Label Review.

13 tracks. First time on CD.

Our Overview.

In 1978, legendary San Francisco Punk Rock Band The Dead Kennedys were formed and the rest is history. They became one of the iconic bands of the US Punk Rock revolution and recorded seminal punk classics “Holiday In Cambodia” and “California Uber Alles,” as well as many others that have become synonymous with Punk Rock itself.

Manifesto Records is proud to announce that on September 27, they will release a CD of the Iguana Studios Rehearsal Tape- San Francisco 1978. This is the beginnings of the Dead Kennedys, the original recordings from their early rehearsals that would lead to their classic recordings.

This collection was previously only available as a limited edition, Record Store Day only LP. It was very successful and actually charted on the Billboard top sellers list, but the demand from fans was overwhelming to release this on CD. The Dead Kennedys were and still are one of the most influential bands in the history of punk rock. They sold a lot of records, but even more importantly, they helped inspire a million people to start punk rock bands, they were the leaders in the revolution!

Label Review. 

2019 album. Rock. Also available on CD.

Our Overview. 

Whether you call it power pop, folk rock or alt-country (at times all of these terms apply) GospelbeacH are a group forever bursting with melody and terrific harmonies to boot. Their approach to producing music is straight-up genius song writing: honest, brilliantly played and superbly produced and ‘Let It Burn’ is no exception to this rule.

Cultivated from the melodious mind of founding member Brent Rademaker and evolved from the kaleidoscopic California music scene, GospelbeacH blends country folk with modern rock ’n’ roll to produce inviting melodies and harmonies. Steeped in the golden sounds of Buffalo Springfield, and particularly Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman’s contributions to The Byrds, the band are far beyond mere revivalists and the pool of influences runs wider than rock’s fulcrum year. 

Brent Rademaker wanted to "make some rock n' roll" with ‘Let It Burn’, the third album from his band GospelbeacH - whose "Dark Angel" is premiering exclusively below. But there was also a certain kind of rock n' roll Rademaker wanted to create, whose philosophy dovetailed with the lush, Laurel Canyon-inspired vibe of the 11-track album.

"I really wanted to do what my heroes do," Rademaker, also a co-founder of Beachwood Sparks and Further, tells Billboard. "I wanted to marry what was happening in my life in the last year with the craft of songwriting. When you talk about (Tom) Petty and Jackson Browne and Joni (Mitchell) and (David Crosby) - I'm not comparing myself to them at all, but they wanted to make rock n' roll records that reflected their life and also make some nice little songs and make it sound as good as you can without overdubbing the shit out of it." In Rademaker's case that meant dealing with the death of his father and the end of his marriage, as well as external concerns such as the California wildfires and the 2018 shooting at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

‘Let It Burn’  marks the return of guitarist and Beachwood Sparks bandmate Neal Casal, also of the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, to the ranks, along with keyboardist Jonny Niemann, bassist Ben Reddell and backing vocalist Nelson Bragg. Noting that GospelbeacH has yet to tour the U.S., Rademaker is hoping to change that situation later this year or early next. And he also hopes to fast-track some more music from the band -- which Rademaker predicts will come from a happier place as well. "We're going to set out to make something that's not so much about my life but just celebrates rock n' roll and California and the West Coast and all of that -- music that's unfashionable right now, like guitar rock from the '70s," Rademaker says with a laugh. "But, y'know, it seems like people still look to the past, so maybe it's not doomed, y'know? Maybe when people hear (Let It Burn) they'll go 'This is not bad' and come back for what we do next."

Label Review.

2019 album also available on Vinyl.

Our Overview.

Singer-songwriter Oscar Sheller is back with a spectacular new release ‘HTTP404’. However the musician is not calling it an album but the latest full-length project from London’s Oscar Scheller is ‘HTTP404’. Despite the obscure title the album this release is characterised by the incisive and witty lyrics we have come to know and love from Scheller and backed by melodies that will be jammed in your head all day long, ‘HTTP404’ is a honest to goodness 100% rush of smart, pop magic.

Since his debut full-length, ‘Cut & Paste’, Oscar has been very busy working as a writer and producer for other pop acts (Mae Muller, Lily Allen…). And as ably demonstrated by the two singles (‘1UP’ with Sarah Bonito and ‘Runaway’ with Tiffi) that have come since that debut, he has very clearly made a huge leap as both a songwriter and producer.

