Re-issued for the first time on vinyl, this obscure dub masterpiece – originally available on the small imprint Silver Camel in 1981 – is still considered one of the best efforts by brilliant singer and producer Al Campbell. More magic at the controls with the key presence of Barnabas and Maxie at Channel One and Scientist tracks mixed at King Tubby’s studio.
Search:ke
- Well Made Play
- Purity Drag
- Kingbreaker
- Grace Obscure
- Broken Mirror (Feat. Prostitute)
- Sharp Teeth
- I Steal What I Want
- Local Millionaire
- Gave Up
- Heathen
- A More Perfect Design
Color Vinyl[31,72 €]
Die Bewaffneten sind zurück und präsentieren "The Future Is Here and Everything Needs to Be Destroyed", dem Nachfolgewerk des von der Kritik hochgelobten Albums "Perfect Saviors" von 2023. The Armed sind Post Hardcore Non-Conceptual Alternative Metalpop! Nach der Fertigstellung der Alben-Triologie, die sich auf die Analyse der künstlerischen Authentizität im Informationszeitalter konzentrierte, begannen The Armed mit der Arbeit an neuem Material, ohne vorher festgelegte Regeln oder Konzepte, sondern nur mit neuem Druck und Dringlichkeit, um eine neue Ära für das Post-Hardcore-Kollektiv einzuläuten. Das Ergebnis ist ein wütendes und konfrontierendes Album, ein ungefilterter Ausdruck von Weltschmerz, ein deutscher Begriff, der den Schmerz über die Realität der Welt im Gegensatz zu unseren idealisierten Visionen von dem, was sie sein sollte, beschreibt. "Diese Platte ist eine Absage an sanierte, für den Geschmack der oberen Mittelschicht kuratierte Rebellion", erklärt Sänger Tony Wolski. "Es ist Musik für eine statistisch wohlhabende Bevölkerung, die sich irgendwie kein Essen oder keine Medikamente leisten kann und endlos durch Urlaubsfotos, Fitnessstudio-Selfies und Bilder von amputierten Kindern im selben Feed scrollt. Sie spiegelt die Abgrenzung wider, die man braucht, um in dieser Realität zu existieren." Die Waffen von The Armed sind weiterhin ihr Kanalisierung von Wut über die unfassbaren Umstände in ungewöhnliche Songs mit innovativen Sounddesign und ihr fester Glaube an das Miteinander, was sich im Gedanken des Kollektivs, aber auch an den vielen Kollaborateur*innen festmachen lässt. Mit Beiträgen von Ken Szymanski, Patrick Shiroishi, Urian Hackney, Kurt Ballou, Troy Van Leeuwen, Meghan O'Neil, Cara Drolshagen, Tony Wolski, Brian Wolski, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, Ben Chisholm, Prostitute, Zach Weeks, Mark Guiliana, Kayleigh Goldsworthy, and Derek Coburn. Inklusive der Singles "Well Made Play", "Kingbreaker" und "Sharp Teeth" LP & LP Ltd im Gatefold mit bedruckten Innenhüllen & 44seitigem Booklet, CD als 6-panel-digipak!
