Releases from May–June 2016
Great albums from around the world
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Releases for 24 June 2016
New releases are starting to slow as summer arrives, but there are still some goodies out on 24 June.
The prolific Felice Brothers return with Life In The Dark, in which they continue to mine their particular brand of folk/country/rock/soul to great effect. DJ Shadow’s first since 2011 marks a definite shift to original composition, which along with a stellar list of guests delivers a richly satisfying sonic treat. Ólafur Arnalds, who straddles the intersection of modern electronic music and classical, directs the new Late Night Tales – well worth a listen. Alt-J Live At Red Rocks accurately captures an exciting and rapturously received live performance at the iconic American venue. Ace Records release the second instalment of Dan Penn’s FAME Recording Studios series, called Close To Me – a must-have if you love the Muscle Shoals sound.
Release of the week is Neil Young’s Earth, a live recording with a real difference. It features new takes on some of Neil’s legendary back catalogue, including a near 30-minute version of ‘Love & Only Love’ that’s worth the admission price alone.
- Neil Young Earth
- This album features performances of songs from a range of Neil Young’s albums, including last year’s The Monsanto Years, 1990’s Ragged Glory and 1970’s After The Gold Rush. The audio was captured during Young’s 2015 tour, which included Young performing solo and with backing band The Promise Of The Real, fronted by Willie Nelson’s sons Lukas and Micah, for a full electric show.
- A new take on some of Young’s most beloved songs, Earth features the live recordings, along with added musical overdubs, as well as sounds of the Earth, such as city sounds like car horns, sounds from animals such as bears, birds, crickets, bees, horses, cows – creating a very strange, yet beautiful atmosphere.
- “Ninety-eight uninterrupted minutes long, Earth flows as a collection of 13 songs from throughout my life, songs I have written about living here on our planet together,” says Young. “Our animal kingdom is well represented in the audience as well, and the animals, insects, birds, and mammals actually take over the performances of the songs at times.”
- Among the tracks featured are ‘After The Gold Rush’, ‘Vampire Blues’ and an explosive 29-minute version of ‘Love & Only Love’.
- The vinyl triple LP will be released on 12 August.
- The Felice Brothers Life In The Dark
- The Felice Brothers return with nine songs in their unique blend of folk, country, rock and soul. Uncut magazine has described the band as ‘just glorious.’ Life In The Dark was recorded in the garage on a farm in upstate New York, with no distractions and no outside influences. So it’s not surprising the band produced the album themselves.
- DJ Shadow The Mountain Will Fall
- DJ Shadow, widely acknowledged as a crucial figure in the development of experimental, instrumental hip-hop, returns with The Mountain Will Fall, his first full-length release since 2011. The 12-track album finds DJ Shadow exploring new realms in addition to the deep samples and kinetic soundscapes that helped to launch his career 20 years ago. On this album, he’s shifted further toward original composition, a vast experimentation of beats and textures, synthesizers and live instruments including horns and woodwinds. The album features guest appearances from Run The Jewels, Nils Frahm, Matthew Halsall, Ernie Fresh and more.
- Ólafur Arnalds Late Night Tales
- Standing at the intersection where techno meets classical music, Ólafur Arnalds directs the newest Late Night Tales. Arnalds has enlisted the help of a few of his countrymen for the journey out west – electronic bands Samaris and Hjaltalín – and just as his records manage to combine the experimentalism and adventure of electronic music with a classical sensibility, here he weaves them perfectly, using tracks like Koreless’ brilliant post-dubstep ‘Last Remnants’ alongside the enigmatic brilliance of Jai Paul. It’s a perfect musical landscape that is eerie yet beautiful, as on Odesza’s ‘How Did I Get Here’.
- “When I was asked to do the next instalment of the Late Night Tales series I thought ‘This will be fun and easy, only a couple of days work. No problem!’ Six months later, I was still pulling my hair out in some kind of quest to make the perfect mix. As someone who has never really done mixes before, I learned a lot of things along the way and the whole experience was very inspiring. I decided to approach the mix in a similar way as I would one of my scores. This is the soundtrack of my life. I included songs from many of my friends and collaborators and tried to deliver a mix that represents who I am as an artist and where my influences are coming from – both personally and musically.”
- Alt-J Live At Red Rocks
- What it says on the tin. A live performance recorded at the world-famous Red Rocks amphitheatre in Colorado USA.
- Dan Penn Close To Me
- Close To Me: More Fame Recordings comprises another two dozen nuggets featuring the unmistakeable voice of songsmith extraordinaire Dan Penn. As with the previous volume, 2014’s The Fame Recordings, all the tracks were recorded between 1963 and 1966, when a prolific and driven Penn spent countless days and nights at Rick Hall’s FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals honing his writing and recording skills in the company of collaborators such as Donnie Fritts, Marlin Greene and his longtime cohort, Spooner Oldham. The accompaniment features crack FAME sessioneers David Briggs, Junior Lowe, Roger Hawkins, Jimmy Johnson and others.
- Penn issued a handful of singles in this period in a half-hearted attempt at a solo career; two are featured here, including the title cut. Otherwise the contents of Close To Me: More Fame Recordings are previously unreleased. They provide another treasure trove of Penn the writer and Penn the song-stylist, with compelling, impassioned performances throughout. While the songs ‘Without A Woman’, ‘Lovely Ladies’ and ‘She Ain’t Gonna Do Right’ are familiar to southern soul fans through the interpretation of others, Dan’s personal treatment of his newly-minted creations casts fresh light on the material and his artistry. There are also many more obscure entries from the Penn songbook, including several tunes like the grooving ‘Standing In The Way Of A Good Thing’ or the impassioned ‘It Hurts’ that were never covered.
