We are pleased to announce that ‘Loose Canon – Live In Europe 2016-2017′ will be available internationally on CD, digital download and to stream from Friday 16th February!. Following the success of their ‘Foreverland’ album and tour, The Divine Comedy release a 17 track live album. Recorded at various dates over the band’s 16/17 European tour, the album contains both standout tracks from ‘Foreverland’, classic songs from Neil Hannon’s extensive catalogue and hits such as ‘National Express’ and ‘Something For the Weekend’. This is a fabulous memento of the ‘Foreverland’ tour for longstanding Divine Comedy fans and newcomers alike. The ‘Foreverland’ tour was attended by over 100,000 people in the UK and Europe. Some quotes from live reviews include: “The Divine Comedy remain a life-affirming joy”. “He makes you laugh, but what lifts the comedy towards the divine is the fact that he also makes you think.” . “Bittersweet ambiguity, where irony meets sincerity and levity shades into melancholy”
Loose Canon was recorded during the band’s 2016/2017 ‘Foreverland’ tour and originally sold through our Merch stand and online store. The good news is that we’ve widened our distribution to all good record emporiums, so if you missed out on adding this collection of electrifying performances to your collection – grab one while you can! This CD is a limited run and will not be reissued.
Here is the track listing to whet your aural appetite –
1. How Can You Leave Me On My Own
2. Napoleon Complex
3. Catherine The Great
4. Bad Ambassador
5. To The Rescue
6. The Complete Banker
7. Bang Goes The Knighthood
8. Generation Sex
9. Our Mutual Friend
10. Funny Peculiar
11. A Lady Of A Certain Age
12. At The Indie Disco
13. I Like
14. National Express
15. Assume The Perpendicular
16. A Drinking Song
17. Tonight We FlyWith digital downloads, streaming and CDs there is more than one way to experience The Divine Comedy on stage! Have a night in and let us provide the soundtrack.
Esoteric Recordings and Cherry Red Records are proud to announce the release of an official limited edition deluxe boxed set of Yes founder Chris Squire’s legendary 1975 solo album “FISH OUT OF WATER” on 27th April 2018.
Recorded in the late Spring and Summer of 1975 whilst Yes was on hiatus as members recorded their respective solo albums, Fish Out Of Water was a breath-taking work, and equal in standard to any Yes album in terms of sheer invention and creativity. The album sessions were a collaboration between Chris Squire and his friend AndrewPryce Jackman, a gifted arranger who had been a member of The Syn, Squire’s pre-Yes group. The sessions saw contributions from former Yes drummer Bill Bruford, Yes keyboard player Patrick Moraz and noted King Crimson musician Mel Collins and Jimmy Hastings. Released in November 1975, Fish Out Of Water was a Top 30 chart hit in the UK and made the US Billboard Top 75 album chart, going on to sell nearly 500,000 copies worldwide.
The highlight of this limited edition deluxe boxed set is a stunning new 5.1 Surround Sound mix (exclusive to this set on an NTSC / Region Free DVD), along with a new stereo mix, from the original multi-track master tapes by Jakko Jakszyk and a new re-master of the original 1975 mix by Paschal Byrne. Fish Out Of Water also includes four bonus tracks of the single edits of ‘Lucky Seven’ and ‘Silently Falling’, along with both sides of the 1981 single by CHRIS SQUIRE and ALAN WHITE; ‘Run With the Fox’ and Return of the Fox (appearing on CD for the first time).
The boxed set also includes a replica 180 gram gatefold LP with poster of Fish Out Of Water (mastered and cut from the original tapes at Abbey Road studios), along with two seven inch singles of ‘Lucky Seven’ b/w ‘Silently Falling’ and ‘Run With the Fox’ b/w ‘Return of the Fox’, both in picture sleeves. To complete the content is a visual DVD (NTSC / Region Free) featuring the 1975 Fish Out Of Water promotional film featuring the songs Hold Out Your Hand and ‘You By My Side’, along with a 2006 interview with Chris Squire conducted by Jon Kirkman and a 2006 audio commentary by Chris Squire. Finally, the set also contains a 36-page book with an essay by Sid Smith featuring exclusive interviews with Bill Bruford, Patrick Moraz, Gregg Jackman and Jakko Jakszyk.
Always justly proud of his first solo album, it was Chris Squire’s long held wish that a 5.1 Surround mix would be undertaken of the work someday. This Esoteric Recordings edition finally brings this to fruition and is a fitting tribute to the artistry of Chris and his collaborator on the recordings, Andrew Pryce Jackman.
