The Fat Angel Sings

“Genius + Love = Yo La Tengo” is a 2-disc album by Yo La Tengo, consisting of rarities, alternate versions, and out-takes, spanning 1988 to 1995. The album was originally released on Matador Records in 1996

Back in print for the first time in over 20 years, the compilation assembles more than two hours of hard to find and unreleased Yo La Tengo music from 1988 – 1995. If there’s anything Yo La Tengo have in spades, it’s a superb music taste. This collection of outtakes and demos guides you through the inspired moments of creativity that they share. ‘Cast A Shadow’ covers K Records head honcho’s group Beat Happening brilliantly. ‘Speeding Motorcycle’ goes one further – it has the actual Daniel Johnston featuring on it as well as being a cover. The latter came from his fifth self-released cassette tape, Yip/Jump Music. There’s also a Ramones, Wire  “Too Late”. and John Cale “Hanky Panky Nohow” cover.

We think you get our point – astounding references. Of their own material, ‘Sunsquashed’ – a 26-minute jam that emphasizes their experimental and improvisational nature is a must. Free from the shackles of producing an album in the traditional sense, what you end up with is a fantastic and imaginative collection, which hammers home just how brilliant Yo La Tengo are for indie rock.

The second disc consists entirely of instrumental pieces. Included are songs previously recorded by the group (such as an 8-second drum solo), and covers, such as the Urinals’ “Surfin’ with the Shah,” and a wedding-band-like rendition of the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop.”

This new collection brings together classic radio sessions from Television Personalities, the masters of DIY post-punk and indie pop. Featuring two 80s BBC sessions that aired on John Peel and Andy Kershaw, along with a super rare 1992 WMBR set, this double LP features covers of Buzzcocks, The Raincoats and Daniel Johnston with previously unreleased songs and a bonus download WFMU session from 1993.
“Catchy hooks and schoolboy wit are in abundant supply.” Pitchfork

The Television Personalities’ splendid DIY skills and loveable ramshackle persona led them on many a subversive trip both on record and playing live. But it was the radio that first introduced them to the world in a whirlwind of repeated spins. John Peel let outsiders everywhere tune in to their altered world.

And, at the height of punk they parodied the new revolution, their single ‘Part Time Punks’ becoming a Peel staple, and the clamour to hear more eventually resulting in a session in 1980.
Through the 80s, Daniel Treacy had matured into a gifted storyteller turned pop culture narrator who placed the modern world in his own hazy shade of focus. His songs were loveable, immediately identifiable and pin prick sharp; they were tidily observational, and often magically acute. This was a gifted raconteur, an inspiration and an essential alternative to the hiss and flutter of “normal” radio, a medium that by the late 80s had just about abandoned them.
‘Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out’ captures this pilgrim’s progress to pop nirvana, a psychedelic wonderland shaded by dark and brooding memories, all played out through a crackling transistor radio secreted under the pillow so that these sketches of society remain perfectly personal, a direct line into Dan’s psyche. 

released January 17th, 2025

Produced by Graham Sutton (These New Puritans, Bark Psychosis), ‘Birthmarks’ is New York band, Bambara’s, fifth, and best, studio album. A wild, musically adventurous suite of songs that follows a host of lost characters caught in a multi-generational cycle of love, violence and rebirth.

An extraordinary, nocturnally-inclined modernist rock band drenched in Southern Gothic, Bambara have evolved their macabre vision to perfection with their fifth album “Birthmarks“. Created in collaboration with co-producer Graham Sutton from UK experimental pioneers Bark Psychosis (a man also heavily responsible for the ground breaking These New Puritans records), it’s not so much a concept album as a stunningly complex work of narrative fiction, featuring memorable characters including the aforementioned C&W karaoke-bar siren with halo-braided hair and a one-eyed murderer begging for the electric chair – all not exactly set to music, but actually born from it.

Released through Bella Union 14/03/2025

Ride guitarist and songwriter Andy Bell’s third solo album “Pinball Wanderer” is an otherworldly collection of intergalactic wizardry that mixes psychedelic melodies, Can-via-The Stone Roses grooves and Arthur Russell-style experimental textures. With guest appearances from Dot Allison and Neu! legend Michael Rother on a cover of The Passions’ peerless post-punk classic ‘I’m In Love With A German Film Star’, it is perfect for both deep-listening headphones moments and cutting across the coolest, most understated dancefloors.

The loose-limbed rhythm tracks were the starting point and were laid down with the help of Andy’s old Oasis bandmate Gem Archer. The rest followed after an intense all-night session last summer, with the completed album being delivered the following morning. It’s Andy’s finest work to date; a quintessential nighttime record where you can slip through the gaps in the notes and revel in the moment.

Andy Bell has shared a lovely acoustic version of his current single ‘i’m in love…’ which you can watch below. Keep an eye out for a new version of the song next Thursday!

pinball wanderer LP out February 28th ! on Sonic Cathedral

The last place you’ll find Benjamin Booker is where he was yesterday. Following two critically acclaimed albums marked by his signature fuzzy americana-inspired garage rock and soul sound, world tours, and opening slots with the likes of Jack White, Tame Impala, and Neil Young… he disappeared. “I wanted to get to this sound, but I didn’t know how. At some point I decided I’m going to find it or die trying.” He spent years tinkering in a loft near Skid Row in Los Angeles before ending up across the globe in Perth, Australia.

