The Reaction - Souled Out (1979)

The Talk Talk story begins in the late 1970's. when bassist Paul Webb and drummer Lee Harris did some studio work with producer Ed Hollis, who later went on to manage punk band Eddie & the Hot Rods, and who suggested the two should meet his younger brother Mark. Mark had originally planned to become a child psychologist, but in 1975 he left university to relocate to London, eventually forming a mod/punk band called The Reaction. His brother called in a few favours, and in 1977 the band recorded a demo tape for Island Records, including one Hollis original titled 'Talk Talk', which later surfaced on the 1977 Beggars Banquet punk compilation 'Streets'. Island were impressed enough with the demo to offer The Reaction a single deal, with 'I Can't Resist'/'I Am A Case' coming out in 1978, and following the release of the single the band recorded another set of demos in 1979, although shortly after this The Reaction disbanded, and Hollis's brother introduced him to Webb and Harris. The trio immediately clicked and began arranging Hollis's tunes and even writing their own together, and after recruiting keyboardist Simon Brenner, the group coalesced as Talk Talk, after mining their growing roster of new song titles for a name. They had no guitarist, which was a purposeful omission, and after EMI expressed an interest in them, they signed for the label. After recording a number of demos with producer Jimmy Miller, they were assigned Duran Duran producer Colin Thurston to helm their first two singles, one of which was the old Reaction song 'Mirror Man', but now recorded in the spirit of the current new romantic movement, which seemed to be the direction that EMI wanted to push them into. Their debut LP, 'The Party's Over', was indeed a product of its time, defined by contemporary synth pop sensibilities but with an honesty and lyrical depth absent from most other records of the moment, and from that point on the band never looked back. But we are now able to, however, and to hear those 1979 demos, plus their lone single, and their compilation contribution, on this collection of all the existing recordings by The Reaction, some of which later turned up on Talk Talk records in drastically different forms. 

Track listing

01 Caro Lyn
02 Mirror Man
03 Renée
04 I Can't Resist
05 Candy
06 Have You Heard The News
07 Crying In The Rain
08 I Keep On Telling You
09 I Am A Case
10 It's A Question Of Time
11 Talk Talk
12 Souled Out

Thanks to Geof McM for the suggestion

Franz Ferdinand - Our Diary (2014)

Alex Kapranos (lead vocals, guitar), Nick McCarthy (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Bob Hardy (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Paul Thomson (drums, percussion, backing vocals) had played in various bands during the 1990's, including The Karelia, Yummy Fur, 10p Invaders, and Embryo. Kapranos and Thomson met at a party, beginning a close friendship and playing together in Yummy Fur, subsequently teaming up to write songs. Around the same time, Kapranos taught his friend Bob Hardy how to play bass after being given a bass guitar by Mick Cooke of Belle & Sebastian, and he also met co-guitarist Nick McCarthy, who had returned to Scotland after studying jazz bass in Germany in 2001. Once the members came together, they settled on the name Franz Ferdinand for their band, originally after a racehorse called Archduke Ferdinand, which then inspired a discussion about Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his involvement in the start of World War One, and they adopted the name as they liked the alliteration. In May 2003 the band signed to Laurence Bell's independent record label, Domino Recording Company, moving to Gula Studios in Malmö, Sweden, to record their debut album with Cardigans producer Tore Johansson. In the latter part of 2003, the band released their debut single, 'Darts Of Pleasure', followed in January 2004 by 'Take Me Out', which reached No. 3 in the UK charts. Their eponymous album was released shortly afterwards, debuting at No. 3 in the UK Albums Chart in February 2004, and at No. 12 in the Australian album charts in April, although it only reached the lowest levels of the Billboard 200 album chart in the US. The album received a generally strong positive response from critics, and the band were compared to a long line of art school rock bands, such as The Beatles, Roxy Music, the Sex Pistols, Wire, Travis, and Blur. 

On 7 September 2004, the album was awarded the 2004 Mercury Music Prize, and the band won an Ivor Novello Award in 2004 and two BRIT Awards in 2005. They spent much of 2005 in the studio in Glasgow working on their follow-up album, 'You Could Have It So Much Better', which was released in October 2005. They initially intended to leave the album self-titled like their debut, but they changed it to 'You Could Have It So Much Better...With Franz Ferdinand' before settling on the final title. It was again generally well received in the press, and seen as an album equal to, or better than, their first by most critics. This time the record entered the UK Album Charts at Number 1, and the US charts at Number 8. To support the album, four singles were released, with a couple of them including video-clip-only tracks on the flips. In January 2009 the band released their third studio album, 'Tonight: Franz Ferdinand', which they had been recording in Glasgow since mid-2007, in a disused building in Glasgow that had been a town hall in the past. The song 'Ulysses' was chosen to be the first single and was released on 19 January 2009, but it didn't see that much success in the UK Top 40, although it fared better in Spain and Japan. Once again, four singles were extracted from the album, and the band performed 'No You Girls' on the Comic Relief 2009 Top of The Pops special. On 1 June 2009, the band released 'Blood: Franz Ferdinand', a compilation album that includes dub music versions of songs from 'Tonight: Franz Ferdinand', and which was issued to coincide with Record Store Day. 

