jueves, julio 17, 2025

New Music: Get Together

           

Belinda Carlisle has shared a new single, "Get Together" the new cut from her upcoming album, 'Once Upon a Time in California' due on August 29. The single is a a cover version of The Youngbloods' "Get Together". Remember her new album is a collection of studio covers, marking a return to her roots as a young singer in California.

martes, julio 15, 2025

New Music: The Sofa

           

Wolf Alice have released their second new single from "The Clearing" the band's new album out August 22. The track's music video, directed by Fiona Jane Burgess, finds bandleader Ellie Rowsell lounging on a couch that moves across town. About the single: "It's about not trying so hard to figure everything out, reflecting on getting older and trying not to agonize over things that have or haven’t happened in your life,"  "It's also about trying to get to grips with the polarizing aspects of one's life when you're in a band.

lunes, julio 14, 2025

The Compilation: David Bowie "I Can't Give Everything Away (2002-2016)"

A decade after Five Years was announced, Parlophone will release the sixth and final David Bowie ‘Era’ box set. I Can’t Give Everything Away 2002-2016 documents the last fourteen years of David’s musical endeavours and adventures.

Despite releasing nothing for around nine years of this period, Bowie still managed to put out four studio albums – Heathen (2002), Reality (2003), The Next Day (2013) and Blackstar (2016) – and as these 13CD and 18LP vinyl box sets demonstrate, there’s plenty of additional live material and non-album tracks available to fill things out.

As well as those four records on CD and vinyl, the I Can’t Give Everything Away box sets include:

  • MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL (2CDs or 4LPs) – Previously unreleased and recorded on the 18 July 2002. Amongst the 31 tracks are an almost full performance of 1977’s Low. This is also exclusive to the box set.
  • A REALITY TOUR (2CDs or 3LPs) – Released before, but this is resequenced to “better reflect the set lists of the Dublin shows”. The vinyl version of the album is pressed in transparent blue, as per the original.
  • RE:CALL 6 (3CDs or 4LPs) – 41 non-album / alternative versions / b-sides and soundtrack songs including some ‘SACD’ only stereo mixes from Heathen. Exclusive to the box.

On LP, The Next Day is actually the 17-track deluxe version (to fill out four sides of vinyl) while the CD edition sticks to the 14-track version. Fear not though, because the three ‘missing’ tracks (‘So She’, ‘Plan’ and ‘I’ll Take You There’) are added to The Next Day Extra E.P. on CD (which is 10 tracks compared to the vinyl version’s seven).

The 4-track No Plan E.P. is also included. This features Bowie’s last three released recordings: No Plan, Killing A Little Time and When I Met You, which were first debuted on stage by the cast of Lazarus. With a running time of 18 minutes (which includes a repetition of the 6 minute album version of ‘Lazarus’) eyebrows might be raised at this being giving this its own disc when the three unique tracks could perhaps have been squeezed onto Re:Call 6. Especially on vinyl where side two of No Plan is ‘etched’.

Re:Call 6 does a good job of rounding up random tracks and includes David Gilmour’s live version of ‘Arnold Layne’ that Bowie sings on, which was issued as a single in 2006 (reaching No 19 in the UK charts).

As mentioned, the Montreux Jazz Festival is exclusive to the box and it’s worth pointing out that the other exclusives in previous boxes (The Gouster, Lodger 2017 Mix, Never Let Me Down 2018 and Dance) have never been issued separately, so the label have kept to their word – so far!

Like the previous ’90s set Brilliant Adventures, I Can’t Give Everything Away 2002-2016 is massive 18 LPs on vinyl (the first three were 13LPs, Loving The Alien was 15LP and Brilliant Adventure was 18LP). These vinyl sets are lovely but it does rather show up the limitations of the format when it requires seven records to deliver two live shows.