Limitiertes Cloudy clear with yellow, green and pink splatter Vinyl mit 44-Seiten-Booklet! Die Bewaffneten sind zurück und präsentieren "The Future Is Here and Everything Needs to Be Destroyed", dem Nachfolgewerk des von der Kritik hochgelobten Albums "Perfect Saviors" von 2023. The Armed sind Post Hardcore Non-Conceptual Alternative Metalpop! Nach der Fertigstellung der Alben-Triologie, die sich auf die Analyse der künstlerischen Authentizität im Informationszeitalter konzentrierte, begannen The Armed mit der Arbeit an neuem Material, ohne vorher festgelegte Regeln oder Konzepte, sondern nur mit neuem Druck und Dringlichkeit, um eine neue Ära für das Post-Hardcore-Kollektiv einzuläuten. Das Ergebnis ist ein wütendes und konfrontierendes Album, ein ungefilterter Ausdruck von Weltschmerz, ein deutscher Begriff, der den Schmerz über die Realität der Welt im Gegensatz zu unseren idealisierten Visionen von dem, was sie sein sollte, beschreibt. "Diese Platte ist eine Absage an sanierte, für den Geschmack der oberen Mittelschicht kuratierte Rebellion", erklärt Sänger Tony Wolski. "Es ist Musik für eine statistisch wohlhabende Bevölkerung, die sich irgendwie kein Essen oder keine Medikamente leisten kann und endlos durch Urlaubsfotos, Fitnessstudio-Selfies und Bilder von amputierten Kindern im selben Feed scrollt. Sie spiegelt die Abgrenzung wider, die man braucht, um in dieser Realität zu existieren." Die Waffen von The Armed sind weiterhin ihr Kanalisierung von Wut über die unfassbaren Umstände in ungewöhnliche Songs mit innovativen Sounddesign und ihr fester Glaube an das Miteinander, was sich im Gedanken des Kollektivs, aber auch an den vielen Kollaborateur*innen festmachen lässt. Mit Beiträgen von Ken Szymanski, Patrick Shiroishi, Urian Hackney, Kurt Ballou, Troy Van Leeuwen, Meghan O'Neil, Cara Drolshagen, Tony Wolski, Brian Wolski, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, Ben Chisholm, Prostitute, Zach Weeks, Mark Guiliana, Kayleigh Goldsworthy, and Derek Coburn. Inklusive der Singles "Well Made Play", "Kingbreaker" und "Sharp Teeth" LP & LP Ltd im Gatefold mit bedruckten Innenhüllen & 44seitigem Booklet, CD als 6-panel-digipak!
- In The Wake Of King Fripp
- Aphanisis
- Omar Diop Blondin
- Moebius
- Fluence (Continuum Mobile/ Disjonction Inclusive)
- St Mikael Samstag Abends
- Michel Ettori
Schon bevor Richard Pinhas Anfang der 70er begann, Musik zu machen, war er Fan von King Crimson. Bis heute hat ihn die Musik der britischen Band nicht losgelassen, aber am größten war deren Einfluss sicherlich ganz am Anfang. Auf dem zweiten Heldon-Album "Allez-Teia" wird das besonders deutlich. Es erschien 1975 auf Pinhas" eigenem Label Disjuncta. Der Eröffnungssong, eine schwebende Mischung aus Mellotronklängen und einer verwischten Gitarre, trägt den Titel "In The Wake Of King Fripp". Diese doppelte Anspielung bezieht sich einerseits auf den Bandgitarristen Robert Fripp und andererseits auf "In The Wake Of Poseidon", das zweite King-Crimson-Album. Das meditative "Omar Diop Blondin" mit seinen frei schwebenden Tönen über einer repetitiven Gitarrenfigur ist ausdrücklich Brian Eno und Fripp gewidmet. Ebenfalls großen Einfluss auf Pinhas übte Robert Wyatt von Soft Machine aus. Trotzdem ist "Allez-Teia" kein Tribut-Album. Die Stücke, die Pinhas zusammen mit seinem Partner Georges Grunblatt erarbeitete, erscheinen auf den ersten Blick freudig-schön, tragen jedoch alle eine angespannte Unterströmung in sich. Sie bilden ein Wechselspiel aus federleichter Akustikgitarre, Mellotron-Teppichen, Fuzz-Sounds und schweren, sphärischen Synthesizer-Klängen.
- A1: It's All True
- A2: If I Could Talk I'd Tell You
- A3: Break Me
- A4: Hospital
- A5: The Outdoor Type
- A6: Losing Your Mind
- B1: Something's Missing
- B2: Knoxville Girl
- B3 6: Ix
- B4: C'mon Daddy
- B5: One More Time
- B6: Tenderfoot
- B7: Secular Rockulidge
- C1: If I Could Talk I’d Tell You (Single Version)
- C2: The Outdoor Type (Remix)
- C3: Pin Yr Heart
- C4: Balancing Act
- C5: Galveston
- C6: Arise
- D1: Keep On Loving You
- D2: It’s All True (No Drums)
- D3: Losing Your Mind (Live Acoustic Version)
- D4: How Will I Know (Acoustic)
- D5: I Don’t Want To Go Home
- D6: Fade To Black
- D7: Live Forever
Car Button Cloth' is an extraordinary affair of musical and emotional extremes, a soundscape spanning “the most beautiful piano-led mourning in the history of the broken heart” that switches into perky jangle-pop for fleeting moments and contains the ultimate self-deprecating classic ‘The Outdoor Type’, penned by Smudge cohort Tom Morgan, as well as a cover of the bluegrass standard ‘Knoxville Girl’ and ‘If I Could Talk I’d Tell You’ co-written with The Vaselines’ Eugene Kelly. All bases are covered. “One of the most distinctive voices of the ‘90s” The New York Times. To further unravel where Evan’s head was at during the period of its creation, this deluxe double album comes with a record of exquisite and typically eclectic scene setting covers that occupied B-sides and alternative format versions, plus other super rare offcuts, live takes and remixes. A diet of Volcano Suns, Glen Campbell, The Jacobites, The Sir Douglas Quintet and Whitney Houston influenced Evan’s thinking and added further colour to an album that remains something of a Dorian Gray-style masterpiece. The first side of extras is rounded off with the never before released ‘Arise’, originally set for the remake of Great Expectations and later realised as Rancho Santa Fe on solo album ‘Baby I’m Bored’.