'HTTP404’ is a collection of 11 jaw-dropping pop songs, all bar one produced or co-produced by Oscar himself and all bar one collaborations with other musicians he has been working with or who he has been excited by on the scene (including Lily Allen, PAWWS, Vera Hotsauce, Jevon and Havelock, amongst others). The set of songs focuses on the importance of searching for something that no longer exists, not finding what you’re looking for. It’s philosophical and existential in places but there’s an underlying message across the board to stop thinking about things so much and just start living. Gone are the guitars that characterized his earlier sound and now in their place we find synths, samples and programming that pull the work of Oscar Scheller right into the zeitgeist.

Characterised by the incisive and witty lyrics we have come to know and love from Scheller and backed by melodies that will be jammed in your head all day long, ‘HTTP404’ is a rush of smart, pop magic.

Label Review. 

2019 album also available on CD.

Our Overview. 

American indie band Big Thief had only just finished work on their third album, ‘U.F.O.F.’ - “the celestial twin” - days before in a cabin studio in the woods of Washington State. Now it was time to birth ‘U.F.O.F.’s sister album - “the earth twin” - ‘Two Hands’. With raw power and intimacy, ‘Two Hands’ folds itself gracefully into Big Thief’s impressive discography. This body of work grows deeper and more inspiring with each new album.

30 miles west of El Paso, surrounded by 3,000 acres of pecan orchards and only a stone’s throw from the Mexican border, Big Thief (aka Adrianne Lenker, Buck Meek, Max Oleartchik and James Krivchenia) set up their instruments as close together as possible to capture their most important collection of songs yet.

Where ‘U.F.O.F.’ layered mysterious sounds and effects for levitation, ‘Two Hands’ grounds itself on dried-out, cracked desert dirt. In sharp contrast to the wet environment of the ‘U.F.O.F.’ session, the southwestern Sonic Ranch studio was chosen for its vast desert location. The 105-degree weather boiled away any clinging memories of the green trees and wet air of the previous session.

‘Two Hands’ had to be completely different - an album about the Earth and the bones beneath it. The songs were recorded live with almost no overdubs. All but two songs feature entirely live vocal takes, leaving Adrianne’s voice suspended above the mix in dry air, raw and vulnerable as ever.

Label Review.

2019 album. Rock.

Our Overview.

Molly Drag, the solo project of Michael Charles Hansford, started in Autumn of 2014. Encouraged by dear friends and driven by a desire for expression through music and the hope to create emotionally connecting and healing art, Hansford began releasing music online as Molly Drag. And now has just announced his forthcoming new studio album ’Touchstone’.

Each release is self-created, recorded and produced and is an act of honest, and often raw expression; a true catharsis for artist themself and listener alike. The music of Molly Drag creates a sense of wistful longing, heartache and noble beauty; like exploring the rooms of your childhood home, long since abandoned, light timidly filtering through dust-covered windows, illuminating all the memories that once filled its walls.

Molly Drag on ’Touchstone’: “While I was recording this album I started thinking about my hometown a lot, the small places within, the parks where I would smoke with my friends after school, the water that surrounded us always. I then contacted my high-school art teacher Ila who was an immense mentor for me, we rekindled our friendship.

"She said that I was always one of her “touchstone” students, immediately I asked her if I could use one of her paintings as the album cover. She said yes, and I also knew that it needed to be called touchstone. This album really is about growing up and how my great role models and teachers were the 3 women that taught me love, but also strength. This album is for my Mother, My Grandmother, and Ila... my art teacher.” Molly Drag

Label Review. 

2019 album. Reggae / Dub. Also available on CD.

Our Overview. 

By day Mike Pelanconi is a sought after recording engineer and by night the British record producer becomes ‘Prince Fatty”. Renowned for flexing his studio muscle with some of the freshest and versatile dub sounds around, Prince Fatty’s blending old-school reggae with his own eccentric, futuristic twist, have turned industry heads for decades and ‘In the Viper’s Shadow’ is no exception. This album is 10 tracks of reggae goodness, produced to perfection in a melting pot of influences that span from multiple eras and stretch to just about every corner of the planet. 

