The Fat Angel Sings

Celebrate the iconic careers and legacies of the greatest British rock bands of all time, The Rolling Stones with their new live albums. “The Stones’ Live at the Wiltern” was recorded during the band’s Los Angeles stop of the Licks World Tour of 2002 and includes recordings of rarely played classics including “No Expectations.” 

The Rolling Stones embarked on the Licks World Tour in 2002 & 2003 to celebrate their 40th anniversary, featuring the band performing in arenas and stadiums, in addition to the occasional theatre. In November 2002, the Stones arrived in Los Angeles to perform at a packed Wiltern Theatre, treating fans to a set heavy on rarities which feel right at home in such an intimate setting.

While some of the hits are performed, this night at the Wiltern is for the rarely played classics, including “Stray Cat Blues”, “No Expectations” and a cover of “Everybody Needs Somebody To Love” featuring a guest spot by the legendary Solomon Burke, who opened the show that night.

Irish four-piece Some Remain have a new single ‘Dead Sound’, and their fifth to date.  It’s the latest of 3 singles to be recorded with Felipé Loughran-Ponce in Fused Ion Studios, Galway, moving away from their self-recorded early singles.  ‘Dead Sound’ captures a wild abandon, rough and raucous yet somehow tight.  The track canters along at pace, all punky vibes and static fuelled guitars. 

This is a track that makes you feel the band is having the time of their lives.  Some Remain are building a reputation based on the quality high energy of their live shows.  Lyrically ‘Dead Sound’ follows the antics of a dead sound lad on a night out.  The garage-punk energy here is totally infectious.  

There is also a tongue in cheek humour here. Mid-track the whole sound gets completely out of control until the electric riffs of the guitar eventually everything back on track.  The beat and pace is manic to the end – and that final note!  Just class timing.

Portland outfit Sun Atoms debut their new single ‘Ceiling Tiles’ today, released via Little Cloud Records digitally and on 7″ vinyl. The video follows ghosts on a velvety caper through an endless maze, arriving at a house of cards on the verge of metaphysical collapse. The B-side complements chills with thrills with a unique rendition of the Leonard Cohen classic, here dubbed ‘Tower of Song (in the key of JAMC)’.

Anchored by a rumbling baseline of Peter G. Holmström (The Dandy Warhols, Pete International Airport), the rhythmic portents of multi-instrumentalist June Kang, Mars de Ponte (LoveBomb Go-Go) and L.A. drummer Eric Rubalcava and Boise native Derek Spencer Longoria-Gomez (Hi Hazel).

The Swirling keyboards, chiming psych tinged licks and the foreboding attitude dashed vocals of Jsun Atoms (The Upsidedown, Daydream Machine) craft a foreboding and bristling concoction, it has echoes of the likes of the Mission, The Sisters of Mercy, or the propulsive sound of Leonard Cohen‘s ”I’m Your Man’ album. The single was mixed by the iconic Jagz Kooner (Massive Attack, Primal Scream, Oasis, Garbage). This is the first taste of the band’s second album, to be released in late spring.

2021 brought the band’s debut album “Let There Be Light,” also produced by Holmström and mixed by the iconic Stephen Street (Blur, The Smiths, The Cranberries), involving performances by the likes of The Vandelles’ Jasno Swarez, The Black Angels’ Alex Maas and Gregg Williams (Sheryl Crow, Blitzen Trapper).

“When I was a child, I saw a being made of light climb through my bedroom window, they stood at the foot of my bed and reached out to touch my foot,” explains Jsun Atoms. “Mesmerizing and haunting, much like the new Sun Atoms single ‘Ceiling Tiles’, which reveals a story of characters living under a faux sky being manipulated to make it appear that the stars are aligning, when in fact, above this tiled Truman Show, the stars are doing just that. The characters in the song go about their day-to-day dance while the globe they are spinning on becomes an eye.”

Filmed by Brady Tuazon, this video follows several characters, who come to life from of a deck of tarot cards. An amalgamation of new colours in psychedelic, dark wave, and post-modern pop, ‘Ceiling Tiles’ explores a dreamy netherworld peeling away under the heartbeat like a synthesized glove. A cautionary tale of a dystopian future, some of which is already materializing before our eyes now, we follow the characters into a mirror, where they live outside of the lines under a faux sky, only to find that the planet itself is an eye, crying rain. Do they make it through the maze of plastic plants and security guards and get the message out in order to light up the world?