Also, actual studio albums take up only five of the 18 records in I Can’t Give Everything Away, which is around 28 percent of the content. If you include Toy, Brilliant Adventures had 61 percent studio albums (11 out of 18 LPs), Loving the Alien 30 percent (5 out of 15), A New Career in a New Town and Who Can I Be Now? both 38 percent (5 out of 13) and Five Years 54 percent (7 out of 13). Depending on your point of view, you could say this means more ‘padding’ than ever, or more welcome bonus material. It’s not really Parlophone’s fault that Bowie only made four albums in this period but if they’d skipped A Reality Tour (issued as a 3LP set in 2016) and squeezed the No Plan E.P. tracks onto Re:Call 6, we’d be back down to a more manageable – and more affordable – 13LPs. On the other hand A Reality Tour is excellent, it was Bowie’s last tour, and period live shows have always been a part of these sets (think Ziggy Stardust: A Motion Picture, David Live, Glass Spider, BBC Radio Theatre).

As ever, both box sets come with books. These are 128 pages in the CD box and 84 in the vinyl set, with previously unseen notes, drawings and handwritten lyrics from Bowie and photos. There are also “technical notes” about the albums from co-producer Tony Visconti and design notes from Jonathan Barnbrook. The CD box has Japan-style vinyl replica CDs, with the discs being gold. The vinyl box contains 180g vinyl – all black, except for A Reality Tour, which is blue.

I Can’t Give Everything Away 2002-2016 will be released on 12 September 2025, via Parlophone.

13CD box set

CD 1: Heathen
 
1. Sunday
2. Cactus
3. Slip Away
4. Slow Burn
5. Afraid
6. Iʼve Been Waiting For You
7. I Would Be Your Slave
8. I Took A Trip On A Gemini Spaceship
9. 5:15 The Angels Have Gone
10. Everyone Says ʻHiʼ
11. A Better Future
12. Heathen (The Rays)
 
CD 2: Montreux Jazz Festival
 
1. Sunday
2. Life On Mars?
3. Ashes To Ashes
4. Cactus
5. Slip Away
6. China Girl
7. Starman
8. I Would Be Your Slave
9. I’ve Been Waiting For You
10. Stay
11. Changes
12. Fashion
13. Fame
14. I’m Afraid Of Americans
15. 5:15 The Angels Have Gone
 
CD 3: Montreux Jazz Festival
 
1.  ‟Heroes”
2. Heathen (The Rays)
3. Everyone Says ‟Hi”
4. Hallo Spaceboy
5. Let’s Dance
6. Ziggy Stardust
7. Warszawa
8. Speed Of Life
9. Breaking Glass
10. What In The World
11. Sound And Vision
12. Art Decade
13. Always Crashing In The Same Car
14. Be My Wife
15. A New Career In A New Town
16. Subterraneans
 
CD 4: Reality
 
1. New Killer Star
2. Pablo Picasso
3. Never Get Old
4. The Loneliest Guy
5. Looking For Water
6. She’ll Drive The Big Car
7. Days
8. Fall Dog Bombs The Moon
9. Try Some, Buy Some
10. Reality
11. Bring Me The Disco King
 
CD 5: A Reality Tour
 
1. Rebel Rebel
2. New Killer Star
3. Reality
4. Fame
5. Cactus
6. Sister Midnight
7. Afraid
8. All The Young Dudes
9. Be My Wife
10. China Girl
11. The Loneliest Guy
12. The Man Who Sold The World
13. Fantastic Voyage
14. Hallo Spaceboy
15. Sunday
16. Under Pressure
17. Life On Mars?
18. Battle For Britain (The Letter)
 
CD 6: A Reality Tour
 
1. Fall Dog Bombs The Moon
2. Ashes To Ashes
3. The Motel
4. Loving The Alien
5. Breaking Glass
6. Never Get Old
7. Changes
8. I’m Afraid Of Americans
10. ‟Heroes”
11. Bring Me The Disco King
12. Slip Away
13. Heathen (The Rays)
14. Five Years
15. Hang On To Yourself
16. Ziggy Stardust
 