Alongside this deluxe edition, there will also be a new 2 CD edition of Fish Out Of Water which features the new Stereo mix, the new re-mastered original stereo mix and four bonus tracks.
The boxed set and 2 CD edition can be pre-ordered directly from Cherry Red Records website store:
Pete Townshend’s first solo album will mark its 45th anniversary by returning to stores with a second disc of bonus material that includes previously unreleased tracks. the pending plans to reissue Townshend’s “Who CameFirst” LP. Originally released in October 1972, the album marked the Who guitarist and songwriter’s official solo debut, and collected an assortment of recordings that included demos for the band’s aborted Lifehouse project.
According to the label, the 45th anniversary Who Came First reissue, which is scheduled for an April 13th arrival, will add “eight previously unreleased tracks, new edits, alternative versions and live performances,” as well as restored and expanded packaging that includes new liner notes from Townshend, the poster included in the original release and a 24-page booklet containing rare photos from the period that produced the album.
The track listing hasn’t been made available for this edition, but as fans are likely well aware, this isn’t the first time Who Came First has been given the reissue treatment. Rykodisc brought the album to CD with bonus tracks in the early ’90s, and it was subsequently expanded further in 2006, after Universal took over the catalog. Between those two editions, nine extra cuts have already been added to the original track listing, so if nothing else, it should be interesting to see what else has been unearthed for this latest expansion.
This 1972 album gets off to a cracking start with a superb song which fans of The Who will know well – Pure and Easy . While I really like The Who’s dynamic version I prefer this because it sounds more personal, more precise, more…at peace with itself. Yes. For this is indeed a great album and something of a personal and spiritual odyssey for Townshend. The Who’s main composer is in reflective mood here, heavily influenced by the spiritual leader Meher Baba. If you are expecting trademark power chords you’ve come to the wrong album, this is a quiet set of songs compared to his band at their exuberant best. It is something of a tour de force as Townshend sings and plays all the instruments, recording his songs in his home studio. No surprise then that acoustic guitar is very much in evidence and some songs have an almost folky/country feel – one thing that is unmistakeable is the catchy tunes and singalong hooks that Pete seems to produce with ease. If you want an insight into the creative processes and intuitive craft of a classic songwriter this intimate album is probably a good place to start. Townsend’s voice gives more sensitive treatment of his own lyrics compared to Daltrey’s mighty lungs.
It would seem churlish to go through the album track by track, this is one collection which is meant to be heard as a whole and very much proves that the sum is greater etc. Special mentions though for the beautiful Evolution and Heartache, the addictive Sheraton Gibson and a song which again would be recorded by The Who, Let’s See Action. The bonus tracks on this deluxe edition are all worthwhile although none are essential.
The instrumental His Hands starts like the quiet beginning of Pinball Wizard but you’ll wait in vain for those power chords. Another version of a Who song “The Seeker” seems appropriate in some ways but is also ill at ease in the company of the other songs. The Who version you will remember is a classic song of despair and fruitless searching. Somehow, in context, the lyrics “I won’t get to get what I’m after till the day I die” take on a different meaning. Among the other songs, Mary Jane is perhaps not just about a girl (!)and is a wry song (of the same ilk as Pictures Of Lily, Dogs or Tattoo but not as good) and Begin The Beguine is not a cover you would expect from this guitarist. Sleeping Dog is a touching love song to Baba, while The Love Man could conceivably have made a good Who album track, I Always Say is a McCartneyish blues number and the piano is very much to the fore in instrumental Lantern Cabin.
Meanwhile, his contributions to the new Who Came First booklet notwithstanding, Townshend is in the midst of a quiet spell. As he announced late last year, he’s enjoying a yearlong sabbatical following his marriage to longtime partner Rachel Fuller.
A ’60s-era rock star finding spirituality in an Indian mystic and adopting the teaching philosophy of said mystic is almost a stereotype. However, Townshend has never wavered in his admiration of Meher Baba (The Baba in ‘Baba O’Riley’). While Townshend’s drug use was at odds with Baba’s views, he never tossed out his beliefs throughout the decades. Indeed, his more overtly religious songs were usually tempered with narratives that involved child abuse and salvation (‘Tommy’), Mod culture (‘Quadrophenia’), or an early version of the Internet as connecting people to more authentic experiences (‘Lifehouse’ and ‘Psychoderelict’). However, one song members of the Who were most likely never exposed to during band meetings was ‘Parvardigar’ — a prayer Baba asked his devotees to say every day. Townshend set the prayer to music, and the result is this rather heartfelt and beautiful song.
