The Fat Angel Sings

Pink Floyd’s first concert in Japan, at the Hakone Aphrodite festival, released as a special 2-disc package in a 7-inch sleeve, containing the “Atom Heart Mother” album on CD and a Blu-ray disc featuring newly discovered video of the performance from over 50 years ago. Originally only released in Japan in 2021, the set contains some unique memorabilia – a special photo book containing many rare, never-seen-before photos, reproductions of the pamphlet, the poster, the concert ticket, and the flier distributed at the event. The only Pink Floyd footage at Hakone Aphrodite that exists is that of the 16-minute-long suite “Atom Heart Mother.” The details including whereabouts of the master film and how it was shot had been a mystery for a long time. However, after fifty years, the original 16mm film of this video was discovered in a fan’s garage.

The meticulous processes of digitizing, restoring and remastering was undertaken and finally this enhanced video will be released outside of Japan. Over 50 years ago, Japan’s first international outdoor rock festival “Hakone Aphrodite” was held at a specially built venue beside Hakone Ashinoko Lake on August 6th and 7th, 1971. Pink Floyd’s first ever concert in Japan was as headliner for the festival. Aspiring to be the Japanese Woodstock, The “Hakone Aphrodite” invited many international artists and became the first rock festival experience for many Japanese fans.

The set contains not only the original live footage (with audio taken from the gig at Hakone Aphrodite), but also behind-the-scenes footage of the band, travelling between the airport, the hotel, the press conference, the bullet train, the show set-up, and, of course, beautiful Japanese scenery.

Vanilla Fudge are being celebrated with a box set comprising their complete output for Atlantic’s Atco label made between 1967 and 1969. “Where Is My Mind? The Atco Recordings 1967-1969” arrives September 27th, 2024, via Cherry Red Records’ Esoteric label. The collection, on 9-CDs, includes the albums “Vanilla Fudge” (mono and stereo versions), “The Beat Goes On” (mono and stereo versions), “Renaissance”, “Near the Beginning”, and “Rock & Roll”, along with a 2-CD live recording at the Fillmore West in 1969, as well as session outtakes and rare singles, all newly remastered from the original master tapes.

Featuring Mark Stein (vocals, organ), Vincent Martell (guitar, vocals), Tim Bogert (bass, vocals) and Carmine Appice (drums, vocals), the band were originally known as The Pigeons and gained attention thanks to their radical, slowed down and heavy interpretations of current hits.

They signed to Atco Records, a division of Atlantic in April 1967 and changed their name to Vanilla Fudge at the insistence of Atlantic founder Ahmet Ertegun. Their radical cover version of The Supremes’ hit “You Keep Me Hanging On” was issued as a single in June 1967. Dominated by the hard hitting approach of their rhythm section and the powerful Hammond organ playing of Stein,

The band’s self-titled debut album was released in August 1967 and was a psychedelic rock tour-de-force, featuring a seven-minute version of “You Keep Me Hanging On,” along with imaginative cover versions of compositions by The Beatles, The Zombies (“She’s Not There”) and Curtis Mayfield, among others. Over the next two years, Vanilla Fudge would record a series of albums that would evolve from psychedelic rock to heavy rock and influence many emerging bands, among them Deep Purple, before disbanding in 1970.

9CD BOXED SET FEATURING OF THE COMPLETE ATCO RECORDINGS BY VANILLA FUDGE MADE BETWEEN 1967 AND 1969. NEWLY REMASTERED FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES.

• INCLUDES THE ALBUMS ‘VANILLA FUDGE’ (mono & stereo versions), ‘THE BEAT GOES
  ON’ (mono & stereo versions), ‘RENAISSANCE’, ‘NEAR THE BEGINNING’ AND ‘ROCK & ROLL’, ALONG WITH A 2CD LIVE RECORDING AT THE FILLMORE WEST IN 1969, SESSION OUT-TAKES AND RARE SINGLES.

Charly Bliss have returned with a second single “Waiting for You,” its another taste of their forthcoming album “Forever”, out on August 16th via Lucky Number. The power-pop track sends listeners straight back to the early ’90s, with sugary sweet guitar solos and melodies as sticky as taffy. The song is a delightful ode to the camaraderie of bands, a tribute to life on the road and the bliss of crafting the perfect moment. It is a follow on from our first single “Calling You Out” is the best song of all time, and it just so happens to be accompanied by the hottest music video ever made

Singer Eva Hendricks explained it as: “A love song for my bandmates. While I was separated from Sam, Spencer, and Dan during the pandemic, I remember watching videos of us playing shows and thinking, ‘How could I have taken this for granted?’ I couldn’t see how beautiful everything really was and how lucky we were. It was agonizing to be apart for that long but helpful, because I don’t think I’ll ever let myself forget that again.”