CD 7: The Next Day
 
1. The Next Day
2. Dirty Boys
3. The Stars (Are Out Tonight)
4. Love Is Lost
5. Where Are We Now?
6. Valentine’s Day
7. If You Can See Me
8. I’d Rather Be High
9. Boss Of Me
10. Dancing Out In Space
11. How Does The Grass Grow?
12. (You Will) Set The World On Fire
13. You Feel So Lonely You Could Die
14. Heat
 
CD 8: The Next Day Extra E.P.
 
1. Atomica
2. Love Is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix By James Murphy For The DFA)
3. Plan
4. The Informer
5. I’d Rather Be High (Venetian Mix)
6. Like A Rocket Man
7. Born In A UFO
8. I’ll Take You There
9. God Bless The Girl
10. So She
 
CD 9: ★ (Blackstar)
 
1. ★(Blackstar)
2. ’Tis A Pity She Was A Whore
3. Lazarus
4. Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime)
5. Girl Loves Me
6. Dollar Days
7. I Can’t Give Everything Away
 
CD 10: No Plan E.P.
 
1. Lazarus
2. No Plan
3. Killing A Little Time
4. When I Met You
 
CD 11: Re:Call 6
 
1. Slow Burn (Single Edit)
2. Wood Jackson
3. When The Boys Come Marching Home
4. Safe
5. Sunday (Moby Remix)
6. A Better Future (Remix By Air)
7. Slip Away (SACD Mix)
8. Slow Burn (SACD Mix)
9. I’ve Been Waiting For You (SACD Mix)
10. 5:15 The Angels Have Gone (SACD Mix)
11. A Better Future (SACD Mix)
12. Safe (SACD Mix)
13. Everyone Says ‘Hi’ (Radio Edit)
 
CD 12: Re:Call 6
 
1. Sunday (Tony Visconti Mix)
2. Everyone Says ‘Hi’ (Metro Remix Radio Edit)
3. Heathen (The Rays) (Live In Berlin, 22/09/02)
4. Hop Frog — Lou Reed Featuring David Bowie
5. Saviour — Kristeen Young Featuring David Bowie
6. Isn’t It Evening (The Revolutionary) — Earl Slick Featuring David Bowie
7. Bring Me The Disco King (Loner Mix) — David Bowie Featuring Maynard James Keenan And John Frusciante (Taken From The Underworld Motion Picture Soundtrack)
8. New Killer Star (Radio Edit)
9. Love Missile F1-11
10. Fly
11. Queen Of All The Tarts (Overture)
12. Never Get Old (Single Edit)
13. Waterloo Sunset
14. Rebel Rebel (2003 Re-Record) (Taken From The Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle Motion Picture Soundtrack)
15. New Killer Star (Sessions @ AOL Live Version, 23/09/03)
 
CD 13: Re:Call 6
 
1. Days (Live)
2. 5:15 The Angels Have Gone (Live)
3. Rebel Never Gets Old (Radio Mix)
4. (She Can) Do That — David Bowie With BT (Taken From The Stealth Motion Picture Soundtrack)
5. Life On Mars? (Live At Fashion Rocks, 08/09/05)
6. Wake Up (Live At Fashion Rocks, 08/09/05) — David Bowie With Arcade Fire
7. Five Years (Live At Fashion Rocks, 08/09/05) — David Bowie With Arcade Fire
8 .Arnold Layne (Live At The Royal Albert Hall, 29/05/06) — David Gilmour Featuring David Bowie
9. Love Is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix By James Murphy For The DFA Edit)
10. Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime) (2014 Version)
11. ’Tis A Pity She Was A Whore (2014 Version)
12. Lazarus (Radio Edit)
13. I Can’t Give Everything Away (Radio Edit)

viernes, julio 11, 2025

The Compilation: Now 12" 80s (1985)

The Now Music continue their year-themed remix series with a 4CD set that targets 1985.
 