Writing for a fourth studio album began in 2010, with a break in May 2012 to return to touring, playing several festivals during the summer, including a headlining slot at Field Day festival in London's Victoria Park. During their 2012 tour, the band gradually introduced new songs to their repertoire, and in May 2013 they officially announced that their fourth album would be titled 'Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action', and would be released on 26 August 2013. It found them re-establishing themselves as a workmanlike, crowd-pleasing dance-rock group by going heavy on the midtempo disco thump, and was a welcome return after a four year hiatus. On 9 March 2015, it was announced that the band had formed a supergroup with Sparks under the name FFS, with plans to release a studio album and tour Europe during that summer. 'The Domino Effect' was released on the group's YouTube channel as a teaser, with the John Congleton–produced album, 'FFS', appearing in June, and as a fan of both bands I was wary of the collaboration, but the album turned put to be a triumph. In July 2016, they announced that guitarist Nick McCarthy would not be involved in the recording and touring of their next album, in order to concentrate on his family and other musical interests, but it wasn't until May 2017, two days prior to the start of their North American tour, that they announced former Yummy Fur guitarist Dino Bardot as his replacement, joined by Julian Corrie on keyboards, synth and guitar. On 25 October, the band released the title track from their fifth studio album, 'Always Ascending', and six months later the album appeared. Paul Thomson left the band in October 2021, to be replaced by Audrey Tait, and this new line-up released their new single 'Billy Goodbye' on 2 November 2021, a new song taken from their greatest hits compilation 'Hits To The Head'. 

Over their career the band have not only added non-album tracks to the b-sides of their singles, but have also contributed to a number of charity and tribute albums, as well as offering their services to the 'Alice In Wonderland' soundtrack, gifting their version of 'The Lobster Quadrille'. They've also teamed up with other bands to record each others songs, covering The Fire Engines' 'Get Up And Use Me', while The Fire Engines recorded a cover of 'Jacqueline', and they took a similar approach with Dutch band De Kift, covering their 'Heisa-Ho', whilst De Kift recorded a cover of 'Love and Destroy' with Dutch lyrics. As evidenced by those two records, the band love their covers, and have recorded versions of 'Sexy Boy' by Air, 'It Won't Be Long' by The Beatles, Pulp's 'Mis-Shapes', Gwen Stefani's top 5 hit 'What You Waiting For?', Blondie's 'Call Me', Britney Spears' 'Womanizer' and David Bowie's 'Sound and Vision', featuring Girls Aloud on backing vocals. The band also recorded with Jane Birkin, covering the Serge Gainsbourg song 'A Song For Sorry Angel' for the 2005 album 'Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited', as well as re-recording the track 'Brown Onions' for David Shrigley's compilation album 'Worried Noodles', and collaborating with Marion Cotillard for the 2010 Lady Dior campaign, with the band playing and the actress singing on 'The Eyes Of Mars'. So here is a collection singles, b-sides and some of those afore-mentioned oddities, showing another side to a group that might be seen as having a reputation for being just a little bit pretentious.    

Track listing

Disc I - 2003-2006
01 Shopping For Blood (b-side of 'Darts Of Pleasure' 2003)
02 Van Tango (b-side of 'Darts Of Pleasure' 2003)
03 Truck Stop (b-side of 'Take Me Out' 2004)
04 All For You, Sophia (b-side of 'Take Me Out' 2004)
05 Words So Leisured (b-side of 'Take Me Out' 2004)
06 Better In Hoboken (b-side of 'Matinée' 2004)
07 Love And Destroy (b-side of 'Michael' 2004)
08 Don't Start (b-side of 'Michael' 2004)
09 Missing You (b-side of 'Michael' 2004)
10 Get Away (b-side of 'Do You Want To' 2005)
11 Your Diary (single 2005)
12 Fabulously Lazy b-side of 'Your Diary')
13 Sexy Boy (b-side of 'Walk Away' 2005)
14 A Song For Sorry Angel (single by Franz Ferdinand/Jane Birkin from 7" double-pack 2006)

Disc II - 2006-2014
01 L. Wells (b-side of 'The Fallen' 2006)
02 Jeremy Fraser (b-side of 'The Fallen' 2006)
03 Brown Onions (b-side of 'The Fallen' 2006)
04 Swallow, Smile (limited 7" from the Franz Ferdinand Fan Club membership pack 2006)  
05 Wine In The Afternoon (b-side of 'Eleanor Put Your Boots On' 2006)
06 Ghost In A Ditch (b-side of 'Eleanor Put Your Boots On' 2006)
07 Anyone In Love (b-side of 'Ulysses' 2009)
08 New Kind Of Thrill (b-side of 'Ulysses' 2009)
09 You Never Go Out Anymore (b-side of 'Ulysses' 2009)
11 All My Friends (b-side of 'Can't Stop Feeling' 2009)
12 The Eyes Of Mars (promotional single for Lady Dior, with Marion Cotillard 2010)
13 Erdbeer Mund (b-side of 'Fresh Strawberries' 2014)

