Here we are in 2020, exploding like a dream. Processing today’s numbed nation, considering mysteries of growing up and being older (like a memory of the future from your youth…Processing today’s numbed nation, considering mysteries of growing up and being older (like a memory of the future from your youth (not how you expected, but still your life)), Magik Markers rub upon their roots, art-noise jamming their way into non-linear song-sense and raw, beautiful music all at once. Magik Markers’ new album 2020, Magik Markers went quiet for a few years after releasing Surrender to the Fantasy in 2013, but, after the surprise release of Isolated From Exterior Time: 2020 in July, they’re back for another round with the new 2020 on Drag City Records. Bassist John Shaw trades riffs with guitarist and vocalist Elisa Ambrogio on tracks like “CDROM,” “Born Dead,” and “Machine.” Meanwhile, “That Dream (Shitty Beach)” features vocals from drummer Pete Nolan.
Track from Magik Markers digital EP “Isolated from Exterior Time: 2020”, released on July 3rd, 2020 by Drag City Records.
It’s been a long time since Neil Young released his last Archives box set. In the intervening 11 years since Neil released Archives, Volume 1: 1963-1972, fans have endlessly speculated what might be on Volume 2 – or if it might happen at all.
Well, it’s happening. The 10-CD Neil Young Archives, Volume 2: 1972-1976 box set will be released on November 20th.The links to pre-order are live for the limited, deluxe edition set of 3,000 units which is available exclusively through Neil Young’s Greedy Hand Online Store. A digital edition will also be available on Neil Young Archives and all major digital services.
On October 23rd, following the quick sell-out of the box set, Neil announced on NYA’s Times Contrarian that slimmer editions will follow in the year to come. This will be welcome news to those who may have missed out on the high-demand box set. His full statement is as follows:
Reprise Records, my record company for about 50 years, underestimated the demand for Archives VOLUME II. We were all surprised. It is a beautiful package that I am proud to have made for you. I do feel badly that we did not deliver it to many who were waiting so long for it. We don’t feel that offering more of a product sold as a limited edition is a good thing to do. Thank you to all who purchased this set.
In 2021 we will be offering more Archives VOLUME II products as Reprise had originally planned, available in all outlets. These, while not the boxed set, will offer all of the of the music and discs with a smaller book. The original large book will be available for separate sale. Thanks! NYA
In its limited edition box set format, Archives, Volume 2is sequenced chronologically to spotlight the astonishingly prolific period lovingly referred to as the Ditch Years. The box contains a staggering 131 tracks from Neil’s personal archive. Of those, 12 songs have never been released by Neil in any form before, a further 49 songs are presented in previously unheard versions. And though recent releases Homegrown, Tuscaloosa, and Roxy: Tonight’s The Night Live are all repeated here, there’s plenty of completely unheard material to satisfy any fan of this era.
The discs are packaged in a deluxe box similar in size to the Archives Vol. 1 Blu-ray box set (though do note there will only be CDs in this volume!). The discs are housed in individual card sleeves and are presented alongside a 252-page book full of rare photos, memorabilia, and archival material. You’ll also get a timeline and tape database reference and a Neil Young Archives “file cabinet poster.” This deluxe box set will be limited to only 3,000 copies. worldwide. That’s right, Neil has launched new web stores for Canada and the UK. This should help alleviate those long shipping times, fees, and other grievances that come with ordering abroad, plus each webstore will have its own dedicated customer service team.
If that weren’t enough, you’ll also get access to high-resolution 24-bit/192kHz digital files of all 131 tracks, and a free one-year membership to Neil Young Archives.Let’s take a look at what’s inside!
The box begins with Everybody’s Alone, a disc of tracks recorded in the wake of Harvest and into 1973. A sort of alternate version of Time Fades Away, the disc includes unreleased versions of that song, “L.A.,” “The Loner,” “Monday Morning” (otherwise known as “Last Dance”), “The Bridge,” and “Human Highway.” The long-awaited unreleased tracks “Letter From ‘Nam,” “Come and Say You Will,” “Goodbye Christmas on the Shore,” and “Sweet Joni” round out the disc.
CD 2 contains Tuscaloosa, the 2019 release that features 11 songs from Neil Young and The Stray Gators’ set at the University of Alabama in February 1973. It’s followed by an expanded Tonight’s The Night featuring an unheard jam on “Speaking Out,” an alternate version of “Everybody’s Alone,” and – very surprising given her stance on outtakes – the long-rumored jam between Neil Young and Joni Mitchell on “Raised On Robbery.” The song from her Court and Spark album is said to be treated completely differently here. “It kicks ass…” Neil says in his book, Waging Heavy Peace. “It was funkier than anything she has ever cut. A total gem!” Next up, CD 4 includes an expanded Roxy: Tonight’s The Night Live. Originally released in 2018, these raw live versions are supplemented with a live cut of “The Losing End.”
