Pop & Rock News

Recorded at Santuri Studios, Kampala, September 2015.


Brian d'Souza (aka Auntie Flo) brings together an international group of musicians to explore musical differences and celebrate shared visions across two extended tracks.

Produced and arranged over an intense, collaborative two day session at the Santuri studio as part of the Ugandan Bayimba arts festival in Kampala in September 2015, the project draws on Senegalese Sabar drumming, the plaintive notes of the Adungu (a Ugandan 10 string harp) and the vocals of Gio Kiyingi, underpinned by d'Souza's arrangements and drum programming.

The title The Soniferous Garden is taken from the writings of Canadian composer and environmentalist R Murray Schafer, a concept he defines as 'a garden or place of acoustic delights' - an aural space of retreat from the oppressive overabundance of acoustic information that characterizes the modern industrial world.

The two compositions are a response to this idea - drawing the listener into meandering, ever-evolving themes that weave in and out of a rhythmic base that is equal parts traditional percussion and electronic production.

The title track showcases the virtuoso Adungu playing of erstwhile Burnt Friedman collaborator Hakim Kiwanuka, and vocals from regular Highlife World Series contributor Giovanni Kremer Kiyingi whilst Rainfall On Red Earth (inspired by the vivid colours of the landscape around the studio) pushes the talking drum of Mama N'Dieck Seck Thiam to the fore.

Das siebte Album der belgischen Fusion-Band BRZZVLL (Brazzaville) ist ein psychedelisches Jazz-Funk-Werk zwischen Jazz-Fusion, Afro-Funk und Rare Groove, auf dem sie nach Kollaborationen mit Poeten wie Anthony Joseph und Amir Sulaiman wieder die instrumentale Karte spielen.

For fans of: Patrick Watson, Joanna Newsom, Devandra Banhardt. A visit to his Plateau apartment in Montreal reveals an endless collection of records from Bob Dylan to Ray Charles. An avid fan of vinyl, Leif wrote half the songs for his own, "Inland", while studying Icelandic and Philosophy in Reykjavik, Iceland. The other half were written upon his return home to Montreal, Canada, where he recorded and self-produced the debut album a short time later at Montreal's Breakglass studio (Wolf Parade, Patrick Watson, Besnard Lakes). Arranged and orchestrated entirely by Leif, "Inland" is primarily centred around Leif's acoustic guitar and story-telling, featuring string quartets on occasion, piano at times, and splashes of harmonica and drums. Vollebekk, a multi-instrumentalist, is often seen performing solo, playing the violin on stage, using loop-samplers for accompaniment and then switching to electric or acoustic guitars to create a sound similar to the album, but an entirely different experience

Nach dem Erfolg seines dritten Albums "Twin Solitude" macht das kanadische Indielabel Secret City nun auch die beiden Vorgänger des kanadischen Singer/Songwriters Leif Vollebekk wieder erhältlich, die 2008 auf Nevado Records ("Inland") und 2013 auf Outside Music ("North Americana") erschienen waren. Für Fans von Nick Drake, Jeff Buckley, William Fitzsimmons, Patrick Watson, Joanna Newsom, Devandra Banhardt.

- Tim Buckley possessed a golden voice that spanned the range from baritone to tenor. More importantly, he knew what to do with it.
Sometimes he used it simply as a vehicle to carry the lyrics. Other times he used it as an extraordinary musical instrument in its own right.
- Recorded in London's Queen Elizabeth Hall on 10th July 1968, this live concert was a two hour gem. It showcases five songs from Goodbye
And Hello, three songs from Happy Sad,one song that later appeared on Blue Afternoon ( Happy Time'), andanother that was recorded
much later on Sefronia ( Dolphins',written by Fred Neil). It also contains six pieces that were never recorded elsewhere - The Troubadour', I've Been Out Walking', Who Do You Love', The Earth Is Broken', Wayfaring Stranger' and Carnival Song/Hi-Lili Hi-Lo'.
- Buckley was accompanied by his guitarist Lee Underwood and vibraphone player David Friedman, along with Pentangle's Danny Thompson on bass, hired for the occasion.
- Originally released as a 2 LP set by Demon in 1990, this legendary concert is now presented on 3 LPs. The inner sleeves feature a lengthy essay by Lee Underwood, as well as the lyrics to every song.

