Suche:no trouble

Ahora, die neue Platte von Melenas, ist das genaue Gegenteil von "dem schwierigen dritten Album". Während andere Bands unter einem Mangel an Inspiration leiden, der typisch für diesen heiklen kreativen Moment ist, erscheint unser spanisches Quartett unbesiegbarer denn je, mit einer Sammlung umwerfender Songs und revitalisiert mit einer herrlichen neuen Klangpalette, die folgende Frage aufwirft: Kann man Jangle Pop und Garage Rock mit Synthesizern machen? Wenn man sich Songs wie 'K2' oder 'Bang' anhört, ist die Antwort ein klares Ja, denn das herrliche Pochen der analogen Keyboards, die Ahora dominieren, verrät nicht den Sound von Melenas, diese brodelnde Vibration, die bisher die Gitarren lieferten und ihre Songs in den Pop-Himmel trieben.

Die neuen Texturen, die Vintage-Synthesizer wie der Korg Delta oder der Yamaha PSR-36 liefern, bewahren diese Unmittelbarkeit und prägen faszinierende neue Farbschattierungen, indem sie die klangliche Identität der Band ausdehnen und mit neuen Nuancen versehen, vom kristallinen Pop von '1986' bis zu den düsteren, aber bewegenden Untertönen von 'Flor de la Frontera'. Dieser neue Reichtum an Klangfarben steht im Übrigen im Einklang mit einem Album, auf dem Melenas viel zu sagen haben: Sein Titel (übersetzt "Now") will, so die Band, "die Bedeutung der Zeit rechtfertigen, um darüber nachzudenken, wie wir unseren Alltag leben, mit wem wir unsere Momente teilen und wie wir es tun (oder nicht tun) wollen". Eine Erkundung ihrer eigenen Identität, ihrer Beziehungen zu anderen und der Bedeutung von "Zusammengehörigkeit, geteilten Gefühlen und gemeinsamen Aktionen". Gleichzeitig vertiefen die neuen Klänge symbolisch diese Themen: Das Konzept der Zusammengehörigkeit wird in den Gesangsharmonien vermittelt, die reichhaltiger und ausgefeilter sind.

Das Konzept der Zeit wird mit Hilfe einiger verblüffender Sequenzer, Arpeggiatoren und mechanischer Rhythmen vermittelt. Kombiniert mit Melenas' Gespür für Pop machen diese Elemente viele dieser Songs zu einer aufregenden Mischung aus dunkleren, maschinenartigen Tönen (die Cold-Wave-Echos von 'Flor de la Frontera', der Kraut-Rhythmus von 'Bang') und himmlischen Melodien. All dies wird mit einer Fülle von schillernden elektronischen Arrangements verwoben, die handwerklich perfekt gemacht sind, aber mit der Energie einer Live-Band gespielt werden, in einer sehr post-punkigen Verbindung von Synthesizern mit echtem Bass und Schlagzeug.

Das Ergebnis sind solche Wunder wie "Dos pasajeros", "Tú y yo", "1986" oder das wunderschöne "Promesas", letzteres ein wahrer Neo-Synth-Pop-Klassiker. Melenas sind mehr denn je im Besitz ihrer kreativen Kräfte. Nicht so sehr, um ihrer Musik - die im Wesentlichen immer noch in der Liebe zum Pop verwurzelt ist - eine neue Wendung zu geben, sondern um ihre Songs mit einer neuen elektronischen Energie und einem neuen Vibe zu versehen.

Ahora, die neue Platte von Melenas, ist das genaue Gegenteil von "dem schwierigen dritten Album". Während andere Bands unter einem Mangel an Inspiration leiden, der typisch für diesen heiklen kreativen Moment ist, erscheint unser spanisches Quartett unbesiegbarer denn je, mit einer Sammlung umwerfender Songs und revitalisiert mit einer herrlichen neuen Klangpalette, die folgende Frage aufwirft: Kann man Jangle Pop und Garage Rock mit Synthesizern machen? Wenn man sich Songs wie 'K2' oder 'Bang' anhört, ist die Antwort ein klares Ja, denn das herrliche Pochen der analogen Keyboards, die Ahora dominieren, verrät nicht den Sound von Melenas, diese brodelnde Vibration, die bisher die Gitarren lieferten und ihre Songs in den Pop-Himmel trieben.

