiful from
across Ireland.” - Ian Lynch.
Fire Draw Near - An Anthology of Traditional Irish Song and Music is the fifth
album to be released by River Lea, following records by Lisa O’Neill, Br ghde
Chaimbeul, Ye Vagabonds and John Francis Flynn.
Fire Draw Near is also a monthly podcast and radio show, hosted by Ian Lynch
which investigates Irish traditional music in all its myriad forms.

Originally from Limerick, O’Brien’s work captures the everyday and the inbetween in a way that transcends any genre label. Writing from her own observations, O’Brien’s influences can be found in the realism of Mark E. Smith of The Fall, Patti Smith and The Slits, and the works of literary icons such Frank O’Hara, W.B. Yeats, Joan Didion and Albert Camus. Releases to date have drawn admiration from British and American outlets and radio stations as diverse as The FADER, Stereogum, The Guardian, Loud And Quiet, The Quietus, BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 6 Music, and more.

Speaking about the new single, O’Brien explains: “‘Most Modern Painting’ is about the creation and maintenance of ‘the self’ - the most epic task we are faced with in our lives. I wanted to work with structure in an unconventional way, linking the movements together using various voices from the narrative. The lyrics are voiced through a dialogue between the conscious and unconscious, through dream recall, memory, the individual and the ego.”

The accompanying music video for ‘Most Modern Painting’ was shot in a film-like manner on 16mm. Directed by Saskia Dixie, the movements are intrinsically linked to the lyrics; the choreography incorporates physical theatre, dance and elements of daily gestures and habits.

The chorus line on ‘Most Modern Painting’ birthed the title for the EP ‘Drowning In Blessings’ - “The more I said it, the more it meant. It’s an image which I find really cathartic; seeing the weight or build up of things as possibilities and opportunities instead of bearing their burdens. I approached the set of songs on the EP like a short album so the body of work feels full and tells a substantial story. Tracks allude and refer to one another and provide clues and hints to the future and to the past. It’s not only about language and music - it’s about energy, spaces, leaving room for other people to get in.”

A multifaceted artist, O’Brien’s writing has also been published by the esteemed London Magazine whose alumni include T.S. Eliot, Sylvia Plath and William Burroughs. Her unique fusion of spoken lyrics and art rock has piqued the attention of luminaries of both fields, seeing her perform with John Cooper Clarke and The Brian Jonestown Massacre at sold out theatres across the U.K. Playing live with her band and collaborators; Julian Hanson (guitar) and Oscar Robertson (drums), Sinead O’Brien’s transfixing performances are placing her at the forefront of a resurgent wave of independent British and Irish talent.