The best relationships between singers are symbiotic yet mystical. They bear the demands of the song and revolve around what it needs without discussion. Whether it's a shared sixth sense or finely tuned intuition, no one has to ask who takes what part. It doesn't matter anyway — they are of equal importance when two voices nestle seamlessly into a melody, almost imperceptibly gliding across each other when it's time to switch. It's not a trick but a sacred dance.

Sisters Shelby Lynne and Allison Moorer, now with twenty-four albums and Grammy, Oscar, and many other kinds of awards and nominations between them, share that kind of transcendent musical bond. It's as deep, haunting, knowing, and beautiful as the Alabama woods they once called home. Both sang as soon as they could form words, but music is the only language they have ever needed to communicate with and understand each other. Not Dark Yet offers a glimpse into that understanding for the first time and finally, after years of trying to get it made, at the right time. Produced by Teddy Thompson and recorded in Los Angeles during the summer of 2016, the album provides a potent look at their individual and collective artistry through eclectic song choices from writers ranging from the Louvin Brothers, Nick Cave, Kurt Cobain, and back to Jessie Colter. Shelby and Allison wrap their arms around the past, plant their feet in the present, and nod toward what's around the bend with a co-written Is it too much,' to close out the ten-song set.

Not Dark Yet is not a duet record. It is no ordinary collaboration. It is not a creation, but rather a celebration of something that has always been, two voices becoming one and finding home within each other.

The Barr Brothers haben sich zu einer der führenden Americana-Bands entwickelt und präsentieren mit "Queens Of The Breakers" ihr bislang ausgereiftestes Album. Das Werk umfasst 11 wundervolle Songs mit hypnotischem Flow und einem thematischen, roten Faden, nämlich die elementare Kraft von Reflektion, Vergebung, Verlust und Erwachsenwerden. Mit seinem dritten Longplayer erkundet das kanadische Trio, bestehend aus den Brüdern Brad (Gitarre) und Andrew Barr (Drums) sowie der Harfenistin Sarah Page, die Außengrenzen des Folk, Blues, Rock und Americana nördlich der US-amerikanischen Grenze.

Debut album on Silvertone from Exeter based family trio (two sisters/cousin). Blending early folk/country with their exquisite three part harmonies across this 11 song album. Radio 2 support across Chris Evans, Steve Wright and Simon Mayo plus ILR plays. Recent Glastonbury Festival performance and forthcoming UK tour dates including Hyde Park Festival & Cambridge Folk Festival. Recent support to Ward Thomas and Seth Lakeman. Ads, features, interviews & reviews across all press. Online & social media activity. Poster campaign & mailout.

5 Billion In Diamonds - Featuring Acclaimed Producer Butch Vig

The transatlantic musical alliance of Garbage drummer and legendary American Producer Butch Vig (Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Smashing Pumpkins), UK DJ James Grillo and UK producer Andy Jenks, 5 Billion In Diamonds have announced the release of their mammoth self-titled debut album.

Made as a tribute to the music that inspired them (including Jimmie Spheeris, Ramases, Linda Perhacs, John Barry, Krautrock, The Free Design and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop), the album weaves modern techniques and fresh music into an early 70's sun-drenched soundtrack of rock, folk, and psychedelia.

Recorded in Vig's Grunge is Dead Studio in LA and Jenks' Christchurch Studios in Bristol, Vig said James would bring in these obscure albums and play something for us, we would get jazzed by the music and try and channel that inspiration into a new song idea'.

With a longstanding bond over cult film soundtracks from the 60s and 70s Butch, Andy and James formed the band following a discussion on how the perfect soundtrack album would sound. Recruiting guitarist Alex Lee (Goldfrapp, Strangelove and Suede), the magnificent rhythm section including bass player Sean Cook and drummer Damon Reece (Spiritualized, Massive Attack and Elizabeth Fraser) and the gorgeous vocals of Bristolian chanteuse Helen White (Alpha) Sandra Dedrick (from The Free Design) and David Schelzel (The Ocean Blue) in the process.