The A-Side "NUN TROVO CcHIU" delivers a cosmic jazz-funk stomper chock full of twinkling keys & a groovy bassline. The B-Side "CHIKI CHICANCAN" features a driving psychedelic fusion of Afro-funk & Mediterranean breezes. A two-sided instrumental stunner with versions of two disco floor fillers.
- A1: God Put A Smile Upon Your Face (Feat. The Daptone Horns)
- A2: Oh My God (Feat. Lily Allen)
- A3: Stop Me (Feat. Daniel Merriweather)
- B1: Toxic (Feat. Tiggers, Ol’ Dirty Bastard)
- B2: Valerie (Feat. Amy Winehouse)
- B3: Apply Some Pressure (Feat. Paul Smith)
- B4: Inversion
- C1: Pretty Green (Feat. Santigold)
- C2: Just (Feat. Phantom Planet)
- C3: Amy (Feat. Kenna)
- D1: The Only One I Know (Feat. Robbie Williams)
- D2: Diversion
- D3: L.s.f. (Feat. Kasabian)
- D4: Outversion
Heavily influenced by Motown and Stax soul sounds, Version is the second studio album by British DJ
and producer Mark Ronson, a triple platinum success in the UK that is by far his most successful and
helped to win him the BRIT Award for Best British Male Solo Artist.
Released in April 2007, it is entirely comprised of carefully selected cover versions produced with an
impressive cast of collaborators (from Ol’ Dirty Bastard to Robbie Williams) that produced three top
ten hit singles: ‘Stop Me’ with Daniel Merriweather, ‘Oh My God’ with Lily Allen and the timeless
Valerie featuring Amy Winehouse.
- Bright Light Boulevard – Blueshift
- Revue
- Keep On Keepin' On – Blueshift Revue
- I Saw The Devil – Blueshift Revue
- Supernova Smile – Twin Star Collective
- Lightyears – Twin Star Collective
- Baby Driver – Twin Star Collective
- Side B
- Me, Myself And An Open Road –
- Velvet Bandwagon
- Even Though You Want To – Velvet Bandwagon
- Rusty Gold – Velvet Bandwagon
- Stay Awake – Pilgrim Peterson
- Another Day – Pilgrim Peterson
- Haunted – Pilgrim Peterson
- Lost In Lane – Duke Miles
- Bend In The Road – Duke Miles
- Bound For Home – Duke Miles
- Lollipop Stomp – Ross Stack
- Purgatory Shuffle – Ross Stack
- Glitter And Moonlight – Ross Stack
- (Ross Stack)
- Long Haul To Solitude
- Stardust Whisper
- Driftin' On
- Void Echo
- Ghost In The Radio
- 85: Th Street
- Two Trucks Short Of A Convoy
- Dustbrook Blues
- Gumball Groove
Whispers of Granite is the exciting new collaboration between Norwegian vocalist and vocal composer Trude Eidtang and German keyboardist and composer Andreas Hack. Their debut album, Liquid Stone, offers a unique fusion of melancholic folk, indie and progressive rock, enriched by Trude's expressive vocals and Andreas' atmospheric instrumentation. Trude Eidtang is renowned for her evocative, haunting voice and deep emotional resonance within the progressive rock genre. She first gained recognition as the lead vocalist of White Willow, later founding her own project When Mary, where she crafts vocal-driven organic-electronic music that blends art-pop, indie, and conceptual storytelling. Andreas Hack is a celebrated German composer and keyboardist known for his innovative work in progressive rock. As a founding member of Frequency Drift, Andreas helped shape the band's distinctive, atmospheric sound. He has also expanded his creative range through projects like Feeling of Presence, which delves into ambient and post rock, and most recently, Haven of Echoes, known for its progressive and evocative sound. The collaboration between Trude and Andreas in Whispers of Granite brings together their individual strengths to create a compelling and immersive musical experience, drawing influences from folk, indie, and cinematic music, combining melancholic progressive rock with lush, atmospheric textures. Trude's vocals are at the heart of the music, intertwining seamlessly with Andreas' atmospheric keyboard work and intricate guitar arrangements. Together, they craft a sound that balances melancholy and hope, fragility and strength. The album's title, Liquid Stone, reflects the thematic duality that runs throughout the project. It symbolizes the tension between fluidity and permanence, capturing the transformational shifts Trude explores in her lyrics. The fusion of organic and industrial elements in the music mirrors the interplay between raw human emotion and the rigid structures of the world. Liquid Stone marks a bold step into new musical terrain.