- Detailed liner notes with extensive commentary from Penn himself complete the package, along with some rare illustrations. Close To Me: More Fame Recordings is further evidence that nobody sings Dan Penn like Dan Penn.
Releases for 17 June 2016
17 June sees the release of what founder Michael Gira says will be the last (sob) Swans album, The Glowing Man, which contains all the epicness (if that’s a word) we have become accustomed to. We also get the remix version of Public Service Broadcasting’s monumentally successful The Race For Space, available here on indies only orange vinyl if that’s your thing. On The Dreaming Room, Laura Mvula manages the unlikely combination of being fearless, meditative, soulful and buoyant all at once. The Low Anthem return after a five-year gap with the brilliant Eyeland, which is multi-dimensional Americana and all the better for it. Both Jake Bugg and Red Hot Chili Peppers provide more of what we love on their new albums On My One and The Getaway.
Album of the week is, however, the wonderful self-titled album from Neko Case, k.d. lang and Laura Veirs – when three songwriters of such pedigree get together to produce an album, we should all take notice.
- Case/Lang/Veirs Case/Lang/Veirs
- Three powerful folk artists, Neko Case, k.d. lang and Laura Veirs, have joined forces for a new collaborative album. The singer-songwriters first came together when lang sent an out-of-the-blue email to the other women. The three weren’t exactly friends at the time; in fact, they barely knew each other personally. Mutual admiration, however, led lang to say, “I think we should make a record together.” “She lit the flare,” said Case. “She shot it into the air and we said, ‘Let’s do this.’ Laura and I both responded immediately. There was no question.”
- Recorded over two years in lang’s and Veirs’ homes in Portland with producer Tucker Martine, the 14-track effort finds inspiration in “a supermoon, the tumbledown story of ’70s singer Judee Sill, and the ‘best kept secret’ in Silver Lake.”
- Swans The Glowing Man
- Swans return with a new album, The Glowing Man, announced as the last album release of Swans’ current incarnation. Swans, led by Michael Gira, formed in 1982 and, after disbanding in 1997, returned with the critically acclaimed albums My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky (2010), The Seer (2012) and To Be Kind (2014).
- The Glowing Man will be available on double CD, in a deluxe edition with a DVD which includes a Swans live performance from 2015, and as a deluxe triple gatefold vinyl set with poster and digital download.
- Public Service Broadcasting The Race For Space / Remixes
- Public Service Broadcasting release The Race For Space / Remixes, twelve tracks that tell the story of the USA and USSR’s battle for supremacy in space, this time remixed by and through the lens of PSB’s talented musical contemporaries. The album includes brand new mixes from Field Music, Boxed In, Vessels, Dutch Uncles, Robert Babicz, Maps and Copy Paste Soul plus Psychemagik, Blond:Ish, Petar Dundov and Kauf. J. Willgoose Esq. points out: “Even back when I was still writing this album, I was imagining the kind of remixes we could get and the artists who we’d ask. I couldn’t be happier with how it’s turned out; I think this is a really interesting and fresh (and in some cases mildly bonkers, a good thing in my book) reinterpretation of our songs and I’m looking forward to sharing it with our fans. … This is the pinnacle of what PSB are trying to achieve, by breathing new life into dusty old relics, and it makes for truly magical, exhilarating listening.”
- Laura Mvula The Dreaming Room
- Laura Mvula’s second album, The Dreaming Room, is infinitely more experimental than the soul-gospel of 2013’s Sing To The Moon. The disorienting, overwhelming effect that keeps listeners off-kilter (and not knowing what comes next) is intentional; like a dream, it feels like a subconscious succession of visuals, emotions and ideas – sometimes abstract, sometimes allegorical, but always dredging up something for the conscious mind to ponder. The Dreaming Room is this and more.
- Mvula’s struggles with anxiety and panic attacks have been documented, and this album confronts them forthrightly. The Dreaming Room is fuelled by her mindset and current musical sensibility: it’s black, it’s sexual and, most of all, it’s comfortable in its own skin. Moving beyond the orchestral sounds of her debut, this album leans on synths, Afrobeat and funk sounds by way of Troy Miller and Miles Davis collaborator John Scofield’s production.
- With The Dreaming Room, Mvula has mined her personal conflicts to yield beautiful, boundary-pushing artistry. It’s fearless, meditative, soulful and buoyant all at once.
- The Low Anthem Eyeland
- The Low Anthem return from an extraordinary five-year journey with Eyeland, an unprecedented collection of multi-dimensional future folk crafted with uncommon vision and emotional depth. The Providence, Rhode Island-based band’s fifth full-length recording, Eyeland began as a “vague and rather abstract” short story by co-founder/singer/guitarist Ben Knox Miller, based around the “sonic mythology of a moth’s dreams”.
- The tall tale became real life as Low Anthem immersed themselves in the creation of their own Eyeland Studios, developing Providence’s once obsolete Columbus Theatre into an innovative and in-demand recording space and live concert venue. Eyeland proves a prism of the album’s inner themes, refracting Miller and co-founding drummer/multi-instrumentalist Jeff Prystowsky’s sonic escapades into a full-blown Möbius strip of music and meaning. Low Anthem’s lofty aspirations and creative capriciousness resonate throughout songs like ‘The Pepsi Moon’ and ‘Behind The Airport Mirror’, their elegiac arrangements and lyrical frankness marked by shimmering ambience and a hauntingly defiant tension. Psychedelic in the truest sense of that overused word, Eyeland is a perspective-shifting musical experience at once elliptical and intangible yet still precise and powerfully personal.
- Jake Bugg On My One
- Jake Bugg is back! with his stunning new album, On My One.