Wooden Wand and Catherine Irwin (of Freakwater) pay tribute to legendary bluegrass protest singer, Hazel Dickens on a Record Store Day Exclusive 7". This is a Record Store Day Exclusive THAT WE STILL HAVE 25 COPIES OF. Limited to only 500 copies worldwide, each 7" comes in a beautiful, hand-set-letterpressed, silkscreened, and numbered Arigato Pak Media-player Instant Digital Download Included

The world that inspired Spirit of The Golden Juice nearly 50 years ago has moved on. F.J. McMahon moved on with it. Originally pressed in a small quantity and scattered along the California coastline in 1969, F.J. McMahon's first and only album, Spirit Of The Golden Juice, is a spell-binding blend of singer-songwriter emotion and spiraling guitar accompaniment with a raw, adventurous character all its own. Well-chronicled and loved since its rediscovery, Spirit Of The Golden Juice is an album concerned with memory and mystery and the preservation of the two. It's also about the weight of personal experience and how we tow it around with us. F.J.'s simple, personal approach to songwriting allows us the space to fill in our own colors and our own faces. Its themes are there in plain sight, but the questions it asks are sometimes left for us to answer for ourselves. The simple notes on the back side of the album still say it best: F.J. McMahon is an artist with something to say and he says it in a simple earthy style.
Includes 8.5" x 8.5" Risograph booklet with liner notes and newly seen photographs and ephemera.

On vinyl for the first time ever! This 2004 album paired the legendary Lynn with Jack White at the production helm and was met with overwhelmingly glowing praise (the average rating via Metacritic is 97 out of a 100, tying it with Brian Wilson's "Smile" as their highest-rated, non-reissue album of all time). With all songs penned solely by Lynn, the vibe here is both raw and heartfelt. "Van Lear Rose" won the 2005 Grammy for Best Country Album and the lead single "Portland, Oregon" won that same year for Best Country Collaboration with vocals. Mastered directly from the original analog masters, pressed on heavyweight 180-gram vinyl and coupled with a vibrant Stoughton tip-on sleeve, the "Van Lear Rose" LP is one that no collection is complete without.

In late '60s Japan, student protests and a rising youth culture gave way to the angura (short for underground") movement that thrived on subverting traditions of the post-war years. Rejection of the Beatlemania-inspired Group Sounds and the squeaky clean College Folk movements led the rise of what came to be known in Japan as New Music', where authenticity mattered more than replicating the sounds of their idols.

Some of the most influential figures in Japanese pop music emerged from this vital period, yet very little of their work has ever been released or heard outside of Japan, until now. This is the first-ever fully licensed collection of essential Japanese folk and rock songs, from the peak years of the angura movement to reach Western audiences.

In mid-to-late 1960s Tokyo, young musicians and college students were drawn to Shibuya's Dogenzaka district and the jazz and rock kissas, or cafes, that dotted its winding hilly streets. Some of these spaces doubled as performance venues, providing a stage for local regulars like Hachimitsu Pie with their The Band-like ragged Americana, Tetsuo Saito with his spacey philosophical folk, and the influential Happy End, who successfully married the unique cadences of the Japanese language to the rhythms of the American West Coast. For many years Dogenzaka remained a center of the city's New Music' scene.

Meanwhile a different kind of music subculture was beginning to emerge in the Kansai region around Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe. Far more political than their eastern counterparts, many of the Kansai-based underground artists began in the realm of protest folk music. They include Takashi Nishioka and his progressive folk collective Itsutsu No Akai Fuusen, the Japanese Joni Mitchell' Sachiko Kanenobu, and The Dylan II, whose members ran The Dylan cafe in Osaka, which became a hub for the scene.

Even a Tree Can Shed Tears includes the bluesy avant-garde stylings of Maki Asakawa, future Sadistic Mika Band founder Kazuhiko Kato with his fuzzy, progressive psychedelia, the beatnik acid folk of Masato Minami, and the intimate living room folk of Kenji Endo.

In deluxe gatefold Stoughton tip-on jacket with artwork by illustrator Heisuke Kitazawa. With book of extensive liner notes.

