Label Review.

2019 album also available on Vinyl.

Our Overview.

Argentinian vocal trio Fémina are releasing their new album ‘Perlas & Conchas’ and the group have honed their sound around close harmonies, merging soulful, swung hip-hop with traditional Latin folk rhythms, moving seamlessly between Spanish rap and intoxicating melodies. The album was produced by UK musician and producer Quantic, who has spent much of the last decade in Colombia and the first album created in his new Selva Studios space in New York which also features Iggy Pop.

Fémina channels blissed out, harmony-soaked soul music with a purpose. Lyrically poignant with hip hop and Latin influences, 'Perlas & Conchas' is the group's third album proper and unlike previous long players, is primarily an electronic statement.Made up of Clara Miglioli and the two Trucco sisters, Sofia and Clara, the group's roots are in San Martín de los Andes in the Patagonian mountains, where they grew up together sharing a love of '90s hip-hop imported from the US - as well as the occasional Spanish-speaking rapper from Mexico or Spain. They took a musical side-step when Clara Trucco joined, and began drawing more from vocal harmonies and playing live instruments - a process that led them toward their unique style: a combination of soul, hip-hop and traditional Latin American music. The title "Perlas & Conchas" translates to 'Pearls and Shells', a reference to the process through which a pearl is created: a speck of dirt, encased in a shell, turned into an object of wonder. They want to do the same thing with their music: to take dark, difficult situations and turn them into positivity.

Label Review. 

2019 album. Also available on CD. 

Our Overview. 

Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons have been together for 30 years but it wasn't until 1992 that they began in earnest, initially Djing as 'The Dust Brothers' but soon turned to producing their own instrumental tracks to insert into their sets. They were spotted by the Junior Boy's Own label who released their first single "Song To The Siren" in 1993. As well as building their own repertoire, they remixed other artists and quickly made a name for themselves. They probably knew they had made it when the original Dust Brothers (a us production team who masterminded the Beastie Boys second album 'Paul's Boutique') requested they change their name. And thus the Chemical Brothers were born. A deal with Virgin Records saw their debut album 'Exit Planet Dust' released in 1995 and by the time of their second album 'Dig Your Own Hole', they had scored back to back UK Number 1's and every studio album since then has also made Number One!

To realise their ninth album 'No Geography', The Chemical Brothers built tracks vocal samples; voices were wound tightly into music that Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons found themselves following wherever it led them. Snatches of dialogue from the late ’60s experimental Dial-A-Poem project were chosen that reflected the mood in the studio. Songs were road tested in front of audiences as part of the 2018 live set (which took in two shows at Alexandra Palace – the band’s biggest UK headline shows to date) and honed in regular DJ sets the world over.

'No Geography' features "Free Yourself" and "MAH" (described as “a short & bloody ride into our modern media psychosis” by The Guardian) in addition to "Got To Keep On". Several of the tracks on 'No Geography' feature vocals by Norwegian singer/songwriter Aurora who wrote and recorded parts in the band’s studio in close collaboration with the band. Japanese rapper Nene features on the record’s opening cut "Eve of Destruction".

Label Review.

2019 album also available on Vinyl.

Our Overview.

The Briefs have announced their much awaited album ‘Platinum Rats’ - 12 tracks of pure punk rock pandemonium, it will not disappoint! - which is the bands fifth and their first since 2005’s ’Steal Ya Heart’. The fall of 2000 was a time of innocence. Clinton was President. The Twin Towers were still standing. And Bob Seger still had his dignity. Then the Briefs burst onto the scene like a neutron bomb with the audaciously titled “Hit After Hit” and the punk rock landscape was changed forever. They have so much energy, it’s hard to believe they’re from Seattle, the city that put lattes and flannel on the map. The Briefs still make Seattle their home, but they’ve come a long way since their debut record, and they’re still cranking out hits. One of the hardest working bands in America. They’ll play any time, anywhere!

Their ’77-style pop punk is loud, raucous and fierce, yet cohesive and hooky and hilarious. The Briefs are like a team of Chinese acrobats falling down the stairs on purpose. And when I say “pop” I mean popular in the broadest sense possible. The fifteen year-old mall hottie is a fan, but so is the 40 year-old stalwart with the pristine Undertones collection. Sure The Briefs wear their influences on their sleeve – Adverts, Buzzcocks, Weirdos to name just a few -- but they cop to them like junkies caught tying off in the alley with a skinny tie. They can’t help it. It’s in their blood. Listen you’ll understand. The groove is familiar but they’ve got a sound that’s all their own and uniquely unique.

Label Review. 

2019 album. Also available on CD. 

Our Overview. 

Less than a year after their last album ‘Performance’, the ever-prolific White Denim are back with their eighth record ‘Side Effects’. More in line with the experimental, freewheeling spirit of their fan-favorite record ‘Last Day of Summer’ than anything else they’ve done since, ‘Side Effects’ is a record that captures the essence of the band’s full-throttle live shows. Featuring a rotating cast of band members led by James Petralli and Steve Terebecki, these tracks draw on the sounds of different personnel to create a cohesive whole – the result being an album that’s as varied and vivacious as anything they’ve ever done.

If you’re coming back to White Denim after a few years away, ‘Side Effects’ most likely picks up exactly where you left off: a record showcasing a hugely energetic band bursting at the seams. And if you never checked out, then ‘Side Effects’ is instead a wholly rewarding record – one that celebrates every form of White Denim to date and sets the stage for a brand-new chapter.

Label Review. 

2019 album also available on CD.

Our Overview. 

The Rockingbirds - London’s alt country pioneers - have announced the release of their fourth album ‘More Rockingbirds’. Following their last album, the critically acclaimed ‘The Return Of The Rockingbirds’ in 2013, ‘More Rockingbirds’ is their first to include new members, multi-instrumentalist Patrick Ralla and drummer Stephen Gilchrist. Recorded in Hackney in Sean Read’s own Famous Times Studios the album was produced by Sean with assistance from Gem Archer.

All the songs were written by singer Alan Tyler when he was living on a boat off the River Thames on the tidal Deptford Creek. Some of the songs are clearly influenced by the urban, yet watery surroundings. Elsewhere on the album you will find their usual strident country rockers, featuring a vast array of instruments, from guitars, pedal steel and banjos to trumpets and trombones, all of which were played by various members of the band.

They will launching the album with a live appearance at the Ramblin’ Roots Revue Americana Festival on the 13th April 2019.

Label Review. 

2019 album. Also available on vinyl. 

Our Overview. 

