The Fat Angel Sings

Celebrating twenty years since its release, Magnolia Electric Co.’s “Hard to Love a Man” is expanded and available for the first time on vinyl.

This anniversary release of the band’s first EP includes three additional tracks: remastered demos of “31 Seasons in the Minor Leagues,” previously titled as “Tonight I’m So Down,” and “Lonesome Valley,” recorded at Echo Park Studios in Indiana during the “Hard to Love a Man” sessions, as well as “One Thin Dime,” recorded during the Black Ram sessions at Sound of Music Recording Studios in Richmond, Virginia.

‘Working class rock’ is a phrase used frequently to describe The Magnolia Electric Co. Categorically, the band has secured their place amongst like-minded icons such as Bob Seger, CCR, Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen, but it’s not merely an aesthetic description. Magnolia backs it up with their work ethic. Amazingly, The Magnolia Electric Co. will have been on the road eight months by the end of 2005.

This fact is most apparent to the band members themselves having been away from their homes and their loved ones for such extended periods of time. Hence the significance of the title track. When Jason Molina assumes the perspective of the one he left behind on “Hard To Love A Man” and sings: “It was hard to love a man like you / Goodbye was half the words you knew / While you were waiting for me not to call / I sent my love,” the loneliness and guilt of separation is painfully obvious. The wounded feminine voice of Jennie Benford, coupled with Jason Groth’s sweeping guitar and Mike Kapinus’ mournful organ dramatically reiterate this sentiment. Mark Rice and Pete Schreiner deliver their signature tight and tasteful rhythm and Nicole Evans adds a new and dynamic voice.

While “Hard To Love A Man” and live set favourite, “Werewolves Of London”, were recorded with Steve Albini at his Electrical Audio Studios, the rest of the tracks were recorded during a brief five day visit home in Indiana at Echo Park Studios with Paul Mahern, whose engineering resume includes The Blake Babies, Lisa Germano and John Mellencamp. As we watch Magnolia grow, Jason Molina doesn’t have to coach us through another one, letting the inmates run the asylum. The Magnolia Electric Co. cast no doubt by putting their business in the street.”

For Mandy, Indiana, the truth is the only way through.  On their Sacred Bones debut “URGH“, the four-piece – vocalist Valentine Caulfield, guitarist and producer Scott Fair, synth player Simon Catling, and drummer Alex Macdougall – are a force of uncanny nature, grafting together a record that is as much a call to action as a parlay into oblivion and transcendence.  Across the ten tracks, the band interpolate their own unconventional language into a mantra for self-determination and resilience, forging a template for a brighter future before it fades to black.   

Much of the album was written during a residency at an eerie studio house in the outskirts of Leeds, then recorded across Berlin and Greater Manchester. It was an intense environment partially due to the health issues faced by Caulfield and Macdougall during the writing and recording process.   

Yet Mandy, Indiana remain uncompromising. Caulfield uses her voice as a distorted instrument and a weapon, oscillating between playful and eviscerating. The throbbing siren-sound of “Magazine” stands alongside the cut-up vocal fry of “try saying” and the shapeshifting ferocity of “ist halt so,” which channels the urgency of protest movements, referencing resistance to the genocide in Gaza while speaking to struggles more broadly, while final track “I’ll Ask Her” is a deliberate directness calling out toxic boy’s club culture and a tenacious reckoning that hangs over the album at large.    

Although there are still undeniable “bangers” (like the frazzled rap of “Sicko!” featuring Billy Woods), “URGH” often feels hewn with precise cinema. From the bristling techno of “Cursive” to the deconstructed feedback loops of “Life Hex,” the album moves between industrial catharsis and cinematic unease, threading a tension that Fair describes as “a remix of itself.” This contrasting palette is both a necessary aspect of the record as well as the underlying connective tissue. 

Though deeply personal, “URGH” reflects the violent, fractured state of the wider world. Caulfield’s lyrics grapple with assault, systemic indifference, and the omnipresence of pain, while also insisting on moments of beauty and solidarity. “URGH” belongs in the physical world, and the artwork by Carnovsky, featuring an anatomical illustration of Andreas Vesalius, underscores the record’s visceral confrontation with the body and its limits.   

