If it’s pure, primal rock and roll thrills you’re looking for in a live performer, Bruce Springsteen is your man. It just seems to be what the New Jersey-born singer, songwriter and band leader was put on this planet to do. On record, he’s released some of the most significant albums of the last 50 years and given us some of the most life-affirming, heart-swelling anthems imaginable, but it’s in the live arena that the man they rightly call ‘The Boss’ really comes into his own. Thousands of music fans of all ages filled the Principality Stadium for the much-awaited return of American singer Bruce Springsteen. Also known as The Boss, 74-year-old Springsteen kick-started the European leg of his 2024 tour at Cardiff’s huge stadium – and he performed an epic three-hour set!,
The three-hour set, 29-song setlist opened with a deep cut in the form of ‘So Young And In Love’, an outtake from the 1974 recording sessions for ‘Born To Run’ that finally saw a release as part of the 1998 box set ‘Tracks’.
Also On Sunday in Cardiff for the first time Bruce Springsteen and the E.Street Band played the song “If I was a Priest” in Europe. It happened in the first European gig / show in Europa at May 5th in 2024 in Cardiff / Wales. The song was not printed on the setlist that evening.
The Boss played his first show in Wales for 11 years at the start of a three-month string of dates that will take him up to two climactic shows at London’s Wembley Stadium on 25th and 27th July.
Back in 1997, Record label Temporary Residence Ltd. had a novel idea: compile a Black Sabbath tribute album with experimental rock, folk, and electronic bands reinterpreting classic Ozzy-era Sabbath tunes. At the time it seemed like a unique idea, since such tributes were then executed primarily by washed-up glam bands or tired hardcore groups cheekily cashing in on nostalgic quasi-irony. Much has changed over the last eight years, of course. Black Sabbath did the unthinkable by reuniting and has since done so three times. Ozzy Osbourne became a household name with his startlingly popular MTV-produced reality show; to top it off, his children have become omnipresent pop culture irritants; in short, much of the world is ready for a break from the Osbourne clan.
It is under these auspices, fittingly, that we proudly present the long-delayed “Everything Comes & Goes”, a tribute to the ultimate stoner-rock band.
Our new single ‘I Wanna Live With You’ is out now. Listen to it anywhere you please and watch the sumptuous, vile little video at the link below.
We’re puking with joy to bring you this morsel and to begin raising the corpses of goth salsa, chainsaw pop and #pazzjunk from their sad tupperwares at long last.
You’ll be the first to hear all we’ve got coming this week. The gods have smiled – the harvest is good. Stay fastened like a tick to this righteous mailing list and we will spill fruits into your trembling arms without respite!
A vivid and revealing memoir from the leader and founder of one of the most revered indie-rock bands of the 1980s. Published to coincide with the release of Wynn’s new solo album “Make It Right” on Fire Records and supported by live dates across Europe and North America. On sale August 30th.
Summer 1984. I’ve got the back lounge of this tour bus all to myself, partly because I’m the lead singer but more likely because it means the rest of the band won’t have to deal with me for the rest of the day. Just two years earlier I was flunking out at UCLA, working the day shift in a record store, living out of my father’s basement. Now I’m living the million-to-one reality of touring the country with my band, The Dream Syndicate, opening for up-and-coming rock darlings R.E.M., and making a big-budget sophomore album for A&M Records. I’m also untethered and unbound, drinking a fifth of Jim Beam every day, barely speaking to my best friend and guitarist, and looking for trouble in all the wrong places. How did I get from there to here? And how do I get out? Stick around and find out. I’ll be here, dreaming my dream . . .
“I Wouldn’t Say It If It Wasn’t True” is a tale of writing songs and playing in bands as a conduit to a world its author could once have barely imagined—a world of major labels, luxury tour buses, and sold-out theaters, but also one of alcohol, drugs, and a low-level rock’n’roll Babylon. Beginning with Wynn’s childhood in California in the 60s and 70s, the book builds to a crescendo with the formation of the first incarnation of The Dream Syndicate in 1981 as an antidote to the pre-packaged pop music of the era. It charts the highs and lows of the band’s early years at the forefront of the Paisley Underground scene alongside Green On Red, Rain Parade, and The Bangles; the seismic impact of their debut album, “The Days Of Wine And Roses” the spiralling chaos of the sessions for the follow-up, “Medicine Show” the dissolution of the band’s first line-up and the launch of a second phase of The Dream Syndicate with “Out Of The Grey” and “Ghost Stories” and more, culminating with the release of the landmark live album “Live At Raji’s“.