NOW 12″80s: 1985 – Part One come strong as you’d expect with contributions from many, many classic artists including Queen, a-ha, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Phil Collins, Eurythmics, ABC, Go West, Nik Kershaw, Simple Minds, The Power Station, Bryan Ferry, Arcadia, Propaganda, New Order, Level 42 and more.

There's 46 extended versions, in total, across the four discs. NOW 12″80s: 1985 – Part One is out now, while the Part Two is expect to be later this year

Now 12"80s: 1985 Track List: 

CD 1

1. Queen – One Vision (Extended Version)
2. Philip Bailey And Phil Collins – Easy Lover (Extended Dance Remix)
3. Eurythmics, Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart And Aretha Franklin – Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves (ET Mix)
4. Simple Minds – Don’t You (Forget About Me) (12″ Version)
5. The Power Station – Some Like It Hot (Mix) (12″)
6. Billy Idol – White Wedding (Pts. 1 & 2 – Shotgun Mix)
7. Pat Benatar – Love Is A Battlefield (Extended Version)
8. ZZ Top – Legs (Dance Mix)
9. Laura Branigan – Spanish Eddie (New Extended Remix Version)
10. Tina Turner – We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome) (Extended Version)
11. Bryan Ferry – Slave To Love (12″ Remix)
12. Scritti Politti – The Word Girl / Flesh & Blood (Version)
 
CD 2
 
1. Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Welcome To The Pleasuredome (An Alternative To Reality)
2. A-ha – Take On Me (Extended Mix)
3. Billy Ocean – Loverboy (Extended Mix)
4. Five Star – All Fall Down (M & M Remix)
5. Ashford & Simpson – Solid (Special Club Mix)
6. The Pointer Sisters – Dare Me (12″ Dance Mix)
7. Baltimora – Tarzan Boy (Summer Version)
8. Bananarama – Do Not Disturb (Extended Version)
9. Go West – Don’t Look Down (The Stratospheric Mix)
10. ABC – Vanity Kills (The Mendelsohn Mix)
11. Nik Kershaw – Wide Boy (Extended Mix)
12. King – Love & Pride (Body And Soul Mix)
 
CD 3
 
1. Dead Or Alive – You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) (Performance Mix)
2. Bronski Beat – Hit That Perfect Beat (12” Version)
3. Sheryl Lee Ralph – In The Evening (Original Extended Mix)
4. Hazell Dean – They Say It’s Gonna Rain (Indian Summer Mix)
5. Animotion – Obsession (Dance Mix)
6. Bonnie Tyler – Holding Out for A Hero (Club Mix)
7. Jan Hammer – Miami Vice Theme (Extended Version)
8. Harold Faltermeyer – Axel F (Extended Version)
9. Colonel Abrams – Trapped (12″ Regisford Vocal Mix)
10. Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam And Full Force – I Wonder If I Take You Home (Extended Version)
11. Chaka Khan – This Is My Night (12″ Extended Version)
12. Princess – Say I’m Your No.1 (Full Length Version)
 
CD 4
 
1. Tears For Fears – Shout (UK Version / Extended Version)
2. Arcadia – Election Day (Consensus Mix)
3. Propaganda – Duel (Bitter-Sweet)
4. New Order – The Perfect Kiss (12″ Version)
5. Sheila E – The Belle Of St. Mark (Dance Remix)
6. Level 42 – Something About You (Shep Pettibone Remix)
7. Sharpe & Numan – Change Your Mind (Extended Version)
8. Howard Jones – Things Can Only Get Better (Extended Mix)
9. Stephen Duffy – Icing On The Cake (Remix)
10. Red Box – Lean On Me (Ah-Li-Ayo) (Dogmatix)

News: Battleship Potemkin Centenary Celebrated With Special Edition And Cinema Release Featuring Pet Shop Boys Score