“URGH” is both otherworldly, and physical and cathartic, a first step toward healing and a refusal to let the conversation die.

Nothing have announced a new album, “A Short History of Decay“, due in February via Run For Cover. the lead single “Cannibal World” available in an exclusive “sour apple glitter” vinyl variant that comes housed in a green, Nothing-branded PVC bag

Nothing have always been rule-breakers. Shoegaze renegades who’ve rebuilt the stereotypically lightweight genre in their own bloodyknuckled American image. Outlaw poets spilling existential dread on mile-wide canvasses of fuzz and reverb. Beginning as a Philly-born bedroom solo project in 2010, Nothing’s music has always captured the full scale of the human condition, both the blaring anger and the whispering sadness. a short history of decay, Nothing’s fifth solo album widens that aperture even further, providing the most hi-def rendering of Nothing to date.

The band have never sounded this colossal, never felt this intimate, never been this honest. With the strongest arsenal in Nothing’s ever-shifting line-up locked in — guitarist Doyle Martin (Cloakroom), bassist Bobb Bruno (Best Coast), drummer Zachary Jones (MSC, Manslaughter 777), and third guitarist Cam Smith (Ladder To God, also of Cloakroom) — singer-songwriter Domenic “Nicky” Palermo knew he had the manpower to make the band’s most ambitious record yet.

Co-written and produced with Whirr guitarist, Nicholas Bassett, and with additional production and mixing work from Sonny Diperri (DIIV, Julie), a short history of decay is the most evolved musical statement in Nothing’s catalogue.

Songs like “Cannibal World” and “Toothless Coal” are cataclysmic lashings of mechanized industrial-gaze that sound like My Bloody Valentine — except more extreme. On the other end of the spectrum, the ornately morose “Purple Strings” boasts a beautiful string arrangement that includes harpist — and two-time Nothing contributor — Mary Lattimore. That baroque delicacy permeates other a short history of decay highlights, particularly “The Rain Don’t Care,” a lilting ballad that channels the worn-down elegance of Mojave 3, and also “Nerve Scales,” a pattering bop that resembles Radiohead in its marriage of otherworldly atmosphere and mortal precision.

Palermo calls the new record “a final chapter.” Not the end of Nothing, but the conclusion of a story that began with Nothing’s 2014 debut, Guilty of Everything — another album about time, regret, and confronting uncomfortable truths — and now resolves with a short history of decay,. As much a snapshot of Palermo’s past as it is a leap into Nothing’s future.

The Hold Steady is marking the 20th anniversary of their landmark 2005 second studio album, “Separation Sunday”, with a deluxe new edition arriving on their own Positive Jams label via Thirty Tigers on Friday, December 5th.

“Separation Sunday” changed everything for The Hold Steady,” says frontman Craig Finn. “We found a new line-up, a solidified sound, and through incessant touring started building the THS community that exists today. It was a thrilling time to live through, and to revisit with this new look at the album.”

Recently named as one of the “250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far,” “Separation Sunday” proved a sensation upon its May 2005 release, instantly catapulting the Hold Steady to the forefront of American rock ‘n’ roll bands. A dazzling collection that forwarded the band’s signature sound and distinctive vision on virtually every level, the album was greeted by critical applause around the world.

At year’s end, the album was ranked among the top 10 of 2005’s best in SPIN and on The Village Voice’s prestigious Pazz & Jop Critics Poll, with legendary critic Robert Christgau writing, “This literature with power chords addresses not only the crucial matter of vanishing bohemias as cultural myth but also the crucial matter of re-emerging spiritualities as cultural fact.”

The Hold Steady will further mark the milestone anniversary with a full album performance of “Separation Sunday” as part of their upcoming Massive Nights 2025: 10 Years of Killer Parties!, the 10th annual edition of their beloved multi-night concert event at Brooklyn, NY’s Brooklyn Bowl.