English folk royalty meets Australian soul in this new collaboration between Marry Waterson and Emily Barker; an album of fly-on-the-wall observations of the contradictions and disconnections of modern life.

No strangers to collaboration, Waterson and Barker discovered an immediate kinship when they started writing together. The intriguing combination of Waterson’s poetic lyrics and Barker’s eclectic musicality has been shaped in the studio by musical polymath Adem Ilhan, with recording contributions from two of Barker’s live live band: Lukas Drinkwater (bass and guitar) and Rob Pemberton (drums). Serendipity worked her magic in bringing Waterson, Barker and Adem together. Their first meeting was at a songwriting retreat run by Waterson’s One Little Indian labelmate, Kathryn Williams. Three songs from that retreat formed the kernel of what was to become a full album. “It came very easily. I think we were meant to meet.” says Waterson of that first encounter.

With no self-imposed restrictions on musical direction, the studio sessions allowed the songs to take their own path, roaming from the sub-3-minute indie-pop of “Perfect Needs” via the sparse jazz-blues of “Trick of the Light” to the epic alt-folk of “All Is Well”. “Little Hits of Dopamine” took shape when Lukas introduced the trippy double bass groove that underpins the whole track, and the album is liberally smattered with Adem’s lavish string arrangements and ingenious electronica.

The resulting collection of songs pushes the boundaries of Barker and Waterson’s renowned roots styles, venturing into a diverse union of genres – contemporary folk, country and soul nestle comfortably alongside lilting indie and playful blues. ‘A Window To Other Ways’ is the product of two revered musicians embarking upon an exciting, explorative journey, and a charmed collaboration.

Label Review. 

Reggae from the 1980s/90s. General Levy / Laurel & Hardy / Cutty Ranks feat. Asher Senator / Top Cat / Dee Sharp / Papa Face. Soul Jazz Records. Also available on CD.

Our Overview. 

London based label Soul Jazz Records are releasing ‘Fashion Records: Style & Fashion’ a new collection of music from the great Fashion Records, one of the most important and iconic independent reggae labels to come out of the UK, running from 1980 for nearly 20 years. In that time Fashion released hundreds of records that successfully reflected - and indeed set - the changing styles and perspectives of reggae music in the UK, from UK dancehall and lovers rock in the 1980s through to the mighty rise of jungle in the second half of the 1990s.

While nearly all other UK reggae labels focused on releasing Jamaican music, from the early days of Island and Trojan in the 1960s, through Island and Virgin in the 1970s and Greensleeves that came up in the 1980s, Fashion’s focus was firmly on music produced in the UK. This unique British perspective shaped both lyrical content and musical fashion. And like all the great music labels, from Studio One to Blue Note, Fashion was able to create a significant roster of its own artists.

Amazingly for a small independent label, a number of Fashion artists achieved mainstream UK chart and crossover success, including Laurel & Hardy, Smiley Culture and General Levy. But although this success was welcomed, crossing over into the mainstream was never the main focus for label owners Chris Lane and John McGillivray (who also runs the successful Dub Vendor record shop), whose starting point was always primarily focused on producing quality music first.

In the early 1980s, Fashion Records captured the rise of the emerging British dancehall scene in its ascendency. The large roster of first generation British-born artists and MCs on the label, including General Levy, Papa Face, Smiley Culture, Bionic Rhona, Asher Senator, Laurel & Hardy, Top Cat and many more, often gave a unique and sometimes humorous British lyrical perspective to Fashion releases, discussing everyday subjects, from police harassment to road safety.

Throughout much of the 1980s and into the 1990s Fashion continued to release an almost relentless array of UK dancehall releases as well as continuing with lovers rock and the occasional dub releases. Then, in the mid-90s, with the dancehall and reggae releases still coming on strong, Fashion released a superb series of early jungle tracks linking Jamaican and British MCs and dancehall artists with young jungle mixers, remixers and producers. By this time dancehall artists General Levy and Cutty Ranks had become the staple vocal samples of literally hundreds of white label jungle records and Fashion took advantage of this, often getting young producers to work in exchange for sample clearances.

This album is a subjective and scatter-gun ride through some of the many unique and heavyweight tracks to come out of the Fashion stable - some classics, some lesser-known, all 100% killer.

The album is released as a deluxe double CD with outsize booklet and slipcase, heavyweight triple vinyl (with digital download code) and digital download album. 

The album comes with extensive sleevenotes, interviews, exclusive photography and original artwork and flyers.

Fashion Soundsystem live show in Sounds Of The Universe with the founders plus MCsincluding Asher Senator and Papa Face.

Tracklisting

1. Papa Face featuring Red Man - Dance Pon De Corner

2. Dee Sharp - Let’s Dub It Up

3. Cutty Ranks - Limb By Limb (DJ SS Remix)

4. General Levy - Mad Them

5. Laurel & Hardy - You’re Nicked

6. Bunny General - Played By This Ya Sound

7. General Levy & Hard ‘n’ Pure - Wikkeda!!

8. Carlton Lewis - Small Talking

9. Poison Chang - Shot Fe Bust (Marvellous Cain Remix)

10. Dee Sharp - Rising To The Top

11. Papa Face With Keith Douglas - DJ Jamboree

12. General Levy - Heat

13. Carlton Lewis - Sweet Soul Rocking

14. Top Cat - Ruffest Gun Ark (DJ Rap Mix)

15. Papa San - DJ Business

16. Papa Face & Bionic Rhona - To The Bump

17. Cutty Ranks - As You See It

18. Janice Walker - You’ll Never Need Somebody

19. Asher Senator - Bubble With I

Label Review.

2019 album also available on Vinyl.

Our Overview.

‘All Time Present’ is the new album from Chris Forsyth a lauded guitarist and bandleader whose widescreen art-rock, fusing taut compositions and mercurial improvisations, has earned him a reputation as one of the most distinctive and critically acclaimed guitarists working today. Pitchfork called his music “a near-perfect balance between 70s rock tradition and present day experimentation,” NPR Music named Forsyth “one of rock’s most lyrical guitar improvisors,” and the New York Times calls him “a scrappy and mystical historian… His music humanizes the element of control in rock classicism (and) turns it into a woolly but disciplined ritual.”  

The annals of music history are over flowing with gifted guitar players whose egos prevented them from reaching their full potential: rather than being content to be exceptional members of a band, they instead create unexceptional records as leaders in vain attempts to prove their worth as solo artists. Guitarist-songwriter-bandleader Chris Forsyth is the rare exception that proves the rule. Rightfully but somewhat reductively known as a guitar player par excellence, one listen to Forsyth's latest double album, ‘All Time Present’, reveals that while his dazzling musicianship can always be taken for granted, it's hardly the whole story.