Grace Jones - Black Marilyn (1994)

In 1993 Grace Jones released her #1 Billboard Club Hit 'Sex Drive', which was a cover of Industrial duo Sheep on Drugs' 'Track X'. It was produced by Mark Pistel and Philip Steir, two-thirds of activist rap/industrial group Consolidated, and was a blistering, snarling return to form, especially after her largely disappointing major label liaison in the late 80's with Capitol Records. A return to Island Records seemed to re-invigorate her, and the b-side to the single was equally as good, with 'Typical Male' being a cover of a track which Consolidated originally did themselves, and which was a searing feminist indictment of patriarchy, and who better to deliver such a statement than one of the most feared women in pop culture. Despite the positive reception to the 'Sex Drive' single, the 1994 album project that was to supposed to follow, which was to have been called 'Black Marilyn', with cover art drawn from the title, encountered problems which preventing it ever seeing the light of day. The album had been completed, with Consolidated coming in to produce the whole record, but Jones found that she couldn't stand listening to it, and she then started taking drugs, mixing downers and uppers just to kill the pain of the process. After the aborted 'Black Marilyn' project, she seemed set to return once again with her much touted collaboration with Tricky and his Durban Poison label, reported in 1996 and plugged further a couple of years later by Brian Chin, yet by the end of the 90's that collaboration seems to have effectively collapsed amid rumours of creative differences and irreconcilable demands. Of the tracks recorded for the 'Black Marilyn' sessions, only one survives alongside the two single sides, and although we have titles for others, such as 'Freak Show', 'On Your Knees', 'The Key To Funky', and 'The Flight Of The Doves', they all seem to be lost. However, despite only releasing two singles in 1993, Jones still kept very busy, recording songs for film soundtracks and collaborations, and so an enterprising fan has collected together all the songs that were recorded around the same time as the 'Black Marilyn' sessions, to make up for us being unable to hear the actual record.  

Track listing

01 Sex Drive (from the 'Sex Drive' maxi single)
02 Evilmainya (from the 'Freddie as F.R.O.7.' soundtrack)
03 7 Day Weekend (from the 'Boomerang' soundtrack)
04 Typical Male (from the 'Sex Drive' maxi single)
05 Still Life (from 1991's Sanremo Music Festival)
06 Volunteer (leaked track from the 'Black Marilyn' sessions)
07 Let Joy And Innocence Prevail (from the 'Toys' soundtrack)
08 Victim (from the disco sessions recorded with Tom Moulton)

Gwen Stefani - Shine (2015)

In 2015, Gwen Stefani was in the midst of launching her long-awaited third solo album, working with numerous big-name songwriters and producers on the follow-up to her 2007 record 'The Sweet Escape'. She released two official singles with 'Baby Don’t Lie' and 'Spark The Fire' in late 2014, but after a live performance of 'Start A War' early in 2015, she scrapped the album, saying it felt unauthentic. In addition to known song titles 'Ziplock', 'Overdose', and 'Confection', we also know of two songs that Charli XCX wrote for her, which were 'Hard 2 Love' and 'Hell Yeah Baby', and now we finally get to hear Stefani's studio recordings of these elusive tracks. 'Hell Yeah Baby' is full of attitude and a percussive drive, and is the kind of song that follows in the vein of 'Hollaback Girl' and 'Spark The Fire', while 'Hard 2 Love' sounds more like an 80's-inspired romantic ballad. Stefani has said that she enjoyed working with Charli XCX, and out of all the writers out there she likes her style the most, as she comes up with really good melodies. Of the other songs which were shelved, we know that she worked with Pharrell Williams on songs called 'Woah', 'Heart Shape', and 'Carousel' in addition to 'Spark The Fire'. Shakira may have been involved on a track called 'Confection', and although we have a live recording of 'Start A War', we don't know if there is a studio version out there. Although she scrapped her 2014 album, she did return to the studio in 2015, inspired by a personal tragedy when she and husband Gavin Rossdale of the band Bush divorced, and the breakup led to a full album of new songs. 'This Is What The Truth Feels Like' was released in 2016 and included none of the songs from her 2014 sessions, instead featuring songs clearly inspired by her personal life, such as the singles  'Used To Love You', 'Make Me Like You', and 'Misery'. While a number of the songs mentioned above cannot be located, there were three singles released from the sessions, and we have the two Charli XCX tracks, so by adding collaborations with Snoop Dogg and Calvin Harris from the same time-frame, out-takes from 'The Sweet Escape' and 'This Is What The Truth Feels Like', and finally her duet with Jeffery Austin from 'The Voice' TV show, we have an album of songs recorded in 2014/2015 which could have been released as her third album 'Shine' in 2015. 