After dropping ‘The Clone Theory’ in 2015 production connoisseur Prince Fatty has been paving the way for something very special ever since. 2019 sees him release his second solo album ‘In the Viper’s Shadow’. Featuring a whole host of reggae and dub royalty, this project boasts a who’s who of global talent including the likes of Cornell Campbell, Tippa Irie, Big Youth, George Dekker, Shniece McMenamin, Earl 16, Winston Francis, Marcia Griffith and Horseman.

Prince Fatty has worked with everyone from Lily Allen, Hollie Cook, Graham Coxon (Blur), Mungo’s HiFi, The Last Poets, The Skints, Gregory Isaacs to name a few. After moving from Brighton to live in Sao Paulo, Los Angeles and Thailand, he’s taken inspirational sounds from across the globe and has built up a reputation of being one of the go-to producers of recent times. With a knack for selecting the perfect collaborators, whether it’s an up and coming artist or a genre-defining hero, his ability to showcase foundation laying percussion skills, mesmerising vocalists, bass-heavy triumphs and everything in between has resulted in some of the most expressive sounds around, and ‘In The Viper’s Shadow’ is the perfect example of his commitment to the cause.

Blending old-school reggae with his own eccentric, futuristic twist, Prince Fatty hasn’t taken his foot off the gas this year. He produced an exclusive Record Store Day release with Earl 16 and gave The Last Poets’ ‘Understand What Black Is’ a complete dub overhaul; the latter received praise from Record Collector, Uncut, The Arts Desk, DJ Mag, Long Live Vinyl and many more. Kickstarting the summer, he released the first single from this album ‘Get Ready Ft Big Youth & George Dekker.’ The Smokey Robinson cover received spins from David Rodigan (BBC 1 XTRA), Ed Adoo (BBC Three Counties) and was described as the “gold standard of dub production” from Rootfire.

Label Review.

2019 album. Jazz.

Our Overview.

Nearing 25 years as an ensemble, Los Guachos is Argentine pianist and composer Guillermo Klein’s favoured vehicle for presenting his unique compositional and arranging style.

The group’s roster remains unchanged and represents an astounding aggregation of the very best musicians in jazz, including saxophonists Miguel Zenon, Bill McHenry and Chris Cheek, trumpeters Diego Urcola and Taylor Haskins, trombonist Sandro Tomasi, guitarist Ben Monder, electric bassist Fernando Huergo, drummer Jeff Ballard, percussionist/trumpeter Richard Nant and Klein, himself, on piano and vocals.

Klein’s musical intent for ‘Cristal’ was to provide compositions that had clear melodic statements while implying forward motion using scattered melodic cells. The pieces should also feel good to play, something that Los Guachos can do with its ability to make Klein’s rhythmic puzzles really groove. Along with his own tunes, Klein referred to a number of pieces that were heard regularly around his home as he grew up, namely the strident melodies of tango composers Carlos Gardel and Alfredo Le Pera. The recording has an over-arching design, akin to a suite.

Label Review.

2019 album. Acoustic Soul-Folk and electronic R&B. Also available on Vinyl.

Our Overview.

Mariama was born in Sierra Leone but raised in Germany. ‘Love, Sweat And Tears’ is her second album and is inspired by her travels throughout Europe and Africa. Part of an ongoing search for artistic freedom and independence, the record’s fourteen songs create a beautiful sonic excursion, shifting from soft and melancholic melodies to vibrant, danceable songs that encompass acoustic Soul-Folk and electronic R&B.

Mariama is currently based in Paris and met most of the musicians who play on the album in the city, including drummer Georges Diémé (also a master of percussion instruments such as cajon, congas and udu), Abdoulaye Kouyaté (kora and guitar), Jean-Baptiste Soulard (keyboards and synthesizer), Wendy Milton (piano) and bassist Hilaire Penda (who has played on albums by Susheela Raman, Tony Allen, Salif Keita, Youssou N’dour and more). Additional contributing musicians include guitarist Sékou Bembeya (a living legend of Guinean musical heritage and also known as Diamond Fingers), Ballaké Sissoko (kora), Vincent Ségal (cello), German singer Soufian Tsunami (featured on the song ‘Never Mind’) and Berlin based beatmaker and pianist Jim Dunloop, who worked on two songs.