Forsyth's albums-presented with his Solar Motel Band or nominally solo, as here-have always been evidence of a musical mind brimming with ideas. Forsyth is joined on ‘All Time Present’ by bassist Peter Kerlin and multi-instrumentalist Shawn Edward Hansen, both longtime foils; new to the group is Ryan Jewell, a sublimely talented drummer whose musicality is seemingly bottomless. With this group, Forsyth is at the peak of his powers.

‘All Time Present’ is the rare double album that goes by in a ash. Indeed, one of Forsyth's greatest strengths as a composer and bandleader is his consistent ability to sustain interest even when at his most brazenly improvisational: he drifts, but he never meanders. On All Time Present, Forsyth's particular drift is like that of a proverbial wall flower with a sudden surge of unselfconscious courage: toward the dance floor.

Label Review. 

2019 album. Tribute to Fats Domino and Chuck Berry. Also available on CD.

Our Overview. 

The one and only Mr George Benson gets back to Americana basics on ‘Walking to New Orleans’, the jazz guitar legend's tribute to both piano-pounding hit machine Fats Domino and the original rock guitar hero and poet, Chuck Berry. ‘Walking to New Orleans’ is Benson's first recording since 2013's ‘Inspiration’: A Tribute to Nat King Cole, but it couldn’t be more different. Where Benson embellished Cole's cool tunes with lush orchestral arrangements, ‘Walking to New Orleans’ came about by hunkering down in a Music Row studio, with a quartet of first-call Nashville cats. This is Benson's 45th album, and few sound as loose-limbed and flat-out fun.

“I’m a great appreciator of the music made by both of those guys,” says Benson, who reanimates their genius with his signature soulful vocals and buttery solos. “Chuck Berry was a great showman and a great musician, and Fats Domino cut nothing but hit after hit after hit….We did have us a ball making this record”.

Label Review.

More demos from 1969: Space Oddity / Lover To The Dawn / Ching-A-Ling / Occasional Dream / Let Me Sleep Beside You / Life Is A Circus.

Our Overview.

Celebrating the phenomenal career of the rock legend David Bowie - and the 50th year since his first hit “Space Oddity” - hot on the heels of the recent release of ‘Spying Through A Keyhole’ collection, Parlophone is set to further commemorate this 50th anniversary with a 7″ vinyl singles boxed set of six home demos, four of which are previously unreleased recordings called ‘Clareville Grove Demos’ on May 17th. This set further documents the earliest stages of Bowie’s journey and development as an artist and songwriter.

Recorded in January of 1969 in Bowie’s flat in Clareville Grove, London, this live to tape demo session features him performing as a duo with John “Hutch” Hutchinson following the end of the Feathers trio which featured Bowie’s then girlfriend Hermione Farthingale.

The photography that adorns the box’s cover and the print inside is by Bowie’s then manager Ken Pitt and was taken in the Clareville Grove flat he had shared with Farthingale. Bowie’s short haired look was due to him filming his role in the movie The Virgin Soldiers and is reminiscent of the “Berlin era” look ten years later.

As with the ‘Spying Through A Keyhole’ vinyl singles boxed set, the design of each single label is presented to reflect the way Bowie sent many of his demos to publishers and record companies, featuring his own handwritten song titles on EMIDISC acetate labels. The singles themselves are all mono and play at 45 RPM.

Vinyl Tracklists:

1A: “Space Oddity” – Now featuring the final lyrics, this version of the demo first appeared on the long deleted Space Oddity 40th Anniversary 2 CD release, and is making it’s debut on vinyl and predates the February 2nd Morgan Studios recording that featured in the unbroadcast Love You Till Tuesday television film.

1B: “Lover To The Dawn” – This song aimed at a former lover would eventually morph into “Cygnet Committee” recorded for the David Bowie (aka Space Oddity) album later in the year.

2A: “Ching-a-Ling” – Previously recorded in October 1968 by the trio Turquoise featuring Bowie, Farthingale, and Tony Hill (who became Feathers when Hutchinson replaced Hill). Bowie and Hutchinson continued to perform the song as a duo following Farthingale’s departure.

2B: “An Occasional Dream” – Slightly different lyrically to the later album version, this version of the demo also first appeared on the deleted Space Oddity 40th Anniversary release.

3A: “Let Me Sleep Beside You” – A studio version was first recorded in September 1967 but remained unreleased until The World Of David Bowie album in 1970. The song was later recorded in session for the BBC in October 1969 and was one Bowie clearly believed in, recording it once more for the unreleased Toy album 30 years later. That version finally saw the light of day on the Nothing Has Changed 3 CD set in 2014.

3B: “Life Is A Circus” – A cover of an obscure song written by Roger Bunn recorded by vocal/instrumental quartet Djinn. Vocals are shared Simon and Garfunkel style by Bowie and Hutchinson.

Label Review.

2019 album also available in Vinyl.

Our Overview.

The Mekons - sonic adventurers, punk rock fundamentalists, exuberant luddites, willing outcasts - are back with the new album ‘Deserted’. It is their first formal studio album since 2011's ‘Ancient & Modern’. Emboldened by a sold-out tour and a surge of interest in the States after the release of the documentary Revenge of the Mekons, the Mekons retreated to the fringes of Joshua Tree National Park and popular culture to record their new album Deserted. Singer/guitarist Jon Langford said of the recording experience:

“There are deserts everywhere. We took time to ponder the vastness and the weirdness of the desert. Going to the country to get your head together is a ripe old rock cliché. We went to the desert to have our brains scoured… We went from one desert to another. A more hopeful place where we arm ourselves with spikes and endure.”

The genre-defying Mekons formed in Leeds, England in 1977, born form the emerging British punk scene. They progressed from socialist art students with no musical skills to the prolific, raucous progeny of Hank Williams. This current classic line-up has remained intact since the mid-1980s.  Theirs is an improbable history – a surprising and influential embrace of folk and country music; with occasional forays into the art world. Throughout their history, they have worked collaboratively and collectively with everything credited to the band, never to individuals. Their mind-boggling output consistently blurs the lines between high art and low and has included exhibitions in the UK and US, a deranged musical recorded and staged with Kathy Acker, an art performance with Vito Acconci, and several books including the unique art catalog/unfinished novel Mekons United. The mekons continue to make bold, unpredictable music while staying true to the punk ethos. Their mind-boggling output consistently blurs the lines between high art and low and they remain one of the truly great live bands. 

Label Review. 