Track listing

01 Hell Yeah Baby
02 Baby Don't Lie
03 Run Away (feat. Snoop Dogg)
04 Show Me
05 Candyland
06 Shine (feat. Pharrell Williams)
07 Hard 2 Love
08 Overdose
09 Together (feat. Calvin Harris)
10 Used To Love You
11 Spark The Fire
12 Leather And Lace (feat. Jeffery Austin)

Eminem - Relapse 2 (2009)

One of the most persistent myths in the Eminem fandom is the lost Holy Grail of 'Relapse 2', and despite its existence being heavily implied by the management, the project has never materialised. Everybody knows that he had plenty of songs recorded, and even after the 'Relapse: Refill' deluxe issue and numerous leaks, there must be something left, and Eminem doesn't deny it, but it's just that he considers the songs to be below his usual standard. The revelation was made all the more shocking given that he had all but promised two albums in the 'Relapse' project, and given that the horrorcore-themed project quickly amassed a loyal fanbase, the news of its sequel's cancellation was particularly frustrating, yet given the circumstances — namely Eminem's sobriety and self-reinvention as an emcee — the decision to go another direction was ultimately understandable. Though 'Relapse 2' was no more, 'Recovery' served as an important chapter of the Slim Shady story — one that found him rediscovering his humanity, and building on the foundation laid by 'Beautiful' and 'Deja Vu'. At the time, 'Relapse' had revealed itself to be something of a niche album, as although the Eminem name ensured commercial success, the macabre subject matter proved divisive, which was to be expected, as not everybody is eager to engage in murderous and rape-laden fantasies, inspired in part by the minds of serial killers like Ed Gein, Ted Bundy, and John Waye Gacy. Yet those who were found much to enjoy on 'Relapse' and its subsequent expansion, from Dr. Dre's haunting production to Eminem engaging in the most technically proficient rapping of his career. 

Much has been made of the infamous accents, with even Eminem decrying them as recently as 2018, but they’re ultimately part of the concept. It’s no secret that the initial response was divided, with some critics coming down on the negative side, and it got so bad that Eminem ultimately cancelled his plans to deliver a sequel, despite having allegedly plotted music with Dr. Dre, D12, Lloyd Banks, and 50 Cent. It was 50 Cent who was actually the reason he decided to do two albums in the first place, as apparently they'd recorded so much material during the 'Relapse' sessions that he recommended splitting it up, describing the project as thematically linked to its predecessor. It's therefore understandable to believe that one version of 'Relapse 2' existed before the first was even released, being the product of leftover songs from his highly productive sessions with Dr. Dre. The gameplan changed when Eminem, Dr. Dre, and Denaun Porter went to Hawaii in the summer of 2009, after 'Relapse' had dropped and the reception had begun settling in. Holing up in the Honolulu Studio, they started work on a new batch of music, and it didn’t take long for the songs created during the Hawaii sessions to spark his creativity, to the point where he felt that the new tracks were far superior to what he had originally lined up. These could have included 'On Fire', 'So Bad', 'Ridaz', and possibly even 'The Warning', and although some of those songs ultimately ended up on 'Recovery', if he was still intending to drop 'Relapse 2' as planned, then it's likely those recordings would form the basis of a new version of the anticipated sequel. 

After Dre left Hawaii to commence work on his own lost album 'Detox', Eminem was at a crossroads, as he clearly had no interest in revisiting his older material, especially after a promising batch of new songs, and this proved correct when he delayed 'Relapse 2' to 2010, and instead concluded the year with 'Relapse: Refill', which added an additional seven songs, including the Dr. Dre assisted 'Hell Breaks Loose', 'Buffalo Bill', 'Elevator', 'Taking My Ball', 'Drop The Bomb On Em', and 'Music Box'. This could imply that he had already moved on from the original 'Relapse 2', shifting focus to a completely new project, and instead had repackaged the highlights from it on 'Refill', bearing in mind the subject matter of tracks like 'Buffalo Bill' and 'Music Box'. This was confirmed mere months later, when he announced "there is no 'Relapse 2'.", and before long he'd delivered 'Recovery', the album which grew into being from another, decidedly more deranged version of 'Relapse 2'. Although he might throw fans a bone once in a while, donning the bloody apron for old time's sake on a track like 'Framed', for all intents and purposes, 'Relapse 2' has become another chapter of hip-hop’s ever-growing tome of lost lore and mythology. There have been a number of re-imaginings of this album, which mostly use the six best tracks from 'Relapse: Refill' as a basis, and then add in various out-takes, but I couldn't find a definitive version and so I've taken the best from each of them to come up with an album which I feel flows well, and includes all the best tracks, while omitting ones that didn't work in the context of the album. 