Label Review. 

2019 album. Deluxe book style package. Also available on vinyl. 

Our Overview. 

Robbie Robertson, distinguished solo artist, producer and former member of Americana pioneers The Band, will release ‘Sinematic’, his first album in eight years which he produced himself. It promises “an enthralling set of songs exploring the darker corridors of human nature.” The album draws inspiration in part from Robertson’s recent film score writing and recording for the much-anticipated crime epic ‘The Irishman’, directed by Martin Scorsese. It’s also inspired by the upcoming feature documentary ‘Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band’, based on his bestselling 2016 memoir, ‘Testimony’.

The opening track “I Hear You Paint Houses”, is a duet with Robertson’s longtime kindred spirit Van Morrison. The song is about the confessed hitman Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran and takes its title from the mob slang for hiring a hitman, as in spattering walls with blood. Robertson’s opening line “Shall we take a little spin/To the dark side of town?” sets the scene for an album addressing stories of villainy, vice, destruction and despair. Says Robertson: “I was working on music for The Irishman and working on the documentary, and these things were bleeding into each other. I could see a path. Ideas for songs about haunting and violent and beautiful things were swirling together like a movie. You follow that sound and it all starts to take shape right in front of your ears. At some point, I started referring to it as ‘Peckinpah Rock,’” he notes, in reference to the late film director Sam Peckinpah.

Highlights include “Dead End Kid”, on which Robertson recalls the challenges he faced as a young man who was a member of a First Nation and Jewish gangster family; “Shanghai Blues”, which addresses China’s notorious Green Gang mobster Du Yuesheng; the moody “Street Serenade”, described by Robertson as a “sinphony”; and the edgy, electronic “The Shadow”, which pays homage to Orson Welles’ entrancing radio crime drama of that name, which ran from 1937 to 1954.

There are some other notable guest appearances on the album, with further vocals by Glen Hansard, Citizen Cope, J.S. Ondara and Laura Satterfield; contributions by musicians Jim Keltner, Derek Trucks, Frédéric Yonnet and Doyle Bramhall II; and producer Howie B, who adds electronic textures to several tracks. The songs, and their stories, are narrated by Robertson in his distinctive tones, largely accompanied by bassist Pino Palladino (John Mayer Trio, The Who), drummer Chris Dave (D’Angelo, Adele) and keyboardist Martin Pradler, who also mixed the album. Afie Jurvanen provides guitar and backing vocals with vocalist Felicity Williams, a regular collaborator with Jurvanen in his band Bahamas.

Label Review.

2019 album. Soul/funk.

Our Overview.

Tom McGuire and the Brassholes make music which takes inspiration from classic 70s funk and soul, and proponents of the modern funk movement such as Vulfpeck and Snarky Puppy. It is however so much more that simple revivalism. It combines strong musicianship, musicality and groove with thoughtful meaningful songcraft. Tom McGuire & The Brassholes are an eclectic, modern-soul-funk, 8 piece band from Glasgow, Scotland and are releasing their self-titled debut on their own Slug Recordings Label. Headed by keen skater, lumberjack-attired soul bearer, Tom McGuire, the funky collective of “killer animals from hell”, consists of a colourful, hilarious bunch of wonderfully talented, animated young men.

“Funk” is often (perhaps fairly) considered as music which provides a distinct stylistic texture and a platform for strong musicianship, but no real substance. Similarly, music in which musicianship is at the forefront can be exclusive and alienating, holding appeal to fellow musos only, to the lament of those who look for more. Tom McGuire and the Brassholes provide more. There are grooves here, there is filthy get-down debt-to-James-Brown funk here, there is frivolous good-time dancing music here, but there is also a man's soul and story, laid bare, heart on sleeve themes that have relatable emotional power for those who wish to dig into it. There are no blatant cliches here about dancing or getting it on or being in clubs. Instead there is clever lyricism and heartbroken storytelling in the vein of Tom Waits or Nick Cave.

The band consists of some of the greatest young talents of the Glasgow scene and the musicianship is indeed strong. The grooves are supplemented by top of the game arrangements. Collaboratively written, they put a spotlight on the individual players, allowing their characteristics and personalities to shine through. This is not simply a faceless band backing up a singer, all elements are integral.