Blushing are a band formed of two husband and wife pairs, although it didn’t start out that way. Back in 2015, singer and guitarist Michelle Soto plucked up the courage to share some songs she had been working on with friend Christina Carmona. From that friendship, a creative partnership was born, Christina adding her classically trained vocals and bass-playing to the mix, shifting Michelle’s rough sketches into fully formed compositions. Recruiting their spouses, they set about recording the songs that would become their debut EP, Tether.
After the EP’s release, and with growing acclaim, the band went back into the studio as quickly as possible and recorded their latest offering, Weak. The record showcases a sound Blush are making entirely their own; shimmering guitars, rolling bass-lines, heavy drum hits and a vocal set to draw a raft of Cocteau Twins comparisons. From the gloomy Hidden Places to the triumphantly loud Bound, Weak is a record that wears its melancholy with pride.
No Joy / Sonic Boom is Jasamine White-Gluz and Pete Kember.
You know Jasamine from her eight-years (and counting) stint as a founding member and principal songwriter of Canadian shoegaze/noise-pop band No Joy. And Pete Kember is Sonic Boom, of Spacemen 3, Spectrum, and E.A.R.
While neither can accurately recollect how they met, the pair first touched on the idea of working together in an exchange of emails during the fall of 2015. No Joy had just finished touring on the back of LPMore Faithful(their third full-length on the Mexican Summer imprint, and their heaviest to date), and Jasamine was eager to walk a new path. “No Joy functioned as a four-piece ‘rock band’ for so long,” she says. “I wanted to pursue something solo where I collaborated with someone else who could help me approach my songs from a completely different angle. Pete is a legend and someone I’ve admired for a long time. Being able to work with him on this was incredible.”
What started as a sonic exploration between two friends—passing songs back and forth intercontinentally, with Jasamine writing and producing songs in Montreal and Pete writing, arranging, and producing in Portugal—soon grew into a project of substance, the result being four glistening tracks that dance along the lines of electronica, trip-hop and experimental noise.
“I wrote some songs that were intended for a full band and handed them off to Pete, who helped transform them. I barely knew how to use MIDI so I was just throwing him these experiments I was working on and he fine-tuned my ideas. There are barely any guitars on this album, because I was focused on trying to find new ways to create sounds.”
The EP begins with the 11+ minute epic “Obsession,” a disco-y dream trance jam that ebbs and flows, before “Slorb” slinks in, casting its seductive spell. “Triangle Probably” rings triumphant, an industrial beat thumping below, the track interwoven with Jasamine’s silvery vocals. “Teenage Panic” begins in celebration, brimming with hope and excitement, and then—a full stop—before striking back in the form of a droning loop that gathers more and more layers as it spins out into the infinite void.
No Joy / Sonic Boom is an experiment in testing boundaries and stepping out of comfort zones gone cosmically right.
Official music video for “Obsession (Radio Edit)” new song from No Joy / Sonic Boom EP. Out on Joyful Noise Recordings 30th march 2018.
Limited to 300 hand-numbered copies pressed on baby pink inside bottle green vinyl. Instant download of “Obsession” with purchase,
Olden Yolk’s debut ruminates on questions surrounding love, self-doubt, and locating autonomy amidst burgeoning unrest. Wrought with hazy melancholy and halcyon joy, Butler and Shaffer’s lilting vocals play off one another through a devotional dialogue, taking form in haunting choral melodies and candid rock n’ roll. These songs are ecstatic odes to the life of the city; to the subway platforms, kiosks, and monuments which enliven and encompass our collectivity, elevating into an urban-psychedelia.
On the album, Butler and Shaffer are joined by drummer Dan Drohan (Tei Shi, Uni Ika Ai) and guitarist JesseDeFrancesco who round out the studio sessions and live-band. Drohan’s deep passion for jazz, hip-hop, and experimental percussion come to fore while Defrancesco’s minimal yet powerful guitar ambiences are heard swelling in the peripheries of each song. The album was recorded at Gary’s Electric in NYC by Jarvis Taveniere (Woods) with co-production, electronics, and mixing by Jon Nellen (Ginla, Terrible Records). Other guests, such as multi-instrumentalist John Andrews (Woods, Quilt, The Yawns) and violinist Jake Falby (Mutual Benefit, Julie Byrne), add to the mercurial nature of the record, creating a landscape tinged with beatific songwriting and transgressive underpinnings.
From their eponymous debut album, out February 23rd, 2018 via Trouble In Mind Records
from the band: “Vital Sign” represents two sides of a coin. It references feelings of isolation and paranoia felt during periods of illness and confinement, as well as the emergence from such an experience, in recognition of the trials that bind us (“it could have been you too”). The song begins with a reflective moment which quickly reaches a breaking point, accentuated by screeching strings and bellowing background vocals.
