{"id":3298,"date":"2024-01-26T17:30:23","date_gmt":"2024-01-26T17:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/blog\/?p=3298"},"modified":"2024-01-26T17:21:40","modified_gmt":"2024-01-26T17:21:40","slug":"new-releases-2feb2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/blog\/new-releases-2feb2024\/","title":{"rendered":"New releases for 2 February 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The first of this week\u2019s crackers is <strong>Kula Shaker<\/strong>\u2019s new album, <strong><em>Natural Magick<\/em><\/strong>, on which the band harness the power to cast their most potent spell yet, incorporating blazing psychedelic sermons, raga rave-ups, stardust-coated pop pearls and mood-enhancing mantras. Kula Shaker reformed permanently in 2021 with the return of keyboard wizard Jay Darlington, reuniting all four members of the band\u2019s classic line-up for the first time since 1999.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>What Do We Do Now<\/em><\/strong> began to come together during the waning days of the pandemic. Working in his own Bisquiteen Studio, <strong>J Mascis<\/strong> started writing a series of tunes on acoustic guitar with a different dynamic from the music he creates for Dinosaur Jr. \u201c<em>When I\u2019m writing for the band,<\/em>\u201d he says, \u201c<em>I\u2019m always trying to think of doing things Lou and Murph would fit into. For myself, I\u2019m thinking more about what I can do with just an acoustic guitar, even for the leads. Of course, this time, I added full drums and electric leads, although the rhythm parts are still all acoustic. Usually, I try to do the solo stuff more simply so I can play it by myself, but I really wanted to add the drums. Once that started, everything else just fell into place. So it ended up sounding a lot more like a band record. I dunno why I did that exactly, but it\u2019s just what happened.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Lights Out<\/em><\/strong> was released in May 1977 and became <strong>UFO<\/strong>\u2019s biggest album to date, confirming Michael Schenker\u2019s status as the most exciting guitarist in heavy rock. The band was also rejuvenated with personnel changes as keyboardist Paul Raymond replaced Danny Peyronel and Leo Lyons \u2013 who had produced the band\u2019s previous three albums \u2013 was replaced by Ron Nevison, whose work with Led Zeppelin had impressed, signalling the first in a stellar run of collaborations. An album rich in quality, title track \u2018Lights Out\u2019 offers an urgent portrayal of a dystopian London, dripping with \u201cbatons charging \u2026 the smell of anarchy\u201d. The song was inspired by the same thing that led Joe Strummer to write \u2018White Riot\u2019 for The Clash: the Notting Hill riots of August 1976. Closing out the record is what Iron Maiden\u2019s Steve Harris has called his favourite song of all time, \u2018Love to Love\u2019, arguably the album\u2019s crowning achievement.<\/p>\n<p>Announced on the 50th anniversary of the album\u2019s original release date, <strong><em>Quadrophenia<\/em><\/strong> is now available on 180-gram black double vinyl from audio masters produced by Jon Astley at Close to the Edge and half-speed vinyl masters cut by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios, packaged in its original gatefold sleeve with a 44-page booklet, obi and certificate of authenticity. <em>Quadrophenia<\/em> was the sixth studio album by <strong>The Who<\/strong>, released in October 1973. The band\u2019s third rock opera, often regarded by many as The Who\u2019s best album, features songs \u2018The Real Me\u2019, \u20185.15\u2019 and the epic \u2018Love Reign O\u2019er Me\u2019. Delve into the complex story of Jimmy Cooper, a Mod coming to terms with life head on.<\/p>\n<p>Originally released in 1996, <strong><em>Warm Nights<\/em><\/strong> repositioned <strong>Robert Forster<\/strong> as one of the great songwriters of the post-punk era. Robert recalls that producer Edwyn Collins \u201c<em>got the [intended] sound of the album completely: a dry low-end groove pitched somewhere between Creedence Clearwater Revival and Willie Mitchell\u2019s early \u201970s Hi Records work.<\/em>\u201d Towards the end of the sessions some complications arose \u2013 and it\u2019s these complications that Robert has seized the chance to remedy for this new release of the album. \u201c<em>It was Edwyn\u2019s idea,<\/em>\u201d explains Robert, \u201c<em>to bring in a three-piece brass section \u2013 it fitted some of the songs beautifully, but it was in the mixing of the brass and the effect it had on the running order that things got complicated, [resulting in] two changes to the album that have been bugging me for 25 years.