There is thematic consistency and a broad narrative that runs through the record. At its most lofty, it tells a story of being lost in a world devoid of meaning and eventual convalescence through love and realisation of what it means to live in the moment; an exploration of what it is to be alive. The vehicle for this is the visceral, unintelectulaisable power of the groove and the pure unadulterated honest direct delivery of soul. It stands as a cohesive whole, but also as a variety of exciting individual pieces of filthy barnstorming funk from hell.

Says frontman Tom “A terrifying, radical leap of a life decision precipitated the making of this album. I abandoned the significantly more sensible and secure path I had set out for myself in order to finally dedicate all of my energies to my own music. Very aware of what I have sacrificed to be able to do it, I have made every possible effort to ensure that it is the best that it can be. For once I find myself where I'm supposed to be. What a soul singer must do is absolutely channel every bit of his life and experience into his voice and the song and that's what I have done here. This record has substance in that it is not simply a recording of songs, but also a version of myself, from a time that can not be repeated.”

Label Review. 

The Complete Transatlantic Recordings 1969-71. 

Our Overview. 

Whether recording as a solo performer, a member of Stealers Wheel or as one half of The Humblebums (the other half, being Billy Connolly), the late Gerry Rafferty was always a master craftsman, leaving behind a dazzling portfolio of songs headed by huge hits “Stuck In The Middle With You” and the equally timeless “Baker Street”. Although early success eluded him, it was during his time with the nominally folk-oriented Transatlantic label that Gerry learnt his craft, sharing space with Connolly on two Humblebums albums before the superb 1971 solo set ‘Can I Have My Money Back?’

In addition to every album track, stray B-side and remixed single, we’ve added a cache of previously-unreleased songs and alternative versions (including two early versions of “Who Cares”, a song that would later turn up in substantially different format on the second Stealers Wheel LP) taken from a bunch of multi-track masters that have been gathering dust in Transatlantic’s archives for the last fifty years.

With a host of hitherto-unheard songs and performances, the first-ever complete reissue of ‘Can I Have My Money Back?’ (previous attempts have substituted an unauthorised overdubbed “Mary Skeffington” in place of the original, far superior album version), ‘Who Knows What The Day Will Bring?’ is nothing less than a complete, unexpurgated document of Rafferty’s adventures in the recording studio between 1969 and 1971, with all tracks taken from the master tapes.

Label Review. 

2019 album. Blues Rock. Also available on CD.

Our Overview.

Since launching her recording career in 2009 Kansa artist Samantha Fish has quickly established herself as a rising star in the contemporary blues world. Samantha’s prodigious gifts as a genre-bending singer, songwriter, and electrifying guitarist have inspired tremendous acclaim from critics and her peers and have earned an abundance of awards for the young artist. The charismatic young American singer-guitarist-songwriter has earned a reputation as a rising guitar hero and powerful live performer, while releasing a series of acclaimed albums that have shown her restless creative spirit consistently taking her in new and exciting musical directions. Now, with ‘Kill Or Be Kind’, Fish is poised for a major breakthrough. 

Anyone who has ever heard Fish’s previous albums knows that she has earned a place in the top rank of contemporary blues guitarists and that her voice can wring the soul out of a ballad and belt out a rocker with roof-shaking force. And, rest reassured, those virtues are fully in evidence on ‘Kill or Be Kind’. But each of the songs on the album does far more than simply provide a setting for Fish’s pyrotechnics. They tell captivating stories, set up by verses that deftly set the scene, choruses that lift with real feeling, and hooks that later rise up in your thoughts, even when you’re not aware that you’re thinking of music at all. It’s the kind of songwriting that emerges when raw talent is leavened by experience and aspiration, and when a committed artist genuinely has something to say. Those qualities make ‘Kill or Be Kind’ a genuine artistic breakthrough for Fish.

“That was my mission on this album: To really set these songs up so that they have a life of their own,” says Samantha Fish about ‘Kill or Be Kind’, her sixth solo album and her debut on Rounder Records. “Strong messages from the heart – that’s what I really set out for.” Indeed, what comes across immediately on hearing the album is the extraordinary level of songcraft on its eleven tracks, the way these songs are so smartly put together to deliver a potent emotional impact.

