The Fat Angel Sings

Boston has announced that they will release a 50th anniversary edition of their iconic debut album in 2027 featuring “lost demos” recorded during the sessions for the original LP.

In late summer of 1976, a self-titled album from Tom Scholz’s basement studio, was quietly released on CBS’s Epic Records label, under the name BOSTON. Listeners across the country quickly embraced the bright, punchy BOSTON sound, with its relatable lyrics, meticulously double-tracked guitar tracks, and singer Brad Delp’s powerful, crystalline lead vocals. The sheer assertiveness of the writing, performances, and sonics—coupled with the album’s joyfulness—helped thrust the band and their debut into the stratosphere. Within three months of its release, BOSTON was awarded both gold and platinum status by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), while nearly every song from the album was in constant rotation on pop and rock radio.

The band revealed the news on the 50th anniversary of the release date for the “Boston” album, which originally arrived August 25th, 1976. The new expansion is being “released in close collaboration with Tom Scholz,” by Impex Records and is currently scheduled to come out in the second quarter of next year.

Recognizing that the album has been reissued a number of times over the years, Scholz personally supervised the production of the upcoming expansion, with a goal of delivering “the most authentic version of this oft-reissued classic,” the group detailed in a press release.

“Wishing to offer something truly unique to the millions of Boston fans who’ve supported the band through the years, Tom has—for the very first time—dug deep into his massive archive of recordings to find the long-lost, previously-unreleased demos he famously shopped to the labels before being signed by Epic Records,” they shared. “He painstakingly restored and remastered these elusive treasures with the help of producer, digital expert and Boston guitarist Gary Pihl, exclusively for this 50th anniversary release.”

Although the songwriting on Boston’s self-titled is fairly by the numbers by certain rock standards, the real power behind it is just how much Scholz put into the background. Having invented his own guitar pedal to work on most of the songs, his guitars have a cutting midrange that sounds like a metal guitarist just randomly decided to show up on a rock and roll tune.

Outside of playing most of the instruments himself, hearing Brad Delp pull off superhuman vocal exercises is the musical equivalent of looking into the sun half the time. ‘More Than A Feeling’ and ‘Smokin’ might get celebrated as singles, but taken as a whole, this album should be studied by any high-profile producer to know what to look for in a great mix.

The band’s signature hit “More Than A Feeling” entered The Billboard’s Hot 100 on September 18th, 1976 and peaked at Number 5 on Christmas Day, spending 19 weeks on the chart. The single also reached Number 4 on Cash Box’s singles chart. The album’s second single “Peace of Mind” was released on January 7th, 1977 and peaked at Number 22 on The Billboard’s Hot 100.

The specific demos that are being released have not been unveiled yet, but the press release says it will give music historians and fans a chance to “peek inside Tom’s basement studio — and the ability to trace how the creative process progressed as Scholz, vocalist Brad Delp and the other musicians were working on the Boston album. Additional details for the upgraded album note that Scholz and Pihl “restored” the demos, but they were “left in their original sonic state.”

Jack White honored Dolly Parton by covering her classic song “Jolene” during his performance in London on Tuesday night (August. 23rd).

Earlier in the day, Dolly Parton died at the age of 80. The country singer’s passing spawned an outpouring of tributes from fellow musicians and fans alike, as people from all walks of life celebrated Parton’s career and philanthropic achievements. White, a longtime admirer of Parton’s, posted a simple tribute on Instagram which read “Instant sainthood,” alongside a classic image of the country star. Then, during his concert at the Eventim Apollo in London, he opted to celebrate Parton with one of her best-known tunes.

After opening his set with the recent single “That’s How I’m Feeling,” followed by the White Stripes classic “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground,” White surprised the crowd by launching into “Jolene” for the first time in 19 years.

White was drawn to “Jolene” even before he became a musician. “I thought that was an interesting name when I started hearing that song as a teenager,” he recalled to NPR in 2008. “And I guess later on, as a songwriter, I started to think about names starting with ‘J,’ like that could be used almost accusatory, like Jezebel… Jolene.“

In a clip shared on social media (which you can watch below), White can be seen rocking through the emotionally-charged song. At one point he looked away and pointed to the sky, before then clasping his hands as if he was saying a prayer of thanks for Parton.

