The Fat Angel Sings

Iggy Pop is an avant-garde icon and a punk pioneer. The Montreux Jazz Festival is a boundary-pushing event that brings the best of all musical genres to one gorgeous location every year. “Live At Montreux Jazz Festival 2023 captures the dazzling Iggy Pop performance that could only happen here.

First in a series of earMUSIC releases from the festival, this concert marked Iggy’s third appearance at the 57th edition of the Montreux Festival. Backed by a seven-piece band, Iggy breathes new fire into Stooges classics like “I Wanna Be Your Dog” and “T.V. Eye” and ignites the adoring crowd with visceral run-throughs of “The Passenger” and, of course, “Lust for Life.”

2023 marked Iggy’s return to the top 10 in major territories with his album “Every Loser.” It was the perfect moment to showcase his classic songs and share new ones (“Modern Day Ripoff,” Frenzy”) at the venerated Stravinski Auditorium.

With the artist going from strength to strength in this new phase of his career “Live At Montreux Jazz Festival 2023 is the perfect mix of vintage Iggy and new Iggy with pristine 4K visuals and astounding audio (recorded in multi-track). It’s a singular moment in a singular career and we are pleased to share it with you.

Formed by singer/guitarist Stuart Adamson in 1981 after leaving his previous group Skids, the Scottish rock band Big Country were hugely successful in the UK and US, scoring four UK Top 10 albums including ‘The Crossing’ (a UK platinum, US gold record) plus a further 2 UK Top 30 albums.

‘Driving To Damascus’ features the classic Big Country line up of Stuart Adamson (vocals/ guitar), Bruce Watson (guitar), Tony Butler (bass) and Mark Brzezicki (drums) and was recorded in the legendary Rockfield Studios in Wales.

Album highlights ‘Somebody Else’ and ‘Devil In The Eye’ were co-written by Ray Davies of The Kinks. Eddi Reader is guest vocalist on the single ‘Fragile Thing’. 

Driving To Damascus’ (1999), also includes the live-in-the-studio ‘Nashville Sessions’, single versions, alternate mixes from the US release ‘John Wayne’s Dream’ and two discs of demos.

Ian Grant (Big Country manager from 1981 to 2013) has written the sleeve notes, giving a personal insight into the album’s genesis. 4CD Deluxe Edition of Big Country’s eighth and final album with Stuart Adamson.

The Underground Youth reveal details of their new album ‘Décollage’ and share the lead single and opening track ‘You (The Feral Human Thunderstorm)’ Their 12th LP to date arrives on April 4th 2025 and you can now stream the opening track and pre-order on coloured vinyl/CD now!

Self-written, recorded and produced by Dyer, ‘Décollage’ is an exercise in artistic deconstruction in both name and form, marking a decisive musical shift for The Underground Youth: “‘Décollage is the art of creating an image by ripping, tearing away or removing pieces of an original existing work’.

My idea was to apply this technique to music. I built walls of static coated hip-hop drum samples, layers of Lee Hazlewood style string arrangements and Serge Gainsbourg inspired mellotron melodies, then I began tearing away at these beautiful, chaotic walls of noise.”

The result, Dyer says, is “a trip-hop infused soundtrack to a collection of lyrics dealing with adoration, ancestry, originality, hallucinations of revolution and a hope that something better can be born from the ashes of the horror that exists in our world.” From moments of ghostly minimalism to sweeping crescendos of noise and melody, there is a shadowy, dreamlike quality to the songs.

The Underground Youth’s new album ‘Décollage’ out April 4th 2025 on Fuzz Club

“Genius + Love = Yo La Tengo” is a 2-disc album by Yo La Tengo, consisting of rarities, alternate versions, and out-takes, spanning 1988 to 1995. The album was originally released on Matador Records in 1996

Back in print for the first time in over 20 years, the compilation assembles more than two hours of hard to find and unreleased Yo La Tengo music from 1988 – 1995. If there’s anything Yo La Tengo have in spades, it’s a superb music taste. This collection of outtakes and demos guides you through the inspired moments of creativity that they share. ‘Cast A Shadow’ covers K Records head honcho’s group Beat Happening brilliantly. ‘Speeding Motorcycle’ goes one further – it has the actual Daniel Johnston featuring on it as well as being a cover. The latter came from his fifth self-released cassette tape, Yip/Jump Music. There’s also a Ramones, Wire  “Too Late”. and John Cale “Hanky Panky Nohow” cover.

We think you get our point – astounding references. Of their own material, ‘Sunsquashed’ – a 26-minute jam that emphasizes their experimental and improvisational nature is a must. Free from the shackles of producing an album in the traditional sense, what you end up with is a fantastic and imaginative collection, which hammers home just how brilliant Yo La Tengo are for indie rock.

The second disc consists entirely of instrumental pieces. Included are songs previously recorded by the group (such as an 8-second drum solo), and covers, such as the Urinals’ “Surfin’ with the Shah,” and a wedding-band-like rendition of the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop.”

This new collection brings together classic radio sessions from Television Personalities, the masters of DIY post-punk and indie pop. Featuring two 80s BBC sessions that aired on John Peel and Andy Kershaw, along with a super rare 1992 WMBR set, this double LP features covers of Buzzcocks, The Raincoats and Daniel Johnston with previously unreleased songs and a bonus download WFMU session from 1993.
“Catchy hooks and schoolboy wit are in abundant supply.” Pitchfork

The Television Personalities’ splendid DIY skills and loveable ramshackle persona led them on many a subversive trip both on record and playing live. But it was the radio that first introduced them to the world in a whirlwind of repeated spins. John Peel let outsiders everywhere tune in to their altered world.