The Brooklyn group’s third album will arrive on August 16th.

I don’t know what “Horse Jumper of Love” means, but I will tell ya what: I know this band rips, and that’s really all that matters. Their new single “Today’s Iconoclast,” which pays tribute to filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini (ever heard of Criterion, bro?), only furthers this well-researched hypothesis. The single will be featured on the band’s new album “Disaster Trick”, set to arrive on August 16th via Run for Cover Records. On the track, crunching guitar chords and a shuffling drum groove provide room for singer Dimitri Giannopoulos to ruminate on the fleeting nature of, you guessed it, today’s iconoclasts.

Regarding the track, Giannopoulos said: “I was watching a Pasolini film and read someone describe him as an iconoclast. I became obsessed with that word and idea. In order to make something good, you have to destroy a belief in some way. You can’t stay static, you have to accept change and be able to adjust. I was thinking everyone should try to be as iconoclastic as they can because a lot of people end up being unhappy or unsatisfied. I think we all could be happier if we made an effort to destroy what we believe to be true about our own desires.”

The trio’s fourth album ‘Disaster Trick’ is set to arrive on August 16th via Run for Cover Records,

Dublin six-piece Silverbacks have returned with a new song, ‘Selling Shovels’. Recorded with Gilla Band’s Daniel Fox, it marks the band’s first new music since their 2022 LP “Archive Material”.

Discussing the single, vocalist Daniel O’Kelly said in a statement: “The idea for these lyrics came from a habit I have – maybe everyone does it? When reading a historical figure’s wikipedia page I often lose interest and so I jump straight to the ‘personal life’ and ‘death’ part of the page to see how they died and the circumstances they were in at the time.

The lyrics flicker between mundane distractions and fairly horrific images of war. “Selling Shovels” is a reference to ‘selling shovels during the gold rush’.

Celebrating the 15th anniversary since its original release, we’re reissuing the “Farm” LP with jagjaguwar Records. This special anniversary edition on limited edition lime coloured vinyl features four songs never pressed to vinyl and never given worldwide release: ‘Houses’, ‘Creepies’ (Instrumental), ‘Show’, and ‘Whenever You’re Ready’ (The Zombies Cover), Now available for Pre-Order ahead of its August 16th release, :

When Dinosaur Jr. reunited, more than 20 years after their formation and legendary dissolution, the worry was that these guys were just flogging the back catalogue, taking the old show on the road as a marketing gimmick. But the 2007 release of “Beyond” gave a hearty Marshall-driven “FUCK YOU!” answer to those inquiring ears. Restoring the sound established by the unassailable hat-trick gambit of their first three albums – “Dinosaur, You’re Living All Over Me”, and “Bug – Beyond” continued the band’s march into rock greatness by making old ears smile and new ears bleed afresh. 

And then came “Farm“, the 9th full length record by the original line-up: J Mascis, Lou Barlow, and Murph. If “Beyond” was Dinosaur Jr.’s return to form, “Farm” is proof that Dinosaur Jr. could (and still do, to this day!) deliver timeless, exhilarating rock music. “Farm” encompasses Dinosaur Jr.’s signature palette: soaring and distorted guitar, unshakable hooks, honey-rich melodies.

At times wholly 70’s guitar-epic, at times perfect for sitting by a babbling brook with Joni and Neil, these songs get into your head and stay there, bouncing happily around. The ear-catching “Plans” is nearly seven minutes of classic whipped-topping rock dessert, while “I Don’t Wanna Go There” is a meat-and-potatoes main dish, mixing unapologetic lead guitar with straight-ahead delivery a la James Gang or Humble Pie. 

This expanded deluxe edition of “Farm” features four songs never pressed to vinyl and never given worldwide release: “Houses”, “Whenever You’re Ready” (The Zombies Cover), “Creepies” (Instrumental), and “Show”. “Whenever You’re Ready”, a cover of classic pop-rockers The Zombies, is impossibly good for a hidden gem; Murph stomps in with a sledgehammer to the kit, J and Lou layer low-end and fuzz like two halves of one brain, and right when things feel biggest, airy and colossal, there’s J with a lightning bolt of a guitar solo.

Pure electricity and melody like only he can make. Recorded in J Mascis’ Bisquiteen studio in Amherst, Massachusetts, “Farm” was produced by J Mascis himself, and delivers the singular, unique energy of one of America’s greatest living rock bands.