Gone' b/w You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go' is the rst new release from My Bubba following last year's acclaimed Big Bad Good. The Scandinavian folk duo - Icelander Guðbjörg Tómasdóttir (a.k.a. Bubba) and Sweden's My Larsdotter - formed in 2013 and have since concocted a soulful, unadorned sound all their own utilizing little more than the basic elements of warm harmonies, acoustic guitar, and the Norwegian lap harp known as a cittra. Big Bad Good, My Bubba's latest full-length release, was produced in Brooklyn by Shahzad Ismaily (Will Oldham, Jolie Holland), with its songs written and recorded almost immediately as they were written.
While their prior work was recorded almost entirely as a duo, Gone' sees My Bubba joined in Third Man Studios by a backing combo comprised of bassist Jack Lawrence, keyboardist Dean Fertita, and legendary Nashville drummer Whip Triplet.
Gone' is the A-side and the rst of their songs written on a century-old lap harp, which was procured from an old boyfriend's attic. After breaking up, My Bubba wrote this song about the old lover on the lap harp.
On the B-Side, a cover of Bob Dylan's You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go' serves as one of the rst songs the duo ever sang together in Copenhagen. They still play it most evenings together on the road.
Tracks recorded with producer Jack White III at Third Man Studios - First Blue Series Release of 2017

Gemeinsam mit Blackberries- und Palace Fever-Kopf Julian Müller, hat Suzan Köcher ihre erste Platte aufgenommen, die im kommenden Herbst erscheinen soll. Während des letzten Jahres stand sie als Live-Mitglied von Palace Fever schon mit Acts wie Wanda, Ron Sexsmith, The Fratellis und The Sonics auf der Bühne und spielte ihre Solo-Songs dabei erstmals vor großem Publikum. Auch für Künstler wie Dirk Darmstädter, Wild Feathers oder Scott Matthew stand Suzan bereits als Support auf der Bühne. Nun wird es nicht nur Zeit für eine erste offizielle Veröffentlichung, sondern auch für ihre erste eigene Headliner-Tour. Auf Unique Records erscheint nun die Debüt-EP "Blood Red Wine", stilecht als blutrote 10" Vinyl. Parallel dazu spielt Suzan diverse Shows in Clubs und auf Festivals.

"Silver Lake" erschien ursprünglich 2003 und ist das neunte Album von Vic Chesnut. Unter der Leitung von Mark Howard - der auch Künstler wie Marianne Faithfull, Emmylou Harris, U2, Peter Gabriel produziert - sind die Rock- und Soul-Arrangements großzügig angelegt. Diese 180g Vinyl-Wiederauflage enthält vier Bonustracks und verfügt über einen Bonus-Download-Code. Vic Chesnut ist 2009 im Alter von 45 Jahren gestorben. New West Records setzen mit diesen hochwertigen Vinyl-Re-Issues dem außergewöhnlichen Singer/Songwriter ein Denkmal und machen lange vergriffene LP-Versionen wieder erhältlich.

Having released their latest album, FLOTUS, late last year to critical acclaim including 'Albums of the Year' mentions in publications such as MOJO, Uncut, The Guardian and Sunday Times, Lambchop shares a new version of album highlight 'The Hustle' entitled 'The Hustle Unlimited'.

'The Hustle Unlimited' along with the previously shared Prince cover 'When You Were Mine' will be available on a limited edition 12' via City Slang during the tour and officially released on August 11th.

Speaking of the new version of the track Lambchop's Kurt Wagner said: "Sometimes things can get out of control, an impromptu idea is presented and you take that idea to a logical conclusion to see where it goes. In this case Tony Crow (piano) came up with a rather 'Love Unlimited Orchestra' take on the hustle during a rehearsal with Andy Stack (drums, Wye Oak). It seemed nuts at the time but being rather nuts ourselves I thought we should try recording it and taking it all the way to full realization. Plus it was a great way to capture Andy's tenure with us in the studio"

Wiederveröffentlichung des zehnten Vic Chesnutt Albums von 2005. 180g schwer plus Download-Code. Erstmals auf Vinyl erhältlich, inkl. drei Bonustracks. "Ghetto Bells" wurde mit populären Gästen eingespielt: Van Dyke Parks und Bill Frisell sind mit von der Partie und geben den Arrangements einen besonderen Schliff. Vic Chesnutt war seit seinem Autounfall 1983 von der Hüfte abwärts gelähmt, was in der Folge zum Missbrauch von Schmerzmitteln und Alkohol führte. Trotz dieser Belastungen veröffentlichte er in seiner Karriere 17 Alben/EPs. Am 25. Dezember 2009 nahm sich Vic Chesnutt das Leben. Die Aussicht mit der Musik nicht genug zu verdienen um seine medizinische Betreuung aufrecht zu erhalten, führte zu dem tragischen Schritt.