Die neuen Texturen, die Vintage-Synthesizer wie der Korg Delta oder der Yamaha PSR-36 liefern, bewahren diese Unmittelbarkeit und prägen faszinierende neue Farbschattierungen, indem sie die klangliche Identität der Band ausdehnen und mit neuen Nuancen versehen, vom kristallinen Pop von '1986' bis zu den düsteren, aber bewegenden Untertönen von 'Flor de la Frontera'. Dieser neue Reichtum an Klangfarben steht im Übrigen im Einklang mit einem Album, auf dem Melenas viel zu sagen haben: Sein Titel (übersetzt "Now") will, so die Band, "die Bedeutung der Zeit rechtfertigen, um darüber nachzudenken, wie wir unseren Alltag leben, mit wem wir unsere Momente teilen und wie wir es tun (oder nicht tun) wollen". Eine Erkundung ihrer eigenen Identität, ihrer Beziehungen zu anderen und der Bedeutung von "Zusammengehörigkeit, geteilten Gefühlen und gemeinsamen Aktionen". Gleichzeitig vertiefen die neuen Klänge symbolisch diese Themen: Das Konzept der Zusammengehörigkeit wird in den Gesangsharmonien vermittelt, die reichhaltiger und ausgefeilter sind.

Das Konzept der Zeit wird mit Hilfe einiger verblüffender Sequenzer, Arpeggiatoren und mechanischer Rhythmen vermittelt. Kombiniert mit Melenas' Gespür für Pop machen diese Elemente viele dieser Songs zu einer aufregenden Mischung aus dunkleren, maschinenartigen Tönen (die Cold-Wave-Echos von 'Flor de la Frontera', der Kraut-Rhythmus von 'Bang') und himmlischen Melodien. All dies wird mit einer Fülle von schillernden elektronischen Arrangements verwoben, die handwerklich perfekt gemacht sind, aber mit der Energie einer Live-Band gespielt werden, in einer sehr post-punkigen Verbindung von Synthesizern mit echtem Bass und Schlagzeug.

Das Ergebnis sind solche Wunder wie "Dos pasajeros", "Tú y yo", "1986" oder das wunderschöne "Promesas", letzteres ein wahrer Neo-Synth-Pop-Klassiker. Melenas sind mehr denn je im Besitz ihrer kreativen Kräfte. Nicht so sehr, um ihrer Musik - die im Wesentlichen immer noch in der Liebe zum Pop verwurzelt ist - eine neue Wendung zu geben, sondern um ihre Songs mit einer neuen elektronischen Energie und einem neuen Vibe zu versehen.

40 years after The Doors' debut at Hollywood's legendary Whisky A Go Go, The Helsinki Vampires sold our their debut there and finished their first-ever US tour like the new kings of the Sunset Strip! Glam, Goth, Sleaze & Hollywood in 2006! The 69 Eyes is a "goth'n'roll" band from Helsinki, Finland. Founded in 1989, the band blends gothic rock, glam metal, and rock'n'roll together in their music. With thirteen revered albums, multiple tours around the world, and going platinum in their home country the band still maintains a strong tie to the graveyard shift of rock’n’roll.

40 years after The Doors' debut at Hollywood's legendary Whisky A Go Go, The Helsinki Vampires sold our their debut there and finished their first-ever US tour like the new kings of the Sunset Strip! Glam, Goth, Sleaze & Hollywood in 2006! The 69 Eyes is a "goth'n'roll" band from Helsinki, Finland. Founded in 1989, the band blends gothic rock, glam metal, and rock'n'roll together in their music. With thirteen revered albums, multiple tours around the world, and going platinum in their home country the band still maintains a strong tie to the graveyard shift of rock’n’roll.

East Village series is back with a 4 organic disco edits without filter. Pure disco that is filled with the nostalgia of distant memories.

No action needed, just put in you bag and play it for all night long!