- Jake wrote all eleven songs, played most of the instruments, and produced most of the album (Jacknife Lee produced 3 tracks). The results are simply staggering. Following the incredible success of his first two albums, the double platinum 2012 debut Jake Bugg and the top five 2013 follow-up Shangri La, this new disc firmly establishes Jake as one of Britain’s most exciting talents.
- Red Hot Chili Peppers The Getaway
- The Getaway is the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ 11th studio album. The album was produced by Danger Mouse and mixed by Nigel Godrich.
- One of the most successful acts in rock history, Red Hot Chili Peppers, are singer Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist Josh Klinghoffer.
- David Bowie Live Santa Monica ’72
- For the first time on vinyl, an incendiary live performance from Bowie at the peak of his powers during his Ziggy Period. Essential.
- Radiohead A Moon Shaped Pool
- Track listing: Burn The Witch / Daydreaming / Decks Dark / Desert Island Disk / Ful Stop / Glass Eyes / Identikit / The Numbers / Present Tense / Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief / True Love Waits
Releases for 10 June 2016
There are some great releases for 10 June. First up, Steve Earle & Shawn Colvin release the imaginatively titled Colvin & Earle, which although recorded in the studio has the spontaneity and freshness of a live performance. Clean Your Clock delivers, for the final time, that full-on live Motörhead punch. We don’t normally include reissues, but this one is special: Van Morrison’s exceptional It’s Too Late To Stop Now becomes available for the first time in years, as remasters of the original release and in a much-expanded 3CD+DVD format for Van obsessives everywhere. Essential! Garbage’s Strange Little Birds is a worthy follow-up to the much-praised Not Your Kind Of People. Hollow Bones finds Rival Sons continuing to plough their blues-rock furrow very profitably, and Allen Toussaint’s posthumous release American Tunes is a tribute to his musical hero, Professor Longhair.
Release of the week is Why Are You OK, in which Band Of Horses continue to mine the lush melodic sound for which they are justly famous.
- Band Of Horses Why Are You OK
- Band Of Horses’ fifth studio album, Why Are You OK, is a record informed by experience and at the same time retaining the vulnerability that birthed their greatest songs. Creating capsule worlds populated by the strange but true cast of characters from Bridwell’s hometown Charleston, South Carolina, the songs that make up Why Are You OK combine universal sentiments with Bridwell’s patented knack for storytelling – all wrapped in the lush melodic textures that have long been the bedrock of Band Of Horses’ signature sound.
- Shawn Colvin & Steve Earle Colvin & Earle
- Although they first met 30 years ago when Shawn Colvin played support to one of Steve Earle’s acoustic gigs, it wasn’t until 2014 that, after having enjoyed the experience of sharing the stage with Mary Chapin Carpenter, Colvin decided she like to do it again. And, in turn, those live shows led to Earle suggesting they make an album together, a mix of new material and covers.
- So, recruiting Buddy Miller producer and baritone guitarist alongside bassist Chris Wood, drummer Fred Eltringham and, a reunion from the Guitar Town days, guitarist Richard Bennett, they ran through 14 songs in just over a week, recording things live to capture the spontaneity of the live shows.
- Motörhead Clean Your Clock
- Motörhead, Kings of the Road for over förty years, are immortalized one more time in Clean Your Clock, the superb live album recorded at The Zenith in Munich, Germany during the Winter 2015 Bad Magic tour. The indomitable cocktail of power, purpose and head-crunching volume that Lemmy, Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee always succeeded in producing is captured superbly by long-time producer Cameron Webb’s mix, giving this landmark Motörhead release the warmth, curve and punch which helped the band achieve international acclaim during a career which saw the Grammy-winning icons sell over 15 million albums and play to millions worldwide.
- Clean Your Clock is also a fitting salute to the power of Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister, who founded Motörhead back in 1975 and so sadly passed away on 28 December 2015. Recorded only weeks before his death, Lemmy snarls, roars and bangs that bass with the magisterial air of a man who knows he’s a leader.
- Perhaps more than with any other Motörhead album, you need to TURN-THIS-UP because, as Lemmy himself said, the only way to feel the noise is when it’s good and loud.
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- Van Morrison It’s Too Late To Stop Now
- Often cited as one of the best live albums ever made, Van Morrison’s original ..It’s Too Late To Stop Now… has been remastered in 24-bit high resolution sound and will be available as a 2-CD or 2-LP set.
- Morrison’s highly acclaimed 1973 concert album was compiled from eight sets of live performances – recorded at The Troubadour in Los Angeles, the Santa Monica Civic Center and The Rainbow Theatre in London – and was notably free of any post-performance overdubs or studio ‘fixes’.
- It’s Too Late To Stop Now: Volume I 2-CD £14.99 / 2-LP £21.99
- Garbage Strange Little Birds
- Garbage (Shirley Manson, Steve Marker, Duke Erikson and Butch Vig) have announced Strange Little Birds, their sixth studio album, which will be released on the band’s own label, Stun Volume. The album, produced by the band, is the follow-up to 2012’s Not Your Kind of People.
- Rick Astley 50
- Brit Award-winner and Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, and producer; music legend Rick Astley showcases a more soulful sound and gospel influences on his album 50, marking his first studio release in almost a decade. The album follows in the wake of a sold-out UK tour commencing April 2016.
- Rival Sons Hollow Bones
- Rival Sons guitarist Scott Holiday says the band set themselves a challenge when it came to recording fifth album Hollow Bones. The follow-up to Great Western Valkyrie is released while the blues-rock outfit continue to support Black Sabbath on their final world tour.
- Holiday says: “We tried to make something that’s familiar and sounds like us, because that’s what we are and that’s all we can really make in the end. But we also tried to challenge ourselves and our listeners.”