- You Are
- Pieces Of Never
- Fade Out
- The B-Side
- Over And Over
- Ever After
Resolution Alley is the musical vision of Jason Wilson, a musician and composer hailing from Maryland. The music combines 80's pop and rock melodies with progressive rock concepts, creating a unique but strangely nostalgic sound. Jason performs extensively throughout the Baltimore / Washington, DC area. From the smallest clubs to the Kennedy Center, Jason has shared the stage with some of the biggest names of stage, screen and music. Resolution Alley combines the influence of a career in rock and theater into a distinctive creation. Resolution Alley is getting ready to release their brand-new album Pieces of Never which contains the catchy first single "The B-Side" and follow up "You Are". Jason Wilson has crafted a wonderful release with just the right amount of balance between Rock and Prog which is sure to capture the ears of folks who like something familiar yet new. So if you like your music with big hooks and interesting arrangements and instrumentation then Resolution Alley has cooked up just what you ordered with Pieces of Never.
This new "Experimental Chapter" by DJ Narciso comes as no surprise, really. Autonomous in the motorization of his music, pushing for progress within the framework of an undeniable (inescapable?) heritage. Twisting and bending sound every step of the way, Narciso definitely keeps in touch with the dancefloor, offering the always much needed transcendence through distinctive, non-linear melodies and patterns. The artist pursues a direct link with bodies in motion but seldom in the expected, institutionalized way club culture is being largely promoted.
This is challenging dance music, proud statements of difference. Narciso's previous record was named "Diferenciado". Now we get "Dificuldades", a track that simultaneously carries the weight of being somewhat odd and the difficulties of life. Check how the piano is venting, freestyle, communicating a feeling, and then lets itself get stuck in a loop, but that's exactly when the groove really starts flowing. And then another layer. It's like direct speech.
A common assertion of pride is found in the origin of the artists. The ghetto as a place where any transformation projects more power precisely because of... inherent difficulties. As others (including himself) did in more or less obvious ways, Narciso clearly states "I come from the ghetto" ( "Não Sabes" ). Twice the value. At least. Almost every segment of music in this album ends up sounding heavily emotional, reaffirming what may be - perversely - a well-known characteristic of Portuguese music: melancholy.
"Não Quero" begins side B as a march maybe more significant than a thousand words, such is the ominous tone of its texture. Next track is another lunar tarraxo, pulling down the shades. Then, "Dor de Barriga" lets things loose again, steering clearly off road, shouting this way and that until a peaceful resolution comes. In "Livra-me Desta", vocal snippets blend into synth snippets, disembodied voices abandon all traces of humanity and finally mutate into different entities that, towards the end, again sound vaguely human but now we find ourselves doubting. Closer "Bob" is a rather classic percussion track with plenty of echo, reverb and an unconscious nod to dodecaphonic music. Unlikely? No, the structural ADN of this music is made up of elements western and eastern, southern and northern. To say all-over-the-place is usually not flattering but in this case the expression translates as wonder, surprise, The Unexpected, and reveals Narciso perfectly at ease inside the nucleus of creation.