No less than 12 months later arrives ‘Deep Blue View’ – not so much of a follow-up, as a mini-flipside moving the Jazz from AM to PM, between city and sea.
“I originally had AM Jazz down as walking around some New York backstreet at 4am, smoking in a fedora, looking for crimes to solve but it now ends as night begins,” reveals Al, of his latest tale’s gradual evolution. “Deep Blue View is the night-time album now… like losing yourself deeper in the fog, or disappearing in the sea… would someone, or some 'thing' come to save you or would they , or it , come along for the ride?”
Usually by now, Daveyhulme’s own could-be John Barry would have left distractions of success for suburban side-projects and writing with his fellow Mancunian musicians, but AM Jazz left unfinished business - and, with 50 or so session recordings leaving a litter of sonic debris strewn about the cutting room floor, one major clean-up. Deep Blue View is 6 brand new tracks crafted from its reconstructed and revived remnants, unfurling like Sinatra’s Wee Small Hours to reinforce the strangely beautiful atmosphere of Al’s now revered repertoire. “I had the urge to create something new and started playing around with different EPs and pseudonyms but when I sequenced these tracks, I was really happy how smoothly they flowed; it just needed an opener. I quickly wrote ‘Deep Blue View’ and it fell into place. It’s great, so I carried on, knowing it was time to save the best stuff for myself,” Al grins.
Just as AM Jazz was created in the spirit of his earlier working style on debut album Tower of Love, Deep Blue View fuses Al’s love of finding the ‘right’ in the odd, weird, back-to-front and everything in between, with the hi-fi meets lo-fi sounds of his crate-digging curiosity and empathy for TV themes and movie soundtracks. Guided by melody, his home-based sorcery of working with analog, tape and field recordings opposed to the lure of studio mechanics allowed his inner subconscious to tap at the door and reveal itself in new musical forms. “In the studio it’s tempting to turn everything up loud but I’ve got bad tinnitus and don’t want to write anything else in a Beatles style. I have done all that now… at home I have a computer, a microphone and just go crazy and lose myself staring at the screen. Then suddenly loads of music is written.”
Setting his inner autopilot to flight mode, ‘Peppergone’ adds to the tracks’ nocturnal narrative and appears reborn after a last-minute culling from AM Jazz’s initial tracklist. Like a beautifully romantic ode to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, it is a fitting tribute to dearly departed best friend 'Batfinks', written in the middle of a tough night. “I have no idea why or how the song came about because I was so upset to do anything, let alone record any music. But there you go. Somehow I did and it’s a really special thing. I know he would have dug me using his chords; growing up we’d both try to create the perfect chord sequence. This is his idea of that. I hope he doesn’t think it’s shit,” Al jests.
Also revived from AM Jazz’s archive is the simmering groove of ‘Night Talk Late Street’ and instrumental ‘Star Six Seven’, whilst ‘Have Another Cigar’ weaves its own semi-autobiographical fairy-tale with lyrics written and sung by long-time pal and former housemate Aidan Smith. Transformed from backing track into a cool morsel of story pop, it recalls the drunken joy of when the pair would make recordings together between singing the Everly Brothers at full volume. “I’m sure it’s about not wanting the musical party to stop and having to get on with real life,” Al says.
‘String Beat’ meanwhile, soars like a beautiful Bond theme with the shimmer of Lee Hazlewood holidaying in Palm Springs, alongside perhaps, the waltzing string-like synthonies of some long-lost rhythm and blues orchestra of Davyhulme (whose real-life origins reside with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra), introduced to him by Super Furry Animals’ Cian Ciaran. “I’ve never created anything this moody before and have always threatened to do something John Barry-esque with some slightly dark and spooky musical changes.”

The second volume of music from the hit Fox TV show ‘Bob’s Burgers’. The Emmywinning, top-rated show was named one of the 60 Greatest TV Cartoons of All Time
by TV Guide.
In addition to the show’s cast, the album features high-profile guests including Adam
Driver, Tiffany Haddish, Jenny Slate, Daveed Diggs, Max Greenfield, Toddrick Hall,
Aparna Nancherla and Matt Berninger (of the National).
The ‘Bob’s Burgers’ audience is wide-ranging: strong performance with 15-25 year
olds, median viewing age of 37, 35 share among males 35-54 and a 16 share of
females in the same group.
Campaign will include promotion from the cast and show production team.
‘The Bob’s Burgers Music Album Vol. 2’ includes nearly every single musical morsel
from Seasons 7 through 9.
This 90-song smorgasbord will feature the Belcher family - Bob (H. Jon Benjamin),
Linda (John Roberts), Tina (Dan Mintz), Gene (Eugene Mirman) and Louise (Kristen
Schaal) - as well as the show’s numerous recurring and special guests.
For fans of the show, enjoying the music of Bob’s Burgers on its own is both an
irresistible to-go bag and ultimately a world unto itself. Lose yourself in the strangely
epic disco celebration ‘Hot Pants Rain Dance’, sing along with the musical theatre
gem ‘The Wedding Is My Warzone’, or do whatever you’re gonna do to ‘Sexy Little
Tiger’ but don’t miss ‘The Bob’s Burgers Music Album Vol. 2’.

"To mark the 50th anniversary of the 1970 concept double album, Jesus Christ Superstar, it has today been announced that a variety of special anniversary edition albums will be released on September 17th. This landmark release, which includes full cooperation from the creators Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, features an array of exclusive demos, commentaries, interviews and much more.
The special anniversary editions are a celebration of the original 1970 concept double album and its continued success spanning 50 years. With the new editions all having been re-mastered at Abbey Road, fans have a great selection to choose from.

In 1970, Kevin and David met whilst they were working in the Labour Exchange Office on Aytoun St, Manchester. Both played guitar and had been searching for other musicians who played atmospheric music. Kevin had been playing in small clubs in Manchester and David performed in a few local bands. One evening, they jammed together at Kevin’s family home, and quickly realized that their playing blended together to form the basis of the sound they had been looking for. In the late ‘70s, the music scene in Manchester was bursting with new bands and music.