2019 album also available in CD.

Our Overview. 

Weyes Blood, aka Natalie Mering releases her latest album ‘Titanic Rising’ a universe she designed to navigate through life’s mysteries. Natalie grew up singing in gospel and madrigal choirs. Listen closely to ‘Titanic Rising’ and you’ll also hear the jazz of Hoagy Carmichael mingle with the artful mysticism of Alejandro Jodorowsky and the monomyth of scholar Joseph Campbell. The album manoeuvres through a space time continuum, she plays the role of melodic, sometimes melancholic, anthropologist.

Tellingly, Mering classifies ‘Titanic Rising’ - written and recorded during the first half of 2018, after three albums and years of touring - as The Kinks meeting WWII or Bob Seger meets Enya. The latter captures the album’s wilful expansiveness “You can tell there’s not a guy pulling the strings in Enya’s studio,” she notes, admiringly. The former relays her imperative to connect with listeners. “The clarity of Bob Seger is unmistakable. I’m a big fan of conversational songwriting,” she adds. “I just try to do that in a way that uses abstract imagery as well.”

Weyes Blood’s observations play out in an ethereal saunter: far more meditative than cynical. To Mering, listening and thinking are concurrent experiences. “There are complicated influences mixed in with more relatable nostalgic melodies,” she says. “In my mind my music feels so big, a true production. I’m not a huge, popular artist, but I feel like one when I’m in the studio. But it’s never taking away from the music. I’m just making a bigger space for myself. 

CD in jacket with dust sleeve. LP in single-pocket jacket with custom dust sleeve and digital download coupon. Cassette with four-panel J-card in clear case.

Label Review.

2019 album of previously unreleased tracks. Also available in Vinyl.

Our Overview.

The awesome talent of legendary John Weldon Cale - aka JJ Cale - the American Grammy award winning singer-songwriter the originator of the Tulsa Sound and an artist who drew references from blues, rockabilly, country and jazz, whose influence was profound on so many artists he will be marked forever in the annals of music history. And none more so than in the release of ‘Stay Around’ the first posthumous release of works by the beloved songwriter and guitarist.

‘Stay Around’ was compiled by those closest to Cale – his widow, musician Christine Lakeland Cale, and friend and longtime manager, Mike Kappus. 

Discussing ‘Stay Around’ in the album’s liner notes, Christine writes, “It. Moves. Me. Takes me right to another place when I hear it. Another magical mood captured in his home studio in Valley Center.” 

For the first time in a decade, listeners will be moved by a new collection of unreleased Cale songs, a feat that’s possible due to Cale’s modus operandi: often Cale would reserve outtakes from one album for later release on another. In compiling Stay Around, Christine pored over songs, both studio and home recordings, that the public had never heard. The result is an album mixed and produced by Cale himself, left nearly untouched to leave, in Christine’s words, the “Cale Factor.” The only song not written by Cale is Christine’s “My Baby Blues,” the first song she and Cale cut as a four-piece combo in Bradley’s Barn studio in 1977, the year they met. 

Cale spent his career as an “under-the-radar-giant” (the New York Times) and influenced musicians as wide ranging as Neil Young (who wrote in his autobiography, “J. J.’s guitar playing is a huge influence on me. His touch is unspeakable. I am stunned by it.”); Beck (who, speaking to the L.A. Times, referred to his “effortlessness…restraint and underplaying” as “very powerful”); Eric Clapton (who, in his autobiography, called Cale “one of the most important artists in the history of rock, quietly representing the greatest asset his country has ever had”); and so many more. 

Cale cut his teeth during the ’50s, playing guitar in bars in Oklahoma alongside fellow natives David Gates of Bread and Leon Russell, and is credited as one of the key figures in creating the laid-back “Tulsa sound.” He managed to gather a loyal fan following and the admiration of some of the most revered rock musicians while—in the unwavering desire to lead a normal life—eluding fame, and it was via other artists recording and performing his songs that he became best known. Eric Clapton recorded “After Midnight,” “Cocaine,” and several other Cale originals, his admiration culminating with the pair’s Road To Escondido collaboration in 2006, which earned Cale his first Grammy, for Best Contemporary Blues Album, and his first RIAA Certified Gold Award. 

Among the many others who covered Cale’s songs are Jerry Garcia, Captain Beefheart, Spiritualized, Beck, Lynyrd Skynyrd, John Mayer, Bryan Ferry, Santana, Chet Atkins, Johnny Cash, Lucinda Williams, The Band, Widespread Panic, Freddie King, Phish, Waylon Jennings, Maria Muldaur, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Hiss The Golden Messenger, Dan Auerbach, and Lee Fields, to name just a few.

Label Review. 

2019 album with bonus instrumental disc. Also available in CD and 2CD.

Our Overview. 

The phenomena that is Lee Fields, American soul singer nicknamed ‘Little JB” for his physical and vocal resemblance to James Brown is releasing ‘It Rains Love’. At the corner of Living Legend St. and OG Ave. you will find Lee Fields’ house. A home that was built with blood, sweat, and tears, and stands on the unshakable foundation of his god given talent. 

Lee has been singing for 50 plus years and is undeniably, yet amazingly, at the top of his game. Those who have paid attention know that Lee is part of the class that is directly responsible for the revival of old school funk and soul. He has inspired many of today’s younger artists who are doing their best to carry the torch. As long as the road has been, and heavy as the crown may be, Fields is proving yet again that he’s “still got it”. His latest offering is sure to be a warmly received instant classic. 

‘It Rains Love’ is the 2nd album by Lee Fields & The Expressions on Brooklyn’s Big Crown Records and gives us yet another masterclass in soul. Teaming up again with frequent collaborator and producer Leon Michels and his devoted band, The Expressions, they have managed again to take a classic approach and update it. Traditional soul sensibilities are mixed with a hip-hop tinged, sample ready sound that is as much an homage to the old as to the new. Some of the songs sound like they could belong to any of the last 4 decades without it feeling like a throwback, while others are 60’s soul through and through. Lyrically, Lee runs the gamut from gushing admonishments of love to politically charged calls to action, from proclamations of God’s existence to love letters written to his wife.

This record marks the fifth studio album from Lee Fields & the Expressions and we are very proud to add it to the already impeccable catalog they have created together. Another strong offering by a man many people consider to be a national treasure, the professor of love himself, Mr Lee Fields. It’s all love baby!

Label Review.

2019 album also available in Vinyl.

Our Overview.

