Lanterns On The Lake - Through The Cellar Door - The Best Of Lanterns On The Lake (2023)

I was pleased to see an anonymous comment on the recent Rick Miller post, which said "Hadn't heard of him until I read this. Not being a fan of bombastic prog, this collection hits the sweet spot. Lovely immersive lengthy pieces that transport you away for a while". That's exactly what these 'Best Of...' posts are all about, for you to discover new artists that I've loved for years, but who are still mostly unknown to the majority of people. And so on that note......
Lanterns on The Lake were founded in Newcastle in 2007, with the members coming together after playing with other bands on the local scene. Vocalist and guitarist Hazel Wilde was then engaged to guitarist Paul Gregory, and both were in a group with drummer Oliver Ketteringham, while Wilde and violinist Sarah Kemp were old school friends. Brothers Brendan (bass) and Adam Sykes (guitar, vocals) completed the line-up, and with a limited budget and a D.I.Y. ethos, they borrowed an 8-track recorder and set about creating their first two releases, 2009's 'Starlight EP', and the following years 'Misfortunes & Minor Victories', capturing the intimacy that was afforded to them by recording in their own homes and an abandoned house in Northumberland. They self-released the records with handmade sleeves, and organized a series of gigs in obscure places, such as a boat house on the Tyne River and the Tan Hill Inn, highest pub in Britain, garnering a strong following in the process. They eventually signed to the Bella Union label in 2011, and although they were given a recording budget for their debut album, 'Gracious Tide, Take Me Home', it was captured in a very similar vein to their EPs. Gregory oversaw production and escalating instrumentation, which featured guitars, violin, mandolin, piano, synths, and glockenspiels, while imagery of the sea and water resonated throughout the bands work. The Sykes brothers parted ways with the group in 2012, and the remaining members carried on, releasing sophomore album 'Until The Colours Run' in 2013. The following year, Kemp also left the band, so they added strings player Angela Chan and bassist Bob Allan to the official lineup, which recorded 2015's 'Beings' in isolation in their Newcastle rehearsal space. With the return of all five members from 'Beings', the band's fourth studio album, 'Spook The Herd', arrived on Bella Union in early 2020, and it was shortlisted for that years Mercury Prize. Three years passed before we heard from the band again, but 2023's 'Versions Of Us' was another great album from them, this time co-produced by Radiohead's Phil Selway, who also contributed drums to the album. If you have heard of this band then it is probably due to their hauntingly beautiful 'Don't Have Nightmares' being specially written and performed for the BBC Radio 4 series 'Uncanny', but if that is the only thing that you know from them then do sample their other work on this collection, as they have much more to offer than that one song.    

Track listing

01 Through The Cellar Door (from 'Beings' 2015)
02 Not Going Back To The Harbour (from 'Gracious Tide, Take Me Home' 2011) 
03 Another Tale From Another English Town (from 'Until The Colours Run' 2013) 
04 I Love You, Sleepyhead (from 'Gracious Tide, Take Me Home' 2011) 
05 String Theory (from 'Versions of Us' 2023) 
06 Lungs Quicken (from 'Gracious Tide, Take Me Home' 2011) 
07 The Likes Of Us (from 'Versions Of Us' 2023) 
08 Every Atom (from 'Spook The Herd' 2020)  
09 Of Dust And Matter (from 'Beings' 2015) 
10 Ships In The Rain (from 'Gracious Tide, Take Me Home' 2011) 
11 Real Life (from 'Versions Of Us' 2023)
12 Don't Have Nightmares (theme from the BBC Radio show 'Uncanny' 2021)
13 A Kingdom (from 'Gracious Tide, Take Me Home' 2011) 
14 Faultlines (from 'Beings' 2015) 
15 Swimming Lessons (from 'Spook The Herd '2020)

Eurythmics - Version (2005)

Eurythmics were one of the most successful duos to emerge in the early '80s, as where most of their British synth pop contemporaries disappeared from the charts as soon as new wave faded in 1984, Eurythmics continued to have hits until the end of the decade, making their technically consummate, soul-styled vocalist Annie Lennox a star in her own right, as well as establishing instrumentalist Dave Stewart as a successful, savvy producer and songwriter. Originally, the duo channelled the eerily detached sound of electronic synthesizer music into pop songs driven by robotic beats, but by the mid-'80s, singles like 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)' and 'Here Comes The Rain Again' had made the group into international stars, and Eurythmics had begun to experiment with their sound, delving into soul and R&B. By the late '80s, they were having trouble cracking the Top 40 in America, although they stayed successful in the U.K, and so in the early '90s the band took an extended hiatus, with both Lennox and Stewart pursuing solo careers. They reunited occasionally for tours or recording, and during these sessions they often laid down cover versions of their favourite songs, no doubt inspired by their 1983 recording of Lou Reed's 'Satellite Of Love', which they'd added to a promo cassette consisting of leftovers from the 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)' album. A few of these tracks were used as singles or b-sides, but most were left unreleased, and so by 2005 they had enough recordings to be able to release them as an album, but instead their record company issued the 'Ultimate Collection' compilation, and so that idea was shelved. So as not to waste these recordings, here is the album that Eurythmics could have released for their second comeback in 2005. 

Track listing

01 Come Together
02 Fame
03 My Guy
04 Satellite Of Love
05 Hello I Love You
06 Last Night I Dreamed That Somebody Loved Me
07 Life On Mars
08 Something In The Air
09 Tous Les Garsons Et Les Filles
10 Wrap It Up
11 Winter Wonderland

The Beach Boys - Surf Jams (1969)

From their very first album, 1962's 'Surfin' Safari', The Beach Boys have included instrumental tracks on their records, and some of them are as good as the songs themselves. Early recordings were very much in the Shadows/Ventures style of rhythmic guitar-led pieces, but it wasn't long before they were coming up with lushly orchestrated tracks like 'Summer Means New Love', which fore-shadowed the classic 'Pet Sounds' title track. Many of these instrumentals were gathered together for a Japanese-only CD back in 1994, but that missed off some of the later tracks, and also included some below-par recordings just for the sake of it, so this post tidies up that release to include just the best of them, and I hope that it serves as a small tribute to Brian Wilson, following his sad passing a couple of weeks ago.  

