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First time on vinyl reissue of this indiepop classic, 15 years after its original release.

Living & Growing was the debut album from The Felt Tips, a Glasgow-based indiepop band that gloriously combined gritty lyrics with sublime jangly guitars. Set For October 17th Vinyl-Only Reissue On Unspun Heroes.

• A band synonymous with the 2010’s indiepop renaissance
• Ten melodious, infectious and utterly unforgettable songs
• Reissued for the first time on EcoVin™ Bio Vinyl

October might not appear to be the ideal time to release a bright and sunny set of songs, but autumnal days bring a mix of dark and light that perfectly matches the overall vibe of the debut album by the jangly indiepop band, The Felt Tips.
 
The Felt Tips debut album was originally released by Peruvian label Plastilina Records in 2010 to much acclaim in the international indiepop scene. The ten songs are crammed full of catchy melodies and chiming guitar riffs, with memorable lyrics covering everything from religious hypocrisy (Boyfriend Devoted) to what teenagers get up to in the park after dark (Lifeskills).
 
It’s clear that these four lads grew up listening to The Smiths – not only name-checking the 80’s indie darling’s frontman and his ever-expanding girth but also deftly leaning into similar unconventional lyrical themes. And while there’s an obvious Belle and Sebastian comparison being Scottish, musically the enigmatic and skillful guitar playing from Miguel Navarro owes more to Bernard Butler and Johnny Marr – and his talents learning flamenco guitar in his native Spain. The weaving of the guitar’s melodic musical backdrop, alongside the pulse of Kevin Carroll’s inventive drumming and Neil Masson’s intricate bass playing, is what truly elevates The Felt Tips.

 And it’s this juxtaposition of bright melodic tunes from the band and the exploration of the darker side of human nature conjured by Andrew Paterson’s lyrics makes The Felt Tips such a noteworthy addition to the indiepop scene.

Originally recorded at CaVa Sound in Glasgow, the album has been remastered and cut for vinyl by Guy Davie at Electric Mastering, and pressed on INEOS EcoVin™ Bio Vinyl at Press On Vinyl in Middlesbrough. New liner notes have been written by Roque Ruiz, the owner of legendary US-based indiepop label, Cloudberry Records. An extremely limited selection of the reissued albums will ship alongside a make-your-own cardboard rose sculpture created by London-based indie illustrator and maker, Hey Kids Rock ‘n Roll.

Genre-defying producer, DJ, and Disco Halal founder Moscoman returns with Caviar, his most ambitious album yet. Moving beyond the club, Caviar is built for live performance - blending indie, shoegaze, and grunge influences with real instrumentation, deep emotion, and a sense of movement.
Featuring collaborations with COMA, SCUDFM, Tom Sanders, Justin Strauss, The Golden Dreggs, and Talee, the ten-track album was written between LA and Berlin, shaped by experimentation, travel, and reinvention. With echoes of The Cure, The Smiths, and Cocteau Twins, Caviar merges nostalgia with Moscoman’s signature “happy-sad” sound, crafting something both raw and refined.

Frantic (2002) ist ein von Kritikern gefeiertes Soloalbum von Bryan Ferry, das den legendären Künstler in
seiner kreativen Renaissance zeigt und seinen unverwechselbaren Gesangsstil mit einer reichen Mischung
aus Rock, Blues und atmosphärischen Balladen verbindet. Mit herausragenden Eigenkompositionen wie
„A Fool for Love“ und „San Simeon“ sowie eindrucksvollen Interpretationen von Bob Dylan- und Lead
Belly-Klassikern demonstriert das Album Ferrys meisterhafte Fähigkeit, Songs mit Eleganz und emotionaler
Tiefe neu zu interpretieren. Mit Gastauftritten von Brian Eno von Roxy Music und Johnny Marr von The
Smiths ist Frantic nicht nur ein Karrierehöhepunkt, sondern auch ein unverzichtbares Sammlerstück – ein
fesselndes Hörerlebnis von Anfang bis Ende, das Ferrys avantgardistische Wurzeln mit zeitlosem Songwriting
verbindet. Ein Muss für Fans anspruchsvoller, genreübergreifender Musik.
Das Album erscheint zum ersten Mal seit 2002 als limitierte blaue 1LP-Vinyl- und 1CD-Edition. Bryan
Ferry hat auch die aktualisierten Grafiken für beide Formate überwacht.

Nonesuch Records ist stolz, Brad Mehldaus Ride into the Sun anzukündigen, ein ergreifendes Songbook-Album mit der Musik des verstorbenen Elliott Smith, das am 29. August 2025 erscheinen wird. Mehldau, der als einer der einflussreichsten lebenden Jazzpianisten gefeiert wird, interpretiert zehn von Smiths Liedern, ergänzt durch vier eigene Kompositionen, die von Smiths Werk inspiriert sind. Das Album enthält auch Interpretationen von Big Stars „Thirteen“ und Nick Drakes „Sunday“, den Mehldau als Smiths „visionären Patenonkel“ betrachtet. Mit einer beeindruckenden Besetzung, darunter Daniel Rossen (Grizzly Bear), Chris Thile (Punch Brothers), Matt Chamberlain und ein Kammerorchester unter der Leitung von Dan Coleman, bietet diese Aufnahme eine einzigartige Mischung aus Jazz und zeitgenössischem Songwriting. Mit den bereits veröffentlichten Titeln „Tomorrow Tomorrow“ und „Better Be Quiet Now“ verspricht Ride into the Sun, eine zutiefst bewegende und unverzichtbare Ergänzung jeder Musiksammlung zu werden.

