Album Of The Week

RUM BAR RECORDS – Boston’s Lauded Indie Label Celebrates Its 10th Birthday With Awesome 31-Track Compilation ‘THE NICE PRICE’

Posted on by JL

5 December 2023

Boston is crowded with indie bands and most of them, and also many acts out of Boston, found/find a home at RUM BAR RECORDS. To celebrate their 10th anniversary, they have
a 31-track compilation online, via Bandcamp and called it The Nice Price. Yes, you can download the whole shebang for free, although I’m sure throwing in some of your money would be much appreciated. RBR offer not only quantity here, but also, trust me, quality.

Press statement: “The compilation is part of Rum Bar capping off 10 years of music from Boston and beyond, specializing in the kind of garage-pop and rebel-rousing, swaggering that had made the label a fixture in the global music scene. The Nice Price pulls together more than 30 selections from Rum Bar’s 2023 release slate.”

Here are the bands/artists involved. Click their names to find out more about them.

The Lemon Drop Gang – The Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs – Matweeds – The Gypsy Moths – The Amplifier Heads – Danny K – Leather Catsuit – Slamdinistas – Angela Tini – Beebe Gallini – Tim McCoy – JJ & The Real Jerks – Cruzados – Mozzy Dee – The Laissez Fairs – Highway 61 – The Shang Hi Los – Stop Calling Me Frank – Stars Like Us – Eddie Japan – Girl With A Hawk – Continental – Kate Redgate – The Legendary Swagger – The Hi-End – The Spackles – Cold Expectations – Cindy Lawson – Kevin Stevenson – Jay Allen and the Archcriminals.

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RBR: Facebook

‘SPIRIT POWER: THE BEST OF JOHNNY MARR’ Is Out Now – 10 Years Of Bangers

Posted on by JL

Standout longplayers

12 November 2023

Former Smiths‘ guitar icon JOHNNY MARR worked with countless other artists
after the legendary Morrissey fronted indie band broke up. With New Order‘s Bernard Summer in Electronic, Chrissy Hynde, Bryan Ferry, The The, Modest Mouse and many more.

And 10 years ago he started his solo
journey. So far he fabricated 4 LPs.

The Messenger
2013 – #10 in the UK
Playland
2014 – #9 in the UK
Call The Comet
2015 – #7 in the UK
Fever Dreams Pts 1-4
2022 – #4 in the UK

Lost of material/songs to select a best of from, which Marr did.
SPIRIT POWER – THE BEST OF JOHNNY MARR is out now.

Order info here.

It also features two new songs. Two bangers. Somewhere and The Answer.

Marr: “I’ve played a lot of arenas over the years, and in terms of songwriting,
there’s nowhere to hide. For a song to work, it has to be a banger. I know it’s
almost uncool to think in those terms, but I grew up in a house where my parents
listened to Motown, where you couldn’t get a song released if it wasn’t full of hooks.”

Marr‘s new interview with NME about bangers right here.

TUTV: If there’s one thing that is crystal clear right here on this best of is the fact that Marr is an exquisite songwriter, knowing all the tricks to compose marvelous pop earworms heated up with his sparkling guitar wizardry and colored with his velvet voice. Oh no, he’s not only a guitar hero, he’s a solid gold hitmaker too.

– SOMEWHERE –

– THE ANSWER –

ALBUM


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JOHNNY MARR: Facebook – Instagram – Spotify


Photo by Turn Up The Volume – Belgium, 2014

‘Next Wave Acid Punx DEUX ‘ – 49-Track Journey Across Nearly 40 Years Of Dark Club Music

Posted on by JL

3 November 2023

Next Wave Acid Punx DEUX‘ is a new compilation (first edition sold out) compiled
by genre-expert DJ CURSES (real name Luca Venezia) based in Berlin. It’s out now via
Eskimo Recordings.

The 49-track collection explores the darker side of club music. Spread across 3CDs and three 2LPs it features a mammoth 49 tracks that join the dots between early industrial pioneers Throbbing Gristle, EBM legends like Nitzer Ebb and the post-punk experiments
of people like Malcolm McLaren and Big Audio Dynamite (the band formed by The Clash guitarist Mick Jones after he was fired) with some of the most exciting artists around today, such as Boy Harsher, Nuovo Testamento and Years of Denial. Several previously unreleased tracks are included.

