The Fat Angel Sings

British indie pioneers The Loft split up in 1984 before they could become truly appreciated, but nevertheless were one of Creation’s earliest successes. In October 2023, the original line-up of Pete Astor, Dave Morgan, Bill Prince and Andy Strickland performed a four-track session for Marc Riley and Gideon Coe on their BBC Radio 6 Music show, rattling through three of their original classics plus their cover of Richard Hell’s ‘Time’.

The Loft notched up an impressive list of firsts for Creation Records artists back in the mid-1980s. First Creation band on TV, first to hit the top of the indie chart, first to be invited on to a major UK tour and, not least, first Creation band to record a coveted BBC radio session – for Janice Long’s Radio One show in 1984. Then they split up.

In October 2023, the band was invited by BBC Radio 6 Music’s Riley & Coe show to record its fourth BBC session at Maida Vale’s famous Studio 4, following their heralded appearance at the Glas-Goes Pop festival.

Featuring four classic Loft tracks and played by the original members the session confirmed the band’s standing as pioneering indie originals. On hearing the very first track broadcast, Nick Godfrey of Precious Recordings of London was messaging the band to bag the session for a full vinyl release.

The 10-inch vinyl EP features three band originals, ‘Beware’, ‘Worm In My Brain’ and ‘Ride’, plus their celebrated version of Richard Hell’s ‘Time’. The band have all contributed to the sleeve notes, describing what the session, and still playing together, means to them, with exclusive photos from inside Maida Vale taken by Ken Copsey.

10″ on Precious Recordings. Limited Edition of 500 copies,

King Crimson’s “Red” will be 50 next October 6th. In celebration of the anniversary of this classic King Crimson album, DGM and Panegyric will release a 50th Anniversary Edition on October 11th, By the time King Crimson entered the studio in July 74, the band had spent the best part of two years on the road, recorded two albums along the way (‘Larks’ Tongues In Aspic’ & ‘Starless & Bible Black’) & shed two band members en route; percussionist Jamie Muir having quit early 1973, and violin/mellotron player David Cross at the end of the US tour just a week prior to the recording of “Red”.

Crimson had built a reputation as one of the tightest, most powerful bands on the rock circuit. Recording as a trio in Olympic studios in London, with one improv piece (Providence) drawn from that final US tour & with contributions from former members & friends on saxophones, violin, and oboe, the group produced the last Crimson studio album of the 70s & one of the decade’s masterpieces – “Red”.

Available as a 4-disc boxed set (2 Blu-ray and 2 CDs) and as a 2-LP 200-gram vinyl set. 

 featured are a complete album’s worth of Elemental Mixes by long-time King Crimson producer (& band manager) David Singleton – using the original multi-track recordings to present a very different audio picture of the album, with greater separation of instruments & utilising many recorded elements recorded

This edition features completely new Dolby Atmos, 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Surround & Stereo mixes by Steven Wilson taking the music to new levels of clarity & power. ‘Red’ was one of the earliest mixes undertaken by Steven Wilson in 2009 & King Crimson was the first of a number of classic band’s & artists to be mixed by Steven so it’s entirely appropriate that he return, some 15 years later, to take the album into the Dolby Atmos era.

“What I hear on “Red” is the best representation of 72-74 era line-up in the studio. In effect this is a power trio record and their sound is just huge.” – Steven Wilson

A new Jimi Hendrix box set is coming, and it features 38 unreleased tracks recorded by the late electric guitar legend at his Electric Lady studio months before his death. Since Hendrix’s untimely passing in September 1970, there have been many releases of B-Sides, rarities, re-masters, and other oddities, but very few offered new content.

Thankfully, the “Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision” box set, doesn’t fall for that trap – all but one of the set’s 39 tracks have never been released. The songs were recorded by what was a new-look Jimi Hendrix Experience band. While Mitch Mitchell remained on the drum stool, bassist Billy Cox was settling into life in the Experience having replaced Noel Redding the previous year.

Interestingly, Cox had previously turned down a spot in the band earlier in his career, believing it would protect the guitarist from racism. “Angel [Take 7]” is the first song from the new batch of lost gems to be unveiled. The song is a newly mixed and stripped-down version of the cut, featuring the original performances of Hendrix, Mitchell, and Cox that were committed to tape on July 23rd, 1970.

Unlike other versions that have come to light after Hendrix’s passing, this version is free of the additional drum and percussive layers Mitchell added after Hendrix had died.

During this period, Hendrix was tirelessly working on “First Rays Of The New Rising Sun“, the ambitious double album that was set to succeed his 1968 masterpiece, “Electric Ladyland”. The environment of Hendrix’s freshly constructed studio proved a breeding ground for creativity, with the trio piecing “Night Bird Flying”, “Freedom”, and “Dolly Dagger” together in the space.

