The Fat Angel Sings

Rainwater ripples across the surface of the spacey first notes of “In a Dream,” the opener of Trace Mountains’ forthcoming album, “Into the Burning Blue“, produced by Craig Hendrix of Japanese Breakfast. The atmospheric synth lines and drum machine loops pool around minimal, largely monosyllabic lyrics about going about business as usual as the world burns and existence within it becomes more and more surreal. Dave Benton’s minute observations turn the ordinary existential and cast an outwardly reflective shadow from moments of solitude: “The naked sun like a stone sinks low and you wonder / Where it goes will there be thunder? / Where it shines will the people suffer? / Do you have faith in it then? / The way you always pretend? / Can a country be good? / Can a person learn?”

“From the start of the record-making process, Craig and I envisioned “In a Dream” as the opening track on “Into the Burning Blue,” Benton says of the album and the single. “On an album that is largely auto-biographical and very personal in nature, it felt vital to begin in a place with a bit of worldview. Especially now, in an election year in the US, I think it’s meaningful to acknowledge the state-inflicted suffering and denial of life that happens here and all over the world. There are so many kinds of Dreams, some are nightmares, some are fantasies, some are very real hopes for one’s future. With “In A Dream” I wanted to explore the universal idea of Dreams—the ones that come at night and the day, what they mean, and who gets to have them.”

“In a Dream” floats between the conscious and the subconscious, the personal and the universal, expanding to hold multiple realities as they unfold simultaneously. Flames can destroy, but they can also cleanse—“like a loving fire / a burning desire.” A dream can obscure or clarify, be an escapist distraction or a vision of a better future. 

Trace Mountains from the album ‘Into The Burning Blue,’ out September 27th 2024.

Our new album “Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For Me” is out October 18th! “Sick Of The Blues” is out today with a live video from our performance at Le Centre Pompidou in April 2024

Dana reflects on “Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For Me” with the enthusiasm of a real creative breakthrough. “It feels like the first time we’ve made something,” she explains, “it captured something about our friendship as a band and the way that we have learnt to play together. I love the songs, I love playing them, they haven’t gotten old to me and it feels like it’s a very singular thing.” A pause. “It’s taught me so much. Following your gut to the nth point, trusting your friends and their loyalty, trusting yourself to be able to fight with people properly and still come back together. How I want to live is how I want to make records, because making records is my life because my work is my play is my job is my life. It all ties together in this thing, and there are ways to do this that might not kill me.”

Porridge Radio formed in Brighton in 2015. They are fronted by vocalist, songwriter and lead guitarist Dana Margolin. The other members are keyboardist Georgie Stott, bass guitarist Maddie Ryall and drummer Sam Yardley. They were listed them among their top 40 new artists of 2018

“Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For You” is released by Secretly Canadian on 18th October, 2024

EU/UK/US tour on sale Friday4

“Greatish Hits: I Followed My Dreams and My Dreams Said to Crawl” is the singer-songwriter’s career-spanning collection of songs taken from his five widely acclaimed albums, including “Fear Fun” (2012), “I Love You, Honeybear” (2015), the Grammy-nominated “Pure Comedy” (2017), “God’s Favorite Customer (2018), and “Chloë and The Next 20th Century” (2022). “Greatish Hits” marks the first appearance of fan favourite “Real Love Baby” on an album release. It also includes the brand new, previously unreleased song “I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of Us All.”

Father John Misty has sold over 1.1 million copies in the US and has amassed over 11.7 million monthly listeners to date. He’s earned accolades from the likes of The Guardian, The Sunday Times, Rolling Stone, and has performed on Saturday Night Live, Austin City Limits, the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and The Tonight Show.

Father John Misty and his incredible nine piece live band have headlined The Hollywood Bowl, Red Rocks, and Radio City Music Hall as well as appearances at renowned International festivals including Coachella, Glastonbury, Roskilde, and Fuji Rock.

“From Here to Eternity: Live” is a live album by punk rock band The Clash, originally released in October 1999 through the bands label Epic Records. The album’s songs were selected from various Clash concerts recorded between 1977 and 1982. Some of the recordings featured also appear in the film Rude Boy (1980). “London’s Burning”, “What’s My Name” and “I Fought the Law” were instrumentally overdubbed to repair some technical deficiencies of the original live recording.