As Buck tells it, 'One day I was watching Austin City Limits and Dwight Yoakam was on, then he dedicates the program to 'Buck Owens.' So I said, I'm going to see what this kid is like.' It wasn't long after that he was on stage with Dwight singing his old hits. Buck was bitten by the bug to return to music, after calling
it quits almost ten years earlier.

This man from Sherman, Texas - probably best-known as the wide-grinning rube on Hee Haw for so many years - started a country music revolution. Or more accurately, a counter-revolution. It was called 'The Bakersfield Sound.' He and fellow revolutionary Merle Haggard were cranking out raw, hard-driving honky-tonk music that stood the country-pop coming
out of Nashville on its head. When Buck Owens and the Buckaroos would launch into 'I've got a tiger by the tail, it's plain to see....!' the packed crowds would be on their feet and headed for the dance floor.

Along the way Buck inspired none other than The Beatles to record their first country song, his classic 'Act Naturally,' and the master of soul, Ray Charles, to immortalize one of the best-known country songs ever, 'Crying Time'.' - Terry Lickona (producer 'Austin City Limits')

Twentysomething Dwight Yoakam was literally the new kid in country music when he stepped onto the Austin City Limits stage in October 1988. But even then, as he has ever since, he was doing things his own way. Dwight was born in a small Kentucky town and grew up listening to mountain and bluegrass music, and unlike most of the mainstream country-pop crooners of the eighties, he almost single-handedly revived the rockabilly /
honky tonk / hillbilly sound that was one of the cornerstones of country music's formative years.

Early on he discovered the fabled 'Bakersfield' sound of the 60's and adopted it as his own, in the tradition of country legends Merle Haggard and Buck Owens. Buck, in fact, became his hero and friend. When Dwight was playing a fair in Bakersfield, he stopped by Buck's office and coaxed him into playing a few songs with him onstage that night. The result was a lasting
friendship and their historic duet, 'Streets Of Bakersfield.' Much like his heroes, Dwight has been true to his roots and breaking new ground for almost 20 years.' - Terry Lickona (producer
'Austin City Limits')

Kutmah (pronounced koot/mah) releases his long overdue debut album 'The Revenge Of Black Belly Button!' (or TROBBB!) via Big Dada. The record features an incredible cast of guests - Gonjasufi, Jonwayne, Natureboy Flako, Ta'Raach, Jeremiah Jae,
Zeroh, Zackey Force Funk, N8NOFACE, Sach, Akello G Light and DJ Chris P Cuts - spanning experimental meditative, Zennist loops, crackly oddball beats and abstract raps, as far as outright punk / noise and even folk / blues.

For fans of Flying Lotus, Knxwledge, Dabrye, Jonwayne.

I'm so glad the world finally gets to hear the debut album of one of the most influential DJs of the beat movement.' - Flying Lotus

2LP pressed on heavyweight 180g black vinyl in artworked innersleeves housed in a 5mm spined outer sleeve. Includes five vinyl-only bonus tracks and digital download code.

Photography by Kutmah. Artwork by Brandy Flower.

As a DJ / curator, Kutmah has tirelessly searched for and championed new underground talent from across the globe. His passion, hunger and most importantly, his incredible ear for new music have made him Flying Lotus' go-to warm-up DJ.

He founded his own IZWID label in 2013. In 2004 he co-founded the now legendary Sketchbook Sessions at Little Temple alongside Take, Eric Coleman (Mochilla) and DJ Nobody (Low End Theory). It was LA's first instrumental beats and art night and it paved the way for the city's inimitable musical renaissance.

Collecting some of his finest early recordings from 1958 and 1959, Indifferente finds the provocative chanteur in his rawest form. Pulled from his first two 10" releases and including live cuts and duets with Juliette Gréco, this is the essential document of Serge's beginnings, not long after his songwriting and singing prowess had been discovered by the famous chanteuse Michèle Arnaud and she had recorded some of his earliest tunes. If you dig Serge the sex symbol and international pop star, you've got to hear the jazzy, sultry, early chansons that launched him to stardom.