To mark the centenary of Sergei Eisenstein's legendary silent Battleship Potemkin, a special edition of the film – in a restored version made by Deutsche Kinemathek, with the celebrated score by Tennant and Lowe of Pet Shop Boys – will be released for the first time in cinemas and in a two-disc Blu-ray and CD package by the BFI

On 22 August 2025, Battleship Potemkin. Music by Pet Shop Boys will open in selected cinemas in the UK and Ireland. Ahead of a week-long run, a special double screening event, at BFI Southbank on Friday 5 September 2025 at 6.30pm, will begin with Pet Shop Boys’ feature film It Couldn’t Happen Here (1988), in memory of its late director, Jack Bond, followed by a Q&A with Neil Tennant, hosted by Paul Tickell, and then a screening of Battleship Potemkin.

5 September is also the release date of the BFI’s Blu-ray package of the film, containing both a Blu-ray disc and a CD of the score, along with extra features and an illustrated booklet. Simultaneously, Parlophone will release the score on remastered CD and on vinyl for the first time on a double LP. All three formats are available to pre-order now from the official Pet Shop Boys store.

A fixture in the critical canon almost since its premiere, Eisenstein’s film about a 1905 naval mutiny was revolutionary in both form and content. Battleship Potemkin is renowned for its dynamic compositional strength and editing of such frame-perfect precision that it’s hard not to be swept along. The set-piece massacre on the Odessa Steps still packs a sledgehammer punch.

First revealed at a free outdoor live performance and screening in front of an estimated 25,000 people in London’s Trafalgar Square on 12 September 2004, Pet Shop Boys' score, performed with the Dresdner Sinfoniker conducted by Jonathan Stockhammer with orchestrations by Torsten Rasch, blends electronic beats with orchestral grandeur to create a rousing contemporary cinematic experience. 

Since the premiere, Pet Shop Boys with Dresdner Sinfoniker have performed the music with the film in European cities including Frankfurt, Bonn, Berlin, Hamburg, Dresden, and Segovia, Spain. On May 1, 2006, Pet Shop Boys with the Northern Sinfonia, performed the music with the film at a special event at Swan Hunter’s shipyard, Wallsend. The first UK cinema screening with the recorded Tennant/Lowe score took place at BFI Southbank as part of the 2013 Meltdown Festival curated by Yoko Ono. 

The special features on Battleship Potemkin / Pet Shop Boys (Blu-ray & CD), which can be pre-ordered from HMV and other retailers now, are:

  • Hochhaussinfonie (2017, 68 mins): a multimedia musical production by the Dresdner Sinfoniker orchestra and Pet Shop Boys, conceived by Markus Rindt and directed by Sven Helbig, on the evening of July 20, 2006, in Dresden

  • Trafalgar Square Highlights (2004, 4 mins): a behind-the-scenes film when Pet Shop Boys performed their newly composed score for Battleship Potemkin, accompanied by the Dresdner Sinfoniker orchestra in Trafalgar Square, London 

  • Trailer (2025)

  • **Limited Edition** Illustrated booklet featuring new writing by Chris Heath and Sarah Cleary, and archive pieces by Neil Tennant and Michael Brooke

Rocktrospectiva: The Enthusiastic "Intriguer" Turns 15

 
Released on 11 June 2010 "Intriguer" was the sixth studio album by New Zealand rock band Crowded House, it was the band's follow-up to the group's 2007 reunion album Time on Earth. The first single for the album, "Saturday Sun", was released to radio and the video clip released to the internet in April 2010, the other single from the album was "Either Side Of The World". 

Following the release of Crowded House's reunion album Time on Earth, Neil Finn announced that the band would re-enter the studio to record a follow-up album which would feature the current lineup, consisting of Finn on vocals, guitars and piano, fellow founding member Nick Seymour on bass guitar, Mark Hart on guitars and keyboards, and then-newcomer Matt Sherrod on drums. The band performed a small concert in The Leigh Sawmill, north of Auckland, in February 2008 and featured a few songs which were later to be recorded by the band for the next album.