This new box set offers a new, unblemished insight into their jams, with four-track demos of “Valleys Of Neptune” and “Heaven Has No Sorrow” serving as particular highlights.

There are also some far more sprawling offerings, including a 26-minute spontaneous jam entitled “The Long Medley, which includes “Beginnings, Hey Baby (New Rising Sun), Keep On Groovin’, and “Freedom“.

In addition, mixes of tracks completed by Hendrix and producer Eddie Kramer before he left the studio to perform at the Isle of Wight festival in England are included. The box set’s release coincides with a new documentary of the same name, which will be screened in cinemas. It tells the story of how a dilapidated Manhattan nightclub was transformed into Hendrix’s now-legendary, state-of-the-art studio.

“The construction of Electric Lady [Studios] was a nightmare,” Kramer says in the doc’s trailer. “We were always running out of money. Poor Jimi had to go back out on the road, make some money, come back, then we could pay the crew. “Late in ’69 we just hit a wall financially and the place just shut down. He borrows against his future royalties, and we’re off to the races. We could make an atmosphere that he felt comfortable in.”

John Lennon, The Clash, AC/DC, Chic, David Bowie, and Stevie Wonder would all go on to record at the studio. “My brother had a musical vision,” Janie Hendrix reflects. “With this project, it felt appropriate to shed light not only on his own music, but also on his lasting contribution of Electric Lady Studios.

“He was driven internally to build a home base where he could record everything he felt. While his life was cut short, so many other talented artists continue to express themselves within those magical walls on 52 West 8th Street.”

“Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision” is out September 13th via Legacy Recordings.

Jack White has given an official release to his new album, “No Name“, which he previously stealth-released via his Third Man stores on July 19th. The 13-track album will be available from Thursday, on limited edition vinyl at all Third Man stores with a wider vinyl release at select independent record stores, as well as a global digital release, following on Friday, August 2nd.

Jack White’s is back in a big, big way! Here he slides back into the raw, blown out garage rock that he’s so well known for and man does it sound good. The riffs are piled high all over this album and he’s never sounded so urgent and utterly relevant. Everything distorts in just the right places and the hooks are guaranteed to stay in your head for a long, long time. He’s stripped everything back and come back bigger, badder and better than ever. 2024 needs this man big time.

The album was recorded, produced, and mixed by White at his Third Man Studio throughout 2023 and 2024, pressed to vinyl at Third Man Pressing, and released by Third Man Records.

“The Complete 1969 Recordings” is the ninth major box set by rock band King Crimson. It features 26 discs worth of material spanning their first studio album, “In the Court of the Crimson King“.

The box set’s new session material was remixed to stereo by David Singleton. It also features a new Dolby Atmos remix of the original album by Steven Wilson.

The box set includes 20 CDs worth of material with another 2 DVDs and 4 Blu-Ray Discs. The album also features a booklet of unseen photos from the recording sessions as well as memorabilia.

Ultimate Boxed Set Edition of one of rock music’s seminal debut albums. Complete, fully mixed stereo recording sessions feature on Blu-Ray, DVD & across 6 CDs Blu-Rays also feature the original master edition of the 1969 album mix in 24/96 stereo, the 2019 stereo & 5.1 mixes, the 2009 stereo & 5.1 mixes, a complete alternate album comprising 2019 mixes & more. ‘Let’s Make a Hit Waxing’ – single CD ‘in the studio with the band’ mixed & compiled by David Singleton,

A 13 further CDs present all known live recordings of the band, BBC sessions, a CD compilation of Giles, Giles & Fripp material (1968) & all studio recordings & alt takes of the main album. Presented in an album sized box with outer slipcase, containing a 12 inch booklet featuring an intro from Robert Fripp, notes about the source tapes by David Singleton, sleeve-notes by King Crimson biographer Sid Smith & previously unseen photos from the recording sessions plus memorabilia. Artwork derived from 2019 scans of the original paintings, meticulously restored.

“For those who wanted to understand just how remarkable King Crimson Mark I’s many achievements were, and in such a short period of time, “The Complete 1969 Recordings” now comes as the absolutely best document.”

