Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Seven Psalms finds Australia's most imperious musical misfit Nick Cave leaving his Bad Seeds at home and teaming up with frequent collaborator Warren Ellis for a limited 10". The spoken word pieces on this record are the result of a daily song writing practice over a week during lockdown - Cave himself describes them as "small, sacred songs," set to appropriately subtle musical accompaniment. Recorded during the sessions for Cave and Ellis' 2021 album Carnage, it's a rich work in its own right that offers a different perspective on Cave's considerable gifts as a soothsayer.

Review: Pressed for the first time on 7" vinyl, two killer rock club tracks from the legendary Colloseum, track 1 and 2 from their sophomore 1969 album 'Valentyne Suite' - 'Elegy' and 'The Kettle'.
The powerful and up-tempo 'Elegy' is a funky love song, with steaming guitars and heavy groove, an absolute home run of a funky club banger. On the flip is the 'The Kettle', featuring a heavy rock groove that the attentive ear will recognise as sampled by Fatboy Slim for 'Ya Mama'.

Review: British trumpeter and bandleader Ian Carr put out his most revered album in 1972. Its iconic fusion of jazz and rock has become a sought after rarity. Featured musicians include members of bands like Nucleus, Brian Auger's band, Soft Machine and Stan Tracy Group, and they all help lend the record a psychedelic, proggy aesthetic, with swirling melodies making for moody but funky tunes. Tracks like 'Mayday' put expressive solos and complex arrangements front and centre, while 'Suspension' is a more laidback joint for sinking into. The gorgeous meandering lilt of 'Summer Rain' is our personal favourite.

Review: It's taken a while for Nick Cave to get round to releasing a follow-up to 2005's self-explanatory B-Sides and Rarities compilation. We'd argue that it's been worth the wait though. The 16-year gap between the releases has allowed for a wider sweep of the iconic artist's archives, so much so that it features no less than 27 tracks stretched across two coloured slabs of wax. Record one focuses on B-sides, bonus tracks and rarities, including a duet with Debbie Harry and a superb live version of 'Push The Sky Away' with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. It's the second record that will most excite fans though, featuring as it does unreleased material. There are plenty of unheard songs of course, but also early recordings of such fan favourites as 'Skeleton Tree' and 'Bright Horses'.

Review: This comprehensive special edition of this classic album comes across eight sides of vinyl and captures the iconic band at the peak of their early career. Performing in the nation's capital, Chicago delivered a wonderfully dynamic set that showcases their unique fusion of rock, jazz, and brass. It features plenty of great work from the band's well known and distinctive horn section and intricate arrangements. A magnificently captured live recording, it features hits from their early albums such as Chicago Transit Authority and Chicago II, and also takes in fan favourites like 'A Song For Richard & His Friends' and 'Beginnings.' The performance is a testament to Chicago's musical versatility and powerful live presence and this version of it takes you right back to the heart of it all.

Review: Chicago's third greatest hits album, originally released in 1989, is now available on sea blue vinyl. This collection spans from Chicago 16 to Chicago 19, featuring classics from both Peter Cetera and his successor Jason Scheff. Highlights include power ballads like 'Hard to Say I'm Sorry' and 'Hard Habit to Break' by Cetera, and 'If She Would Have Been Faithful' with Scheff on vocals. Chicago's resurgence in the early '80s and continued success with hits such as 'Will You Still Love Me?' and 'Look Away' show the band's enduring appeal. With over 38 million units sold in the U.S. and numerous gold and platinum albums, Chicago remains one of rock's most successful groups. This compilation alone features 6 top 10 hits alone!

Review: Eric Clapton shares his lifelong passion for the blues on 'Nothing But The Blues', the accompanying album to 'From The Cradle'. Whereas that album was Clapton's main outlet for his blues-oriented '90s hits, 'Nothing But' consists entirely of outtakes and demos. This one features full remixings from Clapton's longtime co-producer, Simon Climie, who has remixed the audio from the original multitrack recordings.

Review: Like owning a little piece of history with a bonus memoir, The Clash's Combat Rock was - is - the band's best selling album of all time and highest charting in both the US and UK. This was also the last time Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon would record together before the lineup changed, and the track list contains at least two of the outfit's most recognised songs - namely 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go' and 'Rock the Casbah'.

The original version of the LP was less expansive than this special edition released to mark 40 years since the long-player went on sale. The addition of The People's Hall offers fans a chance to relish in no less than 12 extra tracks, including collaborations with the legendary Ranking Roger - 'Rock the Casbah' and 'Red Angel Dragnet' - the iconic late-frontman of The Beat more than ideally suited to the crew's sound.

Review: 1982's seminal fifth and final album from the classic lineup of Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon needs little introduction, but will now receive some additional sonic context in the guise of 'The People's Hall.'

Compiled by the living members of The Clash, this expanded edition features 12 previously unreleased rarities and outtakes including a version of 'Know Your Rights' recorded at The People's Hall on The Rolling Stones' Mobile Studio.

Offering greater insight into the recording, demoing and ideas process behind arguably the last definitive Clash album as well as one of the all time punk-rock greats, these additions are essential for any true Clash cultist.

