Review: The 1993 MTV Unplugged performance by 10,000 Maniacs, now pressed on vinyl, serves as a stellar showcase of the band's artistry during their peak. Led by Natalie Merchant's expressive vocals, the album captures the band in a more intimate, acoustic setting, offering a fresh take on their most beloved tracks. The album opens with 'These Are Days,' where the blend of acoustic guitars and piano sets a warm, inviting tone. Merchant's voice shines throughout, especially on the hauntingly slowed-down rendition of 'Eat for Two,' which adds an eerie depth to the song. 'Because the Night,' while not as fiery as Patti Smith's original, still stands out as a compelling cover, with Merchant's softer approach giving it a unique spin. Tracks like 'Don't Talk,' 'Hey Jack Kerouac,' and 'What's the Matter Here?' benefit from the live arrangements, with additional musicians enriching the sound. The clear, polished production highlights the band's transition from their earlier, rougher sound to a more refined, accessible style. Overall, this album offers both longtime fans and newcomers a beautifully crafted collection, perfectly suited for the vinyl format.
B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition
I Was Miles Away (5:17)
Bend The Round (3:26)
Inter Light (4:27)
Taste The Air (3:28)
Xanthe (2:31)
The Presence (3:32)
Willow & Mallow (4:01)
Tonight Is Mine (3:19)
For A Moment (2:53)
Clusters (4:51)
Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***
Lush fans will be aware that three of the bands albums are all being reissued, but also this year will founding member Emma Anderson release her solo debut long player. Pearlies, released by Sonic Cathedral, again shows why Anderson is one of the most underrated British songwriters to have come up during the Brit pop and shoegaze era. Here she works with Maps aka James Chapman on tune that effortlessly mix electronic pop with psych and folk and astute lyrics that muse on subjects such as confronting your fears, embracing independence and moving on.
Hjalmar Larusson & Jonbjorn Gislason - "Jomsvíkingarimur - Yta Eigi Feldi Ror"
Julianna Barwick - "Forever"
Koreless - "Last Remnants"
Odesza - "How Did I Get Here" (instrumental)
Anois - "A Noise"
Samaris - "Gooa Tungl"
Olafur Arnalds - "RGB"
Rival Consoles - "Pre"
Four Tet - "Lion" (Jamie Xx remix)
Jai Paul - "Jasmine" (demo)
James Blake - "Our Love Comes Back"
Spooky Black - "Pull"
Olafur Arnalds - "Say My Name" (feat Arnor Dan)
Colin Stetson & Sarah Neufeld - "And Still They Move"
Kiasmos - "Orgoned"
Olafur Arnalds - "Kinesthesia I"
Hjaltalin - "Ethereal"
David Tennant - "Undone"
Review: Icelandic classical, experimental and soundtrack composer Olafur Arnalds steps away from the loops and Broadchurch OSTs to conjure yet another sublime LNT saga. Carefully balancing between contemporary odysseys ("Jomsvikingarimur"), dense futuristic electronic weaves ("Last Remnants"), fuzzy 22nd century pop ("A Noise") sludgy cosmic funk ("Jasmine") and introspective soul ("Our Love Comes Back"), Olafur blows wave after woozy wave of soft sonic conjurations in a way that's broad, detailed and cleverly considered. Good night.
Review: Beach Fossils are regarded as bedroom-pop trailblazers from Brooklyn. They were one of the most influential and well-loved New York bands of the 2010s and manage to find some of that form here on new album Bunny. As inventors of jangle pop, they revisit that with some extra warm and stylish songwriting, lush dream-pop moods and hints of post-punk energy. Lyrical themes include the joys of being a father and other equally brilliant but less noble subjects such as how good it is to smoke a cigarette out of a car window with friends.
Review: We get it - there's a lot of music released everyday and it can feel overwhelming to sort the wheat from the chaff. There's no doubt, however, that Ride guitarist Andy Bell has delivered the goods here. His latest solo effort is helped by some influential collaborators. Proto-shoegaze cut 'I'm In Love...' features none other than One Dove's Dot Allison and Neu!'s Michael Rother. It's a beautiful reworking of The Passions' 1981 hit, certain to strike a chord with those who love the dreamier side of shoegaze. Bell has mixed and produced this record himself and proves himself to be a tireless conduit for beautiful ideas and sounds. Long may he keep producing music this good.
