Lou Reed’s “Metal Machine Music” is being reissued on limited-edition metallic silver vinyl for Record Store Day 2025 Seen as a massive middle finger aimed at his record label RCA — and perhaps fans — when it was released in 1975, Lou Reed’s fifth solo album was 60 minutes of sheer punishing noise. Dubbed “The greatest record ever made in the history of the human eardrum” by famed rock critic LesterBangs on its release in 1975, “Metal Machine Music” was a punchline for years but has gained fans in recent decades as experimental music has neared the mainstream. This 50th anniversary edition has been pressed on silver vinyl and given reimagined cover art.
A silver vinyl (and cover) pressing of what was once called Lou Reed’s most divisive album, but which has since been reappraised to become his most far-sighted. Certainly four sides of unrelenting feedback (“recommended cuts – none,” claimed Billboard’s review) unquestionably laid the final foundations to the rise of electronic noise, while the album has since encouraged both live performances and acoustic cover versions.
It also sounds great on headphones, as the all-pervading roar is undercut by some really rather pleasant melodies — you just have to listen closely enough. It’s fun, too, if you’re sitting on a bus with it playing, while imagining how it sounds to your fellow passengers. There’ll be no rinky-dink tinny percussion leaking out of this one. Buy it, play it, absorb it. Nobody would describe “Metal Machine Music” as Lou Reed’s most commercial offering ever. But they said that about “Sister Ray,” as well.
After teasing their next project last week, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have officially announced “Phantom Island“, their 27th studio album. The second release on the band’s own (p)doom records imprint will arrive on June 13th with some of their most adventurous offerings yet, bolstering their shape-shifting psych-garage-prog-rock with a full orchestra of strings, horns and woodwinds. To preview this new horizon, the genre-obliterating Australian rockers have shared the album’s second single, “Deadstick,” plus a music video directed by longtime collaborator Guy Tyzack.
“Phantom Island’s” radical step forward was forecasted in June 2023, when King Gizzard took the stage at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl for their unforgettable three-hour marathon set. Backstage, the sextet crossed paths with members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, who quickly put forward the idea of a collaboration. A year later, as they blazed through the sessions that produced the ten tracks of “Flight b741”, they worked out ten further promising tracks that didn’t fit. In a release, frontman Stu Mackenzie said they “were harder to finish. Musically, they needed a little more time and space and thought.”
“The songs felt like they needed this other energy and colour, that we needed to splash some different paint on the canvas,” Mackenzie continued. To complete these more involved compositions, the band connected with the Los Angeles Philharmonic again, as well as keyboardist, conductor and arranger ChadKelly, who sculpted historically informed and zealously disruptive orchestrations to meld the two groups’ disparate sounds. “We come from such different worlds – he plays Mozart and Bach and uses the same harpsichords they did, and tunes them the exact same way,” Mackenzie said. “But he’s obsessed with microtonal music, too, and all this nerdy stuff like me.”
The triumphant result of this pairing is apparent on “Deadstick,” a bopping, bluesy, horn-powered thrill ride that not-so-subtly continues the Gizzverse thread from the high-flying adventure songs of “Flight b741” into a more grounded, “introverted” record. Between the smouldering triplane fuselage on the album, the second single’s lyrical fixation on “panic in the cockpit” and Tyzack’s wreckage-strewn album cover, the band makes it clear that they’ve come crashing down to earth for a more emotionally focused album. “When I was younger, I was just interested in freaking people out,” Mackenzie reflected, “but as I get older, I’m much more interested in connecting with people.”
King Gizzard will take this sonic upheaval to the stage with the “Phantom Island” Tour, which will feature a different 28-piece orchestra at each of its nine performances from July 28th to Aug. 11th.
Last year, Adrianne Lenker released “Bright Future”, her tender, country-inflected sixth solo studio album that earned a Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album and widespread acclaim as one of the most powerful albums of 2024. Today, she continues to celebrate that breakthrough project with the announcement of “Live at Revolution Hall”, a sprawling collection of live treatments of those songs and more from her celebrated discography. The album will arrive next Thursday, April 24th, via 4AD Records, and it’s preceded by the new single “happiness.”
