The Fat Angel Sings

Recently, XTC’s Andy Partridge said he no longer writes new songs and is “waiting for my music mojo to return, in between researching UFO events.” I guess his music mojo returned? Patridge has a new band called the 3 Clubmen, and their debut single is out now.

Britain’s Lighterthief label has announced an exciting new project. The 3 Clubmen – a new project comprised of Andy Partridge, Jen Olive and Stu Rowe – will release their eponymous debut EP on June 30th. The first taste is ‘Aviatrix’, an avant-pop delight offering a strange, seductive blend of experimental pop, jazz and sci-fi cinema excellence.

I throw paint, Jen throws paint, Stu throws paint…and we walk away. If, when we return, something in there calls to us, we’ll move heaven and earth to get it out and let it breath. Using whatever it takes, be it contrary musical ideas, parts in clashing keys incongruous sounds, contradictory words/phrases. It’s all clay to us.

The 3 Clubmen is the culmination of a decade of antics from these long time collaborators, who started writing and recording this material years ago. While each artist has worked with the others in some form since 2008, The 3 Clubmen marks the first time that Stu, Andy and Jen have combined forces as a trio, an inevitable partnership once described as “a three-headed Frankenstein’s monster dancing at a neurodivergent singles club”.

“Like an ‘action painter’ throws colour at a canvas, we tend to throw musical and sound things, knowing that we’ll cut through this seemingly insane mess later, to hopefully find some beautiful garden, hiding there,” says Andy Partridge.

“Aviatrix” is out now on Lighterthief.

The 3 Clubmen brings together Partridge plus Jen Olive and Stu Rowe.

The Lemonheads’ 1993 album “Come On Feel The Lemonheads” will be reissued for its 30th anniversary in May.

The Expanded 30^th anniversary re-issue of The Lemonheads’ classic 1993 album. The breakthrough record that took American alt rock global and catapulted Evan Dando into the hearts of a generation.  With a wealth of unreleased demos, alternative versions and rarities – including covers of Victoria Williams, Buddy Holly and The Flying Burrito Brothers plus The Lemonhead’s take on the Cole Porter standard ‘Miss Otis Regrets’.

“Come On Feel” was home to some of his best, sharpest writing – fabulous sunny powerpop and beautiful ballads” The Guardian

In the 90’s Evan’s Lemonheads produced hit after a hit, a string of super cool singles: ‘Big Gay Heart’, ‘Into Your Arms’, ‘It’s About Time’, and ‘The Great Big NO’. Pure genius filling the radio waves and taking the stage…  Some 30 years on; Evan is still knocking that song writing thing out of the park and ‘Come On Feel The Lemonheads’ sounds as fresh and perky as it ever did. Amid the hits on the original record are stencils and outlines for yet more magical music and now this deluxe edition adds a second disc of demos and acoustic versions, plus a host of one-offs from sessions and compilations that add further colour to the myth and how it was created.

There’s the in-demand combo lovingly covering Victoria Williams’ ‘Frying Pan’ from her ‘Sweet Relief’ album, which is joined by an eclectic set of flipsides and out-takes, like their version of original garage punk nugget ‘Little Black Egg’ by The Nightcrawlers, Evan’s homage to Gram Parsons on the winsome ‘Streets Of Baltimore’ and Buddy Holly’s melancholy ‘Learning The Game’. Evan knows a good song when he hears it, as ‘Come On Feel The Lemonheads’ certainly proved.

“’Come On Feel The Lemonheads’ is all it purports to be: a chance to dip into Evan’s jumbled-up, dope-smoking love-buggy of a life and celebrate it” NME

The album was the follow-up to 1992’s “It’s A Shame About Ray” and features the singles ‘Into Your Arms’, ‘It’s About Time’ and ‘Big Gay Heart’.

The reissue offers a selection of alternative/acoustic tracks and covers and curiosities on the bonus LP or CD. Both the 2CD and 2LP sets are available as deluxe ‘bookback’ (hardcover book) editions, as well as standard offerings.

Rough Trade in the UK have two special vinyl editions a 2LP black vinyl with a strawberry ‘Scratch N Sniff’ sleeve and a 2LP yellow and red vinyl edition.

“Come On Feel The Lemonheads” will be reissued on 15th May 2023, via Fire Records.

One of the most influential bands of the 80s British underground, the number of bands with a sonic debt to the Kember/Pierce partnership seems to grow every year. Like a lot of bands that have forged iconic status in the guitar world, even though they were much more than a noisy guitar band, they reinvented noise in music.

An exclusive release for Record Store Day 2014. This title may be available on sale one week after the event on Monday 28th April, dependant on availability.

Fire Records bring together Spacemen 3’s ultra rare first three singles as “Translucent Flashbacks” – each of the 3x 12″s are individually packaged and bundled into a wide spine outer sleeve including the singles ‘Walkin’ with Jesus’, ‘Transparent Radiation’ and ‘Take Me to the Other Side’ on 180gram vinyl of all three releases.