Rozi Plain releases her new album ‘What A Boost’ described as “Seductively off-kilter pop... Lovely stuff” - Uncut and “Exquisitely blissed-out” - Mojo The ten track album was self-produced with the help of a long list of musical friends including Kate Stables, Jamie Whitby Coles, Neil Smith (all This Is The Kit), Chris Cohen, Joel Wästberg (Sir Was) and Sam Amidon.

Rozi Plain has been making music since her brother taught her a few chords on the guitar aged 13. Raised in Winchester, she spent a few years studying art and painting boats in Bristol, where she began collaborating with long-term friends Kate Stables (This Is The Kit) and Rachael Dadd among many others on a thriving local scene. It was there that Rozi made her first two albums, 2008’s ‘Inside Over Here’ and 2012’s ‘Joined Sometimes Unjoined’, each works of deliciously sad and beautiful pop full of heart-wrenching harmonies dotted with unexpected instrumental flourishes.

Released in April 2015 on Lost Map and featuring contributions from Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor among others, her last album ‘Friend’ was a deeply meaningful and wonderfully measured ode to memory, place, companionship and music’s remarkable power as an emotional salve. A companion album of remixes, unreleased tracks and radio sessions, ‘Friend Of A Friend’, was released in 2016.

Almost permanently on tour, Rozi has taken her joyous live show on the road countless times around Europe, the UK and the USA and has toured with a host of alt-folk luminaries from Devendra Banhart to James Yorkston. She has appeared at festivals including SXSW, Iceland Airwaves, Glastonbury, End Of The Road, Latitude, BBC 6Music Festival and Green Man. As bass player and backing vocalist in Rough Trade-signed This Is The Kit, Rozi has been touring the world for the last two years, including opening for The National in the UK and North America.

LP includes digital download code.

Label Review.

Radio Broadcast. Including shows from the Agora Ballroom in Chicago in 1994, The House Of Blues in South Carolina in 1998, and the Reading Festival in 2002.

Our Overview.

American rock punk trio Green Day formed in 1986 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist Mike Dirnt. For much of the band's career, they have been a trio with drummer Tré Cool, who replaced John Kiffmeyer in 1990 prior to the recording of the band's second studio album, Kerplunk (1991). Guitarist Jason White, who has been a touring member since 1999, was an official member from 2012 to 2016. Since then they have sold over 85 million albums across the globe, Green Day remain rock royalty, sitting at the top table of the music industry and pursuing a musical style that appeals to millions of fans.

Green Day is credited (alongside Sublime, Bad Religion, the Offspring, and Rancid) with popularizing mainstream interest in punk rock in the United States. Particurarly the album "Dookie", which was cited by Fuse as the most important pop punk album of all time and named the best alternative album of 1994 by Rolling Stone. It was also placed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "Definitive 200" list of 200 classic albums. Both "Dookie" and "American Idiot" were placed on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

This set celebrates the band’s live work by featuring three superb and rare radio broadcast recordings taken from across Green Day’s lengthy career.

Including shows from the Agora Ballroom in Chicago in 1994, The House Of Blues in South Carolina in 1998, and the Reading Festival in 2002.

Label Review. 

1975 album remastered and expanded. Discs 1 & 2 same as 2CD edition. Third CD features Peel Session 11th March 1975 and BBC In Concert 23rd May 1975. DVD contains 5.1 mix plus Old Grey Whistle Test 19th July 1975 and Harvest Records promo film. 68pp book. Esoteric. Also available in CD.

Our Overview. 

Be Bop Deluxe - the British band formed by the undoubtable talent of guitar singer-songwriter Bill Nelson in 1972, - dabbled with genres that ranged from prog rock, glam rock, porto-punk and new wave and never actually played Be Bop music. The band originally recorded ‘Futurama’ in the Autumn of 1975 at Abbey Road studios (with some sessions also taking place at AIR studios in London. This expanded reissue has been newly re-mastered from the original master tapes and features an additional 39 bonus tracks drawn from a stunning new 5.1 surround sound & stereo mixes from the original multi-track tapes by award winning engineer Stephen W. Tayler, previously unreleased out-takes from the album sessions, a BBC Radio “In Concert” performance from January 1976, a rare John Peel Show session from February 1976 (unavailable on CD for over twenty years), along with an unissued and previously unreleased 1976 Harvest Records promotional video for Ships in the Night and a session for BBC TV’s “Old Grey Whistle Test” show from January 1976.

Another highlight of the limited edition boxed set version is the lavishly illustrated 68-page book with many previously unseen photographs and an essay of recollections by Bill Nelson. Additionally, the set includes a facsimile of the 1976 Sunburst Finish tour programme, postcards and a replica poster. This special deluxe limited edition boxed set of Sunburst Finish is a fitting tribute to a fine band, the creative vision of Bill Nelson and a wonderful album.

Label Review.

2019 album also available in Vinyl and Coloured (Blue) Vinyl.

Our Overview.

English indie rock band Circa Waves are releasing ‘What’s It Like Over There?’ which is the third album to date from the band who formed in Liverpool in 2013 and consists of frontman Kieran Shudall (vocals, guitar), Sam Rourke (bass), Colin Jones (drums) and Joe Falconer (guitarist).

Recorded in just one month and renewing their blossoming co-producing relationship with Alan Moulder (Foals, The Killers), ‘What’s It Like Over There?’ is an album that’s creatively unshackled and refuses to stay still. It fuses the visceral thrill of rock music with a slick pop sound, its themes of modern ennui, emotional fragility and all the inside-outs and upside downs of relationships making it a record that could only have been made now.

The band released their debut album ‘Young Chasers’ in March 2015 and performed at a number of international festivals including Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds, Splendour in the Grass, Best Kept Secret, Hurricane & Southside, Way Out West, Rock Werchter, SXSW, Lollapalooza, Electric Picnic, Frequency festival, Corona Capital, Melt! and many more.

They released their second album ‘Different Creatures’ in 2017 to critical acclaim, including the singles ‘Wake Up’ and ‘Fire That Burns’ and sold over 20,000 tickets in the UK during their soldout headline tour. They also toured the US extensively in support of Two Door Cinema Club and performed at Summer Sonic Japan, Dour Festival in Belgium, BBK Bilbao and Corona Capital in Mexico.

Available on CD, blue coloured vinyl and standard black vinyl. Vinyl formats include a digital download code.

Label Review. 

The performance took place at The National Opera Grand Theatre in Warsaw on November 29th 2014.  Also available on CD, and CD+DVD. 

Our Overview. 

