Label Review. 

1974 album remastered with 5 bonus tracks. Includes Live at The Academy of Music in New York City on 17th May 1974. Plus 5.1 mix of the original album. Esoteric.

Our Overview. 

Formed in 1969 from the ashes of The Yardbirds, Renaissance would become the renowned prog rock act they are today. Back in 1974, with all the founding members gone a new line-up had become established and the album they released that year - ‘Turn Of The Cards’ was an artistic triumph and heralded the band’s commercial breakthrough in the United States.

Featuring highly gifted vocalist Annie Haslam, Michael Dunford (acoustic guitars), John Tout (keyboards, vocals), Jon Camp (bass, vocals) and Terry Sullivan (drums, percussion), ‘Turn Of The Cards’ was recorded in March 1974 at De Lane Lea studios in Wembley, North London and featured the band incorporating symphonic orchestral arrangements into their material extensively on classic pieces such as “Running Hard”, “Things I Don’t Understand” and “Mother Russia”. The album would also feature the evocative “Cold Is Being” and the celebrated “Black Flame” which would result in ‘Turn Of The Cards’ being praised as one of the finest works by Renaissance.

This expanded edition has been newly re-mastered from the original master tapes and also features an entire concert at The Academy of Music in New York City on 17th May 1974 (with a 24-piece orchestra) over two bonus CDs which has been newly mixed from the original 16-track master tapes, including live versions of songs from the album, along with classics such as “Can You Understand”, “Carpet of the Sun”, “Prologue” and a 25 minute version of “Ashes Are Burning” featuring guest Andy Powell (of Wishbone Ash) on lead guitar. The fourth disc is a DVD which features a new 5.1 Surround sound and high-resolution stereo mix of ‘Turn Of The Cards’. The set also includes the previously unreleased song “Everybody Needs a Friend”, recorded during the sessions for the album and the rare single edit of “Mother Russia”. The release also features an illustrated booklet with a new essay featuring interviews with Annie Haslam, Terry Sullivan and Jon Camp.

Tracklisting: 

Disc One: Running Hard / I Think Of You / Things I Don’t Understand / Black Flame / Cold Is Being / Mother Russia / Everybody Needs A Friend (Previously Unreleased) / Mother Russia (Single Edit) (Previously Unreleased) / Things I Don’t Understand (New Stereo Mix) / Black Flame (New Stereo Mix) / Mother Russia (New Stereo Mix)

Disc Two: Can You Understand (Live 1974) / Black Flame (Live 1974) / Carpet Of The Sun (Live 1974) / Cold Is Being (Live 1974) / Things I Don’t Understand (Live 1974) / Running Hard (Live 1974)

Disc Three: Ashes Are Burning (Live 1974) / Mother Russia (Live 1974) / Prologue (Live 1974)

Disc Four (DVD): 5.1 Surround Sound & High-Resolution Stereo Mixes - Running Hard / I Think Of You / Things I Don’t Understand / Black Flame / Cold Is Being / Mother Russia

Label Review. 

2020 album. Unfinished sessions from 2010 and completed with the blessing of Masekela’s estate. Also available on CD. 

Our Overview. 

‘Rejoice’ is a very special collaboration between Tony Allen, the legendary drummer and co-founder of Afrobeat, and Hugh Masekela, the master trumpet player of South African jazz. Having first met in the 70s thanks to their respective close associations with Fela Kuti, the two world-renowned musicians talked for decades about making an album together. When, in 2010, their touring schedules coincided in the UK, the moment presented itself and producer Nick Gold took the opportunity to record their encounter. The unfinished sessions, consisting of all original compositions by the pair, lay in the archive until after Masekela passed away in 2018. With renewed resolution, Tony Allen and Nick Gold, with the blessing and participation of Hugh Masekela’s estate, unearthed the original tapes and finished recording the album in summer 2019 at the same London studio where the original sessions had taken place.

‘Rejoice’ can be seen as the long overdue confluence of two mighty African musical rivers – a union of two free-flowing souls for whom borders, whether physical or stylistic, are things to pass through or ignore completely. According to Allen, the album deals in “a kind of South African-Nigerian swing-jazz stew”, with its roots firmly in Afrobeat. Allen and Masekela are accompanied on the record by a new generation of well-respected jazz musicians including Tom Herbert (Acoustic Ladyland / The Invisible), Joe Armon-Jones (Ezra Collective), Mutale Chashi (Kokoroko) and Steve Williamson.

Tracklisting: Robbers, Thugs and Muggers (O’Galajani) / Agbada Bougou / Coconut Jam / Never (Lagos Never Gonna Be The Same) / Slow Bones / Jabulani (Rejoice, Here Comes Tony) / Obama Shuffle Strut Blues / We’ve Landed

Label Review. 