Track listing

01 Moon Dawg
02 Misirlou
03 Stoked
04 Honky Tonk
05 Surf Jam
06 Let's Go Trppin'
07 The Rocking Surfer
08 Boogie Woodie
09 After The Game
10 Shut Down, Part 2
11 Carl's Big Chance
12 Summer Means New Love
13 Let's Go Away For Awhile
14 Pet Sounds
15 Mona Kana
16 Look (Song For Children)
17 Holidays
18 Trombone Dixie
19 Fall Breaks And Back To Winter (Woody Woodpeckers Symphony)
20 Diamond Head

Jentina - Do Not Disturb (2005)

Jentina Rose Rees (née Chapman) was born 6 March 1984 in Woking, England to a Romani family that consisted of fourteen children. When she was one year old, her family moved to West Molesey, Surrey, and she got her first recording contract at the age of nineteen, whilst working in a computer shop. After an advertising campaign on television, and features in various UK music magazines, her debut single 'Bad Ass Strippa' was released in the summer of 2004, reaching number 22 in the UK Singles Chart. Her second single was released in the autumn of 2004, with 'French Kisses' being co-written by Jentina along with Cathy Dennis and Greg Wells. It was a more electro-hop/R&B-oriented song, and entered the UK chart at number 20, after which she released one more single, although 'Mysterious' was only available in Italy, where it reached the Top 30 in the Italian charts. As a result of this success in Italy, her debut album 'Jentina' was released solely in that country. In 2005, 'Bad Ass Strippa', 'French Kisses' and 'Mysterious' gained worldwide exposure after featuring in episodes of 'CSI: NY', while in 2006 'Mysterious' underscored some of the audition stages of MTV's 'DanceLife'. Jentina was also a professional model, representing lingerie brand Wonderbra in November 2007, following on from the likes of Eva Herzigová and Caprice, and during 2011 she was in the judging panel for 'Travellers Got Talent'. She never did any more recording, and so the re-named 'Do Not Disturb' is the only record of her musical career, and even that is now extremely hard to locate, so here is your chance to hear her one and only album.

Track listing

01 Mysterious  
02 Bad Ass Strippa  
03 Wonderfoul Day  
04 French Kisses  
05 Feels Good 
06 Gone  
07 Here I Come 
08 Sneakers  
09 Eenie Meenie  
10 Smoke 
11 Baby  
12 Hard Times

The Rolling Stones - Gathering Up All That Moss (2020)

Just before I went on holiday I received an email from AJ, who had sent me the two excellent 'Gathered Up Moss' collections from The Rolling Stones a few years ago. The jist of the message was that they have now realised that "in hindsight there were a lot of problems with that compilation. I didn't pay much attention to the exact sources I picked from, I was missing some some tracks, and all in all I didn't do nearly enough research as I could've. I decided to revisit it recently and after a couple weeks on and off what I compiled ended up being much more expansive: 10 discs split across 5 volumes - over 9 hours of content!
The first two volumes are essentially a do-over of my previous version but with nicer quality - non-album singles, B-sides, and compilation exclusives primarily - however I decided to include the EPs I omitted last time, following in the steps of how The Beatles' Past Masters includes the Long Tall Sally EP. The compilation consists of mono mixes wherever they're available (unless the mono mix is just a stereo fold-down). These are sorted by either release date or recording day if the gap between the recording and release is significant enough. The next two volumes consist of alternate mixes, including stereo mixes, singles versions of album songs, radio edits, 12" versions and the like - these are sorted by release date always (with the exception of bootleg stereo mixes, which are instead based on the release date of their respective mono mixes). The final volume consists of live tracks not included on the official live albums, including the 1965 'Got Live If You Want It!' EP and several B-sides over the years. These are sorted by performance date. All in all - with the exception of outtakes present on super deluxe reissues and the MANY (often not very good) remixes - this is to my knowledge now a complete compilation of every single officially released track not present on The Rolling Stones' UK album catalogue."
So here is the complete, updated post, which should stand as the ultimate Rolling Stones non-album track collection.  

Track listings

Vol. 1 (Studio Tracks: The Decca Years)
Disc 1 (1963-1965)
01 Come On (7" single 1963-06-07)
02 I Want To Be Loved (b-side of 'Come On')
03 Poison Ivy (Version 1) (7" single 1963-08-28)
04 Fortune Teller (b-side of 'Poison Ivy')
05 I Wanna Be Your Man (7" single 1963-11-01)
06 Stoned (b-side of 'I Wanna Be Your Man')
07 Bye Bye Johnny (from 'The Rolling Stones' 7" EP 1964-01-10)
08 Money (from 'The Rolling Stones' 7" EP 1964-01-10)
09 You Better Move On (from 'The Rolling Stones' 7" EP 1964-01-10)
10 Poison Ivy (Version 2) (from 'The Rolling Stones' 7" EP 1964-01-10)
11 Not Fade Away (7" single 1964-02-21)
12 It's All Over Now (7" single 1964-06-26)
13 Good Times, Bad Times (b-side of 'It's All Over Now')
14 If You Need Me (from the 'Five By Five' 7" EP 1964-08-14)
15 Empty Heart (from the 'Five By Five' 7" EP 1964-08-14)
16 2120 South Michigan Avenue (from the 'Five By Five' 7" EP 1964-08-14)
17 Confessin' The Blues (from the 'Five By Five' 7" EP 1964-08-14)
18 Around And Around (from the 'Five By Five' 7" EP 1964-08-14)
19 Time Is on My Side (7" single 1964-09-25)
20 Congratulations (b-side of 'Time Is On My Side')
21 Little Red Rooster (7" single 1964-11-13)
22 Everybody Needs Somebody To Love (from 'The Rolling Stones, Now!' album 1965-02-13)
23 Surprise, Surprise (from 'The Rolling Stones, Now!' album 1965-02-13)
24 The Last Time (7" single 1965-02-26)
25 Play With Fire (b-side of 'The Last Time')
26 I've Been Loving You Too Long (from 'Got Live If You Want It!' 1966-11-28)
27 One More Try (from 'Out Of Our Heads' 1965-07-30)