This year’s weekend runs from Wednesday, December 3rd, through Saturday, December 6th, kicking off with the first-ever Massive Nights installment of the band’s intimate “Storytellers” show, a special seated performance that will see the Hold Steady stripping down familiar songs along with additional classics not usually heard during regular sets.

Massive Nights 2025 will then see the Hold Steady performing two unique sets each night with no opening acts on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, including a full album performance and a second set stacked with fan favorites and more. Thursday, December 4, will celebrate Separation Sunday, followed by surprise full album performances on Friday, December 5, and Saturday, December 6. A limited number of tickets remain available for Wednesday’s Storytellers set and Thursday and Friday. Saturday is sold out. For complete details, please see theholdsteady.net.

Next year, The Hold Steady will then cross the Atlantic for The Weekender 2026, a four-night concert event taking place at various London venues from Thursday, March 5, to Sunday, March 8, 2026. The Weekender 2026 will include a “Storytellers” performance at The Dome (Thursday, March 5, 2008), followed by two headline shows at Electric Ballroom (Friday, March 6 and Saturday, March 7, 2026), and an intimate headline set at Camden’s iconic Dingwalls (Sunday, March 8, 2026).

Add-ons include a Saturday Soundcheck/Happy Hour at Electric Ballroom, a Sunday Pub Quiz at Dingwalls, The Weekender 2026 Merch Bundle, and a limited edition The Weekender 2026 lanyard. Limited single-night GA tickets for the Electric Ballroom and Dingwalls shows remain available.

The expanded release sees the original 11-track album joined by nine newly remastered bonus tracks on vinyl for the first time, including rare demos, outtakes, and four songs previously released as 2005’s internet-only EP, “The Virgin Digital Sessions.” “Separation Sunday” (20-Year Anniversary Edition) will be available digitally and on 2xLP standard black vinyl and limited edition 2xLP gold-swirl vinyl.

“The Riff That Won’t Quit” is the new single from Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Cheap Trick, a preview of the band’s 21st studio record titled “All Washed Up“, due out November. 14th. The songs were produced by the band and Julian Raymond. The record was produced by Chris Lord Alge and recorded at a handful of studios in Nashville, as well as Los Angeles.

“Just one more great album from the best rock band in the world,” said lead singer/guitarist Robin Zander.

Is Cheap Trick really “All Washed Up?“

That’s the tongue-in-cheek title of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band’s new studio album,

Iconic singer/songwriter Joe Jackson will release a new studio album titled “Hope and Fury” on April 10th, 2026. The 22nd studio album from Jackson in his famed career, the record features lyrics like this, suggesting he’s pretty fired up these days: “Hello cruel world / I’m not going away / So I might as well have my say.”

With a remarkable career spanning over four decades, a discography that includes 20 studio albums and five Grammy nominations, Joe Jackson has left an indelible mark on the music world. His loyal fanbase prizes Jackson’s unapologetic curiosity, impressive musical diversity, and unique artistic perception – ready to follow and embrace their idol in any new musical adventure he wants to explore. In 2025, Joe Jackson announces his first studio album in seven years! “Hello cruel world / I’m not going away / So I might as well have my say,” sings Joe Jackson on his new album, and there’s no doubt that at a point when many of his contemporaries have lost their passion, their talent, their voices or even their lives, Jackson goes from strength to strength. ‘Hope and Fury’ might, in fact, just be his best album yet

Featuring nine new songs, this album showcases Jackson’s ability to stay true to his vision — and challenge himself in the studio, even this far into his career. A news release quotes Jackson’s recent statement given in rare interview U.K.’s Chap magazine: “I always knew I was in this music thing for life. So every now and again I’m going to do something different, to keep it interesting.”

 “Hope and Fury” will be out April 10th, 2026 on Ear Music, followed by a North American tour from May to July 2026 and a European run from September to December

The doyen of the Scottish underground, Emma Pollock returns with her first new album for nine years

Emma Pollock’s “Begging The Night To Take Hold” reviewed: Glasgow indie-rock mainstay unearths interior and exterior truths. How to explain the nine years that have passed since “In Search Of Harperfield”, Emma Pollock’s self-acknowledged “best received” album in her 30 years as the vanguard of the Scottish underground? In her own words: “start at the beginning until you sing sunlight” – an oblique, poetic fragment that at its core captures the essence of a tumultuous journey of self-discovery, captured in all its light and shade on the songwriter’s fourth solo album.