Friends since the age of six, most of the album was written and recorded by the pair when they were nineteen. The songs possess all the singular magic of a duo writing and playing together while sounding like a full, sonically charged band. Their debut E.P. track 'Two Monkeys', included here, has a level of shoegazey dirt that will leave many distortion freaks reeling. `Every Word Said' is prog-pop perfection. The title track is as moody as anything by Flying Saucer Attack. 'Another One Making Clouds' evolves over 35 minutes and doesn't stop elevating and surprising. A founding notion of our label was to release recordings made as the musicians' first intended. No `notes' and no re-recording with a `proper' producer in a `real' studio. A noble preference we saw labels like Rough Trade pursuing with The Strokes, The Smiths, The Fall et al.This album is a proud example. And captures something you can't fake. A young band finding an epic, emotional, cinematic sound in their bedroom. Using it in that peculiarly British way to express the wonder, confusion and heartache of being nineteen. Of wanting to be seen and not seen. It's a kind of British `soul' music with ancestors like The Cure, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Jesus & Mary Chain and the original shoegaze bands. Progressive guitar music, channeling deep emotion, a desire to hear something that sounds like how you feel inside. The stuff nobody talks about. Everything Else.

Friends since the age of six, most of the album was written and recorded by the pair when they were nineteen. The songs possess all the singular magic of a duo writing and playing together while sounding like a full, sonically charged band. Their debut E.P. track 'Two Monkeys', included here, has a level of shoegazey dirt that will leave many distortion freaks reeling. `Every Word Said' is prog-pop perfection. The title track is as moody as anything by Flying Saucer Attack. 'Another One Making Clouds' evolves over 35 minutes and doesn't stop elevating and surprising. A founding notion of our label was to release recordings made as the musicians' first intended. No `notes' and no re-recording with a `proper' producer in a `real' studio. A noble preference we saw labels like Rough Trade pursuing with The Strokes, The Smiths, The Fall et al.This album is a proud example. And captures something you can't fake. A young band finding an epic, emotional, cinematic sound in their bedroom. Using it in that peculiarly British way to express the wonder, confusion and heartache of being nineteen. Of wanting to be seen and not seen. It's a kind of British `soul' music with ancestors like The Cure, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Jesus & Mary Chain and the original shoegaze bands. Progressive guitar music, channeling deep emotion, a desire to hear something that sounds like how you feel inside. The stuff nobody talks about. Everything Else.

An adversarial network of ideas, electronic post-punk trio The Wants welcome the possibility that embracing friction can give rise to something cathartic and unexpected. Formed by Madison Velding- VanDam and Jason Gates in 2017, and with the addition of Yasmeen Night in 2021, The Wants' sound is defined by the push and pull of its members' processes: floating rhythms upheaving grounded songwriting, pulsing synths overwhelming live instrumentation. Their new record, Bastard, is an evolution of many of the seeds planted in their debut record, Container (2020), with a refined sense of acerbic emotional urgency and sonic experimentation. Drawing from a deep well of influences across decades and genres, The Wants forge an unlikely alliance of sounds that feels both radical and inevitable. Velding- VanDam channels both the raw power and snark of Public Image Ltd. and The Smiths' romance, while Gates draws intensity from bands like Bauhaus and Throbbing Gristle, and inspiration from experimental techno. Night's sound bridges inspiration from '90s alternative rock like Smashing Pumpkins and Garbage between the nocturnal trip-hop atmosphere of Massive Attack. The result sits in its own category—too raw to be pure electronic music, too mechanised to be straight rock— drawing favorable comparisons to early PIL and contemporaries like Model/Actriz while remaining distinctly their own beast.

Nachdem er im April 1960 als Sideman auf Jimmy Smiths Soul-Jazz-Zwillingsklassikern “Midnight Special” und “Back At The Chicken Shack” einen starken Eindruck hinterlassen hatte, gab Blue-Note-Chef Alfred Lion Stanley Turrentine im Juni die Chance, sein erstes Album als Leader für das Label aufzunehmen. “Look Out!” verkündete die Ankunft eines zutiefst gefühlvollen neuen Saxofonisten, der sein Herz und seine Seele in jede gespielte Note goss.