This is Wynn’s story, but it also features some of the biggest and most colourful characters of the period, offering a detailed field guide to the music business that manages to both glorify and demystify in equal measure. And, ultimately, it’s a tale of redemption, with music as a vehicle for artistic and personal transformation and transcendence.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Steve Wynn is a founding member of The Dream Syndicate, whose debut album, The Days Of Wine And Roses, is widely regarded as a cornerstone of the indie/alternative rock scene of the 1980s. He has also enjoyed a prolific solo career, touring the world on a regular basis and performing and recording in groups such as Danny & Dusty, Gutterball, and The Baseball Project (also featuring R.E.M. founders Mike Mills and Peter Buck). He scored two Norwegian hit TV shows, Dag and Exit, and his songs have been covered by Luna, Yo La Tengo, and Concrete Blonde, among others. I Wouldn’t Say It If It Wasn’t True is his first book. He lives in New York City.
Five skinny kids with roots firmly placed in their own blown-out, distorted brand of soulful RnB. Formed in early 2011 by harp player Ambrose Kenny-Smith, The Murlocs have already played alongside Thee Oh Sees, Graveyard Train and Dave Graney. Their up-tempo snare cracks and noisy doom guitar – accompanied by Ambrose’s vocal screech – has been described as a mesmerising demented dance party.
The first live release from The Murlocs is a career-spanning 22 song set recorded at The TeragramBallroom in Los Angeles. The show capped off a busy 2022 for the Melbourne-based band, which saw the release of their 6th album “Rapscallion” as well as a performance at Red Rocks (supporting King Gizzard, with whom the band share two members) and their biggest US headlining tour to date. “Live at The Teragram Ballroom” features “Rolling On”, “Noble Soldier” & more.
Taken from the full length double album, ‘Live at the Teragram Ballroom 2022’.
“Upon arrival during the fraught summer of 2020, “Flower of Devotion” felt like Dehd’s necessary prescription for us all. That was, of course, a moment of unprecedented anxiety and uncertainty, when just contemplating the future could seem overly optimistic. But Dehd captured and shared the precarious balance between real life and real hope, a feat mirrored by instant pop melodies and infectious punk energy. The Chicago trio had the audacity to look ahead when many of us didn’t, to imagine improvement through mere existence. It was an album we needed.
Through Dehd’s career, Jason Balla has been building his chops as a producer, so this was a chance to indulge and explore. Eric McGrady, meanwhile, considered how much more he could deliver as a drummer, adding layers to the thump of his past. And Emily, who admits that the process of making records has always been emotionally draining, focused on harnessing her indomitable energy, funnelling her power into these songs without being overpowered by them. Dehd gave themselves runway to make mistakes and the space to make a statement. “Blue Skies” is their poignant, redemptive, and deeply fun testament to trusting and pushing yourself.”
their new album ‘Poetry’, due out May 10th, 2024, on Fat Possum.
The loss of Ruts frontman Malcolm Owen to a heroin overdose on July 14th, 1980, was to punk rock what the loss of Kurt Cobain was to grunge, and this The Ruts debut album, released in 1979, is every bit as important as “Nevermind” to the history of rock music. Henry Rollins has given praise in his spoken word show, and did a remarkably great job as The Ruts frontman in July 2007 at a London benefit show for guitarist Paul Fox, who passed away three months later from lung cancer, but, sadly, outside punk circles the band remain virtually unknown – particularly in the US – when, by rights, the likes of “Babylon’s Burning”,“Something That I Said“, and the reggae infused “Jah War” should be household names.
40 years after its initial release by Virgin Records, The Ruts debut album “The Crack” gets a deserved 3 Disc Expanded Edition which further cements its reputation as one of the greatest Punk Rock albums of all time. Disc 1 is the original 12 track album, the re-master overseen by surviving members Segs Jennings and Dave Ruffy.