- Allen Toussaint American Tunes
- The late New Orleans legend’s first posthumous release features Allen Toussaint paying tribute to his musical hero Professor Longhair (a.k.a. Henry Roeland “Roy” Byrd) with 14 interpretations of tracks written by Paul Simon, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Professor Longhair himself, and more. The LP features 3 bonus tracks.
Releases for 3 June 2016
3 June brings some fine new releases. The Kills return with Ash & Ice, which is a great addition to their catalogue. A strong contender for release of the week is Dexys’ Let The Record Show, which really showcases Kevin Rowlands’ singular and uncompromising vision. Totally Stripped highlights The Rolling Stones’ strengths with audio and video from a small selection of intimate shows. Stranger To Stranger does what Paul Simon always seems to manage: to astound the listener. Tegan And Sara make a welcome return and display their pop/indie style to great effect on Love You To Death. Volbeat raucously rock with the wonderfully named Let’s Seal The Deal & Boogie. A bit of a rarity for us but Above & Beyond’s Acoustic II is a fine example of the dance genre.
Our album of the week is the eponymous debut from Minor Victories. Who? you may well ask – well, the band combines members of Mogwai, Slowdive and Editors to thrilling effect.
- Minor Victories Minor Victories
- Eponymous debut album from Minor Victories, a brand-new musical collaboration formed by Stuart Braithwaite (Mogwai), Rachel Goswell (Slowdive), Justin Lockey (Editors), and his brother James. The freedom, the immediacy, the swapping of ideas and, incredibly, the fact that all four members have barely spent any time together recording or writing, only adds to the heart of the project.
- The Kills Ash & Ice
- The Kills (Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince) release their highly anticipated fifth album entitled Ash & Ice. The follow-up to 2011’s Blood Pressures, it features new single ‘Doing It To Death’.
- Dexys Let The Record Show
- Let The Record Show: Dexys Do Irish & Country Soul is a body of work which sees Dexys putting their heart and soul into every track that Kevin Rowland has wanted to do since the mid-1980s. Drawing on Rowland and co-producer/core band member Sean Read’s Irish roots, the album is a combination of their interpretations of Irish songs and other select compositions. Each song has been given at least the same level of attention and care as any of their own songs would be. This record is not a stop gap, or a fill in album. It is not a covers album.
- “We had the idea to do this album in 1984 or 1985,” says Rowland. “It was to be called Irish and was to feature songs like ‘Carrickfergus’, ‘Curragh of Kildare’ and ‘Women Of Ireland’ – all of which are featured here. Dexys broke up not too long afterwards, so it didn’t happen.”
- “The album is called ‘Dexys do Irish & Country Soul’: do it, not become it,” he emphasises. “We’re not trying to be Irish, and we haven’t used too many Celtic instruments on there. It’s our sound. We’re bringing our style to these songs. I’m just a guy who follows my intuition, my inspiration. This really felt like the right thing to do. We have put probably more care and attention into these songs than we might have done with our own songs, because the odds were high. It was important to get them right, and make sure every one of them felt relevant to us.”
- The 3-disc deluxe edition includes the album, a brand new 50-minute film and a bonus CD of a-capella and instrumental versions.
- The Rolling Stones Totally Stripped
- Totally Stripped is a newly-revised version of the documentary that was originally made to coincide with the release of The Rolling Stones’ Stripped album in November 1995. It tells the story of the two studio sessions and three live shows that made up the ‘Stripped’ project. This followed the conclusion of the mammoth ‘Voodoo Lounge’ tour and found The Stones re-imagining tracks from their back catalogue in pared back versions alongside a couple of carefully chosen covers in the studio and doing smaller scale club gigs to showcase these versions, which was a marked contrast to the huge arenas and stadiums that had hosted the ‘Voodoo Lounge’ tour. This new version of the documentary includes previously unseen footage and lays bare the inner workings of both The Rolling Stones and of some of their best loved tracks. Revealing, intimate and moving, Totally Stripped is unmissable.
- CD tracklisting: Not Fade Away (Amsterdam 26/5/95) / Honky Tonk Women (Paris 3/7/95) / Dead Flowers (Amsterdam) / Faraway Eyes (London 19/7/95) / Shine A Light (Amsterdam) / I Go Wild (Paris) / Miss You (London) / Like A Rolling Stone (Amsterdam) / Brown Sugar (Paris) / Midnight Rambler (London) / Jumpin’ Jack Flash (Paris) / Gimme Shelter (Amsterdam) / Rip This Joint (Amsterdam) / Street Fighting Man (Amsterdam)
- Paul Simon Stranger To Stranger
- Paul Simon releases Stranger To Stranger, his 13th solo album. The record – his first since 2011’s acclaimed So Beautiful Or So What – ushers the listener into a brave new musical world where expectations are defied and exceeded, as they were thirty years ago with another masterwork, Graceland.
- Tegan And Sara Love You To Death
- With over 1 million albums sold, Tegan And Sara’s career has deftly balanced critical acclaim with an ever-increasing foothold in the mainstream. Their unique ability to bridge the pop and indie worlds has allowed their music to cross all traditional boundaries – from being covered by The White Stripes, to performing with artists as diverse as Katy Perry, The Killers, Taylor Swift, and Neil Young.
- Volbeat Seal The Deal & Let’s Boogie
- Volbeat emerged from Copenhagen in 2001. Since then, they’ve tirelessly clawed their way to hard rock’s upper echelon with endless touring and a string of five beloved full-length albums.