This box set represents the band’s first two albums: On Through the Night (1980) and High N Dry (1981) and has been prepared in conjunction with singer Joe Elliott who has acted as executive producer on the set. The mastering has been done by the band’s long serving sound engineer Ronan McHugh. It consists of the original albums, various B-sides and re-mix versions, Radio One sessions, Live from Reading and the first ever appearance of an unreleased and newly mixed show from Oxford in 1980.

Our Overview. 

Def Leppard emerged in 1979 with their own self financed and released EP and with the help of airplay from legenardary DJ John Peel, the band’s commercial heavy rock sound lead them to a deal with Phonogram and ‘On Through The Night’, the band’s debut album, was released in 1980 and immediately put the rock world on notice. The band were destined for big things with the album charting at No. 15 in the UK and No. 51 in the US. Produced by Tom Allom (Judas Priest, Black Sabbath), it featured many of the band’s live favourites and some updated versions of early singles. The album achieved platinum status in 1989.

‘High ‘N’ Dry’, the first of Def Leppard’s albums to be produced by Robert ‘Mutt’ Lange (then AC/DC’s producer), was released in 1981. It reached No. 26 in the UK charts and No. 38 in the US, further cementing the bands status. The Early Years 79-81 box set includes a history of the band’s first two albums written by Mojo and Classic Rock writer Paul Elliott (no relation) featuring personal insights from the band on the making and releasing of those early records as well as rare photos and memorabilia.

Lead singer, Joe Elliott says, “Well the fans asked, and we listened! Really excited to have our early years reworked with a load of rare material including the newly unearthed Live at the Oxford New Theatre, recorded on the 1980 UK tour …. It’s been a trip putting this box set together!”

Tracklisting:

CD1 (On Through The Night): Rock Brigade / Hello America / Sorrow Is A Woman / It Could Be You / Satellite / When the Walls Came Tumbling Down / Wasted / Rocks Off / It Don’t Matter / Answer to The Master / Overture

CD2 (High N’ Dry): Let It Go / Another Hit and Run / High N Dry (Saturday Night) / Bringin’ On the Heartache / Switch 625 / You Got Me Runnin’ / Lady Strange / On Through the Night / Mirror Mirror (Look into My Eyes) / No No No

CD3 (When The Walls Came Tumbling Down – Live In Oxford 26/04/1980): When the Walls Came Tumbling Down / It Could Be You / Rock Brigade / Satellite / Medicine Man / Answer to the Master / When the Rain Falls / Sorrow Is a Woman / Good Morning Freedom / Don’t Matter to Me / Overture / Lady Strange / Getcha Rocks Off / Hello America / Wasted / Ride into The Sun

CD 4 (Too Many Jitterbugs – B-Sides And Rarities): Ride into The Sun / Getcha Rocks Off / The Overture / Wasted / Hello America / Rock Brigade / Glad I’m Alive / Good Morning Freedom / Let It Go / Switch 625 / Bringin’ On the Heartbreak / Me and My Wine / Bringin’ On the Heartbreak (remix) / Me and My Wine (remix)

CD5 (Raw – Early BBC Recordings): Glad I’m Alive (07/06/1979) / Sorrow Is A Woman (07/06/1979) / Wasted (07/06/1979) / Answer to The Master (07/06/1979) / Satellite (03/10/1979) / Rock Brigade (03/10/1979) / Wasted (03/10/1979) / Good Morning Freedom (03/10/1979) / Satellite (03/10/79) / When the Walls Came Tumbling Down / Medicine Man / The Overture / Lady Strange / Getcha Rocks Off’ (Live at the Reading Festival – 24/08/1980)

Label Review. 

2020 album. Singer songwriter. Also available on CD.

Our Overview. 

JUNO award winning Canadian folk-pop artist Rose Cousins is a vital part of the thriving East Coast Canadian music scene and she is interested in the juxtaposition of things. Her new album, ‘Bravado’ peers behind the kinds of doors we tend to leave closed, [for better or worse, or both]. It is the sound of a heart trying to open. It is a bold swagger, a vulnerable facade. 

'Bravado' is a record for those who struggle with loneliness and those wishing they had more time alone. It’s for those attempting to make their hearts go in more than one direction and those trying to make it go in just one. It’s for those who present a version of themselves to the world that doesn’t quite match how they feel inside. It’s for those who feel misunderstood or unseen. It’s for those who have a hard time saying what they feel, who hide or can’t let themselves off the hook. It’s for those asking, “is this it?” and questioning if the character they play in the movie of their lives is authentic or just a role they’ve accepted. It’s for those who have a hard time asking for help and for those desperate for and terrified of change.

“I think about how we're so disconnected. I get sucked into my phone and forget to go for a walk because of this sense of obligation that I have that convinces me to get as much work done as possible. It feels like we’re not connecting in person as much as we used to and that we may be the loneliest we've ever been. We're missing what's actually happening, like, the earth being on fire. We get caught in the spin of comparing our lives to social media depictions, false standards of a good life. I’ve been thinking about how we must be getting close to a breaking point."