And, at the height of punk they parodied the new revolution, their single ‘Part Time Punks’ becoming a Peel staple, and the clamour to hear more eventually resulting in a session in 1980.
Through the 80s, Daniel Treacy had matured into a gifted storyteller turned pop culture narrator who placed the modern world in his own hazy shade of focus. His songs were loveable, immediately identifiable and pin prick sharp; they were tidily observational, and often magically acute. This was a gifted raconteur, an inspiration and an essential alternative to the hiss and flutter of “normal” radio, a medium that by the late 80s had just about abandoned them.
‘Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out’ captures this pilgrim’s progress to pop nirvana, a psychedelic wonderland shaded by dark and brooding memories, all played out through a crackling transistor radio secreted under the pillow so that these sketches of society remain perfectly personal, a direct line into Dan’s psyche. 

released January 17th, 2025

Produced by Graham Sutton (These New Puritans, Bark Psychosis), ‘Birthmarks’ is New York band, Bambara’s, fifth, and best, studio album. A wild, musically adventurous suite of songs that follows a host of lost characters caught in a multi-generational cycle of love, violence and rebirth.

An extraordinary, nocturnally-inclined modernist rock band drenched in Southern Gothic, Bambara have evolved their macabre vision to perfection with their fifth album “Birthmarks“. Created in collaboration with co-producer Graham Sutton from UK experimental pioneers Bark Psychosis (a man also heavily responsible for the ground breaking These New Puritans records), it’s not so much a concept album as a stunningly complex work of narrative fiction, featuring memorable characters including the aforementioned C&W karaoke-bar siren with halo-braided hair and a one-eyed murderer begging for the electric chair – all not exactly set to music, but actually born from it.

Released through Bella Union 14/03/2025

Ride guitarist and songwriter Andy Bell’s third solo album “Pinball Wanderer” is an otherworldly collection of intergalactic wizardry that mixes psychedelic melodies, Can-via-The Stone Roses grooves and Arthur Russell-style experimental textures. With guest appearances from Dot Allison and Neu! legend Michael Rother on a cover of The Passions’ peerless post-punk classic ‘I’m In Love With A German Film Star’, it is perfect for both deep-listening headphones moments and cutting across the coolest, most understated dancefloors.

The loose-limbed rhythm tracks were the starting point and were laid down with the help of Andy’s old Oasis bandmate Gem Archer. The rest followed after an intense all-night session last summer, with the completed album being delivered the following morning. It’s Andy’s finest work to date; a quintessential nighttime record where you can slip through the gaps in the notes and revel in the moment.

Andy Bell has shared a lovely acoustic version of his current single ‘i’m in love…’ which you can watch below. Keep an eye out for a new version of the song next Thursday!

pinball wanderer LP out February 28th ! on Sonic Cathedral

The last place you’ll find Benjamin Booker is where he was yesterday. Following two critically acclaimed albums marked by his signature fuzzy americana-inspired garage rock and soul sound, world tours, and opening slots with the likes of Jack White, Tame Impala, and Neil Young… he disappeared. “I wanted to get to this sound, but I didn’t know how. At some point I decided I’m going to find it or die trying.” He spent years tinkering in a loft near Skid Row in Los Angeles before ending up across the globe in Perth, Australia.

Trading stems via email, Booker crafted his third album with LA underground hip-hop mastermind Kenny Segal. The new album, “Lower”, mixes experimental hip hop, dream and noise pop, and singer-songwriter music into something that is entirely his own. Through the changes, Booker’s lyrical exploration of pain and longing have been persistent.

“I am beginning to see the beauty all around me/What this life can be,” Booker sings over simmering guitar and delicate keys on “Slow Dance in a Gay Bar.” In a statement, he said, “You know, sometimes you find yourself in a death hole, surrounded by bones and rotting flesh. It feels like every second is a shovel-full of dirt flung on your head – the worms are laughing at you, hungry, ready to eat. But then, out of nowhere, the impossible happens. A ladder appears. You climb up and the world you knew before is completely different. The colours are more saturated. The sun shines brighter and the air smells sweet like honey. This song is about that.” 

His new single, “Slow Dance in a Gay Bar,” is out now, and it comes with a dream-like video of the musician driving a white van through the narrow streets of New Orleans’ French Quarter. It’s the latest of a string of loosies ahead of Booker’s third studio album, 

“Lower,” is due January 24th. 

Co-produced by Guy Massey (Spiritualised, The Divine Comedy, Kylie) and Sophie Jamieson, I still want to share is an album exploring the push and pull, merry-go-round nature of anxious attachment and how it weaves, cuts and steals through familial and romantic relationships. Throughout the record is a perpetual longing to belong, a yearning to learn how to love and let go, and a continual missing of the mark. Each song clings tightly to the possibility of home, but never arrives there.

The album was recorded in North London between Guy’s studio and Konk Studios, with string arrangements from Josephine Stephenson (Daughter, Ex:Re, Lisa Hannigan) and drums from Ed Riman (Hilang Child).

released January 17th, 2025

As Sting preps a new power trio, we salute his original one with the Ultimate Music Guide to The Police. Featuring a selection of classic interviews from the archives of NME and Melody Maker and in-depth reviews of every Police and Sting solo album.