Spacemen 3 were a band from Rugby in Warwickshire who formed in 1982 and went on to become one of the most distinctive and influential bands from that era or any other. Led by Pete Kember (Sonic Boom) and Jason Pierce, Spacemen 3 have never been more important and Fire Records are running a series of reissues of some of the band’s earliest material including these special Record Store Day Releases.

released April 19th, 2014

Glam and glitter popsmiths Temples from Kettering, England formed in 2012 by charismatic frontman James Bagshaw and
bassist Tom Walmsle. “Indie rockers Temples demonstrate an illustrious way forward for traditional guitar music. Taking place in a mystical, dream-like utopia, this supremely ambitious sixteen track presentation is the broadest, most eclectic palette of sound yet to be released by the neo-psychedelic, alternative ensemble. There are no bounds. ‘Exotico’ let’s go of control, so remarkable things can happen. It’s the closest Temples have been to releasing a masterpiece, and that’s saying something.” 

Their 2014 debut album “Sun Structures”. A psych retro pop record sounding like 5-star sonic sugar. But the weirdest thing happened now with this new long player. This album grew on me spin after spin. It’s still a mellow, laid-back, and familiar-sounding collection of music. But its sunlit spirit, its vivid vibe, its infectious melodies are superb. Let your thoughts ignore reality and drift away in your happy-go-lucky cocoon.

“Afterlife” is off Temples’ upcoming album “Exotico”, produced by Sean Ono Lennon.

“Exotico” is out now • Here we are in the desert last Summer, reflection hit and we celebrated 10 years since Temples came to life. We’ve traveled far from the East Midlands in the time between, what feels even further in the last 2 years and when the world stopped moving, “Exotico” began. Making this record with Sean Lennon was like starting anew, and we couldn’t be happier to return back to you with something we’re truly proud of. Your response so far has been amazing.

Singer Songwriter Julie Byrne has announced her first new album in six years. The follow-up to 2017’s “Not Even Happiness” is called “The Greater Wings”, and it comes out July 7th via Ghostly International. Its first single, ‘Summer Glass’, is out today alongside an accompanying video

Byrne started recording “The Greater Wings” with her long time collaborator Eric Littmann, who passed away in 2021. She completed the album with producer Alex Somers in the Catskills.

“My hope for “The Greater Wings” is that it lives as a love letter to my chosen family and as an expression of the depth of my commitment to our shared future,” Byrne shared in a statement. “Being reshaped by grief also has me more aware of what death does not take from me. I commit that to heart, to words, to sound. Music is not bound to any kind of linear time, so in the capacity to record and speak to the future: This is what it felt like to me, when we were simultaneous, alive, occurring all at once. What it has felt like to go up against my edge and push, the love that has made it worth all this fight. These memories are my values, they belong with me.”

“Summer Glass” lyrics by Julie Byrne Prophet Rev 4 & Piano by Eric Littmann Strings & Aelita by Jake Falby Harp by Marilu Donovan Paraphonic by Alex Somers

For Eric Reuss Littmann, Always. releases July 7th, 2023

“Weathervanes”, Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit’s eighth album, arrives via Southeastern Records/Thirty Tigers on June 9th. Produced by Isbell with Matt Pence providing additional production on five songs, the follow-up to 2020’s “Reunions” and the 2021 covers album “Georgia Blue” features 13 new originals.

“Cast Iron Skillet” is a beautiful acoustic song that features Jason Isbell‘s wife, Amanda Shires on fiddle. 400 Unit member Derry DeBorja provides accents on the accordion as Isbell sings masterful lyrics that paint a picture of a protagonist going through a rough stretch.

“Cast Iron Skillet,” the third single from their forthcoming studio album, “Weathervanes”. Southeastern Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers

Not long after he was unceremoniously booted from the Sex Pistols, bassist Glen Matlock turned right around and hooked up with guitarists Midge Ure and Steve New, and drummer Rusty Egan, to form Rich Kids, a snotty punk combo to rival anything coming out of the U.K. in the late ’70s. At the time, the group didn’t connect with folks in spite of their punchy, poppy sound mining the same territory as Buzzcocks and Dr. Feelgood. The years have been kind to their lone studio album. It has grown in stature among punk enthusiasts, which makes its first-ever U.S. reissue seem both exciting and like a ridiculous oversight. Produced by former Spider From Mars Mick Ronson, the 11 tracks here are unrelentingly catchy and defined by an energy and attitude that will quickly shatter your resolve and any sense of cool you may be holding on to.

“Ghosts of Princes in Towers” is the only studio album by British band Rich Kids, founded in 1977 by Glen Matlock (ex Sex Pistols) and Midge Ure (Ultravox) and Rusty Egan released in August 1978 and produced by ex-Bowie guitarist Mick Ronson.  Exclusive for RSD 2023, the original album will be newly remastered. Release overseen by Rich Kids’ Rusty Egan.