Track listing

01 Breaking News (Skit)
02 Things Get Worse (feat. Bob)
03 I'm Having A Relapse
04 Oh No
05 Hell Breaks Loose (feat. Dr. Dre)
06 The Warning
07 Cocaine (feat. Jazmine Sullivan)
08 Drop The Bomb On 'Em
09 Music Box
10 Psycho (feat. 50 Cent)
11 Buffalo Bill
12 Hit Me With Your Best Shot (feat. D12)
13 Taking My Ball
14 Ridaz
15 On Fire (feat. D12)
16 So Bad
17 Elevator
18 Forever (feat. Drake, Kanye West & Lil Wayne) 

The Woodentops - Plenty (1988)

Rolo McGinty was pretty ubiquitous on the Liverpool music scene of the early 80's, playing bass with The Wild Swans, who released the classic single 'Revolutionary Spirit' on Zoo Records, and then joining his old friend Pat Fish in the Jazz Butcher, once again on bass. Alice Thompson was also in the group playing keyboards, and in 1983, with the Jazz Butcher on a temporary break, McGinty and Thompson moved to south London and started to practice, building up some material and establishing themselves as The Woodentops. Initially the group was Rolo McGinty on guitar and vocals, Alice Thompson on keyboards, Simon Mawby on guitar, James Rawlings on bass and Paul Hookham on drums, and their early influences were Can, Kraftwerk, the Feelies and Suicide, mixed with rockabilly and strummed acoustic guitars, producing a kind of rhythmic beat music. The group played local gigs and rehearsed in a warehouse at Clapham Junction, which was owned by the artist Panni Bharti, who would become an important visual part of the group, designing much of their artwork. In 1984 they released their first single, 'Plenty', on Dave Balfe’s Food Records, and it was awarded single of the week by Morrisey in Melody Maker, with Morrisey later inviting the band to support The Smiths on tour. In September 1984 they recorded their first Peel session, and with their one record deal with Food Records now over, the group began to think about changing labels. Their manager worked at Rough Trade and they liked the set up, so in 1985 they signed a deal with the label, and at the same time they recruited Frank de Freitas (brother of Pete of Echo And The Bunnymen) as their bass guitarist. Their first single for Rough Trade was the Andy Partridge-produced 'Move Me', which was noticeable for its five note melodica opening and its forceful drumming, and this, coupled with rhythmic guitars and light keyboard, heralded the start of their 'hypno beat' style, and a string of great singles. In 1985 Paul Hookham left to drum with the Redskins and was replaced by Benny Staples, who made his debut on their August single 'Well Well Well'. 'It Will Come' came out a few months later, and with its subtle key changes and harmonies giving the song a gospel feel, it could have been the band's attempt at a Christmas hit single. 

1986 continued to be hectic for the group, recording their third and final Peel session in March, followed by the 'Good Thing' single in May and the 'Giant' album in June. Despite positive reviews, it was said that 'Giant' could have sold better if there had been more product in the shops, and Rough Trade were later accused of concentrating a lot of their promotion effort on the Smiths' 'The Queen Is Dead' over their other artists. 'Giant' is an accomplished debut album by anyone's standards, with all the tracks sounding polished, and it only including one previously released song, until 'Everyday Living' was lifted as a single in 1986. Adrian Sherwood remixed both the single and it's flip 'Why', after McGinty approached him with the intention of asking him to do some remixing. Sherwood agreed to work on some Woodentops' tunes, and this spurred McGinty's interest in the newly emerging dance music scene. The 'Live Hypnobeat Live' album was released in early 1987 as a stop-gap while the band toured and worked on new material, but at some point in 1987 Alice Thompson left the group, to return to Scotland to follow a literary career. Anne Stephenson, who had played with the Communards, took over on keyboards, and in January 1988 the band recorded a Radio 1 session for the Simon Mayo show, while later in the year the new album 'Wooden Foot Cops On The Highway' was released. The album encompasses a wide range of musical styles all given the familiar Woodentops treatment, with 'You Make Me Feel' being extracted as a single, being one of their better ballads, and second single 'Wheels Turning' proved popular on the west coast of America. 'Why Why Why' became a club hit in the summer of 1988, with a remix by Paul Oakenfold becoming an early indie-dance favourite. In 1989 the band stopped working together, although they didn't actually split up, but the collapse of Rough Trade in 1991 probably didn't help matters. The group had allegedly been working on a double album in the early 1990's, which never saw the light of day, and there were some white label techno crossover 12" records released around this time, with 'Conehead' becoming a hit on the northern techno scene, and 'Tainted World' was popular on NYC radio. It seemed that McGinty had possibly become more interested in dance music than The Woodentops, and so the other members of the group started to do different things. In the mid-1990's he was releasing dance music under the name Pluto and also as Dogs Deluxe with Rob Miller, and The Woodentops did occasionally get back together to promote various compilation albums and to play some festivals. The band finally recorded some new material in 2014, releasing the 'Granular Tales' album under The Woodentop's name, but their biggest successes were now in the past, and so as a reminder of their exuberant indie sound of the early 80's here is a collection of their rare singles, b-sides and out-takes up to their hiatus in 1989.   