Disc 2 (1965-1969)
01 (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (7" single 1965-08-20)
02 The Spider And The Fly (b-side of '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction')
03 Get Off Of My Cloud (7" single 1965-10-22)
04 The Singer Not The Song (b-side of 'Get Off Of My Cloud')
05 Look What You've Done (from 'December's Children (And Everybody's)' 1965-12-04)
06 Blue Turns To Grey (from 'December's Children (And Everybody's)' 1965-12-04)
07 Ride On, Baby (from 'Flowers' 1967-06-26) - recorded 1965-12-04
08 Sittin' On A Fence (from 'Flowers' 1967-06-26, recorded 1965-12-03/08)
09 As Tears Go By (7" single 1965-12-18)
10 19th Nervous Breakdown (7" single 1966-02-04)
11 Sad Day (b-side of '19th Nervous Breakdown')
12 Con Le Mie Lacrime (As Tears Go By) (7" single 1966-04)
13 Paint It Black (7" single 1966-05-13)
14 Long Long While (b-side of 'Paint It Black')
15 My Girl (from the 'Flowers' album 1967-06-26)
16 Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow? (7" single 1966-09-23)
17 Who's Driving Your Plane? (b-side of 'Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow?')
18 Let's Spend The Night Together (7" single 1967-01-13)
19 Ruby Tuesday (b-side of 'Let's Spend The Night Together')
20 We Love You (7" single 1967-08-18)
21 Dandelion (b-side of 'We Love You')
22 Jumpin' Jack Flash (7" single 1968-05-24)
23 Child Of The Moon (rmk) (b-side of 'Jumpin' Jack Flash')
24 Honky Tonk Women (7" single 1969-07-04)

Vol. 2 (Studio Tracks: The Rolling Stones Years)
Disc 1 (1974-1994)
01 Through The Lonely Nights (7" single 1974-07-26)
02 Everything's Turning To Gold -(b-side of 'Shattered' 7" 1978-11-29)
03 If I Was a Dancer (Dance Pt. 2) (from 'Sucking In The Seventies' 1981-03-09)
04 I Think I'm Going Mad (b-side of 'She Was Hot' 7" 1984-01-23)
05 Fancyman Blues (b-side of 'Mixed Emotions' 7" 1989-08-21)
06 Cook Cook Blues (b-side of 'Rock And A Hard Place' 7" 1989-10)
07 Wish I'd Never Met You (b-side of 'Terrifying' 7" 1990-02-26)
08 Sex Drive (from the 'Flashpoint Live' album 1991-04-08)
09 Highwire (fro the 'Flashpoint Live' album 1991-04-08)
10 The Storm (b-side of 'Love Is Strong' 7" 1994-07-04)
11 So Young (b-side of 'Love Is Strong' CD Single 1994-07-04)

Disc 2 (1994-2020)
01 Jump On Top Of Me (b-side of 'You Got Me Rocking' 7" 1994-09-26)
02 I'm Gonna Drive (b-side of 'Out Of Tears' 7" 1994-11-28)
03 Honest I Do (from the 'Hope Floats' soundtrack 1998-05-28, recorded 1995-03)
04 Anyway You Look At It (b-side of 'Saint Of Me' CD Single 1998-01-26)
05 Hurricane (charity single 2005-11, recorded 2002-05/06)
06 Don't Stop (from the 'Forty Licks' compilation 2002-09-30)
07 Keys To Your Love (from the 'Forty Licks' compilation 2002-09-30)
08 Stealing My Heart (from the 'Forty Licks' compilation 2002-09-30)
09 Losing My Touch (from the 'Forty Licks' compilation 2002-09-30)
10 Watching The River Flow (from 'Boogie 4 Stu: A Tribute To Ian Stewart' album 2011-04-19)

11 Doom And Gloom (single 2012-10-11)
12 One More Shot (from the 'GRRR!' compilation 2012-11-12)
13 Living In A Ghost Town (digital single 2020-04-23)

Vol. 3 (Alternate Mixes: The Decca Years)
Disc 1 (1964-1968)
01 Tell Me (7" Version) (7" single 1964-06-12)
02 The Last Time (Stereo) (Private collections, several bootlegs 1965-02-26)
03 The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man (Uncensored 7" Version) - (b-side of 

                                                                                   '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction' 1965-06-04)
04 19th Nervous Breakdown (Stereo) (Private collections, several bootlegs 1966-02-04)
05 Out Of Time (US Mono Version) (from 'Aftermath' 1966-04-15)
06 Out Of Time (US Stereo Version) (from 'Aftermath' 1966-04-15)
07 Paint It Black (Stereo) (from 'Aftermath' 1966-04-15)
08 Stupid Girl (7" Version) (b-side of 'Paint It Black' 1966-05-06)
09 Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow? (Stereo) (Bootleg 1966-09-23)
10 Let's Spend The Night Together (Stereo) (from 'Between The Buttons' 1967-01-20)
11 Ruby Tuesday (Stereo) (from  'Between The Buttons' 1967-01-20)
12 Ride On, Baby (Stereo) (from 'Flowers' 1967-06-26)
13 Sittin' On A Fence (Stereo) (from 'Flowers' 1967-06-26)
14 Street Fighting Man (7" Version) (7" single 1968-08-30)
15 Sympathy For The Devil (Mono) (from 'Beggars Banquet' 1968-12-06)