Trading stems via email, Booker crafted his third album with LA underground hip-hop mastermind Kenny Segal. The new album, “Lower”, mixes experimental hip hop, dream and noise pop, and singer-songwriter music into something that is entirely his own. Through the changes, Booker’s lyrical exploration of pain and longing have been persistent.

“I am beginning to see the beauty all around me/What this life can be,” Booker sings over simmering guitar and delicate keys on “Slow Dance in a Gay Bar.” In a statement, he said, “You know, sometimes you find yourself in a death hole, surrounded by bones and rotting flesh. It feels like every second is a shovel-full of dirt flung on your head – the worms are laughing at you, hungry, ready to eat. But then, out of nowhere, the impossible happens. A ladder appears. You climb up and the world you knew before is completely different. The colours are more saturated. The sun shines brighter and the air smells sweet like honey. This song is about that.” 

His new single, “Slow Dance in a Gay Bar,” is out now, and it comes with a dream-like video of the musician driving a white van through the narrow streets of New Orleans’ French Quarter. It’s the latest of a string of loosies ahead of Booker’s third studio album, 

“Lower,” is due January 24th. 

Co-produced by Guy Massey (Spiritualised, The Divine Comedy, Kylie) and Sophie Jamieson, I still want to share is an album exploring the push and pull, merry-go-round nature of anxious attachment and how it weaves, cuts and steals through familial and romantic relationships. Throughout the record is a perpetual longing to belong, a yearning to learn how to love and let go, and a continual missing of the mark. Each song clings tightly to the possibility of home, but never arrives there.

The album was recorded in North London between Guy’s studio and Konk Studios, with string arrangements from Josephine Stephenson (Daughter, Ex:Re, Lisa Hannigan) and drums from Ed Riman (Hilang Child).

released January 17th, 2025

As Sting preps a new power trio, we salute his original one with the Ultimate Music Guide to The Police. Featuring a selection of classic interviews from the archives of NME and Melody Maker and in-depth reviews of every Police and Sting solo album.

Led by Richard Jobson of the Skids, The Armory Show release brand new album “Dead Souls” with Last Night From Glasgow in early 2025 . Against all odds, Jobson had managed to very credibly pick up where the band had left off. Now we see that the follow up group that Jobson had formed in the aftermath of the Skids with an even more iconic is having a new album ready for early 2025.

The band was The Armoury Show, but now that they’ve been rebuilt with an all new engine and chassis, Jobson has opted to change the spelling to Armory Show. He claims that it was his intention all along but was outvoted in the 1980s band for the earlier spelling.

Like with Skids, this will be a case of Jobson building an entirely new band to carry on the mission of the group. Armory Show were actually resurrected as a live act in 2019 with Jobson filling the group’s slots with guitars by Rory Cowieson and Nick Young from the Dumferline band Domiciles. The rhythm section for those shows was Nick Hernandez and Gil Allan, who went on to become the new engine room for Skids as well.

Since data is so thin on the ground at this moment, we can only assume that the album line up from those 2019 live shows have the same musicians in place in Armory Show as well. As with the last Skids album, The label Last Night From Glasgow will be releasing the new Armory Show album in early 2025. It’s called “Dead Souls” and all we really know about it right now

He never received the the full aclaim he deserved, but blues guitarist Rory Gallagher was Ireland’s answer to Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Emerging in 1969 as the leader of the blues/rock power trio Taste (they were signed by Ahmet Ertegun to Atco Records in 1968, but were overshadowed at the label by acts like Cream, Blind Faith and Led Zeppelin),

The group made three albums before disbanding in 1970, in order for Gallagher to go solo. By the time he embarked on his 1976 tour, Gallagher had expanded his power trio to a four-piece band with the addition of Lou Martin on piano, organ and synths. They blast off with ‘Moonchild,’ which borrows heavily from the riff The Moody Blues used in their hit, ’The Story In Your Eyes.’ Next up is ‘Secret Agent’ (not the song made famous by Johnny Rivers with the same name). The show moves forward with ‘Calling Card,’ which was Gallagher’s new LP at the time.

The rest of the show is a mix of tracks from “Calling Card” and staples that had long been part of his set list, including ‘Souped-Up Ford,’ ‘Western Plain,’(featuring Gallagher on acoustic guitar), and the balls-out rocker, ‘I Take What I Want,’ (which lifts The Beatles’ riff from ‘I Feel Fine’ during Gallagher’s solo).

Rory in brilliant form here. Great sound and the band are on top form. Great versions of some Rory classics. Most from 1976,

“Back Into The Garage” is out now! These tracks are the raw, unfiltered ideas that I initially demoed for our latest release “Back Into The Dream” but, for one reason or another, didn’t include in the album. Now, you can hear them in their barest, purest form—offering a unique glimpse into the creative process. I hope you enjoy exploring these snapshots of the journey.

The official release and 7″ includes 3 new songs: “Edge of The Deep Blue Sea“: Nice chords, melody, and lyrical references to the Oregon coast. Based on an experience I had many many years ago on tour. Ask me about it next time you see me. “Revival” Rive All? Revival? Not sure which one I’m saying, but it’s about the joy of Spring after a long long cold Canadian Winter.

And finally “Be Concerned” Me at my most Elliott Smith-esque. The Bandcamp release also includes a bunch of my demoes for tunes that did make it onto “Back Into The Dream”.

Unchosen songs rest, Once unmatched, now glow with time, Inspiration’s spark. All songs written and performed by Rishi Dhir

released January 17th, 2025