Italian techno force Alarico makes a striking debut on KEY Vinyl with 'Sweaty Techniques', a seven-track LP that encapsulates his signature style: groove-centric, stomping and irresistibly danceable. Known for his prolific output, the Berlin-based artist delivers a fast-paced and energetic sound, interwoven by the thematic thread of the whole release: a sweaty encounter.
From the opening pulse of 'Cradle to the Grave', rhythm takes center stage-percussion-driven and primed for peak-time occasions. Snipped vocals and bouncy baselines carve out some sort of hypnotic patterns, while deep, rolling low ends keep the momentum locked in. Gritty textures collide with fragmented modulations, twisting into distorted, high-energy productions. Across the LP, tightly coiled bleeps and moaning snippets emerge, lending a sinister yet seductive edge.
Then there's 'Dammelo'-Italian for 'give it to me'-which subsumes the album's thematic essence into pure physicality, embracing its vocal motif with a knowing smirk. As the record progresses, Alarico shifts between functional, stripped-back rhythms and more tension-driven moments, culminating in 'Touch My Heart', where sharper drum programming meets hypnotic vocal loops. Closing on a high, 'Jamira' encapsulates the album's crisp percussive edge, rounding off a release that is as relentless as it is intoxicating.
With 'Sweaty Techniques', Alarico solidifies his place as one of techno's most electrifying new voices-an LP made of steel, but definitely built to move.
- Voll Auf Risiko
- Aufstehen - Weitermachen!
- Superheld
- Nimm Mich In Den Arm
- Wenn Wir Dran Glauben
- Liebend Gern Hassen
- Der Führer Hätte Sich Gefreut
- Nicht Nochmal
- Tante Dagmar
- Wache Augen - Heißes Herz
- Freddie Mercury
- Freiheit, Hoffnung Und Liebe
Sebastian Krumbiegels "Aufstehen - Weitermachen!" - signierte Restexemplare verfügbar! 12 Songs, 100 % Krumbiegel: politisch, persönlich, poppig. Zwischen Mut, Meinung und Melodie - mit großen Chören, starken Texten und jeder Menge Herzblut. Kein glattgebügelter Mainstream, sondern ehrlicher Indie-Pop mit Haltung. Voll auf Risiko - und genau deshalb so gut
- 45: Lux
- 431: 42
- Vienna Sur Mer
- Runde Um Runde
- Ich Kann Nicht Schlafen
- Alles Ist Gleich
- Tourist
- Verbautes Haus
- Hinter Jalousien
- Der Regen In Wien
- Mädchen Mit Herz
- Lass Uns Spazieren
- Wolfgang Von Kempelens Sprechmaschine
- Platz Auf Erden
- Ottakringer Lightboy
- Rauchen In Wien
- Ich Schwöre
- Tiere Im Prater
- Teddy
- Ein Augenblick Mit Unterschrift
- Schlangen In Der Stadt
- Austropop
- Der Spleen
- Nichts Ist So Wie Es Einmal Schien
Andreas Doraus Album "Wien" - eine musikalische Liebeserklärung an die Stadt mit dem schönsten Namen. Kein Kitsch, keine Klischees - dafür feinsinniger Pop, schräge Perspektiven und Geschichten abseits der Touristenpfade. Produziert mit Zwanie Jonson und vielen Gästen. Jetzt die letzten signierten Exemplare sichern!
- Dream Of Stone
- Chequered Light Buildings
- Upside Down
- Valerie's Friend
- Massive Illusion
Night ist ein Konzeptalbum von über 50 Minuten Länge, das in 5 Segmente unterteilt ist, die fließend ineinander übergehen. Mit der konzeptionellen Anlage, den episch ausgreifenden Strukturen und der z.T. immensen Länge der einzelnen Stücke kommen Gazpacho dem, was der Proggie mag, so nah wie nie zuvor.
Dennoch ist Night sicher kein Neo-, Retrooder sonst-was-Prog, sondern die Band bleibt ihrem im Laufe der vorangegangenen Alben entwickelten Stil treu. Die Songs klingen wie eine Mixtur aus späten Talk Talk und späten Marillion.