Disc 2 (1969-2002)
01 Honky Tonk Women (Stereo) (German 7" single 1969-07-04)
02 You Can't Always Get What You Want (7" Mono Version) 

                                                                             (b-side of 'Honky Tonk Women' 1969-07-04)
03 You Can't Always Get What You Want (German 7" Stereo Version) 

                                                                             (b-side of 'Honky Tonk Women' 1969-07-04)
04 We Love You (Stereo) (from the 'Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2)' 1969-09-12)
05 Dandelion (Stereo) - (from 'Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2)' album 1969-09-12)
06 Jumpin' Jack Flash (Stereo) (from 'Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2' 1969-09-12)
07 Child Of The Moon (rmk) (Stereo) (from 'Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2)' 1969-09-12)

08 It's All Over Now (Stereo) (from 'Big Hits (High Tide And Green Grass)' repress 1970)

09 Everybody Needs Somebody To Love (Stereo) (b-side of 'Street Fighting Man' 1971)
10 Get Off Of My Cloud (Stereo) - (from the 'Hot Rocks' MSFL pressing 1984)
11 Play With Fire (Stereo) (from 'Hot Rocks 1' London CD 1985)
12 (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (Stereo) (from 'Hot Rocks 1' London CD 1985)
13 I've Been Lovin' You Too Long (Stereo) (from 'More Hot Rocks 

                                                                             (Big Hits & Fazed Cookies)' CD 2002-08-20)
14 19th Nervous Breakdown (ABKCO Mono Mix) (from 'Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass)'

                                                                                                                           CD 2002-08-27)

Vol. 4 (Alternate Mixes: The Rolling Stones Years)
Disc 1 (1971-1990)
01 Brown Sugar (7" Mono Mix 1971-04-16)
02 Miss You (7" Version 1978-05-10)
03 Miss You (12" Version 1978-05-10)
04 Far Away Eyes (Edited 7" (1978-05-10)
05 Emotional Rescue (Promo 7" 45 Version 1980-06-10)
06 Undercover Of The Night (Dub Version 12" 1983-10-31)
07 One Hit (to the Body) (Single Edit 7" 1986-05-09)
08 Mixed Emotions (7" Version 1989-08-21)
09 Mixed Emotions (Chris Kimsey's 12" 1989-08-21)
10 Rock And A Hard Place (7" Version 1989-10)
11 Terrifying (7" Re-Mix Edit 1990-03)
12 Terrifying (12" Remix 1990-05)

Disc 2 (1991-2005)
01 Highwire (Single Edit 7" 1991-03-04)
02 Sexdrive (Single Edit CD Single 1991-08-19)
03 Sexdrive (Dirty Hands Mix CD Single 1991-08-19)
04 Love Is Strong (Bob Clearmountain Remix CD Single 1994-07-04)
05 Out Of Tears (Don Was Edit CD Single 1994-11-28)
06 Sparks Will Fly (Radio Clean CD Single 1994-11-28)
07 Like A Rolling Stone (Edited CD Single 1995-10-30)
08 Anybody Seen My Baby? (LP Edited CD Single 1997-09-22)
09 Saint Of Me (Radio Edit CD Single 1998-01-26)
10 Out Of Control (Radio Edit CD Single 1998-08)
11 Don't Stop (Edited CD Single 2002-09-30)
12 Don't Stop (New Rock Mix CD Single 2002-09-30)
13 Rain Fall Down (Radio Edited CD Single 2005-12-05)

Vol. 5 (Live Tracks)
Disc 1 (1965-1991)
01 We Want The Stones (from the 'Got Live If You Want It!' EP 1965-06-11)
02 Everybody Needs Somebody to Love (from the 'Got Live If You Want It!' EP 1965-06-11)
03 Pain In My Heart (from the 'Got Live If You Want It!' EP 1965-06-11)
04 Route 66 (from the 'Got Live If You Want It!' EP 1965-06-11)
05 I'm Moving On (from the 'Got Live If You Want It!' EP 1965-06-11)
06 I'm Alright (from the 'Got Live If You Want It!' EP 1965-06-11)
07 Let It Rock (b-side of 'Brown Sugar' 7" 1971-04-16)
08 Mannish Boy (from 'Sucking in the Seventies' 1981-03-09)
09 Beast Of Burden (b-side of 'Going To A Go-Go' 7" 1982-06-01)
10 Play With Fire (from the 'Ruby Tuesday' CD Single 1991-05-24)
11 Undercover Of The Night (from the 'Ruby Tuesday' CD Single 1991-05-24)
12 2000 Light Years From Home (b-side of 'Highwire' 7" 1991-03-04)
13 Harlem Shuffle (from the 'Ruby Tuesday' CD Single 1991-05-24)
14 I Just Want To Make Love to You (from the 'Highwire CD Single 1991-03-04)
15 Street Fighting Man (from the 'Jumpin' Jack Flash' CD Single 1991-11-29)

Disc 2 (1995-2006)
01 I Go Wild (CD Single 1995-04-03)
02 All Down The Line (from the 'Like A Rolling Stone' CD Single 1995-10-30)
03 Tumbling Dice (from the 'Wild Horses' CD Single 1996-03-11)
04 Live With Me (from the 'Wild Horses' CD Single 1996-03-11)
05 Black Limousine (from the 'Like A Rolling Stone' CD Single '1995-10-30)
06 Gimme Shelter (from the 'Saint Of Me' CD Single 1998-01-26)
07 Thru And Thru (from the 'Rarities 1971-2003' CD 2005-11-21)
08 Before They Make Me Run (from the 'Biggest Mistake' CD Single 2006-08-21)
09 Hand Of Fate (from the 'Biggest Mistake' CD Single 2006-08-21)
10 Dance, Part 1 (from the 'Biggest Mistake' CD Single 2006-08-21)

I've left AJ's original notes in the folder, which give a bit more info about each track. 