An alternate On The Beach follows on the fifth CD, called Walk On. In addition to the studio cuts that we’ve known for decades, it includes the unreleased song “Greensleeves,” an alternate version of “Traces,” and a Beach-era outtake of what must be Neil’s favorite, “Bad Fog of Loneliness.”
CD 6 is called This Old Homestead and seems to mirror Young’s vision for what he called Homefires. A companion to the recently released Homegrown (which itself appears as CD 7), Homestead features tracks that were prepared for that album alongside songs intended for CSNY’s brief and tumultuous reunion. It’s a disc that’s full of sought-after material, including “L.A. Boys and Ocean Girls” (which became part of Zuma‘s “Danger Bird”), an unreleased version of “Pushed It Over the End,” “Changing Highways.” The clutch of Homegrown outtakes includes unheard versions of “Love/Art Blues,” “Give Me Strength,” “Bad News Comes to Town,” plus the never-before-heard songs “Homefires,” “Frozen Man,” and “Daughters.” The unreleased music continues on CD 8, Dume, which collects classics from Zuma and eight session outtakes, including the unreleased “Born To Run” (an original song, not the Bruce Springsteen classic). CD 9, Look Out For My Love, brings together songs from the aborted CSNY album that became The Stills-Young Band’s Long May You Run, plus tracks that were eventually released on American Stars ‘n’ Bars and Comes A Time.
The set closes out with a collection that Neil has been teasing for years, Odeon Budokan. The 10-track disc presumably mirrors an original track listing for a proposed live album featuring a resurrected Crazy Horse. It features a blend of acoustic and electric material, recent songs and fan favourites from across his career. Among them are “After The Gold Rush,”“Cowgirl in the Sand,” “Old Man” as well as “Lotta Love,” “Stringman,”“Too Far Gone,” and more.
You can make your purchase of Neil Young Archives, Volume 2: 1972-1976 at the Greedy Hand Online Store at Neil Young Archives – and get a taste of what you’ll get with these unboxing videos and trailers.
Such a strange time in my life (probably yours too), but all this has lead me to a deeper awareness of every good thing around me. My heart goes out to those who are making such huge sacrifices for their communities and families, those who are suffering from illness or loneliness, and those who have lost jobs or loved ones.
My hope for this year is that I am more appreciative of the good things in my life and more attentive to the suffering of those around me. I want to believe that this season is preparing all of us to stand together in more meaningful ways, starting in the smallness of our daily lives and growing to reach our communities and then the dark and lonely corners of our world.
The release of Amanita Pantherina feels like a pivotal moment in the career of post-punk outfit, Cabbage. After the success of Young, Dumb and Full Of… and Nihilistic Glamour Shots, Only emerging once previously in 2020 to fuel second album rumours with the release of Coronation Street-inspired single, You’ve Made An Artform (From Falling To Pieces), just as the UK’s COVID-19 lockdown took effect, Cabbage now officially set the reels running on a technicolour sequel to the cracked-screen noir of their debut album which hit the UK Top 30 in 2018.
Appearing to fade out their first, epic chapter in brooding black and white, the five-piece finally turn the page with Amanita Pantherina, released in September 2020, finding themselves a cartoonish state of heightened, neon-hued consciousness, facing down the darkness of modern Britain with renewed, energetic abandon. Get Outta My Brain chases the shadows of Shaun Ryder and the fast burning focus of his late-90s Black Grape-era, cutting gonzo punk fuzz with sharp-focus lyrical intent to affect an intravenous dose of similarly streetwise intellectualism.
Older and wiser, yet unchanged in their mission, Cabbage – made up of Broadbent (vocals), Joe Martin (vocals/guitar), Eoghan Clifford (guitar), Paddy Neville (bass) and Asa Morley (drums) – bound from the studio having maintained the fizzing electricity of a band supercharged by the injustices they see in the world around them.
“Amarantha Pantherina” will be the first album entirely produced and recorded by Cabbage themselves, in their own Brassica Studios, whilst bringing on board long-term collaborator, Chris Stockton to assist with technical levers. Having deftly documented the turbulent times of modern Britain since 2017, machine-gunning wry takes on the banal, absurd and cruel – from the Brexit non-anthem of Raus! to the prescient, pharmaceutically-orientated, Medicine – the band aims to remain a vital voice of the times in which we live.
