A great set of not-new for you, with plenty of exciting directions.
Hello, Friends.
In 2020, 4AD turned 40. Never one to be on time for a party (and not to mention it was a little bit of a stinker of a year), the label is commemorating that landmark this year with the release of Bills & Aches & Blues, a superb new compilation album with eighteen of its current artists covering a song of their choosing from 4AD’s past. Aldous Harding plays Deerhunter, Tune-Yards play The Breeders, Dry Cleaning play Grimes, U.S. Girls play The Birthday Party, Bing and Ruth plays Pixies and the list goes on and on like this in glorious fashion. It's a really killer lineup with plenty of surprises (we'll use this opportunity to again flag up that Maria Somerville is gonna be massive!), and everyone sounds invigorated and like they're having great fun.
Also, the first 12 months’ profits from Bills & Aches & Blues will be donated to The Harmony Project, a Los Angeles-based after-school programme for children from communities and schools that lack equitable access to studying the arts or music.
The Shins' most excellent debut LP Oh, Inverted World turns twenty this year and Sub Pop have put out a really nice (and limited) 20th Anniversary Edition. The classic tunes get new life by way of a full remastering job under band leader James Mercer’s watchful eye, the art is given a little extra zest via a die-cut jacket and a classy inner sleeve, and the package is rounded off with a big ol’ booklet with vintage photos, handwritten lyrics, and more.
This week's Blue Note goodness is the superb Go! from Dexter Gordon. The 1962 album (also featuring ) is the one that really kicked on the second part of the giant tenor saxophonist’s career and is arrived in the middle of a remarkably fruitful 18 months that also saw Blue Note release Doin' Allright, Dexter Calling..., Landslide and A Swingin' Affair.
This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.
Relatively new to us, but George Otsuka was one of Japan's most renowned and respected jazz musicians of all time and an artist that we are crushing on really hard at the moment. This week we have a reissue of the George Otsuka Quintet's Sea Breeze, spacious vibes with funk tones and some amazing sounds. The Fool On The Hill cover is pretty wild right at the start.
Soul Jazz are working back through the Lloyd McNeill vaults and this week deliver an essential pressing of his Tori LP, first released as a private-press LP in 1978 on flautist Lloyd McNeill’s own Baobab Record label in Washington, DC. It's been out-of-print for 43 years. Has to be said, Tori is a stunning album. Super upbeat, blending Brazilian and Latin flavours with deep Spiritual Jazz.
We have a long overdue (remastered) reissue of PJ Harvey and John Parish's second studio collaboration, A Woman A Man Walked By.
Sub Pop put out a 30th anniversary pressing of Mudhoney's Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge. The double pressing (LP1 is Light Blue vinyl; LP2 is Red vinyl) features B-sides, compilation tracks, split-singles and a slew of previously unreleased songs, including the entire five-track Music Source session. It has all been remastered by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service and sounds pretty dope. We actually have a couple of copies of the previous edition on limited orange vinyl too.
Touch & Go reissue Dirty Three's fourth studio LP, Ocean Songs.
The next killer tune in the brand-new series of all-time classic Studio One party bombs from Soul Jazz is Brentford All Stars' Greedy G. Available on super-loud, super-limited 12" vinyl.
Lastly this week, we listed this one on announce and it sold out. So we'll whisper it at the end here, we have a few copies of Paul McCartney's McCartney III Imagined. Live now.
Looking forward to seeing you soon.
- Drift