 

Oasis - The Reunion (2025)

As a logical follow-up to the recent post of the lost 1996 live album from Oasis, it's only fitting that I now post the first night of their reunion tour, recorded at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on 4 July 2025. There isn't much else to say about this post, as anyone who doesn't know what it is must have been living on a different planet for the past year.   

Track listing

01 Intro
02 Hello
03 Acquiesce
04 Morning Glory
05 Some Might Say
06 Bring It On Down
07 Cigarettes & Alcohol
08 Fade Away
09 Supersonic
10 Roll With It
11 Talk Tonight
12 Half The World Away
13 Little By Little
14 D'You Know What I Mean?
15 Stand By Me
16 Cast No Shadow
17 Slide Away
18 Whatever
19 Live Forever
20 Rock 'n' Roll Star
21 Audience
22 The Masterplan
23 Don't Look Back In Anger
24 Wonderwall
25 Champagne Supernova

The Amazing - Through The Cracks - The Best Of The Amazing (2024)

The Amazing is a Swedish psychedelic indie rock band known for their dreamy, panoramic sound. Founded by established members of the Swedish indie scene, including Christoffer Gunrup (Granada), Reine Fiske (Dungen), Johan Holmegard (Dungen and Life On Earth!), and Fredrik Swahn (Anna Järvinen), they've created a unique sonic landscape with intertwining guitars, textured keyboards, and a rhythm section that veers in unexpected directions. The band came together after Gunrup's previous group, Granada, disbanded, and he invited Dungen's guitarist Reine Fiske and drummer Fredrik Björling to join him on stage, eventually solidifying the lineup with Fredrik Swahn on guitar and keys, Alexis Benson on bass, and Moussa Fadera on drums. The music they produce is characterized by its expansive, spatial quality and strong pop sensibility, often described as a blend of 1960's California pop rock and 1970's British folk rock. Following two singles on Fashionpolice Records in 2009, they released their self-titled debut the same year, before moving from Fashionpolice to Subliminal Sounds for the 'Wait For A Light To Come' mini-album. The band experienced a lineup shift after their second album, 'Gentle Stream', in 2011, with Johan Holmegard departing and Alexis Benson and Moussa Fadera joining as bassist and drummer, respectively. 'Picture You' followed in 2015, picking up some welcome critical acclaim and public appreciation, and so by the time of 'Ambulance' in 2016 and 'In Transit' in 2018, fans knew that they could expect to hear some first-rate indie-rock. Their latest album was released just last year, with 'Piggies' being another superb record from a band who can seemingly do no wrong. If you have yet to experience one of Sweden's finest exports then dive into this carefully selected collection of their best moments, including their U.S. breakthrough single 'Gone', and their tribute to Fleetwood Mac guitarist Danny Kirwan.  

Track listing

01 Dragon (from 'The Amazing' 2009)
02 Picture You (from 'Picture You' 2015)
03 Through The Cracks (from 'Piggies' 2024)
04 Circles (from 'Picture You' 2015)
05 The Kirwan Song (from 'The Amazing' 2009)
06 Fryshusfunk (from 'Picture You' 2015)
07 Gone (from 'Gentle Stream' 2011)
08 Pull (from 'In Transit' 2018)
09 Ambulance (from 'Ambulance' 2016)
10 Defect (from 'Wait For A Light To Come' 2010)
11 Gentle Stream (from 'Gentle Stream' 2011)

Jay Electronica - Act II: Patents Of Nobility (The Turn) (2012)

Soon after American rapper Jay Electronica released his debut mixtape 'Act I: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge)' in 2007, he announced 'Act II' as a follow-up, and a track listing was revealed in 2012. Several songs from the project were released as loose singles that he dropped over the years, among these being 'Life On Mars', 'Better In Tune', 'Road To Perdition', 'Shiny Suit Theory', and 'Letter To Falon', but despite 'Act I: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge)' being intended as the first part of a trilogy, with each title being inspired by the 2006 British-American film 'The Prestige', 'Act II' failed to appear. Following the official release of his hit single 'Exhibit C', he announced on American music station Shade 45 that 'Act II' would be released on Christmas Day 2009, but American record producer Just Blaze confirmed shortly after that the album would miss this date. In 2011, Electronica announced that the newly-titled 'Act II: Patents Of Nobility (The Turn)' was complete, and he shared a track listing on his Twitter page in 2012. The album apparently included guest appearances from American rappers Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Sean Combs, American singer The-Dream, and English-French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg, amongst others. However, 2013 passed with no sign of the record, and in 2014, he again announced that it would be releasing that year. Five long years later he announced that he had finally completed work on his official debut album, recorded over the course of 40 days, and  'A Written Testimony' was released on 13 March 2020, nearly thirteen years after the release of 'Act I'. 

Over the years several tracks from 'Act II' had leaked online, including 'Memories & Merlot' and 'Real Magic', and so it was perhaps no surprise that the entire album leaked in October 2020, after a group of internet users on Discord raised $9,000 to purchase it from a hacker. Shortly after the leak, Electronica went to his Twitter and Instagram to acknowledge the leak and thanked his fans for the warm response to the album, and he confirmed that he would try to clear the samples, then get it on Tidal as soon as possible. The following day, he posted a link on his Twitter page to the official Tidal release, but on 28 October 2020, the album was taken down from Tidal for unknown reasons. A month later, he revealed in his Discord server that the finished version of 'Act II' has unreleased verses from Kanye West, and that he would try to get them cleared before re-releasing the album. In a side-note, when the album was leaked, the leaker accidentally uploaded the project with a typo in the title: a "The" was written before "Patents", when that was never actually meant to be in the title, which was always meant to be 'Act II: Patents of Nobility (The Turn)'. A day after the leak occurred, Electronica's team uploaded that exact leaked zip-file onto Tidal, rather than a mixed and mastered version, and so the typo with the extra "The" was left in it, and that is now canonically the official title of the album. There have been mixed signals over whether a final mixed and mastered version would be released onto all platforms, but knowing how long this project took to come out, if that is the plan, it likely won’t happen for a long time.