“Live at Revolution Hall” comprises 43 tracks recorded over three nights during her summer 2024 tour, including all ten cuts from “Bright Future” and other favourite entries from her solo catalogue, like “anything,” “symbol,” and “zombie girl.” Also featured are five previously unreleased songs, “happiness,”“oldest,” “ripples,” “i do love you,” and “no limits,”; “happiness,” is a gentle, intimate and richly textured recording grounded in her keen eye for poignant details, below.
The Big Thief bandleader is alternately alone on these songs and accompanied by her touring and recording collaborators, pianist Nick Hakim and violinist Josefin Runsteen. The project is artfully engineered by Andrew Sarlo, who captures the gravity of the performance with a soft, humming atmosphere.
“It was impossible to do this album without the immense love and respect I have for my friend,” Sarlo shared in a statement. “Watching the power of the music disarm and permeate feels a bit like an ‘I told ya so’ but I am still amazed every time.
From the sidelines I cheer. This live album is another generous offering from Adrianne… Clocking in around 120 minutes featuring songs & vignettes recorded exclusively on reel to reel and cassette tape, there was an attempt to create a different spin on what a live album could be… we put friendship at the focal point making this a loving memento from one friend to another.”
“Live at Revolution Hall” is available to pre-order and pre-save of digital and limited double-cassette formats.
“With her sandpaper voice, fragile yet steely, and simple melodic songs imbued with poetic mystery, Lenker played solo acoustic guitar and brought to mind a modern, female equivalent of the young Bob Dylan.” – The Times “Even performing solo, Lenker is an orchestra onto herself … She is a masterful storyteller, and her lyrics, like her instrumentals, can be impressionistic, but it is the small, personal details that can grab and emotionally throttle you.” – Brooklyn Vegan
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard revealed that at the same time they made “Flight b741” they had also made an album with a full orchestra. They’ve now announced that album is titled “Phantom Island” and full details hit April 15. “A lot of love and time and energy and patience and growth went into this one,” the band wrote on Instagram, sharing the album’s artwork, title and track list. “Can’t wait to grow wings and fly with all of you.”
You can get a taste via “Phantom Island‘s” title track, which they shared last year when revealing their plans. It’s more Love Unlimited Orchestra than Electric Light Orchestra, with lush, funky and just a little greasy arrangements. It’s all still very King Gizzard with lots of flashy performances, heaviosity, and musical left turns across its five-minute runtime.
The second release on the band’s own (p)doom records imprint will arrive on June 13 with some of their most adventurous offerings yet, bolstering their shape-shifting psych-garage-prog-rock with a full orchestra of strings, horns and woodwinds. King Gizzard will be bringing the strings, brass and woodwinds with them on their North American Orchestral summer tour, collaborating with local orchestras under the guidance of the tour’s musical director, Sarah Hicks.
Oct 31, 2025 – Aviva Studios – Manchester, United Kingdom – Rave Set Nov 1, 2025 – Electric Brixton – London, United Kingdom – Rave Set Nov 2, 2025 – Electric Brixton – London, United Kingdom – Rave Set Nov 4, 2025 – Royal Albert Hall – London, United Kingdom – with Covent Garden Sinfonia
Lana Del Rey‘s highly anticipated new album “The Right Person Will Stay” has largely been a mystery so far, but a month ahead of its scheduled release in May, she’s given us the first preview with “Henry, Come On.” The moody ballad has a little twang and nods heavily to western iconography — “soft leather, blue jeans” and “go on and giddy up” included — and sits atop pretty, cinematic strings. She wrote it with country songwriter Luke Laird, .
Lana plays Stagecoach, Coachella’s country cousin, later this month, and she also has shows lined up in Europe and the UK in June and July, .
It appears Lana’s album isn’t actually called “The Right Person Will Stay” after all, and its release date is still TBD. Lana posted a three-minute video to Instagram where she talked about the song, playing Stagecoach, and a little about the album. “I’m really excited, and I’m really happy for this album to be moving along,” she says. “And I do have a lot more to say about it. I mean, you know it’s not going to come on time, right? Should I even tell you that the name changed again? Should I even tell you that while you’re so happy that you have a song?,
The triumphant return of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds to France bring with them a full stage show brimming with elegant fury and mystical fervour. Some artists are veritable stage beasts. Such is the case of Nick Cave. The Australian artist was back in Paris this Sunday, November 17, 2024, alongside The Bad Seeds, on the occasion of his major European tour “The Wild God Tour”. After more than 30 shows across Europe, Nick Cave and his band decided to end their tour in style at the Accor Arena in Paris.