- Above & Beyond Acoustic II
- Above & Beyond are a phenomenon unlike any other in dance music. Grammy-nominated songwriters, they are the only British dance act to sell out Madison Square Garden as DJs, and yet are about to take an 18-piece band set up on a sold out tour of the world’s most iconic concert halls: including London’s Royal Albert Hall, Sydney Opera House and Hollywood Bowl, to name just three. A show described by Billboard as ‘one of the finest in dance music history’, the tour – and accompanying Acoustic II studio album – represents yet another against-the-odds landmark in the unique story of Above & Beyond. Venues that normally take years of hard touring to reach are sold out on only the band’s second acoustic tour – you are left wondering: just how do they do it? The secret is in the songs. Sung back at them by thousands at their celebratory DJ sets, Above & Beyond’s tales of life, love and loss have soundtracked weddings, proposals, hikes up Everest, marathons and funerals.
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- Pink Floyd 4 Vinyl Reissues
- On 3 June 2016, Pink Floyd Records will begin the reintroduction of the Pink Floyd catalogue on vinyl for the first time in over two decades.
- The first four records will be The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, A Saucerful of Secrets, the soundtrack from the film More and the 2-LP set Ummagumma.
- Pink Floyd Records will reissue the band’s catalogue on vinyl throughout the year with release dates being announced at regular intervals
- The Piper at the Gates of Dawn LP £21.99
Releases for 27 May 2016
We have an exciting list of new releases for 27 May. Michael Kiwanuka has produced an album full of extraordinary soul with Love & Hate; Catfish And The Bottlemen return with their follow-up to The Balcony; Good Times! features songs written specifically for The Monkees by some of the world’s most gifted songwriters, just like old times! Architects are back with a rip-snorter of album, All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us; Southampton’s very own rock trio Band Of Skulls release their fourth album, By Default; Beth Orton’s Kidsticks gives us a chance to hear one of the most expressive voices in a different setting, and Italy’s very own Lacuna Coil have produced their darkest album to date with Deleriuim. Album of the week is the astonishing Preternatural by Moulettes, acclaimed by Prog magazine as: “One of the most thrillingly nimble musical ensembles the UK has produced in decades.”
- Moulettes Preternatural
- Brighton-based collective Moulettes continue their journey into the alt.pop/rock/folk universe with the release of their most accomplished album to date. “I’ve always been fascinated by the natural world,” says lead singer Hannah Miller. “But an article in New Scientist compelled me to look deeper and start exploring all the surreal and beautiful diversity that exists. There’s so many phenomenal creatures out there we thought they deserved their own album.”
- Fast-forward to 2016 and the result is Preternatural – an eclectic but cohesive 11-track collection. It’s a beautifully orchestrated piece of work, experimental in parts but still accessible, fusing rich vocal harmonies, persuasive melodies, and elaborate compositions to make a genre defying album that explores the moving gaps of electronic and acoustic, DIY and big production.
- We are lucky enough that Moulettes will be performing a special album launch show in Hundred Records on 27 May at 8.45pm!
- Michael Kiwanuka Love & Hate
- Love & Hate, Michael Kiwanuka’s long-awaited follow-up to 2012’s Home Again, is again rich with both meaning and extraordinary soul, in all senses of the word.
- Four years on from his alarmingly mature debut, Kiwanuka musically swaggers back into the room at the ripe old age of 28 with as confident a second statement as you could wish for, full of strong melodies, affecting lyrics, sharp playing, immense arrangements and sympathetic production.
- Defiance, shame, uncertainty yet ultimately so positive thanks to his voice and warmth. “I need something, give me something wonderful,” he sings in ‘Love & Hate’. He’s indisputably given us something wonderful.
- Catfish And The Bottlemen The Ride
- Vance McCoy and the crew return with their follow-up to the wildly successful The Balcony. Expect more great rock’n’roll with soaring riffs and wickedly infectious melodies to capture the summer!
- The Monkees Good Times!
- Good Times! features all three surviving members of The Monkees – Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork. The unmistakable voice of the late Davy Jones is also included with a vintage vocal featured on one song.
- Much like The Monkees’ early albums, Good Times! features tracks written specifically for the band by some of the music world’s most gifted songwriters, including Rivers Cuomo (Weezer), Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie), Andy Partridge (XTC) and Zach Rogue (Rogue Wave) as well as a song co-written by Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller. The album also includes songwriting contributions by Nesmith (‘I Know What I Know’) and Tork as well as producer Schlesinger.
- To help bring the anniversary full circle, the group completed songs originally recorded and written for the group during the 60s, including ‘Love To Love’ by Neil Diamond, which features a vintage vocal by Jones. Harry Nilsson wrote the title track, ‘Good Times!’, which he recorded at a session with Nesmith in January 1968.
- Architects All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us
- Architects are back with All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us, an exhilarating blast of metalcore. Very much in their signature style, the album’s 11 tracks roar past at breakneck speed but each contains a satisfying dollop of nuance and melody.
- Band Of Skulls By Default
- Southampton locals Band Of Skulls, a rock trio consisting of Russell Marsden, Emma Richardson, and Matt Hayward, already have three successful studio albums under their belts. They are now set to release their follow-up to 2014’s Himalayan.
- On their new album the band depart slightly from their established sound, making By Default a refreshing listen for those that want to hear something a bit different from the band without losing what is great about them.
- By Default stands strong among Band Of Skulls’ releases as something new and refreshing, while still leaving room for the band to progress in the future. ‘Back of Beyond’ and ‘So Good’ are stand-out tracks, the latter of which has already been released as a single. By Default is an accomplished fourth studio album for Band Of Skulls and will no doubt have fans excited for future material.