Growing up is painful, brutal, and sometimes beautiful _ something Brooklyn-based indie-rock band Bedridden knows all too well. The band's name is even a nod to that ineffable period between childhood and the jagged edges of the real world. "When I was 21, I kind of lost my home," says frontman/guitarist Jack Riley. "I was couch-surfing. I was having a hard time.The next iteration in the band's maturation, then, is their debut, LP Moths Strapped To Eachother's Backs, 10 fuzzed-out (and sometimes gnarly) ruminations on dating, drugs, and survival out April 11 on Julia's War. The title came from a mysterious missive Riley received on astrology app Co-Star. "Last year I was way too reliant on other people _ my partner at the time, my friends," he says. "I was strapped to them in a weird way _ and flying in circles. This album is about that time."The current incarnation of Bedridden encompasses a patchwork of styles, influences, and friends Riley accumulated over the years. A Chicago native who first started making music at age five on a thrift-store guitar emblazoned with Kurt Cobain's name, Riley moved to New Orleans for college where he dabbled in punk before falling in love with shoegaze. There, he launched the first version of Bedridden. Sebastian Duzian (bass) _ a jazz musician and Pasadena native _ linked up with Riley in NOLA along with his bandmate, drummer Nick Pedroza. Pedroza, from Claremont, grew up on rock, metal, and jazz, honing his style after joining the band. Wesley Wolffe _ a guitarist fed on a steady diet of New Wave and `90s alt _ rounded out the crew just a few months back. Bedridden's previous lineup released their first EP, Amateur Heartthrob, in 2023 _ a noise-washed blend of shoegaze, DIY, and indie that Riley says is a "coming-of-age EP _ these formative stories about not having a bed, dating, being kind of a jackass. I was making fun of myself a lot." That release caught the attention of Douglas Dulgarian from Philly Label Julia's War (and TAGABOW), who signed them for Moths."Some of these songs have been around for years," says Riley, adding that they were recorded last February at Studio G Brooklyn; the album was produced by Aron Kobayashi Ritch (Momma). "As opposed to Amateur Heartthrob, we attempted to blend more clean guitars into a driving sound to capture more clarity _ one that also sounds live_ and raw," Riley says. That rawness thrums through the record, which kicks off with the thrashed "Gummy," about an incident when Riley had to gently fend off a co-worker's unwanted advances while both drunk and high on an MDMA gummy. And then there's mournful rager "Etch," which sees Riley daydreaming about beating up a meddler in his personal life _ in the minor key.The annihilating "Chainsaw" revs in next, a lightning-fast Lemonheads-inspired track that recalls Riley moving in with new roommates who were unnaturally obsessed with purchasing a lamp. "For some reason that pissed me off," he laughs; that rage is evident in the album cover, which shows said power tool demolishing a lampshade. Heavy-shredding "Heaven's Leg" showcases the band's affinity for `90s mainstays like Smashing Pumpkins while telling the tale of a gig at a local church. "The lyrics are about a pastor I had met that had lost his leg," Riley says. "The church had signs about not cussing and I had a feeling that neither of us had anything to talk about without potentially offending the other."The band's not afraid to get confrontational, though, on the anger-fueled, drum-heavy "Philadelphia, Get Me Through," which deals with a dead-end relationship and the mistaken assumption that getting drunk in the titular city would be a balm against the pain. And the nasty, brutist, and short hardcore-adjacent "MainStage"? "It's about being disrespected at a show on New Year's and how I lashed out," Riley says. "I then began to take it out on other people, which was a quality that I despise."Things get contemplative and mournful from here on out _ the emo-edged "Snare" is about bringing flowers to a hospital room where you're not welcome, while the Smiths-inspired "Uno" wrestles with self-loathing. "I guess the big finale of that song was my response to dealing with this recurring experience of feeling like I wasn't good enough by getting really into whippets," Riley says. Nu-metal bop "Bonehead," then, recalls an embarrassing dinner that turned into an argument _ the name applies both to that incident and the delicious simplicity of the guitar parts.After all that turmoil and pain, the band caps everything off with their eyes to the future on the jangle-pop "Ring Size." "All my friends are getting married _ do I follow in their footsteps? Or is it all a waste of time?" Riley says of the song. "At the end, through it all, I guess that's what I've been trying to figure out _ how to grow up, how to move on. I'm trying to navigate things as an adult and I'm not very good at it. But this is just the first record. This is just the beginning."And, hey, at least now he has a bed.

Nach fünfunddreißig Jahren an der Spitze der sich ständig weiterentwickelnden Musiklandschaft von New Orleans beschloss der Grammy-Preisträger Jon Cleary, diesen Sound wieder nach Hause zu bringen, sowohl im übertragenen als auch im wörtlichen Sinne. Er versammelte seine Absolute Monster Gentlemen (seine gefeierte All-Star-Bigband) in seinem Heimstudio im Bywater-Viertel von New Orleans, stellte eine Setlist mit einigen seiner beliebtesten Songs - und einigen neuen Favoriten - zusammen und nahm sie auf. Das Ergebnis ist "The Bywater Sessions", eine musikalische Tour-de-Force, die den Funk und die Freude zeigt, die Konzertsäle von New Orleans bis Tokio und darüber hinaus gefüllt hat. Das Album wurde von Jon Cleary und John Porter (Roxy Music, The Smiths, Taj Mahal) koproduziert und ist eine beeindruckende Sammlung von Darbietungen, die Clearys Platz in der musikalischen Avantgarde von New Orleans unterstreicht.

Defiant Life – die zweite Duo-Aufnahme von Vijay Iyer und Wadada Leo Smith für ECM – ist eine tiefgründige Meditation über den Menschen in der Gesellschaft und das damit verbundene Leid, aber auch die
Resilienz. Zwischen Leo Smiths unverwechselbaren Trompetenflügen und Vijays feinfühligen Erkundungen
an Klavier und Fender Rhodes schimmert ein ätherisches Funkeln durch mehrdimensionale Räume hindurch,
die Platz für nachdenkliche musikalische Konversationen schaffen. ”Wir arbeiten mit unseren individuellen
Sprachen und Materien”, schreibt Vijay in seinem ausführlichen Begleittext, „aber auch mit unseren Methoden der akustischen Einstimmung und mit dem, was ich als eine gemeinsame Ästhetik der Notwendigkeit
bezeichnen würde”. Eine Notwendigkeit, die sowohl von Dringlichkeit als auch Frieden gezeichnet ist, sich
im ersten langen Stück „Sumud” unheilvoll äußert, dann mit bluesigen Untertönen auf „Floating River
Requiem” wieder auftaucht, immer noch zweifelhaft, aber mit Silberstreifen auf „Elegy: The Pilgrimage”
zu hören ist und schließlich auf dem abschließenden ”Procession: Defiant Life” schrecklich schön zum
Ausdruck gebracht wird. Defiant Life wurde innerhalb von zwei Tagen im Auditorio Stelio Molo in Lugano
aufgenommen und von Manfred Eicher produziert.

Lonnie Liston Smiths 'Expansions' ist eines der einflussreichsten Alben aller Zeiten, dessen Sound viele verschiedene Genres streift. Es ist ein Grundpfeiler der Dance-Musik und eine Hymne für die britische Clubszene. Zum 50. Jubiläum feiert Ace Records diesen Einfluss mit einer hochwertigen Deluxe-Vinyl-Edition des Albums. Mit dem Original-Masterband haben sich die Mastering-Spezialisten ins East Londoner Carvery-Studio niedergelassen, um das Album komplett analog aufzunehmen - es hat noch nie besser geklungen! In einer laminierten Klapphülle verpackt, die Jack Martins Original-Illustration des Künstlers so erstrahlen lässt wie nie zuvor. Dazu kommt ein ausführlicher, illustrierter Covertext von Frank Tope, der die Reise der Platte durch das Universum von ihrer spirituellen Jazz-Tradition zur Club-Hymne erzählt. Diese Album-Story wird mit Unterstützung von Gilles Peterson, Norman Jay und anderen erzählt. Das Album als Ganzes ist unverzichtbar und geht über die Tanzbarkeit des Titeltracks hinaus. Mit seinen sieben Tracks zählt es zu den großen Jazzalben der 70er Jahre. Produziert von Lonnie Listen Smith und Bob Thiele, sollte es in keiner Plattensammlung fehlen.