Working within the boundaries of black and white let us emphasize the theme of two worlds in a psychedelic noir manner. Portraying each member as their normal selves and as a ghost version adds another layer to the duality. It makes us ask the questions, “If our own ghosts saw us today, would they be kind and encouraging to us? Or would they be spirits signaling their existence as a cautionary tale?  Filming the video was a true testament of the grit and creative solidarity at the core of Portland creatives. We had limited time and resources to pull this off”.

As Sun Atoms kicked off 2024 by playing three sold-out shows at Portland’s historic Revolution Hall, opening for Dinosaur Jr., this presented the perfect chance to shoot this video. With its long stairways and iconic brick facade as the ideal backdrop for this monochromatic video, here unfolds a mysterious tale of characters living between worlds and connected by Jean Cocteau’s famously mirrored portal.

As of February 23rd, the ‘Ceiling Tiles’ is available on 7″ vinyl and from fine digital platforms, including Apple Music, Spotify and Bandcamp. Sun Atoms will be releasing a album in late spring.

Portishead’s “Roseland NYC Live concert “– recorded and filmed at New York’s Roseland Ballroom with a 28-piece orchestra back in 1997 – is being reissued on CD and coloured vinyl.

The album, which was issued originally in 1998, has been “newly remastered” and also expanded; the track listing now includes ‘Undenied’ and ‘Numb’ from the concert film, and the full length performance of ‘Western Eyes’, which was played in part over the credits of the film.

Also, ‘Sour Times’ and ‘Roads’ are also now the actual Roseland versions, since previously these were substituted on the album release with recordings from other performances.

All five of these tracks will be on CD and vinyl for the first time.

The 2LP edition is pressed on red vinyl, comes in a gatefold sleeve and includes a recreation of the sticky backstage pass used for the concert. The CD edition also comes with this pass and has a 12-page booklet.

These two physical 25th anniversary editions of “Roseland NYC Live” are released on 26th April 2024, via UMR/Island.

Paul Weller will release a new studio album in May called, simply, “66“. In the ever-evolving landscape of contemporary music, few artists possess the enduring influence and innovative spirit of Paul Weller. A recording career that began in 1977, now takes in the release of his 17th solo album. As the title and artwork by Sir Peter Blake (his first for Weller since 1995’s Stanley Road) indicates, the album marks the completion of his 66th journey around the sun. ’66’ is quite a reflective and inward thinking album that pulls back the camera lens and shines a light on the way Weller’s creativity interacts with his wider world. Continually finding new ways to alchemise the miracle of living and the meaning of it all, he draws on fragments of real life, ruminations on spirituality and even childhood memories. There are songs touching on faith, changing circumstances and the fractured realities of life in this turbulent age. But ’66’ is positive at heart, bursting with the wisdom and perspective accrued by the business of someone who has really lived and loved.

The 12 songs on 66 were worked up in Weller’s Black Barn studio over the course of three years with various guest musicians, including Dr Robert, Richard Hawley, Steve Brooks and Max Beesley

There are lyrical contributions from Suggs, Noel Gallagher and Bobby Gillespie (‘Ship Of Fools’, ‘Jumble Queen’ and ‘Soul Wondering’ respectively) and Weller shares production duties on a few tracks with Christophe Vaillant, White Label and Charles Rees. String arrangements are by Hannah Peel.

‘Soul Wandering’, although apparently “the first proper single” will be ‘Rise Up Singing’ which will be made available on 5th April.

As well as vinyl and CD there’s a 2CD set packaged in deluxe hardcover book format, with four extra tracks on the second disc. As you’d expect there’s various coloured vinyl editions which all come with a 12-page booklet and foldout poster.

“66” :: The new album by Paul Weller Released May 24th — a day before his 66th birthday

Jessica Pratt’s first song in five years is an upbeat forward march into the unknown, a musical representation of undirected ambition whose tone belies an undercurrent of skepticism in the lyrics. Pratt’s delivery is as cheerful as the triumphant drums, bass, and strings that undergird it — production that’s likened in a press release to the orchestral excess of ’60s pop hits like The Walker Brothers’ “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” — but her words are ever-so-slightly out of sync: “Time is time and time and time again / And what would you say if you can’t get out of here?” she sings. “Time is time and time and time again / To make your escape you’ve captured the captor’s fear.”

