The Fat Angel Sings

Very excited to announce Jack Bruce’s classic debut album ‘Songs For A Tailor’ is being reissued this July, 55 years since the original release. The iconic record will be available as part of an exclusive boxset featuring 32 bonus tracks drawn from new 5.1 surround sound mixes as well as the 1970 documentary ‘Rope Ladder To The Moon’ available on Blu-ray for the first time. A remastered vinyl edition is also available as well as official apparel

‘Songs For A Tailor’ was Jack Bruce’s first solo project to be released after the demise of Cream in November 1968. Eager to make his debut solo album distinctly diverse from the music he had recorded with Cream, it featured music which stylistically drew on jazz, folk, classical and rock influences.

Joining Jack and producer Felix Pappalardi for the recording sessions at London’s Morgan Studios were some of Britain’s best musicians such as Chris Spedding, Jon Hiseman, Dick Heckstall-Smith, John Marshall, Art Themen and Henry Lowther. One session was also notable for the presence of George Harrison. ‘Songs For A Tailor’ was a chart success in both the UK and the USA and is now rightly regarded as a masterpiece and one of Jack’s seminal works.

This boxed set edition features the original 1969 album mix (newly remastered from the original master tapes), along with wonderful new stereo and 5.1 Surround sound mixes of the album by Stephen W Tayler (from the original 8-track master tapes) and previously unreleased session out-takes and demos. The set also includes the marvellous 1970 documentary “Rope Ladder to the Moon” on Blu Ray video for the first time. Originally screened by the BBC, this film features live performances and an insight into Jack’s heritage, life and influences.

“Bass legend, composer and fiery virtuoso blessed with a powerfully expressive voice. On “Songs For A Tailor”, his debut solo album, after leaving Cream, he wove strong autobiographical elements, both musical and personal, intertwined with jazz, blues, folk and classical styles. Stephen W Tayler’s stereo and Surround Sound mixes enhance an already superbly crafted album.

“The extras on the two-CD/DVD are mainly session out-takes and demos, including early versions of two songs from follow-up “Harmony Row“. The 1970 film Rope Ladder To The Moon follows Bruce back to his Scottish roots, giving visual insight into an incredible talent.”

“Jack Bruce, probably the most musically gifted bass player
who’s ever been” – Roger Waters
 
“He was a great musician and composer, and a tremendous inspiration to me” – Eric Clapton

There are one million ways to approach love, one million ways to experience love, one million ways in which love shapes both the course of our lives and how we choose to navigate that course. On her second album, Bnny’s Jessica Viscius looks love square in its many eyes and describes, with self-awareness and humour, not only what she sees, but what it makes her feel.

Deep romantic love, breathy lust, generous self-love—and their opposites, self-loathing, resentment, disappointment—all make appearances. Like a sheet being draped over a clothesline, channeling Mazzy Star and mimicking the soft, gauzy, fresh feeling of realizing you’re able to begin it all again with a new person.

Recorded in Asheville at Drop of Sun and produced by Viscius alongside Alex Farrar (Wednesday, Indigo De Souza, Snail Mail), “One Million Love Songs” is Bnny’s revelatory second album.

released April 2024 on Fire Talk.

“Wish On The Bone’ is Why Bonnie’s sophomore LP and debut for Fire Talk. It’s untethered from any landscape or genre, propelled by this freedom and resulting in Why Bonnie’s most catchy, hopeful body of work to-date. Ranging from twangy country infused rock jams to more intimate and lo-fi arrangements, ‘Wish on the Bone’ is wide-eyed and waiting. It’s a coming of age film in which the protagonist rejects the forces that have tried, and failed, to shape her into something other than herself. It leaves you with a hard-fought sense of hope, which is among songwriter Blair Howerton’s greatest gifts. “You owe it to the people who are experiencing the worst to just keep pushing,” Howerton says. That’s the throughline of “Wish On The Bone”, a record that rewards with repeated listens.

‘Wish On The Bone’ coming out via Fire Talk on August 30th. So much heart went into this record and I can’t wait to share it with you all

The first trailer for the Bill Teck-directed documentary showcases many of Steve Van Zandt’s musical peers who praise the guitarist in the film, featuring interviews with Paul McCartney, Eddie Vedder, Bill Wyman, Bono and, of course, Bruce Springsteen — premieres at Tribeca Film Festival before heading to HBO in June, The Stevie Van Zandt story is a rock ‘n’ roll epic like no other. One gets the sense that this single film could easily have been expanded into, say, a documentary series with eight hour-long episodes.

“He is a great performer, great songwriter, great producer,” Springsteen says in the trailer. “We were so close, I just wanted him near me. He just became my rock n’ roll brother, instantly.”

