Being great is one thing, but staying great for a long time is another. X has been great for forty-seven years, building their legend as one of America’s most original punk bands with seven albums between 1980 and 1993. This summer, their final album, “Smoke and Fiction“, is released. Like “Alphabetland” (2020), “Smoke and Fiction” has the fury and fun expected from X. It’s a valedictory lap with tracks like “Big Black X” reflecting back on their journey.
Best known for their 1980 debut album “Los Angeles”, the quartet a band still comprised of their original line-up, have declared their intention to disband following a farewell tour
The Los Angeles Daily News called this release “a terrific record… with the band sounding as strong and inspired as ever, its 10 songs harking back lyrically to the band’s early history, its sound closely following suit”. Discussing lead single “Big Black X” stated that it “flashes back to the freewheeling, rockabilly-infused punk rock of their early records” and that Exene Cervenka’s voice sounds as intense and titanic as ever”
“Smoke & Fiction” is the ninth and final studio album by the American punk rock band It was released on August 2nd, 2024. The band also promoted this release with the farewell tour The End Is Near,X are
Yard Act – Live At Rough Trade is a raucous recording live from Rough Trade East with a selection of the band’s newer cuts ‘Dream Job’, ‘We Make Hits’ and ‘The Trenchcoat Museum’ . Yard Act are from Leeds, West Yorkshire, composed of James Smith (vocals, lyrics), Ryan Needham (bass), Sam Shipstone (guitar) and Jay Russell (drums). Prior to forming the band, vocalist James Smith and bassist Ryan Needham had both been members of other Leeds-based bands. Smith was a member of Post War Glamour Girls and Needham played in Menace Beach, Their debut album, “The Overload”, was released January 2022.
The group was also named one of “Best New Artists of 2021” With lyrics are often political, discussing opposition to topics including capitalism, gentrification and social class, told using “dark humour and cynical storytelling”
The band’s second album ‘Where’s My Utopia?’ is out now.
Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision – a new documentary and box set chronicling the creation of the New York recording studio and Hendrix’ work there – will be released on September 13, by Experience Hendrix L.L.C., in partnership with Legacy Recordings.
The deluxe box set contains 39 tracks (38 previously unreleased) that were recorded by the new-look Jimi Hendrix Experience (Billy Cox on bass, Mitch Mitchell on drums) at Electric Lady Studios between June and August of 1970.
The set also includes 20 newly created 5.1 surround sound mixes of the entire First Rays Of The New Rising Sun album plus three bonus tracks: “Valleys Of Neptune”, “Pali Gap” and “Lover Man”.
The Blu-ray includes the full-length documentary Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision, featuring interviews with Steve Winwood, Billy Cox and original Electric Lady staff members. The documentary includes never-before-seen footage. The package includes an extensive booklet filled with unpublished photos, Hendrix’s handwritten song drafts and comprehensive liner notes.
Razorlight were at the forefront of the indie-rock resurgence of the early 2000s, their biggest moments – ‘Golden Touch’, ‘Somewhere Else’, ‘In The Morning’, ‘America’ and ‘Wire To Wire’ – driving three Top 5 albums, nine Platinum album certifications, an NME Award, and live highlights including headlining the Reading Festival and performing at Live 8.
After reuniting for live shows in 2021, the classic line-up – Johnny Borrell (vocals/guitar), Björn Ågren (guitar), Carl Dalemo (bass) and Andy Burrows (drums) – will release the new album “Planet Nowhere” on October 25th, their first together since 2008.
But as the ever ambitious Johnny challenged himself, “Who wants to be a greatest hits band?” So he hatched a plan, and late in 2023 booked a five-day session with the legendary producer Youth (The Verve, James) at his Space Mountain studio in Spain. Youth knew what they had to achieve, telling the band, “Razorlight’s quite simple isn’t it? Just a driving bassline, driving drums and a story.” For whatever reason, things weren’t that simple. After four days they had a stack of ideas, but nothing really worth pursuing. And then, as Johnny recalls, something remarkable emerged from out of nowhere. “I’d been down in the barranca, and came back up to find the studio empty. So I picked up this weird six-string bass/guitar hybrid I’d never seen before and wrote this thing. On our last night, I started playing it with the guys. The drums came in hard, the bass pounded. It sounded like shit. Absolute shit. But Youth was there, saying ‘Can, Velvets, see where it takes you’ and ‘Why don’t you try it like that?’ But still the track just wouldn’t budge, locked in its own inertia.