Auf vielfachen Wunsch seiner Fans, veröffentlicht der US-amerikanische Folk-Rock-Sänger Shakey Graves seine beiden Digital-EPs "Nobody's Fool" (2015) und "Donor Blues EP" (2012) nun erstmals auf einer gemeinsamen Doppel-LP auf klarem 180g Vinyl im Gatefold. Limited Edition.

- 180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL
- GATEFOLD SLEEVE

Anthems in Eden is a 1969 album by Shirley and Dolly Collins, with the Early Music Consort of London, directed by David Munrow. The album originally consisted of a 28-minute set of folk songs plus seven other individual pieces performed by the same group. The musical arrangements for these eight pieces included early music instruments, such as viols, recorders, sackbuts and crumhorns. In 1976, six new songs were recorded with a different assortment of accompanists, to replace the original seven individual songs. This 1976 album consisting of the 28-minute set plus the six new songs was released by Harvest Records under the title Amaranth. Subsequent releases have combined all fourteen pieces under the original title, Anthems in Eden.

The original recording of eight tracks was made in 1969 and was released as the original vinyl album. Track one is a suite, A song-story', lasting 28 minutes, 7 seconds and is the centrepiece of the album.

In 1976, a further six tracks were recorded with musicians mainly from the Albion Band and a new version of the album was released, with the original A song-story' suite on one side and the new recordings on the other. This album was issued under the name Amaranth.

Side 1 of the original album consists of A song-story', a suite of folk songs which depict the changes in rural England brought about by the First World War, and the disconnection that this created with folk traditions. Recorded with an ensemble of early music instruments, it was a completely unique approach to recording English folk music and was to be influential on bands such as Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span in the way that they addressed the traditional folk repertoire. The importing of early instruments into popular recordings is believed to have influenced other bands such as Amazing Blondel and Gryphon.

a 10 track double LP set with download code. Marketing.

I am black beauty... love me!' A forthright enough request, one would think, from an artist whose music was indeed loved, revered and which played a hugely influential and omnipresent role in Lahore's vibrant cinematic patchwork that covered the late 1970s and early 1980s. However, until now, it seems that this lost love letter to a potential global audience of millions of sonic suitors has been caught up in the pesky Pakistani postal system. Nahid Akhtar needs a connection.

Don't blame the Khyber Mail. In a neat and tidy career that spanned exactly ten years, Nahid Akhtar came, saw and conquered, then relatively disappeared without even thinking about buying the t-shirt. Disrobing the vibrant finery that interweaved textures of Ghazals, classical music, Punjabi folk songs and Qawwalis (not forgetting a wide range of progressive pop music penned for the Pakistani picture house) from which this records track list is lovingly gathered.

It is virtually unfathomable that the multifarious music of Nahid Akhtar, combining textures, tempos, technologies, global influences and multi-cultural languages (and all this within the opening seconds of a song!), didn't open the door to international stardom to match that of Asha Bhosle or Lata Mangeshkar from India. In the last few years the music of Lollywood's golden era has enjoyed a marked resurgence amongst outernational music fans, with labels like Finders Keepers remastering and compiling the work of the Tafo Brothers and M. Ashraf for a global market with wide critical acclaim. Hopefully, with this collection as a sturdy stepping stone to a widely rewarding expanse of further listening, the music of Nahid Akhtar can find a place alongside your favourite international songbirds and her original love letters to the world of music will command a much justified RSVP.

Compiled from some of the rarest and most desirable Nahid Akhtar 7" appearances, some released for the first time since their original release.

Noah Sterba is one of Omaha's underground music heroes, literally performing most of his songs and poetry into dented Radio Shack microphones in the subterranean basements of tornado alley for the last decade. Beside releasing several solo cassettes on Unread Records, he was a founding member of short-lived critical darlings Yuppies, lo-fi local legends The Prairies (which also featured David Nance), and The Subtropics (whose posthumous double cassette is seeing vinyl reissue in 2017), and has been an important member of Simon Joyner's Ghosts since 2011. He is also involved in a multimedia art/publishing collaboration called Slowed Soul with fellow local Omaha artist and musician Jeff Sedrel.