“Featuring a wealth of never-before-seen footage, the film traces Van Zandt’s career as a producer, musician, songwriter, activist, actor, and more, from the clubs of Asbury Park, N.J. to arenas and stadiums, to the Bada Bing Club and the Underground Garage,” the film’s synopsis states. In addition to some great concert performances, some behind-the-scenes recording studio footage, and some vintage interview footage with Van Zandt, Teck includes a few major “finds” that hardcore Van Zandt fans will love seeing, such as previously presumed-lost footage from Van Zandt’s wedding (where Springsteen was the best man, Little Richard officiated, and Percy Sledge sang “When a Man Loves a Woman”); a similarly unearthed clip of Van Zandt with Nelson Mandela; and excerpts from “Men Without Women,” a low-budget, black-and-white film Van Zandt made to accompany his 1982 album of that name, but never released widely.

And there was a point, when I was watching it, when I thought to myself, “Geez, we’re now about an hour and 45 minutes into it and we’re still only in the mid-’90s. There is still so much more to get through.” After all, the film had not yet explored “The Sopranos” and “Lilyhammer” … Van Zandt rejoining the E Street Band, and resurrecting his own Disciples of Soul band … his Underground Garage radio show and network … his TeachRock educational initiative.

Bruce Springsteen‘s behind-the-scenes tour preparation process will serve as the center of the forthcoming documentary Road Diary: Premiering on Hulu and Disney+ this October, the feature will follow the musician and his band as they get ready to embark on their first tour in six years, a run that started in February 2023 and will extend through November 2024.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s tour was marred by illness and complications from its start. Within two weeks of kicking off, guitarist Steven Van Zandt and violinist/singer Soozie Tyrell tested positive for Covid, causing them to miss a number of shows and raising concerns about the size of their touring party. Their saxophonist Jake Clemons and half of the E Street’s backup singers missed subsequent dates, too.

It is about 2 ½ hours long.

In March 2023, once everyone seemed to be in the clear, a number of dates were suddenly postponed due to “illness.” A few months later, in September, the band’s remaining scheduled tour dates for the year were postponed as Springsteen underwent and recovered from treatment for peptic ulcer disease. The tour resumed in March 2024.

Merseyside alternative rock band The Mysterines album ‘Afraid of Tomorrows’ is the highly-anticipated follow up to their critically-acclaimed Top 10 debut album, ‘Reeling’, released June 2024. Their imposing frontwoman melds together more than her lifetime’s worth of experiences with the kind of deep, impassioned vocal you won’t forget in a hurry. In her songs and stagecraft you’ll see and hear everything from PJ Harvey’s raw and ragged stomp to the crazed carnival energy of Tom Waits and eviscerating poetics of Patti Smith. The first great British rock band of the post-pandemic era, The Mysterines let us in on Lia’s unfiltered look at life, the universe and everything, complete with serious riffs and an unflinching honesty.

,’The Last Dance’, the new single by the Mysterines from their upcoming album ‘Afraid of Tomorrows’

It’s 1974 and blues-rock is badly in need of a new guitar hero. Hendrix and Duane Allman are dead, Clapton and Peter Green are missing in action and Jimmy Page was last heard essaying reggae and doo-wop pastiches on Led Zep’s “Houses Of The Holy“. Cometh the hour, cometh Robin Trower.

Who would have thought that the “backroom” guitarist with the stately keyboards-led Procol Harum would become one of the great blues rock guitarists. And it was the second of his power trio’s superb trilogy of back-to-back albums in the mid-70s that sealed his reputation.

Frustrated by not being allowed to let rip in his years with Procul Harum, Trower had given notice of intent with his 1973 solo debut “Twice Removed From Yesterday“, which included an incendiary cover of BB King’s “Rock Me Baby” and rather suggested he’d been in the wrong group all along. Backed by Jimmy Dewar on bass and blue-eyed soul vocals and Reg Isidore on powerhouse drums, he followed with 1974’s epochal “Bridge Of Sighs“, which was to elevate him to the ranks of the most revered axemen of the age.

From the pounding opener, “Day Of The Eagle”, to closer “Little Bit Of Sympathy”, it’s a beautifully balanced, dynamic record filled with quality songs, masterful playing from Trower (Bridge Of Sighs, Too Rolling Stoned) with his overdriven, reverb-drenched, swirling psychedelic sound and Hendrix inflections, plus some outstanding performances (About To Begin, In This Place) from peerless blues rock vocalist Jimmy Dewar.

“Bridge of Sighs” is the second solo album by Robin Trower released in 1974 on Chrysalis/Capitol Records, it was his second album after leaving Procol Harum, and was the breakthrough for Trower.

Guitar Player magazine named “Bridge Of Sighs” its Album Of The Year and Robert Fripp, having just broken up King Crimson, asked Trower to give him lessons as “one of the few English guitarists that have mastered bends and wobbles, able to stand alongside American guitarists, on “Bridge Of Sighs“, every one of the eight tracks essentially a vehicle for his rampant soloing, from subtle and sultry to shrieking and shredding.

“Bridge of Sighs”, was Robin Trower’s sophomore album following his departure from Procol Harum. Lauded critically, commercially a breakthrough, the album saw Robin push his trio’s initial concept into exciting new territory. Accompanied by James Dewar on soulful vocal and bass duty and Reg Isidore underpinning their psychedelic blues sound with masterful drumming. Producer and former Procol Harum bandmate Matthew Fisher and Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick take on control room duties to help bring this stunning collection of songs together..