From the intricate fictional details packed into the cover art (cocreated by Palomo and designer Robert Beatty), to the lyrical collage
of pop culture and political references, to the music’s early-digital
sheen, the album evokes the 80s golden age of rock stars like Bryan
Ferry and Sting leaving their own breakthrough projects to strike out
as jazzy solo musicians. It’s parody, sure - of rock star ego trips, the
mall-ification of America, and our own self-obsession, even on the
brink of apocalypse - but it’s also dead serious, the sound of history
repeating itself as the Doomsday Clock clicks past its Reagan-era
maximum and nuclear anxiety comes back into style along with digital
synthesizers and sax solos. The deeper it pulls you into its own
uncanny reality, the clearer it becomes how thin the borders are
between Alan Palomo’s ‘World of Hassle’ and our own.

Thanks to dedicated fan Tom Huissen who took his one channel reel-to-reel tape recorder into various London clubs in 1967, these historical performances were captured for all time. Unheard for almost fifty years, John recently obtained these tapes and began restoring them with the technical assistance of Eric Corne of Forty Below Records. Corne adds, "While the source recording was very rough and the final result is certainly not hi- fidelity, it does succeed in allowing us to hear how spectacular these performances are." It's truly an exciting glimpse into music history

During their original run, Stornoway achieved immense critical acclaim, fan adoration and two Top 20 albums, one of which (their debut ‘Beachcomber’s Windowsill’) was certified Silver. But in 2016 they announced that they were ending on a high (2015’s ‘Bonxie’ being “their best album yet” according to The Guardian) with the following year’s farewell tour, although their rapturously received WOMAD set (“a magnificent farewell”, The Spectator) was delayed until 2022. They still earned new fans, however, when their version of ‘The Only Way Is Up’ exceeded 2 million streams after being used in an advert and in various TV shows.

Vocalist/guitarist Brian Briggs stopped songwriting altogether and instead pursued a new career passion managing a wetland for water voles and lapwings. Nonetheless, Brian and bandmates Jon Ouin (keyboard) and Oli Steadman (bass) stayed in torch, and step-by-step they reconnected with the love of creating music that had first inspired them to start a band.

Clear Vinyl

Repressed! Get On Down proudly present Mecca And The Soul Brother, the critically acclaimed 1992 full-length debut from Pete Rock & CL Smooth. The album is considered as one of the greatest Hip Hop albums of all time. Boasting tracks such as the first single, “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)”, a dedication to their deceased friend; “Trouble T-Roy”, which went on to become not only their signature hit, but also one of Hip Hop’s all-time great songs. The album is propelled forward by Rock’s quick, soulful interludes; usually bits of old R&B tunes layered with his signature trumpet and sax loops. Smooth’s liquid freestyle delivery pieces together the perfect vocal match that, together, creates a sprawling, nearly 80-minute-long album on which not a single song or interlude is a throwaway or a superfluous piece.
Mecca And The Soul Brother has stood the test of time. The release has been named one of the essential recordings of the 90s by Rolling Stone, appears on Ego Trips listing of the Top 25 Hip Hop albums released from 1980-1998, and appeared on The Source’s 100 Greatest Rap Albums of all time.

One from the Skanna vaults again. Another release rescued from the dark depths of jungle history. To say this has been a bloody big effort is understatement! The trouble with all these old Jungle records is everybody who owned a copy purchased it to play, not hoard it for future sale. The few copies that have made it for sale vary in quality from G+ - to VG+ and fetch a hefty price on Discogs in the rare cases somebody parts with a copy.

So when we finally managed to source a nice clean audio file we jumped at the chance. Hours, days, weeks, went by staring in to the abyss of audio restoration tools to finally get a worthy master to hand over to Bob Mac to do his final mastering magic. Topped of with vinyl mastering by Shane The Cutter @ Finyl Tweek we're proper happy with this classic reissue. We have made a comparison of the original 12" and the reissue. We found the reissue to be a have a slight edge on the original with a nice bright high end, and a proper heavy bottom end. That's why we always use Shane! We're proud to have this one available for a reasonable price again.

Gary Moore is acknowledged as one of the finest musicians in blues-rock history, with a career stretching back into the sixties and with huge success as a member on Thin Lizzy and with his own solo career.

“Bad For You Baby”, released in 2008, is the last studio album by the Northern Irish guitarist before his sudden death in 2011. Like on the preceding albums, Moore has combined his own soulful creations with unique interpretations of blues greats.