From the album ‘Here in the Pitch,’ out May 3rd, 2024 on Mexican Summer/City Slang

After the original line-up of Young Jesus dissolved in 2021, leaving bandleader John Rossiter as the sole remaining member, the project’s music began to conspicuously lean into the plusher edges of its experimental indie rock. 2022’s “Shepard Head” did away with the angular sounds in favour of alt-R&B, jazz, and house, and yet Rossiter’s voice was still capable of a potent energy: that of a tortured siren bellowing from the heart of a forgotten chapter in Americana pop. “Brenda & Diane,” is the new single from Young Jesus’ upcoming album “The Fool”, relies on the power of Rossiter’s vocals to help craft a charging pop ballad with a few ‘80s signifiers and a totally timeless spirit.

Rossiter tells the tale of two people on the lamb — the stakes are heavy, but the highway spans to infinity, as they drive “in a car full of cash, / credit cards, and / that reckless abandon.” Rossiter sings with a conviction that’s so passionate and despairing, it could be his own story.

“Brenda & Diane”: This song is sung from the perspective of a narrator who shares the story of two runaways, Brenda and Diane. The main character initially thinks he’s better than them but eventually sits down to talk to them, realizing they have a whole, complex life. It’s a humbling experience for the main character and challenges his sense of superiority and judgment

John Rossiter: Lead Vocals, Guitar, Electric Guitar, Piano Alex Lappin: Bass Guitar, Drums, FX

from “The Fool” out May 24th

Neil Young brings “Dume” to vinyl for the first time.  The 16-track double album with Crazy Horse was assembled for Young’s second volume of Archives from material recorded during the sessions for 1975’s “Zuma” and features both outtakes and songs from that album – in essence, creating a new, more expansive version of “Zuma” minus one song (“Through My Sails”) and plus seven others.

When Neil Young assembles a special edition of his songs, the delight is in the details. “Dume” is a new limited-edition all analogue vinyl pressing of 16 songs that were originally collected for Neil Young’s Archives Vol. II, released in autumn 2020.

These sixteen tracks from the “Zuma”-recording period on this limited-edition vinyl pressing turn into a somewhat kaleidoscopic view of the era, and really present an album that becomes its own being. The freshness of never-heard-before versions of well-known songs, along with the original songs themselves on newly pressed high-quality vinyl from the original analogue tape masters, is like an audio reset for everything gathered. In the always-evolving efforts of Young, the past and the future meld into one never-ending presentation of his musical life in the highest audio sound quality available, and in new collections that allow an original light of what he’s accomplished so far.

The album features recordings, some of which were part of the historic Zuma album sessions by Neil Young and Crazy Horse, and others previously unreleased, are a detailed look at one of the most exciting periods in Neil’s rock and roll life. “Dume” captures the live-wire spark of Young’s music during those years, and this full-bore attack is somewhat of a turning point for Young and his band.

Neil Young, Crazy Horse, and producer David Briggs were living in the Point Dume area of Malibu and recording at their own direction. The songs Young was writing on the “Dume” collection came at a steady stream, and after the twisty turns of ‘Tonight’s The Night’, the group felt open and free. “Zuma”, named after the beach they lived near, came together in wide-open sessions that had the air of freedom itself. In assembling “Dume“ – initially released as Disc 8 of the ‘Archives Vol. II’ box set – Young’s unfolding plan was to weave songs from the album with unreleased tracks and mixes from that period. ‘Dume’ is somewhat of a Mad Hatter’s take, using the “Zuma” album as a starting point and expanding that scope into a brand-new entity. Now it is available with the superior sound it was recorded in, via analogue master tapes and vinyl.

“Dume”, A HISTORIC COLLECTION OF Neil Young classics and hidden gems, Released for the first time on vinyl February 23rd Via Reprise Records

The upcoming 50th anniversary of Todd Rundgren’s 1972 album, “Something/Anything?” ignites a full-length tribute by an assortment of rock bands titled “Someone/Anyone?” released in February 2022.