50 years later, the recordings have been newly mixed from the original tapes, with an unedited stereo mix cut at half-speed especially for this release. On the second disc, you can hear the trio amid a US tour supporting the album Live at The Record Plant, Sausalito, May 1974, available in its entirety for the first time and newly remastered from the original tape transfers, the recording sounds as exhilarating as it would have for those in the room.

Songs such as “Bridge of Sighs”, “Too Rolling Stoned”, “Day of the Eagle” and “Little Bit of Sympathy” became live concert staples.

John Murry & Cowboy Junkies‘ Michael Timmins have collaborated on “A Little Bit Of Grace And Decay,” a soundtrack to the documentary, “The Graceless Age: The Ballad Of John Murry“. Tracks include stripped back versions of songs from “A Short History Of Decay“, new songs and sections from the documentary score. The album is released on September 20th on Deluxe CD as a Download on TV Records.

“Ever since we finished recording “A Short History of Decay” back in 2016, I’ve been waiting for John Murry to return to my studio,” says Timmins. “I had been working on some ideas for the film score for John’s doc when he finally reappeared. He had three days to kill in Toronto, so we decided to get together, sit around and play some music. No real plan and no real goal, just play and enjoy each other’s company. This album is the result of that visit.

As well as Murry on vocals and acoustic guitar and Timmins on electric guitar, bass, keyboards and loops, the album also features Peter Timmins on drums.

“It’s a ‘sort-of’ soundtrack album to the film, it contains some score pieces, as well as some of the solo recordings that John and I made when he was here in Toronto, some of which also became a part of the score.” 

Joan Wasser, aka Joan As Police Woman, has shared a new single, “Long For Ruin”. Wasser says, “This song refers to the human race’s seemingly willful move away from ourselves. Away from our interest in listening, in finding commonalities and compassion, communication and love. We seem intent on destroying ourselves. We seem unwilling to share resources. We seem to have turned away from ourselves and in turn each other.”

The track is a scintillating hybrid of indie rock and alternative soul, featuring distorted guitar and shuffling percussion. ‘Long For Ruin’ comfortable sits in a universe that is singularly Joan’s, all of which is further brought to life by a vocal performance which evokes an air of contemplation and melancholy.

The twelfth of her studio albums, ‘Lemons, Limes, and Orchids’ is a crowning showcase of Joan’s voice in all its metamorphic splendour. ‘I was ready to make an album that truly featured my voice. The basics were recorded like they used to be- with me singing live along with the band. My good friend said told me this is the sexiest album I’ve ever made. Honestly, I think she’s right’. The record is a nocturne about love and loss – what else is there? – and a reckoning with our collective disorientation, part hymn to holding on and part benediction of letting go.

 from her new album, “Lemons, Limes & Orchids”  which is released on September 20th via PIAS.

The Daydream Library Series record label has confirmed Thurston Moore’s new full length album “Flow Critical Lucidity“. The album will arrive in stores on September 20th, 2024. Fans of Sonic Youth & Thurston Moore will be delighted to learn that all tracks from the album will be released via all streaming platforms, vinyl, compact disc & cassette.

Thurston Moore’s forthcoming album, “Flow Critical Lucidity” 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. “Flow Critical Lucidity” comes from a lyric in the single ‘Sans Limites’ and the album sleeve cover art features Jamie Nares’ ‘Samurai Walkman’ ― a helmet befitted with tuning forks. Jamie Nares (born in Great Britain) is a life long friend of Thurston Moore from his New York No Wave days and the two have often collaborated in art & music.

The single featuring Laetitia Sadier,

“Flow Critical Lucidity” will be released on Moore’s Daydream Library Series record label on September 20th.

The Decemberists have been one of the most original, daring, and thrilling American rock bands. Their distinctive brand of hyperliterate folk-rock set them apart from the start, releasing nine full-length albums that are unbound by genre and highly ambitious. Now the beloved indie band is back with their first new album in six years, “As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again” – not only the longest Decemberists album to date (and their first intentional, proper double-LP) but also their most empathetic and accessible, its 13 songs like semaphores of mutual recognition for our fraught times and faint hope.

Reuniting with producer Tucker Martine (R.E.M., Neko Case, Sufjan Stevens) who began working with the band on “The Crane Wife”, the album features R.E.M.’s Mike Mills, The Shins’ James Mercer and Lizzie Ellison on background vocals.

This, songwriter Colin Meloy will tell you proudly, is the best Decemberists album and perhaps the ultimate realization of 22 years of work. In many ways, “As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again” feels like an aptly titled renewal for The Decemberists. The first full-length release on YABB Records, the band’s own label, after a run of nearly two decades with Capitol. As they were once, here are the Decemberists again, now an independent band empowered by singing stories that sound instantly familiar and convey some bit of hard-won wisdom.