For Cousins, this chapter is a personal and professional metamorphosis. She is in the producer chair, applying her years of experience, trusting her own ear and pulling thoughtfully from her network of talented colleagues.

‘Bravado’ is an exploration of self-worth and an investigation into the nuances of our tough exteriors - why we act brave while feeling afraid, how we appear impressive while privately questioning our worthiness, how confidence shares space with shame.’

Cousins’ last project, ‘Natural Conclusion’, received much acclaim, including a Grammy nomination, a JUNO nomination for Songwriter of the Year, and 3 wins at the East Coast Music Awards. Rose’s songs have appeared on Grey’s Anatomy, Supergirl, Reign, Nashville, and others. She has shared stages with heroic songwriters such as Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Jann Arden & Ron Sexsmith.

Tracklisting: The Benefits Of Being Alone / The Expert / The Agreement / The Fraud / The Time Being (Impending Mortality Awareness Society) / The Din / The Return (Love Comes Back) / The Swimmer (To Be An Old Man) / The Lullaby (My Oldest Love) / The Benediction (A Good Woman) / The Reprise (The Benefits Of Being Alone) / The Truth (It’s Just Emotion)

Label Review. 

2020 album also available on CD.

Our Overview.

Jonathan Wilson, the American critically-acclaimed artist, multi-instrumentalist and producer (Father John Misty, Laura Marling, Dawes) spent most of 2017-18 on Roger Waters’ epic US+THEM tour as musical director, guitarist and vocalist, singing the David Gilmour leads. Following the tour, Wilson chose to temporarily leave his Los Angeles-based home and studio and head to Nashville to work with a revered group of musicians and co-producer Pat Sansone of Wilco, to create his new album ‘Dixie Blur’, his most personal, accessible and fully-realised work to date.

The North Carolina native, singer-songwriter and producer’s mellow style echos the Laurel Canyon sound of the late 60s. 15 years ago he moved to LA where he became an integral part of the music community as a respected artist and producer. It was there he recorded and played most of the instruments on his celebrated albums Gentle Spirit (2011), Fanfare (2013) and Rare Birds (2018), building each project over time, piece by piece.

Wilson chose a completely different path for Dixie Blur in both writing and recording. The songs hark back to his Southern roots, both musically and personally. The multi-talented artist went to Nashville to record at Cowboy Jack Clement’s legendary Sound Emporium Studio and worked with a core group of exceptional players that included Mark O’Connor (fiddle), Kenny Vaughan (guitar) Dennis Crouch (bass), Russ Pahl (pedal steel) and Jim Hoke (harmonica, woodwinds), Jon Radford (drums), and Drew Erickson (keyboards). Wilson and company recorded everything together live with very few overdubs, a full 360 from his past methods. Jonathan then mixed the record at Jackson Browne’s Groovemasters Studio. The result is a stunning album filled with warm, thoughtful, melody-rich songs that have an immediate impact upon first hearing and continue to grow with further listening.

Jonathan Wilson masterfully strikes a balance as he reaches back to the musical foundation of his upbringing while simultaneously moving forward by infusing the music with modern textures and aesthetic soundscapes, thus producing in the aptly titled, ‘Dixie Blur’.

Tracklisting: Just For Love / 69 Corvette / New Home / So Alive / Heaven Making Love / O' Girl / Pirate / Enemies / Fun For The Masses / Platform / Riding The Blinds / El Camino Real / Golden Apples / Korean Tea

Label Review. 

Featuring the independent demos, singles and abandoned album sessions, three full albums (Lovely, Pure and Galore), singles and related B-sides, cover versions, BBC sessions and material recorded live at Bath Moles. 118 tracks in total.

Our Overview. 

During the mid-late 1980s, few bands navigated the transition from indie darlings to mainstream hit-makers as slickly and successfully as The Primitives. Armed with a pocketful of two and a half minute, hook-laden songs and a loyal fanbase, the group found themselves catapulted from obscurity to the pop charts, via magazine covers and glowing reviews, and became a significant live draw around the world. Fronted by the enigmatic Tracy Tracy, and driven by chief songwriter Paul Court, the group experienced the heady highs and frustrating lows of mainstream success, producing an excellent run of singles and albums along the way.

‘Bloom!’ has been produced in conjunction with the band, and captures every period of a career which spanned seven years in its first incarnation. Including albums, B-sides, cover versions, demos, BBC sessions and live recordings, alongside four recordings recently unearthed from the archives, this set showcases a group who delivered catchy, high-quality material at will, and who remain loved and respected today.