Nick Cave is an artist who has successfully stood the test of time. For over 40 years now, the Australian artist has found his place in our ideal discography thanks to undeniable genius, boundless creativity and a talent that many envy. Nick Cave has made a name for himself with The Birthday Party, The Bad Seeds, as a solo artist, with Grinderman, and with his faithful collaborator Warren Ellis on the album “Carnage“, and has also made a name for himself in the world of cinema. The Australian singer, songwriter and composer is notably behind a number of soundtracks. These include the “Peaky Blinders” series, as well as the films “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”,”Blonde” and, more recently, “Back to Black”.
But Nick Cave is also his baritone voice, recognizable among a thousand, his recurring, even obsessive lyrical themes, including death, religion, love and violence, and his infectious, incredibly generous and fascinating stage energy. To go and see Nick Cave live once is to take the risk of catching the virus, to the point of wanting to relive this spellbinding experience as many times as possible.
And that’s exactly what happened for the many fans in attendance at the Accor Arena in Paris on November 17th. On Sunday evening, the Australian artist gave the very last concert of his European tour, “The Wild God Tour“. A large venue for the 67-year-old singer – his biggest Parisian venue to date – that some fans seem to regret. After all, many of them have already had the chance to see him in smaller venues: the Olympia in 1994, the Mutualité in 2004, the Casino de Paris in 2008, the Zénith de La Villette in 2013 and 2017, and the Salle Pleyel for “Carnage” in 2021.
For his first concert at the Accor Arena, the venue was sold out on Sunday evening. There are regulars and fans of the first hour, of course, but also the younger generation and many foreigners too, mainly English.
So it was to a packed Accor Arena that Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds burst onto the scene at around 8.50pm. On stage were 6 musicians, including his brother-in-arms, the talented Warren Ellis, as well as Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood, and four backing singers, dressed in sequined gospel robes.
As always, dandy Nick Cave is dressed to the nines: tailored jacket, shirt and tie, perfectly polished leather shoes and slicked-back hair. The first notes of “Frogs” echo through the room. It wasn’t long before Nick Cave took possession of the stage with a vengeance. Incredibly charismatic and close to his audience, the singer quickly makes contact with his fans in the front rows. The audience’s hands are outstretched towards the artist, who doesn’t hesitate to touch them and shake several warmly. The show has barely begun and some fans are already in awe of the Nick Cave tornado.
The singer and The Bad Seeds follow up with the single ” Wild God “, the eponymous track from the latest gospel-singing album. Nick Cave then improvises as a preacher, repeatedly hammering ” Bring your spirit down “.
But the mass gradually transforms and becomes much more rock and explosive, when Nick Cave and his acolytes intone the heady ” O Children “, with Warren Ellis playing violin standing on a chair, followed by the sensational ” Jubilee Street “. Taken from the opus “Push the Sky Away” (2013), this song is about a girl named ” Bee “, says Nick Cave, who is also a formidable storyteller during his concerts, sharing memories both painful and tender.
After a few notes on the piano, Nick Cave gradually raises the temperature before exploding with rage. He jumps, leaps and screams into his microphone. Moving from one side of the stage to the other, the singer stares his fans straight in the eye and points. Nick Cave throws down his microphone, and the audience goes into a trance. From now on, the wild beast is unleashed, and the intensity remains palpable for some time to come. And with good reason, the band continue their set with the excellent ” From Her to Eternity “. Here again, Nick Cave grabs the hands of the audience in the front rows, even going so far as to bend over and kneel on stage. Much more than just a singer, Nick Cave is one of those rare artists who embodies his songs to perfection. His angular face grimaces. You can read anger and then suffering. ” Cry, cry, cry “, he repeats several times to a captivated and fascinated audience. In fact, many of them offered him flowers on Sunday evening. Nick Cave even received a cuddly toy of sorts. ” I don’t know what this is. That’s me,” he says in an amused tone.
But Nick Cave also knows how to go from fury to tenderness to melancholy in a matter of seconds. The proof is in the gentle notes of the moving ” Long Dark Night “, followed by the sublime ” CinnamonHorses “. There’s also that moment suspended in time with the poignant ” Bright Horses “, where NickCave’s voice, mingled with those of the backing singers and Warren Ellis, swaying in his chair, touches us to the core. We can’t forget ” I Need You “, played solo by Nick Cave on piano. A song he dedicates to his wife Susie, present in the room.