Review: Andy Bell is a blessed man: he had none other than Neu!'s Michael Rother supply guitar parts to the opening cut 'I'm In Love' (a cover of The Passions' post-punk classic). Moreover, One Love's Dot Allison is guest vocalist and supplies ethereal tones to the breathtaking song. It opens the gate beautifully for the heady collection of entirely new material that follows. It's an album that navigates Stone Roses grooves and Arthur Russell style experimental textures and works just as well for close listening as it does moodily-lit dancefloors. The Ride guitarist is on the form of his life here and you could do far worse than letting this wash all over you.
Good To Know That If I Ever Need Attention All I Have To Do Is Die (6:54)
Play Crack The Sky (5:28)
Review: It was on this 2003 record that Jesse Lacey's Brand New began to transcend the pop-punk style of their debut record escaping the restrictions of both that and the 'emo' tag, by dishing out a well-rounded and enduring collection of edgy, angular and captivatingly overwrought ditties, and rendering his clean-cut troupe a unique force in 21st century modern rock. Owing just as much to the likes of Pixies and The Cure as anything that made its name at a basement show, 'Deja Entendu' effortlessly overcame its self-deprecating title with rare finesse and charm, and this vinyl release only shows how well its bittersweet raunch has aged.
Review: Art is politics, and it should never kowtow to fears of political perception. Within limits, of course. British Sea Power's decision to drop the 'British' part in August 2021 due to "a rise in a certain kind of nationalism in this world" was at once understandable and disappointing when seen in this context, then, effectively bookending an era that began with one of the most exciting debuts of the early-21st Century, The Decline of British Sea Power. In many ways, that record was an omen for what was to come, with the band going on to achieve bigger and bigger commercial success while failing to convince some of their originality and innovation. Man of Arran marked a definite high point, a reimagined score to a 1934 movie of the same name, which originally came boxed with the record. Evocative, inspiring, epic and adventurous, suffice to say with music like this we were truly blessed.
Review: Following the Buzzcocks 1989 reformation, the band would make up for nearly a decade of inactivity with extensive touring as well as finally delivering a follow up to 1979's A Different Kind Of Tension 14 years after the fact with 1993's Trade Test Transmissions. The pinnacle of their initial resurgence era is no better illustrated than on their cult classic French live LP; recorded at Paris' L'Arapho Club on April 12, 1995, that sees the band offering up a hefty 20-track set packed to the brim with iconic fan favourites such as 'I Don't Mind' and 'Get On Your Own', whilst also making room for later bangers including 'Isolation' and 'Energy'. While the collection notably eschews the ten final songs from the evening's three subsequent encores, these would eventually be released separately as 1999's (originally fan club-only available) Encore Du Pain. Although the two have been previously combined to make up the French et Encore Du Pain double CD compilation, this singular LP is a reissue of the initial French setlist, while the beautiful people at Reissued Sounds have also repressed Encore Du Pain in tandem, making both sets available on wax for completionists.
Review: With Buzzcocks reforming in 1989 after a near-decade of inactivity, they would get to work on new material with their fourteen year gap follow up to 1979's A Different Kind Of Tension with 1993's Trade Test Transmissions, while touring in abundance to make up for lost time. The peak of this resurgent reformation era is highlighted as such in their cult status live album French; captured at L'Arapho Club in Paris on April 12th 1995. Boasting a 20-song set made up of classic fan favourites such as 'I Don't Mind' and 'Get On Your Own', as well as latter-day bangers including 'Isolation' and 'Energy', the collection notably omits the ten tracks from the band's three subsequent encores of the night, released separately in 1999 as originally the fan club-only available Encore Du Pain. While the two have been previously paired together on the French et Encore Du Pain double live CD compilation, this single LP reissue is of the initial French setlist, while the same label has repressed Encore Du Pain in tandem for completionists to hoard the entire epic two part set on wax.
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: The third full length from Hawaii-born, LA producer singer/producer Jess Labrador, operates in a sweet pot between the dreamy and the nightmarish, atmospheres shifting without warning and genres fused and abused, particularly focussing on joining the dots between between electronics and classic songwriting. Labrador's sonic skills - her day job is as a professional mastering engineer - is very much evidence on what is her first almost completely DIY production, with every note and frequency in its place for maximum devastation and emotional resonance.