Tracklisting: 

Disc One (The Lazy Years): Crash (Demo) / Across My Shoulder (Demo) / Spacehead (Demo) / Really Stupid (Demo) / Nothing Left (Demo) / Thru The Flowers / Across My Shoulder / She Don’t Need You / Lazy / Really Stupid / We Found A Way To The Sun / Where The Wind Blows / Stop Killing Me / Buzz Buzz Buzz / Laughing Up My Sleeve / Ocean Blue / Shadow (Guitar Version) / Thru The Flowers (New Version) / Everything Shining Bright / Nothing Left (Sounds Version) / I’ll Stick With You (1987 Version) / Dreamwalk Baby (1987 Version) / Buzz Buzz Buzz (1987 Version) / Nothing Left (1987 Version) / Out Of Reach (1987 Version) / Carry Me Home (1987 Version) / Don’t Want Anything To Change (1987 Version)

Disc Two (Lovely): Crash / Spacehead / Carry Me Home / Shadow / Thru The Flowers / Dreamwalk Baby / I’ll Stick With You / Nothing Left / Stop Killing Me / Out Of Reach / Ocean Blue / Run Baby Run / Don’t Want Anything To Change / Buzz Buzz Buzz / I’ll Stick With You (Single Version) / Things Get In Your Way / Crash (Live In The Studio) / Out Of Reach (Single Version) / Dreamwalk Baby (Live) / Really Stupid (Live) / Crash (Live) / I Wanna Be Your Dog (Live)

Disc Three (Pure): Outside / Summer Rain / Sick Of It / Shine / Dizzy Heights / All The Way Down / Secrets / Keep Me In Mind / Lonely Streets / Can’t Bring Me Down / Way Behind Me / Never Tell / All The Way / Down (Beat Version) / Way Behind Me (Acoustic Version) / Noose / I’ll Be Your Mirror / As Tears Go By / I Almost Touched You / Secrets (Demo) / Secrets (Zeus B Held Version 12” Mix) / Secrets (Zeus B Held 12” Dub) / You’re So Square (Baby I Don’t Care)

Disc Four (Galore): You Are The Way / Lead Me Astray / Earth Thing / Give This World To You / Slip Away / Cold Enough To Kill / Hello Jesus / Empathise / See Thru The Dark / Kiss Mine / Smile / The Little Black Egg / In My Dream / Sunpulse / Flow / Stop Killing Me (Acoustic) / You Are The Way (September Mix) / You Are The Way (Re-Ravishing Mix) / You Are The Way (God’s Own Garage Band Mix – Alternate Version) / Under My Spell / Haunted

Disc Five (BBC Sessions 1986-1987 / Live At Bath Moles): Really Stupid / Nothing Left / Run Baby Run / I’ll Stick With You / Where The Wind Blows / Across My Shoulder / Spacehead / Crash / Stop Killing Me / Shadow / Buzz Buzz Buzz / As Tears Go By / Dreamwalk Baby / Ocean Blue / Everything’s Shining Bright / She Don’t Need You / All The Way Down (Live) / Sick Of It (Live) / Give This World To You (Live) / Outside (Live) / Slip Away (Live) / You Are The Way (Live) / Earth Thing (Live) / See Thru The Dark (Live) / Stop Killing Me (Live) / Way Behind Me (Live)

Label Review. 

2020 album also available on CD.

Our Overview. 

American singer songwriter Stephen Malkumus is releasing his third solo album (without the Jicks or Pavement) entitled ‘Traditional Techniques’ which is new phase folk music for new phase folks, with Stephen Malkmus as attuned as ever to the rhythms of the ever-evolving lingual slipstream. It’s packed with handmade arrangements, modern folklore and 10 songs written and performed in his singular voice. An adventurous new album in an instantly familiar mode, Traditional Techniques creates a serendipitous trilogy with the loose fuzz of the Jicks’ ‘Sparkle Hard’ (2018) and the solo bedroom experiments of ‘Groove Denied’ (2019). Taken together, these three very different full-lengths in three years highlight an ever-curious songwriter committed to finding untouched territory.

The versatile Malkmus is most renowned for the work he has done with his highly influential and critically acclaimed band, Pavement, but he has also participated in other side-projects that are notable. He was a former member in David Berman’s band Silver Jews, he has played in a band with Sonic Youth members Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore, and most recently he has been performing his solo material with his band the Jicks. But his strengths lies in his ability to switch and evolve his music palette from indie, blazing guitar rock, 70s prog and psychedelia and now to his unique take on folk sound is encapsulated in ‘Traditional Techniques’.

Malkmus took on Traditional Techniques as a kind of self-dare. Conceived while recording Sparkle Hard at Portland’s Halfling Studio, Malkmus had observed the variety of acoustic instruments available for use. The idea escalated within a matter of weeks into a full set of songs, and shortly thereafter into a realized and fully committed album. When he returned to Halfling, Malkmus drew from a whole new musical palette--including a variety of Afghani instruments - to support an ache both quizzical and contemporary. The resulting Traditional Techniques is expansive and thrilling. Alongside gorgeous folk music, there are also occasional bursts of flute-laced swagger, straight-up commune rock (“Xian Man”), and mind-bending fuzz.