An Talk Talk erinnert auch, dass sich die Stücke sehr gemächlich entwickeln. Das ist ein Novum für die bislang stärker songorientierte Band.
118 pages * no ads * Pure Prince Content! - new High Quality paper version. (Originally printed in 2018)
Wax Poetics Issue 67 contains interviews and write-ups on a slew of Prince's albums, including 1978's For You, 1986's Parade, 1987's Sign "O" the Times, 1988's Lovesexy, 1991's Diamonds and Pearls, and 1995's The Gold Experience—with interviews from engineer Chris Moon, manager Owen Husney, engineer Susan Rogers, producer/engineer David Z, poet Ingrid Chavez, tour manager Alan Leeds, dancer Cat Glover, saxophonist Eric Leeds, guitarist and bandleader Levi Seacer Jr., engineer Michael Koppelman, trombonist Michael B. Nelson, and keyboardist Tommy Barbarella.
Issue 67 also includes standalone interviews with Jill Jones, Andre Cymone, and members of the Revolution: Doctor Fink, Bobby Z., Brown Mark, and Wendy & Lisa.
2025 Repress
Solid Gold Playaz hails from Winsconsin USA. The duo, Kenny Gino & Big Mike are veterans of the Midwest rave, techno and house scene and have released their incredible productions on Moods & Grooves, Kanzerlamt, Soulfuric Trax, Silver Network, Losonofo Records....
'Minds Beneath Atlantis' was originally released in 2003 by Jeff K's Silver Networks. Jerome (of Still Music) immediately fell for this deep house 4 tracker and that record has been steadily in Jerome's crates through the years. Jerome remembers reaching out to Kenny Gino back then and they've been friends since then. This reissue is a teaser for a larger project with Solid Gold Playaz that will be released on Still Music later this year.
2024 repress!
Masters at Work member Kenny “Dope” Gonzalez is the genius behind The Bucketheads – The Bomb! (These Sounds Fall Into My Mind). An established History of House hall of famer’, The Bomb’ is a 90’s house, party soundtrack essential that mixies electro, hip-hop and 4/4 house it features samples from Chicago’s ‘Street Player’ & Green Velvet’s ‘The Preacher Man’ fused into a disco-funk and house groove with edgy, funky, rough and ready beats and subtle latino flavour. It easy to see why its ranked in the 100 Greatest Dance Singles of All Time! Portuguese house producer Massivedrum is on remix duties. He has remixed dance royalty from Bob Sinclar, Axwell, Mory Kantè, Alexandra Stan, DJ Chus, Kentphonik, Yolanda B Cool among many others. He lends his house sensibilities and ear for the floor to enhance ‘The Bomb’ to new levels for an unforgettable experience. Besides the Massivedrum remix and it’s dub, also the full 14’51” minutes original version is available on this double A sided release! The Massivedrum remix is taken from the album “High Fashion Dance Music 5 – Mixed by Ben Liebrand”, which is available on LP/CD/MC and DCC.
Nutria Sounds, new sublabel of NDATL Muzik, a home for organic, soul-nourishing dance music rooted in deep grooves and essential vibes. Launching this journey is the “Mi Espiritu EP” by rising Toronto-based producer Marcelo Cruz, a three-track statement of spiritual depth and dancefloor energy.
The title track “Mi Espiritu” features the ethereal vocals of the incomparable Jaidene Veda, weaving her unmistakable tone through Cruz’s emotive percussion and lush atmospheres—an invocation of movement and spirit.
On “Ceremonia,” Cruz invites pianist Carlito Brigante to the ritual, whose delicate yet expressive keys glide over a hypnotic rhythm, conjuring images of sacred spaces and late-night communion.
Closing out the EP is “Deeper Dreams,” a raw, underground journey of stripped-down drums, pulsing basslines, and deep textures—a track that nods to classic heads-down moments while pushing forward in vibe.
With the "Mi Espiritu EP", Nutria Sounds signals its continued commitment to essential music for the soul and the feet.
- Personality Crisis
- Looking For A Kiss
- Vietnamese Baby
- Lonely Planet Boy
- Frankenstein (Orig.)