Since 1972, the group has remained quintessential bearers of the tradition, releasing
nearly two dozen albums that cast a wide net for inspiration and repertoire. Remains
to Be Scene is no exception, delivering stirring takes on bluegrass standards and
providing their signature interpretations on deep cuts from the likes of The Kinks, Bob
Dylan, and Jim Croce. The album is the first to be released since the passing of
founding member and trailblazing banjo player Ben Eldridge, who contributes
impassioned liner notes to the release. Beneath the album's title lies a plain truth:
more than fifty years in, The Seldom Scene are looking ever forward.
Original Seldom Scene are Bluegrass Hall of Fame inductees
"It goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway), the Seldom Scene is one of the most
influential and durable bands in modern bluegrass history." - Bluegrass Unlimited

"There is great power in secrecy. Detached from the world, brewed under a strict code of confidentiality, a new lifeform came into existence. Led by none other than Sonata Arctica frontman Tony Kakko, this new beast of his gained momentum in the massive shadow of his wildly successful power metal superheroes, slowly, steadily, biding its time, waiting for the right moment. This moment is now: With his self-titled debut, Tony Kakko opens the curtains into this strange new world of his just enough to take a first peek – and instantly hunger for more. A master story teller and a wizard of conjuring musical emotions, Himmelkraft stages Kakkos trademark talents in a wholly new, unexpected and thrilling way. To him, the sky truly is the limit, bestowing upon us an album that sounds like nothing else out there – brooding and dark, menacing and eerie, stomping and monumental.




This project sees Tony Kakko enter a fascinating new era. Much like the legendary Elven smiths of old, forging away in solemn silence, Kakko has stopped the wheel of time to reinvent himself and his bold musical vision. Shrouded in mystery, a new being appears in the fog, barely discernible and yet distinct the very moment Tony Kakko starts to sing.

Yet, everything else remains just what it was from the very start – a mystery. Call them songs for a dying world or songs for a world reborn – either way, you will be intrigued how this extraordinary project will develop. And that’s a promise
"

Skeletal Family are: Anneka Latta - Vocals, Stan Greenwood - Guitars, Roger "Trotwood" Nowell - Bass, Ian "Karl Heinz" Taylor - Keyboards / Saxophone, Adrian "Ozzy" Osadzenko - Drums and Percussion. Formed in 1982 with vocalist Anne Marie Hurst, their debut album 'Burning Oil' topped the National UK Indie Charts for three weeks in Autumn 1984 above other contemporary northern bands The Smiths and New Order. The band subsequently recorded seven BBC Radio One sessions for John Peel, Janice Long & Kid Jensen. They Signed to Chrysalis Records in 1986. Their discography includes the studio albums: 'Futile Combat', 'Sakura', 'Songs of Love Hope and Despair', 'Day of All Days'. The current line up came together in 2021, with the introduction of vocalist Anneka Latta with the band performing live at 'Wave Gotik Treffen' in Leipzig and 'Darker Waves Festival' in Huntington Beach, California as well as various dates in the UK and USA. Their latest album 'Light From The Dark' was recorded at Paul Weller's 'Black Barn' Studio and received critical acclaim already earlier this year.

New single with echoes of Slowdive, Lush and the Cocteau Twins. Limited edition 7-inch on Precious Recordings of London comes with free badge – plus an exclusive B-side. Download card also included – with a bonus 'Popkiss version' of the title track.

Blueboy continue their extraordinary re-emergence after 20 years of separation with a magnificent new single that hits you in the solar plexus and then forces you to sing along.

At various times, their guitar-led sound has been described as having echoes of bands like The Smiths, Slowdive, Lush and The Cocteau Twins.

Darkness, light and shade, melancholy and euphoria, sadness and joy are Blueboy's natural territory; in ‘Deux’, an anthemic chorus is juxtaposed with quietly spoken verses, mood and emotion driven by
ever-present guitar.

The thread of you, through everything, pulls me upwards … Could it be I'm not one; we are deux?



Blueboy first got together in the early 1990s and went on to build a global following, touring Europe and Japan and featuring regularly in the UK independent charts with a series of acclaimed singles and well

regarded albums.



Having reformed in 2024, founder member Paul Stewart was joined by Gemma Malley (now on vocals) to play in London, Cologne and Paris; their comeback single ‘One’ was launched at a triumphant full

band show in London where drummer Martin Rose and bassist Mark Cousens rejoined the team from the 1990s line-up.



Later this month, Blueboy will play to 45,000 people at the Joyland Festival in Jakarta along with Bombay Bicycle Club, St Vincent and Air

Paul Carrack is known for his role in the bands Ace, Squeeze (replacing Jools Holland on piano), and Mike & The Mechanics (a side project by Mike Rutherford of Genesis). Next to this collaborations, Carrack has forged a successful solo career in the process. All the songs from his impressive career are now bundled under the Collected series.

Dubbed by the BBC as the "The Man with the Golden Voice" Carrack sang some of the most important songs from bands like Ace (“How Long”), Squeeze (“Tempted”), Mike + The Mechanics ("The Living Years" and "Over My Shoulder") . As a solo musician he recorded hits such as "Don't Shed a Tear", "When You Walk in the Room" and "Don't Dream It's Over". He has served as a session and/or touring musician for the likes of music greats like Elton John, Eric Clapton, B.B. King and The Smiths.

Collected by Paul Carrack, released 8 March 2024, includes the following tracks: "Don't Shed A Tear ", "Love Will Keep Us Alive", "Over My Shoulder ", "Satisfy My Soul " and more.

This version of Collected comes as a 2xLP. This release comes with (a) Insert(s).