Centred around the songwriter’s 12-string acoustic guitar and informed by a half-century of folk-rock reference points, ‘Traditional Techniques’ is the product of Malkmus and Halflingengineer/arranger-in-residence Chris Funk (The Decemberists). Additionally, Matt Sweeney (Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Chavez) plays guitar throughout, creating gorgeous folk music, with the occasional bursts of flute-laced swagger and straight-up commune rock.CD in printed inner wallet and 8-panel poster booklet.LP with 2-page insert and black poly-lined inner sleeve.

Tracklisting: ACC Kirtan / Xian Man / The Greatest Own In / Legal History / Cash Up / Shadowbanned / What Kind Of Person / Flowin’ Robes / Brainwashed / Signal Western / Amberjack

Label Review. 

1968 debut album remastered in mono and stereo plus 10 bonus tracks. Features pre-fame Jeff Lynne.

Our Overview. 

Emerging from the ashes of beat boom hopefuls Mike Sheridan and The Night Riders, by late 1966 Birmingham band The Idle Race were looking for a new guitarist. The successful applicant was local teenager Jeff Lynne. By the time the band signed to Liberty Records, the prodigiously-talented Lynne – several years younger than his new colleagues – had been promoted to frontman status, blossoming as the band’s chief songwriter while also taking lead vocals.

After “Skeleton And The Roundabout” had attracted much airplay but fallen just short of the charts, the band cut their debut album. Issued in October 1968, the idiosyncratic ‘The Birthday Party’ gave notice of a major new talent on the British pop scene. A dazzling creation that matched Beatle-ish melodic flair and witty, surreal vignettes with the heightened ambition of psych-era British studio pop, the set attracted rave reviews and the support of Radio One DJs including Kenny Everett. Sadly, however, ‘The Birthday Party’ failed to sell in any great quantity after Liberty mysteriously chose not to issue a single in support of the release and the wider world wouldn’t notice Lynne until he joined The Move in early 1970.

Now acknowledged as a classic album of song-based British psychedelic pop, ‘The Birthday Party’ finally gets the attention that it deserves with this definitive new 2-CD package. The original stereo album is joined by alternative versions, stand-alone singles and, most notably of all, the first-ever official CD release of the original, substantially different mono version of the LP, taken from the original masters. This also features a 24-page booklet containing numerous rare photos and memorabilia as well as a new essay on the album.

Tracklisting:

Disc One (Mono): Skeleton And The Roundabout / Happy Birthday / The Birthday /I Like My Toys / Morning Sunshine / Follow Me Follow / Sitting In My Tree / On With The Show / Lucky Man / Don’t Put Your Boys In The Army, Mrs. Ward / Pie In The Sky / The Lady Who Said She Could Fly / End Of The Road / (Here We Go Round) The Lemon Tree / My Father’s Son / Imposters Of Life’s Magazine / Knocking Nails Into My House / Lucky Man (Alternative Version) / Follow Me Follow (Alternative Version) / Days Of The Broken Arrows / Worn Red Carpet / Days Of The Broken Arrows (Alternative Version)

Disc Two (Stereo): Skeleton And The Roundabout / Happy Birthday / The Birthday / I Like My Toys / Morning Sunshine / Follow Me Follow / Sitting In My Tree / On With The Show / Lucky Man / Don’t Put Your Boys In The Army, Mrs. Ward / Pie In The Sky / The Lady Who Said She Could Fly / End Of The Road / Sitting In My Tree (Alternative Version)

Label Review.

2020 debut album. Iamthemorning. Kscope. Also available on Vinyl.

Our Overview.

Following the success of four highly-praised albums with IAMTHEMORNING, the award winning Russian lyricist, singer and co-songwriter Marjana Semkina (also known as Mariana) releases her spellbinding debut solo album, ‘Sleepwalking’ - featuring Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater), Craig Blundell & Nick Beggs (Steven Wilson) and the St. Petersburg Orchestra “1703 - described by The Independent as “an adorable ethereal presence... Her vocals are beautiful too, haunting and ghostly”.

Characterised by her composed and unique voice, complex melodic lines and poetic lyrics with literary references, Semkina has often compared favourably with Kate Bush. The new material draws from the IAMTHEMORNING soundscape but exists fully in Marjana’s world; a compelling mixture of alternative folk, pop, drama, beauty and emotionally purging lyrics. A blend akin to the darker folk of Aldous Harding, Marissa Nadler, Sumie and Florist.

To aid the recording of Marjana’s vision for ‘Sleepwalking’, she invited renowned keyboardist, drummer and bassist Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater), Craig Blundell and Nick Beggs (Steven Wilson), as well as the St. Petersburg Orchestra “1703” and frequent collaborator Vlad Avy. The album artwork refers to Semkina’s love for classical art, unifying photography with the 17th-Century Vanitas movement; a genre of still-life painting that includes objects symbolic of death’s inevitability and the transience and vanity of earthly achievements and pleasures, exhorting the viewer to consider mortality. The album’s music echoes the questions posed by the artwork, it is stripped down to raw emotion: no sugar-coating, no filters, just creative thought caught in the moment.