Beth Gibbons is best known for her work with the band Portishead, who burst onto the scene in 1994 with their debut album 'Dummy'. It was a slow burner, the ball started rolling after their appearance on 'Later With Jools Holland' and once the single "Glory Box" hit the top 20 in January 1995, they were off and second Top 20 hit "Sour Times" helped keep the album throughout 1995 and into '96 as well. Not only was their their credibility sky high, they also found themselves lumped in with the Bristol scene (including Massive Attack, Tricky, and Smith & Mighty) on top of leading a new genre: "Trip-Hop", which no doubt everyone associated with the term hated! Portishead's mixture of scratchy beats, 60s soundtracky sounds and moody atmospherics was topped off with Beth's alluring vocal sound which saw commentators offer similarities to Billie Holiday.

Second album 'Portishead' followed in 1997 which brought more acclaim but more modest sales and a live album/film recorded with an orchestra appeared the following year. A few years of silence was punctuated with her collaboration with ex-Talk Talk bass player Paul Webb (under the pseudonym Rustin Man): 'Out Of Season' in 2002. A third Portishead album finally arrived in 2008. Apart from occasional guesting on other peoples records, Gibbons keeps an elusive profile and this new album is the first under her deal with Domino Records. She announced a solo album back in 2013 and nothing has appeared until now.

Henryk Górecki’s Symphony No.3 (Symphony Of Sorrowful Songs) was performed by Beth Gibbons and the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Krzysztof Penderecki. The performance took place at The National Opera Grand Theatre in Warsaw on November 29th 2014, following an invitation to collaborate at the concert for which elusive yet iconic front woman Beth Gibbons undertook an intense preparation process, including tackling the challenge of learning the original text (and the emotional weight it carries) without speaking the mother language. As captured on this recording, Beth Gibbons’ performance alongside the maestro Penderecki is nothing short of triumphant.

Label Review.

1968 1969 & 1971 albums with 5 bonus A & B sides. BGO.

Our Overview.

Fabulous re-releases of Gary Puckett And The Union Gap, digitally remastered and slipcased with new notes: Gary’s first album from 1968, along with 1969’s ‘The New Gary Puckett And The Union Gap Album’ and 1971’s ‘The Gary Puckett Album’. Also included are A & B sides of various albums.

During the late '60s - a period forever distinguished as rock's most radical, innovative, and far-reaching - American pop rock group Gary Puckett and the Union Gap forged a series of massive chart ballads almost otherworldly in their sheer earnestness and melodrama. Likely the only pop band of the era to play two nightly shows in the Catskills, the early gig for their younger fans, the later appearance for the fans' parents, the group pioneered the hip-to-be-square concept two decades before spiritual descendants Huey Lewis and the News; clad in Civil War-era get-ups (complete with fictitious military ranks) and bizarrely pedophilic lyrics, Puckett and the Union Gap were in their own way as far-out and singular as any other act of the period.

In 1968 Gary Puckett and The Union Gap had six consecutive gold records and sold more records than any other recording act...including the Beatles. They played a command performance at the White House for Prince Charles and Princess Anne by special invitation of the President. Gary Puckett and The Union Gap was one of a very select group of touring acts to achieve prominence worldwide.

Label Review. 

2019 album also available in CD.

Our Overview. 

The legendary Steve Earle pays tribute to his mentor and friend Guy Clarke with his and The Dukes new release ‘Guy’. “Guy wasn’t really a hard record to make,” Earle said. “We did it fast, five or six days with almost no overdubbing. I wanted it to sound live...When you’ve got a catalog like Guy’s and you’re only doing sixteen tracks, you know each one is going to be strong.” 

Steve Earle was nineteen and had just hitchhiked from San Antonio to Nashville in 1974. Back then if you wanted to be where the best songwriters were, you had to be there. Guy Clark had moved to Nashville and if you were from Texas, Guy Clark was king. Years later, Steve would be playing bass guitar in Guy’s band and flying high on what would become an indelible friendship of like-minded musicians who bonded in a kinship of stories told through song.

Flash forward more than forty years to May 2016. Guy Clark had just succumbed to cancer after a long battle with Lymphoma. Guy had lived with his disease and had continued to write songs until the day he died. He also painted, built instruments and owned a guitar shop in the Bay Area. According to Earle, “You hung around with him [Guy] and knew why they call what artists do disciplines. Because he was disciplined.”

The same can be said of Earle. In the fall of 2018, Steve and The Dukes went into House Of Blues studio in Nashville and recorded ‘Guy’ in six days. “I wanted it to sound live... When you’ve got a catalog like Guy’s and you’re only doing sixteen tracks, you know each one is going to be strong.”

Earle and his current, perhaps best-ever, Dukes line up take on these songs with a spirit of reverent glee and invention. The tunes are all over the place and so is the band, offering max energy on such disparate entries as the bluegrass rave-up ‘Sis Draper’ and the talking blues memoir of ‘Texas 1947’. Earle’s raw vocal on the sweet, sad ‘That Old Time Feeling’ is heartbreaking, sounding close enough to the grave as to be doing a duet with his late friend and mentor.

You can hear little hints of where Earle came from. The stark ‘Randall Knife’ has the line “a better blade that was ever made was probably forged in Hell,” which wouldn’t be out of place in a Steve Earle original. Also hard to beat is ‘The Last Gunfighter’, a sardonic Western saga to which Earle offers a bravura reading of the chorus: “the smell of the black powder smoke and the stand in the street at the turn of joke.”

In the end, however, ‘Guy’ leads the listener back to its beginning, namely Guy Clark, which is what any good ‘tribute’ should do. ‘Guy’ is a saga of friendship, its ups and downs, what endures. We are lucky that Earle remembers and honours these things, because like old friends, ‘Guy’ is a diamond.

There was another reason, Earle said, he couldn’t “get out of” making Guy. “You know,” he said, “as you live your life, you pile up these regrets. I’ve done a lot of things that might be regrettable, but most of them I don’t regret because I realize I couldn’t have done anything else at the time.” 

“With Guy, however, there was this thing. When he was sick---he was dying really for the last ten years of his life---he asked me if we could write a song together. We should do it ‘for the grandkids,’ he said. Well, I don’t know...at the time, I still didn’t co-write much, then I got busy. Then Guy died and it was too late. That, I regret.” 

Earle didn’t think making ‘Guy’ paid off some debt, as if it really could. Like the Townes record, Guy is a saga of friendship, its ups and downs, what endures. It is lucky for us that Earle remembers and honors these things, because like old friends, Guy is a diamond.

Label Review. 

2019 album. Also available on vinyl. 

Our Overview. 