"The acclaimed 2007 album reissued on 1LP clear vinyl. Taken from the original 2007 masters when Pete Doherty was at the pinnacle of his creative powers, ‘Shotter’s Nation’ followed in the footsteps 'Down In Albion’, the band’s debut album, and Doherty’s first album outside of his first band - the era-defining Libertines. Both were met with commercial and critical acclaim, breaking into the top 10 of the album charts.

‘Shotter’s Nation’ is unmistakably Doherty. Melodic, stark, catchy, raw, brilliantly unique - his music has always created an unflappable loyalty from his many fans, remaining timeless, yet still sending a nostalgic excitement through its listeners. The album also features four songs co-written by Doherty’s then-girlfriend Kate Moss who also regularly performed live with them.

The approach to the recording and release of the album was an escape from Doherty’s previous methods. Stephen Street (The Smiths, Blur, Morrissey, The Cranberries) took over producer duties from The Clash's Mick Jones, and it was and his first album released by a major label, Parlophone."

Let's just keep fighting the end of the World. We will hold hands and we will make plans - for life." Twenty years ago, Montreal indie darlings The Dears' sophomore album "No Cities Left" left off with those words followed by an instrumental marriage of heavenly chorus and symphonic cacophony - symbolic of the journey down a darkened path that finally brought The Dears to promise. Twenty years on, those words still ring true for fans of the band from around the world. On October 11, 2024, The Dears are re-releasing the album as "No Cities Left: The Definitive 20th Anniversary Ed

ition" - a double LP pressed on white vinyl alongside a digital download card with 6 previously unreleased acoustic tracks. The acoustic versions showcase Murray Lightburn's moving vocals and offer a look behind the curtain of The Dears' signature synth-laden and cinematic arrangements, revealing their powerful and heartfelt songwriting. "The Dears, a six-piece orchestral rock treat from Montreal, Canada, led by the enigmatic Murray Lightburn and sounding like Marvin Gaye fronting The Smiths while the London Philharmonic Orchestra has a stab at the Burt Bacharach songbook, are probably the best new band in the world right now." - NME "There isn't a tune on "No Cities Left", the Dears' gorgeous second album, that's not pitched at a minor state of emergency." - SPIN "Sad music has never sounded so uplifting" - Tiny Mix Tapes "An astoundingly complex, deeply evocative pop record" - Filter “The greatest and grandest work from a band for whom ‘epic’ seems too cheap a descriptor ... a seminal album that refines the band’s notorious unhinged onstage catharsis with their lushly-arranged studio sophistication." - Stuart Berman, 2004 Look for The Dears on tour this fall in Canada and the UK.

Big Crown Records is proud to present the reissue of one of Brooklyn’s most sought after “holy grail” soul records, YIA Talent Hunt Winners. Youth in Action, Inc. (YIA) was formed in 1963 when the Central Brooklyn Coordinating Council received a grant to develop a youth services program in the Bedford-Stuyvesant community. It was originally organized to identify and address the social problems that were leading to the high crime rate in Bed-Stuy. Recently the Smithsonian Museum of African American History released an archive of footage filmed by a community activist, which shows the real-world effects of the group’s efforts: young people engaged in sports, the arts, and other activities to better themselves and their world. The appearances by Jackie and Bobby Kennedy point to the group's relationship to the Great Society programs of President Lyndon B. Johnson. What there is no mention of in either the NMAAHC’s collection of YIA materials nor in the Brooklyn Public Library’s also extensive collection is this talent show and the record that came to be because of it.
Local vocal groups chose tunes to cover from the era (1964 - 1968) ranging from The Rascals to The Intruders, from The O’Jays to Billy Stewart. All of these groups were backed by a local act called The Thrillers Band. The winners of the talent contest were then invited into the studio to record their versions which would be pressed up on this record and given away to local radio and TV stations. The hope of the whole thing was that this would help the young groups get discovered by producers and record labels and start their professional music careers. The intro to the album is Reverend Horace Tyler congratulating the winners and asking them “to just remember, when you reach the top and become our big stars of tomorrow, don’t forget YIA”.
What this album may lack in fidelity and production it more than makes up for in charm. The engineers at the recording sessions pump in pre recorded applause and screaming to give the it the feel of the day of the contest while the young groups sing their hearts out, clearly giving their all. From today’s perspective, soul music fans will lose it over the choices of covers on this record and the killer, raw, innocent performances of them by these local Brooklyn groups. The Channels 4, Carla & The Carlettes, The United Souls, Sharon Seabrook & The Starlettes, and The Destinations all won that day and got to take place in this record. It makes you wonder, and even pine for the performances of the groups who didn’t make the cut, even if just to find out what tunes they covered, or better yet, were their original songs written by some of them for this contest?
It is with great pleasure that we make this available to the public again. This is a truly rare record, and an awesome piece of New York History.

RAT BOY have recorded in Los Angeles with T im Armstrong of Rancid, played festivals as far afield as Japan and China, and toured North America with The Interrupters. Yet for all those globe-trotting adventures, there"s no place you know quite as well as home. That"s the central topic that R AT BOY explore on their upcoming third album "SUBURBIA CALLING", which will be released on October 4th via Hellcat. "SUBURBIA CALLING" sees RAT BOY exploring stories from their roots in Essex. It"s the land of wheeler -dealers and dodgy geezers, and home to nosey neighbours, rowdy clubs and Joey Essex. For readers outside of the UK, it"s the land of Blur, Depeche Mode and The Prodigy: a place not so far outside of east London, but in other ways it"s a world away. And it"s not only an immense font of inspiration for RAT BOY, but the place where ever ything happens for them.. Just outside of Chelmsford sits a converted barn where the band can jump in and be creative whenever the mood takes them - a HQ that is a recording studio, a rehearsal space, an art studio, a storage space and a hangout spot all-in-one. Frontman Jordan Cardy says, "I wanted to sing about Essex. Essex is where we live and when you"ve grown up somewhere you notice things about it. There"s so much to draw on. Essex is really close to London but it"s different in a lot of ways. We"ve got a lot of freedom here, we built a place where we can record and rehearse and hang out, somewhere you wouldn"t be able to have in London." RAT BOY - completed by Liam Haygarth (bass), Harr y Todd (guitar) and Noah Booth (dr ums) - approached the making of the al - bum in unorthodox fashion. They recorded a home demo and a live performance of each song, which were then sent to producer Stephen Street (The Smiths, Blur) to edit together like a tapestry puzzle.