Track listing

01 Real Magic (feat. Ronald Regan)
02 New Illuminati (feat. Kanye West)
03 Patents Of Nobility
04 Life On Mars
05 Bonnie & Clyde (feat. Serge Gainsbourg)
06 Dinner At Tiffanys (feat. Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jay-Z & The-Dream)
07 Shiny Suit Theory (featuring Jay-Z and The-Dream)
08 Memories & Merlot
09 Better In Tune With The Infinite (feat. Latonya Givens)
10 A Letter To Falon
11 Road To Perdition (feat. Jay-Z)
12 Welcome To Knightsbridge (feat. Sean Diddy Combs)
13 Rough Love (feat. Kanye West)
14 Run & Hide (feat. The Bullitts)
15 Nights Of The Roundtable
16 10,000 Lotus Petals

Oasis - J.I.L.Y. (1996)

The Oasis tour is finally upon us, and so for any fans who didn't manage to get tickets, here's a little something to ease the pain - the legendary 1996 unreleased live album 'J.I.L.Y.'. The story is that they recorded their gig at Cardiff International Arena in Wales on 19th March 1996 with the intention of releasing it as a live album. However, by this time they knew they were going to play Knebworth and that kind of took over the line of thought, so this album was shelved at Creation for release after the Knebworth gig. They played Knebworth, but then got dragged out to America and so the live album remained shelved. When they returned to the UK, it was decided that after such a successful year it was better to release a 'tour highlights' style video, so '...There And Then' was issued instead, as the biggest shows of the tour had also been filmed. After that they went into the studio to record 'Be Here Now', and so once again it wasn't really the right time to release a live album. By the time anyone realized 'J.I.L.Y.' was still sat on the shelf, other Oasis gigs had become legendary and more sought after: Earls Court, Maine Road, Knebworth, so it was eventually leaked online as a bootleg. That bootleg was good enough as it was, with the sound quality being some of the best you'll ever hear, but Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab reissued it, and corrected some errors from the original release, such as splitting 'Round Are Way / Up In The Sky' and 'Morning Glory' into separate tracks, and so what we have now is subtly subtitled 'The Perfect Edition'. 

Track listing

01 The Swamp Song
02 Acquiesce
03 Supersonic
04 Hello
05 Some Might Say
06 Roll With It
07 Shakermaker
08 Round Are Way / Up In The Sky
09 Morning Glory
10 Cigarettes & Alcohol
11 Champagne Supernova
12 Whatever / Octopus's Garden (Acoustic)
13 Wonderwall (Acoustic)
14 Slide Away (Acoustic)
15 Don't Look Back In Anger
16 Live Forever
17 I Am The Walrus

For reasons known only to the band and their label, 'J.I.L.Y.' stands for 'Jesus I Love You'. 

Laura Branigan - Silver Dreams (1981)

Laura Ann Branigan was born on 3 July 1952, and is best known for her signature song, the platinum-certified 1982 single 'Gloria', which stayed on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for 36 weeks, then a record for a female artist. It also reached number one in Australia and Canada, and the Top Ten in the UK. The track was a cover of a song written by Italian singer-songwriters Giancarlo Bigazzi and Umberto Tozzi, and in 1984 she reached number one in Canada and Germany and No. 4 in the U.S. with 'Self Control', another a cover of an Italian song, this time by singer/songwriter Raf. Prior to the success of 'Gloria', she'd released one single in 1978 on the Liberty Television' label, with 'Memories' being the theme song for Liberty's first made-for-television movie 'Calloway's Climb'. After signing to Atlantic Records, they released three singles in an effort to break her into the mainstream charts, and although none of them were successful, they  did agree tor record an album with her. 'Silver Dreams' was due to come out in 1981, but was cancelled due to a contract lawsuit with her management, and remains unreleased to this day, although some tracks have turned up on the re-issue of her 1982 'Branigan' album. Her greatest level of success was in the 1980's, with the Top 10 hit 'Solitaire' in 1983, the U.S. Adult Contemporary Chart number one 'How Am I Supposed To Live Without You' the same year, and her return to the top 40 in 1987 with 'The Power Of Love'. Her chart success began to wane as the decade closed and after her last two studio albums, 'Laura Branigan' in 1990 and 'Over My Heart' in 1993, garnered little attention, she generally retired from public life for the rest of the 1990's. She died at her home in August 2004 from a previously undiagnosed cerebral aneurysm, at the age of just 52. As a reminder of that most successful part of her career in the early 80's, here is the full version of that cancelled 1981 debut album. 

Track listing

01 When
02 Fool's Affair
03 Looking Out For Number One
04 Helping Mama Bring The Groceries In
05 Leave Me Blind
06 Love Me Tonight
07 Don't Close Your Eyes
08 I'm Just Warmin'
09 Tell Him
10 Silver Dreams

Rick Miller - The Lost Years - The Best Of Rick Miller (2024)

Rick Miller is a Canadian composer and multi-instrumentalist, who made his debut effort as a solo artist back in 1983 with the new age production 'Starsong', which shifted a highly respectable 30.000 units at the time. He followed up this venture with 'Windhaven' in 1987, and his efforts 'Interstellar Passage' from 1998 and the EP 'No Passion, No Pain' from 2009 would continue exploring similar musical territories. After honing his craft working at Sound Design Studios in Toronto throughout the 80's and 90's, Miller wanted to have a go at his true musical love, which was atmospheric progressive rock inspired by artists such as Pink Floyd, The Moody Blues and Steve Hackett. In 2003 he released his first album in this new genre, with 'The One' appearing on his old New Age record label Calaban Music, but his next three albums were released through the MALS label. These efforts cemented Miller's reputation as an inventive and competent progressive rock musician, and in 2009 he was signed by Canadian indie label Unicorn Records, with his first release for them being the 'Falling Through Rainbows' album. However, by his next album, 2011's 'In The Shadows', he was back with MALS Records, sticking with them for his next six releases. In 2020 he signed to Progressive Promotion Records, who have released some of his best music over the past five years, in particular 2020's 'Unstuck In Time' and 2024's 'One Of The Many'. As an introductions to his work, here is a small selection of tracks hand-picked from the last decade, which will give you an idea of what to expect should you decide to try any one of the seventeen superb prog-rock albums that he's released since 2003.  