In 2009, the band re-entered the studio and recorded demo tracks of 11 songs, some of which Finn had written during the tour around the previous album. For these recordings, the group enlisted producer Jim Scott for the first time, who then continued to produce the whole album in Finn's studio, Roundhead Studios in Auckland, New Zealand.

The band hired various guest musicians throughout the recording process, including multi-instrumentalist Don McGlashan, Lisa Germano on violin, Jon Brion on vocals and guitars, James Milne on additional vocals, and Finn's wife Sharon and son, Liam Finn contribute backing vocals and guitars, respectively.

Intriguer was as winsome and persuasive as Crowded House had ever been. It kicked into life with its most immediate, exhilarating, and hard-hitting anthem – the bass-heavy, psych-flecked "Saturday Sun" – and also proffered a couple of notable leftfield departures such as the pensive, enigmatic "Archer's Arrows"  and the ambient-streaked "Either Side Of The World."

The sound issued on the record contained numerous examples of the dreamy pop classicism in which Neil Finn had long since excelled. The stand-outs were arguably the majestic "Twice If You're Lucky" and the tremolo guitar-framed "Isolation," though the home straight concluded with a consecutive trio of Finn's most exquisite ballads courtesy of "Even If," "Elephants" and the piano-led "Eyes Grow Heavy."

The album topped the charts in Australia, and went Top 5 in New Zealand and Top 20 in the UK, but it also made a strong showing in a brace of European Top 40s and peaked at a highly respectable No.50 on the US Billboard 200. Moving with the times, Crowded House not only embarked on an extensive world tour in support of Intriguer.

The album was very well received by critics and the public, due that "Finn's durable songcraft never fails to enthrall." other thought the album had to stand or fall on its own merits and if there would be if there would be any justice in the world it will be a bestseller. And that was true, nobody saw it coming and this record would be his best work in nearly two decades?.
 
Intriguer Track List: 
 
1. Satruday Sun
2. Archer's Arrow
3. Amsterdam
4. Either Side Of The World
5. Falling Dove
6. Isolation
7. Teice If You're Lucky
8. Inside Out
9. Even If
10. Elephants

Rocktrospectiva: The Fine And Recommended "Vienna" Turns 45

Released on 11 July 1980 "Vienna" was the fourth studio album by British new wave band Ultravox, it was the band's first album with their best-known line-up, after Midge Ure had taken over as lead vocalist and guitarist following the departures of John Foxx and Robin Simon, as well as the group's first release for Chrysalis. The album peaked at number 3 in the UK Albums Chart. and reached the top ten in Australia, New Zealand and several European countries. The album spawned four singles "Sleepwalk", "Passing Strangers", "Vienna" & "All Stood Still". 

Vienna was produced by German producer Conny Plank who had also produced Ultravox's previous album Systems of Romance, and mixed at Plank's studio near Cologne, Germany. Ultravox changed pace, style and audience with the arrival of Ure, who had already participated in the formation of Visage with Ultravox's keyboard and viola player Billy Currie. Many different styles are in use on the album; "Astradyne" is a long instrumental featuring sweeping, majestic synthesizer arrangements throughout, while "Mr. X" is a simpler, much sparser Kraftwerk pastiche. The lyrics to the album's songs were mainly written by Ure and drummer Warren Cann, who also takes a rare lead vocal on "Mr. X".