Amarantha Pantherina promises, according to the band, to “continue the ‘time capsule’ ideal of keeping albums current to reflect their philosophy at the time of recording.” Amarantha Pantherina is out now on Brassica Records. Including the singles ‘You’ve Made An Artform (From Falling To Pieces)’ and ‘Get Outta My Brain’.
The momentum building around Macclesfield band Cassia has continued with the release of their current single ‘Don’t Make A Scene’. Cassia shine a fresh light on the track with the new acoustic version. While the original was utterly uplifting, this new take on the song heightens its laid-back, blissed out charm with jangly acoustic guitars and a subtle string accompaniment. It also puts a fresh focus on frontman Rob Ellis’s lyrics, which offer a timely reminder to follow your passions regardless of what other people might think.
While Cassia’s music is uplifting and carefree, there is a stark difference between the face value of their music and its content under further inspection, presenting challenging themes in a totally unique way. The accompanying video finds the trio performing the song in their Casa de Cassia studio, which was named by a fan during one of their lockdown live sessions.
There’s a heart-warming simplicity to both the video, and new rendering of the track. The passivity they talk about is interpreted in an innovative, interesting way; “ordinary people” transform into beautifully endearing figures through the stripped-back vocals and muted drums. All in all, the track only leaves us more ready for their upcoming tour dates.
We decided to cover a song from Frank Zappa’s first album “Freak Out” released back in 1966. It’s called “Trouble Every Day” and we found it very relevant to these times which is strange and sad that after all these years we’re still on the first page! We are condemning these horrible nonsense actions against the Black Community and condemning police brutality! We need to learn more and these actions against black people need to stop right now and we need to stop it.
All proceeds goes to NAACP Legal Defense Fund. We all need to listen more and learn more and if you see something that we’re doing wrong call us out and we will do better. Let’s keep fighting for Justice and Peace!
Originally released June 6th, 2020 Lyrics – Frank Zappa
Matt Berninger’s debut album “Serpentine Prison” will drop October 16th via Book Records, the new imprint of Concord Records. In his two decades spent fronting The National, vocalist and lyricist Matt Berninger has become unphased by early-hour work responsibilities. “The thing is, when you’re in a band and you’re touring, 3 a.m., 4 a.m. lobby calls are a regular thing,” he says. “And that’s after you get back from the show at 1 a.m.—not because you’ve been out partying, but because you couldn’t get back to the hotel until that time.”
With the release, Berninger has dropped a fun new music video for his “One More Second” which features him showing off some dance moves in the awesome video directed by Chris Sgroi. the promotion of Berninger’s debut solo record Serpentine Prison, an album recorded over a two-week period in late May and early June of last year that was produced by industry legend Booker T. Jones with contributions from just about every musical associate and friend in Berninger’s extensive rolodex. “It’s the most collaborative thing I’ve ever done,” says Berninger.
I didn’t actually have any intention to make a solo album. I started out trying to make a covers album with Booker. I was lucky enough to know Booker from a long time ago, but in the process of just sharing cover ideas with him, I did share a few songs that were sort of these orphan songs that didn’t fit with any other band, and then he was like, “Well do you have any more of these?” When we went into the studio last summer, we went in with twelve originals and seven covers, and I was gonna just pick the best out of whatever happened in these two weeks. And at the end of the two weeks the originals were good enough to stand on their own. So I just picked ten of those that worked well together in a sequence and that’s how it turned into a solo album.
Matt Berninger of The National will share his debut solo record Serpentine Prison this month via Book’s Records. The single “One More Second,” was released last month, which followed the release of the album’s title track and “Distant Axis.” “I wrote ‘One More Second’ with Matt Sheehy with the intention for it to be a kind of answer to Dolly Parton’s ‘I Will Always Love You,’ or sort of the other side of that conversation,” Berninger says. “I just wanted to write one of those classic, simple, desperate love songs that sound great in your car.”
Berninger has remained no less resolute in a number of creative enterprises. Not only working on material for the follow-up to The National’s 2019 album I Am Easy to Find, Berninger has been working alongside the band’s Aaron and Bryce Dessner—as well as his wife Carin Besser—on a film adaptation of Cyrano, the off-Broadway musical they developed with playwright Erica Schmidt that starred her husband Peter Dinklage (Dinklage will reprise the role for the film).
I’ve talked about Helen Ballentine and her project Skullcrusher before right here and her latest single Farmis another great opportunity to highlight her wonderful music. Just like her self-titled debut EP which was released this summer, this new song feels like a warm summer breeze (or blanket, to stay in the current season) for your ears. Ballentine’s soft song writing is carried by a certain understatement and tenderness, almost like a brighter alternative to the gloomy ambient folk of Grouper. She keeps things simple and although the end of Farm gets a bit more epic than her previous material it’s still a pretty raw experience. It’s a reflection of childhood and family and that’s exactly the vibe this beautiful mellow song transports.