Having released his last album, ‘Understated’ in March 2013, ‘Badbea’ is his first release since moving both home and studio to Helmsdale on the North East coast of Scotland in 2014. Building a new studio from scratch, the impressive Clashnarrow Studios which sits on the hills overlooking Helmsdale, Collins completed work on Badbea with co-producer Sean Read (Dexys, The Rockingbirds) and long-term musical cohorts Carwyn Ellis (Colorama) & James Walbourne (The Pretenders / The Rails).

In part inspired by his return to the village where his grandfather lived, and somewhere Edwyn spent time over the years, the album title itself, and title track, are taken from and inspired by Badbea (pronounced badbay), a dramatically located abandoned village on a cliff top five miles north of Helmsdale with a history defined by the Highland Clearances of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Elsewhere on the album there are poignant moments of reflection, northern soul ‘stompers’ in the classic Edwyn Collins tradition, tracks remembering past times with Orange Juice and lyrics inspired by the discovery of over 30 old pre-illness lyric books unearthed while ‘de-cluttering’ before the move back to Scotland.

His fourth long-player completed since 2005 when he suffered two strokes (it follows Home Again 2007, Losing Sleep 2010 & Understated 2013), Badbea is an eloquent and contemplative document of his remarkable and on-going rehabilitation. “It’s all about looking forward, I guess,” Edwyn reflects. “I’m happy. Content with life.”

Label Review.

2019 album also available in Vinyl.

Our Overview.

The exceptional pop indie rockette Rose Elinor Dougall returns with her third solo album ‘New Illusion’ two years on from her critically acclaimed album ‘Stellar’. Rose has a knack of creating warm modern pop tinged with synths and her new album has a noticeable shift in dynamic, written in the climate of 21st century Brexit Britain she is unafraid in tackling the sense of perpetual unease, but looks to music as a form of defiance not escape. Relaxed and biting, this is a record that thrives in duality.  Douglas is looking into the abyss of the impossible disappointments of growing up in the 21st century Britain – singing quietly with piano, with guitar, and with a gentle fuck-it attitude. “I just wanted to sit at the piano and play, I wanted to return to something essential,” Dougall explains. “There’s something comforting and solid about that instinctive relationship with music, with playing and singing.”

With that essential instinct, Dougall is aligning herself with the tradition of Sandy Denny, Bridget St John, Anne Briggs – English women who sang with proud fragility. “There’s something essential and earthy about them,” says Dougall. “there’s something more bloody about the way they sing.” It’s evocative of the English sweet-sharpness of Kirsty MacColl too – in the dreamy jangling pop lifted up by clear folk vocals and a minor-key melody.

The record features her brother Tom, also the lead singer in Toy, his bandmates Maxim Barron and Max Claps, Euan Hinshelwood and Joe Chilton of Younghusband, and other old friends from London, Brighton and Cornwall. “It does feel like a really nice group effort – I didn’t want to be over-prescriptive, so some of it is quite loose. I wanted to make it about musicianship.”

A 'New Illusion' is slower and more confident than her previous albums – the themes may be urgent but the sound is more relaxed. “I don’t feel the same angst about acknowledgement or approval. I decided to trust my instincts, to see if they connect with the world. I’ve been making music all my life, and this feels like a culmination of those experiences. I feel I’ve grown more fluent, more confident, more in charge that I have come closer to my natural sonic habitat.” 

Label Review. 

'Being Frank - The Chris Sievey Story' is a beautiful movie that’s been years in the making. Director Steve Sullivan has crafted a stunning and honest account of both Chris and Frank that is most definitely not bobbins. Filmed in collaboration with Sievey’s closest friends and family, the film features previously unseen footage, unheard performances and lost tracks, the best of which you get to hear on this album. Also available on CD. 

Our Overview. 

Frank Sidebottom was one of a kind, a surrealist, a performance artist, a grown man in his 30s whose mum didn’t know he was a pop star. Appearing on kids TV shows, in comics, in front of drunken audiences, Frank (who some said had a papier-mâché head, although I never bought that story) was a legend. His takes on Queen, Kylie and The Fall are incredible in their depth, breadth and silliness. His onstage battles with his cardboard sidekick Little Frank would have Freud reaching for his Ventalin. The whole act was joyous, bizarre and very, VERY funny.

Frank was the alter ego of frustrated pop star Chris Sievey. Chris was a poet, musician and leader of cult group The Freshies. The band sniffed the faint aroma of chart success once with their indie classic ‘I’m In Love With The Girl On The Manchester Megastore Check Out Desk’. It’s the greatest pop hit that never was. In an attempt to sell more Freshies records, Chris gave birth to Frank (which I imagine would be tricky with a head that size) and Frank went on to take over the world. Well, Timperley at least.

You don’t have to be a fan of Chris or Frank to enjoy this movie and soundtrack. You just have to be interested in the odd, the loner, the creative, the outsider. This is a beautiful film and a wonderful soundtrack.

Side One 

1. Cello Man – Chris Sievey (3:02) 

2. Gogglebubbleland - Martin & Chris (2:22) 

3. Reflections And Dialogue With Mr Sievey – Chris Sievey (3:28) 

4. Slump – The Bees Knees (1:53) 

5. Paula My Love – Chris Sievey’s Pyjama Band (4:34) 

6. Self-Copyright Message – Chris Sievey (1:15) 

7. No Money - The Freshies (3:57) 

8. I’m In Love With The Girl On The Manchester (BLEEP) Megastore Checkout Desk – The Freshies (2:47) 

9. Off Key Siren – Chris Sievey (2:48) 

Side Two 

1. Fasten Your Seatbelts – The Freshies (3:03) 

2. Timperley Travelogue – Frank Sidebottom (2:16) 

3. Greengrocer On The Corner – The Sidebottom Twins (1:51) 

4. Slip - Chris Sievey (3:18) 

5. Swingbeat Art Print Girl – Chris Sievey (2:26) 

6. Franksworld Theme – Chris Sievey & Frank Sidebottom (0:46) 

7. Magical Timperley Tour (extra keyboard ver.) – Frank Sidebottom (0:54) 

8. Frank Sidebottom’s Proper Telly Show In B&W Theme – Chris Sievey (0:28) 

9. Hey You, Street Artist – Frank Sidebottom (2:26) 

10. Love Will Tear Us Apart – Frank Sidebottom (1:18) 

11. Lazy Rising More Slowly, Where R.U., Oh 'Chele – Chris Sievey (5:12) 

12. Life With The Lyons – The Freshies (2:10)

Label Review. 

The definitive collection of Lee Moses legendary non-album tracks available together for the first time. Contains three previously unreleased songs, plus the Southern soul classic “Bad Girl”. Also available on CD. 

