Decades and decades of brilliant albums and inspirational sounds. A really good week.
Oh man, we have gone absolutely gooey a.f. listening to Different Class this week. 30th October 1995, I was - this is Rupert writing this one - 14 and a month and the guy who I had heard singing about "d'you remember the first time?” on John Peel was now singing about E’s and Wizz, mistakes and misfits, woodchip, supermarkets, Saint Martins and a lot more. Pulp’s Different Class was formative listening and an album that defined one of those pre-internet eras. It’s been a treat to listen again; hysterical and brilliant in equal measure. We just want the right to be different. That’s all!
+ The very last few LP boxes are due this week.
Violence Fog is the eponymous debut (and I am pretty sure only studio work) from Baden-Baden (Germany) rock band, Violence Fog. Sounds like they had a great little thing going, but it just came and went and this lush LP of folky rocky prog decadence is the only key memento from Germany's vibrant psychedelic rock history. It is presented in a high gloss foil sleeve and I reckon we’ve spun it about four times a day all week; sparky riffs, big wails and some proper German-grade™ Kraut rhythm section propulsion. A banger.
Super Furry Animals release a 20th anniversary edition of their Love Kraft LP this week on Strangetown Records. It was recorded in a fever in rural Spain with Mario Caldato Jr., with all members contributing songs and vocals. It has such a distinct vibe, hot and mad dusty with weird noises and rhythms. Spread across double records, there are four previously unheard tracks drawn from the vaults too. They really were amazing that lot.
Bear with us, but I absolutely think that Field Music’s Field Music is right up there in any conversation about the best self-titled debut LPs. Man they’re good, and just right away. Such terrifyingly inventive and knotty pop music, with instruments and vocals flying across the mix. Absolutely geniuses, but so primal in the way they hit you in the chest with a banger when they need to. Honestly, a bloody gem.
We have the first couple of Acoustic Sounds dives into the Chess Records archives, with seminal Blues recordings from Muddy Waters with The Best of Muddy Waters, and Howlin’ Wolf’s Moanin’ in the Moonlight. It’s so wild listening to them; banger after banger and just remarkable recordings of remarkable performances. Can’t wait to see this series develop.
We also have two releases under the Original Jazz Classics series, with saxophonist Hank Mobley’s 1957 album Jazz Message #2, and Jazz Mood, the debut album from the iconic Yusef Lateef. Some really sublime rolls from Mobley and (incredible) band, a proper mellow romp. Lateef isn’t a million miles away in tone, but you can hear even in those early moments when he’s about to go off somewhere wild. Lush.
+ Both are pressed on 180-gram vinyl pressed at RTI with all-analogue mastering from the original tapes at Cohearent Audio and a Stoughton Tip-On Jacket.
Having been out of print on vinyl since its release 30 years ago - besides a Record Store Day edition early this year - 4AD put Belly’s King back in the racks. Pop hooks and loads of snap. Remastered by Kevin Vanbergen and featuring Chris Bigg’s (v23) original sleeve design.
Ajomasé is the groundbreaking debut album by legendary Nigerian percussionist Gasper Lawal. It was originally released in 1980 on his own label CAP and has largely been unavailable until this essential new edition from Strut. Really percussive, but such melodic flourishes and really killer reverbs. Feeling this one.
+ Features liner notes by Gasper himself and audio remastered from original tapes by Whitfield Street Studios and The Carvery.
Also this week; Originally self-released under the artist name Stereotype in 1994, we have a Warp reissue of Stereotype, an album of raw, dancefloor-focused early Squarepusher productions. We should talk more about LA band Little Feat more as they are pretty phenomenal stuff, but a quick check in to let you know that the lavish special edition of their fifth LP - The Last Record Album - is in the building. The Needle Mythology label reissue a couple from The Lilac Time vaults with the LIVE live collection and early-career gem, Looking For A Day In The Night. We also can’t make a fuss about it because we only have a few, but Cypress Hill’s iconic third studio album III (Temples of Boom) is here in limited supply. Utterly inimitable and pure bong-fever-soundtrack-throwbacks. We have a new double pressing of Death In Vegas’ Contino Sessions, and we really are gonna have to talk about just how good Death In Vegas are soon. This honestly sounds amazing. We currently have the MOV pressing of Scorpio Rising too, which is also a proper banger. Tell you what, you can read an archive interview we made with Richard Fearless for Deluxe here.
A couple of excellent compilations for you this week. Live & Learn: History of the Legendary Label compiles recordings for the independent reggae label, Live & Learn Records and the likes of Dennis Brown, Don Carlos, Junior Reid, Barrington Levy, and The Mighty Diamonds. Imaginational Anthem vol. XIV : Ireland has been brilliantly curated by songwriter Cian Nugent, focusing on instrumental guitar talent operating in Ireland. Some proper raw strikes of lightning here, Lee has been playing this with utter fever.
Lastly this week, K Records reissues the debut Sharp Pins - the solo project of Lifeguard’s Kai Slater - record Turtle Rock and it’s a right banger. Radio DDR is one of this year's biggest underground bangers and this earlier set really got us going too, proper hooks, bangers and jangles. Bloody good.