Years after the Clash disintegrated, their live performances remained legendary, partially because most things concerning the band entered rock legend. Bootlegs offered proof of those great performances, but only hardcore collectors would seek those out, which is why “From Here to Eternity: Live”, the Clash’s first official live album, is a welcome addition to their catalogue, it confirms that the legend is deserved. Sequenced as “the ultimate live concert,” as so many compiled live albums are, this is one time the trick actually works.

The album comprises 17 songs, with a further 2 songs released as iTunes bonus tracks.

All the performances were recorded between 1978 and 1982, but they’re sequenced according to the date of the song, not the date of the performance. Consequently, the album divides roughly in half, as the first nine songs are devoted to The Clash and “Give ‘Em Enough Rope“, with the rest of the record comprised of songs from “London Calling” and its successors. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the performance is taken from the same era as the song, however. The amazing thing is that the performances all sound like they’re taken from the same show.

“From Here to Eternity” has genuine momentum, rushing through its 17 songs at a furious pace — things don’t slow down until “Armagideon Time,” the 11th song in. Only after the album is finished does it sink in that it is indeed sequenced chronologically, since it has the feel of a set list. More importantly, it’s impossible to tell when each song was recorded. “Career Opportunities” sounds as if it were recorded at a packed, sweaty London club, but it was taken from tapes of the band’s opening set for the Who at Shea Stadium in the fall of 1982. That’s not the only incident of such historical sleight of hand, either. Throughout the first portion of the album, early and latter-day performances blend seamlessly, creating the illusion that everything on the record was from one dynamic, relentlessly exciting show. By doing so, “From Here to Eternity: Live” offers undeniable proof of the Clash’s greatness — this was a band that sounded every bit as good in its final days as it did in its first. (This, of course, is discounting the post-Mick Jones Clash.) But the best thing about the album is that it never sounds like a historical project or an archival release, because it is such a captivating listen. From the opening chords of “Complete Control” to the closing notes of “Straight to Hell,” “From Here to Eternity” is an invigorating record, teeming with life and energy. It’s a live album worthy of a band as legendary as the Clash.

Record Collector Presents… King Crimson looks back on a remarkable career that’s gone from psychedelic rock and raunchy jazz to avant-garde improv.

It’s 55 years since progressive rock’s first family took shape in a basement in southwest London, launching a sonic assault like no other on the release of their jaw-dropping debut LP later that year, “In The Court Of The Crimson King. Record Collector Presents… King Crimson looks back on a remarkable career that’s gone from psychedelic rock and raunchy jazz to avant-garde improv and heavily metallic thwak with new interviews from head royal Robert Fripp, plus cardinal Court members Bill Bruford, Tony Levin, Mel Collins, David Cross, Pat Mastelotto, Trey Gunn and many more. Elsewhere, the doors to the Crimson Archive are unlocked, and we have Robert’s guide to Crimson’s Dorset Hotspots, an archive interview with Ian McDonald, origin notes from Peter Giles and Judy Dyble, a select UK discography and solo Frippography, plus collectors, collaborators, and 26 cut-out-and-keep cosmic Guitar Craft Oracle Cards, taken from Robert’s Aphorism series.

What larks, indeed! It’s A Crimson Kcornucopia like no other.

Thurston Moore’s forthcoming album is his ninth solo recording. Some of the songs were written & arranged in Europe and The United Kingdom and include lyrical references to their environments and inspired by nature, lucid dreaming, modern dance and Isadora Duncan. The album was arranged at La Becque in Switzerland and recorded at Total Refreshment Studios in London in 2022, and mixed at Hermitage Studios in London with Margo Broom in 2023.

Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth is releasing a new album, “Flow Critical Lucidity”, on September 20th via Moore’s own Daydream Library Series label. Moore had this to say about the new song in a press release: “The song is about fresh blood. The new kid in school. The new kid on the scene. A new potential for change in an already active community hoping to protect the world from the poisons of power-hungry creeps. The spirit of youth demonstrated in the early ’80s slam pits of hardcore refusing the worn-out expectations of adulthood.”

“Flow Critical Lucidity” includes “Rewilding,” a new song Moore shared back in April with its release timed to Earth Day. The album features Deb Googe of My Bloody Valentine on bass, alongside James Sedwards (guitar), Jem Doulton (drums), and Jon Leidecker (electronics).

Last year Moore released his memoir, Sonic Life.