With “Close As You Get”, originally released in 2007, Gary Moore continues the musical journey he started with his highly successful album “Old New Ballads Blues” by mixing reinterpretations of Blues classics such as ‘Have You Heard?’ by John Mayall or ‘Thirty Days’ by Chuck Berry with own compositions.

Being out of print on vinyl for a while, “Close As You Get” is now available again: as a heavyweight double vinyl edition.

For their fourth album, »Bear In Town«, indie avant-pop supergroup Spirit Fest made a virtue of distance, with group members split across Europe, and recording sessions taking place after a brief 2021 tour of Europe. It’s an object lesson in perseverance and commitment, as the music here is some of Spirit Fest’s most moving yet. The six songs on this album illuminate different aspects of the transnational quintet’s character – lovely, heart-rending pop songs; melancholy chants; the joys of simple repetition – with the group’s guitar pop tended by gentle flourishes of piano and electronics.

Some of those flourishes were spirited onto »Bear In Town« across the waves, with Mat Fowler (Bons, Jam Money) contributing from Britain, while the body of the music was recorded in a small apartment studio in Munich by the other members of Spirit Fest: Saya and Ueno (Tenniscoats), Markus Acher (The Notwist) and Cico Beck (Joasinho, Aloa Input). »Bear In Town« is concise and powerful, the infectious joy of the spirit communicated, beautifully, by melodies that balance the heartfelt with the melancholy. Reflecting on those sessions, Acher says, »I think the album captures how well we played together at that time.« It’s all the more impressive given this material was put down live in the studio, with a few vocal overdubs. The depth of feeling at the core of Spirit Fest’s music is evident from the opening notes of »Bear In Town«.

»Kou-Kou Land«, the first song on the album, recalls several earlier Tenniscoats songs, like »Baibaba Bimba«, in the way the musicians weave gentle complexity around a simple, repeated chant; the stop-start structure of »Kou-Kou Land« builds anticipation, while Saya’s simple melody is lovely, delivered in an absent-minded hum that’s deeply affecting. »Lost & Found« revolves around a delightful descending chord change that breaks up the swaying, folksy verses, gorgeous electronic whirrs and purring winds floating through the song. The following »In Our House« possesses such sweet sadness, it’s one of Spirit Fest’s most moving songs yet.

»Like A Plane« repurposes a song that Markus Acher originally wrote and recorded for his solo EP of the same title, released on a 2022 10-inch single on Morr Music. The original was a gentle, introverted lament, but the version on »Bear In Town« has a widescreen tenderness, its melancholy framed by raindrop piano. The album concludes with two moments of playful splendour, the bossa-inflected »Hill Blo«, and the driving title track, both led by Saya, who is in stunning voice on this album; on »Bear In Town«, her awestruck wonder perfectly captures the sense of possibility in the song’s capacious chords. Like the rest of the album, it’s full of kindness, rich with psych-pop splendour… a balm for troubled times.

A long-in-the-works project of ours, here comes A Tribe Called Kotori's first foray into full-length territories, as the immensely talented Rampue takes us on a melancholy-riddled ride across his phantasmatic mindscapes. A true sound explorer, deftly steering his ship down the junction of electronica, abstract and balearic-infused prog house, the Berlin-based vibist has us transfixed and elevated throughout the twelve cuts that form the backbone to this lushly textured promenade in sound - at times understatedly euphoric, at others rivetingly exotic.

Of the creative process that lead to 'Bubblebath Trance', Rampue explains "It all started and ended in the same moment: my cherished feline companion, my laptop awash with an unintended bath, and alas, a dearth of backups. The resultant calamity, an echo of chaotic tranquility." Under the generous layer of irony lies some unaltered truth about Rampue's debut long-player for A Tribe Called Kotori: this sense of serenity that goes with stepping into this warm and bubbling primitive chaos of sorts infuses the listening experience far and wide. Distantly emulating the "euphonious strains" of iconic PS1 video games soundtracks from his youth days, the album has us surfing a constant paradox of emotions, wistful but not abandoning itself to sorrow, dynamic yet suspended in some sort of mind-expanding stasis. As if you were looking at the world beneath you in exploded view, conscious of all thing, slowly moving up the many layers of our atmosphere towards uncharted skies.