However, Kevin and David had little in common with the local acts, being disciples of a more meditative approach. They followed a path of their own, reaching for an otherworldly sound that they heard from artists like John Martyn, David Crosby, Erik Satie, Terry Riley, Eberhard Weber, Alice Coltrane, and Ralph Towner. They experimented combining their acoustic guitars and David’s bass with various effects pedals and techniques to try and achieve a warm and expansive sound that rides the line between ambient, jazz, and psychedelic folk Music.

Towards 1981, they had written eleven songs and accompanied a few with Moog synthesizer laid down by Rob Baxter. All were recorded on cassette decks in their simple home studios. They named this collection of music “Light Patterns”, after a poem Kevin had written. With Light Patterns complete, they set out to find a label to represent their music. They started playing a few gigs in Manchester; Band On The Wall, the Gallery, and other venues, such as Rotters which local promoter Alan Wise had organized. They set up with small amps along with their effects and played as though they were back at home. As Kevin remarks, “It was unusual, to say the least, to play such venues in a low volume chilled out way. However, people listened, often in shocked curiosity, and some even asked for tapes.”

Peter Jenner, of Blackhill Enterprises, eventually picked up the album for his new label, “Sheet”. Peter had managed lots of experimental bands and solo artists, including Pink Floyd in their early Syd Barrett days. He always favored outsiders! The tapes were taken to Strawberry Recording Studios in Manchester, who were surprised when Kevin and David walked in with just a couple of home-produced cassette tapes. Fortunately, they liked them and agreed to master the album. It was then sent to Portland Recording Studios in London for final mastering to vinyl. George Peckham, aka “Porky”, did the pressing with a personal message in the deadwax; “Kaftans, Candles and be Cool Man”. The artwork for the album cover was done by the late Barney Bubbles, a truly visionary artist.

After the album’s release, the pair continued to play together regularly until David moved away from the city. Kevin still resides near Manchester in the rolling hills outside of the city. He continues to experiment with dreamy music in his loft, and we are set to share a selection of his ethereal archival and current compositions in the coming months. David lives a quiet life in a small coastal town in the South, he likes to sail and is an avid cricket fan. We’re excited to make Light Patterns accessible again for the first time in nearly 40 years, remastered from the original tapes. As the original press release said, “Put the album on, lie back and enter the land of no floors”.

Reissue of one-off 2003 project by Doug Martsch (Built to Spill), featuring Ned Evett, Ian Waters, and John Mullin Includes covers of David Bowie, Captain Beefheart, The Pretenders and more

The second volume of music from the hit Fox TV show ‘Bob’s Burgers’. The Emmywinning, top-rated show was named one of the 60 Greatest TV Cartoons of All Time
by TV Guide.
In addition to the show’s cast, the album features high-profile guests including Adam
Driver, Tiffany Haddish, Jenny Slate, Daveed Diggs, Max Greenfield, Toddrick Hall,
Aparna Nancherla and Matt Berninger (of the National).
The ‘Bob’s Burgers’ audience is wide-ranging: strong performance with 15-25 year
olds, median viewing age of 37, 35 share among males 35-54 and a 16 share of
females in the same group.
Campaign will include promotion from the cast and show production team.
‘The Bob’s Burgers Music Album Vol. 2’ includes nearly every single musical morsel
from Seasons 7 through 9.
This 90-song smorgasbord will feature the Belcher family - Bob (H. Jon Benjamin),
Linda (John Roberts), Tina (Dan Mintz), Gene (Eugene Mirman) and Louise (Kristen
Schaal) - as well as the show’s numerous recurring and special guests.
For fans of the show, enjoying the music of Bob’s Burgers on its own is both an
irresistible to-go bag and ultimately a world unto itself. Lose yourself in the strangely
epic disco celebration ‘Hot Pants Rain Dance’, sing along with the musical theatre
gem ‘The Wedding Is My Warzone’, or do whatever you’re gonna do to ‘Sexy Little
Tiger’ but don’t miss ‘The Bob’s Burgers Music Album Vol. 2’.