RAT BOY have recorded in Los Angeles with T im Armstrong of Rancid, played festivals as far afield as Japan and China, and toured North America with The Interrupters. Yet for all those globe-trotting adventures, there"s no place you know quite as well as home. That"s the central topic that R AT BOY explore on their upcoming third album "SUBURBIA CALLING", which will be released on October 4th via Hellcat. "SUBURBIA CALLING" sees RAT BOY exploring stories from their roots in Essex. It"s the land of wheeler -dealers and dodgy geezers, and home to nosey neighbours, rowdy clubs and Joey Essex. For readers outside of the UK, it"s the land of Blur, Depeche Mode and The Prodigy: a place not so far outside of east London, but in other ways it"s a world away. And it"s not only an immense font of inspiration for RAT BOY, but the place where ever ything happens for them.. Just outside of Chelmsford sits a converted barn where the band can jump in and be creative whenever the mood takes them - a HQ that is a recording studio, a rehearsal space, an art studio, a storage space and a hangout spot all-in-one. Frontman Jordan Cardy says, "I wanted to sing about Essex. Essex is where we live and when you"ve grown up somewhere you notice things about it. There"s so much to draw on. Essex is really close to London but it"s different in a lot of ways. We"ve got a lot of freedom here, we built a place where we can record and rehearse and hang out, somewhere you wouldn"t be able to have in London." RAT BOY - completed by Liam Haygarth (bass), Harr y Todd (guitar) and Noah Booth (dr ums) - approached the making of the al - bum in unorthodox fashion. They recorded a home demo and a live performance of each song, which were then sent to producer Stephen Street (The Smiths, Blur) to edit together like a tapestry puzzle.

From the first notes of Symbiont, the radical new collaborative album and document of Black and Indigenous futurism from Jake Blount and Mali Obomsawin, the listener is met with rising tidewaters, massive droughts, and the appearance of an iconoclastic uprising amidst the worlds indifference. Questions of future or present tense swirl around the music as the duo unspools the intertwined threads of racial and climate justice. Amid rumbling synthesizer drones, the thrum of banjo, and the thwack of drum machines, a whisper of truth can be heard: this crisis has been unfolding for centuries.

"Brendan Croker was an English musician, who recorded albums under his own name and with the occasional backing band; The Five O'Clock Shadows. This album is recorded together with his band where he is joined by Eric Clapton, Tanita Tikaram, Mark Knopfler, Guy Fletcher and many fantastic other guest performers. The album was produced by John Porter, who also worked with The Smiths, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, and Ryan Adams among others. Brendan Croker And The 5' O'Clock Shadows is available as a 35th anniversary edition of 500 copies on translucent red coloured vinyl and includes an insert. "

Nonesuch Records releases Laurie Anderson’s Amelia, the 2024 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient's first new album since 2018’s Grammy-winning Landfall. The record comprises 22 tracks about renowned female aviator Amelia Earhart’s tragic last flight. Anderson, who Pitchfork says, ‘sees the future, but she starts by paying attention’, wrote the music and lyrics for this subjective narrative piece. On the album, she is joined by the Czech orchestra Filharmonie Brno, conducted by Dennis Russell Davies, and Anohni, Gabriel Cabezas, Rob Moose, Ryan Kelly, Martha Mooke, Marc Ribot, Tony Scherr, Nadia Sirota, and Kenny Wolleson.



Earhart was a passionate pioneer of early aviation, achieving fame as the first woman to cross the Atlantic, in 1932. Five years later, she embarked on a flight around the world. Before she could complete the voyage, her plane disappeared without a trace; it has never been found. “The words used in Amelia are inspired by her pilot diaries, the telegrams she wrote to her husband, and my idea of what a woman flying around the world might think about,” Anderson says. First premiered at Carnegie Hall in 2000, the updated piece was recently performed across Europe.



Laurie Anderson is one of America’s most renowned – and daring – creative pioneers. Her work, which encompasses music, visual art, poetry, film, and photography, has challenged and delighted audiences around the world for more than 40 years. In a recent 60 Minutes profile, Anderson Cooper said she ‘is a pioneer of the avant-garde, but ... that doesn’t begin to describe what she creates. Her work isn’t sold in galleries. It’s experienced by audiences who come to see her perform: singing, telling stories, and playing strange violins of her own invention... she blends the beautiful and the bizarre, challenging audiences with homilies and humor. She blurs boundaries across music, theater, dance, and film.’ The Washington Post has said she ‘doesn’t just tell stories; she draws out every word with a kind of physical pleasure, tasting its flavor as she probes the everyday mysteries of life,’ and the Guardian has called Anderson ‘one of the great popular artists and storytellers of our time.’



Anderson released her first album with Nonesuch Records in 2001, the critically lauded Life on a String. Her subsequent releases on the label include Live in New York (2002), Homeland (2010), the soundtrack to Anderson’s acclaimed film Heart of a Dog (2015), and her Grammy-winning collaboration with Kronos Quartet, Landfall (2018). Additionally, Anderson’s virtual-reality film La Camera Insabbiata, with Hsin-Chien Huang, won the 2017 Venice Film Festival Award for Best VR Experience, and, in 2018, Skira Rizzoli published her book All the Things I Lost in the Flood: Essays on Pictures, Language and Code, the most comprehensive collection of her artwork to date.