“I think I’ve grown as a performer and as a player,” she explains. “I’ve become more respectful of the melody. You can go up and down the fret board and up and down your vocal register, but that’s not going to be as powerful as conveying a simple melody that people can really connect to and sing themselves.” To help bring those elements to her music, Fish sought out high-quality songwriting collaborators – the likes of Jim McCormick (who has worked with Fish before and also written for Luke Bryan and Keith Urban); Kate Pearlman (who has worked with Kelly Clarkson); Patrick Sweeney; Parker Millsap; and Eric McFadden. The result is an album on which each song is distinct, but the complete work hangs together as a coherent, entirely satisfying statement. “When you get to this point in your life as an artist,” Fish says, “it’s good to work with others, because it makes you stretch. I think you hear a lot of that nuance on the record, songs that have a pop sensibility to them, hooks that really pull you in.”

The edgy roots music album was recorded at Royal Studios in Memphis and produced by three-time Grammy winner Scott Billington and mixed by two-time Grammy winner Steve Reynolds. Boasting 11 original songs ranging from the Mississippi technostomp of “Bulletproof” (played on cigar box guitar) to the sweet Memphis R&B of “Trying Not To Fall in Love With You,” the album features co-writes with Jim McCormack, Eric McFadden, Parker Millsap, Katie Pearlman, and Patrick Sweany and is sure to establish Fish as a potent force in roots music. 

The New York Times called Fish “an impressive blues guitarist who sings with sweet power” and “one of the genre’s most promising young talents.” Her hometown paper The Kansas City Star noted, “Samantha Fish has kicked down the door of the patriarchal blues club” and observed that the young artist “displays more imagination and creativity than some blues veterans exhibit over the course of their careers.”

Label Review. 

2019 album. Fun funky & fresh! Features Alison Limerick. Also available on CD.

Our Overview. 

Since 1993 Brooklyn Funk Essentials have been fusing soul, hip hop, spoken word, jazz and, of course, funk for 25 years and over 6 albums, the most recent release being the spectacular ‘Stay Good’. During this time they have made a name for themselves as electric performers, exhilarating their loyal and broad fanbase with performances on every continent. Made up of musicians, singers and poets from around the globe, the group is an all-star-team famously mixing styles like soul, jazz, latin and house - all rolled into one ferocious funk fest. If it grooves, they will funk it!

Following 2015’s reunion with Dorado and the success of ‘Funk Ain’t Ova’, the bands new album ‘Stay Good’, a fun, funky and fresh collection of tracks featuring throughout are the powerful and soulful vocals of Alison Limerick, now a full time member of the band. Lati wrote and produced her debut hit ‘Where Love Lives’. They begin a European tour in September and visit the Americas early next year.

Established in the early ‘90s by Arthur Baker and Lati Kronlund, Brooklyn Funk Essentials were regulars of New York’s vibrant club scene when their debut album, ‘Cool & Steady & Easy’, hit the shelves. Released by pioneering funk and electronic taste-makers Dorado Records and combining classic funk’s raw, mind-bending basslines, peak-era disco’s euphoric vocals and early hip-hop’s observational lyricism, the album and its follow up, ‘Make Em Like It’ topped charts around the world.

BFE have released five other studio albums, that along with massive critical praise, have earned them Grammy nominations and ‘Album Of The Year’ acclaim. Their songs have also been used in several films and TV-shows, such as ‘Starsky & Hutch’, ‘The Sopranos’, ‘The Blacklist’ and ‘The Basketball Diaries’. But perhaps most notably, their amazing live shows have given them a worldwide loyal fan-base.

Label Review.

2019 album. Produced by Tony Visconti.

Our Overview.

Influential multi-dimensional folk guitarist and singer-songwriter Ralph McTell is two years into his sixth decade as a recording artist, Ralph McTell releases his new album Hill Of Beans. 74, Kent born, Croydon raised, much travelled & unassuming, Ralph remains an English musical legend. Known for his virtuoso guitar style, he is a prolific and gifted songwriter. With a style that invites you into a unique world, he weaves a narrative that is both significant and poignant. In the time honoured fashion of an artist who has always defined his own artistic terms, ‘Hill Of Beans’ is a work of grace; experience and learning, natural poise, deep substance, the core of its harmonic and melodic riches contained in voice, songs and six stringed guitar glory.