- Beth Orton Kidsticks
- Kidsticks reframes Beth’s unmistakable voice inside ten pure, audacious, playful and kinetic songs. A resolutely focused album, it represents a rare chance to hear an established artist get plugged in and completely rework the songwriting process with wide-eyed, open-minded glee.
- Beth Orton has been one of the most unique and beguiling voices in music for the past two decades. Her debut LP, Trailer Park, pioneered a synthesis of electronic and acoustic songs to huge acclaim. The follow-up, Central Reservation, brought international success and the Brit Award for best British female. Further albums like the Jim O’Rourke-produced Comfort Of Strangers and 2012’s Sugaring Season deepened the breadth of her craft (Sugaring Season was described by Pitchfork as “ten songs of sweet resilience delivered by a voice of seemingly effortless expression”).
- Lacuna Coil Delirium
- Delirium represents a bit of a departure for Italian rockers Lacuna Coil. It is darker and heavier than anything they’ve previously released, but it still retains the elements that have made them so beloved.
- Death In Vegas Transmission
- Death In Vegas, the project begun by Richard Fearless nearly two decades ago, return with Transmission, their sixth release and first new album since Trans-Love Energies in 2011.
Releases for 20 May 2016
There are some cracking new releases out on 20th May. First up, Richard Ashcroft returns with his fourth solo release, These People. The much-ignored Terry Reid has a very special new release, The Other Side Of The River – what’s not to like about an artist nicknamed ‘super-lungs’! Marissa Nadler has waited until her seventh album, Strangers, to create an unimpeachable masterpiece of gothic Americana. Lonely The Brave’s second album, Things Will Matter, is brimful of ambition and sonic experimentation. For fans of Opeth and Anathema, Katatonia’s tenth album, The Fall Of Hearts, ticks all the right boxes, Bruce Foxton’s new album, Smash The Clock, is full of energy and bite, A Crown Of Dark Swansdown is a compelling live document of Tyrannosaurus Rex from just before they morphed into T.Rex. It will surprise no one who knows us that album of the week is Bob Dylan’s Fallen Angels, in which Bob’s late career transformation into a sort of crooner continues with more classics from the American songbook dispatched in fine Dylanesque style.
- Bob Dylan Fallen Angels
- Fallen Angels is the 37th studio album from Bob Dylan. Featuring 12 classic American tunes written by some of music’s most acclaimed and influential songwriters – including Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, Sammy Cahn and Carolyn Leigh – the album showcases Dylan’s unique and much-lauded talents as a vocalist, arranger and bandleader. The Jack Frost-produced album marks the first new music from the artist since his 2015 release, Shadows In The Night, which also showcased Dylan’s interpretations of classic American songs.
- Richard Ashcroft These People
- Richard Ashcroft returns with his fourth solo album, These People, released on his Righteous Phonographic Association label via Cooking Vinyl Records. The album was recorded in London and produced by Ashcroft and longtime collaborator Chris Potter. It marks a reunion with Wil Malone, who worked with Ashcroft on the string arrangements on the seminal albums by The Verve, A Northern Soul and Urban Hymns.
- Terry Reid The Other Side Of The River
- British musician Terry Reid is a relatively unsung legend. With his incredible voice (which earned him the nickname ‘Superlungs’), spot-on songwriting and underrated guitar skills, Reid invented new sounds and others followed suit. His 1973 LP, River, is an under-the- radar but deeply loved album. This special new release, The Other Side Of The River, features previously unreleased material from the River sessions, including six never-before-heard Reid compositions and five very different alternate takes of tracks from that classic album.
- Marissa Nadler Strangers
- For more than 12 years Marissa Nadler has perfected her own take on the exquisitely sculpted gothic American songform. On her seventh full-length, Strangers, released on Bella Union, she has shed any self-imposed restrictions her earlier albums adhered to, stepped through a looking glass, and created a truly monumental work.
- Lonely The Brave Things Will Matter
- Things Will Matter is the much anticipated second LP from Cambridge five-piece Lonely The Brave. On this album the band have been able to create the expansive sound they had aimed for, with experimentation and ambition a key part of a record brimming with ideas – from the pulse behind the minimalist, claustrophobic opener ‘Wait In The Car’ to the cataclysmic post-rock magnificence of closer ‘Jaws Of Hell’, this is a play-through album. There’s the doomy intensity of comeback track ‘Black Mire’, through to the hooks David Jakes is already well known for in the anthemic choruses to ‘Rattlesnakes’, ‘Dust & Bones’ and first single ‘Radar’.
- Katatonia The Fall Of Hearts
- Katatonia, the Swedish purveyors of dark progressive rock/metal, have announced that their eagerly awaited tenth studio album. The Fall Of Hearts is the first record to feature new drummer Daniel ‘Mojjo’ Moilanen and recently recruited guitarist Roger Öjersson (Tiamat), who came in just in time to sprinkle some blistering solos on the album.
- With The Fall Of Hearts, Katatonia continue to push their musical boundaries beyond their roots in the metal scene to draw in new fans from across the musical spectrum and put them on par with peers such as Opeth and Anathema, cementing Katatonia’s place as one of the most revered and cherished of all bands in the world of modern heavy music.
- Bruce Foxton Smash The Clock
- The words ‘legend’ and ‘icon’ are sometimes used too frequently these days but not when being used to describe Bruce Foxton. Three years on from the critically acclaimed album Back In The Room, Foxton returns with a brand new studio album entitled Smash The Clock. Carrying every ounce of the energy, attitude and punch that he is associated with, the first single ‘Now The Time Has Come’ does not disappoint.
- It’s appropriate that this album is to be released on the weekend of St George’s Day: the quintessentially English sound is unmistakable. Recorded at Paul Weller’s Black Barn Studios, the album features guest appearances from Paul Jones, Wilko Johnson and Weller himself, who contributes guitar and piano to a number of tracks. Bruce emphasises that his renewed friendship with Weller, which was rekindled in 2010, is more important than the music.