Writing and rehearsing the songs for the album began in autumn 1979, shortly after Midge Ure had joined the band. Among the first tracks written were "Astradyne", "Mr. X" and "New Europeans". As opposed to the band's previous albums, the music was written collectively by the four members by throwing ideas back and forth between them and then working on the ideas and turning them into song structures. Warren Cann contributed to the lyric writing as Ure, who would later write more of the band's lyrics, was still settling in as a new member. Cann wrote the bulk of the lyrics to "Sleepwalk", "Mr. X", "Private Lives", "All Stood Still" and "New Europeans". Following a live gig in London in February 1980 Chrysalis Records had become interested in the band and gave them studio time to record some demos. The band decided to concentrate on one song and record it properly. They recorded "Sleepwalk" and were offered a contract by Chrysalis.

The tracks for the album were then recorded at RAK Studios in London and later mixed in Conny Plank's studio in Germany. The song and later one of the most recognizable tracks by the band "Vienna", which had been written quickly in early 1980, was seen by the band as the musical high point of the album and the song that best represented what they wanted to do, so they decided to make it the title track of the album. 

The album had a slow start, but the release in January 1981 of the title track as the third single from the album heralded the band's commercial breakthrough worldwide and led to healthy sales throughout 1981. Reviews for Vienna were mixed, with Ure's introduction and the move towards mainstream pop dividing critics. Some critices praised the album considered enthusiastic and emotive music for all the cleverness of the arrangements and the technical skill that has gone into the playing and production... Synthesizer music with backbone and muscle. Others were divided and althought felt the album was good felt it contained weak moments,  the album was also full of conventional electronic rock songs which are beautifully executed but never inspiring. Perhaps its legacy was the winning formula of cold futurism and big rock textures, that took Ultravox out of the margins and into the big-haired '80s mainstream.
 
Vienna Track List:  
 
1. Astradyne
2. New Europeans
3. Private Lives
4. Passing Strangers
5. Sleepwalk
6. Mr. X
7. Western Promise
8. Vienna
9. All Stood Still 

jueves, julio 10, 2025

Rocktrospectiva: The Massive "Parachutes" Turns 25

Released on 10 July 2000, "Parachutes" was the debut studio album by the British rock band Coldplay. Ken Nelson and the band co-produced all songs except "High Speed", which was produced by Chris Allison alone. The album spawned four singles: "Shiver", "Yellow", "Trouble" and "Don't Panic". 

The album was a commercial success and was met with positive reviews from critics. Upon release, it quickly reached number one in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the album peaked at number 51 on the Billboard 200.

The band began production on Parachutes in late 1999, after producing and releasing The Blue Room EP with British record producer Chris Allison. Allison was asked to assist with production, and the band's musical direction, which was desired by both the band & the A&R department. Production started with the track 'High Speed', which was part of the EP and was later re-released as a part of Parachutes. Allison describes 'High Speed' as thus: 'You'll notice it is quite a bit different to the other tracks, because there are other sounds going on in it: we wanted to mix a soundscape in with the classic rock sound on that particular track. I thought 'High Speed' was a really good marriage between the classic rock sound and the new sound that was developing out of it, something that was more atmospheric'.

The band then took a lengthy break to compose more tracks for Parachutes. A few months later, it was arranged that Allison and the band meet at a rehearsal room to finally begin production on the band's debut album. "They started up playing in the rehearsal room and they really weren't together at all. And I was very honest with them, I just sort of said 'Look, this simply isn't good enough'". Allison adds, "The interesting, the most significant thing that did occur out of the fact that we didn't end up starting the album on that day of the rehearsal was that Chris Martin had not written "Yellow" by that time".

The album's cover features a photograph of a yellow globe taken with a disposable Kodak camera. The globe had been purchased from W H Smith for £10; it was featured in the music videos for "Shiver" and "Don't Panic", and also accompanied the band on their tours. 

Champion has explained that Nelson's production style was liberating and allowed the band to feel at ease during the recording of Parachutes (many songs from the album often featured slow tempos). The ensuing album was "a record's worth of moody and atmospheric tunes". As a nod to the moods created by the album, Champion has compared the song lyrics to the 1972 song "Perfect Day" by American rock singer-songwriter Lou Reed, stating that the "lyrics are beautiful and they're really, really happy, but the music is really, really sad. It's that kind of thing, where you can create moods through the music and lyrics".