Marjana has performed with IAMTHEMORNING on two European tours in support of their acclaimed fourth studio album ‘The Bell’, first in support of Riverside in September and second of The Flower Kings in December 2019. She also performed a solo show earlier in the year with Anathema’s Vincent and Daniel Cavanagh & also with IAMTHEMORNING at London’s prestigious Bush Hall. Semkina has been cast in the limelight of modern alternative music, as IAMTHEMORNING won Album of the Year at the Progressive Music Awards with ‘Lighthouse’, and by winning both Woman of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year in the 2016 Prog Magazine readers’ poll.

Tracklisting: Dark Matter / Am I Sleeping Or Am I Dead ? / Turn Back Time / Invisible / How To Be Alone / Ars Longa Vita Brevis / Skin / Everything Burns / Lost At Sea / Mermaid Song / Still Life

Label Review.

1978 album. Nigerian Fuji. Soul Jazz Records.

Our Overview.

For those in tune with Fuji music in the 1980s, the names, Kollington Ayinla would be remembered as amongst the names that dominated the scene and this release is the first in Soul Jazz Records’ new series of vinyl-only Afro funk / Afro beat exact-replica, super rare albums that were previously only ever released in Nigeria.

The series starts with Kollington Ayinla’s celebrated 1978 album ‘Blessing’, a rare lost classic of Nigerian Fuji music, featuring Ayinla’s sharp political lyrics together with his new band Fuji ’78. ‘Blessing’ blends the heavily percussive style of Fuji music with a stunning array of modern instruments, including synthesizers, Bata drums and guitars, to create one of the most forward-thinking and heavily danceable sounds ever to come out of Nigeria - a highly successful mixture of profound Fuji rhythms and Fela Kuti-style Afrobeat.

Kollington Ayinla ranks alongside his friend and competitor Ayinde Barrister as the two most important artists to dominate Fuji music from its inception in the 1970s through to the 1990s by which time it had grown to become one of the most popular dance genres in Nigeria.

At the start of the 1980s Ayinla started his own record company, Kollington Records, to release his music and remains to this day an extremely prolific artist, having recorded over 50 albums, most of which have never been released outside of Nigeria.

Tracklisting: E Ye Ika Se / Oromo Adie Fo / Ko S’Ohun Tan O Le Fi / Gberaga / Adio Shile / Won Ti Gbe Oye Fun Mi / Pataki L’Omo / To Ba Jisoro Mi / Engineer Olatunji / Iya Suna / Odun Titun De / Ao Toro Emi Gesa Fun Enia / Ki Aiye Ma Gbagbe Mi

Label Review.

Career Spanning Best Of. Includes brand new track Darkest Hour Of The Night. Also available on Vinyl.

Our Overview.

‘Teenage Wildlife’ is a career spanning release from Northern Ireland alternative rock band Ash who formed in in Downpatrick, County Down in 1989 by vocalist and guitarist Tim Wheeler, bassist Mark Hamilton and drummer Rick McMurray.. The album shares its title with the documentary which depicted ASH’s rise from local school heroes to all-conquering band that topped the charts with their debut album 1977, ‘Teenage Wildlife’ traces the band’s recording career from exuberant debut Jack Names The Planets through to Buzzkill and Annabel from 2018’s top twenty album Islands. 

 ‘Teenage Wildlife’ also includes a brand new song “Darkest Hour Of The Night” alongside thirteen Top 40 singles amid an array of the band’s recorded history; breakthrough single “Girl From Mars”, Top 5 smash “Goldfinger”, the breathtaking “A Life Less Ordinary”, Ivor Novello-winning “Shining Light”, and live anthems “Burn Baby Burn” and “Orpheus”. 

The 19 track collection of rarities includes a version of The Buzzcocks’ classic “Everybody’s Happy Nowadays” (featuring Coldplay’s Chris Martin), the eternal “Teenage Kicks” and the collections infamous title track.

Perfectly encapsulating the highs, lows and debauchery of the band’s initial breakthrough, the ‘Teenage Wildlife’ inner sleeve features the brilliant acerbic tor documentary script by the late Steven Wells.

Tracklisting:

Double CD: A Life Less Ordinary (#10 UK Charts) / Arcadia / Kung Fu / Cocoon / You Can’t Have It All / Girl from Mars (#11 UK Charts) / All That I Have Left / Wildsurf / Binary / Uncle Pat / Shining Light (#8 UK Charts) / Starcrossed / Buzzkill / Return of White Rabbit / Goldfinger (#5 UK Charts) / Envy / Sometimes / Coming Around Again / Darkest Hour of the Night (new single) / Burn Baby Burn / Dare to Dream / Annabel / Clones / Machinery / Oh Yeah (#6 UK Charts) / Projects / Confessions in the Pool / True Love 1980 / Angel Interceptor / Jesus Says / Petrol / End of the World (Radio Edit / Orpheus / Walking Barefoot / Jack Names the Planets / Twilight of the Innocents

Label Review. 