Review: Album number five from legendary British post-punk and New Wavers The Clash was first unveiled on 14th May 1982. 40 years on it finds itself the centre of attention once more, re-released both in this original version and an extended edition with bonus record The People's Hall. Sticking to this outing, fans will likely already know that the record as it was first intended remains the band's most successful of all time, outselling all that came before or after and charting higher than any other in the US and UK alike.

Respectively hitting number seven and number two in the charts of the day, and spending 23 weeks in the top 40 albums in Britain and a mammoth 61 weeks in the LP league tables Stateside, today it's a double-platinum testament to just how potent the combination of Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon was. The last record to feature that iteration of the outfit, tracks like 'Rock the Casbah' and 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go' remain utterly timeless.

Review: They're the biggest but most hated band on the planet, but that will never stop Coldplay. The band has long been at the top of the pop-rock world and once again Music of the Spheres is likely to keep them there. It is an album rather less wrought with emotional tension than they are known for but still has one eye firmly on the cosmos, like much of their material. In fact, there is a loose concept here that revolves around a distant solar system. The lead single, 'My Universe,' features K-pop kings BTS and is already a number one, and the rest of the tunes are so unashamedly big they will likely follow.

Review: Last reissued in Brazil over 10 years ago and last reissued on vinyl over 20 years ago, legendary Brazilian singer Gal Costa's sixth album is a tropicalian odyssey. Reflective, soulful, touching and dynamic, Gal guides us through a sunset story of ballads ("Volta"), bossas ("Milho Verde") blues ("De Maior Importance") and beyond with an all-star troupe of musicians including Gilberto Gil, Arthur Verocai and Dominguinhos. Remastered to a touch and complete with the original cover that was banned by the Brazilian dictatorship at the time, this is the first time India has been reissued with care in decades.

Review: Cream's A Live Collection stands as a testament to the legendary rock supergroup's electrifying stage presence and improvisational prowess. This live compilation, drawing from various performances, captures the essence of Cream's genre-defying sound and immortalizes the dynamic interplay between Eric Clapton's searing guitar, Jack Bruce's soulful vocals and bass, and Ginger Baker's groundbreaking drumming. From blues-infused classics like 'Crossroads' to the experimental jamming in 'Sitting On Top Of The World,' A Live Collection offers a sonic trip through the band's influential and iconic performances and prose their unparalleled ability to push musical boundaries.

Review: It's understandable if you're skeptical about hearing the word supergroup as it's overused and often applied where it's an exaggeration. It's the same situation with the word genius. But a genius supergroup is an appropriate description for Crosby, Still, Nash and Young. You just have to look at the other bands that they've been in between them - The Hollies, Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young, The Byrds... It's God-tier stuff. Part of the magic of their psychedelia-tinged folk rock and harmonies is how well they lock in together. It's as if they're cut from the same LSD-soaked cloth; they sound like an extension of one another metamorphosed into one and leaving their individual self behind. Another aspect of their credibility as performers is how consistent they were and how powerful they were live. And whilst it's fairly common to find scratchy recordings of them playing big shows there's a charming intimacy to the radio broadcasts that makes it feel like an uninterrupted close-up with you the sole guest at the show. Squint and you'll feel you're there - transported back to the golden age of songwriting.

Review: It's 1987 and you've just hit play on Electric. The third album from English rock greats The Cult. It followed their breakthrough record, Love, in order but not style, marking a sharp artistic shift from the gothic tones they first garnered attention with, and then blew up through, and onto more of a straight up bar room hard rock that positioned them closer to the likes of AC/DC than The Cure. That's no criticism of course - both those points of reference are amazing in their individual ways. And Electric certainly landed on the right side of its sound, peaking at 27 in the UK album charts and getting critics commenting on the swagger and irreverence at the heart of the tracks. Guitars played as they should be, for want of a better turn of phrase.

Review: Vinyl Lovers presents the reissue of 1982’s 'Pornography', still considered by many to be The Cure's best.
This album was the band's darkest album to date, cementing their role as beacons of the emergent gothic
rock genre, with the band sporting their signature red lipstick and big hair look for the first time during this tour.

Review: Neil Young recorded Toast in 2001 and has never previously released it. It is one of his numerous one-off genre-experiment albums and half of the tunes on it made it onto his Are You Passionate? in only slighted revised form. Made with backing from the soul legends Booker T. and the M.G.'s and Young's normal rock band Crazy Horse, there are hard hitting and hard rocking tunes like 'Timberline' next to more R&B leaning cuts and 'Gateway of Love,' a 10-minute guitar workout that is one of the best you will not have heard before.

Review: Back in November 1990, fresh off recording Ragged Glory, Neil Young and Crazy Horse took the stage at The Catalyst in Santa Cruz. They played a long and sprawling set of tunes that last three hours and took in songs like 'Love and Only Love' and 'Like a Hurricane' which they managed to hypnotically stretching out for more than ten minutes. The gig was also the debut live airing for 'Danger Bird' which was on the 1975 album Zuma. All of these make it on to the Way Down In The Rust Bucket album as part of Young's on going Performance Series.