Parachutes was recognised to have an alternative rock, indie rock, and post-Britpop, with some stylistic comparisons being made to contemporaries such as Radiohead and Travis. In fact, a few critics have suggested that the album's commercial success was due in part to a portion of Radiohead's audience being alienated by the band's experimental and more electronic-influenced Kid A album.

Parachutes was released to generally favorable reviews from music critics, considered it an album of remarkable depth, especially when one considers the youthful ages of the band members", "a masterpiece" and "a defining musical statement of 2000", on the other hand several critics attacked the album because they considered it that it brought nothing new and that its musical reference points are immediately recognizable and difficult to overlook. However, until today, "Parachutes" is still considered as the band's most influential album to date.
 
Parachutes Track List:  
 
1. Don't Panic
2. Shiver
3. Spies
4. Sparks
5. Yellow
6. Trouble
7. Parachutes
8. High Speed
9. We Never Change
10. Everything's Not Lost

miércoles, julio 09, 2025

The Collection: Oasis "The Comple Studio Album Collection"

Oasis have today announced 14LP and 8CD editions of a career-spanning box called Complete Studio Album Collection.

This features their seven studio albums – 1994's Definitely Maybe to 2008’s Dig Out Your Soul – as well as the 1998 B-sides compilation The Masterplan. On CD this is an 8CD set and on vinyl it’s a 14LP package.

Amazon has gold vinyl LP and gold CD exclusives for this title – everywhere else is stocking standard black vinyl and normal CDs.

Complete Album Collection is being released on 22 August 2025, via Big Brother Recordings. 
 
The Complete Studio Album Collection Content:
 
8CD Set Albums Included:
 
1. Definitely Maybe
2. (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?
3. Be Here Now
4. The Masterplan
5. Standing on the Shoulder of Giants
6. Heathen Chemistry
7. Don’t Believe The Truth
8. Dig Out Your Soul
 
8LP Vinyl Box Albums Included: 
 
1. Definitely Maybe (2LP)
2. (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? (2LP)
3. Be Here Now (2LP)
4. The Masterplan (2LP)
5. Standing on the Shoulder of Giants
6. Heathen Chemistry (2LP)
7. Don’t Believe The Truth
8. Dig Out Your Soul (2LP)

lunes, julio 07, 2025

New Music : God Save The Pony

           

The Black Country punk duo comprised of Joe Hicklin and Callum Moloney, Big Special,  have dropped their new record "National Average". Lead singer Joe Hicklin said of their new single: "God Save The Pony" is about the stones we carry. The different things that pull people down; the invisible weights that they have to drag through their everyday. The follow up to 2024’s ‘Post Industrial Hometown Blues’ loses none of the band’s "early fire or potency, and instead expands their sound to incorporate elements of funk, lavishing it with their characteristic darkness and black humour, honestly representing their lives in the only way they know how. It focuses on brotherhood, pressing on through the changes in their lives, big and small." 

New Music: The Field

           

Blood Orange is back, their last release was 2022's Four Songs, but Dev Hynes has stayed busy scoring the Broadway play JOB, Now he's finally back with a stunning new track called "The Field," which has contributions from the Durutti Column, Tariq Al-Sabir, Caroline Polachek, and Daniel CaesarThe sprawling, skittish tune also features Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and DJ Eva Tolkin, and it benefits from all of the musicians' efforts, which blend together seamlessly, the music never stops radiating emotion. Also it comes with a cozy, self-directed music video that stars Naomi Scott.

viernes, julio 04, 2025

Somebody Has To Shoot The Pictures: Oasis '25 Cardiff Night One

 




1. Liam and Noel
2. Oasis
3. Noel Gallagher
4. This is biblical
5.  Richard Ashcroft
6. The Verve 
 
Photos: Oasis official.