Where the first Next Wave Acid Punx compilation was a personal journey for Luca, a lockdown inspired exploration of his record collection to find the thread that ran through the music that had soundtracked much of his life, DEUX is a celebration of that music let loose on the world, the thrill of music performed live, the smoke and strobe filled clubs you’ll hear it in and the artists you’ll find on those stages.

Curses at work

Curses: “After our enforced break, getting back out there and playing live again really brought home to me so much of what I love about the scene I’m in but also just how important live music has been and is to club culture over the years. Too often we think of club nights and live gigs as these separate things, but throughout the years it’s where the two meet, the friction that can cause, that you’ll find the most vibrant scenes.

“There’s an energy, an atmosphere that you get with live music, an unpredictability where
at any moment something can go wrong or even better right in a way you never expect.
I think about a live set we played at a Lebanese festival where our MPC drum machine froze
up because of all the dust and sand trapped in the pads. We had to improvise half our set, jamming bass and guitar and pedal FX and vocals, embracing this surreal environment and experience, something that could only happen in the moment.”

With Next Wave Acid Punx DEUX I wanted to celebrate those bands and artists, past and present who, to me, represent that spirit. Both full live bands and makeshift electronic duos alike, the kind of acts that you might have found wedged between DJs back in the day at The Hacienda in Manchester in the 80s, Trash in the 00s or today at nights like Berlin’s MILK ME, EXBTN in Paris, Night Terrors + SC&P in London, New York City’s Synthicide or Ukraine’s Worn Pop.”

TUTV: This new mammoth compilation is paradise for all nightclubbers out there who
like to go bonkers at a 24-hour party like it’s Madchester all over again. It’s a versatile and multi-sonic sort of anthology with a mix of electro-darkwave-pop-punk-rock. Different tunes for different moods. All you need to get up, stand up and fight for your right to party. A must-have for dancing night owls.

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CURSES: Instagram – Facebook
Eskimo Recordings: Website

THE BARBITURATES – All Proceeds Of North-Irish Punk Guerrillas’ New Record ‘WAR IS OBSOLETE’ Go To The Innocent Victims Of The ISRAEL/PALESTINE War

Posted on by JL

23 October 2023

Northern Irish political punk guerilla’s THE BARBITURATES
have a new fully topical record titled WAR IS OBSOLETE out,
digitally, on Bandcamp.

Here’s a message from their HQ in Londonderry.

“All PROCEEDS go to innocent victims of war in Palestine. WAR IS OBSOLETE THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO BENEFIT FROM WAR IS THE 1% THAT MAKE PROFITS ON DEATH FEAR AND DISRUCTION – END ALL WARS NOW – WHO NEEDS ACTIONS WHEN YOUVE GOT WORDS?? LOVE IS THE ANSWER – HEAVEN IS NOW – STOP MAKING IT HELL BUCKY AR LA – TAKE CONTROL!

“Some of The 1% are investors in the great big industrial war machine – the clearing / repairing of war torn cities / countries and rebuilding them along with there big pharma – food n supplies companies ect they make massive profits on all levels of war from the bullets n bombs fired to the food n medicine and everything you can imagine in between – this collection of sound scapes and anti war songs on this guerrilla ontological discordant meditation Ep are our SMALL way of trying to help raise money for the innocent human beings being punished and hurt because of other people’s ignorance – hate – fear – oppression!! ALL THE PROCEEDS OUR DIGITAL SALES NOW AND UNTIL THINGS INPROVE WILL GO TO THESE PEOPLE!!”

TUTV: The Barbiturates care about our messed-up society, about humanity, about the weak, the poor and the outsiders, about tolerance, about inclusivity, about the desperate need for global peace. Couldn’t agree more.

Unfortunately, all the caring in the world can’t avoid (another) dirty war. After Russia invaded Ukraine early last year, Israel and Palestine started a filthy, deadly war in Gaza two weeks ago. Horrible, just horrible, again. One day a devastating world catastrophe will end it all.