Recorded in the safe spaces around and after pandemic lockdowns, “Begging The Night To Take Hold” was shelved while The Delgados – the band formed by Pollock and three friends in ’90s Glasgow which, through its Chemikal Underground label and studio, continues to underpin much of the city’s music scene – embarked on a triumphant reunion tour, including sets at Primavera in Barcelona and their hometown’s open-air Kelvingrove Bandstand. As she prepared to return to the record and the intense grief of her father’s sudden death that informed much of its writing, Pollock obtained a post-menopause autism diagnosis, and found some answers to the questions she had begun to ask herself about her place in the world

The second single to come from Emma Pollock’s fourth studio album “Begging The Night To Take Hold”, “Future Tree” explores Pollock’s personal world as one constantly frustrated by distracted thoughts. “Rogues and thieves you know, they masquerade as new ideas.” “Too many numbers and not enough poetry” laments the writer, trapped in her own perception of the world whilst struggling to make progress.

The final message; “Can only move by standing still” could be the remedy – to sometimes, simply, stop. This video was made by Emma Pollock using footage taken whilst driving to Sweden and Norway from Scotland on holiday in the summer of 2025. There were many mountains, tunnels, fjords and sometimes goats.

Although working with only a tight-knit group of collaborators – Graeme Smilie, returning from …“Harperfield”, on piano and bass, cellist Pete Harvey of Modern Studies and producer, Delgados bandmate and husband Paul Savage adding drums – this set of songs are Pollock’s richest and most melodic. Her dusky alto voice, once compared to Dusty Springfield, is weighty with newfound wisdom, ushering the listener to come closer where the subject matter shifts from the confessional to more straightforward narrative storytelling.

Described as “a raw and fearless commentary on modern America”, the album was co-produced by Tom Overby and longtime collaborator Ray Kennedy, who recorded and mixed the album at his Room & Board Studio in Nashville. Guest stars include Norah Jones, Mavis Staples and Brittney Spencer.

“Truth is my saviour,” Williams sings on opener “Fruits Of My Labour”, a sentiment that could also double as her manifesto. Always a personal writer, her honesty is at its most immediate on her seventh album, which picks over the bones of her relationship with Ryan Adams’ former bassist Billy Mercer. The live-in-the-studio rawness of the music is more than matched by the words. Tender portraits of a damaged lover (“Sweet Side”, “Righteously”) are weighed against the damage he has caused. If “Over Time”, “Minneapolis” and “Ventura” linger agonisingly over the cooling ashes, on “Those Three Days” the pain and fury is still evident.

Lucinda Williams has today announced that her new album, “World’s Gone Wrong”, will be released by Highway 20 Records on January 23rd.

Bill Callahan continues to open uncanny depths of expression, blazing one of the most original singer-songwriter trails out there. Applying the living, breathing energies of his concerts to this album production, he sharpens his slice-of-life portraiture to cut deeper, releasing a stream of singalong consciousness – poetic, cinematic, novelistic, comedic – and above all, musical.

The core musicians featured on My Days Of 58 are the group that toured for 2022’s YTI⅃AƎЯ: guitarist Matt Kinsey, saxophonist Dustin Laurenzi and drummer Jim White. The album also features contributions from Richard Bowden (fiddle), Pat Thrasher (piano), Chris Vreeland (bass), Mike St Clair (trombone), Bill McCullough (pedal steel), Eve Searls (backing vocals), and Jerry DeCicca (tambourine).

“Improv/unpredictability/the unknown is the thing that keeps me motivated to keep making music,” says Callahan. “It’s all about listening to yourself and others. A lot of the best parts of a recording are the mistakes – making them into strengths, using them as springboards into something human.”

Bill Callahan will release “My Days Of 58”, his eighth album under his own name name, via Drag City on February 27th.