Youth says, ‘You’re getting there, just one more’ and almost instantly the song came out, from nothing to something, like a statue coming up out of marble.” That song was ‘Scared of Nothing’ and listening back to the finished track, it’s easy to see why it resparked Razorlight’s mojo. Exuding taut, spiky post-punk energy in a way that’s instantly infectious – the very traits that attracted highfalutin praise from NME back when they started out (“More tunes than Franz, more spirit than The Strokes, and more balls than nearly every band out there”). And as ever, Johnny demonstrates the swaggering, high intensity charisma that took him from being a figurehead of the Camden scene to rise to become a Vogue cover star. It was also the track which unlocked Razorlight’s creativity, leading the band to return to Spain with Youth for a second session earlier this year, during which they crafted an extensive catalogue of songs for the upcoming album.
Other titles vying for inclusion include ‘Zombie Love’, ‘U Can Call Me’, ‘Dirty Luck’ and ‘Cool People’. Since returning, Razorlight have also looked back on their initial achievements, first releasing Razorwhat? The Best of Razorlight (complete with the new song ‘You Are Entering The Human Heart’) and then last month issuing the 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of their breakthrough debut album “Up All Night”.
Never a dull moment. Writing a new ending for themselves, Razorlight are back to cast out the boring in your life.
Bundles include an exclusive 12″ print signed by all original band members
we are also going to be playing our new album in some very tiny spaces so if you want to know what “Planet Nowhere” feels like, grab them whilst you can.
Soccer Mommy announced a new album, “Evergreen”. Hear the new single, “M,” and pre-order our exclusive opaque custard vinyl variant, limited to 300 copies, either on its own or bundled with our milky clear variant of “Sometimes, Forever”, The Nashville singer-songwriter – real name Sophia Allison – has returned after a two-year absence and will release the follow-up to 2022’s ‘Sometimes, Forever’ via Loma Vista Recordings on October 25th.
‘M’ is a gentle, luscious track that showcases the warmth of Allison’s vocals, and you can watch the Anna Pollack-directed video for the song
Happy to finally announce my next album Evergreen is out on 10/25! I wanted to change things up a bit on this one and play around with some more organic textures. It was really important for me that the song writing shone through everything and came to the forefront. These songs are very close to my heart and I hope they become close to some of yours as well!
The singer-songwriter’s follow-up to 2022’s ‘Sometimes, Forever’ will be out in October
Fleetwood Mac will release a live album from their 1982 tour to support the album “Mirage” later this year. “Mirage Tour ’82” features 22 songs collected from a pair of sold-out shows at the Los Angeles Forum from that year. As Rhino notes in a press release announcing the set, “In September 1982, Fleetwood Mac embarked on a 31-city U.S. tour in support of “Mirage” the band’s fourth consecutive multiplatinum album and third No. 1 in America.
Fleetwood Mac’s “Mirage Tour ’82”, features live recordings from Fleetwood Mac’s Mirage Tour, Includes the classic Mirage singles “Gypsy,” & “Hold Me,” along with six previously unreleased tracks including “Don’t Stop,” “Dreams,” “Oh Well,” “Landslide,” “Never Going Back Again” & “Sara”.
“Both shows at the Forum were recorded, and “Mirage Tour ‘82” combines songs from both into a single concert experience.” You can hear a previously unreleased live version of “Don’t Stop”.
The set will be available on September 20th in 3LP, 2CD and digital configurations. Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham, and Stevie Nicks were at the height of their collective power at these shows, delivering a hyper-charged setlist filled with hits new and old. Standouts include “Songbird,” “Oh Well,” “Love In Store,” “Go Your Own Way,” and a version of “Landside” for the ages.