“Flow Critical Lucidity” Due Out September 20th via Daydream Library Series

‘Koalas’ the new single is out now. so excited to announce the release of our new album, ‘Pomegranate’, Tess Parks is back with her third solo album, ‘Pomegranate’, dropping October 25th The dreamy lead single and video ‘Koalas’ is out everywhere now .

Following her critically acclaimed solo return with 2022’s ‘And Those Who Were Seen Dancing’ and earlier albums with Anton Newcombe, ‘Pomegranate” was written and recorded between London, Toronto and Los Angeles and produced by close collaborator Ruari Meehan, who also co-mixed the record alongside Grammy-nominated engineer Mikko Gordon.

Re-establishing Parks as the consummate artist-observer against a swirling nouveau-delic backdrop, ‘Pomegranate’ is her most ambitious and cinematic to date. The single ‘Koalas’ is a piece of beautifully hazy, slow-burning psych-folk with Parks’ smoky vocals floating over feathery acoustic guitar and piano, and some spellbinding whistling courtesy of Molly Lewis.

The first song, ‘Koalas’, is out everywhere now (!!) and you can stream/pre-order the album on limited edition vinyl and CD

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds are releasing a new album, “Wild God”, on August 30th via Bad Seed/Play It Again Sam. This week, Cave shared its third single, “Long Dark Night,” via a lyric video.

The song was inspired by the poem “Dark Night of the Soul” by the Spanish 16th-century poet St. John of the Cross. Cave further explains in a press release: “‘Long Dark Night’ is inspired by one of the greatest and most powerful poems of conversion ever written. Ultimately, though, it’s a beautiful country tune. It feels like a sweet companion to the song, ‘Wild God.’”

Previously Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds had shared the album’s first single, title track “Wild Then they shared its second single, “Frogs,” . “Wild God” is Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ 18th studio album and is he follow-up to 2019’s acclaimed “Ghosteen”, Cave and bandmate Warren Ellis produced the album, which was mixed by David Fridmann. Cave started writing the album on New Year’s Day 2023 and there were recording sessions at Miraval Studios in Provence, France and Soundtree Studios in London, England.

The album also features Colin Greenwood of Radiohead (who contributes bass) and Luis Almau (on nylon string guitar and acoustic guitar).

“I hope the album has the effect on listeners that it’s had on me,” Cave said in a previous press release. “It bursts out of the speaker, and I get swept up with it. It’s a complicated record, but it’s also deeply and joyously infectious. There is never a master plan when we make a record. The records rather reflect back the emotional state of the writers and musicians who played them. Listening to this, I don’t know, it seems we’re happy.” Cave added: “Wild God”…there’s no fucking around with this record. When it hits, it hits. It lifts you. It moves you. I love that about it.”

London-based artist Naima Bock is releasing a new album, “Below a Massive Dark Land“, on September 27th via Sub Pop/Memorials of Distinction. This week she shared another new song from it, “Gentle,” via a music video.

Bock had this to say about “Gentle” and its video in a press release: “I’ve lived with this song for a couple of years. It’s a kind of copy and paste of different sections of my life, each verse is a different version of myself or situation I was in. None of them link in reality, but they fit together in this song, which leaves me with a sense of union and satisfaction. I would like to allow for the listener to take the lyrics in whatever way is relevant to them. I can say it’s my favorite song to play and one of my favorite songs that I’ve written. It means a lot to me.”

Ellie Wintour and Sophie Lincoln directed the video and collectively had this to say: “Our jumping off point for the video began with the lyrics ‘You want me to be gentle, fragile, you want me to stay young. I pray that I stay gentle, fragile, I pray that I stay.’ We developed Naima a character playing on femininity as facade, but also her sense of easygoing style. In using two-dimensional substitutes for three-dimensional objects – mixing worlds of the real and make-believe – we tried to play on the song’s themes of expectation, assigned roles, and conformity.”

Bock has already shared two new songs from it, “Kaley” and “Further Away,” and announced some tour dates. “Below a Massive Dark Land” is Bock’s second album, the follow-up to 2022’s debut album, “Giant Palm”. Jack Osborne and Joe Jones produced the album, with additional production and arrangement by Oliver Hamilton and Bock.

Yesterday a new Flyte recording was gently nudged out into the world. It’s a live recording of “Chelsea Smiles” from Middle Farm Studios. You may have heard the live version of “Even On Bad Days” from that same day, well this completes the picture.

Recorded at Middle Farm Studios Performed by Will Taylor, Nick Hill and Her Ensemble (Deni Teo, Coco Iman and Ellie Consta)