War Is Obsolete is a serene and gripping work of music that’ll make you silent now and then, sonically with its, mostly instrumental, psychedelic jams with Eastern vibes here and there, and lyrically with loud and clear words describing the evil terror caused by war-and-power greedy scumbags. The late great pacifist John Lennon never understood these murderous maniacs either, as we know it.

Purchase this record, digitally, 5£ or more.
All proceeds got to PCRF – Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.

BUY/SUPPORT


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All Lyrics by
Geoffrey Herbert Flynn Street

Directed by
Pat “Butcher” Walker
Geoff “Grateful” Street

S.O.D RECORDS 2023
S.O.D PUBLISHING 2023

PHUTURE MEMORIEZ – Ski Mask Sledgehammers Blow Your Mind/Head With New Album ‘PLAY COBRA’

Posted on by JL

17 October 2023

Band: PHUTURE MEMORIEZ

Who: Synth punk act from Vancouver (CA). They have released
three (the new one included) concept albums, so far.

New album: PLAY COBRA
It’s inspired by and the third is inspired by experimental New York
saxophonist John Zorn’s musical improvisation system Cobra.

TUTV: Be ready to discover these electronic multi-media freaks and their
new sledgehammer album. Play Cobra is a maniacal mishmash of synth/drums extravaganza. Deafening disco-punk (Mouth Yellow / Palm Black / Some Open Hand
Cues/ Eye Orange), brain-breaking metallic synthesizer drones (Head Redr Blue /
Tactics and industrial havoc throughout. Yes, they’ll blow your mind and your
poor head.

Sounds like a diabolic Doomsday soundtrack to my bewildered ears. Well, if we all
have to go one day why not with this Götterdämmerung opus. If you like, FRONT 242,
NIN, Ministry, The Young Gods and Cabaret Voltaire you need to add Play Cobra to your record collection.

Single ‘Ear Blue’

Put on a Pussy Riot ski mask
and dance as if Dante’s Inferno
has become real.

LISTEN/BUY


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STREAM


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PM: Facebook – Instagram – Bandcamp – Nerve Wracking Collections
TUTV: Blog – Facebook – Instagram

COLD WEATHER CAPTAINS – Versatile Canadian Collective Released Your New Favorite Party Album

Posted on by JL

7 October 2023

Band: COLD WEATHER CAPTAINS
Who: A Toronto-based high-energy rock unit known for their funky and eclectic sound.
The group was originally founded in 2018 as a unique instrumental trio Shortly after the release of their 2021 EP City Limits CWC quickly morphed from laid-back jam band to a fully rounded pack-a-punch machine.

Album: COLD WEATHER CAPTAINS
Their second longplayer.

TUTV: Prepare your lazy limbs for an effervescent cocktail of hip-hop funk (Kings and Queens / Still Jammin’), amplified dance vibes (Venom / Royal Purple / Dead Man Dancing), fierce retro rock (Big Bad Band / Smooth Talker / Line Of Fire), and a couple of entrancing power ballads (Eyes On Me / Free). It’s called versatility.

CWC know how to write razzle-dazzle party tunes, how to trigger your coolest
dancefloor moves, how to entertain your body and soul. And when I add that
all 10 tracks are terrifically infectious, you already should scroll to the bottom to
play/buy this splendid album.

Singles: Royal Purple / Venom

– ROYAL PURPLE –


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– VENOM –


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STREAM ALBUM


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BUY ALBUM


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CWC: Facebook – Instagram – Website
TUTV: Blog – Facebook – Instagram

THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS Offer Different Techno Vibes For Different Moods On Their 10th Album ‘FOR THAT BEAUTIFUL FEELING’

Posted on by JL

Standout longplayers

26 September 2023

Manchester‘s longtime techno wizzards THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS
have their new, 10th LP, FOR THAT BEAUTIFUL FEELING out.

Order info here.

NME says: “Two-and-a-half decades into their career, everyone knows The Chemical Brothers are masters of their craft. But it’s the iconic Manchester duo’s constant reinvention of their sound, pushing festival-filling dance music further into the stratosphere, that has kept these dance giants atop the electronic music throne… On their 10th album, The Chemical Brothers remain the best in the business.” Full review here. Score: 4/5.