But the mighty sound of rock soon returns, with two old Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds songs: ” Red Right Hand “, from “Let Love In” (1994), and ” The Mercy Seat “ from“Tender Prey” (1988). It didn’t take much more to raise the temperature at the Accor Arena, to the point of Nick Cave taking off his tie.
Nick Cave may be the center of attention, but Warren Ellis is equally impressive. The Australian multi-instrumentalist, who has lived in France for many years and pays his taxes in France, as he joked that evening, has that undeniable presence mixed with an assumed casualness. And between Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, the complicity is obvious and beautiful to behold.
Before leaving the stage, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds chose to perform ” White Elephant “, taken from “Carnage”. For the occasion, the backing singers are invited to come down from their podiums and join the front of the stage, so as to be as close as possible to the audience, alongside Nick Cave, proud to be so well accompanied on this tour.
Warmly applauded, the troupe leaves the stage. But the show isn’t over yet. Nick Cave and his cohorts return for a single four-track encore. The set resumes with the heady ” O Wow O Wow (How Wonderful She Is) “, dedicated to Anita Lane, former member of The Bad Seeds. To pay tribute to the Australian author, who died in 2021 at the age of 61, images are projected onto the screen at the back of the stage, accompanied by a sound extract in which we rediscover the artist’s voice. Profoundly beautiful and moving.
Back to the past again with the dynamic ” Papa Won’t Leave You, Henry “, followed by the unmissable ” The Weeping Song “. Like a true orchestra conductor, Nick Cave launches a wave of raised arms into the pit, applauding frenetically and rhythmically. Meanwhile, Warren Ellis, armed with his violin, shakes in his chair. The communion is total.
After so much energy and sweat, Nick Cave chose to end this flamboyant and memorable 2.5-hour set with a solo piano performance of the sublime ” Into My Arms “. The audience, still spellbound, choruses the refrain ” Into my arms, oh, Lord. Into my arms “. Nick Cave seems moved, and touches us in return.
It is with the beautiful lyrics of this remarkable track that the poet Nick Cave decides to leave us, with this collective feeling of joy, sadness and hope, and this furious desire to see Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds live in Paris as soon as possible!
Setlist:
Frogs Wild God Song of the Lake OChildren JubileeStreet From Her to Eternity Long Dark Night Cinnamon Horses Tupelo Conversion Bright Horses Joy INeed You Carnage Final Rescue Attempt Red Right Hand The Mercy Seat White Elephant
Encore OWow O Wow (How Wonderful She Is) Papa Won’t Leave You, Henry The Weeping Song Into My Arms
Recorded in 1969, this album, as McDowell’s titular quote suggests, is not just a collection of songs but a significant piece of musical history. It’s a masterclass, a confessional, a musical statement, and a history lesson all in one.
Despite its seemingly simple nature, it’s a profound work. Regarded as one of the greatest blues albums of all time, I Do Not Play No Rock ‘N’ Roll is a must-listen, a testament to one of the greatest musical forces that has directly influenced The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, The Black Keys & Bonnie Raitt (to whom McDowell taught slide guitar).
In 1959, McDowell’s talent was first captured by folklore musicologist Alan Lomax, and from there, he quickly rose to stardom with his live recordings and festival appearances across the US and UK. This album is a testament to McDowell’s unique voice and guitar style, dominating the air and filling it with raw power and authenticity.
Fred McDowell was actually a contemporary of Robert Johnson yet Fred wasn’t discovered ( by apparently Lomax Jr.) until 1959, in late middle age, but for those of us who know, Fred is every bit as important as Robert Johnson though Johnson was laudably far more ambitious and played all over the region, even going as far north as Chicago and Canada. Yet Fred’s voice is even more pained and powerful as RJ’s, and his song writing ability has really never been acknowledged for its greatness. We are so lucky to have the recordings we do, and God Orpheus only knows how many others of RJ’s or Fred’s talent went unrecognized due to the stupidity and brutality of the Jim Crow era, which extended far beyond the old Confederacy.
Curated by the Faces drummer Kenney Jones & newly mastered, the expanded limited edition 3-LP boxset features previously unreleased tracks newly mixed from Olympic Studios session tapes.