2020 album. Also available on CD, Black vinyl, Clear vinyl, and Gold vinyl. 

Our Overview. 

Metal legends Anvil spit out their 18th studio album ‘Legal At Last’ in 2020. When it comes to virtues such as endurance, unconditional commitment and a thoroughly down-to-earth attitude, Anvil are the measure of all things. Like few other metal acts, the band have earned their laurels of blood, sweat and tears. Since their 2009 documentary film ‘The Story Of Anvil‘, which revealed the unvarnished truth about the music industry, the world has been aware that the day-to-day life of most musicians doesn’t consist of MTV Awards, Grammy ceremonies, red carpets, champagne and caviar but mainly of energy-sapping tours de force with little sleep, junk food and meagre earnings. Yet these difficult conditions have made Anvil what they are today: a band that stands solid as a rock in the turbulent waters of a musical genre that produces like no other music by fans for fans. So drummer Robb Reiner refers with a sense of justified pride to Anvil’s latest release ‘Legal At Last’ simply as “one more Anvil album”.

Yet their new album is very special to Anvil: “Legal At Last is mainly about two things,” Reiner explains. “We celebrate the legalisation of the Anvil bong because Canada changed its marijuana laws last year, which means we no longer sail close to the wind all the time. That’s why the album title announces that Anvil are legal at last. Our fans have always known that, but the public at large treated us like criminals for a long time.” Guitarist and lead singer Steve “Lips” Kudlow adds: “Legal At Last is our way of telling the public: ‘It’s okay, Anvil are okay, you’re allowed to like us at last!’”

Tracklisting: Legal At Last / Nabbed In Nebraska / Chemtrails / Gasoline / I’m Alive / Talking To The Wall / Glass House / Plastic In Paradise / Bottom Line / Food For The Vulture / Said And Done / No Time

Label Review. 

2020 album. Roots rock. Also available on CD.

Our Overview. 

No one forgets the first time they saw Tami Neilson - the Canadian born, New Zealand based country & soul, award winning singer songwriter. She can hush a room with an original song that channels the hurting spirit of Patsy Cline or the sensuality of Peggy Lee, or bring the audience to its feet on a rockabilly raver.

She’s an artist with real range, whose powerful voice can take on big ballads, golden-age country, heartfelt Gospel, soul-infused R&B, Western swing, even old-style rock ‘n’ roll. Tami encompasses them all and is a personality-powered cyclonic force of nature in stylishly retro attire, long lashes and a stacked-high beehive. Of her new album’s title, ‘CHICKABOOM!’, Tami explains, ‘I wanted to write an album of punchy little songs, popping firecrackers that, when stripped back to nothing but a guitar, percussion and two voices, would still go boom!’

The new collection brings much personal and family history to the table. Tami grew up performing across North America with the Neilson Family Band, working alongside greats such as Johnny Cash, Tanya Tucker, and Kitty Wells. Subsequently, Tami fell in love with a New Zealander, moved to the bottom of the world and began her solo career without the support of the family.

Her early records saw her in a self-created territory between mainstream country and alternative country, with awards in New Zealand for albums that added breadth to her ‘country singer’ label: Best Female Artist, Best Country Album, Best Country Song, an APRA Silver Scroll (songwriting) award and Album of the Year nominations. Her ‘Dynamite!’ album of 2014 received rave reviews in Britain’s MOJO and the Guardian named it a Top 10 Best Country Music Album. Tami’s songs appeared on the Netflix series Wanted and the terrestrial TV series Nashville. Tami Neilson’s singing and writing is too big to contain, as HMV Canada noted: ‘There are singers and then there is Tami Neilson, for whom the word singer just isn’t big enough.’

Tracklisting: Call Your Mama / Hey, Bus Driver! / Ten Tonne Truck / Queenie, Queenie / You Were Mine / 16 Miles of Chain / Tell Me That You Love Me / Any Fool With A Heart / Sister Mavis / Sleep

Label Review.

2020 album also available on Vinyl.

Our Overview.

Brooklyn, New York based post-punk band Bambara - twin brothers Reid and Blaze Bateh, singer/guitarist and drummer respectively and bassist William Brookshire - have been evolving their midnight-black noise into something more subtle and expansive ever since the release of their 2013 debut ‘Dreamviolence’. That process greatly accelerated on 2018’s ‘Shadow On Everything’, their first for New York’s Wharf Cat Records and a huge stride forward for the band both lyrically and sonically.

The first thing that strikes you about ‘Stray’, Bambara’s fourth - and greatest - album to date, will be its pulverizing soundscape. By turns, vast, atmospheric, cool, broiling and, at times - on stand out tracks like ‘Sing Me To The Street’ and ‘Serafina’ - simply overwhelming.