The name sill doesn’t suit the music but I couldn’t care less about that and I’m very much looking forward to more Skullcrusher action in the not so distant future.
“Farm” the new song by Skullcrusher, out October 19th on Secretly Canadian.
I can’t stress how fortunate I’ve been to have this behemoth of an album to work on through 2020. It’s taken longer than anything I’ve ever done – not because it’s hard to do but due to the amount of songs (twenty) and the difficulties working through the Pandemic. Originally I was offered gratis time at Paul Weller’s studio by the superb Charles Rees but lockdown occurred and we had to put that idea to bed. Then I decided to put a basic recording set up in my cellar so I could record at home – that took a fair bit of time. Then we decided to get Steve ‘Smiley’ Barnard to play the drums from his home studio. Then I decided I wanted Nick Kilroe (Icicle Works’ live drummer last year) to have a go. Tony Mac from The Real People had already played drums on an early session for the album – Three drummers on one album? Who do we think we are Steely Dan? Then there was the jettisoning of several tunes that didn’t fit the plan … being as I doubt there will be any shows in 2021 I intend to go straight into the next album which will feature a more streamlined ten cuts and will hopefully claw back some of the cash I’ve thrown at this one – which has been A Lot. More than I could ever hope to cover from sales of vinyl/CD/dowloads alone. I need to play live to make the books balance. I didn’t know I was making a ‘Trilogy’ until I realised Star Smile Strong and Our Future In Space felt like an upward arc – despite having two completely different bands playing on them, I felt like I was experiencing great visitation of creativitity/energy which last had it’s way with me with Truth And Beauty (1993), Head Like A Rock (1994) and Merseybeast (1996) which many who enjoy what I do will suggest was my second “golden period”. I’ve made records I like better but there’s no doubt this was my artistic/commercial peak (HLAR and Merseybeast were commercial slam dunks – both chart albums). Anyhoo – yadda yadda yadda – this collection is getting close to completion and you’ll be able to judge for yourselves. I humbly suggest that this is the record that solidifies my reign at the top of the People Who Most Punters Have Never Heard Of But Are A Fair Bit Better Than Biffy Clyro Official Chart.
Track Listing:Boy Harry Dean Stanton Mesmerised DeserterRollin’ On (The Things We Gave Away)You Bring Good ThingsJonesin’The OutlawYOLORunnin’ Outta StuffAnamorphic Anodyne (Twistin’ In The Wind)Goin’ To A PlaceGigalo DaysThe Old Grey LadySwiss Army Knife Of FuertaventuraGreat SpiritWe’re Never Gonna Grow UpJivin’ Miss DaisyNo One Tells A Lie Like A Dude With A Tie MelodyPre-order: www.ianmcnabb.com#utopian
A special preview version of one of the new tracks from Ian McNabb’s forthcoming album ‘Utopian’
“Resonant and rapturous, the band finds a way to channel their thoughts on the world around them through precision indie rock songwriting that builds into swelling, cathartic choruses” – KEXP
In Waiting. Waiting for futures to be carved out, for missions to be complete, for communities to be solidified, for the security denied to a generation to return. Waiting for the empathic revolution. Waiting for the end of capitalism, and the start of something real and fair. Waiting for spin to die and authenticity to be valued. Waiting for lost loves to return and fumbled relationships to form, for small cracks in families to heal and bigger cracks in inequitable systems to break.
You’re in waiting a long time. And then you just have to do it yourself.
In Waiting is Pillow Queens’ debut album, the result of four years of brotherly love in a sisterly unit from Ireland’s most urgent, yearning, rock band. Crafted from our lives, and honed in a studio in rural Donegal in the northwest of Ireland, this is a record by queens in waiting and kings in the making.
It’s an album about love; self-love, queer love, the anxiety-inducing faultlines of romantic love, and the love for a city and a country that simultaneously has your back and is on your back. It’s an album about the in-between; the transitionary period of an adulthood that never seems to arrive, while you wait for that lightbulb moment when everything makes sense, even though part of you knows deep down it will never come.
It’s an album about the purgatorial aspect of late-stage capitalism, where the systems conspire to burden and punish; job insecurity, housing crises, income inequality, and social inequity. It’s an album about family; chosen, given, received and earned. It’s an album about spirituality; from the engrained confines of religion, to the expanding borders of spirituality, and the iconography and ritual that populates the emotional interior of anyone who grows up in Ireland.
It’s about resilience of the politics of the self and belief in the power of art. The wounded deers leap highest.
The Fat Angel Sings 