- Tyrannosaurus Rex A Crown Of Dark Swansdown
- Newly discovered reels of ¼-inch tape produced this outstanding unreleased live performance by duo Marc Bolan (guitar/vocals) and Mickey Finn (percussion), aka Tyrannosaurus Rex. This performance was given at the Progressive Rock Festival at The Sport Halle, Köln, on 4th April 1970, during the final few weeks before becoming simply T.Rex.
- Recorded one month after the final Tyrannosaurus Rex album, A Beard Of Stars, this performance includes several tracks from that album plus other Tyrannosaurus Rex favourites. Track listing: Hot Rod Mama / Debora / Pavilions Of Sun / One Inch Rock / By The Light Of The Magical Moon / By The Light Of The Magical Moon (Reprise) / Jewel / Organ Blues / Summertime Blues.
- The album sleeve was designed by Les Clark. The CD comes in card gatefold sleeve with liner notes by Bolan Society main man Andrew Gardner and packed full of information about the festival and also what was going on with Marc and Mickey at that time. The booklet also includes unseen photos. All royalties go towards The Marc Bolan School of Music / Light of Love Foundation.
Releases for 13 May 2016
13 May brings some quality recommended releases. Rufus Wainwright is possibly the only artist who could make an album of Shakespeare sonnets work, and he does! 9Bach’s Anian is a compulsive rhythmic listen which builds impressively on their debut. One of the most talked about new acts in the UK, Yak, release their debut, Alas Salvation, which channels the energy and chaos of their legendary live performances into a coherent release. The Heart Speaks In Whispers, the latest from two-time Grammy winner Corinne Bailey Rae, further enhances her reputation for literate, emotional music-making. Death And Vanilla’s self-titled debut is full of epic psych-pop. John Doe releases The Westerner, which he has called a psychedelic soul record from the Arizona desert – not quite sure what that means but it sounds mighty fine! Pierce The Veil combine Californian hard rocking with a dark melodicism for their fourth release, Misadventures. Release of the week is Introducing Karl Blau, on which he charts a new direction for country music – lovely!
- Karl Blau Introducing Karl Blau
- On Introducing Karl Blau, the enigmatic vocalist charts a new vision of country music. A northwest US indie hero, Blau channels darkness and hope in a cinematic collection of Nashville country hits from the 60s and 70s. Produced by Tucker Martine, the record features performances by Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Laura Veirs, Jon Hyde, Eli Moore (Lake), Steve Moore (Earth, SunnO)))), among others.
- Rufus Wainwright Take All My Loves
- To mark the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, celebrated singer/songwriter/composer Rufus Wainwright assembles an all-star group of artists in new songs and readings of Shakespeare’s most beloved texts.
- 9Bach Anian
- 9Bach made their name by taking traditional Welsh folk songs and recasting them onto a spectral and haunting sound canvas. Their 2014 album, Tincian, was the worthy winner of the coveted best album in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2015. New album Anian, whilst influenced by the Welsh traditions, comes from an altogether more anarchic place – calling for change, questioning the world and the role we play, how we treat animals and disregard nature. Darker in themes, but not without a sense of hope. Ethereal female Welsh language vocals shimmer alongside harp, swamp guitar, dub beats and a pounding rhythm section. The double CD package includes companion CD In dy lais (‘In your voice’). Writers, actors, poets and singers give their own interpretations of the songs as a way to convey the meaning to a non-Welsh speaking audience. Includes contributions from Peter Gabriel, Maxine Peake and Rhys Ifans.
- Yak Alas Salvation
- Just over a year since their first single, ‘Hungry Heart’, was released – a period that saw their unpredictable gigs and electrifying clutch of studio recordings earn them a reputation as the most exciting and talked about new act in the UK – Yak have channelled their ferocious live experience into their debut album, Alas Salvation. Recorded with Pulp’s Steve Mackey, it’s a wired and ambitious record that refuses to be pigeonholed. Yet beneath all the head-spinning chaos lies a beating heart of great melodicism and a hyperactively eclectic and inventive approach to making music.
- Corinne Bailey Rae The Heart Speaks in Whispers
- British singer-songwriter and two-time Grammy winner Corinne Bailey Rae returns with The Heart Speaks In Whispers. Corinne’s new album is rich in fresh ideas and full of emotional energy which surges through its songs like electricity. Recorded at her studio in Leeds and in Los Angeles, the album is co-produced by Corinne with Steve Brown, her collaborator on her critically acclaimed previous album, The Sea.
- The Deluxe CD includes 4 bonus songs.
- Death And Vanilla Death And Vanilla
- Marleen Nilsson and Anders Hansson, a.k.a. Death And Vanilla, released their eponymous debut LP in 2012. The album was initially given a limited release by French label Hands In The Dark and, like their self-titled EP, sold out on pre-order. Fire Records now give this album a well deserved general release, on black/yellow splatter vinyl and CD.
- Death And Vanilla radiates sophisticated retro-futuristic psych-pop whilst channelling their passion for hauntology, library, krautrock and radiophonic music. Tracklist: Rituals / Dreams Of Sheep / Cul-De-Sac / Somnambulists / The Unseeing Eye / From Elsewhere / Library Goblin / The Clearing / The Unseeing I.