1972’s “Something/Anything?” by recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Todd Rundgren is universally hailed as a creative tour-de-force and one of the ‘70s most ground breaking and ambitious recordings. Upon its release, the album garnered major critical acclaim and racked up the hits, “Hello It’s Me” and “I Saw the Light.” It also showcased Rundgren evergreens “It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference” and the proto power pop, “Couldn’t I Just Tell You.”

By the time Todd Rundgren had recorded his third album, “Something/Anything?”, he had already garnered quite a list of accomplishments. His tenure with the Philadelphia-based band the Nazz helped establish his skills as a solid songwriter and a decidedly competent rocker, making him a prime architect in the newly emerging genre of power pop at the same time. Prior to that, he had gained his apprenticeship as a producer and engineer while working behind the boards for the Band, Jesse Winchester, the James Cotton Blues Band, and Ian and Sylvia, eventually rising through the ranks to win the role of Bearsville Records’ primary in-house engineer and the preferred choice to produce the artists belonging to manager Albert Grossman’s specific stable.

Those experiences set the stage for an album that ranks, even now, as a most impressive opus that easily equals any other double album shared before or since. Released in late February 1972, much of it finds Rundgren playing all the instruments entirely on his own. It was a strategy he had employed at times on his previous two albums, “Runt” and “Runt”: The Ballad of Todd Rundgren“, although here, as before, his efforts were occasionally augmented by various studio recruits as well.

Sessions were initiated in L.A., then moved to the Record Plant in New York before eventually being relocated to his former confines at Bearsville Studios, where he continued to plow through the wealth of material he had written in an early spurt of prolific activity. Contributors included future Utopia colleague Mark “Moogy” Klingman, Rick Derringer, Randy Brecker (later of the Brecker Brothers), and Hunt and Tony Sales, with whom he had worked on his initial album. Nevertheless, it was apparent from the outset that the album was Rundgren’s vision alone. Its experimental nature paved the way for the equally ambitious effort that would immediately follow, “A Wizard/A True Star”.

Rundgren penned the liner notes himself and made it clear at the outset what the listener should expect. He described the first side of the album as “a bouquet of ear-catching melodies,” called the second the album’s “cerebral side,” delineated the third side as “The kid gets heavy” and dubbed the fourth “Baby Needs a New Pair of Snakeskin Boots (A Pop Operetta),” even creating a libretto and interspersing some random studio chatter to accompany it.

While that seeming sense of overindulgence—offset by a decidedly loose and limber approach overall— made it seem somewhat heady at times, it did include a pair of songs that continue to rank among his most memorable. A stripped-down version of his Nazz standard “Hello It’s Me” went on to become a perennial fan favourite and, given its new unassuming arrangement, reflected a vulnerability at the opposite end of Rundgren’s oftentimes quirky, off-kilter personality. Both personal and plaintive in its delivery, it remains an enduring pop classic.

“I Saw the Light” could be considered a secondary standard, its emphatic pacing and driven, determined delivery expressing a longing of a different sort, one that suggests the singer is that much closer to getting the girl, if only through flattery alone. It begins with Rundgren expressing an uncertainty about the relationship that eventually evolves into abject infatuation and, by turns, clear commitment.

Also worthy of mention is “Couldn’t I Just Tell You,” a rocking, rollicking, unabashed expression of affection and intention that was clearly in sync with Rundgren’s seminal sound. Despite its plaintive sentiments—the narrator makes it clear he’s desperate to reveal his feelings for the object of his desire and will do so regardless of the consequences—it boasts a drive and determination that can’t be mitigated by any underlying emotion.

While “Cold Morning Light,” “It Takes Two To Tango (This Is for the Girls),” “Saving Grace,” “Sweeter Memories” and “Marlene” offer further examples of Rundgren’s sentimental side, other songs elevate the intensity, among them “Black Maria,” a powerhouse rocker that frequently finds a place in Rundgren’s current repertoire. So too, several songs share Rundgren’s trademark tongue-in-cheek humor, specifically “Slut,” “Piss Aaron,” “Some Folks Is Even Whiter Than Me” and his ode to the DJ of the same name, “Wolfman Jack.” His higher ambitions took flight on side four, beginning with a pair of ragged archival recordings that starts with “Money” by an obscure band of the same name, and abruptly leads into another old standby, “Messin’ With the Kid,” as rendered by his early pre-Nazz ensemble, Woody’s Truck Stop.