A paragon of Rampue's most poignant take on classic electronica tropes, 'Harmonie' blazes with a poetic fire that engulfs about everything in its wake. Just figure yourself riding a chocobo across the sand-covered expanse of North Corel (toasting to the FFVII nerds here) as this blasts out in the distance. From this trancey bubblebath emerge lots of musical shades and nuances, from the nicely dubbed-out, brass-heavy coastal jazz of 'Schattenschranz' to the choppy, trip-hop-adjacent future electronics of 'Inside', via the exuberantly joyous mess of faux-organic number 'Tripomatic' and cinematic charisma of 'Ich hasse Sonne' high-flying orchestrations.

Connecting the dots between that trance-indebted ebullience and further downtempo-friendly attraction, 'Verfahren' perhaps encompasses best what 'Bubblebath Trance' is about: gracefully walking the tightrope in-limbo nostalgia-soaked inner movements and a powerful outward thrust, burning to let the feelings ooze out from the shell that holds them.Clad in purely 90s-compatible breaksy motion, 'Salz' is another attempt to reconcile emotional and physical dissonance, like kneading all states - solid, liquid and vaporous - into an impossible mega-vibe of its own; malleable, strong and enveloping in equal measure. Borrowing from two-step and UK garage, 'Take Away' is a definite high in Rampue's master unfolding of musical twists and turns, summoning a Boarder Community-esque atmosphere and clashing it alongside floor-ready footwork motifs to fascinating effect.

An ode to his studio companion, 'Buchla Trip' finds Rampue's exploring his machinic friend's quirky yet soulful array of electronic potentialities - making it sound like a conversation you'd have with R2-D2 in the heart of a Sandcrawler, whereas 'Kajal' beams us up to a fragmented headspace, halfway altered PC-Pop and arps-loaded electronica on amphetamines. Effusive and transporting, the title-track 'Bubblebath Trance' could well figure as the album's no.1 medley in essence: a bountiful lucid dream of dancing forms, colours and sentiments to wrap your head around, confidently drifting from a liminal state of consciousness down the rapids of one's troubled inner workings.

Rounding off the package, the languid ambient finale of 'Die Leiden des hungrigen Fruehstuecks' rubber-stamps the feeling that 'Bubblebath Trance' belongs to that rare category of albums. The ones that mint their own alphabet aside from typical norms and expectations, teaching you the ropes of their new language as it unreels between your ears - real and unreal, elusive to any other meaning than the one your guts and brains will be inclined to give it to, in real time. A crystal-pure object if you will, that shall not reveal its secrets, even after a thousand listens and just as many wowing moments.

An aura of mystery hangs over Jacky Giordano, a studio musician who has mostly worked for library music.He is the one behind the amazing label Freesound (Schifter, Philopsis, Challenger), but as well on Montparnasse 2000 with Pop in Devil's Train (reissued on Le Tres Groove Club), on Timing (Timing N?1 and Timing N?5, under the nickname Jacky Nodaro), on Musax with Boucles Rythmiques (under the nickname Joachim Sherylee, reissued as well on Le Tres Groove Club) or Black Devil Disco Club whose paternity for this record is still disputed between him and Bernard Fevre. Jacky Giordano wasn't an altar boy, far from it, and will have sadly been more known for his troubles with justice than for his music.This is his work for the label l'Illustration Musicale (IM) which can now be rediscovered thanks to this new reissue on Le Tres Groove Club.Organ Plus (IM26) is the sequel to Organ (IM 24), also reissued by Le Tres Groove Club. The title is misleading here, an organ not being preponderant part of the record which honours the Fender Rhodes, string machine, bass synth and clavinet. 'Be Careful', 'Riffologic', 'Twillight' : Jacky Giordano offers slow tempo jazz-funk, without losing his melancholy and low-fi groove that make his tracks immediately recognisable regardless the record label or nickname.

NEW 45 BY DEEP-FUNK PIONEER LUCKY BROWN RECORDED DURING THE NOW LEGENDARY SPACE DREAM SESSIONS!