Recent exhibitions and installations of Anderson’s work include Habeas Corpus at New York’s Park Avenue Armory; her largest exhibition to date, The Weather, at Washington, DC’s Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum of Modern Art; and Looking into a Mirror Sideways at Stockholm’s Moderna Museet, which was her largest European exhibition to date. Anderson recently toured with Sex Mob, performing her piece Let X=X. Earlier this year, she was awarded the 2024 Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication, along with Christopher Nolan and David Attenborough, and the International Astronomical Union named a minor planet in her honour: Asteroid 270588, Laurieanderson.



Nonesuch released a re-mastered edition of Anderson’s landmark 1982 album Big Science in 2007 for its 25th anniversary, followed by a vinyl LP re-issue in 2021; its beloved single, ‘O Superman’, became a surprise viral hit on TikTok earlier this year.

Young Marble Giants' "Colossal Youth" has mystified and beguiled audiences since its 1980 release. Seen by primary songwriter Stuart Moxham as "a last gasp" at making a record, Stuart insisted the one-off 7" deal offered by Rough Trade be altered to allow an entire album . . . that paid off when with a big seller which produces cover versions even from bands whose members were a decade or two away from being born on the album's release. When YMG disbanded, Stuart was at a loss; he'd never envisioned a follow-up. A series of experimental recordings made with pal Phil Legg (Essential Logic) and supported by other YMG members, musicians from This Heat and Swell Maps, old Cardiffian pals, and new friends like Vivien Goldman resulted in an album, "Embrace The Herd", as The Gist. Released just before Rough Trade made bold moves toward pop charts with Scritti Politti, The Smiths and others, the album was odd for its time, but has since taken on the lustre of genius. Years of silence followed, thereafter intermittently broken by the odd release from small labels. Stuart delved into family life, though he never stopped writing and recording. In more recent years, two retrospective compilation of lost recordings by The Gist have been released, as well as a superb collaboration with French arranger Louis Philippe, "The Devil Laughs". "Fabstract" is the final gathering of Stuart's lost recordings. Compiling long-lost YMG-era tracks with the recent brilliance of "Crow, Crow" and "Suburban Monochrome", through bits of whimsy and vastly alternate versions of fan faves, this diverse album shouldn't work . . . but it does, telling a satisfying story of an underrated talent whose mistake was following his muse, not the charts. This album precedes a new recording, years in the making, produced by Dave Trumfio, which promises to be Stuart's most complete - and original - work since "Colossal Youth". Tracks:

Beneath the steel strings and steely demeanor exemplifying the spirit of bluegrass lies the heart of a wanderer: the heartbroken rambler looking for the next big break and the next story to tell. The Po’ Rambin’ Boys’ Wanderers Like Me is a quintessential bluegrass record, full of melodies that burst with energy and emotion and music driven by melancholy but refusing to succumb to it. They confront their losses with original songs that resonate poignantly across the hills and hollers where bluegrass was born. For The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys wandering is anything but aimless: they ramble not to escape the past but to experience the future.

Das in Chicago ansässige Quintett Brigitte Calls Me Baby kündigt sein Debütalbum 'The Future Is Our Way Out' an, das über ATO Records erscheinen soll!

'The Future Is Our Way Out' wurde teilweise im RCA Studio A in Nashville mit dem 9-fachen Grammy-Preisträger Dave Cobb (Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton) aufgenommen.

Mit ihren poetischen Meditationen über Sehnsucht, Angst und die Komplexität der Vergänglichkeit ist das Album eine kraftvolle Weiterentwicklung der Debüt-EP 'This House Is Made Of Corners' von Brigitte Calls Me Baby, welche von vielen Seiten gelobt und mit dem Nervenkitzel einer vergangenen Ära beschrieben wurde. Post-Punk Elemente wechseln sich mit tanzbaren Rhythmen und Gitarrenriffs ab, die vor allem zusammen mit der Stimme von Sänger Leavins immer wieder an The Smiths erinnert.

Bei der Wahl des Titels für das Debütalbum landete die Band bei einem Satz, den Leavins als Teenager impulsiv auf ein weißes T-Shirt gekritzelt hatte, und den er im Laufe der Jahre immer wieder aufgriff und schließlich in einen üppigen und filmischen Popsong verwandelte.

Mit 'The Future Is Our Way Out' legen Brigitte Calls Me Baby nun ein Werk vor, das auf geniale Weise Genres und Epochen überspannt und die üppige Romantik des Pop aus der Mitte des Jahrhunderts mit der frenetischen Energie und stacheligen Intensität des Indie-Rocks der frühen Jahrtausendwende verbindet. Im Mittelpunkt steht Leavins' hypnotisch croonender Gesang. Das Ergebnis ist eine seltene Konvergenz von Raffinesse, Stil und unverhohlener Aufrichtigkeit.

2024 Repress

180 Gram, Tip On Sleeve RSD version of this classic. One of the rarer records of the mythical Strata East albums is finally reissued for the first time on Heavenly Sweetness!
The recording of Earth Blossom, the John Betsch Societys one and only album, seems something of an enigma nowadays. For even though Nashville is clearly one of the towns in the US with the highest number of recording studios, who would have thought that the capital of country music would give birth to one of the forgotten masterpieces of 1970s spiritual jazz. The path leading to the album starts in 1963 when John Betsch, originally from Jacksonville in Florida, arrives in Nashville to study at Frisk University. He is a young drummer and joins Bob Holmes trio. Holmes is one of the towns major jazz organists and pianists; he becomes Betschs mentor and, over the space of two years, John will play alternately with him and with the trumpeter Louis Smiths group. However, in 1965, John leaves town to go to the prestigious Berkeley University in Boston and do a two-year course along with his fellow debutants with names like John Abercrombie, Ernie Watts and Alan Broadbent. Two years later, he is invited by a pianist friend, Billy Chilf, to join the legendary singer/songwriter Tim Hardins group. Just after Woodstock, John Betsch and Tim record a psychedelic album Columbia will never release together with the members of the future group Oregon: Colin Walcott, Glen Moore, Paul McCandles and his friend Billy Chilf. But he soon leaves this group to return to Nashville where he hooks up again with his friend Bob Holmes. Two years later, he is accepted on Archie Shepp and Max Roachs famous course at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMASS) and for the next four years he participates in this collective of intellectuals and musicians under the aegis of the two masters.
During this period he returns to Nashville to form his Society whose music is obviously influenced by the Afrocentric ideas of the UMASS student and political movement. However, the album, recorded in one day and in one take, also bears the hallmark of their generations psychedelic experiences, and in the themes and playing of the musicians we can hear a less violent form of music than the radical free jazz of New York or Chicago. Nature and environmental themes are the inspiration behind tracks touched by the spirit of Coltrane but also of Flower Power.