Olden Yolk is a New York-based group whose penchant for dystopian folk, abstract poeticism, and motorik rhythms have enveloped them in a sound uniquely of-the-moment yet simultaneously time-tested. The project is led by songwriters, vocalists, and multi-instrumentalists Shane Butler and Caity Shaffer, whose interlaced vocals are found guiding each composition on their enlivening self-titled debut. The project was initially conceived in 2012 by Butler as an outlet for one-off songs and visual art while touring and releasing albums with the band Quilt (Mexican Summer). Following the release of a split-record with Weyes Blood in 2014, Olden Yolk became a collaborative entity.
On the album, Butler and Shaffer are joined by drummer Dan Drohan (Tei Shi, Uni Ika Ai) and guitarist JesseDeFrancesco who round out the studio sessions and live-band. Drohan’s deep passion for jazz, hip-hop, and experimental percussion come to fore while Defrancesco’s minimal yet powerful guitar ambiences are heard swelling in the peripheries of each song. The album was recorded at Gary’s Electric in NYC by Jarvis Taveniere (Woods) with co-production, electronics, and mixing by Jon Nellen (Ginla, Terrible Records). Other guests, such as multi-instrumentalist John Andrews (Woods, Quilt, The Yawns) and violinist Jake Falby (Mutual Benefit, Julie Byrne), add to the mercurial nature of the record, creating a landscape tinged with beatific songwriting and transgressive underpinnings.
From debut album out February 24th, 2018 on Trouble In Mind Records
If, like us, you have a thing for dystopian folk, abstract poeticism and motorik rhythms then Olden Yolk can happily tick those boxes for you. This has echoes of the Arthur Lee’s Love .
The New York-based group led by songwriters, vocalists, and multi-instrumentalists Shane Butler (of Quilt) and Caity Shaffer, are set to release their self-titled debut album on23rd February via Trouble In Mind.
We previously shared tracks Takes One To Know One and Vital Sign, and now we have latest single, Cut To The Quick, which the band describe as being, “about reclaiming oneself when the pressures of the outside world seem to close in around you. The video was largely shot in NYC and Austin, TX; two places that have been homes to us at one time or another. It plays with abstraction, memory, and the simple acts we go through on a daily basis to construct some semblance of identity.”
From debut album out February 23rd, 2018 on Trouble In Mind Records
We cannot wait to release ‘Tomorrow’s Shore’, the new EP from Ride due out, tomorrow! , This new four track EP. Kicking off with recent single Pulsar, the four track EP is made up of new songs Keep It Surreal, Cold Water People and Catch You Dreaming. Apocalyptic closer Catch You Dreaming is a defiantly reflective, blissed out, yet wistful six minute zero gravity swirl. The track showcases yet another side to the reborn and rejuvenated Ride, who last summer returned with their first new music in twenty years.
Ride unveiled a brand new song due for release on a new 12″ vinyl. Not featured on their highly acclaimed recent album, Weather Diaries , “Pulsar” is built around a central pulsing rhythm and the band’s signature wall of swooping, fuzzed out guitars. It was recorded with Erol Alkan, the legendary DJ, producer and remixer who produced the band’s latest album. Loz had this to say about their brand new song: “Pulsar re-imagines old organ samples, transmissions from space, effects, heavy beats and pulsing chords. The song title tips its head to the 60’s instrumental ’Telstar’ in name and theme; and the idea was to come up with some kind of ‘space anthem’ about light, existence, travel and return. The band all contributed to make the song what it is, and it all really came together in the studio when we worked with Erol Alkan once again, following on from the success of the ‘Weather Diaries’ sessions.”
You can also hear ‘Pulsar’ AND ‘Catch You Dreaming’ right now.
Said Andy Bell of this new song and the EP…“Catch You Dreaming” is written from the perspective of being one of the last two people alive, watching as the Universe is ending. The protagonist looks back over the time when humanity existed, realising that we as humans brought about our own inevitable demise. Then the couple look back over their own lives of shared memories and as they are sharing this moment, everything vaporises. It’s a love song about fate, nostalgia, and having no regrets. ” The song itself was intended to be a part of “Weather Diaries”, and recording started during the sessions in Autumn 2016. But we never managed to record a definitive version at the time and decided to come back to it later as part of a follow up EP, which is now finished, and titled “Tomorrow’sShore”. The EP was made with an identical process to “Weather Diaries” and we see it as very much tied to the album. ”
RIDE tour throughout 2018, including the newly announced appearance at Festival No. 6!
All dates on sale at thebandride.com
