This week’s smashers kick off with the second volume of live recordings from Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit’s annual residency at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. Live from the Ryman Vol. 2 features live versions of 13 songs from Weathervanes and Reunions, plus a stunning rendition of ‘The Last Song I Will Write’…
This week’s picks start with a classic: The Beatles’ iconic final studio album, Let It Be, is being reissued in a new stereo mix by Giles Martin to coincide with the worldwide release of Peter Jackson’s 3-part documentary ‘The Beatles: Get Back’. In January 1969, The Beatles planned to return to live performance, setting up…
Our six lovingly hand-picked releases for the next two weeks start with Pink Floyd collection The Later Years: 1987–2019 (out 29 Nov), which is effectively a highlights package from the 16-disc monster being released on 13 December. This release covers the material created by David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright from 1987 to the…
Our smashers for this week open with the 40th(!) studio album of Van Morrison’s storied career. The modestly titled The Prophet Speaks features 6 brand-new Van compositions amongst the 14 songs. Van himself said: “It was important for me to get back to recording new music as well as doing some of the blues material…
Our magnificent 8 for release on 4 August kick off with electro-rocker outfit PVRIS’s second album, All We Know of Heaven, All We Need of Hell. Bluesy americana trio William The Conqueror, featuring folk luminary Ruarri Joseph, release their debut, Proud Disturber Of The Peace. Black Grape’s first collection of new material in 20 years,…
4 December must represent the most diverse selection of new releases so far this year, from the crafted populism of Coldplay, the pure pop-soul of Jools & Ruby, Lush’s comprehensive retrospective box set, New York noise merchants Swans and the ambient doom metal of Sunn O))). Release of the week is Bruce Springsteen’s The Ties…