In the set’s liner notes, music journalist and songwriter Bill DeMain calls the collection “a riveting listen” and a reminder of a time when rock shows “were platforms to expand and reinvent songs for the stage, to let them breathe, to unleash different, wilder sides of a band.”
The arrival of the set is some good news for fans who were recently told by Stevie Nicks that “there’s no chance of putting Fleetwood Mac back together” following Christine McVie’s death in 2022.
We miss The Maccabees, but in their wake come 86TVs, who blew minds at Concorde 2 last month.
White explained that the single showcased an “introspective and melancholic” side of the band’s self-titled debut album (out August 2nd). “When we started getting closer to actually playing and singing together, it felt like the most natural, instinctive thing was to make outreaching, positive, and high-dynamic guitar music,” he said, adding that their new song sees the group move somewhat out of their “comfort zone”.
Felix and Hugo have created a beast in this new band with their brother Will & drummer Jamie, don’t miss the birth of a future classic..Following on from ‘Tambourine’ and ‘Someone Else’s Dream’, 86TV’s latest offering finds them in a calmer, more reflective mood. ‘Komorebi’, however, gradually builds to grander heights akin to The National and Arcade Fire.
86TVs have spoken about working with US tennis legend John McEnroe – who stars as the band’s rage-filled therapist in the video for their latest single, ‘Komorebi’. Felix White spoke about his “left field friendship” with the tennis icon, tackling shared grief on the band’s debut album, trading tunes with Noel Gallagher, and whether a Maccabees reunion is on the cards
The song marks a stylistic shift for the group – which is completed by White’s brothers and former Maccabees bandmates, Hugo White and Will White, alongside drummer Jamie Morrison (Noisettes and Stereophonics).
86TVs brand new single ‘Komorebi’ is OUT NOW via Parlophone Records:
Crystal Chandelier hailed from Rhode Island. Originally known as Those Unknown, the band consisted of Arnie Micarelli (vocals, lead guitar), Frank Giammarco (rhythm guitar), Kenny Beck (bass), and Anthony Jackvony (drums). Jackvony was soon replaced by Vin Vento (drums).
The band’s first single was released on the United Artists label in 1968. The A-side is the incredible ‘TheSetting Of Despair’ b/w ‘It’s Only You.’ Their second single was released on Buddah’s affiliate Cobblestone label and contains the lovely ‘Your Land Of Love’ b/w the fuzztastic ‘Suicidal Flowers.’ The band’s name was misspelled “Chandlier” on this single with the song lengths written in Roman numerals. ‘Your Land Of Love’ was chosen as the A-side, but it was ‘Suicidal Flowers’ that most radio stations played, helping propel the record into the Top 10 in the Ohio area.
Arnie Micarelli said the following about the band back in 2011: “The band was trying to do an album on Revelations but no one knew what it all meant. We actually had meetings with church priests and ministers but no one could help us. We did not want to be wrong in translating the rich symbolism in the Book of Revelation. It was so amazing that none of these so called priests could explain the last book of the Bible.
Since no one could explain the verses I figured that I should pray for an answer and I did get on the floor. Two days later and older grandma aged woman found me on the street outside the studio in Providence and she tried to explain things to me but I did not understand and she could not speak good English so she invited me to the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses. She said that they could explain Revelation.
So off I went in my long hair and musical attitude. To my amazement they did explain the book to us and they were the only ones that could and had a reasonable common sense scriptural explanation.
There were three of us associated with the band that started studying with Jehovah’s Witnesses and all three of us started attending meetings.
After this I left the band and recorded more blues for an album with different musicians. However these songs and the album were never recorded professionally or released.”
60’s Garage Psych from Providence, Rhode Island (1969)
Mark Lanegan‘s 2004 album “Bubblegum” is getting reissued for its 20th anniversary. Beggars Arkive and Mark Lanegan’s estate collaborated on “Bubblegum XX“, which will be out August 23rd as a remastered double-LP. It’ll also be available as a four-LP box set that includes two bonus LPs featuring rarities, outtakes and demos, including 12 previously unreleased tracks.