His first album of originals since 2010’s acclaimed ‘Somewhere Down The Road’, ‘Hill of Beans’ reunites McTell with producer Tony Visconti, who was there right at the start of McTell’s recording career. The latter day reconnection came after a chance meeting in London earlier this decade. “It was just lovely to see him,” reflects McTell.

“One day I’m at home and the email arrived, it said, “Dear Ralph, I’m working with that old reprobate, you remember him?” Visconti was referring to David Bowie - a figure who looms as large in the producer’s career, as the song “Streets Of London”does in McTell’s. ‘Hill Of Beans’ contain 11 tracks - Visconti’s production has allowed McTell to find the measure of songs gathered from the past 10 years but including one written in 1978, another in 1988.

“Tony is a wonderful producer, he treats all his artists with the same consideration, courtesy and respect’ says Ralph, sounding like a well satisfied man. As he ought to.

Ralph has influenced hundreds of folk singers in Great Britain, Europe, and the U.S. Fortunately, people in the U.S. and Europe are beginning to connect to his vast body of excellent original work, and not just "Streets," which has been recorded more than 200 times by artists as diverse as Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, and even the angry punk group Anti-Nowhere League, and is still McTell's most requested song.

“British Folk legend reunited with producer Tony Visconti…The beguiling ‘Hill of Beans’ finds McTell in authoritative form throughout, offering sage narratives and poignant memories” Uncut

Label Review. 

2019 album. Also available on CD, Deluxe CD, and a Box set. 

Our Overview. 

For several years, UK based pop rock outfit Keane ruled the airwaves and the charts with their melodic and introspective songs. After a ‘Best Of’ collection in 2013, the group went on hiatus as lead singer Tom Chaplin embarked on a solo career. The birth of this new album came as something of a surprise even to the band. Chaplin missed his old sparring partner Tim Rice-Oxley. “I found myself wondering how I had come to let this very enigmatic and important relationship in my life drift,” Tom says.

Meanwhile Tim found his life falling apart and from the ashes had written an album’s worth of incredibly personal songs fuelled by humour as well as pain. When Tom, bassist Jesse Quin and drummer Richard Hughes heard the songs, they were immediately drawn to them both sonically and lyrically.

“‘Hopes and Fears’ [their debut album] was a break-up album too, but it was about a break-up when I was 19,” Tim explains. “It’s a bit different when you’re older and you’ve got kids – your whole little world shifts on its axis.” First single, ‘The Way I Feel’, like the other ten tracks on ‘Cause and Effect’, is an emotional and remarkable slice of life, and reminiscent of the very best of Keane. It’s an exciting period for one of the country’s best bands and a very welcome return.

Label Review.

Early singles pre-Atlantic Records and live concert recordings. This new retrospective includes rarities from the Rex, Ace, Crazy Cajun labels, and rare live band and solo performances of Dr. John's greatest hits.

Our Overview.

2019 Release featuring the indomitable legend Mac Rebennack aka. Dr. John’s early singles pre-Atlantic Records and live concert recordings previously unreleased in North American and Japan. Known for music that was spiced with his gravelly vocals, mixed with a gumbo of blues, R&B, rock and with a bit of New Orleans voodoo thrown in for good measure Dr John was a one off. This new retrospective includes rarities from the Rex, Ace, Crazy Cajun labels, and rare live band and solo performances of Dr. John’s greatest hits. A treat for fans old and new.

Born Malcolm John ‘Mac’ Rebennack, he learned piano and guitar as a child. As a musician, he was schooled by local legends like Walter ‘Papoose’ Nelson (Professor Longhair’s guitarist), guitarist Roy Montrell, keyboardist James Booker and Cosimo Matassa (whose J&M Studio was the hub of the city’s recording scene). Rebennack became one of the first white session men on the local scene. Working in L.A. with producer Harold Battiste, a fellow Crescent City expatriate, he created the character of Dr. John the Night Tripper, a voodoo sorcerer and healer. His first album, ‘Gris-Gris’, masterfully evoked the mystical spirit of back-alley voodoo in a musical setting of otherworldly ‘N’Awlins’ swamp funk. It meshed perfectly with the age of psychedelia in which it was released.