According to setlist.fm, the last time White performed “Jolene” in concert was 2007 during the White Stripes’ July 24 concert at Madison Square Garden. He had not performed it live during his solo career until today.

Dolly Parton originally released the song in 1974. It reached No. 1 on the country chart and earned the singer a pair of Grammy nominations. Decades later, the White Stripes put their own unique spin on the tune – first releasing it as the B-side to the single “Hello Operator,” before later making it a staple of their live sets (Parton referred to their interpretation of the tune as “wonderful”).

Foreigner are too release an expanded version of their album “Head Games” due out on October. 30th.

The box set version of the 1979 album, which features concert staples such as the title track and “Dirty White Boy,” will include a disc of outtakes and alternative versions, as well as a newly unearthed complete concert from the Head Games tour.

The previously unreleased song “Trouble” has been remixed and released as the first taste of the “Head Games” set, with a newly added guitar solo from none other than Peter Frampton.

You can hear “Trouble” below, Originally recorded in May 1979 during the original ‘Head Games’ album sessions at Atlantic Studios in New York City, “Trouble” was recently discovered during research for the ‘Head Games Deluxe’ edition album -. This previously unreleased track has been freshly remixed & remastered, and features a newly added guest guitar appearance by longtime friend of the band, Peter Frampton.

Foreigner are currently wrapping up the last few dates of their summer co-headlining tour with Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Twenty years. Ten releases. One word: Hope. “Asha” is Elephant Stone‘s most intimate record yet — a collection born from loss and shaped by light. Named for frontman Rishi Dhir‘s late mother, the album carries its meaning in Sanskrit: hope. In a world growing darker, it arrives as a shelter. Produced, engineered, and mixed by Dhir at Sacred Sounds in Montreal, “Asha” finds the band — Dhir, Miles Dupire, Robbie MacArthur and Jason Kent — at their most emotionally direct and sonically expansive, with a guest appearance by Amy Millan on the closing track.

With a discography spanning 10 acclaimed releases, Elephant Stone remain at the forefront of the modern movement, constantly deconstructing the past to find something visceral, haunting, and undeniably human in the present.

Elephant Stone celebrates 20 years and a milestone 10th studio release with “ASHA”, their most visceral and personal project to date.

From the upcoming album “ASHA” out August 28th, 2026
Label: Elephants On Parade/Little Cloud Records

Purple mountains, empty highways, jet trails as the sun fades; Dogwood Tales paint in valley colours on their album “Every Star In Rockingham County“. Hailing from Harrisonburg, VA in the heart of Shenandoah, the band features founders and childhood friends Kyle Grim (guitar/vocals) and Ben Ryan (guitar/vocals), alongside college contemporaries Jake Golibart (drums) and Danny Gibney (bass).

With its location in its title, their new album is as much a love letter to the local DIY scene, vast farmlands, and surrounding mystical mountains as it is a portrait of present-day small-town American life. The humming electric guitars over beds of pedal steel and earnest lyricism find the album in dialogue with indie rock’s current lo-fi country romanticism — and lyrically pays homage to revered American songwriters in the footsteps of Townes Van Zandt — but ultimately takes listeners on a ride through uncharted territory.

It’s a ride through Rockingham County, through the moody valley, the tight bond of four friends coming of age in a rural Virginia town, and a digital age where loneliness is far too prevalent. Thankfully, we’ve got the stars to keep us company.

The late, great Steve Cropper had another ace up his sleeve before his tragic passing in December 2025. To anyone who knows the roots and branches of American  music, the loss of The Colonel was seismic. As guitarist, songwriter, producer and engineer — not just for the iconic Stax record label but on a forest of sessions and solo releases — the Tennessee soul man was the DNA that coursed through the post-war era, his fabled right hand setting the pace of rock ’n’ roll for 60-plus years.

The legendary musician was working on this new record, and with “Watching The Tide”, he has left a beautiful gift to the world, featuring an all-star cast including Eric Clapton, Brian May, Billy Gibbons and Ronnie Wood.

The wider world assumed 2024’s star-dusted, Grammy-nominated “Friendlytown” was the full stop on this most seminal of careers. Little did we know this towering figure had one last play. “Making music was Steve’s greatest joy,” explains Jon Tiven, the acclaimed songwriter/producer who first met Cropper in the early ’70s, became a close friend and helped ignite his post-millennial solo career. “Steve was so encouraged by “Friendlytown”. He was adamant he wanted to do another record.