The second disc features the band’s first four singles – “In A Rut” , “Babylon’s Burning” , “Something That ISaid” and “Jah War” – plus 11 previously unreleased studio monitor mixes from the original album sessions showing rawer, work in progress versions of the album’s studio tracks.
The final disc is a previously unreleased live show from The Netherlands in January 1980 featuring the original band at their most electric and exciting, vocalist Malcolm Owen in particular on fine form. The detailed booklet contains sleeve notes by Record Collector’s Rich Davenport plus lots of memorabilia from the era.
4CD featuring mono and stereo mixes of the three albums The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band recorded for Reprise Records, marking the first time the mono mixes have been available on CD. Also includes a brace of previously unissued out-takes from “Volume 2”, and a complete alternate version of “Volume 3, A Child’s Guide To Good And Evil”, all lovingly remastered by Alec Palao. Complete with a 40-page booklet, featuring a detailed history of the WCPAEB by Gray Newell profusely illustrated with rare photos and ephemera.
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, an unlikely musical collaboration between a trio of well-heeled teenage musicians from the Hollywood Hills and a wealthy wannabe- hipster playboy in his mid-30s, are regarded by those in the know as one of the most idiosyncratic groups to emerge during the psychedelic era, attracting a devoted cult following thanks to their unique sound.
The The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, recorded three albums for Reprise between 1966 and 1968, and this collection captures the group at their creative peak. In addition to the mono and stereo mixes of the albums and some edited 45 releases, this set also features an abundance of previously unissued recordings, including out-takes from ‘Volume 2’ and an entire alternate version of ‘A Child’sGuide To Good And Evil’ that offers a fascinating insight into the production of that album, as well as a rare radio promo spot.
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band: A Door Inside Your Mind (The Complete Reprise Recordings 1966-1968).
Formed by two relative veterans of the musical landscape in London in 1990, Curve blazed a trail with a fresh new sound during the first few years of that decade, fusing heavy electronics with layered guitars and sweetly dark vocals. The British music press was instantly enamoured, and the band went on to score a succession of critically acclaimed underground hits through a series of classic EPs and two futuristic albums.
Released on Dave Stewart’s (Eurythmics) Anxious imprint, these records chart the course of a band who burned brightly but briefly in their original incarnation, taking their cues from the scene around them and creating a new sound which many would mimic (most notably, Butch Vig’s Garbage). But this is the original flavour. The real deal. Original and daring. Homespun yet worldly.
Featuring the classic early EPs and those two seminal long players, “UnreadableCommunication” demands a re-examination of a band who set the standards of their own time and place, and who continue to be referenced and appreciated by shoegazers, industrialists and ethereal pop kids across the world.
The set Includes the Classic albums ‘Doppleganger’ AND ‘Cuckoo’ plus singles, B- sides, Remixes and Live recordings
Extensive box set exploring Cranes’ output on the Dedicated label, 1989-1997. Includes albums, b-sides, remixes, rarities and live recordings. Curated in association with cranes founder and vocalist Alison Shaw. Artwork by 4ad graphic design legend Chris Bigg.
Formed in 1986 by siblings Alison and Jim Shaw, Cranes remain one of the most distinctive bands of the late 1980s and 1990s, their ever-mutating sound defying categorisation and existing outside of the zeitgeist. Their recorded output during their initial ten-year incarnation is collected together here for the first time, from the raw 1989 mini album “Self-Non-Self” (originally released on Bite Back!) through to the sophisticated 1997 epic “Population Four”.
Curated and overseen by singer Alison Shaw on behalf of the band, and resplendent in artwork by 4AD legend Chris Bigg (with detailed liner notes and discographic information), “Collected Works Vol 1” serves as timely reminder of Cranes’ magnificence as they evolved from stark, noisy soundscapes to bolder, more elaborate instrumentation and arrangements. With hints of ethereal rock, dream pop, shoegaze, industrial and neo- classical, theirs was a sound truly like no other.
A must for fans and a perfect all-in-one deep dive for the curious, “Collected Works Vol 1” is an emotionally charged time capsule showcasing one of the finest bands of the 1990s.
The Fat Angel Sings 