In around 2001, Joel Ricci, the trumpet player/composer behind his former stage alias, Lucky Brown, went traveling on a worldwide "quest for funk". During that pilgrimage, he went to London England in time to attend Keb Darge's 'Legendary Deep Funk' 6-year anniversary at Madame Jojo's. While in the middle of the dancefloor, he was moved so significantly by this obscure brand of 'deep funk' Mr. Darge was unveiling, he became overcome by a mystical sense of 'coming home'. Additionally, he spent a week at Camden's Jazz Cafe to meet The Poets of Rhythm, The Breakestra, The Sugarman Three, DJ Snowboy, DJ James Trouble, and others. When Joel mentioned the nature of his quest to Neal Sugarman, he warmly invited him to come visit Brooklyn and kick it with members of Antibalas, Binky Griptite & The Mellomatics, and the Dap Kings. But before the trip back to the states, Joel spent some time in Paris playing his trumpet at a club called 'Cithea' where they would host weekly 'rare groove' jam sessions. During the jams, Parisian students of Tony Allen would overtake the stage with their instruments and their full African clothing, chant the word, 'Fela', and begin to play this intense free improvised funk and afrobeat. While traveling by train from Paris to the south of France to visit family, Joel began hearing this inspiring polyrhythm swirling in his inner ear and mixing with the "clack-clacka" of the train moving down the track. As soon as he arrived at his destination, he sat down at a piano and jotted down the polyrhythm, bass line and fundamental horn cluster on a piece of sheet music paper. The simple tune was finally rendered to tape ten years later with Lucky Brown's Crawdad Farmers aka The Funk Revolution on the Magik Carpet at drummer Olli Klomp's Lakeside log cabin in Stanwood, Washington. The tune became the title track to Lucky's first full-length on Tramp Records (Lucky Brown's Space Dream, TRLP-9011).

Space Dream is so titled in part to commemorate a soulfunk masquerade party Joel threw at a temporary all-ages Bellingham Washington music venue called 'The Pickford Dream Space'. This is Joel's stripped-down tape-only remix and re-edit which has never before appeared on 45RPM and commemorates the re-release, remaster and repackaging of upcoming Tramp LPs, "Space Dream" and "Don't Go Away", the fully realised 'director's cut' featuring Ricci's early group funk experiment: "The Funk Revolution."

• “Hearts For Sale” is the fifth and latest in our series of 12-inch vinyl albums spotlighting the US girl group sound of the 1960s. The collection opens with ‘Street Dance’ by Bonnie Jean, a little-known must-have for collectors of the genre, with Darlene Love and the Blossoms clearly audible on background vocals. Issued on Lew Bedell’s Doré label, this exciting faux-live deck in the style of Shirley Ellis’ ‘The Nitty Gritty’ was written by Guy Hemric and Jerry Styner, a hip team known for supplying songs for the soundtracks of B movies such as Muscle Beach Party and Thunder Alley.

• The Hollywood-based Doré imprint is also the source of ‘You Really Never Know Till It’s Over’ by the Vel-Vetts (which shares a backing track with the Superbs’ ‘I Was Born When You Kissed Me’), ‘One Way Street’ by the Swans, a soulful update of the Teddy Bears’ ‘To Know Him Is To Love Him’ by the Darlings and – featuring lead vocals by Sheilah Page, a former member of groups such as the Bermudas, Becky & the Lollipops, the Majorettes, Joanne & the Triangles and Beverly & the Motor Scooters – ‘He’s Groovy’ by the Front Page & Her.

• Other highlights include the Sweethearts’ Supremes-influenced ‘No More Tears’, the sophisticated slowie ‘Lonely Girl’ by the Lovettes (that’s them on the front sleeve), ‘My Heart Tells Me So’ by the Del-Phis (an early incarnation of Martha & the Vandellas) and the Fran-Cettes’ terrific recording of ‘Heart For Sale’. As with the earlier volumes in the series, the album comes with a fully-illustrated inner bag featuring a 2,500-word track commentary by compiler Mick Patrick.