- Trash
- Bad Girl
- Subway Train
- Pills
- Private World
- Jet Boy
The extroverted blend of attitude, energy, and ostentatiousness that spills from the New York Dolls’ self-titled debut can be seen in full view on the album cover. Depicting the quintet in its hallmark flash-and-trash apparel and in drag appearance, the 1973 album scared away a considerable amount of potential listeners while capturing the attention of a sizable audience that recognized the band for what it was: zeitgeist pioneers who helped develop the punk and glam rock movements.
Named by Rolling Stone the 301st Greatest Album of All Time and by Mojo the 49th greatest album of all time, New York Dolls receives long-overdue audiophile treatment on Mobile Fidelity’s numbered-edition 180g 45RPM 2LP set. Sourced from the original master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in California, and housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, this collectible version marks the first time the group’s career-making statement is available to be experienced in audiophile quality.
Far from harboring the crude elements that became associated with the punk scene, New York Dolls benefits from keen production overseen by none other than Todd Rundgren. Though more accustomed to working far higher-caliber musicians, Rundgren — taken by the New York Dolls’ charisma and cool, if not their instrumental approach — fully understood the ensemble’s aesthetic. He captured what went down at New York City’s Record Plant with an astute blend of live-on-the-floor feel, raw authenticity, and professional acumen.
On Mobile Fidelity’s definitive-sounding reissue, you can hear those facets as well as key details, dynamics, and textures with previously unimaginable insight. Rundgren preserved generous degrees of grit, grime, and grease while bestowing the raucous music with elevated levels of separation, solidity, and impact every landmark recording deserves. His vision extends to introducing choice accents — barroom piano notes, Moog synthesizer passages, Buddy Bowser’s honking saxophones — that add to the songs’ appeal without interfering with the primary architecture.
Afforded extra groove space on this pressing, the tenor, presentation, and attack of both vocalist David Johansen and now-iconic guitarists Johnny Thunders and Sylvain Sylvain come across with stunning vibrancy and vitality. The New York Dolls often seem headed off the rails and into the red, but somehow, the strut, swagger, and sloppiness — and the associated sleaze and scruff, scrape and snarl, frenzy and feverishness those characteristics entail — remain together as a whole that shakes its collective fist at the frustrations, isolation, disarray, and disillusionment of youth chaos and urban decay.
Kicking off its debut with “Personality Crisis,” cited by Rolling Stone as one of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, the band makes obvious its grasp of alienation, deviance, displacement, and suburban disaffection — as well as its capacity to play hanging-by-a-thread boogie, noisy rock ‘n’ roll, and Brill Building-inspired pop. The lipstick-kissed New York Dolls possesses traits many of its harsher predecessors would overlook: joyfulness and melody, topped with a knack for knowing how and where to take a song inside of three-and-a-half minutes.
Dive and dash with the belligerent “Looking for a Kiss”; stomp your feet and clap your hands to the big choruses of “Jet Boy”; surrender to the demands and provocations of the coded “Vietnamese Baby”; decide whether “Bad Girl” yearns to explode or implode. It’s one of several tunes here that allude to the world coming to end. Of course, that doesn’t mean there isn’t time for a fling before everything burns. “There’s no place I gotta go,” yowls Johansen. And he means it.
Adorned with tonal crunch, glitter, and gristle, New York Dolls takes pride in its brashness and brattiness. The rambunctious effort, which earned the band the distinction of being voted both “Best New Group of the Year” and “Worst New Group of the Year” in the pages of Creem, displays knowing reverence for the blues without calling attention to the style. The folk-laden “Lonely Planet Boy” is nothing if not a collision of heart-on-the-sleeve emotions and the desire in the face of challenges to maintain a tough-skinned exterior. An interpretation of Bo Diddley’s “Pills,” complete with shivering harmonica and clattering rhythms, announces there’s no cure for what infects this band. It’s that contagious. And how.
His deliveries gushing with campy fun, playful irreverence, and sheer decadence, Johansen doubles as the equivalent of an open fire hydrant that spouts at will. He’s at once tender and vicious, serious and tongue-in-cheek. On arguably his finest hour on the album, Johansen’s phrasing, passion, and lyrical ambiguity alone turn “Trash” into an insistent glam-rock gem whose echoing harmonies and girl-group references stamp it a pop classic.
Too much, too soon? Only for those averse to some of the finest rock ‘n’ roll ever put on tape.




