The eighth boxed set in the series documenting King Crimson’s studio & live recordings from 1969 onwards. Complete disc contents CD 1: Live at Hyde Park, July 5th 1969 CD 2: Live at The Marquee, July 6th 1969 CD 3: Plumpton Festival, August 9th 1969 CD 4: Live at Chesterfield, September 9th 1969 (new master) disc 1 CD 5: Live at Chesterfield, September 9th 1969 (new master) disc 2 CD 6: Fillmore East, November 21st/22nd 1969 CD 7: Fillmore West, December 14th/15th 1969 CD 8: Original master edition expanded CD 9: Alternate album expanded CD 10: 2009 mix plus additional material CD 11: 2019 mixes expanded

Packaged in a 12-inch boxed set with 40 page booklet including previously unseen photos from the recording sessions & new sleeve-notes plus memorabilia / FORMAT: 26 Disc CD/DVD/DVD-a/Blu-Ray boxed set 4 x Blu-Ray 1 x DVD-A 1 x DVD 20 x CD

Tony Iommi is synonymous with heavy rock, his innovative, de-tuned, dark riffs are considered to be the blueprint for hundreds of bands that followed. Featuring exclusive written contributions from Ozzy Osbourne, Sir Brian May, James Hetfield, and Phil Anselmo.

As Phil Anselmo says, “With a thick sound and crushing, bending riffs—riffs that paint the insides of our memory banks, black with sacred knowledge, Tony changed the landscape of what was acceptable for a mere guitar to sound like.” For the last two years, Tony has been working with renowned music photographer Ross Halfin to compile this luxury, 340 page, photographic book of his musical career;

From the very early days of Black Sabbath through to the opening of the Birmingham Royal “Black Sabbath” ballet in 2023. This suitably heavy tome is a celebration of one of music’s most innovative guitarists and, as Ozzy notes in his exclusive epilogue, “If someone asked me, who was the leader of Black Sabbath, it’d have to be Tony, wouldn’t it? We all contributed, of course, but without Tony’s riffs, we wouldn’t have had a chance”.

The book is a compendium of carefully selected images compiled from all eras of Tony’s career, many from Ross Halfin’s own archive, and the book also features further exclusive written contributions from some of music’s leading talents and friends of Tony. These include Sir Brian May, James Hetfield, and Phil Anselmo.

As Sir Brian May notes in his introduction, “Ross Halfin has captured images of Tony in a huge number of settings over the years, as you will see in this book. The pictures show a man of great power and presence, as befits a giant riffmeister”. Tony Iommi himself says, “I really appreciate all the work Ross has put in, both as a photographer and editor of the book. These photographs represent my career and the memories they conjure up remind me what a fantastic journey we’ve been on. So often I’d look down from the stage and there in the middle of the moshpit would be Ross fighting his corner to get just the right shot. Cheers Ross, the book is a testament to our long friendship and the many defining moments in my life you’ve captured”. Available to order from http://www.rufuspublications.com/rufusbooks/iommi/

Siblings Alison and Jim Shaw formed the band Cranes back in 1989. They recorded several successful albums, including 1991s “Wings of Joy” and 1994s “Loved”.

After releasing their first EP “Fuse”, Cranes expanded to a four-piece band and recorded “Self-Non-Self”. The increased textures and drum slams showing their improvements. The dark sounds are a combination of industrial and post-punk music. “One From The Slum” is an instrumental piece and one of the highlights of this versatile record. Alison Shaw’s lonely voice is setting the tone on this breathtaking album.

Cranes, put out “Self-Non-Self” in 1990. Originally only six tracks, including a dramatic, stronger re-recording of “Fuse” itself, Dedicated added a further two upon its re-release in 1992. The rough, spooky sonics from the band’s earliest days were there in force, but evidence of the increased texturing and powerful arrangements started to surface as well. Certainly Jim Shaw’s original fascination for groups like Foetus and Cabaret Voltaire wasn’t hard to detect in the full-bodied drum slams and rough brass blasts on songs like opening instrumental “One from the Slum.” The distorted electronics on other cuts like “Heaven or Bliss” also give it away, but the punchy, carefully arranged nature of the music is just as strong.

There’s a lot of space and echo throughout, and the band knows how to work with it for better effect, something that would become even more common with time. “Beach Mover” is especially effective, its echoing percussion and weird, droning guitar notes rising through the murk. Alison Shaw’s singing is already fully in place as the lost, lonely voice later releases would make all the more familiar, though at times, as on “Focus Breathe,” she has surprisingly deeper tones in comparison.

The re-release bonus tracks include a live song called “Reach,” a strong, surging piece, and “Nothing in the Middle, Nothing in the End,” a murky little number with a rough snare drum rhythm and doomy bass. “Self-Non-Self” is definitely one for the fans most of all, but anyone interested in the shadowy early start of the band is recommended to hunt this down.

The true test of originality for any musician comes when you hear an instrument being played and you instantly know who’s playing it. For electric guitarists, certainly Hendrix qualifies; Page and Clapton, too. Maybe Eddie Van Halen before the legion of imitators. You probably have your own list, but to us, standing toe-to-toe (or pick-to-pick) with those legends is Television guitarist and solo artist Tom Verlaine.