Track listing

01 Plenty (single 1984)
02 Have You Seen The Lights (b-side of 'Plenty')
03 Everybody (b-side of 'Plenty')
04 Move Me (single 1985)
05 Do It Anyway (b-side of 'Move Me')
06 Steady Steady (b-side of 'Move Me')
07 Well, Well, Well (single 1985)
08 Cold Inside (b-side of 'Well Well Well')
09 It Will Come (single 1985)
10 Special Friend (b-side of 'It Will Come')
11 Plutonium Rock (b-side of 'It Will Come')
12 Why (b-side of 'Everyday Living' 1986)
13 I Want Your Love (out-take 1986)
14 Keep A Knockin' (out-take 1986)
15 Hallelujah (b-side of 'Wheels Turning' 1988)

Samantha Mumba - Woman (2002)

Samantha Tamania Anne Cecilia Mumba was born on 18 January 1983 in Dublin, Ireland, to a Zambian father and an Irish mother. When she was 15 she was discovered on the RTÉ–Radio Television Ireland talent show 'Let Me Entertain You' by Irish music executive Louis Walsh (manager of Boyzone and Westlife), who was impressed enough by her talent to arrange for her to be signed to Polydor Records. She subsequently spent several months moving between Denmark, Sweden, UK, and Ireland, where she co-wrote and recorded her debut album, 'Gotta Tell You', eventually dropping out of school to focus on her music career. Her first single, 'Gotta Tell You', was released in 2000 and peaked at number one in Ireland and New Zealand, number two in the UK, number three in Australia, and number four in the US, as well as reaching the top twenty in several countries across Europe. Her debut album of the same name followed later that year when she was just 17, reaching the top ten in both Ireland and the UK, and number 67 on the Billboard 200. Following the success of 'Gotta Tell You', she was chosen to play Mara in the film 'The Time Machine', alongside co-star Guy Pearce, and her real-life brother, Omero. In 2001 she contributed to the track 'You Raise Me Up' by the Celtic Tenors, and an EP titled 'Samantha Sings Christmas' was released at Christmas 2001, which included covers of 'White Christmas' and 'All I Want for Christmas Is You'. In 2002 she released a new single 'I'm Right Here', becoming her fifth UK and Irish top five single, but as rumours began to circulate that she was getting ready to release her second album 'Woman', she was dropped by her label, citing poor sales of the lead single 'I'm Right Here' in the US, and its short-lived time on the UK chart. Mumba has since confirmed that she was unable to release any new material due to contract restrictions following the restructure of Polydor Records, but whatever the reason, the proposed second album was shelved. Her second venture into films was in 2003, where she appeared in the film 'Spin The Bottle', and a compilation album was released in 2006, but it was to be seven years before we heard anything more from her, when in June 2013 she confirmed her musical comeback on Twitter, appearing on the RTÉ television show 'The Hit' to compete for a spot in the show's final. The song selected for chart battle was 'Somebody Like Me' which was released on iTunes immediately afterwards and competed against 'Thinking Of You' by Irish band Republic Of Loose, peaking at number five on the Irish Singles Chart, and marking her first hit single in 11 years. Since then she's appeared on Irish and UK television, most notably on 'Loose Women' in the UK, and she released a couple of singles in 2020, but for now here if that abandoned second album, 'Woman', shorn of the covers and remixes that tend to be added to it online, as they don't really add anything to the record. 

Track listing 

01 I'm Right Here
02 You're My Boo
03 Put Your Money On Me
04 Branded With A Kiss
05 Wet 'N Wild
06 Home Alone (feat. Beenie Man)
07 Wow
08 Shuttin' You Down
09 Nobody Knows
10 Relationships
11 Untouchable
12 Read My Mind
13 Can You Deliver
14 Point Of View
15 Sensuality
16 Wish Upon A Star

The Bolshoi - Country Li(f)e (1988)

The Bolshoi were formed in 1984 in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, by singer/guitarist Trevor Tanner, drummer Jan Kalicki, and bassist Graham Cox. Tanner and Kalicki had previously played together in the short-lived punk band Moskow, where Trevor performed as Trevor Flynn (his mother's maiden name), and early gigs supported the likes of the Cult, the March Violets and the Lords of the New Church. After eight gigs bass player Graham Cox was replaced by Nick Chown, and this line-up released released their debut single 'Sob Story' in 1985, followed by the mini-album 'Giants'. The band moved to London in 1985, where their line-up expanded to include Paul Clark on keyboards, and in 1986 they released their first full-length album 'Friends'. The 'Lindy's Party' album followed in 1987, which was a more pop-oriented record, and which garnered favourable reviews in the music press. After the release of 'Lindy's Party', the band recorded a fourth album, but problems with their record label management impeded its release, and they disbanded as the 1980's drew to a close, leaving the record in limbo. The songs have recently surfaced on a 5CD archive set from the band, and so we are now able to piece it together, but rather than just use all the songs that have surfaced, one of their fans decided to use just what he considered the best tracks from the sessions, augmented by a couple of songs from the mostly dismal set of 1988 demos that were also included in the archive set, which he considered better than the finished studio recordings. So here is an exclusive version of The Bolshoi's fourth album 'Country Li(f)e', put together by the Steve Hoffman site contributor Pangolino, for which many thanks. Stylistically, the band have always been difficult to categorize, as although they started out supporting giants of the goth scene, and had label-mates like Bauhaus, Tanner was recognized for his dark, pensive lyrics that belied a social responsibility and awareness, giving their music a bit more depth than other proto-goth bands. If you have any fond memories of the band then do give this album a try, as it's far too good to have been locked away for all this time. 