TUTV: After almost 25 years, the Chem Bros still have no intention of slowing down.
On the contrary, with this 10th album, they let the world know that they still are
experts in what they do for so long. This time they offer different vibes for different moods, featuring different vocalists, to fill massive discotheques with and attract big crowds to their rapturous shows

You can go bonkers to vintage CB techno firework (Live Again / No Reason / Feels Like I’m Dreaming / The Weight), you can leave the dancefloor and go to the chill-out space, let your mind absorb the bleeps and beeps and relax to smooth psych grooves like Goodbye (feat. passionate female soul vocals), Fountains (with subtle Freak Le Chic guitar sparks) and the title track with yearning vocals by French singer Hallo Maud, and retro trips for disco fanatics (The Darkness That You fear / Magic Wand / Skipping Like A Stone with Beck).

Enough new intoxicating material to integrate in the setlist for their
upcoming concerts and make fans experience beautiful feelings.

Key singles: No Reason / Live Again

STREAM ALBUM

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TCB : Facebook – Instagram

SEXTILE – Los Angeles’ Electro-Punk Tornado PUSH You To The Dancefloor With Their New Explosive Album

Posted on by JL

Standout longplayers

16 September 2023

Band: SEXTILE

Who: Electro-punk trio from Los Angeles, led by key members Brady Keehn and
Melissa Scaduto. Since emerging in 2015, they have been a party-provoking force
on the LA underground, capable of kicking up a riot with the raw-edged squall
of a synth or the sharp-elbowed jerk of a guitar.

So far they fabricated/released 2 albums:
A Thousand Hands (2015) and Albeit Living (2017)
and one EP (2018).

And number three just landed.

It’s named PUSH.
Order info HERE

Press info: “Sextile are now ready to rage with a serotonin-boosting new album, a new
group dynamic, faster BPMs, and an even wilder new direction. Recorded in Yucca Valley,
Push bounces and bops at the fringes of hardcore dance music, with the hallmarks of drum
& bass, gabber and trance illuminating the record like glow sticks at a ‘90s Fantazia rave.

Push was inspired by the kind of pleasure-seeking music fans whose social calendar comprises both the punk show and the rave. Josh Wink, Iggy Pop, Goldie, and early XL Recording shave all been name checked as influences onPush, and the dance floor remains a constant presence. Repping their place of origin, “New York” brings these musical touchstones off the page, guiding the album like an acid-soaked lodestar with its grinning nod to “Higher State ofConsciousness” and a whirly gig of music-box synths. There are still nods and “hellos” to the caustic post-punk of Sextile’s earlier work. Sextile haven’t relinquished their punk credentials, they’ve just given them a smiley-faced revamp.”

TUTV: Techno punk extravaganza. Chemical Brothers fused with drums & bass expert
Goldie‘s breakbeats and produced by NIN’s Trent Reznor. E-tastic nightclub fireworks. Saturday Night Fever for (il)legal raves on a modern weekend. Ghostly vocals coming
from LA’s underground while schizophrenic guitars rip your speakers.

24-party soundtrack for hedonists to lose themselves in again, before crashing.

Non-stop ominous electro-attacks keep on steamrolling out of your speakers
like sonic speedballs with the ferocious force of drilling hammers. Alice Glass,
Pussy Riot and The Prodigy all rolled into one and pushing it to the limits.

Physical and mental preparedness required before entering Sextile‘s world.

SINGLES/CLIPS: New York / Crash

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TOUR DATES HERE
Don’t hesitate to buy tickets. They’re live beasts.
I know, I saw them before and will soon again.

SEXTILE: Instagram – Facebook – Twitter
TUTV: Facebook – Instagram – Linktree

GRAHAM PARKER Still Squeezes Out Sparks On New Heart-And-Soul Stirring Album ‘LAST CHANCE TO LEARN THE TWIST’

Posted on by JL

10 September 2023


Fascinating album artwork

No retirement yet for the imperishable, now 72-year-old, pop-rock songsmith
GRAHAM PARKER. From the early 70s on he wrote/recorded/released multiple
number of albums featuring several masterpieces.

His brand new one, named LAST CHANCE TO LEARN THE TWIST,
featuring his new band The Goldtops just landed.