“What I really like about this new deluxe edition is the Small Faces finally get to have an input. Immediate originally rushed out ‘The Autumn Stone’ compilation after we’d split into the Faces & Humble Pie. And no one spotted the big mistake on the cover or that songs had been left off! I’ve added an unreleased track and versions newly mixed that have never been heard before, a whole side of acoustic mixes that showcase Steve Marriott’s incredible voice, one side of live songs newly mastered to vinyl at the correct speed & everything is remastered from original tapes, including the Decca tracks. I’ve added songs that me, Ronnie, Mac & Steve loved working on & I got to correct all the errors with the original sound. The box set looks incredible, with gold foil lettering, 3-LPs pressed on 180-gram autumn stone and gold vinyl. There’s a 68-page hardback book which has so much in it, including sleeve notes, interviews, track-by-track details, a feature on our ‘1862’ sessions & pages of rare memorabilia, original artwork & previously unseen photos by our wonderful photographers, including Gered Mankowitz. I’m so pleased Gered is working with me on the album he originally helped design. Which means after 55 years, he’s finally put the Small Faces name on the cover!” KENNEY JONES, 2025
The lavishly packaged boxset will be released on Immediate Records under an exclusive licensing deal from BMG to Kenney Jones’ Nice Records on 11th April 2025, exclusively available from the official Small Faces website on “autumn stone & gold” vinyl. Significantly expanded from the unfinished original LP, the new 3-LP & 3-CD editions will feature previously unreleased & rare versions of Small Faces songs, including stripped-down acoustic mixes which highlight the distinctive & unique voice of Steve Marriott.
Each 3-LP boxset contains a hardback book with an in-depth introduction by Small Faces drummer Kenney Jones, detailed sleeve notes including exclusive features on “lost”Small Faces album ‘1862’, the fall of Immediate Records, a previously unpublished interview with Small Faces keyboard player Ian McLagan, track-by-track recording information, all lavishly illustrated with a wealth of rare memorabilia, photographs and previously unseen artwork made by Mac from the legendary “Small Faces House” at 22 Westmoreland Terrace during 1966. A recent conversation between Kenney Jones and ‘The Autumn Stone’ sleeve designer and Small Faces photographer Gered Mankowitz discussing their time at Olympic Studios and Immediate Records completes the book.
Only 3,000 numbered limited edition 3-LP boxsets will be made available to the SmallFaces fanbase via the official website, of which only 750 will be signed by Kenney Jones and Gered Mankowitz.
Chicago based trio Lifeguard—Asher Case, Isaac Lowenstein, and Kai Slater will put out their debut album “Ripped and Torn” in June, and lead single “It Will Get Worse” has firmly cemented the arrival of a new musical vanguard in the city. Lifeguard have been together since pre-COVID, when they were teens transforming Chicago’s youth DIY scene. Their two previous EPs, “Dressed in Trenches” and “Crowd Can Talk”, quickly established them as torchbearers of a storied, multi-generational musical legacy. Inspired by Television and Dredd Foole, “Ripped and Torn” is renaissance post-punk with a twist of anthemic, post-Y2K bombast. Lead single “It Will Get Worse” ought to be everyone else’s wake-up moment.
The song sounds like the Cleaners From Venus covering Pavement, as metallic, thrashing guitars vibrate through lo-fi, distorted hooks. And, truth be told, who wouldn’t want every song in existence to sound exactly like that? You better get hip to Lifeguard now; the moon is firmly in their sights.
This new Florry single absolutely cooks. “First it was a movie, then it was a book” is a sentence-case dream of rollicking, country-fried rock gravitas. Francie Medosch and John Murray collide into each other, stretching two-ton riffs around organ, pedal steel, and homespun, jammy crescendos. Medosch sings about her life turning into a Hollywood picture that made her sad “‘cos I saw myself in everyone.” “How’d they make a movie like that?” she wails, her voice splitting in two. There’s a Holly Hunter mention in here, and there’s emptiness too. Caught someplace between the Stones’ honky-tonk crashouts, a migraine-addled Wilco, and Sonic Youth’s distorted debauchery, “First it was a movie, then it was a book” is a six-string car-crash heavy on the abandon.
Florry become a paradox across seven minutes, twisting off the cliff like an avalanche in one ear yet skyscraping towards something far above sea level in the other. This is everything I want rock music to sound like in 2025.
The Fat Angel Sings 