Everybody loves a good comeback story. After releasing five genre-defining albums and building a fiercely loyal fanbase, Turnpike Troubadours — the Tahlequah, Oklahoma kings of Red Dirt music — all but fell apart in 2019, taking a three-year hiatus to find clarity amidst the noise of a red-hot career. But after the break, something remarkable and even unprecedented happened: the band returned more popular than ever. Not to mention stronger. The proof is in the group’s sixth studio album, A Cat in the Rain. Produced by three-time Grammy winner Shooter Jennings and recorded at the legendary FAME Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and in Los Angeles, the 10-song album is a tale of reliability, rebirth, and redemption. It’s the story of brothers — frontman and chief songwriter Evan Felker, fiddler Kyle Nix, steel player Hank Early, guitarist Ryan Engleman, bassist RC Edwards, drummer Gabe Pearson — six musicians who ran the gauntlet of success, scrutiny, and even personal troubles, and would fight tooth and nail for one another. Turnpike Troubadours’ fans can feel this. That bond is in the band’s songs and in their live performances — they’ve racked up 1.5 billion streams globally and are selling out arenas and headlining festivals. Still, to some, they remain a mystery…the most popular band they’ve never heard of. But with A Cat in the Rain, that’s all about to change.

DeYarmond Edison war der Vorläufer von Bon Iver und Megafaun. Im Sommer 2005 verließen vier Freunde Wisconsin in Richtung North Carolina mit einem einzigen Ziel: der Folk-Rock-Flaute zu entkommen. Während eines Jahres intensiver Konzentration, des Studiums und der Verletzlichkeit taten sie genau das, indem sie an den ekstatischen Rand des New Weird America vordrangen und von allem ein bisschen ausprobierten - Grindcore und Gospel, Free Jazz und Phasenstücke, Bluegrass und Blues - und es in DeYarmond Edison packten. Der Rest ist Geschichte_ Ein Mitglied ging nach Hause, um das zu gründen, was später Bon Iver werden sollte, während drei vor Ort blieben, um Megafaun zu gründen. Epoch ist die Geschichte von DeYarmond Edison: Brad Cook, Phil Cook, Justin Vernon und Joe Westerlund, erzählt wie nie zuvor. Die Sammlung umfasst fünf LPs, vier CDs, Dutzende von ungehörten Aufnahmen und ungesehene Fotos. Begleitet wird sie von einer ausführlichen Biografie des Schriftstellers Grayson Haver Currin, der auch als ausführender Produzent der Sammlung fungiert. Alles in allem fängt Epoch die Zeit ein, bevor aus diesen vier Freunden zwei andere, aufsehenerregende Bands wurden. Es ist eine Geschichte über Gemeinschaft, Visionen, Familie und ein Quartett, das zu gut sein wollte, um zu bestehen. Es gibt Momente des Experimentierens, subtile Wendungen im Fuzz von "Epoch" und eine stampfende Herangehensweise beim Covern von "All Tomorrow's Parties", die den Grundstein dafür legten, wie Bon Iver und Megafaun die akustische Musik ein wenig umkrempeln würden. Aber ein Großteil von Epoch unterstreicht die einzigartige Sichtweise der Gruppe auf amerikanisches Songwriting, auf das Nehmen von Patchworks, das Finden der Akkorde und das Singen aus vollem Herzen. "Trials, Troubles and Tribulations" ist ein Beispiel dafür. Am bekanntesten ist es als Duett von Justin Vernon und Sharon Van Etten, das hier in ausufernder Last-Waltz-Manier wieder zum Leben erweckt wird, mit Vocals von Megafaun, Justin Vernon, Frazy Ford und Fight the Big Bull. Jede Platte ist gleichermaßen ein Crash-Kurs in allem, was dieses spezielle Stück Musikgeschichte ausmacht: Fotos aus Hinterhöfen und Kellern; Essays, die bestimmte Aufnahmen beschreiben; Farbpaletten, die Zeit und Ort widerspiegeln. Mit über sieben Stunden und 55.000 Wörtern ist Epoch eine maximalistische Sammlung. Aber man muss kein Komplettist sein, um zu verstehen, was es bedeutet, sich mit seinen besten Freunden zusammenzukauern und Dinge zu erschaffen, für diese Dinge zu träumen, zu lernen, zu kämpfen und zu wachsen.