Review: "Anthology" serves as a celebration of The Clean, a band whose influence extends so far beyond their New Zealand home that even if you have never heard of The Clean before, you have surely heard of some of the bands (Pavement, Yo La Tengo, and Superchunk, to name a few) who have been influenced by their unique blend of homemade garage rock, hook-filled melodies and psychedelic experimentalism.
The album is a compilation from across The Clean's legendary career, which began in 1981 and continues today. Merge originally released the two CD "Anthology" in 2003, but now this collection is available on quadruple LP. "Anthology" kicks off with The Clean's call-to-arms debut "Tally Ho!"; the story of the infectious track's $60 recording bill is now legendary. It continues with the early EPs "Boodle Boodle Boodle" and "Great Sounds Great" in their entirety. The hits "Billy Two", "Anything Could Happen", "Beatnik" and "Getting Older", live favorites like "Point That Thing Somewhere Else" and instrumentals "Fish" and "At the Bottom" all serve up memories of the joyous noise that characterized The Clean of that time. These recordings, mostly made by the band with Chris Knox and Doug Hood at the helm of the 4-track, capture the bright, raw sound of a classic garage band.
After a brief breakup, the band recorded "Vehicle" in 1989, made in three days and engineered by Alan Moulder (Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails, My Bloody Valentine). The sounds of "Vehicle" and the two albums that followed it, "Modern Rock" (1994) and "Unknown Country" (1996), make up the bulk of discs 3 and 4 of the vinyl "Anthology". In addition to selections from these full-length recordings, "Anthology" includes two songs released only on a US 7 inch and two that appeared on a bonus flexidisc with the "Modern Rock" LP.
Review: Post-punk pioneers and drivers of the earthy gothic scene, The Cure is one of the UK's most seminal bands. They have a wealth of ever-green and classic hits which have a bittersweet sense of uplifting melancholy to them and never do they sound better than when live. Between the years of 1979 and 1981 they played no fewer than nine times for the BBC and this is a collection of some of the best of it. There are several highlights from various albums during that time and this marks the first vinyl release for some of these versions after various bootlegged CDs in the past.
Review: Put together in celebration of their recent induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Dave Matthews Band's best of pulls together 22 singles from 1994 to today. This includes numerous Billboard Chart-topping hits from the jam band, known for stellar musicianship and social consciousness. Of the singles on here to look out for, Grammy-nominated tune 'Crash Into Me' was later covered by Stevie Nicks and features one of Matthews' best ever vocal performances. 'Don't Drink The Water', which tackles the injustices of South African apartheid, has a beautiful performance from banjoist Bela Fleck underpinning Matthews' anguished U2/Pearl Jam-esque vocals. Meanwhile, the Robert Fripp-inspired hit 'Satellite' from the 1994 album Under The Table And Dreaming is more stripped back and has a masterful guitar lick that's a feast for the ears on an album simply full of heart.
Review: Mancunian saxophonist Alabaster DePlume's new long player is an introspective and meditative album exploring dignity, healing and self-discovery. Rooted in poetry and philosophical inquiry, the album brims with his soulful saxophone melodies and their uniquely evocative lyricism. Tracks like 'Oh My Actual Days' and 'Invincibility' convey resilience while 'Thank You My Pain' draws on mindfulness teachings. DePlume's compositions are inspired by personal growth and global injustices which reflect both individual and collective struggles. Add in his intricate instrumentation and these such deeply felt themes and you have a powerful statement.
Review: On this indie-exclusive pressing, English jazz sax man Alabaster DePlume's latest sees him in raw and expressive mood. 'Oh My Actual Days' pairs slow, swelling sax lines with Macie Stewart's strings, a march toward reckoning. 'Thank You My Pain' turns its mantra into rhythm, embracing discomfort rather than escaping it. 'Form a V' pulls from jiu-jitsu, confronting the world head-on. Instrumentals like 'Prayer for My Sovereign Dignity' and 'Kuzushi' embody movementitension, release, transformation. Packaged with an obi-strip and insert, this edition is a fitting addition to DePlume's workiphysical proof of a philosophy: dignity is not given, it's claimed.
We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners who may combine it with other information that you've provided to them or that they've collected from your use of their services.