In a time when so much music is fueled by self-congratulatory irony, The 13-Bar Blues is refreshing for its unapologetic sincerity. The album distills folk, blues, punk rock and country influences and merges them with poetry, allowing Sterba to graciously tear up his hat in the face of those who have come before him as he claws through America's gnarly 21st century landscape with his tongue, pen, busted guitar, and wide open eyes.

I think it is music that needs to be out there right now... Almost every sort of rock or folk music, musics born of protest and boiling blood and grit and energy, has lulled back into apathy. Over the last six years this album created itself and whether or not it means anything is up to other people to decide, I suppose. What I can say is I put every ounce of guts and soul I got into this. It is me being as convicted and truthful as I can be about all I have seen around me and inside me since I started doing this thing.'

* 180 gram audiophile vinyl
* Gatefold sleeve
* High quality PVC Protective Sleeve
* 4 page booklet with liner notes and photos
* Selection of hits and songs from seminal folk group, including "California Dreamin' ", "Monday, Monday", "Somebody Groovy", "Dancing In The Street", "Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming To The Canyon)"
* Including three solo songs by Mama Cass Elliott

Music On Vinyl proudly presents a second release of the COLLECTED albums. The new albums will focus on memorable artists with almost a life span of original intriguing music, covering a timeless musical period!

The Mamas & The Papas were formed by husband and wife John and Michelle Phillips, formerly of The New Journeymen, and Denny Doherty, formerly of The Mugwumps. The last member to join was Cass Elliot, Doherty's bandmate in The Mugwumps. The group considered calling itself The Magic Cyrcle before switching to The Mamas and the Papas as apparently inspired by the Hells Angels, whose female associates were called "mamas".

They released a total of five studio albums and seventeen singles over a four-year period, six of which made the Billboard top ten, and sold close to 40 million records worldwide. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 for their contributions to the music industry.

The band's first single, "Go Where You Wanna Go", was released in 1965. The second single, "California Dreamin'", was released later in 1965 and quickly peaked in the charts. The band's album, If You Can Believe Your Eyes And Ears, was released in March 1966 and became the band's only number 1 album on the Billboard 200. The third and final single from their debut was "Monday, Monday", which became the band's only US number 1 hit. The song brought the band international success.

In 1966 they recorded their second album The Mamas And The Papas. "I Saw Her Again" was the first single from the album before release. When the album was released in 1966, it peaked at number four in the US, continuing the band's success. "Words of Love" was released as the second single and "Dancing in the Street" was released as the third and final single.

Deliver came in the autumn of 1966. The album featured the singles "Look Through My Window", "Dedicated To The One I Love" and "Creeque Alley". Shortly afterward, a non-album single called "Glad to be Unhappy" was released.

Mama Cass Elliot had a successful solo career becoming popular with hits such as "Make Your Own Kind of Music" and "It's Getting Better".

COLLECTED is a perfect overview of the multiple classic hits and tracks throughout the career of The Mamas & The Papas and complimented with several popular tracks by Mama Cass Elliot.

The Our Twisted Love E.P. constitutes the most contemporary recordings by Rose McDowall available, heralding her return to live performance and songwriting. Building on the groundwork laid by McDowall with hergroup Sorrow, and various collaborations with key figures in the post industrial landscape, it features a full bandrecording and long-form songwriting that draws heavily on both McDowall's keen sense of pop melody and melancholy.
Breaking into a harmonium drone and Rose's instantly recognisable, vocal, the epic title song unfurls at a glowing, glacial pace. Never hiding her love for the Velvet Underground, Our Twisted Love reminds the listener of 70s-era Nico, but McDowall's fragile vocal has a spine-tingling fragility of its own. Guitarist Dru Moore provides shimmering chords that dress the melody, itself framed with multi instrumentalist Eilish McEvil's
plucked violin strings. Rose's gorgeous twists with the vocal erupt into a full band jam, with bassist Clay Young, acclaimed cellist Jo Quail and drummer Lloyd James joining in for a neo-folk, dronist excursion that elevates the song into psychedelic territory.
This Calling sparkles with 12 string guitar and violin and would, given another production, easily fit into McDowall's earlier material. A song that laments the songwriter's battle with depression, taken in tandem with the title song, McDowall describes extreme mental states, a natural inclination to melancholy while creating something uplifting in the process. Make It Easy On Yourself is McDowall and band's rendition of the
Bacharach and David classic. Taken at a slower place, nocturnal in mood, the iconic chord structure sounds achingly eldritch in this outing, the band paying respects to the original while adding its own, distinct, faded light.
McDowall's vocal performance is beamed straight from the deepest night, fragile, emotional and perfect.
While undoubtedly some distance from the sparkling pop music Rose McDowall made her name with in the mid 80s as half of Strawberry Switchblade, and later with Cut With The Cake Knife (reissued in 2015 by Night School / Sacred Bones) Our Twisted Love sounds like the culmination of a career combining classic pop songwriting with darkness. An artist who has always embraced experimental impulses and self-sabotage in her
pop career, Rose McDowall's Twisted Love has found its own space in the world.