On their sixth record, Allah-Las embrace a fully instrumental template that oscillates with hypnotic, rhythmic textures and soft ambient currents. Wrapped in the ambiance of aquatic soundscapes, the grooves channel atmospheres where sundowns meet blurred, gauzy perceptions. With references to the likes of English electronic duo Ultramarine and The Durutti Column’s Vini Reilly, the free-wheeling pathways of “Sirenas” offers a fascinating pivot that leaves the door open for boundless transmissions . . .

“Allah-Las make music that resists easy placement. Since forming in Los Angeles in 2008, the band have steadily sidestepped trends, creating a sound rooted not in nostalgia, but in feel — instinctual, atmospheric, and often instrumental in its storytelling, even when words are present.

Their records suggest a band uninterested in spectacle, and focused instead on tone, pacing, and space. The easy friendship that blossomed when three of the four members were working at Amoeba 
 Music has evolved into a lauded body of work grounded in storytelling and discovery. 2016’s “Calico Review” was a cinematic exploration of their hometown of Los Angeles, while 2019’s “LAHS” saw them looking farther abroad, turning their gaze outward and transmitting sound from a place not found on any map.

It’s a similar fascination with vast listening, inner and outer traveling, and collective imagining that steers their new album “Sirenas”, the band’s first fully instrumental expression

 “I Must Be Dreaming” is the first new album from Alabama Shakes in more than a decade. The album expands on 2015’s album “Sound And Color’s” unfettered exploration, leaning toward a viscerally charged form of psychedelic soul. Produced by Alabama Shakes and their repeat collaborator Shawn Everett, the album came to life at Nashville’s Sound Emporium Studios and Blackbird Studio.

While the album sustains their signature intensity, its songs often wander into more lush and otherworldly terrain, revealing a more exacting command of atmosphere and space. Singer-guitarist Brittany Howard explains that the album’s title has a double meaning, reflecting both disbelief at the state of the world and recognition of its beauty.

“It’s a snapshot of what we’re living through in 2026,” says Brittany Howard of Alamaba Shakes’ simmering new protest single. “I look around and wonder how we got to a place where there’s so much strain and so little support. I mean, it shouldn’t be impossible to take off work so you can bring your child to the doctor—that’s actually insane. My hope is that one day people will hear this song and say, ‘Yeah, shit was crazy back then, but we made it through.’”

From the archives of the Zuma ‘85 sessions come ‘Countryman ‘82’ and ‘Dume Room’, a small sampling of oddities and lost recordings left on the mixing room floor.

released August 1, 2025
Matt Correia / Drums, Percussion
Spencer Dunham / Bass
Miles Michaud / Guitar, Organ
Pedrum Siadatian / Lead Guitar, Synthesizer

Recorded and produced by Allah-Las (& Jeremy Harris on “Dume Room”) 

A cult musician, Jon Spencer has only released one LP as a full-fledged “solo” artist, “Spencer Sings The Hits” (In The Red) way back in 2018. This is despite the fact that all the projects he’s been involved with over the years have revolved around his charismatic figure and his performing skills as both a vocalist and guitarist.

Recorded with Chris Bittner in the studio and produced by Jon Spencer himself, the album’s lineup is a classic trio composed of Spencer with Kandall Wind (bass and vocals) and Macky Spider Bowman (drums and vocals), the formula is the consolidated one that we’ve come to know and love over the years.

“Sick of Being Sick!” is an acid blues rock and roll album that thrives on the power and acidity of the guitars, on riffs that can be reminiscent of a familiar tune, yet are always played with great effectiveness, supported by a rhythm section that proves absolutely up to the task.

Essentially, Jon Spencer is a true snake charmer, sometimes making individual notes “sound” with his guitar (Get Away, Coulda Been, Guitar Champ…), sometimes tracing sinuous electric lines (Come Along, Out of Place), the distinctly garage spirit and attitude aligns with punk (Fancy Pants) while still having a melodic nature (Get Away).

Powerful bass lines, unleashed drums, Jon Spencer does not renounce his characteristic “crooner” approach, which is as iconic as it is parodic, but absolutely effective. The album contains all short songs, eight in total, lasting less than twenty minutes.

He’s now approaching sixty, but when he stands in front of a microphone and plays guitar, he does things with an energy and a nastiness that perhaps no one else possesses.