<\/em>\u201d This \u2018director\u2019s cut\u2019 re-issue features revised tracklisting and previously unreleased material.<\/p>\n<p>Our release of the week comes from <strong>The Last Dinner Party<\/strong> \u2013 who, just a year ago, was little more than a new name being shared among those who had caught them live: a band with great songs and a strong aesthetic. Having spent much of 2022 writing those songs, road-testing them and then taking them into the studio, it wasn\u2019t until April, when the band released the instantly more-ish, dark guitar-pop of \u2018Nothing Matters\u2019, that seemingly everyone had now formed an opinion on them. It was an introduction that took the online world by storm, and yet behind all the excitement and narrative was a fantastically confident indie-rock song by a band doing it the old-fashioned way, out on the road. <strong><em>Prelude to Ecstasy<\/em><\/strong> is both the closing of that introductory chapter and the opening of the next. The Last Dinner Party? Believe the hype.<\/p>\n<div id=\"thumbs_6\"><a title=\"The Last Dinner Party - Prelude to Ecstasy\" href=\"https:\/\/hundredrecords.co.uk\/products\/last-dinner-party-the-prelude-to-ecstasy\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"cover3 alignnone\" title=\"The Last Dinner Party - Prelude to Ecstasy\" src=\"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/img\/rls\/240202\/LastDinnerParty.jpg\" alt=\"The Last Dinner Party - Prelude to Ecstasy\" \/><\/a><a title=\"Kula Shaker - Natural Magick\" href=\"https:\/\/hundredrecords.co.uk\/products\/kula-shaker-natural-magick\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"cover3 alignnone\" title=\"Kula Shaker - Natural Magick\" src=\"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/img\/rls\/240202\/KulaShaker.jpg\" alt=\"Kula Shaker - Natural Magick\" \/><\/a><a title=\"J Mascis - What Do We Do Now\" href=\"https:\/\/hundredrecords.co.uk\/products\/j-mascis-what-do-we-do-now\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"cover3 alignnone\" title=\"J Mascis - What Do We Do Now\" src=\"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/img\/rls\/240202\/JMascis.jpg\" alt=\"J Mascis - What Do We Do Now\" \/><\/a><a title=\"UFO - Lights Out\" href=\"https:\/\/hundredrecords.co.uk\/products\/ufo-lights-out\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"cover3 alignnone\" title=\"UFO - Lights Out\" src=\"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/img\/rls\/240202\/UFO.jpg\" alt=\"UFO - Lights Out\" \/><\/a><a title=\"The Who - Quadrophenia\" href=\"https:\/\/hundredrecords.co.uk\/products\/who-the-quadrophenia\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"cover3 alignnone\" title=\"The Who - Quadrophenia\" src=\"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/img\/rls\/240202\/Who.jpg\" alt=\"The Who - Quadrophenia\" \/><\/a><a title=\"Robert Forster - Warm Nights\" href=\"https:\/\/hundredrecords.co.uk\/products\/robert-forster-warm-nights\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"cover3 alignnone\" title=\"Robert Forster - Warm Nights\" src=\"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/img\/rls\/240202\/RobertForster.jpg\" alt=\"Robert Forster - Warm Nights\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>Click on an image to order your copy.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first of this week\u2019s crackers is Kula Shaker\u2019s new album, Natural Magick, on which the band harness the power to cast their most potent spell yet, incorporating blazing psychedelic sermons, raga rave-ups, stardust-coated pop pearls and mood-enhancing mantras. Kula Shaker reformed permanently in 2021 with the return of keyboard wizard Jay Darlington, reuniting all&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[1848,1846,36,1714,1847,460,1037],"class_list":["post-3298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music","category-new-releases","tag-j-mascis","tag-kula-shaker","tag-new-release","tag-robert-forster","tag-the-last-dinner-party","tag-the-who","tag-ufo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3298"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3300,"href":"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3298\/revisions\/3300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hundredrecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}