His self-taught, jazz-influenced style, largely devoid of effects, and vibrato tone (oh, that tone!) makes any Verlaine solo unmistakably a Verlaine solo. That he was quite an accomplished, idiosyncratic songwriter is just a bonus. Real Gone Music is very, very proud to announce that we have arranged with the Verlaine estate to release Tom’s last three solo albums on LP, of which this one, 2006’s “Around“, is the second. 

“Around” picks up the lofty mantle of the “Warm and Cool” album that was released 14 years prior with another set of utterly mesmerizing instrumentals, ranging from solo, almost raga-esque explorations (“Flame”) to post-rock vamps (“Balcony”) to abstract sketches (“A Burned Letter”) to the kind of indescribable, utterly gorgeous beauty that only this man and his guitar could pull off (“Eighty-Eights”). That’s old Television band-mate Billy Ficca on drums; bassist and original engineer Patrick Derivaz’s new mastering for vinyl will make this record sing and breathe along with you (and vice versa). Tom’s long-time partner, artist Jutta Koether, again supplies notes in the enclosed insert. 

Devo marks half a century with “50 Years Of De-evolution: 1973 – 2023“, a new career-spanning boxed set that encompasses all of Devo’s hits and a selection of rarities.

“50 Years Of De-evolution: 1973 – 2023” will arrive in various configurations in October. The first is a 4-LP set pressed on clear vinyl that’s limited to 3,000 copies worldwide, available exclusively from Rhino.com. This deluxe version comes in a slipcase with a 28-page book, a Devo air freshener, and a foldable paper hat that resembles the band’s iconic red energy domes. Additionally, a lithograph of the album artwork is included. A 2-CD version of the 50-song collection will also be available.

On the same day, a 25-song version of “50 Years Of De-evolution: 1973 – 2023” will be released as a 2-LP set on black vinyl, and a 2-LP special edition featuring blue and red vinyl will be available exclusively at retail. Today, the 7” version of “Disco Dancer” from the upcoming set.

“In the past this information has been suppressed. But now it can be told. Come celebrate 50 years of De-evolution with a mind-blowing, 50th Anniversary box set from Devo.” states Gerald Casale.

Mark Mothersbaugh adds: “This box set represents a great cross section of early experiments and later creations. I was looking to create a new sound, a concept in art and music that represented a new way of thinking about life on planet earth. With Devo, I think we did just that. Farewell to the first 50, Let’s get the next 50 started!”

To continue the celebration, Devo has also partnered with the disruptive clothing brand Brain Dead who will host and launch a special Devo event as well as merchandise capsule. Devo release on October 17th at Brain Dead’s Fairfax Theatre for a screening of “A Face In The Crowd” accompanied by a short band Q&A and a trailer of Devo video rarities. And for those seeking to commemorate the occasion in style, a meticulously designed Devo capsule merch collection awaits, courtesy of Brain Dead.

Devo was formed in 1973 by two sets of brothers – Bob and Gerald Casale and Bob and Mark Mothersbaugh – and Alan Myers. The band took its name from the concept of de-evolution – the notion that society is regressing rather than progressing. It was their response to the infamous 1970 shootings at Kent State University, which some band members witnessed while attending the school.

Devo started out performing around Akron, Ohio and garnered early support from David Bowie and Iggy Pop, helping the group secure a deal with Warner Bros. Records. Soon after, the band began working with legendary producer Brian Eno on its 1978 debut, “Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!”. The album was an underground success despite the mainstream music press overlooking Devo’s insightful cultural satire.

A year later, the band returned with “Duty Now for the Future” before achieving mainstream recognition in 1980 with its platinum-certified third album, “Freedom of Choice”, which included the hit single “Whip It.” The song’s iconic music video became a fixture on MTV, contributing to Devo’s growing popularity in the 1980s. That decade saw the band release more hits (“Beautiful World” and “That’s Good”) and a string of memorable studio albums: “New Traditionalist” (1981), “Oh No! It’s Devo” (1982), “Shout!” (1984), and “Total Devo” (1988). After 1990’s “Smooth Noodle Maps”, the band took an extended hiatus to pursue film and television projects before returning in 2010 with “Something for Everybody”.

Today, Devo’s innovative music and thought-provoking performances are celebrated for their profound influence on generations of new-wave, industrial, and electronic artists. “50 Years Of De-evolution: 1973 – 2023“ stands as a testament to the band’s legacy, compiling key tracks from all nine of Devo’s studio albums, as well as rarities like the 1974 demo for “I’m A Potato” and single mixes for “Come Back Jonee,” “Snowball,” and “What We Do.”