Track listing

01 World In Action
02 Yee Hee 
03 Under The Shed
04 Rockin' Bird 
05 What's Your Favourite Colour?
06 Singing The Blues 
07 Madame Hecate
08 Castaway
09 Country Life

David McAlmont - Be (2000)

David Irving McAlmont was born 2 May 1967, growing up in Gorleston on Sea, Norfolk until 1978, when the family departed the United Kingdom for Guyana, residing with his grandparents in Lovely Lass Village Berbice, and then with his aunt in Wismar, Demerara. Moving back to the UK in 1989 to continue his education at Middlesex Polytechnic reading Performing Arts on the BAPA programme, he signed a publishing contract with Chrysalis Music in 1992, followed by a record deal with Virgin's Hut Records two years later. McAlmont first became noticed in the London band Thieves, who attracted early attention with the 1992 single 'Through The Door', but despite the release of a third single 'Either', Thieves split acrimoniously in 1994 shortly before the release of their first album. Following legal wrangling, the album was eventually released as the debut David McAlmont album under the title of 'McAlmont'. Despite some positive press attention, in particular regarding his startling voice, the album was not a commercial success. He continued his solo career until he was approached by ex-Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, and in 1995 this collaboration produced 'The Sound Of McAlmont And Butler', an album of songs including 'Yes', which reached number 8 in the UK Singles Chart. Another single, 'You Do', was released later that year, and peaked at number 17, but shortly after this McAlmont and Butler went their separate ways. The producer David Arnold then worked with McAlmont on a version of 'Diamonds Are Forever', which led to them working together on his second album 'A Little Communication', which came out in 1998. In the years that followed he worked occasionally with Ultramarine and Craig Armstrong, and prepared his third album 'Be', but although it was hailed by The Guardian as "Britain's first Zen Pop album", it was shelved by his record label, Hut Records, who had lost interest in the project, leading to McAlmont's departure from the label. Promo copies were released to the press, however, hence the Guardian review, and so we are able to hear what 'Be' would have sounded like had it been released before McAlmont reunited with Butler in 2001 to produce their second joint album in 2002's 'Bring It Back'. 

Track listing

01 Ice Man
02 Easy
03 Inspiration
04 I Want You
05 Be
06 Timeless
07 Working
09 Foot Of The Hill
10 Remember Yourself
11 In The Beginning
12 Outro

Pulp - The EPs (1994)

When I posted the recent b-sides collection by Pulp, I deliberately didn't include any tracks from the EPs that they released in 1985, 1986, 1993 and 1994, as I was planning to post them separately. After signing with Fire Records in 1984, the band's first release on the label was the 'Little Girl (With Blue Eyes) And Other Pieces...' EP, followed the next year by the five-track 'Dogs Are Everywhere' EP. After these two extended-plays, they band went back to releasing normal singles, and albums from which they were taken, and it was another decade before they returned to the format. By this time they'd left Fire and signed with Warp imprint Gift Records, but despite issuing singles and albums in the intervening 10 years, they were still only a minor attraction, and so after releasing 'O.U. (Gone Gone)' and 'Babies' as singles, they issued the four-track 'Razzmatazz' EP. It was around this time that they started to break through into the mainstream, as the next single after 'Razzmatazz' was 'Do You Remember The First Time', which was a minor hit. To take advantage of that, another EP was issued, with 'Sister's appearing in May 1994, and it included the song 'His 'n' Hers', which had been omitted from the album of the same name. 1995 was the breakthrough year for Pulp, with their next single being  'Common People', followed by 'Sorted For E's And Wizz', and from that point on the band never looked back. The 'Different Class' album came out in 1995, and topped the UK album chart, and so this collection of their EPs was just part of their long haul into becoming a defining band of the Britpop era. 

Track listing

01 Little Girl (With Blue Eyes) (single 1985)
02 Simultaneous (b-side of 'Little Girl (With Blue Eyes)')
03 Blue Glow (b-side of 'Little Girl (With Blue Eyes)')
04 The Will To Power (b-side of 'Little Girl (With Blue Eyes)')
05 Dogs Are Everywhere (single 1986)
06 Mark Of The Devil (b-side of 'Dogs Are Everywhere')
07 97 Lovers (b-side of 'Dogs Are Everywhere')
08 Aborigine (b-side of 'Dogs Are Everywhere')
09 Goodnight (b-side of 'Dogs Are Everywhere')
10 Razzmatazz (single 1993)
11 Stacks (b-side of 'Razzmatazz')
12 Inside Susan (b-side of 'Razzmatazz')
13 59 Lyndhurst Grove (b-side of 'Razzmatazz')
14 Your Sister's Clothes (from 'The Sisters' EP 1994)
15 Seconds (from 'The Sisters' EP 1994)
16 His 'N' Hers (from 'The Sisters' EP 1994)

Bermuda Triangle - Come Sail Away (1979)