Our Overview. 

After reissuing his much sought-after ‘Time and Place’ LP, many questions still remained (Lee was a mysterious man!) – but the one asked most was, “where’s “Bad Girl”?!” Not included on his lone LP, “Bad Girl” is an undisputed Southern soul classic – arguably the song Lee Moses’ legacy rests on. While we may never know all we wish we knew about the man behind the music, we can finally complete the picture of his work. You know – the tunes! And what tunes they are.

‘How Much Longer Must I Wait? Singles & Rarities 1965-1972’ collects all of Lee Moses’ non-album singles and B-sides, plus three never-released tracks together for the first time ever. Most of the material here pre-dates 1971’s ‘Time and Place’, reflecting his initial bid for stardom via a series of now-legendary 45s recorded with Atlanta producer Johnny Brantley. As for the unreleased recordings – much like the man himself, little is known about them. What remains is an oeuvre that has become synonymous with raw and emotionally charged Southern soul. Essential listening for anyone with a heart.

Label Review. 

Nine previously unreleased recordings from 1969. Official release.

Single 1

Mother Grey (demo) - This mid-tempo tale of a fledgling son fleeing the nest features multi-tracked vocals, guitars and harmonica from David.

In The Heat Of The Morning (demo) - A well-known early Bowie song but presented here in demo form with final lyrics.

Single 2

Goodbye 3d (Threepenny) Joe (demo) - A charming demo from 1968 not to be confused with Threepenny Pierrot, a song performed by Bowie captured for posterity in the Scottish TV production of Pierrot In Turquoise early in 1970. Love All Around (demo) - A delightful love song from whence the title of this collection came: “I see a pop tune spying through a keyhole from the other room”.

Single 3

London Bye, Ta-Ta (demo) - An early demo version of the song with completely different lyrics in a couple of the verses compared to those of the later full band versions.

Angel Angel Grubby Face (demo version 1) - The first and only previously known demo of this song.

Single 4

Angel Angel Grubby Face (demo version 2) - A later version of the same song with alternative lyrics.

Space Oddity (demo excerpt) - The lyric and arrangement variations lend weight to the theory that this fragment is possibly the first ever recorded demo of one of Bowie’s most famous songs.

Space Oddity (demo) with John ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson - Originally conceived as a song for a duo to perform, this is the first known version to feature John ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson again with lyric and arrangement variations.

Our Overview. 

With 2019 marking 50 years since David Bowie’s first hit, Space Oddity, Parlophone is set to release a 7” vinyl singles box set of nine previously unreleased recordings from the era during which Space Oddity was first conceived.

The title ‘Spying Through A Keyhole’ is a lyric taken from the previously unknown song, Love All Around, and though most of the other titles are known, these versions have never been officially released until late last year. Most of the recordings are solo vocal and acoustic home demo performances, unless otherwise stated. The design of each single label is presented to reflect the way David sent many of his demos to publishers and record companies, featuring his own handwritten song titles on EMIDISC acetate labels. The singles themselves are all mono and play at 45 r.p.m.

Label Review. 

All five UK albums in mono & stereo: Meet The Searchers, Sugar And Spice, It’s The Searchers, Sounds Like Searchers, and Take Me For What I’m Worth with 16 bonus tracks (French and German language versions and other rarities). Bonus sixth disc collects all 26 non album and EP tracks. 36pp booklet.

Our Overview. 

The Searchers - still with stalwart members John McNally and Frank Allen in their line-up - recently announced they would retire at the end of March 2019, bringing to an end an astonishing unbroken run of around sixty years for one of the most influential and enduring groups in British pop history.

One of the more introspective acts to emerge from the Merseybeat group wars of the early Sixties, The Searchers’ high vocal harmonies, jingle-jangle guitars and tales of male vulnerability saw them notch a trio of UK No. 1 singles and several popular EPs and albums, with debut LP ‘Meet The Searchers’ spending an incredible ten months in the listings.

Their chart statistics were impressive, but The Searchers’ place in the rock history books owes at least as much to their seismic level of influence, with the likes of ‘Needles And Pins’ and the peerless ‘When You Walk In The Room’ providing The Byrds – and, by extension, the likes of Tom Petty, REM and a whole host of skinny-tied power poppers - with their musical template.

Although the group made some fine records throughout their prodigious career, their peak period in terms of sales, influence and musical excellence occurred during a dazzling four year mid-Sixties spell with the Pye label. The first-ever complete anthology of one of British pop’s most pivotal catalogues, the 6-CD set ‘When You Walk In The Room’ assembles all of the group’s Pye recordings, with mono and stereo versions of their albums joined by studio outtakes, foreign language recordings and, on the sixth disc, a treasure trove of non-LP singles and EP tracks.

Housed in a clambox design that includes a 36 page booklet with a new 6000 word essay on the band, When You Walk In The Room is a sumptuous tribute to an act who, for a glorious year or two, were arguably the country’s only serious rivals to The Beatles.

Label Review. 

1988 debut album remastered. Remastered 180g LP album / 180g LP of bonus material / 7 single Take It So Hard / I Could Have Stood You Up / 7 single Make No Mistake / It Means A Lot / Remastered CD album / CD containing 6 bonus previously unreleased tracks / Extensive 80 page hardback book with Anthony DeCurtis written essay featuring a new interview with Keith, including extensive rare and unseen photos from personal archives. / Tour laminate / 2 x lyric sheets / Reproduction Talk Is Cheap playback invite / Talk is Cheap tour Guitar pick / 2 x posters. Also available on CD, 2CD, and vinyl.

Our Overview. 

In 1988, on a break from his band the Rolling Stones, Keith Richards released his first ever solo album, ‘Talk Is Cheap’. It came about during a rift in Richards relationship with Mick Jagger. At the time Jagger was more concerned about establishing himself as a solo star and preferred to record and tour his second album rather than tour the Stones 1986 album ‘Dirty Work’.

This universally respected debut is an eleven track masterclass in everything that’s good about rock ‘n roll and features guest appearances from an all-star cast including Sarah Dash, Bootsy Collins, Maceo Parker, the Memphis Horns, Patti Sciafia and Mick Taylor. One review at the time said ‘Talk Is Cheap’ is “the best Stones album since ‘Some Girls’”!

Remastered from the original tapes by Richards’ collaborator, Steve Jordan, the album’s joyous swagger is re-energised and permeates through each and every song. ‘Talk Is Cheap’ sounds as good today as it did thirty years ago; in Keith’s words: “As fresh as the day it was made.”