Order info here.


credit: Dion Ogus

Single ‘Them Bugs’


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PARKER: I keep writing songs and they’re very good. Simple as that. I don’t indulge much
in the backward-looking but still have the greatest respect for my past achievements. Also,
my voice is vastly improved from my early mid-range yelling, which, though very efective and
a necessary statement against the complacency of the established acts (and audience) at the time was almost completely devoid of nuance and balance.

I really ruined my ballads, slaughtered them, took songs of beauty, love and loss, and
shredded them with a voice that sounded like a victim of advanced throat cancer. I can
still turn on the intensity and add grit when needed, but now I’m a real singer. Still nowhere near as good as the greats, but come on – I’m just beginning, gimme time!

Single: ‘We Did Nothing’

THE BIG TAKEOVER: “It’s simply one of this veteran artist’s very best records.”

ALL MUSIC: “He’s still a vital and tremendously gifted artist who
still has his touch and makes it work in the studio.”

SPILL MAGAZINE: “Last Chance To Learn The Twist is a great album full
of wonderful songs and goes down as another classic Parker album, one
that will grow in stature over the years.”

AMERICANA HIGHWAYS: “When an album as lovingly brutal as Last Chance
to Learn the Twist hits, well, like there is nothing to do but breathe deeply.”

Single: ‘The Music Of The Devil’


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TURN UP THE VOLUME: Real-life, heart-and-soul stirring, mixed melancholic emotions records like this one feels as if a longtime friend visits you, and tells stories you can relate to, affects you, comforts you. As a longtime Parker fan that’s the ear-pleasing experience that comes up with every spin of this grand candlelight LP.

It’s all here, from groovy to moody tunes, from jazzy to soulful melodies, from dark reveries to hopeful musings and his unique crooner voice sprinkling magic everywhere.

It senses as if the 5-star songwriting expert went to the past, to breath in and enjoy the sonic romanticism of the good old days, and came back to write this timeless work.

Yes, back to the future with an impassioned rock survivor who still squeezes
out scintillating sparks. As the master says himself, rightly so,” I keep writing songs
and they’re very good”.

STREAM ALBUM

BUY ALBUM
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GRAHAM PARKER: Bio – Discography – Instagram
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TUTV: Facebook – Instagram – Twitter

NEIL YOUNG Drops Another Previously Unreleased Album – ‘CHROME YEARS’ (1977)

Posted on by JL

14 August 2023

I always wonder when NEIL YOUNG slept
in the 70s/80s when another lost album from
that era comes along.

As happened now again with CHROME YEARS
marked officially as his 44th longplayer.

The 12 songs were recorded between 1974/1976 and features versions of famous Young songs such as Hurricane, Star Of Bethlehem and Looking Out For My Love. It’s kinda a best of those 2 years. It was first compiled as an acetate in 1977, for an eventual LP release.

Illegal copies of the acetate went viral among fans over the years.

Press info: “Chrome Dreams, one of Neil Young’s most individual and powerful albums, was scheduled to be released in 1977, but as is often the case with Young, things change. And then change again. With Chrome Dreams, it has been a long time coming to get to this final version of an album that includes some of rock’s most unforgettable songs – and now it is released as Neil Young envisioned it.

It’s time for Chrome Dreams to find its way into the world. The music included on Chrome Dreams is the debut release of the legendary lost 1977 album that features 12 classic Neil Young songs, including four originals. The 1974-1976 studio recordings include two previously unreleased versions, four tracks never before released on vinyl.”

Order info about the vinyl/CD release HERE.

Tracklist

01. Pocahontas
02. Will to Love
03. Star of Bethlehem
04. Like a Hurricane
05. Too Far Gone
06. Hold Back the Tears
07. Homegrown
08. Captain Kennedy
09. Stringman
10. Sedan Delivery
11. Powderfinger
12. Look Out for My Love

For a while now Young removed all his music from Spotify after
comedian Joe Rogan‘s spread disinformation about the coronavirus
on his podcast on Spotify and the streaming giant refused to delete it.

You can listen to the album on YouTube.

Click below on play and the songs will play one after another.

Stream-link for Apple Music right here.

NEIL YOUNG: Website – Instagram