Track listing

01 The Garden Of Forking Paths (from 'Delusional' 2018)
02 Don Quixote (from 'Old Souls' 2022)
03 State Of Emergency (from 'Unstuck In Time' 2020)
04 The Lost Years (from 'One Of The Many' 2024)
05 Guinevere (from 'Old Souls' 2022)
06 Borrowed Time (from 'Altered States' 2023)
07 Rats In My Darkness (from 'Immortal Remains' 2013)
08 Breaking Point (from 'Breaking Point' 2016)
09 She Of The Darkness (from 'One Of The Many' 2024)
10 Blood Of The Rose (from 'Heart Of Darkness' 2014)
11 Haunt Me (from 'Old Souls' 2022)
12 The Need To Believe (from 'Belief In The Machine' 2020)

The Cowsills - Cocaine Drain (1978)

The Cowsills are an American singing group from Newport, Rhode Island, with the six siblings noted for performing professionally and singing harmonies at an early age. The band was formed in early 1965 by brothers Bill, Bob, and Barry Cowsill, with their brother John joining shortly afterwards. Originally Bill and Bob played guitar and Barry played the drums, but when John learned to play drums and joined the band, Barry began playing bass, and after their initial success, the brothers were joined by their siblings Susan and Paul along with their mother, Barbara. A handful of singles were released on JODA Records, a label owned by Danny Sims and Johnny Nash (of 'I Can See Clearly Now' fame), and Philips Records in 1965 and 1966, to only modest success. After Leonard Stogel took over management of the band, they were signed to MGM Records in 1967, and Barbara joined the group just in time to record the band's first album, including the hit single 'The Rain, The Park & Other Things', which sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold record. The band quickly became a popular act in the U.S., and achieved significant airplay in Britain and other parts of Europe, and the band released five albums in all for MGM Records between 1967 and 1970. Following the success of 'The Rain, The Park & Other Things' and their eponymous album, the title track from their second album, 'We Can Fly", peaked at number 21 in the spring of 1968, by which time Susan had been added to the group. 

Later that same year they scored another Top 10 hit with the song 'Indian Lake', produced by Wes Farrell, which reached No.10 on the US charts. It's parent album, the psychedelically-influenced 'Captain Sad And His Ship Of Fools', was produced by Bill and Bob, and was the first to feature Paul as a member of the group. From 1968 through 1972, the band played an average of 200 performance dates per year, and they even had their own comic book published by Harvey Comics in 1968. In February 1970, after they had an argument over Bill's association with Waddy Wachtel (whom Bud did not approve of), Bill left the group and Bob took over as the leader, releasing the album 'II x II' just a few weeks after's Bill's departure. Musically, it heavily featured Bill since he'd been present for the recording sessions and had written a number of the songs, and it spawned three singles, two of which were minor hits, but the album as a whole failed to get into the Billboard 200. The group parted ways with MGM in 1970, and 'On My Side' was released on London Records in February 1971, barely scraping into the Billboard 200, peaking at number 200. 

By 1972, Barbara, Paul and Susan had left the group, and shortly afterward, The Cowsills stopped playing together as a band altogether, with the individual members going on to various career attempts in and out of the music industry. In 1978 several of the Cowsills, including Paul, John, Barry, Bob and Susan, recorded an album called 'Cocaine Drain' with producer Chuck Plotkin, after the group had reportedly signed with Columbia Records and "were setting the stage for a nearly completed album". In March 2008 a digital version of the album was finally released, remastered from an acetate under Bob Cowsill's direction, but it was not cleaned up particularly well, and surface noise was noticeably evident on some tracks. It also included six previously unreleased tracks tacked onto the end, and so for this post I've taken that original digital release and cleaned it up to remove much of the surface noise, as well as removing the six bonus tracks, so that we just have the original album as it was intended to be released. Finally, I've tweaked the cover art so that the pictures are more defined and the text only refers to the original album. 

Track listing

01 Cocaine Drain
02 Give Me A Chance
03 Thinking Of You
04 Is Your Love Alive?
05 I Will Always
06 Gettin' Ready
07 Bitter Jest
08 That Particular Way
09 Part Of Me
10 Dance In A Dream

Thanks to Tom for the heads-up about this album. 

The Misfits - 12 Hits From Hell (1980)

The Misfits were formed in 1977 in Lodi, New Jersey, by Glenn Anzalone (aka Glenn Danzig), and were named after Marilyn Monroe's final film, 'The Misfits'. Danzig's first recruits were drummer Mr. Jim and bassist Diane DiPiazza, however, after DiPiazza never showed up and Mr. Jim was replaced by Manny Martinez, these two practiced in Martínez's garage, with Danzig on electric piano and Martínez on drums. The duo soon encountered Jerry Caiafa, who had just received a bass guitar for Christmas, and although he was still new to the instrument, he joined the band. Danzig, Martínez, and Caiafa rehearsed for three months without a guitarist, using Danzig's electric piano to provide the songs' rhythm, and they played their first gig at CBGB in New York City in April 1977. In May that year, they recorded their first single, 'Cough'/'Cool', which they released through their own label Blank Records that August, and after Caiafa's surname was misspelled on the record's sleeve, he insisted that in future he was to be credited as "Jerry, only Jerry", with Jerry Only becoming his pseudonym for the rest of his career. In August 1977, guitarist Frank Licata joined the band under the pseudonym Franché Coma, allowing Danzig to phase out the electric piano and focus on singing, while pushing the band's sound in a punk rock direction. 