New wave supergroup Rich Kids burned briefly but brightly. Featuring ex-Sex Pistol Glen Matlock and future Ultravox frontman Midge Ure, the band’s lone album, “Ghosts Of Princes In Towers”, was produced by David Bowie’s former right-hand man, Mick Ronson, and released in August 1978. It featured the group’s sole Top 30 hit, Rich Kids, alongside a slew of incendiary pop tunes such as “Marching Men”, “Burning Sounds” and “Cheap Emotions”, but it became the group’s epitaph when they split just months later. Still essential, this newly remastered edition comfortably sits among the best Record Store Day 2023 releases.

The Grateful Dead performed more the 2,300 concerts, and of these many live shows, a three-night run in May 1977, spanning three cities on the East Coast, is arguably the Dead’s greatest trio of shows: May 7th in Boston, MA, May 8th in Ithaca, NY, and May 9th in Buffalo, NY.

Though it sat a good 3,000 miles away from the Dead’s Bay Area homebase, Boston Garden seemed to bring out something special within the band. Their performances at the long since demolished arena had that touch of magic within their interplay and especially in Jerry Garcia’s extended guitar solos. Any proof you need of that can be found within this performance of the band from 1977. It is one of their most listened to by fans; a hard to calculate blast radius that could only grow wider with the release of this boxed set. It’s a dream to listen to. 

These three shows, along with their near-equal from May 5th in New Haven, made up the long-ago sold-out box set “Get Shown The Light.” The last two nights of this run have been released on vinyl in previous years, and we’re thrilled to add to the canon the magnificent Boston show. From its opening, playful “Bertha,” through a flawless first set featuring “Cassidy,” “Jack Straw,” “Mississippi Half Step,” “The Music Never Stopped,” and many others, the Dead are clearly having a wonderful night in Bean Town. The second set is filled with then-new and older songs from the Dead’s catalogue, including “Terrapin Station,” “Estimated Prophet,” “Eyes Of The World,” and “Wharf Rat,” amongst others.

Arguably the first rock band to embrace the bootlegging industry, Grateful Dead allowed fans to record their concerts, resulting in a live discography that vastly outweighs their studio output. However, for curious newcomers, the sheer weight of titles on offer can be daunting, especially for those looking for an accessible entry point.

A welcome addition to the best Record Store Day 2023 releases, the Boston Garden, Boston, MA 5/7/77 box set is perhaps as good a place to start as any. Captured during Jerry Garcia and co’s three-night jaunt along the the US East Coast in May 1977, which also took in shows in Ithaca and Buffalo, in New York state, this live set was initially issued as part of the extensive Get Shown The Light box set, which featured all three gig in their entirety, plus another highly-rated performance from New Haven, Connecticut.

Available for the first time on vinyl, Grateful Dead’s May 7th, 1977 performance at Boston Garden. 5-LP, 180-Gram vinyl boxed set. Limited Edition of 12,000. The Grateful Dead performed more the 2,300 concerts, and of these many live shows, a three night run in May 1977, spanning three cities on the East Coast, is arguably the Dead’s greatest trio of shows:

A spectacular show from start to finish, Boston 5/7/77 is one of the most upbeat, accessible shows the Grateful Dead ever performed. In participating stores starting 4/22 as part of Record Store Day! Find stores and more information at recordstoreday.com#RSD2023

This double live album was recorded on The Cure’s 1992 “Wish” album tour, at The Palace of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Originally released in 1993, the band comprised of Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Porl Thompson, Boris Williams, Perry Bamonte, and features many of the band’s biggest hits, including “Pictures Of You,” “Lullaby, “Just Like Heaven,” “The Walk, ” “Friday I’m In Love,” and “Inbetween Days”. Released as a 2LP Picture Disc. Unavailable on vinyl since its original release in 1993. This will be the first time it’s been on picture disc. The release was overseen by Robert Smith.

When “Show” was originally released in 1993, the live album was, in no small part, a way to keep cashing in on the commercial power The Cure wielded at the time. If it served as a take-home reminder of the band’s brilliance as a live act, even better. North America missed out on the vinyl release of “Show” at the time — an oversight that was rectified on RSD. Sadly, the band and Rhino opted for the double picture disc format for this reissue. Regular readers of the column will know that I’m not a fan of this format. It tends to produce noisy discs that mar otherwise great recordings. This is no exception. Every point that isn’t suffused with music is cut through by a hissing sound that can’t be cleaned away. If you grabbed this last week, it is going to look great on display in your record room. For everyone else, you might be better served saving up a few hundred dollars to track down a used copy of the original pressing.

Remastered by Robert Smith and Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios, London.
‘Show’ 2LP Live set recorded at The Palace, Auburn Hills, Michigan: Released September 1993
18 songs including the singles “Pictures of You”, “Lullaby”, “Just Like Heaven”, “The Walk”, “Let’s Go To Bed”, “Friday I’m In Love” and “Inbetween Days”.
First time on Picture Disc.