- John Doe The Westerner
- Throughout his career, John Doe has garnered worldwide acclaim: NPR Music describes his work as “one of the warmest, most welcome voices in pop music. There’s a beseeching quality to his singing that draws you in with curiosity,” while American Songwriter praises “… a winning platter of 60s-inspired rock with a singer-songwriter twist.” Doe himself calls The Westerner his “psychedelic soul record from the Arizona desert”. The album features ten new tracks with guest appearances from Chan Marshall of Cat Power, Debbie Harry of Blondie, Cindy Wasserman of Dead Rock West and Tom Brosseau, and is produced by Howe Gelb.
- Pierce The Veil Misadventures
- Californian rockers Pierce The Veil return with their fourth album. Lyrically darker than any of their previous albums, Misadventures bears repeated listens and is their standout to date.
Releases for 6 May 2016
6 May brings us Prince’s final album, Hit ’n’ Run Phase Two – full of life, and brassy, buoyant and as cheeky as only Prince seemed to be able to get away with! Blair Dunlop takes folk into new territory on Gilded, the follow-up to his much-lauded House Of Jacks, The Duke Spirit return with Kin, ten glorious songs about the important stuff, Jean-Michel Jarre’s Electronica 2: The Heart Of Noise boasts another stellar cast of collaborators, Mary Chapin Carpenter’s new release features eleven heartfelt and moving songs, a collection of the best of personal favourite Laura Cantrell’s BBC performances is a compelling listen, and Bloom Forever, the debut solo release from Tom Cohen, contains songs both beautiful and fragile. My album of the week is the fine Take Me to the Alley, Geoffrey Porter’s much more autobiographical follow up to the award-winning Liquid Spirit.
- Gregory Porter Take Me To The Alley
- Grammy award-winning Gregory Porter, the coolest guy in music, returns with Take Me To The Alley, the much-anticipated follow-up to his 2013 platinum album, Liquid Spirit. The album features a reworked version of ‘Holding On’, the track Gregory co-wrote with electronic act Disclosure, as well as autobiographical songs including ‘Don’t Lose Your Steam’ and title track ‘Take Me To The Alley’, both written with his family in mind.
- Prince Hit ’n’ Run Phase Two
- Hit ’n’ Run Phase Two is the final studio album by Prince – his thirty-ninth! With its brassy, buoyant arrangements and cheeky lyrics, Phase Two showcases the artist in his natural state as a soul-funk master. It adds up to his most consistently engaging album in years and is a fitting sign-off, blending in echoes of the past while still sounding refreshingly modern. As eclectic as he can be, Phase Two is an example of what Prince was a complete master of. RIP.
- Blair Dunlop Gilded
- Gilded follows on from Blair Dunlop’s highly acclaimed 2014 release, House Of Jacks, and his outstanding debut album, Blight and Blossom (2012), which won him the BBC R2 Folk Horizon Award. Blair is a story-teller, known for his cerebral life-affirming lyrics. Gilded is a collection of stories and reflections, recorded in live takes at Manchester’s Blue Print Studios. On this record Blair remains true lyrically to his folk roots whilst continuing to push musically into new areas.
- The Duke Spirit Kin
- London 4-piece The Duke Spirit return with Kin, an album brimming with new sounds amid a vibrant energy, flecked with sublimely delicate, intimate spaces. At the core is a deep respect for the frailty of life and the nobility that can be observed in death. In ten glorious songs, The Duke Spirit have resurfaced effortlessly and quietly, with one of the most exhilarating albums of this year.
- Jean-Michel Jarre Electronica 2: The Heart of Noise
- Having amassed a mesmerising collection of collaborators on Electronica 1: The Time Machine, which upon release last year became one of Jean-Michel Jarre’s most successful albums, the Frenchman has now secured another fifteen of music’s most iconic artists to take part on Electronica 2: The Heart of Noise.
- This time around, Rone, Pet Shop Boys, Primal Scream, E.S., Julia Holter, Gary Numan, Jeff Mills, Peaches, Siriusmo, Yello, The Orb, Sebastien Tellier, Hans Zimmer, Cyndi Lauper and Christophe have been hand-picked by Jarre to complete his Electronica project. As with Vol. 1, Jarre personally connected with each of his collaborators and travelled extensively to work with them on the music.
- Mary Chapin Carpenter The Things We Are Made Of
- Mary Chapin Carpenter’s brand new album, The Things We Are Made Of, comprises eleven songs that communicate with the plain-spokenness of handwritten, heartfelt letters from a confiding friend; this is art without artifice. The result is music that is as powerfully moving as any you are likely to have ever heard. The album is suffused with images of maps and travelling, yearning for stillness when in motion, longing for adventure when in repose. The Things We Are Made Of was recorded in Nashville and produced by Dave Cobb, acclaimed recently for his work with Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton and Sturgill Simpson.
- Laura Cantrell At The BBC 2000–2005
- Over the past 15 years, Laura Cantrell has been a familiar presence on the country music scene. The Nashville-born, New York-based artist has developed a loyal audience through consistent touring, and numerous radio interviews and sessions for BBC programmes hosted by Bob Harris, Andy Kershaw and the late John Peel, who famously championed her debut album, Not The Tremblin’ Kind.
- Laura Cantrell At The BBC compiles the best of her on-air performances from 2000–2005, including several previously unreleased songs. Cantrell was invited to perform five Peel Sessions, two recorded at Maida Vale and three broadcast live from ‘Peel Acres’. All of those sessions are represented on this collection.
- Thomas Cohen Bloom Forever
- Bloom Forever is the debut solo album from former S.C.U.M. frontman Thomas Cohen. Inspired by the works of singer-songwriters such as Townes Van Zandt, Judee Sill, Van Morrison and Jim Sullivan, Bloom Forever is a chronologically ordered document of the songs Cohen wrote between 2012 and 2015. Beautiful, fragile, playful and defiant, this is an album to sink into and find your own places to get lost in it.
Other releases for 2016
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