After Amherst, John Betsch joins Marion Browns group in 1976, leaves Tennessee for good and makes his home in New York over the next ten years or so. He plays and records with Dollar Brand, Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre and many others, before heading off to France. He has lived in Paris for the last twenty years and played in Steve Lacy, Mal Waldron and Archie Shepp bands, as well as forming groups of his own. He now lives in Paris and plays with many musicians/bands.

One mere year after their previous pitch-black sounding album Krypt, LA outfit Male Tears is back with a new full-length and – oh boy – everything is changed.

The used-to-be duo is now a four piece with James Edward as the sole founding member remaining and apparently this new line-up helped the original vocalist to shapeshift again.
Remember their very first debut album from 2021 and those dark synthpop sounds?

With their upcoming fourth album (in only three years), this American electronic-pop act from Southern California doubles the stakes once again and where Krypt was all about being goth and gloomy and disturbingly paroxysmal, Paradisco is somehow quite the opposite.

Eight new tracks of pure italo disco, hi-NRG and freestyle bliss that pick up where the band left off three years ago to pursue much darker realms. Now that the quest for darkness is done, it is time to polish our nails and dress up for the night-out cause there’s more in life than feeling sorry for yourself. Yes you will need to cut out the deadwood but there is no change in stillness.

So join Male Tears and their new arsenal of bangers and floor fillers with assertive titles such as Out of my Life, Regret 4 Nothing and Leave it Alone.

Get yourself wrapped up in one warm cover of delicate nostalgia and reborn romanticism, driven by sounds that pay homage equally to Miko Mission and Ken Laszlo, Lisa Lisa and Exposé and, well yeah, even The Smiths because say what you wanna say but you simply cannot not love The Smiths.

Embrace the vintage vibes that organically propagate from this new record’s grooves and get in the mood for this new course in full-on 1980’s Pop.

One mere year after their previous pitch-black sounding album Krypt, LA outfit Male Tears is back with a new full-length and – oh boy – everything is changed.

The used-to-be duo is now a four piece with James Edward as the sole founding member remaining and apparently this new line-up helped the original vocalist to shapeshift again.
Remember their very first debut album from 2021 and those dark synthpop sounds?

With their upcoming fourth album (in only three years), this American electronic-pop act from Southern California doubles the stakes once again and where Krypt was all about being goth and gloomy and disturbingly paroxysmal, Paradisco is somehow quite the opposite.

Eight new tracks of pure italo disco, hi-NRG and freestyle bliss that pick up where the band left off three years ago to pursue much darker realms. Now that the quest for darkness is done, it is time to polish our nails and dress up for the night-out cause there’s more in life than feeling sorry for yourself. Yes you will need to cut out the deadwood but there is no change in stillness.

So join Male Tears and their new arsenal of bangers and floor fillers with assertive titles such as Out of my Life, Regret 4 Nothing and Leave it Alone.

Get yourself wrapped up in one warm cover of delicate nostalgia and reborn romanticism, driven by sounds that pay homage equally to Miko Mission and Ken Laszlo, Lisa Lisa and Exposé and, well yeah, even The Smiths because say what you wanna say but you simply cannot not love The Smiths.

Embrace the vintage vibes that organically propagate from this new record’s grooves and get in the mood for this new course in full-on 1980’s Pop.

Leicester punk sextet Jools have today released their new single ‘97%’, a provocative track spotlighting the ubiquity of sexual harassment in the lives of women. This comes alongside the band’s announcement of signing to UK indie label Hassle Records (Brutus, The Used, Casey), and the release of an upcoming double A-side 7” single in June.

‘97%’ draws on vocalist Kate Price’s own personal experiences and those of the women in her life. “The point of the song, however, is not to explore my experience as an isolated incident, but instead to force people to confront such commonplace experiences in a manner in which they can’t look away,” Price says. “Everybody knows a woman that has been harassed or assaulted, but nobody seems to know an abuser. That simply doesn’t add up. I want that song to feel uncomfortable because I want everyone who hears it to realise that just because they are not an abuser, that doesn’t mean they aren’t responsible for changing the culture and experiences of every woman. It’s a cry for justice in the world.”

To experience Jools in their most chaotic and unpredictable full flight is, the band were once told, to not know whether you are about to be kicked in the face or kissed on the cheek. Even that, however, feels like an understatement.

At any moment the Jools experience, on stage and on record, can turn on a sixpence from that of unbridled rage at the world to a celebration of the beauty that can still be found hidden in its murky corners. The punk rock of Jools is at once visceral and violent, cathartic and confrontational, and at the next exultant and exhilarating. Jools is duality by design, where contradiction is empowerment harnessed as a force for progress, sonically and societally.

A collective of musicians – Mitch Gordon and Kate Price on vocals, Chris Johnston and Callum Connachie on guitar, Joe Dodd on bass, and Chelsea Wrones on drums – spread between London and Leicester, Jools found each other as much by accident as design in the

earliest days of 2023. Together, they serve as a creative confluence for inspirations that move from the punk and post-punk of The Smiths, Fontaines DC, Iggy Pop, Amyl & The Sniffers and PJ Harvey, through the shoegaze of My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive, and into territories marked metal, rap and pop.