Aside from those two tracks, the only song not written by Rundgren is “Dust in the Wind,”  authored by Moogy Klingman and not to be confused with the Kansas standard of the same name. That said, it still aims for a similar kind of emphatic imprint.

Most recently, the album its song “Hello It’s Me” were prominently featured in the premiere episode of HBO Max’s “Sex and The City” revival series, “And Just Like That…”

Rundgren would come to hate the comparisons that labelled him “a male Carole King” early on and would eventually venture into more progressive realms through his work with Utopia and the newly emerging fields of music video, internet distribution and interactive entertainment. Still, “Something/Anything?”, as its title suggests, provided early proof that the possibilities were indeed endless.

Although often pointed to as a power pop tour de force, Todd Rundgren’s third solo effort (a sprawling double album), actually touched upon various styles – hard rock, R&B, psychedelia, piano ballads, etcetera. And while the radio hits “Hello It’s Me” and “I Saw the Light” remain the best known of the bunch, Rundgren gets to show off his underrated guitar soloing skills on “Black Maria” and “Couldn’t I Just Tell You”. 

Also of note, Rundgren proved to be an incredibly multi-talented musician – not only singing, producing the album, and penning 24 of the its 25 tracks, but also playing every bloody instrument on the first three sides! 

The album “Someone/Anyone?” is the 50th Anniversary Tribute to Todd Rundgren’s Classic 1972 double album, “Something/Anything?“ All 25 tracks are presented in the same order with lovingly re-invented covers of the songs by diverse group of artists who love Todd, which include Marshall Crenshaw, Kasim Sulton (Utopia), Stan Lynch (founding member of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers), Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater), Dennis Diken (The Smithereens), Louise Goffin, members of Brian Wilson’s touring band and many more.

The actual 50th Anniversary release, all net profits from sales will go to Todd Rundgren’s “Spirit Of Harmony” charity, which advocates music in schools. The album has received the blessing of Todd Rundgren.

No stranger to tribute records, in 2021 Perdomo created a 50th Anniversary edition of Paul and Linda McCartney’s “Ram“, which was approved and praised by Paul himself.

The album is the brainchild of Echo In The Canyon renowned producer/multi-instrumentalist Fernando Perdomo. Says Perdomo: “Something/Anything?” is the classic Todd Rundgren album. Equal parts commercial and eclectic, it’s considered a quirky masterpiece in the same way as The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds and Big Star Third. And it’s still turning heads today. It was just listed as one of the top 40 singer-songwriter records by ultimateclassicrock.com.” 

“City is Taken” is the second single from Bodega’s upcoming album “Our Brand Could Be Yr Life” and its video was directed by the band’s Ben Hozie.

Bodega have returned with a new single entitled “City Is Taken,” set to be featured on their new album “Our Brand Could Be Yr Life”, out April 12th via Chrysalis Records. The charming track features a shuffling drum groove, dizzying post-punk guitar licks, and a tongue-in-cheek vocal performance from Nikki Belfiglio, who addresses New York City’s ever-changing landscape. “‘City Is Taken’ is a song about my experience of moving to NYC in 2010,” Belfiglio reflects. “I came to view myself and my artistic role models as a force of gentrification caught in the invisible web on profiteering that follows artists wherever they go. My visual presence became an unwitting symbol of destruction; the antithesis of everything I sought to create.”

The new track arrives with a DIY music video directed by Luca Balser, which co-main songwriter Ben Hozie introduces: “The video is a study in personal geography/archaeology. It features Nikki and I performing the track throughout a nocturnal NYC in front of defunct venues from the city’s storied musical past alongside Chase banks and Chipotles. The camera frames key DIY spots in BODEGA’s history such as Party Expo, Palisades (where the release party for the original “Our Brand Could Be Your Life” was in 2015), Silent Barn II, Sunnyvale (where the “Endless Scroll” release party was), Shea Stadium,

The forthcoming album is a partial rework of original material BODEGA’s Hozie and Belfiglio recorded in their apartment on a laptop under the name BODEGA BAY eight years ago. The new project is updated with a handful of newly written songs and a near decade of experience.

from the upcoming album ‘Our Brand Could Be YR Life’