Sunday fascinations that mostly avoid Christmas... it can get a bit OTT else right?

Hello, Friends.


Earlier this week it was announced that Bob Dylan has sold his entire 600+ song catalogue to Universal Music, the biggest acquisition ever of a single act’s publishing rights. It doesn't take much to get us thinking all things Dylan, but what this did bring to mind was one particular trip we took to New York (en route to Austin's SXSW) back in 2010 with some of the country's finest folk starlets: The Unthanks, Trembling Bells, Olivia Chaney, Jackie Oates and Jim Moray.

We had a travel day so I made the journey all the way out to Jones Street and West 4th, which is the location of the front cover photo of Dyan's iconic "The Freewheelin'...". Somewhere I have a good photo of Jim and Jackie in the pose, but I also used the time well,  meeting and interview Bob Noguera at the adjacent Strider Records for the very first issue of Deluxe Newspaper.

We just uploaded that interview and you can read it on the Deluxe website here.

Bob's 39th studio album - Rough And Rowdy Ways - is back in stock on CD and LP, including a limited Olive Green vinyl pressing.


+ Rolling Stone: 100 Greatest Bob Dylan Songs [Read More | Listen]

+ The Guardian: Bob Dylan's 50 greatest songs – ranked! [Read More | Listen]





Alongside our excellent Deluxe list (and our brothers and sisters in retail), lots of our most favourite publishers are releasing their 2020 appraisals too. It's always a thrill to not really recognise hardly any of The Quietus list (besides Keeley Forsyth, Hey Colossus and The Soft Pink Truth who all rank high and have been played plenty here). Media-Marmite Pitchfork put together an excellent (top 50 albums) that we've been dipping into, Fiona Apple's Fetch the Bolt Cutters receiving more high praise is exciting to see and a reminder we still have limited Opaque Pearl vinyl copies if you haven't picked this classic up yet.

The one that we've been enjoying a great deal this morning over coffee is the annual Loud And Quiet list, with albums that have "played their important roles through 2020". Has to be said, Jerskin Fendrix's dark and weird Winterreise has been a real late season gem to get lost in. Become a member to receive a monthly discount at Drift too.

All of this and we've just unpacked a box with Wire Magazine Issue 443, what a trip that edition promised to be.





Deluxe 2020 Compilation of the Year.
Soul Jazz Records Presents Kaleidoscope: New Spirits Known & Unknown

Our Compilation Album of the Year for 2020 is Kaleidoscope: New Spirits Known & Unknown, a thoughtful and explorative collection from 25 contemporary jazz artists. The UK jazz resurgence has been increasingly well documented over the last five years, but this timely collection not only cements London as its hotbed of riches, it also focuses on the breadth of the current scene and how the movement is spread across the whole of Britain (and indeed beyond). Featuring amongst others: SEED Ensemble, Mackaya McCraven, Tenderlonious & the 22archestra, Joe Armon-Jones, Nubya Garcia, Maxwell Owin, Emma-Jean Thackray, Theon Cross and Yazmin Lacey, another of Kaleidoscope’s features is the scene’s modern iteration and intersection with electronic music. New Spirits Known & Unknown indeed, the majority of these artists are either self-published or released on independent labels, this is a gateway into a scene that remains vibrant with pioneering spirits crossing musical boundaries. As Soul Jazz explain in the release’s excellent liner notes, Kaleidoscope covers “deep spiritual jazz, electronic experimentation, punk-edged funk, uplifting modal righteousness, deep soulful vocals and much more.”

We nearly covered this without saying “kaleidoscopic”, but we can’t, as that is what it is. Thrilling and ground-breaking music that fizzes with energy.




Andrew Weatherall remembered by David Holmes.

"I'll start by saying that DJing, remixing and producing were just something that Andrew did. I always looked at him as a much bigger presence. Spending a day with Andrew with a spliff and a cup of tea was an educational experience."

David writes a warm, sad and funny obituary to the dearly missed Andrew Weatherall in the Observer. What a guy he was. 

+ The Observer: The composer pays tribute to a brilliant polymath with singular musical vision, who was also a warm and wise friend. [Read More]

Enjoy your Sunday.

- Drift