Various Artists - The Hitmakers Sing Townes Van Zandt (2022)

John Townes Van Zandt was born on 7 March 1944 in Fort Worth, Texas, into a wealthy family, and after the family relocated from Fort Worth to Billings, Montana in 1952, his father gave him a guitar, which he practiced while wandering the countryside. After attending the Shattuck School in Faribault, Minnesota, he enrolled at the University of Colorado Boulder in 1962, and wrote poetry and listened to records by Lightnin' Hopkins and Hank Williams. In the spring of his second year, his parents flew to Boulder to bring Townes back to Houston, worried about his binge drinking and episodes of depression, and he was admitted to the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, where he was diagnosed with manic depression. He received three months of insulin shock therapy, which erased much of his long-term memory, but in 1965 he was accepted into the University of Houston's pre-law program. After his father died in January 1966 at age 52, he quit school and went on the road for the first time, having been inspired by his singer-songwriter heroes to pursue a career in playing music. His early gigs in Houston clubs mostly consisted of covers of songs written by Hopkins, Bob Dylan, and others, as well as original novelty songs like 'Fraternity Blues', and in 1968 he met songwriter Mickey Newbury in a Houston coffee shop, and he persuaded Van Zandt to go to Nashville, Tennessee, where he was introduced to the man who became his longtime producer, "Cowboy" Jack Clement. With Clement producing, Van Zandt recorded sessions in the studio which became his debut album, 'For The Sake Of The Song', released in 1968 by Poppy Records. The next five years were the most prolific of Van Zandt's career, as Poppy released the albums 'Our Mother The Mountain', 'Townes Van Zandt', 'Delta Momma Blues', 'High, Low And In Between', and 'The Late Great Townes Van Zandt'. It's his third album which has some of his most covered songs, and the fact the many of them are by modern artists, such as The Magic Numbers, Laura Marling, and Bright Eyes shows the esteem in which he is still held as a legend of American song-writing. 

Track listing

01 For The Sake Of The Song (Azure Ray 2002)  
02 Columbine (Mike Molaro 2021)  
03 Waiting Around To Die (Nathan Hamilton 2020)  
04 Don't Take It Too Bad (Steve Earle 2009  
05 Colorado Girl (Laura Marling 2014)  
06 Lungs (Jonell Mosser 1996)  
07 I'll Be Here In The Morning (The Stonemans 1970) 
08 Fare Thee Well, Miss Carousel (Bright Eyes 2022)  
09 (Quicksilver Daydreams Of) Maria (The Magic Numbers 2010)  
10 None But The Rain (Robin & Linda Williams 1975)

The Magic Numbers - I Hope You Don't Mind (2014)

Romeo and Michelle Stodart are the children of a Scottish father and a Portuguese mother, and were born in Trinidad in the Caribbean, where their mother was an opera singer, and had her own TV show. The family fled an Islamic coup attempt there in 1990, and moved to New York City, before re-locating to London in the mid-1990s, when Romeo was 16 and Michele was 10. Sean and Angela Gannons lived in Hanwell, London where they became friends with their neighbours the Stodarts, and in late 2002 the four youngsters formed The Magic Numbers, touring the London circuit and gradually building a small cult following. The band signed a deal with Heavenly Records, narrowly choosing that label over Rough Trade Records, and in November 2004 they released a limited edition 7" vinyl single, 'Hymn For Her', to coincide with a three-show residency at The Borderline in London. On the back of releasing just one commercially available single, 'Forever Lost', and even before their debut album was released, they played a sold-out show to a crowd of over 2,000 at The Forum in Kentish Town, London, where a limited number of live albums of the gig were released. Their eponymous debut album was recorded in late 2004 and early 2005 at Metropolis Studios in London, and released on 13 June 2005, with three more singles being taken from it in the shape of 'Love Me Like You", 'Love's A Game' and 'I See You, You See Me'. 

They received a large amount of press attention for being the first band to walk off the TV show Top Of The Pops, after host Richard Bacon allegedly insulted their physiques, calling them "a big fat melting pot of talent". After their heavy touring and promotion of 'The Magic Numbers', the band released the follow-up album 'Those The Brokes' in autumn 2006, and another extensive run of shows to promote it culminated in an appearance at the 2007 Glastonbury Festival. The band took some time off during 2008, before reconvening in late 2009 to begin work on their third studio album, announced on their website as being titled 'The Runaway', and it was released on 26 July 2010. In 2012, Michele Stodart released 'Wide-Eyed Crossing' as her first solo album, accompanying herself on guitar on the country music influenced songs, and in 2016 she released her second solo album, 'Pieces', on One Little Indian Records. The Magic Numbers, in the meantime, had announced their first-ever acoustic gigs, with the five-week tour seeing the band play in the intimate surroundings of some of the most beautiful theatres, churches and live music venues across the UK and Ireland, supported by British act Goldheart Assembly. Their fourth studio album 'Alias' appeared in 2014, with 'Outsiders' following four years later, in 2018, and since then it's been fairly quiet on the band front, but there's plenty of music out there to tide us over until they re-appear, as right from that very first single the band have included non-album tracks on their singles, so here is a comprehensive collection of rare singles and b-sides from their first decade as a band. 

Track listing 

Disc I - 2004-2006
01 Anima Sola (split single with HAL 2004)           
02 Oh Sister (b-side of 'Hymn For Her' 2004)
03 Cold Fingers (split single with The Webb Brothers 2005)
04 Idea Of A Feeling (b-side of 'Forever Lost' 2005)
05 I Hope You Don't Mind (b-side of 'Forever Lost' 2005)
06 Drunk On Your Words (previously unrleased) 
07 Watersong (bonus 7" single with vinyl copies of 'The Magic Numbers' 2005) 
08 Delphina's Song (b-side of 'Love Me Like You' 2005)
09 Travelling Souls (b-side of 'Love Me Like You' 2005)
10 Last Night I Fell (b-side of 'Love's A Game' 2005)
11 Keep It In The Pocket (b-side of 'Love's A Game' 2005)
12 There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (b-side of 'I See You, You See Me' 2006)
13 Crazy In Love (b-side of 'I See You, You See Me' - Radio 1 Live Lounge Session 2006)
14 Everytime (b-side of 'Take A Chance' 2006)

Disc II - 2007-2014
01 Steal Me A Dream (b-side of 'This Is A Song' 2007)
02 Take Me Out (b-side of 'This Is A Song' 2007)
03 Fear Of Sleep (from the 'Undecided' EP 2007)
04 The Shooter (from the 'Undecided' EP 2007)
05 Tonight (from the 'Undecided' EP 2007)
06 Sissy & The Silent Kid (from the 'Undecided' EP 2007)
07 Dub So Good (b-side of 'Hurt So Good' 2009)
08 This Isn't Happening (b-side of 'The Pulse' 2010)
09 Dead Mirrors (b-side of 'The Pulse' 2010)
10 Cryin' Eyes (b-side of 'Why Did Tou Call?' 2010)
11 Empty Chalices (b-side of 'Shot In The Dark' 7" 2014)
12 End Of The World (b-side of 'E.N.D.' 2014)