Bermuda Triangle started out as a group called Roger And Wendy, who got together in the late '60s in Greenwich Village, typically playing in pass-the-basket-for-tips coffeehouses and folk clubs, such as Gerde's Folk City, (where they headlined for 33 weeks in 1970, setting a club record), the Cafe Wha?, the Bitter End, the Cafe Au Go Go, The Gaslight Cafe, The Freudian Slip, The Basement Cafe, and Kenny's Castaways. Performing at first without microphones, they developed an energized psychedelic folk style with just an electrified autoharp and fast-pulse bass guitar, and their music quickly evolved from traditional ballads to electric folk, including psych folk, acid freak folk and rock. Roger and Wendy took the stage names Roger Becket and Wendy Becket when they had become involved with the Theater Company of Boston, and then in several off-Broadway plays. They kept these pseudonyms through much of their musical career, including while in Bermuda Triangle, before returning to their original surname of Penney. They released two albums, 'Bermuda Triangle' in 1977 and 'Bermudas II' in 1984, but some unreleased recordings have recently come to light, and so I've taken the best of them to compile their third album, now called 'Come Sail Away'. 

Track listing

01 Rainy Monday
02 Come Sail Away
03 Lost Worlds
04 My Brother
05 You'll Be A Star
06 Sometimes We Find It
07 High Flyin' Bird
08 Goin' Down To New Orleans
09 Did You Love Me
10 Minnesota Strip
11 Paper Say

Bonnie McKee - Bombastic (2015)

Following the disastrous liaison with Epic Records, which ended in Bonnie McKee and the label parting company because Epic refused to give her the artistic freedom that she needed, she decided to release her music on her own independent record label, and set about putting together an EP of some of her songs. The first single from the EP was 'Bombastic', which was released on 26 May 2015,and which was written by McKee, Charlie Puth, Sean Walsh and Axident, and is an 80s-influenced dance-pop and pop rock song. The official music video for the song was directed by David Richardson, and because the song had an 80's work-out feel, the video reflected that, and featured McKee working out to the track. Videos were made for two more songs from the EP, with 'Wasted Youth' being released in January 2016, and another 80s-themed video was made for the third single 'I Want It All', which came out in June 2016 on McKee's Vevo account. The psychedelic, pastel-coloured video for the fourth and final single, 'Easy', was released in November 2016, meaning that all four songs from the EP had now been released as singles. Considering McKee's work ethic, it's no surprise that she wrote way more than just four songs for the EP, and picked her favourites for the record, with the rest being consigned to that ever-increasing vault of unused material, so I've picked fourteen of the songs recorded in the 'Bombastic' sessions to make an accompanying album, also titled 'Bombastic', and featuring just the title track from the EP. The artwork reflects the look of the 'Bombastic' video, and had an album been on the cards then it would probably have been released in 2015, just after that first single. 

Track listing

01 I Can Still Dance
02 Dirty Laundry
03 Restless
04 Always On My Mind
05 In The Wild
06 Bombastic
07 Speed Of Light
08 Wings
09 Good Day 4 Love
10 Undefeated
11 Diamonds
12 I Can (Totally) Do This
13 Wicked
14 Hallelujah

Sia - OnlySee (1997)

Sia Kate Isobelle Furler was born on 18 December 1975 in Adelaide, South Australia, and started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990's, releasing one album and an EP. When Crisp disbanded in 1997, she released her debut studio album, 'OnlySee', in Australia, marketed under her full name of Sia Furler, and coming out on Flavoured Records. The album only sold about 1,200 copies, and shortly afterwards she moved to London, where she performed as a background vocalist for British band Jamiroquai, as well as providing vocals for English downtempo group Zero 7 on their first three studio albums, and also touring with the group. In 2000 she signed a recording contract with Sony Music's sub-label Dance Pool, and released her first single, 'Taken For Granted', which peaked at No. 10 on the UK Singles Chart, and in 2001 she released her second solo album 'Healing Is Difficult', which blends retro jazz and soul music and lyrically discusses Sia's dealing with the death of her first love affair. Displeased with the promotion of the album, she fired her manager, left Sony Music and signed with Go! Beat, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group (UMG), releasing her third studio album 'Colour The Small One' in 2004. This album employs a mixture of acoustic instruments and electronic backing to her material, and it spawned four singles, including 'Don't Bring Me Down' and 'Breathe Me', the latter of which charted in the United Kingdom, Denmark and France. Following this breakthrough her career took off, and hit singles and gold albums followed, but as often happens with artists that seem to emerge fully formed from nowhere, she'd paid her dues in her home country, and so for fans who might not have realised that 'Healing Is Difficult' was actually her second solo album, here is her first. It might not be what you are used to from the singer, but they all have to start somewhere, and moving on from the acid-jazz of Crisp, to my ears this 1997 offering contains some superb trip-hop, reminiscent of early Portishead or Massive Attack.  

Track listing

01 Don't Get Me Started
02 I Don't Want To Want You
03 Onlysee
04 Stories
05 Madlove
06 A Situation
07 Shadow
08 Asrep Onosim
09 Take It To Heart
10 Beautiful Reality
11 Soon
12 One More Shot
13 Tripoutro