RIYL: PAVEMENT/LOU REED/MERCURY REV/JONATHAN RICHMAN

Fifteen years ago, Charles Douglas wandered out of a Manhattan recording studio where he was putting the finishing touches on what was to become his final album, Statecraft. Featuring Joey Santiago of the Pixies on lead guitars, and recorded by Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. producer Wharton Tiers, the album was intended as a huge step forward for this iconoclastic indie rocker, who had started his recording career when he was a teenager in Dayton, Ohio.

His previous studio album, The Lives of Charles Douglas, had been a raw Ramones-meets-VU-meets-Jonathan Richman blast of energy, featuring Maureen Tucker on drums and production, recorded mostly live in the studio. Statecraft was meant as a much more fleshed-out affair, featuring offbeat horns and strings alongside the guitar assault of Douglas and Santiago's unmistakable signature sound.

Upon its initial release, Statecraft would go on to gather praise from the likes of David Bowie (who sent a fan letter) and John Waters—as well as rave reviews in music magazines in the US and UK.

"David Bowie's letter arrived in a large white envelope that looked like some sort of bizarre wedding invitation. My girlfriend got it from the mailbox. To my surprise, when we opened it, there was a letter from Bowie inside saying that he loved Statecraft, and that I must keep up the good work, and make more music for him to enjoy." (from the Statecraft: Expanded sleeve notes)

Statecraft brims with skewed, gritty pop tunes like "Free at Last," "Blues for Catalina," "Ancient Mysteries" and "Splitting the Atom," and it suggests that Charles Douglas was at the culmination of his demented artistic powers. But unfortunately, Douglas didn't see it that way. Unhappy with the album's protracted recording process, and concerned about relapsing into the substance abuse which had left him briefly homeless a few years earlier, he left New York City and abandoned the sessions. When he walked out of the studio in 2002, he never returned. Instead, he sold and gave away all his instruments and moved to North Carolina and quit music forever, turning down a major label record deal in the process. Wharton Tiers ended up mixing and sequencing sixteen of the songs, and overseeing the initial release of Statecraft in 2004 on a subsidiary of Virgin Records. Despite the initial burst of acclaim, the album quickly drifted into obscurity. But luckily, the story doesn't end there...

After Broken Horse reissued The Lives of Charles Douglas in 2010, as well as a two-CD retrospective of Charles Douglas's late-90's home recordings called Not Your Kind of Music, we learned that Douglas had actually recorded over thirty-five songs in the studio for Statecraft, and initially planned to make a double album. Many of the songs that were recorded and discarded are hidden gems: from the buzzing Pavement-esque pop of "The Paradox" to the stripped-down rock of "Among the Boys & Girls" to the giddy weirdness of "One Day Old."

Broken Horse's Statecraft: Expanded reissue now presents Charles Douglas's original vision by collecting all of the studio tracks from the sessions on two CDs—adding nineteen rare and unreleased songs to the sixteen original tracks. The reissue also includes an extensive 28-page booklet of liner notes written by Charles Douglas himself, detailing his misadventures making Statecraft, which serve as a brilliant snapshot of life and music in NYC in the early 00's.

According to Douglas, who has not recorded any music in the fifteen years since Statecraft, he is delighted to be "unknown but still alive." We hope to change the "unknown" part of that equation with Statecraft: Expanded, and introduce his genius to a brand new audience who missed out on him the first time around.

PREVIOUS PRESS FOR CHARLES DOUGLAS - NOT YOUR KIND OF MUSIC & THE LIVES OF CHARLES DOUGLAS