After Danzig and Only deemed Martínez unreliable, he was replaced by the returning Mr. Jim, and the band found a recording opportunity when Mercury Records wanted to use the name Blank Records for one of its subdivisions and offered Danzig thirty hours of studio time in exchange for rights to the name. Danzig accepted, and in January 1978 the Misfits entered a New York recording studio to record 17 songs, 14 of which were mixed for the proposed 'Static Age' album. The band were unable to find a record label interested in releasing it, so they issued four of the songs in June 1978 as the 'Bullet' single on their own new label Plan 9 Records, named after the classic sci-fi film 'Plan 9 From Outer Space. Following the 'Static Age' sessions, the Misfits began a shift in song-writing and appearance, with Danzig writing more songs inspired by B horror and science fiction films, and he painted skeletal patterns on his performance clothing, while Only began applying dark makeup around his eyes and styling his hair in a long point hanging from his forehead between his eyes and down to his chin. This style became known as a "devilock" and both Danzig and Only's brother Doyle would eventually adopt it, forming the beginnings of the subgenre "horror punk". 

While in Canada in October 1978 promoting the 'Bullet' single, Coma quit the band because he did not enjoy touring, after which Mr. Jim also quit once the tour was over, citing a distaste for the horror direction in which the band was heading. Within two months the pair were replaced by drummer Joey Poole, under the pseudonym Joey Image, and guitarist Robert Kaufhold, also known as Bobby Steele, and the new line-up continued to evolve the horror elements of the band, releasing the 'Horror Business' single in June 1979. The cover featured a skeletal figure inspired by a poster for the 1946 film serial 'The Crimson Ghost', and this figure would become a mascot for the band, with its skull image serving as the Misfits' logo for the rest of their career. In June 1979 the Misfits performed as openers for The Damned in New York City, and after Only spoke with singer Dave Vanian about the possibility of the Misfits touring the UK with The Damned, they flew to England, only to find that Vanian had not taken his conversation with Only seriously and had not planned on having the Misfits on the tour. He did attempt to arrange for them to take part in the tour, but the band members were unhappy with the situation and left after only two shows.

Image then quit the band and flew back to the United States, but with their return flights not scheduled until late December, the remaining band members stayed in London. Upon their eventual return to the US they released the 'Beware' EP in January 1980, then took a four-month break before adding Arthur McGuckin as their new drummer under the pseudonym Arthur Googy. During this time Only's younger brother Paul Caiafa, a longtime fan of the band who went by the nickname Doyle, began learning to play guitar with help from Danzig and Only, and The Misfits began working on an album which they planned to release through their Plan 9 label, recording twelve songs in a studio in August 1980. Following a further six month hiatus, the band reconvened and selected three of the twelve songs from their August 1980 album sessions for release as the '3 Hits From Hell' EP in April 1981. Throughout the rest of 1981 they continued to record tracks for a full-length album, to be titled 'Walk Among Us', and although they had planned to release it through Plan 9, they instead accepted an offer from Slash Records, and decided to rework the album before its release. 

In October 1981 they released two more tracks from the August 1980 sessions as the 'Halloween' single, and in March 1982 'Walk Among Us' was released through Ruby and Slash Records. A national tour in support of the album followed, and the band's performances began to grow more intense and violent, with Danzig and Googy frequently clashing, and after a heated argument at a McDonald's restaurant Danzig kicked Googy out of the band. The vacant drummer position was offered to their friend Eerie Von, who had served as their occasional roadie and photographer, but as he had already committed to drumming for Rosemary's Babies, Henry Rollins recommended former Black Flag drummer Robo, who flew to New Jersey to join the Misfits in July 1982. In September they embarked on a national tour with The Necros, during which they stopped at a studio to record the instrumental tracks for their next EP. However, they were arrested in New Orleans on charges of grave robbing while attempting to locate the grave of voodoo practitioner Marie Laveau, before bailing themselves out of jail and skipping their court date to drive to their next performance in Florida. By this time Danzig was growing increasingly dissatisfied with the Misfits and had begun writing songs for a new band project, and in June 1983 he confided to Henry Rollins that he planned to quit the group. In July 1983 the Misfits finished recording their next EP, and Danzig decided to record two more songs that he had intended for his new project, turning the EP into a full album, and 'Earth A.D./Wolfs Blood' demonstrated the increasing influence of hardcore punk and heavy metal on the band's sound. 

On 29 October 1983 the Misfits played their annual Halloween performance at Greystone Hall in Detroit with the Necros, featuring new drummer Brian Damage (real name Brian Keats), although he was so drunk before the show that he couldn't play properly, and so Todd Swalla of The Necros had to fill in for the remainder of the performance. This was the final straw for Danzig, who announced to the audience that it would be the band's final show. Upon returning to Lodi the band members went their separate ways, with Danzig launching his new band Samhain, moving away from punk rock, and toward more experimental heavy metal with a grim atmosphere. In 1986 the band signed to Def American Recordings and Danzig replaced most of the rhythm section, renaming the group Danzig, and recording albums in a variety of styles, from blues rock-influenced heavy metal to industrial rock. Despite five tracks eventually being given an official release from their 1980 sessions, the album itself remains unreleased, and so here it is to fill the gap in this history of Glenn Danzig's early career. As a special bonus, this post includes 'Who Killed Marilyn!', which was originally planned for release on Plan 9 Records, but when Danzig determined that it would be too expensive to release it as a 12“ single, he considered a two- song 7“ with 'Who Killed Marilyn' / 'Where Eagles Dare', but the project was never completed and only a 12“ acetate exists.

Track listing 

01 Halloween  
02 Vampira  
03 I Turned Into A Martian 
04 Skulls 
05 London Dungeon  
06 Night Of The Living Dead  
07 Horror Hotel  
08 Ghouls Night Out  
09 Astro Zombies  
10 Where Eagles Dare  
11 Violent World 
12 Halloween II  
13 Who Killed Marilyn!