“Bubblegum” was remastered by Geoff Pesche at Abbey Road Studios, and this is its first release as a double LP (the original 2004 vinyl edition squeezed the 50-minute album onto a single disc). The box set’s bonus discs include a remastered edition of “Here Comes That Weird Chill (Methamphetamine Blues, Extras & Oddities)”, now with three extra songs
The last LP is “Demos & Unreleased Songs”, which includes four songs that were produced and mixed by Troy Van Leeuwen and recorded “in various hotel rooms,” with Mark singing and Troy playing all the instruments. There’s also “Union Tombstone” where Mark shares vocals with Beck.
“These hotel demo sessions were basically forgotten,” says Van Leeuwen. “When I heard the news of Mark’s passing, these memories started rushing back to me. I searched through my archive of drives and somehow magically was able to open up these sessions. I thought to myself, ‘That NEVER happens.’ These ideas couldn’t be more fresh out of the tap. The original rough mixes are a real time capsule that stands up to the 20 years that have passed. It’s a true gift from Mark to those of us who love him and his unvarnished expression of beauty. With every listen, I am humbled and honored to share his gift with you.”
The “Bubblegum XX” box set also contains a a 64-page hardcover book with essays by Troy Van Leewuen, Josh Homme, Chris Goss, Alain Johannes, David Catching, Greg Dulli, Duff McKagan, and Brett Netson, along with studio notes and previously unseen photographs by Steve Gullick. “When he told me: ‘I’m calling it Bubblegum’, I was like you’re a sick fuck, because I knew him so that’s funny to me, ‘cause Lanegan wanted to be a new piece of bubblegum on a sunny happy day,” Josh Homme writes in the liner notes. “But he was the gum underneath the desk. He was the bubblegum underneath the table. He was the dark Lord.”
Beggars Arkive in conjunction with the Estate of Mark Lanegan, are honoured to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Mark Lanegan’s acclaimed 2004 album “Bubblegum”. released 23rd August.
“Bubblegum XX” – a set of releases that include a remastered double LP edition of the original album and a 4XLP/3XCD release containing 40 remastered tracks, 12 of which are previously unreleased. The limited-edition “Bubblegum XX” 4XLP box contains a 64-page hardcover book with essays by Troy Van Leewuen, Josh Homme, Chris Goss, Alain Johannes, David Catching, Greg Dulli, Duff McKagan, and Brett Netson along with studio notes and previously unseen photographs by Steve Gullick.
The complete uncollected Noise New York studio recordings of Galaxie 500. A twenty-four track chronological journey through rarities and outtakes including never-before-heard songs, from the start of their incendiary career to their final studio session. “UncollectedNoise New York ’88-’90″ marks Galaxie 500’s first release of new archival material in nearly thirty years and their most comprehensive collection of unreleased and rare material ever.
conic late-’80s indie rock trio Galaxie 500 recorded a lot of non-album material during their short run, including singles, b-sides, radio sessions, compilation/tribute album songs and more. Many of those have been gathered up for new compilation “Uncollected Noise New York ’88-’90”. Here are two that have never been released before.
“Uncollected Noise New York ’88-’90” is Galaxie 500’s first release of new archival material in nearly 30 years and is their most comprehensive collection of unreleased and rare archival material ever. Its 24 tracks make up the complete Noise New York studio recordings of the band’s outtakes and non-album tracks. Compiled by the band it traces their career from among their earliest recorded moments in the studio to their last. Including eight never-before-heard studio tracks culled from all the sessions throughout Galaxie’s career, chronologically sequenced along with previously released but rare and long out of print studio material. Uncollected Noise New York ’88-’90 plays like a secret history of the band following the arc of their growth and creative expansion from their career’s beginning to end.
Produced and Engineered by Kramer at Noise New York 1988-1990.
Packaging includes archival images and historical liner notes by the band.
Uncollected Noise New York ’88-’90 releases September 20, 2024 on 2xLP, 2xCD and 2xTape on Silver Current Records and digital on 20/20/20. releases September 20, 2024
The Fat Angel Sings 