However, ‘Stray’ is not merely another, better entry in a catalogue full of darkly thrilling, blistering experimental rock-via-punk. Rather, early on in its conception the band made the decision to experiment with new compositions and song structures. The resulting addition of backing vocals from Drew Citron (Public Practice) and Anina Ivory- Block (Palberta) create a hauntingly beautiful contrast to Bateh’s drunken baritone on tracks like ‘Sing Me To The Street’, ‘Death Croons’ and ‘Stay Cruel’, while the Dick Dale-inspired guitar riffs on ‘Serafina’ and ‘Heat Lightning’ and the call-and-response choruses throughout the album showcase Bambara’s ability to write songs thatimmediately demand repeat listens.

These are just a few of the changes that reveal this album to be the monumental step forward that it is. Here Bambara finally sound like they’ve locked into what they were always destined to achieve, and the effect is nothing short of electrifying.

“Beautifully dynamic nightmare” - NPR

“One of my favourite things I finally saw for the first time at South By this year” - Steve Lamacq

“Very few artists these days make rock and roll as threatening as Bambara” - Loud And Quiet

“An abrasive, awesome ripper” - Treble

Tracklisting: Miracle / Heat Lightning / Sing Me to the Street / Serafina / Death Croons / Stay Cruel / Ben & Lily / Made for Me / Sweat / Machete

Label Review.

2020. Pop punk.

Our Overview.

If there’s one thing for certain, it’s that the Philly-based pop-punk outfit, The Wonder Years put their entire souls into each body of work they release. So if you can’t get enough of The Wonder Years then this should be right up your alley! The guys have announced their new acoustic album ‘Burst & Decay (Volume II)’ will be released on February 14, 2020 and will feature, yep you guessed it, acoustic re-worked tracks from their back catalogue.

Nearly three years ago, some of their most popular songs like ‘There, There’ and ‘Don’t Let Me Cave In’ were taken to crushing new heights on the first edition of the groundbreaking Philly band’s first acoustic EP, ‘Burst & Decay’. They were only just getting started.

Produced and engineered by Ace Enders (The Early November), ‘Burst & Decay (Volume II)’ truly takes this stripped-back The Wonder Years experience to an entirely new level. The new release features stunning string arrangements from Little Kruta String Quartet and guest vocals on ‘We Look Like Lightning’ from Alex Maniak of the band Shortly.

LP pressed on white vinyl.

Tracklisting: Washington Square Park / We Look Like Lightning / I Wanted So Badly to be Brave / Passing Through a Screen Door / It Must Get Lonely / Cul-de-sac / Hoodie Weather

Label Review.

1989 album. Contains a green vinyl LP, digipak CD, three 7 inch picture discs, a coke bottle, deck of cards, prescription notepad, drumstick pens, pins, guitar picks and band aids, all housed inside a leatherette satchel. Also available on CD and Vinyl.

Our Overview.

The biggest commercial success of the most notorious rock band of all time is being released in a 30th Anniversary Edition: Motley Crue’s 1989 album “Dr. Feelgood’ featuring demos, picture discs, pens, badges and more. 2019 has seen not only the release of Motley Crue’s critically acclaimed biopic ‘The Dirt’ - the film sparked a renewed interest in the band, with sales, streams and downloads of their back catalogue soaring as a result - but also marks the 30th anniversary of the album ‘Dr. Feelgood’, their biggest commercial success, the band’s fifth studio album was originally released on September 1, 1989, and featured Crue classics including which contains band classics such as ‘Kickstart My Heart’, ‘Without You’, ‘Same Ol’ Situation’ and the title track.

Bassist Nikki Sixx says: “After feeling robbed of a number one album with ‘Girls Girls Girls’, the band was hell-bent on topping ourselves on every level. 

“Bringing in Bob Rock to produce and push us musically and lyrically was just what the doctor ordered. The band was clean, lean and sober and this album has some of our proudest work.”

The anniversary edition will feature the full album along with studio demos, with the deluxe edition containing the album on ‘coke bottle green’ vinyl, CD, three 7-inch picture discs, a doctor’s bag, a prescription notepad, a deck of playing cards, a pair of drumstick pens, pin badges and guitar picks.

Tracklisting:


T.n.T. (Terror ‘n Tinseltown) / Dr. Feelgood / Slice of Your Pie / Rattlesnake Shake / Kickstart My Heart / Without You / Same Ol’ Situation (S.O.S.) / Sticky Sweet / She Goes Down / Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away) / Time for Change / Dr. Feelgood (Demo) / Kickstart My Heart (Demo) / Without You (Demo)

Picture discs Tracks:

“Dr. Feelgood” Side A: Dr. Feelgood (Demo) Side B: Dr. Feelgood

“Kickstart My Heart” Side A: Kickstart My Heart (Demo) Side B: Kickstart My Heart

“Without You” Side A: Without You (Demo) Side B: Without You